The field of fire roared around them as they made their escape.
Chapter 40 - Midnight
Tomas and Lynn Jhono desperately hammered their fists against the hardwood door to their cell as the ground beneath them and the stone walls enclosing them vibrated and shook. Dust sprinkled down from the ceiling as the cracks in the stone began to spread.
We’re going to be buried alive, Tomas realised. He banged against the door even harder, feeling his heart accelerate and his breathing tighten in fear that the cell would crumble around them at any moment.
“Help us!” Lynn shouted.
“Landry! Let us out!” Tomas called.
Their voices echoed in the dungeon beneath the Grand Repository as the ground continued to rumble like a summer storm.
Still there came no response from outside. Tomas was unsure if the rest of the company would even be able to hear them from the ground floor of the Repository above.
Surely, they felt the tremors too.
Footsteps emanated from down the hall. Tomas backed away from the door, petrified of what was coming.
Then came the relieving sound of metal in the lock as the door swung open from the outside. It was Landry, key in hand. Tomas smiled with relief and grabbed the squire in a quick embrace before pulling he and Lynn out of the doorway.
“We need to get out. This whole place feels like it’s going to collapse,” Tomas said, catching his breath.
Landry did not even question Tomas, joining the two prisoners as they ran through the dungeon’s dark main corridor, back to the stairs which led to ground level of the Repository.
The stone walls cracked like shattered glass, but still refused to give way and collapse. Not yet.
They ascended from the decrepit basement, relieved to see the pale moonlight once more shining through the grand, glass, domed ceiling hundreds of feet above their heads.
Finally, Tomas felt he could breathe again. However, it was not long-lasting.
The long, sturdy rows of bookshelves around them shook. Dust filled the air and furniture toppled as the ground seemed to shift.
“What’s happening?” Tomas said to Landry, his wrists still shackled together.
“Your guess is as good as mine. I was searching the library. Found a weird old book, and as soon as I grabbed it the whole place started shaking. I heard your screams, so I came to help,” Landry replied in confusion, coughing as he tried covering his face with his shirt to stop breathing in the centuries-old dust.
“An old book?” Lynn asked, suddenly curious. “You said you found an old book?”
“Aye.”
“What was it called? Where is it now?”
“I don’t remember what it was. It’s over there with all our gear,” Landry said, pointing to a cluster of tables where the company had set their belongings.
“What’s going on?!” a familiar voice spat from the darkness. Tomas could tell by the gruffness it was the captain.
Gharland and the other men in the company came together from all corners of the Repository, swords drawn and frightened. The captain grimaced upon seeing Tomas and Lynn freed.
“Squire,” Gharland hissed, scowling at Landry, “what did you do? Why are they not locked away?”
Landry gulped, the keys to the cell still in his hand in plain view. He took a step back from the captain.
But before Landry could respond, the whole Repository shook far more violently than before. A web-covered candelabrum fell with a clang from the wall nearby. Tables shook and chairs wobbled and toppled. The marble floor nearby cracked before lifting and splitting.
Those who hadn’t fallen over from the shaking were scuttling away as red-hot steam burst out from the scattered cracks in the floor.
Tomas, Landry, and Lynn were captivated by what they were seeing, taking several steps back but refusing to shift their eyes away from the unbelievable sight before them.
They ducked behind a collapsed bookshelf for cover, popping their heads over to watch as a few more spots of the floor popped open with steam hissing out while the rest of the company fled in every other direction.
“What is that?” Landry gasped upon seeing movement from the jet of steam.
Tomas squinted, the low light and dust-filled air making it difficult to get a clear view. The clouds of steam began to dissipate, then Tomas swore he saw a mass move from within.
Lynn held her breath, grabbing Tomas’s shoulder and whispering, “We have to leave.”
A figure rose from beneath the ground, through the cracks of broken marble and out from the steam. It’s silhouette almost appeared skeletal. Its eyes glowed red like shining rubies.
Tomas heard metal rattling.
Then, a second figure came from below. And then a third.
Within a few seconds, half a dozen of the black masses had risen from the steam bursts in the ground. In unison, they stood on two legs, shaped like men but far bonier and with sharp spurs popping out across their silhouettes.
As the steam cleared, Tomas could make out who they were…
What they were.
Six skeletal humanoids stood with radiating eyes. No flesh hung from their bones, only strips of what looked like leather and chains. Jagged spurs of black bone covered their shoulders and formed a ring of barbs around their skulls.
They were missing hands; the two bones in their forearms simply jutted out from their elbows, like two pairs of macabre scissors.
Off to the trio’s side, Gharland stood with his back against a sturdy bookshelf, his mouth open in horror. Ref, Styna, and Smiling John clustered a little further back but were just as shocked.
Gharland drew his sword slowly as silence crept back into the library. The metal scraped against his scabbard, and the six figures turned their heads achingly slow towards the captain.
Within one second, the skeletons went from barely moving to bursting into a crazed sprint
