Rose was sitting on her own, peering over a large tome full of information about the Burmaise Dark Tunnels, the enormous bookshelves of the library miniaturizing her in a nearly comical way. Her fingers gripped her forehead as she attempted to find a balance between actually reading to retain information and skimming because half of the book was useless and filled with facts about the history and miners of the tunnels, hardly useful information to break someone out with. As she labored, Kalbir skittered around the corner, speed walking towards Rose with a small book in hand, her face beaming.

"Rose! Read this!"

"W—what?" Rose stammered, startled at being taken from her focus.

"I found this book and I think you're going to like it!"

Kalbir thrust the book towards Rose, watching her face intently. Rose cautiously grabbed the book and studied it.

"'The Pride She Wrought,' what's this?"

"Read it silly! If I tell you then where's the fun in that?"

"Fine, I'll check it out," Rose smiled, sliding the book into her comically oversized fanny pack, "We need to focus though. Cole could be here soon and we need to have at least some kind of plan for them."

"Rose, I'm bad at planning things."

"So am I. That's why Cole is coming. The more we know the quicker we can get Mortemer out."

"I already read through four books and anything I find is just bits and pieces. Everything else I know is from prior knowledge."

"Well maybe we haven't found the right book yet…"

Rose quickly flipped through the rest of the tome and tossed it onto a large pile, standing up to continue the search.

"As much as I like poking around some books Rose, we should probably get going. Frantically searching one of the largest libraries in existence isn't going to help."

Rose paused, her hand up to grab another book. She let out a sigh and lowered it, turning around, "You're right. Let's get back to the inn. I'm going to grab a couple books to read later though."

In the corner of the inn’s tavern was a hooded figure, looking solemnly over a scroll. Rose and Kalbir both looked at each other, then back at the robed person who stood out from the casually dressed tavern crowd. It was obvious they were Cole. The two women walked up to their table just to make sure, and their guesses were confirmed as Cole looked up to them, their face barely visible under the hood.

“Hey, heard you need some help? Let’s get up to your room so we can figure things out.”

Rose and Kalbir nodded and directed Cole to their room.

"We've been trying to research, but we can't think up a full plan," Kalbir began briefing, like a briefcase. And no, she didn't know what that meant for her analysis. "Every step we take there's another line of defense. The Dark Tunnels are nearly infinite and built like a maze. We can’t just go in randomly searching, we’ll get lost quickly and we don’t know his precise location. I found a couple maps and I could make sense of them, but they're not complete and the Trader's Guild is always making new tunnels. Also the maps are a hundred years old, so they could have collapsed or flooded since it was drawn.

“There are also creatures down there, dangerous ones, many that haven’t even been discovered. We’ll need to be able to combat or subdue them. Back when the mines were first being carved, many of them had traps and safety measures put in place, so we’ll need to watch out for traps there. And there’s a large drug presence in the tunnels, so addiction may entrap Mortemer. Cole, any ideas? Can your magic help?"

They nodded and continued thinking for a moment, dramatically tapping their long finger to their chin.

"Yes, actually. I have a scroll that can guide a path to an individual or object, but I'd need to imbibe that map with magic ink. I can also cast a spell that will warn us of any magic presence, that way we can find a way past the traps. I'll need to find them though, and they're small scrolls so they probably fell to the bottom of my cart by now…"

With that, Cole rapturously started searching their cart, tossing out bits and bobs behind them without care. With the floor now strewn with old receipts and broken glass, Cole let out a sharp "Ah hah!" and procured two small scrolls, as wide as the palm of their hand.

"I've had these scrolls for ages. I was gonna get rid of them when I was sorting through what to bring, but now I finally have an excuse to use them. And no, I'm not a hoarder. I have a perfectly appropriate and healthy amount of scrolls that are all applicable to realistic situations. If you cannot walk through my room, that's just because you don't know the system."

"I saw novice fire scrolls at the fort, when are you gonna use those?" Rose smirked.

"Um, they're great for candles? Or if I need to toast some meringue?"

"Cole, I can help you sort through them."

"I think that would be a good idea. I was actually meaning to ask, but would you be interested in learning magic from me? You're a natural with that invisibility spell; I think you could learn a lot. Think of all the power you would possess!"

"Really?! And you're sure you're not a power hungry, mad scientist-mage or something? You have to have some ulterior motive."

"The only stipulation is you help me with some spells I've been experimenting on."

"What kind of spells?"

"I can fill you in later, but I'm trying to make a magical consciousness. Our magic is merely an instruction to nature and with a syllabus, magic could follow far more complex operations than we're familiar with. For example, the contact scrolls I wrote, the one the Queen gave you? It's a combination of hundreds of spells, all simplified to their bare sounds to create a single word. Each syllable makes a new instruction and that small phrase activates hundreds of spells. The very first word is a combination of a light spell and a cloning spell, stripped down to its bare frequencies and harmonized to create a single word that is both elegant yet complex. The original draft was meters of scroll. It took years to shorten it down and even now I could improve it. Another scroll I have is one word, yet it could devastate an entire village if uttered."

"Cole, I love ya, but I really don't understand a word you just said. You're going to have to teach me first before you expect me to explore the intricacy of magical linguistics with you."

"Of course, I apologize. I tend to get carried away with this area of academia."

Meanwhile, Kalbir stared with wide eyes, glazed over and pointed at nowhere in particular. She understood everything Cole said, and a grin began to take her entire face. Of course, she was an acrobir though, and an enormous grin for them is barely perceptible to most people.

"Cole, that's amazing!! I've heard of one scholar who was studying the same thing, but she never got close to finishing her work! Can I see your research notes?!"

"I thought acrobir couldn't read magic?"

"Yeah, our skin blocks the magical energy and it can give us cancer in our nutrient capsules, but that doesn't matter! I've had cancer twice studying magic even though I can't use it, and I'll get cancer again to help you research and teach Rose!"

"Kalbir, please don't get cancer."

"Acrobir cancer isn't even that bad Rose, I'll be fine! I have twelve more nutrient capsules so I can lose a couple more!"

Rose burst out laughing and slapping Kalbir's shoulder, side-eyeing her with a rosy, flirty look as she rocked back and forth in her fits.

"You two are a riot! We should really focus on Mortemer though, he is in a sketchy half abandoned tunnel."

"You know Rose, for the working class, living in a feudal state is quite akin to living inside a dark tunnel."

"Kalbir, I know what capitalism is. All of our consumer decisions are an illusion of choice given most if not all products we buy are a product of the guilds that have monopolized every industry. In that sense, we live in a dark tunnel where we have no true freedom over our decisions, and we can’t even see it."

Cole stood aside rubbing their head.

"Okay I'm only smart with magic, so now I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Well Kalbir is smart with everything and I'm smart with nothing, so it all balances out. Also I had a friend who was a seer so I've seen some crazy visions. That's the only reason I have any class consciousness."

"If so, why are you helping Mortemer?"

"Well he's not a guild leader or something, he's just a hokey human from the middle of nowhere trying to help his village. Like, it's so sad and sweet at the same time. I want to hug him while he cries about his castle getting taken or something. We should probably help him, actually."

“Yes, I’m only afraid of the Dark Tunnels. Cole, you can protect us easily enough, but it’s a lot of risk. We’ll need to make sure everything is ready.”

“You two keep talking about those, what are the Dark Tunnels?” Cole panicked.

“Lowest part of the city where the creatures live. No people go down there and return alive, or if they do it’s for the drug dealers living on the outskirts, they’re well known underground. Nobody truly knows what danger is down there, even the few people who have chosen to live in the darkness,” Kalbir nodded confidently.

Rose meanwhile did not look confident, “Oh no what the hell?! That sounds fucking terrifying, no way!”

“Do we have another choice?” Cole seemed to ask rhetorically.

Kalbir thought on their words, piecing any other possibilities together.

“I don’t think so. Sorry Rose, but we’ve got to do it.”

“Oh no…”

“I’m pretty decent with a bow, I’ll protect you.”

Rose looked very terrified.

“I’m a master reader! I can protect you too!” Cole spinned.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

“Okay, you two sound okay. I’ll just turn invisible and cry and cower.”

“As long as you stay out of the crossfire.”

“I’ll need to smoke a lot before we go.”

“Rose, there are fume laws down here, that’s illegal,” Kalbir assured.

“News to me,” Rose said, a joint already lit in her mouth.

"When should we start the operation?" Cole questioned.

Rose pretended to think while Kalbir actually thought.

"I was thinking about that. Day or night won't affect our light since we're underground. We could really move at any time, even right now. Unless you two are tired... I'm an insomniac, but I understand you two might need to sleep first."

"You're not sleeping? Are you okay?" Rose concerned.

"Yeah I'm fine, I just don't sleep that much. Maybe once or twice a week if I'm lucky, and not at all if I find something reeeally interesting. Sleep is kind of a time waster."

"What have you been doing then? I never hear you in the night."

"Rose, you sleep like a log. Of course you don’t hear me."

"Shit really? Do I snore a lot? I'm sorry."

"You do snore a lot, but it doesn't bug me. Actually, you're pretty cute sounding, I won't lie. It's like a purr or something."

"Just listening to me sleep, huh?"

"No, not like that!"

"Mmhm. Totally."

"No, I swear it's only because I want to study you or something, nothing creepy!"

"Shit, well come get a lesson, Kalbir."

"What?!"

She looked very overwhelmed, but Rose only smiled.

"Hah, don't worry about it. I'll go get some sleep though, like you said. 'Night!"

"Goodnight. But Rose, I swear I'm not a creep!"

"Mum I know! I never thought you were, calm down!"

"Oh, whew."

"Don't worry, if anyone's the creep it's me."

"No! Unless you're robbing someone. Then you're pretty quiet."

"Well, I'll act like I'm robbing this place then. Thanks Kalbir. I'll see you in the morning."

"Nice meeting you Kalbir! Goodnight!"

"Same here, Cole!"

"Yeah!"

"YEAH!"

⧫

After only a couple days, I was losing my mind. I was used to daily sun and warmth on my skin, birds and woodland creatures chirping. Villagers working and greeting me, dogs playing and waiting in line for my popular head rubs. The dimly lit, slimy silence was pure torture.

Only Leif was my relief, his casual conversation and company propelling my day. Despite our clear class difference that he made a point to point out, I felt him becoming more comfortable with my questions. Despite our little time together before, he already felt like a familiar friend, or someone they would know.

"Mum, wish he would exile some healer readers. My stomach is killing me..."

"I'll protect you!" I looked for something to fight with, but only found my fists.

"Whoa calm down!"

"Sorry, I was trying to help. That was my first reaction."

"Yeah, thanks for not socking my stomach... I'm fine though. Scherthara can shut down our nerves. It's a neat trick for times like this. I'm still bored all the time though, I can't get rid of that."

"So if I stabbed you, you wouldn't feel it?"

"Well I'd probably feel some of it before I shut the pain out, but I think that would be too much to ignore. We can only really stop pain in a specific spot. And why the hell was stabbing me the first thing you thought?"

"Because, I've been trained to stab people from a young age."

"Dude, you're scary. If this was one of those rough, gang-type prisons you'd do real good. I could see you with a shiv."

"I have been trained to make effective weapons out of almost any material. A shiv would be child's play."

"Yeah, like I said, scary."

The conversation died again, and I had exhausted my thoughts. It could be hours or minutes before either of us spoke another word, so I laid upon the floor to help my aching back. It was strained from the makeshift chairs, not designed with comfort in mind.

"Psst! Mortemer!" a voice beyond the wall said.

"Ghost! Spirit! Evanescent phantom, reveal yourself!" I shouted in a hazed panic, leaping up and swinging my fists.

"Mortemer knock it off! It's me, Rose! We're here to break you out. Stand back."

I moved out of the way and the wall crumbled before me, revealing Rose, Kalbir, and even Cole who was rolling up the scroll they used.

"Cole, did you come all this way to break me out?"

"Yeah, actually. The Queen sent me as soon as she got the news that you were exiled."

"She's not afraid of starting a war or something? I'm sure they won't appreciate her breaking out a political prisoner."

"Well technically you're exiled, and if word got out about how the King operates, Burmaise would have bigger problems than you."

"Well then I'm humbled. I have someone else we need to get out, wait here."

Leif was just around the corner, cleaning himself up. I had to help him out as well after the kindness he’d shown me.

"Leif, come with me."

"What's going on?"

I didn't respond as I led him to the others. As soon as we came into the main room, Rose's face lit up with an unidentifiable emotion, as did Leif.

"Leif?! What the hell are you doing here?!"

"I should ask you the same, how do you even know Mortemer?"

"It's a long story we don't have time for. And I bet you have a long story too. You’d better at least. Let's get going, we can talk more when we're out."

Rose looked angrier than I would've thought, was Leif her brother? It all made sense now; he didn't abandon her, he was in prison. I couldn't remember how many years Rose was alone, but I was disappointed I didn't realize sooner. They both had an uncanny resemblance; their fur was the same blueish gray, their ears pointed in the same shape, and although Leif was not much more than BONES, even their bodies had a similar build. Both Cole and Kalbir looked just as surprised, and we were all silent.

Cole had cast a guiding spell, and a thin stream of purple light guided us, following the path Cole had traced on their map. Without it, we would have been lost, given the many twists and turns and forks and spoons where the tunnels' entrances were barely perceptible. Cave-ins constantly had us changing our route, flooding and debris blocking others. Ancient creatures, long forgotten in the isolated tunnels, hissed and swiped and snapped at us, only running when we got close. Mycelium and other fungus lit up the cave walls, reflecting twice over in the damp stone.

Spiders and other denizens put up a fight, forcing me to fight with only my fists and advanced fantastical wrestling techniques, while Cole blasted them with fire. After what felt like an hour of walking and struggling though, the city began to show its signs. The tunnels leveled into squares, and shoddy doors stuck into either wall. We were back on the main map, and Cole quickly cut the spell to hide the glowing trail.

"Mortemer, put on this cloak. The only way out is the city elevator," Cole said, taking the heavy fabric from Rose.

"There aren't any tunnels that lead straight outside?"

"There are a couple, but no complete map exists and we couldn't find those exits. The elevator is the only way."

I nodded silently as we took off to the city gate, the five of us trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. As we got closer to the heart of the city, we could see guards running down hallways. They were securing the exits. The others noticed as well and we picked up our pace, going as fast as possible before we hit a run. As the elevator came into sight, my heart dropped when I saw a whole platoon of guards in front, each supplied with an intimidating pole arm aimed at anyone who dared come near.

"Well that's not going to work. I think we should look at those tunnels again. You said you found some that went outside?" I stammered, quickly turning around to walk away.

"Yeah, but I can't find a path to them. At least not from the information here,” Kalbir spoke quietly.

"Okay, did you find a way to get my belongings back?"

"No, the prison is too secure."

"Damn. Cole, any ideas?"

"I could cast that guidance spell, but without a map it wouldn't work. Unless actually I combined it with a ghost spell, that would make the trail visible through any object in a certain radius. I could map the exit and then the exit would be visible. We wouldn't know the direct path, but we'd at least have a waypoint."

"Let's do that. We don't have time to look anymore, we need to get out. Rose, do you have those reports with you still?"

"Yep, I haven't looked at them yet though."

"Good. Let's get back to the tunnels and when we're there, Cole you need to cast that waypoint spell. Let's move."

We returned to the maze of tunnels, and Cole's spell shimmered far away and far above us, barely visible through the rock that stood in our way. Several openings and forks intimidated us, but with luck hopefully on our side we dove in.

Leif and Rose still had barely spoken to each other, and even with the silence of the cave they didn't say a word. Every time their eyes glanced off each other they exhibited some nervous twitch, checking their barren wrists and humming nervously.

The others didn't speak either, all of us concentrating on finding the right path out. Several tunnels were dead ends while others looped back around, more alternate routes than we could count. The same challenges met us again, this time passing through a man’s private cave-chambers, his name was Dave, he was really quite kind actually, and meeting more bears and horribly violent bats. Our efforts seemed to be working however, as the thin stream of magic grew closer and closer. A few turns later, and the magic came into view, a fresh swath of sunlight and bitter air accompanying it.

I held my cloak tighter as the wind crept in, biting my face as it found refuge in the deep cave system. Trees towered above the exit, and a fresh layer of snow adorned their leaves as much as the ground. On the side of a hill we'd come out on was a vista of the massive northern mountains, stretching as far as our vision would allow.

"I can't believe you. This is where you've been the whole time?" Rose started, finally addressing the elephant in the room.

Her brother was silent for a moment, an exasperated look telling us all what he was thinking.

"I'm sorry, I really thought this would work out this time."

"Obviously not. How did you even get thrown in prison? Let alone that one."

"The Smithing Guild had a really valuable shipment and I tried to hijack it. A connection of mine had half of it melted down before they were caught by the guards, and they threw my name in there. There wasn't anything I could do."

"There were a lot of things you could have done. You could have stayed in Ohio, with me! You could have kept your head down! I never thought you'd be this reckless! Were you desperate or something?"

"Yes, actually. Everything I did was for you, for us! I'm tired of running. I was hoping that score would have been the end of it."

"You did it for me?! If you wanted to actually help you would have stayed! You're the one who's running, nobody's making you. You keep trying to take the easy way out and it's too risky. You did the same thing in Harla and Ohio. No score will be the final answer! You need to let it go."

"I understand that, but petty thievery isn't going to pay the bills."

"It paid mine. I spent years stealing rings and necklaces to stay afloat. It wasn't easy, especially alone. And at the end of that I'm the one who breaks you out of prison? You're supposed to be better than me! You promised me you would!"

"Rose, I'm sorry."

Rose glared as Leif backed down, bowing his head in shame.

"Nevermind that. At least we’re together now, finally. Mortemer, where are we heading next?"

"We need a place to look over those reports, maybe an inn. We need to get out of Maegiira though, so let's try Mikoril. The nearest town is only a few hours from here."

"Good, let's get horses and go. They should still be in the stables."

Without another word, Rose turned and haughtily stepped back to the Burmaise stables, crossing her arms when she wasn't trying to maintain her balance.

"Rose," Leif started quietly. "I'm not coming with you. I can't."

"What? After what just happened you're going to leave again?"

"Look, I don't know what this is, but it's not the kind of thing I can contribute to. It’s like you said, I need to keep my head down. I don't have the skills you do, I can’t help you. Any of you. I’m sorry."

"Where will you go?"

"Somewhere quiet. A place where I can use my talent, maybe something legit. I don't want to be a crutch for you anymore. You're fine on your own."

"You're right. We don't need each other anymore. I guess this is goodbye."

Obviously upset, Rose turned once again, not even a glance acknowledging Leif as she walked away. I gave an awkward wave, but he only watched as we walked off, eventually gripping his pack and wandering away from us. A final look backward and he had disappeared beyond the snow covered hill, a couple footprints being the only memory of him, left with the snow.

The stables were close, and due to their distance from the entrance, we were able to carefully sneak out our horses and the gear stashed with them. It was a good thing too, as naming horses is my weakest strength. I mounted Eugine V2 and felt immediately at home. One light head pat later and we were off, storming to a random inn to hopefully learn more about The Lords of Edge.