It was pitch black and Jano could barely see where they were going. Many of the lamplights weren’t doing their usual dance and they remained lifeless. Darkness stretched over the streets like a heavy paint. The stream of essence which had stretched up into the clouds was still there, pulsating. Almost as if it was watching them. Jano shuddered as he looked at it. A small part of him hoped that the fact it was there meant that the Emperor would be distracted. He still didn’t really understand what the Hollow was, but he knew it wasn’t good. More dangerous creatures roaming the Empire and lending their power to the Emperor could only make things a whole lot worse.

They were right to wait until the darkest part of the night. Nara was wearing a dark simple shirt and leather trousers, she moved much easier without her plate armour. She had her swords tucked away down her back in the familiar X pattern. Jano was holding the Scythe, useless though he was with it. It was better than nothing. Packs of Guards roamed the streets, carrying their own torches. Jano watched them forcefully push their way into houses, past protesting men and women.

He briefly worried about his own house. Until he remembered that it was burned down, all the houses around were burnt. And Alsace was gone.

They crept through the streets, until they found the trusty metal cover wedged in the stone road. Nara warned against treading old paths and she knew another entrance, further along. Still, Jano greeted the sight of that cover with a brief moment of warmth.

They passed down a narrow alley and Jano could hear the sound of water passing. At the end of the alley, there was a small spiral of grey stone steps, heading downward. The steps grew more and more wet the further they went down and Jano had to pay more attention to his steps. As he concentrated, he felt the exhaustion of the day pressing down on him. He hadn’t managed to get any rest while waiting for nightfall. He couldn’t stop thinking about what the Emperor could be doing to his wife and to Dariea.

The steps brought them out to a large circular pipe. Nara moved quickly, he hadn’t noticed the dull plate armour standing just inside, but she had. She took the Guard down silently, hushing quietly as she did so. “Sssshhhhhh now.”

Jano thought that was a little redundant as the Guard was clearly no longer conscious, but he wasn’t going to ask stupid questions. That hadn’t taken much time or effort from Nara. Just glad she’s on my side, he thought.

“Sometimes the Guard would use this passage to enter the sewers. Though most of the passages have been redirected, we sometimes get people doing shady deals and criminal activity down here.” Her eyes flicked to Jano as she realised she was talking as though she was still part of the Guard. “People think it’s a great place to hide bodies for example.”

“Seems like an easier way to get in than the covers that I’ve been using.” He said in hushed tones as they started walking through.

“Those were out throughout the City for maintenance. They just don’t get used so much now that the sewers are mainly designed to flow out of the City.”

“But the pipes heading to the Palace are still in use.” He said, with more than a hint of regret.

“Fortunately for us, yes they are.” She took a brief look at her clothing, and the little pack they had brought with them. Spare clothes. A hopeful token.

The tunnel was long and winding, but Nara knew the way almost as well as Dariea had. “Did you have to come down here much?” He asked.

“The new recruits are sent in here mainly to do all the grunt work. So not so recently, but you don’t forget walking and crawling through the filth in a hurry.”

Jano agreed with her with a shudder as he remembered the smell. They encountered no more Guards in the sewers and found their way to the smaller stone pipe, where Jano had begun his crawl the last time. The smell once again drifted through his nostrils and he felt it deep in his soul. He hated the idea of doing it all over again. What are the chances Alsace will be happy to see me covered in filth and smelling like this?

Nara looked at the pipe as though she was thinking the same thing.

“Fine. Let’s go.” She started towards the pipe. “I’d say we should take our clothes off, then it’s easier to clean, but I don’t fancy getting chopped in half at the other end by a soldier stark naked.” She chuckled as she climbed up to the pipe, she took a deep breath and headed in.

Jano had to laugh, or he’d cry. He followed her and did the same thing. Before plunging back into the filth. He had to allow a decent amount of clearance between him and Nara so he could push his scythe ahead of him. What a ridiculous weapon, he thought. He was lucky that the blade even fit. But it did. The water level was mercifully lower than his return trip last time. Anything which wasn’t brushing against his lips was a blessing.

——

After a horrendously long crawl, they reached the end and Jano hurried to wipe himself down. Another lone Guard lay in the corner of the room, just as unconscious as his colleague at the start of their journey. He glanced at Nara, but she was busy brushing off as much of the filth off her clothes as possible. She could only have gotten ahead of Jano by a few seconds, and she managed to take down the Guard in that time.

He couldn’t help but feel that he was useless when he was in her presence. Just like he had with Dariea. Maybe that’s how they feel in the presence of the Emperor.. he thought. But they still try. They still turn up. He briefly thought back to how useless he felt when standing at the jobs board of the workhouse. Unable to provide a steady income, unable to help his wife. At least what he was doing meant something now.

“Where do you think he’ll be holding them?” He asked.

Nara gave him a serious look. “Dariea will either be in the dungeons or right next to that black tornado of power. Hopefully the dungeons. Your wife could either be in the dungeons or…” She didn’t have to say the rest, Jano filled in the blanks.

She could be in his bed chambers, he shuddered as he thought of it. “I think they’re one and the same. I think the torrent of essence is coming from the dungeons.” He said.

“How do you figure that? It couldn’t be, it would destroy the rest of the Palace. It has to be out in the open.”

Jano nodded slowly. He didn’t want to say that he had seen it in his dreams. He wasn’t even sure if that was real. Perhaps it was all in his head. When he didn’t reply, Nara continued. “I think our best bet is to try the dungeons. There’s a chance they could both be there and a better chance that the Emperor won’t be.”

Jano nodded in agreement as Nara pulled her swords in both hands and looked as threatening as Jano had ever seen her. He held his scythe clumsily. It wasn’t quite big enough to require two hands, but he wasn’t strong enough to wield it in one either. So he kept chopping and changing.

Nara looked at him. “Try not to hurt yourself with that thing. Or more importantly, try not to hurt me.” She smiled and headed out into the corridor. Jano followed, almost tripping over the butt of his weapon as he did so.

They left the room and headed down the corridor. He couldn’t believe what had happened since he had last been through these halls to steal the Scepter. Then he had been trying to do some odd jobs in exchange for a chance to change his life a little. Now he was here to rescue Dariea and his wife.

They passed through the fancy corridors. It seemed different this time, Jano thought. As though the colour was drained from the room. Every time he had been in either the Palace or the University, it had been a huge contrast to the grey of the City. A whooshing noise was distant, no doubt coming from the swirling column of essence cascading around the Palace.

They sneaked around a corner into one of the main rooms. There was a group of soldiers talking in the corner, gathered around a fire. They were dazing lazily, leaning against walls and a few were sitting in comfortable looking chairs. It wasn’t a brightly lit room. Nara grabbed Jano and pointed towards some stairs to their left, it was away from the soldiers but if they looked up, they would be able to see them both.

They crept across. Jano tried to hide his scythe but it would have been a frankly hilarious sight if it wasn’t so dangerous. He had the blade tucked against his back and the handle pushing up past his head, like a giant horn. Nara took one look at him, sighed and moved on.

They both absolutely stunk. So if any of the soldiers had come anywhere near them, that would have been the end of the creeping. The soldiers must have been just as tired as Jano was, as they made it safely to the stairs. They spiralled down and a cold breeze rippled against his skin, leaving his skin bumpy and bristled.

They headed down into the cold darkness. They could hear voices in the distance as they descended. Nara readied herself. After around twenty steps, they could see the dungeon, it was further down than Jano thought it would be. They crept slowly, noticing the soldiers standing guard.

“Betraying the Empire?” A voice enquired to the dark. Their steps were near silent as they descended, Jano held his breath as best he could. As if it might give him away.

“Do you really think anything could change?” The voice continued. Jano didn’t recognise the voice, it was a deep voice, which reverberated through the stone and steel of the dungeon. Jano could see a stone table just in front of them, it had rusted metal cuffs lying empty on the top. Stains of blood on the top made him feel sick as he and Nara pressed themselves behind it. He knew that stone table.

“Yes. I do. It was different before and better. It could be again.” Jano recognised that voice, Dareia. At least she was down here. She was preaching to someone, at least that part was familiar.

“Not that it matters now.” She said.

Nara turned to Jano. “I can’t see Alsace, she must be somewhere else. But I think we have a better chance in finding her if we get Dariea out first.”

Jano felt a sadness growing in his stomach as she said those words. But she was right, they would do better with the Mage than without. They would have to deal with the soldiers first. “What’s the plan then?” He said.

Nara peered over the stone torture table and then slumped back down onto her heels. “There are two at either side of Dariea’s cell and then another at the far end. I’ll run straight for the one at the left of her cell and try and drag him to the back. I’ll try and deal with both, but that leaves you to deal with the other one. Can you do that?”

Jano’s eyes dropped to the floor. He had managed to collapse the wall on a group of soldiers previously, but that would probably give them away this time. And there were no handy walls to demolish. “I’ll have to.” He said simply.

Nara smiled at him. “You’ll be fine. Right, let’s go.” With that she turned and started to glow as she ran at the soldiers. Jano pulled his scythe out of the way and tried to follow.

Nara slammed into the target soldier and with a streak of light started to push the man back. The shocked look on the man’s face would have been funny if Jano wasn’t running straight at the soldier standing beside him. The man had his back turned slightly as he watched a ball of light carry away his mate. Jano gathered stone essence into the small spear which Dariea had taught him long ago and launched it at the soldier. It bounced off one of his shiny greaves and bounced dangerously close to Dariea. That gave Jano a small window. He grabbed his scythe and sliced at the soldier’s back.

It wasn’t the most fluid attack, as he had never really practiced with it. But it cut deep enough to drop the soldier to his knees. The soldier spun around before Jano could get a second slash in. His inexperience with the weapon really showed itself as instead of slicing his opponent, the butt of the weapon knocked into the soldier’s side. It wouldn’t have been pleasant, but it would have barely registered to a battle hardened and fully grown man.

The soldier didn’t have time to grab his weapon, but he brought both hands down like a hammer blow against the back of Jano’s neck. It wasn’t clean, but it hurt, sending shooting pains up into his skull.

Realising that if the soldier unsheathed his weapon, he would suddenly be second favourite in this fight, Jano tackled his opponent to the ground, throwing his shoulder into his gut. The scythe went flying as his hand hit the damp stone beneath. He heard it skitter across the floor.

The soldier was punching him from underneath, but Jano barely felt anything. He was pushing on the man’s neck. Unfortunately, his neck was too thick and he wasn’t getting anywhere. Panic ripped through Jano. He was on top, literally for now, but he couldn’t finish it from here. And his opponent knew it.

He tried to elbow the soldier but he started rucking and riving around. Jano looked up, searching for his scythe. He couldn't see it anywhere. His eyes met Dareia’s, who was now conveniently holding the weapon. “Move Jano.” She said, loud and commanding, but not shouting. He rolled out of the way as best as he could and watched as the blade of the scythe plunged into the soldier’s neck. Blood spurting out everywhere.

The man gurgled and spat. He jerked on the ground, but he was no more of a threat.

Jano looked at Nara who had dealt with one of the soldiers and was working on the second. Dareia passed the scythe back through. He grabbed it and headed toward the scuffle at the end of the room. As he approached, Nara stood up and dusted herself off once more. He looked down to see one of her swords sticking out of the chest of the second soldier.

“Good…. job…. Jano.” She panted. She reached down and pulled the sword out. She clasped Jano on the shoulder, blood and sweat adding to the mix of smells on both of their bodies. He felt oddly proud to be respected by Nara, though that was mixed with disgust at himself. Even though Dariea had dealt the final blow, he had killed someone. He didn't have time to deal with it and tried to focus on the next task; he kept his eyes away from the body at the bottom of the Mage's cell.