Fra-Atl finally showed them into a small chamber. Shelves along one wall held about a dozen books and several dozen scrolls. Along the other three sides of the room, some hanging on the walls, others sitting on the floor, sometimes piled on top of each other was an assortment of different items, from paintings to statues, baskets, masks, headdresses, robes, and more, even a few old weapons. A table with a few chairs sat in the middle of the room, leaving only a thin path around it.

Fra-Atl took a seat at the table, while Felitïa went straight to the shelves. She began looking at the spines of the books. “Are these the secrets?”

“Some of the secrets, yes,” Fra-Atl said.

“Only some?” Most of the books had no writing on the spines. The two that did were not written in a language Felitïa recognised.

“The secrets are more than the books,” Fra-Atl said. “The secrets include the items in this room, too. Apart from the table and chairs. They’re just here to help us be comfortable when we study.” The old woman chuckled.

Nin-Akna pointed to an axe hanging on the wall. “This rusty thing is a secret?”

“In a sense,” Fra-Atl said. “That was the axe of King Mitnal.”

“Who was that?” Nin-Akna asked. “And why should we care about some king?”

“Mitnal was one of our kings from the time before Eleuia and Nin-Papan. Before we were enslaved by Elooria. He and his axe are talked about in the writings. It’s not entirely clear why.”

“And Nin-Papan wrote all these things?” Felitïa said, pulling out a tome to reveal the title, The Foretellings of Eleuia. It was written in Ninifin.

Fra-Atl smirked. “That itself is one of the secrets. Nin-Papan wrote the book you hold in your hands and several of the other books there. But most of writings on those shelves are much older. Nin-Papan collected them from all around the world. Everything she collected related in some way to the future, even when they were artefacts of the past, like that axe there.”

Felitïa opened the book to the first page. The Foretellings of Eleuia, as Recorded by Her Devoted Disciple Nin-Papan in the Days Leading to Her Death at the Hands of the Dragon and the Hated Isyar.

Fra-Atl stood up, squeezed past Rudiger and went to a spot along one of the walls. She looked to either side, then turned to look about the room.

“Is there a problem?” Nin-Akna asked.

“The Staff of Sestin is missing,” she said.

“You sure?” Rudiger asked. “Maybe it’s just been moved. What’s it look like?”

“A wooden staff, the top end carved to look like a coiled feathered serpent. Its eye sockets are empty, though it’s believed they once held gems. It is normally leaning in the corner here.”

“Could someone have removed it?” Felitïa asked, closing the book and placing it back on the shelf. “To study it perhaps?”

“If my colleagues were studying it, they would do so here in this room. We almost never remove anything from here.”

“Maybe it fell over behind some of these other things,” Rudiger said, bending over to search through the items on the floor. “No, not seeing it here.”

“You say almost never,” Felitïa said. “Maybe this is one of those rare occasions.”

Fra-Atl sighed. “It is possible, I suppose. Oh well, we must move on. We only have a limited time before others come looking for us. The guard at the entrance won’t sleep forever. We can come back here at a later time when it’s safer.”

“There’s more to see?” Felitïa asked.

“A little. Perhaps the biggest secret of them all. Follow me.” She led them back into the short corridor and felt along the wall across from the base of the stairs. After a moment, she pushed one of the stones in. There was a brief grinding noise as a hidden door opened.

“A secret passage?” Nin-Akna said. She approached with the torch to reveal more stairs heading even lower into the temple.

Fra-Atl motioned everyone through. Then, on the other side, she found a similar switch in the wall and used that to close the door again.

“These stairs lead to the burial chamber of the ruler who had the Temple built,” Fra-Atl said as they descended. “Very few people know of its existence.”

“It wasn’t Nin-Papan?” Nin-Akna said.

Fra-Atl shook her head. “People today tend to forget that Nin-Papan lived only two hundred years ago. This temple is far older than that. We weren’t called Ninifins in those days, and many things have changed since then, but we still existed.”

The stairs exited into the largest chamber they had seen since entering the Temple. It looked larger across than the base of the Temple with a ceiling at least twenty feet high, suggesting that they had descended below ground level. The chamber was bare except for a single raised dais in the centre containing a jewel-encrusted coffin.

“Is that her?” Nin-Akna asked.

“The ruler who built this place?” Fra-Atl said. “Yes. Unfortunately, we don’t know their name, or whether they were a woman or man or neither. But that is not what I want to show you.”

She led them across the chamber to the far wall, where she once again felt along it for a hidden switch. “What I am about to show you is known only to three people at any given time. Only when one of us dies is another initiated into it. By showing you this, I am breaking a vow I took and have faithfully followed for twenty years. But what I do, I do because Eleuia foretold it and Nin-Papan herself ordered it. Through here is another chamber that leads to a tunnel. The tunnel descends deeper and passes under the Jaguar itself, all the way to confluence of the Jaguar and Toucan.”

The confluence.

Like the Volg writings had talked of.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Fra-Atl pressed the switch in. The door began to grind open. “It is a bit of a journey, but once there, you will behold the most wondrous site you have ever—”

“Look out!” Rudiger cried.

Standing in the open doorway was a Volg. Fra-Atl turned just as the Volg’s sword lashed out, severing the priest’s head from her body in a single swipe.

Nin-Akna gasped as blood sprayed across her. She dropped the torch and lunged with her spear, but the Volg cut the weapon’s shaft with another quick swipe. The young Ninifin took several steps back, avoiding the Volg’s next attack. The Volg stepped forward to follow her.

Rudiger rushed in, sword held high. The Volg tried to parry, but Slay cut straight through the blade of the Volg’s sword. Rudiger took another swing and cut deep into the Volg’s chest. “Back to the stairs!” he cried.

Another Volg came through the doorway, and there were several more in the chamber beyond. One was familiar, though Felitïa hadn’t seen him since the day Corvinian had been taken. The one that had been with Castroff. Nibdenoff, if she remembered the name from Quilla’s experiences correctly.

Rudiger and Nin-Akna were already running across the chamber. Felitïa cast a quick spell to befuddle the minds of the two lead Volgs. Then she ran after the others.

They made it as far as the ancient ruler’s burial casket before two Volgs landed in front of them.

Nin-Akna drew one of her knives and threw. It scraped one Volg’s muzzle, but did little to stop their advance.

Rudiger leapt in, swinging with Slay at the same Volg. The Volg dodged and the second Volg swung at him, hitting him in the side. He stumbled, but his armour looked to have protected him.

Nin-Akna, another knife drawn, dived low, rolling past one of the Volgs’ legs. She lashed across his thigh as she went. “Don’t let them surround us!”

Felitïa turned to see more Volgs coming up behind. She put the closest one to sleep, then clouded the minds of the next two. But there were far too many still coming.

“Felitïa! Come on!” Rudiger called.

She spun around again to see that Rudiger and Nin-Akna had dispatched the two blocking their way. They were already running for the stairs.

Felitïa ran after them, but another Volg landed between her and the others. She clenched her fist. The Volg dropped his sword, clutched at his horns, and screamed. Felitïa kept running, releasing the spell when she was well past the Volg.

Rudiger stood at the bottom of the stairs. He ushered Felitïa up as she arrived. Nin-Akna was already partway up them.

A groan came from behind her and Felitïa looked back. Rudiger had driven Slay through the gut of an approaching Volg. He pulled the sword back out. “Keep going!”

Felitïa caught up to Nin-Akna at the top of the stairs. The Youth Guard was searching along the wall for the switch Fra-Atl had used.

“We’ll have the advantage in the temple,” Nin-Akna said. “They’re too big to fight in such close quarters and they won’t be able to fly. Where was that fucking switch?”

Felitïa helped her search, but Nin-Akna found it a moment later, just as Rudiger joined them at the top of the stairs. The Ninifin pushed it and the door ground open.

On the other side, a Ninifin warrior—one of the Queen’s Guards—stood at the bottom of the next flight of stairs. She thrust the butt of her spear into Nin-Akna’s stomach. As Nin-Akna doubled over, another warrior to the side of the door hit her in the back of the neck. She fell to the floor.

The second warrior came forward and grabbed Felitïa’s arms, yanking her into the corridor. Several more Queen’s Guards stood there, and in the archway of the secrets room, stood Fra-Ichtaca.

The guard shoved Felitïa forward. She stumbled and as she straightened up, she found two daggers held close to her neck.

“Drop the sword, horse tender,” Fra-Ichtaca said. “Or the Will-Breaker and Youth Guard die.”

Felitïa looked back as Rudiger let Slay drop to the floor.

“Where is Fra-Atl?” Fra-Ichtaca asked.

“Dead,” Felitïa replied.

“Then we are too late. Close the door.”

The warrior by the stairs found the switch as if she already knew where it was and pressed it. The door ground closed.

“There are Volgs down there,” Felitïa said. “They’re coming up here.”

Fra-Ichtaca laughed. “Volgs. Stories for children.”

“They’re real,” Rudiger said.

“Even if they were, why would they be in the depths of the Temple, in areas few know about?”

“You knew about them,” Felitïa said.

Fra-Ichtaca’s eyes narrowed and she scowled. Felitïa could sense both amusement and hatred from her, but also annoyance. There was no disbelief, though.

“Take them up,” Fra-Ichtaca ordered.

One of the warriors picked up Rudiger’s sword, and another picked up Nin-Akna. The two holding daggers to Felitïa’s throat lowered them, and one nudged her with an elbow. “Move.”

Felitïa started up the stairs, following Rudiger and another of the warriors ahead of him. “Not going to kill us, Fra-Ichtaca? It’s what you want, isn’t it?”

Another flash of annoyance emanated from the priest. “I have no doubt you will be executed in the end, but we will follow proper procedure.”

“Those Volgs will kill everyone when they get up here,” Rudiger said.

Again, Fra-Ichtaca laughed and several of the warriors laughed with her.

“I don’t think they’re coming, Rudiger,” Felitïa said. “They’d have been here by now. They’re staying out of sight for now. Waiting for the right moment, are they, Fra-Ichtaca?”

The warrior behind her slammed a fist into Felitïa’s back. “The proper form of address is Reverence!”

“Gag her,” Fra-Ichtaca said. “I tire of her prattling. Tie her hands and fingers as well.”

When they reached the top of the stairs, the warrior behind her grabbed Felitïa’s arms and twisted them behind her back, aggravating the wound in her shoulder. Felitïa gritted her teeth against the pain and resisted crying out. Rope was wrapped around her wrists, and then her fingers.

“No,” Fra-Ichtaca said. “On second thought, break her fingers.”

Fear swam through Felitïa. This time her own fear.

“No!” Rudiger yelled.

The Queen’s Guard took first the pinky on her left hand and bent it back with a swift smack. Then the next finger. And the next.

Felitïa screamed.

The warrior skipped her thumbs, but otherwise went one-by-one through all her fingers. When it was done, Felitïa fell to the floor, sobbing, tears pouring down her face, pain arcing through her hands.

The warriors grabbed her under her arms, aggravating her shoulder even more. But she didn’t care. They carried her up the next flight of stairs. Then the pain became too much.

She blacked out.