IMPERIUM INSECTUM

“That was close.”

“Yeah, too close.”

I settled into Apollinaris's bed, seeing how mine didn’t exist any more.

“Diva, please, Next time, can you not practice magic inside our room.”

“Yeah, sorry. It's just…” I started to giggle childishly.

“What's funny?” she said, perplexed.

“I’m sorry, it's just…. I can use magic. Scary magic but magic nonetheless.”

Apollinaris looked at me with disbelief before laughing as well. “I guess you can. But your gonna need to be more careful.”

“Your right. What I need is to find a place to practice.” I stood up and walked to the balcony. The moon was in the sky, and not a single cloud could be seen. A perfect night for some fun.

“Wait, where are you going?” she yelled.

I gave her a smile. “Don’t worry, ill be back later.” And before she could reply, I lept off the side of the building.

-----------------

“Spare some change... spare some change, kind sir.”

“Sure, here you go.”

A man wearing a black suit stopped in front of me and started fumbling with his wallet. In no time, 3 Copper coins landed in my hat.

“is that it?”  I mean, really. You clearly have more money, and yet give me 3 shitty copper coins.

“what-“

“what the fuck do you think I’m gonna do with that. Come on, drop us a couple of silvers. “

“wha- the nerve- ill have you kn-”

“Whatever. Either drop the silver or stop wasting my time. dick head”

His wallet snapped shut.

“ungrateful cretin”

“Rich asshole”

The man spat at my feet before walking away. Way to convince me you're not an asshole. I Stood up from my spot and dusted down my clothes. Not like it was gonna make them cleaner, but at least it's something.

“Why do you do that.”

I turned towards the voice. It was my friend Sally; we met on the streets a while ago when I caught her tryna pickpocket my switchblade. One thing led to another, and now she is the only person who makes this life bearable.

“You do know you would earn more money from the Wacks If you were nice to them.”

“Bleh. What's the point? Both me and you are doomed to die homeless. The last thing I’m gonna do is die kissing the feet of people for scraps.”

“Your thinking is very bizarre, Aaron.”

“and your thinking is very naive, Sally.”

“oh, don’t be like that. One day we will be outta this place. Adventuring like the best of them.”

I chuckled. This girl. How she can have that much optimism whilst wearing a torn potato sack is beyond me. But it is nice to have around.

“Always the optimist, sally.”

A goofy smile grew across her face as I stood up off the ground.

“Let's head to the underground. I’m calling it a night.”

“Sure, boss, lead the way, boss.”

“Please don’t call me that.”

“Whateva, you say, boss.”

“Eughh, let's go”

Sally hopped off the wooden keg and onto the ground. I headed over to the manhole cover in the distance while Sally cartwheeled over to it.

“Can you just walk For once in your life!”

“No can do, boss!”

A sigh escaped me as I  lifted the cover of the manhole. As soon as the lid was up, Sally jumped down the hole. How she hasn’t broken a leg from all her acrobatics is beyond me.

*ka-tunk*

My head snapped like a cat to the sound. There was only us in the alleyway.

“Hello? Someone there...”

I watched and waited. Nothing.

“Look, if you’re here to steal my money, go find someone else. I don’t have  a single copper to my name.”

Nothing, the alleyway was the same miserable shades of brown-grey it's always been.

“bah, probably the wind or something.”

I waited a few seconds again before climbing down the manhole. In no time, I was in the storm drain.

“Boss, what took you so long.”

“Nothing.”

“Okay, boss, let's head out.”

I sighed as I followed her. The sound of our feet splashing echoed through the tunnels as we made our way to the underground. It hadn’t rained in a while, but the storm drains were still soaking wet.

“God, I hate these tunnels.”

“Dont say that, boss. We could be on the northern side and have to take the sewers.”

I shivered at that thought. Trapsing through tonnes of shit and lord knows what else to get home is not something I want to do. I did it once, and let's say it's been 5 months, and the smell is still in my nose. Thankfully there are storm drains instead of sewers. So only the smell of stagnant water filled the air.

We walked for a few minutes filling the time with small talk until we reached a 4-way intersection. One led to the underground, whilst the others led to other parts of the town. We were about to take a right at the intersection when the echoes of footsteps stopped us in our tracks.

Sally looked up at me. Her happy demeanour is gone.

“Aaron, you don’t think?”

“I don’t know. And I’m not in the mood to find out.”

We dashed around the corner and started running.

“HEY, YOU  TWO STOP”

 NOPE, our feet pounded the wet stones. These storm drains are usually patrolled by guards. And let's just say they aren’t the friendliest to our kind. Our feet pounded the stone as we ran towards our destination. We ran and ran until our feet ached. It didn’t hurt that this place was a maze most of the time.

“Aaron....I’m......tired.”

“Shit, let's take 5”

We ducked into a large water inlet. Man, I don’t need this today. I just wanna go home.

“Do you think it was a guard?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t see, but why risk it? Damn, curse Ashdown and his stupid policies. You drove us from the streets, and now you want to drive us out of our underground home!?” My fist smashed into the wet stone wall sending ripples of pain up my arm.

“I swear if I ever get the chance, ill kill that man.”

“Don’t talk like that, boss; it doesn’t suit you.”

I glared at her. And she shrank a little. I was about to argue with her when suddenly the sounds of footsteps echoed down the tunnels. Fuck, we can't run. They will definitely see us. I looked towards Sally. She was frozen as well, completely unsure of what to do next.

The sound of water splash echoed towards us as they neared. Fuck what do we do? Run some more? I looked at Sally. She was at her wit's end. She can't run any more. Fuck. Fuck FUCK what do I do. The steps got louder, causing my heart to race. Suddenly came, the sounds of the footsteps stopped. I looked towards Sally. She had noticed it too. Did he get lost? But that’s impossible. It’s a completely straight tunnel. Then what happened to him?

I waited for a few more minutes expecting to see him walk by and see us but nothing. I started to move quietly towards the inlet to get a better look. Eventually, I was close enough to peek around the corner, where I saw nothing. Just the same storm tunnels. I started to move out of the inlet only to feel a hand wrap around my leg. It was Sally. She shook her head. I know it's stupid, but we have to make sure the coast is clear. I moved out of the water inlet and back into the tunnel. It was silent eerily silent. Something felt off. It is just Sally and me in this tunnel, right? I moved in the direction of where the guard should be. The sound of water dripping filled the air. Relax, this is just the same old-

“AHHHHHH!” I screamed

Footsteps Pounded up behind me.

“What is it? What AHHHHHH” Sally wailed

In front of us was the corpse of the guard; however, The entire top half of his body was completely gone, I mean, gone like it was completely split in half. I looked at the set of legs in front of me that oozed blood onto the wet floor. Just what did this? More importantly, if he was split in half, where is the other part of him?

“Is he.. is he..”

I turned around and pulled Sally into a hug.

“It is okay. Let's just get out of here. We don’t want a guard to walk by and think we did this.”

“wha….what did this, Aaron?”

“Yes, Aaron, what do you think did this?“

I snapped my head around, only to be met with a monster's cold, uncaring eyes.

“The names Diva. Can you do me a favour and Die for me?”