Cinis exhales the tomb’s thick, damp air through his nostrils. He looks around at the empty sarcophagi and wrinkles his nose at the thought of being stuck down here for much longer. He glances down at the still human body wrapped in spider’s silk next to him. The young boy’s breaths were short and quiet, suddenly broken by the sound of an otherworldly moan.
Hooooooooooo.
Cinis tenses but relaxes and slowly raises an eyebrow as he inhales the flowery, familiar scent.
“Whoooooooo’s thaaaat?” asks Chessa as she slowly sits herself up from inside one of the open sarcophagi. Her strawberry hair draped over her face. “Boo.”
“You know that’s not funny, right?” he fails to conceal an amused grin.
“Is it not?” Brushing golden locks away, she hops onto the stone floor, her soft slippered feet barely making a sound. She goes to sit next between Fonlap, in his trance, and the young man lying on the ground.
“Kind of.” Cinis grunts, “It’s been a while. A lot has happened.”
She glances at the ogre skin gauntlets covering his arms . “I can only imagine…” her eyes fall upon the cinder cloak wrapped around Cinis. “Oh.” She blinks back tears as she reaches out to gently touch the warm material.
“Yeah.”
She waits silently.
“Let’s go back a bit. You’ll want to hear this part.” He motions to the necklace around Fonlap’s neck. “We met the Giant Slayer living in a tomb in Borun’s camp. He was wearing that. It was keeping him alive. Can you imagine? All this time.”
“You know I visited while you were there but you had too much Nog.” She smiles, “But yes, poor Talarn only knew rage. You fought him?”
“No actually, our dear boy here spoke to him. He removed the necklace and Talarn turned to dust. Then Fonlap put it on.”
A concerned look falls on her face. “Does that mean he’s…”
“I don’t know. I’m sure this is all part of his friend’s plan. Fonlap seems to trust that following it will unite the people. More importantly, the Giant Slayer used the sludge to resurrect four of his loved ones and sent them out to raise an army to seek revenge for the Ashen Dawn.” Cinis stares into the shadows grimly.
“Is that why you’re here in Lofenda?”
“Kind of. We rescued Garion’s colleague, Altair here. He knows about the sludge. He also knew where to find this Hall of Memories that Fonlap is searching for. Oh, and little Fonfon took his first life.” Cinis takes the paralyzed man’s hand and makes a stabbing motion. He makes splurting noises with each jab.
Chessa gently places a hand on Fonlap’s grey, withered cheek. “Oh, why my sweet Fonfon?”
“It’s getting to him and he’s doing his best to avoid it happening again.” Cinis sighs as he begins playing with a corner of the cloak. “I’ll do what I can so that he doesn’t have to.”
“And the cloak? Why is it here? Did you see Udi?”
“No. I found it on a dead soldier. Another young one like him.” Cinis gestures to the struggling man next to him who seemed to be making some semblance of sound. “It sounds like the spider’s poison is beginning to wear off.”
“Not enough for any coherent conversation. Nothing else about our son?” Her eyes hoped for more information.
“No. But he’s been here. It’s the first time in some time that I’ve caught wind of his scent.”
The soldier laying between them moans quietly.
Cinis reaches out to place a hand on Chessa’s shoulder but she stands up.
“You call me the moment you hear any news of Udi.” Chessa begins walking out of the tomb and into the darkness of the catacombs.
“You know there are giant spiders out there?”
“I guessed as much," she says nodding at their webwoven friend. "Your friend is waking up.” Her silhouette is enveloped by the darkness as she disappears into the hallway.
Cinis nods to himself and turns to the young man lying next to him. Their eyes meet as the young man tilt his eyes upward. “Ok then, friend. If you can grunt, then we can have a little conversation. Let’s go with one grunt for yes and two grunts for no.”
The young soldier’s eyes widen slightly and he grunts once.