Chapter 36 In sheep's clothing
POV Derek
We walked down a dilapidated street on the edge of town, our goal was a noodle shop that served as a popular entrance to the black market. We passed by beggars and shady looking stalls, a few had even flashed blue powder in our group's direction. Blue powder was a drug that was distilled from a blue poppy, unlike regular poppies the blue kind took several times longer to show adverse effects and was used in tinctures and other healing items. Though it was used illegally in each case.
After we went into the noodle shop I closed the door behind us and didn't even acknowledge the store owner. Without comment from either of us he pulled a door open that we went through, our hoods low as we passed him by. A long and damp hallway is before us as we walk single file in the tunnel. We slowly started making our way down until we met with a pair of thugs at an elevator.
“You got good biz down there tonight?”
“Good as a lord's purse.”
I spoke the phrase and the thugs eased up a bit, going back into relaxed poses.
“Hell, you lot must be from outta town, that phrase is a month old. Well go ahead and get in, we'll let you down from our side.”
We walked into the spacious metal cage and the thugs worked together to pull a large metal lever. With a clunk it went forward and the cage slowly started dropping. Don't think about the drop. Don't think about how you could become a splat on the ground down below in that darkness…
“Bet you're hoping you don't become ground beef Derek!”
Jean laughed as we descended at my expense.
“Jean, so help me, I will throw you so high that you'll hit one of the moons.”
Jean's chuckling dies down as he scratches his head. He was still wearing that ridiculous hat. It got warmer as we descended and after a few minutes we saw the black market in all its glory. The cavern was at least several miles deep and the buildings were several stories tall, one even being tall enough to get almost half way to the ceiling. The houses looked vaguely like the ones from our hometown. Lots of lanterns and a few magical lights from below lit the place in varying shades of light and even now a few main roads could be seen with people bustling and going about their business. After another minute the metal cage for an elevator hit the ground with a soft thud.
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“So this is the black market… I had no idea it would be this…. Grandiose… this is a stupidly well kept secret.”
Alice talks in an astonished tone. We all had thought the same thing, the sheer absurdity even brushing away my fear of heights as I had been soaking it in.
“This is gonna take a while… this place is bigger than Salin is! How are we gonna find them…”
Jean laments on our problems as we walk down a dark cobbled road.
POV Xion
After a day of rest I felt my mana reserves reach a decent point and started melting the cuffs around my wrists slowly. The pain from having the metal melt onto my flesh was indescribable and if I hadn't been healing them I would have lost my hands. The smell of my flesh and the sound of it sizzling didn't alert the two idiots guarding us, though he did stop for a second to smell the air.
“Hey brother, doesn't it smell like bacon? We should get some after our shift is over. Yknow what, fuck it. I'll get us some after this game…”
The more well built twin locks his lips. They were both revolting and I was ashamed to have ever been the same race as those two. I got the chains on my arms thin and started working on making the chains on my legs cold and fragile. After ten more minutes or so one of the brothers threw down his hand of cards and laughed as the other grumbled and got up.
“You can feed both the bitches today, I'm gonna grab us some grub. I'll be back in half an hour.”
The door shuts behind him as it was just the one twin left behind, the smaller of the two. He opens the door and brings the bowls of soup with him. He feeds me first and I begrudgingly allow him to ladle soup into my mouth. After the bowl is close to empty he moves to Sarah and starts feeding her.
This was it, my moment. I melted the chains from my arms and in the same moment the ones on my legs snapped off. As soon as the idiot heard the chains snapping I was on him, my hands around his throat as I began to channel more heat through my hands. The thief began to scream as his throat melted under my touch before I put my hand over his mouth, muffling his noises. His hands clawed at anything he could, tearing small pieces out as he struggled for a few moments under my weight pinning him down. After close to half a minute his throat burned and large gushes of blood poured out of his neck as it sizzled against my burning hands. He went limp shortly afterwards, dead.
After going through his pockets I took his coin pouch and a key ring and immediately released Sarah from her binds. The chains clink to the ground and I catch Sarah before she can fall. I set her down and let her recover her mana. We had a few hours before the guards would change and I had probably close to twenty minutes before the other guard came back. I unlocked the cell and used the body to keep it propped open and planned an ambush. As the door opened I lied in wait right behind it. With a shocked look on his face the guard immediately tried to shout but I grabbed him by the throat and threw him into the room. He looked around for a moment before his eyes fell on his dead brother. Before he could take any action I had skewered him to the ground with an ice spear through his head.
“Nice of you to get us lunch.”
I took the package of food from his body and hauled Sarah off the ground and onto my back. I opened the door with Sarah held in piggyback and made my escape from my prison. After going down a few streets and finding a small cubby between houses to hide I looked around. The buildings were taller than Salin and there was a ceiling high up above.
“Where did they take us Sarah…”
I mumbled to her. She was still unconscious, though, ever since those chains had been taken off her breathing had gotten easier.
