Dralin (24 page)

Pelya stared at everything in fascination,
running her fingers along the column when passing it. A little bit
of stone and dirt fell from the ceiling to their left, making a
slight crumbling sound that caused them to glance in that
direction. It would have been a beautiful place in its prime, but
was now a sad vestige of its former self. She looked up at the
ceiling and imagined the city above. They had traveled far enough
that the manor wouldn’t be above them anymore. “Why doesn’t it
collapse on us?”

Ebudae looked back. “There is a system of
enormous columns holding the city up and insanely powerful runes
connected to each other underneath Dralin that keeps everything
from collapsing.” She waved her arms around the room and did a
little spin. “This should have crashed down centuries ago and there
are even older cities deeper in the ground that should be collapsed
too.”

“Older? More cities?” Pelya had never heard
of that and she knew a lot about Dralin from books and stories.

“Yeah. It’s not talked about a lot. I read
about it in books and from asking grandmother. She didn’t know much
though.”

“Do you think she knows we’re down here?”
Pelya asked.

“Probably.” Ebudae went to the right after
reaching a cross aisle that gradually curved around the area that
would have been a stage. There were large openings on either side,
but the one on the left looked like it had a lot of debris in it.
“That way is a mess and not worth exploring. This way,” she pointed
in the direction they were going, “is definitely worth
exploring.”

Ebudae continued with the explanation as
they entered another hallway much like the first. There was a
barely perceptible breeze blowing through it. A rat scurried out of
their way into a hole in the stone, but they paid no attention to
it. “People have been living on this spot for as long as humanity
has existed in the world. I read in one of the books that Dralin is
one of the eight portals of magic in the world.”

“Portals?” Pelya asked.

“It’s in one of my older books. It might be
in others, but I can’t read all of them,” she explained while
moving around debris from a partially fallen section of wall.
“There are eight portals of magic in the world. The City Center
that no one ever talks about is one of those portals. That’s why
Wraith Lake and Park are so bizarre and why Dralin Academy and the
Estate of the Grand Assembly are all there.”

“Wow. I didn’t know that.”

“Most people don’t.” She pointed down a side
passage. “There’re a couple of neat rooms that way, but we’re going
to keep going this way.”

“Alright.” Pelya looked down that passage.
It was thinner and murkier than the hallway they were in.

“So people have built cities on this
location and then other people have conquered those cities and
built over them.” Ebudae paused and held up the lantern to
illuminate the gloom ahead. Apparently, she didn’t see anything
dangerous because she resumed walking. “I don’t quite understand
how so many cities have been stacked on top of each other, but they
have.”

They passed a dark room to the right.
Skittering sounds came from it along with the sound of dripping
water. “What condition are the cities below in if this one is so
bad?”

“Bad?” Ebudae asked incredulously. “This
city is over a thousand years old. It’s in fantastic condition.”
She waved her hand at the ceiling. “All of this should be rubble
and dust by now. I don’t know what the cities below are like. The
only thing I’ve heard is that there are a lot of tunnels below.
They’re probably in really bad shape. I don’t know if the air is
breathable or if there is anything living, it would probably be
more dangerous than everyone in the City Guard put together.”

Pelya doubted that fact, being defensive of
her beloved City Guard, but she didn’t doubt the danger. “We’re not
going down further, are we?”

They came to an intersection of halls and
turned down the one to the left. “Definitely not. Like I said, it’s
dangerous and there might not be any air.” She turned into the
first room on the right. “This is one of the labs where I’ve found
a lot of neat things.”

Pelya noticed that doors and furniture were
two of the things that didn’t fare so well. “You found a lot of
books and other artifacts. How did they survive when the doors
didn’t?”

“Libraries and labs usually have
preservation runes carved into the walls, ceilings and floor. It
makes everything last longer,” Ebudae explained, running fingers
through her hair to get it out of her eyes while she opened a large
chest along one wall.

“Is that what’s on the walls in your secret
rooms?”

“Some of them are preservation, but mostly
they protect the rest of the house from being destroyed if I do
something stupid.” Ebudae pulled a sword out of the chest and
brought it over. “I found this and thought of you. I haven’t given
it to you because . . . because I didn’t think I could trust you
with all of this.”

The sword was in a sheath with a thin chain
belt. It would be the size of a short sword for an adult, but made
a perfectly good longsword for her. Best of all, it was thin.
Pulling it out, she saw the blade was the width of two fingers at
the crossbar. Its sharpened edges tapered gradually to the point.
It wasn’t very thick and there were absolutely no nicks in it.
Pelya stepped back and hefted it. It was very light and the braided
hilt fit nicely in her hand.

“It’s magic, but I don’t know how,” Ebudae
said, running her fingers along the flat of the blade. “I don’t see
runes in it anywhere, which means . . . I don’t know what it
means.” She frowned at the metal that glistened in the dim lantern
light. “It’s in perfect condition though, and it’s not cursed. I
spent hours testing it.”

“What metal is it?” Pelya asked. The blade
didn’t look like steel, silver or any other metal she had seen. It
looked softer somehow.

“I don’t know that either.” She shrugged.
“It’s yours if you want it.”

Pelya thought about it for a minute. “It’s
magical and made of mysterious metal. That would make it worth
hundreds of gold pieces. I don’t have that much.”

Ebudae stomped her foot. “I
found
it
on the floor next to some bones and rusted armor. It’s not mine.
It’s treasure and I’m sharing it with you. There are lots of other
things I’ve found that are even more valuable.”

“I don’t know if I’ll be allowed to keep
it,” Pelya replied sadly. It was the most beautiful sword she had
ever seen and she really did want it. “When I bring it back to the
barracks, I’ll have to check it in and tell them where I got
it.”

“Well then I guess you’ll just have to leave
it here for when we go adventuring, won’t you?” Ebudae asked with
her hands on her hips and the challenging look back in her
eyes.

It was the perfect compromise. “Yes. We’ll
just have to keep it here for adventuring.” Pelya sheathed the
sword and wrapped the wizardess up in a big hug that was instantly
returned.

“Shall we go?” Ebudae asked, grabbing a
second lantern and lighting it for Pelya to carry. Once again, a
mysterious breeze only affected the wizardess.

After wrapping the swordbelt around her
waist and moving the longknife to her right side, she answered,
“Yes. Let’s.” They left the room and turned right back down the
newest hallway.

Chapter
15

Pelya was sure they had gone further than
she would probably be allowed, but that was fine with her. Ebudae
had shown her amazing rooms: quarters for sleeping, a large dining
room and kitchen, and what she believed to be classrooms.

The room they were in at that moment was a
library. Ebudae said it was the room she spent the most time in,
but there were many books she couldn’t read. Pelya was running her
fingers along some of the ones on a bookshelf in the back corner.
There had to be thousands of books and scrolls resting on ancient
stone shelves reaching up to the high ceiling. She could speak and
read in a few languages, but was only fluent in Altordanian, the
language of the country Dralin was in, Common and a coastal
language many people used. None of the writing was in any of the
languages she knew.

On their walk to the library, they had
fought a large spider in one of the hallways, but it hadn’t been
much of a battle. Ebudae cast a small ice dagger that punctured it
fatally. Other than that, there were mostly rats and insects. As
they went further, the critters became more numerous. Ebudae told
her that they were entering dangerous territory.

Pelya walked back to where Ebudae had her
lantern sitting and a few books open on a stone table that was well
preserved along with everything else in the library. The wizardess
was studying pictures in one and had been doing so long enough for
Pelya to become bored out of her mind. “Why are there more animals
and insects the further we get?”

Ebudae yipped, startled out of her reading.
“Don’t scare me like that!” she hissed loudly.

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine, just don’t scare me.” She looked
around as if remembering where they were. “What did you ask?”

“When we came down here there were only a
few rats and insects, but the further we go, the more there are.
Why?”

Ebudae blinked a few times. “One of the
massive columns holding up Dralin is near the theatre. You can’t
see it, but it’s there.” She glanced at her book as though wanting
to continue reading, but closed it instead and leaned against the
table with her arms folded. “There are runes that repel anyone who
intends to tamper with them, animals, and monsters from what I’ve
read. So the closer you get, the safer you are.”

“Who put them there?” Pelya asked, walking
casually to the still-intact stone door, wanting to do more
exploring.

“I don’t know. Probably the wizards or
something, but I have no idea how.” Ebudae came up behind her,
holding her lantern again. “I’m sorry I spent so long reading. We
can explore now if you want.”

Pelya turned to her, biting her lip in
thought. She finally shrugged. “It’s alright. Your books are
important.”

“Yes, but I’ve been here lots of times.
Let’s go someplace I haven’t been.” She led the way out and turned
to the left. Pelya followed and waited while the wizardess relocked
the door. She had a large key ring found in one of the other rooms
and had been thrilled when one of the keys was to the library. She
believed most others belonged to locks on wooden doors that had
long since disintegrated. The key ring had runes to preserve the
condition of the keys. “I haven’t been much further than the
library.” Ebudae smiled over her shoulder. “I really like books a
lot and have been spending most of the last year in there.”

“I like books too, not as much as you, but I
like them. It’s a shame most people don’t know how to read.”

“I know, right? I think that’s why I spend
so much time trying to read
everything
. I’m scared something
will happen to grandmother and I won’t be able to have books
anymore.” There was real fear in her eyes.

“Your grandma’s too nasty to die, as my
Uncle Herman says.” Pelya grinned as they walked down the long
hallway. “He says mean people keep going until their faces turn
into dusty prunes.”

Ebudae giggled. “You’re probably right.”
They came to an intersection. Pointing left then right, she said,
“Those lead to other areas of the academy. I really
am
certain that this is an ancient wizard’s academy. Ahead are big
double doors that open onto a street. There’s a smaller door that I
have the key to. I’ve only opened it once though.” She looked at
Pelya. “It was too scary to go out there by myself.”

Pelya hugged her. “I think you’re brave for
coming down here at all,
especially
by yourself.” She
stepped back. “We’ll go down these other halls. I don’t mind.”

“You don’t want to go out there?” Ebudae
asked in surprise. She seemed a little disappointed.

“Well . . . I do, but you said you were
afraid . . .”

“I was afraid of going out there alone,” she
replied crossly, her free hand on a hip. “I’m not alone anymore, am
I?”

“I’m sorry. You’re right, I
do
want
to go out there. Shall we?” Pelya asked hopefully.

Ebudae’s face brightened instantly. “Yes,
let’s.” They continued briskly on toward the doors. A large spider
scurried up one of the walls toward the high ceiling, but didn’t
seem interested in bothering them. “I do have three bottles of
anti-venom in the pack if we get bitten, but it’s another one I
have to tell grandmother about, so don’t get bitten.”

“I won’t,” Pelya assured her fervently. Not
only did she not want to tell Lady Pallon what they were doing, she
really didn’t want to get bitten by
anything
, since it would
most likely be painful.

The lock made a loud tumbling sound and the
door squeaked when opened, which Pelya knew would probably alert
the most dangerous thing available to their presence. She drew her
new sword and stepped through the doorway while Ebudae held it
open. The lantern didn’t cast its light very far, but the
surroundings had dim illumination that enabled her to see shapes in
the distance. She believed most to be other buildings, but wasn’t
certain. They were at the top of stairs that went down fifty or so
steps in a gradually widening arc. A cool breeze was blowing gently
from their left, a nice contrast to the stuffy academy. She
wondered where it came from.

“Is it clear?” Ebudae asked quietly, causing
her to jump.

“I don’t know,” Pelya replied softly over
her shoulder. “Nothing’s attacking me yet, which is good, but I
can’t see very far. I need to let my eyes adjust.”

“I’m going to leave the door open for a
minute so we can run back in,” the wizardess said nervously.