Autumn 4994, 13 Aoimoth
"Dragons..." Sonya breathed the word like a prayer.
The ruin's exterior walls had been worn down by time and cracked by vines and trees, but the inside was in significantly better condition. Even with all the ash and soot from the fire and millennia of roots breaking up the floors, the carvings on the walls and remnants of statues in niches couldn't be mistaken for anything but dragons.
Barth swallowed nervously, spinning around to see all the monstrous faces glaring down at him, "Are you sure they aren't wyverns? They say the draken worship..."
"Draken didn't build this," Veon-Zih interrupted.
Yua nodded in agreement and added, "Wyverns only have two legs, like a bird. These all have four... like Ryuuko."
Dragons. It had been a cathedral of art dedicated to dragons. But, "What god would honor such beasts?" Barth asked, reaching out a shaking hand to brush some ash off a carved relief, "They subjugated humans, destroyed entire cities. Saint Giorgos..."
Ryuuko hissed from Shon's shoulder near the entrance, and he reached up one hand to clamp the little dragon's mouth shut with his fingers. Shon had seen this cathedral before, overgrown with trees and crumbling. In dreams. Years and years ago...
Sonya shook her head, "I need to set up the gate. It looks like this excavation will be much more extensive than we thought." The Mage set about examining the empty doorways off the main room's left side -Barth close to her side- while Yua and Master Veon-Zih explored the other side.
"I'm going to explore some of these passages," Yua stated while Sonya started painting symbols around the most complete of the arching door frames.
Veon-Zih grinned, making a sweeping gesture through the passage, "I'll accompany you. If you don't mind?"
The Ranger smiled and gave a mock curtsy to the Monk before following his gesture. Shon looked between his Master and the Mage, torn.
"Go with them," Barth spat, turning away from Shon and focusing on Sonya and her work. It meant leaving the two most useless members of their party behind, Sonya with her battle panic and Barth with his broken short sword. Shon continued to hesitate, but the soldier added in a loud whisper, "I would rather you not at my back..." Shon didn't respond and followed Veon-Zih down the dark hall that felt more like a tunnel, ordering Ryuuko to stay behind and warn him of any trouble.
Yua took out a stone that glowed like a torch to light their way. The remains of invasive plant life thinned as they walked until they entered a passage nearly untouched by time. More carvings and reliefs graced these walls: knights and dragons, battles, and what might have been celebrations. The floor was so thick with dust that it seemed to be made of dirt. Still, as Shon scraped his toe along the ground, he revealed more mosaic tile work similar to his vision from outside, only much smaller and more delicate. The first few rooms were empty except for crumbling remains that might have been desks. Offices of the priesthood most likely. At the end, they reached an opening large enough that it would've had double doors had the wood not rotted away. In that room, they lingered.
Stone shelves made up every wall and had formed isles down the middle, now toppled to crumble on their sides. Beneath the fallen shelves were mounds of ash...
"A library..." Veon-Zih whispered, his quiet voice breaking the silence like a gong. He knelt at the edge of the mound of ash and charred stone, "This wasn't caused by the forest fire."
Shon wasn't sure if books as ancient as this place would've been salvageable. Still, the thought that they had all been intentionally destroyed brought a lump of rage and sorrow into his throat he couldn't quite comprehend. So he suppressed it, burying the emotions in ice.
Yua circled the room with her light, examining the shelves and floor until she stopped suddenly, her eyes narrowing as she crouched down. "What on earth?" she ran her fingers over the ground, then brought them up to her eyes, rubbing them together, "This isn't fire ash."
Master Veon-Zih made his way toward her, stopping with a quiet hiss as he knelt. "I've seen this before... Shon, come here."
Shon picked his way carefully toward the two and squatted beside his Master. The ground was sprinkled with black ash -more like soot- as if it had fluttered straight down from the air above. "You've seen it too..." Master Veon-Zih whispered, rubbing some of the ash between his fingers as the Ranger had done. Shon shook his head, and his Master arched an eyebrow at him, "The wyvern attack? The woman riding it..."
"I was more concerned with the wyvern, Master." And Lily. And he'd passed out afterward, having used too much magic to bind the beast to the ground. And it was seven years ago, a time he would rather forget.
"Ah yes," Master Veon-Zih conceded.
Yua snorted a little laugh, "Are you two going to let me in on this mystery?"
Veon-Zih stood and wiped his hands on his trousers, speaking only one word, "Warlocks."
***
