“I like being creepy. It keeps normal people away. Are you normal people?” she challenged with raised eyebrow.
Pelya shook her head. “Nope. I’m not normal at all. Shall we go find some danger and magic?”
“Yes.” They took hands and walked through the entry. After Ebudae reactivated the wards, they continued. The hall was wide enough for them to walk side by side easily. It was dusty with a few threads of tapestries that hadn’t withstood the test of time. The air was musty and the only sound was that of their footsteps. Remnants of rusty torch brackets were along the walls. There were footprints and drag marks from Ebudae’s treasure collecting.
A few minutes later, they entered a large sloping chamber with a high ceiling the lantern barely illuminated. There were six marbled columns along the stepped aisle, but one of them had broken and fallen across the way, unable to handle centuries of neglect. Pelya suspected the floor was marble too. Balconies above had crumbled to the bottom level. Looking up, she could see that there was a balcony above them made of stone with columns supporting it. It didn’t look very sturdy to her though, especially since there were holes and cracks in various places.
“This used to be an auditorium. You can see the wide seating sections to either side even though there aren’t any seats there anymore. The front section would have had a wooden stage with a false bottom for props and people to disappear into.” Ebudae pointed ahead to a large open space. “If we really are in a wizard’s academy, this might have been used as a lecture hall for important speakers.” She walked down the steps, around the fallen column and sidestepped debris on her way down to where the stage would have been.
Pelya stared at everything in fascination, running her fingers along the column when passing it. A little bit of stone and dirt fell from the ceiling to their left, making a slight crumbling sound that caused them to glance in that direction. It would have been a beautiful place in its prime, but was now a sad vestige of its former self. She looked up at the ceiling and imagined the city above. They had traveled far enough that the manor wouldn’t be above them anymore. “Why doesn’t it collapse on us?”
Ebudae looked back. “There is a system of enormous columns holding the city up and insanely powerful runes connected to each other underneath Dralin that keeps everything from collapsing.” She waved her arms around the room and did a little spin. “This should have crashed down centuries ago and there are even older cities deeper in the ground that should be collapsed too.”
“Older? More cities?” Pelya had never heard of that and she knew a lot about Dralin from books and stories.
“Yeah. It’s not talked about a lot. I read about it in books and from asking grandmother. She didn’t know much though.”
“Do you think she knows we’re down here?” Pelya asked.
“Probably.” Ebudae went to the right after reaching a cross aisle that gradually curved around the area that would have been a stage. There were large openings on either side, but the one on the left looked like it had a lot of debris in it. “That way is a mess and not worth exploring. This way,” she pointed in the direction they were going, “is definitely worth exploring.”
Ebudae continued with the explanation as they entered another hallway much like the first. There was a barely perceptible breeze blowing through it. A rat scurried out of their way into a hole in the stone, but they paid no attention to it. “People have been living on this spot for as long as humanity has existed in the world. I read in one of the books that Dralin is one of the eight portals of magic in the world.”
“Portals?” Pelya asked.
“It’s in one of my older books. It might be in others, but I can’t read all of them,” she explained while moving around debris from a partially fallen section of wall. “There are eight portals of magic in the world. The City Center that no one ever talks about is one of those portals. That’s why Wraith Lake and Park are so bizarre and why Dralin Academy and the Estate of the Grand Assembly are all there.”
“Wow. I didn’t know that.”
“Most people don’t.” She pointed down a side passage. “There’re a couple of neat rooms that way, but we’re going to keep going this way.”
“Alright.” Pelya looked down that passage. It was thinner and murkier than the hallway they were in.
“So people have built cities on this location and then other people have conquered those cities and built over them.” Ebudae paused and held up the lantern to illuminate the gloom ahead. Apparently, she didn’t see anything dangerous because she resumed walking. “I don’t quite understand how so many cities have been stacked on top of each other, but they have.”
They passed a dark room to the right. Skittering sounds came from it along with the sound of dripping water. “What condition are the cities below in if this one is so bad?”
“Bad?” Ebudae asked incredulously. “This city is over a thousand years old. It’s in fantastic condition.” She waved her hand at the ceiling. “All of this should be rubble and dust by now. I don’t know what the cities below are like. The only thing I’ve heard is that there are a lot of tunnels below. They’re probably in really bad shape. I don’t know if the air is breathable or if there is anything living, it would probably be more dangerous than everyone in the City Guard put together.”
Pelya doubted that fact, being defensive of her beloved City Guard, but she didn’t doubt the danger. “We’re not going down further, are we?”
They came to an intersection of halls and turned down the one to the left. “Definitely not. Like I said, it’s dangerous and there might not be any air.” She turned into the first room on the right. “This is one of the labs where I’ve found a lot of neat things.”
Pelya noticed that doors and furniture were two of the things that didn’t fare so well. “You found a lot of books and other artifacts. How did they survive when the doors didn’t?”
“Libraries and labs usually have preservation runes carved into the walls, ceilings and floor. It makes everything last longer,” Ebudae explained, running fingers through her hair to get it out of her eyes while she opened a large chest along one wall.
“Is that what’s on the walls in your secret rooms?”
“Some of them are preservation, but mostly they protect the rest of the house from being destroyed if I do something stupid.” Ebudae pulled a sword out of the chest and brought it over. “I found this and thought of you. I haven’t given it to you because . . . because I didn’t think I could trust you with all of this.”
The sword was in a sheath with a thin chain belt. It would be the size of a short sword for an adult, but made a perfectly good longsword for her. Best of all, it was thin. Pulling it out, she saw the blade was the width of two fingers at the crossbar. Its sharpened edges tapered gradually to the point. It wasn’t very thick and there were absolutely no nicks in it. Pelya stepped back and hefted it. It was very light and the braided hilt fit nicely in her hand.
“It’s magic, but I don’t know how,” Ebudae said, running her fingers along the flat of the blade. “I don’t see runes in it anywhere, which means . . . I don’t know what it means.” She frowned at the metal that glistened in the dim lantern light. “It’s in perfect condition though, and it’s not cursed. I spent hours testing it.”
“What metal is it?” Pelya asked. The blade didn’t look like steel, silver or any other metal she had seen. It looked softer somehow.
“I don’t know that either.” She shrugged. “It’s yours if you want it.”
Pelya thought about it for a minute. “It’s magical and made of mysterious metal. That would make it worth hundreds of gold pieces. I don’t have that much.”
Ebudae stomped her foot. “I found it on the floor next to some bones and rusted armor. It’s not mine. It’s treasure and I’m sharing it with you. There are lots of other things I’ve found that are even more valuable.”
“I don’t know if I’ll be allowed to keep it,” Pelya replied sadly. It was the mos
t beautiful sword she had ever seen and she really did want it. “When I bring it back to the barracks, I’ll have to check it in and tell them where I got it.”
“Well then I guess you’ll just have to leave it here for when we go adventuring, won’t you?” Ebudae asked with her hands on her hips and the challenging look back in her eyes.
It was the perfect compromise. “Yes. We’ll just have to keep it here for adventuring.” Pelya sheathed the sword and wrapped the wizardess up in a big hug that was instantly returned.
“Shall we go?” Ebudae asked, grabbing a second lantern and lighting it for Pelya to carry. Once again, a mysterious breeze only affected the wizardess.
After wrapping the swordbelt around her waist and moving the longknife to her right side, she answered, “Yes. Let’s.” They left the room and turned right back down the newest hallway.
Chapter 15
Pelya was sure they had gone further than she would probably be allowed, but that was fine with her. Ebudae had shown her amazing rooms: quarters for sleeping, a large dining room and kitchen, and what she believed to be classrooms.
The room they were in at that moment was a library. Ebudae said it was the room she spent the most time in, but there were many books she couldn’t read. Pelya was running her fingers along some of the ones on a bookshelf in the back corner. There had to be thousands of books and scrolls resting on ancient stone shelves reaching up to the high ceiling. She could speak and read in a few languages, but was only fluent in Altordanian, the language of the country Dralin was in, Common and a coastal language many people used. None of the writing was in any of the languages she knew.
On their walk to the library, they had fought a large spider in one of the hallways, but it hadn’t been much of a battle. Ebudae cast a small ice dagger that punctured it fatally. Other than that, there were mostly rats and insects. As they went further, the critters became more numerous. Ebudae told her that they were entering dangerous territory.
Pelya walked back to where Ebudae had her lantern sitting and a few books open on a stone table that was well preserved along with everything else in the library. The wizardess was studying pictures in one and had been doing so long enough for Pelya to become bored out of her mind. “Why are there more animals and insects the further we get?”
Ebudae yipped, startled out of her reading. “Don’t scare me like that!” she hissed loudly.
“Sorry.”
“It’s fine, just don’t scare me.” She looked around as if remembering where they were. “What did you ask?”
“When we came down here there were only a few rats and insects, but the further we go, the more there are. Why?”
Ebudae blinked a few times. “One of the massive columns holding up Dralin is near the theatre. You can’t see it, but it’s there.” She glanced at her book as though wanting to continue reading, but closed it instead and leaned against the table with her arms folded. “There are runes that repel anyone who intends to tamper with them, animals, and monsters from what I’ve read. So the closer you get, the safer you are.”
“Who put them there?” Pelya asked, walking casually to the still-intact stone door, wanting to do more exploring.
“I don’t know. Probably the wizards or something, but I have no idea how.” Ebudae came up behind her, holding her lantern again. “I’m sorry I spent so long reading. We can explore now if you want.”
Pelya turned to her, biting her lip in thought. She finally shrugged. “It’s alright. Your books are important.”
“Yes, but I’ve been here lots of times. Let’s go someplace I haven’t been.” She led the way out and turned to the left. Pelya followed and waited while the wizardess relocked the door. She had a large key ring found in one of the other rooms and had been thrilled when one of the keys was to the library. She believed most others belonged to locks on wooden doors that had long since disintegrated. The key ring had runes to preserve the condition of the keys. “I haven’t been much further than the library.” Ebudae smiled over her shoulder. “I really like books a lot and have been spending most of the last year in there.”
“I like books too, not as much as you, but I like them. It’s a shame most people don’t know how to read.”
“I know, right? I think that’s why I spend so much time trying to read everything. I’m scared something will happen to grandmother and I won’t be able to have books anymore.” There was real fear in her eyes.
“Your grandma’s too nasty to die, as my Uncle Herman says.” Pelya grinned as they walked down the long hallway. “He says mean people keep going until their faces turn into dusty prunes.”
Ebudae giggled. “You’re probably right.” They came to an intersection. Pointing left then right, she said, “Those lead to other areas of the academy. I really am certain that this is an ancient wizard’s academy. Ahead are big double doors that open onto a street. There’s a smaller door that I have the key to. I’ve only opened it once though.” She looked at Pelya. “It was too scary to go out there by myself.”
Pelya hugged her. “I think you’re brave for coming down here at all, especially by yourself.” She stepped back. “We’ll go down these other halls. I don’t mind.”
“You don’t want to go out there?” Ebudae asked in surprise. She seemed a little disappointed.
“Well . . . I do, but you said you were afraid . . .”
“I was afraid of going out there alone,” she replied crossly, her free hand on a hip. “I’m not alone anymore, am I?”
“I’m sorry. You’re right, I do want to go out there. Shall we?” Pelya asked hopefully.
Ebudae’s face brightened instantly. “Yes, let’s.” They continued briskly on toward the doors. A large spider scurried up one of the walls toward the high ceiling, but didn’t seem interested in bothering them. “I do have three bottles of anti-venom in the pack if we get bitten, but it’s another one I have to tell grandmother about, so don’t get bitten.”
“I won’t,” Pelya assured her fervently. Not only did she not want to tell Lady Pallon what they were doing, she really didn’t want to get bitten by anything, since it would most likely be painful.
The lock made a loud tumbling sound and the door squeaked when opened, which Pelya knew would probably alert the most dangerous thing available to their presence. She drew her new sword and stepped through the doorway while Ebudae held it open. The lantern didn’t cast its light very far, but the surroundings had dim illumination that enabled her to see shapes in the distance. She believed most to be other buildings, but wasn’t certain. They were at the top of stairs that went down fifty or so steps in a gradually widening arc. A cool breeze was blowing gently from their left, a nice contrast to the stuffy academy. She wondered where it came from.
“Is it clear?” Ebudae asked quietly, causing her to jump.
“I don’t know,” Pelya replied softly over her shoulder. “Nothing’s attacking me yet, which is good, but I can’t see very far. I need to let my eyes adjust.”
“I’m going to leave the door open for a minute so we can run back in,” the wizardess said nervously.
“Alright.” Pelya stepped to the side to let her come out and they studied their surroundings.
Unlike a normal street, there was no sky above. Instead, some sort of ceiling was about two hundred feet above their heads, but they couldn’t tell if was manmade stone or natural rock. Little dots of different colored lights that looked like stars were scattered along it. The lights also dotted the ground and the walls of the shapes that looked like buildings.
“I think those are glowing flowers.” Ebudae pointed at one growing through a crack about halfway down the steps. Pelya began walking slowly toward it, watching for danger the whole time. The wizardess followed her.
It was a flower with translucent leaves that had slow-moving, orange liquid running through their veins. “I’ve never seen or heard of anything like it,” Pelya said in awe. “What kind of plant is it?”
“I do
n’t know,” Ebudae replied, just as curious. “I don’t find plants all that interesting normally, so I skim over that stuff unless it relates to spell ingredients.” She blushed in the mixed yellow-green of the lanterns and orange light of the plant. “I’ll try to find out more. They’re pretty.”
“They are. I wonder if all those lights are plants.” Pelya stood and gestured at the myriad of glowing dots that weren’t thick enough to generate real light in the dark, cavernous space.
“I think they are. It’s beautiful. I just wish there were more.” Ebudae said wistfully. “Oh, let me close the door and we can go explore a little bit.” She dashed back up the steps and closed it. “Do you think I should lock it?”
Pelya moved halfway back up. “No. We don’t want to have to find the key if we’re in a hurry. I think that’s more likely than something sneaking in.”
Ebudae nodded and they slowly made their way down the broken and crumbling steps. The street they were on had been cobbled at one time, but most of it was loose and the underlying dirt was exposed in many places. Pelya wondered briefly how thick the dirt was if there were more cities underneath. She gulped at the mental image of everything caving in suddenly.
“What’s wrong? You’re breathing heavily and don’t look so good,” Ebudae asked worriedly.
Pelya closed her eyes and steadied her breathing as she had been taught to do in panic drills required by the Guard. “I just thought about what would happen if everything crumbled.” The wizardess smacked her hard on the arm. “Ow! What’d you do that for?”
“Because I hate those thoughts. This is scary enough without them. And keep your voice down,” she chastised in a loud whisper.
They looked around to make certain nothing heard them and were relieved when it was clear. Then they carefully crossed the wide street. A building directly across the way formed into what appeared to be a manor when they came closer. Crumbling stone around a dirt yard had most likely been a low wall at one time. They stepped over, not knowing where the gate might have been.
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