The majestic circling stairwell ended at a wide arch-roofed hallway. Chandeliers of glowing blue crystals hung at intervals, floating like clouds of fireflies. Trash littered the polished stone floor: shards of smashed vases and pots, ornate alien sculpture and broken stone statuary. Yet there was no cloth, leather or wood. Nor anything of obvious value such as jewellery or gold or silver artwork. In the distance one chandelier had fallen, leaving a patch of darkness and a jumble of the blue crystals bright on the floor like a scattering of coals. There was no sign of Malakai, though Antsy was sure he must be ahead of them.
Again he was surprised by just how empty the place was. Where was everyone? Hundreds must’ve taken boats out over the months. They couldn’t all be dead … could they? The memory of those clawing hands and desperate starved faces in Pearl Town returned and he wanted to spit but he couldn’t draw enough saliva.
‘Anyone?’ Orchid asked, her voice pitched so low as to be almost inaudible.
‘No. But someone may be around.’
‘Oh?’
‘Yes,’ Corien said, ‘all the combustibles are gone.’
‘Uh-huh,’ Antsy seconded. ‘Picked clean. Which way?’ he asked Orchid.
She edged further up the hall, stepping carefully over the scattered debris, and sighed, a hand going to her mouth.
‘What is it?’ Antsy asked.
She glanced to him then lowered her gaze, embarrassed. ‘This hall. Beautiful, even yet. The Curtain Hall of the Hunter.’
‘What?’
‘This could be it. One of the Twenty Halls … one for each of their ancient zodiac. Each has its own name, architecture, history. There will be temples, cloisters, living quarters. A lot of rooms.’
‘Fine,’ Antsy cut in. ‘Just which way?’
She turned back, glaring, but sighed again, adjusting her skirts. ‘Straight, for now.’
‘Okay. Take this.’ He handed her the crossbow. It yanked her arms down.
‘I can’t use this. What am I supposed to do?’
‘Fire off a shot at any hostiles.’
‘Oh, certainly.’
Antsy waved Corien to the right then drew his long-knives. Orchid followed, the heavy crossbow braced in both arms. They advanced along one edge of the wide hall. Far ahead awaited a tall set of double doors, ajar. Darkness lay beyond. They passed portals that opened on to smaller side halls and chambers. Some were dark, others were lit by the glowing feline faces that Antsy figured to be stylized representations of the Children of the Night themselves. From his own memories of those faces he was glad none remained on the Spawn.
Short of the tall doors the air currents brought a new draught to his face and he raised his hand for a halt. People. The unmistakable stomach-churning miasma of latrine-stink mixed with sweat and cooking odours. He motioned to a nearby portal and they slipped inside.
Watching intently, he could now see a shifting brightness flickering from the right side of the hall. Firelight, and people moving. And above the constant groans and rumblings that reverberated through the rock around them came the murmur of voices and the occasional clatter of gear.
‘Now what?’ Corien mouthed.
Orchid motioned to the left. Antsy shook his head. She made an impatient face demanding explanation. Antsy leaned close. ‘They’re ignoring it. Therefore, there mustn’t be any route up or down that way. Yes?’ She appeared unconvinced, but subsided. He motioned Corien close. ‘We need to find a way round.’
‘I’ll have a look.’
‘No-’
He stood up but Antsy pulled him back: a bright light was approaching. A man appeared walking up one of the right-hand halls. He was carrying the smallest of lanterns yet to Antsy’s dark-adjusted vision the light seemed as intense as the sun. The man stopped at a side opening, threw something in that clattered amid debris, then set down the lantern and started undoing the ties at the front of his trousers.
Orchid turned her face away.
A stream of urine hissed against the stone floor.
Wonderful. They were skulking in the cesspit.
Finished, the man hawked up a great mouthful of phlegm and spat, then picked up the lantern and headed back up the hall. Embarrassed, Antsy did not look at Orchid when he motioned them across. He chose the darkest of the right-hand halls, hoping that it would perhaps lead to a way round the camp. Once within it was obvious to Antsy that it was indeed dark, even to him. There was no source of the blue night-light in the hall. A side portal beckoned just beyond and he had started towards it, meaning to talk things over with Orchid — perhaps she could provide some sort of light — when he stepped on someone.
The woman shrieked to crack open the very rock and Antsy leapt backwards. ‘Shit!’
Many voices arose around them, clamouring, shouting. Sleeping quarters? They’d stumbled into the fucking sleeping quarters? He waved Orchid and Corien back.
Pounding feet sounded from a number of the side corridors. Antsy pushed Orchid back across the main hall into the maze of left-hand passages. She thrust the crossbow at him and he sheathed his long-knives to take it. ‘What are we doing?’ she hissed.
‘Hiding. Now, c’mon.’
He led them up a side corridor, turned a corner and stopped dead. Now he knew why the left-hand side of the complex was being ignored. The corridor was blocked by heaped rubble. They’d stopped up the route. Hood take it! He motioned for a reverse through another chamber. After just a few further twists and turns, the inhabitants of the encampment yelling and rushing about behind them, they came to yet another blocked doorway. Shit! There’s no other way! He led them back towards the main hall. Have to double back, hope to find a different route.
They came out on to the main hall close to the tall double doors. Antsy stepped out first, crouched, crossbow ready. The hall appeared empty. He listened for a time. All the noise seemed to be coming from elsewhere. He motioned Orchid to him. He didn’t want to have to do it, but back down the main hall was the only exit he could be sure of.
When Corien edged out, sliding along the wall, a lantern was unhooded further down the wide hall and a voice ordered: ‘Halt or we fire!’
He and Corien exchanged despairing glances and it was Orchid who said, ‘The doors …’
Antsy felt his shoulders fall. Burn take it! The very way he was avoiding. He motioned her on. ‘Go.’
‘Fire!’
They ducked. Crossbow bolts slammed into the stone walls around them. It occurred to Antsy that they must be at the very limit of the lantern light. He and Corien backed up, covering Orchid, who ran first through the tall yawning doors. They followed her in and took up positions covering the opening. From the echoing sounds around him he knew the room they’d just entered must be immense but he had no time to think about that just then.
Feet slammed and the light bobbed as lanterns neared. Antsy levelled the crossbow and Corien braced himself, sword and parrying gauche at the ready. But their pursuers did not enter. Instead, the doors began grinding shut. Antsy and Corien exchanged further uncertain looks. What to do?
‘You’ve run to your deaths!’ someone laughed.
‘Fools!’
Antsy dropped the crossbow to grab an edge of one door. ‘What’s in here?’ he yelled.
Laughter answered and a blade chopped at his fingers. He yanked his hands away. The doors slammed shut, cutting off the light.
Antsy stood frozen in the darkness. To one side Corien panted his tension. ‘Orchid?’ he whispered into the black. Even this faint murmur raised echoes from distant walls. A damned large open space here. ‘Orchid?’ Silence.