Halfway across the northern district of Labrys Town was the street known as Resident Approach. Wide and long, it ran southward in a straight line all the way to the central district. The southern region of Resident Approach accommodated shops and eateries, communal gardens and markets providing a place for work and pleasure alike – a source of life.

But the further north it stretched, the more desolate and lonely Resident Approach became. The gardens and buildings fell away. Tramlines ran along a section of the street which narrowed to half its original width and sloped downwards, cutting a gorge through the stone, creating a  valley which flattened out some fifteen feet below street level, and the walls that loomed either side were smooth and grey.

Denizens did not linger here. There were no lamps, walkways or pavements, only lifeless statues lining the high walls. Eight feet tall and grim-faced, these statues were of past Residents, memorials to the former governors of Labrys Town that dated back a thousand years.

The clouds had cleared and the temperature was cooling as Samuel made his way along the northern reaches of Resident Approach. The night sky was on the cusp of changeover as Ruby Moon faded and Silver Moon began to rise. Samuel felt exposed, conscious of the taps and scratches of his footsteps, of the rasps and sighs of his breathing as he walked the deserted valley. The only cover offered him were shadows cast by the former Residents. He felt the gazes of those long deceased men and women upon him, as hard as the stone from which they were carved, judgemental, accusing. In the hands of each effigy was a milky eye device. There was nowhere to hide along Resident Approach.

Samuel's hand flexed, as if needing to hold something comforting in its grip; but the old bounty hunter resisted the urge to draw the revolver holstered to his leg.

As he neared the northernmost part of Resident Approach, he stopped and considered. The valley ended at a wall, as high as those flanking it, which would have formed a blind end had it not been for the fat tunnel burrowing into it. The tramlines converged into a single track that disappeared into the tunnel. Beyond it, a building was dimly highlighted under the fading glow of Ruby Moon. Constructed out of dark stone, the building rose high behind the wall, above the valley; its perfect square shape was shrouded slightly by the night's mist. It was a monumental building, by far the largest in Labrys Town: a giant cube that loomed, brooded, over Resident Approach.

The Nightshade.

Samuel didn't need to check the spirit compass in his pocket to know that the girl was inside. After all, he had seen Hamir, the Resident's aide, collect her from the police station.

Throughout the Labyrinth's history, the Nightshade had been home to the Residents, the governors of Labrys Town. Briefly Samuel looked back along the valley of Resident Approach, at the statues stretching off into the gloom. Each statue embodied a legend, had a story to tell.

Samuel turned back to the giant cube of the Nightshade. Another statue stood to the right of the tunnel cut into the wall. Samuel sighed, then made his way towards it.

Towering over the old bounty hunter, the statue's face was thin and angular with an expression as stern as the others. Samuel looked straight at the eye in its hands, and then down to read the name engraved into the plinth: GIDEON THE SELFLESS.

Samuel snorted.

Gideon had been the direct predecessor of the current Resident. He was called "the Selfless" because he had given his life during the Genii War. Single-handedly, they said, he had battled Spiral's demons and saved the lives of every denizen in Labrys Town. And the denizens were eternally grateful for his sacrifice.

Allegedly.

The statue was a good likeness of the flesh. Samuel sneered his contempt up towards Gideon's face before walking into the tunnel.

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