Chapter 146: 143. Hellfire (Part 4)

Tight alleys and pathways, just barely large enough to get a horse through them, lined much of Rupes’ Undercity.

Elira knew many of these roads like the back of her hand.

She flew by the steel boxes that the Undercity’s citizens would call houses. Steam that pumped out of the pipe systems from each house would quickly dissipate upon her dashing past them.

Tempest was a much better partner in crime than Elira could’ve asked for. He was faster than the other horses, and was always full of stamina and energy. The one thing that Tempest lacked, however, was his own drive to push forward. Tempest was a bit of a docile horse, as he’d been since Elira adopted him as a foal. He seemed to want to run, to gallop freely in Zenith’s fields, but he’d only feel free to do so if he was with Elira.

That same truth held true here.

“WOOOOAAHH! TEMPEST, RELAAAAAAAX!” Elira yelled.

She had to hold on to her hat, lest it went flying away from her whenever Tempest roughly dashed through the streets.

He’s... faster... than... normal...!

“Is that all you got Elly?!”

Elira looked up.

Zivot had leapt from atop one building to another.

“Shit! You cheater!”

“This is how I’ve always won! Catch me if you can!”

Elira was amazed. Zivot always seemed to perform well whenever it came to these random little games that they’d play. Even back when Zivot wasn’t an Aspect... when he was simply Elira’s friend. Their party would adventure around Zenith and look for treasures and spoils. That was truly a time of bliss in Elira’s life. It was unfortunate, but they had to disband due to a few problems in the group.

Elira didn’t have time to reminisce about old times right now though.

She spurred Tempest onwards, leaning down to improve her aerodynamics ever so slightly.

Through the winding streets they raced, managing to avoid the urchins along the way. It wouldn’t be the first time Tempest had run over a group of kids, but Elira didn’t really want to have to go through that a third time, so she breathed a sigh of relief when they’d avoided them.

This... isn’t enough! I need to go further down, faster!

This isn’t fast enough to win!

What can I do?!... what can I-... wait...

The Waterways!

Elira remembered the one area that none of them dared to tread through when they were younger.

Home to the roughest gangs in Rupes.

The Waterways.

She smirked to herself.

Elira would do what her childhood self was always afraid of.

Gulmory had just managed to catch up to Elira, when Elira took a detour on her path.

“The fuck?... what’s she doing?” Gulmory whispered under her breath. “Well... fuck it! Why would I care if she wants to end up smelling like a sewer rat!? Go faster, Sloth!”

Gulmory had named her horse Sloth. Not because it was slow, but because it was unbelievably lazy.

Elira didn’t even notice Gulmory catching up with her.

She diverted off her racing path to find an entrance. Elira looked from side to side to find the nearest entrance to the Waterways. After a few side glances, Elira found it. The small tunnel that led into the sewage system just under Rupes, which led through into the Waterways.

Elira thought about using the Waterways after she recalled the tunnels that led from the Waterways into all kinds of areas in the Undercity. She understood it to be something close to a tunnel network. She’d probably have to outrun the guard crew though.

Anyone in the city knew that the Waterways were dangerous, but very few people knew exactly why as they were far too scared to head down there.

The crews and gangs that operated out of the area were known for their unforgiving methods of attack and torture against anyone that trespassed on their turf.

Elira was about to do just that.

“Tempest, don’t slow down!”

The floor began to change. From what was once rough cobble, to mossy brick, Tempest had to adjust how he ran on the surfaces below him.

It was shaky for a few seconds, but Tempest adapted quickly.

Puddles of water splashed beneath his hooves as he galloped through the open sewers towards a big opening.

Once they’d gotten through, Tempest took a sharp right turn. His hooves clanged against the different flooring.

The floor was now made of metal.

Rails, specifically, were the only thing between Elira and Tempest, and the jagged rocks jutting out of the perfectly vertical waterfall coming from the sewer’s opening.

It flowed far down. The railing that Tempest was now running along was attached to the sides of the upper walls of the Waterways.

Elira looked out into the distance.

Considering that this was all part of Udra, Elira almost couldn’t believe just how diverse all of these areas were. The previous part of Rupes was run down and shoddy. But here... it was like a maze of completely unique buildings and areas between the waterways beneath the city.

The railing led to another opening in the wall, which brought Elira and Tempest back into the sewer canals just below Rupes.

As Tempest galloped, Elira began to smell how rancid this whole area was.

Well... it is a sewer system after all...

She didn’t know why she’d expected any different.

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Another opening popped up.

This one led onto a platform that was, while made of metal railings like the other one, a lot more swirly. And it went directly down.

Tempest ran along the spiral swirls that acted as a large spiral staircase for horses.

This must be where the sewer workers and engineers access the sewer systems...

Once they’d reached the bottom layer of the swirly platform, the ground opened up.

No longer was there only the option of travelling through the sewer systems, but Elira could travel through the Waterways itself, all the way down to the frontmost exit. She guessed that the way out would show itself once she reached there.

Since Elira hadn’t actually been in the city before, she had to trust her instincts if she was to win this race.

Tempest didn’t slow down, as per Elira’s earlier instructions. He dashed through the surprisingly varied underground roads.

The Waterways was lit up by natural occurring lights coming from the jutting rocks in its ceiling, as well as artificial lighting from many of the buildings.

Elira looked around as they ran, trying to take in the surroundings as best she could in the time she had.

The buildings here were colourful, and clearly made of many different materials. They had signs with words that were too blurry to read. It seemed like there was a small community of people down here with a network of buildings, shops, and residential areas.

Elira was surprised, because all she’d previously heard of this place was to do with the brutality one would face down here.

There was one thing that Elira had only realised as she approached the end of the straight road that Tempest was running down.

She was being chased.

Though, Tempest was so fast that Elira hadn’t even noticed until now.

Alright then! Bring it on! Tempest will outrun all of you!

The people chasing her were, what she assumed to be, part of the guard crew. They didn’t ride on horses, but on big lizards down here. Elira figured that horses weren’t used down here because they wouldn’t survive living in these conditions for a long period of time.

As Elira was getting chased, she urged Tempest to dash down an even tighter street.

He fluttered his lips, and made a sharp turn around the far corner into the tight alleyway.

Elira dragged down stacked boxes behind her. She ripped clotheslines from between the two buildings she ran alongside, leaving a trail of debris where she ran.

Eventually, Tempest had escaped from the tight alleyway without Elira’s lizard tail in sight.

They’d emerged into a big square.

Water canals lined the square’s edges. It seemed like the rest of the city was split by different water canals and very few actual roads.

Since earlier, Elira had travelled left from the rightmost wall of the Waterways enclosing. Which meant that she had to go right to get back out towards the exit that she wanted.

Elira urged Tempest forward again. They went towards the far right side of the square, finding a pathway along the water canals that flowed in that direction.

The pathway, and the canal, dipped downwards underneath a number of bridges and buildings that connected either side above them.

Further in the distance, Elira noticed a set of stairs and a ramp going back up.

The water canal ended just after the ramp, with the water flowing into a waterfall that Elira couldn’t see much of over the edge.

Tempest climbed up the ramp quickly, and was about to dash further right.

Elira stopped him by pulling back on his reigns.

Tempest reared, then circled in place for a few seconds, before coming to a standstill.

“Just... give me a second here Tempest. I think we’re towards the end now, but... what the fuck is that?”

Elira guided Tempest over to the wall just at the edge of the top of the water canal. She looked over to see where the waterfall went, but she couldn’t see an end in sight.

It simply fell down. Into an empty void with no visible light.

“What’s... down there?”

This was the end of the Waterways.

There were no more buildings past this point, Elira noticed. She’d never been here before, but she’d have thought that something like this would have been mentioned in some kind of conversation at some point before now. But this was the first time she’d ever seen anything like this.

Elira made a mental note to come back and explore this, to try and find out what exactly it was. There was no way that this was just a simple waterfall when it flowed down so far. Not a single sound even came from the water that was supposed to crash at the bottom, which was another factor that Elira took into account.

Her interest was very much piqued.

She pushed Tempest to shoot through the crowd that was gathering around her, shoving people aside. Elira continued the race, making her way to the right-end wall of the Waterways.

An opening showed itself in the distance, as she’d expected.

Elira navigated through the bridges and backtracking paths that she had to take to get there, and went through it.

There was a short sewer canal that Tempest had to gallop through, before another opening showed itself.

Light burst through it.

Elira went through the opening, and had to wait a second for her eyes to readjust.

Then, she realised that she was back outside. In Rupes’ main city. At the bottom of the mountain. With neither Zivot, nor Gulmory, in sight.

Elira had won the race.

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