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Stenlen resumed the procession, spiraling downward until the mountain walls opened into another cavern, with walls and columns more intricately carved than anything he’d seen in the rest of the mountain. The walls were lined with bays of stone statues at rest, covered in centuries of dust.
So many.
Many were female. Not just kings. Queens too.
From before the divide?
Goliath led the males carrying the slab to the first empty bay and worked to slide it into place.
That done, they stepped back to give Jori access for the last step.
He focused on his dragon magic to transform his hand again, enough so that his scales were accessible. He broke one off and left it on the slab next to Kargassa as an offering.
Everyone that followed did the same, guests and tribesman alike.
Jori spoke the final words, asking the mountain to claim the king’s remains so that he may rest.
A misty haze rose from the stone floor, rolled along the granite ceiling, and billowed from the surrounding bays, seeking the recent addition.
It slid over the colorful dragon scale offerings, absorbing their essence, reflecting the colors within the glittering, crackling cloud.
When it dimmed and receded back into the surrounding stone, the king’s flesh and bone body had been replaced by a glittering stone replacement. Even the delicate Aeleftherian flower was perfectly replicated with its tiny seed nestled within its petals.
Stenlen’s chest expanded with a deep breath.
It is done.
Chapter 28
Sam’s body ached with tension.
I finally found it.
The procession had strolled right past the seal, currently imbedded in the great wooden door of the tomb.
After decades of waiting and searching and instigating, it was time.
Now or never.
Releasing Clive and Merwin from their cells hadn’t provided the distraction needed to find and access the vaults. Failing that, Sam had been sure, so sure, she could get in using the gathered scales and blood Jori Mountainside had left scraped up the mountain face when he’d destroyed the communications tower.
The spells hadn’t worked, just like they hadn’t worked when she’d rarely managed to steal Kargassa’s fallen scales. All she had was the stolen key to the warren of secret tunnels and the magic word. Her escape plan, succeed or fail.
She needed to succeed.
The Consortium was growing impatient. The time was approaching, and they wanted to be ready.
If she failed, she’d lose her sister for good, and any chance she had of being a Founder of the new phase.
She was valuable without the artifact, but the artifact was crucial to their plan. It was their key.
To what, she only had theories, since they hadn’t confided in her. She wasn’t a founder. Yet.
So, she relied on the spells their head wizard had taught her, worming her way through the mountain, watching and learning everything she could about every male that lived here.
She read every book in the archive and library. Even Kargassa’s autobiography.
He’d thought he was smarter than Sam and the Consortium.
