Buried

Pilgrimage of Bones

Islana and Madaya spent the rest of the morning wandering around the ruined city.

Apart from the small lizards and snakes, the young witch had called to her, she saw no other signs of life in the valley. Even Kaithak seemed to prefer the skies high above unless called down by his mistress.

When the wind picked up lifting clouds of ochre dust that seemed to cover everything, the noise it made sounded like the groaning of lost souls.

At some point Madaya looked up towards the west and started walking hurriedly on that direction. Surprised Islana followed trying to understand what was pulling her in that direction.

They came to a wide space among ruined pillars and still erect archways. The stone faded and eroded. The ground was covered by sand and the young girl pointed to the ground and said "Dig..." to her companion.

She knelt in the sand and using her hands stared to scoop handfuls of sand towards the edge of the clearing. Unsure why, Islana got the feeling to help.

It was laborious and energy sapping, and they paused only to eat and drink when the need took them. After a few hours they had cleared large parts of the sand from the floor.

That's when she saw it. A huge stone slab, the size of five men across, carved with runes and Ozainae letters. She saw Madaya fall to her knees, starting to pray.

In front of Islana stood the Twin Tusks of Yther and Viher. The largest depiction she had seen. The stone was ancient. Probably carved one thousand years ago. And it was cracked right through the centre where the tusks crossed...