The mood in the Undergarden seemed different now, more fraught and febrile. The different groups were more distinct, staring suspiciously at each other. Whatever bonds of peace existed were holding, for now, but there was definitely something in the air. Weapons were a little more prominent, greetings curter, every passing a thinly-veiled exchange of threats.

Janaxia sipped her tea – nicely full-bodied, for something being served in such a place, although she was drinking it black, not wanting to risk whatever passed for milk down here. At least the gangs were good enough to mark themselves clearly, with slashes of distinct colours on their clothing. Reds, greens and blues seemed to predominate, although there were others with orange and white. Was the girl part of a group that used black then, as their colours? She might even be the leader! It was probable that one could advance rapidly, with the correct mixture of skill, ruthlessness and applied violence.

Two toughs were squaring up against each other, chests puffed out, looking not entirely dissimilar to some form of mating ritual, although that was most likely not the intent. Both had hands ostentatiously resting on their knives, ready for violence as they bantered about the strength of their gangs.

Vrintar took a large spoonful of her stew. ‘I think the red probably has this one. He’s smaller, but he’s got the reach. The one in blue, he’s too tense, he’s gripping his knife too tightly.’

Semari chimed in. ‘Yeah, want to stay loose, and then stabby-stabby-stabby! Can stick someone five, six times before they realise, and then they’re a goner, at least eventually. Tends to be pretty short after that. Makes for some funky scars as well, if you survive.’

‘Is there some form of rough-and-tumble politics occurring, or is this simply part of the normal way of things down here? It seems that blood will be spilt soon.’

‘Normally this place is peaceful. It’s, like, where all the gangs come to talk their shit out. Not exactly holy ground, but definitely not a place to be the first one to start shit. But there’s some heavy stuff going on top-side. Carissia’s blasting through anyone she can get her hands on, there’s been a lot of sudden conversions to various faiths ‘cos of her. And some kind of internal stuff going on as well – there’s always some betrayals and all that stuff, but things seem to have kicked up a bit recently. Trusted captains turning stag on their bosses, all that stuff.’

‘Well, a certain amount of churn is inevitable, I would imagine. “No honour amongst thieves” and so forth. It is the usual method of promotion, is it not? Or, I suppose, leave, as you did with Kethys.’

‘Hey, she left me! Got too drunk and woke up late, and she’d buggered off. But I guess it was time to head off. Getting a bit boring. It was a good thing that Stathis showed up, otherwise I could have ended up all sorts of places. Although this is a bit shit. Carissia’s probably going to blow through the roof to try and kill us. Or you, at least. I’m planning on running, she’s way too much trouble to mess with.’

Vrintar nodded. ‘I agree. This is becoming dangerous. If it were possible to leave, it would be best to do so, but the Crystal Guard have stepped up their watch.’ She tapped her fingers on the table. ‘I think action might be starting!’ They all turned back around, as knives slid from sheathes, Semari making a disappointed sound as they both postured more, clearly wanting to see blood. ‘Ten says red wins.’

‘I think you’re right, but, hell, ten on blue. You want in on this, Janaxia?’

‘I think I will simply observe. Is there much to tell them apart beyond colours?’

‘The red’s run most of the gambling dens. Lots of numbers but gotten comfy lately. The blue’s are more old-school, they run the markets and do some protection rackets. Both a bit small-time, nothing fancy. Change names every so often, but the colours stay the same.’

A small group had assembled, on-lookers bearing both colours, as well as those with bandanas or fabric tags of other colours, keeping a respectable distance. Someone stood between Janaxia and the imminent duel, until she hissed at them telepathically, and they were polite enough to move, looking around uneasily.

Red moved, knife flashing forward, blue sidestepping just enough not to get stabbed, stepping forward and countering with a thrust, itself evaded. He was fast though, far faster than expected, flicking the blade back and scoring a line of blood from his foe. As the crowd cheered and booed, he followed up, keeping his opponent on the backfoot and pressing his advantage, knife slashing and flicking through the air, steel flashing brightly. He fought well, his footwork neat and precise, despite a probably-rough tutoring in the combat arts. It wasn’t quite as neat as Stathis could manage, although she did have the advantage of armour, and so could risk taking more blows, especially with a shield as well.

Red managed a desperate, fumbling counter-attack that barely managed to cut a slice from his foe’s shirt. Blue sidestepped around the attack, almost flowing around it with a strangely liquid grace, before sticking his opponent with a sickeningly swift number of strikes, hand flashing as blood started to gush from their chest. They gurgled and spluttered in a rather grotesque way, apparently lacking the dignity required for a swift death, falling to the ground and flailing around.

Kita bought out a tray of what could optimistically be called biscuits and placed them in front of Janaxia. Despite watching the fight, Semari reached out and grabbed one before Janaxia could stop her, tossing it into her mouth and crunching through it.

Thank you, Kita. She was an acceptable waitress, despite her many lacks. Perhaps you could raise that one as a pawn? Although it would likely be weak, but another body may be of some utility. At least if it were to be patched so as not to be leaking everywhere.

Semari continued to crunch through her biscuit as Janaxia took one for herself, gingerly nibbling off the edge. It wasn’t fine dining, but it did have a certain hearty solidity to it and complimented the tea surprisingly well. Semari accepted her winnings with surprisingly good grace, before standing up. Blue was now receiving the praise of his companions, although looked strangely stiff about it.

‘Just a sec, wanna test something.’ She tossed the last of the biscuit into her mouth and swallowed, before jumping forward, her landing scattering the crowd somewhat. Blue looked at her as she approached, then grabbed for him, getting her hands on his head and twisting. There was a brutal snap as she broke his neck, and his body dropped to the floor. The mood immediately sharpened, weapons flashing into hands.

Janaxia raised her hands, ready to fight, as Vrintar pushed back her chair, Semari spinning around in a high kick to keep everyone back, before slamming her heel down onto the body. Its skin rippled and melted, fading away to a gelid black, the bulkiness of the man melting away into a skinner, smaller body. As she bought her leg back for another kick, the thing rose to its feet, rolling into a standing position without effort. Now smaller, it stepped out of the baggy trousers, although the red shirt still hung loosely around its body.

It immediately moved to attack, as the crowd reacted to shock and fear. Its fingertips looked razor-sharp, drawing blood from Semari’s arms as she raised them in a cross-block. It looked up to see Janaxia, its face inky-black, without a trace of human features, save for glistening shards amongst the darkness. She heard a whisper herself, a voice welling up from inside of herself, feeling her clothing reshape itself, silk spilling over her arms, her hair coiling itself around a circlet.

Claim their power!

Semari was holding her own, but the creature didn’t seem to care about being hit, the darkness rippling under the impact of her fists, getting knocked back for a moment but keeping its balance. When she looked more closely, she could see several points that seemed to stick above the shifting, tarry darkness, smears of something dully shining, barely visible amongst the mottled mess of their skin.

Semari slammed her palm into the thing’s chest, a strong blow, shockwaves rippling out and pushing the goop back. Beneath was skin, but hacked and mutilated, marked with curving lines of scars and tattoos, centred around one of the metallic spikes. It appeared dazed, its reactions slowed for a moment as Semari spun into a kick, her heel crunching through an arm, almost severing the limb. But it was already regenerating, flowing and reforming itself together again.

When Semari tried to attack it again, it moved to block and protect itself, nails raking along Semari’s arm and leaving deep and bloody furrows. Vrintar stood and threw her chair, the wood breaking itself apart on impact, exploding into a cloud of splinters and wooden fragments, her strength enough to shatter it before she charged forward herself.

With one hand still grasping Semari’s arm, it was harder for her to dodge, the other hand raking her chest, slashing up her clothing as she battered away at them, her punches sending ripples through the dark ichor, flashes of broken flesh appearing, but the thing recovered too fast for the blows to have any meaningful impact.

As Janaxia prepared to lend her aid, the ground shook, sending her staggering, debris falling from above. The mage-lights flickered and shook, the gentle glow suddenly sharp and discordant, parts of the space cast into gritty grey as some of the lights blinked out, a chunk of rock falling from above and crashing into the water, a wave splashing outwards.

Semari had managed to shake the attacker off and deliver another roundhouse kick, but with no more effect than before. Kita cowered away, shoulders hunched as she pressed herself against a wall, looking desperate for any kind of support. Firing into a melee was always risky, but Semari could probably survive getting winged with a few stray shots.

Dark energy burst from her fingertips, crackling towards the foe. The ceiling above them was starting to crack further now, with more rocks and boulders slamming down, the locals screaming and running for the exits. Was it an earthquake? The creature easily evaded her bolts, although at least she didn’t hurt Semari or Vrintar.

Kita, you could at least try to help. Kindly lend some aid. She reached out and grabbed the cowering girl by the scruff of her neck, pulling her upwards and spinning her around to face the right direction. Sickly green energy coiled around her hand, before a phantasmal glow appeared, reflecting on the black energy that slicked their foe’s body.

‘Good girl!’

A streak of light lanced down from above, sending up another cloud of debris as it struck the floor, sods of earth exploding outwards. Sunlight, painfully bright, stabbed into her eyes, a bright golden glow appearing from above, a figure outlined amongst the golden light.

The creature shuddered in seeming pain, moving with urgency as it shoved at Semari. Vrintar’s axe smashed into it, cleaving out a hunk of scarred flesh before the darkness flowed back to cover it.

‘Today you perish, accursed daughter of darkness!’ Above, four balls of brilliant fire-light appeared, while more of the ceiling fell down around them. Janaxia snapped a blast towards Carissia, the attack falling far short. Arrows shot downwards and embedded themselves into the grass, although seemed to be going far wide of any targets – Parth must be up there as well. If Hakara was around, at least she was showing forbearance from attacking herself, or preparing something more discriminating than her usual ice-storm!

One of the balls of light slammed forward, a miniature sun streaking towards them, detonating just before it hit the ground. Janaxia barely managed to cover her eyes in time, piercing, sacred light flashing around her, feeling like needles piercing into every inch of her skin, a fever starting to burn her from the inside it. Screams of panic and confusion filled her ears.

‘You shall suffer and burn, wretched pawn of evil!’

Janaxia stumbled about, managing to find Kita’s shoulder and gripping on, twisting around and using her as a shield. Another blast sounded out, make her feel as though her soul were being flayed and shredded, although Kita absorbed the worst of it, her own body spasming in Janaxia’s grip, giving out a high, piercing scream. She kept moving, so at least wasn’t dead.

She felt another magical force assault her, something trying to command her body, a force trying to intrude itself into her soul. She clenched a fist to focus, nails pricking her palms as she quashed and drove the intrusion out, feeling a thread of magic fray and snap. Hopefully whoever had cast the spell had suffered an unpleasant reaction!

She opened her eyes, seeing that the peaceful green was now broken and charred, the grass burnt to ash, the earth baked dry. And above, there were still two baleful lights left, as Carissia slowly descended, wreathed in eye-stinging light, golden and vicious.

Carissia raised a hand, a lance of power gathering itself there, light spiralling towards it in a blazing circuit that promised nothing but pain when it was launched. Was there anywhere to escape to? Somewhere to hide from the burning, blazing light, somewhere that was soothing and dark?

Janaxia looked around – Vrintar and Semari were both dashing for one of the exits, moving far faster than Janaxia could hope to match. And it would be useful to keep Kita around, as a human shield if nothing else. Despite sobbing and shaking from the attack she had withstood on Janaxia’s behalf, she was still alive, and might even have magic that could be useful. Through the chaos, she could see that friend of Stathis’, the young cleric, wrapped in magic as she descended to the ground, mace in hand.

A hand, the wrist bearing a shackle, emerged from a shadowy tunnel close by. Had it been here a moment ago? She must just have been at the wrong angle to properly see it. It crooked a finger at her, the girl’s head emerging from shadows. She looked rather flushed about the cheeks, her skin pinker, as though she had caught the sun somehow, despite her stated aversion to such things.

She flicked a hand, a lash of darkness striking out behind Janaxia. Janaxia wasted no time in dragging Kita forward, as the lance of fire finished forming. Silence hung in the air for a second, and then Carissia finished her incantation, a holy rune bursting into being around her, sacred fire scorching the rock, sending more cracks through the walls and ceiling, more stone starting to crash and tumble downwards.

The lance flared and then shot forward as Janaxia dashed towards the shadows. It might not provide much protection, but that spell looked fearsomely potent! She could feel the penetrating, fearsome heat drawing closer as she moved, stepping past Kita while still dragging her, jumping for the darkness as an explosion shattered the ground.

Darkness fell about her, a flare of fire swallowed up, the attack showing as nothing more than a burst of light, quickly fading to nothing. The girl was leaning on the wall, panting and visibly sweating, looking drained. Had she received news of the attack and run here to warn here? Well, even if she had been a little late, then the gesture was appreciated. Janaxia called up magic and dabbed some of the sweat off the girl’s face, nothing that she appeared almost sun-burnt – although she was as dark-skinned as Janaxia beneath her clothing.

Despite it being an obvious effort, the girl pulled herself away from the wall. ‘Such scouring, vicious light! Come, Darkbinder, you should flee, ere you are scourged from this world.’ The passageway around them seemed to have walls formed of obsidian, strangely ridged and rippled, distant gleams sparkling sealed beneath the stone. Light was seeping in from outside and making the edge of the tunnel hiss and sizzle, like acid was melting it.

Janaxia pulled Kita along with her, the girl for once showing some initiative and hurrying herself, striding away from the melting stone, Janaxia moving as well. Sunlight, painfully bright, gleamed just outside, and Janaxia caught a glimpse of an armoured figure, a shield warding off blows before the entranceway sealed itself shut, or vanished. It was hard to tell if this was a physical tunnel shrouded by magic, or if the girl was puissant enough to simply bore a hole through dimensions under her own power.

She reached out and experimentally touched the wall – although it was firm under her touch, the shining darkness beyond rippled as though liquid. She withdrew her hand, not wanting to continue any experimentation in case it somehow interfered with their passage, and not wanting to risk Kita for it. Had that been the angel again? It would have been helpful if they had arrived a little while sooner! Hopefully she would be able to re-join Semari and Vrintar soon, having no allies beyond Kita and possibly the mysterious girl was leaving her feeling very exposed!

The girl suddenly stopped, then spun around to face Janaxia. Was she taller now, or was that simply a strange effect of the tunnel and it’s shifting, uneven footing? ‘You should relinquish the light! We could rule the world together, bind it in chains of eternal shadow!’ She raised her hand, shadowy marks crawling across her skin, swirling lines and whorls of darkness twisting into being. ‘Your power grows. You have already started to hollow out the soul of this miserable whelp. You have touched the soul of the one blessed with fire, you should claim her. She would make a worthy champion.’

‘Vrintar? She had politely requested I not do such things to her, it was apparently rather unsettling to experience. And I would rather not risk her wrath.’

The girl hissed, her hair writhing for a moment, the braids and strands wriggling like snakes before settling down. ‘You should break the world to your will, like a stallion. All should be bound by your desires! If any refuses you, then simply bind their soul and will.’

‘While I would certainly appreciate some more followers, then that does sounds rather… forceful. Having to keep an unwilling ally bound sounds likely to end rather badly, especially if she should turn her axes upon myself. Kita is becoming quite loyal.’ Isn’t that right, Kita?

Kita shuddered but nodded nevertheless. ‘Yes, Mistress Janaxia.’

“Darkbinder” will suffice. Although, ah, not in front of Mother.

She nodded again without speaking. ‘You see? She is still a necromancer of potent blood, despite her many, many shortcomings. Now, I don’t suppose you could guide me to an exit? I would rather not engage with Carissia if she were able to breach this place, and she is a potent follower of the gods, whose abilities are not to be underestimated.’

‘You seem afraid of her!’

‘Well… Yes, she is quite powerful, and I would rather not die. If it weren’t for Kita, then I would have had to endure the full brunt of her attacks, and that may well have been sufficient to slay me. At least now I have survived and am able to seek escape from this city.’

‘A weak excuse! Look to the shadows and unleash them!’

‘You seem very insistent about such matters, it is rather… tiresome. Pray tell, what is your name?’

‘A name! Yes, a name. Why don’t you give me a name, Darkbinder Janaxia Uth Tremari?’ Her eyes gleamed, green and dark.

‘Will you show us to the exit then?’

‘Oh yes. For a name, I shall.’ She was suddenly very close to Janaxia, having somehow managed to step forward in the blink of an eye, far too close, managing to loom despite her slight stature.

‘Very well. Then… Nychta, maybe? Or Skotadi? She was an ancient sorceress…’

‘Oh yes, I remember her, fire and fury and such sweet, sweet rage!’ Her eyes were brighter now, their green glow reflecting down the tunnel, the walls reflecting themselves in an endless fractal. ‘The conqueror of Setha, she who birthed the fire-mount, whose half-blood children rule that land even now. Yes, Skotadi the demon-lover, the serpent-mother.’ There was a crack of metal, as the shackle fell from her wrist, the metal broken and smoking. ‘A fitting name for me.’

‘Is this really the place for such theatrics? While I appreciate that you may have a somewhat limited social circle, I really rather think that we should make haste now, and perhaps continue our conversation at a later date? Perhaps at somewhere more convenient and comfortable?’ She glanced over her shoulder – was the far end of the hallway starting to smoke and bubble now, the faintest light of dawn breaking through the glossy, reflecting darkness?

‘I thank you, Darkbinder.’ The girl, apparently content with “Skotadi”, grinned, the darkness vanishing from her hand. ‘And yes, the woman is persistent, and worryingly potent.’

‘While I appreciate your help, young Skotadi, then perhaps you could be a little more forthcoming? It is a little rude of you to simply appear as you do!’ They started to walk, moving swiftly, lit only by the pale green glow of the girl’s eyes.

‘I have waited long for one such as you! Such refinement and grace, a form to be envied and desired!’

‘Well, I do try. It would not do to disgrace my bloodline, and looking messy is rather disgraceful, for one of high blood, such as myself. And it is certainly nice to be looked upon with desire. Although perhaps you should wait a few years, you are a little… undeveloped still.’ Even those desirous of a more waifish physique would hopefully have the decency to wait until she was a little more grown!

‘Soon though!’ Her tone was suddenly pleading and child-like. ‘You can take me drinking and feasting and… other things!’

‘Perhaps in a few years, I think. It does not do to rush one’s social debut. And you could do with a little more social refinement first; you have a certain style, but it is a little unkempt and unrefined. Some time amongst the quality will improve you significantly, I imagine. Especially if you learn to, ah, make your eyes glow less.’ The effect was striking, but decidedly eldritch – a fetching party-trick, but a little unnerving on a continual basis. The green light faded somewhat, although not entirely, as the girl took her hand and looked up at her.

The eyes seemed to flare again, entrancing and hypnotic. ‘I thank you for my name, Darkbinder.’ Her fangs seemed even sharper. ‘We will talk again, I’m sure. But you don’t need to remember all of this, not just yet. Once you rid yourself of that meddlesome light, then we can talk more.’ She smiled up at Janaxia, fangs flashing. A pleasant numbness overcame her, the green light lulling and soothing, as she remembered a swift escape from Carissia, a fortunate twist down a hidden alleyway and then…

She yawned, then looked around – it was late at night, and this was one of the more comfortably-off, middle-class areas, everyone comfortably behind doors, resting for the night. The doorman looked at her expectantly, one hand creeping towards his club, as she drew herself up. The day’s events really had been draining, she was almost falling asleep on her feet!

‘Good evening. I require a room for myself and my maid.’ She gestured at Kita, then produced a few coins. The door was grudgingly opened, despite the hour, allowing them somewhere to rest. She crashed onto the bed, swiftly falling into a slumber, chased by confused dreams of dark tunnels, green eyes and bright, stinging light.