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The remaining trek to the king’s lair was uneventful—which was exactly what Bones hoped for. Secondary tunnels broke off from the main one, revealing more tombs and alcoves, looking very similar to the tunnels behind them. The tombs, thankfully, held sarcophagi and not recent kills. The alcoves were what might have been additional places of worship or possibly secondary dining rooms but some of the passages simply led off into the unknown depths of the cavern system.
Good thing we’ve got Nico along, Bones thought, moving his light back and forth as he walked. If we get turned around, we could be lost down here for hours. Maybe even days.
“We should be close.”
Nico’s comment brought Bones’ mind back and he nodded his response.
“You see that?” Jessie’s voice was a scared quaver.
Just ahead of them, the tunnel seemed to be glowing red. If the king’s lair was anything like his throne room, Bones guessed it was also lit by firelight. The air had become increasingly warm, and smoke whorled around them.
“Stay quiet and stay ready,” he urged in a low voice. “Gonna be damn hot in there,” he added, mostly to himself.
“Yes,” Nico agreed. “The creatures prefer the warmth of their fires over the cool air coming off the sea.”
Maybe we can extinguish a few of the fires, cool this place down enough to draw him to the surface.
Bones continued forward slowly until the passage opened up, giving him his first look at the lair of the Laestrygonian king. “Son of a...”
Lair wasn’t the right word for what he beheld. City was a better fit. It was truly a necropolis—a “city of the dead.”
“This is where it lives?” Jessie asked, breathless.
Like the throne room, the ceiling continued on, only rising slightly in elevation. And like the throne room, the floor sunk away, disappearing beneath mountains of bones and car-sized fire pits. The large-stepped staircase was similar to the throne room’s too, except it was twice as long. It was at least fifty or sixty vertical feet to the paths that led through the city itself. The fires within raged so hot and bright that Bones could see the entire cavern from one side to the other.
A hellish radiance that looked like a rolling lava flow was visible along the north and south edge of the immense chamber. Whatever the source, the radiant heat coming off it would probably be enough to snuff out the life of anyone or anything who venture too close.
Note to self...avoid the north and south walls.
Putting out a couple of fires wasn’t going to make a bit of difference. There were just too damn many of them for that to work.
There were several structures on the floor of the cavern, similar in style to Grecian temples, but scaled up in size for the Laestrygonians. Even from a distance, Bones could see the columns and the ornate gable they supported were made of stone... and bone. He could even see a few of them sticking out of each of the supports.
There were four smaller temples surrounding it, all solidly built, and equally spaced around the central structure like the pips on the five-side of an ordinary die.
“Who built all this?” Jessie asked.
“That is something we do not know,” Nico softly replied. “The first time my ancestors came down here, this was already here. We know it is old and obviously made for the Laestrygonians, but as far as who actually built it or when... The giants did not keep records, unfortunately.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Bones said, standing. “I take it the only way out is through?”
Nico nodded.
“Let’s hope we don’t run into His Majesty.” He made his way down. “Keep an eye out for the others too. We may not get a ton of time to search.”
“I thought we were here to kill it,” Jessie said, holding up her gun.
“Bullets didn’t cut it last time,” Bones countered, recalling how little the Glock did. “Maybe our combined firepower can do the trick in round two, but I wouldn’t count on it. The best thing we can hope for is to bury this place and starve him.”
“That’s terrible,” she said.
Bones shrugged. “I don’t like it either, but if it’s him or us, I’m choosing us ten out of ten times. I like being alive.”
“Agreed,” Nico said.
Like the throne room, there were bones everywhere, but many of the skeletons were still at least partly articulated. Also, instead of the remains being strewn about like trash, some of the bodies seemed to be on display like trophies.
Giant skulls were impaled on spikes. Others were placed above sarcophagi.
“The royal family and their enemies,” Nico said, seeing Bones’ peaked curiosity. “The king and queen’s direct bloodline would eventually be laid to rest here—as were their rivals.
"Rivals?” Jessie asked.
“Yes,” Nico replied. “Their heads are the ones pierced with spikes.”
“There were more tribes than the king’s here?” Bones asked.
Nico nodded. “A long time ago, yes.”
“Tell me more about the rival tribes,” Bones said.
“As I am sure you have determined, the tunnels below run beneath all of Sardinia. This was not the only clan of Laestrygonians that survived into modern times.”
Bones took a second to contemplate what he just heard. Exhaling, he spoke. “Looks like we dodged a major bullet then. Could you imagine if we came down here during their heyday?”
“I’ll have to show you my order’s records,” Nico said, like it was no big deal. “They tried to come here a few hundred years ago and were almost completely wiped out.”
How many of these things were there?” Bones asked himself.
"Why was the queen’s body up top and not here?” Jessie asked.
“It is customary for them to be buried above until their spots here are readied.”
“Is that where the queen’s body is now?” Bones asked.
Nico nodded. “We brought it here shortly before you discovered it missing. It is in there.” He pointed at the largest temple.
“How do you all move around here freely?” Jessie asked, keeping the conversation on the present and not the past.
“He knows we worship him and provide him with sustenance.”
“The king understands you?” Bones asked.
“I am not sure to be honest with you. The queen seemed to, though. I think he understands our physical posturing, bowing, chanting. Plus, we never came armed and never posed any real threat to them. Why would he fear us now?”
A cleared path broke off to one of the smaller temples, it too was lined with fire on both sides. Waves of heat roiled the air before them. Bones was already soaked with sweat, his t-shirt sticking to his arms, back, and chest. The smoke-filled air wasn’t helping things either. Breathing was becoming more and more cumbersome with every step taken. It felt like he was moving through a pizza oven.
He glanced down to Jessie. “You okay?”
She nodded and peeled her hair from her forehead. “But it’s getting hard to breathe.”
“Stay low,” he said. “The air won’t be as bad down there.”
Jessie lowered herself even more and sighed. She closed her eyes and breathed normally. “Heat...rises,” she said in between breaths. “Smoke, too.”
“Whenever you need air,” Bones instructed, “find a place to hide and duck down to the ground.”
Another roar echoed through the chamber. They all froze, weapons up.
“That came from the king’s temple,” Nico whispered. “He is home.”
Squinting through the haze, Bones beheld the largest of the temples in the center of the cavern. Now that they were down at floor level, he understood just how enormous it was.
The columns were as thick as redwoods and almost as tall. Each was spaced out twenty feet from the other. The sinister mix of stone and bone was sickening to look at, but it showed off the builder’s macabre ingenuity.
“Stay focused,” he told himself.
Something moved amidst the miasma and judging by the size of the disruption, Bones knew it was the king. Yet, strangely, the movements didn’t appear to be rage-fueled. If anything, the giant looked almost sad.
Curious despite himself, Bones left the path and crept carefully across the bone pile toward the king’s temple. Jessie and Nico followed without comment or complaint.
The heat grew so intense that he had to shield his face against it with his forearm.
When he reached the edge of the temple, he leaned around a column and peered inside. At chest height, the interior was easy for him to see. He watched as the king paced back and forth, growling incoherently to himself. After a moment of watching, Bones saw why.
There was an altar at the center of the temple and lying atop it was an enormous humanoid-shape wrapped in linens.
“It’s her,” Jessie whispered. “It’s the queen.”