A/N – Yay! A big blizzard is hitting us here in the East and I'm cooped up all day! So hopefully I will get this done and posted and start the next chapter too! Thanks to all my awesome readers! You'll just have to wait and see about Dorian. If this chapter doesn't make sense, tell me and I will change it. J

Chap 21

            The days passed, with the valley getting more and more suspicious with each one. Some men swore they saw movement, but when it was investigated, it usually turned out to be a bird or something of the sort. Yet even more strange weapons and armor were being found all over the place, and Venitia was getting the feeling that this wasn't just a routine checkup after all.

            Dorian and Venitia continued to cross the suspension bridge every day.  Venitia was still highly uncomfortable with it, but she was getting faster.  They talked on occasion, but the air was still very tense between them. He continued to wear his helmet day in and day out, but so did some of the other men, Venitia noticed, so maybe it wasn't all that strange.

            It was another bright, sunny day, and Venitia and Dorian were at their usual perch, which was the grassy area near the edge of the valley.  It got really rocky near the edge, so they stayed farther back.  Venitia got up to stretch. Suddenly, something caught her eye.

            "Look," she said to Dorian. "You can probably climb down this boulder to get a better look."  She pointed at a boulder that looked like a set of stairs.

            "That is strange," Dorian said, coming up next to her. "Rocks do not normally become like that naturally."

            Venitia walked a bit further to edge of the valley.  They normally sat or stood on a boulder set away from the edge, but this boulder was right against it and led right down almost halfway down into the valley.

            "This definitely does not look natural," Venitia said. "Look how smooth the rock is."

            "I think I should go tell the colonel. I will be right back," Dorian said, and set off for the bridge.

            Venitia, meanwhile, put a careful foot onto the boulder.  It seemed very solid and very safe, but she didn't dare walk out onto it.  The 'stairs' were very steep and seemed to taper off halfway down. 

            Dorian returned with the colonel, who was holding a length of rope.

            "Very strange, very strange indeed," he murmured, stroking his reddish beard. "Captain, Venitia, I will assign you to check it out."  He dropped the rope.  "Lower one person down there, and see what is at the bottom if you can.  This may be the clue we are looking for."  He dropped the rope at their feet. "I must go find the general."

            Dorian and Venitia stared at the rope, then stared at the boulder.

            "I…um, should probably go down," Venitia finally said.  She had been battling it in her brain, and was confident. "I'm lighter."

            "But, your highness, if anything should happen…" Dorian said, sounding worried.

            "Well, we'll just have to make sure it doesn't, right?" she said, trying to inject some assurance in her voice.

            Dorian sighed and bit his lip. Then he picked up the rope in resignation.

            "Come here," he said, and she walked toward him.  He started to tie the rope to the belt around her waist that held her sword and knife. He made an intricate knot, and pulled it tight.  He checked it five more times before tying the other end to his belt in the same fashion. 

            "Alright, I think we are ready," he said, then looked up at her. "Are you sure?"

            "Positive."

            "Then here goes nothing," he said.  She smiled at his nervousness and walked toward the boulder.  She took a deep breath, and walked out onto the boulder. 

            "Good luck," Dorian said.  She saluted him, and then lowered herself onto the first step.  The 'stairs' were very steep, and walking down them backwards wasn't exactly fun.  It was rather like climbing down a ladder.  She concentrated all her might on keep her feet and hands steady, and kept her eyes on the grayish rock in front of her.  The stone was smooth, and Venitia was now positive that this was the work of creatures, not nature. 

After ten minutes, she paused and looked back up.  She had made it pretty far, and taking a deep breath and willing her hands to stay exactly where they were, she looked down.  The stairs only continued for another six feet or so, so she kept her head down and focused on her feet.  In another five minutes, she had reached the abrupt end of the stairs.  She found herself facing the large mouth of a cave.  Finding some footing, she stepped off the stairs and was standing on a ledge.  The bottom of the valley wasn't far, but was covered in light fog.  Trees lined the now-sloping walls of the valley, and it was rocky and not as steep anymore.  She could look straight across to the other side of the valley, which was about a mile wide at this point.  She stepped into the cave.  Filled with a strong urge to explore, she untied the rope around her belt and let it lay at the entrance.  With a deep breath, she walked into the cave.

Shining icicles of rock came down from the ceiling, and the walls looked shiny and wet.  It was surprisingly light in the cave, and Venitia could see exactly where she was going.  The cavern seemed more like a narrow hall as she followed it for dozens of feet before it abruptly turned left. 

She again found herself surprised beyond belief.  The floor of the cave had been carved into narrow stairs that led down into another cave below.  Venitia walked down the stairs into the cave below, and almost ran back up.

Skeletons lay on the floor of the damp cave.  What looked like wooden tables and chairs had been thrown over.  Venitia walked slowly and carefully through the cavern.  Someone lived here? she thought to herself. Who would have attacked someone who lived here? 

She walked all around the spacious cave when something caught her eye.  One skeleton was pinned against the wall, but it was how it was pinned that interested her.  Shaking from head to foot, she crossed over to the skeleton and with a great pull, pulled the weapon that was pinning it out of the skeleton's forehead.  It was the same kind of weapon that Dorian had brought to the colonel that first day, except this one was larger and fancier.  The blades were still sharp.  Venitia put it in her belt and crossed over to the other side of the cave.  Another set of stairs was awaiting her, and she went down them very carefully.  These stairs were extremely long, and it took her a good fifteen minutes to go down them. 

She finally reached the bottom, and found herself outside once more.  Except now she wasn't on a ledge or a rock, but on the ground.  Fog enveloped her, and she looked up.  Faintly she could see through the fog and up the walls of the valley.  She was actually, physically in the valley.  She didn't dare move any further, for she was scared to death that she wouldn't be able to find the entrance to the stairs again. 

Excitement coursing through her, she turned to go back up the stairs and go tell the colonel what she had found.  But something stopped her. 

A weird, eerie music suddenly filled the valley, gradually getting louder.  She wheeled back around and stared wildly into the fog, but couldn't make out anything.  The music still getting louder and louder, she backed into the entrance, still glancing madly around.  Panicked, she ran up the stairs, flew through the skeleton-littered cavern, up the next flight of stairs, and down the long hallway.  She reached the ledge, hastily tied the rope around her waist, and started up the ladder of rock.  She couldn't hear the music anymore, but it still haunted in her head, and she tried to go as fast as she could. 

It took her ten minutes to get up the stairs, and she leapt up the boulder and found herself face to face with Dorian. 

"Your highness! You're back – what is wrong? You look flushed…here," he said, untying the rope around her and his own waist and sat her down.  Venitia just stared ahead, that music still floating in her head.

"Your highness? Look at me.  Your highness, what happened down there?" Dorian was shaking her shoulders.  She snapped out of her trance and looked at him.

"There's something down there," she said.

"What? What do you mean?"

"I…I was walking down the ladder-thing, right?" she started talking very fast. "And then I reached the end, and their was this ledge leading to a cave so I went into the cave and it was like this really long hall and then it turned left and there were stairs, actual stairs, so I went down the stairs and I came to this other little cave and their were skeletons all over the floor and there were tables and chairs and I found this" she held up the weapon, "and I was like, oh this is similar to that other weapon, and then I saw another set of stairs so I went down them and they were really long and they just kept going and going and going and then finally they stopped and I came out on ground, actually ground, and I realized I was in the valley, but it was all foggy so I couldn't see anything and I was just about to leave when I heard this really weird music and it just kept getting louder and louder and it wouldn't stop and I panicked and came back as fast as I could."  She finally stopped and took a humongous breath.

Dorian's eyes were wide open in shock. 

After many moments of pause, he opened his mouth, but shut it again. After another long pause, he said, "Alright.  We should…we should go tell the colonel."  He helped Venitia up, picked up the weapon, and they headed over the bridge.

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*A/N – Ok, that got a little weird but I was watching Fellowship and you can probably tell which part inspired me.  So the expedition is getting weird, and what will happen next?  I have a whole snow/sleet/freezing rain-filled day to think about it.