At some point during the Apocalypse, a man has to wonder how the hell he got here. Lying face down in the dust surrounded by what I can only assume are dwarven cops, the thought does cross my mind.

  I’m covered in old cuts and bruises, my mana drained and my soul weary. And now I grunt as my arms are tied behind me with thick rope. The circulation in my right leg is all but gone, and I can feel the pins and needles spread up my thigh.

  “Is this really necessary?” I growled, trying to twist my head around to see my assailant. All I get is an eyeful of old boots and a few glimpses of the faces of several passers-by. When I first came out of that portal I was shocked to see the scale of the city. Tall buildings set into an underground mountain, lit from within with candles, lanterns, and carved gemstones. The towers and houses were huge and imperious, and in the center of the city itself was a tall structure that reminded me of some kind of Roman cathedral. I had whistled and commented to Mimi that it looked like a whole new world down here. And of course, that was when they had swarmed me.

  Outnumbered by a dozen dwarven guards and out of mana, I was given only one choice. Try to talk my way out of it, or eat a couple of crossbow bolts. I had chosen the former. That apparently, was a mistake.

  “Listen,” I started as I was dragged upwards by the back of my shoulders. I glanced around, looking for the guard with the most authority. She stood off to the side, arms folded across her armored chest and head cocked to the side as she observed. I did my best to smile, but it probably looked more like a grimace as my sore muscles stretched and pulled.

  “This is all a huge misunderstanding,” I said, tilting my head to the side to mirror her pose. “I haven’t done anything wrong and I promise I’m not looking for trouble. In fact, I’m looking for the opposite. Peace.”

  She was tall for a dwarf with a strong chin and sharp intelligent eyes. A pair of gold ropes hung off the pouldron of one shoulder and I eyed them.

  “You’re in charge here right?” I continued, nodding at her ropes. She pushed off of the wall and smiled. I smiled back. Maybe we were getting somewhere. “I knew we could see eye to- “

  The blow of the baton was so fast that I almost failed to register it. The force doubled me up as the bruises on my ribs twinged. I grunted as the second strike connected with the side of my head and left it ringing. I guess cops were much the same no matter where you went. Go figure. The woman bent down in front of me, armor creaking.

  “I want to make one thing clear, Mr…” She arched an eyebrow and I flicked a tongue across my dry lips.

  “Russo,” I whispered. She nodded.

  “Mr. Russo. I am the keeper of the lower Sanctum, and I do not negotiate with criminals. Contrary to what you seem to think, you are in fact, in violation of at least three of our major laws. I can’t say I’m surprised as you humans seem to all think the same way. You expect to observe all the same privileges that you had back when your race ran the underground. You expect deference and leniency. You will not find that here.”

  Deference and leniency?

  “You’re telling me humans used to be at the top of the food chain?” I asked, glancing around at the houses built into the side of the tall underground cavern. There weren’t many people about, as it seemed even underground to be night. But the few that watched from the windows and alleyways were dwarves, not humans.

  The woman's face twisted into something like disdain. That was all right, you get used to that expression when you’re from the Bronx.

  “Judging by your accent I would guess you’re not from here. The depths, maybe? But no, human slaves tend to have more manners – else they don’t last long. Regardless of where you’re from human ward travel without paperwork is strictly prohibited. There are regulations in the Underground, and you’re expected to be in compliance with them.”

  I swallowed as the guards behind me dragged me back to my feet. This was not going the way I had intended.

  “So what happens now?” I asked sullenly. She smiled.

  “Now? You’ll face the judgment of the lower courts. Pray to Ramiel for luck, outsider. You’re going to need it.”

  With that, the guards behind me began dragging me forward up the dark street towards a long tall building in the distance. The few dwarves out in the street seemed to know better than to stop and stare. Many turned their faces away, pressing into buildings to appear smaller as the guards strode by. Not exactly protectors of the people, it seemed. The guards were anything but patient with me.

  “Is it a crime to walk?” I snapped as I was jerked down a side street and ended up barking my shin on a curb. The guards paid me no mind. I jerked my head, trying to see over the helmets of the dwarves in front of me. These dark streets were foreign, but I took in every detail I could. If I was able to break free, details would matter. Then again, if I managed to break free it was entirely possible I’d end up on the other end of a dozen crossbow bolts. Choices, Choices.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  As we passed a dark alleyway a sound caught my ear and my heartbeat accelerated. I managed to keep my face neutral as I glanced to the side. Had I just heard…?

  I glanced at the guards around me, making sure none of them were looking. Most were hard-faced and stared straight ahead, ignoring me entirely. When I looked back to the alleyway I saw, just for a moment, a flicker of black and white. Mimi.

  Black eyes glittered in the semi darkness and I resisted the urge to shake my head. If this creature was anything, she was persistent. The guard behind me grunted, blasting me with stale beer breath. At the same time, my foot hit a loose cobblestone and I stumbled.

  A boot caught me in the back, shunting me forward and nearly causing me to fall on my face.

  “Leave him,” growled the guard holding my shoulder. He jerked me upright and ignored my glare as he glanced back at his fellow. The dwarf that had shoved me smirked, tilting his head to spit on the stone. Charming.

  The guard at my back didn’t back down. Instead, he stepped forward and lifted his chin.

  “You should know better,” he said. “Prisoners are the property of the Clan Courts and are to be treated as such. If they are deserving of punishment, then the Court will find them unworthy and the Gods will do their grim work.”

  His fellow curled his lip. His beard was dirty and his eyes had the kind of red tinge I’d learn to recognize young as a symptom of alcoholism.

  “Oh aye, just a bit of fun. He’s only a rat, after all.”

  A few of the others sniggered and I managed a frown.

  “Who you callin’ a rat?” I said as I looked him up and down. “You look like you haven’t shaved in a decade.”

  A guard to my left snorted and I saw a few others hide their smiles even as the unkempt dwarf scowled and fixed his red-shot eyes on me.

  “The hell did you say?” He growled, stepping forward in a clink of armor. I was suddenly painfully aware of the fact that my arms were tightly bound behind me with rope and I was otherwise unarmed. Picking a fight with a dwarf wearing armor and an ego the size of the moon wasn’t my brightest idea. Over the guard's shoulder, I glimpsed the glitter of six black eyes as they drew closer to the mouth of the alley.

  What was she doing? She should have run when she had the chance. Dane had called her my familiar. The deluded ramblings of a man on the cusp of death? Somehow I seriously doubted it.

  “I said leave it!” The guard gripping my shoulder pulled me forward and I lost sight of the alleyway. “Let’s get this over with. I intend to be home before my wife and children wake.”

  After ten minutes of walking the slope of the cobblestone path began to drift upwards, my thighs and calves burned, and I was beginning to really feel my injuries. Since the start of this damn apocalypse, it had been all momentum. Now, I was beginning to feel the consequences of the past days of fighting. High above the city, a giant crystal sat suspended in empty air, rotating slowly on its axis. Even as I watched the deep white glow deepened and I was forced to avert my eyes.

  It was like a sun, I realized. A giant suspended sun.

  “Take him in,” said the dwarven woman, waving her hand in the direction of a long stone building that sat behind a rot iron fence. It would have reminded me of a local jailhouse I might have seen back on Earth if it wasn’t for the medieval dungeon feel. The woman’s eyes slid to me and her smile was positively snake-like.

  “See to it that he’s made.. comfortable.”

  The way she said it made my stomach drop. I’d seen plenty of corrupt cops in the Big Apple, and I knew enough to know I’d be in a bad way if they got ahold of me.

  I made a last-ditch effort to fight my way free which ended in a punch to the stomach that took my breath away. I coughed a glob of something that looked suspiciously like blood as the guards muscled me through a pair of tall wooden doors and down a long hallway. I kissed my freedom goodbye as a strong arm gripped me by the back of the neck, and forced me forward. The stench of bad breath and booze overpowered me again.

  “Welcome to the pen, rat,” hissed a voice in my ear. Then the beating started. I tried to stay on my feet and managed to headbutt one of my attackers full in the face. Blood sprayed and my laugh turned into a wheeze as my world flipped upside down. The stone was cold on my shoulder as I curled into a ball against the blows. As my vision darkened a form took shape somewhere in the shadows. A man that had haunted my dreams since I was a boy.

  He stood tall in a black tailored suit, his black hair combed back, and his eyes hard. There was no mercy in them and there never had been.

  “Giving up so soon, boy?” rumbled the voice of my father. I knew he wasn’t real – that he couldn’t be here in this strange underground world. But I still felt a thrill of fear at the sound of the voice that had been my nightmare for so long. My vision faded and as I slipped away from the pain into darkness. The sound of laughter, of mailed fists striking skin, bled away as I fell. Only, the darkness wasn’t absolute.

  Am I dead? I wondered dispassionately. Is this really the end for me? The end of everything?

  It seemed like a lame way to go, beaten to death by a bunch of dwarven cops. I felt a flash of irritation at the injustice of it. Then I saw the light. It was light in the night sky… a painting of stars that stretched through the darkness and cast a soft blueish glow around me. I blinked and looked down. I was whole. I could see my arms and hands in front of me. What the hell?

  Long dark grass billowed around me, rustled by a wind I couldn’t feel. At the edge of a cliff in the distance stood a man. At first, I feared it was my father, but closer inspection dispelled that illusion. He was dressed strangely like something out of a medieval painting. A cloak of blue velvet hung around his shoulders and swayed gently in that un-breeze.

  As I approached he turned his head and I saw yellow hair ruffle in the wind. He swung towards me and my breath caught in my throat. His eyes looked as if they were made of gold with nothing, not even the whites showing. They fixed on me and I froze in place, staring at the stranger on the clifftop who I knew was almost certainly a…

  “Ah,” he said. His voice was soft and yet the sound went through me like Monday morning sirens. “So, someone has finally come.”