Her smile fell away. 'How about you? How are you doing?'
'Coping,' I said. 'Even though I know it was all an illusion, it felt so real. You know?'
'Yes.'
She put her hand on my leg and squeezed once and that was the last we spoke until we drew near the section of the Underwalk where I'd escaped from Tenebrus. I'd paid close attention at the time, so even though there were no markers of any sort to indicate our location, I was fairly confident we were in the right spot. But I knew it for certain when I saw Gnasher running down the tunnel toward us, his red albino eyes wide with terror. An instant later I saw why. The silvery shape of an Overwatcher glided through the air behind him, the skull faced creature moving with silent, menacing grace, like some manner of airborn shark. The Overwatcher's eyesockets began to glow a bright crimson and I knew the reanimated brain inside – driven insane by Osseal's song – was powering up its optic energy blasters to take out Gnasher.
Devona and I exchanged glances and in that same instant we telepathically came up with a plan. I worked the tram's throttle and the engine whined as the vehicle picked up speed.
'Gnasher, your dire blade!' I shouted. 'Throw it straight up into the air!'
The verman had no idea what we were planning, but his people were quick witted and had even swifter reflexes. In a single smooth motion he drew the dire blade, the same one I'd slain Lycanthropus Rex with, and tossed it into the air. Devona dropped the. 45 onto the floor of the tram then sprang out of her seat, adding the power of her half-vampire legs to the vehicle's forward momentum. As she sailed through the air, hands outstretched, I swerved the tram to avoid hitting Gnasher and gripped the wheel with my right hand which reaching out to the verman with my left. Gnasher reached back for me and I snagged his hand, swung him into the tram and he scurried into the back seat. At the same instant Devona's fingers wrapped around the dire blade's hilt and momentum carried her straight for the Overwatcher. She landed on the creature's smooth metal back right behind its skull, straddling it backward. Petite though she is, the sudden addition of her weight caused the Overwatcher to dip slightly, and when it unleashed its eye beams, the twin bolts of ruby energy missed Gnasher and me, striking the tunnel floor and melting a section of the organic looking substance.
The tunnel shuddered then and a low tone reverberated through the air, almost like a moan. I thought of the organic nature of so much of Nekropolis – the Underwalk, Tenebrus, much of the strange architecture in the Sprawl – and for the first time since I'd come to the city, I found myself wondering if the Darkfolk hadn't constructed their otherdimensional home so much as grown it. Was Nekropolis itself in some bizarre fashion alive?
As disturbing as the thought was I thankfully didn't have time to pursue it. I watched as Devona turned at the waist and slammed the dire blade into the Overwatcher's silver skull. Dire blades aren't just supernaturally deadly, they're supernaturally sharp as well. With Devona's strength to power it the blade easily pierced the Overwatcher's metallic hide and sank into the soft brain beneath. The effect was immediate. The crimson light in the Overwatcher's eyesockets winked out and the creature crashed to the tunnel floor. Devona managed to jump free in time, though she had to leave the dire blade embedded in the Overwatcher's skull. She landed with a fluid grace that I found incredibly sexy. I slowed down, intending to stop and pick her up, and she started running toward the downed Overwatcher in order to retrieve the dire blade, but Gnasher shouted, 'Leave it! Those things are designed to explode once they're brought down!'
I gave the tram full power and it picked up speed again. Devona sprinted down the tunnel after us and managed to leap aboard just as the Overwatcher vanished in a burst of light and fire. I felt the pressure of the blast roll over us, though I didn't feel the heat. I turned back to look at Gnasher and Devona, and while both of them were a little singed around the edges, I knew they'd survive.
'Another of Keket's nasty little surprises,' Gnasher said. 'Any inmate who brings down an Overwatcher risks being destroyed.'
'Always thinking, that woman,' I said.
Devona climbed back into the front passenger seat and picked the . 45 up off the floor where she'd left it.
'Nicely done, my love,' I said.
'Why thank you, sir.' She then grimaced and arched her back. 'Though I think I might've pulled a muscle on that one.'
'I have no idea what the two of you are doing here,' Gnasher said, 'but I am exceptionally glad to see you. It's total chaos inside Tenebrus.' He paused. 'Well. It's always chaos in there, but it's even worse now. Something's happened to the Overwatchers. They went mad and began firing energy blasts at everyone, including the guards. Keket herself came down into the general population to stop them, and the prisoners saw that as their chance to get revenge on her for using them as entertainment. They attacked her en masse, and even though she's a demilord, between the Overwatchers and the prisoners, she was having a hard time of it. I decided it might be prudent of me to take my leave until the current situation sorts itself out, but one of the Overwatchers followed me into the Underwalk. If you hadn't arrived when you did…' The verman shuddered as he trailed off.
'Our pleasure,' I said. 'And since we saved your snowy white hide, you owe us one. And your people always pay their debts.'
Gnasher's eyes narrowed. 'What do you want?'
'Not much,' I said. 'Just directions to the Foundry.'
Gnasher guided us to a Dominari owned building in the Boneyard – a falling-down ruin not far from the Foundry. Before saying goodbye to us, he asked, 'Are you going to try to stop whatever's happening?'
'That's the idea,' I said.
He nodded. 'Good. Too much death and destruction is bad for business.'
I considered asking him how much was good, but instead Devona and I thanked him for his help, climbed the ladder, and emerged aboveground in what was left of a stone building whose original purpose I could only guess at.
'Why would the Dominari have entrances to the Underwalk in the Boneyard?' Devona asked. 'It's not like there's a lot of profit to be made here.'
I shrugged. 'Who knows? Even the dead have needs. Maybe the Dominari figured out ways to meet them.'
We moved cautiously out of the ruined building and into the street. The normally sparse traffic was nonexistent. The living had managed to get off the streets by now, and as for the dead… well, there was no sign of them, neither motorists nor pedestrians. It appeared that Devona and I had the street to ourselves.
We talked softly as we made our way to the Foundry, me limping on my injured leg but moving well enough not to slow us down too much.
'Where is everyone?' Devona asked.
'I don't know. I'm usually sensitive to the presence of other dead beings, but I don't sense any close by. It's almost like they're hiding… waiting for the trouble to blow over.'
'Maybe they sense Osseal's power, and it scares them,' Devona said. 'Even if it's only being used to control Baron's creations.'
'Maybe.' That theory was better than anything I could come up with.
'Now that we're closer to the Foundry, can you feel Osseal's magic?'
I shook my head. 'I don't feel a thing. Maybe it's because of Papa's spell blocking necklace, or maybe it's because Osseal is only being focused on Baron's monsters. Either way, I'm not sensing anything.'
'Good,' she said. 'Now that we've made it this far, the last thing we need is for you to fall under the flute's power.'
'That would well and truly suck, wouldn't it?'
We continued on in silence for several more minutes until we could see the Foundry up ahead. It looked the same as always – tower lattice crackling with electricity, smokestacks belching black into the sky, the heavy thrum of power filling the air. But as we got closer, we saw there was one thing new: behind the main gate stood several dozen of Baron's creatures. I recognized some of them from our last visit, but most of them were unknown to me. I had no doubt they were all equally dangerous, though.
Devona and stepped across the street and regarded the assembled monsters. Unlike the creatures we'd seen rampaging on the streets of the Sprawl, these displayed no sign of aggression whatsoever. They made no move to open the gate and attack us. In fact, they didn't react to our presence in any way.
