Amie followed the hallways and found an elevator. She would visit the Cavern and try to get a place below. It would be closer to where she would be spending most of her time. Her friends were convinced that any of the wizards actually lived in the tower despite the many clues that had proven otherwise. The tower was busy at all hours of the day. Amie sighed. She had liked the apartment that she chose, but it was at the outskirts of the city. Having to take an elevator up to the top of the plateau, walking to the tower and then taking another elevator down was time consuming. She had not thought about it at the time and was more focused on the funds she had saved. Mirabelle had suggested a few places that she could visit. Amie hadn’t been looking out on the city in the cavern and when the elevator stopped she was startled. The bottom of the tower was just as busy as the tower on the surface. The citizens below were indistinguishable from the others above. She hadn’t known what to expect as she made her way to the doors that lead out from the tower. She found herself in another queue with a more relaxed clerk behind glass. The line moved smoothly.
“I’ll need a ticket to the surface,” Amie told the clerk.
The clerk turned to look at Amie with a questioning look.
“I live on the outskirts.”
The clerk winced, “Are you looking to move?”
Amie nodded.
“Do you want a week pass and golem access?”
“Golem access?” asked Amie.
“We’ll assign a golem for you, weekly, and charges for access to the cargo elevators,” The clerk, “Provided you’re with the golem that is.”
Amie shuffled through her tome, pulling out some paper bills from the back of her tome. The clerk saw the pass.
“The pass isn’t for you is it?” the clerk asked.
“No,” Amie said while pushing a few bills through the window ,“it’s for someone else.”
The clerk counted the money and retrieved a pass a token. She pushed everything back out to Amie.
“When you’re ready to move, just present that token to anyone at the window and a golem will be made available.”
Amie thanked her and went on her way.
The path out of the tower was clean and orderly. It was almost day and night from the city above. Unlike above, golems were not an uncommon site below. They patrolled the streets in groups of two or three. They were squat constructions that reached waist. She had seen them in action before. Their size was misleading and they could handily take care of someone at least twice her weight with little to no effort. She followed a trio of them for a while as she went to the first location on her list. A left turn had them head down a different street. She admired many of the shops that she passed. The streets were busy below. Her husband might actually like it down here. He hadn’t been local to the second tower, but seemed to quickly adapt to the city life. She made it to a few buildings of apartments. She didn’t enter any of the buildings. It might be better if she had brought Eric down to house hunt with her. She’d definitely hide the fact until she could convince him to go underground. There was a little guilt. She had put down the money as an impulse. She thought herself out of further exploration. She hadn’t even looked at the cost. It had only been an hour of being underground before she made her way back to the tower and to the surface.
The sunlight on the surface matched what she had seen below. She had enough time to make it back home before sundown. The apartment only had two rooms. It was still in the process of having boxes opened and things unpacked. When she opened the door, the inside was quiet but lights were lit.
“Love?” asked Amie.
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“I’m in the kitchen,” Eric replied, “Are you hungry?”
“Yes,” Amie said as she removed her boots at the doorway.
“I’m on it.”
“I’m taking the chair,” Amie declared.
“The table wasn’t good enough for you?”
Amie didn’t respond as she collapsed in the living room chair. It was large and plush. It was everything she had wanted after spending most of her day on her feet. The cleaning had even left her sore. She still wasn’t sure why the crypt had to be cleaned in silence. She hadn’t even thought to ask. Divinity was such a strange school, and it seemed to have gotten even weirder since it broke.
Eric came out with two plates. On each plate was a sandwich. He passed one to Amie which she greedily grabbed.
“I haven’t eaten all day,” she said before taking a bite.
Eric stood in front of the chair taking bites of his sandwich, staring at Amie.
“What?” Amie asked.
Eric didn’t reply and continued to chew deliberately.
“It was my turn to sit in the chair.” He said.
Amie stretched and tried to fill up as much space as she could while she continued to eat.
“It’s just so comfortable.”
She finished eating her sandwich and put her plate onto the floor. Eric saw his opening and took his chance, wedging himself into the opening.
“No!” Amie cried, “You’ll squish me!”
Eric laughed as he pushed her aside with his body. His laughs ended quickly.
“Don’t pinch me!” he cried out, “No pinching!”
They fought over space in for a while before they eventually managed to get into a comfortable position. Amie rested her head on Eric’s shoulder.
“Did you have any luck today?” Amie asked.
“Not out here, I was planning on going up looking for work on the plateau.”
“I think we should move.” Amie said
“I thought you liked it here.”
“My master switched.”
“What happened to the other guy?” asked Eric.
“They didn’t tell me. I only learned about my reassignment to Grand Master Sugg today.”
“Sugg, that’s a weird name.” Eric commented, “but isn’t a Grand Master a good thing?”
“Sugg is a weird name, but Mirabelle is a nice woman and my problem is that she’s a diviner.”
“Divining?”
Amie sighed and patted Eric on the head, “Don’t worry about it. I married you for your looks anyway.”
“I hope that’s not the only thing,” he said.
“You do make a good sandwich.”
“Maybe I should open a shop.”
——
Qinran stood on his boat when they landed back on the beach. The sudden shake of the boat hitting sand hadn’t tested his footwork. A quick scan of the beach revealed that the human was missing. He nodded to himself, it had been long enough scavengers could be blamed for the missing body. He thought about the human. His subordinates had named him Happy. That was such a stupid name. Qinran sighed. He was glad he survived this time. Diplomacy was a good answer this time. He would have to remember that if the events were to happen again. He needed to preform two more raids and then he could set about on his business. He no longer held onto the belief that humans were below him. Being killed by the same human twelve times in a row had literally beat that idea out of him. He couldn’t deny the fact that their blood was useful. Humans were one of the more magically attuned races. Unlike elves they could use their magic externally.
“Good work,” Qinran told his navigator.
The navigator’s chest swelled with pride. He and the others set about readying their camp. They had landed the ship close to their point of departure. The posts that had been worked in the ground still stood straight. The high tide hadn’t affected them at all. They used their same camp. Qinran had considered changing locations, but as the human seemed to be stuck in the same kind of phenomenon Qinran figured he had is own ordeal to deal with. The navigator spread the map on the sand. Various circles were spread across the map indicating locations they had already hit. Two towns were all that was left. They planned to hit the smallest first and then on the last trip they would gather a few more elves and hit the larger. Qinran chewed on a dried fish square, enjoying the flavor as the chunks that he ripped free re-hydrated in his mouth. They would spread out and scout out the small town during the night. If they did their job well, they wouldn’t be noticed.
Qinran left the other elves and stood looking out to sea. It was home, but he knew that soon enough he would need to make his way to the greater continent and meet other elves. They wouldn’t be as aggressive as his people, but they would welcome him. He hoped he wouldn’t have to meet with any of the other races. There was a well earned reputation the elves held. He pushed the remainder of the fish square into his mouth and chewed. The thought of working with humans and their various shades of skin and flat teeth. He shuddered. He couldn’t put his finger on what had been so unnerving of the race. They were smaller and had more muscle. If it weren’t for the ears, teeth and skin, they might be able to pass as elves. They were just slightly different and that was unnerving for some indescribable reason. Qinran sighed and watched the sun work its way down from the sky. The sun setting on the ocean was a view he would never be tired of seeing. He turned and joined the other elves as they started into their rations. He might as well socialize with them a little before the night started. It wouldn’t hurt. Things would get a lot more busy.