...and arrives at the City.

Teysa passed glittering veins of ore and dim caverns where tiny bones crunched underfoot. One broke with a loud crack and she looked down to see the shards of a human-sized femur. She shivered and increased her pace.

After hours of travel she halted to check the map. She took the opportunity to drink from her waterskins and get off her feet. Sitting on a broken-off stalagmite, she shifted around to unknot her shoulders.

The map was odd, using a measurement she didn't know. Aliara had always been a better pathfinder, but Teysa thought it should be another day or so. She didn't relish the idea of camping in the dark down here, but there seemed to be little choice. Looking around, her current location seemed defensible enough. A fire was probably out of the question but Teysa was used to sleeping light, and she found an alcove where she could curl up. Sleeping alone felt strange and disconcerting. She woke once, briefly, imagining she had heard Aliara's voice... but the only sounds in the cave were the drip of water and a distant rumble that lulled her back to sleep.

The next "morning" Teysa set out feeling only marginally refreshed. More than once she turned to tell Aliara something, only to remember that the half-elf was absent. A melancholy descended on her and she hiked in silence. At least she made good progress. The route was surprisingly clear. The driders manage to take cargo this way, so it can't be that difficult.

Their first indication that the city was ahead was a pair of stone pillars. These were of the same stone as the walls, but easily distinguishable; each was carved into the shape of a drow soldier, one male, one female. They held aloft swords that crossed in midair to form an arch. No armed guards stood inside the gate, but the message was clear: Teysa was entering the realm of the drow. A faint orange glow lit the tunnels now, emanating from somewhere up ahead.

From there, she spotted patrols and pickets with increasing frequency, but she was not challenged. There's only one of me. They must not be worried. The thought was not comforting. In the distance, a line resolved itself: a long, low wall, stretching away on either side into a massive, vaulted cavern. The source of the glow was here: what looked like ten thousand fires in steel baskets lined the walls of the cavern. From this distance, they twinkled like stars, and as Teysa drew closer she could see the fires hung hundreds of feet off the ground-- far enough that their crackling was inaudible and their smoke rose into the darkness.

Finally she arrived at the rear of a motley line of people: merchants pushing carts, armored drow soldiers laughing in their harsh-sounding tongue, robed mystics of indeterminate race. A woman with a snake's lower body slithered past them, exchanged words with the guards at the wall, and passed through unhindered. Up ahead, a merchant was arguing with one of the guards.

"They're valid, I tell you! Fresh! Look at that seal! I have to get these barrels into storage as soon as possible! Do you want to be the one to let the garrison commander know her order has spoiled?"

With a curse, the guard waved him through. The mechant lashed his whip and with a creak the cart trundled into the city. "Next!"

Teysa stood in silence, shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot. She tried to rehearse her story, but she had never been a good liar, and she kept tripping herself up on the words. Visions filled her head: interrogation by sadistic Drow guards, her in prison rags working to break rocks. She wondered if she would be brought down if she tried to break out of line. All too soon, she reached the head of the line. The guard looked her up and down contemptuously.

"How many of you?"

"I-" Teysa began, and stopped. It seemed that she had swallowed a stone; her mouth worked, but nothing came out. Sweat beaded on her brow. She could see the guard's brow creasing. She tried to start again, but all that came out of her mouth was a croak.

The guard gestured at two armored drow lounging against the nearest wall. “Take this one!” he called. “Can’t speak? They’ll make you talk!”

Teysa turned to run, but the crowd behind her was jostling and jockeying for position. This promised to be more entertaining than simply waiting in line. The guards were closing in...

Teysa grabbed her mace and pulled it free from her belt, adjusting her grip on the handle. A complicated problem had just gotten a lot easier. This was a fight, there were enemies in front of her— she could deal with the consequences later. The closest guard saw the mace and brought up an armored gauntlet to protect himself, but Teysa’s upswing batted his arm away and snapped his head backward. His companion settled into a combat stance and jabbed outward with a spear. Teysa felt a sharp pain in her ear as she twisted out of the way. The gate guard she had talked to initially was stumbling back, gaping, but his hands were already going to his belt. What did he have? A dagger? A horn? It didn’t matter. She spun around and lashed out with her mace. Its heavy head caught him in the ribcage and he fell over hard.

The first guard she had struck was coming back, and he looked angry. He stabbed wildly with his spear and Teysa spun away from it, stepping inside his guard and bringing her mace down on his helmeted head. There was a heavy CLANG and he toppled like a tree.

So far, so good, but the third guard was still coming, and Teysa could see more of them responding from other posts. The crowd behind her was growing agitated. Torrents of **** poured down on her, along with a few medium-sized stones. Time to go.

Teysa bulled forward and leapt over the prone guard. Her feet pounded on the cobblestones as she dashed forward into the city. She had no time to look around herself or try to get her bearings. She took the first left, which turned out to be a wide thoroughfare lined with merchants. They shouted in alarm as she thundered past, the guards in hot pursuit. Teysa did not dare look behind her to see how close they were. She could hear their footsteps and the clangor of their armor.

One more turn brought her into a narrower side street, and she swung out with her mace as she passed a stack of barrels outside a fruit shop. The bottom barrel burst and the others tumbled down. The angry shouts of the shop owner receded behind her as she ran, but from the sound of it, the guards were having trouble as well.

The street ended in a T-intersection, and Teysa turned left and sprinted forward. She had no idea where she was going, but she knew what she was running from, and that was enough for now.

A figured darted out into the path in front of her. Teysa was going much too fast to slow down, but the figure jumped to one side, then pushed hard as Teysa passed, like a champion bullfighter lancing his target. Teysa stumbled as her motion was redirected, then lost her balance and toppled forward. She had been steered into a tiny alley between food shops. Her momentum carried her into it a few steps before she fell and landed heavily in a pile of rancid leaves and rotten fungus. The fall knocked the wind out of her, and her ribs creaked painfully as she tried to draw in a breath.

The figure that had arrested her progress stepped into the mouth of the alley, back to Teysa. It was short and wore a voluminous robe so patched and stained that it was impossible to tell its original color. It clutched a broom in both hands and began to placidly sweep the mouth of the alley as though nothing had happened.

The shouts of the guards grew louder in the distance, and Teysa crawled deeper into the alley. The filth she was elbow-deep in smelled appalling— food scraps, and food that had been none too appetizing when it was first served. She tried not to breathe too deeply as she crawled into the shadows, then held still as the guards approached.

“You there!” she heard a male voice say. “Did you see a human pass this way? A surface dweller.” The sweeping figure remained silent, but extended one arm, the hand emerging from the filthy sleeve cooking one pointing finger down the road. The guards jogged onward in that direction.

Teysa waited until the sound of their pursuit had faded into the distance, then propped herself up against the wall.

“Who-“ she began, and stopped. “Why did you-?”

The sweeper turned around and pulled down her hood. Aliara smiled nervously down at her. Teysa blinked at her a few times, unable to believe her eyes. She reached out one hand to be helped up, and the half-elf took it with her slim, delicate fingers. "It's really me, Tey. You can stop staring."

"But- but why?" Teysa burst out. "Did you get lost? What happened?"

Aliara looked away, and Teysa took back her hand. "I thought about what you said, Tey. I thought about... you. About who you are. You're so..." she sighed. "I don't know. I've always lived for myself first, last and always. That's who I am. You have to be that way when you're a ****. Nobody else can look out for you. But your way is different. And for all this time, ever since I left this place, I've been surviving, but not, not really living. Not until I met you." Aliara's voice hitched. "Remember when we met? I couldn't believe I was signing on to your charter. You were so serious. I just needed the cash. That first job we did together, at the pub afterward, you ordered... what was it?"

Teysa snorted. "Sparkling water."

"Right. At the time I thought it was a fancy cocktail. Sparkling water! And you did this ridiculous toast. Something about justice, I don't know. I thought I'd piss my pants laughing." Aliara chuckled. "Well, I thought you a priggish twat in terminal need of a good lay. And I guess I was right. But you're my priggish twat now. And I can't... can't bear to lose you."

She didn't meet Teysa's gaze, but clasped both of her hands around Teysa's wrist, holding onto it fiercely as though she was afraid that Teysa would drift away like an unmoored boat. "I want to help you. Someone has to. You're too trusting! I want to protect you, Tey. But this is it. I'm not going back to the warren. One last adventure together, huh? After this, I'll leave. And I hope... I hope you'll leave with me."

Teysa said nothing, but wrapped her arms around Aliara, burying the half-elf's head in her chest. She felt Aliara's arms around her waist, pulling her tighter. After a minute or more, they finally separated, and Teysa took a deep breath. It was a moment or two before she could trust herself to speak. "All right, Li. One last adventure. After that... who knows?"

Teysa allowed Aliara to lead her down the alley by the hand. They stepped out of the far end and into the market.

Immediately they were assaulted by the smell. Cooked meat mixed with the body odor of hundreds of races, thousands of people packed into a gigantic cavern. Teysa could smell blood, too, old and dry as well as fresh and ripe. The city was a clamorous, riotous din of people and color. Up ahead tents stretched as far as the eye could see in one of the biggest, strangest bazaars Teysa had ever seen. Beyond, at the limits of vision, they could see the pillars of a massive cathedral-like building built into the wall of the cavern.

"Let's go!" Aliara seemed nervous. "Come on, we can't hang around here. We're attracting attention."