“We need to see the catacombs,” Ry said to the ‘Priest Keeper’ stationed by the closed entrance of Goddess Akona’s church. The priest was an older woman whose age I was afraid to guess. She, like nearly everyone in this world, looked way more attractive than humans had any right to. She wore a dark blue apron over a white dress with a cowl covering her head.

The chapel behind her was by far the sturdiest and most menacing building on the humble side of the city. It stood by the rim of the market square, directly opposite the Count’s estate. The tip of its triangular roof matched the count’s mansion in height, and the clocktower spire integrated into the chapel reached nearly as high as the hill of Huss’ guild.

No part of it was amazing by modern standards, but I doubted the roof would collapse any time soon. The appearance wasn’t awful either. Wooden planks, painted blue, striped its stone foundation vertically as decoration.

“Your business?” the Priest Keeper asked. I had no idea where the title came from, but Ry’s mention of it had sounded wary.

“We come on the Guild’s orders,” Ry said. “The Guild has received reports of a rat problem in the vicinity. We doubt the catacombs have anything to do with it, but we have to check just to rule out the possibility. Wouldn’t want rats breeding in the catacombs now, would we?”

The priest eyed us with a doubtful look. Especially me, for all the good I was worth. Which was not a lot, considering I was instructed to keep my mouth shut during Ry’s negotiations.

“Your papers?” she asked. “Without the agreement of the bishops, you are not to enter the catacombs.”

Ry sighed. “Look, we both know the catacomb is an abandoned old crawlway. I’m sure the church, the Guild, and us four would prefer to avoid papers and just get this over with. We’ll perform a quick check to see if there are rats or not, and we’ll get out before you know it.” He pulled out a few copper coins from his pockets and held them out for the priest. “Here’s a part of our pay if that can expedite the process.”

The priest chuffed through her nose, a subtle smile on her face. “Three copper marks? What an amusing attempt at blatant corruption.”

Ry put the coins back in the pockets. “I’d rather not spend a week waiting for paperwork to pass through. We simply wish to see the catacombs and grab our payment, that’s all.”

“You three should consider real missions with real pay, as opposed to sniffing rats for copper,” the priest said. “The church is closed tonight. Get lost.”

Ry stared with a deadpan look for a moment before turning around and walking off. Em and I followed.

Ry’s eyes were awfully sharp. When out of earshot, he said, “That shit sniffer! There is no way that woman is trained. Real priests wouldn’t talk that way.”

“Ry, I think that woman was a mage,” Em said.

“And how’s that?”

“The way she held herself. It resembled a mage.”

“That makes no sense. If I stand with enough confidence, you’ll believe I’m a mage?”

“No! Ry, you can be so annoying sometimes. It’s just a hunch I have.”

Sighing and shaking his head, Ry turned right to circle the chapel’s perimeter. His step was pissed, and his anger was spreading to Em in the form of annoyance. I just hoped they weren’t angry at me.

“Thanks for the help,” I said. “It was a good attempt.”

“Not good enough,” Ry said. “We’ll have to do better.”

“What do you mean? What’s next?”

“We either give up, or we break the law. I know a spot to sneak in.”

I paused. “I can’t ask you to get in trouble for my stupid request.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Ry said. “I’m meeting Jordan whether you come with me or not. I used to sneak into the catacombs all the time as a kid. It’s been a while, but I never once got in trouble. The Priest Keeper simply likes to abuse her power.”

Within the span of the next few minutes, my nervous ass followed the wordless plan, starting with a walk to the backside of the church. There, Ry hopped the fence as nonchalantly as he had strolled. My malnourished body protested as I offered my best effort to climb, making it over with only minor embarrassment. Em, with her satchel and robe, was swifter than I.

We trotted through the vacant garden’s moonlit display of silvery flowers, towards a white brick canopy. The canopy was hexagon-shaped. Six columns at each corner held the roof in place. The inside was decorated with flowerpots and well-cleaned stone pavement.

“Now, then,” Ry said, entering the canopy. He tapped one of the columns with his fist. “Let’s see if the secret is still unbroken.”

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Using a nearby flower rack as a foothold, he reached for one of the ceiling tiles. He nudged at the tile. And as sturdy as the construction looked, the tile lifted out of place.

Ry grinned. “Hop on in. It’s going to get dark. Follow my voice.”

He ascended into the hollow ceiling first, signaling for me to follow. I did, doubts growing with each second. One day in the new world, and I was already crawling inside God damned canopies in search of a mage to cleanse me from madness. Thanks a lot, Shiela.

Ry pulled Em after me, into the dark crawlspace between the ceiling and the roof. Somehow my crippling fear of group projects and get-together activities seemed increasingly childish.

“Ladder and a fall here,” Ry called from the corner. “Watch yourselves. Em, you’ve got illumination scrolls, right?”

I caught Em’s frown with the little light from below as she shuffled through her bag, eventually finding a scroll. “Only one that isn’t fire. I’ll need your sword to light it.”

“Right. Follow me down, and we’ll figure it out.” I heard Ry’s boots tap on metal as he descended the pitch-black ladder.

I crawled towards the sound and found the ladder by touch. Clever, I thought, trying to distract my nerves. This particular column of the canopy was hollow, hiding a ladder inside. I descended, then tested my footing at the bottom, feeling solid stone.

“Not one glance upwards, creeps,” Em said, descending after me.

“Em, it’s pitch black,” Ry said. “I wouldn’t see you if you were naked. Burn the damn scroll. And don’t cut yourself on the blade.”

I heard the wrinkling of parchment, followed by a raspy whoosh. The blade of Ry’s sword lit up like a light bulb, and the scroll broke into particles. The blade itself became blindingly bright, yet the globe of light it illuminated was barely the width of a large umbrella.

Magic exists, all right, I thought at the sight. Sure, modern technology could have created a similar result through trickery. Yet, the explanation of magic made a whole lot more sense.

The ground below me was difficult to make out even with magical illumination. I could hardly stand without feeling crumbs of ceiling dirt scrape at my hair, so I hunched just in case of surprises. The underground air tasted twice recycled.

“Isn’t it awfully clean today?” Em asked.

This is clean? I thought.

“Yeah,” Ry said. “Someone has been here. Let’s hope it’s Cill’s teacher.”

“Should we call?” Em asked.

“I don’t see why not,” Ry said. Then yelled, “Jordan Feryah! We’ve brought him! We mean no harm! Please show yourself!”

We stood in place, listening to the echo of Ry’s call and then some. The catacombs offered no response. Not even a rat’s squeak.

“So, Cill,” Ry said. “You’re sure Darko mentioned this place?”

“I think so,” I said. “Apparently, Jord’s got a clever setup in here.”

Ry grinned. “I think I know what Darko meant. There’s a spot I used to play in all the time as a kid.”

“What can you possibly play with in a catacomb?” Em asked.

“With the bones and skulls of the dead, of course,” Ry said. Then added, “That was a joke. No dead were buried here. You’ll see what it is.”

My mouth drying along with my brain, I followed Ry’s wordless footsteps for what felt like ten minutes. It became clear that the maze called “catacombs” was missing a capital “S” in its name. Or perhaps it was just my nerves translating seconds into minutes.

“If I recall,” Ry said, turning a corner no different from the rest. “It should be right around here.”

We paused at the entrance. What welcomed us to the chamber was not a child’s playhouse, but the smell of rusting iron and old blood. A row of prison bars created a single large cell, the contents of which our illumination didn’t reach.

“Moons,” Ry gushed. He stepped deeper, pointing his sword towards the cell. “They’ve turned this into a prison!”

Em and I followed, both sharing the angst. The place was devoid of furniture but for rope twirling around a clothes hanger. The dimmest lamp I had ever seen lit the entrance. Floor dust hinted at vacancy, but then again, I doubted the owners of this kind of prison enjoyed cleanup duty.

The cell itself was a bed and a toilet short of solitary confinement. The cell appeared empty. But as Ry moved his sword closer, lighting more of the area, a shape appeared in the rightmost corner.

The shape had eyes. Shiny orange eyes.

Ry paused, staring back. His mouth hung open for a moment, as if he couldn’t decide whether to run or scream.

Before we could do either, sounds from behind froze us on the spot. A tapping sound, only getting louder. Footsteps.

“Em…” Ry said. He lifted his sword. I couldn’t tell if it was for illumination or for fighting posture.

A cowled figure blocked our exit. My spinning vision recognized her as the Priest Keeper. Her eyes glowed a bright purple, imbued by some sort of magic.

“Uh,” Ry said. “Lots of rats around here, huh?”

“What business do you three believe to have with Jordan Feryah?” the Priest Keeper asked.

The three of us stood frozen.

“No matter,” the Priest Keeper said. “It’s clear to me you are not in good company, nor is the teacher here. Let me ask one question. Is anyone aware of your visit to the catacombs?”

“Darko sent us!” Ry called. “Kill us now, and you’ll get a fucking armada at your doorstep.”

The Priest Keeper chuffed through her nose. She pulled out a staff tucked away inside her outfit. The staff had an impressively polished orb at its tip. And as if that wasn’t threat enough, two masked figures in white uniforms appeared on both sides of her, barricading any chances of escape.

“Shit,” Ry said. “A real mage.”

[Cillian Bermeyer]

[Level one]

[Recent awakener]

[Abilities: Fireball, Carillia’s assistance]