Totentanz

Book 3 Chapter VI: Unten

UNTEN
German, "below; downstairs; underneath"

But we sunk into water no creature can know
You dragged us both into the darkness that grows
-- The Amazing Devil, Battle Cries

In all her lifetimes Diarnlan had never experienced anything as unpleasant as that walk through the tunnels. The place played tricks on her mind. She kept thinking she heard distant voices and saw figures out of the corners of her eyes. She knew there couldn't be anything there. The tunnel was so narrow that two people couldn't have passed. There was nothing but herself and Karandren and Saungrafn.

She wouldn't have minded so much if Karandren hadn't been obviously unsettled too.

Saungrafn trembled slightly in her hand. She couldn't tell if she was shaking or if it was frightened. Either way, it guided them straight on through the tunnel. When they came to a crossroads or another flight of stairs, Saungrafn moved to point out which was the right direction.

All Diarnlan knew for sure was that they were going north. How far they'd travelled, where they were in the city, and whether or not the skrýszel was waiting overhead were questions she couldn't answer. She did her best not to think of them.

On and on they walked. Diarnlan's feet hurt. She didn't slow down or say anything, partly because she couldn't bear the thought of stopping here and partly to avoid showing weakness in front of Karandren. He was eternally at her elbow with his hand still on fire. After the first few near-heart-attacks she'd realised it was fake fire and couldn't set her coat alight.

He was oddly silent. It was a relief at first; she remembered only too well his non-stop talking in their last lifetime. But after what felt like an age of silence Diarnlan wished he would say anything, no matter how inane, just so she could hear a real person's voice.

Finally they came to a set of stairs leading up. Saungrafn swung round to point at them.

"This way," Diarnlan said. Her voice echoed weirdly in the tunnel. She was almost sure that there shouldn't be an echo of any sort in such a narrow space.

Karandren jumped, then nodded mutely. Diarnlan looked over at him. His face was drawn and his eyes were huge. The blue light of his fire made him look almost like a ghost himself.

Diarnlan put Saungrafn back in its sheath. She held the lamp aloft with one hand and kept the other on the wall to steady herself. The steps were narrow and uneven. She caught her foot on one and almost fell. Karandren caught her sleeve in time.

As they got closer to the top Diarnlan stopped and held the lamp at arm's length. A block of apparently-solid stone covered the exit.

"There must be some way to open it from this side," she muttered.

"Try the walls just under it," Karandren said. "I can't get past you to look."

She climbed onto the next step. Now the top of her head was brushing against the stone. Cold air hit the side of her face.

First she ran her free hand over the left wall. Then she switched the lamp to that hand and used the other one to check the right wall. That didn't work, so she tried pushing against the stone itself.

The cold air abruptly stopped. She distinctly heard something move overheard. The stairs shook.

Diarnlan's eyes widened. "Get back!"

She practically shoved Karandren back. He stumbled down the stairs. Diarnlan ran after him.

A roar split the air. The skrýszel threw the stone away.