Their Sorceress (Book 2 of Their Human)

Chapter thirty two: the hole

It was worse during daylight.

Small trails of smoke could still be seen from the remaining parts of the palace that were still alight. The entire second and third floor had crumbled, heaps of ash from wood, cement, and other materials covering the first floor. Its charred black walls shook from the wind. It was barely standing.

I took a deep breath to calm myself down. No one would survive underneath this rubble for an entire night. I was grasping to the hope that the case would be different for the supernaturals. I had no idea what happened with Damien and Gia. Both human, and extremely fragile compared to us.

"I shouldn't have left." Alexander whispered. "Akielia told me to stay, but..."

"No, we aren't doing this right now. No self-pity." Valedria interupted, slapping Alexander's back. He stomped off, and Goliath gently patted Alexanders shoulder.

"It's not your fault, son. Don't ever put that weight on yourself."

"Yes, father."

I smiled when he started looking better, grateful that Goliath had shown up to be the calm in his storm.

"I think we should split up. There's a lot of ground to cover." Silas said, kicking a large chunk of burnt wood away from his feet.

I had no idea what we were searching for. Bodies? I believed the fairy when he told us that there were none. Still, it was confusing that they just disappeared without leaving the palace. Where else would they have gone?

I looked down at the yellow grass as I thought, the color coming from the heat it had been exposed to.

"I wonder what happened. It's like they got swallowed up by the ground." I heard Goliath mumble.

"The ground." I repeated. My eyes widened, and an idea popped into my head. "Goliath, you're a genius!"

Goliath looked at me in confusion, "Thanks?"

"What are you talking about?" Alexander asked as they all approached me.

"What if they are underground! They didn't leave, but their bodies weren't found. What if they're in the basement!" I suggested.

"That massive, creepy dark room we were supposed to turn into a prison?" Alexander asked with a frown.

I nodded quickly. There was a large space under the palace with passages and rooms that were meant to serve as a small holding space for creatures going on trial. I doubted that the fire had made its way down there. The doors to that place were always shut.

"You may be onto something, Akielia. I see we made the right call when you got the crown." Goliath complemented. "Let's find the spot where the doors stood, and dig our way down from there."

Silas gave me a proud grin, and Sei gently patted my head, making me blush. They both walked off in different directions, searching for the doors. They were made of metal, so they most likely didn't melt.

Although the palace covered a huge area, it didn't take more than four hours to find the doors.

"Over here!" I called the others, carefully brushing pieces of debris off it. Everyone rushed over to me, and I stood up. "It's still steaming hot. I'll use my magic to get it off."

I held a finger out, a familiar tingling in my hand making me smile as the door started glowing. It slowly started floating, and I placed it far from us. My eyes looked towards the spot it was on top, landing on a large hole in the ground.

My eyes widened.

"Sapphire, she must be in there!" Valedria declared, preparing to jump into the hole. I yanked his arm back, making him glare at me angrily.