The tavern wasn’t as full as Nelson had assumed it would be, but there were still enough people there that he could easily blend in with the crowd, and none paid him or Inleet any attention at all. They were just two extra bodies in an enormous city that were looking for a drink. Nelson could tell just by looking that many of these people had nothing worth stealing. He knew that he could easily scam them out of their coins, but he was sure he could do that with a mere card game, rather than picking pockets, which was far riskier than cheating at cards. The only thing he wasn’t sure of was if these people were honest and wouldn’t know he was cheating, or if they were like-minded people and would easily figure him out quickly. He would have to study them long enough to find out, but for now, he just wanted to drink and see if he could learn anything about Sethis, or how he ran his city. Nelson gazed around the place. He knew that you could tell a lot about a noble by how he treated hi

The journal Nelson noted, while looking it over in his hands, almost seemed important, yet it lacked anything that would give Nelson a lead on where to go or whether Sethis was part of the slave trade or not. It did, however, have a few entries including both of the late Kings: Fenryn’s older brother and their father. With a sigh, Nelson put the journal back into the drawer. “Well, that was a waste of time,” he muttered to himself. “This guy has to have some skeletons somewhere. No one is this perfect.” While distracted, a light, whispered voice spoke somewhere behind Nelson, “Another exists.” Spinning around, his hand quickly went to where Nelson's hidden blade was located, but his gaze did not locate the owner of the wispy voice. His golden-brown eyes scanned the room. Had someone snuck up on him somehow? That should be impossible. He wasn't so distracted that someone ought to be able to sneak up on him. 'Was it one of those guard-birds? The ones who could use the common tongue t

Finding a way around Ket and the demonic beast, Nelson couldn’t help but notice it had wounds from previous skirmishes. If that had been here or somewhere else, however, he wasn’t sure, as they looked recent, though not so fresh as to have happened within the last few moments. What he knew was that most of them were concentrated in the same area. At first, Nelson thought maybe it was this beast's weak spot and whoever had struck it knew exactly where to hit it. Or that this beast had originally belonged to someone else as a pet or a slave, and the wounds were marks from where it had been struck to obey the commands of its owner. Either way, he guessed that if he struck that area, he might see better results than aiming for a direct fight. It was a plan, at least. He just had to make sure that he could gain enough height for it to count. Climbing up one of the dilapidated buildings, Nelson did his best to ensure his footing was strong before he pulled out some of his throwing knives.

An icy breeze swept through the area, causing the fog to swirl and dance around them. Nelson REALLY did not like this at all, and he turned his back against Ket so that nothing could sneak up behind him. The twins followed suit. “So, what are we dealing with?” Nelson asked, his voice kept low, though whatever had been stalking them was likely already close enough to hear him. Ket let out a low hiss and replied, “unknown. Not a thing marshes have.” “Oh. Wonderful,” Nelson sighed out and shook his head. The spirit clinging to him made a little chuckle. He wondered if it knew what it was, or if it could tell where it was. He wanted to ask it but doubted it would tell him much. After all, the spirit had been quiet until now. It surprised him when it said, ‘watch the fog.’ Glancing at the level the fog was at now, he realised it had again risen higher than where it had been before. It had gone from his ankles to his knees and was now at his hips. T

Teasels’ constant yapping was annoying Nelson. Though Ket was right about one thing. He was helpful with their mission to get to the entrance into the Underworld. With any blockage they encountered, Teasel moved it with ease. Any time they needed a new blockage to prevent a demon from stalking them, he did so.The entrance itself was like a cave within the mountainside, but after a few steps, it sloped downwards in unsteady ledges. Teasel was quiet now as they got lower and lower into the ground. Nelson wasn’t sure how much light they would have left as they were leaving the surface where the rattus had made sure the cave had offered light via their alchemy.He was fairly sure they had passed a few smaller openings in the sides of the path they took, though if they led anywhere or ended at some point further in, he wasn’t sure. Ket let Teasel guide them down, knowing he could read the earth with his natural magical ability.The twins followed d