Chapter 29 - It Came From Below

A blow to the underside of the floor cracked a half-dozen tiles under the feet of the fanged Mayazian knifemen. Several of the coat-clad sharks were thrown off their feet. Annalisa began to thrash, screaming. Mother Mayaz hissed and called her deck to her. The next blow forced a hand into the cellar, right next to one of the guards. It wrapped black, bubbling fingers around the fishy knifeman and pulled him back through—only, the hole was much too small for him to fit. I looked away as the man screamed. His bones crunched, and then, once below, his bones crunched, as whatever the thing was took a bite out of him.

Mother Mayaz evoked her deck again, sending spears of light perforating the cellar floor. The thing howled, and smashed against the underside of the cellar again. This time, it tore a hole wide enough to start squeezing its own body through. Arms sprouted at odd angles from the black, amorphous thing. As did snarling snouts filled with too-human teeth. They sprouted seemingly at random and snapped at the Mayazians close by. Eyes formed on its flank, looking at those of us trapped. But there was enough intelligence in those eyes to dismiss us as the immediate threats.

But there was hate there, also. We weren’t safe, we were just next.

Mother Mayaz invoked another spell, and her cards blurred as they spun in a fan around her. I’ve seen Soul Seekers fight in duels before at the academy, but not like this. She wove the suit of streams and the suit of spears together to create a massive blade that cut the demon practically in half—along with one of her hapless minions that had gotten too close in a misguided attempt to delay the creature.

Rather than dying like a sensible beast, the wide fissure simply sprouted teeth and the thing shoved the bifurcated Mayazian into it like it was a light snack.

“Fall back!” shouted Mother Mayaz’ lieutenant. She stepped in front of her boss and shot a look up at the woman, who seethed, but retreated up the stairs. A larger, broader foot soldier came forward, swinging with two swords that severed the creatures probing hands, only for them to immediately grow back.

Luckily for us, Mother Mayaz’ shadow retreated with her. I found myself freed from the bonds, pushing up to watch as the creature roared and pursued Mother Mayaz up into the hideout, arms sprouting at will to pull its bubbling, scraping body after its quarry. It fended off attacks from behind as more of the Mayazians got close, stabbing and chopping at it with long knives, thin swords, and heavy cleavers.

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We couldn’t waste this opportunity. There were still two of the Mayazian cutters in the cellar with us. I pulled my deck and evoked the five of knaves.

Even at my limit, the card answered. I felt alacrity flow into me, and the two men jerked as the card siphoned their agility to me. You’ve taken from me, I thought. Now it’s my turn to take from you.

I was up in a flash. I don’t even think the first one realized I was free before I drove my knife into his neck. His flesh parted—white, like that of a fish, instead of red like a man’s. The other turned, slowed by the five of rogues. But his cleaver still had enough strength behind it to take my head off. Before I could free my knife, Gron swept his legs out from under him and pushed him into the hole left by the undercity demon. I heard his scream for longer than I would have thought before the man hit something solid with a splat and the scream choked off with a wet gurgle.

I pulled Annalisa up, too. Something about that demon had left both her and Mithra sickened. I set Mithra to helping the other talent from the Mop, who were staring after the demon with various expressions of shock and abject horror.

“Annalisa!” I called, pointing toward the stairs to the butcher’s on the opposite side of the street from the Mayaz hideout. She nodded and ran up the stairs. The door at the top had been barred by retreating Mayazians, but with a burst of the three of dragons that nearly made me pass out, Annalisa hit it like a boulder and splintered the door off its rusted hinges.

The shop itself was deserted, thankfully. At least some of those fishy bastards had a keen enough sense of self-preservation to get themselves gone. Across the street, the Mayaz headquartered was alive with the flashes of magic and the roars of infernal demons. People had started to come out into the street at the commotion, but I pulled everyone past them, heading west as fast as I thought the beleaguered captives could move after a day of hanging by their wrists. Safety was not in Hollowdown this night. The undercity had made itself known.

Mother Mayaz had drawn the demon back into her gang's safehouse, where she had the home-ground advantage, in order to fight it. Who would win? I don’t know. I couldn’t even tell you which of the two scared me more, but I didn’t want to stick around to see which one would be left to turn its eyes on us.

“Come on,” I said, helping the crew from the mop out of the basement. Clanging alarms had begun to sound in the district, and at least one fire spell burst out the side of the Mayaz hideout to splash flames on the butcher’s shop above our heads. I rolled out of the way as the flaming sign came swinging down to crash through the glass window. Flames began to lick at the tiling, and glass bottles within started to erupt with a pop, pop noise. At least we weren’t in Kindledown. Here, you could fight a fire.

“Go, go!” I shouted.

Anna ran alongside the girls she’d come to rescue, counting them. “They’re all here!” she reported.

“Let’s none of us be here!” I said.

An inhuman roar issued out of the Mayaz hideout, and I looked back just in time to see six spears of ice pierce the side of the building. They dripped black ichor at their tips, and it steamed and hissed when it hit the cobbles.

Well, I guess that answered that question.