The lift motioned into action. The large chains roared and the wooden platform beneath his feet began to lower itself to send him into the depths beneath Liall.
More and more of the underground city appeared the further he went down. While quite dark in this vast underground space, the aura-infused lighting built on the sides of the black stone streets went a long way to giving the dark and gloomy atmosphere down here an enchanted and ethereal feel.
A jolt of energy coursed through his body as the lift settled at the bottom. He walked off of the wooden platform to stand on the smoothed-out rocky street.
Compared to the last time he traversed through the numerous interconnected villages and towns beneath here, it was quite surreal compared to the city on the surface. There were so many blocky structures with only some occupied here and there. A few children looked out a square window from a building he began to walk.
Their faces were entirely pale. They looked as if they hadn’t ever been touched by the sun itself and instead lived down here their entire lives. There was something sad about that as he pondered over whether that was the case for them or not.
He began to cross a bridge to enter another small village or town. The sounds of a blacksmith hitting an anvil reached his ear. He knew not the exact source of it but knew they were somewhere nearby. As he distanced himself the sound of someone hitting an anvil slowly became quieter and quieter.
Another bridge appeared up ahead and a small group of young boys—likely not even the age of fourteen yet—blocked his path smirking up towards him.
“Looky here! An above grounder has come into our midsts.” They jabbed an elbow into another dirtied boy to their left.
“Say above grounder,” a brown-haired youth muttered. “If you want to cross into these parts, you’ll have to pay for it.”
“Pay for it, eh?” So that’s why you four are gathered here. Got yourselves a nice little extortion ring and you’re not even adults yet. Kiran crossed his arms looking down at them.
While he thought he could just push through them, a few other voices snickered behind him. It wasn’t just four of them anymore it was in fact eight of them and they didn’t appear quite as friendly as the ones ahead of him.
“Don’t you worry sir,” a boy said. “Pay us with all that you’ve got, and you’re free to walk on by!”
“That’s a bit exorbitant don’t you think?”
“Nay. You above-grounders are wealthy beyond belief. You can afford to lose an entire pocket of change from time to time, can’t ya?” They pressed their index finger into their palm signaling for him to hand over whatever money he might have. “Come on then, pay up now or we’ll jab you right in the back.”
Their threatening yet friendlier tone from earlier shifted to a more insidious one. Kiran took a few steps back knowing he was surrounded. He could defend himself but the last thing he wanted to do was potentially have to maim or possibly kill what were practically a bunch of teens or children. He also didn’t want to reward bad behavior since it would make it more likely they’d attempt this towards others again. Although did many people ever bother traveling through here? It didn’t seem like it. The rarity of someone like him wandering through may in their minds be one of the few chances to get anything to keep their bellies full to a sufficient enough degree.
He sighed realizing that he had little choice than to either play along or prepare to fight, which he wanted to avoid at all costs. “How much did you say you want in order for me to cross?”
“What are you deaf? We just told you a second ago. All the money you’ve got!”
As he dug out a few coins, he held each of the three between his fingers. “This is all I’ve got.” He tossed them into the air causing the four or so youths’ eyes in front of him to light up as the coins fell towards them. One of them managed to catch a coin while the others scrambled to pick the other two off the ground.
“Now can I go?”
“You’ve got more, don’t you? Just look at you and those nice clothes you get to wear. Even that cloak you’re wearing looks really expensive!”
“What, this dingy ol’ thing?” He gripped the cloak feeling the tattered and fraying parts of it. I suppose compared to what their wearing this thing makes me look like royalty. “Look, I’m not all that wealthy myself. What I gave you is all that I have. Now unless you want to be dishonest crooks and not just mere extortionists, let me on by.”
One boy came up to Kiran looking him straight in the face. He kept a hand in his pocket and sneered at him. “We’ll need to search your pockets just to be sure.”
“You’re not searching my pockets. Let me through.”
“Let em’ through,” one youth boy said. “He’s given us money.”
“He’s only given us three coins.” The boy standing practically beneath him spat towards him causing spit to land onto his cloak. “Fine then. Go then, above grounder. Be sure to enjoy your stay down ‘ere.” They stood out of the way and the other boys at the front of the bridge granted him passage.
All things considered, it went better than it could’ve gone. They dishonestly earned a little bit of money, and he was a few coins poorer. As for whether or not he gave them all that he had, well, he truthfully speaking didn’t have any more to his name. Those coins were in fact all that he had.
The coalition was going to need to pay him a bit more frequently, especially if he was going to be working more closely with the actual inner circle. He wasn’t just some new regular recruit anymore. He was working directly with the leader and those closest to him. It made him think that he might truly need to consider asking for more payment for now on. I’ll have to speak to Rinas about this sometime soon when things have quietened down.
Kiran wasn’t a greedy man. He didn’t care all that much about money, but he could use a little more, especially after having the rest of it taken from him by these youths down here.
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All he could hope for as he entered another branch of the underground city was to not encounter any more youths eager to extort. And by the hungry looks on their faces, they didn’t at all appear untruthful in regards to whether they’d be willing to jab him for whatever money he had on hand.
Hunger often turns a rational mind into an irrational one. When the thought of killing would never be entertained, hunger will quickly change that. Kiran could tolerate hunger. He tolerated it for many months out in the wasteland. Now that he had satiated that hunger, however, he doubted his ability to maintain that like he had done so previously. Although, if he was ever put in that situation again, he’d at least try to not resort to the sort of tactics these youths conducted. There had to be better alternatives than resorting to extortion or possibly even murder.
For now, he kept watchful to avoid stumbling into another situation like that. He found himself in a familiar area where he had been threatened at a different point when guarding a cart full of supplies. Thankfully those same people from back then didn’t reappear. What would they demand next were he to run into him? All of his clothes? That wasn’t unlikely the more he thought about it. They’d take his boots, pants, shirt, cloak, and even his black locks of hair that would take some time before they reached his shoulders once more since he had his hair trimmed recently.
Frederek’s place appeared to him. He had a more protected and well-maintained part of the city. More people were freely moving about, although not to the same extent as the Liall he knew far better up above. No further hostile people appeared to him allowing him to feel somewhat relieved compared to the rest of the depths he had wandered through so far. Although he knew he’d have to leave back the same way. Or perhaps there was a better way to leave or a different route that wasn’t quite as dangerous as the one he had taken twice so far.
A man stood outside a metal gate to Frederek’s estate. They were using some kind of instrument to dig food out of their teeth. They eyed Kiran wondering who he might be. They squinted and widened them thereafter. “You’re Kiran, right?”
He nodded his head.
“I thought I recognized you. Sorry, it’s a bit dark down here. And my eyes aren’t exactly working as well as they once did.” They stopped doing whatever it was that they were doing to their teeth and began to unlock the gate for him. “Go ahead and go on in.”
Frederek kept his place well-secured. Living down here required it. And as far as he knew, the ones who were eager to extort avoided him and this general area of the underground. Frederek had garnered a reputation apparently and the people down here knew better than to mess with him or his people.
His dark estate made out of black stone walls appeared larger as he neared the entrance. He opened the front door walking inside. No one appeared immediately. The inside was empty with a few lit candles to keep it from being pitch black within.
He looked around from room to room, finding them all empty. He went to the second floor in search of Frederek. While he didn’t find anyone quite yet, a few voices could be heard from a room down the hall. He chose to wander down it and as he neared the room, it became clear that Frederek was inside.
As he spotted Kiran, he lifted a hand towards him in a waving motion and Noreko twisted their head to acknowledge his arrival. “Took you a little while to get here,” Frederek said pressing his palms against a stone table inside a room he likely did a lot of business in.
“I ran into a few scoundrels on my way here, otherwise I would’ve gotten here sooner.”
“Yes, Frederek,” Noreko said. “What is with the number of scoundrels living down here? I too ran into a few but once they realized that I was a sorcerer, they ran off into the shadows.”
Frederek rubbed the unshaven hairs on his chin. “If there’s one problem I have with living down here, it’s having to navigate with all of the criminals. Traveling alone is far from ideal. You two should’ve traveled together.”
“Yes, I suppose so. Kiran, you and I might ought to leave at the same time in the future so we’re less likely to be harassed.”
He crossed his arms. “Let’s do it then.”
The sorcerer nodded their head and beckoned him to join the two of them at the table. “Now then,” Frederek said eager to resume whatever it was that they were discussing prior to Kiran’s arrival. “I believe we are but a day or so away from finishing the passage that will grant us access to the chambers directly below the city.”
“An entire day yet still?” Noreko said.
“They’re working as fast as they can considering everything. We’ve made a lot of progress the last few weeks so I think we should be happy considering how much progress we’ve made in such a short amount of time.”
“Of course, of course.”
Since Yorais had uncovered information about a vast network of chambers beneath the city a while ago, Frederek had been focused on getting a passage mined out to allow them to gain access to them. No one was supposed to know about them, but luckily the coalition uncovered this information to enable them the opportunity to gain access to the central pillar.
“Did you bring everything you need to swap out the crystals?”
“I have not. I won’t know which crystals to bring until I see everything and how it’s placed. And considering how rather brazen these scoundrels down here are, I thought it unwise to bring them whilst traveling alone.”
Kiran didn’t know a thing about magical crystals. Apparently, they were an important component to whatever scheme he was planning with the central pillar so that they could power it themselves when and if the queen no longer has a connection to it.
“It’s incredibly important that when I do bring them,” Noreko said, “that they’re protected and not damaged. Unless you’d like to delay our efforts tremendously, I’d advise immense caution.”
“We’ll take great care of them and we’ll have some people come with you in the future when you travel back down here so that they’re not at risk of being damaged or stolen.”
“Good. That’ll make me feel better about it. As for you Kiran, I’m glad you agreed to join us for this. If we run into any trouble today, I believe you will be of great use.” They began to look at Frederek again. “Is there anything else we need to discuss or are we done for the day?”
“I think we’re done,” he said. “Kiran, we’re not expecting trouble, but we don’t exactly know what we’ll find or encounter in there so at least be prepared for the possibility of having to fight.”
“I’ve been training daily since my body has recovered so I should be ready.”
Frederek appeared pleased to hear that. “Good, then feel free to settle in here at my estate. We’ll resume things tomorrow when I expect we’ll be ready to venture through the passage and explore those chambers together.”
Kiran found himself in the midst of Noreko after their brief meeting. They rummaged through a tome that had a moment ago been on a bookshelf in a rather large living space in the center of Frederek’s estate.
“I wanted to ask you something,” Kiran said causing the bald sorcerer’s eyes to lift away from the tome he appeared interested in reading.
“What about?”
“It’s perhaps a little about our experience together a while back. I’ve been wondering about some things.”
They knew what he was talking about. And Kiran got the sense, that he wanted to avoid even talking about the situation surrounding his memories judging by his look. Kiran hadn’t brought it up until now, but since they had some time to spare, he figured he’d see what he had to say about his memories and whether he’d be able to help him gain anymore.