that they would secure the area, so Bleist had to descend into the darkness accompanied only by Rex. He quickly lit a magic light and peered into the opening. He had to admit, rather reluctantly, that he barely fit through the passage. He was very close to having to order the wall broken down to get down there.
After squeezing inside, he found himself on a narrow staircase taking up roughly half the width of the entrance to the upper level. The very start was indeed low, but after descending a few high steps, one could stand upright. The passage stretched downwards and appeared to descend well below ground level, and thus much deeper than a normal cellar. It was rather crudely constructed, clearly using magic, as if one of the agents had prepared the descent themselves.
When Darius finally reached the very bottom, he instinctively held his breath, trying to suppress the nausea. The source of the sweetish, musty stench of decay was a body leaning with its back against the wall opposite the entrance to the underground passage. The corpse, clad only in dark trousers and high boots, was battered, though it was clear that someone had tried to dress the wounds on the torso and arms. Unfortunately, the alchemical potions and bandages had been of no use, and around the body lay a pool of dried blood with empty vials sunk into it. The dead man’s head had fallen limply onto his chest, so his face was not visible, but his hand still gripped the hilt of his broadsword tightly. His other hand was stretched out to the side, as if at the last moment the man had tried to push something away.
Bleist clumsily pulled a scarf from under his armour and covered his face with it. The two Guards searching the rest of the room had similar scarves tied over their faces. The underground room was roughly the size of a courier office building. Like the descent below, this place too had been built in a crude style. The rectangular room contained two beds, a
