Steamforged Sorcery - Chapter 37 (Patreon)

“There aren’t any trees in the Barren,” Cowl said.

“You know what I meant. She might not be of any use, but who knows how long we’ll be stuck in here,” Angel replied. “She’s not going to be a master anytime soon, but I know for a fact that there are numerous ways that she could be useful even without getting up close. That being said, you’re much better at fighting than I am. We’d all be better off if you did the teaching.”

Cowl grunted. “Perhaps. However, I don’t have any artifacts that would give Vanessa ranged combat capabilities. Do you?”

“Afraid not.”

“And I don’t suppose you’ve got an extra gauntlet for her to use canisters?”

“No gauntlet,” Angel confirmed.

“Then how is she supposed to learn?”

“We’re in a catacomb,” Angel said, chuckling. “A Great Catacomb. It’s not a matter of if we can find an artifact. It’s a matter of when. I suspect we’ll find something she can work with sooner or later, so long as we don’t get killed first.”

“Then we can worry about this if we find something,” Cowl said, adjusting his hat with a sigh. “Let’s just get moving. I have no desire to spend any more time than I need to in this damned place.”

“No rushing,” Angel said firmly. “That’s how we get killed. We take things at a steady pace. With our group, we can’t afford to take any risks.”

“Then lead the way, Seeker,” Cowl said. It was impossible to tell if the man was being sarcastic or not.

Angel walked to the front of the small party. They followed after him as he approached the massive doors on the far end of the chamber. He pressed his hands against the great metal slabs and pressed on them.

A dozen valves lining the walls shot out pillars of steam. Deep rumbling filled the room as gears churned to life and pistons started to chug. Inch by inch, the doors ground open away from them.

Behind them, a short hallway led into a much smaller, rounded room. Angel could make out several doors in it, and there were considerably fewer pieces of machinery. He stepped through the growing gap forming before them, glancing up at the ceiling of the hallway.

It was made of the same metal plates that covered the floor and there didn’t seem to be anything particularly unique about it. Angel nodded to himself and slowly continued onwards, waving for Cowl and Vanessa to follow him.

He crept through the hall, his eyes scanning the walls and floor relentlessly. He wasn’t moving slowly, but he certainly wasn’t moving quickly either. Behind them, the doors slowly started to rumble shut once more.

Dim lines yellow lines lit up along the cracks between the walls and the floor, filling the hall with artificial light. The three of them reached the entrance to the rounded room and Angel held up a hand.

He peered inside without stepping out of the hall. Compared to the entrance, the room was rather plain. There were six doors along the rounded walls. Each was made of iron and was practically indistinguishable from the other.

Aside from that, the room was completely empty. Angel grunted and knelt, peering at the ground of the room. His eyes narrowed and he reached into his pack, pulling out a stick of white chalk. He rubbed the ground on both sides of the entrance thoroughly.

“Right,” Angel said. “Let’s go. We all move through the door at the same time. No hesitating. Understand?”

“What’s the point of that?” Cowl asked. “It’s a doorway.”

Angel ignored him. He grabbed Cowl and Vanessa’s hands. “Ready? Go!”

They lunged forward and jumped into the room. Cowl looked around, then cocked his head in Angel’s direction. “Was there a purpose to–”

The door slammed shut behind them. All three of them lost their footing as the room lurched, starting to spin. It grew faster and faster, the rumble of stone on metal filling their ears for what felt like minutes.

Then, as abruptly as it had started, it slammed to a halt. Angel rolled to his feet, hopping upright and dropping into a fighting stance as he scanned for a threat. Nothing but dust emerged. The Seeker shook his head and grimaced, trying to fight off the dizziness.

“That’s the purpose,” Angel said dryly. “There’s a good chance that the door to the hallway is no longer functional. We might not even be in the same section of the Catacomb. Anyone on the other side of that door would likely find it borderline impossible to reunite with us. Remember, this place is alive. Not in the same way that you or I, but it still lives. Doubt its intelligence at your own risk.”

“Duly noted,” Cowl said, righting himself and helping Vanessa up. He brushed the dirt off his clothes and looked around. The door that they’d come through – the one that Angel had marked with chalk – had shifted several spots from where it’d been.

“Should we go back out the door to check where we arrived?” Cowl asked, stepping towards it.

“No!” Angel said firmly, grabbing Cowl by his shoulder. “We’re well and truly inside the catacomb now. It’s earnestly trying to kill us, and that means no easy fights or ways out. I marked the door so we wouldn’t enter it. That one is almost certainly a path straight to certain death.”

“Where do we go, then?” Vanessa asked. “There are five other doors, but they all look exactly the same.”

“Give me a bit,” Angel said, setting his bags down and approaching one of the doors. He knelt beside it, pressing his ear to the metal for a few moments.

He licked his finger and held it near the gap at the base before nodding to himself and drawing an ‘x’ on the ground with chalk. He repeated the process at all five doors. When he was done, three of them had an ‘x’ while the other two had an ‘o’.

“X marks the doors that had no airflow,” Angel said. “That means they’re either dead ends, relatively safe locations, traps, or treasure rooms.”

“And what do the O symbols mark?” Cowl asked.

“Airflow, believe it or not. Hallways, rooms connected to the rest of the catacomb, more traps. Really, traps are everywhere.”

“So what’s the point of telling the difference between airflow and no airflow?” Vanessa frowned.