A quick, short chapter and we find out where the sewers delivered Ayla. It seemed a natural place to stop rather than change the mood mid chapter and start getting some other voices. Bit of artistic licence for the location, if you look at the map, just imagine the sewers running under the slums from the North of Waukeen's Promenade.

Chapter 10

Athkatla

Ayla stood at the edge of the tunnel and tried to make sense of what she was seeing. It was in stark contrast to the darkness of the sewer that she had been following and to the greys and harsh artificial light of the dungeon she had left far behind. So much so that it caused a momentary dizziness and she had to lean heavily against the rough brickwork of the sewer entrance and take deep breaths to stop herself from falling. Some five feet below her the river flowed past her position and she could hear the lapping of the waves as they slapped against the wall. And in spite of the smell and the dirt, with the sun catching and glinting off the broad surface of the water, the river was beautiful to her. Tentatively she leaned from the shadowy entrance and reached out with her hand until she could feel the warmth of the sun. She flexed and splayed her fingers reveling in the feel of the heat, lost for the moment in the wonder of it.

Reluctantly she withdrew her hand, she knew she still had some distance to go before she could feel safe. She looked out across the river trying to get her bearings and to see where she had ended up. In front of her across the great expanse of water she could see the city rising up from the opposite bank. Bigger than anything she had seen before. Just further downstream, a great bridge spanned the distance between the banks, so big she could see houses and buildings built atop it's massive arches. Above her was the sheer brick wall of the embankment that contained the river and the city extended far beyond on this side of the river as well.

Overwhelmed she stood and stared around her, there were buildings as far as she could see lining the riverbank. And the noise, as well as individual shouts and calls, the air seemed to hum with the noise of the city and the river. She heard the clanging of metal from smithies, the rumbling of cartwheels and hammering from building works reaching her from behind the wall. And from the river the sounds of gulls calling, boats being unloaded and shouts from dockers and sailors. She ducked back into the shadows and hid as a boat sailed past and then watched it as it moored at one of the wooden jetties that were built at the base of the great bridge.

She needed to move on but the thought of entering and becoming part of this huge city terrified her. She was an outsider, people would ask questions she couldn't answer and wonder why she couldn't. She had no way of knowing what was true or what were lies. The awful realisation of how vulnerable she was came to her and she sat down in the tunnel mouth in despair. Should she hail a boat and ask them for help? But what if they turned on her as Yoshimo had? It wouldn't be safe to let anybody know that she had escaped through this sewer, how far did Irenicus' power spread? No, better to get away from here on her own and leave no trace. But how? There were no steps or ladder from the tunnel leading upwards, only some rough metal staples set in the stonework down to the river. They must access the sewers from boats she thought to herself.

She looked across the water at the mooring docks at the foot of the bridge. That's where she needed to get to. From there she could make her way into the city and get lost in the crowd, nobody would know where she had come from. Could she swim across to there, it wasn't far? She watched the current for a while, checking how fast the water was moving. It's didn't look as though it was too strong, the river moved sluggishly and the boats she had seen moved quite slowly. She didn't think it would be too cold either, the late afternoon sun was still hot and the people on the boats had been wearing light vests or stripped to the waist. It was the best plan she had, she could do this. After all she had been through, a short swim would be nothing she told herself and safer in the long run.

Buoyed with the prospect of having a plan that would get her away from the sewer Ayla hurriedly set to work. She removed her boots and stripped down to her vest and leggings and dropped the discarded armour and boots into the water below to ensure she left no trace that she had come this way. As she paddled about in the filth in her bare feet and watched them sink, she started to look forward to immersing herself in the water as well. Not that she would be stupid enough to swallow any of it she thought, if nothing else that would surely kill her. She slung her sword and belt over her bad shoulder leaving the other arm free to paddle, she didn't dare keep it strapped on in case it pulled her under. She tied the bag containing all the gold and gems she had collected loosely round her neck, it wasn't too heavy and she would need the money. Lastly she went through the potions that were too heavy to carry. She drank the couple of health ones remaining rather than waste them and threw away the rest. Settling the Helm of Baldauran firmly on her head, she wouldn't leave that come what may, and settled down to wait until there were less people around.

She judged it was late afternoon and she hoped that as evening came, businesses would start to close and people would start to head home. She couldn't very well swim up to a busy landing stage and expect to be unoticed she thought. And although she was anxious to get going having decided what to do, she forced herself to be patient. Eventually she was rewarded, the landing stages were beginning to clear as boats were finished being unloaded and moored for the night and workers left. She had picked out the most likely place to head for, a section clear of any craft and where she could see steps to help her get out of the water. Finally it was time for her to make her move and she backed her way carefully down the rungs towards the water.

And then she had the awful, mind numbing thought that stopped her halfway down, could she swim?

She didn't know. She hung there wracking her brains trying to remember but nothing came to her. She argued with herself, of course she could swim, everybody can swim. But what if she couldn't, what if she just sunk like the armour. Indecision beset her and she could neither go up or down until her arms began to ache from the strain of holding her up. Realising that unless she did something soon she was finished anyway, she came to a decision. There was only one way to find out and having come this far she had better see it through and pull herself together. Gingerly she lowered herself into the water, at least she had been right about that she thought, it wasn't too cold. She held onto the last rung as she acclimatised herself and experimentally kicked her legs around. Thankfully it felt natural, familiar, much like picking up the sword, and with a fortifying breath she let go and struck out for the bridge.

She felt the current catch her though it wasn't strong, and she angled her direction diagonally across it. Her sword was dragging at her side, far heavier then she expected and she had to kick hard to keep afloat. She couldn't use the arm that had been injured, so instead she clutched the sword to her side to stop it dragging so much. Breast stroke with her legs and a sort of sideways crawl with her good arm was the best she could manage. But that did mean she found it easier to angle herself the way she needed to go. She kept her head above water to watch for the landing place and her helmet began to make her neck ache. She kept telling herself it wasn't far but it still felt much further than it had looked and she was tiring fast.

She didn't quite get to the spot where she wanted. Instead she had to grab the first part of the wooden structures she could reach and hang on gratefully as the current tried to sweep her under the bridge itself. Then she pulled herself slowly from piling to piling under the cover of the jetties until she reached the steps that would allow her up onto the wharf. She had to wait a while to get her breath back before climbing heavily and clumsily up the steps. Unable to stand, she crawled across the small dock dragging her sword and leaving a trail of water behind her on the wooden planks. She got to the wall at the back and propped her back against it and just sat there. She was breathless, cold and exhausted and couldn't move any further.

But she had made it.