As they climbed down the ladder into the depths of the sewer tunnel, Mouse pushed another hidden battery which closed the metal cover above them bringing the tunnel once again into darkness, until he took out light batteries turning them on filling the tunnel with dancing light.
Echoes of dripping water around them as they walked in silence. As they walked along the familiar path, they were all silent listening to the echoes of their footsteps and water around them they walked deeper into the sewer network. Mouse ran his hand over the brickwork in the sewer tunnel that was only large enough for them to walk in single file. Slowly the tunnel started to widen and a small stone path on the edge of the tunnel slowly appeared out of the darkness. They walked the stone path until a small flight of stairs took them down into a large underground square, where the sound of rushing water could be heard coming from one side of the area.
In the middle a wide stone walking bridge crossed the darkness hiding everything below. Mouse stood in the middle of the bridge and peered into the darkness whistling loudly.
"Every time we walk across this bridge it always amazes me how far the fall is from here."
He then walked to the other side and watched the falling water fading into the darkness. Garrn and Sai walked up to where Mouse was watching the falling water.
"Yeah, the endless waterfall is amazing it makes sense that this is where the thieves drop off their dead and hide their evidence."
Mouse smiled and looked at the both of them. "Lucky we haven't had to use it yet."
They continued walking over the bridge, heading towards a large sewer tunnel with paths and light batterys inserted into the walls. Mouse turned his light battery light off. "We don't need this anymore."
"We're close… You can hear them ahead." The three of them stepped into sudden brightness as a strong light was pointed at them.
"Hey, it's just us, password is fishmonkeys."
The bright light vanished, and the sound of steel being sheathed quickly followed. Mouse rubbed his eyes and look at Sai sighing.
"Hehehe… Pity, I'm looking for a kill you know?" The three of them ignored the remark as they walked down the wooden stairs onto the stone floor.
"The amount of light batterys here is immense, I wonder how the family keeps this place lit so well?"
He leaned against one of the large stone columns that held the city above them. Garrn looked at the ceiling and shuddered.
"If those columns ever fell, the city would no longer be above us, but on top of us."
Sai looked up and closed his eyes for a moment."This place makes me feel very uncomfortable so much stone up there, but I guess while it is up there, we're safe down here."
Mouse nodded as he looked at Sai. "You're right. Let's find out about this meeting. Not too happy I'm missing out on filling my pockets."
Mouse looked around him and lazily stretched his arms over his head. "All the groups and teams in the outlying districts are here, from the beggars to the thieves, and even some of the guard."
He followed the direction in where Sai was pointing and frowned at the small group of armored men and women holding short spears sitting near the entrance
"Even the city wall bandits are here as well."
Mouse looked at Garrn's face and sighed stretching his arms. "Whatever this meeting is about we know that something big has happened or about to happen, we need to be careful and stay together."
The other two looked at each other seriously, looking around them as they leaned against one of the many stone columns waiting for the meeting to begin.
"Even the stage has been set, which means that this will be an event to remember."
"Ding… Ding… Ding"
Mouse looked at the stage and pointed with his head causing Sai and Garrn to also look in the direction of the stage. "It's starting… Look there's the bossman."
"That's him alright, but the others are there as well. Somethings going on…"
Mouse looked at Garrn and nodded. "Yeah… My nose is twitching… Not liking it at all."
"Hey guys… Who's the one in the fancy clothes?"
Mouse shrugged their shoulders and watched as one of the leaders stepped forward on the wooden podium.
"Hey, we need quiet we're about to begin, this is quite urgent so SHUT THE HELL UP!"
Silence filled the hall.
"As you can all see." Mouse watched as the leader pointed behind him at all the district bosses. "We've all been called here because something has happened in the city center and we've been requested to help solve the issue."
Mouse followed as the speaker pointed to the well-dressed person. "This here is an attendant from the court." Mouse cursed and look at Garrn as he whistled softly.
"They have a task for us to do, we need to listen to what they have to say, and then we'll make a final decision about what to do after."
Mouse listened to the murmuring of agreement around him and watched as the well-dressed man approached the wooden podium and placed his hands upon it. Mouse looked to the tunnel entrance and noticed some of the many light batterys starting to flicker as the court attendant started to speak.
"Ahh Mouse stop daydreaming and help me with Sai!" Mouse quickly turned to Sai who was clearly angry and had his fists and teeth clenched in fury and anger.
They quickly each grabbed an arm."Relax Sai. We know what the court did to your family, and yes we'll get them back for that, but right now we need to hear what they have to say."
Mouse added to Garrn's remark. "You big monkey, the court will be hit hard, and I plan to take every coin that they possess and then sit on top of the gold coin mountain and laugh as they crawl around with nothing, but Garrn is right, now is not the time."
"You should know this already, but when does a member of the court travel alone?"
"Look around at some of the light batterys that have started to fail as soon as he stepped up to the podium, I'm most certain there are others here watching and keeping him safe from harm."
Mouse watched as Sai nodded breathing heavily and let go of his arm. He closed his eyes as Sai punched the stone column in frustration. "You've become stronger… What did that column do to you? It's got cracks all over it now…"
A few nearby people turned and looked at them in annoyance, then their gazes quickly returned to look at the court member.
Mouse shook his head and turned to the stage staring at bossman. He then looked at Sai who was frowning.
"Little Mouse… Bossman doesn't look like himself, there is something different about him don't you think?"
"Are you sure about that?" Mouse turned to Garrn and nodded. He smiled as Garrn ran his hand through his hair. "Our Garrn here has a plan…"
"Something isn't right here. I mean everyone is here and the streets are literally clear this never happens, even if it is an emergency there is always someone on the streets."
"Mouse… You need to get closer to bossman without been seen and check on him." Mouse smiled revealing a mischievous toothy grin. "This can be done very easily."
"Sai… Look for an exit that isn't guarded, just in case we need to make a quick escape."
Sai nodded and stretched his arms slightly, causing his muscles to flex in his arms and broad shoulders. "Looking forward to testing my strength."
Mouse winked at Sai. 'I'm sure the ladies love you…"
"While you both do that keep an ear out for what the court attendant has to say, and if you hear any sounds of attack we leave straight away."
"You've got it…" Mouse nodded and took a step back entering the crowd and walked towards the back of the stage.
"Women, men, children, and all associated with the underbelly of our glorious city. For now, let's all skip the current negative relationship we currently have, as you do provide a valuable service to the city. This is why I, a lowly court attendant has been sent to you."
Mouse glanced at the court attendant as he moved sideways around a small group and watched as they pulled out a small wooden block with a gold imprint of a flying falcon about to catch its prey. He cursed under his breath."The Supremes' mark."
He hesitated a moment when he heard the crowd of people whisper around him.
"I need to hurry to see bossman… He'll know what's going on."
Mouse increased his speed going through the crowd with his ear still on the court attendant.
"Yes. This shows that this humble attendant of the court has been sent by the Supreme to bring a message of assistance and help." He watched from the corner of his eye as the court member put the block back in their pocket.
"There was a terrible crime in the center of the city, and the ones who know the people that come in and out of the entire city are you all here right now."
"There has been a murder in the city center, and the Supreme is asking for your help to find the murderer!"
Mouse watched as crowd of thieves listening sighed and started to turn away, he looked at the attendant smiling.
"If you want our help, you'll have to give something good."
He said under his breath as he reached the stage and looked at the district bosses closely before his face fell open in shock and he could feel the blood draining from his face.
"Not good… This is not good at all. I must tell my brothers. We need to get out of here." He turned around and started to go back through the crowd heading towards Garrn and Sai.
Mouse looked at the court attendant angrily. "He must know what happened to bossman." Taking a step towards the attendant and frowned in thought.
"No, now isn't the time. We must get away."
"There will be a huge reward of five hundred gold coins for the capture of the person or persons involved in this issue."
Mouse paused and cursed. "Five hundred gold coins..."
He watched with his head shaking as the crowd that was turning away was now changing their direction heading towards the stage. "Wait for me Garrn and Sai, I'll be back there soon."
"We don't know who did the killing blow, but we know where they're from by the clothes they were wearing… It was a member of the black shadows!"
Mouse skipped a step and looked surprised. "Black shadows don't move unless someone pays them good coin, and even then, they wouldn't target anyone in the noble families. That doesn't make sense."
He hastened his pace as he listened to the crowd and the court attendant around him starting to talk loudly with each other with.
"Yes, the black shadows were allies to the throne, but it seems they have changed sides to the pirate island chains, and now they must be seen as enemies. If you see any black shadow members in the city, you must identify them to the nearest guard post as each black shadow member brought to a post will be rewarded, and if they're the black shadows we're searching for the full amount of five hundred gold coins will be given!"
Mouse stepped through the crowd and stood in front of Garrn and Sai. "Did you miss me Sai?"
"Up there is a person that looks like bossman, but instead of being him, he isn't."
"What do you mean, that is clearly him standing there with the others."
Mouse nodded. "He looks like him, but I promise you, it ain't him." He pointed back at the stage with his thumb while looking at the both of them. "When have you seen bossman wield such a strange weapon, that has some sort of green battery connected to it? Also, he's covered in large stitches and fresh scars over his arms and legs, where another green battery is somehow connected to the stitches like it's holding his body together or something."
"We need to find a way out, this seems very strange, the people around us are slowly moving towards the court attendant, due to their want of gold and..."
Mouse looked at Sai ignoring Garrn. "Sai what is it, what do you hear?"
"It isn't that…Look the lights are getting dimmer and there is a strange scratching sound it's as if someone is using a dagger to scratch a mark on some stone columns out there in the darkness."
Mouse whispered."I noticed the lights fading when the court attendant started speaking, but it was not as bad as this before… Brothers, it feels like we're being surrounded by the darkness and being drawn to the stage."
He pointed again with his face. "See the crowd doesn't even notice, they all have gold on their brains."
Mouse cursed looking at the anger on Garrn's face. "This is clearly a trap. It isn't about the black shadows or some murder. It's about our people, we need an exit plan now."
Mouse nodded and looked around. "Hey big monkey… You're higher than us… You should be able to see something."
"The way we came in is probably guarded by whatever is doing the scratching, and there're probably others in the darkness around us, so we need to stay near the light."
Mouse turned to Garrn cursing under his breath His toothy grin gone. He looked at Sai who was pointing.
"There're further tunnels under this area, and I remember seeing that there was a cover over there on the ground… We're not far from it. Can you see it?"
Mouse looked in the direction that Sai pointed and nodded. He frowned as the light battery above it was starting to flicker.
"As you can see there's a crowd of people between us and it, and the light around us is fading quickly."
Mouse smiled at them both. "A crowd of people isn't a problem for us at all. That is if you're able to keep up with me. We can get there without an issue."
"We need to move now!"
Mouse started to move through the crowd checking that Garrn and Sai were following behind him.
"This is easy moving through a crowd of people when they're not interested in us." Mouse watched as the crowd started to gather around the stage.
He looked around them sadly. "They don't even see the danger they are in. The call of gold is too strong for them." Mouse reached the cover first and turned around waiting for Sai and Garrn to arrive.
He looked up at the light battery as it started to flicker."Hurry up, you bunch of shell walkers…"
Mouse cursed as the light above the cover faded leaving the space in darkness. He looked around. "Sai… Garrn. Hurry the hell up."
He turned as he heard a voice in his ear."Quick open the cover and get out." He then heard the metal lock being opened and jumped down through the access panel as a sudden blast knocked all the light batteries out and causing the access panel to close with a thud.
Mouse was silent there was no sound in the access tunnel around him.
"Garrn, Sai?" He called out in a whisper but there was no reply. He leaned against something solid in the darkness and whispered out again.
"Sai, Garrn, where are you?"
His's vision was spinning, and he touched his head feeling something sticky on his hand causing him to sigh and put his back against the solid object he was leaning against, trying to listen for any movement around him. He kept tapping his ears to try and stop the ringing, while the cold feeling of the object he was resting against sent chills up his spine. He slipped and fell into a small heap on the ground not able to move any further. As his vision finally faded to black, he used the remaining strength he had to call out again.
"Garrn........Sai…..... please….....need you."