The Whispering Woods: The Companions [Book 1]

[16] The Story in the Vault

"This is amazing stonework for a civilization that lived long before the age of steel," Kayla said. A bright light glowed from her staff so the companions could carefully inspect the room.

Otis gave her a sideways glance and decided she could savor her moment with her ancestors. He inspected the tomb with a careful eye. The ancient Tenchi vault that held the Skull of Dakadihm appeared to be more the size of a tomb at thirty paces long and wide with the ceiling so low that Haygen had to duck his head. The room felt dry and smelled dusty, which meant the vault had an airtight seal. Otis leaned into one wall, deciding the rock to be white quartz. In the center sat a single block of the same quartz where he guessed the skull once rested.

Massive oaken chests lay smashed open in each corner of the vault. Four stone sarcophagus rested longways at each wall. Their stone lids lay in large, broken pieces on the floor. Scattered amongst the wreckage, burnt rib cages and broken skulls told a simple tale.  Undead guardians rose to protect the skull. Valon Sadesh must have defeated them and left off with the treasure.

The Dwarf inspected the stonework a bit more closely. He removed a gauntlet and ran his battle-hardened palm across the surface of the wall feeling for waves and how smooth each brick was. Not too bad, he thought.

"Be careful of the artwork, Otis," Kayla snapped. "It could smear."

Otis bit his tongue. "It's alright, I won't harm it." Of course, he wouldn't smear the artwork. After all, he was sure it was drawn by the Tenchi children. He wouldn't want them to cry. "What does it all mean anyways?" The art on the walls was a relief carving etched into the quartz and then dyed with many different colors. It told a story starting at the left of the entrance and went along the walls with the pictures telling the tale. The Elves on the wall bore long, exaggerated ears and their weapons looked much larger than their bodies.

"It's a tale of sorrow. The appearance of the skull was a boon upon the land after a great victory. Let me start at the beginning." She held her staff in front of her like a pointer. The butterflies and her friends all listened carefully.

She pointed to the first section of the story. There sat two large Elves seated on thrones. More Elves stood lined up holding baskets and animals and colored rocks.

"The King and Queen of Vyssaria are seated on their thrones here. You can see the people give them offerings. Crops, game, and minerals were gifted. I gather these barrels here are probably wine or mead. All to honor the Highborn family."

The next section showed a large green Dragon breathing fire to the tops of trees.

"Here is the Dragon, Phytus, no doubt, burning the villages and destroying their treetop homes. His eyes are quite maddening are they not? They are so large."

The relief carving then went on to show an Elf with a bow and arrow kneeling before the king. Two bodies lay next to the kneeling man.

"Furhede The Slayer is vowing to destroy, Phytus. The Dragon killed his family. Here may be his wife and the smaller drawing his child. He holds his bow, Sunstriker. Just like Farashaye mentioned."

"I thought most Dragons were good," said Wess.

"It depends...they are very misunderstood creatures," replied Kayla. "It may have been a territorial dispute."

The next panel the carving shows the battle of Furhede and Phytus. Many Elves shot arrows at the green Dragon, several others fought with swords.

"The warriors led by the legendary Furhede battled the Dragon. You see here that Furhede is drawn larger to show status. The lone drawing here of the Slayer shows him shooting an arrow. Here, a large carving of Phytus' head with the arrow striking the eye."