Page 24 of Shadow's Chosen

"They’re from your world?" she asked as the lygin moved away.

"Same worlds," he said, looking at her. "They come from the same territory."

Elise remembered what Toni said. She had said it was an empire. They had called it Xolis. Elise was curious about it, but now was not the time to ask.

They moved on, weaving through buildings and climbing over a few walls until they reached a path that took them to the entrance to the tram station. The entrance was nothing more than a tunnel that led down into the earth below. Above the entrance was a statue of a tram carved out of metal and a sign that must have lit up at one time but had long since been shut off. Blocking the tunnel was another sign. One clearly meant as a warning to not enter as it had a huge X at the top. Below the text were more words, drawn rather crudely, but Elise couldn’t identify them.

"What do you suppose that means?" Elise asked after a moment of staring at the sign with uncertainty.

Nezka studied the sign for a second longer then started forward.

"Hold on." Elise caught at his arm and immediately let go as he looked at her. "Ah, maybe we should rethink this?"

Nezka tilted his head. He looked back at the tunnel then back at her. "You're afraid?"

"I didn't say that." Elise glanced at the tunnel. A breeze came up to meet them, bringing with it a musty, foul smell.

"You think it too dangerous then? If so, there is still the gate, but it will take more time to find a way through, and the likelihood of running into the Red Blades who now guard it..."

"I get that." Elise eyed the sign and the tunnel beyond.

"We face something either way. Maybe in there"—he gestured to the tunnel—"we can avoid whatever that something is."

"You sound very sure," Elise said.

"I'm not entirely. But the options are before us and we have little time."

At that, the roar of a loud engine could be heard close by. The drogin were approaching in their vehicle. Nezka didn't move, only looked to her for a decision. Elise knew she could tell him right then that they should try for the gate and he wouldn't hesitate. But he was right, the chance of them having to go against men that had weapons and had the advantage of higher, more secure ground was a problem. It likely meant another whole day of planning just to find a way through—something she couldn't afford. Whatever lay in the dark, she had to hope they could get past without issue.

And who knows, maybe it was harmless, right?

The sound of the car was growing louder. Nezka waited.

"All right." Elise stepped away and turned for the tunnel. "All right, let's go for it."

Nezka started again for the entrance, and Elise reluctantly followed. The breeze picked up, flinging strands of hair in her face. Elise brushed it away then readjusted her hair into a ponytail to keep it out of her eyes. The smell was unpleasant to say the least, like something that had badly spoiled. As they took the stairs down, the air began to warm up, not cool down like she expected. As the light from above faded, Elise turned on the lights on her suit and unholstered her gun. Nezka took up his gun as well, using the light on his scope to see.

The station was a mess, not that that was any surprise. The walls and floors were corroding, garbage and pieces of roofing scattered all over. Water trickled from broken vents above, pooling on the ground, turning piles of whatever debris had fallen into sludge. It really looked no different than some of the abandoned subway systems she'd seen back home. The only difference was the graffiti. Unlike the kind found back on Earth's cities, the tags or 'art' along the walls of this station glowed in the dark, as if backlit by some unseen light. It reminded her of those buildings where raves were held, where everything glowed in neon colors, the black lights giving them their shine.

There were no lights here though, so she was curious how they glowed so brightly on their own. The glow of them even lit up the station to a degree. Enough for them to see the railway and the two tunnels going off in separate directions.

Nezka checked the map. "The left goes toward the gate, and from there, a connected route passes below to the other side. We could take the trail as far as possible till we can't go any farther, bypassing several miles without being seen."

"I'm not so sure I want to be down here that long," Elise said, observing the many miles of tunnels before them.

"We'll go as far as we can. We can make some distance, at least, before sundown."

Elise agreed to that, and Nezka closed out the map. He stepped over to the platform and jumped down with ease. Elise did the same, though with not as much grace. She was noisier than him, her boots scraping against the ground, kicking into random junk while he didn't seem to make a sound as he made his way cautiously down the railway tunnel.

Guess I need to work on that, Elise thought and tried her best to step over rocks and garbage like he did while still trying to keep up.

The farther in they went, the less graffiti they saw and the less garbage they found. Some sections were crumbling away while others were slick with putrid water from rusted pipes. Elise saw what looked like the city's equivalent to rats skirting around her boots. Only they had longer tails and ears. There was no sign of anything else lurking, but she continued to keep her gun at the ready. The breeze seemed to warm up the deeper in they went, and the smell strengthened. This didn't slow the hunter, though Elise couldn't help feeling concerned about what might be waiting ahead.

At one point, they found a service tunnel, a slight short-cut to a connecting railway. From there, they began to hear voices and knew they were approaching the under part of the gate. The closer they got, the clearer the voices became.

"Boda, for fuck's sake, it's dead already. Just let it be."

A dull bang rang out, like something hitting the ground. "Hate when they come out of the dark like that, gives me the creeps."

---