“I had a good idea about the rope, didn't I?” Atock called down again. There was a slight humorous tone to his voice.
“Yeah. Great.” Flare responded. He was actually very pleased that Atock had thought of the rope, but it was just too hard to lay on his stomach, on a downwards slope, and carry on a conversation.
Still breathing hard, Flare started downwards again. It was difficult to see in the flickering torch light, and all the dust was painfully annoying. The going was slow, but gradually he found the downwards slope getting steeper. He was now using his hands to keep himself from sliding, more than pulling himself along.
He sneezed, the dust having gotten overwhelming. He was sweating profusely, and the sweat kept running into his eyes, and he couldn't even wipe his eyes.
He moved farther down the crevice, and over a slight ridge. Panic almost overwhelmed him, as for just for a moment, he got stuck. He sucked in his breath, and pulled hard and he popped loose. Unfortunately, the slope on the far side of the ridge had gotten even steeper, and he lost control and slid down the short remaining slope and right over the edge into the darkness.
Chapter 27
Flare slid off of the edge of the slope, and fell into the murky blackness. The torch dropped from his hand, and he swung his arms, trying to get his balance. He didn't fall far, as the rope went taunt, and it felt like his leg was going to be ripped out of its socket.
He swung back and forward, in a bit of a daze, as he heard muffled shouts coming from above. The air felt different here, different from the air in the crevice. It seemed more open and fresh.
There were still shouts coming from above, but Flare ignored them and tried to get his bearings. Bending his head backwards, he could see what lay below him. He was surprised to see the torch about five feet below him. The torch was still burning, but the flame was diminished. It was giving out a feeble light that barely lit up the ground around where it lay. Still, it was enough for him to see that it lay on a dusty floor.
He twisted around, and grabbed the rope, pulling his head up almost even with his feet. “I'm okay!” He shouted, relieved when he heard the two guardians stop shouting to listen. “Lower me about another five feet!”
He let go of the rope, and put his hands out in front. Atock slowly lowered him, and Flare watched the ground edge nearer. The blood was rushing to his head, and it wasn't long before his head was aching. At long last, his hands reached the floor, and soon after he was laying on his stomach, panting.
He accidentally sucked in a mouthful of dust, and had a coughing fit. After a moment, it passed and he struggled to a sitting position and removed the rope from his ankle. Shaking a little, he reached out and picked up the torch. Knowing that the other two couldn't see him, he spoke, “Lemnus.” He said the word quietly, but it had an instant affect. The torch had almost gone out, but at his word, it flared up again, lighting up the room in which he sat.
The room was shaped like a boot, and Flare was at one end of the room, and the corner was about fifteen feet away. He couldn't see around the corner, but there wasn't any lights or sounds from the other end of the room. The wall behind him looked more like a cave-in and less like a wall.
He cupped his hands around his mouth, and shouted, “Wait a moment! I'm going to take a look around.”
He struggled to his feet, holding the torch out in front of him, he moved slowly around the corner. The room continued for another ten feet, and ended in an arched entrance way. Flare moved forward slowly, and peeked through the archway. A dark hallway ran left to right in front of the archway. The hallway was irregularly shaped, a couple feet wide in some areas, and more than ten feet wide in other spots. The height of the hallway varied in different areas by several feet as well. It was impossible to see where the hallway went, but this had to be the catacombs.
Excitement, followed closely by fear, washed over him. This had to be the catacombs, and that was exciting, but also troubling. Flare returned to the crevice, where the rope hung down the side of the wall.
Once again, he cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted up the crevice. “Tie off the rope, and come down one at a time, but be careful. It gets steep near the end.”
It wasn't long before Philip cautiously slid over the edge of the crevice and Atock lowered him to the ground.
Philip and Flare waited patiently on Atock, and gave him a hand down. It was a little tougher for Atock, since there wasn't any one above to slowly lower him to the ground. Finally, they were all gathered in the small room, with Atock still breathing hard.
“These are the catacombs?” Atock asked.
Flare shrugged, “I don't know what else it could be.” He said, as he led the way around the corner and through the archway.
Flare paused, looking first to the left, and then to the right. The left hand side of the hallway headed downward at a slight angle. The hallway to the right ran up at a slight angle away from them. Neither floor was level, the halls were irregularly shaped and the walls were rough hewn stone. The hallways looked more like tunnels, than stone hallways.
“What do you think?” Flare asked Atock and Philip.
Philip only shrugged in answer, but Atock nodded at the left hand path. “Well, I would think that upwards would take us back out, so down is better.”
Flare considered for a moment, and then nodding started down the left hand side of the hallway. After twenty feet, they came to another archway in the side of the passage. Flare glanced on down the hallway first, but he could only see another ten feet or so and there wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Turning back to the archway, Flare cautiously stepped through.
The archway opened into a small room, maybe ten feet by ten feet. In the middle of the room was a small altar. The altar hadn't been used in quite a long time. It was covered in dust, and cobwebs covered the altar and hung down to the floor.
As they entered the room, the altar caught their attention, but that didn't last long. Their attention was quickly drawn to the sides of the room. The walls were covered in little alcoves, little niches. The alcoves were stuffed full of bones. The bones were ancient, and covered with spider webs. A chill ran down Flare's back as the empty eye sockets of countless skulls stared out at them. A skull sat in the middle of every alcove and gave the affect of hundreds of watchers staring at them.
“Gods!” Atock said quietly. “Were these people sacrificed on the altar?”
“No,” Philip answered forcibly. “I think this is a crypt, probably a family crypt.” He motioned at the altar. “Family members probably made offerings on the altar.”
Flare nodded, “Okay. Well, the sword's not in here, so let's get going.” He shivered, “This place gives me the chills.”
They continued on down the hallway, and they passed more rooms like the ones they had already found. Most were crypts, with bones in the alcoves and altars in the middle, but some were just empty rooms. In several of the rooms, the ceilings had collapsed, and they just passed those rooms by.
As much as they hated it, they continued to check out each of the rooms they came across. Each of the crypts seemed creepier than the last, and none of them liked to spend any more time in the crypts than was absolutely necessary. Fairly soon, they did little more than walk into the room, and give it a quick glance, and then walk out.
After a while, the hallway ended in another hallway that branched to the left and right. The one on the right descended slightly, while the on the left had a gradual ascending incline.
Flare stepped into the middle of the new hallway, and looked both ways. “What do you guys think?”
Philip and Atock both considered, looking first one way then the other. Atock spoke first, “I say we keep going down.”
“And when we come to a junction that branches and both sides are level?” Philip asked.
Flare thought for it a moment, “If that happens, then we will always turn right. Agreed?”
Atock and Philip both agreed, nodding their heads vigorously.
They continued walking the hallways for hours, each time they hit a junction, they took the lower passage. After a while, the passages seemed to blur together. A sort of panic slowly settled over Flare, although he did his best not to show it. What if they just wandered these hallways until their food and water ran out? What if they couldn't find a way out?
“I'm exhausted. What do you say to,” Atock said from in front. He was in the lead, and he pulled up short, not even bothering to finish his sentence. “Look at this,” He said quietly.
Philip and Flare moved up beside Atock quickly. The hallway they had been following ended in a large cavernous room. It was roughly circular, and the floor descended in steps to an oval floor, much like a stage. Counting the doorway that they entered through, there was a total of five entrances to the room, the other four also at the top of the steps, but on different sides of the room. The walls of the room were made of a polished stone that reflected the torchlight and enabled their three flickering torches to easily light the cavernous space.
“What in the abyss is this?” Philip asked.
“Looks like a stage.” Atock said quietly, but his voice still echoed around the room.
“It was used for magic.” Flare said without thinking. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he wished he could take them back. Both Atock and Philip looked quickly at him.
“Are you sure?” Atock asked, looking back at the room. “Looks like a stage to me.”
Still silently cursing himself, Flare nodded. “I'm sure. I read about it in one of the books that I read about Mount Ogular.” Actually, that was a lie. He had read about it in one of Cassandra's books, but it would have been foolish to admit that. He was fairly sure that the stage was used for intricate magical rituals; rituals that took more than one person, and unfolded over days, weeks, and sometimes months.
Atock stepped down the first step. “Well, it doesn't look like anyone been here for a very long time.” He looked around, “Want to make camp here?”
“No!” Philip and Flare answered in unison.
“It's too large an area, with too many entrances.” Flare continued, “I would prefer to find a smaller room, a place that we can defend easier.”
“Absolutely,” Philip said.
“Okay. So which door do we go through?” Atock answered.
“First to the left.” Flare answered. “Let's keep it simple.” If they had to come back through here, at least they would know which door to take.
Atock stepped back to the top row of steps, and led the way to the next doorway. It opened on a hallway almost identical to the one they had just left. It too was irregularly shaped, and there was a slight ascent to the floor.
They followed the hallway and quickly came to a small room that was on the right side of the passage. It was maybe ten feet by ten feet, and the walls were smooth brick. A small stone bench was the lone decoration; it sat against what remained of the far wall. The back wall had collapsed, and the stones covered the back half of the room.
“This will do nicely.” Flare said approvingly. Truly, it would be easy to defend this small room, with its one entrance. “I'll take second watch.” He added, knowing it was the one watch no one wanted.
“I'll take the first watch,” Atock said with a sigh.
They continued walking the darks halls for the next two days, continuing their gradual downward trek. The fear that they might wander until they ran out of food and water, slowly settled in on the other two as well. They also kept it to themselves, but Flare could sense the change in their personalities. All humor disappeared, and conversation decreased dramatically. Now, they only spoke when they needed to. Philip had sunk back into his grouchy attitude, and even Atock was a little touchy.
The hallways changed gradually, too. The passages became much more roughly constructed, the farther down they went. They took on more of an appearance of a tunnel and less of a stone hallway. And tunnels they were, because the passages were more rounded now, and here and there beams supported the weight of the overhead rock. The marks of shovels and picks could be seen in the sides of the hallways.
In places where the wall had collapsed or crumbled, pieces of pots and small utensils were spotted sticking out of the rubble. Apparently, the catacombs were tunnels and passages through the buried remains of the fort, it seemed that the fort had been destroyed and rebuilt numerous times. Whether mud slides that had buried the city, or volcanic eruptions, they didn't know, but it looked like the fort had been rebuilt multiple times on the same spot.
Higher up, the rooms off of the passages had mainly been crypts, but the farther they descended, the fewer crypts they came across. “Makes sense,” Atock had said on the second day. “The people living in the fort must have buried their dead in the crypts, and it makes sense that they would have used the rooms that were closest to the surface. I mean, why walk any farther to bury your dead than you have to?”
The rooms themselves also changed as they went farther down into the catacombs. There were a lot of rooms near the surface and most of them were relatively small, being around ten feet by ten feet, but that changed gradually. The first thing that they noticed was that there were fewer rooms as the distance between rooms slowly increased. The appearance of the rooms also changed, as the crypts disappeared, the rooms became larger and more unfinished. The walls were more roughly cut from the stone, and more of these rooms were crumbling and collapsing.
The temperature dropped slowly, and it wasn't long before the guardians were wearing their cloaks as they walked and sleeping under their blankets at night. They would have made a fire at night, but there wasn't any firewood or anything else to burn, and their torches gave off precious little heat.
Their supplies were starting to get low. The food supplies weren't too bad, as they had planned carefully for the long trip. However, their concern was the water and torches. Water was getting dangerously low, even though they were already rationing. The torches also were getting in short supply, and they had been only walking with two for several days now. It was a horrifying thought to be lost in this maze without any light. Flare knew that he could use magic, but that would present a whole new set of problems.
They began the fourth day cold and walking in silence; the optimism having been siphoned out of them. The walk through the endless tunnels slowly warmed them up, but their mood stayed depressed.
“Is the tunnel getting wider?” Atock said, breaking the silence, after they had been walking for several hours.
Flare blinked, having gotten lost in his thoughts. He stopped walking, and looked around. “Yeah, I think it might be.”
“Do you think we could be close?” Philip asked; hope clearly showing through in his voice.
Atock grinned at Philip, “Gods, I hope so. Well, let's check it out.” He turned and led them forward.
They hurried forward, their pace considerably quickened by the renewed hope. The tunnel continued to widen, and the walls gradually took on a more finished appearance. Before long, the three of them could have walked side by side, and still have room to spare. The ceiling of the tunnel, which for so long had been just barely above their heads, receded until it was several feet above them.
Atock stopped suddenly. “This is new.”
Philip and Flare hurried forward, to see.
They had come to a four way intersection, the first that they had encountered in their four days in the catacombs.
“Which way do we go?” Philip asked, looking down the left hand turn, holding his torch higher to get more light down the passage.
“I don't think it matters,” Atock answered. He had walked to the far side of the intersection, and was looking down the straight ahead passage.
“Why not?” Flare asked, moving over to join Atock.
“I think that all of these passages are interconnected. Look,” Atock said, pointing a short distance ahead. Another hallway opened to the left, and unmistakably, and a small amount of flickering light
emanated from the passage.
For a moment, Flare almost reached for his sword, as his first thought was that there was someone down the passage, but as Philip moved over to join them, the light coming from the passage disappeared.
“Philip, go back to where you were.” Atock said, pointing back the way Philip had come.
“Why?”
“Just do it.” Atock snapped.
Philip sighed, and walked back over to the left hand passage, and the light once again shown from the side passage up ahead.
“I don't understand,” Flare said confused. “Why does that passage connect back around?”
Atock shrugged in answer, “Come on. Let's take a closer look.”
They moved forward slowly, and looked around the corner of the left hand passage. There were two doorways on either side of the short passage, and then two more doors, and finally the passage dead ended into a wall.
Flare motioned Atock to check out the door on the right, while he checked the door on the left. It opened into a small square room. Once, it looked like there had been a wooden door in the opening, but it had long ago rotted away. Perhaps there had been furniture in the room, but it had also rotted away a long time ago.
Flare emerged from the tiny room to find Atock already waiting for him. “Well?”
Atock shrugged, “Just a tiny empty room.”
Flare nodded, “Yeah, the same thing over here.” He motioned to the next two doors, “Let's check those two out.”
Philip had already started towards the doors, and he glanced around the two rooms first. “Nothing. Kind of looks like a bedroom. Doesn't it?”
“What do you mean?” Flare asked confused.
“In Telur, I visited the temple of Adel. Most of the priests and priestesses there live in these tiny little rooms.” He grinned and shrugged, “It was just the first thing that occurred to me.”
It was good to see Philip smile, Flare thought. It had been too long. He smiled back, “Let's have a look around.”
Ossendar: Book Two of the Resoration Series Page 47