The alley, known as the Bone-Splitter to those who feared it, was a damp, narrow cut in the city's underbelly.
Kael, the special Enforcer of the Veridian city special investigation department, the special unit of the city watch, moved with the quiet efficiency of a man who dealt in blunt facts and sharp steel.
His young colleague, Roric, a mage fresh from the same department, walked half a pace behind, his eyes constantly scanning the oppressive shadows.
The only business operating in that alley, was the Antiquarian's Pen, a single-story bookshop nestled like a broken tooth between two boarded-up warehouses.
The scent of rain-soaked decay and old paper was overpowering.
Kael kicked the door open without ceremony.
A small, bronze bell attached to the frame gave a pathetic, echoing chime.
Inside, the world was composed entirely of dust and ink.
The air was thick, and the shelves, impossibly deep, created dark, claustrophobic canyons.
