Empyrean 17: Into the Gutters (Patreon)

Amelia, here! Please enjoy a new chapter of Empyrean's Flight :)

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I felt a lump in my throat rise at Eoman’s response. “Why not?” I asked tentatively.

The leader breathed out a heavy sigh before setting his hands down on his lap. He looked at me for a moment, and I could see concern linger in his eyes. “It’s not anything personal,” he said. “I just don’t think it’s a good idea to travel alone right now. You are being hunted.”

“I appreciate the concern, but I can look after myself,” I argued. “Besides, I will be of no use to you if I don’t get what I need.”

“It’s not only that. I know Odenna’s shop is on the other side of the safe zone. I cannot protect you in those areas.”

I stood silent for a moment. I was surprised that Eoman knew who Odenna was, given that she had lived in the ‘richer’ area of the city for decades.

“Perhaps we should let the girl go,” the silver-haired woman said. “Or, at least, let her give a real explanation for the sudden need to leave.”

Eoman eyed the woman. “I doubt there will be any explanation that changes my mind,” he said.

The woman took his hand gently and gave it a squeeze. “Worrying like this is not good for your health,” she replied.

The leader shook his head slightly and didn’t say anything. For a moment, I could feel a strange tension in the room. There was something unspoken between the two, but I was not about to get in the middle of their business.

The woman looked at me. “Go ahead, Elana. Tell us exactly why you want to seek out this woman.”

“Well, ma’am—” I started.

“Celeste,” she interrupted with a warm smile.

“Celeste,” I corrected. “My health is not looking good right now. I believe Odenna can help me find a way to manage it better.”

Eoman and the silver-haired woman looked at me silently.

“If I am going to fight with you, I need to know how to heal myself,” I continued, hoping for any reaction from the two. “I can possibly even learn how to heal others too.”

The leader stood up and held his hands behind his back. Seems to be his go-to thought process, I wondered. He had done it when Alon, Soren and I were bargaining for their help. After what felt like hours, Eoman finally responded, “Okay, you can go.”

“Thank you,” I said, bowing my head slightly.

“As you know, getting out of the poor quarter is nearly impossible,” he continued. “You can use the sewers to get by the guards at the gates and into the new city.”

“I know these tunnels,” I confirmed. “I will try and be safe.”

“Good,” Eoman said. “Please also try and hurry. We must discuss our next steps against the Devils, and we don’t have time to waste. There is no way of knowing what their plans are.”

Without saying another word, I nodded and walked back to my companions. “Eoman has granted me permission to leave,” I said as I reached them.

“Great,” Soren replied. “When do we leave?”

I shook my head. “I am going alone.”

“Absolutely not, El. It’s too dangerous,” my brother argued, standing up from his seat.

I moved toward him and pushed down on his shoulder, indicating that he should sit back down. “I can look after myself. You two should stay here and devise a plan with the Raccoons. Besides, with your feelings toward Odenna, I am not sure if it’s a good idea that you do come with me.”

Soren crossed his arms and looked at Alon. “Back me up, here?” he asked the axeman.

“I actually think Elana is right,” our friend replied plainly. “This is her idea and her decision. Besides, I don’t really feel like travelling all the way to the new city.”

Soren threw up his hands and slapped them back on his knees. “You two will be the death of me,” he muttered. “But fine, please just be safe El. You shouldn’t take too long, right?”

“I shouldn’t be longer than a day,” I confirmed with a smile. “I will see you tomorrow. Don’t get into trouble without me.”

Alon and Soren gave me small waves before returning to their own conversation. As I walked out of the chamber, I saw Vigil standing guard by the door. I gave him an awkward smile, but he barely paid attention to me. I shrugged to myself and walked out of the Raccoon base.

✵ ✵ ✵

The entrance to the sewers were, thankfully, not far from the base. I only walked for about ten minutes along the streets in the Raccoon territory before reaching the grate that acted as the entrance to the tunnels. The steel was heavy, but I managed to lift it easily enough and dropped down into the sewers. As I hit the slightly damp ground, a putrid smell assaulted my senses. I pinched my nose, gagging slightly, but managed to steady myself.

I tried to study the inside of the tunnels, but I could not see anything. The darkness in these was thick, almost impenetrable, and I had no light. But, as I remembered, I did still have some darkvision potions—courtesy of the Devils.

I put down my backpack and scratched around blindly, looking for the potions. I moved toward the grate, which had a small spot of sun shining through it, and used the dim light to determine which one was the one I needed.

You have taken a darkvision potion, which grants you the ability to see in the dark for 30 minutes.

I drank the contents of the vial and looked around at the tunnels again. As the potion took effect, it felt like a new layer covered my eyes and I started to see more clearly. It was working beautifully.

“Ada, you should manifest here, I think,” I said to the celestial, walking forward slowly.

“Is everything okay?” she asked.

“Everything is fine,” I reassured. “For now, but if we run into trouble, I would rather have you ready to help immediately.”

Adalinda took her form next to me. “Can you see?” I asked. “It’s quite dark in here.”

“I can,” the celestial replied. “It’s dim, but I will be fine.”

Satisfied with her answer, I started moving north toward the new city. It had been a while since I had travelled through the sewers. People in the poor quarter were generally cut off from those in the ‘richer’ parts of Mesina. These tunnels were used by many in the poor quarter to travel to the new city and to smuggle anything they needed in and out of the area.

The walls of the poor quarter stood high, and there were guards at every gate that led into the new city. The people of the poor quarter had always been underestimated, though, and no one ever cared to check the sewer system that ran under Mesina.

Adalinda and I walked past a few people on our way to Odenna’s shop. Interestingly, no one was carrying anything, and most of them seemed to be coming back to the poor quarter. They must have been selling things, I thought.

Shrugging it off, I continued walking. Ten minutes later, the celestial stopped in her tracks and lifted her nose.

“Ada, what is it?” I asked, turning around to look at her.

“I smell something,” she said. “It smells like… blood… and… moss.”

The celestial moved right into a tunnel off the beaten path. “Ada!” I shouted, trailing behind her. “Come back! We can’t waste any time.”

My companion didn’t respond and continued to move down the tunnel. I sighed and followed her. I couldn’t afford to let her get hurt, and maybe she had found something interesting. Either way, she couldn’t seem to turn away from the smell.

Blood, I wondered. What could be bleeding down here? Perhaps there was someone who could use our help. I argued with myself, trying to come up with any reason why this detour could be a good idea.

Two minutes passed, and as we turned a sharp corner to the left, the celestial suddenly stopped. “What is it?” I asked.

“Look, there. In front of us.”

I turned my gaze ahead and saw what she had been smelling. Against the curved wall of the tunnel were three spider-like creatures, chittering and eating away at a corpse stuck in their web. But, I noted, they were no ordinary spiders. We were standing at least three feet away from them, and I could see them clear as day. They were large enough to see clearly and burned bright with red and gold coloring.

“I think we should leave,” I said, a slight shiver crawling down my spine. “They haven’t noticed us yet.”

“I think we should kill them,” Adalinda argued. “We could use an opportunity to level.”

I pursed my lips. The celestial was right, of course, but I was concerned about my health. My hand was still crippled from the fight with the half-orc, and my health was sitting at an all-time low.

But we did have the upper hand against the creatures, and if Adalinda could take the brunt of the damage, this was a perfect time to level my summoning skill.

“Alright,” I said. “I am going to stand back and do some damage. I cannot afford to lose any more health. Can you draw their attention?”

“Absolutely,” the lizard responded confidently. Within seconds, she undulated quickly toward the closest spider-like creature and dug her claws into it.

Adalinda has critically injured a level 10 spiderling!

Only a spiderling? I realized, my eyes widening. That must mean the mother is somewhere around here…

We would have to work fast, then. I charged mana and held my bow at the ready. Adalinda was doing a stellar job at keeping the spiders on her, and she wasn’t taking much damage from them. I let off arrows in their direction, hitting each of the three once.

My last arrow caught the spider’s web and set the entire thing aflame. The web lasted less than a second, and the spiders were forced onto the ground. With Adalinda’s claws out and my arrows flinging toward them, all three spiderlings died, one after the other.

Your fire magic skill has increased to 16.

Your summoning skill has increased to 8.

Adalinda’s tooth and claw skill has increased to 13.

Adalinda’s natural armor has increased to 14.

I smiled, happy with the outcome of the small fight. Surprisingly, the spiderlings had offered us a good outcome—considering how easy they were to kill. But there was another Game alert that was concerning.

Your mana is at 20%.

If we continued this path and ran into any other enemies, I would need more mana. Thankfully, I had my channeling skill to rely on. I sat down and called to my companion, “Ada, I need to recharge my mana before we continue. Can you keep a lookout for us?”

“Of course,” the lizard responded. “And good idea. I am still smelling the blood and moss. These were not the culprits.”

I shuddered slightly and closed my eyes. I let my hands down on the ground, letting my fingers slip into the shallow water that was running slowly through the tunnel. Then I started chanting softly, waiting for the Game alert I wanted.

You have fully recharged your mana. Your channeling skill has reached level 10!

I opened my eyes to notice… nothing. After walking, the fight, and taking some time to channel, my darkvision potion had worn off. Thankfully I had anticipated this as a possible issue earlier, and I drew the second and last darkvision vial from my pants pocket where I had stored it.

After taking in the contents, I looked around to see Ada sniffing the air. “I’m ready,” I said.

“Good, let’s go.”  The lizard responded.

I stood up and followed her along the twisting tunnel. As we pursued the scent, even I could start smelling what the celestial had noticed before. It was a thick metallic scent, something so overwhelming that it overpowered the now-familiar smell of the sewer.

I moved a bit slower, letting the lizard a little further ahead of me. I couldn’t afford a surprise attack, and it was clear that those spiderlings had been birthed from something bigger.

“Elana…” Adalinda suddenly stopped as she turned another corner, her voice shaky.

“What is it?” I asked, moving closer. She didn’t respond.

As I reached her position and looked forward, I saw what had made her hesitant to continue.

We had come to a large chamber. There were tunnel entrances leading into it, and a large steel grate covered the ceiling, letting in some streams of light from the late-afternoon sun. The floor was covered in a slippery-looking green slime, which I assumed was the moss Adalinda had been smelling.

But, hanging from the grate on a large coil of web, was a giant spider. At least, the biggest I had ever seen.

The mother.

We had walked straight into her nest.