Deepstone (Secret Depths Book 2)

by Raymond Cain

  “I will,” Tasker replied.

  “Yes, take your time, you two,” Flynn snidely yelled at his companions as he pushed against the door. “Wouldn’t want you to rush.”

  Tasker walked in dragging a long rectangular cabinet made entirely from ice. There were numerous narrow compartments inside, and a line of frost trailed behind it as he dragged it across the floor. Lycia walked in dragging an identical ice cabinet behind her.

  Flynn and Kylara got out of the way as Tasker wedged the first cabinet between the wall and the door. Lycia wedged her cabinet next to Tasker’s and went back for a third one.

  “Those won’t hold them for long,” Kylara said.

  Tasker laid his hands on the cabinets and their dimensions began to change. “When I reshape them, they will.”

  “Come with me, you two. I have a way out,” Lycia said. “Leave Tasker behind. He’ll catch up to us.”

  Flynn glared at her, then looked worriedly at his brother.

  “Go,” Tasker said. “I’ll be right behind you.”

  The room was a library. Shelves bursting with books dominated every wall. Their covers were badly worn and their pages were moldy. The rotting books were likely unreadable but two stacks of books on the floor appeared to be in pristine condition.

  “Why are. . .”

  “The most valuable books were preserved in those ice shelves,” Lycia explained, anticipating Flynn’s question. “They’re priceless but we can’t bring them where we’re going. Maybe we’ll get lucky and Theoric and Gideon won’t destroy them.”

  “Theoric might, but that’s not Gideon’s style,” Kylara added.

  Lycia walked up to a stone bookcase loaded with moldy books. “Help me move this.”

  “Why?” Kylara asked.

  “Just help,” Lycia said, trying to pry her fingers behind it.

  Flynn joined in, wedging his sword between the bookcase and the wall. The bookcase slid aside, revealing a short passageway with a wide hole in the floor. “There’s an opening behind here.”

  Lycia sighed, impatiently. “Yes, now help us open it.”

  When they pulled the bookcase away from the wall, a terrible smell assaulted them. It was like a mixture of feces and vomit that had been rotting for years. The women gagged and Flynn threw his hand over his mouth, trying not to retch.

  Flynn coughed. “It smells almost as bad as Kylara.”

  Kylara scowled. “Actually, I think it smells like your personality.”

  “Grow up, you two,” Lycia scolded. “I’m sure you’ve smelled sewers before.”

  “How did you know this was here?” Kylara asked. “Even I didn’t know.”

  “My family has an old book that maps out this place. This is the only other exit out of this room.”

  “But, doesn’t this lead to. . .”

  “Straight to Deepstone,” Lycia replied. “But it’s either that or facing what’s coming through that door.”

  “Well,” Flynn said, turning to Kylara, “if we don’t make it out of this alive, I just want to tell you one thing.”

  “And that is?”

  “That I’ve always wanted to do this!” Flynn said, shoving Kylara into the hole. She shrieked and the wet sounds of feces slapping against the walls marked her landing as she splattered into the sewage. As he listened to her sputter, he could not have been more pleased with himself.

  “You bastard!” Kylara yelled from the muck. “I’ll drown you in this for that.”

  Flynn looked down in the dark sewage tunnel hesitantly then looked up at Lycia. She was brushing off the few specks of dust from her otherwise immaculate leather armor and adjusting her perfect braids. He guessed the muck would bother her most of all. “Judging by her screams, it isn’t very far down. I’m thinking you should go next.”

  “Such a gentleman,” she said, rolling her eyes.

  “Try to calm her down a bit for me,” Flynn said, giving Lycia a gentle shove to help her on her way. She screeched on the way down, and her screams were followed by a splash and sputtering.

  “Damn you, Flynn!” Lycia said, spitting. “I got some in my mouth, thanks to you. So did Kylara.”

  Flynn was about to point out that it was their fault for screaming, but he held his tongue. A tiny part of his brain told him that further antagonizing a pair of powerful, angry women might be a bad idea. “Sorry,” he said, lamely. He turned toward his brother. “You almost finished, Tasker?”

  “Almost. Go join the others. I have one more thing to do.”

  “Okay.”

  Flynn hesitated before jumping down. Joining the women would be like jumping between a pair of darkcats. The shouts from Theoric’s crew grew louder and he hated the idea of escaping before his brother, but he did as he was told.

  Instinctively, he gasped as he jumped and when the feces splattered, some of it went into his mouth. Before he even registered how bad it tasted, he puked. His vomit pooled around him, and the smell was already so bad that his vomit didn’t make it any worse. Liquid excrement leaked down into his boots and squished between his toes. He composed himself for a moment when, suddenly, he threw up again.

  Once he emptied his stomach, his brother jumped down and splattered sewage and vomit in Flynn’s face. He tried to wipe his face with a hand that was dirtier than his face was and started heaving but there was nothing left in his stomach to regurgitate.

  “Control yourself, Flynn,” Kylara said. “It’s time to go.”

  The four of them waded up the sewer tunnel. Flynn took point and spoke a command word into his ring. It emitted a pale blue light that lit up the tunnel. His stomach still churned and if there was any food left in it, he probably would have vomited again. He glanced behind him and there was no sign of Theoric or the others. “Aren’t they coming after us?”

  “I don’t think so,” Tasker replied. “They know where this tunnel leads and they can get at us easier without walking through sewage.”

  “That’s comforting. Where does this lead to?”

  “Ahead of us is Deepstone,” Kylara replied. “Behind us is The Abyss.”

  “I’d say our chances are almost the same either way,” Flynn said.

  “No,” Tasker replied. “We’d be torn to shreds in The Abyss without our Searunners.”

  “Speaking of those. . .” Flynn began.

  “Don’t worry,” Tasker said. “They’re safe, for the moment. We were on our way here when we saw Theoric headed this way. We raced to get ahead of him and saw your Searunner parked outside. Lycia and I carried in both Searunners and hid them in one of the rooms. I sealed the door with ice.”

  Flynn recalled seeing ice under one of the doors and he let out a huge sigh of relief. “Thank goodness.”

  “That still leaves the problem of getting back there,” Lycia said. “Theoric will likely be posting men by the portal.”

  “One problem at a time,” Kylara said, earning herself a scowl from Lycia.

  The sewage traveled toward The Abyss, resulting in a mild current that made it more difficult to walk. As the four of them waded through hip-deep sewage, the occasional clip-clop of booted footsteps echoed from azurans walking the hallways above. The air was so thick with the smell of feces, it was difficult to breathe. Squealing rats ran along the sides of the tunnel, their red eyes reflected evilly in the light from Flynn’s ring.

  “This has always been a dream of mine,” Flynn said, pleasantly. “Walking through feces into a city full of azurans.” Fortunately, walking in front meant he couldn’t see his companions’ glare at him.

  “Well, Kylara,” Lycia said in a challenging tone. “Since you know this place better than anyone, I hope you have a plan on how to get back to our Searunners.”

  “I’m working on one, but I will need to see the city first. I know it well but it may have undergone a lot of change.”

  In time, they heard the murmur of Deepstone and the more they trudged through the muck, the louder it became. The clang of steel on a blacksmit
h’s anvil and the murmur of thousands of enemies reverberated down the tunnel. Even the rats squealed with more enthusiasm, as though anticipating their next meal.

  The sewer tunnel widened and the channel of waste they trudged through was bordered by ledges wide enough to walk on. Flynn was grateful to climb out of the muck but the stink and feel of feces clung to him like perfume. He emptied out his boots as best he could but he could still feel excrement between his toes with each step.

  Flynn flinched when Tasker aimed Stingray at him and fired, shooting him with a barrel full of feces. The waste splattered against his head and shoulders but he turned his head away in time to avoid getting any in his mouth.

  “Just cleaning out the barrel,” Tasker said as he loaded a bolt into the weapon. Kylara and Lycia nodded approvingly.

  Leading the way with his glowing ring, Flynn walked ahead of Lycia on one ledge while Kylara walked ahead of Tasker on the other. The crimsonite jewel in his rapier’s hilt glowed as he held it and he was almost hoping for a fight in order to spend some of the energy it created in him. Kylara wielded her pair of glowing darksteel staves and Tasker held his Stingray at the ready.

  Ahead of them, a dozen narrow beams of light shone down from the ceiling.

  They flattened themselves against the walls, then approached warily. The others stayed out of sight while Flynn strained to see through the narrow holes.

  “Portcullis holes,” Kylara explained in a hushed tone. “That means we’re below the main entrance into the city. We’ll need to be quiet—there’ll be guards posted there.”

  One of the beams disappeared for a moment as a guard covered the hole and called out. “Who goes there?”

  Chapter Twenty

  “It’s Theoric,” answered a voice in the hallway above. “I’ve come to visit your fair city.”

  Flynn relaxed when he realized the guard hadn’t detected them, but it was concerning to learn Theoric was entering Deepstone.

  “Just your crew today? You only come here when you have slaves to sell,” the guard said.

  “A mistake I’ve come to correct,” Theoric replied. “Out of curiosity, did anyone else go through here recently? They may have been hidden by cloaks or kept their heads down, perhaps.”

  There was a pause, as though the guard was considering the question. “You wouldn’t be here on a manhunt now, would you, Theoric?”

  “Of course not. I’m here for. . .” Theoric paused and cleared his throat. “The arena. I do enjoy a good fight.”

  “Uh huh,” the guard replied, skeptically.

  “Speaking of the arena, what’s on the roster for tonight?” Theoric added, and Flynn guessed the pirate was trying to make his lie sound more plausible.

  “Darkcats. A large shipment of them came through here less than an hour ago. Over a dozen, I’d say. Not sure what they’ll be fighting. I know there’s trolls and ogres in the arena cells. So those, maybe.”

  Flynn strained to make out anything through the portcullis holes and for a moment, he thought he caught a glimpse of Theoric’s purple eyes staring back down at him. The eyes disappeared and Flynn heard the distant rattle of a coinpurse.

  “That should be enough to let me and my men through,” Theoric said. “And a few more for your time. And discretion.” He added that last in an ominous tone.

  The guard jingled the bag and stepped aside. “Carry on.”

  The beams of light from above flickered as Theoric and his crew walked by. Flynn tried to get an estimate of how many men Theoric had with him but it was difficult to determine. Perhaps a dozen.

  “Come on,” Kylara whispered, urging them to keep walking.

  The sewer tunnels criss-crossed through the bowels of the city and Kylara led them in what Flynn guessed was a northwest direction. They walked from tunnel to tunnel in silence for what seemed like hours.

  “Do you even know where you’re going?” Lycia asked.

  “You’re welcome to stay behind and find your own way,” Kylara replied. “But I’m leading us to the other exit. There should be a sewer grate by it that will allow us to access it. If there is, we’ll need to make a run for it, kill the guards posted there, and run back to the ship.”

  “That’s your plan?” Lycia asked.

  “It sure is,” Kylara said, stopping to place her hands firmly on her hips and glare at Lycia. “Do you have a better one?”

  “Shhhh,” Flynn whispered. “I think I hear something.”

  The four of them went silent and for a time, the only sounds were the murmur of the city and the splashing sounds of dripping sewage. Tasker activated his ring and used it to illuminate behind them as Flynn shined his ring ahead.

  “I don’t hear anyt—” Lycia began, but she stopped in mid-sentence.

  A low growl reverberated down the tunnel. A second growl followed it, and then a third. Dark, cat-like creatures emerged from the shadows. They were nearly as tall at the shoulder as Flynn was, and the light from the aquazite rings reflected off a dozen pairs of yellow eyes, slashed with elliptical pupils. Horns ran down their spines, ending in claw-tipped tails.

  “Darkcats,” Flynn said. After recalling what the guard said earlier, he added, “These must be the ones intended for the arena. Theoric must have dumped them in the sewers instead.”

  Tasker aimed Stingray at the nearest one but the weapon shook in his grip. “We can’t take this many.”

  “You’re right,” Kylara said. “RUN!”

  Tasker fired and the bolt struck the first darkcat in the head, killing it. The next few beasts behind it tripped over the corpse but kept coming until Lycia released a storm of ice from her fingertips that blanketed the ledges in ice. The sound of scraping claws and splash of darkcats falling into sewage echoed off the walls.

  Flynn and Tasker ran with their glowing rings held out in front of them, lighting the way. The chaos of running through tunnels and hopping across sewage-filled channels with their glowing rings was disorienting but the sound of claws on stone urged them to run faster. After running through two short tunnel sections, they approached an aquazite-ringed portal with dark water on the other side.

  “That’s not The Abyss, is it?” Flynn asked between breaths.

  “It’s a lake running along one edge of the city,” Kylara replied. “Tasker, I hope you have some crystal powder left because we’re going for a swim.”

  Tasker threw Stingray over his shoulder as he ran. As the water strap secured the weapon to his back, he slowed, fumbling in a pouch at his waist. He produced a small handful of glittering powder and tossed it in the water as he dove in.

  Flynn could almost feel the darkcats’ breath behind him. He plunged through the portal and into the dark lake behind his companions. The water was warm, but murky, and he could not see more than an arm’s length away.

  One of the darkcats plunged into the water and Flynn drew his sword. Its spiked tail darted toward him, but he deflected it wide with the flat of his blade. The creature was unaccustomed to underwater combat and it thrashed around, turning its head side-to-side frantically as bubbles poured out from its fanged mouth. It spun around and paddled with all four feet back into the sewer tunnel.

  Flynn’s air was running out and he was tempted to follow the creature back into the tunnel, but he knew there would be a dozen darkcats waiting for him there. Looking around for the others, he found himself face to face with a giant serpent, its fanged mouth open wide. He jerked his head back and was about to stab it until he realized it was frozen, and dead. Lycia was floating next to him, her aquazite ring still bright after the energy it expended. Ice crystals formed in the water around her fist like diamonds, and he nodded in gratitude.

  A massive air bubble rose up from below, swallowing Flynn and Lycia inside it. It was full of breathable air and the sides stretched where he pressed against them. A second bubble, containing Tasker and Kylara, rose beside them. Reasoning that his brother created the bubbles using crystal powder, Flynn offered his brother a thu
mbs-up and Tasker nodded in return. The two bubbles ascended and they made a loud bloop sound when they broke through the surface.

  Once the bubble was gone, the clean air inside it was replaced by the smoky, fetid stench of Deepstone. The area smelled of unwashed bodies and every time Flynn inhaled, it tasted like he was taking in someone else’s exhaled breath.

  The city of Deepstone rested inside a massive chamber that was half-again larger than Seahaven. Enormous stalactites hung from the ceiling like the teeth of some enormous beast, and they were dotted with thousands of blue and red lightdiscs that cast a purple glow on the city. It was by far the largest cavern Flynn had seen, and Seahaven could have fit inside it a few times over.

  “Come on,” Kylara said, swimming up to them. “We need to get to shore before something in this lake attacks us again. Stay out of sight.”

  The four of them took deep breaths and ducked under the surface, blindly swimming through the dark water. Once the companions reached shore, they scanned for azurans and then scurried for a pile of rocks near the shore. Flynn peeked out from their hiding place to stare in awe at the majestic city.

  Deepstone was built in harmony with blue and red crystal. Aquazite fountains crafted into images of mythical beasts spewed water fifty-feet high. Towering, sword-wielding statues with crimsonite eyes swung their weapons as though they were endlessly locked in battle. Bridges of stone and ice connected stone buildings that were taller than most of the buildings in Seahaven. Skulls were set into almost every surface and a massive arena, large enough to hold Seahaven’s entire population, stood in the heart of the city. Deepstone was truly a wonder.

  “It’s incredible,” Flynn said.

  “It’s terrible,” Kylara corrected. “They’ve taken down temples, crumbled statues, removed fountains. . . there’s smokestacks spewing smoke that smells like people are being burnt in there, and they inserted skulls onto everything. And that arena, I can just imagine what that’s used for.”

  “Someone’s coming,” Tasker said in a hushed tone.

  A stone door swung open on a nearby building and a teenage azuran female emerged carrying two baskets. Before the door swung closed, Flynn caught a glimpse of naked women and fat men inside. Flutes and various stringed instruments were being played within but their melody was drowned out by laughing and moaning. The young azuran knelt down at the edge of the lake and pulled a dirty linen sheet from one of the baskets. Flynn’s stomach lurched when he considered what the sheets were stained with.