Elemorts

Chapter XXI - Echoes of the Past

As Beralaxon followed him into the darkness beyond the gate, Mr. Bonnel let amaranth light shimmer from his hand. Beralaxon blinked his eyes before shapes irradiated by the red glow began to take form. A steep, yet broad, marble stairway descended into the depths. The walls on either side were made by big stone slabs, lined by braziers as far as Beralaxon could see.

"I see the braziers have burned out since the last time we were here," Mr. Bonnel said, observing the unlit braziers.

"You should have put them out before leaving," Beralaxon remarked as he let his own hand glow an electric crimson. "Come on, let's go."

As Cearlin joined them, they started the descent, each of their steps resounding through the stone walls. They were closely followed by Vulture and his men, while the others followed at some distance.

The stairway descended deep under the ground and, after a long time, ended in a surprisingly enormous cavern, half-natural, half–man-made. Faint shafts of sunlight streamed in from little cracks in the rugged roof far high above.

They walked along a natural bridge of stone flanked by bottomless chasms on either side.

"Careful, everyone," Beralaxon warned. He had traversed too many ancient sites to be unwary of the danger they posed.

The cavern gave way to a corridor lined with smooth walls engraved with runic writings, then another smaller cavern, and then to winding catacombs. Gradually, the sound of gushing water nearby grew louder.

"How further?" Zablaron inquired.

"Not too far now," Mr. Bonnel said as they trudged along the uneven ground lined with crumbling stone slabs. "You'll know when we get there. This way."

Mr. Bonnel turned out to be right. The catacombs abruptly gave way to what looked like a whole other world underground. Beralaxon gasped as he took in the wondrous sight at hand. It was a colossal cavern lined with smooth, teal marble that glinted at every turn of the head. Ancient inscriptions were engraved in a lustrous gold all around. The floor was covered in massive beige, stone tiles interlocked in a crisscross pattern.

Lofty, pyramidal structures stretched ahead in two rows on either side of the cavern, lined with the same exquisite teal marble. Each had a doorway at its front adorned with ornate gold gates.

Tall as they were, even the pyramidal structures dwarfed in comparison to the rugged, stony roof of the cavern so far above that it might as well have been the sky. As with the previous cavern, rays of sunlight pierced through little cracks, revealing the specks of dust floating in the air.

As they started descending a flight of stairs onto the cavern floor, Mr. Bonnel commented, "Inside those pyramids is where we found the Nova Blocks."

"Right, then, Ducelest. What else did you hope to find here?" Vulture demanded as he stopped in the middle of the room.

Beralaxon gradually spun around as he trod across the cavern, examining the surroundings. There were all sorts of contraptions in the place — chains protruding from shafts in the ground and disappearing into ledges above, massive blocks suspended by hempen ropes from the roof, cogs and gears embedded in the walls. Probably for transporting materials, Beralaxon surmised. "There is an object whose mention has cropped up many times in my research. It's sometimes referred to as a siphon, sometimes as a primer."

"I'm guessing its function is to do those things? Siphoning or priming?" Cearlin asked.

"Yes. Apparently, it is required to reconfigure the Nova Blocks in some way to make them more receptive to enertrons and to load them," Beralaxon replied.