Devourer's Might, page 27
“Take Jaden down with the light,” Nathan replied. “Come back for us after.”
“Alright, Jaden, hold out your arms,” Malory said.
Jaden lifted his arms, and Malory took hold of him. She wrapped her arms around his chest and her legs around his waist. Then she used her wings to lift them both off the platform and into open space.
With the glowing orb floating beside them, they descended slowly toward the crashing water beneath them. With the light of the orb, Jaden could see that the opposite wall was the length of fifteen or twenty men distant from their side.
He could also see that, at some point in the distant past, this shaft had been traversed by several bridges at different levels. From each of the entry points into the shaft, water now fountained into the air and then joined the general stream, falling to the floor below. It was like a three-dimensional maze with aqueducts.
Soon, the floor beneath them became visible—or, rather, the pool into which the water crashed. It was a large reservoir with several tunnels branching off it in the shape of an eight-pointed star. Around the outside of the massive, star-shaped cistern was a wide walkway. Each of the branching tunnels also seemed to have a walkway that continued further into the ancient sewer system.
Malory set down Jaden on the path and then landed beside him to catch her breath.
“You’re heavier than you look,” she complained as she panted. “It’s like you’ve got metal in your bones or something.”
Jaden looked at his arm and saw the scales that had developed over the last year, covering his forearm up to the elbow. To him it felt the same, though he had definitely put on more muscle as a result of all the training that they did at the Academy.
“Maybe it’s like the scales, my bones are changing and becoming more dragon-like.”
“Well, in compensation, ease up on the second helpings at dinner time, would you?” she told him, and then took off again to go and get Nathan and Larisa.
Jaden sent the glowing orb with her to light up her flight path. He didn’t need it for the moment, and the total darkness didn’t bother him when he didn’t need to navigate.
There had been plenty of times in the sewer system of Lessertown when Jaden had been in complete darkness. Then, he had used his knowledge of the sewer systems tunnels to find his way to where he needed to go. It was an important skill, given the likelihood that the city guard would try to chase you in the sewers, and you were far from guaranteed from always having a source of light with you.
Now, sitting on the side of the ledge and dangling his feet over the water, in the blackness, he felt a little bit of home. He was happy that this sewer system, long unused, didn’t smell like the one in Lessertown. But he was even happier that it sounded the same; even the cool, humid air felt the same.
With Malory gone and the light from the orb just a pinprick far above, Jaden’s eyes adjusted. Very quickly, he could see the glowing water creatures in the reservoir beneath his feet. They clung to the walls and glowed in different colors—green, blue, pink. He also saw fish in the water with glowing stripes on their sides or peculiar head lamps that hung in front of their faces, like fishing lures. Nearby was a small school of luminescent jellyfish, moving at their own slow, languorous pace.
On the other side of the reservoir, the many waters from the channels above crashed and sent mist into the air. The rocks on which they landed also gave off a faint glow from the moss that grew on them. As he was looking at it and marveling at the beauty—certainly there was nothing like this in his fetid, hometown sewers—something large stirred the surface of the reservoir.
On instinct, Jaden leapt to his feet, both to get a better look, and to move his legs out of harm’s way. Whatever the creature was, it could very well think that Jaden’s feet were tasty rats trying to reach their snouts into the water for a drink.
He stood there, staring into the dark waters, trying to spot whatever it was that he had just seen. Other than the regular crash of water on the rocks, however, he didn’t notice any movement.
The water in front of Jaden exploded upward like a geyser, and an enormous serpent reared up in front of him. Its massive toothy jaws were right at the level of his face, and its eyes bulged out from the side of its head, glowing like lanterns. On its body were two shriveled arms with strange hands that looked like those of an old man, and they kept opening and closing, first one, and then the other.
Jaden raised his hands in front of him, to protect himself at the first shock of the creature’s arrival. Without thinking and without any premeditated intention, his hands glowed white, and he could feel the heat radiating from them. It was perhaps only this that kept the creature from lunging at Jaden. It seemed to be hypnotized by the dual light from his hands.
“Smell human,” the creature said in a strange, gurgling voice. “But hands not like human hands. What are you, human–not-human?”
After the initial shock that the thing was speaking to him, Jaden opened his mouth to reply, only to realize that the creature was actually speaking in his head, in the same way that Rachel did.
“I am human. I am a Seeker and have the powers granted me by my Legendary Beast,” Jaden replied to the creature in his mind. “What are you?”
“A Seeker. Such rose in the final days of Elves,” the creature said. “I am a servant of those who built these tunnels. I protect them.”
“Do you have a name?” Jaden asked.
“I am the Sewer Keeper, there is no need for any other name,” it replied.
“And you were put here by the Elves? You’ve been here that long? Or were you put here by Malabar?”
“It has been long. Elves, yes. But they are gone. They used to bring me tools to fix the tunnels and supplies but not even those. I do what I can with what I have.”
“Have other humans been down here?”
“Down here, no. But they made much noise above me. I think there was much destruction,” the creature said with a note of sadness in its voice. “I saw the Elf city above once, when I was little and being prepared for my role as Sewer Keeper.”
“Prepared for your role…” Jaden repeated the words, confused.
“I was an Elf, yes I was. I volunteered and was transformed for my role. A great honor.”
“Then you are the last Elf in the whole world, for more than a thousand years; some say as many as five thousand. No living human has ever seen an Elf.”
“Nor is this living human seeing an Elf. For I am not Elf. I have not been Elf since those times, and my memory of it fades with each passing day. Now I am keeper and destroyer, that is all.”
“I want you to know that I and my comrades mean neither you nor the sewers any harm,” Jaden told the Sewer Keeper.
“But, still, you might. And because of that I must tear you apart and devour you. It is my sworn task.”
It threatened Jaden in such a strangely matter-of-fact way that he almost laughed. But one look at the row upon row of jagged teeth in the enormous mouth of the strange monstrosity was enough to keep the laugh lodged firmly in the back of Jaden’s throat.
It was obvious this creature was dangerous. Jaden looked up and saw that the orb was descending slowly toward him, which meant that the other three would be with him in minutes.
“You’re obviously a very powerful creature,” Jaden said. “But my friends and I also have powers, as you can see from my hands.”
“Do you have skin of iron, human-not human?” the beast asked.
“I am just flesh, mostly,” Jaden replied.
“Do you have blood and offal inside of that puny chest of yours?”
“I do,” Jaden replied.
“Then I will eat you—whether your hands can glow or not, it matters not to me.”
Jaden focused a moment on his hands, feeling the temperature rising as the light from them grew brighter. The creature moved back a short distance, obviously feeling the increase in heat.
“You are doing the honorable thing, to fulfill your duty,” Jaden said. “But I don’t want to hurt or kill you, nor do I want to die down here. As I told you, we are not here to do any damage to the sewers or the creatures that live inside of it.”
“And yet you are human, like the ones who destroyed the Elf city above,” the creature said.
“We are here to destroy what the humans are doing in God’s Bowl; to take vengeance on them for defiling the city of the Elves,” Jaden continued.
“That is precisely the kind of thing that a dishonorable human would say to avoid being eaten by Sewer Keeper,” it replied.
Jaden looked up again; his friends were getting closer by the second. He couldn’t decide whether he should stall longer, continue trying to convince the Sewer Keeper to let them pass, or attack it before his friends arrived and were put in unnecessary danger.
The Sewer Keeper remained in front of him, still swaying slowly back and forth as though coiling for attack. He decided to give it one more try and then to launch an attack if he failed to get it to back off.
“I am a Seeker of the Dragon, Sewer Keeper,” Jaden explained. “I am here because dragons have returned to our world, along with other magical creatures that disappeared as long ago as the Elves, maybe longer. Some, I think, have never even been part of this world before.”
“Why? Why do these creatures return? And why should I care?” it asked.
“They return because the humans above us are trying to destroy the Column of the Polyverse so that they can eliminate all magic from this world and dominate humans for all eternity. To do that they are using dragons’ eggs in the machinery they’ve built to destroy the Column. If they destroy that Column, surely you will die and this entire sewer system will be destroyed as well. Then they will move on to the next and do the same. But if you let us pass to destroy their machinery, I will save the dragons’ eggs and stop their plans.”
“That is all very interesting,” the Sewer Keeper gurgled, “but you still haven’t explained why I ought to care.”
“Because by stopping them and restoring dragons to the world, it will open a portal that may allow the Elves to finally return. If the Column is destroyed, there is no hope for their return.”
“The Elves? Return?” the creature said, and Jaden could hear the longing in its voice.
“I don’t know for sure,” Jaden admitted. “But it is possible. If the Elves do return, maybe they could turn you back into an Elf. You have clearly carried out your duty with honor all this time.”
“To be an Elf again…” the Sewer Keeper mused. “To have skin and not this slimy ectoplasm that covers my bones. To live under the sun…”
The creature reached out toward Jaden’s glowing hands with its weird, shriveled arms. Jaden felt repulsed and feared that the creature might seize his hand and pull him to a watery grave. On instinct, his hands glowed brighter before he willed the heat of them to decrease, so as not to harm the Sewer Keeper.
“No, no, the warmth,” the creature said, feeling the obvious drop in temperature from Jaden’s glowing hands.
Jaden increased the temperature again, and steam began to rise from the hands of the creature. It made strange noises that sounded like blowing bubbles as it bobbed back and forth, waving its hands around Jaden’s, like someone warming themselves by the fire.
By now Jaden could make out Nathan being carried downward by Malory and Larisa. He didn’t think that they had seen the creature yet, and Jaden worried that Nathan would over-react at the sight of it, dropping in and launching into an attack.
“Does human–not-human promise truly?” the creature asked.
“I do. I will ensure that no harm comes to the sewers and that, if the Elves return, they release you from your duties,” Jaden replied.
Without another word, the creature disappeared beneath the water, with hardly a splash, and the ripples quickly dissipating. Jaden stared at the spot where it had been for a long time, expecting it to return.
But it didn’t. He was still staring when Nathan was set down on the ledge near Jaden, followed immediately afterwards by Malory and Larisa. The two women landed and sat down, breathing heavily with sweat on their brows.
“Forget that I complained about you,” Malory said to Jaden. “This guy must weigh as much as a golem.”
“Sorry we took so long,” Larisa added. “It really was difficult to lower Nathan all the way from up there. We had to stop twice on the way down to catch our breath.”
“Did you miss us?” Malory teased him.
“I can honestly say that I didn’t even notice the time it took,” Jaden replied.
“What have you been doing down here?” Nathan asked.
Although the waters were still, other than the crashing of the waterfalls on the other side of the star-shaped reservoir, Jaden didn’t feel entirely secure that the Sewer Keeper wouldn’t return. After thousands of years of living in the dark in skin that wasn’t its own, it had to be more than a little deranged. Jaden didn’t want to risk the possibility of it changing its broken mind and coming back, deciding that perhaps it didn’t need to fulfil its duty but that it did feel like a snack of human Seekers.
“I’ll explain while we walk. Let’s get out of here,” Jaden replied to Nathan and helped Larisa to her feet, while Nathan did the same for Malory.
Chapter 32
Soon, the constant twisting and turning of the sewer system meant that the reservoir room was left behind them and the noise of the crashing waters were barely audible. As they walked, Jaden told them about his encounter with the Sewer Keeper.
“And so there really were Elves,” Nathan said in amazement. “They weren’t just a children’s story?”
“Did you ever doubt that?” Larisa said in surprise.
“I know we were told that the ancient monastery in the mountains near the Hidden City were Elven in origin, but… yeah, I guess I didn’t believe it. I just thought they were old. There are also no Elven ruins near the Capital City,” Nathan explained with a shrug. “And it isn’t as though Devourer and the Immortal Council actively encourage scholarship in our world’s ancient history, before the time of humans. They are happy for us to be ignorant of each other and of our world.”
“True,” Larisa said. “However, before the Malabaris destroyed it, God’s Bowl was a place of pilgrimage for many people of the Red Coast every year. Families came on vacations here, sleeping at one of the many inns nearby or even within the ruins themselves. I always thought it was creepy to sleep in the ruins, but my family would bring us every couple of years.”
“Don’t Red Coast people claim to be descendants of Elves?” Malory asked.
“It’s nonsense and we all know it, but we like to say it because it makes us feel different to the Malabaris—it’s more about hating Malabaris than about bring proud about some invented ancestry.” Larisa laughed. “Anyway, the point is that the Elves really did exist, and nobody knows what happened to them after they built their great cities. Which leaves a lot of room for legends. That there might be an actual descendent of the Elves in the tunnels here would be, to someone from the Red Coast, incredible. No one will believe me, I can promise you that.”
“Well,” Jaden said, “maybe we shouldn’t tell anyone until the Elves return. I got lucky, but if vacationers from Marleborn start to show up here, looking for the Sewer Keeper, there’s a good chance that he’ll eat more than a few of them.”
Larisa laughed. “Good point.”
Against the stone walls of the sewer tunnels, Jaden noted that Larisa’s laughter echoed, sounding like bells. The thought made him smile. And then something else occurred to him.
“It seems strange that the Elves would just leave him down there forever,” Jaden said. “Not only was he one of their own, he viewed his role as an honor that was granted to him.”
“Now that you put it that way, it does seem strange that they should leave him in such a way,” Nathan said, agreeing with Jaden. “Why do you suppose that is?”
“Well, it could be one of two reasons, I suppose. It could be that the Elves had to leave in a big hurry from our world,” Jaden said.
“That would explain the petrified Elves in the field within the Hidden City, in the central park,” Malory said.
“Yes. But it also suggests that the Elves thought that they’d be back soon, or they would have taken him,” Jaden added.
“Ah, I see. It made no sense for them to take him out of the sewers as they would need him to maintain them for when they returned,” Larisa said.
“Exactly. What if something cataclysmic happened, perhaps in another of the worlds of the Polyverse, and the Elves were compelled to leave because of it. They believed that it was just a short-term thing, and then, a couple of thousand years later…”
“It wasn’t,” Malory said, finishing Jaden’s thought. “But what could it be?”
Jaden shrugged. “Who knows. Maybe it doesn’t matter, except as an interesting story. Then again, maybe it’s related to the disappearance of all magic, except for the Legendary Beasts.”
“Headmaster has also said that he believes the rise of Devourer and the Malabaris was related to the disappearance of magic,” Nathan said.
“Yes. The disappearance of Elves left space for human society to flourish but also for it to develop unchecked toward evil,” Jaden said. “I don’t know where all these thoughts and theories are going, but I feel like we should keep them in mind to discuss with Headmaster. And for ourselves, too. It could lead us to some useful ideas.”
They continued walking for at least another hour, though it was hard to tell the passage of time underground, with no measure other than the tiredness that progressively crept into their bones. Jaden kept referring to the map, but it became clearer every moment that they were lost. He couldn’t understand how it had happened.
“I’m sorry,” Jaden finally said as they entered another reservoir room for the second time. “According to the map, this room shouldn’t be here, and that tunnel shouldn’t have brought us back here. Neither of them is supposed to be connected to the other.”
