Ashar'an Rising (Nexus Wars Saga) (36 page)

The light winked out almost instantly, and where Kyle had expected to be greeted by absolute darkness, he suddenly thought he had been teleported outside under a cloudless sky at night, as the thousands of stones continued to throw off their small radiation. Each, like stars, glowed with only small strength, but together, Kyle could see well enough to make out the wonder on the other Dwarves' faces. He wondered what his own face looked like at the sight as he spun slowly, gaping at the marvelous spectacle.

Yet the glowing stones were not the only thing to cause him to gasp in astonishment. Where the floor had appeared a maze of stonework, now some of the tiles also glowed with golden aura and where tiles were joined, spidery silver lines traced like dew  covered spider webs. It took him a moment before realizing the tiles made up some sort of picture. He gasped when he understood, for he had read and heard of Dragons as creatures of legend all through his childhood, but to see one here, a hundred yards across etched in silver, he could not even begin to describe the sense of wonderment he felt.

The pillar that held the foot  wide face of sparkling stone was actually set so that it appeared to be clutched in the claws of the creature, and it glowed like an opal moon, flawless and perfect. Shifting silently to the pillar so as not to disturb the silent perfection of the scene, Kyle knelt and reached his hand towards the inviting glow. The smooth stone seemed to draw him like a moth, and he felt like he needed its touch, for his very survival. His shaking fingers caressed the surface, tentative yet strong like a lover's touch, yet he was not prepared for what happened.

His eyes closed as light surged around him, all encompassing yet not painful, and passing quickly to reveal an image.

He saw himself lying, chained to a great Anvil in the form of a fiery Dragon, flat  backed yet alive where he himself looked dead, unmoving and silent. The chains holding him were not exactly chains, but bonds of energy, their nature unknown to him, but they held him as fast as any steel. He was naked, and a fiery glow flickered off his sweat  soaked body. His eyes were open, though their dark depths were not easily visible, and he was looking above where a great fiery hammer was inexorably descending towards him. Its glow was what bathed him in light, though it showed nothing beyond except darkness absolute, extending in all directions. The hammer did not appear out of the ordinary, though intricately carved with symbols and runes he did not understand; yet it dwarfed both him and the anvil. By all reasoning, it would likely crush both him and the Anvil, even at its slowed descent.

“
Are you all right, lad?” The voice penetrated his senses, and like a bubble the image burst with the distant growling of thunder, as Kyle opened his eyes in shock. He spun to find Alric lightly grasping his shoulder, concern and curiosity mixed on the Dwarf's face. Kyle shook his head, the afterimage of what he had seen still visible to him, yet it was the feelings he had experienced that unnerved him. He had both witnessed the image and been in it, watching from two angles as the hammer inexorably descended. He could still feel the warmth on his skin from the fire, and felt his every nerve tingle with excitement and anticipation. Whatever he could try and make up, he could not dispel the feeling that what he had had just witnessed was more than an image.

“
I...I am fine, thanks.” A glance around showed that long moments must have passed from when he had reached for the glowing stone. All but the larger of the stones were still visible, the others losing their refulgence to the darkness that would never be overcome here in the underground chamber.

“
It is time to go. The South Post is not far from here. With luck, we will be in Chul’Haka in time for supper. Then we can drink and thank Karn for keeping us safe.”

Kyle let himself be led from the chamber, casting his gaze back to the pillar, though he knew he would not soon forget the image he had seen. He felt almost free for some reason. If the image was portentous in any way, only time would tell, yet he felt it was something he could not talk to any other about, at least until the time was right.

“
What is that?” A flickering of darkness caught his attention across the chamber at one of the smaller exits, barely visible in the fading light, yet he could have sworn he saw something outlined in the dark passage, a pale shape too fleeting to give form to. Alric and the others turned, sensing his fear, but whatever it was, it was not the prelude to any attack as a long silence ensued. Finally, Alric order them to continue.

“
Eyes can play tricks on you after a while underground,” he mused lightly, though Kyle knew it was not a joke. By the way Alric clutched the axe Kyle had lent him, the Dwarf did not doubt he had seen something, taking the rear position in their line, with Kyle before him. Kyle was not sure it had not been a trick of the strange chamber, yet the more he tried to think on it, the less he seemed able to give form to what he had seen, until finally he gave up. He looked over his shoulder more often than not, though, but saw nothing save the stern figure of Alric. Shaking his head at the strange events of this day, he followed the Dwarves towards the south post, and Chul’Haka.

At the chamber of lights, the Soul Seeker waited at the dark exit, shielding his blind eyes from the force of the light that emanated from the foul room. It could feel the purity of the room, felt its touch like the wind itself, and shivered, and although the masses of Haruken and Dark Brothers trailing it were anxious to continue towards their destination, to the Soul Seeker, movement into the radiation of the chamber would be like wading through stone itself. Every fiber of its chaotic being cried out to be away from this Kay’taari place, yet despite the dread it felt, it was nothing on the fear of what would happen should it fail on its current mission.

The room was all but pitch before the Demon moved his followers forward, shadowing the small band of Halfmen. Eventually they would find a new way into the walls of Chul’Haka, and therefore another handhold on the siege they had on the city now. If all went as planned, the Soul Seeker would have this city and its human occupants all bowing to the Lord of the Dark before the next cycle of the twin moons.

The
South Post was actually a small chamber, circular but less than ten feet in height, its dusty dirt floor rising sharply away from the entry, up to where a dark metal door was set in a flat stone wall. The door was circular, taking up the entire wall in height, and was reinforced with bands of darker metal, perhaps brass or copper, tarnished with age. The hinges appeared to be solid silver, however, showing little signs of deterioration. What unsettled Kyle after a quick study of the Portal was there was no visible handle.

Alric stepped up to the Portal, obviously not concerned with the lack of lock or handle, and Kyle assumed the Dwarf must know how to open it. He half expected the Dwarf to pound on the heavy metal door, waiting for somebody without to open it, but instead he drew out a short length of steel from his shirt and began caressing the surface of the door near its center, searching for something.

After a time, he must have found what he desired, and with an 'ahh' of satisfaction, he inserted the steel rod into the door, disappearing as if by magic into what must have been a hidden compartment. After an accentuated twist, Alric withdrew the key, though the door remained closed and there had been no discernible unlocking of any mechanism. Kyle arched his brow curiously as Alric lifted his foot to nudge the door, as he replaced the heavy key inside an inner pocket. With barely a groan of protesting hinges the Portal swung away, a thick arc of firelight bathing the small chamber from beyond.

The room beyond was spacious, thirty feet square with a ceiling that loomed high over even Kyle's head. Braziers were set in niches carved into smooth stone pillars set in the walls, which appeared to be of even stone bricks. In the center of the room, a wide stone stairway ascended into a chamber above, it also aglow with flickering firelight. The eerie atmosphere of the room made Kyle's skin crawl as he moved quickly for the stairs. Set in horizontal niches in each wall was a stone sarcophagus, each set with different reliefs. Twelve in all, there were four niches yet to be occupied.

“
The Hall of Kings!” instructed Alric, obviously more at ease than Kyle in the strange room. The Dwarf pointed towards the central sarcophagus in the far wall, beyond the stairs, while behind him, two of the Dwarves closed the doorway with a dull thud that reminded Kyle of a coffin closing. “There lies King Daraesmar, Ruler of the Clan of the Tiger: Second Age. He ruled for twelve years, and was slain by a War Troll in the Second Age after boasting he could kill twelve of them in the space of a day while drinking a barrel of ale after each kill.” A smile lit Alric's face as he gave a wry chuckle. “He had ten before he was finally slain!”

Not knowing whether to believe the Dwarf, Kyle gave the deer  inscribed sarcophagi an incredulous look, wondering what sort of man would have even thought of such a thing, let alone attempted it. From what he had seen of Thorgast, the barbarian appeared level  headed and sane, though he had yet to see him drink several barrels of wine. Alric rattled off some of the other rulers, but Kyle decided it might be best if he paid no heed. Best not to get a one sided opinion of the Urak’Hai before he met any who were actually alive, other than Thorgast.

The room above was much of similar size and appearance to the first, though the roof was not as high and the braziers did not seem to give off imposing shadows. The niches here were smaller, square with the sarcophagi inserted length  ways to conserve space, as there were four times as many niches as below. Each bore a tiny silver plaque, giving names and details of those contained within. Once again, Alric paused to read several of the plaques; his actions making Kyle wonder whether the Dwarf had actually read any of the plaques previously.

“
Edaril of the Lion Clan. Could run down a deer and holds the record for the longest Spear  throw ever recorded at one hundred fifty seven paces.” Alric's disbelieving chuckle mirrored Kyle. The deer must have been half dead or an old buck to be run down, while the paces must have been those of Dwarvenkind. Such a throw Kyle could not credit, having seen a few in his time at village Festivities, and none had come even close to breaking a hundred paces.

“
No surprise this is named ‘The Hall of Champions!’” smirked Alric as he joined Kyle following the other Dwarves up the stairs. “Men of legend whose feats earned them great honor and rank among the clans. Many are linked with battle, but a few, like Edaril, are not.”

The upper level covered more than twice that of the lower two rooms. The ceiling was raised half again as high as the chambers below, while triple the braziers gave the room an almost uncomfortably bright glow. Niches were set one atop the other, sarcophagi filling almost all, the number too many for Kyle to count without pausing overly long.

“
The Hall of Heroes!” Alric said nothing more, and surprisingly did not move about the room reading from plaques. It was almost as if the Dwarf held too much respect for those buried there, which was surprising because those buried below had almost all been Clan Leaders or nobles. Kyle silently read a few he passed, finding the plaques commemorating bravery and courage in combat or hunting. One spoke of a young warrior who saved a family from death by holding up the burning supports of their house while the family escaped the conflagration, though the warrior died in the blaze. If such were the case with all buried here, Kyle could appreciate Alric's solemnity.

Even wider stairs rose towards the ceiling. Spiral stakes of silver and bronze held aloft blazing braziers, to cast dancing images over the dust  free stone. A set of tall, slender doors rested atop a high landing, banded with silver and hung on dark hinges shaped like slender trees. Two bronze handles were set here on the inside, towards the center seam, both crafted in the form of leaping tigers. There was no visible keyhole or bracket for locking from the inside.

Realizing he still held his own brazier, Kyle secured it and handed it to Alric who had turned to look back over the great room. Alric placed the brazier in one of the folds of his heavy coat and hefted Kyle's axe, looking as if to hand it back to Kyle. Reaching out to take it, Kyle missed taking a hold as Alric spun sharply and rapped the hilt against one of the heavy silver  rimmed doors.

The echo reverberated through the room, sifting down into the lower rooms and returning, though seeming to carry with it some of the grief and depression Kyle had felt when passing. The sudden noise seemed like an intruder, trespassing where nothing had been for many years.