Beneath the Ruins

A warm sensation spread through Leyade’s hand. Golden light began to pour from Kalindra’s blade. Its rays spread around her, illuminating their surroundings and making the creatures recoil in pain wherever the light touched them.

Silas watched her in fascination for a few seconds. Elindra smiled, rising into the air again.

“Yes! It’s working!” Leyade cried in delight. “Come on! Now’s our chance!”

Leyade beckoned to them and broke into a run, slipping through the gap the creatures had left. The three of them hurried on, leaping over slabs of ground upheaved by the tremors and struggling to keep their balance as the earth shook beneath them.

They crossed the battlefield and reached the centre of the square when loud cracking sounds began to ring out. Leyade glanced aside to see what was happening, and the sight filled her with dread.

The ground was giving way beneath the weight of so many creatures.

Leyade and Silas leapt across the gaps as best they could, but the ground was splitting and collapsing faster than they could run. At last, a vast hole opened beneath them and swallowed them whole, sending them plunging into utter darkness.

The rhythmic sound of water dripping onto stone echoed through the chamber. Kalindra’s light was slowly fading.

Leyade lay wedged among the rocks, her body aching. A thin trickle of blood ran down her face from a wound on her head. A stone pinned one foot, and an arm was trapped in a crack. Luckily, Kalindra was undamaged. Leyade had been holding it when she fell, and it had landed beside her.

She looked around, trying to get her bearings after the fall. Once she realised where she was, she quickly searched for her companions. Neither Elindra nor Silas was anywhere to be seen. Worry began to take hold of her.

With an effort, she pulled her arm free and, using all the strength she could muster, managed to shift the stone off her foot. She picked up Kalindra and checked it just in case, but it was in perfect condition. By the last of its light, she found her backpack and took out a potion to heal her wounds.

She put on her backpack and went in search of Silas and Elindra. She did not call their names, afraid of attracting something.

Kalindra’s faint light revealed the chamber around her. She was in the temple’s catacombs. Heaps of rubble lay against the enormous stone walls, much like the pile she had fallen into. Water from an earlier rainfall still seeped through the cracks and splashed onto the floor.

The elf picked her way through the winding gaps between the rubble. The grey stone walls bore half-erased symbols, obscured by dirt, dust and age. Inscriptions covered the enormous columns supporting the structure, though Leyade could not make them out. Kalindra’s weak glow cast fleeting gleams across the markings as she passed. Keeping her senses alert, she scanned the passages around her.

After searching for a while, Leyade finally made out Silas’s figure. He was looking for her too.

Silas waved, pointing to himself and then to Elindra, who appeared behind him. Leyade hurried over. As soon as she reached them, she hugged Silas and stroked the dragon’s head.

“Thank goodness you’re both all right...” she whispered in relief, speaking close to his ear on Elindra’s side so that she could hear too.

Surprised by Leyade’s affectionate response, Silas froze for a moment before returning her embrace. The elves he had known before were not usually so affectionate, but Leyade came from a small village, and at times he found her behaviour a little bewildering.

“Yes, don’t worry. We’re all right,” he whispered, rubbing her back to reassure her.

“Hey, I want some more fuss too...” Elindra, still covered in a fine layer of dust, nudged Leyade’s head with her own.

Amused, the elf let go of Silas and scratched Elindra’s head and beneath her chin.

Once they had settled down, Leyade looked them both over, making sure once again that they were unharmed before speaking.

“Have you seen or heard anything down here?” she whispered, glancing around. Kalindra’s light had faded completely, but she still held it in her hand.

Silas shook his head, then looked around.

“It seems we’re alone,” the half-elf confirmed thoughtfully.

“I haven’t seen anything either,” Elindra said, tilting her head with a worried look.

“Right, then. Let’s keep moving while we have the chance. It looks as though those creatures haven’t followed us.” Leyade sheathed Kalindra; she would not need it for the moment. “Which way shall we go?” She scanned the catacombs. “Have you found a way through?”

Both shook their heads. Silas picked up a stone and cast a spell, touching it with his hand. The stone began to glow.

“In that case, we’d best keep walking until we find a passage we can get through.” He handed the stone to Leyade. “Let’s try somewhere we haven’t been yet.”

Elindra took flight and moved a little way ahead.

“I’ll go first. That way, I can help you look.”

Following Elindra, they ventured deeper beneath the temple. After a while, they found a passage whose entrance had partly collapsed, though they could still clamber through the gap.

A long corridor stretched before them, its stone walls in better condition than those they had left behind. The marble columns still stood. Parts of the ceiling had fallen, and the doorframes had seen better days, but the corridor remained passable.

They advanced cautiously, their shadows stretching into long, dancing shapes along the walls. Leyade glanced from side to side. Further ahead, she could see two doorways: one with its door shut, and another at the far end, where only the frame remained.

They had two options: continue straight ahead, or go through the first door if they could open it.

“The corridor carries on through there,” Elindra reported after taking a look.

“Let’s keep going. There’s no point wasting time trying to open that door,” Leyade said as she walked on. Silas, however, had stopped to examine it with interest. “Silas?” She stopped and turned towards him.

“I can open it.” The half-elf looked at her, intrigued. “Since we’re already in the ruins of such an interesting, unexplored place, we might as well investigate a little.” As Leyade began to frown, he added, “Besides, the more we move around down here, the harder it’ll be for those creatures to find us.”

Leyade considered him for a moment. It was true that moving around would make them harder to find, but the thought of taking a detour and wasting time made her uneasy. On the other hand, if they stayed down here until dawn, they could leave without facing any danger outside.

“All right. Open it,” she replied with a sigh.

Before she had finished speaking, Silas began casting a spell. He pointed one hand towards the door, then grasped the handle and pulled. There was a click, and the door swung smoothly open.

The old wooden door, worn and splintered, revealed a small room filled with shelves and tables. Forgotten maps, drawings and odd objects Leyade had never seen before lay scattered about. Before stepping inside, she held out the glowing stone. There seemed to be nothing and no one dangerous in the room. She nodded to Silas to go in.

“I’ll keep watch,” Elindra said, gliding over to perch on top of the door.

The two of them entered. The ranger headed straight for the old maps, while the young spellcaster went to examine the drawings.

Leyade took hold of a rolled-up map on one of the shelves. As her fingers closed around it, she felt the brittle paper crackle beneath them. Loosening her grip, she carefully drew it out and spread it across a table.

It showed an area she did not recognise. From the terrain and the pattern of the waterways, she could tell that it lay somewhere in the north: vast stretches of vegetation, high mountains, and rivers and lakes scattered among the forests. Surprised by her discovery, she rolled it up again and placed it in her map case with the utmost care.

She turned to find Silas studying a picture hanging on the wall.

“Pretty?” Leyade asked, walking over.

“Interesting, I’d say.” He turned towards her and pointed to the painting.

It depicted a long-haired woman in a flowing gown, kneeling beside a beautiful, radiant tree. A brilliant sun illuminated the whole scene. Against all expectations, the painting was in remarkably good condition. Only its colours showed the passage of time: their brightness had faded and the background had yellowed, but it was still a masterpiece.

“Selvida?” Leyade asked, looking at Silas with curiosity.

“No, one of her daughters,” he corrected, raising a hand to explain. “Look closely. The scene is set at dawn. If it were Selvida, both the sun and the moon would be there.”

Leyade nodded slowly.

“I hadn’t noticed,” she said with interest. “You’re right.”

“What did you find?” Silas asked, stepping back to look at the papers on the table.

“A map of the northern part of the continent.” Like him, the elf picked up several sheets.

Most were torn, yellowed or barely legible, but here and there they could still make out words written in an ancient language.

“Look at this, Leyade.” The elf glanced at the sheet Silas was holding. “It looks like a page of botanical notes.”

The young ranger took it for a closer look. As she read, she confirmed that they were indeed botanical notes. They were written in Elvish, and Leyade recognised some of the plants described.

“How curious. It’s a treatise on lake flowers: their properties, how they grow and how to care for them... How interesting.” Leyade scanned the page before slipping it into a document folder inside her backpack.

“What do you think this place is?” she asked, turning back to Silas, who was examining one of the shelves.

“It looks like a study, doesn’t it?” he replied.

The half-elf nodded, stepping away from the shelf with what appeared to be a small, battered notebook.

“Yes, that’s certainly what it looks like.”

“You know, this place gives me the creeps,” Leyade said, looking around. “The shelves look as though they’re only standing by sheer luck, the paper breaks as if it’s made of glass, and this awful silence hangs over everything...” She trailed off, raising her eyebrows. “At least that feeling I had earlier isn’t quite so strong now. It hasn’t gone away, but it’s easier to bear.”

“It is strange, but that’s the thing about ruins. They’re... ruined,” Silas replied, raising an amused eyebrow at her. “And that feeling might be easing because we’ve moved further from the centre of the corruption.”

“Well, that’s something to be grateful for,” Leyade replied, feeling calmer.

“We can go back to the corridor if you like. There doesn’t seem to be anything else here, and I can’t see another door,” Silas added.

Leyade nodded, arching an eyebrow, and left the study. She raised a hand to signal to Elindra.

They continued along the silent corridor, passing through an enormous doorframe decorated with filigree and designs in dull, grimy gold.

“There’s a huge pair of doors standing ajar at the end,” Elindra reported when she returned.

They followed her. The enormous doors had stopped with only a narrow gap between them, too small for either of them to squeeze through. Leyade and Silas pressed their hands against one of the doors and tried to push it further open, but barely managed to move it.

“It’s stuck. We can’t get it any further,” Leyade exclaimed, looking at Silas.

Quite calmly, Silas gestured to Elindra.

“Can you open it?” he asked, pointing at the door.

“Of course I can.”

Elindra cast a spell, and a translucent purple hand emerged from her claw. With it, she pushed the door open far enough for them to pass.

Leyade went in first with the glowing stone, followed by Silas and, finally, Elindra.

An enormous chamber stretched before them, filled with rolling dunes. Sand covered the floor and piled up against the walls. The temperature rose sharply as they entered, and they began to sweat profusely. Leyade stopped short as the sudden heat struck her face.

“What is this?” she complained, taking out a handkerchief to wipe her forehead.

Overwhelmed by the heat, Elindra settled on Silas’s satchel.

“I can’t believe how hot it is...” the dragon groaned, flopping dramatically across the bag.

“It’s as fascinating as it is scorching.”

Flushed with heat, Silas unfastened his belt and pulled his tunic partly open, baring his chest.

Leyade looked away, blushing at the sight. Then she took off her leaf cloak, folded it carefully and put it in her backpack before setting off across the dunes.

She had never seen anywhere like this. Wherever she looked, there was nothing but sand. It shifted beneath her feet, making every step slow and laborious.

No matter how far they walked, they could make out nothing in any direction. This time, they could not even ask Elindra to look further ahead; the heat had drained her of all her strength.

After a while, tired and bewildered, they decided to sit down and rest. Leyade dug into the sand to find a cooler patch, and they settled into the hollow she had made.

They took out their provisions and some water to recover their strength.

Elindra was lying on her back across Silas’s legs, eating dried fruit, when something caught her attention.

“Hey,” she said, “I don’t know if it’s the tiredness or the thirst, but I swear I can see a fight over there.”

She wriggled round on the half-elf’s lap until she could point behind them.

They both looked in the direction she indicated. In the distance, lit by torches, a man was fighting an enormous creature that seemed to be made of sand, as though the sand itself had come to life and turned against him.

“Oh, no!” Leyade exclaimed. “We have to help him!”

She sprang to her feet, hastily stuffing her waterskin into her backpack.

“Is that a sand monster?” Silas asked, carefully lifting Elindra off his legs. “All right, let’s go. But let’s not do anything reckless. We need to be careful.”

He stood up, looking at Leyade and gesturing for them to approach quietly.

Elindra settled back onto his satchel, and the three of them headed towards the fight. Leyade drew her bow and nocked an arrow as she crept closer.

They watched the struggle closely. The opponents seemed evenly matched. The man appeared to have a sword that could strike the sand and harm it, but whenever he cut through the creature, it re-formed. Even so, he kept attacking, undeterred by the sight of it piecing itself back together. The creature hurled its arms towards him, sand streaming from them as it tried to crush him in its grasp, but he kept breaking free.

For a while, they continued trading blows, neither gaining the upper hand. Then the man made a mistake, and the creature caught him by the neck, choking him.

Leyade ran forward without a second thought. Silas called for her to wait, but she ignored him. Drawing her bowstring, she stopped a few metres away and loosed her arrow, aiming straight at the arm holding the man by the throat.

The arrow whistled straight through the scene and vanished into the distance.

“What the...?” Bewildered, Leyade lowered her bow and blinked several times, unable to make sense of what she had seen.

Silas reached her a moment later. Catching his breath, he looked at her.

“You can’t just go charging off on your own, Leyade!” he scolded, stopping beside her, his voice full of worry. “What were you thinking?”

Leyade turned towards him with such a bewildered expression that he finally asked:

“What’s wrong?”

She nodded towards the fight. Then she nocked another arrow and fired. Aimed squarely at the sand creature, it passed straight through once again and disappeared into the distance.

“How interesting...” With an amused smile, Silas watched the scene for a few moments. Then he looked at Elindra. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

The dragon nodded, watching the fight.

“Just to be on the safe side...”

Silas raised his hands. His open tunic stirred at his sides, and his loose belt jingled with his movements as he recited an incantation. He studied the area intently for a while before reaching his conclusion.

“What we’re seeing isn’t real,” he said with certainty. “It’s an illusion.”