Book 2 - Chapter 32

Well, nobody said being the hero would be easy, Noah thought as he pulled the balaclava over his face. Or sanitary, for that matter.

To everyone’s relief, the first step of their infiltration had gone exactly according to plan. The city was eerily quiet as they approached the docks, making it easy to avoid detection. Their ship’s crew—Therondalian soldiers all—closed to within two hundred meters of the docks before dropping anchor and helping them into rowboats. Noah rowed while watching the ship fade into the darkness, knowing that the moment the flickering light of the portal atop the tower went out, they’d come straight back.

At the seawall, they tied the boats to a metal‑rung ladder embedded in the stone. Ken climbed first toward the two‑meter sewage pipe draining into the water. The locked grate blocking the pipe proved no obstacle; he picked it quickly, swinging the rusty gate open with a loud metal‑on‑metal screech. They waited in the dark for several long moments afterward, convinced the noise had drawn something to investigate.

When nothing came, they didn’t question their luck. They pressed on.

The sewer was exactly as advertised—dark, damp, and foul. Ciri led them through twisting corridors, the magical orb of light in her palm providing just enough illumination to keep them from tripping over the waste beneath their feet. As they walked, Noah marveled that she could maintain the spell while also recalling the route she’d memorized.

It wasn’t until Piper nudged him and cawed softly that he realized something was wrong. Moving quietly, he stepped up to Ciri and placed a hand on her shoulder. Trusting his and the runt griffon’s instincts, she extinguished the light and turned toward him.

“Is something wrong?” she whispered.

Piper cawed again, then nodded toward a tunnel branching to the right.

“She thinks there’s danger there,” Noah murmured.

“That is… a problem,” Ciri said as Mara and Ken moved closer to listen. “That is the direction of our exit.”

“Is there another route we can take?” Mara asked.

“You misunderstand.” Ciri shook her head. “This is the final turn. That room holds our exit.” She pointed back the way they’d come. “There is an alternate exit three hundred meters in that direction, but it will mean a significantly longer march to the tower above ground.”

“The hundred meters may as well be three hundred kilometers in the city,” Ken growled. “Especially if we run into another one of those… insects.”

Silence fell at the thought.

“Okay, we’re pushing through then,” Noah decided. He looked at Piper in the pitch‑black. “What kind of danger are we talking about?”

She cawed once.

He frowned. “You’re not sure?”

A softer caw, followed by her bobbing her head against his cheek so he could feel it.

“It’s okay.” He reached up and scratched her side.

“So what’s the plan?” Mara asked.

“Conduits in the back, guards up front. Don’t fight unless we have to,” Noah said. “We should conserve combat magic for when it really matters. We’ll need some light though. I can’t shoot what I can’t see.”

A moment later came the tearing of paper, followed by the chime of magic. Another orb of light bloomed above Ciri, illuminating the tunnel. The guards moved to the front and raised their shields, forming a wall of steel.

Noah, Ken, Mara, Ciri, and the two remaining conduits moved in behind them, crossbows raised. With a brief nod, they advanced as one, crossing the gap toward whatever danger lay ahead. Noah’s jaw tightened and his palms grew slick as they rounded the corner to the tunnel exit, bracing for an attack.

Instead, they found a metal ladder leading upward and another long hallway swallowed in darkness.

Piper perched tensely on Noah’s shoulder, ready to spring. Her posture alone was enough to keep his weapon up and his eyes locked on the tunnel ahead. They advanced a few more steps before Ken raised a fist.

“Movement,” he whispered.

Noah strained his ears. Soft chittering. Then thousands of tiny footfalls. The sound swelled, drowning out everything else. When the source finally appeared, Noah had to fight the urge to fire blindly.

A tidal wave of tunnel rats surged toward them. Each was about forty centimeters long, hairless, with pink skin and beady black eyes. A third eye—white, mounted on a prehensile stalk—jutted from the center of their foreheads, swiveling wildly.

“That’s the danger?” one guard muttered as the horde parted around them, racing into the tunnel they’d just left. “Rats?”

Noah glanced at Piper. She was still staring into the darkness. He shook his head. “No. Whatever scared them is the danger.”

As if on cue, Piper launched herself into the air. She struck what looked like empty space—only for her claws to rake across something solid. Green blood splashed into the filth as the rats scattered.

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A monstrous creature blinked into existence, its camouflage disrupted by Piper’s attack. It was bipedal and hairless, with gray skin and pointed Fae‑like ears. Its arms hung nearly to the ground, ending in three‑fingered hands tipped with talons. Its emaciated frame showed every bone.

But its face was the true nightmare. It looked like someone had sculpted a human face out of clay using only a skull for reference and a toddler’s skill. Its mouth stretched ear‑to‑ear, packed with razor teeth. Its nose was nothing but slits. Its eyes glowed red.

The creature swiped at Piper with one elongated arm, but she leapt clear at the last instant. The clumsy strike missed her—only to slam into the nearest guard’s shield. Metal shrieked as its talons carved straight through the heavy plate, gouging the man’s arm. Noah fired immediately as the guard fell back screaming. His bolt punched through the creature’s eye, killing it instantly and dropping it into the muck.

He didn’t even have time to pump his crossbow before another identical creature materialized and pounced on the wounded guard. Its talons severed the man’s head in a single motion. The others fired, riddling the monster with bolts until it collapsed.

“Out. Now!” Ken shouted. “There’s probably more!”

His words were all the motivation they needed. They sprinted for the ladder. Ken leapt up the first three rungs and began climbing. Mara followed as the guards formed a shield wall around the base to protect her ascent.

Noah’s eyes flicked left and right. Above, he heard Ken heaving the sewer cover aside. The two human conduits began climbing next—only to freeze when Piper cawed sharply and narrowed her eyes at a corner.

“Go!” Noah urged, popping open one of his firevine eggs. “We’ve got this!”

He cracked the egg in his gloved hand and flung the powder in a wide arc at eye height. The effect was immediate—four monsters blinked into existence, instinctively clawing at their faces. Noah leveled his crossbow and shot them one by one as Ciri started climbing behind him, her magical light orb falling to the ground to ensure they could continue to see and fight.

“Go!” one guard barked as the last creature fell. “We follow!”

Knowing they were risking their lives for him, Noah didn’t argue. He turned, took three long strides to the ladder, and began climbing. Piper launched off his shoulder, soaring toward the night sky.

Even before he reached the top, he heard another guard starting up behind him, pushing him to climb faster. As he neared the opening, Ken and Ciri reached down and hauled him onto the street. He nodded his thanks, then looked around to ensure they were safe for the moment before reaching down to haul one of the guards out as well.

The father‑daughter Fae pair stepped away for a moment, allowing Noah and the guard to repeat the process for the penultimate member of their group. When it came time to haul the last one out, Noah glanced down—only to immediately regret it.

A sea of grey‑skinned bodies surged below, far more than they could ever hope to fight. They mobbed the final guard, tearing him apart piece by piece. Noah met the other guard’s eyes, nodded grimly, and helped shove the sewer cover back into place, knowing there was nothing they could do.

At least he wasn’t screaming. I hope he died quickly, Noah thought as he moved through the alleyway to rejoin the others.

He crouched beside them, using several crates and a section of wall shattered by artillery strikes as cover. Piper landed on his shoulder again, cawing softly. Realizing her intent, he risked a peek over the debris to see what lay beyond.

His heart sank.

The tower stood down the street, only forty meters away. Its imposing frame looked impossibly tall in that moment—whether because of the enormity of the task ahead, the darkness of night, or the shimmering portal at its peak. Under different circumstances, he might have wanted to walk around its base, inspect the masonry, and figure out whether the ancient Fae used different techniques for their spell towers.

But right now, Noah was far more concerned with the small army gathered around it. Human Corrupted, vampire‑like figures, and tentacled creatures defying description loitered at the tower’s base. At least a hundred of them, with even more flying overhead. He gritted his teeth and ducked behind the wall again, shaking his head.

“There’s no way we can take on that many,” Noah growled to the group.

“There has to be a way,” Ken said.

“Did you look?” Noah shot back. “Even if all of them were just Corrupted, we’d run out of crossbow bolts before they ran out of bodies. Then there’s the flyers, and those other monsters I’ve never seen before. And that’s not even mentioning the Corrupted Fae.”

“All we need to do is make it to the staircase,” Ken insisted. “It’s narrow enough that they’ll have to fight single file. I didn’t see anything on the staircase itself, so once we’re there it’s a straight sprint to the top.”

“Except for the flyers,” Noah reminded him. “They’ll still be harassing us from the sides.”

“I’d rather fend off flyers than the rest of them,” Ken countered.

Noah shook his head, frustrated. “Look. It doesn’t matter. There’s no way we’re making it to the staircase with that many bodies between us and it.”

“What if there were fewer?” one of the conduits asked quietly.

“You have a spell that’ll thin the herd?” Noah asked.

“In a manner of speaking. We both do.”

He blinked. “You… do?”

She exchanged a long look with the other conduit, then nodded. “We’ll need to cast it from farther away.”

“Be ready to move,” the other conduit said, already understanding her plan.

The two of them crouch‑walked back toward the sewer grate before anyone could argue. Noah watched them reach the halfway point of the alley, then push open a wooden door to an adjacent building. It was unlocked. They shared a meaningful look and a whispered word before slipping inside and closing the door softly behind them.

Noah peeked over the debris again, then crouched and looked at Ken. “They didn’t tell us the signal.”

“You’ll know it when you see it,” Ken replied grimly.

Not wanting to make any more noise than necessary, Noah nodded. Seconds dragged into agonizing minutes. His eyes flicked between the group before settling on Ken. The elderly Fae had closed his eyes, bowed his head, and begun to mouth silent words.

He looks like he’s praying, Noah thought. But why would he—

“For Therondale!” two voices rang out in the darkness.

Unable to stop himself, Noah peered over the debris again. He immediately spotted the conduits standing in the middle of the street. The orange glow of nearby fires and the bluish shimmer of the portal provided more than enough light to see what happened next.

In perfect unison, they tore pages from their grimoires. Twin jets of pressurized water arced over the battlefield, falling as a soft rain atop the eldritch army. Noah’s analytical mind raced through the implications as the ineffective spell cut off and the conduits turned, sprinting away from the tower.

They just wasted their chance. They had to know that spell wouldn’t work from that range. They had to know magic isn’t effective against these things. They had to know that casting a spell would draw the Corrupted to them. What the hell were they—

The realization hit as the vast majority of the creatures began to give chase.

They didn’t waste their chance. They sacrificed themselves so we have one.

Feeling sick, Noah sank behind the debris. The grim expressions on the others’ faces told him they’d understood long before he did.Ken placed a hand on Noah’s shoulder and met his eyes. “Remember what I taught you.”

“Act now,” Noah murmured, taking a breath. “Process later.”

“On your feet. We’re only getting one shot at this.”