“LeastI wasn’t gonna cheat,” she said.
“Youshould have,” Isaac replied.
He shotthe wind from his hand, and Soren tumbled off the edge, disappearing into themassive cavern below.She did not scream.There was no sound of her bodybouncing against a support beam, the missing carriage, or any other structurehidden in the dark.She disappeared into the inky black like a sailor lost atsea.
Isaacsat down on the floor, panting.He kept his hand aimed at the dark hole of theelevator, even though his limb felt as heavy as lead.After a few moments, apair of hands wriggled under his arms, pulling him back to his feet.
“Youalright?”Zaria asked.
“Sure.Catch my breath.”
Shenodded, walking over to the edge.After a moment, she spat into the darkness.
“Goodbye,captain.‘Twas a pleasure, for the most part.”
Therewas a pause.Nothing emerged from the pit.Somewhere behind them, a piece ofdebris crumbled from a wall.
“Areyoualright?”Isaac asked, panting.
Shelooked at him.He could see that her expression had been solemn.An instantlater, it was back to a grin.
“Neverbetter, squire.”
Heglanced around the council chamber.Most of it was now lying in pieces, and allthe untranslated titles and ornamentation had been lost, along with theresearch notes on the lectern.It may now be impossible to discover whateverhad been presented here.
Isaacdidn’t really care.He stood up, took one last heaving breath, made sure thedagger Zaria gave him was still in his pocket, and led the way out of the room.
Thehallways continued on, coursing beneath the colossal pelvis above their heads.They passed through military barracks, dust-covered offices, chemical storageclosets, vast prisoner complexes.The more the rush of battle faded from hisveins, the more Isaac was able to properly navigate the corridors.Things weresilent now.They were alone, and they had time to prepare for the next battle.
He leftthe rumination to Zaria.
At onepoint, he lost sight of the sacral vertebrae above, and Isaac was forced toventure over to a pair of signposts, using his cipher to translate the ancientlanguage.Many of the destinations had sinister-sounding names.
Officeto the Hegemon of Sacrifice.
Departmentof Levies and Souls.
TheMaggot Prince.
HerHoly Radiance of Exalted Death.
Isaacdecided that he was really beginning to hate these people.
Once hehad properly oriented himself, he was able to deduce the shortest path down tothe obelisk below.It would take them through what appeared to be a largecomplex of rooms, at least according to a local map.A lot of the surroundingarchitecture seemed to converge around this area.For all its importance, ithad a rather plain-sounding name.
ExtractionChamber.
Isaacgrimaced.He knew exactly what this meant.
Theirpath was soon to be grisly.
Oddlyenough, as he continued on through the halls, he found himself thinking less ofthe atrocities committed untold centuries ago, as well as the fight he had justsurvived with Soren.Instead, his thoughts turned again to the necromancer, theone who had survived the fall of empire.
Somethingwas rubbing him the wrong way.
Hecould not figure out why she had spared the lives of the pirates.According toSoren, the necromancer had gone very far out of her way to not only isolate thebunny from her crew, but to make personally sure the crew themselves made it tothe surface.She had escorted the crew with a fraction of her necrotic mass.Inother words, the necromancer hadprotectedthem.
Why?
