Fallen Angel

Minerva

It felt as though they had stumbled upon a gold mine. Sure, it was nearly pitch dark and produced a rather foul odor, but Leira could sense the treasure lying within. She felt numb after recent events, not really knowing what to think. She knew she should feel joy at their discovery and relief that they were close to reaching their goal. But she felt nothing; not a single emotion. She felt like a machine, going through the motions without any real thought behind it.

 Marissa and Kyle had discovered a hidden door. It seemed a bit obvious that it would be a hidden door of some sort, but technology was limited back then. They did what they could to hide Clarissa’s tomb. Boarding up the room was a bit too much though. Leira thought it practically screamed, “There’s something good hiding in here!”

 The room must have belonged to Clarissa. The bed must have been her deathbed. The room could have been boarded up to prevent the spread of disease. The queen’s illness was extremely fatal, so the king must have wanted to stop others from contracting it. He must have figured that since no one would go in the room, why not hide the tomb in it as well?

 The door opened to reveal a staircase covered in dust and cobwebs. A few mice could be heard scurrying around below. The only thing Leira cared about was the crystal; anything else down there didn’t matter.

 “Shall we then?” Kyle said. Marissa nodded and went in first. Kyle and Leira followed behind her. Leira brushed her hand against the dirty wall, using it as a guide through the darkness. It was even darker in this passage. They had nothing to light their way.

 The stairs were long, taking them deep underground. They soon ended though, in a wide hall illuminated with moonlight. Leira looked up to the ceiling. It was many, many feet above them: a small sewer grate that allowed the moon’s glow to shine into the hall. Water puddles covered the floor, along with a bit of rubbish. So now they were underneath the street near the castle.

 A sturdy iron door stood in front of them, the royal crest of Luminaria engraved on it. Leira expected some form of protection to be placed upon it. They approached it with caution. At first glance, nothing important appeared to be on it, aside from the royal crest. Upon closer inspection, a short phrase written with great care in the ancient language was noticed. It read: divinus vox tutela is tumbus; creatura of obscurum vadum non obduco.

 “Any idea what it means?” Leira spoke, staring at the sentence.

 Marissa squinted and examined the phrase. “I might be able to make out a few words…”

 “What does it say?”

 Marissa took a moment to think it over and said, “Divine… powers…guard…tomb… creatures…darkness… not…pass…”

 “Then we can enter, right? We’re not creatures of darkness; at least I don’t think we are,” Leira said, putting a hand on the iron door handle.

 Kyle shrugged. “I don’t see why not.”

It took the combined effort of all three of them to force the door open, due to its extreme weight. Only one thought was on Leira’s mind now. She wondered why the ancient king had decided to protect the chamber against demons, but not against grave-robbers and bandits. If her tomb truly had the crystal, the king made a good choice. The Relinquo would definitely come after it if this protection was not in place.

 At last, the door was partially open; wide enough for them to squeeze through. As they stepped inside, Leira was surprised by the tomb’s interior. The walls were white marble, similar to most of the buildings in the Capitol. Small flames were burning brightly in gold torches attached to the walls. Not a single cobweb, speck of dust, or mouse could be seen. It appeared as though it had been constructed recently.