City of Fallen Souls: A LitRPG Adventure (UnderVerse Book 3) by Jez Cajiao (fb2 epub reader .txt) 📕

fast before they get this one, too. Once you’re on the other side, you won’t get back this way easily, so be careful. If you need to, give me a signal of some kind, and I’ll set up a diversion to help you cross back.”

“Fireball good enough as a signal?” I asked him, and he scowled at me.

“If you want the entire city to know, yeah; otherwise, how about you try a little subtlety? I swear, fucking Mages and ‘Fireball’…!” He muttered quietly, shaking his head.

“How about a bird whistle?” Oracle suggested. “There are loads of birds, and nobody ever pays them any attention…”

“Really?” Gaion asked crossly. “First off, there’s no fucking birds here. It’s the city, it’s night, and the Imps fucking eat them. Maybe in the countryside, there are, but here? Some bird goes whistling a merry fucking tune, and it becomes breakfast, supper, or a handbag. That’s it. Secondly, if there were loads of birds around, how the hell would I know which one was you?! Seriously, people, just think a little. The bridge is too far to see in the dark, so I need something I can identify as you!”

“Look.” I said, getting annoyed. “I’ll do this, okay?” I conjured a small fireball, waving it in a circle, then reabsorbing it.

“Fine, but don’t blame me if you’re seen,” Gaion muttered, heading back into the night.

“Well, he’s a cheerful guy…” Oracle said grumpily, landing back on my shoulder in her tiny form and crossing her arms in a huff.

“It’s the nature of the work we’re doing tonight, little lady,” Grizz said quietly. “Some people get angry, others get stressed. I usually get excited. Everyone’s different.”

“Why is he not cheerful, then? If you’ve got to be something, why not choose to be happy?” She frowned.

“It’s not that easy, unfortunately. Some people just don’t handle stress well.”

“He’s a spy, though. Surely he should be good at it?” I asked.

“You spotted that too, huh?” Grizz grinned at me, and I nodded.

“He’s the most instantly forgettable person I’ve ever met. I bet even his height and weight are the exact average. He screams ‘spy’ so much, I want to nail a bell to his forehead.” I admitted.

“Okay people, let’s go!” Augustus said, cutting off the conversation and leading the way up the narrow switchback stairs. I slipped twice on something I preferred not to think about, but judging from the smell, either the city was full of dogs with severe intestinal issues, or in the much had another source… and I’d seen a grand total of three dogs so far.

We moved carefully, climbing the last dozen steps up to the bridge. I breathed a sigh of relief as I emerged into the open air, shaking my head at whoever decided there was no need for things like handrails or light on that death trap of a staircase.

Looking around quickly, I saw Augustus strolling along in the lead. His group surrounded him as he marched down across the bridge, feathers flapping in the breeze. I couldn’t help but grin, and Grizz did the same next to me.

“Seems like an amazing coincidence that every time I turn around, you’re there, mate.” I whispered to him, and he nodded.

“Centurion Primus Augustus told me yesterday to keep close to you. I’m to keep you safe, no matter what happens,” he said calmly.

“Really, dude? How does that order square with me fighting in the arena, then?” I smirked, and he looked uncomfortable.

“Yeah, that’s a bit of a kick in the balls, considering my entire job right now is to watch over you, but hey. It is what it is,” Grizz said philosophically.

“Talk to Bane,” I suggested, shrugging. “He’s my bodyguard, and he spends half his time having to watch me fighting from the sidelines. I think he’s getting used to it, though…”

“Not even close,” Bane muttered from my right. I grinned in his direction as we walked, but I couldn’t see him.

We left the bridge and made our way through the alleys and down streets. The current path was much nicer than the one we’d passed a few days earlier, and considerably more intact than the market I’d last visited, I guessed.

We passed shuttered shops, many with the glow of candles shining from the rooms upstairs. Several of the more richly appointed ones even had small huts by the door, with the occasional guard wrapped up tight against the cold drizzle and glaring at us as we wandered past.

Every so often, one of the groups would comment loudly on the fights or something similar, as if to make us look more authentic. To me, it just made me worry that we’d be more memorable.

We took a final left, then crossed to walk down a wider cobbled street with actual sidewalks. Here stood two guards in sight, one at either end of the street, and lit by a pair of magelights on either side of the door, was our target: The Magical Emporium.

Chapter Twenty

I made eye contact with Augustus and gestured to the guards with my chin, getting a nod of confirmation in return. Two men slipped away towards either end of the street, and I looked up at the entrance to the Emporium. The doorway was flanked by an impressive pair of columns on either side. A single magelight, glowing steadily, jutted from a recess on each, casting a subdued glow, as if in warning, and I felt the pull of magic coming from inside.

I peered up the street, seeing my Legionnaires in the guard huts, and I drew in a deep breath. I knew they’d have almost certainly killed them, and I felt my stomach knot up at the thought of casually killing innocent guards, until I made myself consider the slaving, the bribery, blackmail, and worse they indulged in. Grizz had told me about the kind of strings that would have to be pulled, according to rumor, to get a guard to literally watch over an empty street, while the mobs