Chapter 180: Eat. Rest. Tomorrow we decide the next target
Nancy led them up a series of iron staircases that climbed the inner wall of the crater. The higher they went, the cleaner the air became.
Red forge-glow faded into the softer light of blue lanterns. Demons they passed pressed themselves against the railings and kept their eyes down.
The quarters sat on a wide terrace cut into the rock. A long main hall opened onto several private rooms and a balcony that looked out over the entire Black Maw.
The furniture was dark metal and worn leather, practical rather than elegant, but it was the first place in days that did not smell of sulfur or old blood.
Lucy dropped onto a long couch hard enough to make it creak. "Horizontal surface achieved. I live here now."
Isha immediately claimed the other end of the same couch, stretching out until her boots hung off the armrest. "I second this location. It does not try to eat us. High praise."
Vespera walked to the balcony and looked down at the quiet forges. "The city is already adjusting. No fights in the lower levels. That is faster than the Ashen Bazaar."
Serakel’s third eye dimmed as she examined the room’s corners. "No hidden contracts. No listening wards that are still active. Nancy had them cleared before we arrived."
The Reverend Mother Superior tested an iron chair, found it acceptable, and sat with a small sigh. "A night of relative peace. I will try not to become accustomed to it."
Nancy stood near the entrance, still adjusting to the gold mark at her throat. "Food is on the way. The previous owners of these rooms will not be needing them again. You may use the space as you see fit, Master."
Levi nodded once. "You are dismissed for the night. Hold the gates. Report only if something worth my attention arrives."
Nancy bowed and left, closing the heavy door behind her. The moment it sealed, the five women visibly relaxed another degree.
Lucy kicked her boots off and propped her feet on a low table. "She is going to be useful. Annoying at first, but useful."
Isha rolled onto her side, slime already making itself comfortable against the leather. "I like her one-eyed stare. Very dramatic. Do you think she practices it?"
"Yes," Vespera and Serakel said at the same time.
The Reverend Mother Superior allowed herself a rare, faint smile. "The collection grows more colorful by the cycle."
Levi walked to the balcony and rested both hands on the iron rail. Below him the Black Maw spread out in rings of red and blue light.
The pit-wyrm hybrid had settled near the main gate like a living warning. Gold light from the Sovereign Domain threaded quietly through the streets and forges.
’Three free courts still marked as significant on the maps. The message is already moving. Some will come with tribute. Some will come with steel. Both are fine.’
He turned back to the room. "Eat. Rest. Tomorrow we decide the next target. The Red Spires, the Drowned Market, or the Hollow Choir. Or we wait here and let them come to us."
Lucy raised one hand without sitting up. "I vote for whatever involves the least walking and the most regrettable decisions by other people."
Isha pointed at Lucy. "What she said."
Vespera’s living eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "The Red Spires will be the most organized resistance. The Drowned Market will try to buy us off first. The Hollow Choir is unpredictable. Unpredictable can be dangerous."
Serakel nodded. "Dangerous is also efficient. One strong example there might finish the rest without further travel."
The Reverend Mother Superior looked at Levi. "You already know which one you prefer."
He did not deny it.
Food arrived a short time later: roasted meat from something that had probably been dangerous when alive, dense bread, and jugs of a dark liquid that burned pleasantly on the way down.
The five women ate with the focused appetite of people who had been living on travel rations and adrenaline. Conversation stayed light. Lucy retold the gate fight with increasingly dramatic gestures.
Isha demonstrated how she had thrown the siege crew, complete with slime illustrations. Vespera and Serakel quietly corrected the more exaggerated details. The Reverend Mother Superior pretended not to find any of it amusing and failed.
When the plates were cleared, the group drifted into the private rooms. Levi took the largest chamber at the end of the hall. The bed was wide, the walls thick, and the single window looked out over the crater’s edge into open dark.
He stood at that window for a while, feeling the steady pulse of the claimed city beneath him.
’The Black Maw is secure. The women are fed and sharp. The next move can wait until the cycle turns. Neverland is still giving up its independent pieces one by one. There is no need to rush the ending.’
A soft knock sounded at the door. Lucy’s voice came through, quieter than usual.
"The others are turning in. I am taking first watch on the balcony. Unless you need anything."
"I need nothing," Levi answered. "Sleep if you can. The hybrid is enough of a warning for one night."
There was a brief pause, then the sound of her boots moving away toward the main hall.
Levi left the window and lay down on the bed. The gold mark of the Sovereign Domain pulsed once, deep and satisfied, before settling into a quiet rhythm that matched the newly ordered city outside.
The next cycle turned without alarms. No horns. No sudden attacks. The Black Maw remained quiet under the gold pulse of the Sovereign Domain.
Levi rose first. The crater city below the terrace still glowed with forge-light, but the rhythm was steady and controlled.
The pit-wyrm hybrid had not moved from its post near the main gate. Demons went about their work with the careful posture of people who had recently learned a new set of rules.
He stepped into the main hall. Lucy was already awake, boots on, blade within reach, finishing the last of the previous night’s bread.
Vespera stood at the balcony rail, living eyes tracking the upper ridges. Serakel sat at the long table with one of the Black Maw’s maps spread open. Isha was draped sideways across a chair, slime shifting lazily along her arms.