Boned

The Promonus Ruins were more than they had expected. This place didn't just feature a pair of snug rooms that could be explored in a heartbeat, no, quite the opposite!

It took little time for them to wind up in a huge corridor, which was not only about twenty meters wide, but could be over twice as long! Their torches couldn't capture much of its magnificence, but their whispers echoed here thoroughly, so they could tell what they walked into!

This made them nervous, so they walked towards the left side of the corridor, for safety's sake. If they walked across the middle of the corridor, they'd feel like sitting ducks! Any enemy would have the freedom to attack them effortlessly, while here from the left side, they could cover up more than half of their weak-spots!

It was a good plan, but ultimately, their movements were still limited. Bardeelus was especially clumsy while they walked around, because he focused his powers and tried to find a sign of life here.

"Not a single heartbeat," He kept repeating.

It was difficult to find life here, and for a reason too. Most people wouldn't choose to live in these dark, and stuffy ruins, while those who did were very good at hiding!

"They're masking themselves," Audera added.

Nervously, he said. "Yeah… I don't care, long as they don't try to kill us." 

However, clumsiness remained as his middle name. Bardeelus had a torch on his hand, but he barely looked at what was in front of him, which had some consequences!

He bumped into a stone-brick wall, and shook the frontal-lobe of his brain up pretty well. It felt like waking up three times at once!

"Fuck's sake!" He grunted, "Where did that come from!"

Erdeta felt beaten and bruised, but once she heard that thud, she couldn't help mocking the other. "The wall? It was probably there before we got here. Quit smooching it."

Anyway, jokes aside, they did make a little discovery here. The wall he bumped into was actually the entrance to a smaller corridor, which led deeper towards the left side of this area.

It could lead to somewhere important, and once Bardeelus had a better look, there was something else that lured him in. 

"That there is the weirdest sword I ever saw." He said, and walked towards this snug corridor.

There were swords attached to the walls, and the swords were near the spot which he had head-butted. If he had been any clumsier, then he could've suffered a deadly cut!

This wall of weapons was pretty interesting. Half of the swords were curled, in more than one spot even! They were thin, but also pretty big, so it would take an even bigger man to handle them.

Some of the swords were smaller, though, and seemed normal. He had an urge to grab one, and carry it around for safety's sake, but he feared the attached consequences. 

"I don't want to commit any crimes here, can't be followed around by some vengeful ghost. My rusty old sword is good." He sighed.

Anyway, as the torches shone brighter across this snug corridor, there was something else which caught their attention. Audera noticed that something was reflecting the torch's light!

It could be nothing, it could be another sword, but they had to explore it. That illusionist hadn't given them much guidance earlier on, in terms of where to go, so it wasn't a bad idea to explore.

"That way," She guided, "Keep on your toes, and tell me if you sense anything."

This small corridor was short too, apparently, as they found what they were looking for, after less than ten-meters at a dead end!

Perhaps this place was more of an armory, which didn't require much space. Both sides of the walls were littered with weapons, some had rust spread across them, while some seemed new, but either way, Bardeelus was taught to avoid touching any of them as they were best left at peace.

They did not want to take any risks, and besides, what they found on this dead end of a wall was pretty interesting. It was a dead end for a reason!

"Do you think these are the scrolls that he wanted to protect?" Audera asked.

"Nah, they're too far away from the entrance. I'd be surprised if he didn't have the scrolls strapped onto his chest." Bardeelus said.

There were plenty of scrolls here, about fifty of them, which had been set up within the wall. Special, singular spots were carved for each and every one of these scrolls, and for some reason, all of their handles were made out of metal.

At some point, so many of the handles reflected the torch light, that the team felt blinded! This wasn't a major issue, as the discovery felt worthwhile. 

Audera was the most careful, and the most fit to touch important stuff. So she pulled one of the scrolls out of the wall, and started rolling it down.

It had collected a lot of dust, and a fraction of that dust suddenly slipped all the way down her throat; She inhaled it. She wasn't immune to it either, and for a couple of minutes straight, she almost coughed her guts out!

Bardeelus smacked her on the back, and said. "Okay okay, spit it out. You're gonna up the dead if you keep coughing."

This was a joke, of course, but she didn't take it as lightly. Audera punched him in the gut, and then slowly recovered her composure. 

"That wasn't fun," She said, and then gave the scroll a proper glance.

Bardeelus grunted like a pregnant cow, and said. "What did I tell you about touching my gut? I ate a lot of meat, woman!"

"Oh shut it," She said, and then sighed. "This scroll is so… ancient. The dust makes sense now, it felt like I tasted some skeleton hips."

"You can't actually read that, can you?" Erdeta asked. This discovery helped her become as aware as she could.

She was excited, and her friend fueled that excitement by adding. "No… it's way too old. This has to be written in radinian three, one of the first languages ever. It is very complex, I mean, look at all those dots!"

"Radinian three? Wow!" Erdeta slightly celebrated, "Didn't people who spoke that, die a very long time ago? This place can't be as old as these scrolls."

"Don't know…" She said, while she scanned through the scroll. "Some mage could've brought the scrolls here. Their metal handles are very unusual, almost no one used them in the past. Hell, most people use books now."

There was a lot to observe here. They checked on a couple of other scrolls afterwards, and they were written in the same language, radinian three. It was a perplexing language, and the countless dots seemed gibberish at best!

It had some similarities to written morse code, except this language had a wider collection of dots as words, from small to large in size. In some portions of the scrolls, a single dot could be as much as a foot wide, and it was positioned in the middle of the page!

They couldn't nearly figure out what it was for, but one thing was certain, these scrolls were priceless. This place could be a scholar's paradise, and there probably were plenty of scholars here already, even if they were dark and wretched!

Anyway, the team couldn't handle this informational treasure for too long, as they had a task at hand. Regardless of how excited Erdeta was right now, she needed help!

Before they put the last scroll back in its distinctive place, however, Bardeelus heard something that couldn't be mistaken with anything else.

"Bones?" He grunted. 

The rest of them heard this sound as well, almost immediately. Plenty of bones crackled as if someone was beating on them, but the pace was very constant, which hinted that something or things, was approaching them!

They couldn't see what it was, but they got incredibly nervous regardless!

Bardeelus said, "Hell nah! I'm not getting boned down today! Get us out of here, Erdeta, we're gonna fly!"