Patches still looked at him like he’d lost his mind. The merchant had seen plenty of reckless idiots in his time, but this one took the cake.

  "You’re really going down there, huh?" He let out a dramatic sigh, shaking his head. "And here I thought I’d finally met someone with a good head on their shoulders. Then again, what do I know? I’m just a lowly merchant, haha…"

  Chael remained silent with an impassive expression on his face.

  Patches continued, "Seeing as how you managed to survive this long in the Crucible of Light, you might last a whole day in the City Below. Maybe two if we’re really pushing it. But sure! The tunnel you’re looking for is in an obscure storage room to the very north of the first floor."

  Chael took in that information.

  The first floor?

  The memory of the Hollowed Choir retreating into the cathedral played into his mind and sent a chill down his spine.

  Well whatever. He already knew how their powers worked, and he had already slain one, so it wouldn’t be as nerve-wracking as fighting them the first time.

  "If this City Below is so dangerous.” Chael finally said, “How did you survive through it long enough to get here? Didn’t you come all the way from the Ironspire Fortress?"

  Patches visibly tensed. His grin stiffened just slightly before he gave an exaggerated laugh, "Oh, that? Hah! Well, you know, a man of my talents knows how to slip through the cracks! The monsters down there? Pfft, they never even saw me coming!"

  Chael said nothing.

  Patches’s laugh grew more nervous. "I mean, it was a bit of a close call! But, uh, well, there I was, just minding my own business. Before I knew it, I stumbled upon a nice, convenient little entrance that led me right into the Crucible!"

  "Convenient indeed," he repeated flatly.

  "Very!" Patches nodded rapidly. "Some might call it luck, others divine intervention! Personally, I like to think the world just has a soft spot for me."

  Chael let the silence drag on with his unreadable gaze locked onto Patches’s increasingly restless form.

  Finally, Patches let out a dramatic sigh. "Alright, alright! So maybe I had a little help. Maybe I, ah, borrowed something that helped me get through."

  For all his charm and theatrics, Patches didn’t exactly seem like a warrior. Chael understood that much with how floppy his movements were when Patches attacked him. There was no way he’d fought his way through the horrors of Nytheril. He had to have had some kind of protection.

  Chael’s memory flickered back to that strange red orb he’d seen earlier, the one Patches had immediately shoved back into his pouch.

  "Something like that red orb in your pouch?"

  Patches’ entire body stiffened.

  For a fraction of a second, his eyes flickered toward his pouch before snapping back up. "Wha-? Now that’s just ridiculous! What red orb? I don’t have anything like that!"

  Chael shook his head. "Right."

  Patches cleared his throat and rubbed his hands together. "ANYWAY! Enough about me. What about you? You here by yourself?"

  An indistinct flicker passed over Chael’s blindfolded gaze. “Yeah. I’m alone."

  He didn’t feel the need to bring up Echidna.

  "Ah," Patches nodded. "A lone wolf type, huh? I respect it. There’s honor in that, you know! It’s a shame that you won’t be alive to tell your tale - if you’re really set on descending into the City Below."

  Chael glared at him. "If I die, I die. I’d rather die fighting on my own terms than rot away in cowardice."

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  Patches grinned. "Goodness, that’s grim. You always talk like that?"

  Chael ignored him.

  Something else gnawed at his mind.

  Patches had mentioned something.

  Crucible of Light.

  Chael frowned. He’d heard those words before.

  The spirits, the priestess, the half-ghosts, they had murmured about it. He hadn’t understood what it meant, but now he had an idea.

  "You mentioned the Crucible of Light." Chael said, “Does that refer to this cathedral?”

  Patches froze just for a second. A flicker of hesitation crossed his face, but it was gone almost as soon as it appeared.

  "Ah! Yes, yes," he said quickly and waved a hand as if it were nothing. "That’s the name of this grand little cathedral, you see! Quite the fancy title, don’t you think?"

  It made sense. It was pretty simple, in fact, if he had thought about it a bit more, he could’ve come to the same conclusion.

  Patches’s grin twitched just slightly.

  Chael opened his mouth to ask about something else, but then Patches talked over him.

  "ANYWAY! About that tunnel, friend, are you sure you don’t want to reconsider? Maybe take a nice vacation instead? Somewhere that doesn’t involve, you know, certain death?"

  “Quit it. Just show me the way.”

  “Suit yourself, lady.” Patches then made a grand gesture toward a bookshelf pushed up against the wall. He was grinning as if he were presenting some grand treasure. "And here we are! The way’s up!"

  Chael raised an eyebrow. "That’s a bookshelf."

  Patches scoffed and waved a hand. "Ah, but a bookshelf with secrets, my friend! Behold!"

  With an exaggerated flourish, he grabbed the side of the shelf and pulled. It creaked slightly before shifting just enough to reveal a ladder hidden behind it.

  Chael walked up to the ladder and inspected it. It was of nice and polished wood. It led to some sort of an opening in the ceiling, likely leading to the floor above, "So you’ve been snooping around this place, huh?"

  Patches grinned.

  "Oh, a while! But not without care. You know, with all the-" he gestured vaguely around, "-horrors roaming about. Now, up you go. Careful, though, there’s a knight up there."

  Chael steadied himself on the ladder. Then, without another word, he climbed it.

  The air grew colder as he ascended.

  Soon, he reached its top, and he pulled himself up onto the next floor.

  He immediately took in the surroundings. The room was smaller than the library below but still grand in its own way.

  It had the same eerie, untouched quality as the rest of the cathedral. There wasn’t a speck of dust and no sign of decay.

  Of course. No surprise in that. This place was trapped in time, after all.

  The floor was polished stone, and the walls were adorned with faded tapestries that depicted knights and moonlit landscapes.

  A single window cast pale, dim moonlight across the room, which stretched elongated shadows across the floor. The light barely illuminated much, but it was just enough for Chael to perceive faint reflections in his spear.

  There wasn’t a door to this room, only an open archway.

  And standing in that archway with its back turned to him.

  A knight.

  He shifted his perspective and let the vague reflection in the knight’s armor reveal the corridor beyond the archway.

  Nothing moved. No immediate threats.

  That didn’t mean there weren’t any.

  Patches climbed up behind him, muttering under his breath as he dusted himself off. "Still here, huh? Ah, well, I suppose it makes sense. These big bastards never seem to leave their posts."

  Chael turned his head slightly. "You’re coming with me?"

  Patches beamed. "But of course! You wouldn’t want to leave a poor, helpless merchant all alone, would you?"

  Chael stared at him. "You’re not helpless."

  Patches coughed, but in a whisper. "Ahem, well. Helpless enough!"

  Chael shifted his attention back to the knight. "Whatever. You’ll save me a bunch of time looking for that storage room. How far is the travel?"

  "Ah! Now that’s the tricky part," Patches said, rubbing his chin. "See, the room is tucked away in the lowest level. Lots of stairs. Quite the journey, really!"

  “Wow, you seem to know the ins and out really well,” Chael whispered with an unimpressed look.

  Patches grinned. "Because I’ve been around a few times."

  Chael narrowed his eyes. "A few times?"

  "Got chased by a few unpleasant sorts," Patches admitted. "Decided, ah, not to push my luck, which is why I decided to stay in the library for now..."

  "And now you’re willing to go back?"

  Patches puffed up his chest. "Well, my dear friend, fortune favors the bold!"

  Chael didn’t believe that for a second.

  "You’re hoping I’ll clear the path for you, aren’t you?"

  Patches placed a hand over his heart. "Oh, the slander! The accusations! Here I am, simply offering my guidance out of the kindness of my heart!"

  Chael shook his head, turning back toward the knight. "Stay quiet."

  He stood up silently and slowly moved towards it.