The crash of the warehouse door opening combined with the sickening arrival of corruption woke Damien from a light doze. Jen sat bolt upright beside him. Across the room Marie-Bell stared back at them, one eyebrow raised.

Damien put a finger to his lips then crooked a finger, beckoning her over to join them. She slid silently between Jen and Damien. He conjured another rectangle and bug and sent it out into the warehouse. Six people pushed the empty wagon aside while an identical number watched. Two of the watchers carried lit lanterns that created dancing shadows throughout the warehouse.

They all wore black masks and hooded gray cloaks. One of the watchers stood a little apart from the rest. He or she—the voluminous black robes they all wore made it impossible to tell even the gender of those present—gave off the aura of corruption. Not especially powerful, like a demon or warlock, but enough to mark whoever it was as the leader. Most likely some sort of dark artifact or weapon served as the source of the corruption. Whatever it was, its power level didn't concern Damien, especially since he had Jen and Marie-Bell to back him up.

“What are they doing?” Jen muttered.

Damien ignored her question and focused on the workers who had finished pushing the wagon out and were now shutting the main doors. When they had them closed and locked the leader placed a gloved hand on the bare stone floor. Hellfire leaked out and traced a rectangle in the stone. A moment later the stone shifted and sank into the ground forming steps.

Impressive. The cultists had hidden the entrance to their base so only someone with the use of demon magic could open it. That both prevented those they didn’t want finding it from doing so and reinforced the leaders’ power as they were the only ones able to open the way.

When the stairs finished forming one of the lantern bearers went down first, followed by the leader, then everyone else. When the last head bobbed down the steps Jen said, “Send the bug after them.”

“No can do. If they have a ward set at the entrance my construct might set it off and alert them. I need to see for myself and if there is one disable it before we head down. Give them another minute to move out of earshot then we’ll follow.”

Jen nodded, her mouth set in a grim line. At some point she’d drawn her sword without him noticing. Maybe she thought Smyth was amongst the group. He couldn’t deny the possibility. If he was down there Damien would hate to be him when Jen got her hands on him.

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The minute felt more like an hour, but finally the last of the lantern’s light vanished from the warehouse. Damien nodded and the three of them slipped silently out of the office and over to the entrance to the basement.

Damien crouched down three feet from the threshold and looked for any markings or concentrations of energy. He found nothing beyond a faint, lingering hint of corruption from the opening. Just to be certain he sent a thin stream of soul force out to probe both sides of the stairs. It appeared unprotected. The cultists must have considered the fact that the entrance was hidden and sealed sufficient. Under other circumstances they’d have been right.

“It’s clear.”

The tunnel at the bottom of the steps was pitch black. Even with her enhanced vision Jen wouldn’t be able to see. Much as he hated to risk it Damien sent his conjured light down the steps first. Jen went next, followed by Damien and Marie-Bell.

As they walked the tunnel sloped slightly downward. The walls, floor and ceiling were smooth, quarried stone, fused into a single piece with soul force. Whoever built the tunnel had gone to a lot of trouble to make it secure.

The farther they went the more obvious it became that while Damien and Jen had training in quiet movement, Marie-Bell didn’t. Her armor jingled and her boots thunked hard with each step prompting a wince from Damien. If any of the cultists were listening they’d hear her from half a mile away in these echoing tunnels.

Damien paused, looked back, and whispered, “I don’t suppose you can move any quieter?”

“Sorry. Paladins are taught to charge in forthrightly, confident in the righteousness of our cause. The bad guys sneak around.”

“Sometimes the good guys need to sneak in or the bad guys will sneak out before they can be captured. Try to be a little quieter, please.”

“Are you two coming?” Jen asked.

Damien and Marie-Bell got going again, the jingling and stomping a little softer than before. The tunnel kept going with no sign of an end. By Damien’s estimate they’d crossed under the street and were now beneath the feed store across from the warehouse. How far did they dig this tunnel? And worse, he was pretty sure they were still angled down.

Jen hissed and waved at them. Damien doused his light so only the faintest glow remained and slipped up beside his sister.

“What is it?” He barely breathed the words, confident her enhanced hearing would pick it up.

“Voices up ahead. Douse your light.”

Damien’s glowing globe vanished. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness a faint, red glow became visible at the end of the tunnel. He couldn’t hear the voices Jen mentioned, but Damien trusted his sister.

“I’ll sneak ahead and take a look,” Jen said. “You and Jingle-Bell over there wait for me.”

Damien wasn’t crazy about Jen going ahead, but he knew better than to argue with her too much. She moved away silent as a breeze, leaving Damien and Marie-Bell standing in the dark.

“I’m not that noisy,” Marie-Bell said.

Damien smiled in the dark. Fortunately Damien hadn’t seen any warlords among the group they followed. If there were any warlords among the cultists they could hear a heart beating at ten paces. Marie-Bell might as well be swinging a cowbell as she walked.