“Isaac?”
“Hm?”
“I’mglad it was you that blew up my ship.”
Therewas a pause.
“Icould’ve met a worse pirate,” he said.
Herbreathing slowed and lengthened.He never stopped scratching.Eventually, shebegan to snore.
He fellasleep with a smile still on his face.
ChapterFifteen
Harbinger
Slowly,the murals and myths turned to laboratories.
Cageswere the first sign of experimentation.Many of the testing areas seemedindistinguishable from a dungeon, their rows littered with the husks of metalbars and rotten straw beds.Occasionally, there were small rooms with drains inthe floor, whose only purpose seemed to be the washing and processing ofbodies, the same way that a farmer might groom their cattle before theslaughter.By now, centuries of neglect had melted through the prison, leavingthe horrors as nothing more than a shadow on the stone—still, if he tried,Isaac could faintly see the foundations of manacles in each of the forlorncells, including the claw marks raked into the walls.
Heimagined, for a moment, what the experience might’ve entailed.
Theseprisoners would likely have been slaves, a tribute ofsacrifices offered from a vassal of the necromancer empire.They would beshackled, herded together, transported down through the catacombs, and paradedacross the bony pavements of the necropolis.If they were lucky, their fatewould be met at a life extension center, their souls sucked through their fleshand ground away into medicine.If they were unlucky, they would be transportedall the way to the pelvis of the colossus, where they would be subjected tobatteries of necrotic experiments, continually killed and resurrected untilonly wisps remained of their essence.
He wasvery glad this empire had died.
Theflooded ruins had ended somewhere around the lower abdomen.By now, the two ofthem were making their way through testing grounds and research stations.Manyof the larger rooms were dominated by sets of alchemical equipment, mixed witha few apparatuses that Isaac could only guess aidedthe transfer of transmutational energy.In contrast, some of the areas had anobvious martial nature.Zaria was quick to point out the positions of rustyweapon stands, reinforced doors, chokepoints in the hall.To his credit, Isaacalso noticed a few sets of metallic coils embedded into the ceiling, which werethe equivalent of catalysts for a necrotic hex.A few of the sigils had left afaint scar in the masonry.If they were still active, they would manage such asnarling of entropy that any person who stepped within their field would bevaporized in the blink of an eye.Fortunately, all of them were dead.
Isaacstill watched them carefully.
Thelonger they went on, the more it became obvious that the testing chambers hadbeen funded by the city’s government.In his estimation, they had been designedboth as a place to further the study of necromancy, and to serve as a lastbastion for the ruling class, should some invasion or rebellion cripple thecity.For an empire that sustained itself on the lives of its vassals, this wasnot an unreasonable concern.
Ofcourse, Isaac saw no signs of conflict now.The laboratories were buried indust rather than rubble.There was no indication of violence, civil unrest,famine, some type of plague, or any other calamity that had killed countlesscivilizations before.
He hadto wonder—how exactly had this city died?
“Squire.Observe.”
Isaacstopped reading a rotten notebook.He turned to see Zaria juggling severalglass flasks, the flared bases and thin heads spinning unpredictably throughthe air.
“Stop!”he yelled, aghast.
“No,no, trust me, I can do this.”
With aflourish, she tossed one flask into the air while catching the rest in herpalms.As the flask completed its arc, she craned her head forward, trying toangle the flat of her skull beneath.The flask landed right-side, exactlybetween her ears, staying perched only a moment before sliding through the fur.She tried to catch it, lost her grip on the other two flasks, and three piecesof glassware ended up shattering on the floor.
“Ah,”she said.“Shite.That usually works with tankards.”
“Couldyounotdestroy ancient relics of the past?”
Shebrushed some of the shards with her foot.“Were you impressed, though?”
“Incredibly.Now stop touching things.”
Hebegan to make notes of the chemical reagents lining the walls.Zaria retrievedher poleaxe from its resting position against a prisoner's cell.She stoppedsuddenly, head swiveling back to the entrance.Her ears went tall.
Isaacpaused.“Did you hear something?”
