Chapter 22: Forgotten Cities and Magic Rings

Violet looked up and shook her head, "you have got to be kidding me." Turning to Nori, she said with exasperation, "you said this was the way out! Did you forget we don't have wings?"

Unperturbed by her mistress's ire, the fae didn't look up from her grooming.

Violet met Reed's eyes, "can we climb it?"

He shook his head. "With the right equipment, yes."

"I'm assuming we don't have the right equipment."

He held up the frayed length of rope he had kept 'just in case' from the lake shore. "This is all we have."

"Fat lot of good that does," she grumbled.

Across the vast cavern, a cliff rose over a hundred feet into the air. At the top, barely visible to them, was the entrance to another tunnel. The one that led to the surface, according to Nori. At one time, maybe ages ago, stone stairs had been carved into its face, but that was before a portion of the wall had sheared off. Now all that remained was a pile of rubble at the base of the cliff and no means to reach the top without wings.

"Can you magic us up there?" Reed asked hopefully.

She shook her head. "You saw what that last light spell did to me. Even if I knew a levitation spell, I don't have enough left in me to cast it."

Indeed, the last light spell had taken the last of her strength to cast and poor Reed had to practically carry her the last few yards to reach this cliff. Violet knew that, if she tried to cast again, she risked passing out at a minimum. She shuddered to think what the worst case would be.

As if on cue, her light spell faltered and failed, leaving them in the complete darkness of the cavern. It had been less than twenty minutes since it had been cast. The only relief from the darkness was the faint, purple glow from Nori.

"Reed," Violet said, "I have to rest. There's no way I can continue like this."

"I don't see that we have a lot of choice," her companion agreed.

"Nori, can you find us a safe place to rest?"

The fae chirped and flitted away, leaving the pair in the dark. Next to her, Violet heard a scuff of shoes on the rocky floor, then a warm hand grasped hers. Smiling to herself, she allowed Reed to pull her against him and wrap an arm around her. She rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes, enjoying the comfort he offered.

"Are you alright?" he murmured.

"Yeah," she answered. "I'm just exhausted."

Reed rubbed his other hand up and down her back soothingly, the palm of his hand rough from callouses but warm against the strips of her bare skin exposed by the rips in her blouse. "I know. We don't even know how long we've been traveling today."

"Six light spells," she supplied.

She could feel the chuckle as well as hear it.

"Well, that clears everything up."

"It would if I knew how long they lasted."

They lapsed into silence while they waited on Nori to return.

Nori found them a nook tucked into a corner of the enormous cavern, shielded from view by an outcropping of rock and a pile of rubble from the collapsed wall. Just large enough for them to stretch out, it was as protected as they were going to get. Violet asked her familiar to stand watch, then settled on the rough floor and promptly fell asleep.

Upon awakening, Violet and Reed backtracked down the tunnel to find an alternate way back to the surface. As they walked, she was acutely aware that it had been over a day since they last eaten, her stomach cramping from want of nourishment. The remains of the trail bread she had stuffed into her pocket had not fared well from its dunking in the lake, now it was little more than a wad of tasteless dough that was hard to swallow. The jerky had survived and was just as tough as it had ever been. Neither did much to abate the pair's hunger, though, and after hours of traveling in the dark tunnel, Violet was starting to wonder if she could conjure food much like she had the small pool of water. Twice more, she had produced the pool for them to slake their thirsts, but the need for food was growing more and more urgent.

The tunnel they followed snaked down into the underdark far past the point they had emerged from the crevice. Just after Violet cast her light spell for the fifth time, they reached an intersection where a smaller, rougher tunnel branched off. Both seemed to continue downward, so the pair wordlessly decided to continue along the main path. Nori immediately blocked their path with an alarmed chirp.

Wearily, Violet looked at Reed.

"It looks like she wants us to take the other tunnel." Her voice came out strained. She wasn't sure how much longer she could continue like this.

Reed sighed, "the last time we followed her, she led us to a dead end." He sounded just as beaten down as she felt.

"Not really," she defended her familiar. "It did lead out. We just couldn't reach it."

"So, essentially a dead end."

She was forced to concede the point. "You're right. But we can't afford to wander down here endlessly. We've been lucky enough not to run into any more monsters. How long do you think that luck will hold? And we aren't going to last very long without food." She leaned against the wall and sighed heavily. "I don't have many more light spells left in me before I'll need to rest again."

Reed echoed her sigh and ran his hand through his red hair, snagging a tangle and worrying at it. "She does seem to know something we don't."

Nori chirped and wound around Violet's shoulders. Images of the creatures the fae had led away earlier filled her head.

"That's the way she led some monsters," she nodded down the main tunnel.

"Well, that decides it, then," Reed walked over to the side tunnel and peered down it with a frown. "Looks like we're going this way."

The tunnel was barely wide enough for one person to pass through at a time, its sides pressing in close enough to brush against them at time. The oppressive feeling of the earth trying to crush them grew with each step, deepening the sense of despair that threatened to overwhelm Violet. Violet had no idea how long they crept along, only that she had to use another light spell along the way. At one point it became so narrow that they had to turn sideways to continue, and she was on the verge of calling a halt and retreating to the larger tunnel when Reed stopped ahead of her.

"Do you hear that?" he asked.

Standing still, she heard what had caught his attention. A low roar rumbled through the rocks surrounding them, seemingly coming from every direction. It sounded familiar.

"Another river?"

"Could be," Reed agreed. "Do you think it's the same one?"

"I have no idea. I'm so turned around down here. We could be back to where we started, I suppose."

Their despair pushed back by newfound hope, they continued forward. As they progressed, the roar of water grew until it drowned out all other noise. Violet could almost swear the rocks around them vibrated with it.

The tunnel abruptly ended, disgorging them into yet another enormous cavern.

So glad she was to be out of the tight tunnel, tears of relief welled in her eyes, blurring her vision, and making it difficult to make out their surroundings. She could see Reed beside her, his lips moving, but his words were swallowed by the sound of water.

Violet dashed the tears from her eyes impatiently using her sleeve and followed his gaze. It took a moment to make sense of what she was seeing.

"Oh, goddess…"

The pair stood on a wide ledge over a chasm that dropped out of sight into the darkness below. To their right, a waterfall roared past, emerging from the rock face high overhead, and tumbled into the dark abyss below. A few yards in front of them, the base of a bridge extended across the chasm in a graceful arch that ended at the gates of a magnificent city that filled the cavern, floor to ceiling, lit by a soft golden glow with no discernable source.

The outer wall of the city, if it could be called a wall, was a network of stone terraces and balconies connected with arched walkways and winding stairs. Brightly colored curtains and awnings fluttered gently in the currents of air that swirled up from the chasm. Surfaces were carved in exquisite detail with murals of colored tiles filling the spaces between, adding another dimension to the aesthetic. A wide avenue extended from the end of the bridge into the city, lined by massive pillars carved and painted with vivid scenes that Violet could almost make out even from a distance, ending at the base of a massive complex that resembled an Egyptian temple more than anything else that came to Violet's mind. The temple rose over the rest of the city, with its topmost tiers seemingly supporting the roof of the cavern hundreds of feet overhead.

Despite the noise of the waterfall and the movement of the fabrics decorating the balconies, there was an overall feeling of eerie stillness that hovered over the edifice. Violet struggled to pinpoint the reason it felt that way for a long moment before she realized there were no people to be seen. A city this big would house thousands of inhabitants, but, despite the open layout of the balconies, terraces, and tiers of the buildings, there wasn't a soul to be seen.

The city didn't give the impression of being deserted. There was no sense of decay from what she could see from their current vantage point. The fabrics were brightly colored and not tattered. Pots and planters overflowed with flowering plants, still vibrant and green in the gentle light that flooded the cavern. It was as if the entire population had just simply vanished mere minutes before she and Reed exited the tunnel.

"What do you think?" Reed's raised voice startled her out of her musings. "Should we cross?"

Violet shrugged, "I don't see anywhere else we can go, do you?" She looked around for Nori but didn't see the fae.

Together, they crossed the bridge. As they made their way across, they came across evidence of others that had crossed before them. A discarded pouch, empty of its contents. A single boot, well-worn with a large hole in its sole. A broken tip from an arrow, chipped and rusted. A shriveled apple core, the sight of which made Violet's stomach growl with protest.

From the highest point of the bridge, Violet could see deep within the chasm that it spanned, but darkness shrouded its depths, concealing its secrets. The gorge formed a half-circle around the underground city, separating it from the rest of the cavern that it occupied, disappearing from her line of sight as it curved around the outer wall.

At the end of the bridge below, Violet could see figures waiting for them. Reed's hand closed over her wrist, stopping her.

"Something doesn't seem right about this," he said close to her ear to keep from having to shout over the sound of the waterfall.

He was right. The figures waited in absolute stillness. No shuffling of feet. No turning of their heads. In fact, they seemed to be facing away from the bridge, towards the city.

Reed raised his sword and pushed Violet behind him before slowly descending.

The bridge ended at the edge of the avenue, where an elaborate mural set into the stone of the plateau that held the city spread out, welcoming visitors. Arrayed along the border between the bridge and avenue were nearly a dozen of the same monsters they had encountered in the underdark so far, plus some that Violet couldn't identify. Amongst them were two humans, clad in armor with their weapons raised to either attack or defend. It was hard to tell which. All were still as the stone on which they stood. Frozen in mid action, the expressions on their faces ranging from gleeful to wary to frightened. None had made it more than a step away from the edge of the bridge.

"This cannot be good," Violet told Reed.

"What would you suggest, then?" he countered. "You said it yourself. There isn't any other place to go."

"We could go back to the main tunnel and continue to follow it."

Nori appeared a few yards in front of them, hovering over the still forms. She darted down the avenue then turned back and gave a plaintive chirp.

"She wants us to follow her," Reed said, suddenly on team Nori.

"I want to go on record as stating this is a bad idea," Violet told him, grimly amused that she was the one arguing against her familiar.

"Noted," Reed replied in a dry tone. "Stay behind me."

Together they descended until they stood at the edge of the bridge. Reed picked a space between a hunched over, grimacing goblin and one of the armored humans to step off. He abruptly stopped with one foot still on the bridge.

"What?" Violet asked, looking around in alarm. "What do you see?"

Reed didn't answer. Nor did he move. At all.

Circling around him, Violet saw that he was as still as the others surrounding them. His eyes stared intently ahead without blinking. His chest ceased to rise and fall with his breathing.

"I hate it when I'm right about these kinds of things," Violet muttered, reaching out to touch him in the center of the chest.

He started under her hand, drawing a gasping breath, "Wha…?"

Violet stumbled backwards, away from him. Immediately, he went still again.

"What on earth?" Violet wondered and raised her hand to touch him again.

This time, a bright blue flash drew her eye. The stone in ring she had randomly picked up on the beach shown with a fierce light on her hand. Slowly placing her hand on Reed, this time she was prepared for his sudden movement and held it there as he jerked back to life.

"What just happened?" he demanded in a panicked voice.

"I think I know what's going on," she told him calmly. "First, take a step back onto the bridge."

Reed did as she directed, and she hesitantly lifted her hand away. This time, he continued to breath and move normally, so she breathed a sigh of relief.

"I think there's a spell over this place," she started, then told him what had happened.

"Why weren't you affected?"

She held up her hand, "I think this ring might have negated the effect. When I touched you, it did the same for you."

"Okay," he nodded. Stepping forward, he grabbed her hand and twined his fingers with hers. "I guess I get to hold your hand while we're in there," he grinned down at her.

"This is serious," she chided him, but her voice held no edge since she wanted to grin back at him.

"Then, lovely lady, let's proceed."

She snorted in a most unladylike fashion and allowed him to lead her off the bridge once more. This time, he didn't freeze. They threaded their way through the cluster of beings at that base of the bridge, taking care not to touch any of them. Then they continued down the mosaic avenue towards the temple.

"I think we should start at the temple," she told Reed. "That seems the most likely place to find answers and maybe a way out."

"Wherever you lead, I am sworn to follow," he replied dramatically.

"If you don't stop, I will leave you here to rot," she warned.

His grin immediately disappeared, "you wouldn't."

"I'm kidding. I won't leave you here. I promise."

As they followed the avenue towards the temple, Violet began to make out the figures of the city's inhabitants, all standing still as statues in the shadow of the city. All were frozen in the middle of the last thing they had been doing. Some were in mid-stride, hurrying on some long-forgotten tasks. Others were in the middle of conversations. A group of men sat on an ornate rug around a low table, drinks, pipes, and coins scattered on its surface. One was in the act of throwing a pair of dice and the others looked on expectantly. A woman bearing a tray with fresh drinks, looked down on them with a knowing smile. None showed any surprise or shock, indicating they were caught completely unaware by the spell that froze the city in place.

They were a handsome people. Tall and lean, for the most part. The shaved heads of both men and women sloping back elegantly from distinct profiles with aquiline noses and full lips. Their skin tones ranged from a rich gold to a deep bronze that spoke of a race of people that lived under a bright sun, not deep in the underdark. Both sexes wore heavy eye makeup not unlike the ancient Egyptians of Earth and what appeared to be tattooed markings across their cheeks, foreheads, and bridge of their noses. Some had lines tattooed from their lower lip down their chin.

They wore an abundance of brilliantly dyed silk pantaloons billowed loosely around their hips and thighs, ending just above their ankles. Their feet were clad with elaborately bound sandals. Sashes of complementary or contrasting colors wrapped around their midriffs. Women wore gauzy blouses under tightly laced vests while the men mostly left their chests bare. Ropes of beads hung from their necks and arms, earrings from their ears, and hoops from various facial piercings. Their long, slender fingers were adorned with numerous rings.

Everything about them bespoke wealth and vitality. Standing amongst them, Violet felt grungy and ragged wearing the same clothes for what she estimated to be nearly two days.

Except here they were, frozen deep underground.

"I wonder how long they've been like this," Violet wondered out loud.

"Food!" Reed tugged her towards a patio to their left where a handful of patrons gathered around low tables covered with plates and bowls heaped with a variety of dishes.

Despite the rumbling of her stomach, she pulled back against Reed's urging, "I don't know…," she started.

Upon closer inspection, the dishes didn't appear to have anything wrong with them. The cooked meats and vegetables looked as though they had just been prepared, glistening with juices and sauce. The bowl of fresh fruit could have just been picked. Still, warnings were going off in Violet's head.

"See?" Reed grabbed a piece of flatbread and held it up for her inspection. "It's still warm!"

Curious, she took it. It was warm to the touch. Holding it up to her nose, it smelled amazing. That's when she realized what was bothering her about the food on the table. None of it had any smell. Though it all looked fresh, no aromas from the spices filled the air around them. Apart from the bread in her hand, there were no scents in the air at all, apart from the damp smell coming from the waterfall behind them.

Passing the bread back to Reed, she leaned over the table and lifted a bowl with beans and almonds. The moment her hand touched the porcelain, it heated under her hand and steam began wafting into the air above it. The smell of pungent spices filled her nose, making her mouth water.

Like the people, the food was trapped in the strange stasis.

She nodded at Reed, "I think it's safe to eat, but be careful not to touch anyone. At least not until we have more information."

Their stomachs pleasantly full and their thirst slaked, the pair continued down the avenue. Without the distraction of hunger gnawing at them, they were better able to concentrate on their surroundings. Despite the people scattered around the edges of the avenue at the various shops and cafes, there still didn't seem to be enough people for the size of the city surrounding them. As they approached the temple, the number of residents increased, though.

The avenue didn't end at the base of the temple stairs, as they had thought. Instead, it split like a river and wrapped around the structure in both directions, leaving the temple standing like an island between the branches. The stairs were as wide as the roadway leading up to it and ascended for at least three stories before ending at a wide terrace. As wide as a football field and just as long with thick pillars supporting the next level of the structure high overhead, this is where the bulk of the city's inhabitants had been gathered when the catastrophe had occurred.

With the crowd pressing in around them, it was hard the thread their way through without physically touching anyone while maintaining a firm grasp on each other's hand. If the people around them had not been frozen in place, it would have been impossible.

"What are we looking for?" Reed asked her in a hushed tone.

"Someone in charge, I guess," Violet shrugged. "That seems the best option."

"You're going to release them?"

"I don't see any other way to get some answers, do you?"

"I think we should just look for a way out."

She paused and frowned up at him, "where would you suggest we look? In case you haven't noticed, this is a big place."

Reed flushed at her tone, but held his ground, "we don't know if these people are friendly. Look," he pointed at a stern looking man standing near a pillar.

The man was dressed in the same fashion as the rest of the crowd, but the material of his pantaloons and sash were a stark black with red trim. Devoid of the jewelry everyone around him wore, he held a spear with a wide, flat head the size of the palm of her hand. A curved sword hung at his hip. This man was seemed to be a guard of some kind. Once pointed out to Violet, she was able to pick out several others in the immediate area around them.

Swallowing, she nodded. "You have a point, but…," she continued before he could say anything else, "I wouldn't feel right if I didn't at least try to find out what happened here and if there's any way to help them." She paused, "do you recognize these people?"

He shook his head. "No. They aren't from the Dalelands or any of the lands surrounding it. If I had to guess, I would say they were from Anauroch to the north west. They look like a desert, dwelling people and there are tales of a mighty civilization from there that mysteriously vanished. That's all I know, though. I'm not a scholar."

They resumed their course through the throng. The farther they went, the denser the crowd became, and the number of armed guards increased. Two-thirds of the way across the temple, if that's what this was, the crowd abruptly stopped, and an area opened before them. Across the open space, a dais rose over the heads of the people. At the top of the platform, a man reclined on a mound of gilded carpets and pillows.

Approaching him, Violet could see he was a young man, no older than the young guardsman accompanying her. Dressed in the same fashion as all the others, his clothes were woven with threads of gold. The multitude of jewelry that adorned his body was also gold set with valuable gems. His hooded, amber eyes were bored as they surveyed the people below him. Arranged around him on a lower level of the dais were young men and women also richly dressed and bejeweled. Behind him and to the right, an older woman watched over him with a look of wary pride on her lined face. The similarity between the two was enough for Violet to guess the woman to be his mother.

It struck her that this wasn't a temple as she had thought. It was a palace. And this man before her was the ruler.

"I think we should start with her," she pointed to the older woman.

After a pause, Reed agreed that, as far as threats went, her choice was the safest.

As she started forward, he held her back with a tug on her hand. Looking down at their intertwined fingers then up at his solemn expression.

"You'll need both hands for this," he said slowly, loosening his grip on her.

She grabbed his wrist to stop him, "no, wait." Thinking fast, she said, "let's try something. Grab the ties at the back of my skirt."

She turned so he could get a grip on the ends of the ties that held her tattered skirt closed.

"Now, let go and let's see what happens."

Reluctantly, she released his hand, watching carefully. When he raised his gaze to meet hers, they both smiled in relief.

"Good. Now I have both hands. Just don't let go."

"Believe me, I won't," he promised. "But if something does happen…,"

"Don't worry," she reassured him. "If something happens, I won't leave you behind. I promise."

Reed nodded, "do what you need to do, then."