Annihilation （Part 2）
Suddenly a torrent of yellow acid erupted and drenched the soldier's face and side.
He screamed as flesh and armor melted and smoke curled up. Before he could react, an axe slammed into his chest.
When Rowena looked up, a familiar face came into view.
The dragon child stood beside her, his eyes blazing as he yanked the axe free and charged the next enemy, club in one hand, axe in the other, roaring with fury.
She stared at him in awe, hardly believing his raw, fearless determination.
The axe-man's grin vanished when he saw the child barreling towards him. He swung wildly in surprise, but the boy smashed his axe into the soldier.
The axe bit deep into the man's arm—then a final blow from the boy's club ended it. The soldier dropped, unmoving.
The Dragonchild paused then. His chest heaved as his eyes scanned for more threats.
Finally coming back to her senses, Rowena recovered her lost sword, then crawled painfully to Galdir. Her vision blurred with tears and blood, though she didn't know whose.
When she reached him, she lay her head on his cold shoulder and wept. Not for the loss of Galdir alone, but for what this attack meant.
She couldn't believe it.
She didn't want to.
The boy could hardly stomach the devastation around him, and his heart broke for his fallen friend. But loss was not a new experience for him.
He swallowed down the pain and forced himself to turn to Elder Davenport who was still sprawled in the dirt.
The old man's forehead was split open and blood poured down his face, but he was still alive. Barely. His breaths were ragged and weak.
"Rowena! Come quick! He's alive!" the boy shouted.
Rowena wiped her face and limped to Davenport.
"Lord Davenport, can you hear me?" Her voice was barely more than a rasp.
Davenport's eyes fluttered. He winced.
"Rowena?" he whispered, confused.
She took his hand. "Yes, I'm here."
Davenport tried to lift his head, then groaned in pain.
Rowena gently pressed his shoulder. "Don't move."
She carefully wiped the dirt and blood away from his eyes and asked, "What happened here?"
"I was in the trees, gathering pine needles... heard screaming, saw soldiers... I hid. They burned everything, killed everyone." His voice broke. "I waited in the tree. Galdir came after... but some soldiers returned. They were looking for me. For it..."
"For what?" Rowena asked.
Davenport's eyes widened. "I told Galdir—dig... they saw us! They wanted the key—"
He halted, wheezing and gasping. His breaths quickened and grew shallow. His wrinkled skin turned pale.
Rowena saw garden soil caked in his hair and nails, and she realized he'd been digging with his bare hands.
"I don't understand. Why were you digging?" she asked.
Davenport fumbled at his collar, struggling to pull a polished silver chain into view.
Rowena helped, revealing a heavy, ornate key. Davenport pressed it into her palm, squeezing her hand.
"Take it... to the prince. Ladomir must reclaim Etheria. Don't touch it...Don't... touch..." His eyes went cold. Davenport was gone.
Rowena bowed her head, fighting grief.
She solemnly studied the key in her hand. It was undoubtedly an Etherian design, ancient yet familiar, though she couldn't quite place where she'd seen the exact design before.
The boy eyed the key. "What do you think it opens?"
Rowena shook her head, "I don't know, but he said they were digging for something."
She scanned the garden and spotted a shallow hole in the center.
She pointed. "There."
"He said to take it to Ladomir. I thought the prince was dead." The boy stated, puzzled.
Rowena shot him a look, surprised by his comment, "Who told you he was dead?"
He looked away, embarrassed. "That's what people say."
Rowena shook her head. "If they're searching for loyalists, the prince must still be alive. Why else would they seek to eliminate his supporters?"
"But he said they wanted the key. What if they knew?" the boy asked.
"That's...possible..." Rowena admitted, "But what treasure are they after?"
She peered into the shallow hole, examining Davenport's fingerprints in the dirt. She turned to the boy.
"Dissolver, I need you. Take the shovel and dig here. I can't do it myself."
She gripped the laceration on her side. The pain grew stronger as the adrenaline slowly left her body.
"Of course." The boy obeyed at once.
While he worked, Rowena scavenged for supplies in the rubble. The sky had darkened overhead, and shadows spilled across the ruined village. The flames of the housefires dwindled to glowing embers.
Her heart wrenched as she tried not to look at the familiar faces of the dead. She wondered for a moment if they should be buried, but then quickly dismissed the idea.
They didn't have time. More enemies could arrive at any moment. She felt urgency pressing on her like a shadow looming in the dark, ready to strike.
On her way back from scavenging supplies, the purple tabard on the body of her attacker caught her eye. She stooped down and looked closely at the strange beast depicted in the threads.
It resembled a griffon atop an upside-down crown.
She frowned. Despite her extensive, noble education, the symbol was unfamiliar.
She cut the symbol free and tucked it into her pocket, hoping she might ba able to find a library or an expert who could help her identify its origin.
The Dissolver's cry broke the silence. "Rowena! I think I've found something!"
Rowena rushed to his side. The boy was half-buried, clawing at the earth.
"Look," he whispered. "It's stone."
As the boy brushed away the dirt, ancient carvings emerged; elegant lines and symbols twisting in the fading light.
Rowena's heart thudded in her chest, and the key in her pocket suddenly felt impossibly heavy.
She slid into the hole beside him.
The air felt colder, as if the ground exhaled secrets.
They dug in silence, urgency mounting as night approached.
At last, a massive stone disk emerged, etched with the same patterns as the key. A deep groove ringed its edge.
The boy wiped his brow. "What is it?"
Rowena traced the groove with her fingers. "It looks like a seal," she whispered.
"Give me the shovel, please." She said, then wedged it into the groove and tried to pry the seal open.
She strained with all her remaining strength but it wouldn't budge.
"Let me try," The Dissolver said, voice wavering with exhaustion.
Together, they strained against the weight.
The stone disk shifted with a shuddering groan, revealing what lay beneath—
a rusty metal ladder,
vanishing into a chamber below so dark it seemed to swallow the last fragments of daylight.