Knights of the Grey City

Chapter 9 - UNDERGROUND

The gargoyle and I stood beside each other, peering into the pitch-dark tunnel. It was about twenty feet wide opened to a downward slant.

"Well," said Huang, "Let's check it out."

I allowed him to go first and followed shortly after, keeping my sense at its widest range. The walls of the tunnel were a jumble of textures similar to the glass world outside: smooth, jagged, and lumpy surfaces were twisted together in spirals.

The gargoyle's glow lit only our immediate surroundings, and it wasn't long before darkness closed in behind us as well as ahead. I didn't receive much more information from my sense than what I could see: we were in a dark, circular tunnel that seemed to stretch ahead for a long time.

"Keep an eye out for demons," Huang said as we walked, as if I needed reminding. Aside from our own footfalls on the glassy floor, the tunnel was silent.

We walked for what felt like a long time. Soon, it started to feel like we were miles underground, both from the distance we'd travelled and the quality of the air: stale and still. The glass walls around us gave way to metal and concrete, and rusty scaffolds appeared overhead. I could faintly see my breath misting in front of my face; it had to be freezing down here, even if I couldn't really feel it.

And then, we entered the maze.

Our entry tunnel levelled off and five separate tunnels opened around us, each only visible for a few feet and then masked by darkness. The gargoyle hesitantly moved forward and stuck its head down one tunnel, its glow not make a dent.

"No signs of life, at least," Huang said. "Can you sense what direction we should take?"

"Give me a second," I said, closing my eyes and moving to the centre of the branching pathway. The first time I'd entered the Grey City, I'd been able to use my sense to move ahead of my body, exploring the paths around me at length. I tried that again, focusing my concentration on the tunnel directly in front.

Sure enough, my senses were able to feel out the hallway. It continued down for another thirty feet or so, then split into two more tunnels. I chose one and tried to push further down, but my senses seemed to have reached their limit.

"I can't see too far down the tunnels," I reported. My voice sounded strange, echoing harshly. "Honestly, I don't know what I'm looking for."

"We're trying to get to the waterfront," Huang said. "There has to be a trigger, like the enclosed spaces we used to get here."

I tried the left tunnel, wondering if anything would stand out to me. It seemed identical to the first path, except that it faced the other direction. Slowly rotating in a circle, I sensed out all five paths to the limit of my spatial sense and found only one thing that was slightly different. I pointed down one tunnel.

"The only thing I can think of is that, down that way, there are some small pipes on the ceiling."

"That could be it," Huang said, moving in that direction. "I didn't notice what brought us to the waterfront when we got there last time, but I have seen that there are sometimes small pipes on the edges of the buildings. And it is associated with water, so it makes sense. Let's try it."

I nodded and again fell into step behind him, for once wishing that the light he cast was a little brighter. The maze seemed even darker than the entry tunnel, maybe due to the lack of reflective surfaces. I needed to start carrying around a flashlight—wait a second.

I dug out my phone and checked the battery: forty percent. I tapped the flashlight app and a narrow, bright beam sunk into the darkness ahead of us. It wasn't much, but it helped a little. The gargoyle glanced at me and nodded.