I'm Sticking to Fiction. Shielded Land Chapter 6 (replaces old chapter 6) (261 hits)
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Submitted by Registered_S_O (View user info) at 2008-05-16 00:51:41 EDT
(This chapter 6 and my upcoming chapter 7 take place consecutively before the chapter 6 and 8 I have already posted. These two new chapters do not impact the other 2 i mentioned at all)
Chapter 6
Gilena was strapping on her weapon to its rightful place on the left side of her hip as she anxiously watched her door. She moved towards it, taking one last look around her home to make sure everything was in order before stepping out. She had waited two days since Benthen had come to visit her, and was impatient to see the place for herself. Once outside, she locked her door and immediately proceeded right. The tunnel Benthen had told her about was far from where she lived. She would have to cross through Kiergood Square before coming over the newly made tunnels leading beneath the castle.
She always loved walking through Kiergood Square with its multitudes of people and businesses. As she passed through the smoothly cut tunnels of the residential complex, she thought back on all the days spent simply enjoying the sights of that business center of lower Furylin.
One of the more interesting people to visit in Kiergood Square were the artisans. These were men living in the Underground Kingdom who were able to craft anything from rocks removed from the tunnels. Gilena had purchased several pieces of her furniture from there. She fondly recalled the first time she had seen an actual life like statue of a married couple. That couple had paid a handsome amount to have a scene from their wedding immortalized in rock. The finished product had been something to behold. It was almost as if the man and woman were flesh and blood instead of being marble statues. Gilena wouldn't be surprised if the statue was sometimes confused for living people.
She began to slow her pace. In a few minutes, she would cross under the heavy stone archway that stood at the entrance of Kiergood Square. She let the tips of her fingers trail along the stone wall to her right as she marveled, even after all this time, at the smoothness of the tunnels walls. The hundreds of tunnels that had been dug so that people could live underground, not to mention the caverns that were transformed into massive living quarters or business districts, were far more impressive than anything on the surface. Sometimes, Gilena sorely missed living up above. That longing disappeared, as it always did, when she came to the entrance to her second favorite spot in all of Furylin.
As she descended the stairs, the first thing to catch her attention was the massive humming. Hundreds of people were moving about in this district. They were either shopping, eating, selling their wares, or just out for a leisurely walk. The collective sound of all the voices gave a soft hum that Gilena found soothing. Tall buildings beautifully crafted ringed the perimeter of the cavern, giving Kiergood Square a sense of grandeur.
As Gilena wove her way through the crowds of people busy on their own errands, she let her mind drift. She spun around slowly, walking backwards for several steps, gazing appreciatively at the large stalactites that were reaching towards her from high overhead. They reminded her of the teeth a beast might have. She smiled to herself at the silly notion and she turned once again and continued her journey.
Soon she came to the steps of the exit on the other side of the Square. This area of the cavern had fewer people in it. Most of the more popular businesses were built towards the half with the main entrance. This half of Kiergood Square had smaller shops dedicated to selling household amenities. She ascended the steps and found herself alone on the main tunnel.
Her path to the place Benthen had discovered had several more turns to it. She passed many entrances to homes that were much larger than the average ones because they had to accommodate large families. After several more minutes of walking, she came onto the main tunnel work crews had been plowing through for years. Several areas branching off of this tunnel lead to new housing complexes that were still being worked on.
The last decade had seen significant advancement in the area of construction, as evidenced by how quickly this particular tunnel was coming along. The population was growing at a rapid rate, and more and more common people from the surface were migrating to the land below them. People like Benthen who were capable of the hard and dangerous job of burrowing through rock were in high demand.
Gilena soon saw the cordoned off hole that led into the unique cave. Construction had ceased for the last few days as the Guild decided on how they should proceed. She had heard from several of her customers that there were rumors of the incredible city within the underground land of Furylin. Soon everyone would know about it. People would be anxious about such a thing within their midst. Once the surface found out, Gilena worried what would happen.
She pushed such thoughts from her head and continued her walk. The floor was just as even and smooth as the walls and ceilings. Any trace of debris from rocks had been cleared out, section by section as work crews completed a tunnel. She was glad for that. Some of the abandoned tunnels she had investigated when she was younger were tough going.
Soon she was able to make out this hollowed opening with various tools of the construction trade littered on the ground before it. As she came closer, she saw that the entrance was in the shape of a large circle several feet above the ground. She briefly wondered why it hadn't been cut into a large square like all of the other entrances throughout the underground kingdom as first one booted foot and then the rest of her body went through the opening. As she straightened on the other side, complete astonishment overwhelmed her.
The cavern was so tall that its ceiling was shrouded in darkness. The light discs that had been set up around the place couldn't reach that far up. Rubble of buildings, just like Benthen had described to her to, littered the area for as far as she could see.
She turned to the wall to her left and ran her delicate fingers across the smooth surface. This wall was so finely done that it almost felt like glass. Even in the pricier areas of the Underground Kingdom, none of the stone was as finely chiseled as this one was. Gilena let out a low whistle at that considering how experienced this generation of artisans were. She would bet a months supply of Darzta that Pulc, the man she had purchased most of her furniture from, would be envious of the talent it took to achieve what had been done with this wall.
As far as she could see, this wall of the cavern was perfectly even. She trailed along the perimeter for a while, her fingertips caressing the smooth stone and she became more and more awed by its craftsmanship. Even the floor felt perfect.
She turned away, focusing her attention on the mountains of rubble that obscured her view of the deeper parts of the cavern. She could only begin to guess at the majesty of these buildings when they were whole. Now all that was left was a mess of rocks and dust where once stood buildings that would impress anyone with their enormity. As she traced the edge of the first set ruins until she found a pathway to head deeper, she was given the impression she was walking in a graveyard.
She had to climb several small hills of debris where a walkway ended abruptly. As she came to the top of a particularly large mound, she paused and wiped sweat and few strands of red hair from her eyes.
Gilena could dimly make out the wall on the far side of this cavern. She was roughly in the center of the place. She folded her arms beneath her breasts and lightly chewed her lower lip as she studied the landscape before her. Her eyes snapped back to a building that was still standing.
Gilena skidded down the hill and ran towards the only survivor in this resting place of monuments. She deftly traversed the rocky trail she was running on sometimes jumping from spot to spot on the sides of the small hills when the rock was about to give way underneath her feet. She finally came to even ground, a few dozen feet before the doors to the only building still intact.
She approached slowly, her heavy breathing sounding loud in the silence of this massive room. The small building she came to was unremarkable. Large stone blocks that were placed so tightly she doubted she could get the tip of her dagger into the segments made up its body. It was in the shape of a rectangle maybe twice as tall as she was and half again as wide. It was of a pale grey stone like the rest of this cavern. What stood out were the doors.
They were double doors with gold hinges and a golden latch on the left one. The other one hadn't been built with a handle. She placed her hand on it and gave it a tug. It didn't move at all. Try as she might, she could not get the thing to move even a fraction of an inch.
She stepped back and walked the entire length of the buildings. Both the back and sides were as plain as the rest. She tried to push at several places of the walls, but they were all as sturdy as the front doors. This entire cavern was exactly as her friend had described it. She smiled to herself. The trip to see such an amazing place was worth it. Try as she might though, she couldn't imagine who had constructed such a place in the middle of solid rock. Judging by how far one could from the opening to the tunnel system from the surface to where she was now, she estimated that the castle was a little more than a mile above. It couldn't be some type of basement. She turned on her heel and headed back the way she had come. She could go to the Construction Guild and speak with Benthen some more about this place.
User Reviews
Submitted by pen_name (user info) at 2008-05-19 22:39:02 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
http://www.ubersite.com/m/116824
Submitted by Registered_S_O (user info) at 2008-05-18 00:41:34 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I am giving up on my uber career with my story.
Thanks to anyone who enjoyed these.
Submitted by apollo88 (user info) at 2008-05-16 13:47:24 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
No Comment
Submitted by F.J.Bell (user info) at 2008-05-16 11:54:40 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
No Comment
Submitted by HurtByTheSun (user info) at 2008-05-16 07:54:29 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Yeah, that lost me as well.
Submitted by Beano312003 (user info) at 2008-05-16 05:02:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
(This chapter 6 and my upcoming chapter 7 take place consecutively before the chapter 6 and 8 I have already posted. These two new chapters do not impact the other 2 i mentioned at all)
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wtf?
Submitted by Registered_S_O (user info) at 2008-05-16 00:53:22 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
I will be posting two more drafts after this one. Chapter 7 and then chapter 10 (which I need to write). Then I am gonna sit down with my prologue all the way to the end of chapter 10 and read it aloud to fine tune the damn thing. That will take me at least several weeks to get done.
Enjoy.