"Aza, look at this!"
Eeri completes the clearing of the sawdust covering a skull that is in pretty good condition. For several hours Azazor and Eeri have been meticulously clearing what looks more and more like a tunnel dug by who knows who. Homins? Kitins? It's impossible to say. The fact remains that the said tunnel has been refilled afterwards. The state of the backfill makes no doubt about it. The two Fyros did not try to clear the entire tunnel and limited themselves in digging a narrow one that only a single homin, lying down, wuld be able to cross. By dint of going back and forth, they dug for themselves a gallery of several meters long and eventually entered a kind of small cave lined with sawdust. The cavern ends in another tunnel, perfectly open as for it. This one must not be part of the temple, considering the walls which seem rather rough. Were this cave and tunnel already present when the temple was built by the Fyros Empire? Or were they built afterwards, the tunnel leading to who knows where? Unless this tunnel is just a kitin digging?
Before perhaps venturing further into the tunnel beyond the cave, the two Fyros set out to search the ground for anything important that might have been preserved under the sawdust. Very quickly, they managed to uncover there a piece of shield in advanced decomposition, here the blade of a retch without its handle or some finely cut balls of sap probably issued from a jewel. The few remains found so far suggest that a number of Fyros died here. The light of the torch they have planted in the ground brings out the remains of this battlefield, making the scene rather gloomy.
Azazor gets closer to the skeleton found by Eeri. So far, only its skull is clear of the soil. The remainder is still buried in the soft ground made of sawdust and debris of all kinds. Unlike Eeri, it is not the first time that he is confronted with a skeleton, he has already seen one during his anatomy classes at the Imperial Academy. However, it is the first time he touches one, and the contact of the bone under his fingers gives him a shiver that runs through his spine. Clearing his throat to refocus, Azazor begins to clear around the skeleton to free the rest of the body.
"What are you doing?"
"Doesn't it show? Digging."
"Do you want to see if he was bow-legged?"
"dey, I want to see if the rest of the body has been better preserved by the sawdust. Jewelry, boots, a semblance of clothing, anything. We found only crumbs for the moment.
Eeri shrugs her shoulders but nevertheless helps the Fyros in his task. Even if it disgusts her, she is also curious to know if the homin in question left something else than his old bones in his death. After a few minutes of searching around the skeleton, Azazor comes across a box closed by a latch. He proudly holds it up to Eeri, who opens wide astonished eyes. The Fyros smiles at her and hurries to open the box. Alas, nothing is inside. Azazor's discomfited face makes the Fyrossa smile. What was he hoping for after all? To find an amber cube ?
As this thought crossed her mind, her gaze caught a brief flash of light below where the box had been. The Fyros saw it too and dips his hand to grab the object before she does.
This time, no disappointment. The object that Azazor pulls out is cubic in shape, giving off a slight purplish glow.
"Coriolis ! can't help but let go of the Fyrossa."
"There is an inscription on it. Wait…"
The Fyros blows on it to expel the impurities then starts to read the inscription. His voice echoes in the cave.
"bavèchen coriolis fyrum…"
"Rumors about the fire of Coriolis!"
"ney! But given the condition of the cube, we won't be able to read it here. We'll have to reactivate it at least."
"Yep, it's missing a piece, too."
A corner of the cube is indeed missing. Seeing this, Azazor starts to search around the skeleton for the lost piece, when a noise is heard from the back of the tunnel.
"Aza, did you hear that?" Eeri bellows.
"Help me searching!" the Fyros yells while continuing to rummage frantically around the skeleton.
Another noise is made hear, closer this time. Eeri, with a sharp ear, recognizes the rapid movement of a kitin coming to meet them.
"Aza, there's a kitin turning up!"
The Fyros looks up at Eeri, looking peeved. A kincher's growl paints the terror on his face.
"ramèch! We scram!"
They both rush towards the gallery they have dug and, crawling as fast as they can, come out panting, covered with sawdust and completely panicked. Behind them, the kincher lets out another howl.
"He… he won't be able to pass, the gallery is too narrow and…
As if to make the Fyros lie, the kincher starts furiously scratching the gallery to enlarge it. Its strength is phenomenal, and soon it seems obvious that the beast will quickly cross over to the other side, where the two terrified Fyros await it. They have faced kitins before in the New Lands, but not here. The ones in the Old Lands are much tougher, they know. And most of all, if they fall, there will be no one to pick them up.
But soon their martial training takes over and they equip themselves with the weapons they had left in the small room to the right of the hall. Azazor equips himself with his shield and his hatchet, Eeri slip on Azazor's amplifiers, her pike being anyway ineffective against the kinchers and the Fyros having formally forbidden her to handle his two-handed axe. In any case, he is the tank, he has always been, always reluctant to take care of healings.
Ready to fight, the two Fyros face the gallery from which the kincher soon emerges and explodes the pile of fill that was blocking the tunnel. It is gigantic compared to those of the New Lands. Even bigger than a Gerder or a Daï-den. Its red color also clashes. Its mandibles slam violently against each other while it lets out an even more piercing howl than before.
As if to respond to the kincher's attempt at intimidation, Azazor bangs his shield with his hatchet.
"Come here, kitin! Here, there are still Fyros fighting!"
The fight that follows is particularly violent. More than once, the Fyros must painfully take the hits of the kincher on his shield while the Fyrossa provides support from behind. Fortunately, the kitin fights no differently than in the New Lands, and most of all, Eeri is there to provide healing and cast fire spells when the opportunity arises. After a tough fight, where the Fyros sees his hatchet shatter in the kincher's mandibles and is forced to let go of the shield to fight with the two-handed axe, the kitin finally collapses under a final fatal fire spell from Eeri. The two Fyros barely catch their breath when a tremor is felt in the temple. A thousand paws crackle from the back of the hall, where the kincher has appeared.
"There are others Aza! We have to get out of here!"
"ney! Back to the rope and then to the plateau!"
Running like crazy, they just managed to hang on to the rope when a multitude of kitins, mainly kirostas, come out of the tunnel and head towards the two Fyros. These don't hesitate and climb back up as fast as they can, while the kirostas stay below, unable to follow them in their climb.