Melody of Mana

Our little group set off for the entrance to the tunnels, after I told Lucien where I was off to. It was decided that we were going in the alley right far to the end of the street. According to Jer, who would be leading this expedition, we'd come out one about halfway across the city, near the main road of the town. The entire trip would take an hour or two, so we needed to be ready for that too.

I quickly learned that Jer was something of a local expert on the tunnel system, at least among the children. His family had been rat-catchers and thieves for generations, and passed down intricate knowledge of the top layers. He in particular was well versed as he'd often gone looking for his missing brother, who'd disappeared into the tunnels a couple of years ago.

The other kids with us were from the neighborhood. None were directly related to either of the older boys, but I'd seen all of them around here and there. We were all on edge as we got near to the opening that we'd be going into.

Dras turned to me, "Hey, Alana, you got a fire spell or something?" I knew he specialized in flame magic, so he always had a light.

"I've got light, but no fire."

"Mind taking up the middle then? We'll want a bit of extra light."

"Okay." I was super excited. I'd rather have been near the front, but I could deal with being just a bit back from it.

Jer took out a lantern. It was a small thing full of oil, and quite a bit brighter than I might have expected. He looked around as we all got into position. It shocked me how large his eyes were, big, bright orbs of shocking blue. He had a small club, not unlike my mace, but only wood.

"Alright everyone, stick together after me. Do not go down any side tunnels or anything like that. If something happens, stay where you are. I've told my folks what route we're taking, and if I don't come back by later tonight, they'll come and get us. We're taking mostly the top layer, but we will have to dip down one to the second to get past some things. Any questions?"

Honestly, his little speech was like a safety briefing I might have gotten on a field trip on my old world. This kid might have been only a few years older than me, but it seemed he'd done this often enough. It was sincerely confidence inspiring. It also sounded like it had been learned word-for-word from his dad or something.

"You keep talking about layers. What's that mean?" I asked. I'd heard the term a few times, but was still unclear on it.

"Right, so there's a lot of tunnels, some are deeper. It's not like, exact or anything, but we're going down a little. Almost nobody goes down more than just a little bit." He gave a brief show of his hands, trying to indicate that some of the tunnels were below others.

"How deep do they go?"

That one got me a shrug. "Dunno, never been below three. Dad says he's been five deep. There aren't as many the further down you go, and they're way more dangerous. Gramps says he went eight down, but I think he's lying."

One of kids with us piped up, "Will there be monsters?"

Jer shrugged again. "Maybe, but nothing that's a problem."

With no more questions he turned, and pulled open the door that was our passageway.

I tossed up a light behind me as I heard Dras closing the old, rickety door. The tunnel was about two people wide and looked a bit like a hallway at first. I could tell we were going down a bit and eventually we came to a small room. It looked like a basement, but one thoroughly sealed off from the rest of whatever had been above it. We came in a doorway, then went out through a hole someone had knocked in the opposite wall, straight through the bricks.

From there it just kept getting weirder. The size and shape of the path was constantly changing, from wide and regular, to cramped. Sometimes the ceiling even got really low. It was a mix of old roads, old buildings, and small dug out ways, straight through the dirt and stone.

After a bit we had to go down a small ladder. Jer went first, and was gentlemanly enough to let the girls come right after. He was pointedly looking down the tunnels, as we did so, giving us an explanation.

"This is the second level, and about halfway through. Up ahead is a big chamber. Nobody's used it in forever as far as I know, but its got some room, and it's cool."

Everything down here was in fact cool, in multiple ways. The structures were in a layout that looked as if someone had just shoved them all together, giving a sort of dreamlike meandering to them. It was also chilly, even though we weren't far down the temperature was the same chilled level throughout. I'd almost forgotten that caves were like that, even unnatural ones.

As we moved into the large chamber we all looked about in awe. The place was easily forty feet long, and about half as wide. It seemed to have been built of stone or perhaps concrete blocks, domed in a half circle all around us. There wasn't much in the way of trash, which showed how well traveled these paths were.

We all spread out for a break, those that had snacks munched on them or drank a bit of water. I chatted with Dras and Jer, because these tunnels were everything I'd hoped for. Several of the other kids seemed to know each other and were having similar conversations. Most were astounded at how large the room was.

"Yeah, must have been part of a noble's house or something." Jer turned to the other direction, towards the exit right as he spoke, looking a bit confused.

It was a few seconds later that I heard some noise coming from that way. It was a scratching, filled with some high pitched squeaks. The sounds of shuffling along with it.

"Problem. Dras, can you cover me?" Jer slipped his club out, looking towards the exit. "Everyone who doesn't have a weapon, back to the tunnel, stay at the door."

"Heck yeah. Alana, light us up." I saw my young wizard friend light his hands with flame as he moved into place behind the other boy. I tossed my light up towards the ceiling just above the entryway. I slipped up behind Dras as my mace came out too, ready to back up if needed.

Eight rats spilled out of the exit we were headed to. They were massive, each as big as a hunting dog. They took a few seconds to sniff around before turning and running at us. their tails flapped wildly behind as they did so, giant worms slapping the air.

"Big problem." Jer was refreshingly brief in his words.

Dras for his part had two small ribbons of flame shooting from his hands, whipping forward to slap a few of the first rats. The fiery tentacles engulfed them in light, making the whole group's charge stumble.

Once the charge reached our leader he showed his muster. He was well trained in dealing with this kind of vermin, and his quick fluid movements showed he knew exactly where and how to strike to take them down. There were a few moments that looked bad, but any time things got really out of hand a ribbon of fire would lash forward, taking the interloper out.

I had the feeling that if Jer'd been without all the kids he just would have fallen back to a doorway and fought them one at a time. With a bunch of clumsy kids who didn't know how to fight, and might get lost, that wasn't really an option. That said he was still showing that he knew exactly what he was doing.

When just under half were down one slipped past, seeming to have found a new target. It dodged and wove, before jumping and latching onto Dras' arm, biting deep. He yelled and the fire faltered, until I stepped forward and got it right in the spine with my mace. The rat spasmed and let go, flopping around on the floor.

"Keep the fire up!" I yelled at the injured boy. He'd let his ribbons drop completely. He quickly remade one, and set it back to work.

A few moments later the battle was done. Jer was winded, panting as he bent over the burnt and bashed corpses around him. Dras looked like he was trying to keep himself from tearing up as his adrenaline faded and the pain came to the fore. The other kids looked scared from where they stood near the opening we came in through.

"We need to get him to a healer." Jer hesitated, looking forward and back, seeming to weigh his options. Dras was just cursing.

"Here... I'll close it up." He summoned a bit of fire into his other palm, reaching for it.

"Stop that! I got it." I moved forward and worked on his arm, letting the magic slowly work along the damaged muscle and skin. It was a nasty wound, and I took the time to just hit the cure disease on the area too. Fortunate, since I could feel something creeping in. Those things had disgusting stuff in their mouths.

"You don't burn wounds closed unless you're about to die." I bonked the dumb boy on the head once I'd finished. Doing it while he was in pain would have just been too much.

He flexed his arm, checking it out. "I didn't know you could do healing..."

"Cool." Jer watched the whole thing until it was done, blinking a bit. A couple of the other kids made similar comments.

"Really? Huh, I guess it never came up." We'd been hanging around for quite awhile now, but I suppose he'd never been injured enough for me to actually do any healing on him. Now that I thought about it, I normally did any practice like that alone.

"So... what now?" I looked at our guide, he seemed to waffle on that decision.

"Well, I don't think there'll be any more... and going forward will be a bit faster."

After a bit we did decide to proceed. Jer made sure of the rats' demise then tied them all together. Dras would be dragging them behind us, as they were all worth a fair amount. The vermin of unusual size, and number, would actually make a good amount of money when turned into the local authorities. Keeping even small monsters like those out of the city was worth a pretty penny... or copper I suppose.

Eight was also an extreme number. From what I was told three was average, with five being considered a very large group. The boys would be letting the local rat-catchers know. That many might indicate something odd going on.

To my relief the rest of our trip was widely uneventful. The other side thankfully had stairs leading up, as dresses and ladders were not a good mix. After about another half hour we all made our way out.

I recognized the area, since it was just off the main market. The older boys slung the haul between them and we began to walk home as a group. Everyone chatting about the fight and how exciting it was. I thought it was a bit weird that the kids who didn't do anything were all about it, but it was a fun little bout.

We were perhaps two streets away when a woman saw us and came over. She was a bit older, perhaps in her late thirties, and bee-lined it for our little group. Her blonde hair was done up in a tight bun and she looked rather severe.

"Adraias where have you... WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOUR ARM!?" She rushed forward, grabbing him and pulling the offending appendage close. It took her a few moments to realize it wasn't currently bleeding.

"Oh mom, I got bit when we got attacked..."

"Attacked! You were down there hunting rats weren't you? And how am I supposed to pay for this healing huh? Do you know how much that costs!?" She seemed determined to chew him out for everything all at once. There were a few passers by who stopped to watch the incoming discipline, snickering a bit.

"He was just showing us around. We really did get attacked." I decided to step into the line of fire for my friend. A mistake to be sure when his mother rounded on me.

"Which he shouldn't have been doing. Even if you were, the cost of the healing is going to be an issue."

I was doing a bit of mental math on that one. I knew how much I could make just filling items with mana. I also had a good feel for how much mana Dras had. Less than me, but not terrible. He could absolutely have paid for the healing without any problem. Conclusion, Dras was hiding money from his family, but I didn't know why.

"No it isn't, I'm not charging for healing up my friend." That put a bit of a damper on her.

"Who are you? I don't think I've seen you around before."

"I'm Alana. I hang out with Dras all the time..."

"Really? He hasn't mentioned you. You should come over and have tea some time. I'd love to get to know you." Her son was mouthing 'run' behind her, since she'd turned her head away from him. I wasn't sure if I was hurt because he hadn't told his parents about me, or curious as to why.

"Ah... another day then."

"Right, I'll have Adraias set something up. Speaking of." She turned, grabbing her son by the ear. "Come along, we're going to get your clothes cleaned up, and have a little talk about not introducing your friends to your parents."

I waved after him as he was pulled along after her, poor guy.