- Interlude -

  “Is he trying to get us lost?” Clint whispered.

  Marnie shrugged back, she had the good sense to not second guess the enigmatic man leading them.

  After the fifth random turn, Marnie caught sight of a cart turning after a duel got out of control and a fireball went wide. She didn’t doubt for a second longer that Segneture D’Aeggett had some sort of clairvoyance.

  “Try to keep up.” James replied happily.

  James lead the way through side streets and alleys, turning confidently, without a map or without second guessing himself.

  He suddenly stopped after they stepped out from an alleyway between a wand shop and a pawn broker.

  “We will wait here a moment before delving.” James said as he gestured across the road to the rickety boards haphazardly nailed together into a ramp. That would lead them down to the lowest levels of the city.

  “Taking the day off to clean the sewar with some rookies?”

  The master Alchemist Reandre glared at the group of adventurers but James did not flinch.

  There she is, right on schedule.

  “What brings you out in the daylight master Alchemist?” He asked without an ounce of malice or fear.

  Marnie stepped back from the powerful Alchemist. Her mana perception skill warned her that this was not a friendly old grandma.

  “So much sass, young man. I’m not allergic to daylight! I just work late into the night,” Reandre said.

  “Slack off adventurers have ruined my plans for the last time. Infact! I’m heading to the market to acquire the materials I require since you drunkards can only fetch your next ale!” She snarled.

  “Infact we are fetching your lichen now.” James said with a wave to the rag tag group behind him. “We will have it for you just after lunch.”

  “Oh ho! Then be on your way brave adventurers.” She said sourly. “Infact, here.”

  She reached into her robes and brought out three high quality potions.

  “Stamina potions.” She said as James took them and stowed them in his satchel. “So you can hurry back with my materials.”

  “Mistress,” the rat catcher said. “Thank you. You are a blessing.”

  “Quiet you mutt!” She hissed. “It’s a purely selfish gesture. Now get going!”

  “Before we go,” James said. “The mirror you have asked around about? I may have found it.”

  Her mood changed quickly. Marnie had thought the Alchemist’s aura was threatening before it was downright hostile now. Reandre stared at James suspiciously.

  “What mirror? Who has been lying to you about me?” She stepped closer to James and threatened him with a firm poke of her finger

  I don’t doubt she could kill me where I stand.

  “I am having it delivered to you. It should be at your doorstep within the hour.”

  She eyed James closely. The adventurers behind him shuffled anxiously.

  “He can’t be serious. Can he?” Clint whispered to Marnie.

  “It takes more than a bell to get down to the depths, we have to find and gather the lichen.” Marnie whispered back.

  “How are we going down there and back up again within a few hours?” He asked and stole a sideways look at the rat catcher and archer for a hint. Neither looked promising to him.

  “You are not lying to me D’Aeggett. It would be a deadly mistake.”

  “It is true, just wait and see.” He said.

  “And what would this cost me? Hmm? No one who truely understands a thing such as the mirror gives such a gift.”

  James watched her closely, certain he was safe. Half of her mind was turning, calculating the alchemical reagents and the much delayed concoction she would make. The other half was planning his death and trying to see the angles around his likely betrayal.

  “You should know also, the brothers are returning today and they will stay a while.” James said and smiled when he watched her chain of thoughts break for a moment.

  “All I ask is that you prepare everything you need immediately. The High Pyromancer’s order, deliver it today before 5th bell,” James said.

  “Ha! You think so highly of me!” She scoffed but it was mirthless. “The brothers return. Who do they bring with them this time?”

  “They will bring the Winter Court with them.”

  “Ill tidings for Valoria.” She mused.

  Reandre was lost in thought, again. James waited while circular diagrams and contingencies tied themselves into complicated nots in her mind.

  “Change is all around us Reandre.” He said and she slapped him lightly across the face.

  “You young upstarts! Keep your tongues away from my name! You lot are a hundred years too young. And keep those brothers out of your divinations.”

  “I will mistress.” James said with a smile. “I have told you all I can, now I must bravely venture into the undercity with my rag tag group of adventurers.”

  The one armed archer watched him without reaction but the rat catcher shied away from the attention.

  James bowed to her with a theatrical flourish and she nodded for him to leave.

  James and his party stepped onto the old wooden ramp, they went down into the living foundation of Valoria itself.

  Before his head could disappear from sight the old Alchemist called out after him.

  “I’ll need that lichen by second bell!”

  He waved over his head without looking back and kept walking.

  -

  James stepped over the open sewer entrance. It delineated the undercity from the true depths. Some braved the dank alleys below the city’s foundations. Their mossy, mildewed and rotten venue did not jusge between the downtrodden or the monsters rising up from deeper below. Nobody lived this far down. Not for long.

  Marnie carried a lit torch and Clint carried a large pack on his back.

  The rat catcher was in his element, adventurers ranging these highest levels of the undercity rarely saw the large rodents, but smaller ones would occasionally build a nest. If left unchecked, the nests would grow and begin to produce the unusually large rodents that could threaten the youngest and oldest among the low city.

  Birt was chivalrous, and came out of his timid character as they entered the darkness of the undercity.

  The one armed archer, Yuri, was a beauty, but in need of some fine clothes and a long bath. She had lost her arm earlier that year and thus, her main source of income. She was nearly destitute now and had accepted her new place in the city’s social structure. Both of them waited a few steps behind the adventurers, lest they sleight an honorable citizen of Valoria.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  The odor of the sewers made the pair of upstanding adventurers gasp.

  “What is that smell?” Marnie wheezed and held back her growing nausea. James made a ‘hurry up’ gesture to Birt with one hand.

  The rat catcher hesitated for a moment before understanding dawned on him. He reached into his bag to pull out moss he had collected from the northern parks.

  “Thank you,” Marnie said as Birt passed pieces of the moss around. They each stuffed a piece up their nostrils to alleviate the smell.

  Yuri followed suit mechanically. She broke the moss apart deftly with her one hand.

  It was still an hour before noon, but the undercity was dark. Darker than you would expect. The darkness crouched in the corners and behind piles of discarded trash.

  “It always creeps me out down here. It’s like, somehow, the light doesn’t reach as far as it should.”

  Entrances to the undercity peppered the roof above, many of them broken, or covered with grates. Here and there, an occasional rope ladder hung down.

  Daylight cascaded down onto the winding alleys formed by the foundations of the towering buildings above their heads.

  “Haven’t you heard?” Birt said. “Even glowing mushrooms don’t survive here. The light doesn’t dare come down here. The undercity belongs to the dark.”

  Marnie scoffed at him. “Children’s ghost stories.”

  The rat catcher tutted at her and drew out a length of braided rope with a small spike tied on the end.

  “Ghosts are very real down in the depths missy,” He said. “I have an enchanted punch rope and it’s saved me more than once.”

  “You’ve fought a ghost down here?” Klint asked, his voice heavy with awe.

  “Well no, the ghosts know not to come close to my punch rope. They can sense the sadness embued within.”

  “This way.” James said and led them to a thin alley. Klint had to shuffle sideways to fit his broad frame between the stone walls.

  “We are heading to Roland’s Slip then?” Birt asked after a moment.

  “Yes, in a roundabout way.” James said. “Don’t worry, I have a map.”

  “No map exists for Roland’s Slip,” Birt said. “It is one of the most dangerous descents into the depths. Who ever sold you that map is a liar.”

  “Fear not, I made this map myself,” James said.

  Yuri’s eyes focused on James for a moment, a question formed, then died on her lips.

  The party passed over a stone wall and dropped down onto true living bedrock of the city. The stone was wet with perspiration from the lake.

  There was no sign of any monsters having been this way in months.

  “Birt. Start setting your traps. I want this area clear.” James said. “Everyone, remember this route. We will retreat this way after we collect what we need.”

  Birt nodded and got to work.

  He knew enough to trust the Segniture’s whims by now.

  - 121 -

  “Move forward!” The guard shouted at the family in line. A father and mother carried everything they owned on their backs and towed a pack of three young children behind them.

  The guard checked their paperwork and signaled the tabards to be changed to the Summer court. Four mages rushed out. Two worked together to lift a chest with the Summer court’s insignia, the other two ran forward with the Fall court’s chest. Theirs was empty, and they used their wands to pull down the Fall court’s tabards from the Auburn gate and roll them up.

  Two Dwarves that had been standing off to the side of the gate were signaled forward. They had been left waiting as the rest of their group was permitted through the Verdant gate, while they waited for the Tempered gate.

  “This is normal for cities?” Drew asked.

  “Nothing about Valoria is normal.” John said.

  Thrain and Krag had passed through the Verdant Gate with one of the Johns driving a cart, the spare Garnts, and all of the Mercenaries.

  Merchants and mercenaries could enter through any gate and paid their tithe to whichever court was represented.

  A second John and the cargo wagon had just passed through the Auburn gate with a pair of elven dancers, along with Marcus on his trusty Garnt.

  Drew, William, and the final John were all members of the Summer Court and had waited patiently with the group’s last wagon for the tabards to change again.

  The tabards clicked into place and the medallions were rotated to activate the Tempered gate.

  “Move ahead! Summer court! All summer court members may pass through! Welcome to Valoria!”

  “It’s unbelievable,” Seraphina said.

  “Darling, it will be fine. We can ask around for more information once we are settled in the city.” John said quickly.

  John kept an eye on the guards and mages operating the gate to see if they had over heard her.

  “Absolutely not!” She shouted and frigid air blasted the door of her wagon open.

  Fridgid winds fell from the sky and blanketed the area in snow.

  The snow piled up before the gate and in the corners of the guard booth. It weighed heavy across the shoulders of the tabard bearers.

  Seraphina strode out of the wagon, her white hair wild in the wind. Guards readied their spears but she stopped her charge well out of their range.

  “I demand the Crystal gate!” She shouted.

  A heavy silence settled over everyone until the mage in yellow robes spoke up.

  Can she do that?

  “The Winter court is no more.” He said uncertainly. “Or have you not heard that their council member destroyed their court, tower and all?”

  “I have heard and I care little for those political fools.” She shouted.

  The mage gained some confidence then.

  “Then pass through this Tempered gate.” He shouted. “You are holding up the line!”

  “No! I am Seraphina Frostwind, third tier of the Winter court. I demand justification!” She spoke calmly in a commanding voice that rattled the cold iron of the gate.

  The guards readied their spears again but the mage in charge held them back with a gesture. He shrugged off her commands and squared his shoulders.

  “Your justification is rejected. The council has decreed the Crystal gate be retired until the Winter court can elect a new council member. One abstinent court member is not enough to command the gate.”

  He smiled at her smugly, but faltered when he saw the certainty in her face.

  “Enchanter! Step forward, we will have our justification!” Seraphina said.

  Damien stepped out of the wagon with a heavy sigh.

  He carefully shuffled through the snow and stood beside Seraphina.

  “I am Damien Thornbrush, third tier of the Winter court and I second the demand for Justification.” He ran his hand through his hair and deflated some. “Bring forth the Crystal gate tabards immediately.”

  Damien suddenly cares about politics now?

  The mage in yellow robes stared dumbly at them. Then his mouth snapped shut.

  “You will hang the tabards yourselves. The winter court has not garnered heralds for the tabards.”

  Two guards marched away to retrieve the winter court’s chest from the guard house.

  The chest was dusty from months of neglect. The two guards set the chest down before Seraphina.

  She reached out and placed her palm on the chest’s latch. It popped open with a click at the slightest application of her mana.

  “The court is truely dead then?” Drew asked the John beside him.

  “The Holy church controls their seat. At the whim of the king,” The John said. “And without the tithe from the gates, nor members on the council to play politics they won’t have the funds to restore their seat.”

  Drew watched as Damien and Seraphina lifted the tabards onto the gate with their wands and set them into place. The guards turned the medallions three quarters of the way around to the winter court’s symbol.

  “Now. Open the gates!” Seraphina said as she smiled at the Crystal gate.

  - Interlude -

  A pair of children searched through the rubble of the Winter court’s tower. Their uncle pierced the ground with a spade. The scrappy man was up to his shoulders in a hole.

  “He said it was over here. How far down do we have to dig?” The girl asked.

  “We are almost there.” The man said.

  “But I am tired of moving these bricks Uncle!” The girl said.

  “That’s too darn bad!” He shouted, then lowered his voice. “We can eat for a week with the man’s coin.”

  “How does he know it’s here?” The boy asked. “This tower was picked clean months ago.”

  ”How did he know the shoe shop would be robbed?” The uncle replied as he dug. “He knows, that’s all I need to know.”

  The spade clanged off of something deep in the hole and the three of them froze.

  “You hear that! That’s metal! Could it be the mirror?” The girl cried.

  “Did you break it?” The boy asked.

  The man tossed the shovel out of the pit and glared at his nephew. He dug around the object with his hands. His high endurance allowed him to push through the hard packed dirt and rubble without shredding the skin from his fingers.

  “You found it! You found it!” The girl cried anxiously.

  “Make some room! Clear those bricks away!” He said gruffly as he jiggled the mirror to test how stuck it was. He started digging around it with his hands again, following the edge.

  The siblings threw the bricks aside to clear a space around the hole. The bricks tumbled and scattered across the remains of the tower.

  He finally pulled up a full length mirror, the kind that hung on the wall. It was gilded and finely carved from dark wood, inlaid with enchantments. It would look out of place anywhere but a prince’s parlor.

  “It’s in one piece.” The boy gasped.

  “More or less.” The man said. “Would still sell for more than you or I are worth.”

  The frame was cracked in one place and every part of the glass was crisscrossed with fractures.

  ”We can’t sell it.” She said.

  ”Ofcourse not! We are going to survive.” The Uncle said. “We are going to buy you that instrument and you that fine dress and then the coin will really come in.”

  The girl looked down at their instructions.

  “He said it would be damaged, so it’s okay right?” She asked nervously.

  “Let’s go! We need to get it to that Alchemist,” The uncle said.

  He hoisted it up out of the hole and climbed out after it. The boy covered the mirror with a blanket they had picked up on the way.

  “He knew exactly where it was,” The boy said. “Is he an oracle?”

  “Who cares, let’s get out of this haunted place.”

  The three debt servants scrambled down the remains of the tower, bricks cascaded around them.

  The Uncle carried the bundled mirror out of the courtyard and turned to head east along the street.

  “Not that way!” The girl said looking down at their instructions again. “He says there’s a fools day parade, we have to go around. He gave us a map.”

  “Lead the way then,” The boy said, pushing his sister ahead of himself. “Quickly! I think we are being watched.”

  A single brick stood up silently from the rubble of the Winter court’s crumbled tower. It began to slide up the pile, from one spot to another until it settled at the top of the pile. It fit itself into the foundation of the tower with certainty.

  Then a second brick woke up and made its journey to its appropriate place in the foundation of the tower.

  Hushed whispers whirled around the rubble on the wind.

  ”Solstice… Solstice…”