Zotikas: Episode 1: Clash of Heirs Read Online Free PDF Page B

they scooted under the
slope of a fallen slab, then climbed up a rock heap and half-slid down the
other side. A broken tower angled down, forming a long part of their path, but
before the end they crawled through a shattered window and into a hollowed-out
space that narrowed into another tunnel that had obviously been dug out to
allow men to squeeze through.
    His shoulder throbbed but keeping pressure on it
minimized blood loss and Kieler knew he would be all right. To properly treat
the wound, they would need the medical supplies in Movus’ quarters. He always
had the best.
    Once the two men turned into the main tunnels, they
encountered other residents of the underground city. Though some still kept
time and schedule with the world above, many did not, going about their
business at unusual hours. Their passing was acknowledged with a glance or a
nod, but Kieler knew the insignia on their masks and even the masks themselves
evoked respect and a touch of fear. Kieler had earned the insignia he wore over
the right eye-hole of his mask. The purpose with which they moved and the blood
on Kieler’s clothes further increased the distance of those not in the Coin.
    Some couldn't help passing close. A grimy man,
sweating copiously, pushed a three-wheeled cart up the slope Kieler and Bags
were coming down. His face was set and to stop would be to lose upward
momentum. As he passed, the front wheel hit a rut in the rough surface and the
cart tipped. Kieler and Bags both reacted to steady it, but the motion sent a
blaze of light out the top of the high-sided cart.
    Light lugs. The cart was packed with various
containers, from glass jars to rough urns squirming with the bio-luminescent
insects largely used for portable light beneath the Plate.
    This man had worked hard to collect such numbers of
the pests. To lose them in a tip-over would have been a financial disaster.
    But his “smile” of appreciation to the two Coin
operatives was nothing more than a scowl and a thankful nod.
    In the world above the Plate, especially at the
Cortatti Estate, the streets were smooth and rubble would have been cleared.
But here, both the street, the sides of the street, and the ceiling of
every tunnel were carved out of rubble. If he hadn’t just been at the
immaculately tended gardens of the Cortattis, Kieler wouldn’t have even
noticed. Growing up in these wasted ruins of a city—a city long dead before
Avertori was built—rubble was Kieler's normal.
    The end of this wider tunnel opened onto the perimeter
of a space so large it had its own ambient light, albeit weak. Kieler and Bags
skirted the edge of the Karst Borough. Noise from commerce, from hundreds of
thousands of people living in these ruins, filled the air.
    The Plate separating above from below spanned the
entire Isle of Threes on which Avertori stood. Why it had been built, Kieler
could only guess. Under the Plate, the majority of the population existed
mainly in these various boroughs. People settled in these larger hollows out of
social need and even in Kieler's brief years the population had grown as
Avertori above declined. The largest and busiest of these boroughs was Karst.
    From the low path on which they trod, they could see
little of what was sometimes called the Karst Plain, referring to its
relatively wide expanse. But their world was also deep; deep beyond knowledge.
Kieler wondered if even Movus (who still seemed like the parent who knew
everything) had explored the full depth of this dark netherworld. Most exiles
took up residence as close to the surface as possible in any area free of
rubble. Karst was so wide and open that the Plate itself roofed it.
    Kieler and Bags reached the hollowed-out corridor
leading to Movus’ home under Karst. It was a quiet corridor, with Movus' place
being the only residence. His home had the added privilege of a solid stone
door with a magnetic lock similar to the one on the Cortatti library, except
this one had no glass to break. The