Page 50 of Witch’s Ruin

He stepped closer, lifting her chin with his index finger, kissing her lips. “My little witch, ever the competitor. Always has to be the best. Kill the most demons, study the hardest, learn the most magic. Well then, I am eager to see how you do.”

She bit her lower lip and he had to step away to keep his hands off her. This wasn’t the place to get distracted. They had work to do.

An hour passed, and then another. They paced before the opening, waiting. Not a single demon showed.

“You don’t feel anything in the city?” Rixon found himself asking, patience wearing thin.

“Nothing beyond the strange pressure.” She sighed, looking at the opening. “I’m going to go in,” she decided. “If I have to wait here another moment, I’ll go mad.”

“Mina…” he warned.

“Give me one of your Nebrine knives.” He hesitated, then pulled one from his baldric, handing it over. She walked through the bent bars of the tunnel’s grate and stopped in the darkness. There, she proceeded to scratch the letter M into the wall. Nebrine was strong enough to cut through anything, including stone. He tried not to wince at the sound of a prized blade, cutting into the tunnel. When she pulled it back, the blade was unscathed. “There,” she said, satisfied. “Now we just need some light.”

He sighed, throwing her a warning glare. “Stay here.”

He retrieved a torch from the nearest warehouse, then led Mina into the tunnels. At each junction, she scratched an M into the wall. M for Mina, most likely.

This time, he paid closer attention to their surroundings. Every once in a while, he found a square grate fixed along the tunnel ceiling. Little bits of light spilled in from each. Some dripped with muck of questionable contents, dumped into the streets. They dodged them, keeping closer to the wall to avoid being splashed.

Even still, he was soon coated in a layer of ick, eager for a bath. Most of the grates were small enough to fit a single body. Should they want to get up and out, he could remove one and hoist Mina through. He kept an eye out for larger ones, big enough to fit a demon. Eventually, the grates disappeared, replaced with a more solid roof as they moved deeper into the city, until there would be no getting out that way.

Their boots, even their pants, were soaked through. Not a single summoning star had been seen, or a demon, for that matter. They pressed on.

He might have been lost now, with no idea how to get back, were it not for the breadcrumbs Mina scattered. They were getting nowhere. He opened his mouth—

“Rixon, look!”

His mouth snapped closed. The walls had changed. “Stone,” he said, lifting the torch, examining the nearest tunnel. “This one has nicer stone, while the others are a mix.”

“Do you suppose it leads to the palace, then?”

“If I had to guess.”

“Then let’s go.” They hastened their steps. The ground beneath his boots became solid. No mud, just a faint trickle of water. His boots still squelched as he walked, the soles waterlogged. He thought of his room, of the warm bath waiting there—

Mina hissed.

“What is it?” he said, rounding on her. The torch threw her features into stark relief.

“Demons,” she said, head darting back and forth.

“Here?” His heart kicked up.

“I…I don’t know.” She frowned.

His ears pricked. “There, do you hear that?”

Somewhere in the distance, the faint roar of something familiar. A Jarg, perhaps?

“Follow me,” Mina said, turning on her heel, away from the direction they’d been heading. They took off at a sprint. Mina cut right, a different direction than they’d come, not bothering to follow the marks. Then she cut left, and right again—

He crashed into her back, snaking an arm about her waist to keep them upright. “We need to go up,” Mina said, breathless.

“You mean—”

“I don’t know. I don’t know where it came from, but it’s not in the tunnels.”

He swore, glancing about. “This way.” They took off again, leaving the nicer tunnels behind, making their way back into the city.