“It’s me,” Kull whispered. I stopped struggling, and he let me go.
I rounded on him. “What are you doing?”
“I’m sorry, Olive. I wasn’t sure if it was you or not.”
“Who else would it be?”
“One of them. They’ve been tricking us, Olive, and I had to be sure it was really you.” Muted torchlight glowed weakly through the curtains, barely illuminating the worry in his eyes.
“They’ve locked us inside. Jeven discovered my amulet and took it away. And now, the door is sealed shut with black magic. There’s no way to get out of this room.”
He cursed. “I knew it was only a matter of time before they locked us up. Or worse.”
“How are we going to get out?”
Kull shook his head. “I don’t know, but we need to find that sword and leave this place as soon as possible.”
“I’ve already found it,” I said.
“You have?”
“Yes, I convinced Jeven to show it to me. The sword is in a room beneath the tower.”
“Beneath the tower?”
I nodded. Kull flexed his jaw, seeming lost in thought. “They must be keeping the sword close to the tombs I discovered. If we’re able to escape, we may be able to get to the sword through the tombs and avoid detection. And…” His eyes turned dark. “I must show you what I’ve found. It’s troubling, Olive. This place is not as it seems.”
“What do you mean? You found something in the tombs?”
He nodded. “I’ll show you, assuming we can escape this room.”
“But how do we manage that?”
He shook his head. “Perhaps we could break down the door?”
“No, there’s black magic in it. Trying to break through isn’t an option.”
“Another way, then. The window,” he said, turning around. We stepped toward it. Kull parted the curtains, and we glanced outside. Beneath us, a ledge jutted out, although it was almost eight feet down. Kull placed his hands on the glass and stared at the drop.
“We’ll go through here,” he said.
“Are you sure?”
“No, but I don’t know of another way, and we don’t have time to find anything better.” He scanned the window and found a latch. After unhinging the mechanism, he swung the window outward.
Air thick with the scent of smoke entered the room. We leaned over the windowsill and focused on the ledge beneath us. Beyond the ledge, the city of Slavom sprawled. Chimneys rose over the buildings, pumping plumes of smoke that hid the nighttime sky. Millions of torches flickered, tinting the billowing clouds a muted shade of orange. Somewhere out there, Heidel and Maveryck were hopefully well on their way to disabling the unicorn’s stone.
“Let’s go,” Kull said, climbing over the windowsill. I followed. Together, we traversed the narrow ledge. For a moment, we hung suspended. A stiff wind blustered past as we let go of the ledge and dropped to the balcony below. I made sure to keep my knees bent as I landed to soften the impact, but as I dropped, the hard landing reverberated through my body.
Kull landed lithely beside me, which was impressive for a man of his size. Slowly, we traversed the balcony until we rounded the building and spotted a narrow staircase leading downward. Guards patrolled beneath us. We waited until they were out of sight, and then tiptoed down the stairs.
We located a small door leading inside, but when I attempted to turn the knob, I couldn’t make it budge.
“Locked,” I said.
“Keep going,” Kull whispered.
Together, we continued down the stairs until we reached the ground. The guards we’d seen from above paced away from us, and we used the opportunity to sneak behind the building. We entered a narrow alley between the sprawling buildings. Sounds of clanking machinery echoed from where we stood.
“Where do we go from here?” I whispered.
Kull scanned the alley. “There,” he said, pointing to a round grate in the ground.
“The sewer?”
“Yes, we should be able to access the tombs through there.”
We crossed to the metal grate. Kull knelt beside it and maneuvered the covering off the hole. The grate scraped the pavement and I cringed, hoping he hadn’t alerted the guards. Kull grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the opening.
I climbed down first, and Kull followed. Sounds of scraping metal reverberated as Kull replaced the grate overhead. I prayed the sound hadn’t alerted anyone as I continued to climb down. Iciness radiated from the metal rungs, chilling my fingers. I felt as if I couldn’t climb fast enough, and the ladder seemed to stretch forever without an end.
The light overhead dimmed when I finally stepped to the ground, my boots splashing the shallow water covering the sewer floor. Kull stepped off behind me. He took my hand as we dashed through the sewer. Only a little light came from grates spaced infrequently overhead. The sound of splashing water echoed as we jogged through the narrow tunnels. We passed several doors, but Kull bypassed them all, mumbling something about not being close enough.
Ahead, at the end of a cramped tunnel, stood a small metal door.
“There,” he whispered, his voice reverberating. “The tombs must be through there.”
“You’re sure about that?”
“Yes, the entrance was beneath the main building leading into the tower. Look there.” He pointed up. I peered through the sewer grate. Jeven’s tower loomed overhead.
Kull stepped to the door and attempted to open it, but the latch was bolted shut with a lock. He removed his sword.
“We’ll see what Gnat Biter is capable of,” he said quietly, then raised both arms over his head and brought them down in a swift motion. The lock severed in two and fell off the door, splashing as it landed.
He sheathed his sword and gave me a slight smile.
“I guess Gnat Biter’s not so bad after all,” I said.
“I wouldn’t go that far, but yes, the sword has its uses.”
Kull grasped the door handle. Metal hinges squealed as he pulled it open and then led me inside. We entered a dimly lit
