Before us, spread out in the large chamber, lay three formations. Formed of yellow stone, they were made up of many delicately curved shapes, like the petals of a flower. Inside the outer layers was an oval of some dark yellow substance. Partially transparent, they reminded me of glass. Whatever was happening here, it seemed like a lot of effort for some glass eggs. There must be some greater purpose beyond them, almost certainly a magical one. “I’m guessing you have no idea what these are.”

Elmidath paused in her inspection of them. “Not exactly. They’re definitely an accumulation of mana, I’m just not sure what they’re intended for exactly.”

An accumulation of mana? Like a mana battery? “So they’re used to power magical things then?”

“That would be my guess. They’re usually intended for some specific purpose but I don’t know what these are made for.”

“What’s the rock around them for?” It was far too uniform and complex not to serve some purpose.

“To filter and concentrate mana.”

“How long do these take to form?”

“Not sure, I’ve never made them. I’d say at least a few weeks though.”

I bit my lip, deep in thought. “Does your uncle know about this place?” He had to. “If he does, then why is he leaving them down here? They must be useful, right?”

“You have a point. Either he must not know what to use them for, or more likely he’s saving them for a specific purpose.”

“Should we take one?” I reached out toward the centre of the nearest stone flower but stopped to wait for confirmation. However harmless they might seem, I wanted a second opinion before touching one.

“Can’t hurt. There’s always a chance it’ll come in handy later.”

I stopped again, my fingers hovering above the egg-shaped mana battery. “This isn’t going to melt my hand or anything, right?”

Sarinknell scoffed. “Of course not, don’t be such a coward.”

I closed my hand around the rock. It was warm to the touch but not unpleasantly so. Slipping it into a belt pouch, I moved between the flowers. From there it was just a short walk before the ground levelled out and we found another room. This one was circular and far more cluttered, with four passages branching off from it. Benches extended from the walls, leaving a narrow walkway between them.

Tools, pieces of rock and paper were strewn throughout the chamber. As strange as the world I’d found myself in was, this had to be the work of a human. Or, well, a sentient humanoid. Someone had clearly been here recently and made an awful mess of the place. And this had to be a workroom of some kind, though I had no idea what they were trying to produce.

The pieces of stone were on the ground or off to the sides and looked more like debris than something being worked on. I picked up one of the papers. It was a covered in a series of strange symbols, they looked much too large to be writing but I figured it couldn’t hurt to ask. I held it out to Elmidath. “Any idea what this means?”

“Not a clue. Maybe the plans for something? Or some sort of design?”

It seemed as good a guess as any. So, whoever was down here was some sort of craftsmen? “Do you know who else came down here? Other than your father.”

She shrugged. “A few of the servants. Why?”

“If someone’s living down here, I was thinking they must need food brought down. Unless there’s some sort of underground farm down here.” I could think of a few other potential food sources but none that I particularly wanted to contemplate.

“I’ve seen servants taking food down to the cellars before, but I assumed it was for the prisoners.”

“Can you think of any reason why your father would have kept whatever was happening down here a secret?”

“Not really but, my father was…” She took a breath. “A very private person. He preferred to keep his business to himself.”

I could respect that attitude but it didn’t do us a whole lot of good right now. In fact, it was downright detrimental. “I thought he wanted you to succeed him. How are you supposed to do that if you don’t know anything about what he was doing?”

She cleared her throat. I could see that she wasn’t too comfortable talking about her father. It was probably insensitive of me to keep bringing him up but I needed to know. “He may not have been the best at planning for the future. I think he preferred to live in the now rather than dwelling over what might come. Besides, it’s not like he expected me to succeed him so soon.”

Being given so few answers was frustrating, how were supposed to figure anything out like this? “Did he tell you anything that might be helpful right now?”

She took a few moments to think. “It wasn’t something he said but I noticed he was spending a lot of time down here. He must have been working on something.”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Her answer didn’t give me much to go on but I suppose it was better than nothing. Things must have been almost as confusing for her as they were for me. Not something which boded well for our survival. Without much else to do here, we took the closest passage to where we’d come in.

We were still walking when I heard running water ahead. Not an approaching flood or anything, just a gentle burbling. Likely there was a stream ahead. Was that something one usually found underground? I had no idea but whatever lived down here was bound to need water.

The ground ahead was full of cracks and crevices, to the point that it was hard to keep my footing and held onto the wall to keep my balance. And with the little light that we had, it was a challenge to tell where to walk without getting my foot stuck in a hole. Acting in unspoken accord we slowed down, so as not to trip.

The sound of running water grew louder and we emerged before a pool. Fed by brown water trickling out of the rock, it was deep and ink black. As far as I could see, the ground simply stopped in front of the pool. The way forward was a sheer drop into the water. “Do you know how to swim?”

“A little.”

“Good to know.” I wasn’t a bad swimmer myself but I didn’t fancy trying it in complete darkness while weighed down by both armour and clothing. There were plenty of less frightening ways to die that I could think of. With no obvious way across, short of trying to freeze a path, we were about to turn back when there was a splash.

The source was hidden by the darkness but it sounded big. I brought my sword up and backed away. “Are, uh, sea monsters a thing in this world?” Technically this would be more of an underground stream monster but that was less of a catchy name.

Another voice answered from the darkness before Elmidath had a chance. It rumbled forth, neither masculine nor feminine. “Oh, they’re quite real. But don’t worry, I’m no sea monster.” There was an oddness to the way they spoke, as if they had a little trouble forming words. But they didn’t sound hostile. I swallowed and called out into the dark. “That’s all well and good, but who are you?”

“I am Eiasarth.” Their voice was like that of a human or demon but the splashing sounded like something much larger.

Elmidath stepped in front of me, unafraid. “What are you?”

“What am I?” It chuckled, a deep rasping sound. “What indeed. I could ask you the very same question. Who are these little creatures that have so carelessly wandered into my home? Have you ever had someone barge in uninvited and demand your name and nature?” They punctuated their words with a particularly violent splash. “I would say it is the height of rudeness.”

Whatever this creature was, it had a point. We weren’t being very polite. Though it wasn’t a very fair comparison. “I’ll admit our manners have been lacking but we also don’t make our homes in places deep beneath the earth, shrouded in darkness. How were we supposed to know? You must see that the two things aren’t equal.”

They laughed again, every bit as unpleasant as before. “Must I? And what will you do if I do not? If I say you are at best trespassers?”

“There’s no need to make assumptions. We’re right here, we can just talk things through like we are right now.” Whatever this thing was, I had no interest in fighting it. I had more than enough enemies on the surface. “We live in the manor above here and we’ve come seeking aid in destroying the pretender to her birthright.”

The head of a massive snake with pure white scales and amber eyes appeared at the edge of the light. I froze. Despite its size, I hadn’t even heard it move. “I don’t care.” At least it was straightforward. “Whatever petty squabble you’re involved in has nothing to do with me.”

I stepped back but Elmidath held her ground. “You’re wrong.” My mouth fell open. Was she trying to pick a fight with this monster? I wasn’t sure if I should applaud her courage or curse her stupidity. “This does concern you. You may not like it but what’s happening on the surface will affect you and everything else living down here.”

The head drew closer until it was almost touching Elmidath and I realised she was trembling slightly. “Explain. And do not think to trick me. I am wise in the ways of tiny creatures such as yourselves.”

“I am Elmidath, daughter of Lord Orshen Sarinknell. I do not lie.” I pressed my lips together to hide my smile. It was hard not to laugh at such a bald-faced lie delivered with such conviction. “If the current Lord of this manor and the surrounding lands has his way, he will bring ruin down upon us all.” Another lie. At least this one was partially subjective.

“Is that so?” The snake snorted, rustling Elmidath’s hair. “And I’m to take your word that you’ll prove a more capable ruler?”

“At least I came to meet with you, he hasn’t even shown you that level of courtesy. And yet he presumes to control the area containing your home.” She was getting good at this, poisoning people against her enemies without any real evidence.

“Then this intrusion was in fact a courtesy? How boorish of me to assume otherwise.” The mockery faded from their voice. “But I digress, as amusing as this diversion has been, I grow tired of it. You did not expect to encounter me here, do not insult my intelligence by insinuating otherwise. But encounter me you did.” Their ruby eyes narrowed. “And now you wish to turn our chance meeting to your advantage and ask for my help. If you wish for my aid, you had best be prepared to pay in kind. What is your offer?”

When Sarinknell didn’t respond, it moved its head from side to side while keeping their eyes on her. “Well? I’m waiting.”

Seeing that Sarinknell hadn’t come up with anything yet, I stepped in. “As you’ve so astutely pointed out, we didn’t know you were down here or who you are. What do we offer? How are we supposed to offer anything when we scarcely know the first thing about you? To be blunt, what do you want?” I couldn’t imagine such a creature had much desire for material wealth. What did it want instead? Food? I swallowed. Hopefully it didn’t find humans appetising. Or demons for that matter.

The snake drew back. “I can ask for anything?”

Looking determined, Sarinknell extended her hand toward it. “So long as it’s within my power to grant.”

I wasn’t so sure she should be giving it a blank cheque like that but maybe it wasn’t so bad. We could always refuse, if for example, it wanted to eat one of us.

“Very well. As amusing as it would be to ask for more, I have little I need from you, so I shall make you the same deal I made your father. The quality does not matter, so long as I am provided with a variety of types. What say you?”

“My father? You knew him?”

“I did, though I assume he has passed from the way you speak of him.”

“That’s right. What did he make a deal with you for?”

“In exchange for gems and allowing me to make my lair here, he only required that I help him map this complex.”

A map? That would surely help in our search down here. “Can you show us this map?”

The serpent tilted its head toward me. “I don’t have a copy, but I could draw you one given the time.”

“How long would that take?”

“Days, at least.”

I shook my head. “We don’t have time for that.”

“Then in the meantime, I can give you directions around this place. So long as you’re willing to agree to my terms.”

Elmidath didn’t hesitate. “Deal.”