The first words Cort heard as he woke up were "We're here" from Lond. Opening his eyes to the early morning sunlight, he could feel Emile moving next to him. His body was still readjusting from sleeping sitting up, but he was able to reach out and open the door to the carriage. The sunlight flooded the small space and he drowsily stumbled out of the carriage.
"So this is the Remus labyrinth," Cort said to himself. The place where the carriage had stopped was at the outer edge of a gathering of tents. A short rope fence served as a border from the outside world and the encampment. From what Cort could see, the taller structures had people inside them at tables loaded with papers and items to be studied. The people moving in the row between the tents were wearing armor or mage cloaks this early in the morning. He could hear the orders and other such shouting between divers preparing for a full day of work. He could even smell eggs cooked with fresh herbs for some high ranking diver's breakfast.
It made Cort think of home.
"Who're we looking for?" Emile grumbled out. He was rubbing his eyes as he stepped off the carriage. "It's a captain or something right?"
"Captain Ulgrim," Lond answered. He had dismounted the carriage while Cort had been studying the encampment. "Cort, where would he be?"
"If he's the one in charge, he'd be close to the entrance of the labyrinth." That's how they positioned themselves at the Vim labyrinth, so Cort imagined Remus would be no different. "He'll probably have a marking on his tent. Let's go."
Cort led the way for the other two. He only looked back for a moment to see the carriage that brought them was already turning around and riding away. There was no easy trip home for Cort, and that made it easier to take the first steps into the encampment.
As the trio walked through the camp, Cort was unsurprised how similar it was to the camps that had come and gone at Vim. Tents for work and tents for rest littered the place, though Cort imagined it was similar in that rank holding divers rested in the city of Remus itself.
Something that he could not help but notice were the emblems brightly emblazoned on the roofs of the tents. In Vim, there was usually a singular insignia to tell the world who was daring to dive. In Remus, Cort saw at least ten different emblems in just the short walk to Ulgrim's tent. They tended to stay bunched up, which made Cort wonder how well the divers here were going to get along. He had not traveled so far to just get caught up in some dispute over who had rights to the labyrinth.
The other thing Cort picked up on in their walk is the occasional long looks their trio got. It was not clear at first why some looked at them in some curiosity, others with a small smirk and a nod their direction, and others with a disgusted grimace. Then he heard the light chuckles of Emile when he spotted the more disapproving looks.
"You have to wonder," Emile whispered in Cort's ear. "Is it the chains, the shark, or the brats leading the shark in the chains?"
"Don't start a fight here," Cort replied. "I'll stop you myself if I have to."
At that, Emile let out a hearty laugh that drew attention to their group for a moment. Once they continued walking everyone returned to their business. It was opportune timing because they had approached the tent Cort could recognize as the leaders. Tall like the work tents, but closed on all sides to allow residents privacy. The flap that served as a door was emblazoned with the owner's emblem, the face of a wolf with hungry eyes and a snarl.
There were two guards outside the door, their spears kept crossed in an "X" in front of the door. As the three new divers approached the tent they straightened up and brought their spears to attention. The left one pointed to a wooden barrel beside him.
"Weapons in here," he said. His gaze was locked on Cort's sword, the only visible weapon they had. Cort nodded and obeyed, freeing his sword and depositing it into the barrel. He started forward only to have a hand on his shoulder halt him.
Both guards directed their attention. The other young man made a mask-muffled sigh, then shed his cloak first. Beneath was just a normal guy like Cort, though Lond's silk button up and blue jeans was a little nicer than Cort's more humble attire of cotton shirt and pants. With the hood off, short and neat red hair was revealed. A youthful face, almost pretty, came from under the mask as Lond pulled it down. With a huff, he dropped his things into the barrel.
"Go ahead," the guard said. Cort brushed the hand off his shoulder, and pushed the flap aside to enter the tent with his companions close behind.
The tent had a large desk in the center of it. There was some sunlight slipping through the few spaces in the tent's cloth linings, but most of the light came from an unusually bright candle on the desk. Cort's eyes were first drawn to the place behind the desk where there were two armor stands and two weapon racks, one of them emptied.
Sitting at the table was the man they had been seeking out. Captain Ulgrim put down the scroll he had been perusing to watch the visitors to his tent. He had a face roughly chiseled out of stone, jagged edges formed by years of getting hit in the head. His had been shaved down to nearly his scalp, leaving just a thin layer of fading black hair. Beneath the brown eyes and the scarred nose was a mustache so thick it obscured his upper lip.
"A Savorian, a wizard, and a boy from Vim walk into a bar," Ulgrim said with a chortling laugh. Cort could only describe Ulgrim's voice as grandfatherly, that soft but deep tone that brought on nostalgia. "You three could be the start of a joke. But enough of that. Cort and Lond. Your contracts please."
Lond nodded, retrieving an extensively folded parchment from his back pocket. Cort whistled and Ashen hurried out from his hiding place, popping out at Cort's collar with the contract in hand. Ulgrim nodded to the ermine, and Ashen bowed in response before Cort took the contract. He and Lond placed them on Ulgrim's desk.
"Cort," Ulgrim said as he looked over the contracts he just received. "I've been told that talking animals are able to communicate with monsters. How true is that?"
"Ashen can understand kobold and feralise," Cort answered. He was less focused on the question and more just hoping all the paperwork had been done right. He had barely managed to scribble down his name before bed last night.
"I can understand what a great serpent is saying," Ashen interjected. "It's hard to respond because their language relies heavily on their specific tongue."
"Good to hear." Ulgrim finished reading Cort and Lond's contracts and rolled them back up. "Works all good. And Iphos already explained your situation to me, Savorian."
"I'll behave myself," Emile said, flashing a toothy grin. Ulgrim made a noise of approval, then reached under his desk. He returned with a small iron chest. Pulling a key from somewhere in his desk, Ulgrim unlocked the chest and let it pop open.
Inside were three sheets of paper. They were the same size and appeared to be made out of similar material as playing cards. The only thing on them were the names Cort, Emile, and Lond written across the top of them. Cort's eyes brightened and a smile was growing ever larger on his face.
This was the pass. This was the proof of one being a diver.
This was the key to the labyrinth.