Despite being dark, the tunnels were hot and humid. Aside from the constant plops of water from the city of overarching stalactites, it was quiet. Traveling in secrecy, it was wise for these two to travel well below the surface. For a while, the two did not talk but Sinclair’s curiosity got the best of him. 

“Explain further. What is the origin of this book in which Silexies lusts for?” 

“Well, to be honest, I don’t know significantly more than you do. I only grabbed it at the request of a partner of mine. In my time with the book, I figured out little about it. When I tried to read it, all I could decipher was that many of its pages contained spells and perhaps scholarly entries. The weird thing is, every time I opened the book there seemed to be a new page I didn’t see before or one missing. Half of the pages were also blank. At that point, I knew it the book was actively monitoring what I was trying to read. I wanted to ditch it. Trust me. But I was getting paid to do otherwise. The worst part is I felt like the book was trying to get rid of me.”

“So you think it’s haunted?”

“Haunted is a weak word in light of its terrors. More like possessed. Any and everything happened to me and the residents of where I resided. You name it. Famine, mysterious murders, spontaneous fires that burned down cities, natural disasters, meteor strikes. I really cannot make this up. Finally, I said fuck it and tossed it on a planet not too out of reach from here actually. From there I decided to lay low considering Merse would probably send someone(rather something) to find out what was taking me so long.”

“Merse?”

“The partner of mine I mentioned earlier.”

“I see. The question is why would Silexies want such an item that could potentially hurt the Cizran empire.”

“I really prefer not to play mystery with you but it’s pretty obvious he thinks he can control it. Honestly, If the book ends up anywhere near his hands I’m just going to make a break for it. On top of that, your prisons absolutely blow. Temporal space cells? Geez, you guys take all of the fun out of being incarcerated.”

“Whatever. Just hop in the crate when we reach our destination. I’ll free you from the cargo haul when we get far enough from the port.”

“Where are we anyway?”

“The underground evacuation tunnels of K’enatenya. If needed, they could actually serve as a highway with shortcuts to all major locations on the planet. A section of it is actually ruins. Those parts are cut off for obvious reasons. If anything it may be within our interest to travel through them. Without the proper guidance, you could potentially get lost in there, however. They're large enough that if so, you wouldn't be found for years perhaps. Still stay on guard. It is unlikely we will run into anyone due to the sheer size but who knows who could actually be down here…”

“Knowing my luck…”