The Zombie Knight Saga 76 Lxxvi. | 'Thy Buried History...'

By mid-morning, Warrenhold already had two separate crews onsite. The first was the preliminary reconstruction team, which Amelia tasked with making immediate and primitive repairs to the aboveground buildings. Their primary goal was to have enough rooms with four walls for everyone by the day's end.

The second crew was a team of surveyors, and Hector accompanied them underground. At first, they wanted to split up and go in all different directions to help speed their work along, but Hector wouldn't allow it. He wasn't going to let anyone wander around down here alone until he was more confident in the castle's structural integrity. He knew that these people were professionals, but even so, he doubted that many of them had experience with places quite like this. If a hallway suddenly collapsed on someone, Hector wanted to be right there to s.h.i.+eld them in an instant. The surveyors were a bit annoyed at his insistence, but the longer they spent underground, the less that seemed to bother them.

They didn't experience any cave-ins or otherwise have any brushes with death, but that didn't seem to matter. Gradually, the surveyors all took to cl.u.s.tering around Hector, and they became rather fidgety and irritable. They busied themselves with their work, taking measurements, charting the rooms out, inspecting walls and columns for signs of weakness; but not a single one of these people appeared very comfortable in this place now.

"...Are you guys alright?" Hector asked.

The lead surveyor had introduced herself as Sharon Calloway earlier. She took a deep breath and adjusted her hard hat, then her spectacles. "We're fine. Don't worry."

"There's something about this place," said someone else. "I can't put my finger on it, but..."

"It's unsettling," said another.

Hector eyed them all again. They each seemed in perfectly good health, still. Just a bit uneasy, perhaps. "Uh... w-would you like to take a break for lunch?"

"Yeah," voted someone.

"Seconded."

"Sounds good to me."

Miss Calloway frowned. "It's early still. We should go on a bit longer--at least until we make it to the bottom of this first tower."

The others didn't argue with her, but Hector could see the reluctance in their faces.
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Miss Calloway led the party deeper. They pa.s.sed a familiar banquet hall, opting to keep going straight down, and then they came upon a peculiar thing. The walls, the floors, and the ceilings were all made of darker stone here, so Hector didn't notice straight away, but the surveyors did.

"What's with this area?" one of them said. "Are my eyes lying to me, or is this place in absolutely pristine condition?"

Miss Calloway ran her hand horizontally across a darkly gray wall. "No, you're right. This stonework is impeccable. Look closely. See the decorative etchings?"

"Beautiful. It's preserved remarkably well."

"How can only this section of the tower be so perfect when the rest is scarcely better than a ruin?"

"Perhaps someone restored this part in secret," said Miss Calloway. "Whatever the case, it's very good news. Unlike everything else we've seen so far, this area is quite inhabitable." She looked at Hector. "You may wish to set up a base of operations here and try to expand the restoration outward."

Indeed, it seemed like a good idea. They walked through the rest of the tower in a state of awe. Hector counted seven perfect bedrooms, two ancient washrooms, a kind of large den with a hearth right in the center, a storage closet, and one long staircase that spiraled between the four adjoined floors. The bottom floor led outside into the immense cavern, allowing the surveyors a good look at the ring of eight great towers.

They marveled at the sight only briefly before deciding that it was time to take that break now. Hector was a little disappointed by their reactions, quite frankly.

As they were heading back up, Miss Calloway looked at Hector. "I was hoping to get more done. I apologize for the inconvenience, Mr. Goffe."

"Oh, d-don't worry about it. I'm, uh... er... I mean, there's no rush."

"We've charted out most of the first tower," she said. "You'll be pleased to know that the overall condition isn't quite as bad as it looks. Each area where we've encountered a fracture appears to have been the result of isolated incidents rather than that of a single, greater event."

"Er, you mean... all these collapsed hallways aren't even related?"

"Well, they could be linked in that the same person or group of people created them while moving through the castle, but it seems very unlikely that they were caused by something like an earthquake."

"Oh..."

"And then of course, you have the area with the darker stone, which is in such good shape that I find it slightly baffling. Moreover, I'm not sure what type of stone that was, either. You have a very curious house here, Mr. Goffe."

"Ah... yeah..."

By the time they reached the surface again, Jamal had already gone to fetch food for everyone at Amelia's request. The surveyors mainly just seemed happy to be out in the daylight again.

Hector checked on the reconstruction team. Already, they were making progress. They'd picked the lone tower on the far side of the property to start work on, no doubt because it was the least destroyed out of all of them. When he'd first arrived late last night, this had been the tallest and most impressive tower he saw with its four, arguably five, floors; but now that he'd seen the giants that lay underground, this thing looked like a dwarf.

Hector saw his mother and Amelia sitting together and chatting on a large chunk of overturned stone. He considered venturing over to speak with them, but Garovel got his attention first.

'Ah. I sense Voreese approaching. Brace yourself, Hector.'

That made him smile as he looked up and around. The clear blue skies made it easy to see, and after a moment, he spotted her.

From quite high up, Voreese swooped down. She stopped a ways above everyone and looked over the restoration efforts. 'Wow, I didn't think you guys'd be so quick to get started.'

Garovel motioned toward Amelia. 'You can blame the Lady Carthrace there for our productivity.'

Voreese descended the rest of the way until she was about level with Garovel. 'Have you encountered any problems? Any anxiety attacks? Oh, and h.e.l.lo, by the way. Good to see you both.'

'Likewise. And what do you mean? Anxiety attacks?'

'If I'd known there were gonna be so many people here, I would've told you earlier,' she said. 'Warrenhold has a very unique quality to it. The three of us can't sense it, but normal people can. Apparently, it's like a pressure in the back of their minds, and they have no idea what causes it, which makes people very anxious and uncomfortable.'

'We noticed something like that,' said Garovel. 'We were just underground with the surveyors, and they seemed pretty eager to get out of there.'

'There's no actual danger,' Voreese explained. 'The real cause of the feeling is kind of silly.'

'Oh, you know what the cause is?'

''Course I do. It's the stone. All eight towers down there were uniquely constructed. These ones up here weren't, though. They were added later by other people.'

'Ah,' said Garovel. 'Warrenhold was built by a servant, you mean?'

'Yeah, an extremely powerful integration user. Some of the things she could do with her power--I don't even know. I've never seen anyone else able to do what she could. I mean, I understand the mechanics of her work, but I don't know how the f.u.c.k she pulled that s.h.i.+t off. Even in terms of servants, she was like a f.u.c.king wizard.'

'You knew her well?' said Garovel.

'f.u.c.k yeah, I did. She was my servant for a very long time.'

Hector blinked. He was tempted to join the conversation now, but since he was the only person present who could actually hear these two talking, he figured it would be best to just listen quietly so as not to spook any of the nice people around.

'What was her name?' said Garovel.

'Stasya Orlov,' said Voreese. 'I doubt you've heard of her. She never became famous.'

'Why not? If she was as strong as you say--'

'Because people are b.a.s.t.a.r.ds. We're talking about the early days of the Mohssian Empire here. Not a great time period to have lady parts, you may recall.'

'Ah...'

'She was a genius, that woman. Built incredible things. And history gave her zero credit. Even this place. Officially, Warrenhold is said to have been built by some f.u.c.king douchebag.'

'That's depressing. And sadly, also a very common occurrence for historical women. But if what you're saying is true, then the new Lord of Warrenhold would surely be in a position to give Stasya her due reverence.'

Voreese's skeletal grin broadened, and she looked at Hector. 'Oh yeah?'

Hector just kind of shrugged and nodded, deferring to Garovel.

'We can build her a memorial, if you like,' he told her. 'Or just put her name up everywhere.'

'Either of those would earn my eternal affection.'

A construction worker stepped up next to Hector and said, "Hey, wait. You never explained why the stone makes people freak out."

Hector did a double-take. That wasn't a construction worker. That was Roman dressed as one. "What the--?! When did you get here?!"

"A while ago. Told the other guys that I was a volunteer. They didn't seem to mind the extra pair of hands."

Hector had so many sudden questions that he wasn't sure where to begin. "W-why are you dressed like that?"

Roman smiled. "A little anonymity among friends never hurts."

That wasn't much of an answer. Hector glared at Garovel. 'Why didn't you sense him?'

'Oh, I did. I wanted to see how long it would take you to notice.'

'Garovel!'

'Good to see you, Roman. Welcome to Warrenhold.'

"Thanks. I was curious. Voreese? You gonna explain?"

'The stone doesn't make people freak out,' she said. 'It just causes anxiety.'

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Why, though?"

'It's really just a side effect. Stasya wanted the castle to repel pests. She had a real thing about bugs.'

A beat pa.s.sed.

"Are you kidding?" said Roman.

'Nope,' said Voreese. 'Stasya crafted the stone herself. And if you've been down there, then you know that it sure-as-f.u.c.k works. Not only does it repel bugs, it repels all wildlife. It even makes humans not want to be there.'

'That doesn't sound like a very comfortable place to live,' said Garovel.

'Well, it doesn't affect us, because the stones use a very faint "taste of death" to repel living creatures. Obviously, we've all had more than just a taste, so our souls are already acclimated to it and don't notice anything strange.'

'Still,' said Garovel. 'We have normal people with us, as well. We can't expect them to live in a place that makes them perpetually uncomfortable no matter what they do.'

'No, no, it's okay,' said Voreese. 'The feeling isn't all that strong, really. As long as you explain where it comes from--that there's no actual danger and that it's just a silly pest control mechanism--then normal residents will get over it. The human brain is sophisticated enough to overcome the feeling with sufficient exposure and understanding.'

'Hmm.'

'If you DON'T explain it to people, though, then it can really start to f.u.c.k with them, especially if they happen to have an anxiety disorder or just strange brain chemistry. It's just the not knowing that really gets to people. So, anyone who's going to be spending time here, particularly underground, should be made aware of this. It's very important to their mental health.'

"Ah--okay," said Hector.

'No one's down there right now, right?'

'No,' said Garovel. 'Hector wouldn't let anyone go in without him.'

'Good,' she said. 'Oh, and also: no pets. Explaining the problem is obviously not going to work with a f.u.c.king horse or what have you. They'll just run away at the first opportunity, and if you try to keep them here, they'll go bats.h.i.+t crazy.'

"O-oh. Okay..."

'If you're disappointed, then just think of Garovel as your pet,' said Voreese.

"That's what I do," said Roman. "To me, Voreese is that tiny dog that everyone knows. The one that never stops barking."

Voreese looked up suddenly. 'Roman, I think I'm receiving a message from the afterlife. Someone's traveled for eons upon eons through null s.p.a.ce and infinity, doing the impossible, all so they could tell you something...'

"Is that right?" said Roman dryly.

'They're saying... that you should... f.u.c.k off.'

"Nice."

'Now they're thanking me and telling me how worthwhile their journey was. And now they're gone.'

"You put way too much thought into that," said Roman.

'...Said no one ever in regard to anything you've ever done.'

"I don't overthink things. I'm okay with that."

'Oh, yeah. Nevermind that it got you f.u.c.king killed before.'

Roman shrugged. "Well, that's why I have you now."

A ripple of awkward looks washed over everyone.

"What?" said Roman.

'That was nearly a compliment,' said Garovel.

'Yeah. Don't compliment me, you f.u.c.k.'

"You're a lovely person, Voreese."

'Agh! Quit it!'

"Uh--er... um..."

They all turned to watch Hector struggle through his next sentence.

"Ah, eh... I was just wondering... were there, um... any other reasons why we, uh... er, why you wanted us to choose Warrenhold? Because, er--ah..."

Garovel helped him out. 'Good question. This place isn't exactly in the best condition, and it's going to be extremely expensive to restore. If we'd picked a different castle, then we would've had an easier time, I'm sure.'

'Ha. Well, there are a lot of reasons, but allow me to paint you a picture first. You remember the Redwater Uprising, yeah?'

'Of course.' Garovel looked at the two curious servants. 'An extremely b.l.o.o.d.y rebellion that went on for more than half a century. It was one of the major contributing factors to the Mohssian Empire's collapse.'

Hector just nodded gratefully.

'Yeah, what he said,' said Voreese. 'Stasya was long gone by then, but during those fifty years, this f.u.c.king castle weathered six different sieges. SIX. Okay? And we're not talking tiny little fortnight sieges here. We're talking two or three years each. It was ridiculous. There were three separate kings that took refuge here AT THE SAME f.u.c.kING TIME, because it was basically the only safe place left for them.'

"Holy s.h.i.+t," said Roman.

'Everyone wanted their heads on a pike,' Voreese went on, 'and each king had s.h.i.+tloads of competing claimants to his throne, most of whom thought they could win public favor by finally killing these three b.a.s.t.a.r.ds. So it was safe to say that s.h.i.+t had sufficiently hit the fan for them by that point.'

"And Warrenhold kept them safe?" said Roman.

'Yeah. One of the kings died of old age; another starved to death; and the last one was only killed because his guards finally decided to just let the enemy in. Unfortunately, that last one also meant that the sixth siege had succeeded, so Warrenhold's impregnable reputation was spoiled. Which was bulls.h.i.+t, but what're ya gonna do about it, right?'

Garovel bobbed his skull. 'So in other words, you're saying this will be a very safe place to live, once we fix it up.'

'It already is a safe place,' said Voreese. 'On the surface here, yeah, everything is s.h.i.+t and will get f.u.c.ked up real quick, but underground? There are certain areas of the castle--maybe you saw them--that Stasya made extra special.'

'Oh, you mean the places with darker stone?'

'Yeah. Stasya called that stuff "nightrock," and it's the reason why Warrenhold is still standing. She spent years JUST crafting nightrock, and she still couldn't make enough of it for the whole castle. Even with her power, the manufacturing process took forever. She made enough for the Tower of Night, and then decided that it just wasn't worth the time investment to make enough for seven more towers. Instead, she gave them each a small inner sanctum of it.'

'I a.s.sume this nightrock has special properties?' Not quite a question, but Garovel asked it like one.

'Yep. It's durable as f.u.c.k, first of all. Our two servants here? Wouldn't be able to scratch it. It would take someone like Harper to break through. And then, guess what? Even if you do destroy it, it f.u.c.king fixes itself.'

"It regenerates?" said Roman. "You mean, like servants do?"

'Yup.'

"How the h.e.l.l...?"

'f.u.c.k if I know! I told you she was a f.u.c.king wizard!'

"Geez," said Roman.

'Oh, and on top of all that, the nightrock still repels pests like all of Stasya's "normal" stone does. So, yeah. It's good s.h.i.+t, okay? You're gonna like living here.'

'Okay,' said Garovel. 'I believe you. Were there any other reasons why you wanted us to take Warrenhold?'

And Voreese fell quiet a moment. She looked across her audience again. 'Well, I guess you're gonna find it sooner or later.'

'Find what?'

'I'll show you. I was gonna give you a tour, anyway.' She floated off toward the underground entrance.

Hector gathered up the surveying team again. He did what Voreese told him earlier and tried to explain that the mysterious anxiety was merely a byproduct of pest control.

It took a while.

They weren't particularly receptive to the idea that mere stone could magically influence people. Hector had to remind them that they were talking to someone who could make metal appear from nowhere. Then he had to rea.s.sure them that he wasn't going to hurt them. Roman tried to help him out but just ended up confusing things more, because no one knew who he was or why they should listen to him.

Eventually, though, they made it underground again. Voreese led the expedition to the network of bridges that connected all eight towers near their peaks. With more light bearers around, Hector realized that in addition to all the crisscrossing paths, there wasn't just one solid ring of bridges--there were actually three, stacked on top of each other with adjoining staircases intermittently. Much of the uppermost ring was embedded in natural rock, but occasionally, there was an opening that allowed for an incredible view of the greater cavern area.

Hector was a bit concerned that the bridges were unsafe to use, but Voreese a.s.sured him that they had lines of nightrock supporting them beneath the otherwise normal stone and were therefore quite st.u.r.dy even after all this time.

She rattled off all sorts of information as they made their way toward the Tower of Night. Apparently, the castle had been too large for pretty much everyone who ever owned it after Stasya. Hector was not surprised.

Six of the eight towers had names, Voreese explained. There was the Entry Tower, the Bell Tower, the Book Tower, the Star Tower, the Tower of Day, and the Tower of Night. The remaining two had never received names--or at least not ones that Voreese was aware of--because they had never really been used for anything other than storage. Given Warrenhold's size and its ill reputation, excessive visitors had never been much of a problem.

The Entry Tower was not the largest, but it was still the tallest by an extra third, as it was the only tower to reach all the way up to the surface. And according to Voreeese, it was also one of the things that made Warrenhold so easily defensible. Any invading force had only two options: storm the bottlenecking Entry Tower or dig through forty-six meters of nearly solid rock.

The Star Tower, on the other hand, was unquestionably the shortest and smallest of the eight. It was the one that was half-destroyed and hanging from the ceiling. Voreese seemed surprised at the sight of it and unfortunately couldn't explain how or when that had happened. Hector s.h.i.+ned a light through the hole that was now its belly and could see the ma.s.s of nightrock therein, a black box partially suspended in mid-air.

'You don't happen to know where the generator is located, do you?' said Garovel.

She shook her head. 'Sorry. The last time I was down here, that kinda thing hadn't been invented yet.'

'I figured.'

The Tower of Night was surely the most impressive of the eight, Hector felt. Larger than all the others and composed entirely of nightrock, it was still completely intact. Even its doors were nightrock, uniquely made so that they would slide horizontally instead of needing to be pushed or pulled open. Voreese said that Stasya did this because the doors were too heavy for normal people and that the locking mechanism for them had also been quite far ahead of its time.

Voreese guided them down, all the way to what seemed like the bottom of the tower, only to reveal a hidden door in the floor that led deeper still.

'Tell them to wait here,' said Voreese, motioning to the surveyors.

Hector hesitated, glancing between her and the others.

'Why?' said Garovel.

'You won't want too many people to know about what I'm going to show you.'

Garovel nodded, and Hector did as she requested. Miss Calloway didn't try to argue with him. Her team was content with just investigating the rest of the tower. They still looked a bit spooked, but curiosity appeared to be getting the better of them now as Hector heard them quietly marveling amongst themselves at the remarkable condition, noting in particular that the floor wasn't even very dusty.

'Roman, guard the door,' said Voreese. 'Make sure they don't follow us. I'll tell you all about it later.'

He frowned but nodded.

Hector proceeded downward with the two reapers. After a staircase, he arrived in a rather large chamber. He s.h.i.+ned his light around and found it empty, save a thick lever adjacent the staircase. It was stuck into a bulky gear embedded in the floor.

Voreese pointed at the lever. 'Pull that toward you. You'll need some strength for it.'

Garovel grabbed his shoulder.

Hector inhaled deeply as the vigor coursed through him. He took hold of the lever with both hands and pulled. Even with the enhancements, it resisted him, but he slowly won out. The lever moved, and the gear turned, and Hector heard the sc.r.a.ping rumble of heavy stone sliding open--the same sound that the doors of nightrock made, only this one was much deeper. The sound ceased as soon as he stopped pulling the lever.

'Keep going,' said Voreese. 'Yank the lever free and then put it in the other end of the gear. I know it's annoying, but this is the oldest part of an already ancient castle. You'll have to forgive the primitive design.'

He did as she asked, making two more rounds with the lever and gear.

'That should be enough. You don't need to open it all the way.'

"Open what?" said Hector. He was looking around the room and not seeing anything.

'Look down,' said Garovel.

And then he saw it. Part of the floor had slid away, revealing an impressive rectangular slit in the nightrock. At this angle, he couldn't see anything within, only pitch blackness. He stepped closer for a better look.

'Don't fall in,' said Voreese. 'If you do, it'll be two and a half hours before you hit the bottom.'

Hector stared at her. "W-what? What the h.e.l.l is this?"

'This, dear Hector, is the reason why Stasya built Warrenhold here. As old as this castle is, this pit right here is even older.'

He s.h.i.+ned his light through. He could see gray walls in an almost perfect cylinder extending straight downward. And that was it. He couldn't see the bottom. It just kept going. The hole itself was wide enough for perhaps three people to stand adjacent with their arms spread.

'Where does it let out?' asked Garovel.

'Right near Capaporo. You know it?'

'Yeah. Are you sure it still exists, though? I haven't been there in, oh, three hundred years, maybe.'

'I don't know. It's been seventy years for me.'

'Hmm.'

"E-excuse me, but... I don't understand anything that's happening..."

'We wouldn't expect you to,' said Garovel.

"Uh... well, what is this hole?"

'It's a portal to h.e.l.l,' said Garovel.

Hector just blinked dully.

'I don't think he believes you,' said Voreese.

'Tch. He probably remembers that I don't believe in h.e.l.l.'

'Should've lied better, then.' A beat pa.s.sed as she stared at Hector. 'It leads to Heaven.'

'...I don't think he's buying it.'

"Agh. Please, just tell me the truth."

Voreese looked at Garovel, who shrugged. 'Alright,' she said. 'It leads to a second human civilization that diverged from the surface of Eleg so long ago that n.o.body up here even knows about it.'

Again, Hector just stared.

'We call it the Undercrust,' said Garovel. 'It's a layer of rock in Eleg's mantle with caves that make the one here in Warrenhold look like nothing. There were about five hundred million people living down there, last I heard.'

"Wait. Are... are you actually being serious?"

Voreese nodded. 'We know it sounds like bulls.h.i.+t to you. You've been taught your whole life that the whole world has basically been explored to its fullest. But it hasn't.'

"H-hold on a second," said Hector. "You're saying... I don't... What?"

'It would help if you asked a clear question,' said Garovel.

"Well, but... I mean, isn't it, like, super hot down there? Molten lava and stuff?"

'Sure is,' said Voreese. 'They've developed a variety of methods for dealing with that. Heatproofing, heat funneling, supercooling--I'm a little curious to see what else they've come up with since I've been gone. It helps that Sermung and Sai-hee both live down there a lot of the time. From what I hear, those two are like walking safe zones. And the same is supposedly true of a lot of their strongest supporters.'

'Some of the residents are also flat out immune to the temperatures,' added Garovel. 'You should close the hole back up now, by the way.'

Their nonchalance was more than a little befuddling. Hector wasn't sure whether to believe them or not. He returned to the lever and started cranking it back the other way. The slit in the floor slowly sc.r.a.ped shut again. "You guys, ah... I really don't see how there could be a whole different civilization living that far underground. I mean, if that's true, then wouldn't we have discovered them by now?"

'It's too difficult to get there from here,' said Voreese. 'That pit right there is almost four hundred kilometers deep. But that kind of vertical distance is difficult to imagine. The tallest mountain in Atreya, for instance, is only about three kilometers high. The tallest mountain in the world is barely ten.'

Hector's brow rose. "Huh..."

'And those mountains are sloped, making them a little easier to climb and descend. This pit goes straight down, more or less. Servants can reach the bottom simply enough by falling to their death and then reviving, but how the f.u.c.k is a normal person supposed to make the trip? And supposing they did somehow survive the journey, they'd still have to make it all the way back up again, which is even more difficult.'

'And that's not even factoring in how a surface-dweller is supposed to deal with the other dangers in the Undercrust,' said Garovel. 'The heat alone is problematic enough, but there's plenty of other s.h.i.+t to worry about, too.'

'It's just not feasible,' said Voreese. 'It'd be like trying to cross the ocean before boats were invented. Normal people--in either civilization--simply don't have the technology to use these holes yet. Maybe one day, they will, but until then, it's essentially a reaper and servant privilege.'

'And EVEN THEN, not every servant can make the trip, either.'

'Right, yeah.'

'Just because the servant can get down the hole doesn't mean they can get back up. You'd probably be okay, though, since you can just make an infinite platform for yourself.'

He scratched his cheek. "How would I survive the temperatures?"

'Oh, no, you'd be toast as you are now,' said Garovel. 'You'd have to grow a lot more powerful first.'

"Ah..."

'Believe us now?' said Voreese.

Hector tilted his head and scrunched his face up a little. "Eh... I just... I don't know. Don't they have, like, uh... seismological, er... radar? Or something?"

'They do,' said Garovel. 'But that doesn't provide the most precise of measurements. Besides, a city-sized hole in the planet would only look like a tiny speck against the gigantic ma.s.s surrounding it, and specks can be explained away as any number of other things. I don't think a seismologist's first guess would be, "Hey, I bet that's a city full of people!"'

Hector opened his mouth to give further voice to his doubts but found that he'd run out of counterarguments. He still didn't want to believe them, though. It just seemed too ridiculous.

Garovel laughed. 'Do you remember when you asked me how the Vanguard managed to prevent Abolish from drilling into the planet's core?'

He did remember, and it made him blink a few times as he recalled Garovel's answer, or rather the lack thereof. "You said you didn't feel like telling me... You said it'd make a nice surprise one day..."

'Welp. Surprise!'