Starrlings 1: House of Fire

chapter 53

L U M I

"The network of tunnels and shafts down here was built by the spring starrlings who came to Lombardia for work," Raphael told Lumi proudly. The flickering solar lamps lit up his face in strange ways.

"They were slaves," Lumi said sharply. "You almost make it sound as if they came here of their own choice."

Raphael paused, and then looked at Lumi. "You're right. It wasn't their choice. But there are no more slaves in Lombardia."

They had descended from street level into the labyrinth of tunnels that ran underneath the city. It was dark and damp, lit only by solar lights that glowed yellow. Everywhere around them ords rushed past, going towards the underground rail system or the cable cars that criss-crossed the city, rushing to work or home.

"The deepest tunnels go a few meters below sea level, to a place called Darklake. If we go down there, we'll be able to watch dragon fights. The longest cable shaft, the Nord Sever, will take us all the way there. It's the busiest shaft. You know, a quarter of the New Hamilton population uses these cables every day."

"Has anyone ever... died down here?" Lumi asked. As soon as she asked the question, she realised she already knew the answer. If half a million people travelled in the underground networks every day, then there must be deaths. She shivered to think of the final moments of a person trapped deep underground. No sunlight.

"It's very safe, Princess," Raphael said.

There were ticket barriers, and Lumi watched with interest as the people in front of her inserted coins into the slots so the doors would open. But instead of producing coins, Raphael simply pushed open a gate and held his hand out to Lumi. She stepped through with him, and then looked back at the people around her.

"The gates open automatically for starrlings," Raphael explained. "It's a mechanism that detects bond magic."

Lumi glanced back at the ords, who continued to use their coins to open the ticket barriers. But then she turned to watch where Raphael was leading her, and she was distracted by the long solar-lit tunnel that stretched before them.

Along the walls were poster advertisements. As they walked along the hall, Lumi was entranced by each of the posters. There were colourful advertisements for medicine, for food, for musical theatre, for insurance, for shoes and services and books and music. Bright prints claimed health and beauty and warned against double-sun exposure.

Lumi felt her eyes flicking between each poster, and then she realised the artificial light was wavering, and becoming brighter, and there was natural light ahead. She thought they must be reaching an exit to the tunnel, and out towards the cliffs, but as they walked further forward she saw she was wrong.

There were light starrlings up ahead, in an intersection of the tunnels. They stood against the wall, holding their arms out in prayer. Their light shone brightly in the tunnel, flooding the space with heavenly shine. Lombardians raced past in all directions, heads bent away from the light.

As they passed, Raphael subtly placed coins into the collection boxes in front of the praying starrlings.

Lumi glanced back at them, but he ushered her along.

They turned and followed the crowd down into a wider tunnel, which echoed with the hundreds of people moving around. Finally, beyond another set of stairs deeper still, Lumi glimpsed the famous underground railway system. A train was waiting at the platform, and Raphael took her hand as they stepped on.

She felt the depths of the tunnels creeping inwards around her, and she shivered again. She was terrified by the pressing crowd of people in their carriage, who all seemed disinterested in Lumi and Raphael in the throng. The people around her had a greyish tinge to them, and she wondered when the last time some of them had seen sunlight was. The doors closed, and the train rumbled to life and took off away from the platform. There was no escape, until they reached the next station.