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  Hunter gazed skyward, his hand shielding his eyes as he tried to locate the source of the falling debris. As he scanned the high wall, even more dirt rained down. This time small chunks of rock fell, bouncing all around with a loud clatter.

  Reflexively, he covered his face, but it was too late. Sand had found its way into his eyes. Sputtering and shaking his head, Hunter brushed at his hair irritably and tried to blink away the grit.

  “Stupid birds,” he cursed, figuring that to be the source of the commotion above. Hunter’s patience was officially worn out. He just wanted to be home. This trip was his father’s idea, and he had not been happy about it.

  Hunter turned and started to duck back through the tree, but froze. A voice broke the silent air. It was Eisa, and she sounded scared. He couldn’t hear every word, but what he did pick out sent him into a sprint through the trees.

  * * * *

  Luca didn’t intend to be bad. But he wanted to see inside the tower. They repeatedly told him no, and he knew that his father would be furious. Still, his curiosity bested his fear of punishment, and when his sister looked away, he scampered inside.

  The interior of the building opened into a round and dark chamber, save for several limited pools of light filtering in from windows set high in the walls. In the middle of the large circular space sat a large, moldered pile of debris, decayed beyond recognition. It now only served to feed the bulbous mushrooms sprouting greedily all over it

  A large circular stair had spiraled around the cylindrical building, winding its way towards the upper floors, but it had collapsed under its own weight. Now, only a few of the thick horizontal support beams remained.

  The tower was better than Luca ever imagined. Every dark corner and shadow sent his imagination into a whirlwind. Out snapped his oak sword.

  He jumped up onto a rock and swung hard. A gnarl fell before his blade. Then he jumped down and rolled to the ground, coming up and jabbing hard in a straight thrust. A troll fell away, dead.

  His battles were rudely interrupted by a panicked yell from just outside. Luca wasn’t done yet. He just got here and didn’t want to leave yet. There was still so much to see.

  At the back of the room stood two doors, each large and heavily banded. He would never hope to open either one, but he wouldn’t have to. While the door on the left was shut tight, the door to its right had pulled its top hinge away and hung at an odd angle. A large pile of rubble kept the door from falling over, creating a gap, just big enough for him to squeeze through.

  He threw himself down in the dirt and crawled towards the darkness. There was a faint light on the other side, and something that sparkled in the dirt. Luca looked back at the door, just as Eisa charged into the tower. He couldn’t see her face, but he could tell that she was mad.

  Luca giggled, his bottom tingling when he thought about the whooping she would give him. Nevertheless, his eyes were drawn back to the treasure, like a moth to a flame. He had to know what it was.

  Luca imagined the looks on his friend’s faces when he showed up at the Common Hall with his new trinket and the story to go with it. Eisa’s footsteps echoed on the grit-covered floor. He decided right then that he would not go back until he held it in his hands.

  He scampered to the opening. His head was through, and he clawed hard to pull free. Despite his size, it was still very tight. His foot struck something, and he felt Eisa’s hands on his feet. She was trying to pull him back.

  “Luca, no! Please stop!” she pleaded. There was fear in her voice, but he didn’t want to leave yet. He never got what he wanted, and he wanted his trinket. She grabbed his ankle, but he was able to kick free. His hand found a large crack in the ground, and with a mighty pull, he was through.

  Eisa’s face appeared in the hole. “Please come back,” she begged. She was crying, but Luca wasn’t listening.

  “I don’t want to go. I want to stay a while more!” Luca cried out. He stood up and pulled his oak sword free from his belt. Enough light cascaded down from holes in the walls for him to make out his surroundings well enough.

  “I’ll find the treasure and save the prisoners!” Luca cried and started off again on his adventure. Down the hallway he went, dashing from sunny spot to sunny spot, moving to claim his prize.

  * * * *

  Hunter crashed through the vegetation with no regard for his well-being. Sticks and branches lashed his arms and face. He bolted into the clearing, stumbled and then fell to his knees. He scrambled desperately, his feet breaking loose chunks out of the soft ground.

  Hunter ran through the arched doorway to the tower and skidded to a halt. The gloom within was thick, besides a few solitary dusty, beams of light.

  Wheeling about, Hunter wildly searched the darkness for the others. He could hear scraping noises and his sister’s panicked breathing.

  “Eisa, Eisa…Luca, where are you?” he called out as he felt his way through the gloom.

  He tripped and stumbled several times on the uneven ground before Eisa came into view. She stood, defensively clutching her arms as she watched something.

  But what is she watching?

  His eyes were finally adjusting and the gloom lifted, he ran to Eisa’s side and grabbed her by the arms.

  “What happened? Where is Luca?” he demanded, trying to keep the panic out of his voice. Eisa didn’t respond. She simply pointed. Several paces away, Robert and Damon were on their hands and knees, digging in a pile of rubble against the wall. They threw rocks and other fragments by the handful.

  “Wait…is Luca under that?” Hunter asked frantically.

  “No. He’s in there,” Damon grunted, straightening only long enough to point to the gap at the bottom of the wall.

  No, not a wall, but a door, Hunter realized.

  “What? How did he…why did he?” Hunter stammered. He pushed the two men out of the way and shoved his head into the hole. “Luca!” he screamed. His voice sounded harsh in the darkness. It echoed weirdly in the confines, and after a moment, he heard only silence.

  “Damn it!”

  Hunter’s mind reeled. The ruined building was a dangerous maze, full of sinkholes, and crumbling walls. And who knew what manner of creatures dwelled in its darkest corners.

  “Luca! Get back here now!” Hunter screamed. He curled his fingers around the bottom of the door and pulled.

  “It’s no good son. You’ll never budge that. It’s far too heavy,” Damon breathed behind him. Hunter, however, wasn’t listening and strained until his muscles gave out. He fell back from the door, frustration driving him to kick the swollen wood. At that moment, his thoughts locked on an image. He cursed himself for not thinking of it faster and turned to run.

  “Wait, where are you going?” Eisa cried in surprise.

  “I think I know a way,” he shouted as he dashed back out the door. The mule shuffled nervously as he ran by, but he paid it no mind. He ran back around the building, hurdling fallen trees and piles of stone. He tore through the trees, this time making little effort to pick his way through. He ignored the pain as he bumped against scraggly limbs and rough tree bark.

  Hunter was not scared like his sister. No, he was mad. Mad at his brother.

  Why can’t he just follow instructions? Why does he always have to run off?

  His father knew what Luca was like, but that knowledge wouldn’t save any of them from a stern talk and a lashing.

  Hunter cleared the trees and stopped just outside the large hole in the wall. He hesitated for a moment, staring into the building’s depths. In that moment his anger abated, and he realized that he was nervous. No, not nervous. He was frightened. For all his bluster, at that moment, Hunter felt insecure and uncertain. He didn’t feel like a man just yet.

  “Why didn’t I bring father’s sword?” Hunter chided himself as he ducked through the hole, and into the darkness.

  Chapter 2

  Cast out

  Eisa became hysterical when Hunter ran off.

  How c
ould he leave me like that? Now of all times, when I need him the most!

  Robert and Damon dug at the pile under the door. They briefly tried to tip it off of its remaining hinge. But it was far too heavy, especially with a century of rot weighing it down.

  “I think I got it, I think I can squeeze through now,” Damon called out suddenly.

  Eisa wrung her hands as she watched him duck under the door and attempt to wriggle through. “Gosh it’s tight, can’t breathe. Rob, help me. Push on me, would ya?”

  Robert pushed on his brother and both men cursed, but finally Damon slipped through. Eisa made for the opening under the door, prepared to follow and find Luca. She was a trembling mess, hovering somewhere between fear and rage. She wasn’t sure if she would slap or hug Luca at this point. As she crawled into the opening, strong hands grabbed her and lifted her back off of the ground.

  “Hold on Eisa, you stay here,” Robert said, “don’t you fret…we’ll find Luca. He’ll be okay.”

  “He’s my little brother, and I need to find him. I was supposed to be watching him, keeping him safe!” Eisa cried, trying to plead with her father’s friend.

  Robert shook his head, fueling her desperation. “No, you stay here. Damon and I will find him. You need to stay here. There’s always a chance he found his way out and will come back this way looking for you.”

  Before she could argue, Robert dove into the gap under the door, and after a brief struggle disappeared. Eisa could hear the brothers talking on the other side, but their voices quickly faded and then all was quiet.

  How can I just stand here waiting, while my brother is in there, alone? She couldn’t bear the thought. This was all her fault.

  I can’t stand idle, not when he needs me!

  Eisa turned to walk out of the tower, resolved to wait outside in the sunlight, but she took only a few steps before stopping.

  “No!” she growled to herself. “I was supposed to be watching him, he was my responsibility, and I will find him!”

  Before she could talk herself out of it, Eisa spun on her heels and ran to the door and dropped to the ground. She was strong and fit, easily thin enough to slide through the gap. The floor on the other side was cold and damp. Dirt squished between her fingers as she pulled clear of the door and stood.

  It wasn’t nearly as dark as it had looked from the other side. She stood in a narrow corridor that stretched out a short distance, and then turned abruptly to the left. She set off immediately, using the pools of dim light to avoid the worst of the debris on the floor.

  From above her, sand and rock broke loose and rained down on her. She jumped back and looked up wearily, waiting for the ceiling to cave in around her, but the ancient timbers held. She heard something in the silence. The soft muffled thud of feet above, and for a moment, she thought she heard voices. But then all she could hear was her ragged breathing.

  Have they found him? Oh, sixth arm, I hope they found him? She thought frantically and started off again down the passageway. She walked as softly as she could, desperate to hear anything from above. But the tower had grown horribly quiet.

  The gloom addled her perception, and she almost walked into the wall at the end of the passage. She turned left and immediately faced a large pile of rock where the wall had caved in. She scrabbled over the loose rubble and slid down the other side.

  To her left, a rocky stairway led down into utter darkness. Straight ahead of her another hallway split off to the left. To her right, and partially obscured by the cave-in, were the skeletal remains of a rotten, old door. Eisa couldn’t bear the thought of Luca alone in the darkness below, so she shut that possibility out of her mind. That left her with only two options. She had to decide.

  She peered around the corner to her left. The passage was blocked off by a substantial cave-in. Small trees grew out of the rubble, forking into the cracks of the ceiling above.

  She ducked back and squeezed through the rotten doorway. This hallway was longer than the last. Only a few slivers of dim light streamed in from the doorways on either side, leaving the space striped with shadow.

  The building had been so heavily enshrouded by the forest outside that she was surprised by how large it actually was.

  She jumped from doorway to doorway on either side of the hall, hopeful each time that she would find Luca safe and sound. Instead, she was greeted with only emptiness and silence. She found rotten timbers and crumbled bunks, but no Luca.

  By the time she reached the end of the hallway, her panic was taking over. She started to doubt and wondered if her baby brother had indeed descended the dark stairs she passed earlier.

  It didn’t help that the air was stuffy with heavy aromas of mold and decay. It was starting to sour her stomach. She had to control her breathing. Her sides had already started to ache.

  “He’s okay…you’re going to find him. He’s just playing a game,” Eisa said quietly, trying to calm her flyaway emotions. After a few steadying breaths, her heart eased a bit and the panic started to release. She had to stay calm, for Luca’s sake.

  Straight ahead, a large arched doorway opened up into a wide room. Ancient looking bookshelves lined the walls. Their contents had long-ago crumpled to dust. There were several large chests tucked against the wall. They were large enough for a young boy to hide in. When she moved to open the closest one, the lid broke apart in her hand, the metal and wood crumbling like wet parchment.

  “Luca, where are you? Luca!” she cried. Her voice felt small, her chest growing tighter with each passing moment.

  “Luca, this is not funny, where are you?” She hollered again. There was a noise this time, albeit a very faint one.

  It could be someone talking, she thought. Yet she couldn’t make out who it was. Eisa turned, listening left, then right, and finally back in the direction she had come.

  “Luca, is that you?” she cried out. Now she was crying. There it was again, it was a voice, yet she could barely hear it.

  Left, she decided and charged down the hallway and through the doorway. She mounted a tight spiral staircase, turning her head to listen up the tight confines in the ascending darkness.

  Noises were everywhere, the rustle of the wind through holes in the mortar, a rat disturbing some debris on the floor behind her. Her own heart trumped them all, however, as it pounded loudly in her ears.

  She heard it again. Echoing through the spiraling bounds of stone and darkness was a soft, distant, and trembling voice.

  “Eisa!” He sounded far away, but she knew in an instant that it was her brother’s voice. Around and around she went, not pausing once to worry about her footing as she threw herself up the stairs.

  “Luca…I’m coming,” she yelled.

  The stairs broke onto the second floor. The spiral stairs continued above to what she thought was surely a tower or bastion of some kind. Eisa didn’t stop to listen. Instead, she trusted her instincts.

  The humid air, tainted by an oppressive smell, pressed heavily upon her. The floor was honeycombed with hallways and rooms, made all the more difficult to navigate by tree branches that had forced their way through the stone exterior and into the structure. The flora branched heavily in the darkness, fusing itself permanently with the building.

  She eased around several spots where the floor had caved in. The forest’s intrusion, made up mostly of contorted branches and light starved foliage, blocked out much of the light. The scattering of sunshine only tricked her eyes, preventing them from adjusting to the darkness.

  Eisa called out to Luca as she stumbled along, tripping over heaved stones in the floor and knobby branches. However, beyond her ragged breathing and clumsy footsteps, there was no noise. The silence stoked her fear.

  Why is he not responding to me? Can he not hear me? Where are Robert and Damon? Hunter was looking for another way in. Why can’t I hear any of them?

  Her thoughts raced. But none of it seemed to make any sense. She took each step tentatively, waiting for some sound or
clue from Luca or the others as she wormed her way through the darkness.

  The quiet that permeated the halls seemed absolute. Each breath erupted from her in a cacophony, violating the stillness of the air. The rooms and hallways were confusing in the dark. She had never imagined the layout was this elaborate from looking at it from the outside.

  Up ahead, around a corner she heard him again. It was a quiet mewling. He sounded scared, desperate, and alone.

  Eisa passed a portion of the exterior wall that had fallen away. A dim light streamed in here, throwing everything into a bleak contrast of black shadow and gray glow. In the faint light something sparkled. She bent low and untangled it from the bramble against the wall. It was a women’s circlet, a decorative headdress of finely polished silver. Of the many stones that had been set into the piece, only one remained, it was a rather large remarkably clear emerald.

  At any other time, Eisa would have been transfixed by the luxurious piece of jewelry, captivated by the depth and sparkle of the stone, but now she hardly gave it a second thought. She moved to drop the circlet but then heard Luca again. This time, he sounded closer than ever.

  She passed a doorway, then two, and skidded to a halt, still clutching to the circlet. Eisa turned and bent in the gloom, amidst the dust and rubble was a single leather shoe, Luca’s shoe. Another soft whimper echoed from within the room.

  “Luca!” Eisa panted as she ran in, a twinge of panic coursed through her.

  Is he hurt? Can I move him on my own?

  The ceiling in the room’s center had collapsed. Splintered timber and stone hung like a giant flap as it drooped down to the floor.

  Bright light spilled through the hole. It burned like a pillar of celestial fire in the dim confines. Eisa’s eyes started to water, as they were poorly adjusted to the light. She looked away, scanning the room, but the shadows played tricks on her eyes.

  “Luca, where are you?” she whispered tentatively. Her brother’s distressed whimpers sounded closer than ever, but she still couldn’t see him. She looked in the closest dark corner, and then the next as she made her way towards the bridge of stone hanging from above. Eisa rounded the pile of rubble and stopped. Her heart leapt up into her throat, and she could not hold back the tears.