150 parts! Not sure who might still be following this, but if you are, thank you for following me on this journey. I stll have no idea where it is going, but I’m enjoying writing it and developing these characters and world, and I hope you are enjoying reading it!

Kepa led the way, the glow from his hand breaking the suffocating darkness. Maite never liked enclosed spaces, but this one, in a foreign time with danger all around, seemed particularly oppressive. She squeezed the key tightly in her hand causing the teeth to bite into her palm, distracting her from the unease that was building inside her.

She imagined the city above them, the buildings and streets that connected the old part of Donostia together, like the stitching of a blanket. She didn’t know the city well enough to guess what might be above, and, she admitted, she had no idea if the city was even the same in her time as it was now. The way that the ships were blasting the walls with their cannons, she expected much of it would be destroyed in the coming days.

Ubruptly, Kepa stopped. Maite peered over his shoulder. There was a wall in front of them. To the side was another rickety old ladder, this one in much worse condition than the one at Josean’s sacristy. Maite reached out with her hand and could see the rust flakes fall away as she touched them.

Kepa grabbed a rung and started to pull himself out when Maite put her hand on his shoulder, pulling him back. “We don’t know what is up there,” she said in a whisper.

“No, but we know what is down here – nothing – and we can’t stay here forever.”

Maite sighed, knowing Kepa was right, but still fearful of what they might find on the other side.

“Kontuz,” she said.

Kepa smiled. “Beti.”

Kepa climbed up the ladder, flakes of rust falling as he did. Maite stepped back so they wouldn’t fall into her eyes. A few minutes later, Kepa reached the ceiling of the tunnel where he found a latch, fastened shut with a large lock. He looked down at Maite. 

“The key?”

Maite nodded and tossed it up. It almost seemed to hang in the air as Kepa reached out, the bright light emanating from his hand reflecting against the dull metal of the key as it spun, splashing light on the walls and down the tunnel. He grabbed it midair and inserted it into the lock, which made a satisfying click as he turned the key. He looked back down at Maite who blew him a kiss. Returning his attention to the latch, he pushed it up and open. Light spilled down and into the tunnel, momentarily blinding him.

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