“No, I didn’t think they would,” replies Miko in a low voice. “Not many come here who are not invited.”
“Invited?” questions James.
“Yeah, there’s a gang that claims the sewers as their own and anyone else who comes down here is fair game. Everyone knows not to come down here.”
“So why did we?” he asks with exasperation. He tries to scrape more of the sewer muck off but only ends up spreading it further. Giving it up as a lost cause, he stops trying.
“It seemed the better choice at the time,” replies Miko.
Grabbing Miko, James asks “And just who were we running from anyway?”
“They’re a bunch of petty thugs. They think I fingered them on a job they pulled last month,” Miko explains. “I didn’t but word got around that I was the one and they’ve had it in for me ever since.”
“I see,” he says. “Anyway, we need to find our way out of here.” He casts his light spell and the glowing orb appears, bringing a startled gasp from Miko. Using the orb to illuminate their way, he says, “Let’s go,” as he indicates Miko to lead them further down the sewer tunnel.
They come to a junction where a smaller branch of the main sewer enters from the left. James decides to continue following the main passage after pausing only a moment to look down the other. After another hundred feet they come to a ladder leading into the darkness above.
Grabbing Miko, he pulls him close to the rungs and says, “Look, these rungs are clean which means they must be used regularly. It could be a way out.” Gesturing toward the ladder he says, “Climb up there and see where it leads.”
“There’s only one group of people who would be using these rungs regularly,” Miko tells him, “and they don’t like unexpected guests.”
“Maybe. But we need to get out of here before they discover us,” he insists.
Nodding understandingly, but not too happy about it, Miko goes up the rungs. He returns shortly and says, “There’s a trapdoor but I can’t get it to open. It must be barred or locked from the other side.”
”Alright, let’s go down a little further and see if there’s another way out,” James says as he turns and continues making his way down the main sewer passage. They pass several lesser passages, but after giving each a cursory glance, continues following the main one.
Further down they come to where the water flowing through the sewer begins growing progressively deeper and soon has risen to their calves. They slosh their way through the water and other floating debris until they come to the blockage that’s obstructing the sewer and causing it to back up. As they draw near to the obstruction, James begins to realize just what it is that’s blocking the water’s flow.
It’s a body and by the looks of it, has been here for a while. The flesh is in an advanced state of decay with maggots crawling all over it. A couple of rats are having a meal on the corpse’s exposed thigh. They squeal and scamper away at their approach. Other debris has wedged itself around the dead body which has only added to the blockage.
Feeling like he’s about ready to throw up, James steps over the corpse and hurries down the tunnel. Once they’ve put some distance between them and the corpse, he begins to recover some of his composure, but still feels a little green.
“I hear you see a lot of that down here,” Miko tells him. “People come up missing and their bodies come out through the sewer’s outflow into the river.”
“Let’s hope the next ones won’t be ours,” states James.
Continuing down the passage, they pass two more offshoots, the smallest ones thus far. The second one is barely wide enough to squeeze through. Not much more than a wide crack in the wall. Looks like it may have been created during an earthquake or something similar.
They travel a short distance further past the small passages before discerning a light coming toward them from up ahead. James quickly cancels his light spell, plunging them into complete darkness. They start backing up the way they had come.
As they back up, James runs his hand along the wall until he encounters the smallest passage, the one that’s not more than a crack in the wall. He stops Miko and says, “I think we can squeeze through here and hide until they pass.”
Miko goes in first and then he follows, squeezing in until he’s a few feet from the tunnel. The approaching light steadily grows brighter as it draws nearer. It’s not long before they hear the approaching footsteps of several men.
As the men pass by the crack they’re hiding in, James discovers that the light is coming from a torch one of them is carrying.
“…saw something down here,” James hears one of them say.
“You’re seeing things, Dink,” another adds.
“Keep quiet and look sharp,” still another commands.
As the group passes by, James counts five men, the one in the lead carrying the torch. The men continue further down the sewer and soon the light fades until only darkness remains.
After it has been dark a minute or two, James cautiously makes his way back out of the crack to the sewer tunnel. He looks down the way the men had gone and discovers the light is no longer visible. Taking the chance that no one will be able to see, his orb springs to life on his palm. It’s then that he realizes Miko has not followed him back out into the sewer. Holding his light close to the opening, he whispers, “Miko, come on. They’re gone.”
From the opening he hears Miko’s voice, “James, there’s a room in here and another passage leading from it.” Pausing momentarily, he continues, “It may lead to another way out, away from trouble.”
“All right, I’m coming in,” he says and begins to squeeze back through. At one point he starts panicking when the crack narrows and he becomes stuck. But then he manages to wriggle past the narrow section and at last comes through to the room Miko has found.
The illumination from his orb shows that the room is small and looks like it had once been used as a storage room long ago. There are several barrels as well as a couple boxes stacked around the room, all of which have a thick layer of dust coating them. Examining the floor, he sees the only footprints disturbing the dust are the ones he and Miko have made. The single exit is a small, narrow hallway leading away into darkness.
“Doesn’t look like anyone has been in here for a long time,” observes James.
“Yeah, I wonder who used to use it,” adds Miko. He pokes into several of the boxes and barrels that are still intact but fails to come up with anything worthwhile, just old clothes long past the time when they were serviceable. Looking at James he says, “Nothing of any use here.”
Finding an old lantern in a box, James takes it and places his glowing orb inside. Now the light from the orb illuminates even better. He crosses the room to the hallway opening and shines the light down it, discovering a simple hallway which extends further than the light can reach.
“Wonder how far it goes?” Miko asks from behind him.
“Don’t know,” he replies as he moves into the hallway. The hallway continues for well over a hundred feet before ending at a flight of stone steps leading up. He directs the light toward the top and sees where it ends at a trapdoor in the ceiling.
He makes his way up the stairs to the trapdoor. Putting his shoulder against it, he pushes and manages to raise it a crack. Amazed at how much strength it took to raise it even that far, he sets the lantern down on a step and braces himself for a second try.
This time lifting with all his strength, he manages to raise the trapdoor far enough to allow light from his lantern to illuminate what lies beyond. Beyond is another small room, this one as untouched as the one below had been. No one has been in this area for a very long time.
Then letting out with a grunt of exertion, he raises the trapdoor several more inches, just enough for Miko to scramble through. Holding it open, he says, “Go through and help lift it from the other side.”
Miko scrambles up the steps and while James holds the trapdoor open, wriggles on through.
James’ strength is about to fail when he feels the weight ease up as Miko takes hold from the other side. When it’s open far enough that Miko can hold it by himself, James picks up the lantern and hurries through to the room beyond. Now he can see why the trapdoor was so heavy, a barrel was firmly attached to it. Perhaps in order to hide its existence and keep this way secret. He sets the lantern down on the floor and helps Miko to carefully close the trapdoor. They don’t want it slamming down hard and alerting whoever may be around. Just because this area has remained unused for a long time, doesn’t mean a nearby area is likewise deserted.
