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Then he became serious.
"Tanael has been through a lot in the last millennia. I know his behavior is unforgivable, but please don't be too hard on him."
As I didn't feel like broaching the subject again, I skillfully ignored his request and continued to look around.
"Where is Stephan anyway?" I wanted to know.
"He's already walked a little way forward to see if everything is safe."
"Do we know exactly where we are in the underground city?" This cave could be anything. After all, there were so many of them, and they all served different purposes.
"Yes. If our plans are correct, we're on the third floor," Tanael intervened. "Do you see this stone? That's a so-called sealing stone." He pointed to a large round stone standing next to the entrance to another tunnel. "That's one of many famous stone doors used for emergencies and defense. To seal the city. In the section we crawled into, there was only one such door on the third floor."
Suddenly, I saw a cone of light shining from the tunnel, and shortly afterward, Stephan appeared in the cave.
"It's safe!" he announced, smiling with relief when he spotted me safe and sound between Sam and Tanael.
"Glad you're awake again! It's a real miracle you survived that."
"Then come on, let's get going!" I urged and nodded gratefully to Stephan.
He ran ahead. Tanael followed him, and Sam pushed me through the tunnel entrance behind the god.
"I'll bring up the rear, remember?" Sam said with a grin, preventing me from swapping places with him. Even though I would have preferred to put a little more distance between me and the god, I had to admit it was better this way.
Fortunately, we didn't have to crawl this time because this tunnel was big enough to fit through standing upright.
Stephan led us down into another cave. Seeing what people had created here thousands of years ago was impressive—it was indeed an underground city. Even though we were now several feet below the earth's surface, there was no noticeable lack of oxygen.
"The ventilation system from back then seems to be working perfectly," I whispered to Sam.
"I'm glad you're so fascinated by it because you will get to see it up close," Tanael grumbled at me with a cruel grin.
"What exactly do you mean by that?" I asked suspiciously, but he didn't answer me.
"What does he mean, Sam?" I asked the angel behind me. But before he could speak, Stephan told us to be quiet.
We cowered and paused while the demon cautiously peered into the next cave. He raised his hand in warning. Then we heard them—women's voices.
I couldn't understand what they were saying, but they were clearly women.
We had suspected they were digging here, too, but now we knew for sure. Fear rose when I remembered my encounter with the demon, the Ker, in Jerusalem. I couldn't hold it back. My pulse quickened, sweat broke out on my forehead, and I hyperventilated.
No! No! No! That simply couldn't happen now, but I was lost in the terrible fear of death that had gripped me then.
Suddenly, someone gently took my hand and stroked my skin lightly with his thumb. It was Tanael. Without looking at him, I closed my eyes and concentrated only on his touch—a touch that managed to push all other feelings into the background. The panic receded, replaced by the heaviness of infinite sadness. At that moment, the angel broke away from me.
I didn't lift my eyelids immediately. I just couldn't. I needed a moment for myself.
"Come on, Myrina, we can go on," Sam whispered, pushing me after the two men. We crossed the following cave but stopped next to a shaft instead of entering the next floor after the subsequent drop. I looked up through it and could see the night sky above me. Fresh, cool air blew into my face. So, this was one of the ventilation shafts that reached many feet into the depths.
"Here's our next tunnel," Tanael told us, pointing to the shaft.
It had to be a bad joke.
"This ventilation system reaches into the church, from where we can penetrate further into the still unexplored floors. We won't meet any more women or Keren this way." Tanael looked at me penetratingly. With the mention of demons, he had me hooked. I nodded silently, although the thought of falling a second time made me feel sick. We were between the fourth and fifth floors, and the church was on the seventh. That meant two to three storeys of unchecked falling.
"The Dumah and I will go first and then catch you, Myrina," Stephan intervened, not having missed my uncertainty.
