Outtakes from MLTF -- The Undercity, Part 1 of 3
For the rest of this week, I'll be posting a scene from Magic Lost, Trouble Found that didn't make it into the final version. I'd posted an different version of this scene last month -- that one took place in The Ruins; this scene is in Mermeia's Undercity. Karl Cradok, the crime lord of Mermeia, has kidnapped Quentin. If Raine gives Karl the amulet, she gets Quentin back in one piece. In streamlining the book, my editor and I decided that the Karl/Quentin subplot had to go. But both Karl & Quentin are still in reserves as characters to be included in future books. Karl's a slippery one, and Quentin's known for getting into everything -- so who knows where they'll turn up? ; ) Enjoy!
The shipping office wasn't large. It was no more than ten paces deep and not much more than that across. It had the usual assortment of tables, chairs, and shelves to hold ledgers and maps. That and the musty, cloying smell of old paper and mold made the air thick. Though that could be as much from cramming so many people into such a small space as anything else.
We had determined the most likely place for Karl to be holed up and holding Quentin would be in the Undercity. It wasn't easily accessible due to Karl's boobytraps, and was easily defendable for the same reason. We were taking Guardians, Phaelan's crew and now members of the city watch. That would give us more than enough for backup and to cover the exit and make sure there was one when the time came to leave. I had no doubt that ours would be a fast exit. Nothing could make a night go from bad to worse like coming in one way only to find it blocked when you wanted to leave.
Janek and Riggs moved the desk in the corner of the office, exposing an iron ring attached to a trapdoor in the floor. There wasn't a place for a lock, but that didn't mean there wasn't one on the other side. Janek stood over where a lock would be, and held his hands palms down towards the trapdoor, and stood for a moment, unmoving.
I could feel them, too. Wards. Not the light ones you used to close a food pantry against a persistent dog, but the kind you used if you felt Death doing some heavy breathing on the back of your neck.
"Looks like Karl doesn't want visitors," I noted.
"I wouldn't think wards here would be that unusual," Eiliesor said.
"They're not," Janek told him. "But not something this complex. Karl's normal wards are strong, but he uses a simple word of unlocking so his people can get in or out. Only a select few know the password. Karl changes it on a daily basis, hourly if there's something big going down. He also keeps guards at the busier entrances. This door is rarely used. For it to be locked down this tight tells me that Karl's gone to ground and pulled the dirt in after him."
"Do you know how to get in?" Eiliesor asked.
I suspected that if Janek didn't, the Guardian did.
"I could, but anyone he has posted down there would know the instant I tried. Like I said, Karl doesn't surround himself with amateurs."
"May I?" the elf asked, indicating the door. "I'd like to see what he's using."
Janek stepped back. "You're the guest. By all means."
The Guardian spoke no words of incantation, nor made any gesture of any kind, but I felt the skin on the back of my arms and neck begin to tingle and crawl. Not entirely unpleasant. Still, I had difficulty repressing a shudder. It was gone as quickly as it came.
The amulet woke up. And the floor vanished.
I fell into a cold, damp tunnel. I screamed and flailed, desperate to grab something to break my fall before the fast-approaching ground broke every bone in my body. I stopped falling. Then I stopped screaming. There was no impact, no broken bones. I hung suspended in the darkness between the office and the earth of the tunnel, my breath ragged and absurdly loud in the silence.
A strong hand grabbed my arm. I screamed again.
Mychael Eiliesor had my arm. I was still standing in the shipping office. The floor was solid under my feet, the trapdoor was closed--and everyone was staring at me like I'd just sprouted a third eyeball.
"There's no one down there," I said lamely. I felt a wave of dizziness and started to fall, this time for real. Eiliesor and Phaelan caught me before I hit the floor.
Come back tomorrow for Part 2.
The shipping office wasn't large. It was no more than ten paces deep and not much more than that across. It had the usual assortment of tables, chairs, and shelves to hold ledgers and maps. That and the musty, cloying smell of old paper and mold made the air thick. Though that could be as much from cramming so many people into such a small space as anything else.
We had determined the most likely place for Karl to be holed up and holding Quentin would be in the Undercity. It wasn't easily accessible due to Karl's boobytraps, and was easily defendable for the same reason. We were taking Guardians, Phaelan's crew and now members of the city watch. That would give us more than enough for backup and to cover the exit and make sure there was one when the time came to leave. I had no doubt that ours would be a fast exit. Nothing could make a night go from bad to worse like coming in one way only to find it blocked when you wanted to leave.
Janek and Riggs moved the desk in the corner of the office, exposing an iron ring attached to a trapdoor in the floor. There wasn't a place for a lock, but that didn't mean there wasn't one on the other side. Janek stood over where a lock would be, and held his hands palms down towards the trapdoor, and stood for a moment, unmoving.
I could feel them, too. Wards. Not the light ones you used to close a food pantry against a persistent dog, but the kind you used if you felt Death doing some heavy breathing on the back of your neck.
"Looks like Karl doesn't want visitors," I noted.
"I wouldn't think wards here would be that unusual," Eiliesor said.
"They're not," Janek told him. "But not something this complex. Karl's normal wards are strong, but he uses a simple word of unlocking so his people can get in or out. Only a select few know the password. Karl changes it on a daily basis, hourly if there's something big going down. He also keeps guards at the busier entrances. This door is rarely used. For it to be locked down this tight tells me that Karl's gone to ground and pulled the dirt in after him."
"Do you know how to get in?" Eiliesor asked.
I suspected that if Janek didn't, the Guardian did.
"I could, but anyone he has posted down there would know the instant I tried. Like I said, Karl doesn't surround himself with amateurs."
"May I?" the elf asked, indicating the door. "I'd like to see what he's using."
Janek stepped back. "You're the guest. By all means."
The Guardian spoke no words of incantation, nor made any gesture of any kind, but I felt the skin on the back of my arms and neck begin to tingle and crawl. Not entirely unpleasant. Still, I had difficulty repressing a shudder. It was gone as quickly as it came.
The amulet woke up. And the floor vanished.
I fell into a cold, damp tunnel. I screamed and flailed, desperate to grab something to break my fall before the fast-approaching ground broke every bone in my body. I stopped falling. Then I stopped screaming. There was no impact, no broken bones. I hung suspended in the darkness between the office and the earth of the tunnel, my breath ragged and absurdly loud in the silence.
A strong hand grabbed my arm. I screamed again.
Mychael Eiliesor had my arm. I was still standing in the shipping office. The floor was solid under my feet, the trapdoor was closed--and everyone was staring at me like I'd just sprouted a third eyeball.
"There's no one down there," I said lamely. I felt a wave of dizziness and started to fall, this time for real. Eiliesor and Phaelan caught me before I hit the floor.
Come back tomorrow for Part 2.
posted by Lisa Shearin at
8:04 AM
3 Comments:
I was wondering who remained of the "disgusting entities one finds when turning over rocks" variety in Mermeia. The events in MLTF removed several of that ilk from the city/island.
Let's see. . . Nigel, dead. Simon Stocken (not really a bad sort), but dead. Ocnus, presumed and probably dead. However, there is an abundance of individuals of ill repute still upright and among the living in Mermeia. Raine just didn't mention them in MLTF. Perhaps in subsequent books. . .
There were also all those Krysanthi [spelling] though most of them seemed to have not been residents of the city.
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