Steamforged Sorcery - Chapter 38 (Patreon)

“All information is useful in a catacomb,” Angel explained. “We now know that, if we need to take a rest, we should head down one of the X doors. We’re not going to escape this catacomb in one day, so we need to have ways to get sleep. And, the treasures are always at dead ends. That bit is important.”

“Are we trying to escape or get rich?” Cowl asked. “What need to we have for random artifacts? Just get us out of here.”

“I’m a Seeker,” Angel said. “So more the latter than the former, really. Don’t make a glum pose at me, Cowl. If we can get Vanessa armed, we’ll have a much better chance of getting out of here alive.”

“I’ve got another question,” Vanessa said, raising her hand like a pupil. “Why can’t we rest in here?”

“We could,” Angel said after a moment of thought. “But we do know that the catacomb can rotate this room. The more we let it move us around, the harder it’ll be to escape. Once we start really delving into it, we want to keep a mental map of our location as best as possible.”

“So only certain parts can move?” Cowl asked.

“Correct. And it takes a good bit of magical energy to do that, if I’m not mistaken,” Angel said. “If we bother the catacomb enough, it might just let us go with minimal effort. But that means taking a whole bunch of crap before it can really put its mind to stopping us.”

“Lead the way, then,” Cowl said, gesturing grandiosely. “Which door?”

“One moment,” Angel said, grabbing his bag and pulling several canisters out of it. “I need to replenish my magic before we go any further.”

He spent several minutes infusing the metal with spells and clipping them onto his arm. Once he’d finished, he rose to his feet with a nod. “Okay, now we can go.”

Angel rubbed his chin in thought. He walked up to the leftmost door marked with an X and pressed his palm against it. The door swung open soundlessly, revealing a hallway lit by more of the faint yellow lines of light. It twisted and turned, disappearing down the corner.

“Let’s give this one a shot,” Angel said. “Seems as good as the others.”

“Very reassuring,” Cowl said dryly.

Angel grunted. He fitted one of the canisters into his arm and started down the pathway, Vanessa and Cowl trailing several feet behind him. The hall wasn’t cramped, but it was too thin for the three of them to stand shoulder to shoulder.

It was hard to tell how long they followed the winding hallway. The air was stale and smelled of rust and ash. Angel continued onwards with the exact same speed, not changing once. His head moved on a swivel as they walked, taking in every bit of the catacomb’s walls.

The three turned a corner and emerged into a wide room that could have doubled as a giant’s hallway. The walls were lined with dusty tapestries and there were a dozen doors beneath them.

A stale wind blew towards them from a giant door at the far end of the room. It was cracked open slightly, and dim purple light emitted from behind it.

“Another fancy hallway,” Angel said, curling his lips in distaste. “The last time I was in one of these, the catacomb flooded with sand and tried to bury me.”

“When was that?” Cowl asked curiously.

“A few days ago, right before I took this job.”

“Ah. I forget that Seekers live such eventful lives. Taking more than one job every few months fills me with distaste,” Cowl said.

“Well, we can’t all be rich,” Angel replied, examining the room. There were no lines of old magic or any clear indications of traps, so he slowly led them down the hall. He stopped at the first door, wrapping his hand in an oilcloth before tugging on the handle.

It turned easily. Angel quickly closed it again and took a step back, his frown deepening. “Great. More doors.”

“I take it the big, scary looking one over there is bad news?” Vanessa guessed, nodding at the door at the far end of the room.

“It’s where the catacomb wants us to go,” Angel replied. “It’s not necessarily bad news, but it is dangerous. It’s probably a dangerous fight or trap coupled with some nice reward if we manage to survive. It depends.”

“On what?”

“Well, it’s too early for this to be a deep portion of the catacomb,” Angel explained. “That means we haven’t reached what the catacomb is trying to protect. There might be something there, but most of it will be from the adventurers that died before us.”

“That’s… really morbid,” Vanessa said, her face tightening. “Shouldn’t that stuff be returned to the families of the dead Seekers?”

“Newsflash,” Angel replied with a grim smile. “Seekers are all grave robbers. I’d rob the Buried gods blind if I could find out where they were.”

“It’s not as barbaric as you think,” Cowl told Vanessa. “Death is not as taboo to the Seekers as it is to you. It is a fact of life, and the tools they can find in a catacomb are too valuable to leave behind or return. Perhaps when you become the Magistrate you can make a better way of living for people so that they don’t have to Seek.”

Vanessa grunted, reluctantly nodding her understanding. “So, what should we do?”

“Well, we’re not trying to get deeper into the catacomb,” Angel said. “We want to escape. As much as I’d love to delve deeper, the entrance guards were twice my level. The best case scenario for us might actually just be doing what the catacomb wants.”

“Dying?” Cowl asked.

“Well, not everything,” Angel amended. “Just a little. I hope you’ve still got some juice in you, because we’re going into the spooky door.”

Cowl shrugged, drawing his sword and holding it ready at his side as they made their way across the long hallway. Angel kept a close eye on the doors as they passed, but none of them moved.

When they reached the large door, Angel peered through the crack. The room behind it was about as large as a tavern, with a towering ceiling and iron grates at the far end of it. The walls were covered with massive churning gears and tubes full of crackling energy emerged from within the bronze.

“Huh,” Angel said. “Haven’t seen that before.”