Exordium by Blake R. Wolfe

Author:Blake R. Wolfe
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fantasy, magic, high fantasy, tolkein, fallen gods, epic fantasy
Publisher: Blake R. Wolfe
Published: 2022-09-19T00:00:00+00:00

Sixteen

True to his word, Zyk found the exit from the underground lake. Following his nose, he led the both of them through a series of naturally formed caverns, following the river as long as they could. Their bellies growled as they walked. More than once they passed strange fungi growing on the walls, but both of them weren’t brave or desperate enough to take a bite. Instead they filled their stomachs with water, trying to satiate the hunger that clawed at their insides. After several close calls in the past two days, they were pleasantly surprised and relieved to find the caverns deserted. Neither of them had enough strength to fight the draugr or spiders again and the constant walking kept them in a state of near exhaustion.

After the long hours of hiking, Zyk led them through another skinny tunnel where the river kept close to the walls. The stones were slippery and their path was little more than a foot wide. Zyk had little trouble with the path, but Nox nearly fell into the river twice before crossing, the icy water licking at his heels. On the other side the tunnel opened up once more into a large domed cavern. The floor was unnaturally smooth and the outer walls seemed like they had been carved away by hand. Nox spotted a set of stairs on the far side, winding upward inside a massive pair of rune carved arches. He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw that thankfully they were not covered in spider silk.

“I can smell it,” Zyk said, lifting his nose high in the air as he stared up the stairwell. “There’s an opening to the outside up there. I’m not sure how far, but it’s stronger than I’ve smelled so far.”

“Let’s hope it’s close,” Nox replied. “We don’t have a way to carry any water and I don’t think I could handle the weight anyway.”

Zyk looked up at Nox, his gold eyes glowing in the darkness. “We’ll make it out. I know it.”

“I’ll let you do the positivity thing by yourself,” Nox chuckled. “That’s not really my style.”

Zyk nodded, smiling in his own foxish way before both of them headed back to the river. Filling up their starving bellies with water one last time, they headed for the stairway and upward to whatever awaited them above.

It took them over an hour to climb the massive set of stairs with a few breaks needed along the way to catch their breaths. The stairs had been carved tall and by the time they reached the landing at the top, Nox was on the verge of collapse, his legs burning with the exertion. Zyk, although much smaller, was just as bad off and slumped to the ground, panting with his tongue lolled out on the stone. Nox leaned against the wall, still gripping the spear with the crystal tied to the handle. Glancing around he saw another carved archway framing the top of the stairs, this time with different runes on its surface.

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