"Would you look that that! Douse the torches, we can save them for the way back."

Salvisa led with her own example, smiling almost giddily as she waved her friends to come around a corner and join her. The last few miles of tunnel had been a maze of debris, both rockfall from the ceiling and the bent remains of old Sindar machinery. All had been still. Some of the metallic wreckage reminded Salvisa of the engines of Maren's boat and Meerschaum and Kaolin's mechanical dragon, but they had long ago seized or been crushed beyond use. Salvisa had been impatiently searching ahead when she caught dim light shining from a crack between two massive doors in an almost intact, smaller chamber. Pushing a panel nearby made the ancient hydraulics whine and pull the doors apart, flooding the room with light from the area beyond.

Salvisa stepped into the next chamber. It was as broad across as the main hall in Manastash, though the left half was taken up by a languidly flowing canal. The room stretched into the far distance, lit throughout by pale green alabaster lights set into the vaulted ceiling above and in brass sconces on the mosaiced wall to the right.

"I thought it would be all fallen in." Corbin muttered, bemused. "Celsian, when do you think we find a stair up?"

"No telling." The dwarf frowned. He stepped over to the lip of the canal and looked into its black water, "Honestly, we were expecting more small chambers, perhaps more natural cave. This changes everything."

"It's pretty though." Freia said, "These walls are like the paintings in the fortress, but just glass."

"Paint fades. Crystal Palace also uses a lot of mosaic." Salvisa said before addressing Celsian, "What are you thinking?"

Salvisa joined him by the side of the canal. Beneath the surface of the water she could see lithe, dark seaweed bend in the current like fields of wheat in the wind. Small fish flickered in and out of hiding between the waving tendrils. If they weren't poisonous, both could stretch out the food stores, Salvisa thought.

"Water's flowing north."

"To Crystal Valley?"

"That would be a mother lode if there ever was one!" Celsian laughed, "Drive a pike right up the High Priest's ass from his own sewers! Ha!"

Salvisa's jaw tensed at the remark, and she could see Corbin stiffen as well. She forced a smile, "The One Hero of Harmonia rules almost 800 years to just die with his pants around his ankles. A story for the ages. I'll give you the pike and a broad-brimmed hat. I'd rather face him in battle."

Celsian laughed again, joined in by Freia and Lop. Then he said, "There may be a side path that way, but I think this place may turn off to the west. Only one way to see, if you are done ogling walls already."

They had hardly travelled far when they discovered that not all sections of the corridor were in as good repair as the first. Some places were ill-lit as they came across lamps covered by mosses which were fed by water that dripped through the stone ceiling, or where the sconces set in the walls had been long ago smashed. Side corridors were rare and often protected by doors beyond anyone's strength to move. The few left open, or capable of being opened, did not seem likely to lead to the surface.

"Wait." Lop said suddenly, during another dim stretch, "You hear that, right?"

"Yes." Salvisa nodded. "Celsian, stay back. There's something ahead."

In the cavernous space, Salvisa could hear a soft clattering of something hard against stone, but she could not place exactly where it came from with the echoes it made in the cavernous space. But the sounds changed quickly, and Salvisa guessed whatever it was could move fast.

The rapid tapping sound suddenly faded. Salvisa drew her sword and let her mind open to the Rune of Decay, not knowing what would be the better weapon. Freia lit a small flame between her hands. It did little to turn away the darkness, but cast strange shadows where its yellow-orange light overwhelmed the meager green glow that Salvisa had gotten so used to.

Suddenly, Lop shrieked. Salvisa spun around to find him obscured by a giant black mass, flailing his twin knives against the creature that assaulted him. Freia loosed a fireball and the creature chittered in pain, darting away from Lop and up the walls of the corridor with incredible speed. It waited, still as the stones around it, while Freia brought up another spell.

A multitude of eyes glittered in the light of Freia's second spell. Eight legs sprawled across the wall, at the center of them a body as wide across as a cart wheel. The creature was still except for its fanged mouth parts, which rubbed against its alien face. Its abdomen twitched and arched as it slowly backed away from the fireball blooming between Freia's hands. Salvisa held her sword at the ready, and began calling on her own True Rune to weaken and slow the giant spider, but it only chittered more and backed up towards the ceiling. Salvisa cursed under her breath.

Freia let loose her second spell, barely missing the spider as it sped into the darkness of the ceiling and the canal-side wall. It fell into the black water, sending a wave over the smooth stone floor. Lop sputtered out the freezing cold water as he struggled to his feet. The spider clambered over him to reach solid ground, giving the boy an opportunity to slash at one of its heavily furred legs. It bolted past Salvisa towards the wall again, trailing dark fluid. Salvisa struck at its body with her own sword as it tried to reach above her for safety, nearly severing another leg. The spider paused longer this time, one leg hanging by a thread of chitin while the one wounded by Lop twitched and slipped against the wall, unable to find a grip.

"Why don't you use your magic!?" Lop called out in frustration, "That bastard hit me!"

"It doesn't work. It didn't bite you, at least?" Salvisa growled, annoyed at her weakness, "Come on, Freia, roast it!"

This time Freia sent a wall of flame scorching from the ceiling down towards the spider from behind. Taking it by surprise, the air was filled with the stench of scorched hair as it scrambled towards Freia, dragging two newly useless back legs behind it. For all its injury it was still lightning fast. It lashed out with one of its long legs at Freia, slamming down at her from above. Freia raised her hands in front of her face in childish defense. She was barely in time to save herself. A weak gut of fire singed the creature's leg just inches away from her head. It withdrew for another moment, shifting as it chittered and gauged which of its enemies would be the most likely to fall.

Salvisa advanced, challenging the monster. Her sword could cut it. She wondered how long it would take the spider to learn. It struck at her with its leg and missed, withdrawing back up the wall again in response.

"I'm going in, Lop. Jump it!" Salvisa called out, bracing her self to charge at the spider. It took her bait, crawling up the ceiling before leaping down, its fangs wide and eager to pounce. Salvisa was ready, her sword raised to catch inside the spider's maw. Her blade caught, spilling more dark blood. The pain maddened the creature, which struggled to free itself while Salvisa held her sword in a white-knuckled death grip, determined to not let her foe escape. Lop was ready too, running up to jump on the flailing monster. Two blades pierced the spider's armored body behind its many eyes, and the monster shuddered one last time.