Page 26 of Unseen Lord

"Do you think…? No, never mind. Sorry. I'm being stupid."

I propped myself up and faced him. "What?"

"Well, it's just that, I heard stories about a secret vault under the Black Lotus that holds treasure. I don't care about the treasure, but they say it also holds a staff that was used by an ancient and powerful sorcerer. If the stories are true, that might have belonged to my family, and… I've always wanted to see it. To hold it. I have no family left, and I feel like being able to touch the staff would connect me to my family again."

His story broke my heart, and I agreed to help him find this secret vault. I didn't precisely know where it was, but I knew where to start looking.

In the dungeons.

That night while the Council meetings were taking place with the top dignitaries, we snuck into the hidden passages in the walls, winding through cobwebs and dusty pathways until we reached the bowels of the dungeons.

The smell of sulfur, blood, piss and excrement assaulted us the moment we stepped into the dark, dank place.

"If there's an entrance it would be here," I said, pulling him along by the hand.

He wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Do you spend a lot of time down here?"

I scoffed at that. "Nope. But it was part of my training. I was locked in a cell and had to try to escape."

He snorted. "How'd that end?"

"Not well. This place is inescapable. It's why Uncle Sly is entrusted with the worst magical criminals. Because everyone knows once they're here, they won't escape."

I tried not to make eye contact with the few prisoners we passed, and I avoided the guards at all cost. They liked me well enough, but 1: they would totally rat me out to Uncle Sly that I was nosing around down here and 2: they made a living torturing people. So they weren't on my top list of favs. Truth be told, they made my skin crawl.

We turned a corner and at the sound of a guard approaching I pulled Devon into an empty cell and closed it softly, putting a finger over his lips so he'd stay quiet as the guard passed.

It was a burly demon, red-skinned, and dragging a bloody morning star—a club-like weapon with a ball of spikes attached to a shaft.

Devon sucked in his breath, but didn't speak until the guard passed us. Even still, I cautioned silence until I could no longer hear the metal dragging against the stone floor.

"That was… intense… " Devon said.

I nodded and led him deeper into the darkness.

I'd heard whispers from the guards of things hidden beneath the dungeons, but I'd never ventured forth to explore. Hadn't felt the need to, until then.

The dungeons gave me the creeps.

The smell made me nauseous.

But when I saw the excitement in Devon's eyes as he anticipated holding his family's staff again, I pushed forward, knowing it would be worth it.

I've always had a connection to the Black Lotus that went beyond my years of living there. It wasn't just a building to me, but a being that I'd bonded with.

I used that bond to feel into the bones of the place, letting my mind penetrate the deeper layers as we explored the lesser used parts of the dungeons.

"The cells here are the original ones used when the Black Lotus was first formed a thousand years ago. New, magically reinforced cells utilizing trimantium were later built, and these became relics of another time," I explained in my best history professor voice as we cautiously made our way through. If there was a secret door anywhere it would in the most ancient part of the dungeon. "Now my uncle uses this section for storage, mostly," I said, gesturing to a cell that was packed with dusty boxes and furniture covered in plastic. "He's a bit of a pack rat."

"Fascinating," Devon said, without a trace of sarcasm.

"There's a cell back here that he never stores stuff in," I said. "I asked him about it once and he just shrugged but didn't answer. I'm thinking we might find something there."

We reached the cell in question, and I pulled out my master key and unlocked it, opening the steel bars and stepping in. Devon follows me, and I look around the small, boxed space, hoping for some kind of clue.

The floor was dirt-covered stone. The walls were steel bars. That was about it. Nothing else. I jammed the tips of my boots into the the ground, kicking up dust. As I continued kicking at the ground, I listened carefully for any changes. "There!" I said, stopping. "This spot is different than the rest. Help me."

I dropped to my knees and used my hands to brush dirt away. Devon looked at me skeptically but helped. We didn't make a lot of progress initially, and both our hands were getting raw and sore, but just as Devon was ready to give up, a glint of metal caught my eye. "Something’s there!"