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Engraven	By : Skullbearer Category: A through F > Dragonlance Views: 1949 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the book(s) that this fanfiction is written for, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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Engraven

Deep Remains
We found you hiding, we found you lying
Choking on the dirt and sand
Your former glories and all the stories
Dragged and washed with eager hands
-Cities in Dust, Siouxsie and the Banshees
Dalamar ran his hand over the stone, brushing against the cracks lining it. "Man-made, dwarf-made more likely, I'd wager this is not a natural cave."
Raistlin nodded, he'd thought the same. "An ancient outpost of Thorbardin?"
Dalamar shrugged, "It could have been, this is old work Raistlin, very old. I'm guessing the cracks were caused either by the Cataclysm or by the destruction of Zhaman."
He took a step back, and smiled at Raistlin. "Do you feel recovered enough to take a look around?"
Raistlin nodded, it was true that it would be a while before the search for them died down in the mountains, so they would be best off lying low for a while. But...
This place was close to where Zhaman, the ancient fortress of Fistandantilus, had once stood. While the ruins itself promised little more than a swift death to any who approached it, perhaps this place, so close, would offer some of the artifacts rumored to still lie within Skullcap?
The cave was definitely an oddity, Raistlin mused. The mouth had been left untouched and rough, but once they had pushed their way further into it's depths the floor became relatively smooth. Here and there deep cracks marred its surface, a relic of the Cataclysm that had shaken Krynn.
The walls too were smooth, and sloped strangely inward so that the tunnel the two mages were in was shaped like a trapezoid. It was an odd way to shape an underground passage, for without beams holding the walls up it was liable to collapse. Raistlin was surprised it hadn't done so already; cracks had spidered along the walls and ceiling as they had the floor, making him more than slightly nervous. Water dripped from the cracks in the ceiling, trickling away through the ones in the floor.
"It has held this long, and I'm certain it will hold up for the next few hours," Dalamar said, catching the concern in his eyes.
The Dark elf didn't look too comfortable either, clearly not used to being underground. "This is for dwarves," he added, with a self-deprecating smile.
Raistlin didn't bother asking him if he wanted to go back, he already knew what Dalamar would say; say he was fine, he'd had worse, he wouldn't leave Raistlin alone here, if there was magic to be had he'd face far more than this.
It would be a waste of breath, and breath was such a precious commodity when it was so hard to catch. Raistlin hunched over, the damp air locking in his lungs and his throat closing. It was a bad attack, and when it was over he was leanign against the wall, drained.
Dalamar lay his hand on the mage's shoulder. "Perhaps we should go back, it can't be good for you to be down here."
Golden eyes narrowed as he gasped for breath, "I will be fine, don't fuss over me."
"My apologies, I hate to see you like this." Dalamar averted his eyes, sighing.
Raistlin started back down the passage, "Don't pity me."
Dalamar looked at him, his face a mix of emotions, then he sighed again, shook his head, and followed the human mage.
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When Raistlin first saw them, he wasn't sure what they were.
Dalamar's keen eyes first picked out the strange whorls and patterns decorating the walls and ceiling. Blackened and smudged, they started at floor level and arched upwards, across the ceiling and down again along the opposite wall to the ground.
The Dark elf ran his hand over the strange marks, gathering a little oily black residue on his fingers. He looked at Raistlin, eyebrows raised in a question.
The human mage shrugged, it could have been almost anything from a tribal cave painting to a broken magical ward.
After examining the patterns a while longer and not coming to any conclusion, they moved on, the markings had been too blasted and cracked for anything to be made of them. Whatever they had once been, they were harmless now.
A few meters on, they passed another set of markings. The patterns were different, but once again they spanned the walls and ceiling and once again they were too damaged to work out their meaning.
By the time they had passed the fourth set, Raistlin was growing suspicious.
Dalamar clearly shared his feelings because the Dark elf quickly cast a spell, one to discern if there was any magic in the area, on the patterns.
The did glow; but it was the weak, flickering light of a dying firefly rather than the dazzling glare of magical runes. These were wards then, Raistlin thought, but they had been ruined beyond use.
The wonder was not that they had been ruined, between the Cataclysm and the destruction of Zhaman it was unsurprising they had not survived, but who or what had wanted to hide something badly enough to ward a passageway this heavily?
Dalamar must have come to the same conclusion, because when he turned back to the younger mage, he was grinning darkly.
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They went on in silence, their eyes on the wards, looking out for any that might still be active. Oddly enough there were none, they were all little more than tracings of blackened soot on the walls.
Dalamar spoke, shattering the quiet, "Perhaps they were some kind of explosive runes? And when first one is set off, the next follows, then the next and so on?"
Raistlin looked back at the last set of wards they'd passed, "If so then why is the ceiling still standing? Even one explosion should have caused a cave-in."
The Dark elf looked pensive, then nodded.
The tunnel's end was abrupt; the mages rounded a corner and found themselves faced with a double door.
It must have once been a formidable barrier, made of black iron and reaching up three meters from floor to ceiling. The dully glowing remnants of wards studded its smooth surface and the lock was large and complex.
But now it had succumbed to time and damage like everything else in this place. The two doors sagged drunkenly, half off the massive hinges anchoring them to the rock. The wards were as useless as the others they had passed, barely flickering as they drew up to them. The doors hung open, leaving a gap large enough to ride a horse through. The inside was as dark as a dragon's mouth.
Eager to see what had been so zealously guarded, Raistlin stepped forward first, only to be held back by Dalamar. "Perhaps I should go through first."
The human mage scowled, "Dalamar, how many times do I have to remind you that despite all evidence to the contrary, I can look after myself? You are beginning to sound like my brother."
The Dark elf straightened, the barb had struck home. "I just want to keep you from getting hurt, remember that."
"I remember, and I also remember that you once let me make my own decisions as to what I could and couldn't handle."
"Things are different."
"Are they? Some things may have changed, Dalamar, but my ability to judge myself and what I can or cannot do has not. If you can't trust me with yourself, then at least trust me with myself."
The Dark elf hung his head, but Raistlin hasn't finished, he had to say this before things went too far. "You promised me once that I could trust you, that you wouldn't be the one to drag me down. I hold you to that promise."
Dalamar nodded slowly, then he lifted one hand and stroked Raistlin's cheek. "You are wise, and completely right. I'm sorry. As you said, I have been acting like that ass Caramon."
Raistlin smiled, it took a lot for the Dark elf to admit he was wrong, but when he did you knew he'd got the message.
"I love you very much, remember that." the elf’s fingers brushed down his face, and were replaced with his lips.
Raistlin smiled, then gestured towards the broken open doors, Dalamar nodded, and they slipped inside the dark room.
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Engraven