Coil of Worlds

Lara paused at the cavern entrance, transfixed at the sight before her. Built in the middle of the cavern, the building resembled a small monastery and was guarded by an overflowing moat. She tried to take in the entire cavern as she followed Chion down a long flight of stairs hewn from the cavern wall. Terrified of slipping and falling on the worn steps, Lara hugged the wall, sliding her feet down one stair at a time.

After several heart-stopping minutes, she landed on the floor of the cavern. Lara heaved a sigh of relief and brushed her hair out of her face so she could better inspect the monastery.

She had never seen anything like it. The monastery hadn’t been built but rather carved from the reddish-colored stone that composed the cavern wall. It was all one giant rock structure. Though the building stood in the middle of the cavern, it was still attached to the ceiling where it dipped down like a flattened tornado. The closer she came to it, the larger it grew until the monastery filled her entire vision. The tiny, uneven path they followed was dwarfed by the imposing structure directly ahead.

When the priest told them it had been vacated centuries ago, Lara had expected a ruin, its walls collapsed in on themselves, leaving behind bricks and mortar spread across the ground. Since the building had been carved from a single boulder, it looked as solid now as when the priests and priestesses lived inside its walls.

A large splash drew her attention, and Lara glanced down at the water under the cobblestone bridge. Seeing a glimpse of a dark shadow as it swam beneath her, Lara rushed to the other side and leaned over the railing, hoping to see the creature. Hearing crunching footsteps coming toward her, she glanced up and smiled at the priest.

The priest answered her unspoken question, “The river is filled with fish.”

She jerked back in surprise. “A river? I thought it was a moat. Are you saying it is natural? It wasn’t manmade?”

A chuckle rolled out of him, and he shook his head. “I’ve never thought about the way a visitor might see this holy place. Now that I think about it, I suppose it is reminiscent of a moat, something I’ve only read about in the archives of history. As to your question, the river was already here when the House was made.”

He leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, “It provided a ready source of meat for my ancestors.” He stood back up and rested his forearms against the rail, watching the water’s surface with interest. “The river winds around the House. It enters and exits the cavern at the back, directly opposite from where we came in.”

She grinned in spite the weariness she felt. The man clasped her shoulder in a light squeeze before leaving her to join the others inside the monastery. With a last look around her, Lara hurried to catch up with the others. Despite the beauty of her surroundings, cries of sorrow suffused the cavern with a sinister aura, sending chills up and down her spine. The large entryway opened into a large room, and the others had already strewn their packs across the floor.

A dark whisper swept through the room, and they all froze in their task.

The ghostly whisper was new.

Lara shuddered when the air blew against her skin. It twirled around her, ruffling the material on her arms and chest, then swept through her hair. Unease swept through her with a vengeance. The wind acted as if it sought something. The air should have felt good against her heated skin. It did the exact opposite. She shivered and crossed her arms around herself. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Eiren edge closer to Skye.

Lara yelped in alarm when another rush of air sailed through the antechamber, and Skye’s torch went dead. Not caring what the others thought, she leapt over to Chion and huddled next to him. As suddenly as the wind had come, it departed, leaving behind a vacuum of air.

Lara was beginning to think the crypt, or rather the magic in it, had a mind of its own. And it brought up all kinds of warnings in her mind. The pain and suffering of those who had lost their loved ones had caused the magic to morph into something dark, deadly.

Other.

When she looked over, the priest’s features were drawn into a frown, worry aging him a decade or more. She couldn’t discern his emotions with her shield wrapped around her. And Lara refused to loosen the barrier at all when the magic around her pulsed against her shield, searching for a crack or chip in her watery armor. Lara licked her lips. Tonight was going to be a long one.

“Isn’t this normal?” Her voice startled everyone, and she was on the receiving end of everyone’s glare. Lara’s lips twisted into a grimace, and she shrugged in apology.

She spoke to the priest, “I thought this was what we were told to expect, except you’re nervous.”

Caught off guard, he cleared his throat. He didn’t immediately answer by keeping his head down. Pushing his sleeves up to his elbows, he dug in his pack for the stones that would let him start another fire for Skye. No one came to his rescue.

Once a fire burned in the corner of the room, the priest rubbed his hand across his face before he turned to them. “No,” he finally admitted, his voice grim, “this is the first time this has happened. The magic is stronger than even we suspected. I must return to my brothers and sisters.”

“We must reach the tomb.” Skye said, his voice like steel.

The priest nodded in understanding, though his decision was obvious in the way he stood before them. “I believe it far too dangerous for anyone that isn’t a priest or priestess to be inside the House, but I can almost feel the desperation leaking from your pores. You’ll have to complete your quest without my assistance. I must return with news of this latest development within our House.”

Aghast, Lara asked, “You’re going to leave us here while you go back? What about us?”

He pursed his lips and squinted in thought. He dug into his pack once more and pulled out all the scrolls. “I cannot stop you from continuing onward, though the very thought alarms me. I’ll pray to the God and Goddess for your safe return.” He motioned her forward and said, “I’ll show you the path to the tomb you desire.” He shuffled through the maps until he held up another one, pointing to the design on the end of the wooden scroll. “This map will take you from here back to where we started.”

Lara trembled with the responsibility he was bequeathing her. She had grown up learning how to navigate with maps on the trips she’d taken with her parents, but this was altogether different. If she steered them the wrong way, the danger hounding them could kill them before they returned to the city.

Chion peeked over her shoulder, his warm breath tickling her neck. You can take us to the tomb and back out. I have faith in you. Remember, you are not alone.

As if Eiren and Skye heard him, they crowded around the maps, listening intently as the priest used his finger to draw an imaginary line from one map to another until they reached the tomb.

Lara pointed to the small circles and squares. “What are these?”

“Tombs,” the man squeaked, before clearing his throat. He glanced up at her. “From here forward, you’ll be walking through burial chambers.”

She gulped, but refused to take her eyes off the map, trying to brand the route into her memory. He spent time instructing them on how to return to the city, shuffling scrolls around to lay them out for them to see.

When he stumbled to a halt, clearing his throat once more, Eiren wriggled her right foreleg to gain their attention. Skye asked, “When do you leave, priest?”

“As much as I’d like to leave tomorrow after a night’s rest, I must take my leave now. I am apprehensive about this latest change and must return with all due haste.”

“At least eat something first,” Lara said in exasperation. She studied him with a critical eye, noticing how tired he was. “Are you sure you can make it back without the maps? What if you take the wrong hallway?”

He graced her with a gentle smile. “Tal’Ai, thank you for your concern, but I know the way home. Now, as I am traveling at most two days, you have a greater need for my supplies than I.” He knelt down and yanked food supplies out of his pack. After he divvied up the packets, he handed them over, placing them on the other packs. Standing, he tested the weight of his own pack before smiling and throwing it over his shoulder. “It’s much lighter now, and I should make good time.”

He looked over each of them, his smile fading into a serious frown. “Remember, don’t touch the water. Tomorrow you’ll begin walking through the chambers. Beware. Do not touch any artifacts left behind for any length of time, including this holy place,” he cautioned, waving his hand in a motion that took in the building in its entirety. “This also includes any sarcophagi. The taint will make it almost impossible to fight the sorrow flowing through these halls.”

We will remember, Chion promised, his tail swishing behind him.

With a wave, the young priest turned and left. No one said anything until his footsteps had faded away.

Lara was worrying her bottom lip when Skye spoke up, “We have another problem.” He held the torch aloft, waving it back and forth in front of him. “There are only enough torches to make it through tomorrow. Perhaps two days if we’re careful. If we are forbidden to use anything left behind by the priests, I’ll have to use my magic.”

“Well,” Lara asked, “do we want to push on through the night or rest here?”

We need the rest, My Lady. We cannot fight against the depth of sorrow if we do not take care, you most of all.

Lara sat down with a thump, and stretched her neck, rotating her head one way and then the other. She soothed her bondmate, feeling his worry, “I am all right. I’ve tightened the shield around me to the point I can hardly feel the magic around me. If I focus hard enough, I can feel the darkness pushing inward. But I’m okay for now.” She glanced over at Skye, lifting her chin in his direction. “I’m more concerned about Skye. If he begins using his magic, then he becomes more susceptible to it.”

“I am holding the darkness at bay,” Skye gritted out, his fist tightening around the torch until a small crack filled the room. Disgruntled at seeing the bottom third of the torch crumble to the ground, Skye instructed, “Let’s sleep for a short while. Chion’s right, we need the rest. We’ll leave early in the morning.”

Chion advised with a yawn, Skye, douse the flame. I know you require it, but we should not waste the torches. We will eat, then rest. I’ll guard you all tonight.

Lara reached over and took the torch from Skye, not giving him a chance to argue. She rolled it on the ground a short distance away, then stomped out the remaining embers. When the last bit of light was extinguished, Skye grunted, but didn’t say anything.

By the time they finished eating, Lara was yawning and her eyes refused to stay open. She unrolled the blanket and laid down, for once uncaring the ground was hard.

It felt like she had just closed her eyes when Chion called her name, nuzzling her neck with his cold nose. Sitting up, she realized she was crying. Lara scrubbed the tears away with her shirtsleeve. She sniffed a few times and slammed the shield back in place. She leaned against Chion, sending him a silent ‘thank you’ through their link.

You are welcome, Solara. I could not watch you cry and moan in your sleep any longer. I’ve no wish to learn what would happen if you remained unshielded for the entirety of the night.

To be honest, I don’t either.

It is time to wake the others. I feel a driving need to reach the tomb as quickly as possible. The need is growing. I don’t know how I know, but we are running out of time.

Lara didn’t say anything, but she twisted around and gave Chion a tight hug before reaching over to wake the others. Lara also felt their time was trickling away, and she didn’t think it had anything to do with where they were. They needed answers to their questions. She didn’t complain about the hard pace Skye and Chion set when they left the monastery, following the river to the back of the cavern.

¤¤¤

Skye squinted in dismay at the cave-in blocking the corridor they needed. It’d take days before Lara and he could remove the rocks and boulders enough for them to squeeze through. Holding his last torch aloft, he eyed the boulders, mentally weighing them, before deciding some were far too heavy to contemplate moving. The corridors had steadily grown in size until the ceiling stood four to five times his height. The walls and entryways had become more elaborate as they traveled deeper into the House. Not three strides behind him were sarcophagi that were so detailed that he could have sworn the people were alive.

Although the tombs were covered in centuries of dust, dulling the colors, they were vibrant enough to show the effort their loved ones had spent upon each death. Despite the mourning echoes that were their constant companions since entering the interior portion of the House of the Dead, his lips twisted into a smile. The Kurite ancestors had taken great measures to ensure their dead were given the respect they deserved.

Hearing joints snap and pop, he looked down and watched as Eiren dipped her front body down, resting her chin on the rock floor, stretching her back. Following her example, Skye dropped his pack beside her and raised his arms into a full body stretch.

He looked around. He needed a better view of the cave-in. Skye slipped and slid on the rocks and boulders as he climbed to the top. Holding the light closer, he scowled in thought, leaning over to heft up a few smaller rocks and tossing them to the side of the corridor. He motioned for Lara to join him. Once she was eye level to his feet, he grabbed her arm with his free hand and lifted her the rest of the way.

He pointed to where he thought was their best chance to enter the corridor. “Depending on how deep the cave-in is, we might be able to clear away the upper layer of debris and slide through.”

Lara took in the rocks in a slow sweep, then huffed out a groan. “It’s worth a shot. I doubt we can roll or lift any of the boulders farther down.” She turned around and called down to the others, “We’re going to remove the top layer of rocks.”

After notching the torch into a small crevasse, Skye studied the immediate area for a clear section of wall. Skye picked up a rock and lobbed it a short distance away. It shattered against the wall on their left. “Throw the rocks,” he directed, “to that point on the wall. We can’t afford another rockslide. It is far enough away from both the cave-in and the pakas.”

Lara didn’t say anything, but she did lean over to grab a large rock with both hands. Using an underhanded throw, she tossed the rock, not quite making it to the wall. He stopped her with a hand on her shoulder before she could lift another stone.

Skye tapped the back of her legs with his other hand. “Use your legs, not your back. You’ll last longer. Don’t pick up any rocks too heavy for you. If you need help, ask.”

Her brows pinched together at his advice, but she nodded her head. They both turned to look at the task before them. She murmured, “The sooner we start, the faster we’ll get done, right?”

“Right,” Skye agreed, rolling his shoulders one last time before leaning over.

They’d been working for a while when Eiren called up to him, My Lord? You should stop. You must eat and rest.

He stood up to his full height with a groan, and swiped his forehead along his shoulder, letting his tunic soak up the sweat. Skye looked at the small hole they’d created, surprised at how much they’d accomplished. Lara stopped next to him, wiping her hands on her pants. A flash of dark red caught his attention.

“Lara, your hands,” he reached over and gently picked one up, dwarfing her hand with his much larger palm. Her nails were shredded from clawing at the rocks, the bleeding around the cuticles and the fingertips sluggish. For some reason, seeing her injured sent a small shaft of pain through him. Skye felt her hand tremble in his, and he raised his gaze in question.

She stuttered, “I-I’m okay,” wetting her lips with her tongue. She jerked her hand away, not meeting his gaze. She tried to hide her blush by leaning over to latch onto another rock, but her flushed neck gave her away.