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Part I - Chapter III

D'kal and S'ai walked back to the smith's house in silence. K'lar and D'kal had exchanged some of their notes and data, and they made a few stops on the way back so the smith could hand off more notes or offload information from his data pad to others. Though power had been restored some moments before, the Shrouded streets were still bare and the citizens remained in their homes. The two still hadn't discovered the exact cause why, but D'kal held the firm belief that it was instigated by the Kesh; they were most likely testing their power supply or the strength of their defense systems.

Arriving once more at the small house, D'kal entered while S'ai waited outside. He noticed for the first time that the metal worker's house was quite a bit smaller than his forge, implying, he concluded, that D'kal spent most of his waking moments at his forge. He had seen earlier that the smith had few objects of value in his home, preferring probably a simpler lifestyle, contrary to his profession. S'ai had been told by his professors that Shrouded metal smiths were very experienced, accomplished artisans and that it took a large amount of patience and artistic ability to become a successful one. This only made S'ai want to learn more.

A commotion seemed to be coming from the inside the house, as if D'kal was struggling with someone. Soon after the smith exited the house and handed a large sack full of hard objects to him, saying " If you still want to be a smith, you'll have to build a little muscle."

S'ai smirked and hoisted the large bag into a comfortable position across his back. The sack was heavy, but not so heavy that he couldn't bear it. D'kal came back out of the house with two of the same bag, probably just as heavy. Most surprising was the fact that S'ai hadn't noticed how strong D'kal actually was: he was of a medium build but his muscles were solid from long hours at the forge.

Again they moved through the near deserted streets of the Shrouded, taking many more turns and alleys than they had getting to the border. S'ai couldn't tell what direction they were moving. Deep night had approached at last. Mist gathered around their ankles and S'ai could almost see his breath. Soon he was sweating hard under the weight he carried; his calves burned as did his arms and shoulders. D'kal noticed the youth had slowed in his pace. Turning, he whispered, "We're almost there."

They continued for what seemed like an hour, once or twice almost running into the Guard. They didn't want to be hindered in their journey by an inquiry, so they waited until the armoires figures passed and then slipped away quietly.

They reached a small alleyway between two large warehouses in a factory district. In the ground, a large crack had formed in the pavement where D'kal slid both of his bags. Quite suddenly, at least two pairs if hands seemed to sprout from the bottom of the small chasm and grabbed the sacks. S'ai almost screamed, but the breath was taken from his lungs and his blood ran cold. The dead were alive in their graves beneath them!

D'kal, hearing the choked sounds if fear behind him, grabbed the boy by his shoulder.

"They're friends. Don't worry."

With that, D'kal hunched over and disappeared into the hole. From his position, S'ai was surprised that he could fit at all. Sheepishly nearing the hole, he lowered the sack. Again, strange hands came up from the hole and disappeared with the bag of items. A few moments later, an unfamiliar face appeared just below the surface. It was a young man, slightly younger than D'kal, and he grinned up at S'ai from the hole, "Are you coming or not?"

Nodding, S'ai followed the stranger into the hole. It was cramped at first, and S'ai thought he was going to get stuck. Wiggling out, he tumbled onto the floor of some sort of chamber. It was small and cold. Opposite him, a staircase went steeply downwards. D'kal stood to one side, talking to the stranger and another, while others had already started their descent. The three ended their discussion and D'kal walked towards him.