Shadowborne

by Matthew Callahan

  Feeling the hairs on the back of his neck bristle, Will followed his brother and crept forward into the Shanghai Tunnels.

  The path was well lit and surprisingly dry, despite the subterranean setting. They moved slowly, expecting to stumble upon a straggler from the group at any time. There were no hiding places if things didn’t go their way; the area had been excavated well enough that the only remaining debris was left with intent. Fortunately, the people ahead were loud enough that the brothers were able to tell when someone was near.

  Mad led from room to room, passing small cells with ancient sleeping quarters that were smaller than a closet. Will shivered as they passed piles of rotted shoes and rusted, rectangular bars enclosing tiny cells. These terrifying spaces had housed men once; they had seen violence and tears and atrocities, he could feel it in the air.

  “This place is twisted,” Mad whispered. “I’m getting the creeps.”

  Will didn’t answer. He realized that the voices ahead of them had stopped, all save one who was speaking above the rest—the guide. He couldn’t make out what he was saying exactly but the general sense of his tone said enough.

  “They’re at the end of the tour,” he said, laying a hand on his brother’s arm. “We’ve got to hide.”

  Mad whirled and gestured for him to backtrack. Will nodded and began winding back through the passages. He paused as they entered the room with the cells. Maybe it’s dark enough here. The voices behind them had grown louder; they were moving faster than he and his brother. He jerked his head in the direction of the far corner and flattened himself on the floor, shoving his pack behind him in the shadowed corner.

  “You’ve got to be kidding,” Mad said under his breath. “They’ll see us.”

  “We don’t have time for anything else,” Will said urgently. The ground pushed his grandfather’s key, cool and tingling, against his skin. Please let this work, he thought as he tucked his face into the crook of his arm.

  Madigan shook his head but followed Will’s lead, shuffling off his pack and pressing himself into the darkness. No sooner had they settled into their positions than the tour came into eyesight. They were walking quickly, talking amongst themselves and laughing. They barely even glanced around as they passed through. When they exited the room, both Madigan and Will breathed quiet sighs of relief.

  “That was all luck,” Madigan said after a moment, rising to his feet. “There’s no way that should have worked.”

  “But it did,” Will said with a smile. He dusted himself off and picked up his pack. “Let’s get moving, just in case.”

  Madigan nodded and led the way once more. They moved more quickly, covering the ground they had already explored. They had just made it back past the cells when the lights suddenly went out. Will jumped and threw himself against a wall. The instantaneous darkness was oppressive, claustrophobic. His heart raced and leapt in his chest as a flash of light suddenly shone from his side.

  “Looks like they were responsible enough to turn off the lights when they left,” Madigan said. He shone the light at Will whose eyes were wide with surprise. “What, you didn’t have yours ready? We’re underground, Will, what did you expect?”

  “I expected they’d leave the lights on,” he said, peeling himself away from the wall and retrieving his own flashlight from his pack. “I don’t know why.”

  “It’s Portland, green living is a must,” Mad said. He gave his brother a friendly shove with his elbow. “A bit jumpy, aren’t you?”

  “Like you said,” Will replied as he fought to calm his pounding heart, “this place is creepy.”

  “An ancient, derelict network of tunnels, rumored to have once been devoted to drugs, press-ganging, and prostitution?” Mad clapped Will on the shoulder. “Yeah, it’s lovely.”

  They made their way into the next room, where the tour had ended, and discovered that the way forward was blocked off by yellow caution tape. Ducking underneath, they passed from tourist-approved areas into ones still under excavation. The surrounding debris and rubble had been pushed aside, allowing a narrow path forward. Ropes hung from the walls like handrails, guiding the way.

  The difference between the zones was startling. They found more of the small cells, these caved-in and filled with rubble. Each one sent a shudder down Will’s spine as he imagined their former inhabitants, years of their lives lost in the blink of an eye. And all around my age, most likely, he thought as he pushed past them.

  After a few minutes they came to another room that had been largely cleared out. More caution tape, older and covered with dirt and grime, barred the far side of the room. A modern door had been poorly fitted over a gaping hole in the wall.

  “I think they may have more of this place excavated than they let on,” Will said with a grin.

  “Maybe,” Mad said, “but look how old that tape is. This place has been blocked off for a while.”

  Will stepped closer and carefully crossed the barrier, shining his light along the doorframe.

  “You’re right,” he said. “This door looks like it hasn’t opened in years. Even the padlock is rusty.”

  “Be my guest.” Madigan shone his light on the padlock. “You were always handier with locks than me.”

  Will slipped off his gloves, removed the lock-picking kit from his pack, and set to work. The exterior of the lock wasn’t in good shape, but the tumblers fell easily enough after a few moments’ work. He felt the satisfying click of everything falling into place and he yanked the rusted bolt open. Pocketing his tools, he pulled the door on its unsteady hinges. Before them was a steep downward ramp cut into the ground with a wide hole at the bottom. Another rope, covered in wet grime, was strung along the ramp’s edge to act as a handrail.

  “Well,” said Madigan, shining his light into the gloom, “going down?” He stepped forward and edged his way down the slope to the bottom and looked over the hole. “There’s a ladder. Or what used to be one.”

  Will eased the door shut behind them and slid down the rope till he met his brother at the bottom. Shining his light into the hole, he could see that the floor of the hole was just over seven feet below. Sure enough, there was a rotted wooden ladder that looked ready to crumble at any moment.

  “Oh yeah. This looks just great,” he said as he shone his light around the darkness. “Be my guest, Mad.”

  “Works for me,” his brother said, clipping the flashlight to his belt. “Don’t worry, I’ll catch you if you fall, kid.”

  Madigan crouched and grabbed the ropes on either side of the pit, gradually lowering himself into the darkness. The ladder creaked and groaned beneath his weight. Will tensed as he waited for the crash of his brother falling amidst a pile of rotten wood, but it never came. Instead, Madigan shone his light up and gave a thumbs-up.

  Will braced himself against the ropes and lowered his feet onto the first rungs of the ladder. It shuddered and creaked as he descended. The wood was soft in his hands and he could feel it giving way under his weight. Just over halfway, his foot stepped through a rung and the entire thing came apart in his hands. Yelling, he pushed himself backward and leapt off. He managed to land on his feet, but the sticky mud sent him stumbling into Madigan.

  “Oh, well done, Will,” Madigan said as he steadied his brother. “Well done, indeed.”

  Will readjusted his pack. “I like to keep things interesting.”

  “Right, of course,” Mad stepped away from the broken ladder and shone his flashlight into the darkened passage. His eyes narrowed as the beam barely cut the gloom. “No reason to wait. Let’s go.”

  Will nodded and followed behind. He lost his balance as the suction of the mud gripped his foot. He freed it with a sharp pull that sent him stumbling against the slime-encrusted wall. Pulling himself away, he wiped his grimy hands on his pants and shook his head. Oh yes, this is just great.

  “I’m sorry,” Madigan said as he flooded Will’s face with a beam of light, “did you need a moment to stop and enjoy the scenery
? By all means, take a seat and relax.”

  “What can I say?” Will said as he pushed away from the grime with a grunt. “This place has a nice, low-stress vibe to it. Maybe we should just set up camp here and settle down.”

  Both grinned and Will wrapped his scarf around his face. He was trying to keep the mood light, trying to distract himself and block out his dank surroundings. He failed.

  The air was stale with age and smelled of decay. Their flashlights barely illuminated the space, as if the darkness itself was battling against the light. Each footstep was a struggle for balance and both lost their footing on more than one occasion. Before they reached any kind of bend in the tunnel, the brothers were covered in the slick, stinking mud.

  Finally, they approached a curve that angled down. Will’s feet slid as he trailed in Mad’s wake. The path evened out into murky standing water that rose past his ankles, the mud underneath even more precarious than before. Still, the ground under the water felt different. It was jagged, not quite rocky, but definitely as if there was more than a fair scattering of gravel hidden in its surface.

  “What the hell,” Madigan said. “There’s glass in the mud.”

  Will aimed his light down, toeing some of the ground above the water’s surface. Glass and rusted bits of metal were interspersed throughout the mud. Every step they took, Will could feel crunching and grinding beneath his feet.

  “I always heard that when sailors got Shanghaied the first thing their captors did was take their shoes,” he said as a shudder went down his spine. He imagined terrified men with bare feet trying to make their way through the darkened tunnels, every footfall sending the debris tearing through their flesh. “Now we know why.”

  10

  Hazards and Doors

  Mad shook his head in disgust and pressed forward, his pack shifting on his back with each step. The brothers walked slowly and carefully, following the twists and turns of the strange labyrinth beneath the city. Will pulled the fangs from his pack and used one to mark arrows on beams, hoping they would be sufficient to follow back if needed. They came upon doors that led deeper into the earth, the wood long since rotted so that only the metal framework remained. Some tunnels were completely filled from collapsed roofs. More than once, they found more rusted bars and cages at dead ends, forcing them to backtrack until they could find another fork.

  Hours passed with no conversation, their focus only on putting one step in front of the other and navigating the darkness. Will imagined his old storybook heroes slogging through trenches and wondered if they ever experienced the absolute boredom that was overtaking him. Everything had been all fun and adventure when they first entered the tunnels. Now it was just mind-numbingly dull and dreary. He wanted something different, to run from a giant boulder or swing over bottomless pits. Instead there was only glass-ridden mud in the darkness.

  “This is ridiculous,” Mad said, his voice edged with frustration. “We’ve doubled back again and again. This entire section of the city is one big dead end from the cave-ins.”

  “I’m open to any ideas, Mad. I don’t really know what you were expecting.” Will was surprised at the sharpness of his own tone. How long had they been wandering? How long since they had had anything to eat or drink?

  Madigan barked a laugh at that. “Expecting? I was expecting a bit more help here, not just to be dragging along a silent pack mule.”

  “You said you’d lead the way,” Will said, ignoring his brother’s comment. “So, I’m letting you lead. I don’t know what you think I can do.”

  “It isn’t like there’s a map, is it?” Madigan said as he shone his flashlight into Will’s face. “Be useful, whip out your Shade and point it like a compass or something.”

  “What? That’s not how it works.” Will swatted the lamp away from his face.

  “Have you even tried? How do you know?” Madigan raised the flashlight to his face again. “You’re the magical one here, do something magical!”

  “You’re an idiot,” Will batted the light away again. Madigan kicked mud at him. Will kicked mud back. They stood in silence, both daring the other to escalate the situation, until Madigan started laughing.

  “This is ridiculous,” he said. “I’m sorry. Truce?”

  “Truce,” Will agreed, smiling at the absurdity of it all. “I’m guessing we’re both a bit thirsty.”

  “And hungry.” Madigan frowned and glanced around the tunnel. “Though the thought of eating anything while we’re down here is really unappealing.”

  Regardless, the pair took a moment for a snack and a drink. While he ate, Will eyed their surroundings again. There were no discernible markings or indications of direction. Whoever had used these tunnels years before had either erased all traces or knew instinctively where to go. Still, there had to be some way they could figure out where to go, or at least where they were.

  “Your dream, or vision, or whatever it was,” Madigan said, interrupting Will’s train of thought. “You said you were in a cavern?”

  Will nodded. “Yeah, some cavern with a big deep pool and broken beams and the like.” He tried to remember all of the details. Few came. “All the debris made it look as though there was some kind of big structure at one point. Or, at least, the skeleton of a structure. The start of something, maybe? It was old though, old and broken.”

  Despite the darkness, Will could see Madigan thumbing his key. His description of the room wasn’t much to go on, but still his brother was trying to envision it, trying to find any potential clues to guide them. Suddenly, Mad started.

  “A scaffolding,” he said, voice brimming with excitement. “It was a scaffolding. You said there was a hole in the ceiling, right? The debris from the structure was its access!” His eyes were bright with enthusiasm at the revelation.

  It made sense. Will didn’t remember any other kind of entrance that could have led to the pool. “That’s actually a really solid idea, Mad.”

  “We’ve got to double check every path we’ve crossed,” his brother said, continuing as if Will hadn’t even spoken. “We’ll search for any hint of an exit by our feet that’s been blocked or sealed or obscured, anything.”

  The pair set off, backtracking and scanning. Over the next hour they searched tunnel after tunnel, scoured rooms and cells, but found nothing. Throughout, Madigan kept twisting the key in his hands, making Will more aware of his own where it lay against his chest. He’d been distracted and hadn’t noticed that its distinctive hum seemed to have increased. It seemed to nearly be throbbing. As they turned down a particularly dark corridor, the key suddenly sent a pang of electricity against his body and he yelped.

  “Find something?” Madigan asked, turning back to him.

  “No,” Will shook his head. The key was dormant again. “I just felt something weird, like static electricity. It’s nothing.”

  Madigan traced his steps back to Will. “With you, nothing is ever nothing. Let’s look around a bit closer.”

  The blackened tunnel was damp, but the ground at their feet seemed dryer than the surrounding area. Will glanced around but couldn’t find any cause of drainage; the walls seemed solid enough, no breaks to be seen.

  Madigan began making his way along the opposite wall, shining his flashlight up and down as he scanned. Will felt the key jolt again as he turned to walk farther down the corridor. He paused and turned back. As he looked at the wall, he was inescapably drawn to a smoother portion near knee height that he hadn’t noticed before. It was dirty, but something about it felt out of place. He crouched and traced his fingers along the wall. An outline seemed to form in the darkness, invisible to the naked eye but as though it was just on the edges of his vision.

  “Will?” his brother called. “What is it?”

  “There’s something here,” he said. “Something we didn’t see before.” He closed his eyes and imagined his vision, picturing the cavern. He thought of his grandfather and his years of gentle guidance. He thought of himself, Shadowborne,
and imagined his Shade stretching through the cavern. Nothing came.

  Frowning, he opened his eyes. Still, something seemed to have changed. It was as if he could see hair-thin cracks in the wall that formed an outline. Will leaned his body against the wall and pushed. It felt immense, immovable, but still he pushed. Madigan crouched beside him and, without asking why, joined him. The pair of them grunted and groaned, straining their bodies, when a sudden hiss of air escaped. Gradually the stone within the wall began to give way, pushing inward. Then it fell before them with a solid thud, revealing a small, dry crawlspace.

  “Now this looks promising,” said Mad. “How did you know?”

  My key zapped me, Will mused, feeling foolish. Thinking that his brother would scoff at such a silly idea, instead he said, “Like you said, I’m the magical one.”

  Madigan eyed him speculatively. “Well, if you get any more magic feelings, let me know.”

  Will nodded then leaned forward and entered the small, low-ceilinged tunnel. As soon as he entered, his flashlight flickered and died. He stopped, thumbing the switch, and Madigan bumped into him.

  “The light isn’t working,” Will said.

  “Mine neither. It died just a second ago.”

  “Can you reach the batteries?” Will asked. His pack began to rustle as Mad rifled through it in the utter darkness. Will suppressed a foreboding sense of claustrophobia and forced himself to be patient. After a moment, he heard Mad unscrewing his flashlight before flicking the switch a few times.

  “Nothing,” Madigan said after a brief curse. “They’re not working at all.”

  “Do you have a lighter?”

  “Yeah, but we can’t use it very well while crawling.”

  “Great,” Will said. He closed his eyes and opened them rapidly as his head spun in the darkness. “We’ll just move forward slowly, then.”

  They crept forward at a snail’s pace on hands and knees. Will was thankful that this area had apparently been outside of the slavers’ knowledge and, as such, the passage was free of any sharp debris. The path twisted after a few dozen feet and descended sharply before leveling out and twisting again. After what felt like hours, the passage finally began to grow in height. Overwhelming relief flooded into Will as he could finally move more freely. He shifted to a crouch and tried his light once more, to no avail.