Myrr: Reincarnated Timemage Assassin

Chapter 104: Rainstoppers Can Swim...Right?

"Ahhhhhhhh!" Sila screams in my ear. It's deafening, even though the wind takes her voice away instantly. Letting go of her elbow with one hand, I silently chant-

[Stormy Breeze of My Loneliness, Gather Forth-Gust]

A jet of wind comes out, stabilizing our descent. We slow rapidly, and I cough as my spell kicks up the fetid air in this place. God...that smells repulsive-

"Ack!" Sila retches behind me, and I can only hope nothing actually came up. "G-Gross!" As we descend, I consider lighting the place up, but then I realize something. This smell...there's definitely methane. I better not chance anything. Might blow up the undercanals. Streaks of light from guide-bones pass us by, but it's even darker in this hidden chamber than the pipes above. We've entered a seemingly infinite space, although as my eyes adjust, I think I see long vertical pipes not too far away. Down below, Meera appears, holding up one of those glowing sunstones Perideen used. She waves us down, a pair of terrified Demi-Raccoon boys clutching at her waist. It's totally her fault that they're terrified, but after a fall like that, they need something solid to hold on to. It kind of reminds me of...hehe, could you imagine Meera as a mother? Pfft, her children would have ISSUES.

I aim my Gust and cut off the spell when we're almost at the bottom. Sila lets out a short cry as we drop, but then my feet hit the ground and gravity is restored. Gently, I bend my knees and let the poor Demi off. She immediately runs over to rejoin her friends by Meera. I think one of them starts puking. And then suddenly they're all puking. Meera flickers away, and I can imagine her look of disgust under her mask as she joins my side.

"Welp. You've done it now, Boss," she says, holding up the brilliant sunstone to illuminate wherever we're at. Slimy wet pipes stretch up towards the ceiling we came from, and I can hear a distinct, faint banging echoing down. That flesh-monster's still trying to fit through the hole. "Where are we? I don't think I can climb this crap. We're stuck down here, unless you can fly us back up. Which doesn't matter because let's be honest, that thing's up there. By the way, this place reeks of gas. So no more bright ideas, please."

"Alright, alright," I sigh, putting a hand to my face and adjusting the cat-mask. It's a bit tilted from the fall. "I'm sure there's another way out of here. Look at how big this place is. Plenty of exits, all we need to do is choose the right one. Let me just check the map!" Motioning to Meera, I get her to bring the sunstone a little closer. I take out the map and try to figure out our location. "Well, I don't really see any sublevels beneath the bottom floor. This place is probably unmapped. But look, this is where we were...kinda. Assuming we took this tunnel and then that one...then we must be roughly...here?"

"You sure? There was a fork here, right? Did we go right or left?"

"Meera...are you seriously doubting my memory?"

...

"Boss...you drink so much that half the crap down here is probably yours."

"I swear to God, if I could afford to fire you...actually...fair point-"

*Splish*

Hmm?

We look over from the map to see Sila gingerly poking her foot in the murky knee-high water.

"Hey, don't wander off!" Meera admonishes.

"But there's something in the water..." Sila makes a face and points. From here, the light of the sunstone in Meera's hand is too shallow to see. "I think it's dead."

"What?" I move closer to see. "Meera, point the sunstone this way...sweet jesus!" Zinging adrenaline runs through me as my heart palpates. "Another one?"