The Underground City (The Lily Harper Series)

  The third demon dog looked least like a dog and more like a lizard. Its skin was a hide of scales that reflected all the colors of the rainbow, depending on how the low light of the cavern reflected off them. This creature also had sharply pointed ears and glowing eyes like the other smaller one, but its eyes were blue, not red. I could barely make out its nose because the scales were so prominent in its face that the lines of its nose just sort of faded away. Its mouth, however, was every bit as intimidating and sharp-fanged as its brethren.

  The largest of the demon dogs, which finally stopped snarling, now examined each of us with keen interest as it took a few paces forward, studying us with large, strange, glowing orange eyes.

  “I do not appreciate interruptions, Grashnelle,” the dog suddenly announced to the water creature who still stood in front of Tallis and me.

  “You can talk?” Bill cried out, sounding mildly amused. “Rad! I feel like we’re in a Disney movie!” I gave him a look, shaking my head as I wondered if he’d ever seen a Disney movie. Judging by the hideous creatures standing before us, which were anything but charming and lovable, I’d say no. Bill sighed and shrugged. “Well, a screwed-up Disney movie, but whatevs.”

  The dog glared at Bill, its glowing orange eyes adopting a deeper ginger hue. “And I definitely don’t appreciate angels in my territory,” it said with a snarl as it looked over at Grashnelle. I supposed that was the water creature’s name. Of course, Grashnelle didn’t say anything that was audible, and again, I figured he must’ve been conversing in thought, rather than speech, because there were long, silent pauses where no one said anything at all.

  “I don’t care what Alaire wants!” the demon dog suddenly barked out angrily, in response to whatever Grashnelle said, albeit silently. “He should have shown me the respect to inform me of this himself!” he continued. The dog’s voice was deep, gravelly, and very enraged. When it spoke, it vacillated between words and barks, as if it were speaking two different languages at the same time.

  “We dinnae want any trouble, Cerberus,” Tallis announced, his tone low, but hard as steel. The enormous demon dog looked at him and narrowed its eyes as its canine mouth lifted into a warped smile that instantly caused my stomach to turn on itself.

  “I know you well enough to know that isn’t the case, Bladesmith,” Cerberus responded, its eyes narrowing as soon as they rested on Tallis. A spark of recognition flashed through its gaze, and immediately, they seemed to cloud with anger. “Trouble always finds you, no matter how hard you try to avoid it.”

  Tallis’s posture went suddenly rigid and he tightened his grasp on his sword. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t have to—his body language conveyed that he was obviously bothered by Cerberus’s comment.

  My attention shifted to Grashnelle when the creature lifted its hands in the air almost in frustration. It was, presumably, still explaining to Cerberus that we had permission to do our business without threat of being harmed per Alaire’s orders. Cerberus just listened to the watery, grey creature while eyeing each of us skeptically. A low growl sounded from its mouth. Then it looked at Tallis again. “Bladesmith, as I seem to have little choice in the matter, I give you permission to retrieve your soul,” it spat out. Then, its lips peeled back into a snarl as it showed off multiple rows of sharp teeth. It glared at Tallis for another few seconds before the snarl vanished from its face. “I am not pleased to do so.”

  “Cerberus,” Tallis responded as he lowered his head slightly in what I imagined was his way of saying “thank you.” He resheathed his sword, turning to face me as he nodded, indicating that it was okay to put my sword away as well.

  Cerberus barked at his canine companions a few times before they turned around and padded back into the muck of sewage at the center of the room from which they’d emerged. Cerberus made no sign to retreat, but continued standing where he was, blocking our path to the sewer’s vortex.

  Tallis faced Bill. “Yer phone,” he said. Bill handed Tallis the phone and the much larger man studied it for a few moments before handing it back to Bill again. Then he faced Cerberus. “The soul is in the vestibule,” he announced as he crossed his arms over his chest. Apparently, he was waiting for Cerberus to step aside.

  Cerberus, however, made no motion to step aside, but merely nodded stiffly before turning around and trotting down the brick path that led to the cesspool. The raining sewage continued to pelt the damned, who whined and cried as they swam through the pool of feces, moaning pitifully. When Cerberus reached the sewage, he growled at two souls who were in his way. The souls, in response, doubled over on themselves in their attempt to get away from him. But since the muck in the pool was so viscous and gluey, they didn’t get very far.

  Cerberus didn’t seem to notice though, but discourteously pushed past the two souls before simply jumping into the cesspool and demon dog-paddling to the center. I watched the damned as they attempted to clear a path for him, pushing and pulling at each other in the sticky goo, all the while trying to get away. But, as with the other two souls, none of them could manage to get very far; and seemed mired in place, getting stung by the disgusting rain overhead as the tar-like sewage held them captive.

  Cerberus paid them little attention. Once reaching the center of the cesspool, he simply dove into the putrid water, his head fully disappearing under the dark brown muck. Unlike the souls, Cerberus appeared to move fluidly through the sewage, as if its tackiness didn’t affect him. The other two demon dogs continued to patrol the cesspool from the brick pathway beside it, where they could escape from the pelting rain overhead. Whenever a soul moved too close to one of them, the demon dogs lashed out with gnashing teeth and long, pointed claws.

  Despite searching the tumultuous sea of sewage for any sign of Cerberus, I didn’t see him. The seconds seemed to drag on as I watched the demon dogs continue making their rounds, harassing the damned. Meanwhile, Grashnelle stood in front of us silently, apparently waiting for us to retrieve the lost soul so he could lead us directly to Alaire.

  Cerberus finally appeared above the sewage again, seemingly minutes later. He paddled through the feces pool and shook himself off as soon as he climbed out of the muck and onto the brick pathway. I wondered why the noxious sewer fumes no longer bothered me and could only deduce that maybe I was just growing accustomed to them. At any rate, my attention was rerouted to Cerberus’s mouth when I noticed his jaws were slightly open. It almost looked like he was panting. As soon as he came closer to us, though, I realized something was inside his mouth, glowing. When he reached Tallis, he sat back on his haunches and Tallis pulled a vial from his sporran. Tallis popped the cap of the vial and held it in front of Cerberus, who poked his snout into the tip of it, opening his mouth as widely as he could. The white light, which turned out to be our lost soul, gladly moved into the vial as Tallis replaced the cork cap and returned the vial into his sporran.

  One of the riddles I was unable to solve was why the souls who were mistakenly routed to the Underground City appeared as small, white, glowing balls; while the souls of the damned were very detailed, making it easy to distinguish their faces and even some of their features. It was another question I had to add on my long list for Tallis. But now was clearly not the time.

  “Thank ye, Cerberus,” Tallis said as he nodded toward the enormous, ugly dog.

  Cerberus eyed Tallis narrowly, but didn’t say anything more as he trotted back down the pathway, still growling at the damned souls closest to him.

  Very well, we shall now travel on to the master, Grashnelle’s voice suddenly sounded in my head.

  None of us said anything, but Tallis silently nodded and started forward, pushing me behind him with his right arm. Bill followed me and pretty soon, the four of us were walking single-file like kids on a field trip. The water was still up to my thighs, which made walking a little more difficult.

  The tunnel continued straight for maybe a quarter of a mile. When it finally turned slightly to the right, I noti
ced it led into an expansive, open area where there was nothing but vast brick floors and walls. There wasn’t any water in this area at all. It was almost as if the sewage water in the tunnel was restrained by an invisible dam. The water level went from being thigh-high to completely nonexistent as soon as we entered the open breadth of the cavern.

  Looking ahead of us, I noticed a fairly large pipe sticking out from the center of the cavern’s wall. It was to our left and the entrance into the pipe was probably five feet above ground level. A ladder leaned against the opening of the pipe, and I had the sinking feeling that this was our exiting point.

  That tunnel will lead you out of the sewer and onto the mainland, Grashnelle said, affirming my hunch. I am not able to continue as your guide, he finished while motioning to his lower body, which was still submerged in the foul sewer water, right up to his waist. I supposed he meant that since his bottom half was basically a fish, he couldn’t continue to guide us over the land. Bladesmith, are you familiar enough with the Underground City to find your way to the master’s headquarters?

  “Aye,” Tallis responded quickly, as if he were uncomfortable with his familiarity with the Underground City. Whatever the reason, his discomfort seemed strange to me—if he’d been retrieving souls for a while in the Underground (which he obviously had been,) why would he be uncomfortable? Without another glance at Grashnelle, Tallis started for the tunnel pipe, which, apparently, led out of the sewer aqueduct.

  “It’s been real, yo,” Bill piped up behind me, addressing Grashnelle. The water creature didn’t respond, but simply spun around until it was facing the way that we’d just come. It dove down, disappearing into the murky sewage water below. “That was a cool dude,” Bill continued, glancing back at me as he nodded. “I mean, his skin’s a little messed up, but I bet a dermatologist could fix that.”

  “Um, he was a demon, Bill,” I pointed out.

  Bill frowned and waved a pudgy hand dismissively. “You gotta be an equal opportunist, hot cheeks. Demons need love too, ya know?”

  “Besom,” Tallis interrupted, grabbing my attention as I faced forward again. He’d already reached the tunnel leading out of the sewer and climbed up the ladder. Now, he stood facing me expectantly, just beyond the opening to the tunnel.

  “How’d you get up there so fast?” I asked, shaking my head in wonder.

  “Ah choose not ta dilly-dally,” Tallis responded, frowning at Bill and me in turn.

  I ran the full length of the cavern that separated us. When I reached him, Tallis leaned over, placing both of his hands on either side of my waist and lifted me up to the level of the pipe. When he set me on my feet, he didn’t release me right away and we just sort of looked at one another … awkwardly. “Thanks,” I said, not really knowing what else to say, but the longer he held onto me, the more uncomfortable I felt. Tallis cleared his throat, seemingly remembering that his hands were still on my hips, and released me immediately. Then, without another word, he turned around and dropped down on his hands and knees as he entered the tunnel. Yep, it was another small one that required us to crawl.

  “What about me?” Bill demanded, whistling and waving at Tallis before looking up at me wistfully. “Isn’t Tido Swayze gonna Jennifer Grey me too?”

  I figured he must have been referring to the finale of the dance sequence in Dirty Dancing. I glanced ahead at Tallis, who was already making his way into the tunnel before turning back to Bill while shaking my head. “I don’t think so.”

  Bill sighed deeply as if it were a big shame, but started for the ladder leading up to the tunnel. “Nobody puts Billy in the corner,” he muttered as he hoisted himself up the rungs. The ladder creaked beneath his burdensome weight. Taking a whiff of his underarms, he faced me with his eyes widened and his eyebrows reaching for the brick ceiling. “I thought I’d never say this, but shit, I’m really lookin’ forward to bathin’.”

  “You’re telling me,” I mumbled as I started for the inside of the pipe, getting onto my hands and knees with Bill just behind me.

  “Nice ass, Lils!” he said and catcalled behind me as his halo lit the inside of the tunnel. There wasn’t any sewer water to speak of, thankfully.

  “Bill, really?” I asked as I tried not to focus on how sore my palms and knees were from the seemingly incessant tunnel crawl.

  “You know,” Bill continued, “you could friend flash me?”

  “Oh my God,” I retorted.

  “That’s not against the rules,” he argued. “Gimme a little flash of your big ol’ titties or maybe even some …”

  “Enough!” I interrupted him. When I heard Tallis chuckling, I swatted him right on the butt. “And you quit it! You’re just encouraging him!”

  “Ah apologize, lass,” he said, a laugh still evident in his voice.

  I wasn’t sure how long the three of us crawled through the pipe, but probably not as long as it seemed. Maybe ten minutes, although it felt more like an hour. Bill’s halo continued to light our way and I had to admit I was more than happy for it. Navigating the tunnels would have been a thousand times worse if we had to crawl through them in the pitch black.

  “Are ye all right, Besom?” Tallis asked in a soft voice.

  “I think so,” I replied, although I wasn’t sure if I were being completely honest. The strain of my emotional responses to everything we’d experienced thus far was definitely taking its toll on me. I was exhausted; and it was a type of fatigue which wouldn’t permit my body to unwind. Instead, my instincts were still on full alert, only taxing my weary body even more. It was difficult to stay ready for anything—and constantly be “on” just in case some hideous creature or creatures ambushed us.

  Tallis suddenly stopped moving, and I must not have been paying attention because my head rammed right into his backside. His wool kilt felt like it gave my cheek a rug burn.

  “Besom, watch where yer goin’!” he railed at me without any real anger in his tone. It seemed more as if it were just for show. I didn’t say anything when I noticed that our pipe was blocked by an enormous iron plate that occupied the end of the tunnel. Tallis, seemingly unconcerned that our path suddenly ended, reached for what looked like a giant handle, which popped out from the top of the plate. It reminded me of the steel plates you often see on roads in the middle of construction.

  “Is the way to the mainland through there?” I asked, deciding to ignore the fact that I’d very nearly sodomized Tallis with the end of my sword.

  “Aye,” he answered, and it was plainly obvious that all of his focus was currently on turning the handle on the iron cover in order to open it. He gritted his teeth, his lips going white as he pulled against the handle as hard as he could. The veins in his neck looked like they were about to burst. But when the plate suddenly made a popping sound, I realized Tallis was successful.

  “Hmm, seems your brawn is good for something,” I said with a teasing laugh. Tallis looked at me and seemed surprised that I was joking with him. ’Course, having never joked around with or teased him in the past, I wasn’t sure why I was doing so now.

  “Aye, an’ Ah am still waitin’ ta see what benefit yer constant blabbin’ will offer oos,” he responded as he reached higher and slid the top of the plate off. I was so intrigued to learn where we now were that I didn’t even stop to ponder Tallis’s lack of social graces, specifically flirting. Instead, I watched him push himself through the opening before disappearing from the tunnel. His hand reappeared in the pipe when he reached down for me, and I took it. With that, he pulled me up and out of the tunnel, right back into the dark night of the Underground City.

  Glancing around, I realized I didn’t recognize our whereabouts. We were standing in the middle of a street with nothing but pavement and nondescript buildings on either side of us. There wasn’t a sign of greenery—no plants or trees—because nothing could grow in the Underground City.

  As soon as Bill poked his head out of the tunnel, huffing and puffing as he pulled himself up to street le
vel, I heard the rumblings of what sounded like a motor. I spun around and noticed an electric blue, sporty-looking car that pulled up alongside us. Its windows were tinted so dark that I couldn’t make out who or what the driver was. It probably also didn’t help that there was no daylight in the Underground. It was always and perpetually night.

  “Shit!” Bill called out with a whoop as he noticed the car. “That’s a Jag XKR-S! That’s sick!” he said, shaking his head in wonder. “That shit’s easily over a hundred thousand clams!”

  In response, the car, a two-door coupe that reminded me of a Porsche, opened both of its doors. As soon as it did, I noticed that there was no one sitting in the driver’s seat. “Um,” I said, eyeing Tallis, and wondering what we were supposed to do.

  “Shit’s haunted!” Bill screamed, taking a few steps back, and shaking his head. Then he held his hands out straight in front of him, as if he wanted to keep the car at bay. When Tallis took a few steps towards the car and we realized that he intended to get in, Bill started shaking his head furiously. “There’s no way in hell I’m gettin’ in ta some haunted ass car. I’ve already seen Christine, thank you very much. I ain’t interested in experiencin’ it!”

  Seemingly in response, the Jag revved its engine and rolled forward about a foot. It was pretty obvious that the vehicle wanted us to get inside it. I looked up at Tallis and swallowed hard as I wondered what his reaction would be. He simply nodded as if to say the car wasn’t a threat; and then as if to prove his point, knelt down and adjusted his sword so it wouldn’t get in his way. Then he took his seat behind the wheel. “Git in,” he said to Bill who continued to shake his head.

  “Bill, it’s either that or we walk to wherever Alaire’s headquarters are,” I started as I crossed my arms against my chest. “Shall I describe all the scary things that live in the Underground City for you?”

  Bill cocked his head to the side as if he were considering my comment before nodding with a deep sigh and approaching the car with keener interest. Without saying a word, he climbed over the center console and sort of rolled into the backseat. Holding the end of my sword out, so it wouldn’t get stuck as I sat down, I took the passenger seat. The doors on the Jag immediately closed, and before I could take another breath, the motor revved and we were off. I glanced over to see if Tallis was driving the car, but it didn’t appear that he was. Instead, he leaned back into his seat and crossed his arms over his chest. His legs were spread wide and his knees pulled all the way up to his chin in order to fit behind the seat. He actually looked pretty ridiculous because the tiny sports car was way too confining for him.