Chapter 98: 37.2ᴘᴀᴛʀᴇᴏɴ.ᴄᴏᴍ/sᴛʀᴀᴛᴏᴛʜʀᴀx
"Maybe it was the same people who built them. It would make sense that they would leave something other than just stairs behind right?"
They wandered across the plain, various pieces of ruin becoming visible, a piece of fallen arch, a corner of a tiled floor, a stumped pillar. whatever had been done to the place had leveled it, torn down every structure stone by stone until only the one ruin in the middle was left standing.
As they approached it Rain realised it was a part of a castle, although nearly destroyed beyond all recognition. The walls were shredded and scarred, the dark stone blasted and melted in places. The ruin had a skeletal bleak feel. The wind blew through stoney gaps with a hollow echoing sigh.
Opal shivered on his shoulders.
"This place is creepy..."
Rain didn't reply but approached a wall. On the wall was something familiar. An angular runic script that looked like it had been clawed out of the stone. It was the same as the script around the gold band on the giant petrified alligator they had found dead by the great lake. He put his paw flat on the wall, the runes were the same, although this time his claws dwarfed the markings.
"I was right to listen to my gut, these runes, I think they were made by my kind, these marks were made by claws like mine."
The Goblin peered down at them sceptically. "I guess they could be, the dead thing that was on the bottom of the great lake was supposed to have lived a long long time ago. It's possible it was part of the people that built this stuff."
"Maybe there will be more inside… Maybe a clue about what happened here..."
Opal hesitated then nodded her head. "Yes... there might be."
They wandered beneath ruin, into the shadowed halls and broken rooms. The ceiling was tall, enough for Rain, with Opal on his shoulders, to just fit beneath. The wind was muffled here and Rain was a little disturbed to hear it sound a little like a susserating whisper in some unknown language as it filtered through the ruin.
The Kobold yelped suddenly and Rain turned to him.
"What is it?"
"I- th-thought I-I s-saw something, there was a weird pale head, at the end of the hall looking around the corner!"
Rain narrowed his eyes and rushed forward. He came to the end ready to catch whatever monster was there but found the following hallway empty.
"What did you see? Tell me."
The Kobold yelped as he was pulled forward on his chain. "Elf! Or H-human maybe! I can't tell they all look alike to me!"
Rain blinked in surprise. "Not a monster?"
"No! I don't think so anyway, but then again it could be a, uhm, harpy. W-we should go, really!"
"If there really are levelers here then they would have come for monsters so that they can kill and level up from them, so if you did see a leveler then we can be sure there are monsters too," murmured Opal.
"Caution it is," said Rain. He shook the Kobolds chain and gave him an evil grin. "You go first."
"W-what!" spluttered the Kobold. "B-b-but I can't! I- I- have a condition!"
Opal scoffed. "Oh yeah? What's that?"
"I'm scared."
"Good. It's like fishing, a wiggling worm on the hook attracts more fish, or something," leered the Goblin.
Rain yanked on the chain and the Kobold yelped and scuttled forward with tears pricking at the corners of his eyes.
He approached the next corner.
"WhymeWhymeWhyme, should have kept my mouth shut, oh godsohgodsohgods."
The Kobold slowly stuck his snout around, ready to bolt at the slightest motion.
After a moment he released a breath.
"There's nothing here, it's just a big empty room."
Rain approached behind him and peered around. The hallway terminated just a few feet ahead and opened into a dark and shadowy hall.
"This must be in the center of the Ruin, if there's anything important I bet it's here."
They slowly emerged into the hall, it was a vast thing with great square pillars marching down its length to either side. The occasional crumbling gap in the ceiling let pinpoint beams of light through. Dust motes hung sluggishly in the light, giving a still and heavy feel to the space.
The hall was deathly silent until suddenly a thud and the click clack of a lock behind them caused them to turn. A pair of heavy bronze doors had shut themselves over the entrance they had come through. The Kobold rushed up to them and desperately tried to pull the doors open but they remained solidly immovable.
"Oh gods we're all going to die!" moaned the Kobold. He turned on Rain. "I told you! I told you so! This place is! It's h-HAUNTED!"
"Quiet."
The Kobold's mouth clicked shut with a terrified look up at the wolf.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Stratothrax
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