Chapter Two
She grimaced as she slid down yet another slimy, pungent slope and her face furrowed in concentration as she came to a stop at the bottom and tensed, listening for anything moving around her. She didn't want any more surprise attacks from rats.
A brief hesitation and then she continued forward, holding Captain Renault's sword tightly in her hand and crouching low, trying to be as quiet as possible. So far she had killed five rats and a creature she thought she remembered as a 'goblin' and had learnt that if the thing didn't notice her, the creature died a lot faster. She had also found a bow, noisy with age and a quiver of arrows on the body of a skeleton which she had eventually collected after panicking at the sight of the skeleton. She had killed three rats with the bow already.
The quiet, slightly familiar sound now of scratching echoed down the passageway and she froze: there was something around the corner.
The low ceiling and high brick walls made her feel trapped as the scratching grew louder, the sound echoing down the passage and mimicking the encompassing stench of decay and neglect. She put Captain Renault's sword on the floor and drew the bow and arrow from the quiver on her back.
She couldn't remember how to use a bow but her fingers seemed to know what to do and, although her accuracy wasn't good she had managed to protect herself with it, even as a shield and that was good enough for her to keep it with her.
She notched the arrow and crept round the corner, spotting the rabid rat with its back to her. Tortuously she slowed her breathing down to a steady rhythm as her nerves overpowered her, making adrenaline course through her.
She held her breath and let go, the arrow whizzing past the rat, skimming its head and embedding itself in the ground in front of it.
Blind panic ran through her as the rat turned to her and bared its teeth menacingly. Fumbling for the sword at her feet she brought it up in front of her and faced the rat which was getting ready to attack.
Just as it pounced she slashed the sword in front of her, creating a gash in its belly and flinging it to the side. It stumbled for a moment, fell and lay still.
The woman took a deep breath before lowering the sword, a smile growing on her face at her victory. Storing her bow she began to creep forward, listening out for any signs of life but heard nothing but the drip, drip of water. Just as she was about to round yet another corner she heard the scratching again, and she froze.
Suddenly the rat came leaping round the corner and the woman shrieked, falling back as it pounced at her, over her and away. She frowned, looking back at it. Why did it just run past her?
A low, groaning sound echoed down the passageway and her head whipped in front of her, only to see another rat leap around the corner and flee away from whatever was coming round the corner. The sound of something stumbling and struggling to stay upright grew louder and louder but she couldn't move. She was terrified. Something that sounded like it was in constant pain was coming round the corner and she couldn't move an inch.
Slowly the figure came into view, walking laboriously towards her and she stared, horrified at what was before her. Lacking a lower jaw and its right arm the zombie stumbled closer to her, its blind but hungry eyes searching her out by sound. She lurched away, her sandals scuffing against the trodden dirt and the zombie turned its head towards her.
She couldn't get her bow out, and the sword had clattered away from her out of reach when she had fallen over. The zombie tottered closer, guided by her ragged breathing as she tried to crawl away, but she was too slow and the zombie was too close. The stench of fetid meat was overpowering her and blind panic clouded her judgement. She wanted to shout out for help but she knew only the rats would hear her.
The zombie almost on her she contemplated on kicking it but before she could the zombie was upon her, its tongue flapping uselessly against its neck. Her eyes widened as the zombie reached for her, only to stagger backwards as an arrow appeared in its chest. A thud and another arrow appeared at its chest and the zombie collapsed backwards, letting out one last groan before falling still. She stared at its corpse then whipped around, her eyes wide as adrenaline continued to pump through her.
Her eyes widened further. In front of her was a man, crouched low with a bow in his hand of a strange material and a cowl over his head, preventing her from seeing anything of his face save for his mouth. He stood, slowly and she clambered up ungracefully, staying a good distance away from him warily. He walked towards her and the woman stumbled backwards. He stopped, studying her.
"Who are you?" he said, almost angrily.
She didn't answer, how could she when she didn't know an answer to such a question? He stepped forward again and she tensed, getting ready to flee further into the dungeons behind her. She'd rather face vile rats and zombies any day then come face to face with an unknown man wearing a mask.
"Look, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to know who you are, and what you're doing down here." He said and she realised he sounded more annoyed at her presence then murderous.
"Who are you?" she asked, quietly. The question bounced around the walls surrounding them, emphasising where they were.
"I asked you first," he said. "Who are you?"
She scowled. "I can't answer that question."
He seemed surprised at her answer. "Why not?"
"I don't know who I am; I escaped from the prison and found my way down here." She said quickly. Somehow she knew not to mention the Emperor and his Blades right now. The man looked even more surprised and stored away his bow behind him.
"You escaped from the prison?" He said, sceptically. "How did you do that?"
She shrugged. "What does it matter? Who are you?"
The man crossed his arms stubbornly, but she detected a hint of pride come through as he stood straighter and taller. "I am the Gray Fox, Master of Thieves. You've probably heard of me if you're from the prison."
She raised an eyebrow at this display of superciliousness. "Sorry, but I don't."
He looked surprised, almost shocked and he uncrossed his arms as he looked at her. "You haven't? How could you have not?" He paused for a moment. "Who are you anyway?"
She glared at him angrily. "I don't know. I woke up in my cell not three hours ago and I have no idea who I am, or who you are or even where we are." She took a deep, steadying breath and she watched him watch her.
"You really expect me to believe that?" He said. She stared at him in disbelief. "I'm not a fool; I can tell a liar when I see one. Now who are you? Maybe the guards heard a rumour that I was down here and sent you to find me." He added thoughtfully.
She couldn't believe those words had just come out of his mouth. Why would she lie about something like this? "You know what – forget it. All I want is to get out of here." She picked up the sword and turned to leave.
"Hang on, wait." He grabbed her arm and she glared at him with accusation. "Look, I'm sorry if I have offended you," he amended. "It's just a story like that is hard to believe, alright?"
She just glared at him and at the hand touching her. He quickly removed his hand and she put some distance between them. "Who are you really?" she asked.
He smiled arrogantly, or she supposed it was arrogant. It was hard to judge a person's emotions when all you could see was their mouth. "I told you: I'm the Gray Fox."
She nodded impatiently. "Yes I know that, but who are you really?" She repeated. "You can't just be called the 'Gray Fox'."
He smiled. "Actually, if anyone can, it's me." He said enigmatically.
She rolled her eyes. "You know what? I don't care. I just want to get out of here." She turned away from him and began walking onwards, her hand clutching the sword even tighter. The Gray Fox caught up with her hurriedly and then walked casually next to her, not even bothering to have a weapon out.
"You don't need that, you know," he said, indicating her sword. "I've already cleared this area out." She looked at him in dubiety.
"You mean apart from the zombie and rats?" He shrugged in what she supposed was in a sheepish manner.
"That zombie must have been trapped in a chamber and found a way out since I had last swept this area and scared some rats out of hiding." Said the Gray Fox defensively, "Something is going on up at the castle and it's making these ruins move around."
"Oh," she sheathed the sword she had scavenged from Captain Renault and walked a little bit more confidently.
The Gray Fox eyed the scabbard suspiciously. "So if you are from the Imperial Prison, and have no idea who are you why do you have the sword of a Blade?"
She startled, forgetting about the fact that her sword was from a Captain who was now dead. "I took it from a woman named Captain Renault." She said, not looking at him. She didn't want him to see in her eyes how she had broken down at the death.
"You stole a Captain's sword?" he asked in amazement. "That's pretty good."
She whipped her head around at him, scowling angrily. "I didn't steal it, I took it. Captain Renault is dead."
"So you killed her?"
"No!" She said, shocked at the thought. "These assassins killed her, not me. I was being attacked by the rats and her sword was the only weapon I had at the time."
He held out his hand in surrender. "Alright, alright; you don't have to justify your actions to me, you know. I am a thief."
She glared at him distrustfully. "What do you mean you're a thief? You're someone who steals from someone for your own greedy pleasure?"
"No." He said, and she thought she detected a hint of anger in his voice. "I steal from the rich and give to the poor, the peasants and the beggars." He sounded highly affronted. "I am no common thief that just steals for his own pleasure. I try to help the minority in the Imperial City."
She looked away from him, guilty. She hadn't known he was that kind of thief, although she was pretty sure any kind of thief was bad but a thief that tried to help the impoverished was still a good occupation to have. "I'm sorry if I've insulted you." She said finally. "I had no idea."
"Hmm," he said. "I suppose you don't, do you? You have no idea where you are or what's going on."
She looked at him superiorly. "You don't have a clue either. You said something's going on in the castle and you don't even know what."
He shrugged. "Well I have been down here for a while, staking the place out. Why, what's happening?"
She tensed as they rounded a corner but relaxed when she saw there was nothing in this chamber that could harm her. "I don't know much, but it seems the Emperor's sons have been assassinated, and his Blades have taken a secret escape route out of the castle to take him to safety."
She could hear the surprise in his voice. "Really? Who's killed them?"
She shrugged. "I don't know,"
"How do you know this anyway?" He asked demandingly.
She glared at the tone in his voice. "I'm not lying to you about who I am, alright? The escape route that the Emperor is using is through my jail cell; his Blades came in and opened it up and went through it. I followed."
"No way. That's a bit of a coincidence, isn't it?" He asked.
She shrugged. "I don't know, the Emperor said that maybe the Gods, whoever they are, put me in that jail cell for a reason."
He sounded sceptical. "What can you do to help the Emperor?"
"How am I supposed to know?" She said defensively. "I don't even know who he is. Ever since I've woken up all I remember is talking to the Emperor and nearly being killed by assassins and rats."
"So I guess that means I'm one of your most prominent memories now, huh?" The Gray Fox asked cheekily. She rolled her eyes, to which he only grinned at. "What do you mean assassins? Are there assassins in the catacombs?"
"Yes; I don't where they come from, and the Blades seemed pretty shocked that the assassins knew about the escape route. Why are you here anyway?" She asked suspiciously.
He put his hands up in peace, smiling. "I'm not an assassin, if that's what you're wondering. I'm just staking this place out, clearing it for a future heist."
"A heist? You mean you plan to steal something from the castle?" She asked, failing to keep the amazement out of her voice about the audacity of his plan.
"Not just from the castle," said the Gray Fox excitedly. "I want something from the palace, something very valuable."
"What could you possibly want from the palace?" She asked.
"You won't have heard of it," he said quickly, "Not many people have. So why are you in this part of the catacombs then?" He said, changing the subject.
"I'm not here by choice; those Blades went through a door and locked it behind them, saying I wasn't to follow." She reported.
"But you found a way through anyway? Impressive." He remarked.
"No," she corrected. "A rat did and I just followed the way it had come." She went to say something more, but she faltered as they come up to a huge chasm with fires potted about.
"It's alright," said the Gray Fox, walking ahead of her and walking out into the cavern. "I know it looks like something used to live here but they're all dead. I've already gotten rid of them." He said confidently.
She didn't look convinced, as some of the campfires around the cavern were still lit and she swore she could hear a scuffling sound from somewhere. Cautiously she walked out of the passageway and into the huge space, looking around in awe. How could a city sit on top of such huge expanses underground like this?
"See, completely safe," He said. "There's nothing in here that can – AHHHH!"
The woman stumbled back as a goblin screeched and threw itself at the Gray Fox, who was thrown to the ground with the goblin on top of him as it tried to stab him with a rusty looking blade.
The Gray Fox grunted and the crazed creature tried to kill him and she snapped out of her daze as the creature screamed in frustration.
Yanking the bow out from behind her back she whipped an arrow out and shot at the goblin, having no idea where she was aiming but her body seemed to know just what to do. The arrow landed with a thud into the goblin's back and it screamed and turned to her.
She stumbled backwards as the goblin got off the Gray Fox and headed towards her, its eyes rolling madly in its skull. A step backward and she tripped, falling down hard on the ground facing the creature attacking her.
Before the creature could leap at her it screamed in pain and collapsed, a panting Gray Fox behind it holding a bloody dagger in front of him.
"You alright?" he asked, wiping the dagger on the goblin's loincloth and stowing it away in his boot. She nodded, stunned and he held out a hand to her.
Dazed she took it and he hauled her up, but he misjudged her weight and she ended up colliding with her body. "Woah! You're really light. Don't you eat anything?"
She glared at him angrily and stepped away. "'Oh don't worry, it's alright. I've already gotten rid of all of them.'" She mimicked. "Some great thief you are."
Pushing away his hand she picked up her bow and began to walk around the dip in the middle of the cavern, where she could see a sort of cage for rats and headed towards the exit she could see on the other side. Grimacing the Gray Fox caught up with her.
"Look, I'm sorry. I honestly thought I had killed them all. That one must have been hiding when I came in here last." She ignored him and continued to walk to the exit where she stopped, looking at him.
"Listen, this place is obviously not as safe as you think it is so can you shut up and stop walking around here like you own the place? You're going to get us killed." She said angrily.
"I know but I promise you it's completely safe now!" She only glared at him in answer. "Alright, alright I will shut up. Happy?"
"Immensely," she retaliated and walked away from him, holding Captain Renault's sword in her hand with the bow strapped to her back carefully. The Gray Fox observed her as she left before shaking his head and following her.
She refrained from grinding her teeth as she heard him catch up with her. She was better off without him and who this Gray Fox anyway? To her all he seemed to be is a fool who figured that if he put on a weird cowl he'd be a master thief by default. All she wanted to do was get out of these godforsaken catacombs. She thought it rather strange that she had all of these opinions with her, but she just couldn't help but think that this Gray Fox wasn't as corrupted as he would lead her to be. Then again what did she now?
"I've just realised something," he said quietly, which proved to her that he could at least be a little stealthy as he spoke low enough that she could only just hear him. "I don't even know your name."
She swallowed uncomfortably and she hated how he noticed. "I don't know it either, so there's no use in asking me for it."
"You don't even remember your own name?" he said, aghast.
She shook her head, tensing as they rounded a corner then relaxing as she saw the passage ahead was clear. "No, I don't even know what I look like. What do you expect?"
He didn't answer, drifting off into his thoughts. Trying not to feel too self-conscious of her looks now that she had pointed them out she tensed once again as they rounded another corner before relaxing as she saw it was safe.
Soon the walls turned back from rock to stone and she stopped under a skylight, looking up through it to a blue sky beyond. Her first glimpse of the sky, she realised. The Gray Fox smirked at the wonder on her face. She ignored him, continuing to walk in front until they came to a small wooden door, almost rotten away completely.
"Sorry, but I'm not going any further than this." He said suddenly and she looked at him.
"Why?" she asked.
"That section of the catacombs is directly linked to the city and if there is a crisis going on above there will be guards and Blades around." He explained. "I don't want to be arrested by anyone if I can help it."
"Will they recognise you then?" she asked, curiously.
"They will recognise the cowl," he said. "But they'd never recognise my face."
"Do you never take it off then"?
"Oh I do," he smiled. "But no one will ever recognise my face again."
She frowned. "What do you mean?"
His smile only widened. "It does not matter. Farewell."
She blanched. "You're leaving, just like that?" He nodded. "Well, thank you for your help – with the zombie."
He smiled a jovial grin. "So how come the woman with no memories remembers her manners?"
For the first time, at least in her memory, she smiled. "Very funny," she remarked. "Goodbye."
He saluted her. "If you stick around the Imperial City I might see you again." He turned to walk away but turned back, as if he had had a sudden thought. "Oh, and I wouldn't tell anyone you've met me."
She turned back to ask 'why' but found him gone, lost in the shadows. Scowling she turned to the door and opened it, wincing at the loud, foreboding creak of the wood.