The Damned Princess

Chapter 5

Shadows flickered on the walls as the torches' flames guttered, the sound abnormally loud in silent tunnel. They had been walking downhill for so long that the day light at the entrance was barely a speck. Lyria stumbled on a loose stone and her hands brushed against the side, she recoiled, her hands covered in black dust. She hurriedly wiped them on her shirt. 

"You good?" Casteel whispered. There was no one else in the tunnel with them, but both felt on the edge.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Despite having walked for so long, Lyria didn't complain. There was something off about this place, and she didn't like it.

"We must be under the city now." Lyria nodded not wanting to make any more noise. At that moment all the torches extinguished plunging them into a eery black. Lyria grabbed Casteel with her hand terrified. A single torch burst into life ten metres in front of them, burning brighter than the others. It lit up a cavernous space, large enough to fit a two story house comfortably. Casteel led her slowly down the last few metres and into the chamber. Lyria spotted something and tugged Casteel back before he could step into the room. She pointed at the line of runes in the opening. The looked identical to the ones outside, but these ones didn't have the sacrifice Wrydmarks bordering them. She chucked a small stone over into the room and the runes glowed, sending streaks of blue lightening into the stone. It was dust before it hit the ground.

"Shit." Casteel breathed.

"You could say that again."

"How do we get through?" Lyria scanned the room. The Wrydmarks seemed to be in a circle around the edge of the caravan.

"They're arranged in a circle for maximum power. Stepping in there could kill one hundred men in a second. However, the circle must be precise, one fault and it won't work. Theoretically, if I destroy one wyrdmark the circle should break."

"Theoretically? Can we get Tariana down here to check?" Lyria bent down and blew gently across the floor. Dust swirled and when it settled two of the runes were misshapen, one completely gone. Lyria picked up a rock and threw it. It fell harm-free to the ground. They waited for another minute.

"Seems fine."

"I really don't think that's a good idea-Lyria" But she had already stepped into the room. Casteel froze with his arms outstretched to her. A heartbeat passed. She was OK. He sighed and followed her. They made their way over to the centre of the cave where a sarcophagus rested on a raised platform. The side closest to them was carved with horrific scenes, tortured souls slaving away for eternity, overseen by a god like female with her arms outstretched. Her eyes were closed and her face seemed serene and calm, juxtaposition to the scenes of abuse below her. It was creepy. On her neck hung a necklace with a small silver dagger.

"Do you think that's-"

"The dagger? I'd say so." Lyria walked up the few steps to the platform and looked down at the coffin. It was blank bar from delicate handwriting etched into the stone, no more than four lines long.

"What does it say?" Casteel asked, blowing on the words to clear the dust from them. Lyria winced and tried to make out what it said.

"I don't know. It's in the Fae language, but I only know a few words from it. My dad was in the middle of teaching me when you know..." As soon as the words left her mouth the words sprung to life and rearranged themselves. Casteel and Lyria looked at each other before looking down at the new words. Lyria read them but as soon as she did they disappeared from her mind. She tried again but no matter what she couldn't remember what they said.

"What the hell?" Cas uttered next to her and she knew he was having the same difficulty.

"Maybe if we read it out loud?" Lyria cleared her throat and began to speak the words, only to find that she couldn't speak the syllables, the words caught in her throat.

"I'm guessing that's not working either."

"I'm going to assume writing it down wouldn't work either."

"What's the point of having a message, if no one can read it?"

"There must be a point, it's a complicated spell too." The both stared back at the writing, hoping for some revelation to come to them.

"Why is it there?" Casteeel murmured and Lyria made a noise of agreement.

"What if it's a test?" He turned to her with an eyebrow raised.

"What do you mean?"

"What if it's a way of making sure the wrong person doesn't get their hands on the dagger." Lyria scanned the words with new excitement.

"So how do we solve it?"

"That's what we've got to figure out." A loud crack echoed through the room and they both looked up to see a fracture appear in the ceiling, raining small stones on them.

"I think I was right but now we've only got a short time to figure out what the answer is." Lyria said quickly and Casteel hesitated but nodded.

"Fine, but I'm winnowing us out if we run out of time." Lyria scoffed not looking up.

"Duh, I don't want to be pancaked." Casteel didn't bother responding and checked the other side of the coffin where a similar scene was depicted.

"What is that propose of words? To be written, spoken, heard, read." Lyria ducked as a large rock smashed to the floor beside her. The cave rumbled as it fell apart slowly.

"I think it's time to go." Casteel held out his hand but Lyria shook her head.

"If the words cannot for fill their purpose they do not have a cause and therefore do not have meaning. The words mean nothing. Taken literally, nothing, nothing, nothing. The sarcophagus is empty!" Lyria scanned the room, dodging the falling rubble.

"LYRIA WE NEED TO GO!" Casteel yelled over the noise but she ignored him, looking frantically around the room. She had to be right, it had to be here. If she was right, the sorcerer would never risk the dagger being destroyed in the tomb self-destruction. Which meant that there was a protective spell on it. Her eyes caught on a small section of wall that was unaffected by the chaos. There!

She scrambled over a boulder and coughed out dust. She fell to her knees beside the unharmed wall and tapped on it gently. The sound echoed back to her. It was hollow. She grabbed the hilt of her sword and slammed it against the wall. Debris fell heavily on her and she blinked it from her eyes as she hit the wall again. It gave it and she was met with the sight of a tiny shelf, on it was something wrapped in black cloth. Lyria almost had a heart attack with relief.

"GOT IT!" She screamed to Casteel and he appeared before her and winnowed them both out. She collapsed on the grass, wincing against the sunlight. She doubled over and coughed out all the dust. Tariana was staring at them like they had grown two heads. They probably looked like monsters, covered head to toe in white.

"You guys look terrible, what happened?"

Casteel yanked Lyria to him and hugged her tightly.

"You stupid stubborn brave, girl."