“Not to boast, but if I wanted to kill you, I would’ve done it already. You seem like a smart guy, a reasonable guy, so think for yourself. Would I sneak up on you in the middle of a brightly-lit hall with that dome watching us all the time? It would’ve been much easier to just cut you down in the hallway.”
After a short pause, he nodded.
“You’re right. Well, Elb, what is it you wanted to tell me? Why do you think I have a death wish?”
“We’re about twenty-five steps away from the entrance to the passageway we came through. We were following you.”
“I know. I heard you. You walked part of the way without your sandals. I panicked,” he said, and froze again, his head bowed, lips pressed together. He was expecting a trick, a sudden attack.
“That passage is all foggy. And I haven’t seen a single dome over there.”
“It passes there once every two hours. That hallway is a death path.”
“It’s a what?”
“A death path.”
“Why do you call it that?”
“That’s the name given to hallways where domes rarely show up. We call them death paths, death roads, twilight paths, dark paths. One-way roads. Roads of no return. Many names. Haven’t you heard any of them?”
“No. I’m new here.”
“What’s in that tunnel?”
“Pluxes,” I said casually. “Three small ones, a little bigger than rats. And one big one, bright orange, so bright it hurts. I saw this little foursome earlier, behind the grates at the last intersection. They were following you. This might sound ridiculous, but I think they’re stalking you, waiting patiently for the right time and place, looking for a way to get into the hallway.”
“Pluxes…” He repeated, raising the brim of his cap.
I saw his face and winced involuntarily.
The double scar divided his face into two unequal parts, running right through his eyes. His left eye socket was black and empty. The right eye seemed to be still there, but it was blank and badly damaged, with a deeply scarred eyelid.
“Can you see anything?”
“Out of the corner of my eye. Just shapes, moving shadows, and light.”
“Do you see the system messages?”
“Yeah. I see them clearly.”
“So you’re almost blind, but you press on, you survive.”
“I do my best.”
“I respect that,” I said briefly.
He paused.
“Thank you. So the pluxes are in that passage…”
“You don’t seem surprised. Why did you believe me?”
“I’ve been hearing them for several days. But I blamed it on fatigue and stress. I’m really afraid of going into debt and losing an arm. I can’t complete every job. I jump from GBL to ORL and back. But now I know I wasn’t hallucinating. I’ve heard the faint clicking of their claws. And… I know it sounds stupid… but I’ve had a really bad feeling, like something evil and alien is behind me, about to strike. I’ve felt it for three days now.”
“You’re compensating…” I nodded slowly and looked at the dangerous passage. Fog blocked it completely, but I was sure the pluxes were still there, waiting patiently.
“What are you talking about?”
“Losing your sight means you partially compensate for it with your other senses. Hearing, touch, memory. You’ve become much more sensitive.”
“Sounds about right. If the pluxes are still there,” he waved his hand in the right direction, “then we have to cross the hall and go through passageway 17-4.”
“Okay. I see it.”
“We go down that passageway, then take the third left. Then…”
“So what you mean is you know the way?”
“I do. I can get you through the tunnels.”
“Fantastic. I’ll go wake my partner up, and then we’ll retreat quickly but calmly. Sound like a plan?”
“Sounds great.”
“Do you trust me now?”
“I do. You killed Johnny and his bitches. Everybody hated them. They say Yorka suffered the most. He was always bragging that he was going to screw her soon. He talked about it all the time. But he was the one who got screwed. You did the right thing.”
“Rumors are rumors,” I repeated. “I still don’t understand why you trust me.”
“People have started to fear you — you’re tough, killer goblins. But I haven’t heard of you extorting sol or stuff from anyone. I’ve heard that you work hard. I hear many things, you know.”
“I see. Let’s get moving.”
I took a step, then looked back…
…JUST IN TIME TO SEE the four pluxes leaping out from the fog. The three smaller ones were out in front, closing in fast. The orange one stayed behind, but it was getting closer, too.
“It’s too late!” I said, pulling my glass blade out of my sling. “Turn around! Listen!”
“I hear them… Their claws!” His voice trembled with fear, but he didn’t run. He crouched slightly, holding his awl out in front of him.
He didn’t beg me to save or protect him. He just stood still and waited for the fight, biting his lip. He wasn’t going to give up his life without a struggle.
Suddenly, the short, pulsating wail of a siren filled the hall. Blinking red lights flashed on the watcher dome — the system had detected the pluxes and sounded the alarm. But this big fucking light show was pointless now.
