Bree was a young woman, maybe nineteen. Hair that had escaped her ponytail dangled into her face. Her features were delicate and firm, but she did not appear fragile. A fire burned in her eyes that you don’t see often – a fire that I’d call passion.

   When I found Gravis and Logan upstairs of the inn, she was with them. She looked to Gravis, waiting for him. The man in his nightshirt was babbling senselessly about demons and pacing the hall. Gravis and Logan didn’t seem to notice the man.

   Gravis shook his head. “You know it isn’t likely he’s alive…”

   Her fists balled up tightly at her sides and her jaw tightened, but she held her tongue.

   “But, you’re right, we need to find out.” Gravis slipped his dagger into his shirt and looked to Logan. “Not that finding out is going to be easy.”

   Logan nodded and said, “I go where you go, easy or not.”

   Gravis looked to me. “Pearce, I think this is where we part ways. You will want to find the first ship you can out of here when morning comes.”

   Of course, that’s what I wanted to do, but what my mouth said was completely different. The words “I’ll help” escaped my lips. I could barely believe that’s what I just said. Usually it takes whiskey for me to do anything stupid. I wasn’t scared of some demon or other wives tale. I just didn’t think it was too bright to be looking for trouble. Clearly whoever killed the barman was real enough, but being real doesn’t make them a demon.

   Gravis nodded and didn’t turn me down as I then hoped for. “Daylight will be here soon, and that will give us some aid. Bree, do you know where we should look first?”

   She nodded. “We start with Denue. Nobody knows more about the darkness than him.”

   She pulled her cloak hood up and led us out of the inn and into the rain. Most of the street lamps were extinguished and left us to find our way using the flashes of lightning.

   As we trudged through the puddles I pondered her words. I wouldn’t drink the water in this town for a hundred gold coins, the risk of ending up loony wasn’t worth it.

   She stopped at a sewer grate and motioned to Logan. “Can you lift that?”

   He was bending down to yank it out of place when words just burst out of my mouth, “What? You’re taking us into the filthy sewers?”

   Gravis looked at me and smirked. “It’s not too late sailor. You can head back to the inn and pretend we never met.”

   Logan was already descending into the dark of the sewers. I shook my head at Gravis, ashamed I said that out lout. I pushed passed him and lowered myself into the murk.

   A dim light emitted from a wand in Logan’s hand. The ground was slimy and cold water seeped into my boots. The smell was unspeakable. I pulled out my new rapier and gripped it tight.

   Gravis lowered Bree down to me and I helped her find her footing. I suspected she didn’t need help. Once all four of us were in the sewer, Logan began leading the way through the darkness. The rain above echoed through the cavernous sewer tunnels. The rush of the storm was softened, but the sounds were eerie. Water fell from grates along the way.

   As best I could tell, we were moving down a slope, and the appearance of grates became fewer and fewer. I realized I couldn’t hear the storm any longer. The sounds of water flowing were still present, but the surface storm wasn’t audible. Ahead, a giant intersection split off in a cross. Logan paused and looked to Bree.

   She looked left and then right. I glanced back to where we came from, unsure if I could find my way back if I wanted to. She motioned left, and Logan took the lead. We continued this way for many minutes, maybe longer – it’s hard to track time in the dark.

   Ahead a light flared, brighter than daylight. An inhuman screech followed and the water stirred with violence as a creature of blackness charged toward us.

   Logan chanted in the dark and his wand illuminated the cavern. Gravis leapt through the air toward the charging beast. I could see the creature better now, with the aid of Logan’s wand. The beast was vaguely human like, but broader and muscle bound in a grotesque fashion. Its skin was pitch black and horns protruded from its head. The talons on its fingers glistened. If I had never seen a demon before, I had now.

   Bree shouted an unintelligible word and suddenly everything around me stopped. Gravis landed in the water a mere foot from the beast, his dagger still poised. Nobody moved.

   Behind the demon, where the other light emitted from, was a man with a scepter. “Is that you little one?”

   Bree cleared her throat, “yes, father.”