AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I didn’t know if it was our presence or if Daksh had done something, but dusty globes began to glow, as did the buildings under a layer of grime. A path circled around the place, but there was also a sloping ramp going down into the city.
“Why would anyone build underground?” I asked in wonder as Daksh followed the curving channel.
“People avoiding extreme weather. It’s cool. It’s protected.”
“But what about sunlight and fresh air?” It had been only days, and already I missed both.
“I assume there used to be some outside access that became covered over time.”
A glance overhead showed only darkness. It didn’t reassure. What if it held cracks like that tunnel? I still had no interest in being buried alive. A glance down at the city showed it eerily lit, but only in some spots. “What happened to its inhabitants?”
“Now that is a good question, and would you believe not one book in my library ever said?”
“Do you think the buildings are as clean as those tunnels?” I couldn’t help but think of the cellar that retained its dusty items.
The question stopped Daksh, and he frowned. “I don’t know. Until recently, I wasn’t even aware of the tunnels and didn’t have time to properly explore.”
“Yet you thought it a good idea to lead an expedition?” I couldn’t help but nudge his logic.
“It’s just as dangerous above ground,” he countered. “Not to mention, whatever we need to find isn’t visible on the surface. This”—he swept a hand—“proves some of the cities still exist.”
“Don’t you wonder why and how it got hidden away, though?” Finding the Third Jewel only increased my questions.
“I do,” he admitted softly. He glanced at the far side of the cavern, where the channel exited, and then back where we came from with the ramp leading down. “Let’s go check out the city.”
“Now?”
“We’re here, aren’t we? You’re right. We should see what’s been left behind. Perhaps we’ll have a clue as to what we’ll face.”
I didn’t point out that anything capable of vacating a city would be more than two people could handle. While the lack of damage indicated no monsters, what if it were a virus that killed? Would centuries of abandonment be enough to make it safe for us?
Too late to argue. Daksh descended, and while I started out hurrying to catch up, I soon slowed, caught by the design of this city. Unlike the mountain where we carved the outside, the people of this city carved within a massive shaft but then also built buildings that jutted like stalagmites from the ground level. We weaved past the first few, a towering three to four stories. The road held only sporadic light, and I noticed some of the hanging globes missing, shattered on the ground as if knocked free, a few splintered on their projecting limbs.
The garbage on the ground didn’t reassure. Apparently, I couldn’t be pleased. Clean bothered me, but the sight of bones and the smell of things that rotted had me clutching the hilt of the dagger he’d given me. This city had long been abandoned, but the death appeared fresh.
We weren’t alone. I just couldn’t tell what kind of threat was aware of our presence. To the unknowing eye, Daksh might have appeared nonchalant, but I could see the tension in his body, the faint hint of magic glowing around him.
Forget my earlier curiosity. I wanted to leave. But I feared speaking aloud. Daksh veered for a building with its doors intact.
“What are you doing?” I whispered, my head swiveling side to side to see if I’d drawn attention.
“Looking inside.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t.” I no longer wanted to see. I just wanted out of here and back to my quiet, not smelly, not-as-scary tunnel.
He stepped in, and I wasn’t staying out here alone. I hugged his back as he entered what I assumed to be the common room of a tavern.
It was a tomb.
A shiver racked me, and I hugged my upper body as Daksh held up his glowing sword. No lights in here appeared to care we had magic to operate them. Good. Because I didn’t want to see more.
The tables remained upright, the chairs mostly as well. A few had toppled, most likely because of the dead bodies. Bodies that had lain here so long in the dry space they’d mummified. Cobwebs covered some. I saw something scuttle into the eye socket of a skull perched on a table beside a bowl. As if they’d been eating when death hit.
“What killed them?” I asked as Daksh knelt to look more closely at the remains of one on the floor.
“I don’t know. Definitely not monsters, though.”
“Meaning it was worse, seeing as they couldn’t even fight it.” I held the dagger aloft and twirled to confirm. “This place was packed with people. They never saw it coming.”
