Episode 25

Their progress was slow. They did not want to make a misstep in the dark. Additionally, Scarlet's body ached all over from both the beating and the toxin. She longed for a comfy bed in a safe place where she could lay down and sleep for days.

'Wishful thinking,' she told herself.

She longed to be out of the dark, out of the filth, out of places of death. But as she thought of how she longed for such things, she knew that Lygredd Grand was all those things combined. Beneath its gleaming lights and shining buildings was a place of horror.

'It's just a different kind of horror, I suppose,' she thought. Still, in spite of all of that, she longed for it.

She remembered the first time she'd laid eyes on Lygredd Grand. She had been struck in awe. It was nothing like Lygredd's Belly. She wondered once again what Helfeirch would think of the place. Would he be in awe? Would he be scared? Or would he quickly see it for what it was?

Just then, she scratched off another flake of scabbing. As much as she longed to be in Lygredd Grand, she wanted even more to be rid of the scabbing before reaching it. She knew she was much more likely to be accepted with the scales. Some might even think it looked cool. But the same could not be said for the scabbing.

Just then, a dreadful smell passed by her on the breeze, and she instantly curled her upper lip and recoiled her head.

'What is that smell?'

Before she'd even finished asking that question in her mind, she knew the answer. 'The sewer system.' She hung her head. 'I forgot all about that.'

She took in a deep breath. 'Forget about the scabbing. By the time we get done in there, I'll smell much worse than I look.' She rolled her head back as she choked down the desire to just cry out, 'Why me!?'

'...If it weren't for this damn scabbing, I could have bartered passage up from Lygredd's Belly, and I wouldn't have had to come this way at all.'

The more time that passed, the closer they came to the sewers, and the more the air reeked. She'd begun to notice that even Helfeirch was trying to cover his nose. However, no matter how they tried, they could not escape the smell. They stayed out in the open air, continuing to climb up for as long as they could until the inevitable happened. They could go no further without delving into the sewers themselves.

They both stood wordlessly at the mouth of a sewer drain. Scarlet held her entire left hand over her nose and mouth. She pursed her lips together as she looked over at Helfeirch, who looked over at her in return.

"Do we really have to go in there?" he finally asked.

"Yes," Scarlet answered hesitantly.

"Does it all smell like that?"

"Lygredd?" She shook her head. "No, just their shit."

Helfeirch nodded. "Alright then." With that, he proceeded into the drain.

Scarlet took one last breath of fresh air and followed suit. The running waste splashed up on their shoes and pants as the structure creaked and shifted underneath them. Just like the structures they had previously gone through, the sewers were once used for other purposes. They were later converted into a working sewer system. From the looks of things, little had been done to maintain them since their creation.

They took each step carefully, having no desire to slip and fall into the waste.

'If we can get through this, we'll be alright. We just have to get through this. One step at a time.'

Scarlet kept her mind busy by talking herself through it, but it still was not enough to make her forget the smell she was submerged in.

There was no stopping. They didn't want to be in the sewers any longer than they had to. At every chance they got, they would climb further up, sometimes against the flow of human waste. Finally, they could hear it, the sounds of the city above them. Their pace had quickened; they longed to be out of the sewers, out of the rancid smell.

Helfeirch was the first up the ladder. Scarlet helped hold him to the ladder as he used all his strength to lift the heavy metal grate. He let out a grunt as he pushed it out of the way. Climbing up into the street, he sat and rested, catching his breath. Scarlet was right behind him. She stood there breathing deeply.

'I made it… I finally made it.'