"I think we need to talk, come I know a place." Maya threw her hood up, and slipped into a narrow alleyway, bidding the other two to follow.
By the time they came to a stop Cassian completely lost track of where they were - the labyrinthine streets of the Pit were both unfamiliar and dark, he would surely get lost by himself.
Maya brought them to a staircase leading underground, guarded by a burly hooded figure.
"Business or Private?" The man asked in gruff voice.
"Private." Maya answered.
The blonde guard fished out a small coin from under her robe, and flicked it at the bouncer.
"Third door on the right, you know the rules."
When the bouncer opened the door to let them in, Maya confidently strolled inside, while the other two cautiously followed her in.
The room they rented was really small - two benches and a simple table between them, more of a walled off booth than a room really.
Once they were all settled Maya closed the door, and twisted a big knob on the door. Previously invisible enchantments on the door whirred to life, emitting a soft glow and a low hum.
"Alright were in private now, you can drop the hoods." She announced.
"I ought to have you suspended for going to the Pit on your own." Alison crossed her arms.
"You won’t, I’m too adorable - besides, you’re here now, aren’t you?" Maya grinned.
"Whatever." The capitan grumbled. "So you’re here because of Decay?"
"Yeah, I know we were planning to start investigating next week, but I wanted to get this cursed thing destroyed before it could hit the streets." She motioned at Cassian. "Anyway, who’s the new guy? And what are you doing here?"
"This is Cassian, and he’s part of the group that arrived in the city two days ago. I’m here to investigate Konrad’s case, and he’s here because Lady Sylara insisted that they should help me."
"If they were supposed to help you then where’s the rest of them?"
"Following another lead, anyway we should-"
Maya stopped her mid-sentence:
"I think we should answer the questions of our new friend first, don’t you think dear?"
"Fine, but don’t take too long."
"Thanks darling." She addressed Cassian. "So I assume you do have questions, as otherwise it would be a rather awkward situation?"
"First off, where are we? I’ve sat through enough meetings with nobles while accompanying my father to recognise a silencing spell when I see one, but why is something in here?"
"There are a few places in the city, before the invasion they were information exchange centers owned by the merchants guild. Because of their immense wealth the facilities are connected to the same power source as the main array, which means they are still operational."
"Nowadays they’re used mostly by criminals and..." Alison didn’t finish her thought, but he ears became inexplicably red.
"...and teens who want to get some alone time." Maya finished, and then added in a teasing voice. "Did you perhaps remember something Ally?"
"No!" She blushed even harder.
As Cassian observed the two young women bicker, a question popped into his mind:
"So... are you two like a couple or is this just a very strange commander-subordinate relationship?"
"It’s not your business." Alison stated.
"I see." Sensing that he didn’t want to open this particular can of worms, he moved onto the next question. "What’s the Decay?"
Surprisingly, the one to answer was Alison:
"It’s the drug made using blight I’ve told you about at the headquarters - we heard some rumours that someone in the Pit was trying to recreate it, and judging by Piff’s words, they were correct."
"And that Kalim guy? He’s involved in both our cases?"
"Most likely, he’s a prolific outlaw traveling between settlements to cause chaos."
"How does he travel between cities? She said the criminals wouldn’t be able to leave Mountainfall." He threw a suspicious glance at Maya.
"Well, in my defence no one has ever saw him actually leave a city... but that text was mostly to test Piff’s knowledge, only select few people know he can travel between between cities unnoticed."
"So he could be in contact with the Blightborn?"
"Oh, he for sure is - he wouldn’t have gotten things to make Decay otherwise. To be frank it’s a blessing that he’s not particularly creative with his attempts to destabilise our city, or we would have fallen long ago."
"Since he works with them, why didn’t he tell them where exactly is the city so that they can attack?" Cassians brows furrowed.
"He’s not able to - another fancy feature of this fortress is that anyone who steps inside can’t reveal the location to anyone else."
"They could use him as a guide though." He pointed out.
"I assume they can’t guarantee his safety in the wilderness, so if something unexpected was to happen, they wouldn’t be able to find the city AND they would lose their only way in."
So there was a spy in the city that couldn’t really do their job beyond causing minor incidents - not a particularly threatening criminal, but Cassian agreed that it would be for the best to get rid of him before he comes up with something actually dangerous.
"So do you have a plan?" He asked.
"We’re going to find their base of operations first, and then act accordingly based on their number." Alison said.
"Are we going to try catching Kalim?"
"I mean we can try, but no one succeeded in the past twenty years - He’s not the brightest, but the bastard is slippery as hell." Maya shrugged.
The knob on the door suddenly clicked, and the glow of the circle dissipated.
"Time’s up, we need to go."
Without further explanation Maya got up and put on her hood back, the other two could only follow her.
Once they got out of the underground space, the blonde guard quickly explained their next step:
"When we reach the southern cliff we need find a good vantage point and observe for any sketchy activities."
As it turned out, the southern part of the pit was not only the most dilapidated, but also by far the most crowded. A lot of people were scurrying through the dirty alleys, somehow maintaining almost a perfect silence.
Maya subtly pointed at an old water tower, and mouthed ’there’.
The stone tower was quite tall and relatively intact, the only reason no one claimed it yet was the fact that the metal ladder leading to the top was rusted and broken - still, for people like them climbing up the wall wasn’t an issue.
"We can talk here as long as we keep our voices down" Maya said.
"What should we look for? Suspicious activity isn’t exactly uncommon in an area ." Cassian asked.
"Their base will likely be in a relatively big building, considering how much space they need to make the drug. It will also probably have someone guarding the entrance, as an organised gang they’re one of the few people who would dare to leave someone on the street level for a longer period of time."
"We should also be on the lookout for couriers, they need mundane ingredients for the drug as well, and they won’t risk fetching them on their own." Alison added.
"Buckle up Cassian, this is going to be a long stake out." Maya smiled.
Cassian was the first to break the silence after an hour of quiet staring at the hundreds of hooded figures.
"Why are there so many people here?"
Maya didn’t take her eyes awa from the streets, but she did respond:
"It’s the commercial part of the Pit - it’s easy to forget but many people live in this hole, so they need somewhere to buy food, clothes and other necessities. There are even a few restaurants and bars, but as you might imagine they’re not exactly popular."
"What about Piff’s shop then? It was on the opposite side of the Pit"
"Piff might be a regular merchant with stock of dubious quality, but his clientele is mostly comprised of people from the city proper, so that location is much more convenient for him."
"He’s also an information broker, which is even more of a reason to not advertise himself on the main street - people who need his services will find him on their own." Alison supplied.
Cassian scratched his chin.
"I’m going to be honest, your society is more complex than I would expect from a city this small - you have a functional economy with your own currency, and a criminal underbelly full of noteworthy characters."
"Well I wouldn’t give us too much credit, most of this works because of Lady Sylara, without her Mountainfall would have fallen long ago, whether from Blightborn raids or because of people like Kalim." Maya laughed quietly.
Alison suddenly froze.
"I’ve found them." She whispered, and pointed at a specific structure.
A menacing dark figure was standing in front of the entrance, glaring at anyone who came too close. The chimney of the building was producing thick black smoke like countless others in the vicinity, but when one looked closer the dark cloud had a strange purple tint to it.
Now they had to decide what to do.