Free Web NovelChapter 25: The Forgotten Altar
Silence took over the enormous underground chamber.
No one spoke.
No one moved.
No one even breathed too loudly.
Because everyone was looking at the same thing.
The gigantic thing sleeping beneath the altar.
The roots covering the ground no longer looked like roots.
Now it was impossible not to see them.
They were limbs.
Segments of a gigantic body hidden underground.
Something enormous.
Something ancient.
Something definitely not found in any student guide.
Kael swallowed.
"Well...
I have a theory."
Aurelion crossed his arms.
"What is it?"
"That we should leave."
"That’s a good theory."
"Thanks."
"We’re not going to do that."
"Damn it, I knew it."
Darius rolled his eyes.
"You’re all exaggerating."
Several heads turned toward him.
"Exaggerating?"
"Yes."
"The giant creature buried under us?"
"Yes."
"The giant creature that looks like it could eat a house?"
"Yes."
"The giant creature that is clearly not student-level?"
"Yes."
Darius sighed.
"It’s asleep.
And as long as it stays asleep, there’s no problem."
Kael pointed at the ground.
"The last words of many people were exactly that.
’It’s asleep.’
’What could go wrong?’"
Aurelion nodded.
"Statistically, he’s right.
Sleeping things usually become problems."
"Thanks."
"You’re welcome."
While they argued, Seraphine kept looking at the altar.
And more specifically,
the walls.
Because for the first time since they had arrived, she seemed genuinely interested in something other than the Fat King.
Which was worrying.
A lot.
"What’s wrong?"
Seraphine raised a hand.
She pointed at the walls.
"Runes."
Everyone looked around.
Now that they paid attention, they could see them.
Thousands of symbols covered the walls.
Some glowed faintly.
Others looked worn down by centuries.
And others were simply impossible to understand.
Aurelion approached immediately.
"Interesting..."
For the first time since they entered the dungeon, he looked completely focused.
He ran his fingers over some inscriptions.
Then over others.
Then he frowned.
"I don’t understand anything."
"I thought you were analyzing."
"I was."
"And?"
"My analysis concludes that I don’t understand anything."
Kael nodded.
"A brilliant researcher."
"Thanks."
Seraphina also approached.
She looked for a few seconds.
Then spoke.
"They are very old."
"How old is ’very old’?" asked Kael.
"Older than the academy, I suppose."
The group fell silent.
"The academy is four hundred years old, right?"
"Yes."
"So that doesn’t help much."
Seraphina shook her head.
"Much older.
Maybe a thousand years."
Now that got everyone’s attention.
Even Darius.
"A thousand?"
"Yes."
"And how do you know that?"
"I’ve seen them before."
Kael blinked.
"Where exactly does an eighteen-year-old student see thousand-year-old runes?"
"Books."
"Ah."
"A lot of books."
"That makes more sense."
Aurelion let out a small laugh.
"I think you’re the only person in this academy who reads for fun."
"Yes."
"That’s also scary — if you start talking numbers to me, I’ll be scared..."
While they examined the runes, Kael began to walk around the chamber.
Not because he wanted to investigate.
But because he wanted to stay away from the giant sleeping thing.
But then something caught his attention.
The murals.
Huge murals covered part of the walls.
Carved directly into the rock.
Ancient scenes.
Battles.
Creatures.
Cities.
Forgotten stories.
"Hey.
I think I found something weird."
"Weirder than the giant monster?" asked Aurelion.
"Surprisingly, yes."
Everyone came closer.
And looked at the first mural.
Silence.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Kael pointed at the image.
"Is it me, or does that look like a cat?"
"It’s a cat," confirmed Aurelion.
"A fat cat?"
"It’s a very fat cat."
"Ridiculously fat?"
"Extremely fat."
Kael looked at the mural.
Then at the Fat King.
Then at the mural.
Then back at the Fat King.
It was exactly the same.
Well.
More or less.
The image showed a huge cat sitting on a destroyed mountain.
With an arrogant expression.
While hundreds of smaller figures seemed to bow before him.
"I don’t like this."
"Agreed," said Aurelion.
"A lot."
Seraphina looked at the image.
Then at the Fat King.
Then back at the mural.
"They look alike."
"Thanks, Seraphina."
"That doesn’t help."
The Fat King opened one eye.
Looked at the mural.
Looked at the group.
And went back to sleep.
As if he didn’t care.
Which was exactly what he would do.
"Maybe it’s a coincidence."
"It’s not," replied Seraphina.
"Oh."
"That doesn’t help either."
They continued moving.
And found another mural.
This time everyone immediately fell silent.
Because the central figure was even stranger.
A huge canine creature.
Upright on two legs.
Holding a gigantic stick.
A stick so exaggeratedly large that it seemed impossible.
The creature smiled while hitting monsters.
Mountains.
And apparently a moon.
Because yes.
There was also a broken moon.
"What the hell am I looking at?"
"A dog."
"I see it."
"With a stick."
"I see that too."
"Hitting a moon."
"That’s what worries me."
Aurelion rubbed his chin.
"Someone was definitely taking strange substances when they made this."
"The murals are very accurate."
Everyone turned to Seraphine.
"What do you mean, ’accurate’?"
"Very accurate."
"What makes you say that?"
"The proportions."
"That doesn’t answer anything."
Kael began to feel a slight chill.
Because he remembered perfectly the words of the God of Chaos.
"He won’t be your only summon."
He looked again at the dog.
And decided to stay silent.
For now.
Then they found the third mural.
And this time even Aurelion lost his composure.
Because it showed something even more absurd.
A huge green orc.
Sitting on a throne.
Surrounded by mountains of gold.
Food.
Creatures.
And apparently, fanatics.
While holding a giant bottle.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Kael looked at the image for several seconds.
Then asked the question everyone was thinking.
"Why do ancient heroes look like idiots?"
Aurelion raised a hand.
"Maybe the artists were bad."
"No."
Everyone looked at Seraphina.
She was still looking at the murals.
"The murals are very accurate."
Silence.
Kael looked again at the orc.
Then at the dog.
Then at the cat.
"That worries me more.
A lot more."
Darius burst out laughing.
"You’re wasting time.
They’re just drawings.
Nothing more."
"Sure," said Kael.
"And my cat is completely normal."
"..."
"Fair point."
Even Darius had to admit it.
They spent several more minutes exploring.
They found more symbols.
More inscriptions.
More strange scenes.
But none as absurd as those three.
Until finally they reached the exact center of the altar.
And there they found something different.
A crystal.
Small.
Dark.
Floating above a stone structure. freewebnσvel.cøm
Aurelion immediately frowned.
"That wasn’t on the maps."
"Because the maps didn’t know about this room," replied Kael.
"Fair point."
Darius smiled.
"Finally, something interesting."
"No."
"Don’t do that."
"Don’t even think about it."
"Please learn from horror movies."
Darius completely ignored the group.
As was tradition.
And stepped forward.
"It’s just a crystal."
"Darius."
"No."
"Darius."
"No."
"DARIUS."
"No."
The Fat King opened one eye.
As if even he knew what was about to happen.
Darius reached out.
And touched the crystal.
Silence.
Nothing happened.
Kael sighed.
"Oh.
Maybe we were exaggerating."
Aurelion nodded.
"Surprisingly, yes."
Then the crystal glowed.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
BOOOOOOOOOOM.
The entire chamber shook.
The runes began to light up.
Thousands of symbols glowed at the same time.
The roots moved violently.
The whole altar began to wake up.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Kael closed his eyes.
"I hate it.
I hate it so much."
Darius stepped back.
"I didn’t do anything."
"YOU TOUCHED THE CRYSTAL!"
"I DIDN’T KNOW IT WOULD DO THAT!"
"NO ONE KNEW!"
"THAT’S WHY YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE TOUCHED IT!"
The ground shook again.
Harder.
Much harder.
And then.
From the depths beneath the altar.
Two enormous eyes slowly began to open.
Staring at everyone present.
Filled with an ancient intelligence.
And an even more ancient fury.
The creature had awakened.
And clearly.
It was not in a good mood.
