Page 36 of Returned to the Vissigroth (The Vissigroths of Leander #6)

Thalia was already clearing the shelf out of the way, brushing off dust and ash with her sleeve. “Looks like they opened it from the floor above,” she said. “But that means there’s more.”

Oksana turned to the young dragoon who had brought us here. “Get two of your strongest up there. I want to know what’s on the other side.”

The male bowed quickly, but he looked hesitant. “Forgive me, Susserayna, but… that shaft hasn’t been secured yet. We haven’t assessed the upper level’s stability. It might not be safe—especially not for you.”

Oksana’s brow arched so high it could’ve cut clouds. “Are you telling me I can’t go?”

He blinked. “Ney, I mean—zyn, I mean?—”

“Careful,” Thalia drawled as she stepped beside him, casually twirling one of her daggers by the hilt. “You’re dangerously close to giving your susserayna orders.”

The poor male turned a deeper shade of aqua, his voice cracking. “I didn’t mean—I just meant?—”

“It’s alright,” I said kindly, giving him a reassuring smile. “We’ll be careful. You can send more guards up to keep an eye on us, if it makes you feel better.”

“Zyn,” he mumbled, bowing deeply again. “I’ll alert the Charge Leader and have rope ladders brought down at once.”

“Good male,” Oksana agreed. “Now let’s see where this goes.”

In no time, more dragoons arrived, and one of them introduced himself as Joren. He and his partner secured a line to a metal beam near the hole and tossed down a rope ladder.

"I beg your pardon, Susserayna, but I need to send dragoons up first." He didn't really look apologetic, more resigned to the task of having to be responsible for three high-ranking ladies.

Oksana waved her hand, and we watched enviously as several dragoons nimbly climbed up the rope, lights attached to their backs. It seemed to take forever until one stuck his head out, sought out Joren, and nodded.

With a sigh, Joren turned his attention back to Oksana. "If you are still set on this ill-advised venture, my dragoons are ready for you."

Thalia didn’t wait for permission. She slung her satchel behind her and began climbing up the rope like she was born for it. Oksana and I stared speechlessly at one another.

“I swear, she scares males for fun,” Oksana muttered under her breath, "there's no way I can do that."

I shook my head. "Neither can I."

"If I may," another dragoon entered. He wasn't as big as our vissigroths, but he was taller than the other soldiers.

"I'm Surnak, and I'm in charge." He approached Oksana first and indicated for her to lift her arms. Then he made a sling for her and gave the command to have Oksana carefully hoisted up.

When she arrived on the next level, I heard her squeal in delight, and then the rope came down for me.

It smarted underneath my arms and across my breasts, but I wasn't about to complain. I felt alive going on this adventure.

More dragoons came up, followed by Surnak.

"I don't care that you're my susserayna and you two are vissies," he started, looking sternly at the three of us. "You will do as I say, when I say, or I will take you back. I will not have your safety compromised, understood?"

"Fully," Oksana acknowledged, and my respect for the male grew. He reminded me of Mallack with his no-nonsense attitude, and suddenly I missed my mate terribly. But I knew it would be even worse, sitting in the tent waiting for him; at least here, we had some kind of adventure ahead of us.

Now that I was on top, and the dragoons had lit up all kinds of lights, I could see where we were. A long hallway, with doors in regular intervals on both sides.

"This will take rotations to catalog," another dragoon, whose name I thought was Zhoran, remarked.

"Stay back," Surnak warned. Several dragoons stepped in front of us seffies, swords out, while Surnak pointed at two others to open the first of the doors to our right.

One kicked it open, then three more moved inside. We listened to them near soundlessly moving about, before one yelled, "Clear."

With a sigh of defeat, Surnak waved Oksana, Thalia, and me on. Curious, we walked inside.

It didn't look much different from the room below, only here the couch was still covered in material, and on the table still stood a plate and cup, as if the occupant had left in the middle of a meal.

A window to the left was shattered, and debris had rained in and sealed the opening with it.

It looked as if the mountain itself had grown right into this room.

As if by unspoken agreement, Oksana, Thalia, and I moved together like a unit, from room to room. Just like below, there was a bedroom, a small cooking area with machines we could only guess as to their purpose, and a bathroom.

One by one, we entered more living units. They were all pretty much the same, except one had been burned completely. It was strange, as if the fire that had raged inside it had stopped at the walls, not daring to go any further.

"Fire seals," Surnak explained.

I shuddered at the sight of melted metal against the wall, which must have been the screen we had seen in the other rooms, but that was nothing to the scorched form in the corner, curled into itself.

"Oh, I think I'm going to be sick," Oksana turned.

There wasn't much to see; the body was too charred to make anything else out besides that it once was a person.

Reminded of the tragedy that had played out here thousands upon thousands of rotations ago, the three of us were more subdued as we followed the dragoons further down the hallway. After about twenty doors, we discovered that the others were all open. The insides had been ransacked.

Surnak frowned, "Somebody has been here before us."

I agreed and felt a cold shudder moving down my spine. "Do you think it was Eulachs?" I asked nobody in particular.

"Probably," Oksana agreed.

"I think they've been scavenging these ruins for rotations," Thalia agreed.

"But why," I turned to look at the doors we had opened, "stop here, why not go further?"

Surnak stopped at that, his frown deepening, before he turned to Oksana. "I beg your pardon, Susserayna, but for your own protection, I must insist that you and the vissies now return to camp."

Another shiver moved through me. It looked as if the Eulachs had been ransacking this place. Stopped by us… recently.

"Zyn," Oksana must have come to the same conclusion and nodded her agreement.

"Zohran, take four males and take the ladies back to camp," Surnak ordered, right before the tip of a spear pierced his throat, and with a terrible croaking sound, he fell to his knees.