"Please don't be sealed shut," Selis whispered, jamming her fingers between the grating.
With a grunt and one solid kick, it creaked open with a metallic shriek that echoed down the stone shaft like an ominous trumpet.
Not great for stealth.
Selis grimaced, torch in hand, and ducked inside.
The tunnel was damp and humid, a mixture of old water, mold, and something that could either be rotting cabbage or dead hope.
Fortunately, she wasn't completely blind—the city engineers, bless their slightly insane hearts, had placed wall-mounted torches at intervals inside the wider sewer paths. Their flickering orange light cast long shadows across the damp stone, but it was better than absolute darkness.
The map was clutched in her other hand, slightly damp from the humidity. She turned corners carefully, hiding behind stone outcrops whenever the faint echoes of boots approached.
