Regius (17 page)

“I don’t tell him
everything." He huffed. "In any case, Zinc is not a world. If my
findings are correct, our country is placed upon a planet called
‘earth’. It’s in a protected realm though, meaning none can come in
and none can go out. But essentially, the Regius-”

“Yes?” I pressed, eager to
find out, which was shocking as I wasn’t much for history or
geography.

“They come from one of the
countries that surround Zinc. Which is technically where the
Civilians come from too, since a small group of them were chosen
and then gifted with the blue blood cell. Since we are an island, I
believe they must have come across Zinc by accident during a boat
trip." And then obviously terrorized the native Palliums out of
their skins.

“Many things are different
outside of our small country, Solenum. Such as the house of God, or
‘church’ as they call it.”

"As if we were to create
specific buildings to show the Creators of Zinc we appreciate
them?" I asked to confirm. Why the hell were there elements from
another country in this place? But then if the Regius originally
came from those other countries, they must have worshiped the God
those people outside of Zinc worshipped until they became close to
Gods themselves.

"Exactly so. Gargoyles tend
to have their mouths open. They're just decorative today, but a
long time ago churches used them to pour hot oil through. As in,
through their mouths to fight off the people who attacked the
sanctuary."

"Either you just told me
I'm about to get burnt alive in oil, or, and please let it be the
following, you totally went off subject."

"Off subject." He
confirmed. "But not completely because look at them, their mouths
are closed." He pointed out.

"So?" I pressed.

"Well, they are the only
things that kind of pop out of the general atmosphere placed in
these rooms. Aside from the gargoyles the chamber is pretty much
bare." Looking around, I saw he was right. Frowning in
concentration, I moved over to one of the gargoyle heads, tilting
my head back so I could try to observe them more
closely.

"Can you zoom in with your
camera?" I asked softly, curiously staring at a gap in the
gargoyle's long neck. I checked the others and noticed they were
engraved with similar gaps. It went around, kind of separating the
face from the throat.

"They have markings on
their chins. But the one above you has a different marking than the
one next to it on the same wall." He murmured. "Check the other
ones." I did as asked.

"Four heads have the same
markings on their chins while there are two that, although share
the same marking as each other, are different from the other
four."

"I think you can push the
heads backwards. Like you did the stone in the first room. But," I
sighed, of course there was a but. "I think we need to find out
whether you need to push the ones that are four or the ones that
are two."

"Can't we just push them
all?"

"Your funeral."

Someone better give me a
fucking award when I get out of this place! Grumbling under my
breath, I tried to decipher them. The markings were letters, that
much was clear and I'm pretty sure it was Pallium again.

"The ones that are two say
‘Altors’ while the ones that are four translate to ‘Regius’." He
paused, "You're going with Altors, right?"

I shook my head. "No way.
This is a Regius dungeon, they expect me to pick Altors. They want
me to pick it; it's like it's taunting me," I muttered. "I'm going
with Regius."

"Very wise. There is a
passage in the ceiling. Once you've pushed the four heads back,
you'll have unlocked it. Two heads wouldn't have been enough as
there are four locks on this trap."

"Why make me pick if you
knew the answer already?"

"I just wanted to see if
you were using your brain. I guess you were." He replied
easily.

"I'm glad at least one of
us is having a good time," I muttered. "Now all I need to do is
grow real fast so I can reach them."

"Use the crashed door. You
can pile the pieces on top of each other." He suggested.

Grimacing at my former
opponent, I set to work and began carrying blocks of stone over to
the first gargoyle head on the wall behind me. It took a moment,
but once I'd piled them up as high as I could, which was pretty
much my own height, I carefully climbed my way up onto them.
Although a bit wobbly, it did do the trick. Reaching up, I wrinkled
my nose as I couldn't get my fingers to close around the
gargoyle.

"Still too short." Now I
knew what Cali must always feel like.

"You're a jumper, aren't
you?"

"Last time you said that I
nearly died." I reminded him, bending through my knees to prepare
myself for the jump upwards.

"Because you weren't
nearly dying before I suggested the ledge to you? You do remember
the dogs, don't you?" Sarcasm did not suit him. Sighing and
ignoring him for the moment, I pushed off my feet, closing the
small distance between my arms and the stonefaced gargoyle.
Thankfully, I managed to get a tight grip, dangling in the air as
the stones I'd piled up previously were now falling back to the
floor with a crash.

The neck was long enough
for me to pull myself up and sit on top, my feet swinging gently
back and forth on either side of it. When I placed my hands on its
face and tried to push it inwards, it didn't budge. Looking up at
the camera, I offered the kid a questioning look.

"Can you push it off its
neck?" Trying that, I pushed with all my freaking might, but soon
had to give up. "You aren't going to start crying dramatically, are
you?" Glaring at the edged worry in his tone, he then added, "Do
you want me to get the Steward so you can answer his
questions?"

"Thank you for the pep
talk." I grumbled and then tilted my head curiously, trying to look
at the neck more closely. Tracing the shape of it, I let my hands
slide over the cold stone, trying to feel underneath to make sure I
was right.

"What are you-" I lifted a
finger to shut him up before placing both my hands on the
gargoyle's cheeks, grabbing them tightly before twisting the head
sideways so that its eyes weren't looking down to the floor, but up
to the ceiling instead. It wasn't easy, it did take some muscle but
once the audible click announced I'd turned it all the way, I
grinned at the camera in triumph.

"Sol..."
What now?
"Look down."
When I did, I'm pretty sure my eyes twitched. Water. Lots of water
was starting to fill up the room.

"Fuck."

"Colorful, but
appropriate."

"What do I do?!" I pulled
my legs up so I could place my feet onto the gargoyle's neck and
manage to shakily stand up on top of it as I placed my palms flat
against the wall behind me, watching the water rise at a very, very
fast pace.

"I can't help you. You know
what you need to do and you now simply need to do it. This loud
speaker is going to fry once the water reaches it." He pointed out.
"Talk to you in the next room." There was a scary pause.
"Maybe."

I stared numbly as the
green light on the camera blinked off, telling me he was no longer
present. Shaking my head after a moment, I checked the gargoyle on
the next wall. I didn't have time to pile up the stones again. The
water was nearly a quarter up already.

Wonderful. I was going to
drown. Hadn't it been Calycanthus who'd told me that it was one of
the most painful deaths? I needed to see him again; I needed to
know if he was all right. And of course, I needed to tell Galax
that I loved him. I wanted to be present when Conium took over
Pallium leadership from Flux. I wanted the opportunity to smack
Flux for having kept many things from me. Another thing I wanted
was to see Lupinus, tell him I was sorry for how I'd acted out. I
wanted to meet Juglan Kish and fly on his sky ship called Apnea. I
wished to see the Altor Coliseum.

Breathing fast, my eyes
darted over to the distances in between each gargoyle. I had to
try. Gulping, I didn't take too much time to think about it as I
launched myself towards it and grabbing its neck, pulling myself
up. I quickly crouched down to keep my balance, checking the water
level in slight worry as I twisted the neck around. Once I heard
the click, I didn’t waste any more time, balancing myself back up
into a standing position, eying the corner of the room
warily.

It was slightly more
difficult jump and further ahead too. Pushing off my feet, I flung
myself forward again and the gargoyle's neck connected with my
stomach. I slipped then, not managing to make my way up.

Falling into the water, I
slowly swam my way back up to the surface, letting myself float as
I stared at the gargoyles. I would be able to turn the last two
once the water reached their height. That wasn't what worried me.
The locator did. I hadn't had time to put it back in the plastic
bag earlier, I’d just shoved it into my pocket. And with the water
covering me, it was officially fried now.

I waited for the water to
fill up high enough so I could simply swim towards the gargoyle
heads. The third head I turned with some difficulty as my hands
were slippery and the fourth head was such a pain, I was bawling
like a baby as I pushed, pulled, twisted, anything really, with all
my might. At this point the water was so high up, I had to go
under.

Swimming up, I gasped for
air, hearing the click reach my ears as a shifting sound followed.
I sighed in very slight relief at the opening in the ceiling. It
was the same one I'd fallen through. Lying back, I let myself float
lazily upwards along with the water that continued to fill the
room. Now that I’d done everything I needed to do to get the trap
to unlock, I realized that this dungeon may just break
me.

The kid certainly made my
stay here a tad less depressing, but the situation was most
definitely taking its toll. Now with the locator fried, I didn’t
have that slight glimmer of hope someone would find me anymore. Was
it on long enough for anyone to have noticed? Would they even
venture into
Immortalis Silva
when they had no idea I was the one stuck
here?

Once the water was high
enough, I climbed through the trap and out of the hellish place
only so I could continue onto the next. Dripping with water and
soaked to the bone, I settled my feet on either side of the trap
and then turned the knob of the door I hadn't been able to reach
before so I could quickly make my way into a bedroom. I firmly shut
the door behind me to keep the water out. My body trembled with
cold and as I fell to my knees, breathing heavy, I tried not to
freak out. I couldn't freak out. There was more to come and if I
let it get to me already, I'd never make it out of here
alive.

"You did really good,
Solenum." I tensed as the boy's voice had returned.

"Thank you." I said softly,
wiping the tears off my cheeks before turning around, pointing my
gaze in the camera's direction as I sagged against the
door.

"You're welcome." He
sounded so sad, as if he were feeling my pain. "I'll leave you in
peace for now." My body stiffened, my eyes alertly fixing onto the
camera.

"Wait! What's your name?" I
needed to know.

"Robinia Kowalski." I let
out a breathy chuckle, closing my eyes and allowing my head to fall
backwards. Robinia. Of course I'd unknowingly trust the person
Mallow had told me I could trust.

"I'm glad it's you,
Robinia."

"Get some sleep." He
suggested, the green light turning off again telling me he was
giving me some privacy.

This chamber was altogether
different from the previous place I'd slept in. This was an actual
room. There was a fireplace with a fire roaring and two armchairs
placed before it with a low table in between. I could see a big
plate filled with food set onto it and there was a new bottle of
water beside it. A large bed was pushed in the opposite corner and
the last thing my eyes fell upon, well, I couldn't help but groan
in anticipation as I stared at the bathtub, the water
steaming.

I got onto my feet,
stripped down on the way to the tub, letting my clothes fall
randomly to the floor. I whimpered as my muscles somewhat screamed
in distress when I lowered myself into the tub. It wasn't
unpleasant for very long and after a couple of seconds I could only
be soothed by the warmth.

When I was done with the
bath, I dumped my clothes into the water so I could wash the dirt
and sewer stench out of them. I then wrapped myself up in the bed's
blanket and sat by the fire, which is where I later set my clothes
so they could dry. I ate the food that was offered and proceeded in
tumbling my way into the large, warm and welcoming bed.

This was the worst kind of
torture ever. Treating me like crap until I was nearly dead on my
feet, only to replenish me comfortably so I could do it all over
again. That was bad but I think even worse than that was that I was
going to let them. I was going to let them play games with me and I
was going to take advantage of the room they'd offered tonight. The
room they'd offered just to make sure I wouldn't die before
spilling the answers to the questions of the Steward. Questions I
didn't know the answers of to begin with.