Night had fallen over Waterdeep by the time Serena and everyone else left Werond’s house. They kept to the backroads, moving through alleys and side streets, avoiding the bustle that plagued the city well into the night. Somehow, Jo knew just the roads to take to avoid sending Serena into a nervous panic, something she was thankful for once they finally reached the North Ward. Though it didn’t help that Jo and Pavel had practically hugged her the entire walk over.

With the rise of the moon came the chill of the dark, though Serena couldn’t remember a night in the city when it wasn’t like that. Tonight, however, proved to be particularly chilly, causing Pavel and Jo to beg Serena for relief. She begrudgingly did so, cupping a fist sized flame in both her hands, only after Pavel had agreed to hold her staff – forgotten in the foyer closet – as they walked.

She had tried to warn them. Pavel’s newly repaired splint mail and Jo’s leather armor did little to keep them warm, and they at least should have borrowed a cloak from the foyer closet. Both seemed to imagine themselves tougher than the cold and went without however, a choice they regretted barely ten minutes into their walk.

Cruck’aa, of course, seemed fine. He strode some paces ahead of them, feathers puffed up against the cold’s icy fingers. He led them down the quiet streets, illuminated every so often by the yellow shine of the streetlamps.

“Does he know where he’s going?” Pavel asked; the clack of Serena’s staff echoed into the night air.

“I told him before we left. It’s not hard if you just follow the street signs.” Jo replied, fingers tapping the hilt of her sheathed rapier.

“Cruck’aa doesn’t strike me as someone who’d do that.”

“Well, he has been acting pretty odd tonight.” Jo eyed Pavel. “Could say the same about you. Though you’ve been odd this whole week.”

Pavel adjusted his belt, heavy with his sword and flail on either hip, before responding in a quiet voice.

“Yeah. Odd is a way to put it.”

Jo nodded but didn’t reply. Serena looked between them and frowned, glancing at her hands. She hated when she couldn’t speak, though the thought of snuffing out the flame seemed worse in comparison. Instead, she cast her attention up at the buildings around them, marveling at just how different they were to those in the Castle Ward.

It seemed as though every building along the sidewalk was built differently from one another, more than likely on purpose. Each seemed to be a house of some kind, built to show off, though they all looked as though they were trying too hard. Like a child pretending to be an adult by wearing their mother’s clothing.

The streets were just as odd; in stark contrast to the Castle Ward, all of North Ward seemed as though it had closed up for the night. Most homes stood dark, with only a few windows illuminated here and there, and no one wandered the streets aside from them and the occasional guard patrol that passed by.

Luckily, those patrols had only stopped them twice – once to talk to Jo, much to her annoyance, and once to comment on Serena’s choker. That seemed odd to her, but overall fitting for just how different the North Ward seemed to be.

“You give any thought on how we plan on in?” Pavel asked.

“Yes. We go through carefully.” Jo replied.

“Beyond that, I mean.”

Jo shrugged. “No, not really.”

“Don’t think we need it?”

“Hard to say when we know nothing about the place. I suppose we can get Cruck’aa to change into a spider and scout the place out. Don’t know if he’ll agree to that, but anything’s possible.”

“I was thinking more of our formation. I assume I’ll be the one kicking in the doors, but –”

“There will be no kicking down doors.” Jo eyed him. “Not unless you want half the ward to know what we’re doing.”

Pavel opened his mouth to continue, only to shut it, an annoyed look across his face. Serena glanced at him with a raised eyebrow, though Pavel didn’t elaborate further.

Anxiety flickered to life in Serena’s chest. Ever since the tournament, Pavel had been in a listless state, going out each night with people Serena thought were his friends. He’d finally woken up from that, telling the leeches off, but he still didn’t seem himself, even know. A nervous energy seemed to fill his body, one that spoke more to a fight than finally getting answers.

In turn, it made her nervous; Serena wasn’t sure what Pavel would do, but a part of her felt as though it wouldn’t be good.

Her nervousness only intensified when they finally reached their destination – Cliffwatch Road. Jo pointed out their destination when they turned onto the street, though she didn’t need to. Standing across the way from a tall guard tower, the inn immediately stuck out with its ramshackle appearance in an otherwise neatly maintained row of shops.

Cruck’aa stood in front of the inn, bathed in the light of a streetlamp. He looked over as the three of them approached, gesturing at the inn. Jo nodded, and without a word, began to lead them around the side and into an alleyway.

Serena eyed the front of the inn as they walked past; the wooden walls looked ruined, windows were boarded up, the door was nailed shut with a thick piece of wood, and broken glass hung loosely from the second-floor windowsills, gaping wounds to the night. The place looked like a corpse, left rotting in the sun, and just the thought of walking in sent a shudder down Serena’s spine.

The alley Jo led them into looked no different than the others around the city, though this one was much wider. Against the wall of the inn, a set of stairs jutted out of the rotting wooden wall, leading to a door that looked, strangely, as though it had been installed months ago.

Jo motioned them towards the steps, halting in front of them. As Serena, Pavel, and Cruck’aa gathered around her, Serena snuffed the flame in her hands out, and accepted her staff back from Pavel, holding it in the crook of her arm. Pavel and Jo immediately began to shiver.

“C-cute place, huh?” Jo said, her voice low. “Lots of value, I bet.”

“It looks like shit.” Cruck’aa said, crossing his arms.

“I mean…y-yes. Makes it the perfect place to hide a tunnel if you ask m-me. Anyways, before we just go bursting in there, w-we need to figure out what’s what. So –”

“You didn’t think of anything?” Cruck’aa demanded.

Jo pulled her lips in a tight line, looking at the Aarakocra with narrowed eyes. Serena raised her hands, left arm bent slightly.

“We talked about that on the way over here.” She said. “We thought that, maybe, you could turn into a spider and check the place out first. Plus,” Serena gestured at the door behind Jo. “I bet that’s locked. You can open it for us too.”

“And what exactly will I do when this place ends up being filled with people?” Cruck’aa asked, shaking his head. “Have you thought of that?”

“No, w-we hadn’t. But I sincerely doubt anything will happen to y-you.” Jo said.

“And if it does? What exactly will I do?”

Jo blinked and looked at Cruck’aa in utter confusion.

“Look, if y-you don’t like the idea, we can figure something e-else out.” Jo said. “I just thought that –”

“We’ve b-been out here for too long.” Pavel interrupted, a spark of annoyance in his voice.

“Ah…yes, I know. I’m c-cold too.” Jo stared at Pavel. “But like I said, w-we need some kind of plan before we just force our way in there. Which –”

“Putting myself in harm’s way doesn’t seem like a good plan whatsoever.” Cruck’aa said.

“Alright, t-then what do you suggest?”

“I don’t know. If you wanted something from me, why didn’t you ask earlier?”

Jo sighed and rubbed her face, exhaustion falling onto her shoulders like lead weights. When she looked at Serena, her eyes seemed dead.

“I don’t s-suppose you have any ideas, do you?”

“Not really, sorry.” Serena smiled sheepishly. “I’m more of a doer than a thinker…I think. Aside from fire, healing, and teleporting, I don’t have much else.” Serena blinked, a sudden though slamming into her mind. “I mean, should I even be using fire if this place is made of wood?”

Jo opened her mouth to respond, then shut it, eyes wide; it was obvious that she hadn’t thought of that either.

After a moment of silence, Pavel let out a huff of annoyance. He strode from the group, pushed past Jo, and walked up the steps to the door. He jiggled the handle a few times as Jo began to speak before he turned and rammed his shoulder into the door.

A horrible CRACK echoed throughout the night as the door burst inward, sending Serena and Jo a foot into the air. Pavel, however, walked into the inn, completely unfazed.

“Pavel!” Jo hissed, bounding up the steps after him. Heart in her throat, Serena raced after her, Cruck’aa right behind them.

The inside of the inn fared no better than the outside; what looked to Serena like any other bar had been used and forgotten long ago. Broken tables and chairs were flung about the place in some forgotten brawl; booths sat abandoned, their wooden skeletons bare; the bar at the back of the room had rotted in two, looking like it would fall over from a gentle breeze; mold covered the walls almost everywhere Serena looked.

It was odd seeing an inn like this. The whole place needed to be torn down, as there was no coming back from this level of neglect. And yet, despite that, lit lanterns hung upon the walls, casting the rot in an eerie golden glow.

Serena shuddered as Cruck’aa pushed the door closed behind them, cutting off the cold breeze that blew through. Jo picked her way through the debris towards the middle of the inn, where Pavel stood, hands on his hips, looking about the place.

“Pavel!” Jo hissed again. “What the fuck?!”

“We were out there for too long.” Pavel mumbled without looking at Jo.

“And I already said we shouldn’t just kick in doors like that!”

“Well, we didn’t have anything else, so…”

Jo let out a guttural noise from the back of her throat and threw her hands up, stalking away. Serena glanced behind herself at Cruck’aa, waiting for him to speak up, only for the Aarakocra to point at the wall next to the bar. Following his talon, Serena noticed a door that she hadn’t seen when she walked in, one that looked much too maintained.

“That looks out of place.” Serena signed. Cruck’aa nodded, and the two of them walked over. Jo, still fuming, quickly joined them.

Her annoyance melted away however as the three of them halted in front of the odd door. From a distance it looked out of place, but from this close, the door stuck out just as much as the inn did from the outside. It looked as though it had been installed barely a week ago, the wood finish still new, the hinges still shiny.

“Who do you think put that in?” Jo asked.

“The Thieves Guild?” Serena excitedly signed.

“Maybe.” Jo gestured them back, moving to stand on the hinged side of the door. “Back up a bit, lets see what’s behind it.”

Serena and Cruck’aa obliged. Jo grabbed the door handle and cracked the door, hinges blissfully silent. When nothing happened, she leaned her head around and peered through, before opening the door the rest of the way.

The light from the lanterns bled into a dark stairwell, spiraling downwards out of sight. The steps and walls were made of a grey stone, giving the stairs a cold feeling. And as Serena peered down the curving steps, she caught a speck of light coming up from around the curve.

“That’s a bit damning.” Jo whispered.

“A bit?” Cruck’aa asked, arms once again crossed.

“Just a bit.” Serena looked behind herself as she signed. “I’ll get Pavel, he’ll –”

But Pavel was already on his way over. Mouth set, hands on his weapons, Pavel marched over to the door, stepped around Serena, and began to descend the stairs without a word. He disappeared around the curve before any of them could react.

“Gods –” Jo gritted her teeth and tore off after him; Cruck’aa leapt down after her, hand brushing against one side of the stairwell, taking the steps too at a time. Heart firmly back in her throat, Serena had no choice but to follow.

Their footsteps echoed loudly down the spiral, blending into a deafening warning for whoever awaited them at the bottom. As she tried to keep up, her friends slightly around the curve, Serena tried, and failed, to make sense of Pavel’s actions. The tournament must have done something to him, as this wasn’t the Pavel that Serena knew and cared for. This was someone else entirely.

The descent took longer than Serena had expected, though it couldn’t have been more than a minute. As she neared the bottom, the sound of a door slamming open echoed up the staircase, along with more curses from Jo. Heart smashing into her chest, Serena leapt down the remaining stairs, halting onto a small landing with an open door, more lantern light pouring out of it.

Serena ran through the threshold, bumping into Cruck’aa, who stood barely a pace into the room. Stepping back, Serena immediately realized it to be a storage room, with crates and barrels stacked neatly across the walls, in some spaces almost touching the dirt ceiling. Stone arches were built into the cardinal directions of the room, bright lanterns under each, illuminating the earthen floor and the small set of wooden table and chairs at the back of the room.

Sitting at those chairs were two men, young, dressed in leather armor, each wearing a stunned expression, cards falling limply from their fingers. They stared at Pavel, who stood in the middle of the crowded space, hands on his hips, with Jo frozen right behind him.

“Sorry to barge in,” Pavel said, voice echoing somewhat off the walls. “but we’re looking for a tunnel that goes under the city. You wouldn’t happen to know where that is, would you?”

The two men looked at each other, stupefied. Before they could speak, Jo shoved her way past Pavel, hand on her rapier.

“Easy or hard way.” She said flatly. “No need for anyone to die today. Only warning.”

The words had barely left Jo’s mouth when the two men sprang up, their chairs flying backwards; Jo and Pavel ripped out their weapons, rapier, sword, and flail aimed at the men, and moved forward.

One man sprinted at them, bellowing, dagger flashing into his hand. The other sprinted towards the side of the room, aimed at one of the arches.

Jo and Pavel lunged at the charging man; Serena raised her staff, its head bursting into flames, as Cruck’aa leapt forward, form twisting and shifting.

The second man smashed his fist against a spot under the arch, glass shattering into his hand, just as Serena’s firebolt ignited against his shoulder.

He screamed as his skin sizzled, leather armor fusing to his body; as he stumbled back, Cruck’aa, now in the form of a grey wolf, leapt onto him, pulling him down with ease. He thrashed once before his throat was torn out.

Serena whirled to the others and raised her staff again, only to pause.

Pavel, weapons dropped, had the first man in a standing head lock, the man’s face turning purple as he struggled to breath.

In front of them, Jo flipped her rapier upside-down and smashed the handle into the man’s stomach – once, twice, almost thrice, stopping as the man’s eyes rolled into his head.

With a nod from Jo, Pavel released the now unconscious man, his body falling like a sack of potatoes. Jo dropped to her knees and pressed her fingers against the man’s neck, breathing a sigh of relief as Serena ran over.

Before she could sign, however, Jo leapt back up and backhanded Pavel across his face.

“Are you fucking insane?!” She yelled, sending Serena into the ceiling. To Pavel’s credit, he didn’t flinch, though he looked just as surprised as Serena was. “Walking down here like that, what was your plan?!”

“Uh…there wasn’t one.” Pavel said, rubbing his face. “I just didn’t want us to wait any longer –”

“So you just walked in?!”

“Yeah.” Pavel shrugged. “It worked, didn’t it?”

“You were in the fucking military Pavel! Is this how your unit acted?! Just…trying to kill yourselves?!”

“This is a bit different from then.”

Jo grabbed her hair and yanked on it, eyes wide with fury; Serena raised her hands, hoping to defuse the situation, only to drop them again when Cruck’aa, back in his normal form, called to them. They all looked over to see him standing over the shattered glass that now littered the floor, blood beginning to pool under the body of the second man behind him. Strangely, not a speck of blood covered Cruck’aa’s body.

“Stop bickering for a moment and help me figure out what this is.” He said, looking at the arch; from where she stood, Serena saw for the first time what looked to be a large stone button carved into the wall, remnants of glass around it. “He smashed this before Serena and I could stop him.”

“What?” Jo asked, brows furrowed, anger quickly forgotten. “What was it, a glass panel?”

“Looks more like a box. I’m not sure.” Cruck’aa said, crouching down to peer at the glass at his feet.

“Well, whatever it was,” Pavel said as Jo walked over to Cruck’aa. “we need to figure out what to do with this guy.” He nudged the unconscious man with his boot. “I don’t think we cut him all too bad, but can you check him, just be to be sure?” He asked, glancing at Serena.

“Uhm, sure.” She handed her staff to Pavel and knelt over the unconscious man. “Should I fix him completely? Or just a bit?”

“Just a bit. I’d want to make sure he still remembers what we did to him when we question him.”

“You think he knows something?”

Pavel laughed. “I know he knows something. No one just runs at you like that unless they’ve got something to hide. Look at all this stuff,” he gestured to the numerous crates and barrels. “there’s got to be something worth protecting in them. Makes you wonder why they only have two guys protecting it though.”

Serena nodded absentmindedly, hands beginning to glow a bright silver. It did seem odd that the Thieves Guild – if these men did indeed work for them – had so few people to guard this room. They had gone through them in barely six seconds. At the very least, she would have assumed that they’d have some way to warn the Guild if people like them had stormed in, but insofar Serena hadn’t –

The realization smashed into her like a fist to glass. She sprang up, scaring Pavel, and whirled around. As she did, Jo, standing over a still kneeling Cruck’aa, looked at her with a single brow raised.

“I think –” was all Serena could sign.

From the open door to the stairwell, distant thunder seemed to rumble down the stairs. As it grew louder, Serena realized all too late the sound of boots on stone, descending upon them like a storm.