access shaft meant the roof of the sewer opened up. They moved to it, and Kali and Slowhand stood.
As he rose, the sewer's detritus slipped off his body, and Kali saw what was beneath. Or rather wasn't.
She turned quickly away. 'Oh gods, you're naked again, Slowhand. How in the hells do you manage it?'
'Hey — don't blame me, blame Makennon,' he defended himself. 'Or maybe even yourself — in case you've forgotten you're the reason I got locked up again.' He waved at himself. 'Like this.'
'You told me to go!'
'Of course I did — but I didn't expect you to come back! What the hells are you doing here, Hooper? Did you forget something?'
Kali's expression became serious. 'I was too late to save the old man.'
Slowhand faltered. 'Gods, I'm sorry.'
'I know you are. But before he died, he told me what's going on. Sent me to Andon. This whole mess is worse than we thought.'
Slowhand bowed his head, sighed. 'When is it ever anything else? Tell me.'
Kali explained the gist of what she'd learned, omitting only those parts she was still working out in her own head, and, as she did, the expression in the archer's eyes changed from anticipation to resignation, and he rested his palms on the sewer wall, slowly banging his head against them. 'I suppose this means I'm not escaping any more?'
'I… might be grateful for a little help.'
Slowhand punched the sewer wall. 'I knew it!' He pointed ahead, would have jumped up and down like a petulant brat if he could. 'Do you realise I'm only a hundred yards from the exit! A hundred yards, Hooper. I see the light at the end of the tunnel!'
'I know. I came in that way. Slowhand, what can I say? The outside world's not all it's cracked up to be?'
'Aaarrgh!' Slowhand roared in frustration.
'Oh, will you stop it,' Kali chided him. 'Look, I hardly expected to find you crawling about down here, all right? In fact, I thought you were dead.' She paused, quietened, and added softly, 'I'm glad you're not, by the way.'
Killiam stared at her in her new dark silk bodysuit, and his tone softened. 'Yeah, me too. Like the new look, by the way. Very nice outfit. Clingy. It, er, shows off your good points.'
Kali folded her arms. 'It's damp and I'm cold, you pervert. Now, are you with me or not, because I want out of this sewer…'
'Oh, funnily enough, so did I!' Killiam offered, flinging up his arms, though by now it was obvious that he didn't mean it. Nevertheless, the action resulted in something flying off his hands and slapping Kali in the face. Slowhand looked down, apologised.
Kali wiped the article away, shaking her head. 'There's an access shaft in the ceiling about two hundred yards back,' she said. 'Comes out near the Eternal Choir. We can work our way back down to the complex from there.'
'Okay, I'll go first,' Killiam said, bending back to enter the tunnel.
Kali grabbed him. 'O-ho, no. If you think I'm going to crawl along looking at your rear end in all its glory, you've got another think coming.' She got down on her hands and knees. 'I go first.'
'Fine, fine,' Killiam said, tiredly. But as Kali moved forwards into the tunnel he smiled at the sight of her bottom, stuck his finger in his mouth to wet it, and drew a tick in the air. It was only a moment later he realised his mistake.
'Guh… uh… ahhhh… pits…'
'Hah!' Kali said. 'What was that, by the way? On your — ?'
'Sewerkraut, I think.'
'Don't you mean — '
'No, Hooper. I know what I mean.'
The pair found the access shaft and up it a ladder that rose to cathedral level, which they climbed, shoving aside a grate. They emerged into a corridor filled with the singing of the Eternal Choir, and the first thing Killiam did was flatten a guard who stood in a doorway mouthing the words as he listened to it. He quickly stripped him of his armour, then donned it himself, bundling the body into a dark niche.
Kali looked him up and down. 'Better,' she said.
Slowhand shrugged, buckling up his collarpiece. 'Yeah, well — this time we're not planning to go flying anywhere, are we?'
'The door's just down there — come on.'
'Wait,' Slowhand said. 'There's something I need to get first. From Makennon's chambers.'
'What? Are you nuts?'
'Trust me, Hooper. I've a feeling we're going to need this thing.'
Slowhand led Kali to the Anointed Lord's audience chamber — deserted, Kali guessed because Makennon was down at the dig — and opened a compartment in the wall. Kali found herself staring at the most magnificent-looking longbow she had ever seen. She knew where it must have come from — the Battle of Andon, eight years earlier. This was the weapon that had killed John Garrison.
Slowhand weighed it in his hands, ran his palm along its sleek lines. 'Suresight,' he said. 'Never thought I'd see her again.'
'Careless of you to lose her.'
Slowhand pulled a quiver from the compartment too, lined an arrow against the shaft, pursing his lips and nodding in approval. Then his expression darkened. 'Yes, well… After Andon I'd had enough of killing. Everyone had.' His tone lightened once more. 'But times move on. Let's go.'
'Hold on,' Kali said, looking around. 'If Makennon's in the habit of keeping souvenirs, maybe…'
She rifled through a nearby chest and with a cry of triumph pulled forth her toolbelt, removed from her prior to her interrogation. She also found her torn and tatty old outfit, and as she held it up to examine it, wasn't sure what disturbed her more — the fact that Makennon had felt fit to keep it, or the fact that Dolorosa had been right in her observation that it did indeed steeenk.
She left the remains of the garment where it was and they continued on to their original destination, moving down out of the cathedral and into its sub-levels once more. This time, they avoided all the guards they could, having no wish to announce their return to the lower depths.
There was only one problem. The bridge across the cavern had been retracted to the other side, the wheel there locked. What was more, two guards paced back and forth in front of it.
'Dammit,' Kali said. 'They've battened down the hatches.'
'Not a problem,' Slowhand said.
He unslung his bow.
Kali stared at the distant wheel and guards. So far they hadn't been spotted but…
'What the hells are you doing?' she whispered. 'Take one of them down and the other will sound the alarm before you can hit the second. Oh, and even if you could get the second, then there'll be no one to activate the wheel. We need to think this through.'
'No, we don't,' Slowhand said. He primed an arrow and hefted the bow. A nerve in his jaw twitched as he waited, but then, at the exact moment the pacing guards crossed paths, he let fly. The single arrow pierced both of their necks, dropping them instantly, then carried on to impact with the wheel clamp with a solid thud, releasing the lock.
'Hells, you're good,' Kali said.
Slowhand smiled, patting his bow. 'It's good to have the old girl back.'
Kali brought the bridge to their side and the two crossed, sneaking their way through the remainder of the complex until they neared the shafts that had so aroused Kali's curiosity what seemed now an age before. This time, they weren't guarded, but with the bridge supposedly retracted they didn't really need to be.
'Hooper, why here?' Slowhand asked. 'I mean, an Old Race structure on this site, and then, centuries later, the cathedral built here too, presumably with the Final Faith not then knowing what was beneath it. Can that just be coincidence?'
'Maybe,' Kali replied. 'Or maybe this has always been a site of some significance, sociologically, historically
