Chapter 8: Trial Of Truth
The air grew heavier as Ning Que stepped into the corridor, the door behind him groaning shut with an ominous thud that echoed into the dark. Gold inscriptions glimmered faintly along the stone walls, whispering secrets only the dead could understand. Ning Que read each of them, easily deciphering the meanings behind each message.
"System, what language is this?" He whispered as his eyes raked over the inscriptions. Many of them translated to old words of advice, while some were in parables.
{Ancient Travic, used by old hunters before the great battle} the robotic voice replied. Ning Que’s curiosity grew. "Great battle?"
{Yes. Beasts and tunnels existed the same way they do now, but it has been almost five centuries.}
His brows shot up at the discovery. Interesting, he thought.
He paid no attention to the two guards that flanked him on both sides, their faces expressionless, eyes hidden behind dark visors. They didn’t speak, or blink, just walked with him in silence, the only sound echoing being the dull thud of their boots and Ning Que’s shallow breathing.
For some reason, this didn’t feel like a reassessment, it felt more like a trap. But he had to go through with it, to avoid raising unnecessary suspicion from the Guild. Ning Que had not yet fully understood what had happened to him, so it was best to lay low and comply until he did.
The hallway stretched on forever, each step pulling him deeper into something he couldn’t quite name. The last time he’d felt this kind of dread was when he watched his mother stab William.
And then die right in front of him.
His fingers curled at the memory, the flames of that trauma still licking behind his mind. The night he died.
At the end of the hallway stood another door. It was much older, larger, its frame cracked with time, and the vines of what looked like some long-dead plant twisted across the surface like overworked veins. There was only one tiny inscription at the doorknob, and Ning Que’s observant eyes were able to read it before he was tapped on the shoulder.