The sun shown between clouds high in the sky once we had made our way back to the streets. I chewed on a hunk of bread that Gravis had tossed me while we walked. The air was heavy from last night's rain.

  The guards nodded to us as we passed through the giant gates that separated Fish Town from the First Ward. I had never really been on good terms with any law enforcement in my life and it was something of a new feeling. I guess I had plenty of time to change that.

  A giant tower loomed to the north, dwarfed only by the mountain beyond it.

  Gravis pointed. "Do you see Midtown?"

  I looked to the mountain where he pointed and saw that a mammoth wall jutted upward.

  "Why is it called Midtown?" I asked. I squinted to make out any details beyond the stone. That part of the city must be embedded in the mountain. I could only imagine the difficulty an army would have in taking it.

  Bree answered. "Because it's half way up!"

  I groaned. Seemed like a stupid name to me. "What's it got to do with us?"

  Logan spoke. His voice was calm and steady. "That is where Belizzare will be waiting for us."

  We climbed a set of steep stairs and followed a cobblestone road to a gate set in the mountain. Smokeless green orbs glowed as bright as torches along the walls as far in as I could see. I wondered what magic might be at work in them.

  Two guards stood in our way. "Who passes this day?"

  Gravis stepped forward, whispered to one of the guards briefly and stepped back.

  "Very well," the guard said and he nodded to the other guard. They stepped aside.

  I wondered if leaving would be so easy. We stepped into the winding tunnel under the mountain. The walls were granite with veins of quartz. The ground was smooth and well maintained and the ceilings were vaulted so high that I could not see them in the darkness.

  We emerged into a giant cavern, large enough to fit the entire First Ward inside of it. Buildings of various shapes and sizes filled all of the floor space as far as I could see, some of the buildings stretched up a hundred feet in the air. On the walls were the same glowing green orbs providing a sickly look to the stone. To the south, natural light filtered in from the mouth of the enormous cavern. I had to believe, this was Midtown.

  Bree leaned close to me. "Keep your blade at hand. The shadows here hide more than stone and dirt."