Akira and the other officers were all gathered inside the command tent that had been only recently erected inside the recently built large redoubt. Everyone stood around a small wooden table, the only furniture that had been pulled off one of the ships and had been carried up the ashy hill.
“…so far these groups are the only people we have encountered in our searches,” said Akira, finishing his speech.
Everyone nodded as they mulled over everything Akira had just told them about the two different factions.
“Awooo!”
A warning howl from the redoubts patrolling guards interrupted their thoughts and when they fully understood the howl they looked to both Akira and Zundar questioningly.
Zundar only shrugged his large shoulders while Akira beckoned Everyone to follow him out of the tent and up onto the freshly packed down reinforced ashy walls of the redoubt.
The patrolling werewolves that had spotted someone approaching moments before only pointed towards the edge of the stone tree forest when Akira and the rest joined them.
Akira looked out and saw that there was a decent-sized group of Minos walking towards the hill where everyone was standing. As he scanned their faces he found a familiar face, Spearia.
When the group of Minos reached the bottom of the hill they stopped and didn’t move any closer.
“What do you need?” asked Zundar, speaking in the ancient language.
Spearia and the other Minos did not get angry at Zundar’s rude and rough way of speaking as they had dealt with many remote villages that had many hermits whose speech was even rougher and harsher than his.
Zundar and a few of the Minos traded several sentences back and forth before he turned to Akira and said, “Since they heard we have been exploring the nearby areas, they wanted us to know there are far more places to discover underground. If you want, they can show us the entrance to one of the main underground tunnel road systems.”
“What’s wrong with walking above ground?” asked Akira suspicious of the group’s ulterior motives. He had seen and experienced similar situations several times already with demigods and other hostile groups to not be suspicious.
Zundar shrugged and turned back to the Minos at the bottom of the hill speaking with them to clarify some of Akira’s questions and doubts.
“According to them… because of the Cold War, not many people travel above ground for long distances because of the dangers they would encounter. The land above ground is also harsh and hard to travel for long distances especially if you have wagons and other things you want to transport. Most of their long-distance travel happens underground using the many thousands of interconnected tunnels,” said Zundar.
“Sounds dangerous…,” said Akira.
“If we are to trust what Spearia just told me then most of the tunnels have not been used in decades. Many of the older paths have fallen into disrepair or have been taken over by monsters… If you step off of the main roadway and take the wrong tunnels you could find yourself in a maze or at a dead end.”
“… and all they want to do is show us the way to the tunnels?” asked Akira.
“Seems so,” said Zundar.
Akira only took a few short moments to think everything over before turning to the officers behind him.
“Continue fortifying our position here and work on those other plans we talked about. I’ll take some people with me to check it out. We can’t have such a place left wide open for the demigods to pop up out of nowhere,” said Akira, issuing orders to everyone.
***
Spearia led the group through the stone forest for over an hour and a half before reaching a large flat and circular stone leaning against a tall rocky hill.
“Endransu,” said Spearia pointing at the stone.
A few of the young Minos walked up to the large stone and began pushing it to the side revealing a large set of steps leading deep into the ground. Akira focused on them to see their names and levels [Mack level 50] [Jack level 70], they didn’t seem too strong compared to those that had been picked to come with Akira. They, like the rest of the Minos, were only lightly armed and armored.
With the stone now pushed to the side the two stepped aside to allow Akira and Fluffball to walk up to the open tunnel where the two sniffed the stale air that was now escaping the tunnel.
Neither he nor Fluffball caught a whiff of anyone waiting farther down the stairs.
The tunnel was rather dark and even with his racial skills which allowed him to see more clearly in the dark, he knew that if there was no light source the best he could do was see shadowy blobs and rely on his sense of smell.
Luckily there was no need to grope around like a blind man since there was a rack of lanterns built into the stone wall of the tunnel’s stairs.
“Icontekoutubesilace,” said Spearia after some time had passed watching Akira and Fluffball sniffing the air.
Akira turned to Zundar who scratched his head and said, “I think she is offering to take us to a special place underground.”
“Let’s do it!” said Akira. ‘If this is a trap it’s better to get it done and over with now!’
“So fast? I thought I would have had to convince you to go…” said Zundar before he turned and relayed Akira’s acceptance.
Spirea took a lantern and placed a dark mineral inside before using a flint and a knife to start a fire inside the lantern. When the fire was lit it was used as a source to light the other lanterns that were handed out to several other Minos and a few of the members of Akira’s scouting party.
With a nod to everyone Spearia and the young Minos walked down the stairs first leading the way.
As Akira walked down the long stairway he kept his guard up constantly scanning the black stone walls and the ceiling of the tunnel to make sure there were no openings for sneaky people to spy on or attack them.
Akira soon lost count of how many steps they had taken and he noticed that the walls were becoming slick with moisture and moss of various types.
Every so often he saw large gouges and other types of damage dealt to the walls from ancient battles that had taken place in these tunnels. This only solidified his suspicion that there were more battles underground than above ground. Some of the damage to the walls looked completely unlike what a weapon could do which Akira guessed was from some unknown monster or monsters.
When they reached the bottom of the stairs they found themselves in a black stone room that had over ten tunnels that branched off in different directions. Each of the tunnels was different, some of them were large and square with a flat floor while others were short and rounded tunnels that had uneven floors.
Above each of the tunnels were words from the ancient language chiseled into the stone.
Spearia did not wait for them to inspect everything and walked into the tunnel that was on the farthest right of the stairs.
The tunnel continued to slant down heading deeper underground. Akira could tell that the air was getting even more humid as they descended which was intriguing.
After a long stretch of time, Akira could see the end of the tunnel they were walking down, not from the lanterns, but from the dim blue glowing light that was growing ever-so-slightly brighter as they walked closer.
As he passed through the tunnel’s exit and stepped into the bright opening he blinked his eyes several times to get accustomed to the bright blue light and what he saw was a magnificent sight.
A large underground lake stood before them.
The size of the lake was big enough that several thousands of people could swim in it at the same time and still have room for more! Akira was not sure how deep it was but either way, there was a lot of water here!
At the shore of the lake, there were thousands of flowers whose petals were glowing blue and the source of light inside the underground cavern.
Akira’s attention turned to the countless numbers of light blue butterflies that were Flying above the lake and the flowers. They had glittering wings that twinkled like stars in the night sky. As they flew from flower to flower, sparkly particles fell in their wake leaving a sparking trail behind them for a few seconds before disappearing. The sight mesmerized everyone who was not accustomed to it.
When Akira finally pulled his gaze away from the butterflies, he was able to see there were a few stone huts carved into the walls and several fully armored and armed Minos warriors were exiting them to come and greet those that had just arrived.
Unlike the villagers and the older teen who had come with Spearia, these guards were a little more muscular than the average Minos they had seen so far. They were still lacking in size and muscle when compared to Zundar but at least they did not look like tall twigs.
Spearia said something unintelligible before walking over to the guards to greet them with a bow.
Zundar leaned over to Akira and translated the parts of the conversation he could understand between the head guard and Spearia.
“This lake is very important to their village. There are many such lakes and underground rivers. Many towns settle near such places as a foundation and lifeline for keeping the village alive. Very important with how dry and harsh the land is above ground.”
Spearia left the guards who returned to their huts and walked back over to Akira and Zundar. She began chatting and pointing to places and things all around the cavern not bothering to pause in between her long-winded speech.
Zundar tried to keep up with his translation but was a little too slow…
“This lake is an ancient place that has been under their clan’s protection ever since the first ancestors of their clan found it. There was a rumor of another cavern similar to it that had a connection to an ancient great library but that is only a myth as there has been no one to find such a place in all the years and hundreds of generations that have lived here.”
Ting-aling-ting-aling!
The soft chime of a bell continued to ring out from the stone huts.
Upon hearing the sound Spearia stopped talking and looked over to the guards who once again were exiting the huts fully armored and armed.
They shouted over a few questions to her but she shook her head. The guards’ faces all became grim as they rushed to the entrance and got into a formation to block the entrance.
“It seems that some uninvited guests have followed us here…” said Zundar.
