[ArtsyAlraune]

Temrer gulped. "Well... at least it's not anymore..." He sighed with relief. "I can't help but feel sorry for whoever that was, though."

Enyon held her head up haughtily. "I feel no ssympathy for him," she said. "He'ss long dead, nothing can be done for him."

"You're right, I suppose," Matoya replied with a nod. "Let's just keep walking... Maybe there's something more interesting and less gruesome."

"Yes, let's," Temrer said, walking on ahead further into a room. The 'room' turned out to be a hallway, actually, and it looked like it went in quite a ways. Matoya hovered quietly behind them, and Enyon walked clumsily behind both of them in the back.

[Enyon: 21 | Temrer: 16 | Matoya: 16]

[ArtsyAlraune]

The three companions came across skeleton after skeleton, in just about the same condition as the first. Each had a piece of paper with individual neat writings, and a slightly different image. Perhaps the parchments described the crimes these people had committed, or described how their execution had been carried out. Perhaps they described both. Some of the spears, too, were different among different sets of bones; the ends of some spears were decorated, some were not, some were broken. Perhaps this expressed those executed belonging to different social classes.

"This is really quite a find..." Matoya said. "I haven't really heard anything about a place like this..."

"We could make a fortune," Temrer replied, his eyes staring off into the distance as he imagined himself in a field of riches.

"We could get losst and never get back out," Enyon said. "I think we should find a way back out..."

"What? It's pretty nice in here, though..." Matoya paused. "That is, the temperature. These bones aren't very nice... but it is much cooler in here. Especially so because night has probably fallen by now..."

"Ugh. I don't really want to sleep in here..." Temrer gulped. "Could this place be haunted, you think?"

[Enyon: 22 | Temrer: 17 | Matoya: 17]

[ArtsyAlraune]

"Haunted?" Matoya laughed. "Nonsense. Hauntings are very rare... I wouldn't think this place is."

"And why not?" Temrer asked. "Ruins like these are rare, too, you know... and lots of poeple died here."

"He hass a point," Enyon said.

"Oh, not you too, Enyon!" Matoya frowned. "We'll be fine... Let's just explore a little more, then we'll find a way out, okay?"

Temrer nodded. "Fine, then... I guess I need to shape up, huh?" Temrer planned on joining the Imperials in the war that had begun to stir, as did Matoya and Enyon.

"That'd be a good idea," Enyon replied. She was already eager to kill those allied with the Purines, so she didn't need to shape up too much, herself. "You shouldn't be sso afraid of ghosstss."

Finally, the three passed by a door in the hall. "Oh, I wonder what's in here..." Matoya wondered, quietly hovering over to the doorway.

[Enyon: 23 | Temrer: 18 | Matoya: 18]

[ArtsyAlraune]

"Euugh..." The Kodile made a face as he looked through the door. "This room isn't much better..."

Temrer stepped into the room past Matoya. In the room were a couple of broken chairs, and what appeared to be what was left of a table. Scattered in the floor were various stained knives, and jars containing who-knows-what lined the walls. The Serraptor picked up a knife to inspect it. "Ew... I wonder what went on in here..."

"Dissections, probably," Matoya said disdainfully. "What better way to learn about the body than to dissect someone who would be killed anyway..." He shook his head.

"Hm... That'ss interessting," Enyon said, poking her head inside but not bothering to squeeze the rest of herself through the door. "But I ssuppose they don't do that anymore?"

"I should hope not," Matoya said. "Hm... most of the other rooms in this hall are probably like this, too," he contined, starting to leave. Enyon stepped out of the way and watched him exit the room.

"Wait up, I'm right behind you!" Temrer left the room as well.

[Enyon: 24 | Temrer: 19 | Matoya: 19]

[ArtsyAlraune]

"So... Can we start looking for a way out, now?" Temrer asked after walking for a while.

"Yess, I don't think the crysstal iss here..." Enyon muttered.

Matoya opened his mouth to say something when a crash echoed down the hall. Temrer jumped. "Wh-what was that!?"

"Perhapss... it was a ghosst..." Enyon walked up slowly behind Temrer, as if to act like a ghost herself and scare him.

"Enyon, cut that out," the Kodile snapped. "You're both being a bunch of ninnies."

"Sstrong talk for one sso ssmall..." the Garudor hissed.

"Okay, I really want to get out of here now..." the Serraptor muttered.

"I say we follow the sound!" Matoya said. "There must be some reasonable explanation for all of this..." With that, he fluttered his wings and flew ahead past them.

[Enyon: 25 | Temrer: 20 | Matoya: 20]

[ArtsyAlraune]

Temrer and Enyon ended up following Matoya, of course. The three reached the end of the hallway and found that it branched into two other hallways going in opposite directions. "Oh, great," Temrer mumbled. "Are we going to split up now? Because if we do, since there's only three of us, one of us will--"

"Shush!" Matoya cut him off. "We'll just sit and wait for it..."

"Wait for what?" Temrer asked. "For the ghost to come and get us?"

"Now, lissten up, Temrer," Enyon started to say, "If you're going to join the Imperial Army with uss, you can't be afraid of a little ghosst. Pull yoursself together."

"Hrm..." The Serraptor grumbled, not saying anything else.

"What we're waiting for," the Kodile began, "is for that sound again. Once we hear it, we'll know which way to go." After that, Matoya was quiet, listening carefully.

"..."

"..."

Finally, there was another crashing noise, followed by an odd squawking cry. "After it!" Matoya shouted, darting down the hall he heard the sound come from.

[Enyon: 26 | Temrer: 21 | Matoya: 21]

[ArtsyAlraune]

When they at last reached the end of the next hallway, they had still found nothing. Temrer was a little more at ease now, since they hadn't found anything twice in a row. Perhaps it wasn't a ghost...

"Where did it go?" Matoya frowned. The party had wound up again at a point where the hallway split into two more hallways. "I guess we'll have to wait for it again..." Sure enough, another crashing sound, but louder this time.

"I've had jusst about enough of thiss!" Enyon hissed, racing ahead first this time. Her head bobbed back and forth and her claws scrabbled against the floor, making her look silly rather than intimidating.

"Wait up, Enyon!" Temrer called after her as he ran.

There was another crashing sound, very loud this time, causing the trio to go faster. Finally they reached a room at the end of the hall- Finally they would see the source of the strange noises!

[Enyon: 27 | Temrer: 22 | Matoya: 22]

[ArtsyAlraune]

"I've got you now!" Enyon cried, bursting into the room. "...! What iss thiss? What are you doing here?"

"Gaak! Don't hurt me..!" It was Jeremy, tangled up in his red yarn yet again; this time it had gotten caught on a ceiling support. He was lying on the floor bound by his feet, and he was flapping his wings wildly trying to get back up again.

"Tell me what you're doing here," she hissed, walking up to Jeremy and sticking her face in his.

"P-please don't hurt me, miss," he stuttered. "L-look over there," he continued, pointing to a piece of white paper lying in some of his black feathers.

Matoya hovered over and picked it up. He unfolded it to see what it said; It read:

"Nope, no crystal.
I hope you have found something else, though.
With love,
Mu"

Temrer gaped at Matoya as he was reading this note aloud. "...what?"

[Enyon: 28 | Temrer: 23 | Matoya: 23 | Jeremy: 1]

[ArtsyAlraune]

"That... that... Mu!" Matoya grumbled, discarding the note onto the ground. "He sent us on a wild goose chase!"

"He what!?" Temrer couldn't believe his ears.

"Explain!" Enyon hissed to Jeremy, stomping a foot next to his head.

"Y-yes, ma'am! Y-y'see, Mu knew you were slacking off in your training... He sent me to plant some evidence, in some newly-discovered ruins," he explained. "That tablet? Mu wrote it."

"So that's why I hadn't heard of these ruins... A recent discovery. And that's why the tablet looked so good... I guess this is yours, too," Matoya said, holding up the forepaw the red string was tied around.

"Yes, it is... I got snagged on something on my way to leave the note in this room," he admitted.

"So that's what this is all about... What else was he wanting us to find, then?" Temrer asked.

Jeremy shrugged his shoulders. "I dunno."

[Enyon: 29 | Temrer: 24 | Matoya: 23 | Jeremy: 2]

[ArtsyAlraune]

"Mu'ss going to pay dearly for wassting my time..." Enyon mumbled.

"Don't you see, though?" Matoya asked Enyon. "This wasn't really a waste of time... We got out and stretched our legs, didn't we? I think we're a little better prepared for the war now."

"...I ssuppose..." the Garudor replied.

"Well... In any case... I guess we're done in here, huh?" Temrer asked.

"I believe so," Matoya replied. "Jeremy, can you show us how you got in?"

Temrer stepped over and cut some of Jeremy's yarn, freeing him so he could stand. "Yeah, yeah!" He nodded. "There was another entrance pretty close to that hole you guys fell through, actually!"

"Oh, wass there..." Enyon glowered.

"Uh-huh, just follow me back." Wrapping his strings around his torso so they wouldn't get caught on anything else, Jeremy sprang through the doorway and made his way down the halls. Temrer and Matoya exchanged glances and ran after him. Disgruntled, Enyon followed.

[Enyon: 30 | Temrer: 25 | Matoya: 25 | Jeremy: 3]

[ArtsyAlraune]

Jeremy led them down the desolate halls until they finally reached the large, empty room they had started in. Matoya's witchlight was still wavering in the very center of the room, though it had started to fade after the others had left. "Well, here we are," the black Garudor cawed, fluttering over to a wall. Moonlight from the hole in the ceiling shone down on his ebony feathers, mixing blue with the green witchlight.

Temrer looked around. "Where's that other entrance you were talking about?"

"...Oh," Jeremy said eventually. "It's... blocked. By a bunch of rocks." He feebly tried to push a block of rubble with a foot but stumbled backwards with a squawk. "Those weren't there when I came in here..."

Matoya hovered over next to Jeremy. "I'll bet this is the floor that fell from under Enyon..."

"Sso... How do we get out?" Enyon asked. "The hole wass big enough for me to fall through, but not to fly through..."

"Hrm... Good question," Matoya said, sitting down. "Temrer and I can't fly, anyway... So we couldn't get out that way..."

[Enyon: 31 | Temrer: 26 | Matoya: 26 | Jeremy: 4]

[ArtsyAlraune]

"Well... The only solution I can come up with would be to move the rocks," Matoya said, referring to the rubble that blocked the way Jeremy came in.

"How are we gonna do that?" Jeremy asked, having already tried to push the stone away himself. "Even if we all tried pushing 'em together, they wouldn't budge."

"Wait, I have an idea," Temrer said. "Wait there..." He trotted out of the room, going back to the halls they had just come from. When he returned, he was holding several from the ancient spears that had been used in the executions long ago. He had picked some of the better, stronger ones. "We'll use these."

Enyon blinked. "How?"

The Serraptor lined them all up by their longest sides on the floor. "Jeremy, I'm going to need some of your string."

"M-my string!" Jeremy whimpered, hugging the yarn tightly to himself.

"Jeremy... This might be our only way to get out," Matoya started to say, in an attempt to help Temrer out. "You won't be able to use what you'll have left if we don't get out of here."

"Oh, alright..." The black Garudor unraveled all of the red yarn from his body and dropped it before Temrer. "Take what you need."

[Enyon: 32 | Temrer: 27 | Matoya: 27 | Jeremy: 5]

[ArtsyAlraune]

"Thanks," Temrer said shortly, taking up some of the string. With it, he began to clumsily tie all of the spears together. "Matoya, make sure these strings are tied well enough..."

The Kodile flitted over and looked at the spears closely. He pulled on the end of one, and the others were dragged along with it. "I think so..." He tightened up some of the knots with his smaller, nimbler claws, then backed away. "That should be good enough. What are you planning?"

"I'll use them like this..." Temrer picked the bundle of spears up and shoved the spearheads under a smallish chunk of rubble. He found a vaguely triangular stone and tucked it between the ends of the spears and the floor. Then, the Serraptor pushed down on the opposite ends of the spears. The piece of rubble resting on the spearheads was flung away.

"Oh, I see!" Matoya exclaimed. "A lever!"

"Precisely," Temrer said with a grin. "With these spears bundled like this, they'll be a bit stronger.

"And with our combined weight," Enyon put in, "it'll be enough to move the larger bitss of sstone."

"That's... really smart," Jeremy complemented, once he slowly understood all of this.

[Enyon: 33 | Temrer: 28 | Matoya: 28 | Jeremy: 6]

[ArtsyAlraune]

And so, the four began their work. Temrer would move the stone he was using as a fulcrum just a bit away from the rubble they planned to move, then shoved the spearheads up under the rubble. After this was done, the Serraptor would push the ends down, then Enyon or Jeremy would perch on the very ends. If this was not enough, Matoya would jump up and land on the ends, a force which was stronger than if the Kodile had simply sat there. They started with the surrounding smaller pieces of stone, then moved on to the larger pieces. Soon, there was only one block of debris left, just big enough to block the entrance from the Garudors.

"Just one more, guys..." Temrer positioned his makeshift lever and began to push down on the ends. "You next, Jeremy."

"Right," he said, climbing onto the end of the spear-lever and sitting there. Matoya then jumped up behind Jeremy.

"I don't think this is going to be enough," the Kodile said once he recovered from his landing. He tried continuing to hop up and down on it to no avail.

"Let's try something else, then," Temrer suggested, letting go. "Jeremy, Enyon, both of you put a foot on the end, there. Keep aloft just enough that you don't fall over on yourselves.

The two Garudors exchanged glances, and, nodding to eachother, did so. They lightly flapped their wings just enough that they didn't tip themselves over, and they both put all of the weight they could into that single foot perched on the lever.

"I think this'll do it," Temrer said, starting to apply his own weight.

"I sure--" Matoya hopped up onto the lever. "--hope so!"

[Enyon: 34 | Temrer: 29 | Matoya: 29 | Jeremy: 7]

[ArtsyAlraune]

With a combined effort from the four of them, with a great rumble the last chunk of stone rolled out of the way. "Whoo! We did it!" Jeremy cheered, hopping around the exposed tunnel.

"Now, let's get out of here," Temrer said, climbing up inside it.

"I'm right behind you!" Matoya exclaimed, sounding most enthusiastic.

Jeremy looked at Enyon and smiled, bowing and gesturing his wings. "Ladies first..."

"Hrmph." The white Garudor stepped cautiously into the tunnel, and Jeremy followed. The four made their way through the tunnel, following the sound of Temrer's footsteps. The Serraptor had no idea where he was going in the dark tunnel, having to grope the walls, until at last he could see the night sky that the end.

"Finally!" he cried, leaping out and landing in the nice, warm sand.

"I'm going to miss how cool it was in there..." Matoya sighed.

[Enyon: 35 | Temrer: 30 | Matoya: 30 | Jeremy: 8]