The Pit of the Bells

The Pit was in a low gallery, between a stream and a dry chimney. The bells were hanging from the ceiling, some split, others blackened. They were not connected to any visible wire.

Delli refused to enter before listening. The group remained at the threshold for an hour. The water flowed silently; no bell rang.

"Do you want to wait longer?" asked Rhylor.

"Yes."

"How much?"

"Until we know if the sound comes from a mechanism or a signal."

"How will we know?"

Delli stretched a copper wire in front of the first bell. The air current barely made him move. They installed a second wire near the river. The two movements did not match.

Nym inspected the walls. A crack ran through the vault and descended behind a group of bells. With each change in pressure, the rock could vibrate and produce a sound. That didn't explain all the bells, but it was a possibility.

They advanced slowly to the first branch. There, a small light flashed three times behind a pile of boxes.

Zaelyra responded with a unique burst. The light reappeared once.

"It's a signal," says Rhylor.

"Or someone tries to imitate ours," replied Delli.

They announced their presence out loud. A voice rose on the side of the cash registers: "Who are you?"

"Travelers sent by the Guardians basin. We are looking for people who have been driven here."

"How much?"

"Four."

"Armed?"

"Yes."

The voice fell silent. A young human appeared behind the boxes, hands visible. His name was Erven. He was not one of the five missing; he had fled the Pit two nights earlier, after the guards had left a door unattended.

"Is they still here? Zaelyra asked.

"Some. Others have left."

"How much?"

"I don't know."

"Did you see the five travelers?"

"I've seen four. A woman svirfneblin, two humans and a drow. They were locked in the cash register room. The fifth was not with them."

Erven described the guards: two wore gray capes, another a red leather armband. None of them wore a seal. The captives had been detained because they could not pay for the promised passage. The guards were waiting for a buyer.

"They sell travelers?" asked Rhylor.

"They sell the right to drive them elsewhere."

The distinction did not make it any less serious. Erven did not know where the captives would be taken.

The cash register room was beyond the bells. A narrow corridor led there, monitored from a walkway. Erven knew a secondary entrance through a water duct, but he had not returned since his escape.

"Do you want to drive us there? "Delli asked.

"I want to take the others out."

"You can stay here and describe the way to us."

He hesitated. "If I let you go, you could get lost."

"If you come, you risk being taken back."

Erven looked at the tunnel he had fled. "I'm coming."

They prepared a diversion. Nym and Delli would ring a bell from a distance by modifying the air current with a canvas. Rhylor and Zaelyra would follow Erven through the secondary duct. No one would attack the guards except in case of immediate danger. Their goal was to open the room and come out, not to capture a leader they didn't know.

The diversion worked too well. Three guards left the walkway to check the bell. The fourth remained at the door, but he bent down to listen to the noise. Rhylor reached the lock and opened it with a thin blade.

Inside, three people were sitting on boxes. The fourth, the svirfneblin, was lying down, her eyes closed. Zaelyra approached her without touching her.

"Can you walk?"

"Yes," she replied. "But I don't have any more shoes."

"We'll find some."

Her name was Leth, and she had been separated from her sister at the toll station. The two humans were market travelers. The drow, a guide who had refused to sell the names of his customers.

"And the fifth? Zaelyra asked.

"He left with a buyer," says the guide. "His name was Varro. I don't know where they took him."

"Did you see him leave?"

"Yes. They said he had accepted. I don't know if it was true."

Zaelyra didn't ask the captives to run. She explained to them the way back and the entertainment. Leth refused to leave without looking for his shoes. Erven handed her hers, too big for her.

They reached the secondary conduit before the guards returned. A bell sounds behind them, then a second. Delli pulled the rope: the return signal.

The group stopped at the branch. The gallery towards the exit remained free, but the guards began to search the rooms.

"We can still take them," said Rhylor.

"No," said Zaelyra. "We have all four."

"The fifth is with a buyer."

"We don't know where."

They left with the captives. At the exit of the Pit, Leth collapsed, exhausted. The two humans supported her. Erven walked behind, ready to turn around if a noise followed them.

No one spoke to the basin of the Watchers.

Ressa was waiting for them with two healers. She counted the people, then asked where the fifth was. Zaelyra tells him the truth.

"We don't know where he is."

Leth lowered his head. "He may have chosen to leave."

"Did you hear him say it?" asked Ressa.

"No."

"So we won't write it as a choice."

The captives were installed in a rest room. Ressa did not question them until they had eaten and slept. The Vault council received a message: four people found, one still missing, an unknown buyer.

Senn came to help translate the names. He did not find his father's among the four. He didn't hope to find him, but he stayed near the list until Zaelyra took him back.

"Did you think he would be there? She asked.

"I thought that one day I would see his name."

"Did you see him?"

"No."

"Then we'll keep looking, if you want."

Senn took the time to answer. "Yes. But not by pretending that every trace leads to him."