The Crescent Hour ✓

Chapter 32. The Fallen

Tamer stood at the doorway of the first floor in the sanitarium. Clara and Rai had just gone to the courtyard in a hurry.

He turned to Eryx. “What are they up to?”

Eryx shrugged.

There was nothing special about the sconces except for the colors. He’d attributed that to aesthetics but judging by Rai and Clara’s reactions, they must have discovered something. Unlike him, Rai was good at solving puzzles. Eryx, on the other hand, was as clueless as he was.

Tamer found the marble statue more interesting. It resembled a deity, perhaps some goddess of medicine and healing since it was inside the sanitarium. Dust clung to the creases on its robe. It was missing a hand and part of its torso, exposing a tangle of rusted metal frames and jagged wood sticks.

Rai and Clara announced their return by the sound of their footfalls. There was an odd glint in their eyes. They shared a glance then Clara broke into a smile.

“Light them up,” Rai said, clapping him on the back.

Tamer glared at him. With a scimitar in hand, he brought the flames ablaze. He lit the candles inside the sconces with the tip of his blade. Explosions of colors splattered on the wall and the broken deity.  

They waited for a sign of change. There was no clicking of locks signalling the opening of a secret door and no cracking of walls revealing a passage. Tamer expected the ceiling to shift open and drop the seal but nothing happened.

“Well, that worked out fine,” Clara said.

This was why he hated riddles and puzzles.

The flames danced in the sconces, throwing ragged shadows on the beds and the shelves. Flecks of sand swirled in the candlelight. The sanitarium had windows but a thick coating of grime covered the glass panes.

“What’s Anahita hiding?” Rai said.

Clara twiddled with the chain of her necklace. “She’s not hiding anything. We just can’t see it.”

Eryx opened a vial he’d snatched from the medical cabinet in the ground floor. He sniffed then grimaced. Setting it on a shelf, he opened a second bottle and held it in front of the candlelight. Inside was a ruby liquid that fizzed when he shook it.

“What are those for?” Tamer asked.

“This one is stale. It clots wounds.” Eryx pointed at the vial on the shelf. Giving the other vial a stronger shake, he said, “I’m not sure what this one was used for. I’ll have to study it when we get back to the surface.”

The surface. They’d stayed in the coliseum for hours. Tamer was growing weary of the bleak surroundings. He’d been fascinated by the armory and the barracks but both were inaccessible. There was nothing of interest in the spoilarium aside from fossilized skeletons and dirty rags, all of which were useless under the circumstances.

He steered his attention to Clara. She made hand gestures as she conversed with Rai. When she’d woken up from her sleep, confused and frightened, Tamer had tried to comfort her. He hadn’t expected she would exult in his touch. He’d pulled back because he hadn’t wanted to take advantage of her.

“You know the answer?” Rai asked him.

He must have stared for too long. Rubbing the back of his neck, Tamer said, “No.”

The two continued speaking in low tones. He tried to follow their conversation but lost interest. Minutes slipped away. He went back to exploring the ground floor of the sanitarium. Mecha flew to him and rested on his shoulder. She'd gotten bored of wrestling with the peeling paint.