The Order (A Gods and Kings Chronicle) by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-06-05T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

XI

TUNNELS

Why the tunnels existed beneath the Nexus, Sister Rena could not say, but they served as a secret road for anyone who dared to wander into the labyrinth. Rena claimed one could reach nearly every neighborhood in the city through the tunnel system. Even so, she warned Marcus and Dolb to take extra care not to stray from the correct path. One wrong detour and they might never find their way out.

“Most of the exits are barred,” she informed them. “And if you don’t have the right key…” She drew her finger across her neck to emphasize her point.

It proved to be a vexing journey. There were many intersections, and each branching tunnel looked nearly identical to the rest; a half-flooded semicircle of stone cutting through the earth like the digestive system of some stone beast. The passage was low, and Marcus had to walk hunch-backed. Dolb could stand upright. The walls and ceiling sometimes consisted of crumbling brick, but more often than not they were bare granite. The natural stone showed no sign of being worked by hands; it was void of chisel marks.

“Magic,” suggested Dolb, as she ran her hand along the smooth surface. Marcus wasn’t so sure. Legend had it that the entire city of the Nexus was born of the Guardian’s energies. But was that true for these subterranean passages? The city was only two hundred years old, these passages somehow felt older.

Crudely etched symbols marked the walls and ceilings of each intersection they came upon, a road map to anyone who knew how to read the signs. Marcus had identified four symbols so far; a crescent, a square, a star, and a triangle — which he surmised led back the way they had come. There seemed to be a circle as well, but it might have just been a pockmark in the stonework. The problem was, the symbols were never obvious. More often than not Dolb would find the mark with her big lambent eyes before Marcus saw a thing.

“Here’s the mark,” said Dolb, pointing to a nearly indiscernible square symbol that was little larger than a thumbnail. It was etched beside the mouth of a tunnel that branched to their right.

Marcus eyed the mark incredulously. “Are you sure this isn’t the sign?” He pointed to a squarish gouge above the mouth of a tunnel that veered left. The leftmost tunnel rose at a steep angle, leaving behind the pool of water they were standing in. Walking on dry ground would be a nice change.

“That’s saltpeter,” said Dolb. Her voice was more than sure.

Marcus sighed in resignation and sloshed down the tunnel Dolb had indicated was the correct path. Dolb had a fortitude and cunning Marcus found striking; he had not expected such merits in a dark child.

The groundwater seeped through the stone bedrock, filling the narrow chamber with stagnant water that rose to Marcus’s knees. The water was putrid, twinged with the slightest hint of tar oil. The noxious odor burned his eyes and caused his head to throb.

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