YoTS January ~ 49!

CHAPTER 49

Grant had originally planned on going into the leap living area, and recruiting everyone that he could for an all-out assault against  the lord of the month that was going to be hunting them in the near future. However, after ascending through the tunnels and the sewers with Marcus leading the way, they found only an empty space.

“They took my boy?” Marcus roared into the empty room. “How could they-?”

Freda  stopped him with a gentle pull on the arm. “ Marcus. They took him and fled for their lives, someone must have tipped them off that Lord January is on the hunt for all Leapkind. They took Samuel, yes, but that would do nothing but slow them down. They are looking out for him, and we have to trust that they have his best interests in mind.”

The small group lapsed into silence as the enormity of the task before them suddenly struck. They needed to return to the surface, defeat Lord January and any of his Vassals… and do it all before their friends and loved ones were put to the sword. Grant shook off the melancholy and took a decisive step toward the exit. “ For right now, we have the advantage. They think we are dead. The plot against them, defeated. Their enemies… on the run. We need to use that, right now.”

“We’re with you, lad.” Fergus slapped Grant on the shoulder, and they started moving once more. “After the exhibition, there was going to be games and a feast to honor the new champion on the parade grounds. Lord January is sure to be there, because Head Chef Gordan has been tasked with providing the food.”

“So, we know when, we know where, and all we need to do now is figure out how to get at him.” Grant was really enjoying having people to bounce ideas off of. He hadn’t even realized how terrible keeping everything to himself was, and how badly it had been impacting his mental state.

“I might have an idea.” Freda stated with a gleam in her eye.

Marcus groaned, “If this involves uniforms, Freda, I just may have to make you sleep in another room for a few weeks.”

“Oh? You think you can kick me out of the bed?” Freda testily replied, much to the group’s enjoyment. “It’s something that’s been tickling the back of my mind ever since I had a conversation with Grant and some guards about ‘laundry engineers’. To use this plan… we will need to throw away honor, dignity, and know that what we will be doing will give us nightmares. Likely for the rest of our lives.”

As she outlined what they needed to do, the others looked at her with a mixture of admiration, disgust, and fear. None of them wanted this devious mind working against them, and all felt at least a little bad for Marcus.

They turned away from their original goal of reaching the surface, instead walking through the sewage lines that ran through the entirety of January’s End. As they got further away from Castle January, where the lines had been updated and cleaned well over the years, they started to find themselves in rapidly-shrinking spaces.

Skinny was the first person that could go no further, his bulk getting trapped in the tight space, and needing the others to rescue him. Though he was disappointed with the situation, the relief on his face was clear for all to see. The big man turned around, and went in search of a shower and a feast.

The others went as far as they could, but Red, Derek, and eventually Freda were forced to backtrack and find a different way to reach the parade grounds above ground. It was just Marcus and Grant, and they soon were working to fit through the last stretch. “I’m glad I always made sure to give Freda the extra serving, you’d have got lost in here without me!”

They were looking down a tunnel, where a light was shining through an open manhole. A wide pipe was being lowered in just as they got there, and the two of them approached it apprehensively. Marcus looked up into it just as the pipe was secured. There was no way past it, only through it. “My lady sure has some smarts in her. Grant, this is where we part ways. I can’t get in that, but I know you can. Let me give you a boost… and may summer warm your heart.”

Grant nodded and tried to swallow around the dry lump in his throat. Marcus dropped down, and Grant stepped on him in order to reach up and pull his way into the pipe. A small blessing was that this was clearly a new sewage pipe, clearly a new innovation that was being rolled out for usage for the first time. Grant slithered through the just-barely-wide-enough flexible pipe, hearing muffled voices and fanfare as he went.

“Is that supposed to move like that?” A conversation right above his head made Grant nearly shout, or stop moving. Both would have given him away, so all he could do was continue pulling himself along and hope for the best.

“No idea. It’s hooked up to a ‘pump’, which I’m told is supposed to move it, but I thought the small windmill needed to be attached first.”

“It isn’t on yet? They warned that-” The voices moved away and out of earshot, and Grant let out a sigh of relief. He slid along, making decent progress, and eventually found that the pipe curved up. At the junction, he could just barely fit by putting his sword through first, then contorting his body in uncomfortable ways. He found himself in a strange, bowl-shaped room made entirely of a thin metal. Light came from above, as did the sounds of hundreds of people.

An announcer was speaking, but Grant only caught the last part of his prepared speech. “-Porta potties are located under your bench. Remember, all you have to do is flip the switch to use the facilities! You won’t miss any of the exciting developments-”

Anything else that might have been said was drowned out as dozens of banging noises sounded above Grant’s head. He looked up, only saved from even worse nightmares by the fact that no more light was available in the room. All the shafts of light had been entirely blocked off by the bodies completely covering any gap. Grant dove to the side as the freshest of sewage splattered into the huge bowl, swirling around before draining into the hole he had just climbed out of.

“Welp. Not gonna be able to get out through there.” Grant did his best to breathe lightly, the room was hot and now filled with filth. Water started to pour into the area, washing away anything clinging to the metal. In spite of the circumstances, Grant had to shake his head in admiration for the sheer engineering that went into making something like this possible.

He already knew where he was going. Before he had lost all light, he had seen that there was one opening that was larger, and more set apart, than any other. Only one person would be sitting in a space away from others, and Grant hurried to get in position.

Whatever was going on out there sounded exciting to the crowd, and it appeared that a special course of food was being delivered. Grant continued to wait as the bowl heated and stank, needing to know for sure that Lord January was in position. It was only when the tyrant flipped the switch that Grant knew for sure.

Aiming at where the man’s heart should be, Grant slammed his sword through the thin metal of the bowl as hard as he could.

Critical hit!