Chapter 15
All preparations were finished. Victor had hoped to be off as soon as possible, as the job didn’t seem major. Raid a tomb, obtain a crown. So simple on paper, one would think, but Lothar evidently disagreed. He’d made a small event out of it, complete with Raghes and Wraldin, the father of Celesta.
Despite roughly matching their parents in stature, Victor and Celesta looked awfully meek in comparison. Let alone William, who had to deal with Raghes right in front of him.
“Son,” Lothar began. “This is the moment we have all been waiting for. Lokahn’s great reawakening, symbolised by the power of Reval’s old crown… the very same crown that marked the birth of our nation and faith.” He gently placed a claw on Victor’s shoulder. “No matter what happens down in the tomb… know that I am forever proud of who you are, and who you have become. You are the greatest gift Divinity could ever have given to me.
Victor nodded. “Yes, father. I… I love you too.” We have this same conversation every other week or so.
Wraldin followed in Lothar’s footsteps, putting a claw on his daughter’s shoulder, then licking the top of her head as if she were a hatchling.
“Celesta? I might have failed so many times raising you, but… I swear, never has a day gone by where you weren’t my main priority. You… you keep me going. And even if you’re going to be the future Queen… you’ll always be my sweet baby girl. Okay?”
Jittering, the white dragon extended a claw for Celesta to take. The purple dragoness didn’t take it at all; she threw herself right at his chest, almost making him tip over.
“And you’ll always be my dad, no matter what!” she said while holding onto a hug.
While the two cuddled it out, Raghes and Wiliam were having a simpler conversation, Raghes having laid down on the floor, while William stood like a statue.
“You’ve learned so much over these last few years, William,” Raghes began. “Some may have had their doubts about you being a captain, but I never did. Not for a single second since I recommended you for the job to begin with. You were born to lead. Someone who everyone can look up to, and be proud of.”
William bowed before the blue dragon. “Thank you, Raghes. That means a lot, coming from you.”
Raghes winked at him. “I might not have shown it much, but you’re my pride and joy. May you guide others as I have guided you.”
The captain saluted. “Leave it to me.”
After saying their goodbyes, the trio made the final preparations before leaving, putting on their armour and harnesses, double checking their bags to see if they weren’t missing any supplies, then fastening said bags to their harnesses. When all was said and done, they took off for the north. Several celebratory roars sounded behind them; no one bothered to look.
“They sure know how to exaggerate, eh?” Celesta said with a grin on her snout. Victor cracked up.
“Exaggerate and then some. We’re only going to be gone for what, a day or two? If that?”
William let go of the harness for a moment. “I dunno. What if it turns out to be a giant labyrinth down there? We’d be in trouble.”
“Naaah, that seems silly,” Celesta said. “Technology was nowhere near as good back then, it can’t be that complex of a… complex, hihi. Dangerous, yes, but not a maze.”
“Hope you’re right. There’s always more to these things than meets the eye,” William replied, much to Celesta’s amusement.
“Hope I’m right? More like ‘know I’m right’! Man, it’s no wonder you’re friends with Vic. He also has deep concerns about everything. You’re practically copies of one another!”
“H-hey!”
Celesta laughed while William blushed. His face was probably redder than Victor’s, and more purple than Celesta’s. She didn’t bother to look, because the image in her mind was probably funny enough. And all the while they were having this back and forth quibble over whether or not William worried too much, Victor just kept to himself on a steady course, tongue firmly pressed against his cheek.
Yeah, that’s my girlfriend alright.
* * *
The few hours of flight were uneventful. Lokahn’s western countryside was sparsely populated. No cities, or even a small town - just villages and hamlets dotted around the vast forests, with few roads in between. Justitia’s presence here was weak from the very start of the occupation, and it didn’t take much for the Homefront to liberate these areas. There were no ballistas or stray musket balls to worry about, nor any scouts in the vicinity.
But it wouldn’t be long before they reached the old tomb. Tension and nerves were running high as the clock ticked. It may have been lost and abandoned for many centuries, but the mythical reverence with which Lothar and the other dragons had described the tomb was not something any faithful Lokahnian would forget. Reval’s final resting place. Sacred and pure. And now the first visitors in a long time would tread inside.
They could only guess what they’d find inside.
* * *
The sun was halfway from the top of the sky to the edge of the horizon, when Torvalt Lake approached on the horizon. Wind hadn’t been kind to them; noon had long passed, and that was when they were supposed to arrive.
No plan survives contact with the enemy. Victor’s skin shivered under his scales. It wasn’t a good sign when even the elements weren’t on your side.
Nevertheless, the dragons slowly circled down upon the lake, whose blue waters glistered in the afternoon sunlight. Without knowledge of what slumbered beneath, it was a pretty vista. A large blob of water populated by salmon, trout, and Lokahnian bass, whose scales were a bit dimmer than regular bass. No Dwellers, no bears, wolves or imperials to speak of. Just deer, rabbits, squirrels, and other critters. The waters were cool, and perfectly suited to unwind after the long walk under the pines that surrounded the waters, both on the mainland as well as those on the island at the lake’s center.
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To think Lokahn’s first ruler chose this place to build his final resting place. Victor nodded while marvelling at it.
Well, Reval sure was a man of fine taste. No wonder the people back then rallied around him. Or why he’s loved to this day, even.
And yet, despite the knowledge they were armed with, no signs of any civilization were present. Torvalt Lake was in the northern parts of Lokahn, which were known for being sparsely populated, but this was a step above the rest. Nowhere in the last hour did they see any settlement bigger than a hamlet. Let alone a road, or trail, or anything else. Had nature reclaimed the lands around the lake, or was it always like this?
The dragons touched down on the island, their claws gripping into the dirt. Victor dropped prone the moment he came to a stop, while Celesta sniffed the shrubbery on the lake’s banks.
“Hm… no one’s been here in a long, long year…”
“Could say that again,” said William while dusting himself off, before pulling his crossbow out. “Everything’s overgrown. It doesn’t even look like anyone’s ever lived here. Or that there’s a tomb buried underneath.” He shook his head. “Are you sure we’re in the right place?”
Celesta shook her head. “No,” she said, raising a digit into the air. “Remember, there’s just one entrance a dragon can fit through. Plus, the second entrance is purposefully sealed off. At the beginning of the war, a few Draconists went to the tomb to seal it off. You’d need some extraordinary magic to break the seals those priests were capable of setting.”
William folded his arms, before kicking a rock by his feet. “This is the first time anyone’s told me of that… seals?”
“Yeah, blame my father for that,” Victor grumbled above William’s head, whipping his tail around. “He was too busy getting all teary eyed over us getting the crown. Either he couldn’t be bothered to explain that little detail, or he forgot.” Would’ve been nice to go through that other entrance…
“Right…” William said, then sighed. “How strong are those seals, in any case?”
Celesta sniffed the air. “I can sense the magic underground here… amazing.” She unfurled her wings and beat them wildly, knocking several pines from their trees. “Anyway, they were some of the finest priests Draconism’s ever had. And… they never returned from their mission, either. Probably locked themselves in the tomb, and did as much as they could to protect it.”
Her eyes turned dire. “Don’t doubt for a second that they are unbreakable. We cannot do anything about them.”
William nodded. “Understood. So… where’s the entrance on this island, then.”
Crossbow in hand, the captain’s eyes panned over the surroundings. Even if he magically became part hawk, nothing would have stuck out. Nothing but pine trees, berry bushes, sticks, and a hill in the distance.
“We’ll just have to find out ourselves,” Celesta said. “Nothing we can’t handle, right? William? Vic?” She already had one foot forward, and waited on Victor specifically to follow her lead. Victor didn’t resist.
“...Of course not,” William said, somewhat belated.
“Sure… but what I don’t get is how the priests found the temple in the first place,” Victor said, even more belated. “Wasn’t its location lost knowledge? How would they even know where to find it?”
Celesta chuckled back. “Simple… Divinity works in strange ways. Remember, they were the most powerful priests in all of Draconism at the time. They could probably sense where the temple was. Nothing is ever truly lost, if you just have faith.”
Victor had to suppress the urge to groan out loud. Here we go again with ‘being faithful’... I’ve spent the last few years of my life effectively following Divinity, yet I still don’t like him. If he can help some of us, why not all of us? Ugh.
Rotten twigs and pines littered the island’s interior, as they ventured inwards. It was cold, and surprisingly dark. Victor and Celesta occasionally had to squeeze themselves or swat down a tree, careful to not use their breath if they could help it. A forest fire wasn’t going to make their lives any easier.
Slowly they shambled their way to the hill, splinters and forest critters be damned. William went way out in front, crossbow in hand. He was alert for the slightest movement in the shrubbery, or any rustling in the canopy that didn’t come from behind. All the warnings in the world had been given: If the Justitians had reached the island before they did, trouble was surely looming up ahead.
Aside from squirrels and rabbits, however, the island was deserted. Untouched. Pristine. Nature in its own form, as only she could have wanted. Anything that went against her wishes stuck out like a sore thumb.
And so it wasn’t a surprise when the outline of a house appeared at the edge of the hill.
“Hey, do you see that?” William called out. “Hold on, I’ll investigate!”
“Wait! Be careful!” Celesta shouted after him.
But William was already sprinting off, safety be damned. The two dragons sighed.
“After him?”
“Yeah. After him.” Of all the people to get all brave, too. Here I was thinking the training went against that. Did Jim get a hold of him again?
Victor and Celesta pushed through the trees, knocking several over on their way to the house. William was staring at the entrance, or what was left of it, by the time they arrived. It used to be a house, but little more than old stones and rotting wood was left. The frame of the house had collapsed, and the floor was chipped. Plants had reclaimed their old territory; even the side of the mountain that had been covered was now full of vines. Thick, dense vines, the kind one would expect to see in the jungle.
“There’s nothing left,” William said.
“Yeah… you could say that,” Victor continued. “Who builds a house all the way out here?”
Celesta traced a claw over the remnants of a wooden beam. “Someone who knows of the temple, if you ask me. Let’s investigate this place. There’s gotta be some kind of clue.”
Being the only one small enough to search through the ruins, William got to work rummaging his way through the rubble. A search revealed little. Old utensils. Pottery. Books whose words had long faded, and reeked of mold and fungi.
“Whoever lived here hasn’t been around for a long time, that’s for sure.”
“Really?” Celesta asked. William rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, really. What were you expecting to find, some kind of switch? These vines here are more promising than the house. Look at how much greener they are than anything else here. Never seen anything like it before.”
“Riiiight…” Celesta sneered.
Victor shook his head. “It was worth a shot, at least. Given we don’t know what the entrance looks like… by the way, aren’t vines like that from like… Easgandia, or something? Looks like the jungle.”
Celesta clicked her tongue, tail swaying wildly. “Nah. Ever seen a jungle before? That’s not green enough.”
William stuck a hand through the vines, then suddenly recoiled back. “H-hey! Guys! There’s a passage behind here!” he said, sticking both arms in, followed by his head, only to jump back through. “I-it’s massive! Damn it, I can barely get through…!”
Celesta leapt in front of the vines. “Is this what I think it is?” she said, slashing at the vines with her claws before trying to yank it off. Neither had much effect. “Argh… they’re tough.”
“You could say that again. There’s not even a scratch on them,” Victor pointed out. Not a fibre was out of place, despite Celesta’s best efforts. Two massive claws, yet zero damage.
“Wait… back off. I think we have to…”
“Hold on!! DAMN!”
William managed to leap to the ground by a hair before Celesta unleashed her fiery breath on the vines. Instantly, the vines ignited, quickly turning black and disintegrating away. The soot blew off with the wind, revealing the enormous mouth of a cave that had been hidden from the world. A chill went up everyone’s spine as they gazed into the darkness ahead, a darkness that was soon dispelled by two torches inside igniting simultaneously.
Celesta gazed in awe, as if the door to paradise had been opened before her eyes. Next to her, Victor watched on like a child, uncertain of what he was looking at. On her other side, William was dusting off his knees, half confused like Victor was.
“Do you think that’s…” the red dragon said, raising a digit into the dark.
“...the tomb?” William asked. “Looks like any other cave to me…”
“No…” Victor pondered out loud. “What’s with those-”
“This is it.”
Celesta put one foot forward. “There’s no mistaking it. We’ve found the tomb. I can feel that this is the right place… do you sense the magic too, Vic?”
Victor reached out with a claw. A mysterious current lingered in the air, one that neither his scales nor wings could feel. But it was there, and he had nothing to question its presence with. His instincts were keen.
“I do. What is it?”
“Old Draconist magic,” the lavender dragoness said. “The tomb’s been warded. Safe, protected, so that everyone sleeping inside can rest undisturbed. Come!”
Doubts be damned, whether hers or those of her companions. Celesta wasn’t letting any emotions stop her now, and headed right into the entrance of the cave. Her presence was quickly picked up on by more torches further inside, which all guided the way forward with their lights. Quickly, the rocky entrance turned into a finely crafted design.
“What are you guys waiting for? This is it!”
Halfway down the passage, Celesta stopped. William was slow to follow, and Victor wasn’t budging. The age old myths of traps and danger were coming home to roost. An awful feeling settled at the bottom of the red dragon’s heart. Of all the places to die, joining the many souls buried in an ancient tomb was poetic, yet horrifying.
It’s just that he didn’t have a choice.
“Victor?! You’re not getting cold feet now, are you?” Celesta shouted, flapping her wings for as much as the passage would let her. Victor let out a deep sigh.
Always willing to dive right in… gods, what did I do to deserve her? He dreamed, before entering the darkness with her. “Coming! Wait for me!”