Once the pair had entered the ruins and ascended to the next level, the Aether stopped flying, walking on the ground as he turned back to Hilgeth, who had to hunch over in order to fit down the hallway.
"Now, please ensure that you don't make any sudden movements," Tux warned as they nodded to Ker and Taniks, who were both crouched at the tall entrance, his voice lowering to a hush. "We had some problems initially with the um, guardians."
"Guardians?" she asked in astonishment, then gave an apologetic gasp as she switched to a whisper. "I'm sorry."
He just nodded. "They appear to be huge bipedal figures with weapons. They can cast magic, and if you try to fly, they'll attack you instantly. So don't leave the floor. Please just follow me, and I'll show you around. They don't show hostility by default."
She nodded, curious as to what such creatures were protecting as they quietly entered the room.
Adagio was up on a ladder connected to the wall, but when he heard their footsteps, he instantly descended back to the floor and waited in the middle of the room.
"This seems to be an archive," he breathed, gesturing to the countless walls that made up a circle out of parallel faces, like an octagon, but with significantly more than eight sides.
"Where are the books then?" Hilgeth frowned.
"I'll show you," he smirked, stealing across the floor as three massive figures loomed above, their multitudes of eyes individually tracking a specific dragon. Tux seemed to deliberately avoid looking at them, and Hilgeth suddenly noticed that a section of fur near his hind leg was missing.
"Did they hit you, Tux?" she asked softly.
"Grazed," he gave a nervous laugh. "Luckily."
"If they're stone, why didn't you just stop them?"
"They're not stone," he shook his head. "They're something else."
Hilgeth frowned again, but didn't have time to ponder the information before Adagio climbed back up, squinting as he regarded his options.
"There are many small marked tiles in the wall," he whispered, pressing one and watching as all the walls lit up with runes, filling nearly half the chamber with soft yellow light. "I'll show you a different one, to compare."
He pushed another button, and this time the room filled completely, including the domed ceiling, and the floor. Even the guardians were engraved with information.
Hilgeth bent for a closer look. "This isn't our script."
"No." Adagio gave an embarrassed smile. "We should ask the clan if anyone has an interest in this; we might find ourselves lucky with an amateur linguist or historian."
"Can you pass through this chamber?" she asked, noticing the door on the opposite side.
"No, moving past that point," he pointed to a spot on the floor nearby. "Activates them."
"Can you go around, through the walls?"
"Possibly, but we need to be careful. Ker and Faust have said this area is practically overflowing with bits of the Shade, and if we were to move through that-" he made a tight-lipped smile.
"I see." The Clanmother looked up for a moment as she thought. "Well, until we can bring in someone to read this, let's continue opening up other areas. These guardians don't wander, do they?"
"We haven't seen them do so," Adagio shook his head. "But they did move into the hallway while pursuing us before, so I don't think they're bound to this room. They did return to it after we fled far enough."
"Let's continue this outside, then," she said as she walked slowly to the doorway, eager to leave behind the unblinking armies of eyes. "Good work, both of you."
Once they were back on the landing, Hilgeth looked to Taniks and Ker. "I'll inform GrimRill of this, until then, please continue standing watch. I don't want any of our young members entering this area for any reason until I determine it is safe to do so. If any do so, notify me or Phantom immediately."
The four dragons nodded. "By this area, you mean beyond the tunnel that leads to the elevator room?" Adagio asked.
"Yes. I don't want anyone getting lost or worse in these ruins. This is all to be done during the day, as well, from now on. I don't want any work being done past suppertime."
It was completely quiet, but knowing that they weren't entirely alone unsettled her. Hilgeth shuddered slightly as she prepared to return to the Clanhold. "Thank you for showing me around, but I should be getting back. Thank you for all your hard work so far."
The Guardian didn't hesitate after they accepted her thanks, and began walking immediately.
What secret was inside this mountain, and who had left all this behind?
"I suppose this is why you don't occupy an existing lair," she said to herself with a forced laugh. Perhaps this would yield something for her, but the voice in her head told her that was wishful thinking, and it would more likely be something that she didn't want.
But she couldn't just leave it all there unexplored either.
"Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst," she sighed, picking up her feet as she began trotting out onto the warmer stone paths.
At least if anything happened, Nelan would be somewhere else.
