73. Diving Depths

Rys shook his newly regenerated leg, kicking off a mucus like film that had adhered to the bottom of his sole. 

"God, this is gross." He commented, while pausing to leave another seed to give them a trail to follow back. 

"Oh, quit whining Rys, you know the benefits if we can do this. We could leave much sooner than we thought and still have money when we leave." Cerone shot back. She was tense. The sewers reminded her of the fungal brood mind. 

They pushed forward. It had been two days since the meeting with the manager and entering into the sewers. Their surroundings had grown dimmer and damper the deeper they traveled. It had been three hours since entering the last charted part of the sewer systems. They entered near the location Yevelian was last seen, but thus far had failed to find any clues pointing them in the right direction. The good news was they had yet to meet anything besides the occasional small fries that wandered the sewers eating the scraps flushed down by the city. 

The tunnels were coated in a vicious substance that stuck to anything that touched it and made travel hard. The tunnels were also poorly traveled making navigation much slower than their initial journey. Alyssa, leading the three, held a hand up though, halting the group. "I can hear muffled movements. It sounds like foot steps. Just one set." 

Cerone nodded and Rys behind her also nodded. The three pushed up against the wall and got low. While the walls of the tunnel were disgusting, the darkness and the non-uniformity of them made excellent cover. Up ahead a dim light started to grow in size. Looking down the tunnel they saw a silhouette of a person moving. Cerone ready her mana, preparing a surprise attack, but Alyssa stopped her. 

Coming into view of the dim light a familiar face was seen. "Uvolia?" Rys shouted in surprise. The noise caused Uvolia to quickly pull the short crossbow from her belt and she held it in one hand, pointed in the direction of Rys. 

"Reveal yourselves! I am armed." She spoke in a calm, yet assertive tone. 

The three of them moved from their low position and slowly entered the light with their hands raised. For just a moment Uvolia looked surprised then anger flashed across her face. 

"What the hell are you three kids doing down here!" She hastily stored the cross bow and moved forward, checking on the three. 

"Uvolia, we could ask you the same. We haven't seen you since you dropped us off in with your parents." Cerone responded. Clearly fed up with being treated like a kid. 

"I'm trying to finish Nort's goal, defeating Yevelian. He's been down here ever since the fight in the woods." Uvolia responded, then she noticed Rys' leg. "Wait, you got your leg back Rys!" She wrapped up the small boy in her arms. A beaming smile. 

"Well, I'm glad you three are safe, but you need to turn back. Even if you have gotten stronger, the creatures that Yevelian commands down here are leagues above what he had in the forest. I think since Nort was killed he has grown in power exponentially." She looked around while talking, clearly trying to stay on alert. 

"We know Uvolia, we need to find his hideout, or find proof of the mayor's death. Based on what you're wearing it doesn't look like you've been topside in a bit. The city is slowly bleeding to death with the number of refugees coming to Afeerbah hoping to escape the continent." Rys spoke. 

Uvolia was covered head to toe in filth and grime. Her skin was pale, and the once striking leather armor was now gashed and ragged. "All the more reason I need to stop Yevelian." She spoke proudly, pride in her mission showing. 

Alyssa looked to Cerone, clearly worried about Uvolia. "Uvolia, I know you want to stop Yevelian, but I don't think you alone can do it. If you can help us, find where his hideout is, we can probably convince the city manager to organize a powerful group to attack." Cerone spoke. 

Uvolia looked surprised by the maturity of her plans and thought process. She caressed her chin thinking. "I do know roughly where he is at, but I'm not skilled enough to get close enough and you three couldn't get nearly close enough. He does leave from time to time though and wanders the tunnels. I've been trying to set an ambush for him when he does, but the creatures he commands are always nearby, and I've failed a number of times." Uvolia looked to be thinking. 

Alyssa caught on to her considering something and decided to interject. Now was the time to strike while she was questioning her plans. "Uvolia, help us get proof of the mayor's death and I promise we won't come down here again!" Alyssa decided to play on her emotions. While the promise was true, the idea that they would keep coming down into the sewers stirred on Uvolia. I pained Alyssa to pull at Uvolia's emotions though. She had saved them after all. 

"I...ah, alright." Uvolia agreed, hesitantly. "When he leaves again we can enter his hideout and look for proof. But after you all are leaving immediately." Uvolia sternly spoke. Turning she muttered under her breath. "I can't believe these kids keep jumping into danger headfirst, I swear they act like adults sometimes." 

The three followed behind Uvolia. The path she took in the tunnels was winding and convoluted. A few times they even double backed over a previous area, prompting a question from Rys, which Uvoila would always explain they were avoiding some creature that was down here. He did his best to chart their path along the way though. Alyssa though had suspicions as she had yet to hear anything with her blessing. They continued downward though, trusting in the woman that had saved them before. 

For so long they traveled, staring at the same spaces over and over. The dark and murky tunnels blended in with each other and without Rys' trail they doubted they would ever be able to navigate back out of the tunnel. Up ahead though something different came into view. 

"Stay down you three. Up ahead is where Yevelian normally camps out. It's a small alcove where he keeps supplies. There's no light and I haven't seen any of his usual creatures either. I think he's out. I'm going to sneak in, while you three stay here." Uvolia whispered. The three of them nodded in unison. 

Uvolia dimmed the light she was carrying, plunging the tunnel into a darkness unknown or seen by many. There were no sensations in this black. Sight was pointless, even blinking couldn't visually be confirmed. While the three of them carried lights for the sewers, they never turned them off and the stifling darkness brought great discomfort. It reminded them of something they hadn't thought of in a long time, their transplant. That inky black they were in before waking up in a new world. 

The time ticked by and only the faint sounds of dripping could be heard. Alyssa remained vigilant, listening for anything coming. The dripping noises of the tunnels picked up some, but it was only water. Suddenly Uvolia filled the darkness with her light. 

"There's no creatures here. Come over here, help me look." She cooed. Rys stood up, by far the most trusting. He took two steps when a hand gripped his shoulder. 

Rys looked to his right, only to be shocked by the sight of Uvolia. She didn't speak, only slowly turned his head and held a finger to her lips. Then motioned to the alcove. 

The group quietly moved towards the alcove, watching their steps cautiously. The light where Uvolia's voice had come from moved towards them. As it got closer they noticed it move unnaturally. Unlike the lights they carried that produced light in a sphere around them, this beam moved more like a flashlight. It bobbed up and down strangely though. It moved like the owner was constantly shifting from being near the floor of the tunnel to the ceiling of it. 

They made it to the alcove and slithered inside, kneeling down as the light started to get close to entrance. The bouncing refractions of light painted flickering shadows on the walls of the caverns. The beam of light meandered into sight and flicked over to the alcove. Cerone sucked in a breath, a little too loudly, believing to have been caught. 

Uvolia's eyes widened in terror as she put a hand over Cerone's mouth and moved positions in the alcove. The beam snapped to where the sound had come from, growing closer. The beam obscured what was behind it. It grew closer to the original location and from behind the light grey tendrils, oozing with a fluid reached out and caressed the location. Feeling around. They combed over the spot, only finding some pots and jars. The tendrils recessed. 

The terror of the looming creature caused Rys' heart rate to reach new heights. The surging adrenaline and fear made his skin feel like pins and needles. He could feel the pressure of his blood pounding in his skull, and he worried his heartbeat would give away something. The beam of light swept through the alcove, pausing for a time. It had heard something, certainly he thought. It stayed still and waited, like a fisherman waiting for a bite, but the group stayed deathly silent. 

While the three of them weren't certain what this was, it definitely frightened Uvolia, which meant it was deadly. A voice, sounding just like Uvolia rang out. "It's alright everyone, you can come out. I'm back." The beam twitched in the air, waiting for something. But the group said nothing. Finally it seemed satisfied that nothing was there and moved on. 

The beam returned to the main tunnel and the reflections of light finally illuminated the creature it had veiled. A spindly grey form with nine moving limbs held a thin cylindrical body in the center of the tunnel. The main body looked snakelike in shape but was made of no scales. Its skin pulsed and writhed, like it could change at any moment. A long limb held a bulbous mass that produced the light ahead of what they could only assume was the head. A wide mouth filled with hooked teeth sat just behind the light, on the top a number of cavities filled the head. From the bottom of the head, the jaw split and a number of fluids covered tendrils aimlessly wandered around the floor of the tunnel. 

It was utterly revolting. The three recoiled back in disgust as it moved down the tunnel. Uvolia turned around waiting until she was certain it had traveled far enough away not to hear them. "That is a Tecril. They inhabit the lower parts of the sewers. They are bait hunters, mimicking sounds and listening for responses or using the lights they carry as bait to lure in food. They are totally blind, but are unbelievable quick and deadly. Those tendrils are covered in a paralyzing poison that subdues their food while they swallow it whole. Yevelian has a number of them under his control and he uses them as scouts and warning systems." 

They all nodded in understanding. "Now lets find that proof and get out of here before the Tecril circles back." They turned their lights back on and started rummaging through the small camp, looking for proof of the mayor's death. Rys spent some times with excess paper plotting where they were. He had been tasked with the job as he had the least skill in scouting and frontal confrontation. 

The camp was relatively barren. Mostly consisting of some blankets and a number of sacks that mostly held food and water. Cerone though found one that was different. It was much smaller and stashed away under a stack of blankets. The leather was embroidered with a number of patterns. Opening it up, she saw countless journals filled with indecipherable writings and pictures. Digging down deeper into the sack her hand his something cold and hard. Pulling it out she held an ancient key. It was teal in shade, a number of runic like symbols carved all over it. Flipping it around in her hand she looked around the camp. There were no chests or anywhere where something like the key should go. Looking back at it, she felt a small warble in her hand and decided on the spot to pocket the key. 

Alyssa and Rys weren't able to find anything either. Uvolia dimmed her light and turned to the group. "That's all the time we will get, we need to go." 

"But we didn't find any proof yet." Alyssa hissed back. 

"We at least have the location though." Rys replied. 

Taking one last glancing look they moved out of the alcove and started to follow Uvolia back the way they came. Turning the corner, they originally came from Uvolia turned her light back on and relaxed slightly now that they had made some distance from the alcove. 

"We should be good here now." She spoke with a much more relaxed tone, stretching her back now.

"You shouldn't drop your guard so much, hero's fodder." Twin lights from Tecrils appeared, illuminating the sewer tunnel and Yevelian who stood in their way.