Verity Alice Price

Once more, Verity stepped off the bottom rung of the ladder, snapping her cave light on and clipping it to her belt. The light illuminated what looked like a perfectly normal stretch of sewer, from the water-stained brick of the walls to the unrecognizable sludge thinly coating the concrete floor. She drew her .45 and started forward, holding it in front of her in the classic television cop position. All she needed to do was follow the trail without freaking out. And hopefully without encountering any more unwanted lizard-men. Verity wasn't normally one to run from a fight, but if she could avoid this one, she wouldn't be sorry.

Fifteen minutes later, she'd walked probably half a mile into the dark beneath the city, descending gently all the while, and she hadn't seen anything bigger than a rat. She was starting to think she was on a wild-goose chase when an air current wafted up from the depths and addressed her nose with an aroma that had absolutely no business being in the sewer:

( The sweet scent of pine resin mixed with molasses. )

[Adapted from Chapter 18 of Seanan McGuire's Discount Armageddon with wonderful coding help from the always-brilliant firstofitskind. WARNING FOR NPC DEATH. First post is here, and here is the previous post, with the next post . NFI, NFB, OOC is love]