Beyond the Void

Chapter 16, A student prank

VAERA

Five tens since the Mark of the Other One blossomed.

The very first houses of Whitefall had been wrought into the pearl white cliffs of this coast. Over time, they had turned into a sprawling network of tunnels and mines, built with hopes of finding precious metals.

Hope died quickly, and the under-city was abandoned. These days most of these remnants of the city underneath the city were used for maintaining the palace foundations. The previous generations built giant supports and platforms inside the cliffs themselves.

And if you looked deep inside the caves, you found forgotten shafts leading whichever way and opening up in the most unexpected places. Some of those shafts led up underneath the palace.

Each time Vaera came here, the path to the palace would change little by little. The ground was constantly shifting as the vast palace still, after hundreds of years, righted itself on uneven ground. Tonight, slight tremors ran through the rock.

She squeezed through tight spaces, past loose rocks, and whatever that slippery stuff was dripping from random cracks. Occasionally her hand would touch her waist, ensuring that the bright-blue sash with all the tools was still there under her extra layers of clothing.

As she climbed higher, she came across shattered pipes, old bricks and pools of filth, faeces and Light only knew what else the mages threw in here. She knew of a few others that used this path to reach the outer and lower tiers of the palace. But Vaera was the only frequent visitor and the only one to have ventured deep inside the heart of the palace.

Most of her journey was over by now. Her hands ached. It was good she had begun the climb early today. She had had to change the route upwards quite a lot. With any luck, she would still have a good portion of the night to skulk around. If need be, she would find a safe place to spend the day in the palace grounds.

Up ahead, Vaera could see her usual way into the gardens and she extinguished the small lantern she had taken with her. But a fresh pile of dirt had appeared under the crevice, and even a few small shrubs lie there. She wondered whether it was still safe to climb it.

As she peeked upward, trying to find out how stable it would be, the skies above crackled and rumbled. Vaera pulled away from the crevice in alarm, but only a fine shower of dust fell down. A constant tremor quietly rumbled inside the cliffs.

What little stone she could see seemed undisturbed by the tremors. Bracing her leg on the side of a rock, she jumped upwards and spread all of her limbs to catch the walls. The first step after this was always the most crucial.

Hands and legs tired and slightly shaky from the sudden effort needed to jump up, Vaera slowly found solid places to put her hands and legs onto. She still had a while to go until the surface and going up like this was slow.

...

Vaera was catching her breath and lying on the ground between bushes. Daylight had faded not too long ago, perhaps a bell or three. It meant she had plenty of time left, but more people might still be awake.

She lay there, under the bushes, until she had completely calmed down. People were passing by, all of them talking loudly. She overheard bits and pieces.

"Will probably fully erupt in the following nights."

"Shouldn't it calm down during the night? It's always less active..."