Back the way they came

"The way we came!" Teysa cried. "Quick!" She could hear the pounding of steel-shod boots against stone coming from somewhere ahead. The guards in here had been unsuspecting and they'd had luck on their side. No need to push it.

As they ran for the exit, Teysa heard the squealing of hinges behind her. A clamor went up, the sound of a dozen panicked voices all trying to talk over each other at once. It was hard to make out individual words, but the overall theme was clear: "Fire!" There was also a toccata on "Who did this?!" with grace notes of "Get them!" but, for now at least, their luck was holding; the billowing cloud of smoke that had blown up was directly between Teysa and Aliara and the guards. They managed to duck back into the tiny archway in the far corner and out of sight.

Or at least, Teysa did. She took two steps into the narrow corridor and realized Aliara wasn't with her. Panicking, she turned around. She wasn't about to leave without Li. What had happened? Had they missed a guard?

"Sorry!" Aliara burst into the corridor so suddenly that Teysa had to stumble backwards to avoid being head-butted. "I had to get this!" the half-elf exclaimed, and held up what looked for all the world to Teysa like a piece of driftwood. It was about the size of her forearm, polished smooth, and covered with tiny writing. Cramped letters crawled and squirmed over each other like snakes in a pit. They looked stylized, like calligraphy, and Teysa couldn't even tell what language they were supposed to be. "Yes, nice, very fine," she said. "What is it?"

"Tell you later," Aliara replied. She tucked the log under her arm and ran. "Gotta go!"

The tunnel was starting to fill with smoke. Teysa got a lungful by mistake and doubled over, coughing. She set off after Aliara, stumbling a little as by degrees she got control of herself and drew in a deep breath. Fire underground was more hazardous than she'd thought. Still, there could be no question that they'd accomplished their mission, and hopefully the smoke cloud would hinder any pursuit.

She stopped in her tracks. The smoke cloud...

"Li!" she called ahead. "Wait!"

Aliara was a dozen feet ahead of her and had almost disappeared around a bend in the corridor, but she stopped and turned. "What is it, Tey? We have to move!"

"The people!" Teysa gasped. "In the room we saw! We have to move them out!"

Aliara looked quizzically at her. "Tey, you can't free every prisoner everywhere. They chose this life, it's--"

"Not that!" Another series of coughs swallowed the rest of Teysa's sentence. Her eyes were watering as she wheezed for breath. "The smoke! They'll-- koff-- die!"

Aliara gritted her teeth. "It's how they'd want to go," she said, but her heart clearly wasn't in it. "Fine. Fast!"

The little door was just up ahead. Teysa stepped inside. She was instantly hit with a cloud of cloying perfume, a sickly-sweet aroma that almost managed to cover up the scent of rot underneath. The air here was hazy with the output of the massive hookah, and even this mild smoke set off another series of coughs.

"Come on, up and at 'em!" Aliara shouted. Her exhortations were matched with pinpoint kicks from her sandaled feet. The youths on the receiving end of this encouragement stirred, moaning angrily and rising to their feet.

"There's a fire!" Teysa said, as loudly as she dared. Her throat still felt raw and sore. "Come on, it's not safe, there's a fire, you have to go!" She tried a few prods with her foot as well, though she was much gentler than Aliara and the only net effect was to flip over some of the prone bodies scattered around.

"What the hell's going on in here?" growled a voice from behind her. Teysa and Aliara turned around at the same time. An orange-skinned half-orc in chainmail was standing in the doorway with his hands on his hips. His expression was one of undisguised contempt. "What are you sluts--"

"Please, sir, there's a fire!" Aliara cried. She had carefully pitched her voice to sound delicate and afraid, a talent Teysa had never mastered. "They told us to move these poor people out before they **** to ****!"

The half-orc let out an inventive volley of curses, only some of which Teysa had heard before. "Get moving!" he roared. A short length of knotted rope was coiled at his hip, and he shook it out with one hand before bringing it down on the closest recumbent figure. There was a loud snap and the youth yelped in pain.

The whip-crack had roused some of the others from their daze. "Move!" the half-orc shouted again. "You worthless cunts! Get moving or I'll start breaking limbs!" The sound of his voice accomplished what Teysa's boot could not-- the addled herd began to flow towards the door. Not a moment too soon, either; Teysa could smell the first tendrils of smoke winding their way in through the door. The corridor outside was already filling with it.

A pair of drow guards had arrived, and together they helped direct the flow of traffic. Neither of them took the slightest notice of Teysa or Aliara; they simply joined the flock and shuffled along the corridor, back to the main room of the club. Word of the fire had spread, and the party seemed to be on hold-- the music had stopped, the dancers lounged around the stage, and patrons were standing in huddled knots. Teysa and Aliara slipped away from the pack and joined the nearest huddle, a group of a half dozen humans wearing fine ermine robes. "What's happening?" Aliara asked.

"No idea," grumbled the closest man. His robe was closed with a pin in the shape of a fist stuffed with coins. "This club was supposed to be the best in the Market. I won't be coming back after this." His companions nodded assent.

"That's a Topaz Guild pin, isn't it?" Aliara said, pointing. "Only the finest for the Guild, right? I'm Tion, by the way, and this is Vayveen."

"You are as perceptive as you are beautiful, Tion," the man said. His tone was as thick and greasy as butter. He inclined his head and pressed Aliara's hand to his lips, slobbering all over her fingers. "I am Jacques of the Guild. We heard excellent reports of this place, but it is turning out to be quite a disappoinment... until now."

Aliara nodded in agreement. "Yeah, this night's a bust," she said. "There's a great place on the other end of the market. Kind of small but homey. Vayveen and I were going to try there next, want to come?"

The man looked her up and down with undisguised avarice. "Of course, sweetling," he said. "Lead on." Teysa could feel eyes crawling up and down her body, too, and suppressed a shudder. Aliara was so good at this stuff. Sometimes it made her a little uncomfortable, but she wasn't about to say anything-- not when Aliara's plan had gotten them this far.

Their little group made their way towards the door. Nor were they the only ones. The interruption was not sitting well, apparently, and a steady stream of patrons flowed to the exits. Teysa saw the gambling dwarf they had met earlier and hunched down to avoid his gaze.

The stony giant at the gate ignored them as they emerged. The black-haired gnome from earlier was dancing around his feet, calling up at the fleeing guests. "Come on, extra credit at the tables!" he said. "Free drinks! We'll be back on track before you know it!" His offer did manage to entice some people to stay, but when Aliara saw Jacques turning his head towards the pint-size promoter, she tugged on his arm. "Come on, Jacques!" she said. "I want to check out that club I told you about!"

When they were a safe distance from the club, she turned and pointed, seemingly at random. "That's where it is," she said. "Vayveen and I need to freshen up in our hotel room. Shall we meet you there?" She planted a kiss on Jacques's cheek, and his ruddy face flushed further.

"Of course, my jewel," he said. "I will await your coming with bated breath." He waved goodbye and his group set off across the square.

Aliara watched them go. "Ugh, now I need a bath," she said. "A long one." Teysa slipped one arm around her waist.

"I'll scrub your back," she promised. "You did great. You were never tempted to get on stage?"

"I'd probably have to deal with more lecherous old farts that way. Come on, let's get back to the room." Aliara produced her log again from somewhere-- Teysa didn't want to know where she'd been concealing it. She turned it over and over in her hands. "Look at this, Tey! I can't believe they had one just lying around?"

"Very nice," Teysa agreed. "What is it?"

"A hyvyth branch," Aliara said, as if that explained anything. "It's an elven epic. Some of the epics, you can't write them on paper or stone. It's dead. The living stories need to be inscribed on something alive. So they scrimshaw them on these branches, whole stories that take days to recite all carved up small. The writing-- it has to be perfect, understand, or the artisan throws it out. My mother used to have one, before... before. I don't know what happened to it. I never expected to see one down here." Her eyes seemed glued to the little piece of wood.

"It looks valuable," Teysa said. It sounded stupid, she knew, but she felt that a contribution was called for.

"Priceless." Aliara tucked it under her arm again and looked up. "Come on, you look beat. Let's get back to the inn."