Amor Vincit Omnia

(Love Conquers All)

Part Two: The Fragile Heart

"Donauquell dein Aderlass
Wo Trost und Leid zerfließen
Nichts Gutes liegt verborgen nass
In deinen feuchten Wiesen
An den Ufern in den Weisen
Die Tiere werden krank
Aus den Auen in den Fluss
Trieb abscheulicher Gestank"

"Danube's spring, your blood-letting
Lets comfort and anguish dissolve
Nothing good lies hidden, wet
In your damp meadows
On the banks in the meadows
The beasts fell to disease
From the wetlands into the river
The horrid stench drifted."
- Rammstein
"Donaukinder"

Wow ... so, you guys really outdid yourselves with the response to the last chapter. Thank you so much! I am humbled by all the support, truly! I appreciate each and every one of you to the ends of the earth and beyond. I hope that the new chapter will be reward enough. :) (And tremendous extra thanks as always to Leena, for the translations. I'm sure it would have been hilarious if we'd left it the way I originally had it, but I like the real version much better ... ;P)

Chapter Nine: Into the Sewers

"This way!" Leah cried, darting left into a narrow crevice between two buildings. Saiya, Caesar, and Ghor followed with relative ease, but Tyrael's broad shoulders were a tight fit, and Kormac had to turn sideways and shuffle awkwardly along because of the semi-conscious enchantress in his arms. Baal entered the alley last, covering their retreat with his crossbows.

Ahead of them, Leah trotted down a flight of stairs and across an open area. They trailed after her in single file, gathering in a knot in the shadow of a doorway.

"Just a little bit further," the girl panted. She started forward, but Baal grabbed her arm.

"Someone's coming!" the Hunter hissed. No sooner had he spoken than a squad of five soldiers in a spear-head formation came marching around the corner. Luckily, they were coming from the opposite direction, and passed by the fugitives' hiding spot without noticing them. Once the soldiers were out of sight, Leah led the group down the street that they had come from.

They were passing through a pavilion with a thin sheet of running water covering the floor when green smoke suddenly billowed up in a circle around them, caging them in. It cleared to reveal a nearly a dozen of the snake-demons they had fought in the Khasim Outpost, as well as a quartet of robed sorcerers, each standing beside a bizarre contraption that looked rather like a giant incense burner. These were the source of the smoke; there was one at each of the four corners of the pavilion, and they were casting an evil pall over the area.

"Summoning stones," Baal groaned. "We'll have to destroy them before any more serpents come out."

Saiya examined the structure they were in with a critical eye, knowing that if she were to use the bell there, the fragile pillars supporting the roof would crumble in a heartbeat and bring the whole thing crashing down on their heads. It was a real pity, because the bell would be the fastest way of clearing the area, and the odds in a drawn-out fight were heavily against them. Fighting in her borrowed finery was also a big problem; she had managed against one or two human opponents at a time, but she needed all her mobility and speed for a battle like this.

There wasn't much time to think. As the demons began to close in on all sides, she grabbed the hunting knife from Baal's belt and hacked at her skirt until she had cut off all the fabric below the knee. The delicate slippers went as well. She hoped that Madam Fahkri would not be too devastated by the loss of her property, but she didn't have much of a choice if she wanted to survive long enough to apologize.

A serpent lunged at her with arms outstretched. Saiya let it grab her, only to stab it in the side of the neck with Baal's knife. Acrid blood poured out over her arm, and she quickly pushed the monster away; it thrashed helplessly on the ground, and the water ran red.

Beside her, Kormac had impaled two snakes on his spear (stabbing the second one through the corpse of his cohort) and was having difficulty freeing the weapon. Saiya slashed at a demon that had come slithering up behind the Templar. It turned on her, hissing furiously as it lashed out with a clawed hand. She swayed backwards away from the blow, rebounding with a fierce energy. A series of rapid blows to the abdomen and face put the beast out of commission.

"Thank you, Schwesterchen," Kormac grunted.

"Don't mention it," Saiya replied. Glancing around, she saw that over half of the enemy forces were already down – some to Baal's bolts, others to Tyrael's blade. Two of the summoning constructs had been destroyed at well.

She was just turning to head for the third one when a shimmering patch of air directly in front of her caught her attention. Instinctively, she moved to step around it, only to be confronted with a snarling maw filled with needle-point teeth as the serpent materialized. It went for her with a chilling shriek, and she was forced to drop the knife and grab its jaws to keep it from tearing her throat out. Its weight bore her to the ground, water soaking her clothes and hair as the sharp sides of its teeth sliced her fingers to the bone. Its breath was a foul cloud on her face, blocking her nose, making her eyes water. She gagged, fingers slipping in her own blood, struggling to find a purchase on its smooth, featureless countenance.

And then – just when she felt she could hold it off no longer – the demon was knocked off of her, sent sprawling by a blow to the side. Through stinging eyes, Saiya saw a dark form step over her, place its foot on the serpent's chest, and fire three bolts into its head.

"Ba … Baal!" she choked. He turned and bent down to help her up, gripping her forearm when he saw the damage to her hands. Hauling her to her feet, he supported her with an arm around her waist.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "Not too badly hurt?"

"I don't think so. Is it over?"

"Almost," he said. "Tyrael and Kormac are finishing the last of them. We just need to get rid of the final stone."

"I can do that," she said. "Where is it?"

"Better let me," replied Baal. "They seem to explode when they're destroyed. I don't want you to get hurt." Still holding her close, he took aim at something over her shoulder and let off a careful volley. Saiya heard a muted pop, followed by a rush that sounded like air being drawn into a giant pair of lungs.

"Everyone alright?" Leah called. "We'd better move quickly before more of those things arrive."

"They can turn invisible," Saiya warned. "If you see the air shining – it looks a bit like heat waves in the desert – watch out."

Baal picked up his hunting knife and tucked it back in its sheath, after first wiping the blade on his leg. "Let's go," he said.

At the end of the street was a long flight of stairs, leading down to a shadowed courtyard by the river. It was obviously something of a destination spot, to judge by the palanquins, tables, and cushioned benches scattered about. A fountain in the middle burbled noisily, and beside it, draining off excess water, was a round grate.

"This should lead into the sewers," said Leah. "Najmah, would you help me lift it up?"

Tyrael stared at her blankly, as though he had forgotten his former name. Saiya had noticed that even now, with his memory returned, he seemed to have difficulty keeping inessential details in his mind. A remnant of the trauma of his fall, she wondered, or was it merely the lingering traces of his angelic essence that made life in the mortal world a strain for him?

Leah frowned in concern and opened her mouth, but his moment of confusion passed, and he crouched to pick up the heavy grate with ease. Inside, a ladder set into the wall descended into dank darkness. Kormac volunteered to go first. Saiya watched his face until she could no longer see it through the gloom, but the clanking of his boots on the steel rungs was still audible. Eventually they heard a loud splash, and the Templar's voice floated up to them.

"I've reached the bottom. Scheiße, it's disgusting down here!"

Leah went next, and Ghor followed directly after. Then Tyrael, carrying Eirena on his back. That left only Saiya, Baal, and Caesar on the surface.

"Your turn, Saiya," said the Hunter.

Saiya shook her head. "No way am I leaving the two of you alone together. Caesar, why don't you go?"

"How am I supposed to manage the ladder?" he asked peevishly, holding up his manacled wrists.

"I could cut off one of your hands," Baal suggested with a grin. Saiya stepped on his foot, hard.

"Now is not the time." Turning to Caesar, she said, "I'll climb below you. Don't worry, I won't let you fall."

"You're going to have enough problems going down on your own, with your hands injured," argued the wizard. "Plus I don't want to risk knocking you off the ladder."

"I'll go, then!" Baal snapped. "You don't mind knocking me off, do you? Saiya, that means you'll be the last one in. Close the grate if you can." He holstered his crossbows and started down into the hole.

"Nothing's changed, I see," muttered Caesar as he awkwardly prepared to follow. "Same old irritating Baal." Looking up at Saiya suddenly, his face criss-crossed by the grid-like shadow of the grate, he said, "Is it too much to hope for that I land on his head and damage it somehow?"

Her reply was interrupted by a shout from the top of the stairs: "I found them! They're trying to escape through the sewers!"

"Shit!" Saiya exclaimed. "There's a lot of them. Go, quick!"

Alarm flashed across his face. "Saiya, you're not-"

"I'll be right behind you," she promised. "Above you. Whatever. Just go!"

He went. Saiya waited until there was about ten feet of space before climbing into the hole and lowering the grate after her. She was about to start her descent when it occurred to her how easily they could be pursued, since there was no way to lock the grate.

"Saiya," Caesar yelled, "why have you stopped?"

"Relax," she shouted back. "I'm just going to seal the entrance with a mantra so they can't come after us." Closing her eyes, she sank into meditation. It was harder than usual; her mind felt sticky, clinging to the sensory world. With a jolt, she realized that she hadn't properly meditated since the agonizing days when she was alone at the Khasim Outpost, waiting for her friends and lover to return.

I'm losing touch, she thought, with a burst of shame and regret. I used to meditate every day. I used to always feel at peace with myself. How could I have let myself change so much?

The sound of hurried footsteps and slithering scales recalled the urgency of the situation, and she forced her consciousness into the state of calm where she could exist outside the physical limitations of her body, outside of the boundaries of reality, outside of time itself. The familiar words brought warmth welling in her veins, seeping through the gashes in her fingers as silvery light.

"Taiyoh no inori … ensoh … kabe … hikari … kago … shiirudo … gekitai suru gai."*

The first wave of demons crashed over the glowing barrier and flaked into white ash. Satisfied that the shield would hold, Saiya began to climb down the ladder, leaving little smudges of blood on each rung.

A sharp cry rang out in the darkness below, and a few seconds later, a muffled thud. Leah exclaimed, "Oh gods, Caesar! Are you all right?"

"Yes," grumbled the mage. "No thanks to you. I thought you were supposed to prevent that from happening."

He was evidently speaking to Baal, for it was the Hunter's voice that responded. "My bad. I had already reached the bottom. I didn't know you were going to throw yourself off the ladder."

"My hand slipped. Besides, why were you climbing so fast? You should have known I would be unable to keep up with you."

Saiya didn't hear what, if anything, Baal said next, but her ears did catch a groan of pain, quickly repressed. Kormac said, "What is it, Brother? I thought you said you were not injured."

"My ankle," said Caesar, his voice tight. "I must have landed on it wrong. I didn't even feel it until I stood up."

"Let me see it, rafiki," said Ghor.

Reaching the bottom at last, Saiya found herself in a rather claustrophobic passageway with a ceiling barely tall enough for a grown man to stand straight under. Tyrael, by far the largest of their group, had to stoop slightly to avoid hitting his head. The cobbles of the floor were cracked and oozing with water, and the walls were shining wet in the dull gleam of a hanging lantern. There was refuse everywhere: broken pottery, rotting food, torn cloth, rat skeletons. The very air reeked of neglect and decay.

"So," said Eirena, "these are the infamous Caldeum Sewers." Her normally cheerful smile was repressed a bit – whether by the dismal surroundings or by her exhaustion, Saiya couldn't tell.

Leah squared her shoulders and stared challengingly at the enchantress. "I don't mean to be rude, but who exactly are you?"

"Eirena is a friend," Kormac blurted out before anyone else could speak. "We met her on the road to Alcarnus, and she helped us slay the witch."

"So it's done, then," Caesar murmured. "Sounds like you had more success than we did." The mage was sitting on a stone brick with his left leg stretched out in front of him. Ghor, kneeling in the muck, held his foot in her hand and examined it with gentle fingers.

"Yeah," said Baal. "What the hell happened to you guys? Squirt told us that you vanished the very day we left."

"Everything was going so well at first," Leah sighed. "We made it all the way through the sewers and disguised ourselves as servants at the palace. There are so many of them that no one really bothers to keep track, and we were able to go just about anywhere we wanted as long as we were in uniform. Since we'd already gotten in without any problem, we decided just to stay for awhile and learn everything we could. Well, that lasted about three days. I'm still not sure exactly how they found us out, but I think that that horrible sorceress Ilandili had something to do with it.

"Anyway, to make a long story short, they captured us and kept us locked up in a prison cell, except when they dragged us out in front of the court to be laughed at. We tried to escape, but they put some sort of poison in the food that took away Caesar's ability to use magic, and Ghor's summoning. Once we figured out that they were drugging us and refused to eat any more, they just held us down and … well, you can guess. It was a miserable time and I'm glad it's over, but I wish that you all had gotten back a little faster."

"So do we," said Saiya.

"The important thing," said Ghor, "is that we are here now, and we must decide what we are to do next. It is clear that Belial has a greater hold on this land than even we had suspected. We must find some way of casting him out before he spells ruin for the people of Kehjistan, and after that, all of Sanctuary."

"Belial is the Prince of Deception," said Baal. "If his influence is that strong, he must have taken on a human host, to control the empire from the top down. It will be someone in the Imperial Palace, someone with a lot of power over the emperor. Any ideas?"

"I think it's Ilandili, the sorceress," Leah announced. "First of all, her name means 'snake tongue', and snakes are the servants of Belial. So, Snake Tongue – the voice who gives orders to Belial's demons … it makes sense to me. And there's definitely something creepy about her. She's evil, I can feel it."

"That's a good theory," said Caesar, "but personally I'm inclined to suspect Marwan Abbud, the Grand Advisor of the Right. He would have had us killed at once if the Emperor had not intervened. I … I'm not exactly grateful to Hakan, considering what we endured in his court, but I cannot deny that he did save our lives."

"What about you, Ghor?" Baal asked the sangoma. "I trust your judgment the most, since you have experience with demons to rival my own." (Kormac visibly winced.) "Do you have your eye on anyone?"

The umbaru woman seemed curiously reluctant to speak. Finally, after a long pause, she murmured, "If we are talking of negative influence, I would say that the most sinister figure is the Captain of the newly reformed Imperial Guard, Layth Luqman. His background is mysterious; no one seems to know who he was before he was promoted, or how he came to the Emperor's attention, but I hear that he has been ruthless in his attempts to get the Iron Wolves exiled from the land."

"I believe the Wolves can be trusted," Saiya said. "They're loyal to the Emperor above all else. I think that the first thing we should do when we get out of here is go to Asheara and ask her for help."

"You don't think that she'll blame us for what happened to Fahkri?" said Baal, raising an eyebrow.

Saiya had not considered that, but it was a good point. The Commander already distrusted them, and only the gods knew what sort of information the palace would release about the incident, if they said anything at all.

"Then we go to the friends we do have among the Wolves," she said. "Jarulf, Davyd, and Asiya will all vouch for us. With their support, Asheara will have to listen."

"Go all the way back out to the Khasim Outpost, Schwesterchen?" said Kormac, dubiously. "It's not practical."

"We need allies!" the young monk argued. "If not the Wolves, then who?"

"Surely there are more men like Fahkri who are willing to see reason," said Eirena, but Baal shook his head.

"If there are, they are hiding in their homes, too afraid of the Emperor's shadow to say a word against his regime. No, Saiya's right. If Asheara won't help us, we're on our own. I don't know about you all, but I would walk to the ends of the damn earth if it meant a chance to take down Belial."

Kormac raised a hand in a silent gesture of respect.

"I say that we are thinking too far ahead," put in Caesar, who had been quiet for a while. "The first thing we need to do is get out of these blasted sewers. Leah, I hope you know the way."

"To the left, I think. I'm fairly sure that's the way we came from."

"Hang on a minute," Baal exclaimed. "Before we do anything else, Saiya's hands need medical attention."

Saiya blinked and looked down at her bloody fingers in mild surprise. The wounds were already beginning to scab over, and the pain was not terribly intense. She had almost forgotten about the injuries.

"We don't have any healing supplies, remember?" she reminded him. "We left our packs at Fahkri's house. Oh! Damn it, how are we going to get our things back?"

"We knock on the front door and ask nicely for them," Baal said, with a roguish wink that sent her heart racing. "Seriously, though, at least let me wrap your hands with clean cloth, or something. You don't want this filth getting in your cuts."

"I suppose you can use some of the fabric from the bottom of my dress," she relented, glad that the dim light hid her blush. "It's ruined anyway."

Without hesitation, Baal crouched beside her and used his knife to rip thin strips from the ragged edge of her skirt. By the time he was finished, the hem had been moved from her knees to midway up her thigh, exposing much more of her legs than she had expected. At least she had had the sense to insist on wearing her undershorts.

There were thirteen gashes spread across eight of her fingers (only the thumbs were unscathed). The gloves Madam Fahkri had loaned her were tattered and drenched in blood. The Hunter stripped them off, dropping them carelessly in the muck, and proceeded to weave the makeshift bandages around her hands in an intricate pattern that left all her fingers free while ensuring that the wounds would stay clean.

By this time, Ghor had established that Caesar's ankle was sprained, and not broken, as he had originally feared. The unhappy mage consented to limp along between Kormac and the witch doctor. Leah took the lead once more, and Baal walked beside her, carrying the lantern that he had borrowed from the wall. Saiya ended up with Tyrael and Eirena in the rear.

"Your friends seem like nice people," the enchantress remarked in an undertone to Saiya as they walked. She seemed to have recovered her spirits somewhat, though her eyes were still shadowed.

"They are," Saiya replied. "I'm sure you'll like them a lot once you get to know them better. Caesar's a bit of a flirt, but he's also a perfect gentleman. Just tell him if he's annoying you, and he'll leave you alone. Ghor is quite reserved, but don't mistake that for coldness. She's one of the kindest people I've ever met. And Leah … Leah's very brave, and very fierce. You don't want to get on her bad side, but she's a loyal friend."

"I wonder what they think of me," Eirena said, not sounding as though she particularly cared one way or the other. Not for the first time, Saiya felt curious about her motivation in sticking with their group now that Maghda was dead. Now that she thought about it, no one had even bothered to ask her if she was coming with them or not; she simply had.

They approached an intersection, and progress ground to a brief halt while Leah debated which path to take. Eventually she picked the left one, and they started off again. Saiya could hear Baal describing their side of the adventure with great dramatic flair, though he glossed over some of the more gruesome details, and said nothing of his temporary disappearance after the battle.

Leah listened to the tale with rapt attention, and even Caesar was surreptitiously eavesdropping while pretending to be completely disinterested. All his pretense fell by the wayside, however, as soon as Baal, in relating how Maghda had been killed, happened to mention Tyrael's true identity. Leah looked shocked, but the wizard's reaction was wholly unexpected and slightly disturbing. He stopped in his tracks, and all the color drained from his face, leaving him horribly corpse-like in appearance. His mouth opened and closed, throat convulsing and lips forming impotent sounds as he fought to speak.

"N-no," he stammered at last. "No, it - it can't be! Him, an angel?"

"Not just any angel, Brother," said Kormac in a disapproving tone. "Tyrael, the Archangel of Justice."

"I am he no longer," Tyrael interrupted, with a modest inclination of his head. "Do not forget, I am mortal now, like yourself. You owe me no obeisance." He extended a huge hand to Caesar, but the smaller man struck it away, blindly, as though defending himself from a threat only he could see.

"Don't fucking touch me, angel!" he spat. "I want nothing to do with you or your kind."

"Watch your mouth, mage," Baal growled, placing a warning hand on the handle of his favorite crossbow.

"Baal, stop!" Saiya pleaded. "Can't you see he's not well?"

"I'm perfectly fine," Caesar insisted angrily, though he was shaking like a leaf in a high wind. "Just keep him away from me!"

There was a moment of awkward silence while everybody tried to figure out what to do about this unwarranted attack. Baal looked as though he wanted to say something else, and Saiya did her best to catch his eye, trying to discourage him. The expression of loathing was back in the wizard's eye, but now it was mingled with raw, senseless terror. In his current state, Saiya thought, even a relatively harmless comment from his rival might be like setting a lit match to a powder keg.

Thankfully, Baal held his tongue, and Leah managed to defuse the situation by saying, in a practical voice, "Look, we've all been through a lot. I think the best thing to do is press on and get out of here as soon as possible. If there's anything to be decided, let's do it once we've all eaten and slept."

"That's a great idea," Saiya said, and to her relief, Caesar nodded as well. They started forward again in the same pairings as before, except that the young monk came up to join Baal and Leah at the front.

"Do you have any idea what's going on with him?" she whispered to Leah, meaning Caesar.

The other girl looked as concerned as Saiya felt, but all she said was, "Not really. Our imprisonment was harder for him than it was for either Ghor or myself, I think. That might be part of the reason for his outburst."

"I don't like it," Baal muttered, casting a surreptitious glance over his shoulder at the mage. "It's unlike him to lash out like that, and against Tyrael, of all people, who he never had a problem with before."

Saiya smiled in spite of the grim atmosphere. "You're not worried, surely," she said.

"Of course not," protested the Hunter. "I just don't want the fool going batshit on us, that's all."

'Batshit' was a new one for Saiya, but she had to assume that it denoted some form of insanity. Shaking her head over Baal's incurably vulgar speech, she stepped over a pile of rotted boards held together with wire. She now regretted casting aside her slippers; the slimy sewer floors were deeply unpleasant to walk on.

"Something stinks!" Leah complained, wrinkling her nose. Saiya could smell it too, a cloying reek that invaded her senses and churned up the contents of her stomach. It reminded her of the odor that had permeated the air around New Tristram: the odor of festering flesh.

"Dead body," said Baal. His eyes were fixed on something in the path ahead of them that Saiya had taken for a lump of waterlogged canvas. Upon closer inspection, it proved to be the source of the stench – a bloated corpse, partially eaten by rats, with black lines running through the grey skin. The body had so far deteriorated that age, nationality, and even gender were impossible to determine.

As they drew nearer, there was a sudden movement, and for one horrible instant Saiya thought that the corpse had come to life and was rising up to confront them. But it was only the stomach swelling grotesquely, the skin stretching until it split open with a sickening squelch. Amongst the rush of dark blood and intestine that spewed forth was a mass of wriggling worms that flashed and sparked, lighting up the shallow water as they swam through it.

"What the hell are those?" Saiya gasped, staring in fascinated horror.

"Eels," replied Baal. "Careful – don't go too near them. They emit powerful electric shocks, and if you were to step down into a whole bunch of them at once, it would be the equivalent of getting struck by a bolt of lightning."

"Oh!" exclaimed Eirena. "How awful! Could this place get any worse?"

"Cheer up," said Baal, with a wicked smirk. "It might have been crocodiles. They mostly live in the palace river, but sometimes they find their way down here to the sewers. Trust me, I'd rather deal with a thousand angry eels than one croc in a bad temper."

"Is there any way to get rid of them so we can pass through?" asked Kormac. The Hunter shook his head.

"If I had my elemental shot with me I could have used the ice charges to freeze the water, trapping them in place and probably killing them. But unfortunately, I left my specialized bolts in my pack at Fahkri's house. At least I persuaded Gawahir to stay behind as well. He'll guard our possessions with his life ... the one's he doesn't steal, anyway."

"If it's ice we need," Saiya began, but Baal preempted her suggestion with a shake of his head. "I wouldn't trust that fool of a mage to cast even this simplest spell at the moment," he said.

"I guess we'll have to be careful," said Leah, dubiously eyeing the six-inch-wide ledge of stonework that skirted the fetid water.

"It's doable," Baal said. Taking off the harness that held his crossbows, he handed it to Saiya and, flattening his back against the wall and spreading out his arms, began to inch towards the other side. Saiya watched his progress with bated breath, but he made it across without too much difficulty.

Turning, he held out his hands and called, "Toss me my gear."

She slung it over the gap in a neat arc. Leah was already edging out onto the thin border, casting nervous glances at the eels writhing right below her feet. One of them flopped up on the ledge, and she kicked it off again with a little shriek.

Then it was Saiya's turn, and the ten or so feet that she had to cross suddenly seemed like a distance of several miles. Several times, she lost her footing on the wet stone and nearly slipped off into the mire, but eventually she was near enough to the other side to reach out and grab hold of Baal's waiting hand. He pulled her into the protective circle of his arms.

Kormac made a very rapid crossing, surprising everyone with his balance, but things didn't go so smoothly when it was Caesar's turn. The mage was already at a disadvantage, since his ankle was sprained and his wrists were still shackled. He made it two-thirds of the way across before his knee buckled and he pitched forward into the filthy water, thrashing horribly as the eels swarmed over him.

Baal was wading in before Saiya could even make a sound. Grabbing Caesar by the back of his coat, the Hunter lifted him bodily and quickly retreated, stumbling in his haste and falling back onto the solid stone with the other man on top of him. Saiya rolled the unconscious mage carefully over and checked for a heartbeat while Baal lay flat, chest heaving.

"He's alive," she announced after a tense minute, and there was a general sigh of relief from the rest of the party. Tenderly, she wiped the slime from Caesar's pale face, noting the harsh red streaks that lanced across his skin where the electricity had scorched him.

"Idiot," Baal muttered, sitting up. "What was he playing at, trying to get himself killed like that?"

"Are you all right?" Saiya asked him. "You didn't get stung, did you?"

"A few times," he admitted. "Just on the leg. It's no big deal."

"Well, you saved Caesar's life for certain. If he'd been in there another second or two, I don't think he would have made it."

"He would be the one, out of all of us, who fell in to the eel-infested waters," Baal remarked sourly. "I don't think I've ever met such a magnet for ill fortune in all my life."

By this time, the other three had safely crossed over. Kormac had been waiting anxiously while Eirena made her attempt, ready to plunge in at once should she lose her balance. Tyrael had some difficulty on account of his size, but he plodded along slowly and methodically until he was finally able to set foot on the other side.

"Tyrael, you're the strongest here," Baal said, gazing down at Caesar, lying at his feet. "Would you mind carrying him?"

"I think that would be unwise," replied the angel, politely. "If he were to waken and see me, he might become agitated again."

Baal sighed. "Kormac?"

The Templar glanced away. "I should look after Eirena," he mumbled. "She is still weak … she may need to be carried again."

Hauling Caesar upright, Baal slung him unceremoniously over his shoulder, arms and legs dangling limply. Saiya heard him grumble, "Just my luck."

Weary, footsore, and sick from the noxious atmosphere, they continued on their way, down a flight of stairs and straight on through another intersection. Once they passed underneath a grate in the ceiling where the sunlight crept through, timidly, as though it knew it had no place there in the dank guts of the city. Saiya tried to climb the wall to reach it, but there were not enough handholds, and she slithered miserably back down again, reopening the cuts on her hands in the process.

The place seemed an endless maze of crooked corridors, closed off tunnels, and flooded waterways. They had been walking for nearly an hour when Kormac abruptly said, "We have passed this way before. Twice. I recognize that pot with the broken handle."

"Would you like to lead the way?" Leah snapped, rounding on him with flashing eyes.

"All I am saying is, we are lost. Are we not?"

"I know that we're going the right way," the girl insisted. "We must just have taken a wrong turn at some point. Let's keep going and try a different way."

"But how will you know it's a different way, and not the way that we took to get back here?" Kormac argued.

Leah crossed her arms. "No need to raise your voice. I'm doing my best, you know."

"Excuse me," Baal broke in, "but can we please get moving again? This nitwit is getting heavier by the minute."

"Put him down, then, Brother," said Kormac. "I, for one, am not moving from this spot until we have figured out where we are going. I am tired of walking in circles."

While this debate was escalating, Saiya had wandered over to a darkened side passage where a thin trickle of water splashed down from a cracked pipe in the roof. She felt curiously drawn to the tunnel, which they had not yet explored because it was too narrow to be a main route. As she stared into the impenetrable shadows, her ears picked up the faintest groan, ending on a long, breathy note.

"Hello?" she called softly. "Is someone there?"

There was no answer, but upon examining the uneven tiles at the tunnel entrance, she found that the black substance she had thought to be water was actually blood, and quite fresh by the look and smell of it.

"What are you doing, Saiya?" Baal asked. His tone was rather sharp and impatient. Turning to face the group, she said, "Bring the lantern over here. I think there's a person down this tunnel, and they're hurt."

"What are you talking about?" he demanded, but he did set Caesar down – none too gently – and came over to stand beside her.

"See, there?" she said, pointing to the floor. "Blood. A lot of it, actually. And earlier I thought I heard someone groaning."

Baal crouched and swiped a finger over the crimson stain, holding it up to his nose for a quick sniff. "Human," he announced. "No trace of demonic influence at all."

"Then what are we waiting for?" she cried. "Let's go!"

The Hunter caught her elbow as she started forward into the passage. "Just because it's a person doesn't mean it's an ally," he said. "Let's be cautious." Cupping his hands around his mouth, he shouted, "You, in there! Can you hear us? Identify yourself."

Only silence, broken by the faint splash of running water, met his inquiry. Saiya tugged her arm out of his grasp.

"Whoever it is, he might be too injured to speak," she said. "I'm going in."

"Saiya, wait-"

"I have a strong feeling about this, Baal." She met his gaze, and her eyes said, 'Trust me.'

"Fine," he said, "but I'm going with you." Over his shoulder, he said, "The rest of you stay here. We'll be right back."

"Give a shout if you need help," said Kormac.

Baal nodded. Drawing his favorite crossbow, he stepped down into the passage, bending his head to avoid the low lintel. Saiya followed immediately on his heels, slipping her brass knuckles on. They were a tight fit with the lumpy bandages.

They had gone no more than thirty feet when Baal stopped dead in his tracks. Just outside the circle of lamplight was a huddled figure. A rasping voice snarled, "Don't come any closer. I'll kill you if you do."

"Easy," said Baal. "We don't mean you any harm. Are you injured?"

"Fuck off, mate," was the unfriendly reply. Saiya's eyebrows furrowed in concentration; there was something about that accent …

"Lyndon?" she ventured.

A harsh laugh shook the man shoulders. "Well, shit, if it isn't Saint Saiya! And is that your Hunter friend?"

Baal moved forward, and Lyndon threw up an arm to shield his face from the sudden glare of the lantern flame. The reason for all the blood was readily apparent: a snapped-off arrow shaft protruding from his side, pinning both shirt and overcoat to the torn flesh beneath. He had obviously tried and failed to remove it himself, and only managed to worsen the wound.

"What happened?" Saiya asked, kneeling down beside him.

"Long story," Lyndon said. "I'll tell it to you someday."

"You'll tell it to us now," said Baal, "if you want our help getting out of here."

"Hell's balls!" cried the rogue, exasperated. The effort of raising his voice caused him to wince and clap a hand to his side.

"Baal," Saiya entreated, "we can't just leave him here!"

"We can, and we will if his presence is going to put us in further danger. We've got enough trouble with the whole Imperial Guard on our asses. So either he spits out who wants him dead, or he can take his chances with the rats and the eels."

"Eels?" said Lyndon, and his eyes flickered nervously from side to side. "What eels?"

Baal grinned. "Big, fat, electric ones, my friend. Some of them nearly zapped our mage to death a short while ago. They come in droves and once they kill you, they'll burrow into your flesh and lay their eggs in your stomach. When you're good and rotten, all those little eggs will hatch and burst out-"

"Alright! Enough!" Lyndon held up his hand in a gesture of surrender. "It's the Thieves' Guild that's after me. That's why I couldn't stick around any place for long. I used to smuggle goods overseas for them, but there was a little … disagreement, say, over some missing merchandise. I'd hoped to settle the score with the boss in Caldeum, but there was an ambush waiting for me when I went to see her. Apparently they've decided to put a price on my head. I escaped and laid low for a couple weeks, waiting for an opportunity to get out of the city, but the supposed pal I was staying with ratted me out, so here I am, ready to throw myself on your mercy if you have any."

"Ah," said Baal. "It all begins to make sense now. Those bandits we tangled with at the old mill in Khanduras – Nigel the Cutthroat, wasn't it? – they were Thieves' Guild men?"

Lyndon nodded. "I thought the jig was up for sure when that insufferable fool called me by name, but you didn't seem to trouble yourselves over it. The best part is, all that riot was for nothing. Sasha's relic turned out to be a fake."

Saiya frowned. "The relic? But you returned it. You actually handed it to me, to give back to her."

"My dear girl, I handed you a few sticks wrapped up in an old rag, and you are so naively honest that you automatically assumed it must be the real thing."

Saiya, sorely tempted to slap him across the face, clenched her fist to restrain her flaring temper. Baal snorted, but she thought it was less out of amusement than it was with distaste for Lyndon's casual cruelty.

Keeping her voice coldly even, she murmured, "And Sasha never said a word, though she must have known she'd been robbed. You're a real bastard, Lyndon."

"I know," he said, and there was an odd, strained quality in his voice.

The young monk gritted her teeth. "Right. Well, maybe you can make amends some day. For now, let's get you out of here."

His eyes widened, and for a moment his face looked almost boyish, unshaven and gaunt and pale with pain though it was. He said, "You're actually going to help me?"

"I owe you a debt," she replied. "You saved me from a wretched fate in Antham. I think that rescuing you and treating your wounds will more than make up for it, don't you? After you're better again, you can go to the Burning Hells for all I care."

Lyndon's lips trembled, and he pressed them tightly together to hide his emotion. Fortunately, they were all spared some embarrassment by Kormac, who came tromping through the narrow tunnel with his spear held out in front of him.

"Everything okay, Schwesterchen?" he asked. Then his eyes fell on Lyndon, and he growled, "Oh, it's him. What's he doing here?"

Lyndon and Baal answered simultaneously, "It's a long story," and Saiya could help herself. A giggle spilled from her lips, echoing merrily around the dank chamber. The Templar looked startled at the sound, as if he had forgotten what laughter was.

"Lyndon's enjoying the lovely environment down here," she said, "but he's ready to leave, so we're going to bring him with us. No objections, I hope?"

Kormac opened his mouth, thought better of it, and shook his head. Between him and Baal, they got Lyndon to his feet and marched him back up the tunnel. The rogue was obviously in a great deal of pain, and swore vigorously with every step. Saiya followed them, feeling conflicted. On the one hand, she abhorred Lyndon's lack of morals, especially in his behavior towards women. At the same time, however, she was unable to deny a firm seed of reluctant liking for the man.

He's vulnerable, underneath that scornful veneer, she thought. Something in his life has made him the way he is, but he's not a bad person, truly. He wants to be liked and trusted, I can feel it! Maybe if we give him another chance …

Leah, while not exactly pleased to see Lyndon, at least had the decency not to complain about his presence. For the first time (and rather ashamedly) Saiya found herself actually glad that Caesar had been rendered unconscious, for of all the group, he disliked Lyndon the most. As it was, there were greetings and introductions, and Ghor – who had become their unofficial healer – inspected the arrow wound and pronounced it serious but not life-threatening.

"The good news," said Leah, with a pointed glance at their newest companion, "is that I sketched out a little plan of the sewers from memory, and I think I know which way to go now."

"Lead the way, then," said Baal, relinquishing his hold on Lyndon and hefting the wizard up again. "I am long past ready to be out of here."

They set off again, moving slowly but with renewed purpose. Leah, armed with the lantern, guided them unhesitatingly along the path that she had chosen. She was vindicated when, not fifteen minutes later, they came to a ladder leading upwards.

"See?" she said, directing a smug smile, not wholly undeserved, in Kormac's direction. "I told you that we'd simply taken a wrong turn somewhere."

The Templar bowed as well as he could with Lyndon leaning heavily on him. "Fraulein," he said, "I never doubted that you could find the way."

"Liar," she retorted, but the word was drenched in affection. "Who wants to go first?"

"I'd better," said Baal. "Tyrael, I understand your reluctance to have anything to do with this fool, believe me, but I'm going to need your help. There's no way I can get him up the ladder on my own. If he comes to life and starts making a scene, you have my full permission to drop him on his head."

"I pray that it shall not come to that," said the angel, with barest hint of a smile.

Once the difficult process of transporting Caesar had been accomplished, it was Lyndon's turn. He made a lot of noise going up, and Saiya was alarmed at how rapidly the bloodstain on his clothes seemed to be spreading. She breathed out a low sigh of relief when his heels had at last vanished through the small circular opening in the ceiling.

Leah went next, followed by Eirena, Ghor, and finally Kormac. Without her near-constant companions by her side, Saiya was acutely aware of just how dark and quiet the tunnels were. Yet there was a strange phenomenon whereby noise and movement seemed perpetually outside the range of her senses. That scurrying shape in the shadows, was it just a rat, or something infinitely more sinister? Every splash and tinkle of falling water, every flicker of illusive light, seemed to herald an approaching enemy.

Beginning to feel unnerved, she hastened up the ladder, feeling the cold metal burn against her bare feet. Her friends were waiting for her in a large antechamber lit by several coal-filled braziers.

"We must be quite near the surface," said Baal. "Any idea where we'll pop out?"

"Judging by a rough estimate of the distance we traveled …" Leah counted quickly on her fingers. "Somewhere in the market district, I should think. From there we-"

Alarm bells rang in Saiya's mind. Acting on pure instinct, she lunged for the nearest person, who happened to be Lyndon, and dragged him to the ground just as a trident landed quivering in the wall where his head had just been. Baal and Ghor, who had apparently sensed danger at the same moment, had shielded Eirena and Caesar from similar threats. Kormac, pinpointing the direction of the attack, hurled his spear. A serpent-demon, impaled by the weapon, materialized from thin air and fell dead.

"Stay down," Saiya hissed to Lyndon, jumping back to her feet. She spotted a blurred shape moving rapidly towards Tyrael and leaped upon it, fasting her cut-up hands around the humanistic neck of the demon from behind. It thrashed angrily, trying to throw her off, but she clung to it with grim determination. Tyrael turned and gutted it with a slash of his angelic sword.

Baal was standing over Caesar's limp form, firing a constant stream of bolts at anything that moved. Kormac, having retrieved his spear, stood gallantly in front of the women. Eirena was attempting to cast a spell, but she was wobbling on her feet, and Saiya didn't think she had the strength.

"There's too many!" Baal shouted. "We must retreat! Back down the ladder, we'll try to barricade ourselves-" The Hunter's voice was cut off as the particularly large snake fighting Kormac struck him across the midriff with its tail, knocking him back into the wall. He doubled over, wheezing for breath.

Tyrael was on his knees, struggling against a serpent that had coiled its sinuous body completely around him, trapping his arms against his side. Saiya ran forward to help him, only to find her way barred by another pair that moved in unison, hissing venomously at her. She cursed the infrastructure that rendered her most powerful technique unusable, and dropped into a preparatory crouch. If she could get one of her adversaries with a high kick and stun it for long enough to take down the other–

The ground shook beneath her feet, chunks of brick raining down around her from above. A blinding light appeared in the center of the room. From it coursed forth dozens of fiery streamers, like the trails carved by shooting stars across the heavens. They scorched across Saiya's vision, and she flinched, covering her eyes and expecting at any moment to feel a blast of pain. But the burning projectiles coiled neatly around them and struck down the serpent-demons one after the next. In less than thirty seconds, the ground was covered with smoking bodies.

The terrible glow dimmed to reveal a tall, slim woman dressed in a simple robe of Kehjistani design. A red scarf covered her hair, and she gripped a staff of twisted wood, surmounted by a crescent moon, in her hand. Even in the poor light of the braziers, Saiya could see that she was a rare beauty: hair as black as midnight, interwoven with strands of silver, dark, flashing eyes, a complexion as flawless as the first snowfall of winter. There was something familiar about her features, especially the small and finely-formed mouth, but just as Saiya was trying to figure out where she had seen this stranger before, Leah took a trembling step forward and held out her hands.

"Mother," she said.

* For those of you who might not remember from Part One, Saiya's mantra says, 'Sun's prayer … circle … wall … light … shield … divine protection … repel harm.'

* Rafiki means 'friend'.