Page 50 of Virelai's Hoard
“No!” No towhichquestion? “Just move it already! The rope is long enough.”
“At last, somethinguseful. Fine, clear out!”
With a nod to the others, Sable gripped the rope and crawled her way past the sinkhole’s edge and into the darkness. Her teethgritted around the lit torch. Once she made it a couple feet down, Venn followed, then Ignatius. As they sank lower, the air around became stale and humid, thick with the scent of earth and decay. Before long, her feet hit solid ground, and Sable spit the torch into her hand. The light barely penetrated enough to let her see the ground at her feet, the darkness thick and heavy on her tongue. This wasn’t natural. It wasn’tright.
What were they looking for again?
“Over here,” someone to her right said.
Sable swung her torch around, hand flinching toward her weapon.
Thorian. It was just Thorian. The light played on the scar splitting his beard in two. The others shuffled behind her, sticking close together as their heads twitched in every direction. Sable understood why Thorian was goading them to move faster now. She wouldn’t want to be alone down here, either.
Whywerethey here? They’d been searching for something. Probably.
It didn’t matter now. They needed to get out. She handed the torch to Thorian. “Hold this. Which shoulder is it?”
“The left one.”
A wet, scraping sound. Somewhere nearby.
Thorian hissed. Like a cat.
“Stay still,” Sable snapped.
“What the fuck was that?” Venn asked, flashing his torch around. A dragging shuffle answered his question somewhere behind his back. He swiveled in place. “Show yourself!”
There was nothing there but thick darkness.
“Venn, stay close,” Sable said, dragging her attention back to Thorian’s shoulder. She felt the articulation, ignored his wincing.
Just like Venn ignored her warning. “No, wait, there’s…” His footsteps echoed further into the cave. “Something.”
“Ignatius,” she called. “Don’t let him get out of sight.”
“He’s a grown man, he can-”
“I don’t fucking care! Do as I say!”
A scoff and a second pair of footsteps drew away from her and Thorian.
To him, she said, “I’ll snap it back in place on three.” She made him sit for better reach, ignoring his complaint at the moist floor, and set her hands firmly on his elbow and shoulder. “One,” she started. “Two.” She popped the shoulder back into its socket.
“Motherfucker!”
“Three.”
Sable released her hold, finally turning to the others.
Ignatius and Venn walked just a few feet ahead, their torches bobbing lights into the darkness. The fire reflected off a rocky wall, shining with dampness. More symbols were carved into it, resembling the ones from the ruins above.
There was still skittering somewhere close, just beyond the reach of the light.
“Move your asses, you two. We’re going,” Sable called after them.
“No, wait,” Venn said. His voice echoed in the cave-like chamber. His fingers trailed the wall. “Look, there’s a light over there.”
Sable squinted at where he pointed, and he was right. A sliver of light from above cut through the darkness in a way their torches didn’t. It settled on an inconspicuous patch of damp earth. Something was lodged in it.
