The underworld streets were as foul as one could imagine—an open wound beneath the city's skin. The stench of rotting food mixed with stale blood and piss clung to the air like a disease.
Muck clung to every crevice in the cobblestones, and rats scurried around like shadowy residents of their own kingdom. Shouts, groans, and drunken laughter echoed through the narrow, crooked alleys.
The underworld district was nothing like the clean, noble towns Kael had once walked through. The air smelled of piss, blood, and cheap alcohol. Flies buzzed over piles of trash rotting in the corners. Mud mixed with who-knows-what stuck to Kael's boots as he followed Bob down the dark, narrow alleys.
The buildings were broken and leaning. Clothes hung from windows, and suspicious eyes peered from the shadows. Screams and laughter echoed from deep inside the maze of streets.
