Chapter 88: 5.12 – What Lies Beneath

Robin stared at the hole in the floor with its small spiral of stairs leading downward into the darkness. The last syllables of the passcode used to open the access point hadn’t even faded from the air yet and already he was having second thoughts. What were Ruprecht’s intentions? Was this a trap or an opportunity? Probably both.

‘Savra?’ he asked, hoping the seeress might have some insight to offer.

‘My vision sees nothing more than it did the last time you asked, thirty seconds ago.’ Her voice was dry and sharp as cheap white wine.

‘Right.’ Robin glanced to the party. ‘Who goes first?’

‘It will be a tight fit,’ Savra warned. ‘The passage is very narrow, with many turns and switchbacks.’

Perfectly suited to shapeshifters whilst also being difficult for adventurers. Of course.

‘I will go first,’ Khavren declared. ‘I—’

‘—am not nearly as good a choice as I am,’ Jhess’s eyes were hard and hot. ‘I have a better chance at spotting an impending ambush. or a trap, and I’m much more mobile than anyone walking around in a tin can.’

Khavren looked like he wanted to protest, but allowed himself to be swayed by the logic of it.

‘It’s my proper role in the party, after all,’ Jhess said.

That did it. The knight was a sucker for doing things as they were supposed to be done. Even his thirst for personal glory bowed before his respect for tradition, and it was traditional to scout dangerous dungeon territory.

A trickle of anxiety fed through his empathic connection with Rerebos on a steady drip. The little dragon had orders to stay behind and go for help in case this turned into a massive trap. His familiar had not been happy with the plan. Robin had reassured him that if there was any need, he could be resummoned to the bard’s side with just a few minutes work.

Rerebos still didn’t like it. Robin was his greatest shiny and he was not pleased with the prospect of losing such a treasure. Not what the bard had expected to hear, but it was—somewhat—flattering nonetheless.

‘Take great care,’ Khavren said as Jhess padded down the steps into the access tunnel.

‘Don’t need to tell me twice,’ the rogue called back over her shoulder before she vanished.

Robin’s heart began to pound and he turned his ear to listening for any hint of Ruprecht’s voice. As if the dungeon would let anything slip, now that he knew Robin could hear him. But there wasn’t much else he could do, aside from shoot glances toward Savra in case the seeress sensed something before Jhess returned.

But Savra maintained a serene facade at all times, and Jhess was back in a few minutes.

‘Just as she said, long, narrow, and twisting. I don’t think this was designed with an ambush in mind, it’s such a small space, but with shapeshifters, it’s hard to say.’

‘They could launch one as we pass a different access point,’ Robin said. ‘That’s—’

‘—what you would do, yes, we know.’ Jhess shook her head. ‘I couldn’t see any other entrances while I was in there, but we couldn’t see this one at all until you spoke the magic words, so I can’t promise there aren’t several along the way until the first branch.’

‘Branch? It forks?’ Drev asked, interest kindling in his eyes.

Ruprecht had mentioned a test, hadn’t he? So they got access to the passageways but it was up to the party to find their way out on the inner side of the dungeon. Guessing that passcode wouldn’t be fun, either, though Robin had some thoughts.

‘I bet it’s as much a maze down there as it is up here,’ Jhess confirmed glumly.

‘I’d not take that bet,’ Robin said. ‘What we need is a fixed reference point, or someone who always knows unerringly which direction north is. If we had that, we could at least stand a solid shot of exiting on the side of the passage we want to be on.’

The party exchanged a glance. Robin could see confusion in Khavren’s eyes. He didn’t bother explaining that the majority of the access points they were likely to find would lead to the outer section of the dungeon, because it was bigger. More area, more access points.

Wulfram heaved a sigh when it was clear no one had a knack for navigation that was up to the task. The large man reluctantly raised a finger and pointed.

‘That way is north?’ Robin looked the man over. There was no reason to doubt he had such an ability. He probably had more tricks up his sleeve than the rest of the party combined. And the party included Robin, so that was saying something.

Wulfram nodded.

‘Right. Jhess goes first to scout for danger. Myself next to help defend her if she finds any, and to map the tunnels. Wulfram behind me so I can keep everything aligned with north so we don’t get too far off track and can keep working out way toward the centre. Dee and Savra next, with Khavren bringing up the rearguard. Who could be better at protecting our backs?’

Who indeed, but Robin didn’t have time to go in for a list.

The flattery kept the knight happy, and the party proceeded as Robin suggested. There was a final flare of discontent from his familiar along their empathic bond, then Robin had to turn his attention to mapping their way.

The tunnels here were tight and hot, cramped and twisting. The going was slow and Robin accumulated several scrapes and bumped elbows as he tried to draw whilst also navigating the stone passages, always checking with Wulfram to make sure they were headed as closely toward the centre of the dungeon as they could manage.

It wasn’t easy. Often the passages led them away and there was no choice but to follow. Several times they passed small sets of stairs, similar to the ones that they had taken to get down to this network of access shafts. Robin marked these on the map but didn’t try to open any of them. Odds were they were looking for a dead end in the tunnel. Ruprecht was laid out in a sphere, so it made sense the access shafts would end on his level.

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Robin paused. He looked at the map in his hands and checked with Wulfram once again. Then he quickly ran over what he knew of Ruprecht and what he would do in the same situation.

They shouldn’t be looking for a dead end. That was a giveaway and it wasn’t as efficient as a two- or even three-way passage. The door would be in an otherwise flat, unremarkable wall. Either at a junction or along a bit of unremarkable corridor.

‘Stop,’ he called out softly. ‘Jhess, come back. I think we’ve passed it.’

‘What?’ the rogue asked, appearing a moment later.

‘I think we passed it. If I’ve mapped this right, and Wulfram’s sense of direction is correct—’

The porter snorted.

‘—which it undoubtedly is,’ Robin continued smoothly, ‘then we’ve just crossed from one half of the dungeon to the other. We’re currently headed away from the centre.’

‘And the door has to be at the centre, barring wayfaring magics, which are advanced and dangerous, and this dungeon isn’t big enough yet that it’s likely they’re involved.’

‘Why have we stopped?’ Khavren’s voice echoed down the tunnel, demanding and harsh.

‘We think the entrance is back behind us,’ Jhess called.

Robin’s ear, tuned to detect any whisper of response from Ruprecht, heard nothing. A little too much nothing? He turned around.

‘We need to go back. Wulfram, I’m going to ask you to point out north to me every six—’ Robin looked at the giant man’s frame, ‘—make that three strides. I’ll call a halt when we’re near.’

Khavren grumbled and—with a great deal of creaking and scraping—turned around and headed back down the tunnel. Wulfram managed the same feat much more nimbly, in spite of being nearly twice the knight’s size.

Robin suspected foul sorcery was afoot.

They backtracked, Robin frequently checking their progress using his map and Wulfram’s pointing finger.

‘Here!’ he called. ‘It has to be somewhere around here.’

‘Can’t you be more specific?’ Khavren demanded.

‘Not without more precise instruments. No offence, Wulfram.’ Robin stowed the map and began to carefully go over the wall to his right.

‘What are we looking for?’ Drev asked. ‘Perhaps I can help.’

Robin glanced at Savra. If the seeress had a useful vision, it would save them a lot of time, but it didn’t look like any were forthcoming anytime soon. The seeress was staring thoughtfully at Khavren.

Whatever that was, Robin didn’t want to know.

‘Fine lines, scrapes on the floor, anything that might show us where the secret door is. Though there’s been enough magic involved in just the passwords that allow access I’m not sure if—’

‘I have a spell that might help, actually. It’s quite short range, but if you’re convinced we’re close…’

‘We are,’ Robin said firmly. ‘Whatcha got?’

‘It’s an unveiling spell, a bit specialised, mainly used in magical research to study the structure of supernatural constructs, but that’s what we have here, isn’t it? So if I cast the spell and the door is nearby, it should light up with the rune structures that control the password effect. I’m afraid I haven’t managed to get it to last terribly long, yet, but it should at least tell us where the door is.’

‘Let’s give it a try!’ Robin made his best guess as to where the door might be and placed Drev in front of it.

He stood a few feet to Drev’s left and gestured for Jhess to take up a similar position to the right. He wanted a good look at the door, for as long as the light lasted. There were probably clues in the runic structure he could use to open it, especially knowing how the other one worked.

Drev breathed out the syllables of an incantation and suddenly the wall a few feet to Robin’s left blazed with interlocking sigils. The bard dashed over, eyes running over the runework. It was similar to that which he had seen in the Tower in Wyndham Wood, but much cruder in execution, less refined. Threaded through it, however, were symbols he recognised, enough to fill in the missing gaps.

‘Computer,’ he said in English, ‘open access point alpha-three!’

The wall shimmered and vanished, golden light spilling into the tunnel all around them. Robin took one look and gasped.

‘Fuck me!’

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