Annan watched the Gargoyle Leader leave, then stepped off the platform and quickly overtook the Vampire, who had taken more than three minutes to walk ten meters.
Annan looked around, taking in the local color of the open-air Rat Nest.
Darkness fell underground dozens of minutes earlier than it did on the surface. A few swaying grease lamps hung among the shacks stacked along the pit walls, their flames like dying flies trapped in oily smoke. They barely illuminated the suspension bridges of hemp rope and broken ladders dangling everywhere.
A swirling wind brought a sharp stench, along with the dull clang of iron being struck deep below, the tink of digging and chiseling, and the rattle of bones against broken jars.
Oh, and a complaint from the Vampire: "Damn it, why did I come here to suffer? Urgh—"
Rus passed a cluster of rats with mangy tails, all fighting over half a piece of moldy cheese, and kicked them aside.
Annan exclaimed, "How could you be so cruel? It's only a child!"
"You actually feel sorry for rats?"
Annan ignored Rus's sarcasm. "If I'd snatched away your figurines and kicked you aside when I found you, you'd still have a belly full of gravel and sawdust."
"You..."
Unable to argue with Annan, Rus kicked the rats still fighting over the food away one by one like balls, then planted her hands on her hips and glared at him.
"Childish."
Annan tossed out the word, ignored Rus's fiery glare, and walked past her.
Three sentences were all it took to make an Incubus have eyes only for you.
The outermost level of the Ratfolk Lair was naturally the largest. It was also where great numbers of Blackfur Rats lived. Brownfur Rats only began appearing two levels down.
Annan wandered around