Page 51

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

Ryker

Piles of clothes littered the inner bailey of the castle. The stands set up for merchants to hawk their wares still had their coverings open to reveal the merchandise.

Piles of clothes lay behind and in front of them. Ribbons hung from hooks on some of the stands. At others, empty plates, covered in black residue, remained. Some of the stands still had bolts of cloth on display, and others had already assembled shirts, pants, and dresses dangling from hooks.

Everything on display, and the stands themselves, was outdated. I didn’t know how outdated it was, but I didn’t recall seeing these styles in any of my schoolbooks. But then, I’d never paid much attention to those books.

“How long ago was this style popular?” I asked Tucker.

He’d spent a lot of time reading through the many parchments and histories in the temple and was a lot more scholarly than I’d ever been.

“I don’t know,” Tucker answered. “I don’t recall ever seeing anything quite like this before. It’s all so colorful and layered. Why are there so many layers?”

“And that is way too much lace,” Scarlet said.

I didn’t know why there were so many layers, and Scarlet was right; there was a lot of lace on everything. While the colors were vibrant and eye-catching, the sleeves on almost all the shirts and dresses had multiple layers that resembled fuzzy caterpillars and ended in lace.

“How long has all of this been down here?” I pondered.

No one responded because there was no way to know. While many things were similar to our lives above, a lot of them were also different, and it wasn’t just all the dead bodies.

The amsirah above liked colors, but not to this extent. Even beneath the dirt with no sun and very little light, everything down here was vibrant to the point of distraction.

It was beautiful, but I didn’t like it. I didn’t know where to look; my eyes were drawn in too many directions.

“The castle’s architecture is far older than anything we’ve seen in Tempest… other than the temple,” Tucker continued.

His words piqued my interest. “The temple?”

“Yes.” He waved a hand at the castle. “The design of the houses is older than what we know, but this castle is very reminiscent of the temple. It’s made of the same black stone as the temple.”

“Where does that stone come from?” Ianto asked.

“It came from the mines in Calsar, but it’s been many millennia since they’ve harvested it.”

“Why?”

Tucker shrugged. “I assume it no longer exists, but I don’t know. I’ve never worked the mines in Calsar.”

I shifted my attention back to the castle and the blocks of black stone that had forged it. He was right, outside of the temple, I’d never seen the stone before.

“This castle also has the same style of stained glass windows as the temple, plus all the gargoyles and lightning rods, but it’s mostly the black stone that really dates it as very old.”

“How do you know all this?” Callan asked.

“My father and I read through all the history of the amsirah stored in the temple. Pictures and diagrams show our old architecture, which has evolved over the years. Some of our older designs can still be seen in the castles of the aristocrats, but the temple always stood out from the others. It’s so ancient we have no idea how old it is. ”

“We also had no idea it sat atop a cavern of gargoyles,” Ellery murmured.

“Or that,” Tucker agreed.

There were numerous gargoyles perched all over the castle too. Three hung over the top of the large, double front doors.

Turning, I stared out of the open gates to the colorful town below. The beauty of the vibrant houses wasn’t lost on me as another burst of red lit the land.

This town held more mystery than anything I’d ever encountered, and I had no idea how we would uncover its secrets. Ellery seemed convinced the source of the light would reveal something to us, but I wasn’t so sure.

What could a light have to do with any of this?

“There aren’t as many lightning rods here,” Ianto said. “They cover the buildings in Tempest, but while they have them here, there’s only one or two per home.”

“Most of the lightning rods in Tempest are in place because of the magnetic storms. Yes, lightning bearers are also an issue, but usually not for the common people,” Tucker said.

“They’d pose more of a threat for the aristocrats, who will go out of their way to protect their assets, but not for the farmers, townsfolk, and merchants.

The magnetic storms make it so everyone has to cover their homes and businesses with those rods. ”

“Are you saying the magnetic storms didn’t exist when these amsirah did?” Scarlet asked.

“I have no idea,” Tucker answered.

“This place is enough to drive someone insane,” Ianto stated.

That was the best way to sum up the existence of this town.

“You know,” Ellery said, “now that you’ve mentioned magnetic storms, that’s almost what this feels like.

That thing… the feeling I couldn’t quite place, that’s it.

It’s the tension in the air, the pulse of the power, and something…

something almost magical, even if it is terrifying in its intensity.

It feels like a magnetic storm down here… without the storm.”

The second she said it, I knew she was right, and I saw the same realization dawning on the others’ faces.

“We can’t open a portal anywhere down here,” I said.

“And we can’t open one when there’s a magnetic storm,” Callan picked up my train of thought.

“Holy shit,” Ianto said.

“Do you think there will be a magnetic storm soon?” Scarlet asked.

“We never know when they’re coming… at least not aboveground,” Tucker said.

“We’re due for one soon,” Ellery said.

“It’s been about four months since the last one, and they’re never more than six months apart.”

“We have to find out what that light is,” Ellery stated.