Chapter 12

They ran for a while, taking the twists and turns of the tunnels seemingly at random, doubling back around a number of times, and just generally attempting to lose their attacker. By the time that Shi Hou and Evening Rabbit stopped to recover essence and attempt to heal damage, they had managed to lose their pursuit, though now they found themselves hopelessly lost in the ancient tunnels of the Underground of Nexus.

The stonework had long since taken on an ancient style, the kind that you tended to see in various ruins of the First Age and the air had long since grown hot and humid. Several of the tunnels that they had passed by in their flight had been flooded, and any attempts to use the sunken tunnels to better throw off pursuit had been forestalled by the lurking shadows under the water, revealing River Dragons to have been nesting down there. One tunnel smelled of mildew and rot, even though the tunnel was completely dry and if anything, much cooler in temperature than the humid tunnels that they had been going through.

A quick trip had revealed that the reason for that was due to the presence of a number of ancient, moldering, zombies in decayed Shogunate-era armor with blades that were mostly comprised of rust. The Zombies shuffled up and down the corridor and had required the expenditure of more essence to cut through with the Dragon-Graced Weapon technique. Shi Hou had been forced to do so when the Zombies had begun shuffling toward his position, defending Evening Rabbit as best he could and carving through the Fang of undead Shogunate Soldiers.

As his Daiklave, covered in the glowing divine aura that his Godblooded nature substituted for the elements of a proper exalt, cleaved through the rusty, parrying, blade and into the skull of one of the Zombies, Evening Rabbit was not idle herself. Using her recently learned Sorcery Spell, she conjured the shimmering, bladed, form of a Flying Guillotine, tossing it at the shuffling Fang of Zombies in a burst of essence. It tangled around the neck of a Zombie whose decayed, tarnished, helmet appeared to bear a Sergeant's Crest on it. The spell-forged attack cinched tight and decapitated the undead Sergeant, killing the man for a second time.

Another slash of Shi Hou's Dragon-Graced Daiklave cleaved a third Zombie in twain from shoulder to hip, its lamellar armor too decayed to be much of a defense. A fourth Zombie attempted to swing its rusty slashing sword into Shi Hou's side only for it to snap in half as the All-Metal Armor proved too much for the practically useless weapon. A slash from Shi Hou's Daiklave took the top of that Zombie's head off, helmet and all, killing it once again. The Last Zombie was moving to flank Shi Hou but soon found itself being wrapped up in the bladed chain of the Conjured Flying Guillotine as Evening Rabbit threw it. She pulled hard and the Last Zombie was sawed in half by the blades on the chain of the Mystic Weapon.

Five Zombies had attacked, and five Zombies had been slain. However, all that the two had to show for it was the expenditure of more essence and around five minae worth of Shogunate Era Jade Scrip. The equipment of the undead troops wasn't exactly worth claiming, after all. Still, it was better than nothing, and as they moved into a small nook in one of the walls to recuperate, Shi Hou felt that at least it was unlikely that their attacker would follow them down this tunnel.

"So, what now?" Questioned Evening Rabbit as she moved to apply alchemical healing to some of Shi Hou's wounds.

"I doubt our pursuer will follow us down these tunnels. You would have to be mad, desperate, or an utter fool to try to escape via a tunnel infested with the Hungry Dead." Intoned Shi Hou.

"Are we foolish, mad, or desperate?" Queried Evening Rabbit.

"The last one. Our pursuer is a Half-Caste, Lunar Born with actual instruction in her Exalted Parent's gifts, unlike myself or Sander of the Scalebrood Pirates who had to pick up what Dragonblooded Techniques or Spirit Charms we could beg from instructors. That means that she can actually use Lunar Charms and Techniques." Huffed Shi Hou.

"Which means what exactly?" Frowned Evening Rabbit.

"It means that she's stronger than me. At least in terms of what she knows. I clearly have the edge on her in experience, but her having Lunar Charms and Techniques means that I would wind up losing that fight even then. We needed to run. Hopefully, now that we seem to have lost her, she won't pick up our trail again." Answered Shi Hou.

"How do we get out of the city now, though?" Asked Evening Rabbit.

"Let's check the map." Grunted Shi Hou and Evening Rabbit applied an alchemical compress to his cracked ribs.

Pulling out the Guild's smuggling map, Shi Hou and Evening Rabbit consulted to see where they were and where they should go. They looked to be in a section of the Undercity called the Necropolis of Battles. It was where the City Administration in the First Age and Early Shogunate buried a lot of their honored soldiers whose bodies they had managed to recover according to the annotations. The map warned that their scouts saw a number of Lesser Hungry Dead in these tunnels when making the map. Unfortunately, the terminus of the mapped section seemed to be a First Age Solar Tomb, the Tomb of Singing Blades under the Bastion District. That tomb also was apparently smack between where Shi Hou and Evening Rabbit were currently, and the route back into the smuggling tunnels.

"It looks like we need to go through the Tomb of Singing Blades to get to the exit of the Undercity." Pointed Out Evening Rabbit.

"That's not good. The Council has decreed that anyone who disturbs any of the Solar Tombs in the City is sentenced to Exile, not allowed to return to Nexus on pain of Death." Intoned Shi Hou.

"Monkey, the Council is already trying to kill us. I don't think that enforced Exile is that big a deal at this juncture." Insisted Evening Rabbit.

"Not for you perhaps. I still want to be able to do business with the Guild once this is all done with." Grumbled Shi Hou.

"I'm certain that ship has sailed by now. At least in terms of going to guild headquarters in person. Even if we make it to the exit and get out of the City, that just means that the Lunar Half-Caste will report back to the Council and you'll be on their list." Reminded Evening Rabbit.

"Great. This job keeps getting worse all the time. So, we go through the Tomb of Singing Blades, then. Hopefully, the Council won't find out that we did so. Do you know anything about the tomb?" Questioned Shi Hou.

"It is the tomb of a Dawn Caste of the First Age, the Grand Marshal of Tiger Warrior Citadel. Its outer defenses are the reason the tomb got its name. Swords, hundreds of them, all flying around at speeds that make them sound as if they are singing. These flying weapons form a curtain of humming blades that prevent anyone from being able to enter the Tomb without being cut to ribbons." Explained Evening Rabbit.

"I've heard of the Grand Marshal of Tiger Warrior Citadel. They say he mastered every martial art it was possible for the Exalted to master, and invented a fair few of them besides. He was so powerful that they say he was peerless on the battlefield. His weapon was similar to himself, an Orichalcum blade called Perfection that could turn into any form to match any Martial Art he wished to use. They say it also could turn into a golden banner that would inspire troops fighting under it to heights that no regular mortal could reach." Frowned Shi Hou.

"I don't know much about the man himself, but I have to wonder just how he died if he was that strong." Remarked Evening Rabbit.

"He was somehow induced to kill himself. The specifics are muddy at best and tend to get wrapped up in the story of the Usurpation, even though it happened a little under two years before that did. I'm not a hundred percent sure how it worked. Regardless, there was clearly enough time between his death and the Usurpation to entomb him." Answered Shi Hou.

"Huh. No wonder the Tomb of Singing Blades is the newest of the Solar Tombs in Nexus. They stopped entombing Solars during the Usurpation, and afterward, the Shogunate seemed to go all in on the Immaculate Dragons over the Solars, though it took the Realm becoming a thing to reform the Immaculate Faith into what it is now." Explained Evening Rabbit.

"You know, for someone who knows so much Lore, it's odd that you apparently studied the tombs and whose tombs they are, but didn't think to study the lives of the entombed." Mused Shi Hou.

"We all have our areas of interest." Shrugged Evening Rabbit.

They spent the next few hours resting there in the nook in the tunnel wall before moving on. Four more times, the pair had to cut their way through Fangs of Hungry Dead, each time barely suffering a scratch as the rusted weaponry of the Shogunate-Era Troops failed to penetrate defenses and artifact armor. By the time they had exited the area where the Zombies of Shogunate-Era Troops were interred, the pair had four bars and one mina worth of Shogunate-Era Jade Scrip to show for it and had to pause for another hour to regain their essence, having fought a Scale's Worth of Undead Troops. It wasn't that the Shogunate-Era Zombies actually exhausted them of essence, but they would need every mote they had for what lay ahead.

For lying just beyond the exit of the Shogunate-Era Tunnels was an open chamber deep in the undercity. In the center of the chamber stood a tower that was designed in an obelisk shape. It gave the tower the appearance of a blade sticking up out of the flagstone-paved floor of the chamber. All along the walls of the Chamber, stone tombs were sealed with ancient script glowing, the last resting places of the Tiger Warriors that had served as the Grand Marshal's Personal Wing of Guards. Two-Hundred-Fifty Tiger Warriors laid to rest around the tomb.

Aside from that, the humming, whizzing, forms of Orichalcum blades zoomed through the air around the tower, a deadly symphony preventing anyone from reaching the single door carved into the side of the Obelisk Tower. Slashing swords whirled through the air like buzzsaws while daggers pierced through the air as if thrown by an unseen hand. All manner of weapons made of the rarest of the magical materials hummed and buzzed around the Obelisk Tower like a lethal curtain, better than any mundane wall for preventing tomb robbers.

This was the Tomb of Singing Blades, the last resting place of the Marshal of Tiger Warrior Hall. Inside were likely all manner of treasures. Not simply money, but artifacts, manuals of martial arts, thaumaturgical items, and knowledge. And this was the youngest and least of the First Age Tombs that lay buried under Nexus. It was no wonder that the Council enforced non-disturbance with such vigor. The blades that zipped through the air alone would be able to arm a Dragon of troops with potent weaponry or could be sold for enough money to buy multiple council seats.

"Here goes nothing." Muttered Shi Hou.

And with a deep breath, he and Evening Rabbit took the plunge into the musical maelstrom of deadly blades. . .

XXXX

Ziva No-Clan scowled as she attempted to retrace the path that her quarry had taken through the Undercity Tunnels. Not for the first time had she found herself tracking down a false lead only to find herself reaching a dead end. In fact, this wasn't even the second or third time that had happened, but the fourth. It was starting to become quite annoying and Ziva No-Clan vowed that once she had found her Quarry, she would take her frustrations out on their hides with a redoubled effort.

"At least this was simply a dead end." Groused Ziva No-Clan as she stared at a tunnel section that had collapsed and been blocked off.

Indeed, the first two dead ends had been far more problematic. Those had wound up turning into flooded tunnels. She had attempted to swim through the first one, believing her Quarry had used the water to erase their scent and attempt to lose her. That had ended with her being forced to slay a Bull River Dragon in its own element. That hadn't been a fight she had relished, unlike a True Chosen of Luna, she could not take on forms other than her natural one. That had forced her to move more clumsily than she would have liked and the River Dragon had taken a bite out of the meat of her left arm before she had managed to slay it.

That in turn had forced her to waste two hours forcing her body to regenerate the lost muscle and tendon before continuing on. It had allowed her to skin the hide and take the teeth and claws of the river dragon, however. Those would make excellent trophies and may even be turned into enchanted equipment once Ziva returned to the Council.

Suffice it to say, the second time she had run across a flooded tunnel, Ziva No-Clan refused to swim through it. Comparatively, the third dead-end had wound up leading to a tunnel that dropped off into a pit of rusty, metal, spikes. It was not uncommon for ancient tunnels to have such defenses and traps, or so Ziva was told. However, there was no scent of fresh blood that she could pick up, meaning it was unlikely to have been triggered recently and thus, unlikely that her quarry had run this way.

Comparatively, a caved-in tunnel was relatively tame. It also meant that it was unlikely her Quarry had passed through here. Growling in Frustration, Ziva No-Clan doubled back, heading back the way she had come and taking yet another branch of the ancient, First Age Tunnels. The Ancient Undercity of Nexus was perilous at the best of times and having to go through each pathway where she smelled her quarry's scent wasn't doing her any favors.

If only she could use the same techniques she had used to enlist the rat colony as her eyes, ears, and noses the first time she had tried searching. Unfortunately, no rat would dare trespass on the Ancient Undercity Tunnels. There were more than just the occasional natural predator down here, after all. As she passed by a tunnel that seemed to carry a whiff of rot and mildew but carried no hint of the heat and moisture of the other tunnels, Ziva No-Clan was suddenly reminded of just what sort of things were down here.

"The Necropolis of Battles. I can practically smell the Hungry Dead. There's no way that they tried to go through here. Not with the wounds the Girl's guard had taken at my hands. Certainly not with how low on essence they were. Besides, even if they bypassed the Hungry Dead, the only thing down these tunnels is the Tomb of Singing Blades. The defenses on that would mean certain death, and prey doesn't run toward danger, it runs away from it." Scowled Ziva No-Clan.

Assuring herself of that much, she passed by the entrance to the Necropolis of Battles, entering into another series of tunnels that led back around to the west, toward the Nexus Military College and the Cinnabar District. This stretch of tunnels was a longer round, curving around under the Nexus Military College before straightening out to the North and banking east to run under the walls for a stretch before coming out under a hill along the Great Forks Road outside the walls.

The smell of her quarry faded as she traveled a bit further, overpowered by the scent of smoke and burning essence. Rounding a corner, Ziva No-Clan came face to chestplate with a humanoid construct of brass in the vague shape of a Soldier of the First Age. Out of its back, a vent belched black smoke that curled around its form, giving it a sinister appearance, in its right hand was a shield, and in its left a spear, both made of the same, enchanted, brass as the body.

A Series Eight Brass Legionary, seemingly still carrying out its duties to patrol the Undercity even after the long years since the Usurpation. It turned toward Ziva No-Clan, before intoning a series of words in Old Realm, not a Language that Ziva understood. Without being able to give whatever password or code phrase the Legionary was waiting for, Ziva had apparently been marked hostile by whatever ancient system the Legionary was using. It snapped its spear and shield up in a guard position and advanced on Ziva No-Clan, intending to strike her down for her trespassing.

By the time Ziva No-Clan would wind up damaging the First Age Construct enough to force it to retreat, she would be too wounded to continue the Hunt without rest. The Brass Legionary had wounded her in the side with its spear before the end, along with other, minor, wounds. The wounds were proving to be a hindrance to her ability to move freely, which would only pose a problem once she caught up with her Quarry.

This would force Ziva No-Clan to decide instead to wait for her Quarry outside the Great Forks Gate while she recuperated. She returned to the surface to heal and regenerate her essence, making sure to contact the Council with an update on the situation via Courier.

She would wait for them near the hill where the tunnel exit she had determined they would use was for several hours with no sign of her Quarry. . .

XXXX

AN: So yeah, Shi Hou and Evening Rabbit are going to be making their way through the Tomb of Singing Blades in the hopes of using the exit on the other side of the Tomb to get out of Nexus. While they're there, since the Council clearly already had it out for them, they may as well attempt to loot the Tomb and see if they can get anything good out of it.

Meanwhile, Ziva No-Clan has decided that they couldn't possibly have gone down the tunnels that they actually went through because of all the Zombies and the Certain Death of the Tomb past that. Just as planned by Shi Hou. Instead, she went down the other tunnel and wound up running into a Brass Legionary, a First Age construct created by a Solar to be a type of Shock Troops. The Solar got ganked during the Usurpation and most of his Brass Legionaries became property of the Shogunate, which promptly threw them into the meat grinder that was the Balorian Crusade.

Very few still exist and most are in the care of Lookshy. This one has effectively gone insane in the process of carrying out its last orders and will attack anyone who doesn't have the Legionary Command Codes. Since those codes are in Old Realm, and Ziva No-Clan doesn't speak Old Realm, it labeled her as a hostile contact and attacked her. She got wounded while forcing it to retreat and was forced to head above ground to heal, replenish essence, and wait for her prey to exit the City. It's just too bad that she figured they would be using a different exit than they are.

If Shi Hou and Evening Rabbit make it through the Tomb and to the exit of the Undercity, Ziva No-Clan is going to miss them.

Speaking of which, that's what the next chapter will be about.

Stay tuned. . .