Fenrir waited until well after dark before again setting out for the city. Kira tried to convince him to wait for at least a day, but only in a halfhearted sort of way. "I knew you'd say that," she said when he pointed out that every day significantly increased the danger for Safara, "but I had to try. Please at least promise to be careful. Actually careful, too, not just like you were st night."

  "Well, I never actually promised anything about being careful st night, but point taken. I will exercise all due caution this time."

  "There's a lot due," Kira muttered as Fenrir vanished into the underbrush, prompting a grin from him before he settled down to the task at hand.

  As before, he had decided to leave his axe behind. The chances of it being useful versus it being a liability were far too skewed in favor of the tter for his liking. The small door at the entrance to the sewers swung open on creaking hinges; apparently its uselessness as an obstacle had not yet been discovered. The magic detection enchantment, on the other hand, remained intact, so half an hour ter he cautiously raised the cover of a manhole and climbed out onto the dark streets of the capital cd in only his fur.

  The guard patrols were significantly thicker, but Fenrir was able to thread his way through the city undetected, aided by a partially overcast sky. Eventually he found himself in the same alley which had hosted the priest and the rogue's cndestine meeting the night before. Here, however, he was doomed to disappointment, for the day's traffic had eliminated any trace of the rogue's trail and although he hunted around the vicinity for over an hour, his keen nose could discover no trace of the man's scent.

  'Guess I should have followed him st night instead of trying to sniff around the citadel, especially considering the results of that little foray.' Fenrir sighed. 'Ah well, spilled milk and all that. Guess I should check the Cathedral just in case, and- oh right, there's also that dead drop the priest inadvertently showed me st night. That'd be worth looking at as well.'

  He stopped in the alley behind the offices to check the dead drop, and to his surprise he found a note in it. 'In code, though,' he realized, examining its contents. 'I can't make head or tails out of this. Hmm, well, I'll leave this as I found it for now, no sense in spooking the smuggling ring just yet.' After committing the seemingly random assortment of letters and numbers to memory, he repced the paper where he had found it and moved on towards the Cathedral.

  At the Cathedral, the great lupine found the obstacles blocking his progress unchanged. He was on the point of leaving to attempt to find the smuggling ring by other means when his keen ears caught the sound of quiet voices inside the grounds. Like a phantom he slunk into the shadow of the wall, listening intently. Two men were speaking as they walked slowly through the shrubbery.

  "Valtos has diverted two Inquisitor companies and a Bde of Light. I thought it was overkill, but at least the dungeon should be quelled quickly," the first said, his voice carrying the slight roughness of middle age.

  "I'd hope so! A Bde of Light for a new dungeon? I guess the nobility got really worked up about it popping up in their backyard for such an extreme response. While we're on the subject though, have you heard anything more about the elf's story?" A younger voice, smooth and oily. Fenrir's eyes widened as he recognized it as the voice of Janus Carrow, the priest he had followed across the city the night before.

  "I did, as a matter of fact. She made a report to Valtos this morning. It seems her company all died chasing the demons into the Wyldwood. You know, that old forest on the far side of the Kharos mountains."

  "But isn't that forest suicide? Why would anyone risk entering it?"

  "That company was commanded by Captain Corducell."

  "'Psycho Saxton' Corducell?"

  "You shouldn't call him that," the older voice said, noticeably tinged with amusement.

  "Sorry," said the younger voice, not sounding sorry at all. "But in that case..."

  "Yes, it's well within the realm of possibility."

  "You don't sound too sure, though."

  "I was not present for her report myself, but something about the commander's manner when he told me of it suggested he did not entirely believe her."

  "He thinks she's lying? But why?"

  "Why, indeed."

  There was a momentary silence, then, "So do you think...?"

  "Don't get ahead of yourself, my friend. But... I suppose you could put out some feelers. We'll need to move fast if events do progress in that direction, so having all in readiness would be useful."

  "Either way, getting her out of our hair as soon as possible would be preferable. My contacts are getting antsy. The princess' investigation has made most of their other channels too dangerous to move merchandise through."

  "Ah, the princess. Do your contacts have any information on whether she's made any progress in her search?"

  "They don't think so, but getting anyone close to her to confirm is more difficult than pulling hydra's teeth. There was a scare over there st night, wasn't there? Did you hear anything about that?"

  "Not much, just that the guard was doubled across the city, and tripled in the citadel. Whatever it was has got the guard-captain spooked."

  "An assassination attempt, maybe? But if so, it didn't come from us. So, if we can't move at least a couple packages by next week..." Their voices faded as they moved away from the wall where Fenrir hid, and he straightened, turning this new information over in his mind.

  'So, Safara was already obliged to give an accounting of the missing soldiers. The cover story she chose wasn't too bad from the sounds of it. Pusible enough, at least, but it sounds as though the commander didn't quite buy it. Damn, I need to get her out of there yesterday. That secret passage is my best hope, if it even exists, but trying to find where it would come out into the city is like searching for a needle in a haystack. And here I am, fresh out of magnets.'

  He sighed. 'Well, guess I may as well try. After all, I don't have any better ideas. Let's see, the sewers would be a decent pce to start. If I were making a secret passage, having it come out into a little-used network of tunnels that span the entire city wouldn't be the worst idea.'

  So for the next three hours, Fenrir combed the sewer tunnels around the citadel, all senses alert for anything which seemed the slightest bit out of pce. Rats skittered about, pying with each other and fighting over refuse until, sensing him, they fled at his approach, and the ever-present stench made him wonder if he would ever be able to smell anything else again. Slime and other less savory substances smeared his fur despite his best efforts, but doggedly he stuck to the search, determined not to give up until he had examined every inch of the sewers within a rge distance of the Cathedral's borders.

  At length, however, his patient search was rewarded by a familiar scent. The rogue, Grivor Tatum, had come this way perhaps a week past. Fenrir followed the trail until it terminated in a steep, rough ramp and a rge trapdoor into an empty building. It appeared to be an unused stable, and from the tracks in the dust upon the floor, a wagon was periodically driven in here and something was unloaded, then the wagon was driven out again. Retracing his steps, Fenrir eventually came to where the trail abruptly ended halfway down a passage which appeared to be identical to countless others throughout the city's sewer system. 'Looks like that secret passageway does exist. Now, I just need to figure out how to open it.'

  Closely scrutinizing the walls to either side of where the rogue's trail ended, he noticed a slight draft seeming to issue directly from the stones to his right. A moment's search more revealed a narrow crack in the wall extending vertically to a point about six and a half feet above the floor, well-nigh invisible in the gloom of the tunnel. Minutely he examined the wall on either side of this crack, searching for some kind of catch or release. No such apparatus made itself apparent until he noticed a stone which seemed worn smoother than the others. The next moment he grinned triumphantly as the stone gave under his hand and a section of the wall clicked inward. Pushing on it widened the gap and the cleverly hidden door swung open on silent hinges.

  The rogue's spoor continued but before he went any further, Fenrir examined the mechanism of the door. Satisfied he would be able to open it again from this side, the great lupine closed the secret entrance, then with noiseless steps he followed the narrow passage on through the Stygian bckness. Even his enhanced vision was barely equal to the darkness which wrapped him, but he could see well enough to avoid bumping into the walls. Almost immediately he came to a flight of stairs which took him downwards perhaps fifty feet before the passage leveled again. To his surprise, a rude ramp had been constructed over the stairs, clearly much newer than the passage itself. He examined it briefly, but with no expnation for its presence apparent, Fenrir continued onwards, alert for anything.

  He was certain he had gone far enough to be directly under the Cathedral when he came upon another set of stairs, these leading upwards, and again, covered by a crude ramp. 'They must be transporting their 'packages' by hand cart or something simir. At least, that's the only expnation for these ramps that I can think of.' The stairs (and accompanying ramp) leveled after about thirty feet, and shortly after, he came upon another door, simir to the one which had granted him ingress to this tunnel. Fenrir ensured he would be able to open this one from both sides as well before he continued through it.

  Directly beyond this second concealed door the passage widened and Fenrir came upon a set of iron bars in either wall with an empty space behind. 'Prison cells. This Cathedral has seen darker days, it seems. And here's another, and another.' The double row of cells continued for some distance, and Fenrir counted twenty before they ended. After several more steps upwards the corridor abruptly turned at right angles, and then again, and a wider set of stairs led upwards in the direction from which he had come. These had no ramp, but what interested Fenrir was the branching passage which extended straight on past the stairs.

  Following this led him to a dead end and a wooden door to his right. The door was unlocked, and he cautiously opened it to reveal a guardroom of sorts, though long abandoned. 'This is likely where the jailers would have slept and spent their time. Not really useful to me, though.' Closing the door behind him, he was about to head towards the stairs when he became aware of a subtle whistling, like air being drawn through a tight space. It was coming from his right, where the corridor ended in a bnk wall. A moment's examination, and he had to suppress a chuckle. 'Whoever built this pce liked their secret passages, it seems. They could have spent a bit more time on making sure their doors fit better, though. Now, how do I open this one?'

  It took him some time to find the release which opened this door, but at length he discovered it, a nearby candle sconce which, when pulled, resulted in a slight clunk from the door and it swung open at his push, though not without compint from the old hinges. 'Now where does this lead? It's going to be a tight fit for me; I'd better be careful or I could get stuck. That'd be rather embarrassing.' Completing his now familiar ritual of examining the mechanisms which opened the secret passage, Fenrir slipped into this new corridor, bending considerably to avoid bumping his head on the ceiling. His shoulders were slightly too wide as well, forcing him to walk somewhat sideways, but before long the passage terminated in a tight spiral staircase. 'They certainly didn't use any more space than absolutely necessary on this,' Fenrir mused as he climbed the staircase. 'I'm crawling as much as walking in here.'

  At the top of the staircase the walls abruptly changed from stone to wood, an extremely narrow passage leading off into the darkness, while a dder on the nding led even higher. 'I do believe I'm inside the Cathedral itself right now. This is probably the ground floor, which means this dder will lead to the floors above. This is quite an unexpected windfall; having a way of getting around the Cathedral itself entirely undetected was far beyond even my most optimistic hopes. Shouldn't get ahead of myself, though, I don't actually know how extensive this particur network of passages is.'

  'Well,' he decided, 'only one way to change that.'

  So for the next hour he explored the passages, moving very carefully to avoid making a sound. The first floor corridor had several exits into various rooms, as well as peepholes into others. The same went for the second floor, and the third even had a small hidden gallery that overlooked the main hall of the Cathedral. Peering through the cleverly disguised opening, Fenrir could make out a rge statue perhaps fifteen feet tall standing at the far end of the hall. It depicted an angelically beautiful woman with a gentle smile on her face, her arms spread wide in welcome. The white marble of which it was made seemed to shine with a soft inner light, and Fenrir felt a strange longing as he gazed upon the statue's face, a warm and tender love apparent in every line of her countenance. 'This must be Marstolle. Well, if even a statue of her can evoke this kind of response, I can understand why people would worship her.'

  Tearing his gaze from the statue, he continued his exploration, and on the fourth floor, the highest to which the dder climbed, his sensitive nostrils caught the unmistakable scent of Safara. He nearly wedged himself fast in his eagerness to follow the fragrance to its source, but in a very short time he was standing in front of a thin sb of wood, on the far side of which he could hear the even breathing of the one he sought. Noiselessly he sought for the release, and a moment ter the thin panel swung open and he stepped forwards to feast his eyes upon the form of his elf, curled comfortably under her bnkets, her blue-white hair radiant in the moonlight which fell full upon her from the nearby window.

  As though warned by an inner premonition, she stirred and opened her eyes before he had taken two steps towards her. Her gaze swept the room, eyes widening as they came to rest upon Fenrir. "Master...?" she whispered, as though she could not believe the evidence of her eyes.

  Fenrir swept her into his arms, holding her close, and she gave a great trembling sigh of relief and joy as she melted into his embrace. "It really is you..." Then she wrinkled her nose and pulled back. "And you're filthy. What happened?"

  Fenrir grinned half in amusement and half in relief as he replied, "Well, I crawled through sewers and tiny dust covered passageways to reach you, so that's where all the grime comes from. I'm afraid there weren't any baths on hand to clean up before I found you."

  "I can tell. You stink. I'm gd you're here, though," she added, happiness once more overtaking her voice.

  "You didn't think I'd abandon you, did you? C'mon, let's get out of here."

  But Safara didn't follow as he turned towards the false panel. "No, wait," she said slowly, causing him to turn back to face her. "If I just vanish in the middle of the night, they'll assume I ran away, and that will cast doubt on everything I've told them. We need to think this through."

  Fenrir sat down on the floor in front of Safara, which pced his head about on a level with hers where she sat on the edge of her bed. "Very well. You're right, if you abruptly disappear, they'll assume you ran. But I'm not going to leave you in their power, especially since they're suspicious of you."

  "They're suspicious? How do you know?"

  Fenrir told her of the conversation he had overheard earlier that night, and what he knew of the smuggling ring he had uncovered. When he finished, Safara was silent for several moments, digesting the information he had given her.

  "Do you know who the two men were?" she finally asked.

  "The younger is a priest named Janus Carrow, but I don't know who the other was, merely that he was considerably older than his companion, and it sounded as though he were Carrow's superior."

  Safara chewed the inside of her lip as she thought. "They don't know, really, that I'm not telling the truth when I say it's the Wyldwood that killed those soldiers. It's just that Commander Valtos suspects that I'm not being entirely truthful. I think I ought to stay, at least for now. I just wish I had some way of signaling you if I needed help. How did you even get here?"

  Fenrir pointed to the panel from which he had come. "Behind that wall is a secret passage which eventually connects to the sewers outside the Cathedral. That's how I got onto the grounds without triggering the Thief's Betrayal. The passage passes underneath the enchantment's borders and thus bypasses it entirely. But I still don't like the thought of leaving you here."

  Safara lifted her big blue eyes to his. "Do you trust me?" she asked quietly.

  "I... yes, I do." Fenrir sighed. "Very well, point taken, but unless we can figure out some method of communication, you are not staying here. It is simply too dangerous."

  "I understand. But I don't know of any method to communicate across long distances that wouldn't be easily detectable."

  "...I might know a way," Fenrir said slowly. "Do you have a copy of the Rune Index handy?"

  "Yes, here, but it's pitch bck in here. How are you going to- wait, you can see in the dark, can't you?"

  "Bingo," Fenrir grinned, beginning to flip through the book, and in the process missing Safara mouth 'Bingo?' to herself. "Now let's see here... Here. Could this be detected by an outside source?"

  "Fenrir, you might be able to see perfectly well in the dark, but I'm going to need more light than this to make anything out. I can barely even see you, besides your eyes."

  "Ah, right." The rge lupine stood, and lighting the candle sitting on her bedside table, handed it to her. "Better?"

  "Much. Thank you. Now what were you asking about?"

  "This one here." Fenrir pointed to a single rune.

  Safara furrowed her brow in confusion. "But this is a detection rune."

  "Exactly. When I was looking over the Thief's Betrayal, it gave me an idea. I'm not sure if it will work, but if we- one moment-" Fenrir grabbed one of Safara's notebooks and quickly began sketching out a simple rune circle. "You see, if we can tune a detection rune to listen for a specific circle using the pass emblem method-"

  "-Then we could have almost undetectable instantaneous communication between two points!" Safara interrupted excitedly. Then her face fell slightly as she continued, "But distance would still be a problem. It would still take a lot of mana expenditure to boost the outgoing signal to a point where it wouldn't fade to nothing before it reached the listening circle."

  "I've got several ideas for that," Fenrir replied, pointing to two runes at equidistant points on his circle. "If we tune the transmitting circle to broadcast in a specific direction instead of every direction at once, like a beam, we cut down on the amount of energy necessary to broadcast any given distance by several orders of magnitude."

  "That could work," Safara nodded. "It would at least make it feasible to communicate more than a couple hundred feet. But how would we send messages of any complexity through it?"

  "The simplest method would be to include a basic light rune, here, that turns on or off based on whether a signal is being received. Then we could send messages via Morse, but I think it would be worth developing a more complex mechanism to make the transfer of information easier. I was thinking about trying to use this telepathic link to essentially send thoughts back and forth."

  Safara gaped. "But that rune is only used for linking multiple casters to make the casting of the most complex rune circles easier, or, well, feasible. How would that even be possible?"

  "Honestly? I'm not sure," Fenrir shrugged. "I'm still trying to work out how this system all fits together, but it's worth looking into. For now though, we should probably just see if we can get the Morse code version to work."

  "Um, what's Morse code?"

  "A form of code which uses dots and dashes to represent letters and numbers. It's fairly simple, and useful because it can be transmitted through almost any medium. I can teach it to you, but first let's figure this circle out."

  Safara nodded. "Okay. First, we'll need to..."

  And so, putting their heads together, they puzzled over the various problems the development of a new rune circle inevitably posed while the hours slowly passed, and their single candle steadily burned lower.

  TheBestofSome