Without further discussion, we headed down into the sewers, and I sent my rat to the vaults, ready to slip in when a guard or treasurer was let inside the enormous doors. As soon as we got below ground into the cavernous labyrinth of the sewer network, I began to sense the evil of what lay beneath the city of Luminescent Spires. The construction of the sewers themselves gave away the fact that there was something far more ancient beneath the city, for as soon as we climbed down one of the access tunnels and got into the sewers, we noticed that the stonework of these subterranean tunnels was very different to that of the city above them. For one thing, the stone was a type of old, red granite rarely seen in Prand anymore. The stonework was far cruder than the precise and perfect geometry of the very orderly city above. It looked like it had been built by men with far less of a grasp of architectural wizardry than those who had constructed the soaring towers and awestriking cathedrals of Luminescent Spires. Even so, the crude stonework was solid and had obviously lasted for thousands of years.
“What’s that smell?” Yumo-Rezu wrinkled her pretty nose with disgust as we walked through the tunnels, lighting our way in the inky darkness with burning torches.
“We’re in a sewer, in case you haven’t noticed,” Friya remarked dryly. “They’re not known for their fresh air and fragrant scents.”
“No, no, she’s right,” Rhuz said. “There’s another smell, beyond the stench of human waste that permeates these tunnels. A more disturbing smell, one that’s making me feel … on edge.”
I dropped down next to the sluggishly flowing water of the sewer and held my torch over it. The revolting sludge had a distinctly reddish tinge to it. What was more, I could sense the presence of fresh death nearby; there were vast numbers of dead bodies down here in the darkest and deepest parts of this network of sewers.
“It’s blood you can smell,” I said darkly. “A lot of it.”
“So, the mythical Blood Pyramid is truly down here below us, then?” Yollah asked.
“We’re already in it, brother,” I said. “These are not just the sewers of Luminescent Spires— they’re the outermost passages of the pyramid. Look closely at the stonework and tell me whether you think this was built a few hundred years ago, or a few thousand.”
He examined the stone and gasped. “You’re right. We’re inside the Blood Pyramid. It’s no myth…”
“A great evil pulses in the depths of this dark place, like the beating of a black heart,” Friya murmured. “My wolf senses are screaming out many silent warnings.”
“When it lives again, my dragon’s fire will purify this place of whatever evil lingers in these stones,” Yumo-Rezu muttered.
“Not even dragon fire can completely purify this place,” Friya said. “The entire Blood Pyramid must be leveled, and every one of these stones pulverized to dust. We cannot leave a single brick intact once we have defeated Elandriel and the Blood God, and whatever Demogorgon or Demogorgons they have summoned with their evil powers.”
“I’ll be able to do that,” I said, “once I receive my final prize.”
“Your final prize?” Yumo-Rezu asked. “And what might that be?”
I still hadn’t told anyone about the Bone Crown that lay waiting for me at the top of the Gray Sentinel, and I suspected that Yumo-Rezu would be especially unhappy to hear about me becoming ruler of all the gods, since I knew that she considered herself my equal. But it was only by becoming the ruler of all deities that I would attain the power to turn every stone of this evil place to dust. For the moment, though, I figured it would be better to be vague about this.
“A power that will enable me to destroy this place completely,” I said. “Don’t worry about it now; I have to defeat the Blood God and Elandriel first, and that sure as hell isn’t going to be a simple task. Let’s focus on getting into the vaults for the moment and grabbing what we need to make that victory happen.”
We continued through the sewers, and I cast part of my spirit into the undead rat. Dawn was breaking in the city above us, and with the rising of the sun came the changing of the vault guards. This would be a perfect chance for me to slip into the vaults.
The changing of the guards was a strictly controlled affair, and I saw right away that the warriors who protected the vaults were no ordinary warriors. Instead, even the lower tier guards were elite warriors who wore full plate armor and carried greatswords. The upper tier guards were Consecrated Knights, who, in addition to their martial prowess, were able to wield devastating Light powers on par with Elyse’s, or even greater. Even so, we could have taken them in a fight, but then our cover would have been blown and Elandriel would certainly have launched all of his forces against us in a monster of a battle that we weren’t yet ready for. Stealth was the wisest option here, although I was sorely tempted to simply say fuck it and charge in with my Dragon Sword swinging.
The complex series of locks spun and whirred, and the head guard whispered the secret incantation that would temporarily disable the magic protecting the doors. The enormous doors slowly swung open as the first rays of the sun hit them, and the night guards began to march out in perfect order while the day guards waited in formation outside in the cobbled street. The vaults looked like a small castle from the outside and stood near the top of the hill city of Luminescent Spires, just below the enormous white palace, with its soaring towers and spires, but the crenellated walls were thicker than those of most castles in Prand. These vaults could take multiple hits from the
