Free Web NovelChapter 218: Strange
That strangeness, the invisible eyes that’s following them made them skip some rooms as they hurried to the end of the hallway. But still, they saw more rooms on the way, each of massive scales, one seems like a store room of sorts with hanging hooks that’s surprising still good even though some of them have rusted.
Another room that was broken down into smaller spaces with metal plates. One thing Azaroth found strange about all this is the amount of enchanted that’s in us for the whole thing. Everything seems to be enchanted, the walls and the floor included.
They made it to the end of the hallway with the eyes still straining then. Before they unlock the door, Azaroth suddenly turned and blasted sheet of flame backwards, feeling the space with heat but the feeling of eyes on them only heightened.
Azaroth masked his annoyance under a cold face. "Let’s continue."
They opened the door and stepped in as one, unlike the other rooms and the hallway, this new room is cold and dark with a thick musty smell, stuffing the air.
Stallus raised her hand and a soft glow gathered, shooting up into the air and shining bright. It lit up the space like dawn coming. What they saw made them pause, not only that, they froze. Even Azaroth frowned, his eyes lighting with surprise.
The room was made of black glossy stones with pillars of the same material shooting up into the darkness. There’s no other furniture here unlike other rooms, the walls, at least the one closer to them was jagged with holes all filled with small dark box.
But that’s not why they pause or froze. No, it’s the bodies that covered the ground. Azaroth turned, taking it all in. There’s bodies as far as eyes could see, thousands, more than thousands. Most of the bodies were nothing more than bones with the environment cool enough to make them not dried to dust. There’s a thin dried skin covering the skeleton like papers.
"What in the...." Alex said, looking as if he’d throw up at any moment. The thought that he’s breathing in dead people made it all the more worse.
Azaroth crouched at the closest body and crouched to examine it. Just like the other bodies, this one wore armor although most of it is now rusted and rotted with its weapons. It’s clear that it must have been a warrior once.
"A room full of dead warriors." Azaroth said.
Stallus shuddered. "To think they’re just dead like that. What do you think kill them like this? I mean, they must be Awakener or something like that. Look at how everything is covered in enchantment!"
Azaroth nodded slowly with a small frown. If these dead people are Awakeners or at the least knowledgeable about enchantments, and from the look of things they must have been dead for a long time, hundreds of years ago maybe, with the way the metals had rusted. Then it mean there’s Awakeners before the apocalypse came to earth.
The thought hit Azaroth and his frowned deepened, what exactly is going on? Is there things like other worlds or realm? Is that where this place is? Some kind of dimension? So earth isn’t the only place with powers.
He stood, his eyes sharpened on the long dead bodies and now that he was looking carefully, he’s picking out oddities. Not all of the skeletons are humans. Some of the bones are different, even though they all wore armor.
He nudged the closest non human skeleton with his leg, flipping it over. The metal plates on its chest have been melted and the ribs crushed, an painful way to go but that wasn’t Azaroth interest. No, it’s the bones of the non human, it’s bones are longer with skeletal fingers three times as longer as normal human and thinner too.
"It’s just like this one." Stallus said a few pace away from him, pointing at a skeleton that looks identical to the one Azaroth was studying.
Azaroth stood and now that he’s looking he easily picked out the odd skeletons. Some are bigger, giant like and then there’s small ones but with thick bones. Some with extra bone limbs.
"Interesting." Azaroth said, he’s getting more interesting in what brought them all together like this than what killed them. But maybe he should focus on what this building is and why they are dead but he doubt whatever killed them is still waiting around. "It looks like a battle. A battle of Awakeners powers."
Nobody disagree, considering the way some of the bones are.
They toured the room but it’s too big and if not for the pillars scattered around then it’ll be like they are in open field. So they sticked to the wall and began to trace it forward, the small holes with boxes inside filled the surface, covering everything inche that wasn’t already covered in enchantment runes.
Azaroth have tried to take one of the boxes but it’s as if trying to pull a mountain. Catena had shook his head and muttered something about no earth or stones to manipulate here.
They walked for what seems like an hour, Stallus light leading the way. Then, surprisingly they found something. A brake in the wall, a jagged gap, a chasm the split the wall into two, casting the middle into darkness.
Stallus ball of light penetrated most of it, shining light on a circular black stone platform hovering few inches above the ground. The platform is big, at least one twenty yards and cut across is a perfect circle.
Metal rails are attached to the edges and on the circle itself, curving around the surface.
Stallus examined it with a small frown. "Do you see over there? There’s something like a control board. Like on the ship. Do you think this thing can move?"
"But to where?" Azaroth demanded. He sent his senses into the darkness but he felt nothing except for nothing.
But before anyone can answer his question, that sense of strangeness heightened so fast it was like something was flying towards them. Tension ripped in the air and the team, with instincts born of blood and pain quickly moved.
