Chapter 118

There were no bricks, no signs of manmade work, yet the space still felt unnatural. Smooth stone walls, floors, and channels, gray and gritty, arched into weathered tunnels with walkways set beside them.

There were spider lines of cracks visible in places, the only evidence of its ancient construction. The edifice itself possessed a type of timelessness that felt eerie simply because it was a sewer.

Even amidst the foul miasma, Riley could feel the magic coursing through the place, singing to her beneath her misery.

Tobias, meanwhile, was scanning around, with a blue light crystal headlamp wrapped around his head, casting medically bright shadows, highlighting every bit of filth visible in the fetid water churning beside them like a polluted river.

"Some of this stonework looks like it's from Ranger Central or Timbergarde," Riley said, sitting up on her hindpaws, taking it all in.

"Another city built over an ancient ruin, but some of it is us. What you're witnessing here is a very special application of water and earth sorcery working in tandem," Tobias replied.

"So what now?" Riley asked as Tobias balked.

"Please tell me you have a plan beyond poking around and seeing if we stumble into something," she asked, her tone almost pleading.

Tobias' eyes shifted left and right before looking down. "Not exactly... This creature hunts in two-week cycles and follows a particular pattern. It also hasn't been spotted feeding yet. Which means it's either very stealthy or..."

"It's using the sewer like its own road system," Riley replied, finishing the thought.

"Exactly, there are only so many places that connect through here to each of the places where there was a murder. That's a lead, or at least I think it is," Tobias scratched the back of his head before pulling a piece of his cloak over his nose.

"It doesn't help," he let it drop and spit again.

"So... What next? You're the one obsessed with fancy maps. Spending our silvers on things other than fruit," Riley grumbled, teasing.

Tobias glowered down at her,

"That one was requisitioned from Public Works for free... Now, follow me, glutton," Tobias strode off with more bravado than Riley felt he had the confidence for, judging by their connection.

Yet he continued forward, following the path. Every dozen feet or so, there would be a type of short bridge that flanked an opening on either side, but, dutifully, he passed each junction until the long passage dead-ended in a flat wall, with one opening sat center, over the water, with a T-like bridge connecting either side to the entrance into presumably the next chamber.

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The water flowed underneath, through its own channel, set into the rock, its narrowing causing it to rush and speed, all as it seemed to drop into a hidden waterfall that rushed, just out of sight.

Tobias crossed over to the other side, with Riley following close behind, only for a tingle of powerful magic to race through her body, sending an electric jolt that caused her fur to stand on end.

She stopped, instinctively turning towards the entrance to the next room, as Tobias, heeding their connection, also stopped.

"What do you have?" He asked.

"Magic over the water. It's pretty strong; it seems centered on that opening," she reported as she pulled at her power, wanting to be ready.

Tobias peered down over the arch, under the clinical light of his headlamp, sigils faintly carved into the rock glowed. "It's a purification ward, step one of the cleaning process before the water gets dumped back into the river."

"Well, aren't you full of useful information," Riley quipped.

"Who wants fouled rivers or streets for that matter? Smelling this once underground is enough to make me grateful that it's not above ground," Tobias replied.

"Amen to that," Riley agreed.

Tobias mouthed the strange new word before shrugging, and Riley let it drop before continuing down the other side, back the way they came.

Another half an hour crept by before the opening they had entered through neared.

"Well, this has been a riveting experiment in how much revulsion I can stomach," Riley groaned.

Tobias, undaunted, turned and began walking straight down the first door on his right.

"Fine," Riley complained, seemingly to herself, yet projecting anyway. // "It's part of the job; it's not all glamour and battle," Tobias replied, sounding older than he had the right to be.

"What about my life is glamorous? Everyone at least thinks you're a ranger," she countered.

Tobias paused for a minute before turning left down the first open tunnel. "Dragon rides, travel to exotic locales, fancy inns. You're a spoiled beast."

Riley scoffed. "Sleeping on stone cathedrals, almost getting eaten by an asshole infernal hawk, putting up with your shit..."

"Hey!" Tobias complained before turning left again.

Soon, they entered back into the main, massive chamber.

"It seems the information I was able to find was right. It's on a grid, so we continue to search out until something pops up," he announced.

Riley only groaned again. "Should we split up? We could search faster that way?"

Tobias paused to consider, then answered quickly. "No, I don't think that would be wise. If we run into something, well, I don't do as well without you by my side."

She could tell in that moment that under all the bravado and reason, there was a strong undercurrent of nervousness he was hiding, even from himself.

"You're right, we're a team. Let's keep looking. The faster we find the baddie, the sooner I can get a bath," she replied.

Slowly, over hours, they made their way through the tunnels, carefully backtracking each advancement, ensuring they would not get lost. The overall grid network ensured that there would always be a pathway back until, finally, the color of the stone changed, down what felt like the fifty-second random passage Riley and hopped down.

Her paws and lower quarters were now covered in a brownish-gray dust; all she wanted was away from the smell and a nice hot bath to wash the filth from her fur.

A deeply ingrained instinct tried to push her towards a face groom until the sight of her gray, almost ashen paws turned her stomach.

"Riley, look!" Tobias turned his head, letting the light fall upon the doorpost forged out of lighter, sandier stone.

Strange sigils began to shimmer until, to Riley's eyes, they twisted and mutated into English.

For vengeance, for a reckoning to set right, let all those disaffected enter here and find the path to retribution...

"Those aren't purification symbols," Riley said after reading aloud.

"No... No, they are not," Tobias replied.