THIEF OF BREAN (VOL-1)|✓

A DECEPTIVE DIMENSION- XLVIII

Next day at early sunrise, they began westward, tracing the winding trail of the creek backwards under the thick haze. They made a slow progress, clambering the small slopes, stopping frequently to catch their breaths and to let the worked up muscles of their limbs relax. The ground rose and fell smoothly along the bank. As the sun got higher on the sky, the snow of the night dribbled from the leaves and made the mud beneath plastic.

At tiny barren clearings that unfurled at places amidst the bulk of verdure, they'd witness deep cracks on the earth. At times they had to clamber down the earthslides or squeeze through the snarled up thickets to make way forward without missing the track of the creek. The dense grooves were homes for many snow dwelling mangalitsa, deers and macaques.

"Are you sure, Major?" Carl whispered to Rhett.

"Trust me," he whispered back. "I clearly remember reading it. The settlement we are looking is to the south of the origin of the Dullen creek, not south of the creek."

"But it was written to be Southside of the creek in that book, what about it?"

Lamont glanced at him over his shoulder. He had a strange look on his face.

"We don't know that for sure," Rhett replied. "Maybe we misinterpreted it. It was foolish to assume things when we did not know the language in the first place."

Carl did not like to harp about it more. Earlier that morning, when they were readying to leave, Rhett had announced that they were going continue the search toward the west of the mount.

"But this thing what I remember now-I read it in clear Marneen," Rhett added. "I now know for a fact that the city is to the south of the origin of the Dullen creek. So we course the trail of the water backwards-" They stopped when Giles drew closer to them. Rhett gave him a little tap on the shoulder, "Let's get quicker, shall we?"

Carl nodded.

He felt a bit lost, right from the time he had woken up. He really did not want to give up after coming this far. And Rhett had come down as a saviour. Even though he did not trust the words of a thoughtless man like him, it was worth the risk. Carl had then convinced Giles after much persuasion. One of two things was going to happen to him after this. Either he was going to locate the city and capture the ring, or, he was going to lose his job. He was prepared for both.

"How far are we going to go like this?" Giles asked, disgruntled.

"As far as it takes," said Lamont.

The wide land was frequented with crisp winds. Again, the heat from the sun was in vain. The trail was long and wintry. Light grew clearer as they made from the clumps of woods to the open undulating earth. Meanwhile, the creek was beginning to grow wider and deeper and its course was bending sharply to the north of the crest. Seeing that, they had reckoned that the place of origin was nearing. It didn't take them long to discover what they were after. They were already in the borders of Velibhor.

At first, they found the hewn stones scattered on the ground covered with the wild growth of panic grass. They walked a certain distance over the traces of what must have been a wide stone pathway connecting the creek to the city peeking at places within the grass. The wilderness to the either sides of the pathway was dense.

When they had reached somewhat of an open space, Carl took out his spyglass and observed around. When he shifted to the opposite bank of the creek, a battered stone wall rose to his view. The further ahead he traced, he could spot many more of them, round and longitudinal huts covered with moss and creepers dangling from the low roofs. The lost city was staring at him even in its ruins.

Rhett raised his cupped hand and signalled the Sentinels. They bunched into a single line instantly. Soon, they had had crossed the creek. Carl stayed away from them, keeping his eyes fixed on his spyglass and surveying the premises with caution. Walking up to the point where the crumbling walls were fairly visible to bare eyes they halted and waited with a vigilant eye for any foreign movements across the enclosure.