Mr. Davis watched the shorter man disappear, then without a word he walked off in the opposite direction. The rest of the pack stood there not really knowing what to do. Mr. Davis stopped a few feet away and turned around to find them all hesitant. “If I were you, I wouldn’t fall too far behind.” He turned back around and kept walking.
Achelois kicked off the stone pavement of the street and strolled after him. Katherine whirled in a blur of cream fur and stalked after her. William looked at Charles and glanced over at Aceso. He shrugged his shoulders and moved to follow the other two and Mr. Davis.
Walking out of the city was a lot like walking into it. He found that he didn’t get as disoriented as he had when he first entered the city but the impossible cross sections and narrow lane ways of street jaggedly cut through the city at irregular intervals and distances were still a little jarring. The whole city was a mess of genius misdirection. Even knowing how the city worked and being more comfortable with navigating the place he still found it to be intimidating.
Mr. Davis wasn’t walking quickly nor was he taking a leisurely stroll, he was moving at a good clip without it seeming to be forced. He guided them through the city with the assuredness of someone who had traveled this way a thousand times and would travel this way again a thousand times more. William wasn’t entirely sure that Mr. Davis took the same path to exit the city every time, but the man knew the city so well he could instantly change his route and still end up where he wanted to be without losing any time.
William and the rest of the pack was brought to a ramp that had been cut into the side of the underground cavern. William walked up the ramp and was surprised at just how steep it was. He glided his claw along the glass smooth interior wall of the cavern. When they had reached the top of the ramp Mr. Davis paused for a moment.
William gazed out over the City under the Mountain. It was exactly the way he remembered seeing it upon entering the city that first time so long ago. Except with his werewolf sight, he could make out even the tiniest details. The ceiling crystals lit the whole underground cavern. He looked to his right and saw the massive splotch of green forest against the cavern wall. He could make out at least two other splotches of green in the underground cavern. Looking at the city and walking out of it from its center he was reminded of just how massive this place really was. It was impossibly huge, and he was stunned by the renewed visual of the whole after spending so much time inside it.
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From here the city was nothing but a jumble of boxes stacked unevenly on each other. The black obsidian stone the buildings were made out of was uniform but there was texture to the buildings and the various stories of the buildings. At the center, rising above all the rest was the black tower at the very heart of the City under the Mountain. It jutted up and commanded the whole cityscape. The eye couldn’t help but be drawn to it. It was intimidating in its cold vigil.
He could make out a few of the main roads leading to the tower at the heart of the city. He knew from experience that those roads were not long, and they were intentionally misleading. They led to nowhere, another defense mechanism of the city.
Mr. Davis didn’t stand around long but instead moved up into the cave that opened up onto the ramp that they were now standing on. The rest of the pack followed. The cave swallowed the light from the underground cavern. Mr. Davis grabbed a torch from its medieval cast iron bracket. Mr. Davis lit the torch with some flint scraped off the wall sending sparks onto the torch and a happy flame leapt forth. Nodding at the flame, Mr. Davis led them up the gently sloping tunnel.
The walk brought back memories. He could remember his confrontation with Mr. Davis and how he had first met Ares, the impenetrable wall of fur and muscle that had prevented him from getting to Aceso. That first walk into the city he had seemed more like a prisoner than a guest and now walking back out of the city he felt like he was going away for a weekend but would be back soon. Just like home.
After some time, Mr. Davis placed the torch in another cast iron bracket on the wall. He took a breath and melted down into that liquid shadow that William was so used to seeing. After a moment Mr. Davis emerged from the shadow as a black furred, with some grey striations throughout, werewolf that he had to guess was around seven feet and four or five inches tall. He looked at the young pack with his golden eyes. “Remember this tone.” He howled into the cave. The sound reverberated and echoed off the nearby walls. William had to resist putting his hands over his ears. The sound was not very distinguishable. He supposed that was the point. But after a second or two and once he had become adjusted to the sudden noise, he could hear the subtle undertones of the howl. Mr. Davis stopped howling. The wall opposite of the cast iron bracket started to slide itself from its place in the rock. It had been a long time since he had seen the rock wall move and it was no less impressive now than it had been when he first came here. A sliver of sunlight entered the cave and William had to repress the urge to run out into it.
When William was able to tear his eyes away from the moving rock and the inviting ray of pure sunlight he looked back towards their guide. Mr. Davis who had already changed back into his human form and his clothes had been restored to him. When do we get a pair of clothes that does that? Mr. Davis saw the look on William’s face and a broad smile cracked the man’s face in half. He clapped his hand on William’s furred shoulder and moved out past the pack into the adjoining cave.