The Soul Forge.

Chapter Eight: The Ruins of Arluine

   Arluines ruins.

   Tauren was shocked, and awed both at once.

    What else could this massive monument be?

   High on each hilltop around them were massive stone towers, reaching up into the clouds, most still intact, though covered in moss now. Some few of them appeared to be in the process of falling apart.

   Before him were heaps of perfectly cut rectangular rocks strewn in between these two hills in a perfect line, what else could they have been other than a massive fortress’s wall? In the distance he saw the building stones seem to go into the distance, forming one gigantic heap at one spot. Where he assumed the keep had been.

    And the smaller heaps of perfectly cut rocks simply went into the distance, stacked in heaps all over the plain at irregular intervals, at places he saw walls of buildings still standing. . .

   Arluine, once the capital of Netheron, once the greatest city of the universe, was now nothing more than heaps of scattered rubble, brought low by the powers of time and war.

   Marlan, Edrin, and a couple of the older Arrels had always liked to talk about Arluine, about its size, its strength, its wealth, its beauty, about how it was once the seat of Nether power. . .

   But those stories and tales had always ended with the Arrels and Edrin looking rather sad, and Tauren hadn’t needed to ask if something very bad had happened to it. And here it was now, standing before the fortress of legend . . . a ruin.

   Detrick stepped up beside him and shook him.” Tauren, what was that?”

   Tauren pointed up at the fortress.

    Detrick shook his head, not understanding.” The rocks, yeah, I see them.”

    “. That’s the ruin of Arluine.” Tauren said slowly, thinking the few words should be self-explanatory.

   Detrick still looked uncomprehending, and shrugged, throwing his arms out to the side in a ‘and that is?’

   Tauren frowned.” Haven’t they ever told you of Arluine, the greatest city of all time? It used to be the Capital in the old days, hundreds of years ago. It used to be where the ancient kings ruled, before Arreland came along.” Detrick should have heard of that at least.

    Detrick shook his head again.” No, the capital in the old days was Kinsingskeld. Not this heap of rocks.” He looked genuine and Tauren was shocked.

    He was sure that his grandfather and the Arrels hadn’t lied to him. That wouldn’t have made any sense, no, this was Arluine. But why hadn’t Detrick heard about it.

    “Look.” He said pointing.” See those towers.” How could he have missed those?” And that wall over there. Didn’t you ever learn history when you were little?”

    Slowly realization dawned on Detrick and he gulped.

   “That used to be one big fortress.” He muttered, and then he glared at Tauren.” I was actually. I just never heard of Arluine.”

    Tauren shrugged, maybe he just hadn’t been told. There was any number of reasons why you could have never heard about it.

    “We have to get moving; those Halavardes might find a way to get to us.” He sighed.

    He trotted sadly over to T’hunes body and pulled of the bloody saddle, sorting out his possessions and packing them in a make-shift pack. He regretted the horses death, he had become to like the small beast.