We met him in a sewer. It was a shock to say the least that they had put a rowboat down there. Not that I was complaining. This was a sewer in the truest sense with rancid muck sliding down the tube slowly. 

The merchant sat in the vessel. He was as tall as Wrath’s kid form and rather rotund, giving a a vague impression of a pear. Yet his cheeks lacked the roundness of the fat lifestyle of a noble . His skin browned by the sun marked his southern life while his grey hair confused that image. Wrinkles sat on his forehead like ditches in desert soil marking his age.His clothes offered no clue either, being tinged with reddish stain and weather wear but made with a light white cloth at some point. Stranger still, a child sat next to him. She bore resemblance to him in both garb and face. 

Who brings kids into sewers for covert pickups? Unless….. No way. There is no chance in hell that anyone would be dumb enough to haul a kid through bandit riddled territory. That required my levels of stupidity. 

We bustled over to the boat, with Lust leading me over there to avoid killing our guides. My power really was a pain. Envy probably would have spooked me, taking advantage of my closed eyes.

“Hello there. I do hope you are feeling well?”

So he was an idiot. We were bedraggled, dust coated and bloodied. I had bandages all along my wrist and Pride was still sniffling from his crying session earlier. The glowering silence seemed to work as an answer.

“No? Well prepare to have your day get worse. There will be more waiting at the docks. Anyhow we must move quickly, now or the sun will set before we leave and that is not something we want, is it? Introductions can come later.”

Couldn’t argue with that. I heard snickering from Luck which meant this wasn’t going to be fun. Almost immediately I slipped on a stone crashing into the sewage with a splash. What a start. Dripping in sludge, I clambered into the boat cursing under my breath before remembering that there was a  kid on board. Can’t even swear. God I hate Luck with a passion. 

I then began to row because why not enjoy the burning sensation in my shoulders as well as the wet feeling spreading into my undergarments. I didn’t even know where I was going. The merchant just shouted right or left. The roar of the falls built up again till my ears were strained to even catch a fraction of the orders the merchant tried to get over the tumult. Eventually we went further away and I heard what he was trying to say. 

“Slow down, there’s a  gate!!”

With my typical gracefulness we crashed full speed into the metal gate. After some grumbling from the occupants we unlatched the gate and found ourselves in a canal. As far as I could see were criss-crossingcrisscrossing roads of water. Mimicking my thoughts the merchant piped up.

“The city is built on several islands right before the falls and bridges connecting them makinge these canals the roads of the city. We’ll be taking the main one down to the staggered locks of the Mouth of Jormun to the port. Our cart and supplies are down there and it's the easiest way to avoid detection.”

Following the stone walls of the canals, we slowly made it to the “Mouth of Jormun”. My arms began to list reasons why Wrath should be doing this instead of me. Even late at night the streets surged with stalls and merchants intermingled with towns folk and guards. Lanterns lit the way in a ring of fire settling on murky water. Somewhere a piper played a northern song called Bredwhen the Ugly. Children usually sang it, albeit with less bawdy lyrics. We finally reached the Mouth of Jormun which turned out to simply be a massive statue of a dolphin battling a dragon above a strange series of steps in which huge ships sat waiting.

I almost felt like a child playing with a toy boat next to the massive hulls surrounding us. A bell rang above us and suddenly water began to rush downwards as we slowly got lower than the surrounding waterways. A gate I hadn’t noticed before opened and boats began to inch forward, sucked towards the lowering water. A gate emerged from below the water and we joined the contingent passing through it. 

This was fascinating the first two times but after two hours, my butt hurt and I just wanted to swim my way there, it seemed faster. When I asked why we didn’t walk down to the port, the merchant laughed.

“The port gate has lots of guards and one of us has wings. Poorly concealed at that. If we got checked, you would be caught. Plus the road between the lower port on this side and the city is no place for a child. Sailors curse thoughtlessly and touch any woman no matter the age. 

By time we got to the port, it was dark and the moon was smiling behind the clouds. We had to nudge next to a fishing sloop to even find a spot to dock. Then once I finally got on land, it seemed to mimic the water as well. It got very hard to stand when even the dock was moving under my feet. 

The merchant led us through stinking markets of fish, past houses that I hoped were brothels considering the outfits of the women there and around a bustling pub that was belting out a song in some language that I wish I spoke. Behind it was our glorious cart. Solidly wood with a canvas cover, extra wheels hooked on the side. A horse was brought from a stable somewhere whinnying incessantly. I recognized its color even in the dark, my favorite and only horse, Birch. Finally some Luck. 

I clambered into the back and we finally began to leave the city of falls or so I hoped. I fell asleep as soon as the wheels started to turn.