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Indeed, a faint hint of light moved in and around them. Cain reached down and grabbed, pulling from the murk a dog-sized rat with an unhealthy hue.
“I hate rats!” Nasir hissed. “Reminds me of my childhood.”
Vance had heard the sad story. Nasir’s dad, a widower with five kids, working two jobs, one of them being as an exterminator, used to bring home rodents to feed his family. Nothing technically wrong with it other than Western sensibilities, but it left Nasir with a rabid hatred of the creatures.
“Ow.” Silas stabbed at the water. “I swear to fuck I better not get rabies. I hate that shot in the ass.”
They all did. Vance had only gotten it once, because of work. A foaming raccoon had attacked him while he was checking out a disturbance call. Teach him to poke under a deck.
The water frothed and churned as they jabbed and killed the rodent menace. Again, nothing difficult, just annoying.
It didn’t take long before they’d eliminated the threat, which led to Cain suddenly remarking, “These attacks feel like distractions.”
“From what?” Vance mused aloud, his gaze taking in the chamber, empty of demons but littered with pieces of their victims.
“Finding Sadie. She was here. And recently too.”
Vance didn’t question Cain’s certainty because he shared it. His gaze went to the corner of the room with a cleared spot. Had they just missed her?
“They can’t be that far ahead. Let’s move out.” Cain slogged to the far end of the room and dove, the reapers following as they travelled to the next tunnel. No demons awaited, but they did have to deal with an oversized, one-eyed sewer gator. Poor Koa had to be left behind as his chomped leg wouldn’t hold his weight.
“Sorry, boys. Good hunting.” Koa used his talisman to return to the castle, while the rest of them went on.
When they reached a large chamber ringed in a narrow parapet with water rushing down the middle in a waterfall that drowned out sound, Vance pursed his lips. “Which way?” Because the demon tracks they could see split left and right around the oversized space.
Cain planted his scythe and looked both ways before craning to look up.
Vance followed his gaze. “What are you looking at? There’s nothing up there.”
“My gut says there is.”
“In case you didn’t notice, no ladder, no stairs.”
“And? If we’re following the daemessorum, he can use magic to get to places we can’t.”
A good point. “Even if it did escape through the ceiling, we can’t exactly fly.”
“I’m aware,” Cain growled. “But there must be a way to get above.”
“Let’s split up then. Half of us left, the other half right. If anyone sees something, shout.”
Vance and Cain stuck together, choosing to go right. Three reapers came with them: Sylas, Nasir, and Beau. They lost Beau as they passed a very narrow hole in the wall, too small for them to climb in but just fine for a demon. It shot out of the hole like a rocket, slamming into Beau and taking him over the edge.
“Fuck!” Cain bellowed. “Watch the holes!”
He no sooner gave warning than more demons spilled out. While the monsters had lost the surprise element, the narrow parapet made it hard to fight and further delayed them.
It became obvious the demons were being used as stalling fodder, which meant they most likely had little time to rescue Sadie. The daemessorum would have taken her for a reason. A reason Vance doubted would end well for her. “We’re wasting time,” he grumbled.
“I see a way up.” Cain pointed to a rusted ladder bolted to the concrete wall. Rickety, most likely dangerous, but they had no other options.
“You go first,” Cain stated. “I’ll guard your back.”
Vance wasted no time, pulling himself up the rungs, doing his best to ignore the ominous creaking. When he reached the halfway point, the whole thing groaned. He looked down to see Cain following.
He kept moving upward and noticed the ladder entered a chimney of sorts, narrow and round but with a manhole cover at the top. As he reached to touch it, the ladder shuddered.
“It’s coming loose,” Cain yelled.
