AllFreeNovel
Share Us
There wasn’t much more though, the entire fountain had been dedicated to achievements made in regards to livestock and crops.
A quick look at my oxygen gage told me that I had spent three hours on the fountain. I only had a couple more, before it was time to return to the surface.
With one last look at the fountain, I propelled myself forward, past the houses I had already searched and passing more, set on today being the day I would explore the large temple. All the houses had pretty much looked the same, and things like clothes, paper—if it had existed—wood and such had long deteriorated or floated away, I didn’t think I would find anything spectacular in the houses I swam by.
In one house, I came across a necklace, that I had brought up. Once it was cleaned and polished, I had marveled at the craftsmanship and a quick trip to one of the Leandar jewelers had confirmed that this piece was worth millions of credits.
I wasn’t out to find riches though. I would have a few weeks ago, then I would have given my left arm for this kind of treasure to restore Horn. Now that we had new trade agreements, I knew Nathan would get Horn back into its old splendor.
I couldn’t bring myself to wear the necklace either though. Not because of its value, but because I kept asking myself who it had belonged to, what had happened to that person. As pretty as it was, it only gave me more questions than answers.
This wasn’t my first time entering the temple. I had done a quick browse through before, out of curiosity, now though, I looked at it through fresh eyes and realized that the columns and walls here too, were covered in the same kind of seafoam. Some parts too had been somewhat cleaned by snails, allowing a glimpse of color. Where before I had thought that the paint had peeled after all these years, I now knew that this wasn’t the case.
With a heavy sigh though, I realized the amount of work I would need to do. The walls were tall and long, the columns so thick I wouldn’t be able to span my arms around them, I didn’t think even Myles would have been able to.
This would take weeks, maybe months. I would have to talk Myles into having some of his dragoons help me. Like a moth drawn by a flame, I swam through the vestibule looking up at the large, domed ceiling, drawing comparisons to Myles’s domes.
Statues guarded benches arranged in a circle around the, if this had been a place of worship, where these their gods? I scrutinized a couple, even though they were all drenched in the seafoam they didn’t look much different from the ones in the depictions. If they were gods, they had looked the same as the people who had lived here.
Except… I scrubbed away some foam to expose the same aqua coloring of the Leanders. Maybe they weren’t gods after all, they could be statues honoring dead loved ones and the benches were here for the people who used to come here to talk to them. It was a comforting thought.
One of the walls I discovered held hundreds if not thousands of niches, filled with small urns, strengthening my theory that this place had been something like a cemetery, or a combination of temple and cemetery.
I swam up and down the walls, intrigued and tempted to take one of the urns to examine its contents, but shied away from it. I wasn’t an archeologist, even though I had always wanted to be one. If these urns contained the ashes of dead ones, I didn’t want to disturb the peace they must have found here. Not even the water had disturbed that.
At the end of a long corridor I discovered a large block, lying next to a hammer and chisel. Curious, I kicked my legs and swam closer. The block of rock lay on its front and was far too heavy for me to lift, even in the water.
I needed help for that.
Determined to find Kyle, I was about to leave the temple, when a dragoon entered. He waved at me, pointing at his oxygen meter, then up. It was time to leave. But I wouldn’t leave without the stone block, for some inexplicable reason it was calling to me.
I waved the dragoon forward and indicated for him to grab the block, which he did without hesitating, before he pointed up again. I nodded. I understood. Time to leave.
I kicked my legs and dragged the still unconscious siren and myself further upward, followed by my dragoons. There had to be quite a few mantadors behind them if they had decided to come in here rather than to fight them.
We reached the platform where I had first seen the siren and I changed my light to full capacity, to take in the area. At first I didn’t see any spot to hide, and resigned myself to take a stand against the mantadors, when Samurg pointed behind me I shone the light at it. There was another narrow passage, hopefully it was a passage and not just a recessed area.
Pulling the siren by her hand, I swam toward it, just as the first mantador broke over the platform. My dragoons were ready for it. Swords drawn, the predator didn’t stand a chance.
Orange blood swirled through the waters, diluted, just as another mantador emerged, latching on to his hapless injured brother. Three more arrived and a gory feeding frenzy ensued. More dark shadows rose, attacking each other in a rush to devour the now dead mantador. So many, we didn’t stand a chance.
I waved my dragoons forward toward the dark opening, it was our only chance. Even if it didn’t go anywhere, with our backs to the wall, at least we offered only two points of attack once the feeding frenzy subsided.
I shone my light into the space, which seemed to go on forever, but was also extremely narrow. I pushed the siren in first, then grabbed the first dragoon, took his tank off his back and handed it to him, carrying it sideways he squeezed through, barely.
Now and then I chanced a glance at the mantadors, knowing it was only a matter of time until they would pick up the scent of my blood again, I urged my dragoons through the narrow passage. On the plus side, the mantadors wouldn’t fit, on the downside, I wasn’t sure I would.
Vissigroths are taller, bigger, more muscular than regular Leandars and if my dragoons were struggling…
I shrugged my tank off, sucked in my chest and squeezed in between the rocky walls that wouldn’t give me an inch. I scraped my flesh bloody, luring the mantadors back to me.
I managed to wedge myself almost all the way in, when the first giant mantador opened its terrible maw, exposing several rows of serrated teeth before it clamped down on my shoulder.
Thankfully it was my right, the one covered in the dragon’s kiss. Even the sharp mantador’s teeth couldn’t penetrate the scales, but I felt the powerful pressure of its jaw.
To squeeze in I had sheathed my sword, in my left hand I was holding the oxygen tank, leaving my right hand free to tug my dagger from my thigh, thankful for Niara’s advise to wear multiple blades. Still, with the mantador jerking on my shoulder, moving me painfully back and forward, I not only worried he would dislocate my shoulder, but it made grabbing the knife and attempting to stab the beast nearly impossible.
All I managed was a slight cut through its side, but it was enough. Blood spurted out, alerting its brethren to its injury, who fell on him mercilessly.
