get hold of Brendan. We have to go now.”
Brendan decided he’d rather brave the tunnels than face whatever was making that howling. He looked up into Borje’s yellow eyes and tried to smile. The Troll smiled back, a slightly terrifying proposition, considering the state of his teeth. Brendan reached up and grasped one giant finger and shook it. “Thanks, Borje. I don’t really understand everything yet, but I think you’re a friend.”
“That’s enough for me,” Borje rumbled. “It’s a pleasure and an honour to have helped, Your Highness.” The Troll dipped his head in an awkward bow.
Kim glared at Borje, who snapped his mouth shut.
“Highness? You called me prince back at the school. What is that all about?” Brendan demanded. A gut- wrenching howl cut off any reply. Kim grabbed Brendan by the arm and hauled him down the steps.
“Go, Leafs, go!” Borje cried as they plunged into darkness, and with that incongruous exhortation ringing in his ears, Brendan entered Toronto’s Undertown.
62 In the Faerie culture, one’s secret name is very important. Those who know it have power over an individual.
63 Kobolds are another magical race of Germanic origin. They are shape-shifters and expert trackers. Kobolds are akin to Dwarfs but smaller in stature, preferring dark subterranean tunnels to the open air. They are incredibly mischievous and devious, with a loathing for most Humans.
THE TUNNELS
The steps were uneven. More than once Brendan had to thrust out a hand to brace himself against the stone wall. His hands were soon frigid and slimy with whatever microbes clustered in such miserable underground places.
Brendan had lost count after sixty-seven steps. He was becoming disoriented as he stumbled after taking another step downward where there was no step to be had. He almost turned his ankle when his questing foot encountered the floor.
“Which way?” Kim said in the darkness. Her voice was surprisingly loud, echoing off the stone walls.
“I have no idea,” Brendan said. “I can’t see a thing.”
“It’s funny,” Kim said, her voice now closer. “You are able to do some things naturally but others, like your Faerie Sight, they haven’t kicked in yet.”
“Faerie Sight?” Brendan asked.
“It’s impossible to describe. Let’s just say, to keep it simple, Faeries can see really well in the dark. Obviously, you haven’t got the knack yet, so…”
A soft yellow glow flared to life in the darkness. Kim held her field hockey stick aloft. The curved head of the stick was wreathed in a golden nimbus of flame. When his eyes finished smarting at the sudden glare, Brendan marvelled to see that the wood of the stick was not burning. “How are you doing that?”
Kim snorted with laughter. “You’re so new, it’s hilarious.” Looking at Brendan’s face, she sensed he didn’t see the humour. “Seriously, you’ve got a lot to learn. But we’ve got to get moving. We’ll talk as we go. First, we have to decide which way.”
She raised the club and their surroundings came into focus.
Brendan saw they were in a rough-hewn, circular chamber where three passages joined. Scrawled on the walls was the ubiquitous graffiti. “Dwarfs!” Kim shook her head in disgust. “There are three possible routes and they aren’t marked in any way. Ridiculous Troll! I’ll have to go back up and ask him.” Kim started back toward the stairs.
A howl from above and an angry Troll shout dissuaded her against that course of action. “They’ve arrived at Borje’s. We’ll just have to pick one and go.”
At the sound of the piercing howling, Brendan’s heart raced anew. He looked around at their options. Three darker patches of blackness stood in front of them, three different possible directions.
“Go left,” Brendan said.
“Why?”
“In a labyrinth, always choose the left passage and you’ll come out eventually.”
“Did you read that in a kid’s book?” Kim snorted. “This ain’t no labyrinth. I’ve been in the real deal. Kitsune Kai in Kyoto tried to trap me in one a while back. 64 That was a labyrinth. This is just a few tunnels.” She thought for a moment and shrugged. “But I suppose left is as good as any other choice. They all smell rank. Mould and Dwarf farts, a pungent combo. All right. Let’s go.”
She started forward with Brendan close on her heels. He didn’t want to lose her down here.
At first, their choice seemed a good one. The passage headed straight on with a gentle downward tendency. Brendan could actually see quite far ahead down the tunnel. On the walls, here and there, were spray-painted inscriptions in angular letters in a language he couldn’t read.
“What do they say?” he asked Kim.
“You don’t want to know,” Kim said, shaking her head. “Dwarfs love graffiti. And they love swearing. They’re not so keen on spelling.”
As they made progress, Brendan started to relax a bit. They were moving at a steady clip, and he had to concentrate on breathing regularly to keep up the pace. Kim didn’t seem to tire at all.
The terrifying cries of their pursuers became less frequent and more distant. Brendan began to feel that the danger was less immediate. Kim slowed their pace slightly, allowing Brendan to better study the tunnels.
He could see details in the rock walls, striations, and cut marks. Borje had employed the tools only when necessary to widen the path or connect existing caverns and natural tunnels. Brendan had never even imagined that such places existed. The oppressive weight of the city poised above him made him feel as though he was going to suffocate. To take his mind off his fear, he decided to talk.
“This is amazing,” Brendan marvelled. “How could this exist below the city without anyone knowing?”
“Humans see what they want to see. They don’t venture down here much,” Kim said. “They don’t need to. We’re way farther down than the deepest subway tunnel or basement. But this is nothing compared to, say, New York, Tokyo, Cairo, or London. They are so honeycombed with catacombs it’s ridiculous. Toronto is a young city. Give it a few hundred years and it will be Swiss cheese down here.”
“There are people… Faeries like you in other cities?” Brendan asked, incredulous.
“Like you, too,” Kim said pointedly. “Oh, yeah. Everywhere in the world. We live right under the noses of the People of Metal, in their cities, sometimes right in the open and the Humans don’t even know it.”
“People of Metal?”
“That’s what we call the Humans.”
Brendan tripped over a pile of plastic objects and almost fell. Looking down, he saw a litter of empty cans, discarded CD cases, and refuse.
“Dwarfs again,” Kim explained. “They steal anything shiny and toss what they don’t like. The original litterbugs.”
Brendan caught up to Kim and asked, “How is it that nobody finds out?”
“About the Dwarfs?”
“About them and you and all of this!”
“We’re experts at deception. We disguise ourselves with charms and glamours. We keep out of sight and don’t draw attention to ourselves. Many Faeries live right alongside Humans, work in their businesses and live in their neighbourhoods but we keep it quiet. Otherwise, Humans would totally freak out. Ever heard of the witch hunts? In the Middle Ages?”
Brendan seemed to recall something about people being condemned as witches and burned at the stake in olden times. “They were Faeries?”
“Yeah. Faeries who weren’t careful enough to keep themselves secret,” Kim said. Her expression darkened. “Or assumed wrongly that they could use their gifts to help their neighbours and not pay the price. The only protection is in secrecy for us. And there’s the Sacred Truce.”
“The Truce?”
