Page 83 of Fate of the Sun King

“I want to see,” Herric said. “The areas where there are still stones. I want to see them.”

There was a desperate edge to his voice, but he had to confirm it with his own eyes. It would be the only thing that would quell this twisting vise in his chest.

The guide tipped his chin, conflict in his expression, before he said, “Of course. This way. There is something else I’d like to show you.”

The guide turned on his heel, leaving Herric to wonder what else could go wrong.

They descended further, moving deeper and deeper as Herric shook off the feeling he was being buried alive. It was incomprehensible to think about the weight of stone perched over their heads.

“This,” said the guide, coming to a stop inside a small cavern where several miners were busy chipping away. They all looked over at Herric and his party, their heads dipping in deference. The guide then waved the torch towards the wall, and the light caught a vein of dark sparkling rock.

“What is it?” Herric asked, moving in for a closer look. It glittered with presence, weighty and dense, like solid smoke curling and shifting in a gust of air.

“We’re not sure,” the guide said. “But we just started noticing it recently. It seems the deeper we go, the thicker it becomes.”

“We should get a sample,” Herric said, running his fingers along the vein, a foreign twist tugging in his chest. “Test its properties.”

“Of course. I’ll have some sent up to the castle.”

Herric studied the unfamiliar material for a moment longer before turning back to their guide.

“What of the jewels?” he asked.

The guide was turning to lead them down to another tunnel when Herric heard it.

A rumble from deep in the mountain.

“What’s that?” someone else asked, alarm already in his tone. The floor vibrated beneath their feet as another rumble shook the entire cavern.

Debris sheared off the ceiling, first as pebbles but then in larger chunks as their surroundings shook and shook.

“Run! Everyone out!” their guide screamed. “It’s coming down.”

Herric spun around to witness the fleeing backs of his advisors scrambling over the fallen rocks as they all made their way back up the route they’d taken. He brought up the rear, willing them to move faster as the ground trembled so hard he lost his footing.

His knees struck rock, and he peered over his shoulder as black mist belched from the recesses of the mountain. It fogged over him, filling his mouth and nose.

He tried to scream, but the clouds choked off his air, and then the ground gave way beneath him as he began to fall, his limbs circling wildly as he tumbled end over end and then landed with a painful thud onto a hard surface.

For several long seconds, he lay with his cheek pressed to cold marble before he realized he was somewhere else. This was no longer The Aurora and it certainly wasn’t the inside of a mountain.

Voices in the distance pulled him to his knees as he surveyed his new surroundings. He appeared to be in some kind of hall, the walls and floors covered in marble, while a row of arched windows lining each side filtered in bright sunlight.

His head spinning slightly, he staggered to his feet and peered out, but all he saw were white clouds pressed against the glass. The same voices drew his attention, and he moved towards them, entering a large round chamber where six people stood facing one another.

He recognized most of them. King Nerus of Alluvion, with his pale bluish skin and indigo hair, and Queen Astraia of Celestria, with her silvery-white locks and those big black eyes.

King Terra of Tor was speaking, his deep voice rumbling like stones tumbling down a landslide.

“We had just returned from the fall hunt,” he said, “when we found everyone frozen in place, turned to stone.”

As Herric circled the perimeter, the rulers stopped, eyeing him as he moved into the remaining empty space around the circle.

“Continue,” Herric said.

“We made our way up the switchback to the castle, and every level was the same,” Terra said, rolling his neck. “Finally, we came upon a rock troll.” He stopped, his grey eyes blinking rapidly. “I didn’t even know they were real. But it was there like some nightmare from a storybook, and it had turned everyone to stone. I tried to confront it, but it faced me, and then everything went grey, and here I was.”

Queen Astraia spoke next. “It was a meteor,” she said, her musical voice devoid of emotion. “We did everything we could. My star wielders tried everything, but its trajectory was set. We all stood in the main square and watched it come.” She swallowed hard, her throat bobbing. “I… What happened to them?”