The road ended in an abyss. Before them the land had been carved asunder in a fissure so wide that they could not see the other side, leaving nothing but an endless, gaping dark.

Once there had been a bridge, evident by the small set of stairs that now extended into the open dark. Parsae stepped up to the very edge and leaned over, shielding her eyes from the bright morning sun. "Well, I can't say that getting over would be easy, but perhaps possible."

Demadara was quietly standing at the start of the stairs, her hands trembling. "I'm not going to risk that. Let's just walk along it southward, it has to end at some point."

Timae had stayed quiet, and was instead peering into the dark. Then her tails stood up, bushing out. "My lord, my lord! Look!"

She pointed downward, and Demadara followed her direction. At first she saw nothing, nothing but a descent into the dark. Then, a bright red spark, lighting up void, and then another.

"So something does live down there." Demadara's hand surged down to the Eye, calming under it's pulse. "Will it come out?"

"No." Timae walked down the stairs and turned southward. "The fires of the deep do not reach the surface, not during the day. Please my lord, if you would follow me."

Demadara exchanged a look with Parsae, then they followed Timae along the edge of the fissure. Every now and then they could see another flash of light in the dark.

"The wound reaches all the way to the end of the Landsea, it'd take us a month to reach the other side." Timae kept her gaze forward. "And the nearest bridge itself is another week away. So there is only one way, yes. Here."

She stopped. Cut into the ground was a narrow pathway leading downward, barely wide enough for one of them.

"We must cross the endless dark ourselves." Timae turned back to Demadara, and the horror written across her face.

"Not the greatest treasure in the world will get me to go down there." Demadara took a step back, away from the edge.

"My lord, the Landsea is ever changing." Timae spoke firmly. "If we take the long way around, all we may find of Manticore in her lair may be her head on a spike. The way forward is dangerous, yes, but it is also the shortest."

"Manticore will hardly be dislodged by some savage rabble, furball." Parsae crossed her arms and scoffed. "She's lived for hundreds of years, some inhumans wont be an issue."

"Creatures much older and greater said much the same, and their bones now adorn the high city." Timae hissed back at her. "We have no time to waste!"

Demadara peered over the edge, her eyes following the flickering lights. "What lives down there. I will not move an inch until you tell me." Her shoulders were tensed, and she had to draw her gaze away from the dark. Something about it filled her with an unspeakable dread.

"The fires were there before my grandmother was born, and I know of nobody who went down there and came back alive." Timae took the first step to the pathway. "Whatever they are, if we move in darkness and silence we should be able to avoid them."

Parsae turned to Demadara. "This is a bad idea, and I'm sure you know that."

"The best of a terrible set, yes." Demadara followed Timae with an uneasy step. "The faster we descend the faster we can get back out."

Parsae was left to growl and follow, down into the dark.

"Once we are close to the ground we must stay quiet, even my eyes will struggle in the darkness, so make sure to stay as close as you can, my lord." Timae was already whispering, her tails bushed out.

"You mean to walk through the pitch black without a light, just trusting you wont lead us astray? I think not furball!" Parsae hissed back at her, which Timae answered with a glare.

"I care not what you do, feel free to draw as much attention to yourself as you want, you will only make it easier for my lord and I."

They had soon reached the point where the edge of the fissure was blocking out the light, and the way before them was lost in the dark. All Demadara Could see were Timae´s tails, until even they vanished in the absence of light.

One step in front of the other. Demadara had to take her hand from the Eye as to not give away their location with it´s glow, so instead she grasped at her chest, her breath going quicker.

The lights below got ever closer, and took a sharper form. Bright red flares dissipated and rerappeared at very consistent times, while larger, white lights stayed motionless and consistent.

And from here Demadara could hear sounds. Metal striking rock, metal striking metal, the churning of wheels and low, laboured groans.

Then Timae halted, and Demadara walked into her. The moment they touched, Timae´s tails slid and wrapped themselves around her waist as she looked back and whsipered. "We reached the ground. Please do not leave my grasp."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Demadara´s face turned red, but in this situation she could hardly complain. Wordless she followed, with Parsae ever close by, according to her footsteps.

These however were hard to hear, over the industrious roaring all around them. The fires illuminated not only the ground, but it´s source.

Rows upon rows of people of all different races, tied together by chains around their necks. They struck at great nodes of ore which was picked up by children who were conjoined at their ankles with heavy chains. The noises overshadowed their steps.

"If we march all day, we may reach the other side." Timae spoke in a barely audible tone. "Let us not interrupt them."

Demadara could not take her eyes off the sights however, trailing behind until she only felt the tip of Timae´s tails. Every now and again the chains were pulled, and in utter darkness the group was harried away to another location. Only once did a spark illuminate whoever was leading them, a tall figure with a tail as long as her upper body, and large wings sprouting from her back.

Their walk through the dark was slow. They had to stay far away from any light, quickly moving either left or right to avoid a confrontation, while needing to move in silence. And even the lights could not give Demadara a firm view of how far or for how long they had walked.

And then, Demadara saw the white light. It was to their left, and like the others of it´s kind, it was unmoving, a single large bright ball. So utterly pure and, desirable. Demadara halted, letting go of Timae. Her breath was going faster, her eyes opening wide, this very light incensed every muscle in her body. Slowly she stepped towards it, the confused, panicked whispers of Timae did not even reach her ears.

No longer did she sneak, she walked, pace, sprinted forward. To hell with secrecy, she was powerful, she was strong, and she needed, craved this light!

It got closer, ever closer and her lips turned to a smile as more white entered her vision. That of pure white teeth.

She stared into a wide open maw, filled with teeth longer than herself. Before despair could overtake her, her body acted. She jumped backwards and grasped for the Eye, pulsing in bright light. A painful, bright flame erupted around her other hand, and she sent it forward in a stream of fire against the creature.

Her flames illuminated the dark, and the skeleton of the creature she had walked into. A being little more than a head with skeletal fins, with only it´s antenna holding the orb of light, it must have died ages ago.

The fear of the creature swiftly turned to fear of the fire that now coated her arm, and although it faded quickly, it was too late.

She screamed.

The dark grew silent.

Within moments Timae and Parsae were at her side, helping her back up to her feet.

"We must go, now." Timae looked around, her ears perked up.

"We should never have come here." Parsae snarled back, until she too went silent.

Quiet at the tens, hundreds of steps that now echoed through the dark, the bright red fires that approached.

They came from all directions at once, a single circle of flame that grew tighter and closer with every moment, until they came close enough to be discernible.

They were face to face with a small army of women, clad in heavy armour. What parts were not covered in metal was instead protected by a coat of bright golden scales atop their bronze skin, only their faces were largely free from them and human looking.

Some sported large leathery wings or tails, others lacked these features entirely and instead had curved or straight horns. All shared the same gold coloured eyes that were glowing in the dark.

From their rank one stepped forward, dressed head to toe in metal, even her wings were covered. She held a greatsword in her hands the size of a grown man as if it were a feather. When she smiled at Demadara she exposed two rows of sharpened teeth.

"What do we have here, scaleless, refined features. Perfect for the pools."

Timae stepped in front, pale blue light appearing around her tails and hands. "If you take another step I'll tear out your innards and feed them to you." She hissed, her tails bushing out.

"And a Keitan, shouldn't your kind know better than to go where you do not belong?" The woman´s expression turned to anger. "Which one of those scaleless pawns sent you, and in how many pieces should we send you back to them so they understand not to reach our homes?"

Timae scoffed, shaking her head. "Dragonette. So this is where you hid after your masters took each other out. How must it feel, for the rulers of the land and sky to huddle down in a cave?"

Before Timae could hurl another insult, Demadara stepped past her, and stared down the woman herself. "We're just looking to pass, but if it is a fight you want." She laid her hand on the Eye, her hand clenching. "Then so be it."

The woman rose her sword and pointed it at Demadara. "You think we will just let you pass through? Girl, you do not know who you speak to. We are Dragonette, and I will not have some scaleless look at me without getting on their knees." She rose her blade, until she noticed the change in their surroundings. The silence of her comrades, only broken by coughing and a desperate struggle for air.

"I wouldn't talk so highly." Parsae grinned, a dark red glow around her fist.

The Dragonette stared from her to the shadows around them. There were more than there were people, and while her kin stood motionless, struggling to breathe, their shadows were being strangled, flailing for air.

"You insolent!" The Dragonette hissed, but did not move further.

"How about you forget all about seeing us here, go back to what you were doing and let us pass?" Parsae´s features glowed in the light of her magic, her smile ever widening. "If you still care about these kin of yours."

The Dragonette´s hands trembled around the hilt of her sword. Finally she thrust it into the ground and hissed. "Free them, we will let you go, you have my word."

Parsae and Demadara exchanged a quick look, and Demadara nodded. The shadows retreated, and around them the Dragonette were gasping for air. They cleared a path for them, but instead of taking it, Demadara stepped up to their leader.

She was looked down on by her, her armour rattling under barely restrained anger. "What is it, scaleless."

"I want to meet with your leader." Demadara´s words drew all eyes upon her.

"I have a deal I want to propose."