It wasn’t long before she found the empty basement and the stash of equipment, just where Wren said it would be. Isabel took a lantern and left everything else where she’d found it before going to the trapdoor in the corner.
The stench emanating from the sewer was foul. She steadied herself, letting a wave of nausea wash over her before testing the rungs and descending into the dark. At the base of the ladder, she held up her lantern, assessing her surroundings, then drew a careful map of the area in a little notepad she’d taken from her desk. Once satisfied that she’d sketched every important feature nearby, she picked a direction and set out until she’d traveled far enough to warrant adding to her map.
She followed the flow of sewage, knowing that it would have to go somewhere, hopefully outside the walls. The canal ran straight and just off level. Other narrower canals intersected it at even intervals from both sides, all angled to feed into the large canal, and each bridged by a span of stone as wide as the ledge. Only the occasional rat running from her lantern light interrupted the eerie solitude. Eventually, the canal came to an intersecting corridor and a grate covering a ten-foot-wide drain tube running off at a slightly steeper angle into the dark, sewage flowing through the lower half.
The grate was stout and sturdy, two-inch bars welded into a grid with less than a foot of space between each. As with the canal she’d been following, a ledge ran along the drain passage. Isabel picked a bar and burned through it with a light-lance spell, then another and another until she’d opened a hole large enough to crawl through. She marked it on her map, then filled in the corridor running perpendicular to the canal she’d been following, the right passage crossing the canal over a stout bridge attached to the grate. She went left.
It wasn’t long before she found another similar grate leading to a similar drain tube, being fed by a similar canal running parallel to the one she’d initially traveled along. Looking at her map, she discerned a pattern-long canals running the length of the city with side passages between them to balance the flow, water coming in one end of the fortress city and sewage going out the other, two sets of grates. She burned a hole in the grate, marked it on her map, and made her way down the corridor toward the next.
A noise ahead made her freeze in place. She dimmed her lantern, listening for a second occurrence, straining to sense anything out of the ordinary. After a moment of hyperawareness, she relaxed and continued down the corridor running along the down-water boundary of the fortress city. At the next grate she found a ladder. She linked with Slyder and scouted the buildings above.
More barracks. Dangerous territory.
She marked it on her map and continued, slowing when she heard another noise in the darkness. She shuttered her lantern, moving slowly, using the wall as her guide, straining to hear between each cautious footstep.
“They took my sisters,” a raspy voice said.
Isabel froze, schooling her breathing, listening with complete attention.
“We’ll take everything from them for what they did to us.”
She knew where the witch was-in a small room just this side of the next grate.
The witch chuckled, her menacing laugh transforming into a fit of wheezing that culminated in several barking coughs before she finally cleared her throat and fell silent.
Isabel knew who she was … Druja, a Sin’Rath witch, one of three remaining. If Isabel caught her by surprise, hit her hard, then hit her again … and again, she might kill her … but it could very easily go the other way.
“All of them. Every single one of them,” Druja said, clearing her throat for several protracted seconds.
Isabel held perfectly still, calming her breathing and listening.
“Peti’s plan is a good one. By the time they see what we’ve done, it’ll be too late.” She cackled madly, her shrill laughter echoing down the sewer passages.
Isabel wrestled with the thought of attack, surprising Druja and killing her … but Druja was powerful, more than a match for Isabel. Even with surprise, Isabel was doubtful about the outcome.
“Once we have an army,” Druja said, wheezing a few times, “we can take everything a piece at a time.”
Isabel took a step back.
“The Reishi Coven made a mistake coming here. We were content with our island, but now we’ll take it all.”
Another step.
“Where is Enu?!” Druja howled, followed by a fit of coughing.
Isabel hurried away, as quietly as she could, retracing her steps, not daring to risk more than a sliver of light from her lantern until she was a grate away. Then she opened the shutter wide and ran to the next grate.
Druja had control of Enu.
Isabel turned up the main canal she’d come down, running toward the ladder leading up and out.
She had to warn Lacy … and Wren.
Once she was safely back in the barracks basement, she summoned Slyder and went to work on a note and a map showing the way out and where Druja was hiding. She put the map and the lantern into the cabinet and replaced the note on Slyder’s leg with the new one, sending him into the sky.
She didn’t make it far on the street before a guard spotted her and blew his horn. More than a dozen soldiers converged on her very quickly, respectfully but insistently escorting her back to her house.
Chapter 20
Phane was waiting for her in her dining room when she arrived.
“Oh, Isabel, you stink,” he said, covering his nose with a napkin. “Go get cleaned up. We have a lot to discuss and dinner will be served shortly, so be quick about it.”
She didn’t answer except by obedience, more because the idea of a bath and clean clothes was appealing than for any other reason. Feeling much better after changing, she went to face Phane, wondering what he wanted this time.
He seemed to be in a good mood, but Isabel had come to understand just how quickly and how violently that could change. She was on guard. A few moments after she sat down, dinner was served … roasted game birds with potatoes and some type of green vegetable cooked into mush.
“So, where to begin,” Phane said. “Let’s start with how you managed to elude Issa. He tells me he found your maidservant tied up in the water closet.”
“That’s where I left her,” Isabel said with a shrug.
Phane chuckled, shaking his head.
“Issa also swears to me that he saw your maidservant leave the room-even claims she spoke to him.”
Isabel smiled slightly but remained silent. She didn’t want to reveal her new spell, but Phane was like a dog with a bone-he wasn’t going to let go until he was satisfied.
“Have you taught yourself another spell? A shapeshift spell?”
“I starting working on it before I arrived,” Isabel said.
“I see, you’re capable of teaching yourself a new, and quite complicated spell, without tutelage, and yet you’re unable to learn the most basic magical principles from Wizard Enu.”
“He’s not a very good teacher.”
“Don’t try my patience, Isabel.”
She stared at him silently.
“Well, no matter. Enu tells me he’s made a breakthrough. He said he spoke with Azugorath through you after casting a new spell he’s devised. Not exactly the complete success I’m looking for, but it’s a significant step forward.
“Speaking of which, where is your little friend?”
“I sent her out on some errands.”
“Good. Then I suspect she’ll be back just in time. Enu will come by after dinner to cast his spell.” Phane stabbed a piece of meat with his fork and smiled suggestively at Isabel before eating it. He took his time chewing, watching her intently like a cat watches a mouse, then washed his food down with a long pull from his wine flagon and sat back with satisfaction.