Dareia was standing, as she had been when Jano watched her drive the scythe down into the soldier’s neck. She had a thick wooden collar around her neck and wrists, as did a number of the other prisoners.

Nara held a set of keys for the crude prison cell doors. She must have gotten them from one of the two soldiers she’d just killed. She fought with them while trying to find the right key, but she was panting heavily still and so she handed them to Jano. He tried each key one by one, clumsily forcing them into the lock. He felt the eyes of the prisoners digging into him, willing him on, but that only made him miss the lock on several occasions. Finally, after what felt like one hundred attempts, the lock turned with a loud click and the door swung open. He heard the long since departed voice of his mother in his mind, it was always the last one you tried.

Dariea rushed to Nara, who had fallen to one knee while Jano had been fiddling with the locks. He hadn’t realised the wet, red stain on her dark shirt. “Get the others out.” She said as she grabbed the keys and used the smallest one to unlock her collars. She was holding Nara, with her head nestling into her shoulder. “Just breathe. Come on breathe with me Nara, we’re going to get out of here.” He heard her saying as she began to try and heal her.

He was more lucky with the other cells as he unlocked the several other prisoners, all of which had the same collars on. With another stroke of luck, the collar keys were partnered with the corresponding cell key, which once Jano had realised, made the process much easier. The others were all in varying degrees of health, with some so skinny and dirty that they looked like some of the beggars on the streets of the Slums. The torrent of dark essence thundered outside the dungeon and sweat poured down Jano’s neck as he finished setting the other’s tree.

He went to unlock the last prisoner, when one of the others, a tall thin man stopped him. “Not him lad. He’s just a common murderer.” Jano looked at Dariea but she was focussed on Nara.

The prisoner didn’t say anything, or even protest about being left there. He just huffed and turned away. Jano ran back to Dariea, who passed Nara to another Mage. “He’s a healer, he can take care of you.”

Now that the collars had fallen, Jano could feel the presence of power, though combined it was still not as strong as the Emperor’s had been.

“Do you know the way out?” She asked the man she’d passed Nara too. Clearly he was a Mage of some standing.

“Yes. But I do not know how far we’ll make it.” He replied.

That seemed to be a common concern as the others stirred. “Take the servants' exit. It may be less guarded than everywhere else. Plus, there’s likely to be a distraction to help.”

The group of prisoners walked out and Jano went to follow when she grabbed his arm. “Alsace is upstairs, she’s with a number of the Emperor’s favourites in the living quarters. Don’t worry, she is safe. It seems that he really does have some sort of plan for her. I got you into this, so I want to help get her out if we can.” She said. “They’ll find their way out. We’ve watched the servants come and go several times since we have been stuck here.” She glanced towards Nara once more before they left the dungeons. Jano grew a little angry at the words ‘if we can.’ He didn’t know why. He knew the situation was inherently dangerous, if not impossible. But still.

“Come on there’s another way.” She scurried along towards the end of the room where the two soldiers lay dead. She pushed on the wall with her magic and it opened. “It’s a hidden entrance to the dungeons. It was put in place years ago so that the ruler of the day could observe torture with a more political bent. Or if they were just feeling particularly sadistic.”

The wall shut behind them as they ascended the stairs. These were old, made of wood and though they weren’t rotting, they weren’t exactly sturdy either. They creaked and groaned as they made their way up and Jano held the bannister as though his life depended on it. Perhaps it did. The noise of the torrent outside was thunderous here. It was almost like it was being channeled directly into Jano’s ears. His hands suddenly held the bannister a little weaker as he realised, but not out of choice.

There were several offshoots off these stairs, each leading to different exits. Dareia chose one around three quarters of the way up. Each had a small window, not visible to the outside. Ideal for a keep under attack. Or it would be particularly handy if whoever was traversing the steps was a pervert.

Dariea pressed herself to it, watching and listening intently. “She’s in there, I think.” She motioned for Jano to look. He saw Alsace, mingling amongst the other women. There were at least six of them, talking and eating small plates of food. There was wine in the corner and several servants on hand. It doesn’t look so bad, he couldn’t help himself thinking.

He backed away and sighed. “What if she doesn’t want to leave? After all, this is already more than I used to give her.” He said, his voice mopey and drawn out.

“Don’t be ridiculous. She didn’t want to be here. You think she couldn’t have found someone else if she wasn’t happy with what you two had? She’s clearly prettier than you. She could have just walked into the Middle and found some charming guildsman or merchant to sweep her off her feet.” She paused and put her hand on his shoulder. Jano knew she was being reassuring, but her words still hurt. Probably because they were true.

“Get out of that ridiculous mindset and let’s go and ask her. I bet you she’ll be….” she didn’t get to finish her sentence as the entire Palace shook. Jano almost fell over and he could hear the plates and glasses smashing inside the room.

An inhuman cry came from above and the ground shook again. Dareia’s face grew pale and serious. “We need to go now.” She said.

“But Alsace, she’s right there. You literally just said I should go and talk to her..” he said.

“Jano. Soon the safest people in this entire world will be by the Emperor’s side. He’s unlikely to kill her. She is his leverage if we escape and he seems to have some sort of purpose for her. If nothing else she’s an oddity, as she’s the first Slummer he’s met for a very long time. We need to leave the city now.”

Jano realised he could no longer hear the beastly noise of the tunnel of essence. Screams came from above. Twisted voices, sounds that Jano had never heard before. Dariea grabbed her head and fell to the floor. She writhed in pain. An eldritch green glow began to fill the hall above them.

Jano stood in front of the door, holding his scythe ready. Green spectral bodies came crashing towards him. Several half formed bodies slumped uneasily down the stairs. Its head was an evolving mess of teeth and eyes as it formed. It was like a man in shape but it couldn’t have looked like anything less. Jano was truly horrified and staggered backwards against the wall.

Without realising that Dariea had even stood up. She fired a red razor thin blade at the creature. Knocking off its head. It didn’t stop. it kept coming. She attacked again, this time the strike was a radiant gold. It hit the body of the creature and it disappeared. All that was left was a pool of fluid on the floor. Jano realised that it was still moving, heading towards them slowly. It was regaining its form.

“Come on. We have no time.” She said, her voice trembled as she spoke. More cries began to fill the hallway. Both above and below.

Jano stole one last look inside. The women were all gathered together as if scared. Clearly they could hear the noise too. The Emperor’s staff were consoling them and bringing over small carafes of liquid. Jano knew they couldn’t see out, and could be told any number of things to calm them down, but he still hoped for Alsace to run over to him. So they could escape together.

The cries were so loud now that they drew his attention. He saw the still gathering shapes drawing toward them now. They resembled their former living selves even more so now, though still twisted and corrupted. He felt a burst of power just by his leg and he hopped out of the way, only to feel a similar burst explode right by his ankle. He dropped to the floor momentarily, but it was only an ancillary blast.

He stood once more. But they were surrounded. Jano looked at Dariea desperately. She was kneeling and muttering something to herself. She began to radiate an aura similar to Nara, though not entirely the same. It grew brighter rather than outward in diameter. The Shimmer Soldiers recognised the threat and began to attack.

Dariea let out a scream. It was raw and primal. Jano fought the urge to shut his eyes for as long as possible, but it became too bright. Too powerful. The cries of the Shimmer reached a fever pitch and Jano sought to cover his ears. He would be senseless in the fight to come if both his eyes and ears were out of action. Then, there came an almost serene silence. The green glow was still there, though much reduced. There was no immediate trace of their ghostly attackers when he opened his eyes once more.

“Jano. We must go. There are many more where they have come from.” She spoke with a calm voice, but he was in no doubt about the urgency of the words. He glanced at the window once more. Trying to glimpse one last glance of his wife.

Then he saw him. The Emperor’s fair hair was still as always and it filled up much of the one way window. He was looking through it. Though Jano didn’t know if he could actually see them both, his eyes seemed remarkably fixed on him. A barrage of white essence pounded through the window, heading straight for them. There was nowhere to run now. More of the Shimmer began to descend upon them and they weren’t far away judging by their awful screams.

Dariea let out another piercing scream, as though her voice was in battle with the Shimmer themselves, and the world descended into darkness. Jano looked around quickly. Black essence was radiating around them blocking the Shimmer and the Emperor’s attack at once. Was it some form of shield? It seemed to swallow him up. The darkness was still somewhat translucent as it surrounded them and Jano could vaguely see the Emperor still. The pure white essence was barraging into the darkness. Fighting it.

The Emperor continued to lock eyes with Jano. Now he had little reason to believe he could not see. A lithe grin stretched across his face as he stared. He raised one hand as though to wave goodbye.

“I am sorry Jano. But we are leaving. Now.”

Dariea grabbed him by the arm, and the darkness barrelled them both towards the wall. Except it wasn’t a wall much longer, it was mud and dead trees. What the fuck was that? He thought as he crashed towards it. She was still screaming - a bestial roar of exertion.

Jano took one last look at the window. The Emperor stood, smiling and waving. And then the world finally fully swallowed him.