The Broken Song

Chapter Thirty-Four

—The Well—

There was no trail to follow, no indication of direction, only endless tunnels that stretched out in a seemingly endless web. With nothing to guide them, Ori, Idelle, and Alistair had made their way blindly into the Well, each step uncertain. Idelle was leaving a faint trail of aether behind them so they could be certain of their exit. But the further they delved into the Well, the more certain Ori was becoming that they would find nothing down here.

It was almost incomprehensible, the sheer magnitude of death that filled the Well. Tal'Dovah had been here for quite some time, feeding off of Kiverryn. Undoubtedly, she pre-dated the coming of the Sorceress, and with the latter adding chaos and fear to the city above, Tal'Dovah had most likely enjoyed Kiverryn's newest inhabitant. It made Ori's stomach roll, to think about all the death happening below the city. How many had been dragged down here, still alive in terror as they waited for the inevitable. She tried to push such thoughts from her mind, but they would not budge. She had spent her life thus far trying to rid the worlds of such things. Though she knew she could not help everyone, this stung particularly deep.

Ori had been there that fateful day. She had watched, alongside Lulu and Idelle, as Ephine died, as Tal'Dovah had claimed the body and ripped it apart in front of Lulu's eyes. She had stood with her cousins as they faced Tal'Dovah near her crooked tower of corpses, had fought the old woman, and she had been the one to finally pin Tal'Dovah to the wall. There, Lulu had dealt a devastating blow. But, Ori hadn't been strong enough then to hold Tal'Dovah as she thrashed in pain. Her grip had slackened, however minutely, and Tal'Dovah had escaped.

Lulu always blamed her for that.

Around the next corner, Ori slowed, catching the scent of smoke in the air. Behind her, Idelle touched her arm and motioned to a tunnel branching off to the left. Flames were flickering at the edges of the tunnel, the smoke curling out too fast for it to be a slow-burning fire. They would have to end their search for Lulu and Tal'Dovah.

But, just as she was turning away to follow her friends back the way they came, Ori caught sight of something unexpected. She was moving toward it before her mind caught up with her. To the right of where they had stood was a small open chamber that seemed to be a natural part of the underground network unlikethe rest of Tal'Dovah's creation. Light was dancing in the chamber, but it was casting only shadows, not smoke. The light glinted off several golden surfaces, catching Ori's attention.

She knelt before the four containers, studying them carefully. Each was about two feet tall with wide oblong figures. The entire jar was etched in small flowing script, a language that Ori had tried to study once but never found its like. At the top of each was a depiction of a figure, different for each jar, and though she could not read the writing etched on the surface, she was certain they were deities of some kind. Their black faces stood out against the gold, red tribal markings creating distinctive patters on each individual.

Around the jars were symbols painted in blood. These she was more familiar with. Each one had its intended purpose, and as she read each one, she found herself beginning to frown more deeply. Sergeant Brecht had told her that he found something similar next to the mangled remains of a suspected killer. If there were jars above in the city, what were more doing down here?

Furthermore, why were they surrounded by symbols of protection?

"The blood is fresh," Idelle observed at her side. Behind them, Alistair kept watch. "And, the jars have been cleaned recently. No dust on them. But, who's been doing this? This doesn't seem like something Tal'Dovah would do..."

"The Sorceress," Ori answered.

"You're sure?"

Ori nodded. "I've seen these types of jars before. They're from the Dark World. The ones I saw were broken and faded, but they were near an ancient altar of sorts. If this is a religious ceremony, I can't imagine Tal'Dovah having any sort of involvement."