Page 66 of Sun Elves of Ardani

Chapter 18

That morning, Rhian announced that they would finally be descending into the ruins again.

It was to be an experimental first step, to begin mapping the space, to note possible dangers… and to kill the magic-eater, if it made an appearance. So far, they hadn’t seen it again, only heard rumors of distant sightings on the edges of town, but as soon as it came close enough, they would attempt to kill it again. Rhian seemed confident that with more sun elves fighting it, they could overwhelm it with fire and take it down. Kadaki remained skeptical. She had not yet found anything concrete in her research about how to kill a magic-eater, but she did not think pouring more fire on it would help.

The miners had cleared out the rubble and dirt from the sinkhole, uncovering the real entrance to the ruins: a massive stone arch over a staircase that led into darkness. It was almost exciting enough for Kadaki to forget her discomfort over what had happened between Neiryn and herself the previous night. Almost.

They all gathered around the mouth of the tunnel as they prepared to descend—Kadaki, Eliyr, Neiryn, Rhian, and a dozen of Rhian’s soldiers. With Roshan staying behind with the miners, Kadaki was alone among the elves again, and was no more pleased with it than before. Her collar itched. She kept wanting to raise a hand to fidget with it, and she had to make a conscious effort not to.

Neiryn stood beside Rhian, helping her coordinate last-minute details. When Kadaki finally dared to lift her gaze and glance at Neiryn, she found him looking back at her. The corner of his mouth twitched up in an expression that she was surprised to find was more affectionate than gloating. Something warm and equally affectionate bubbled up in her chest, and she quickly looked away.

“You should be on your guard,” Eliyr said quietly from beside Kadaki. His lips were drawn into his customary frown, pulling at the scar on his cheek. “We’ll have to fight again when we go down there. Mark my words.”

“You’ll have to take this thing off me if you want me to fight,” Kadaki said.

“That will be up to the commander.”

“Then I hope you’ve advised her of your opinion.”

“There are no sides down there,” he said. “There’s only survival. Just like last time. It’s us against that thing, and against cave-ins, and whatever other dangers await. Do you agree?”

Were they worried she would use the dangers below as an opportunity to escape, if given the chance? Perhaps they were afraid she’d try to kill them all when they removed her collar.

She almost laughed. There were a dozen and more of them, and only one of her. And still, they feared her. “I agree, Eliyr,” she said.

At some point, Neiryn had explained Kadaki’s magic difficulties to Rhian. She had agreed to allow Kadaki to access the obelisk again to restore her magic after Eliyr assured her that there was no chance of the axis destabilizing due to her use of the obelisk. The obelisk had been designed by the Auren-Li to be safely drawn from. But the magic-eater was another matter. It was an interloper in the axis’s ecosystem. Massive destabilization was looking more and more likely the longer the thing ran wild.

The group went quiet as they started down the stairs. A few of the elves summoned small flames to light their way. As the sunlight faded behind them, the fire became their only light in the darkness.

There was a collective gasp and a few muttered oaths as they entered the first cavern. It was enormous. A small city underground. Neiryn and Eliyr had described it to them already, but perhaps it had to be seen to truly be understood.

Neiryn and one of the other soldiers were tasked with making rudimentary maps and notes, to be detailed later. As the group wandered through the cavern, Kadaki eyed alleys and peered into crumbling houses. Fabric, paper, wood, and anything else made of organic materials had long since decayed or been destroyed by animals. All that remained were metals, stone, and ceramic. Which was a shame, considering how much might have been learned from any writings left behind by the Auren-Li. A tiny, hopeful part of her had wondered if the ancient elves might have known some way for a mage to disable a magic-suppressing enchantment.

As Kadaki lagged behind the group to look inside a window, one of the soldiers, a woman, spotted her and stopped. Kadaki recognized her—she had seen them all around by now but knew none of their names, and they certainly didn’t consider her important enough to tell her.

The woman grabbed her by the arm with startling strength and shoved her back toward the group, making her stumble.

“Leave her be,” Rhian said to the soldier. Her voice softened as she turned toward Kadaki. “Lady Kadaki, do try to keep up. I don’t want to have to go searching the whole cavern for you because you’ve gotten lost.”

Kadaki nodded mutely. She had not expected Rhian to defend her. She was less surprised when Neiryn smoothly stepped in to walk beside her, positioning himself between her and the others.

“Are you well?” he asked quietly, looking her over with a frown.

“Well enough,” she said stiffly, not looking up, but something inside her warmed at his concern.

Had he told anyone what had happened between them? What would happen if he did? Would he be looked down upon for cavorting with a human, or was a certain amount of dabbling with locals expected among the Ysuran occupiers, regardless of whether it was technically forbidden? Perhaps it depended on whether he actually cared for her or was just toying with her.

Judging by the way he carefully avoided speaking to her or touching her in front of the others, he still wanted to keep whatever was happening between them a secret. She’d expected nothing more.

When they reached the partially collapsed tunnel that led to the forested cavern with the obelisk, Kadaki grew nervous, wondering what they would find. Everything in the room must have been burned to ash. It would be unrecognizable. She hoped the obelisk, at least, was undamaged.

When they came out at the end of the tunnel, she was shocked. The cavern was not a pile of ash. It looked exactly as she remembered it. A glowing underground forest of twisting trees and vines.

“I thought you said there was a fire?” Rhian said.

“There was. Look.” Neiryn pointed to a blackened branch on the ground, then to a spot of scorched stone nearby. The fire had indeed consumed the room… and then everything had grown back with astonishing alacrity. The new trees were already half as tall as the original ones had been, and the ground was covered in moss and grasses that mostly obscured the soot-stained stone.

“That’s incredible,” Rhian said.

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