Knights of the Grey City

Chapter 7 - TEAMWORK

My next entry into the Grey City happened as soon as I stopped expecting it. It seemed to operate like that, sneaking up on me only when I wasn't directly thinking about it.

It was after work, a few days after I'd been to Huang's apartment. I'd stepped out in the late evening to grab a few things from the convenience store. One second I was thinking about whether we needed more hand soap or not, and the next, a weird silence fell around me like a shroud.

I looked up. It was a little less icy than before, much like Toronto, which had managed to wiggle from the shackles of the ice storm. Narrow streets, circular lamps, and a grey haze of colourless light looked back at me. Welcome back, Camilo.

I made my movements silent and crept towards the wall, keeping low. I knew from skimming Huang's journal that, before he'd been able to turn into a gargoyle, he'd spend every entry carefully making his way to the Sanctuary. Sometimes he'd make it, other times the City would spit him back out before he got there.

Thankfully, after about ten minutes of careful sneaking, I hadn't run into anything dangerous. All the demons must still be hanging out at the waterfront, but there was no way I'd be able to relax, so I maintained my achingly slow and careful pace. I was not looking to be surprised by anything.

A nagging worry had started to rise by then—where was Huang? Did it take him a while to find me if he entered on the other side of the Grey City? Or for the first time, was I alone in here?

We hadn't really prepared for that possibility. Instead of panic, I felt a dull acceptance. We were never going to be able to plan for every outcome. At this point I just had to focus on staying alive.

I came to a wide intersection that looked a little different from the roads I'd been walking down. There were a few wide shop windows to my left and to my right, the pavement occasionally gave way to rounded cobblestones.

Huang's instructions on how to navigate the districts of the Grey City came back to me. That cobblestone looked familiar, like the ones paving the streets near the sanctuary. But by following glass windows, I'd be able to get to the glass district with the sentry tower instead.

I hesitated. Sanctuary was safer, but if I holed up in there, I wouldn't be able to make any progress. Huang and I needed to go to the glass district to enact our plan—and if he were here, he might head there too. I bit my lip, then took a right, past the empty windows and deeper into the Grey City.

It didn't look much different for a while, but I continued to take the streets that had the largest windows. The change happened pretty swiftly: after only a few minutes, I had entered a neighbourhood where the buildings seemed to be made entirely of windows. And soon, the pretence of windows disappeared altogether, leaving tall boxes of smooth glass on either side of the road.

The road itself was also changing into black, bubbled glass. The dim light was confusing here, reflecting and refracting in strange patterns. The place was utterly unusual, more so than the other parts of the City I'd been in so far. At least the garden district, the waterfront... they weren't normal, but they looked like they could be a part of a real place. Walking through a city made of glass was surreal. It was also much darker without any streetlights; the light just seemed to emanate softly from the fog.

I tried to use my sense to watch for anything that might be stalking me through the transparent streets, but still had no luck. I stuck close to the glass walls of the buildings, reaching one hand out to trail against them. The surface was rough with frost and, peering inside the buildings, I could see rounded, half-formed shapes. I had no idea what they were, and I kind of didn't want to know. I kept moving.

A few minutes later, a flash of light moving across the glass next to me made me freeze. It darted back, refracting on the angled panes of glass and the path beneath my feet. I backed against the wall and waited to see if it happened again. It did, though this time the source was clear—it was the gargoyle, flying down a nearby street towards me. I stepped into the open and the huge dragon alighted down in front of me, the wind battering my face.