The Princess of Light and The Knight of Shadow

Year 2: Fifth Month, Part 3

The first griffon leapt at them from the left-hand corridor, almost invisible due to its sleek black body, shrieking and flapping its juvenile wings.

Nox swung Erebos. It met resistance with a crunch, then passed swiftly through feather, bone, and flesh. The griffon uttered a wailing cry and stepped back gargling as its throat spilled blood.

"Go! Go!" He was already pulling away Ireela even before the body collapsed with a thud.

They shot through the darkness. Cries and thumps echoed behind them. Ahead, light and darkness danced in a confusing haze as Torma's lantern swung back and forth. Galos brought the rear, his ice lance at the ready.

At another junction, two griffons hurled out of the passages on either side. Nox slew the one on the right with a burst of ice daggers, spraying blood on the walls and ground. Galos impaled the other through its chest, slamming it into the wall. The griffon buffeted him with its wings, but soon frost rapidly coated its feathers until it was a living ice sculpture.

They pressed on, and this time no one checked if they were going in the right direction. Ireela was whimpering. Her hands shook, and Nox squeezed them in comfort.

Their flight took them through broken chambers and endless corridors. At one point, they circumvented a gaping hole on the floor, and Nox was reminded of the Coltar Ruins.

Please don't let there be a Remnant here, he thought.

The cries soon faded behind them, but they didn't stop running. Upon reaching a crumbling staircase that spiraled into the gloom below, Nox paused. Griffons build their nests high in open towers and mountains peaks. It would be safer below.

"Here!" He looked at the others. Torma and Galos looked skeptical, but they nodded and followed him.

Down the staircase they went. It was steep, and many of the steps had already cracked, but they kept going. The griffons' cries faded above them.

When they reached the final step, Torma swept his lantern around. They were in another vast room, another hall, whose crumbling pillars held the ceiling. Several arched doorways ringed the walls, dark and cold, the doors hanging on hinges.

Torma and Galos glanced at Nox, waiting. Ireela was still shaking. He scanned the walls, hoping that something might provide a clue on where they should go next. But the doorways were identical.

He led them toward the second passage on the left. As he drew near, he noticed the runes carved on the archway. Elvish? No, it looked older than that. And elves didn't build floating islands and fortress.

It almost made him choose another doorway,  but the other arches also had the same runes, differently shaped. Mere signs, he hoped. But why would the former inhabitants write directions?

They were soon passing beneath the arch. Nox gripped Erebos tightly. He didn't like the runes, but they had to find safety.

The passageway took them deeper and, to Nox's worry, lower. A passage that led underground, just like the ones in Coltar Ruins. The walls were slick with grime and the air was suffocating, tinged with a putrid smell.

"You guys smell that?" Torma asked. He kept up with Nox's pace. In the lantern's light, his expression was worried.

"I do," Galos said. "And I don't like it." He wrinkled his nose in disgust.

Nox didn't like it as well. It smelled like rotten eggs soaked in vinegar and left to ferment. The stench invaded his nose, though he could still breathe fine. But the more they proceeded, the more the stench intensified.

They passed several doors. Some were locked, but many were broken, and Nox glimpsed dark rooms that held untold secrets. And much as his academic mind wanted to check each room, it was best to keep their secrets untold.