“You’ve done well,” Chrin said. Then turning to Zarfensis, he pointed a long claw toward the city. “They may be young, but they carry the honor of the Chosen. They’ll do whatever they can to escape, and that may work to our advantage. If the vermin are busy dealing with the Xarundi inside their city, they may overlook those of us still outside.”
“Agreed. We should make haste.”
The party of Xarundi set off for the hole the scouts had found. They ran on all fours, trading off a bit of the stealth for speed, for they all felt that time was of the essence. Zarfensis was pleased to find that the mechanical leg, though it was louder than his brothers, only mildly affected his gait and he was able to keep up with the others easily.
It didn’t take long at all for them to reach their destination. Chrin set up guards around the perimeter and assigned four of the largest Xarundi to help clear the rocks and earth from the pit. He urged them to work quickly, but quietly. They had already lost two of their brethren to the vermin, they could ill afford losing anyone else.
Zarfensis knelt near the pit as they worked, his nose working to uncover the myriad of scents that were layered on top of each other. There was damp earth and moldering wood, rotting leaves and fungus. All to be expected. But there was something else. Something faint and peculiar, something that just didn’t belong.
The High Priest shifted his vision into the Quintessential Sphere, pressing outward from the here and now and passing, with some difficulty, through the veil that separated the memories of the past from the present. He was vaguely aware of the Xarundi working around him, of Chrin barking orders in hushed tones, but the bulk of his consciousness was in the living memory of the place where he stood. He pressed back through layers of memory, digging deeper into the past until the surrounding area began to change. Huge trees became saplings, streams appeared that had long ago withered to nothingness, and before him lie a deep tunnel in the earth.
He looked toward the city. Though he could see the hazy outline of the present-day walls, inside the Sphere the memory was vivid. Squat stone buildings made up the bulk of the city. This was ancient Xarundi architecture, Zarfensis knew. From before the days when the vermin had driven them underground to fight for their existence.
Turning his attention back from the city, Zarfensis moved his consciousness down into the tunnel. The memory of a dank, musty smell assaulted him and he suddenly felt wary, as if he was being watched. Unnerved, he quickly withdrew from the Sphere and refocused his attention on the physical world.
Chrin was watching him. “Doing some scouting of your own, Your Holiness?”
“Yes,” Zarfensis replied. Unsure of whether it was Chrin’s regard that he had felt so keenly, or something else. “This tunnel, properly excavated, will give us the access to the city we seek.”
Chrin relayed the new information to the working Xarundi, who redoubled their efforts to clear the entrance to the tunnel. Now that they were almost guaranteed access to the city, there was a definite air of excitement and anticipation about them. Zarfensis knew that they wanted to enter the city as much to complete their mission as to free their brethren from the vermin. He couldn’t blame them. The very thought of the Chosen being exposed to the vermin’s barbaric methods of interrogation set his fur on edge.
There was a soft cry from the bottom of the pit and Zarfensis moved to the edge. He was astounded at how much progress they had made so rapidly. Eight feet down, they had broken through into what had once been the tunnel. Recalling the perimeter guards, the rest of the Xarundi cleared the entrance under the watchful eyes of Zarfensis and Chrin.
Once the entrance to the tunnel was widened sufficiently to accept his frame, Zarfensis dropped into the pit, his mechanical leg making a metallic ring as it struck the stones underfoot. He ducked into the tunnel, letting his vision adjust to the darkness. The pale blue glow of the Xarundi’s night vision turned everything in the tunnel monochromatic. Still, it was quite easy to see that the tunnel had been abandoned for quite some time. The timbers that had offered support for the walls and ceilings were rotting and in some cases had given way entirely, allowing the damp earth to encroach on the tunnel.
Any attack made from this point of entrance would be a slow, methodical thing, not a rushing surprise attack that would sent their enemies into a blind panic. He turned to the others.
“Single file, and slowly. A word said out-of-place could bring the whole thing down around us. Watch your step, and touch nothing.”
His words were quickly relayed to those outside the range of his quiet growl. Zarfensis carefully picked his way through the rubble, tucking his tail down between his legs to ensure he wouldn’t accidentally brush it against an already crumbling support. It was a very slow advance, but the Xarundi plodded onward in silence.
As they descended deeper into the tunnel, the packed earth and wood supports gave way to a rough-hewn tunnel of rock, which made them all feel a little more comfortable. The passage was reminiscent of the tunnels in the Warrens and had obviously been created by the same tools and manufacture. Emboldened by the familiarity of it, their advance picked up momentum. That was just as well, Zarfensis thought. It would be dawn soon and while the Xarundi could fight in daylight, it made things more complicated. Their night vision gave them an advantage over the vermin that he’d rather not give up if he could avoid it.
Turning a sharp bend, Zarfensis abruptly came to the end of the tunnel. He stopped so quickly, that Chrin, following close behind, ran into him. Only the sure footing of his replacement leg kept them both from toppling over.
“There’s a wall here,” Zarfensis said. “The tunnel is too narrow for more than one. We’ll need to pass the bricks out one by one.”
Extending his claws, Zarfensis dug into the loose mortar around the bricks. It was an easy task, but tedious. After a time, he loosened the first brick enough to ease it from its place in the wall. He drew it out and passed it Chrin, who passed it to the warrior behind him. The brick was exchanged, hand to hand, leaving the last warrior in their procession to determine what to do with the loosened bricks.
Zarfensis had little time to worry about such details, as the missing brick offered him a narrow window into what lay beyond the wall. He pressed his eye to the opening, peering through into the comparatively brightly lit room. Shelves of books lined the walls, which were illuminated with flame-less lanterns. A few desks were scattered among the shelves, but the room appeared to be empty.
Not knowing if this would be the case for any particular length of time, Zarfensis quickly set about removing the next brick from the wall, and then another brick following that. Once the opening was sufficiently widened, it was easier to remove the surrounding bricks and the entire process became much more rapid. Finally, the High Priest stepped into the library and moved away from the hole they had created, allowing the other Xarundi to pass through and into the space where they could all stand without crouching.
“Vermin,” one of the warriors snarled, his nose wrinkling with distaste.
“Yes,” Zarfensis agreed. “There will be many. When we leave this place, douse any light you see. The vermin are nearly helpless in the dark. The advantage is ours.”
Where Zarfensis had been the first into the tunnel, Chrin now took the lead, issuing orders in a series of quiet yips and snarls. Given their instructions, the warriors set out along the walls of the room. They tossed shelves out of the way, seeking an egress into the city. Their zeal earned them a savage reprimand from Chrin to be stealthier. When one of them found the staircase leading up, there was a low whine and the others moved to the foot of the stairs.