The entrance to the sewers was exactly as disgusting as I'd imagined.
A rusted iron grate set into the stone at the edge of a drainage ditch behind a row of butchers' shops. The smell was indescribable. A mixture of old blood, rotting meat, and the accumulated filth of a city that had been standing for a thousand years.
Clara knelt by the grate and pulled a small metal tool from her boot. "I loosened the bolts last month. Just in case."
I looked at Aurelia. "Your sister is terrifying."
"I know," she said.
The grate came free with a soft screech of rusted metal. Clara dropped it onto the stones and peered into the darkness below.
"There's a ladder about three feet down," she said. "It goes maybe twenty feet to the main channel. The water is shallow this time of year. We should be able to walk without swimming."
"Should be able to," I repeated.
"Nothing in life is certain, Demon Queen."
She dropped into the hole without waiting for a response.
Aurelia went next, her white cloak vanishing into the darkness. I followed, pulling the grate back over the opening as best I could from below. It wasn't perfect, but it might buy us a few minutes if the guards came looking.
The ladder was slick with something I didn't want to think about. I climbed down carefully, my boots slipping on the wet rungs. The smell grew stronger with every step.
At the bottom, I found the sisters waiting for me. Clara had produced a small lantern from somewhere, its flame burning low and steady. The main channel stretched out before us, a stone tunnel about ten feet wide, with a narrow walkway on either side and a stream of dark water running down the center.
"This is the old city channel," Clara said. "It connects to the main outflow on the southern wall. About two miles from here."
"Two miles in the dark through the sewers of the Holy Capital," I said. "This is exactly how I imagined my hundredth life would go."
Aurelia shot me a look. "You're complaining? You've died ninety-nine times."
"And somehow this is still one of the worst things I've ever experienced."
Clara laughed. Actually laughed. It was bright and unexpected, echoing off the stone walls.
"You're not what I expected," she said.
"What did you expect?"
"I don't know. More evil monologuing. Maybe a throne made of skulls."
"The skull throne is in the other castle."
She grinned. "I like her, Lyra."
Aurelia looked pained. "Please don't encourage her."
We started walking.
The sewers were a strange kind of hell.
The walkway was narrow and slick. The water beside us moved sluggishly, carrying things I didn't want to look at too closely. Every sound echoed. Every drip of water, every scuttle of unseen rodents, every distant rumble of the city above, all of it bounced off the stone walls and came back distorted.
Clara led the way with her lantern, moving with the confidence of someone who'd explored these tunnels before. Aurelia walked behind her, her sword drawn and ready. I brought up the rear, my demon senses useless in the dark and the stench and the crushing weight of a city above me.
"The wards," I said quietly. "Can they reach us down here?"
Clara glanced back. "They're weaker underground. The cathedral's power comes from the altars and relics above. Down here, you're mostly safe."
"Mostly."
"If they find us, we'll know. The water will start glowing."
"Wonderful."
We walked in silence for a while. The only sounds were our footsteps and the steady drip of water from somewhere above.
Then Clara spoke again.
"So. You and my sister."
Aurelia stiffened. "Clara."
"What? I'm curious. She said you're the only person who matters to her."
"I said that in the context of breaking the loop," I said quickly.
"Sure you did."
"Clara, please."
But Clara was on a mission. She kept walking, her voice casual. "I just want to understand. You two are connected somehow. The loop. The System. The whole 'marriage is the only way to break the cage' thing."
Aurelia stopped walking. "How do you know about that?"
"I listened at your door earlier. You're not exactly quiet when you whisper."
"You were eavesdropping?"
"I was gathering intelligence. There's a difference."
I laughed. I couldn't help it.
Aurelia glared at me. "Don't encourage her."
"Too late," Clara and I said at the same time.
We looked at each other. Clara's grin widened.
"See?" she said. "We're already bonding."
Aurelia sighed heavily and kept walking.
The tunnel sloped downward, and the water grew deeper. By the time we reached the halfway point, the walkway was gone and we were forced to wade through the channel itself.
The water came up to my knees. I didn't want to think about what was in it.
"The outflow is just ahead," Clara said. "Once we're through, we'll be outside the walls."
"What's on the other side?" I asked.
"The Silver River. It runs south from the city, through the farmlands, then into the forest. We can follow it until we find a place to hide."
"And after that?"
She glanced at me. "After that, we figure out how to save the world. Or destroy the gods. Or whatever it is you two are planning."
Aurelia looked at me over her shoulder. "The fragments. We need to find the rest of them."
"The System said five more," I said. "But it didn't tell me where they are."
"Then we'll have to search."
Clara raised an eyebrow. "The entire world? For five glowing crystal things that might be anywhere?"
"The System will probably guide us. It's been sending me quests since the beginning."
Ahead, the tunnel opened into a wider chamber. Moonlight poured through a massive iron grate set into the wall above, the bars thick with rust and moss. Beyond it, I could see the Silver River glittering in the darkness.
"We're here," Clara whispered.
The grate was old. Older than the rest of the sewer system, maybe. The bars were as thick as my arm, but time and water had worn them thin in places.
Aurelia examined the grate, running her hand over the rusted metal. "We can break through here. The bars are weak."
"Breaking it will make noise," I said.
"Then we do it fast."
She raised her sword. The blade caught the moonlight, glowing faintly. I felt the shard pulse in my chest, responding to her presence, to the holy power gathering around her.
She struck.
The blade cut through the rusted iron like it was paper. The grate fell away in pieces, splashing into the river below. Moonlight flooded the chamber, bright and clean and beautiful.
Aurelia sheathed her sword and climbed through the opening. Clara followed. I went last, pulling myself out into the cold night air.
We stood on the banks of the Silver River, outside the walls of the Holy Capital. The city loomed behind us, its towers silhouetted against the stars. Alarm bells were still ringing, faint and distant.
"We made it," Clara breathed.
"For now," I said. "They'll send riders after us. We need to keep moving."
Aurelia nodded. "The forest. We'll lose them there."
We started walking.
The forest was dark and quiet.
We followed the river south, keeping to the trees where the moonlight couldn't reach. My boots squelched with every step, still wet from the sewers. The smell was going to take days to wash out. Maybe longer.
After an hour, we found a small clearing near the riverbank. The water here was clear and fast-moving. Aurelia knelt at the edge and splashed her face, washing away the grime.
I stood at the edge of the clearing, watching the trees. The city was far behind us now. No sign of pursuit. Not yet.
Clara sat on a fallen log, pulling off her boots and emptying them into the grass.
"Well," she said. "That was exciting."
"That's one word for it."
She looked at me. "So. The memories. The visions. You and my sister were... one soul? Split in two by the gods?"
"That's what the System said."
"And the only way to fix it is true love's kiss? Or marriage? Something like that?"
"Something like that."
She shook her head slowly. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."
"Believe me, I know."
"And yet here you are. Walking through sewers for her. Taking arrows for her. Looking at her like she hung the moon."
I glanced at her sharply. "I don't look at her like anything."
"Sure you don't."
Clara smiled. It was softer than her usual grin. Sadder, somehow.
"Lyra has always carried too much weight," she said quietly. "After our parents died, she became my mother and father and protector all at once. She never let herself want anything for herself. She never even looked at another person the way she looked at you back there in the alley."
I didn't know what to say.
Clara looked at me steadily. "So I'll tell you this once, Demon Queen. If you hurt her, I'll find a way to kill you. I don't care how many times you've died before. I'll make sure this one sticks."
I held her gaze.
"You're terrifying," I said.
"I know."
We sat in silence for a moment.
Then Aurelia walked over, her face damp and her hair loose around her shoulders. She looked exhausted but alert.
"The river bends south here," she said. "If we follow it for another few miles, we'll reach the old stone bridge. We can rest there until dawn."
I nodded. "Then let's go."
We gathered our things and started walking again.
The moon hung high above us. The forest whispered with the sound of wind and water. And somewhere ahead, five more fragments of a broken soul waited to be found.
The air shimmered.
SYSTEM NOTIFICATION
Quest Complete: The Saintess's Resolve
Reward: Loop Stability -5%, Affection +30, Memory Fragment ×5
Current Affection: +25
Current Loop Stability: -3%
New Location Unlocked: The Shrine of the First Flame
Next Fragment Location: The Ashen Expanse
I read the notification twice.
"What?" Aurelia asked. "What did it say?"
"The System found the next fragment. It's in a place called the Shrine of the First Flame."
"The Ashen Expanse," Clara said quietly. "That's on the far side of the world. Beyond the demon territories. Beyond the mountains. It's a wasteland. No one goes there."
"Then that's where we're going," I said.
I looked at Aurelia. She looked back at me.
And despite everything, we both smiled.
End of Chapter 15