Chapter 31 – A Discovery

  Kaelin and Aria trudged across the rocky expanse, the weight of their discovery still settling in. The sun had shifted in the sky, casting long shadows over the landscape. The climb had left both of them exhausted, but the urgency to return to Elric kept them moving. Every step was a reminder of their ordeal underground – the dust in their lungs, the scrape of stone against their palms, the eerie silence of the ruins.

  As they neared their original entry point, Kaelin spotted a familiar figure pacing anxiously near the edge of entrance to the main set of ruins. Elric. Even from a distance, his tension was palpable. His usual composed demeanour had cracked, revealing an uncharacteristic restlessness. The moment he saw them, he rushed forward, his face a mix of relief and frustration.

  "By God, you’re alive!" he exclaimed, stopping just short of grabbing Kaelin by the shoulders. His sharp eyes scanned them both, checking for injuries. "What in all the heavens were you thinking? I turn around for one moment, and you vanish into the depths of who-knows-where!"

  Aria raised an eyebrow, brushing dust off her sleeves. "It wasn’t exactly planned. The floor decided it didn’t like us."

  Elric pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaling sharply. "You’re both fortunate you didn’t end up buried beneath the ruins. Do you have any idea how worried I was?" His gaze softened slightly as he studied them again, as if ensuring they were truly standing before him and not some illusion.

  Kaelin shifted, glancing at Aria before speaking. "We found something. There was this large chamber with 3 statues. Two of them were smaller but they were all human-like. I’m thinking it might be another religion from around the time. Were there any others back then? Oh and there were also some symbols.”

  Elric’s brows furrowed. "No… The church of Achelous has been the only religion in the continent for at least the last few millennia. It must be something else. What kind of symbols were they?”

  Kaelin hesitated. She wasn’t sure how much she should reveal just yet. She pulled the bag off her shoulders and revealed a notebook. She carefully flicked to the page she had written on the larger statue. Making sure not to reveal any others.

  “I found this line inscribed next to the statues. Any ideas?”

  Elric took the book from her hands, his expression shifting from concern to fascination. He read over it a few times, trying to make something of it.

  "This language… it’s archaic, but it seems similar to the runes we’ve found elsewhere. This is what the order of mages used," he murmured. "Where exactly did you find these?"

  Kaelin crossed her arms. "In the chamber beneath the ruins. The statues each had a plaque on the bottom.” Kaelin thought about what to say about the others briefly, “The largest one was the only one with anything on it. But whatever this place was, it was built to last, it’s been millennia since anyone’s been down there. And someone, a long time ago, must have written this, wanting it to be found.”

  Elric’s grip on the book tightened. "This could be a monumental discovery. If we can translate this, we might uncover something lost to history."

  Kaelin nodded, feigning a casual tone. "I was hoping to study them in my free time. Maybe I can help decipher some of it."

  Elric regarded her for a long moment before sighing. "I suppose you’ve earned that right. I’ll need to make a copy for the board but be careful with it. Should you find out what it says, tell any of the professors immediately. Is that clear?”

  “Yes, thank you very much sir!”

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Kaelin nodded, tucking her notebook away in her pack. She had no intention of letting all the knowledge slip through her fingers. She would study it, yes – but she had another plan in mind. Aric. If anyone could make sense of them, it was him. She just had to find the right way to ask without revealing too much.

  “Also, what happened to the books which were on the pedestal?” Kaelin asked curiously.

  “Those? I had assumed they were yours, so I kept them safe. Here you go. Don’t worry, I didn’t read them.” Eldric said, a subtle wink shot her way.

  “No not, not at all! That was what I first wanted to show you. They were sitting atop the pedestal when we arrived. I thought they might be of note.” Kaelin said as she took them into her hands. “I’ll give them into Aric when we get back. I’m sure he’ll be able to help us figure out what they are.”

  “WHA- Oh… Ok. They are yours to keep. As is the law, finders keepers. But please do consider donating them to the architecture core. As you should know, you are only given a week to research them yourself before they must be handed over.”

  “What? I thought I owned them?” Kaelin said inquisitively.

  “Well of course they still belong to you. With any texts found in a ruin, the Royal Architecture core is allowed to… seize them for up to a month, one week after they were first found. This is all to prevent people from hoarding knowledge and the likes.”

  Elric straightened, running a hand through his hair. "We’ll need to report these to the academy though. They’ll want a team here to secure the site before treasure hunters catch wind of it."

  Aria groaned. "So, what you’re saying is, we’re about to be buried in a mountain of scholars with magnifying glasses and zero sense of adventure."

  Elric gave her a dry look. "If by that you mean experts who won’t go falling through the floor, and almost dying, I might add, then yes."

  Kaelin smirked, slinging her pack over her shoulder. "We should get moving before the sun sets. I’d rather not spend the night out here."

  Elric nodded, his expression still heavy with thought as he carefully tucked the book under his arm. "Agreed. Let’s head back. And Kaelin?"

  She looked up.

  "Don’t go running off again. Next time, I might not be able to find you."

  Kaelin gave him a cheeky grin. "I’ll try my best."

  As they began their trek back, the weight of their discovery settled in. Kaelin had a feeling this was just the beginning. The ruins had given up some of their secrets, but not all. And she intended to uncover the rest – one way or another.

  In an attempt to break the silence, Kaelin spoke up snarkily, “But for the record, you didn’t find us. We found you.”

  ***

  Upon arriving at the academy, it was already past midnight. Saturday had ended, and the new school-week had just begun.

  Kaelin headed straight to her room and put the “newly found” books on her desk.

  Good. At least the books are legal now. I should go about seeing Aric tomorrow. I’m sure the “Royal Building Society” or whatever pretentious name they went under could be stopped by him. I don’t even want to think about what they might do if they realised that I’ve had access to these… these god awful books. I can’t let the country get a hold of them. They’ll surely use these to “benefit” the country in some way or another.

  Kaelin checked for her spare notebooks under her mattress. The ones she had re-written the spells in. They were all accounted for.

  Perfect. I can hand these in and see what Aric has to say about it. While I’m there I should ask about the symbols. He might have something to say. Ooh and maybe he’ll let me learn something new!

  Kaelin stayed up for two further hours into the night in an effort to understand the runes she had noted down in her book, but she was unable to find any correlation. It was like a code, where each word might have had a different key to decipher it.

  Before she knew it, it was morning. A streak of light shone through a crack in the luxurious blue curtains, causing her face to glow a bright white.

  Kaelin sat up in her chair and stretched. She felt a constant ache in her lower back, a side effect of sleeping awkwardly at her desk. Looking down at her research from the night before, she decided to get back to work before Lena came over to grab her.

  Better freshen up first. Can’t be walking around in the same dusty clothes I was yesterday.

  When Kaelin finally got to work, she’d noticed something. In all of the symbols for each magic type, there was some continuity. At the right side of the symbols, you could see a line down and to the left, with another line placed just below.

  And she found the same thing by the other symbols. Although it was possible for it to be some sort of language structure which was used next to a single character sentence, it was much more likely to be the part which dictated Magic.

  “Kaelin!” Lena shouted from behind her door.

  All this pointed to two brand new – or more likely old – magic types. Kaelin had so many questions, but she was about to be late, so this could wait ‘till later.