The Path to Greatness/Chapter 8

"Let's go in," I said finally. I had been trapped in the desert after sunrise before and it had been an entirely unpleasant experience. Worse, if a sandstorm arose, the chances of survival were slim to none. The only choice that assured us of getting out of the sun in a timely fashion was to go into the city.

Kendrel, Culak, and I moved sown the shifting sand wall that marked the edge of the excavation and slid partway on a dune to the bottom of the basin. My clothing would be filled with sand for my efforts, but it was the quickest and likely safest way to reach the bottom of the basin.

"These buildings are interconnected," Kendrel said. "It is as if the entire city is one large building."

I looked at the buildings and saw that what Kendrel said was true. I had never before encountered such peculiar architecture in my travels.

"There has to be an entrance; let's find it," I said, and we began moving around the outer periphery of the excavation until at long last we came to a large hanging stone door. "Over here."

I waited silently for Culak and Kendrel to reach the door before attempting to pull it open. I wholly expected that the door would resist my attempts at violating this ancient sanctum and was quite surprised when the door swung freely open. It moved amazingly well for a such a massive piece of stone worn by the sands of time. I examined the door and was struck by the odd precision of the cut and the seeming modernity of the technology involved in the door's construction. None of my previous experience told me to expect something of this nature.

"Shara-naga," Culak mouthed, and I frowned.... Next to the Drakel, some of the Ulgathi were among the most technologically active races.. Culak's assessment did not seem far off... Though if this was indeed a legendary walled city, it was like no K'eld I had ever heard described. The descriptions I had heard were of vast domed structures or of towering minarets encased in mile-high walls....

With a shrug, Kendrel pushed past Culak and I and entered the darkness that lay beyond the doorway and Culak and I followed.

"Living creatures in some numbers have been through here, and recently," Kendrel said matter-of-factly. "After centuries of wear, the dust and sand on the floor should be settled and undisturbed, but there are many scuff marks and what could be footprints."

"Shara-naga," Culak repeated ominously.

"Very likely," Kendrel responded. "The tracks are not dissimilar to those left by the Drakel who attacked Greenguard."

"We should just make camp here until nightfall, then we can move on..."

"Our purpose in coming to Skraeling in the first place was to encounter the Drakel, was it not? I fail to see why we would avoid that now."

"Shara-naga hidey holes mebbe many surprises, many traps."

I weighed the choices in my mind....