Margret's Weald // The Haven's Gateway

19

Water trickled down my face, icy cold as it dripped down my neck. I scooped another handful of dark water and threw it on my muzzle, resisting the temptation to drink it. The water had a sweet, rancid smell, like algae and blood.

I got all the blood and grime off my face before stepping back, panting and shivering. I rested against a wall beside the fountain, sitting underneath a flickering red torch. The water in the fountain came from some unknown source, spouting a steady trickle of water from the mouth of a lion into a basin that flowed into the underground canal. The water had eroded the wall and the lion spout, making the limestone bricks blend seamlessly into each other. And good portion of the room was covered in patches of moss and lichen, accumulating after thousands of years of being trapped in the dark, humid cavern.

June had gone to the common room, informing me to come when I was done. It's down the hall, to the right, then on the left. Don't get lost. She'd told me.

I coughed again, feeling my chest wheeze. I rubbed the bruises on my neck where Barbon had grabbed it. It felt sore and tender, but I could still breathe. "Oh man . . . What have I gotten myself into?" I breathed aloud.

I wanted to find Margret, and I was extremely relieved that I'd found June. A month's worth of stress and anxiety, wondering if she was alive or not, had lifted when I found her, but this whole ordeal with the Black Rats and the Weald in general had added another ton of weight on my shoulders. My new body was exhausted from all the new stimulation and stress, even with my senses being masked by the bandera vertebrae.

When was the last time I slept? I think it was back at the Parvulus cave, and that was only like an hour-long nap.

I'm so tired. But I think I'd be dead a few dozen times over if I was still human.

Ugh, I'm so tired. I just want to find Maggie and get out of here so I can sleep in my bed and eat some real food.

I wanted to rest there, but I didn't. I got up, gently stretching my legs and feeling my body ache. Then I followed June's instructions to the common room, walking along the trickling canal.

It moved slowly, carrying moss and old bones with it. The corridors it flowed down had more alcoves that had been emptied out, leaving dust bunnies and spider webs over every nook and cranny. This place looked like some kind of catacomb to me. Why anyone would want to live down here, I had no idea. It would be a cool place to visit, but the thought of sleeping in alcoves where dead bodies had once laid made my skin crawl.

I hopped over the short canal and walked through an arched passageway, stepping into the common room. It was a tall, octagon-shaped room with a domed ceiling, lit with hanging braziers and a small hole in the ceiling, blocked by an iron grate. Dusty gray light sifted through it, indicating that dawn was approaching. Constellations and mosaics of angels covered the ceiling; decaying frescos of monsters, exotic animals, and oddly shaped Breinfire kings and queens decorated the tall walls. Soft cushions and poofs sat it the corners, all of them in much better condition than the ripped pillows I'd seen in the alcoves. A long, teetering wooden table with a complex map rolled out on it took the center stage, with a few other ripped-out atlas pages or hand-drawn maps pinned on the walls. There were only four of the Black Rats there, but I had the feeling a few were watching from the vaulted windows higher up on the walls.

June sat on a cushion in the corner with a prodigia I hadn't seen before (probably Rupert. Eww). He had an arm around her as he lounged back, picking his big teeth with a scowl. He looked like a wolf or a raccoon, with dark circles around his eyes, a bushy stripped tail, and monstrous bloodshot eyes. He had a big mane with two long Jedi braids draped over his shoulders, and a pretty paisley bandana wrapped around his forehead to keep his stupid hair out of his eyes.