Chapter 181: Woman
The staircase descended farther than Denzel expected.
He kept one hand against the wall as he went, using the rough stone to steady himself while his eyes adjusted to the darkness. The air grew colder with every step.
Behind him, the Knight followed closely.
Neither of them spoke.
The sound of their footsteps carried strangely through the narrow passage. Each step seemed louder than it should have been, echoing down into whatever waited below.
Denzel counted without meaning to.
Twenty-three.
Twenty-four.
Twenty-five.
The staircase still continued.
’This place was built for something.’
The thought came naturally.
The passage wasn’t some crude hiding place someone had dug beneath the city. The steps were too even. The walls had been cut too cleanly. Whoever built it had expected people to use it.
The question was why.
And why Sophia had known about it.
Denzel reached the next step.
His boot touched stone.
A faint blue glow appeared beneath it.
He stopped immediately.
The Knight nearly walked into him.
"What?"
Denzel raised a hand.
She froze.
The blue light beneath his boot slowly spread across the surface of the step, revealing a thin symbol carved into the stone.
Three lines through a circle.
The same symbol they’d seen upstairs.
The Knight crouched beside him.
"It reacts to pressure."
"Looks like it."
She glanced farther down.
Several more symbols were carved into the staircase.
"They weren’t glowing before."
"No."
Denzel lifted his foot.
The light disappeared.
He looked at the Knight.
"Stay behind me."
She gave him a flat look.
"You say that like I’m going to listen."
"You’re carrying a sword."
"So are you."
"Exactly."
She frowned.
"That doesn’t make sense."
"It makes perfect sense to me."
Denzel stepped down again.
The symbol lit.
Then another one farther below activated.
Then another.
A chain of faint blue lights traveled down the staircase.
For a moment, the darkness below them became visible.
The staircase continued for another thirty or forty steps before opening into something wider.
Denzel stared.
He couldn’t see the bottom clearly.
But he could see something else.
Torches.
Dozens of them.
Someone had lit them.
Recently.
The Knight’s voice dropped.
"Someone is maintaining this place."
Denzel nodded.
"That means we’re not the first people down here."
"And possibly not the only ones."
Denzel continued descending.
The Knight followed.
The farther they went, the stronger the smell became.
Not blood.
Smoke.
Old stone.
And something faintly metallic.
When they reached the bottom, Denzel stopped.
The staircase opened into a massive underground corridor.
He looked left.
Then right.
The corridor disappeared into darkness in both directions.
Torches burned at regular intervals along the walls.
Not ancient flames.
Fresh ones.
Their oil hadn’t even begun to blacken the stone above them.
Denzel stepped off the final stair.
The Knight came beside him.
"This isn’t under the bell tower."
Denzel looked around.
"No."
"Then where are we?"
He didn’t answer.
A soft metallic sound came from somewhere ahead.
Clink.
Denzel’s hand went to his sword.
The Knight immediately drew hers.
They waited.
Nothing.
Then—
Clink.
Again.
Denzel narrowed his eyes.
"Did you hear that?"
"Yes."
"From the right?"
She shook her head.
"Left."
Denzel looked left.
The sound came again.
Closer.
Clink.
Clink.
Something was moving through the corridor.
The Knight shifted her stance.
Denzel raised one finger.
Wait.
The sound stopped.
Silence returned.
Then a small object rolled out of the darkness.
It struck the stone floor between them.
Clink.
Denzel looked down.
A coin.
Old.
Blackened around the edges.
He crouched and picked it up.
There was a symbol on one side.
A crowned wolf.
The other side carried a single word.
Eldoria.
Denzel’s expression changed.
The Knight noticed.
"That’s the same word."
"Yeah."
She looked down the corridor.
"Then we’re getting closer."
Denzel closed his fingers around the coin.
"Maybe."
A voice came from behind them.
"Closer than you think."
Both of them turned.
A young woman stood at the bottom of the staircase.
Denzel’s sword was halfway out before he stopped himself.
She wore a dark cloak.
Her hair was tied behind her head.
A short blade rested at her hip.
But she wasn’t looking at him.
She was staring at the Knight.
The Knight raised her weapon.
"Who are you?"
The woman sighed.
"You two took your time."
Denzel frowned.
"You were waiting for us?"
"No."
Her eyes shifted toward him.
"I was waiting for him."
Denzel pointed his sword slightly toward her.
"That’s becoming a common theme."
She almost smiled.
"Then you should start asking yourself why."
The Knight stepped forward.
"Where is Sophia?"
The woman’s expression changed.
Not much.
But enough.
Concern.
Then relief.
"She made it."
Denzel’s grip tightened.
"Where?"
The woman looked down the corridor.
"She went ahead."
"Why?"
"She didn’t have a choice."
Denzel stepped closer.
"What happened?"
The woman studied him for a moment.
Then she looked at the pendant hanging from his coat.
"You have hers."
Denzel glanced down.
"Said someone who knew we’d find it."
The woman nodded.
"Good."
"Good?"
"It means she trusted you."
Denzel’s eyes narrowed.
"You keep saying things like that."
"Because they’re true."
"Then explain."
The woman hesitated.
"Not here."
Denzel looked around.
The corridor was empty.
"What exactly is wrong with here?"
She glanced toward the darkness behind them.
"They know we’re here."
The Knight turned.
"Who?"
The woman’s face hardened.
"The people Sophia was running from."
A low sound echoed through the corridor.
Not footsteps.
A horn.
One deep note.
The woman swore under her breath.
"They found us."
Denzel turned toward the darkness.
"How many?"
"I don’t know."
The Knight raised her sword.
"Then we should find out."
The woman looked at her.
"You don’t understand."
"Then explain faster."
The woman looked toward Denzel.
"The people coming aren’t here to capture Sophia."
Denzel’s expression tightened.
"Then what are they here for?"
"They’re here to kill everyone who knows where she is."
Another horn sounded.
Closer this time.
The woman grabbed the torch from the wall.
"Move."
Denzel didn’t.
"Where?"
She pointed down the corridor.
"There’s a chamber ahead."
"Dead end?"
"No."
"Then why are you standing here?"
She stared at him.
"Because I was waiting for you."
Denzel sighed.
"Everyone in this place needs a new line."
The Knight actually snorted.
The woman blinked.
Denzel was already moving.
"Lead."
She turned and ran.
Denzel followed.
The Knight came behind him.
Their footsteps thundered through the corridor.
The woman moved quickly, but she knew the passage well. She took turns without hesitation, never slowing to check where she was going.
Denzel noticed something after the third turn.
The torches weren’t placed randomly.
Every intersection had one.
Every dead end had none.
The woman wasn’t simply leading them through a tunnel.
She was following a route.
A planned route.
They passed another symbol carved into the wall.
Then another.
Three lines through a circle.
Denzel touched the wall as he ran past.
Fresh.
Still warm.
"She was here."
The woman glanced back.
"Yes."
"How long ago?"
"Less than an hour."
Denzel’s pace increased.
The Knight noticed.
"You’re worried."
"No."
"You are."
Denzel looked ahead.
"I’m calculating."
"That’s what worried people say when they don’t want to admit they’re worried."
Denzel didn’t answer.
The woman glanced between them.
"You two always talk like this?"
"Yes," the Knight said.
"No," Denzel said at the same time.
The woman stared.
The Knight smiled.
Denzel kept running.
They reached a large stone door.
The woman slammed her palm against it.
The door opened.
"Inside."
They rushed through.
She turned and pulled the door shut.
A heavy boom echoed from the other side.
Then another.
The woman pressed her back against the stone.
"That’s not going to hold long."
Denzel looked around.
The chamber was much larger than the corridor.
Rows of old wooden shelves lined the walls.
Most were empty.
Some contained books.
Others held sealed boxes and strange metal instruments.
At the center stood a circular stone platform.
And on that platform—
Denzel stopped.
A familiar object rested there.
Sophia’s scarf.
He crossed the room.
The Knight followed.
Denzel picked it up.
Still warm.
His jaw tightened.
"She was here."
The woman nodded.
"She waited here for you."
"Why?"
"Because she knew you would follow."
Denzel looked at her.
"You keep saying that."
"Because she kept saying it."
The pounding against the door grew louder.
The woman walked toward the center of the chamber.
"Sophia told me something before she left."
Denzel waited.
"She said if you reached this room, I should tell you the truth."
The Knight’s expression sharpened.
"Finally."
The woman looked at Denzel.
"Sophia isn’t the person they’re really after."
Denzel frowned.
"What?"
"They’re after what she knows."
"About Eldoria?"
The woman’s eyes widened slightly.
"You know the name."
Denzel pulled the coin from his pocket.
"This was waiting for us."
She stared at it.
Then slowly exhaled.
"So she left you a second clue."
"Apparently."
The woman looked toward the door.
"We don’t have much time."
Denzel placed the coin on the stone platform.
"Then start talking."
The woman looked at the coin.
"Eldoria was a kingdom."
The Knight frowned.
"Was?"
"It disappeared."
"When?"
"Twenty years ago."
Denzel’s eyes narrowed.
"That isn’t possible."
"It is."
"No kingdom disappears."
"This one did."
The woman walked to one of the shelves and pulled out an old book.
Dust fell from the cover.
She opened it.
The pages were filled with maps.
She turned several.
Then stopped.
Denzel approached.
The map showed the region around them.
Or what used to be the region.
A large kingdom had once occupied the northern territories.
Eldoria.
Denzel studied the map.
The borders were enormous.
Cities.
Rivers.
Mountain ranges.
Then he noticed something.
One location had been marked with the same symbol.
Three lines through a circle.
He pointed.
"What is that?"
The woman’s face tightened.
"Eldoria’s royal seal."
The Knight looked at the pendant.
"So Sophia’s pendant is connected to the kingdom."
"Yes."
"How?"
The woman closed the book.
"Because Sophia is connected to the royal family."
Silence.
Denzel stared at her.
The Knight’s expression changed.
"What are you saying?"
The woman looked directly at Denzel.
"Sophia is the last surviving heir of Eldoria."
The words settled over the chamber.
Denzel didn’t react immediately.
He looked down at the pendant.
The same symbol.
The same silver.
The blood that had stained it.
The message.
The stranger.
Everything suddenly seemed to fit together.
Almost.
One piece was still missing.
"Why is she hiding?"
The woman looked away.
"Because the kingdom didn’t disappear naturally."
Denzel’s eyes hardened.
"What happened?"
The woman closed the book.
"It was destroyed."
"By who?"
She didn’t answer.
The pounding against the door stopped.
All three of them froze.
Denzel slowly looked toward the entrance.
Nothing.
No sound.
No movement.
The silence was worse than the pounding.
The woman whispered.
"They’re here."
The Knight tightened her grip.
"How many?"
The woman shook her head.
"Enough."
Denzel looked around the room.
There had to be another exit.
He moved toward the shelves.
The Knight followed.
"What are you looking for?"
"A way out."
"There isn’t one."
"There is."
"How do you know?"
"Because Sophia got out."
The woman stared at him.