Tania walked slowly down the alley, keeping an eye behind her after every step to make sure she wasn''t followed. Once she was satisfied, she pulled a golden key from her pocket and walked to the nearest door. She entered it into the keyhole and rotated it once, twice, and then a third time before she opened the door. Green light filtered out through the cracks, and she stepped inside quickly, closing the door behind her as she stepped onto the stone floor of the Underground.


    "Welcome back, Mistress Tania." A man wearing a blue uniform and holding a spear bowed to her as she stepped into the glowing light of the stones that lined the tunnel.


    "It is good to be back," Tania said immediately as she walked past the guard and down the tunnels.


    The light at the end of the barren walls of the tunnels grew and grew until they came out to the cavern below in a burst of light. A spacious cavern stretched out before Tania, the roof and wall stretching so far out that they were hidden in darkness. Below her vantage point, cut smooth by the hands of people more ancient than she, stretched the stone structures of a city, the entire system aglow with light provided by the same stones that lighted the tunnel.


    "It is good to be back, Undertown," Tania said, gathering her cloak around her as she descended the steps down to Undertown below.


    She made her way close enough to the city that she could catch a carriage. A rotting man, wearing a cabbie''s hat and uniform, tipped his hat to greet her as she got in. She didn''t ask his name. He was drim and lesser than her.


    "To the Apex," she said, putting a coin in his outstretched hand and leaning back in her covered carriage behind.


    "Tck, Tck." The cabbie pulled on his reins and set his horses into motion.


    The rotting corpses that used to be horses whinnied as they pulled the cart forward, and it shook and bumped as it went down the road into Undertown. For a while, Tania was sure she would be spared any attempt at conversation, but the rotted drim looked back at her with a toothy smile that revealed the rot underneath.


    "You''re out late tonight, m''lady," he said. "Back from a visit to the Real?"


    "I think that would be obvious," Tania said, looking out to the streets as they entered Undertown proper.


    Drim and humans alike wandered the streets of Undertown, for the Underground was beneath all islands in the nightsea. To most, it was merely a legend, but to people like Tania, it was home. She even thought she spotted a winged argent in the crowd at one point. Had that been a zoa speaking with a fishfolk? Every time she returned to Undertown, she noticed more and more of the different people there. Would they have giants running around next? Not that they would fit easily in Undertown.


    "Too true, m''lady, too true." The cabbie laughed ghoulishly. "I always like to hear news from the Real. I left my friends back in the mines when I found Undertown, so I always want to find out how things are going topside."


    "''Things'' are much the same as they always are," Tania said. "The People''s Revolution makes small plays against the Scions, and the Scions push them back every time. The Old World operates in ignorance of the New World, even as it enjoys the various imports from unknown places. The balance of power is maintained, and we thrive because of it."


    "Don''t think I don''t appreciate that fact," the cabbie said, spitting down on the street as the carriage rolled to a stop at stopped traffic in front of them. "I appreciate that I can work here for a wage and live a life, or unlife, I guess."


    Yet, he insisted on talking with her and bothering her with his problems. He was a drim, and she was human. Protocols were to be followed for a servant class like the drim. Tania feigned to entertain his fancy, though. They would be in traffic for a while.


    "What kingdom did you serve in?"


    "Why, the Empyrean itself in the mines," the cabbie said. "Worked day and night cutting away at lodestone and shipping it out to the people up above. Didn''t fancy I would fall through the world and down here. Luckily, I was drim and not human. Otherwise, I would have died from the fall. Can''t kill what is already dead!"


    "I imagine that is one benefit," Tania said as she focused on anything but the cabbie.


    "The only problem with Undertown is the traffic, really." The cabbie cackled. "I''d trade my left eye for a way to fly over all of it to get my fares done and home sooner. "


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    Wuh-pssh.


    Her cabbie cracked a small whip as the line in front of them began to move, and the carriage was on its way again. He was thankfully silent for the next few minutes, and soon, they were at her destination, the Apex. When they stopped, Tania stepped out onto the solid stone sidewalk, and the cabbie turned to her before she walked away.


    "Have a good day, m''lady," he said, tipping his hat again before he rode off.


    Tania shook her head and wiped off any filth from her robes that may have touched her. Once she was finished, she looked up at the building where she had been dropped off. It towered above her. If there had been a sun, it would have created a massive shadow over the entire city around her. However, the glowing stones that ran up the side of the building gave off its own light all around it, like all of the buildings in Undertown. She could already see her boss at the top of the towering building, looking down at her through the glass window, still a shadow except for the light of his cigar.


    She quickly made her way up the stairs of the Apex and inside. Her boss was not a man to keep waiting.


    She rode the lift up to the top floor of the Apex and stepped out quickly. Her boss''s office was at the end of the hallway, and she quickly made her way down the hallway and to the door. She opened the door to a dark room lined with shelves full of various jars with different items suspended in a liquid. All of them were in various states of decay.


    Wooh. Pah.


    "Welcome back, Tania," a line of smoke curled up and away from a man sitting at a desk, hidden by the room''s shadows.


    Tania''s back tensed as the voice cut through her. Unfortunately, she had terrible news, and her boss did not like bad news. She needed to phrase her words carefully, or she might not leave the office alive. She took in a deep breath, and the fumes that filled the room caused her to cough.


    "Take your time, Tania," the man said, leaning back on his chair and putting his black dress shoes on the table. "We have all the time in the world."


    From a normal person, that would have put Tania at ease. However, she knew her place. This was an Underground Lord, a criminal boss in Undertown who had connections all over Erth. The nightsea was just one arena for power to this man, and a single word could have her in a black bag by the end of the conversation.


    "Lord Bacia," Tania bowed after clearing her throat and gathering her courage. "I have to make my report."


    "You do," a white, toothy smile lit up the room for a moment before it was again replaced with the singular glowing ember of Lord Bacia''s cigar.


    "I sent out ''Tin Man'' Ortega to find the logbook, as you requested, a week ago. He has not reported back to Last Port since then."


    Lord Bacia took a deep breath, and a line of smoke shot up through the dark room. Tania took a moment to gather her breath again. There was more, and the entire situation was about to get a lot worse. She kept her hand on the door handle because her first instinct was to run.


    "Go on," Lord Bacia stood up from his desk.


    His cigar was the only thing marking his movements into the deeper shadows of the room as he went over to one of the shelves. Each step echoed in the silent room. Tania pushed down her racing heart. She wasn''t responsible for the problem. She was just reporting it.


    "From my sources, the logbook was either destroyed on Cragg Hollow, or he took the book and ran," Tania spit out the words as quickly as she could like they were poison. "We have no idea where he could be."


    Wooh. Pah.


    Another deep breath in and another exhalation of smoke rose from the shelf as Lord Bacia picked up one of the jars and held it closer to the light. His dark hands were revealed in the dim light of the glowing stones as they held the jar.


    "You think I blame you," Lord Bacia said, chuckling.


    An itch scratched at the back of Tania''s throat, and she had to force herself not to cough. The room was growing more and more noxious by the second, and her lungs burned to take a breath of air. Even with the door open, the acidic stench of the room was overpowering.


    "I only do, insomuch as you bear the blame, but honestly, most of it lies on myself," Lord Bacia said, setting his jar down on the shelf and turning to her.


    He approached her slowly, step by step, and his shoes clicked on the floor with each step.


    Click. Tap. Click. Tap. Click. Tap.


    Lord Bacia practically towered over Tania. Again, his teeth flashed white in the darkness before they were replaced with his cigar''s glowing embers. Tania trembled. She could run. Maybe she would make it down the hall, but part of her knew the truth. She was far too late for that.


    "You see, it was my decision to try my hopes on this ''Tin Man'' Ortega. It was my choice to put out that trust, not yours. I''m the one who should be punished, not you, Tania."


    He raised one hand into the air in front of her, palm facing himself. From the darkness, he produced a long curved knife, and in a single stroke, he cut through his hand and sent it falling to the floor in a mess of blood. Tania flinched back from it, but the blood shot out on her clothes.


    Hiss.


    "Ahh!" Tania screamed as the blood burned through her clothes and through her skin.


    She fell to the floor, only to find a puddle of burning liquid there, too. The hand was gone, but the puddle remained. She rolled out of it, but it was too late. Already, it had eaten at her skin and her clothes. Like a fire across the skin, the burning liquid spread.


    Lord Bacia had a reputation in Undertown. He was neither a man to be trifled with nor disappointed. He had the same cutthroat attitude as any of the Underground Lords, but he also was a man with a plan. Messing with his plan in any way would put a target on a person''s back. He paid well. He had his means, but mistakes ended in death.


    "I''m sorry," Lord Bacia said as Tania pressed herself against the wall. "You see, I tried to make myself pay, but look, my hand is just back where it left off, good as new. Because I can''t punish myself, I guess I can only deal with you."


    Tania screamed again and again in that office as Lord Bacia reduced her to nothing, bit by bloody bit. The last words she heard before she knew no more was the sentence Lord Bacia said often to those he had to kill.


    "What part of you should I keep to remember my failure?"