Chương 48: 47. Come Alone

Tavian stood in the darkness of the dungeon, feeling the voice in the back of his mind. The connection was different from the one he had with Lea, even though it seemed to somehow interfere with that one." I want to come see you now,"he sent back." How do I find you?" Ahh good. I knew you would come around. Unlike that other, who did not dare come to me himself. Who spoke gentle words to me, then stole from me when I was not looking. Tavian's stomach churned. Was she talking about Jarden?

The man could still be down here." I want my friend released,"Tavian said." Let him go, back to the surface." He's with me. Come and get him. I will open up the way for you. My father wants to speak to you. Her father? Tavian recalled every story he'd ever heard about people making deals with the darkness. They never ended well. But Tavian; come alone. I invite only you, to enter my domain. The ground rumbled beneath his feet, and darkness grew more oppressive around him.

With a grinding of sliding stone, a black doorway opened in the wall. I'm waiting. Tavian cast the dagger aside." What did you hear?

"Lea was instantly back in his mind." You seem distraught."

"It worked," Calli said, torchlight revealing wonder and fear on her face.

"Why would she want to see me so badly?" Tavian asked.

"Power," Calli said." Power,"Lea said." You're linked to the core. Please, be very cautious." Tavian led the way through the dark portal, Calli and his six soldiers following after. The voice had told him to come alone. Tavian might have needed her help, but he wasn't going to let her push him into a bad decision. Besides, he needed Calli to operate the relics; and who knew what other dangers they would face? He would bring his soldiers with him. Miasma wasn't clouding his judgement. They looked down into the pit.

It appeared to be the same hole that Jarden had used, but Tavian had no way to know for sure. One of the soldiers dropped a torch, and it fell a long way before disappearing in the darkness below. Tavian activated his Darksight Perk, and watched as the thick, almost blinding flows of miasma billowed, like currents or storm clouds, filling the dungeon. It grew thicker, darker in the depths of the pit. A knot of blackness—blacker than black—stood out in the depths below. He had to disable the Perk after a moment.

It was disorienting, and he was afraid he might tumble down into the hole. They uncoiled long ropes, tossing them down the steep sides of the pit. Tavian wondered what this structure might have been used for, long ago, before it had fallen into disrepair and the city was rebuilt over it. Or was it a construct of the dungeon itself? He didn't know.

"There seems to be a ledge down there," Tavian said, peering into the darkness. He didn't like the idea of sliding down a rope and falling into a bottomless pit.

"If we can get down to it, we can reassess."

"My lord," Toral said.

"Allow me." The man looped the rope over a shoulder and behind him, then leaned out over the void, carefully walking down the side of the chute, spooling out the rope as he went. He held his torch in his teeth. Around a hundred feet down, he stopped, and came off the rope.

"How does it look, Toral?" Tavian yelled down to the captain.

"It opens up down here," the man called back up, his voice echoing strangely in the dark space.

"We may be able to keep scrambling down, if needed." The soldiers lowered the Aegis, next. Then another man, then Calli, and then it was Tavian's turn. He tried imitating the Fist Captain's smooth descent, but found the technique to be more challenging than he'd expected. He went too fast, and his hands stung from the friction of the rope. When he was nearly down, the rough surface of the wall caught his heel, and he nearly flipped over, but managed to regain his stability and walk down the remaining distance.

Captain Toral offered him a hand, helping him onto the ledge. From here, the ledge ran around to an opening, leading to a deeper level of the dungeon. The man was right about scrambling, too. The stone had worn down here, and large chunks of it were missing. It might be possible to pick a path down into the darkness. Four soldiers remained. Two of them would wait at the rope anchor, protecting their retreat. They had orders to return to the surface and bring more soldiers down if ghouls became a problem.

For now Tavian preferred to make as little disturbance as possible. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Especially since he'd been warned to come alone. The remaining two soldiers climbed down. The rope was still plenty long to let them descend deeper into the pit, but they tied a new rope here, anchoring it through a loop of stone. Someone grunted overhead, and then the sound of feet shuffling and a muted cry echoed down into the pit.

A man cried out, and a second later, a dark shape fell past them, disappearing into the darkness. Everyone stared into the hole for a long moment.

"What was that?" Calli asked, in low, frightened voice that suggested she already knew the answer.

"We should hurry," Tavian said.

"The longer we're here, the worse things will get." They continued climbing down, this stretch made easier by the crumbling walls. Here and there partial ramps or crumbling staircases provided easier ways down. Tavian was breathing heavily, and sweating hard by the time they reached the bottom. A dirt floor, covered in white chunks of bone greeted them. The bones crunched and popped beneath their feet as they walked. Not far from where they touched down, they found the body of the soldier who'd fallen.

The Fist Captain knelt beside the dead man, and performed a brief soldier's funeral. Tavian knelt beside the captain, offering his own respect.

"Pavis was a good man, Toral." Tavian said.

"You don't suppose…" Toral said, rising.

"Safe to assume they were both killed," Tavian said grimly, though he hoped it was not true. Black miasma swirled around them, so thick in the air that Tavian could feel it in his lungs. His injured side vibrated with intensity and enthusiasm; like a lost soldier finally returning home. He felt… good. Strong. Darksight revealed nothing but thick blackness. One black portal opened up from the bottom of this pit.

An eerie light shone out of it; like a twinkling star, which did nothing to dispel the darkness around them." Be careful, Tavian,"Lea warned him." That isn't natural." He shook off the feeling of delight, but couldn't evade the sense of euphoria. It was the same feeling he had when taking his kingdom to the next tier, though it was subtler. Two of the soldiers picked up the shield, carrying it between them. They would drop it at a moments notice if they needed to fight.

Tavian, Calli, and the four soldiers moved forward, into the dark tunnel. Captain Toral took the lead, and the soldiers with the Aegis walked along behind.

"Tavian," Calli whispered, clutching his arm.

"I can't see anything."

"You can't see the light?" Tavian asked her. She was silent for a moment.

"Are you sure you're okay to be down here? Maybe we should head back."

"No," Tavian said, more forcefully than he intended.

"We go on. We need to find Cormath. We need to save him." Calli looped her arm through his, clutching him tightly. The voice spoke, no longer in his mind. The air throbbed, the ground rumbling with the vibration of her voice.

"Tavian. I told you to come alone." A rush of cool air flowed past him, and Tavian felt another arm grip his elbow, on the other side. Captain Toral. Something clanked, then rang like a bell in the hall behind them. Tavian turned, and saw nothing. Not even the torches the soldiers had been carrying. The captain released Tavian's arm and took a few steps into the darkness, his torch lighting up the hall. A golden shield lay on the ground, still humming slightly from the drop.

Rubble and debris surrounded it in the hall. There was no sign of the other three soldiers.

"Tavian," Calli breathed.

"I'm scared." Toral looked questioningly at Tavian, a wobble in his legs betraying him.

"Steady," Tavian said, like he was calming a frightened animal.

"My lord," the captain said.

"I don't think they ran." He drew his sword, and prodded a scrap of cloth, lifting it on his sword. It was a tunic; the one worn by Verosian soldiers. A chill ran down Tavian's spine. He reached out to his link with Lea, finding comfort in that connection. The voice of the dungeon had assured him safe passage. But what would happen when he got there? And what about Calli? They'd known it was a risk coming down here, but this was more than Tavian had anticipated.

They could come back; bring reinforcements, bring sledge hammers, torches, lanterns; they could excavate and invade the dungeon. But if three men could disappear that easily, fifty wouldn't make a difference. It would just take more time. And they simply didn't have enough time, not before the Karath Amon were marching into Tar Corinath.

"Tavian, I think we should go back," Calli whispered.

"We shouldn't be here." Tavian turned back toward the light. They were so close. He thought of Pavis, lying dead in the pit behind them. He glanced to Toral, the man firm and ready to obey Tavian's mandates. He looked down, and realized that he recognized the hall where they were. He'd seen it, through Cormath's eyes. The man must be around here, somewhere. Tavian suppressed the urge to call his name. He couldn't abandon Cormath to die in the darkness.

"Calli, listen to me," Tavian said.

"We have to press on. I'm betting the infuser is down there, where she is waiting for us. Start activating the condenser, now, that will help absorb the miasma from around us. Cormath is here somewhere, we need to find him. Let's keep going." Having something to do was good for Calli. She pulled the condenser from her pack and activated it. Dark tendrils of miasma whirlpooled down into the spikes of the condenser, and the black knot contained in the glass sphere at the heart of the device darkened further.

The air immediately around them cleared, and the oppressive atmosphere lightened slightly. Tavian breathed a sigh of relief. Calli fixated on her work, trying to block out the dangers around them. Her shoulders loosened, and a light returned to her eye.

"Oh my, this is incredible!" Calli exclaimed.

"I never had the means to test absorption volume, but I never even imagined that it would be able to get this high!" Toral joined them, carrying the Aegis, and they all linked arms, helping one another through the dark hall. The light from their torches seemed to barely make it to their feet, and they stumbled over dark objects in their path. Something groaned behind them, and they looked, seeing the shape of a man approaching. The broken body of Pavis shambled toward them, dragging a broken leg.

"Ghouls," Tavian breathed, and they picked up the pace, half walking, half running. Without falling, it was as fast as they could move. The rattle of bones joined the moaning behind them. The ghouls were coming, closer, faster. Tavian wondered if they were under the control of Anarvia, or if they'd been sent by her. The light grew, but Tavian seemed to be the only one who could see it. They reached a narrowing of the hall, a portal through which they could only pass one at a time.

A ghoul screeched, an inhuman cry that echoed off of crumbling bricks.

"My lord," Toral said, setting his jaw grimly.

"Take the shield. I'll hold the hall. This is an excellent choke." Tavian gritted his teeth, but accepted the Aegis from the man. Then he and Calli ran. They reached the end of the hall, and stumbled out into a wide open room. Tavian's eyes locked onto the one thing that he'd most hoped to see: The miasmic infuser.

"Tavian, welcome," said a feminine voice.

"I'm so glad to see you. Now let me just deal with that ugly girl on your arm, and we can begin."