Belvedor and the Four Corners (Belvedor Saga Book 1) (47 page)

“It’s just like the coin and the podium,” said Lessa as she drew a jagged silver piece from her pocket. She held it near the glass cage of the axe to examine them further.

Jeom seemed captivated by the weapon, like a magnet drawn to metal. Pressing his palm against the glass, the crystal pulsed under his fingers, vibrating his whole body. He stepped back, shaken from his stupor.

Too late, Arianna grabbed at his wrist as the cage began to deteriorate in a rain above their heads. Before the shards of glass could reach their skin, they evaporated into thin air with a sizzling pop. Now nothing stood between them and the axe.

“Well go on,” said Arianna as a smiled played on her lips. She nudged him forward.

Jeom turned to Demetrius who nodded his approval. “It’s yours now,” he said, calm as usual.

Jeom pulled the hood from his head and ran his hand across his neck as a nervous sweat began to build. Stepping forward through the now vanished barrier, he clasped his hand around the handle. The metal felt cool under his fingertips, and he felt a jolt of electricity spread all throughout his body. A pressure of air exploded all around him as his robes billowed at his feet. The invisible restraints released their grip on the axe, and he pulled the weapon to his chest.

“Suits you,” said Demetrius, smiling.

The three stood admiring Jeom’s treasure, the gold sparkling against the deep violet of his robes.

“How can this be?” he said with a smile glowing on his face. “It’s obvious that all of these… dwarves died to protect this weapon. So how is it that I can obtain it so easily?” He shook his head of the bewilderment. “And why didn’t whoever created this tomb just take the weapon then?”

“I have a theory.” Lessa gave her attention to Sano as the thoughts in her head formed to words. “I stand by what I’ve said earlier. I think you have some blood-tie or inherited connection with this forgotten race… and a strong one at that.”

Jeom opened his mouth to speak, but Arianna put a hand up to stop him. “At least hear her out,” she said.

Lessa continued. “When you read that tablet in the stone room, it said that only someone of dwarf blood
and
honorable mention could pass through the door and invite others to follow. You were able to. At that moment you inherently vowed to protect the secrets of this city. Jeom, I think this will be one of those secrets.” She finished, waving a hand towards the axe. “You didn’t take this… It was a gift.”

“I see,” he said, lost in his thoughts as he contemplated her words. “But that still doesn’t explain why the weapon wasn’t captured by whatever caused all this.” He gestured to the bodies littering the floor.

Arianna chimed in. “Well, it’s obvious. Isn’t it? Whoever released those arrows weren’t welcomed guests in this city. I mean, it looks like these dwarves were surrounded by an army from the state of them. We’ve seen for ourselves that this city is rich in magic, and I know we’re new to the supernatural side of things, but the magic in Undor seems very powerful in all due respect.” Arianna repressed a shudder as she remembered the lavahounds.

“So what are you saying?” said Jeom.

“My guess is that dwarves take their vows very seriously…” she said. “Maybe they wouldn’t give up the axe to whoever broke into their fortress, so they chose death instead. Without someone of their bloodline to release the protective magic, the axe was sealed away.” She chewed on her lip as she pondered the rest of that history.

“Until you came along two hundred something odd years later!” Demetrius beamed up at his brother. “You know what
my
biggest question is?” he said.

“Tell me,” said Jeom, raising an eyebrow.

“I’d like to know how a giant like yourself could be labeled a dwarf!” Demetrius waved a hand to the bodies around him, so small compared to Jeom who towered over everyone in the room. Laughter burst from their lips, but it quickly silenced with so many lost souls at their feet.

Jeom didn’t dispute their theory, but he still found most of it hard to believe. “We should probably be on our way now,” he said, still gawking at his new possession.

The four nodded in agreement as the stench began to make them feel nauseous. Turning to leave, they stepped over a hefty dwarf who lay sprawled at what used to be the edge of the glass cylinder. He covered in dark blue metals and a steel staff gripped under his fingers.

“What does this nameplate read?” asked Arianna to Jeom as she studied the gold-plated tag on the dwarf’s chest.

Jeom looked over her shoulder. “General Indra,” he said.

Everyone continued forward as Arianna lingered by the dwarf’s side, scrutinizing his features. “General Indra,” she mouthed, testing the words.

Suddenly, a burst of air mussed up her hair, and she wrapped her arms around her body as a shiver ran down her spine. Something told her to turn around, but when she did, she saw nothing. “My stupid imagination,” she muttered to herself, shaking her head as she stepped over the dwarf to follow her friends.

As she averted her eyes to the front and away from the floor, she cried out. Falling backwards, she landed on General Indra’s corpse, the body of the ghost now floating in front of her.

Her eyes grew wide as the others doubled back to help.

“What is it? What happened, Ara?” said Lessa.

Her friends stared down at her, but she only gazed upon General Indra’s lustrous form. For a moment, she almost forgot the others couldn’t see him too since she had learned that ghosts can only be seen after experiencing death.

General Indra looked powerful, more so than Jacob or Damon, and he suited in the same armor of his death. She watched as he turned to glance upon Jeom, and the smallest hint of a smile crossed his face.

Jeom bent down to reach for Arianna’s hand, but she shook her head, never averting her eyes from Indra’s ghost. The ghost turned his gaze to his own body laying strewn on the floor, and his smile turned cold. He narrowed his eyes, lifting his finger to point at his corpse. Arianna followed his gaze and saw the corner of a parchment peeking out from his closed rotting fist.

“Take this script in your heart and not in your pocket, sorceress,” he said, gesturing to the parchment. “The City of Undor has fallen but not in vain. Uphold the vow, and remember the Golden Rule. This is your legacy now.” He motioned to all of them.

Arianna opened her mouth to speak, but he held up his hand for silence. He looked towards the gilded ceiling wrung with dazzling glass balls. A tear escaped her control as she watched the dwarf disappear in a burst of glittering light. “Goodbye,” she whispered.

“What is it?” said Demetrius, pulling her to her feet. “Who are you talking to?”

“I just… It was a ghost,” she said. “His ghost.” She nodded towards General Indra as she straightened out her robes.

The others stood in shock, searching around the room for any hint of truth to her story. Arianna knelt down next to Indra’s corpse and slipped the parchment away from his fist. She unfurled the soft paper, handing it to Jeom with shaking hands. “I can’t read it,” she said. The lettering seemed scribbled in a hurry, written in the same foreign language which scattered the city.

Jeom took the letter and read it aloud:

Light is light and dark is dark, but never shall they live apart. When one eclipses above the other, then life shall end for he and his brother. This is the Golden Rule.

Jeom looked up, finishing. His brow furrowed as he folded the paper and began to place it in the confines of his robes.

“No,” said Arianna, taking the parchment from him. “Take it in your heart… not your pocket.”

She replaced the letter back in the hand of the fallen general and looked up to see the confusion in her friend’s eyes.

“He’s not still here is he?” said Jeom, shrinking under his robes.

“He won’t be coming back,” said Arianna with finality.

A sigh of relief whistled through his lips. “I already forgot,” he said. “What’s this Golden Rule?” Jeom racked his brain, frantic as he tried to remember the words.

“Light is light and dark is dark… don’t worry. I won’t forget them,” said Arianna, patting her heart. “We don’t want that in the wrong hands if a whole city gave their lives to protect it.”

“This can’t be the whole city,” said Demetrius as he led the group back across the room.

“What do you mean?” asked Jeom, cocking his head.

Demetrius stopped and looked back. “I mean, where is everybody else?”

The others hadn’t thought of this, and a bad feeling settled all around as they contemplated his words. 

“Where to next?” said Lessa, refusing to dwell the gloomy thought. 

“To the stairs,” said Demetrius as he picked up the pace. He wanted to leave this tomb behind just as much as everybody else.

When they reached the top of the stairs, the balcony orbiting the room held another odd surprise. Doors of wood, stone, jade, amber, opal, sunstone, and every other entry they had passed through earlier encircled them from every wall. Like the gold door, they were attached to nothing but thin air, hovering over the floor.

“How the Hell are we supposed to get out of here?” said Jeom, feeling sorry that their venture towards the gold door had been so disastrous.

The four spun in a circle as they surveyed all of the passages that had each led them a part of the way to the chamber of gilded death. Their nervous habits revealed as they racked their brains for answers.

Arianna began walking around the balcony.

The others followed in absentminded silence, trying to figure out the riddle. Lessa shook away her daze as she noticed Arianna’s next move.

“Wait!” she said. “We should think this through. What if it just leads us back through the tunnels again? We’ll be lost in here forever.” 

Arianna’s hand gripped the bronzed handle of the wooden door which had begun their adventures within the City of Undor. Jeom held up his hands, eyes wide as she began to push. She stopped for a moment while the others deliberated her decision.

“I agree with Ara,” said Demetrius, stepping to her side.

“But why?” asked Lessa.

Demetrius just shrugged his shoulders. “Because we still have to check out…” he said, trusting his gut instinct.

Arianna smiled, trying to learn from this refreshing perspective.

She felt that something had pulled her towards that door. Call it intuition or a hunch, but she didn’t come this far to be hindered by too many choices. Without a second thought, she pushed her fingers on the wood-grained entry, and a musty smell filled her nose.

They stumbled over the threshold, and the room engulfed them in a familiar darkness. The stench of rotting corpses was replaced with stifling dust as the door vanished behind them. With nothing but the whites of their eyes visible in the darkness, Arianna tried to keep her anxiety at bay. She felt Demetrius tremble, and she grabbed his hand, squeezing it tight. “Everyone grab onto each other. We stick together,” she said. She felt as her friends shifted, forming an unbreakable bond with their hands.

With Arianna at the front, she led the group forward, tugging at Demetrius’ stiff hold. She moved with her free arm extended in front of her until she felt more wood under her palm. As she traced her hand along the wall at her front, she grasped a border protruding from the wall. She ran her fingers across it until she felt a dip.

“Here we go,” she said as the cool bronze of the doorknob pressed into the palm of her hand.

After saying a silent prayer to the gods, she twisted. The door flung open, and Arianna stifled a scream as a soft glow spilled into the darkness.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Back where they started, they realized that only now did they see the true City of Undor.

“Who would do this!?” said Arianna, shaking as she gazed upon the same enormous room they first entered after passing through the emerald wall.

She turned to face the wooden door, prepared to go back rather than look upon such horror, but a sign plastered to it with big black letters.

“It says ‘EXIT to the Vanishing Tunnels’,” said Jeom, putting a hand on her shoulder.

She groaned, not willing to return to the tunnels either. Gathering her courage, she turned back to face more disaster.

The room lit with the subtle light of firebugs astray, but she had to squint her eyes to see. The gigantic City of Undor expanded all around them in a dome-like, underground castle. Aside from the free-standing doors, the scenery took on a much different look than before.

The crumbling columns, which sprung up from the floor, were now encased in a sturdy, cream marble. The grungy tunnels, which encircled them from every angle, now looked exquisite, pebbled with walkways and colored frames bordering the entrances. The walls were crafted of blue speckled marble, lathered in gold trim for miles, and the ceilings were hung with gossamer. Two enormous staircases wound from the top to bottom of what looked to be twenty or so floors, and statues of nameless dwarves were carved from the same precious stones and metals found in the many chambers they had just escaped.