Meanwhile, the elf and the human waited patiently. They would not take a chance on the creaks and groans of the platform giving away their position.
Helesys’s thoughts drifted back to the giant cage. What could the fishmen possibly be keeping in a cage that size? Something that was so very big and yet not tame? Taunauk was eyeing the cage too, measuring it, similar questions no doubt running through his mind.
When the fishmen left, rolling their sewage colored balls, the weaver and the barbarian stalked through the small platforms to the right of the giant cage. Here there were stairs leading down to lower levels and finally to the stone at the top of the pyramid.
Now that they were closer to the edge of the prison and closer to the edge of the ziggurat, the elf’s fears were confirmed. The chattering that filled the air was the sound of hundreds of fishmen. Each stone step of the ziggurat was as tall as a fishman and so they had covered many areas in animal hide, making primitive dwellings out of the corners of the stone steps. Fishmen covered nearly all the spaces between those dwellings. Some were hopping down the stairs, bearing shields and spears. The rest were gathered in great masses. These stood absolutely still while looking up at the cavern ceiling and chattering in unison.
There was no way they would get past that number of fishmen. The only spot that was bare was a wide stone ramp that led up to the massive cage.
The cave wall to the right, curved around and it seemed as if a stone path continued from the top of the ziggurat to some quiet safety opposite the fishmen. She pointed down through the bars to this right-branching path.
“That is preferable,” the barbarian replied. So Taunauk led them down two flights of stairs to reach the bottom of the rusted prison—the top of the ziggurat. They paused at each level to be sure no more fishmen would return to finish their cleaning.
When they reached the stone, Taunauk said, “Wait here. I will go first. Look and return,” and with that he moved quickly down the set. Again, surprising Helesys with his swiftness and quietness. The elf held her breath as he stalked toward the corner of the cavern, hugging the right-hand wall as he peeked around the corner. Then he disappeared around it.
Helesys’s heart sped up as he crouched at the last stairwell. She glanced between the corner of stone and the edge of the stairs. Forty beats passed before Taunauk returned. He peeked around the stone and then stalked up the stairs as swiftly as he’d gone.
“There is a stone building with a door inside leading further. It appears empty of fishmen, but filled with faeries.”
“Faeries?” Helesys cursed her amnesia.
The barbarian mimed a tiny creature sitting in the palm of his hand. “They are preferable to the fishmen.”
The elf weaver shrugged. “We do not have much choice then.”
“No.”
Taunauk turned and surveyed the edge of the stone stairs before descending the metal ones again. This time Helesys followed, their bootsteps ringing quietly on the metal. They paused at the corner briefly and then continued around.
The stone building Taunauk spoke of was short and squat, taking up the whole of the passage—nothing but cliff to the right and stairs to the left. The building was cut into the face of the cavern such that only the face only stuck out an arm’s length. The front of the building was shaped like that of a temple, with stone columns lining the front and a peaked roof. A small stream of water flowed out from the door and down the stone stairs.
The weaver and barbarian slipped inside and looked back. Thankfully their intrusion seemed to pass undetected.
~
Inside the short curved hallway, the single room of the stone building was a cross between a temple and an alchemist’s laboratory. Huge stone statues flanked the entrance, abstract carvings of Terran species with clamshell faces—not fishmen, or human or elven. The statues and most of the room were covered in bright green moss, save for the clam-shell faces of the statues which appeared to be brushed clean.
Carvings decorated the corners, walls and floor of the room. The carved patterns were all curved parallel lines, giving the appearance of rippling waves all across the stone. The wavy carvings on the floor were cut deep enough that water followed them—steady water that came from under the door in the back of the room.
The door in the center depicted two more clam-faced Terrans kneeling with arms overhead in some form of prayer. Around the door were stone tubes that curved from all around the ceiling and congregated around the door. Water trickled from the bottom of these tubes, fed from somewhere high up in the cave.
All around, tiny blue figures of electricity danced through the air—faeries. Helesys marveled. Again, she knew instinctively that the faeries were not dangerous or devious. In fact, they brought a smile to her face—the opposite reaction she had to the fishmen. Helesys held out a hand—her left—for no other reason than she was curious, and was greeted by a single faerie landing on her palm.
The tiny creature was no more than half-a-hand tall. It too had the torso, head, and accompanying two arms and two legs of a Terran, but with two wings nearly the length of its body. The entire skin and wings were translucent and glowed a brilliant bright blue which spiked with white as tiny streaks of lightning bounced within it. It reminded her of the fishmen and their cleaning sacks of
