You can be as stupid as any man

The moment of relief was short-lived. Almost as soon as you realize that you are off the hook you sense the question in Iola's earnest eyes. Were you going to join them? Or were you going to let Iola's little sister be defiled by whatever demons there were that lived in this dark city under the city? Damn it! With a slap of your thigh you stand up and move to the pile of loot selecting a oil-lamp and an small amphora of olive oil to burn.

"Wait a minute," you tell the odd couple as they watch in surprise from the heavy doors. "I've heard that some of those things burn like shit, I want to be prepared if I meet one." You ignore the sparkle of excitement in Iola's face, but when Lykaios raises an eyebrow in a silent inquiry you shrug in response and pick up Scarface's short spear wrapping some of the cotton bedding tightly around the blade. "This should do the trick, you announce hopefully as you pour a healthy amount of oil onto the wrapped fabric.

"You're the best, Salara!" Iola bubbles as she skips towards you, slowing slightly and grimacing as she feels the discomfort from her groin.

"Easy girl," you laugh as she hugs you and then add quietly so none of the men can hear. "Don't worry, the pain doesn't last long and the next time you find yourself riding a fat cock it's gonna feel even better." The sheltered young woman is still innocent enough to blush fiercely at your words but she gives you a soft kiss just below your ear which doesn't help ease the itch in your loins that has been troubling you all night long. With that, the two of you make your way back to Lykaios where you light the lamp and hand it carefully to Iola. "Don't drop this sweatheart, and if you see one of those beast things be ready to light my spear before you do anything else." She nods somberly at you and then steps closer to Lykaios as he and Darius open the heavy black gates that lead into the darkness. Once again the sudden feeling of gloom tightens around your throat, it is a combination of dread, fear and nausea, like walking into a morgue or **** chamber.

"How are we going to find her?" Iola asks the question that every one has been thinking, you can see the unnatural oppressive gloom is effecting her too, but she refuses to let her spirits be dampened.

"Don't know yet," the grizzled veteran grunts, "but I could never live with myself if I didn't try." It turns out to be simpler than you thought. Twenty paces into the tunnel you spot another pearl sitting on the tiled floor, could Airlia be dropping them on purpose from the string of pearls that Quintus had looped around her neck? Or are they dropping off randomly from the shredded necklace. Either way, this trail of pearls is as good a lead as any and soon the three of you are jogging along the old through-way buried under Athenapolis. You see occasional rats and spiders scurrying from the light but other than that nothing disturbs your passage. The only thing that slows your progress is that at each major intersection you have to slow and look for the markers that guide your path. Each time you find a single pearl when you continue straight and the two times the path turned you find two or three pearls marking the new direction.

"She's alive!" Iola announces the second time you find the extra beads, "She's alive and she knows we're coming for her!" It is a good sign, you agree, but the suspicious part of your mind pictures a tentacled monster with bulging eyes and a great tooth-filled maw carefully laying out the pearls on the tiles to lure you into its trap. A thought like that is not worth sharing but it does make you smile in spite of the pervasive oppression that you've been feeling since entering the catacombs. After about three minutes, six intersections and twelve pearls, Lykaios stiffens and lowers his frame to his knees as he peers into the darkness ahead.