Midwinter

"Where are we going?" asked Mauritane. "If the City Center is cordoned, it would seem foolish to go there of our own accord."

"We're not going to the City Center," said Eloquet, but he would say nothing else.

The tunnel began to seem endless. It was broken every hundred paces or so by grates identical to the one they'd crawled through. Every so often, a pail of refuse was thrown through a grate, falling on one or more of them. They trudged farther and farther, always descending, following the current. Walking in water, even as shallow as it was, was tiring, and within minutes even the most fit among them were huffing.

Finally the tunnel leveled off, and the flow of water was diverted down a smaller opening. Grateful, they walked along a dry channel for what seemed like hours but was probably not more than half of one. Their footsteps echoed sharply in the corridor; that and their breathing were the only sounds. Mauritane felt, and assumed the others felt, that it would be somehow dangerous to speak here, even though there was probably not much danger from the Seelie Army by now.

The tunnel began to climb again, and a new flow of water began; now they climbed against it. The smooth walls of the tunnel disappeared and they began walking through what looked like a natural cave. Icy water dripped from the walls and the ceilings, and the air was colder by several degrees. Once they passed the final grate in the artificial tunnel, the light faded to blackness.

"Did anyone think to bring a torch?" came Silverdun's voice. "I'd use witchlight, but the troops up there could be using sniffers."

As if in answer to his question, sparks of flint against silver chimed in the darkness, revealing Eloquet, crouching against the breeze with a tiny lamp cradled in his arms.

Eloquet managed to light his lamp. He was rising when the tunnel floor suddenly jerked out of the earth and slammed back into place. Only Mauritane remained standing; everyone else was pitched to the floor of the tunnel as a grinding roar filled their ears, passing over them like a physical force. Mauritane could feel the shaking in his teeth and his gut. Somehow Eloquet's lamp remained lit throughout, and the cave was a flickering scene of confu sion as the wall of sound passed over them, the sides and floor of the passage shuddering in its wake.

"What's going on?" cried the girl.

"Earthquake," said Raieve.

"We don't have earthquakes this far north," said Eloquet.

"What then?"

"I don't know," he said. "But I no longer trust this passageway. Let us be on our way, and quickly."

Except for a bit of fallen debris and a great deal of dust, they managed the remainder of the tunnel without incident. It rose ever more steeply until it reached a grate the height of a man, set in a square opening cut into the rock. Water poured out through the grate in a steady rush.

"What now?" said Raieve.

Eloquet knelt and felt for something on the floor of the tunnel, his hands reaching down into the black water of the cave. He found something and tugged. A thick chain lifted out of the water and a wooden hatch followed, covered in loose stones and muck. It rose at an angle to the flow of the water, and the diverted stream found its way through the hatch and below.

"We go down," said Eloquet.

There was a ladder of bronze set into the walls of a vertical shaft. Eloquet went first, and the rest of them followed, with Eloquet's soldiers taking up the rear. Elice squealed when the water poured over her face but said nothing.

Another natural chamber lay below. The water from the hatch above, stemmed once the hatch was closed, broke into rivulets and disappeared among the rocks. At the top of the inclined floor of the chamber, a pair of heavy doors was set into the wall.

As they approached, the door opened. A tiny man wearing a pink robe stepped into view. His head was shaved bald and he wore a long beard that trailed beneath his shoulders.

"Greetings," he said. "My name is Vestar, and I am the abbot here. Welcome to the Temple Aba-e."

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Come in quickly," said the abbot. "Your arrival coincides with a great 'turmoil."

"What was that shaking?" said Eloquet. "What happened?"

"We do not know," the abbot said. "Please, quickly."

They were led through a series of passageways, all filled with men and women in pink and white robes, moving quickly, their eyes down. No one spoke, but there was great industry and efficiency in their motions. The passageways were high and wide, generous light given off by kerosene sconces set at regular intervals. They passed an enormous kitchen, pouring out steam and cooking smells. Beyond that was a chapel and halls filled with what appeared to be sleeping quarters.

"My cell is small," said the abbot. "Eloquet and Mauritane, come with me. The rest of you wait here, please." He indicated a large sitting room for Eloquet's men and Mauritane's companions and led the two men down a side hallway. He stopped at a door that looked like any of the others.