The ‘Landing’, as the Cleric termed it, nearly killed Eve, while Arjun and James suffered multiple hairline fractures and concussions. Probably due to her impressive agility, which matched that of a full-blooded aditaru, Aisha had come out mostly unscathed. Even with the Battle Cleric furiously Manipulating air flow, it had been a close call.

Looking at the odd mix of metallic components, wooden boards, and pieces of shredded silken fabric that had only a bell ago made up the airship but were now strewn about the rocky mountainside, Arjun shook his head. Never again was he going to get on the death trap called an airship. Not even if Sigrid himself was after him.

“They are a determined bunch.”

Sensing the sudden tension in James’ voice, Arjun concentrated. The Clerics and Guards following them were just over a mile away, coming at a steady pace.

“We don’t have horses.”

“Even with horses, we’d be caught. They’ll have spares. And fighting would be suicidal. Couldn’t take them all on. Our only recourse is flight.”

“Hopefully, not the airborne kind,” Arjun muttered under his breath.

“Then, perhaps it’s the hand of Rodrugil at work here,” Eve said, pointing toward a narrow crevice on the side of the mountain, hidden behind a couple of massive boulders. While James and Arjun were gathering what remained of their packs, she and Aisha had decided to follow a barely discernible goat track that led to the mouth of the cave. “Given the shadowy conditions, can’t be certain, but think I found a stonehornish temple. We might be able to hide in there.”

“Their Cleric would’ve sensed us by now, just as we have,” Arjun said. Hiding from a competent earth Cleric with long range was nearly impossible in an isolated locality such as this one. Arjun could sense no other humans within miles.

“What makes you think it holds a stonehornish temple? The few that have survived the war are all underground,” James asked as they headed toward the cave. He seemed to think hiding was still a possibility, although Arjun couldn’t figure out why. His Soles insisted there weren’t any large buildings in the vicinity.

“Found Hornish inscriptions. On the guard pillars in front of the cave. They’re broken though,” she lamented.

Indeed, they found two immense stone pillars, over forty feet in length, broken and lying on the ground. Most of the inscriptions were illegible, eroded by wind and water. But still, there were a few odd markings here and there that had survived the test of time.

Sitting on one of the pillars, Aisha gave Arjun a tired smile. The harrowing ride had taken an emotional toll as well as physical.

“You can read Hornish?” James asked, without bothering to hide his incredulity. An unmistakable light started to dawn in his eyes as he crouched down near the more intact column.

Eve shook her head. “No. But I can tell that they’re in Hornish.”

“So they are,” James rose after studying them minutely for a few moments. Some of the tension seemed to have left his features, and a glimmer of hope burned bright in his dark eyes. “We must find the temple proper. Hurry, every moment is precious. They’ll be here within a quarter bell.” The Cleric all but ran into the cave, then hurriedly lit a torch and entered the tunnel at the back.

Arjun halfheartedly followed. “But there’s no exit.” He eventually couldn’t help but complain. “We’ll be cornered.”

“Perhaps. But if we run, we’ll surely die. In the narrow tunnels, with only a limited number of Clerics being able to attack at the same time, we’ll have the upper hand,” Eve pointed out.

Unless the Earth Cleric of the group brings down the whole damned mountain on top of us. Even with three of them being able to Manipulate earth, countering the Clerics would surely be difficult. They’ll have numbers as well as skills. But still Eve had made a valid point. “A last resort, if everything else fails.”

“They’ve located our entry point,” James whispered after a quarter bell, his voice echoing eerily in the ancient tunnel.

The sense of dread steadily building in the pit of Arjun’s stomach was alleviated when a shout of exclamation reached him from up ahead.

“Oh!! Found something.” Standing at the intersection of another passageway branching off to the right, Eve peered into the gloomy depth, her voice echoing even more eerily due to the confined space. “Where does that lead? My senses indicate it’s a dead-end. But so is the main tunnel.”

“Not all ends are a cause for concern. Some are merely the starting point of another journey.” James entered the side tunnel, a spring in his steps. Eve was right on his heels, with Arjun and Aisha – walking side by side – bringing up the rear.

This tunnel was taller, and consisted of smooth walls and floor, both emanating a distinct sense of age, even more so than the tunnel they’d just left. The tunnel, or more appropriately the passageway because it was evident even in the dim light cast by the torch that it was built by expert builders and masons, had strange carvings and paintings adorning the walls. Even under a ton of dust and decay most were still clearly legible, even after what must be eons. Everything from coronation to epic battles was depicted, and while the passage of time had corroded a lot of the scenes, one thing soon became apparent.

All the persons illustrated were of short stature, with most sporting long flowing beards and backward pointing horns, with their skin being various shades of red and gray.

“This portrays actual stonehornish historical events?” Arjun whispered to himself in awe.

“Yes.” The longer they followed the passageway, the surer James’ steps became.

Suddenly, prompted by no apparent reason that Arjun could sense, the Cleric halted, cocking his head. “Ah, here we are. I was beginning to wonder if I had misread the symbols,” he said, holding his torch aloft, thus revealing more of the wondrous structure lying ahead.

The passage ended on the steps of a temple out of the pages of the Historica.

Calling it ancient would be an understatement, as his gut indicated it predated the Cataclysm by several centuries, at least. Could even be millennia.

Apart from an unfathomable sense of age and mystery, the temple seemed ordinary at first glance. Seven short flights of timeworn steps led to a tall circular doorway, with two huge statues, both missing their heads, standing at attention on either side. From the ruins it was difficult to determine what the statues originally were, though the fact that one had ten arms and the other eight indicated neither was a stonehorn. If there had been an actual door, it had rotted away or crumbled to dust centuries ago, leaving a gaping hole leading to oblivion.

Overall, compared to the passageway, the temple lacked grandeur, at least on the outside. Or maybe what time had failed to corrode, humans had obliterated. After all, stonehorns and humans had been at war for millennia. Only in the past century had the enmity dampened, as sensible heads had prevailed, resulting in the signing of the treaty of Garbal, a rare event that had brought together three neighboring countries which had been, and in a sense still were, at war with each other, at least covertly.

“Not a moment too soon. They’ve located the branching point,” Eve informed.

Arjun was so engrossed by the frescoes and the temple that he hadn’t noticed the advance of over fifty people into the tunnel, most of whom were entering the side passageway, with a small squad staying behind.

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

With all but one of them hoping for a miracle, the group hurriedly climbed the stairs, and found themselves in a large chamber, with a single twenty-foot tall statue of a humanoid being with four hands standing atop a pedestal. The head of the being, presumably a stonehornish god, lay broken beside his feet. Seeing the reckless desecration of the statue, a deep sense of shame and sadness enveloped Arjun’s heart.

Some say there is very little difference between humans and animals. It couldn’t be further from the truth. Unlike a human, an animal only kills what it must and nothing more.

Three statues. All decapitated. Coincidence? Arjun thought not.

After casting one glance at the magnificent statue, James headed straight for the space between its feet, just in front of the pedestal.

Ignoring the glaring stone eyes of the god that promised painful death to the four interlopers, Arjun reluctantly followed. Then, his Crown caught up with the distant earth senses. “They’ll be here within a quarter of a bell,” he informed needlessly.

James, and probably even Eve, could sense them as surely as he could. But his anxiety was starting to get the better of him, especially since the Battle Cleric seemed almost maddeningly calm. James undoubtedly knew something he didn’t, and he hated that sensation.

“What do your earth senses tell you?” the Cleric asked, indicating the floor space between the feet of the statue.

“Nothing,” Arjun answered after a slight tap of his right foot to make sure. “Solid granite.”

James gave an indulgent smile. Then, squaring his shoulders, he knelt down and placed both hands on the ground. After a couple of blinks, with a grinding noise that left both Arjun and Eve stupefied, a small circular portion of the floor slid away, revealing a dark vertical tunnel.

Arjun stared at it open-mouthed, still unable to believe his trusted earth senses had betrayed him. Such a thing had never happened before.

“What did you do?” an amazed Eve eventually asked.

“Moved the hidden latch.”

“Where does it lead?” she said, squinting at the hole with mistrust.

“Safety,” came the terse reply.

After giving the stone floor a solid thump with her right foot, Eve pursed her lips for a couple of blinks, clearly debating with herself. Then, having come to a decision, she jumped in without a backward glance.

James gestured for Arjun to follow, which he accordingly did, to satisfy his curiosity, if nothing else.

As indicated by his senses, the drop was about twenty feet. After landing, he walked ahead, taking in everything with wide eyes full of wonder. This tunnel, most definitely, was not dark and dingy, as he’d feared it would be. In fact, it was more like a corridor in the basement of a well-maintained house than a tunnel. An ancient house. A very ancient house.

The floor was made of granite smoothed by time, and the air smelled of dust promising memories of Ages past. There was an already-lit torch on a wall-bracket about twenty feet away, which revealed a scene from the Creator’s dream, like the ones found in the most obscure parts of the Lore.

Aisha soon stood beside him, looking at the corridor with awe, though the awe hid a deeper sense of anxiety, both emotions equally genuine.

After James jumped down, with a thunderous noise the small trapdoor closed automatically, cutting off all earth senses from above, including the vibration of all the Guards and Clerics. Arjun would’ve cheered under normal circumstances, as he felt the Clerics wouldn’t be able to locate them either. He somehow doubted any of them even knew about the existence of the temple, let alone the latch, or its location. But the circumstances were far from normal. In the otherworldly atmosphere he’d landed, circumstances ceased to matter. Only wonder reigned supreme.

With wide eyes full of ecstasy, Arjun began exploring.

The first thing Eve noticed were the lights.

Thousands of pinkish-red spiderwebs embedded into hard rock that pulsated with an inner glow. The ceiling and walls of the broad corridor were chock-full of them. The pulse varied greatly, with no pattern that she could sense. What she could sense, however, was a diffused kernel signature spread throughout the corridor, vanishing off into the distance.

“It’s alive,” she whispered, giving voice to her screaming Heart that urged caution and subdued respect.

Standing to her right, Arjun gave a slight nod. His light-brown eyes, wide with awe and wonder, reflected the glowing light, giving him a freaky alien appearance. Aisha, and to some extent James, looked more nervous than excited.

Eve craned her neck, looking up. There was no sign of the circular aperture that had deposited them here. They were trapped. But Eve wasn’t worried.

Rock, even rock mixed with a wagonload of Basil, was her domain. However, James’ next words put a dampener on her mood. It also solidified her suspicions about his vocation. The man was entirely too well-informed about Manipulation and Clerics to be anything but a fully-fledged Cleric himself, probably even a Battle Cleric judging by the fighting prowess he’d exhibited at the mad Artificer’s basement. What an Arunian Battle Cleric was doing in one of the largest metropolises of Aiminia wasn’t hard to guess. It obviously was no pleasure trip.

“Seems some of the old stonehornish temples aren’t as abandoned as humans thought. This may even belong to one of their Living Gods. There are few greater secrets and no place more sacred to a stonehorn.” The Cleric’s sharp vigilant eyes scanned the corridor. “Be alert for traps.”

Despite the warning, it was hard not to be amazed and feel an urge to explore their surroundings. There were glowing tendrils of essence that suffused eight slightly raised stone structures buried into the granite. Eve hesitantly approached one of the four alcoves to the left housing one such structure.

“Don’t,” James’ firm voice brought her up short, “touch anything.”

Though the tone of the warning included everyone, the Cleric’s eyes were fixed on Arjun who was just about to touch a glowing tendril on the wall. Eve stopped, admiring the tendrils from afar. The man had a point. It wouldn’t hurt to be cautious.

“I don’t believe in coincidence. We were brought here. Why would whatever brought us here go through all that trouble only to kill us?” asked the living breathing question-mark.

James shook his head. “As usual, too many assumptions. This…” He gestured toward the spiderweb patterns around them, ones which now seemed almost curious. “This entity is what the stonehorns call Ancestral Maker or simply the Maker.” His hushed voice echoed slightly in narrow confines. “It doesn’t have coherent enough thoughts to be able to engineer our escape.”

Almost as a response to that assertion, the patterns, and even the kernel signature, changed, growing more…substantial.

Yup. Don’t anger the weird stonehornish spirit god. Being saved is peachy. Being saved only to be murdered by your savior is just downright rotten luck. Then, what the Battle Cleric had said truly registered.

“Jukatis!!!!” Eve sputtered. “This is Jukatis the Maker?”

One look at James’ eyes answered that question. Eve glanced around reverentially, a chill clawing up her spine.

The patterns turned more chaotic. The kernel signature, more excited.

“Let’s keep moving,” James whispered. Then, following his own advice, he started planting one careful foot in front of the other. Seeing no reaction from the patterns, he picked up his pace, Arjun falling in behind him. Looking around nervously, Aisha followed, Eve trailing her.

After traveling a couple of miles, mostly down a gentle incline, the four of them found themselves standing in front of an enormous double-door carved out of solid granite. “Definitely compensating for something,” Eve mumbled, glancing up at the door, easily ten times her size. The craftsmanship left her in awe. The etchings were ancient but clearly legible. A globe with some form of old stonehornish script underneath and a giant standing on top.

Standing on top of a mountain, Eve realized after a closer look. Also, the giant was a stonehorn. His prominent backward curving horns, full beard and the stony texture of his skin left little doubt. He also had stone protrusions on his forearms, almost like natural daggers. Long wicked looking daggers.

Eve swallowed the growing lump in her throat.

“Feeling privileged?” James asked her, with a wry smile on his face, which then turned serious. “We should. We’re probably one of the first humans to stand in front of the door to the Outer Chamber of Jukatis in millennia.”

“Not the first?” Arjun asked.

“Possibly.”

Arjun was grinning from ear to ear. “Still an adventure for the ages.”

“It would make a great story for our grandchildren.” James produced a nod, expression still grave. Aisha by this point looked almost jittery, very unlike her serene self. “If we survive to have children,” James finished, sounding just as worried as Aisha looked.

Eve ignored the warning. “Downer,” she muttered, gaze fixed firmly on the exquisite carving, belatedly realizing she herself wore the exact stupid grin as Arjun.

Due to the narrowness of the corridor, the patterns were closer here, but none touched the door which spanned the width of the passageway. Eve stood closer to the right wall, trying to get a better look at the spiderwebs. The feeling emanating from the kernel had steadily changed as they’d traveled down the ancient corridor. Now it lacked the earlier undertone of threat and almost seemed to be egging them on to explore the subterranean world, promising riches beyond imagination.

Speaking of riches, the vein of mineral that held the patterns almost seemed like… “Crystals?” she wondered aloud.

“Soul Crystals. Even rarer than Khudra or Anu-crystals,” James supplied, just as the huge doors silently swung open on their own accord.