Thrusting up out of the center of a massive sinkhole along the dry desert mountainside, a city of rich brown and green bamboo towers appeared before them. Deep below the desert surface water rushed out from underground caverns into the sinkhole, flowing past the many green vegetative islands, which connected the city towers together through a series of creatively engineered bamboo bridges. Plant life grew with vitality in the humid environment that filled the sinkhole and the caverns around it.
Even though the recessed waterway was several hundred feet below the desert floor, the city was prominently displayed above the surface with dark brown towers covered in thick vines. The towers were giant bamboo stalks nearly half a thousand-feet high, as multiple holes in the sides allowed light into the hollow center.
Above the city, on the desert floor, were nearly a hundred white tetrahedron pyramids placed in a circle surrounding the sinkhole opening. Each of these three-sided structures were set several hundred feet from the opening and stood twice the height of Grewen. All had markings of the Ov’Unday as well as a doorway on the only completely vertical wall, which faced the center of the sinkhole. The other two walls of the pyramid angled down into the desert floor, much as a two-sided tent would if the front side was raised and the back side touched the ground.
Grewen approached the closest structure along their path and started reading the carved markings. For several minutes he inspected the huge door, which was large enough to drive a wagon through. Stepping back away from it, he shook his head. “This is not our way in.”
Bryus walked up to the sand-pelted doorway. “Well crafted, although I’ve seen better. It wouldn’t take too much to unlock it.”
“No, it’s only a distraction.” Grewen calmly turned away from the door and glanced back and forth at the other pyramids on either side of the current one. “We’ll find the real entrance. I suppose it doesn’t matter which way we start working our way around. The odds of finding the right one are the same.”
Brimmelle scoffed at the comment. “I thought your people were open and trusting. Why the locked doors and all these games?”
“Trewek is isolated out here, and it’s only a few days from Corrock. It is wise to keep the Del’Unday from being tempted to attack.”
By this point, Bryus was working on a spell to cause the stone slab of a door to slide open. His interest was less of entering and more of testing his own knowledge.
After giving the door a half-hearted push, Brimmelle dusted his hands free of sand. “Why didn’t they construct a wall instead of these games of misrepresentation?”
“Walls have a way of working both ways. They keep others out, and yet you become your own prisoner. It simply isn’t the Ov’Unday way.”
“The Ov’Unday way? You say that as though it is superior to all other ways. From what I’ve seen you are far from it. Your hygiene, for starters, is far less than exemplary. ”
Grewen grinned at the Fir’s misguided perception. “It’s not surprising that you would take it that way. You tend to fear what you don’t understand.”
“Fear?” Brimmelle challenged the notion. But before he could continue, Bryus interrupted him.
Bryus had just stepped back away from the pyramid. “Success! It’s unlocked.” He was obviously pleased with his skills of deduction. “Ingenious design. It took me several attempts to crack it. I would assume most Del’Unday wouldn’t have a chance.”
“This is not a good door to enter Trewek,” Grewen informed them. “We must be patient and find the proper one, which is connected to the ramp below, leading us down to the city.”
Pushing the heavy stone double doors open with a wave of his hand and a few verbal magical commands, a ramp appeared before Bryus. It led down under the desert floor and then turned to the left.
Curious, Avanda grabbed Thorik’s hand and led him down to the bend in the ramp. They found that the underground hallway abruptly ended with a fall hundreds of feet to the cavern’s floor.
“Grewen, I’m confused,” Thorik called back to Grewen, who remained at the doorway.
The giant grinned. “What doesn’t add up this time, little man?”
“Why would they build this pyramid if this wasn’t a real entrance? It’s only a decoy, with no safe way down.”
“But it is an entrance.” Grewen chuckled at the Num’s confused look.
“You told us this wasn’t our way down to the city,” Thorik replied as Avanda and he walked back up and exited the pyramid.
“That is correct. As you can see, this path ends with a fall to our deaths.”
“Now I’m more confused than before. Why am I not understanding you?”
“Thorik, you’re going to find out in life how important it is to ask the right questions, not just the first one that you think of. Most people ask questions and resolve that the answer they get is the answer they were looking for. But, in fact, it isn’t. If you are confused about the answers, perhaps it is best to ask a more specific question.”
Thorik thought about this for a few moments. “What is the purpose of these pyramids?”
Grewen grinned. “Excellent question, little man. All of these pyramids are an entrance to Trewek. However, only one of them is used at a time. This prevents outsiders from quickly approaching and attacking. And to ensure the secret of which one is the valid entrance, a different pyramid is periodically selected.”
“How do they change from one pyramid to the next?”
“The ramp in the cave below us is frequently moved so that it fits up tightly to the bottom of a ramp inside one of these pyramids.”
Thorik glanced back down the ramped hallway. “So this is an entrance, just not our entrance at this time.”
Grewen nodded as he began to head to the next pyramid. “So we need to find out which one is attached to the movable ramp. It will take some time to review each and every pyramid, but patience is a virtue.”
“How can we help?” Thorik asked.
“Can you read ancient Ov’Unday script?”
“No.”
“Then I think you’ll have to be patient with me.”
Avanda didn’t care for the idea of slowly walking all the way around the city, checking each of the nearly hundred pyramids one at a time. There had to be a faster way. “How about if we went to the edge of the sinkhole and looked inside to see where the lower ramp fits up to the pyramids?”
“Be my guest, little one. It might just keep your uncontrollable urge to be active under control. And who knows, there is always a chance it may help.” The giant gave her a slow wink to send her on her way.
Avanda smiled proudly at Thorik. She loved being the developer of a great idea. Grabbing Thorik’s hand again, she began to lead him toward the rich brown and green towers rising from the distant sinkhole. The hard flat tan desert of the immediate area was an extreme contrast to everything in the sinkhole.
Meanwhile, Bryus had climbed up toward the top of the pyramid as he looked for additional writings. “Ovlan,” he yelled back down to the party. “She helped create these structures.”
Grewen looked up into the hot sun before replying. “The Nums are heading toward the sinkhole. I’m going to investigate more pyramids to determine which one leads us safely down.”
Bryus squinted out toward the sinkhole and the spires rising from within it. “Nothing of interest out there. I’ll go with you. I’ve read these writings before.”
The idea of looking down into the sinkhole was far from appealing to Brimmelle. His ankles and knees tingled and became weak at just the idea of looking down over the sinkhole’s ledge. “Agreed, I’m not heading out there. I’ll stay here with you.”
“Excellent,” Bryus fired back sarcastically. “Your complaining will surely improve our effectiveness.”
Chapter 16
Thorik’s Fate