The Crack In Heaven [A LitRPG Progression Fantasy] Chapter 24: Chapter 24: Slip Through

Read chapter 24 of The Crack In Heaven [A LitRPG Progression Fantasy] by Adamus_Auguste on NovelPedia.

Chapter 24: Slip Through Slip through the headquarters of the Sump Dogs from the inside. This was as insane as stealing from Garrick's facility, perhaps a little less, but as deadly. Yet Kael didn't linger on danger. He couldn't. Instead, he pressed his lips into a tight line as the shadows of the dozen thugs surrounded Riccardo. Long swords rested at his neck like a spiked collar, and hands pressed him forward. Fragments of threats and curses echoed through the tunnels, disturbing the sewer rats around Kael. With strident squeaks, they scrambled. "Riccardo, danger!" Tonio bent his legs, his dark nails ready to strike. Kael grabbed the rat-man's shoulder. The tense muscles beneath his palm made him blurt out. "Wait. I know you don't trust me, but trust Riccardo. He's doing it to help us leave. Don't waste his effort." Beneath his makeshift hood and glasses, Tonio's red eyes softened. Exhaling heavily, he lowered his nails. "New home. Leave. Listen Riccardo. Listen Kael. Together later." "Yes... later." Kael's mutter was heavier than a sigh. "You hunt rats for food, right?" "Rats good." For a moment, the words slipped from Kael's mind. A rat-man eating rats felt... wrong. The guards' shadows vanished in the distant torchlight, and he waved the thought away. "You need to be silent when you hunt, or the rats will escape. Can you be that silent until we're out?" Tonio pressed a finger on his lips, then Kael gently grabbed his hand. Slowly, he pulled the rat-man toward the Sump Dogs' headquarters, always looking at him, trying to smile but knowing his lips twisted instead. For each step toward the light, his heart pounded against his chest faster. It wasn't like the facility—no clear visual of the thugs or the layout. He just knew they were there, like anyone from the slums. Their leader would be, too. Could Riccardo distract them all long enough? If they had truths and relics... He forced himself not to think about it. The outline of the arched passage grew clearer. Torches flickered above empty guard posts. On the makeshift tables, half-filled mugs and burning cigs. The smell struck Kael harder than when he went to the Black Cask bar. Cheap goods of doubtful quality. Nothing else, not even an overlooked coin pouch or neglected weapon. The passage opened into a broad lounge. Silk suspended over tables and sofas broke the grime of the sewers with deep crimsons or ocean blues. Air became breathable, albeit heavy with cheap tobacco, without stinging Kael's lungs. Though the thugs seemed gone, Kael scrutinised every shadow down to the most inconspicuous lacework of spiderwebs on random corners. Even the dust beneath the sofas screamed danger. Or rather, it was the thugs who could hide there for reasons he knew absurd but refused to ignore. Ahead, past corridors and stairs, a rusted double door. His way out. If Riccardo kept the thugs busy. How did he get them all to leave their living space? Perhaps the Sump Dogs hated him as much as Tonio hated them. Other reasons didn't matter for now. Tonio growled behind him, but Kael blocked him with his arm. Only after a full minute passed and not even a dust particle moved, did he gesture for Tonio to follow. Not through the center, but walking along the wall, pressed to the stones. Whenever he could, he found cover behind the silk, his eyes never leaving the closest doors, his chest as tight as if he expected them to fling open and thugs to pour on him. They didn't, but something else made his stomach sink just a couple of steps in front of the doors. "Come back!" His whisper sounded like a hiss. And Tonio strolled to a nearby table. Items Kael had chosen to ignore littered the lounge. Clothes hung on chairs, uncorked bottles, coins glistening in the center of cards abandoned mid-game, and piles of scavenged junk rose here and there. Anything would help. He just didn't want to leave tracks that would help the Sump Dogs realise Tonio was gone. Of course... You'll be the death of me in less than