Obsidian: Retribution (Book 2)

Fifty-Two: Blood Sacrifice

Lasura stood in front of the secret passage, wondering how many ghosts still lingered in the tunnel they were about to enter and its surroundings. There was a reason 'Sed blesses those who are prepared to die,' had been carved above Samarra's city gate, and why travelers still prayed to Sed, the god of the sea, before they entered. In the old days, the only way of getting into Samarra by land, a city completely closed off from outsiders by the sea and the Djamahari, was to climb the mountain's treacherous cliffs––a task most died trying to accomplish before they even had a glimpse of this seaside, whitewashed city. When the Rajs got together to build the city gate for better access, its construction was said to have claimed the lives of more than five hundred workers during the mandatory removal of an entire section of the mountain. Then came Eli, whose conquest of the peninsula slammed into a dead end at the gate of Samarra he'd repeatedly failed to breach, resulting in the decision to dig a tunnel to bring his army through instead. The project, according to Eli's journal, had claimed almost a thousand more deaths to accomplish. To this day, tales of ghosts outside the city gate were still going around campfires lit by passing caravans.

Most stories were probably made up, to be sure, and Lasura imagined no one thought much of them until they found themselves standing here, in the dark, staring at the mountain still stained with the blood of its victims wondering if they would reach the city alive.

Which was exactly what they were trying to do, armed with only brief information from the first person who needed them all dead, namely Rhykal izr Zoren. But Djari had decided, and she would have simply come here with or without them if necessary, which didn't give him much of a choice. He was with her all the way, she needed to know that. He didn't think she did, or cared. She hadn't said much since last night. The was a quietness around her that didn't feel right. He had a feeling it was more than what Saya had said, something she wouldn't share if you pried her mouth open. Not with him anyway.

They'd waited until dark to approach, hoping to lessen the risk of being seen and stopped by the guards as they walked past the gate. Djari's hair had been dyed red with a paste Saya had obtained from a passing caravan so they could move around discreetly. Rhykal's hands had been tied in front of him, leashed and led by Saya who dressed as a slave trader with Djari as her young servant and him as her personal guard. She had the rope wound twice around one hand, keeping the other on her blade, ready to draw any minute her prisoner tried to escape. Djari didn't seem too worried about that. She seemed to trust Rhykal, for something he'd said during a conversation they weren't a part of.

The passage's entrance was covered by an obscure slab of rock, marked with discreet carvings for those who knew exactly where it was and what to look for. The slab could be moved by one man and easily put back in its place once inside. The short path behind it led to a large, natural cave, one he assumed was the beginning of the manmade tunnel built by Eli and later expanded by Deo di Amarra.

It was an immensely profitable project for both. Samarra was a city built on the horseshoe slopes of the Djamahari facing the ocean, its east and west ends closed off from entry by the mountain's steep cliffs, making it a city nearly impossible to breach or hold under siege by land due to its full access to the sea. With not enough ships and the rest of the peninsula's coastal areas being unfavorable to harbor a navy, the tunnel had been Eli's only hope to gain victory.

Once he'd succeeded in sacking the city, Eli had ordered the tunnel's entrance on either side demolished immediately for security purposes. For centuries, no one knew the locations of these entry points until a construction worker had discovered one by accident some two decades ago. Deo had, of course, immediately jumped in on the opportunity and turned it into his private property. Since then, Eli's passage was rumored to have been further expanded into a massive network inside the mountain. Rumored, because it was built, owned, and controlled entirely by The Red Mamba with funding from the most powerful figures of Samarra, all of whom kept its infrastructure a well guarded secret and its access opened only to those inside their own prestigious circle.