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The rope was slick with sweat, condensation, and mud the further Dusk went. Every few feet he had to stop and wipe his hands off on his pants just to keep his grip. By the time he finally reached the bottom of the slick tunnel and came to the opening to the cavern, he was panting and liable to fall. Peering down through the darkness he could see the rope somehow managed to reach all the way to the water. Summoning up the last of his strength, he gripped the rope as hard as he could, wrapping his feet around it, and slipped over the edge. Thanks to the mud and moisture, he was able to slowly descend by doing no more than loosening his grip. After a long, exhausting moment of tension, he felt his feet slip into the water followed by the rest of his body.
He barely made a noise as he swam towards the edge of the lake where everyone else was huddling together. The cavern was dimly lit like it had been before by the veins of Lumorium running through the walls and across the ceiling. He remembered Lex mentioning how rare it was and that only the palace in Eblesal had Lumorium lamps. As he pulled himself up on shore he looked around. Even with Tiernan living in the ruins for months, it seemed no one else had discovered the rare ore contained within the cavern, or cared about it. Either way, everything was untouched and a pickaxe still sat leaned against the wall where Dusk had left it all those months ago.
“Is everyone okay?” he asked Tara, keeping his voice barely above a whisper.
“Yes and ready to go.”
“Good.”
He stepped around and beckoned them to follow over his shoulder. Single-file they moved around the edge of the underground lake, keeping close to the walls. The guild members were eerily silent on the loose gravel that coated the floor. Even in the heat of summer, the cavern was icy cold, the chill seeping into his wet clothing and taking up residence under his armor. The familiar path thinned in some places, mere inches of stone between the wall and the mirror-like surface of the lake. Somehow they all made it across without making a sound until Tara, bringing up the rear, made one false step and slipped. She cried out involuntarily and fell into the water, the splash almost deafening in the silence as it echoed across the chamber.
Breaking the surface she gasped for air, swimming quickly to a wider portion of the stone and pulling herself up, the echoes of her cry dying away. Before she was even on her feet she had her blade pulled, holding it out in front of her, expecting an attack at any moment. The others followed suit and everyone waited for the fury of Alamond to crush down on them. But the seconds stretched to minutes and still silence surrounded them, penetrated by nothing but the steady drip of water from Tara’s wet armor. Finally she relaxed, sheathing her blade behind her back once more.
“Are you okay?” Dusk asked, putting a hand on her soaked shoulder.
“Fine,” she grunted, clearly frustrated with herself. “Sorry. That was stupid.”
“Nothing came of it. Don’t worry.”
Tara nodded.
“We’re close to the cave now. Keep to the wall.”
Dusk wove his way around Tara, careful not to slip himself, and continued forward. The lake was large and oblong, so it took them a few more minutes of travel before they finally came to the small tunnel carved into the stone. The last time they’d been there the air flowing in from the ruins was foul with the stench of goblins. But this time there was no discernible reek. It meant that at the very least the ruins had been cleared of their murderous inhabitants, only to be replaced by something much more sinister.
Not daring to use one of the pickaxes for a piece of Lumorium, Dusk reached down and plucked a stone from the ground. Reaching into his mind he began to summon up the runes for lighting the stone, but before he had a chance to form half a thought the stone alighted. He nearly dropped it in surprise as he felt the crystal warm against his chest. It was a welcome feeling and he breathed deep, steadying his nerves. Holding the stone in front of him he peered down through the small tunnel. It was no wider than before and would be an extremely tight fit for those of Tara’s size, but it was doable. Kneeling down he pulled his bow off his shoulder and tied the quiver to it.
“I’ll go first,” he said, looking up at Tara. “It’s a tight squeeze, so take your time and keep your breathing shallow. Be as quiet as you can.” He glanced back at Lex who had panic in his eyes already. “Send him through second,” he whispered to her. “I don’t trust him to go last.”
“Understood.”
With that, Dusk began to crawl forward, keeping his bow clutched in one hand and the glowing stone in the other. It wasn’t long before he had to abandon the bow and hold the stone gently between his teeth to keep moving. He’d filled out some since their last foray through the cave and he found the space tighter than he remembered. With one final heave he managed to pull himself through to the other side. To his relief everything was quiet and dark without a hint of anyone nearby. He heard the steady dripping of water and as he held the stone upwards he could see the droplets forming on the undulating ceiling of the cavern. The walls were rough hewn and obviously carved by people with piles of rubble pushed off to the sides. Nothing looked strange or out of place.
He leaned down to the hole and reached in to pull his bow through the rest of the way. He sat the stone down on the floor so that Lex could see it as he came through.
“Alright, I’m through,” Dusk called, his voice echoing softly.
“Oh gods...” he heard Lex groan. “I really fucking hate this place...”
“You’ve got this,” Dusk said, trying to coax him through. “You’ve already made it through once, you can do it again.”
Lex grumbled as he got down on his knees and began to crawl. He pushed his sword through the Dusk first and got down lower to pull himself through. When he reached the center he froze for only a moment, but with a little help from Dusk, was able to get himself through without getting stuck. On the other side he moved a few feet away from the tiny tunnel and sank down with his back against the wall.
One by one, each of the guild members made their way through. A few of them needed help coming through while others could do it themselves without issue. Slowly the tunnel began to fill up and Diana was the second to last through. Tara, pulling up the rear again, pushed her weapon and armor through before she began to crawl. Unfortunately, at the halfway point, she found herself stuck. Her breathing grew quick and frantic almost immediately, but Dusk crawled to her, holding the stone in front of him.
“Hey, look at me,” he said, his voice commanding but gentle. “Breathe normally. You’re not stuck.”
“Yes I am,” she muttered. “I can’t move.”
“No, you’re not. Remember who you’ve got here with you. I can magic you out if need be, but first I need you to breathe.”
Tara took a few slow breaths to calm her nerves, keeping her eyes on him.
“Good. Now I’m gonna give you a few instructions, so stay with me, okay?”
She nodded.
“Alright. You’re going to dig your toes in, take my hands, breathe out as far as you can, then pull with all your might. Got that?”
“Yeah.”
“Alright.” Dusk backed up a bit and motioned to Diana to grab his feet. He reached his hands out and took Tara’s. “Ready? One. Two. Three!”
Tara forced all the air out of her lungs and pulled as hard as she could. Dusk gripped her forearms as he felt his legs go taut, at least one person pulling on each. Slowly Tara inched forward, her torso forcing itself through the stone tunnel. Dusk wiggled her back and forth until she finally came free, the pair of them falling onto the muddy floor in freezing cold water. They both stared at one another and began to laugh quietly, the tension of the moment fading away in an instant. Tara pulled her armor towards her, leaning herself up against the wall. The light gave them just enough to be able to make out one another, but the darkness of the cave seemed to swallow most of it up.
“Never make me do that again,” Tara sighed, pulling on her breastplate.
“I can’t make any promises,” Dusk replied with a smile.
“It’s literally the fucking worst, isn’t it?” Lex asked, looking over at her.
Her entire demeanor shifted instantly. “You know what? It really wasn’t that bad. I kind of enjoyed it.”
“You two are ridiculous,” Dusk sighed, shaking his head.
As everyone rearmed themselves, Dusk pushed himself up and went to the front, ready to lead them forward. With one last check they began to march. The tunnel was slick as it steadily climbed at an upward angle, taking them toward the main part of the ruins. After only a couple of minutes Dusk saw something white flash in the light of his stone. Crouching down near it, he saw the same two skeletons of the miners they’d seen before. Except this time, he knew they were picked clean. The water had washed away some of the old footprints, but he could still make out imprints from his and Lex’s boots. Without paying them much mind, he continued on, knowing the main chamber wasn’t far off.
A few quiet minutes later the light spilled across rough hewn bricks that had collapsed into the tunnel. Snuffing the light, Dusk beckoned two of the other archers forward. One by one they stepped over the bricks and onto the walkway at the bottom of the ruins. Each of them scanned up and down the walkway, but found it empty. On higher floors they could hear the unmistakable sound of boots on the stone, but at their level it seemed mostly deserted. Waving the rest in, Dusk stepped over to the broken and crumbling railing at the center of the ruins.
The once greenery-covered shaft full of songbirds had been replaced with stark stone and orange firelight. Most of the crumbling stone had been cleared away and in some places the missing railing had been replaced with wooden boards. Criss-crossing over the main shaft were a series of ropes and pulleys that looked broken and abandoned. They dripped down like dead vines to the basin at the very bottom of the ruins, which was no longer filled with water. Instead, Dusk saw there was a massive raised dais with the dark sharp stones sticking out at obtuse angles ringed around it. The entire space was cleared away and clean, but empty. It didn’t take much intuition to realize that something had been there and judging by the series of platforms constructed at the very top of the ruin, blocking out the night sky, it had recently moved upwards and out of the underground city altogether. Dusk suspected it was the heart, but then again, there was no way to be sure without finding someone to answer a few questions.
“We need information,” he said, turning back to the group. “If you can capture one of the soldiers without making a sound, do it. If not, cut them down. We need to figure out what Nedarya has been up to. Don’t trust the magic users, take them down without mercy.”
Heads nodded in his direction and they began to walk up the long spiral to the top of the city. Each door they passed was checked and the rooms searched. Many of them at the bottom remained locked while those that were open were in poor condition or completely abandoned. At the top of the second spiral they came across their first pair of soldiers. With no way to capture one silently, a pair of crossbow bolts sent them both to the afterlife before they knew what hit them. As they searched, the rooms began to look used, but were mostly empty. That is until they came across a chamber full of beds. There was enough space for a dozen soldiers to sleep, but only seven of the beds were occupied, their inhabitants fast asleep. As if they’d rehearsed it a hundred times, Diana gave a gesture to her men and they took their places near the sleeping soldiers. She raised her hand, looked at each of them, and slashed it down through the air. With nothing more than a few guttural gasps, seven throats were cut and the room filled with the metallic tang of blood.
The sight was a bit more than Dusk wanted to deal with, so he stepped out of the room, forgetting himself as he went. He ran face first into a rather skinny soldier, apparently coming to the room for some rest. He was completely unarmed and carrying a bowl of some sort of gruel, which immediately painted his clothing. The man stumbled backward and hit the floor, crying out as his elbow struck the stone. The noise was loud enough to immediately put Dusk’s teeth on edge as he stared down at the mop of dark hair rubbing his elbow.
“Ow... watch where you’re going...” he whined. He looked at his shirt and the bowl shattered on the floor. “Man... I was really hungry...”
The man, who was really no more than a boy, had no idea who Dusk was. He looked like a new recruit and barely old enough to be away from home. The soldier pushed the dark curly hair out of his face, trying to get the food out of it.
“S-sorry about that,” Dusk stumbled. He helped the man to his feet, seeing his chance to get some much needed information. “I’ve got some extra food in my pack you can have. Come on.” Dusk gestured toward the room, letting the man go first.
“Thanks man,” he replied, following gladly. “That’s really kind of you. Some of the guys here have been pretty terr—”
The man stopped dead in his tracks, his dark eyes falling to the room full of fellow soldiers and their blood pooling across the floor. All the color drained out of his skin as he stared, a look of horror fixed on his face. He took a step back but before he could utter a word Dusk clapped his hand over the man’s mouth, blocking off any sound.
“Listen up,” Dusk growled, trying to sound menacing. “You’re going to tell us what we want to know and if it’s good information, we’ll let you live. Got it?”
The man nodded fervently against Dusk’s hand without hesitation.
“If you speak anything above a whisper, I’ll cut your throat just like everyone else in this room.”
Again, furious nodding.
Dusk reached behind him and pushed the door closed before leading the man to one of the empty beds. Sitting him down he took his hand off his mouth.
“Please don’t hurt me,” he whimpered. “I’ll do whatever you want! I didn’t want to come here anyway!”
“Shut up,” Dusk hissed, pulling a dagger from his side and waving it threateningly. “I don’t want to hear another word out of you until I say so. Got that?”
The man bit his lower lip, dropping his eyes to the floor. He nodded slowly.
“Good. Now tell us what’s going on here. How long has Nedarya been back with the crystal?”
He hesitated. “I... I don’t know. I just arrived here last week and the general was already here.”
“Do you know what she plans to do with the moon?”
“The moon? What moon?”
“Where is Nedarya keeping the heart?”
“I don’t know what you mean...”
“The crystal! Where is it?”
He looked terrified. “The big glowing rock? She took it topside yesterday morning. It took almost the entire battalion to get it up there. I... I think she took it to the top of the broken tower.”
“Why does it need to be up there?”
“I don’t know,” the man sniffed, tears forming in his eyes. “Please, I don’t know anything. I haven't even gotten my first training yet! I only wanted to be a guard in the city, I didn’t sign up for this...”
With that he began to cry. Dusk shook his head. Out of all the people he could have captured for information, he got the total newbie who knew absolutely nothing. He pushed himself to his feet and sheathed the dagger once more, rubbing his forehead. They’d gone all the way to the bottom of Alamond in the exact opposite direction of the heart. Climbing it and the tower doubled their chances of failure, which were already extremely high.
“You’re... really not going to kill me?” the man sniffled, looking up at Dusk.
“No. I gave you my word. You’ll live.”
“What’s your name, kid?” Cyrilo asked, pulling his attention away from the bodies strewn across the room.
“Robin,” he choked, wiping his face.
“Well Robin,” Diana said, stepping up in front of them, “if you want to make a real life for yourself, why don’t you come down to Emerald Deep when you wake up?” She pulled a coin from her pocket and flipped it in the air.
“When I wake up?”
There was a hollow thunk as Ciaran clocked the man on the back of the head and he slumped sideways onto the mattress.
“By the gods, I’ve never heard anyone snivel so much in my life,” Ciaran scoffed, sheathing his sword once more. “I’ve seen sea slugs with more fight than him.”
Diana bent down and slipped the coin into the man’s pocket. “He did better than most his age would in this situation. I think with a little training, he might make himself useful to the guild. He’s certainly got the build for it.”
“You’ll make a thief out of anyone these days,” Ciaran laughed.
“If I recall, I made one out of you too,” Diana replied, eyeing him sharply. “And I bet you this kid will at least have enough sense not to get arrested for stealing a ship.”
Ciaran opened his mouth to retort, but Lex cut him off.
“Let’s get going, shall we? I can’t stand the smell of this room any longer.”