“Hey! Drop a torch, will you?”
Terena hung her head, then nodded. “Aye, all right.”
She rose and turned back to her bag, grabbing the torch, flint, and steel. She struck the flint with the steel until it sparked, lit the torch and brought it over to the hole.
“Here it comes,” she yelled down and dropped it.
Croak leaned back toward the opening, yipping when he tried to grab the torch mid-flight and failed. He hissed when it cracked against his long fingers, letting it fall to the ground.
“Idiot,” Terena said.
Croak flapped his injured hand and grabbed the torch with the other. He held it high and awkwardly gave her his middle finger.
He moved back out of sight. Long moments passed before she called out. “Well?”
No answer.
“That’s it,” she mumbled to herself as she rose, wiping her hands on her leather leggings. She strode off toward the nearest column and wrapped the rope around it before tying it off. “Don’t know why I’m even waiting. I need to see this for myself.”
Terena dropped into the hole, shimmying down the rope, a dim glow at her back. She turned when her feet hit the ground and saw her brother holding up the torch.
Her mouth dropped open as she took in the small chamber. Words covered the walls. Terena’s head swam for a few seconds, vertigo overcoming her whenever her visions matched her reality. This chamber, the ceramic tiles at her feet. The writing she couldn’t quite make out in her visions.
It was the same as in the vision.
Another wave of vertigo hit her. She held out her hand to steady herself but Croak grabbed her arm in a practiced way. Putting her hand to her forehead, she breathed in and out a few times.
Her head cleared, and she opened her eyes once more.
“I’m fine, Croak.”
“So, we’re here, right? This is what you’ve seen?”
Terena nodded slowly.
He whipped the torch around, almost hitting her in the face. She cursed and grabbed the torch from him.
“Did any of your research mention a walled-in room like this?”
Terena turned slowly. He was right. She lifted the torch to the opening.
“Sealed off,” she whispered. None of her research said anything about what she was looking at.
“Tell methisis what I think it is,” Croak said excitedly.
He lifted his chin toward the wall to his left.
She moved forward, holding the torch higher as she exhaled. She smirked at him. “If you’re thinking this is orichalcum?—”
“Ori—! Are you serious?”
Terena stepped closer, lifting a hand to run across the words written there.
“And here I thought we wouldn’t find anything fun,” Croak said. He unsheathed his dagger and began chipping some of the ore out of the wall.
“What are you doing?” Terena asked him, her lips pulled back.
“Ihave to tellyouhow valuable this shit is? I’ll sell it to Benson. Or maybe save it for some rich asshole in Metilai.”
