Quintessential Tales: A Magic of Solendrea Anthology

by Martin Hengst

“I don’t get it,” she said, looking around. “Where are the statues and altars? Where are the coffers of gold and treasures that have been sacrificed? If this is a temple, there should be something here.”

  Declan walked past her to the edge of the platform and looked down. When he turned back to face her, one corner of his mouth was turned up in a quirky smile.

  “I know what this is.”

  Serena put her hands on her hips and glared at him. She hated when he got this way. So smug and superior, like he was the only one who could figure things out. In this particular case, he was right. Though she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction, she didn’t have much of a choice.

  “Well?” she demanded. “Are you going to tell me? Or are we just going to stand here all day?”

  Declan crossed the platform at a trot and grabbed her hand. His grip was surprisingly strong considering he’d just had an attack earlier in the day. His excitement was contagious and they all but ran back to the edge of the platform. They were probably twenty feet up, but she still had no idea what had him so excited.

  “Okay,” she said. “So what am I looking at?”

  “Use your imagination, Sera.” He stretched out an arm and pointed out across the open expanse of the cavern. “That tiny trickle of water we saw coming in. Imagine that, but bigger. Much bigger. Deep enough to reach the edge—”

  “It’s a dock!” she crowed, pleased with herself for figuring it out at last. “It’s a very, very large dock. How long would it take for the land to change so drastically that the water would stop flowing and all dry up?”

  Declan stroked his chin. “It depends. Something cataclysmic could have happened to dam it further upstream, but I don’t think that’s what happened here. I think this happened over the course of a couple hundred, maybe thousand, years.”

  Serena clutched his shoulder, unable to contain her own excitement. Declan winced and pulled away from her vise-like grip. He rubbed his shoulder.

  “Ow. Easy now, remember what I said about not getting your hopes up? Just because the dock hasn’t been used in forever doesn’t mean we’re the first ones to find it.”

  “I know.” Serena frowned and then brightened. Her smile was nearly as bright as the torch she carried. “But there’s a chance, Declan. There’s a chance. We could be rich beyond our wildest dreams!”

  Her brother chuckled, shaking his head.

  “Not if we don’t find a door. Let’s take a look around for more stairs. They had to have some way to get to the dock. I don’t think we’ll be going in the front door, but as long as we get to go inside, who cares?”

  Serena couldn’t have agreed more. They retraced their steps to the stairs leading up from the dry riverbed. They followed the wall as it meandered deeper into the cave, further into the darkness. Serena wasn’t fond of the dark. She had a hard time gaging the passage of time and kept glancing over her shoulder at the mouth of the cave to make sure it was still light outside. She didn’t want to be stuck in the darkness of the cave come nightfall.

  Declan’s hand clamped over her mouth and she went rigid with surprise.

  “Shhh!” he hissed in her ear. “There’s someone up ahead.”

  A quick scan of the darkness proved Declan right. Just outside the leaping light of the torch, there was the vague outline of a man. Serena stopped dead in her tracks. The figure didn’t move. She wished with all her heart that she had the sword in her hand instead of the torch. If she tried to draw it now, there was no telling what might happen.

  “Okay,” she whispered back. “So what do we do now?”

  “How should I know? You’re supposed to be the cunning adventurer.”

  Though she didn’t care for his attitude, she knew Declan was right. There was nothing they could do but face the intruder head on. She wasn’t about to let her dreams of treasure and fame fall by the wayside just because there was someone standing in their way. Serena passed the torch to Declan and drew her sword.

  “Stay behind me and come on.”

  Serena took a step forward, then another. Her eyes never left the man standing in the darkness. He didn’t move an inch as they approached. Finally the flickering light of the torch fell across the man’s figure, and Serena burst into laughter.

  “What? What is it?” Declan asked, coming to her side. “Oh. I guess he wasn’t much of a threat.”

  The figure they’d seen in the darkness was made of stone. The statue clutched a spear in one hand and a corroded shield in the other. Remnants of what might have once been armor hung in rusty patches about his torso and waist. More important was what the statue was standing guard over. Another staircase crept up past its stoic guardian into the darkness beyond.

  With steps that matched the quickness of her heartbeats, Serena climbed the stairs. Declan followed behind, holding the torch above his head so they could see. It wasn’t long before they came upon another platform, much smaller than the dock had been. A stone rail about waist high encircled the platform, except in a few places where rock falls from the roof of the cavern had broken the railing, leaving enough space to fall through to the riverbed beyond. Serena shuddered.

  She peered around. No other statuary. No door. No anything other than the platform and railing. It was a dead end. The enthusiasm went out of her in a rush and she sank to the floor, resting her elbows on her crossed legs.

  “Just fantastic.” She sighed. “A dead end.”

  Declan wasn’t paying attention. He still had the torch held over his head while his other hand caressed the stone.

  “It’s not a dead end,” he replied, his voice distant. “It’s just a door we don’t know how to open.”

  “A door?”

  Serena was back on her feet and beside him in the span of a single breath. He was right. There was a faint perpendicular line extending up from the floor and another an arm’s length or so away. She tried to wedge the tip of her sword into the depression but it wasn’t a fissure, just a small, almost imperceptible depression in the stone. That was almost worse…to know there was a way into the temple, but not knowing how to open the door.

  “Patience is a virtue, Sera.”

  “I’ve never been very virtuous. Can you open it?”

  “I’m working on it. Here, hold this.”

  He passed her back the torch, and she sheathed her sword, giving it a disapproving glance as she did. She should have had the smith forge a chisel into the damn thing, too.

  Declan swung his pack off his back and rummaged around inside. Where Serena’s own rucksack was filled with rope, provisions, and water skins, her brother’s was filled with pieces of paper, books, and strange instruments she could only guess a use for. Serena sighed. If she wanted to get inside the temple, she’d have to wait while Declan figured things out. A process that she found long and tedious.

  Her brother flipped open a book, holding it in the crook of his left arm while his right hand traced over a faded row of symbols etched beside the door. Declan produced a piece of chalk from his pocket and began writing unfamiliar words on the wall beside the symbols. He was completely lost in his work.

  Serena stalked about the small platform. There was little else to see. She could see the cave entrance from where she was, and the light outside was fading fast. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d spent the night in a cavern, but there was something about the place that made her skin crawl. Putting the thought out of her head, she continued her detailed survey of the landing on which they found themselves. She was pleased when she found a rusted brazier to the right of the door. She gave it a tug, expecting the whole thing to fall to pieces at a touch. It didn’t. She took the desiccated husk of an ancient torch from the brazier and replaced it with her own, rubbing her shoulder once she was free of the burden. It wasn’t that it was heavy, but hours of holding it aloft had taken their toll. Now Declan could work without her having to hover over him the entire time.

  Work he did, long after the last of the daylight vanished from
the mouth of the cave. Serena had checked the stability of the railing around the platform and found it in good shape except for the broken areas, which were relatively small. If she fell asleep, she wouldn’t have to worry about rolling off the platform and plummeting to her death. She took a fresh torch from her pack and replaced the one in the brazier that had dwindled to a near ember. The dying one she threw as hard as she could, watching its orange eye arc out into the black and then fall for what seemed like an eternity before exploding into sparks somewhere in the riverbed. Then there was nothing.

  Declan was still writing notes on the wall next to the door. He hadn’t spoken in hours, and Serena doubted he would until he had figured out his mystery. He was like that. It was infuriating. Accepting her fate, she took a blanket from the bedroll tied below her pack and used the pack itself as a pillow. She nestled herself into the corner of the landing furthest from any of the breaks in the rail and fell into a fitful sleep.

  “Sera. Sera, wake up!”

  Serena didn’t want to wake up. She was having a nice dream where she had a big house in Overwatch’s Upper City. She had servants and more clothes than she’d ever dreamed of. Dresses in every jewel tone imaginable and then some. It was warm in the winter, cool in the summer, and her windows overlooked the great river that ran alongside the mercantile district.

  “Leave me alone,” she mumbled.

  “Sera, you need to wake up. I’ve discovered how to open the door.”

  That got her attention. She opened one eye and peered at Declan, who was leaning over her, one hand on her shoulder.

  “Really?”

  “Yes, really.” He settled back on his heels, hugging his knees to his chest. “But I don’t know if we should.”

  Now she was really awake.

  “What do you mean you don’t know if we should? Of course we should. It’s the whole reason we came here. We’re not leaving empty handed.”

  “Just come look, okay?”

  Declan’s uncertainty made her stomach do a little flip. Her brother wasn’t cursed with an overabundance of morality. He’d been a willing enough accomplice in their scams and schemes. If he was worried about something here, there was probably a good reason. She kicked off the blanket and rolled to her feet in a single practiced motion.

  They went to the door. Serena was surprised to see that the entire wall on either side of the door was marked in chalk. She didn’t know how long she’d been asleep, but it was apparent that Declan had been busy. The torch in the brazier had burned down nearly to embers. How long had he been working on this?

  “Okay,” she said slowly. “What am I looking at?”

  Declan scurried up to the door, tracing over a series of symbols near the floor with his finger. “I translated this bit first. The closest translation I can get in the common tongue is, ‘To the land where all sleep but never wake, seek the eternal light.’ That’s easy. That’s how to open the door.”

  He pointed to a series of symbols inscribed in the door. One of them Serena thought she recognized. It was the symbol of the Lyr, the Rune of Life. Serena reached toward it and Declan slapped her hand away.

  “Hey!”

  “Not yet,” he snapped, his tone grave. “It’s the rest of this inscription that you should hear before we open the door. The rest of it reads, ‘An open portal the darkness makes, comes it who wakes but never sleeps.’”

  “So it’s a riddle.”

  “No, Sera, it isn’t.” Declan shook his head. “It’s a warning. This isn’t a temple. It’s a burial chamber and whoever built it ensured that the rest of those inside wouldn’t be disturbed by putting a guardian inside with them. If we open that door, there’s no telling what could be in there waiting for us.”

  “It’s probably been a thousand years since anyone set foot in there, Declan. Whatever magic they used to protect it has to have worn off by now, right?”

  Declan tugged at his lower lip. “I don’t know, Sera. I’m not a Quintessentialist. My only understanding of the Ethereal Realm comes from what I’ve read in books. There are some powerful artifacts that have retained their power since ancient times.”

  “Both those are artifacts. They were maintained by someone, created by someone. This is just a glorified cemetery. Who would put that kind of protection on a tomb?”

  “I don’t know. I’m not sure we want to find out.”

  Serena ground her teeth. They’d come so far to turn back now. If they went back to Overwatch, they’d be broke. Again. She wasn’t sure she could handle another round of conning travelers out of their purses just so she could get a meal to eat or a room to stay in for a night. She wanted more. No, she needed more. No matter what, she couldn’t do it without Declan. Without his intelligence and wisdom, she was going to be at a serious disadvantage.

  “Listen, I know you’re worried. We’re together though. Haven’t we always been able to face things together?”

  “Yes, but—”

  “But nothing, Declan. This is just a different type of puzzle, and I know you can figure it out. If things get weird, we’ll leave. Let’s at least open the door and see what happens. We’re still safe out here, where we can get away, right?”

  Declan didn’t look convinced. He rubbed his face with his hands, as if he was trying to rid himself of a particularly unpleasant thought.

  “Okay, but if I say I want to leave, we leave, right? No arguments?”

  “I promise.”

  Declan said nothing, but his fingers sought out the symbol of the Lyr. He hovered over it for a moment and swallowed so loudly that Serena thought it would echo the length and breadth of the cavern. He pressed in and a square section of the door’s surface moved inward. There was a series of muted clicks and a rumble that shook that landing on which they stood. The door swung outward. A rush of musty air swept past them, making the hairs on the back of Serena’s neck stand on end. The torch sputtered and went out, plunging them into blackness.

  “Serena!” The sharp edge of panic in Declan’s voice was unmistakable. If he broke and tried to run, he’d kill himself trying to get down the stairs and outside.

  “I’m here. Relax, it was just wind. Hold on.”

  By touch alone, she retraced her footsteps and found her rucksack near the edge of the landing. A moment later, she’d found a torch and her tinderbox. The torch caught and shone, it seemed, as bright as the sun. The dancing orange light played over Declan’s pale face. She clapped him on the shoulder.

  “It’s okay, Declan. It was just a bit of bad air. Better out than in, right?”

  “Right.”

  Serena stepped past him into a corridor that had been sealed for who knew how long. A thick layer of dust covered the floor and kicked up in plumes and clouds as she walked. No one had been here before them. Whatever treasures had been laid to rest with these people were still there. They had to be. Her heart thundered against her ribs. She reached back and took Declan’s hand to pull him into the hallway. He stopped at the threshold, resisting her grip.

  “Come on, Declan. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

  “I’m not afraid.”

  “Then why am I practically dragging you inside?”

  Declan tore his hand from her grasp and shuffled along behind her. Serena smiled. A little bit of sibling rivalry went a long way. They’d only gone two or three hundred feet when a loud thud echoed down the corridor. Declan turned and ran back the way they had come, regardless of the fact that Serena still held the torch. She pelted along after him, hoping she was wrong about what they’d find when they reached the door. She wasn’t. The door was sealed tight.

  “No,” Declan moaned. “No. No. No, no, no.”

  “Shhh. It’ll be all right. We’ll figure it out. There’s got to be more than one way out. Like you said before, we weren’t coming in the front door. So there’s probably a front door, right?”

  “That was when I thought it was still a temple. We’re going to die down here. We’re going to be mo
re bodies to join however many more there are waiting for us in there.”

  “Way to think positive, Declan.”

  Declan sighed, then took a deep breath and nodded. “You’re right. Sorry. It’s just a door. We can figure this out.”

  “See?” She clapped him on the shoulder. “There you go. It won’t be that bad. Let’s go exploring.”

  “Okay.” Declan’s eyes lingered on the door longingly. “Yeah. Okay.”

  When they went back down the hall, it seemed to take twice as long as it had the first time. Declan was jumpy and his anxiety was starting to rub off on Serena. She had a dull ache throbbing at her temples.

  Serena was able to ignore the pain in her head when they arrived back in the junction of the corridors. She hadn’t noticed it before, but there was a shallow basin set in the wall and a fine silver chain dangling from a hole in the ceiling beside it. As Serena reached up to give it a tug, Declan’s shoulders jerked back.

  “Hey! Wait—”

  “Shhh. Listen.” Serena held a finger up and glanced toward the ceiling. There was a muted rumble from somewhere high above, then the sound of rushing water in the walls. A moment later, a pool of black liquid seeped up from the bottom of the basin. She dipped the tip of her finger in and jerked it back, just in case it was something corrosive. She needn’t have worried. The liquid didn’t burn to the touch. She raised her finger to her nose. It smelled acrid and sharp, almost enough to start her eyes to watering. She dried her finger on her breeches and took the torch from Declan.

  “It’s blackwater,” she said, touching the torch to the basin. There was a whoosh as the fuel caught and the flame roared down almost imperceptible tracks that ran along the ceiling of the corridor and extended out of sight. She shook the torch vigorously until it went out, then hung it from a loop on her pack.

  “Isn’t that better?” she asked Declan, who hadn’t moved since she’d yanked on the chain. “At least it’s nice and bright now.”

  “I guess. Let’s just find a way out of here. I don’t like this.”

  “All right,” she sighed. “Well, we’re not going to find a way out just standing here. Let’s go.”