The faint hissing remained constant over the night. The last watch was calm and nothing remarkable happened.

After breakfast we broke camp and continued on our way east. The hissing grew louder over the morning. It was around noon when we could see a relatively flat area before us. The hissing came from the south side of the valley and light haze was covering a part of the valley’s flank. The hissing was far too loud to speak normally.

“Let’s keep some distance from that hiss.” Milly yelled as we approached the area.

“Then the northern flank it is.” I yelled back.

We headed north and passed the mofette at maximum distance. A stench of foul eggs permeated the air and there was plant life at southern side of the valley. The creek was on the north side as well at that point the south side was covered in plenty of interconnected pools framed by colorful stones.

There were a couples of large red lizards roaming in and around the steaming pools.

“Look there!” I yelled and pointed at the lizards.

They seemed to ignore us for now and so we continued east along the creek. The northern bank was steep and overgrown with grass, while we could walk next to the creek at the southern bank. A wide flat soled valley went up in the northern range ahead and the creek vanished into a deep gorge. A bluff of black rock went across the valley getting lower at the south side of the valley.

To the south were some of the large lizards though. I lead the party further along the creek to inspect the gorge. We wanted to avoid fights as far as we could, since our mana was still low all the time and picking a fight with an unknown enemy called for trouble and chances that someone got hurt were considerable.

We reached the gorge after about half an hour. The banks were steep and the creek had cut out an about five meters wide winding gorge. The creek didn’t fill out the whole gorge, it meandered about and it looked like it was not an issue to pass through.

The barrier before us was made of tuff, which is formed from volcanic ash. As it formed just at the end of the side valley it were probably the remains of pyroclastic flows.

Suddenly Milly shook my shoulder and pointed across the valley at two of the lizards approaching.

“Okay. Then we continue up there. I hope there is no bigger obstacle upstream.” I yelled frowning at the lizards.

The others nodded.

We entered the gorge. The hissing got noticeably quieter quite a bit a few meters after we entered the gorge.

“I’m half deaf!” Tilly cried pointing at her ears.

“Did you say something?” I cupped my hand behind my ears.

Caroline snickered.

We continued our way along the gorge. The sides of the ravine was mostly tuff, but there were stripes of sediments of ash visible from time to time. After a while the hissing of the mofette was replaced by the noise of rushing water in front of us.

“What is that noise?” Milly tilted her head.

“Some whitewater would be the best.” Tilly bit her lower lip.

“I hope the lizards don’t follow us into the gorge.” I rubbed my nose.

“Then let’s check it out.” Caroline

We continued upstream and the noise got louder over time. Then we stood in from of a water fall. It was a bluff about six meters high, the rims of the gorge only about two meters higher. The ravine was only about two meters wide at that point and the waterfall covered nearly the complete bluff. A deep pool of water had formed in front of it.

“We’re stuck!” Milly propped her hands on her hips.

“It’s too slippery to climb.” Caroline prodded the slick stone.

“How about the cliffs to the side?” Tilly looked up.

“It’s slippery all around here because of the spray from the waterfall.” I shook my head.

“Do we have to go back then?” Milly frowned at the bluff in front of us.

“We can try to use pitons to go up, can we?” Loraline surveyed the cliff.

“It’s still all wet and slippery” Caroline shook her head.

“At least we would have footholds. The cliff itself is smoothed by the water.” I leaned myself on my halberd.

“With a rope it might be doable.” Caroline was surveying the cliff as well.

“It’s worth a try. Even if we lose some pitons here.” I looked back down the gorge.

“Then let’s try to use pitons. We can probably retrieve at least one or two of them at least if it won’t work.” Loraline set down her backpack to get a few pitons and a hammer.

“Tilly and I covered the back to watch out for lizards. At least we probably have to fight only one at this chokepoint.” I went a few steps back and started watching the gorge.

Tilly followed me readying her spear.

“We find a way up there!” Milly nodded at us.

Loraline and Caroline discussed the best way up for a few moments. Then Loraline put in the first piton as far up as she could. Then she attached a rope to the piton and Caroline and secured her climb up.

Caroline removed her armor and climbed up to the piton without a problem. She managed to stand on the first piton and started to put in the second one carefully. She slipped a few times but was caught by the rope and came down with only a few bruises.

After half a dozen tries or so she finally attached another rope to the piton and tugged at it. Then she came down again.

“It seems to be okay for now, but it’s going to take time.” Caroline came to me.

She was totally drenched and I could see the outlines of her chest below her blouse.

“Nothing came upstream until now. Perhaps it’s not hot enough for them to feel comfortable. It’s definitely cooler in this gorge.” I grinned at Caroline with a slight blush.

She rolled her eyes and went back to the cliff.

Milly and Loraline were pulling with their full weight at the rope.

“Back!” I noticed a part of the cliff to tilt outward.

“There’s something coming down!” Caroline added.

They let go of the rope and jumped back. With a crash a sheet of rock attached to the rope crashed down into the gorge. A splash of water from the pool drenched us all within a moment.

“Shit!” Caroline was pale as a sheet.

“Good that Milly and Loraline tested that one.” I pulled her in a hug.

“There is a hole in the bluff!” Tilly surveyed the area.

A big sheet of tuff was laying in the pool. Looking up there was a hole in the wall. It was deeper than the debris at the foot of the cliff would make you suspect.

“It’s not a boulder, more a sheet that came down.” I looked at the rock in the pool carefully monitoring the cliff above me.

“Careful! Maybe there is something more ready to come down.” Milly frowned at me.

“I would like to sneak a peek into this hole.” I looked at the others.

“When you step on my shoulders you should be able to have a quick look in there.” Caroline looked up the cliff.

“Let’s have a look. Keep an eye on the rock face above.” I nodded at Caroline.

Caroline leaned herself with her back against the cliff and folded her hands in front of her hip as a step. I climbed up and looked into the hole.

There was a masoned arch the size of a door a few centimeters in. Deeper in it looked like a masoned room about foor meters across, and there were two more doorways. Next to entrance a heap of volcanic ash was covering the ground.

“This is actually a buried building!” I yelled and pulled myself up into the hole.

“Lilly!” Milly cried from the outside.

“It’s looking good so far.” I looked down into the gorge and saw a movement at the edge of my vision.

“Behind you!” I pointed down the gorge.

A large lizard was approaching the waterfall. It was still about twenty meters away.

The others looked back and readied their weapons.

“Throw me a rope! We can wait up here until it leaves again!” I yelled at the top of my lungs.

Loraline shot an arrow at the beast. It flinched and stepped backward.

Then a rope appeared in front of me. I snatched it carefully keeping my balance. I took half a step back and let the rope down the cliff again.

“Pull!” Caroline yelled from below.

There was something tied to rope and so I started to pull it up.

There was a hiss and then a cloud of steam started to form from behind the corner. Milly and Tilly retreated quickly to keep out of the effect.

“It’s hot!” Tilly cried.

I pulled my backpack with my halberd attached into the hole. A few moments later Loralines head appeared in the entrance. She had the bow strapped to her back. While she pulled herself over the edge I threw the rope back down.

Loraline readied her bow as soon as she could and started to monitor the gorge below. I pulled up her backpack next and put it beside mine a few steps inside the room.

She shot another arrow while Milly appeared in the entrance. She was inside a few moments later with a helping hand, still wearing her backpack.

Then a spear appeared in front of the entrance. I grabbed it and threw it behind me.

The lizard came back into view and another arrow barely missed his head. It retreated again.

“Coming.” Tilly’s head appeared in the entrance.

I threw the rope back out over her head while Milly pulled Tilly inside.

Finally Caroline stood up next to us as well. We retreated behind the corner and sneaked a peek outside.

There was another Lizard further down the gorge. As it didn’t approach the waterfall we pulled back from the entrance a bit.

“Let’s dry up a bit. We have to wait until they’re gone regardless.” Milly started to remove her drenched clothes.

Then a gust of hot air entered the room. There was nothing visible in the entrance and our drenched clothes helped cooling us down quite a bit.

“Maybe we should go deeper inside. They’re still aware of us.” I looked at the doorways.

“Be careful!” Milly swatted the back of my head.

“Ow! I’m always as careful as needed.” I shot her a glare.

Then I turned to have a look though the door at the side. It was a circular staircase leading down. It was made from stone and looked okay. It wasn’t the tuff we found outside, it looked like granite.

Beyond the other doorway was a large hall, but we were a story above ground. A rest of floor was just behind the doorway, maybe the rest of a balcony.

“Either we take the circular stairway down.” I pointed at the door to side.

“Or we go down with rope there.” I pointed over my shoulders.

“Is the stairway safe?” Milly looked a bit miffed.

“I didn’t try, but the rope variant might leave us trapped below if the hot air somehow damages the rope.” I shrugged.

“The stairs is the best way down I think. This all looks solid enough. Secure me with a rope and I take a look.” Caroline leaned against the wall.

“I can see better in the dark and I’m lighter than you.” I looked at Caroline.

“That’s true.” She nodded hesitantly.

“Let’s get over with this.” I tilted my head and looked at her.

“Keep to the walls.” She gave me a timid smile.

“Sure.” I nodded at her with a smile.

I secured myself with a rope and started to climb down the stairs carefully. The others held the rope taut. After a while I was at the bottom of the stairs and was at floor level of the hall. The floor by the wall was covered in light debris and all was covered by a thin layer of volcanic ash.

“The stairs seem to be okay. They look solid.” I called up to the door above me.

A bit of daylight came down there.

“We let our baggage down with the a rope” Milly appeared in the doorway.

“Go ahead!” I took position in front of the doorway, a few steps away from the rest of the balcony.

After a few minutes we had our backpacks in the hall. We changed our clothes to get dry again. There were hissing noises from entrance once in a while, but down in the hall everything was quiet.

There was a huge heap of debris at the left end of the hall, with the rest of an archway visible on the top. The hall was about ten meters wide and thirty meters long. To the right stood a large stone throne. Everything not made of stone had been long gone though.

“What a strange place.” Caroline looked around.

“This was all covered by volcanic ashes long, long ago.” I got a pinch of the ash from the ground.

“Volcanoes are scary.” Tilly looked the door at the far side with wide eyes.

“Well, only when the erupt.” Milly chuckled.

“You’ve been living long beside a volcano you said.” Loraline raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, but eruptions were rare.” Milly nodded.

“I’ll check out the rest of the room.” I picked up my halberd.

“There shouldn’t be anything down here, there are no tracks in the ash.” Tilly looked at the floor.

“Take the light gem. I probably won’t need it.” I handed the gem to Loraline.

“We rest for a while. Those lizard will be gone sooner or later.” Milly started to clean an area on the floor.

“Good idea, it would be time for lunch anyway.” Tilly started to help her.

I joined in and with some magic we had a large clean spot of white marble on the floor in no time.  I could check the hall later.

“Without the lizards at our front door this isn’t too bad as a place to rest.” Milly placed a blanket on the floor and sat down.

“The water from the creek seems not to come down here, so it’s at least dry.” I sat down beside her.

“How far is it to Soltan?” Caroline placed another blanket on the floor.

“About a week to the pass. I doubt we will enter the city though.” I bit into a smoked sausage.

“We need to stock up our supplies before the winter.” Loraline tilted her head and looked at me.

“We have to wait how the situation is at the pass. I know a discreet way into the city, but it’s not a nice one.” Caroline sat down on her blanket.

“I hope it’s not as bad as our way out of the empire’s capital” Milly frowned.

“That was a shitty experience.” I wrinkled my nose.

“You nearly drowned there!” Milly shuddered.

“Don’t remind me!” I pulled my heels to my butt.

“We survived.” Tilly patted my head.

“Yeah. Barely.” I grimaced at her.

“Let’s change the topic and continue lunch.” Milly shot us a glare.

“You started it.” Tilly stuck her tongue out at her.

We ate the rest of our lunch in silence.

“I check for further entrances, it looks like most of the doors are blocked by ash. I wonder why this room wasn’t filled up as well.” I got to my feet.

“Yeah, have fun.” Milly waved me away.

The floor under the ash looked like polished marble and was tiled in a chessboard pattern in black and white. The walls were made of plain basalt, a heap of debris laying along the walls, probably the remains of plaster.

In the center of left head of the hall was a large portal. The frame was filled halfway with a black sheet of stone. The color was like the ash on the ground, but the surface was smooth as glass.

The balcony on the entrance level went around the complete hall. There were a few doors at the side of the hall, but there was ash coming from these rooms. A quick peek inside showed that ceiling wasn’t in a good condition. The ash was highest under holes in the ceiling.

Hopefully this hall was stable enough until we had a chance to leave. On the other hand this had been standing for centuries at least, the chance that it would cave in just as we arrived her was low.

The other head of the hall was dominated by a black basalt throne. There was no sign of magic in the hall. Probably it was all long gone, fallen prey to the ravages of time in conjunction with a volcanic eruption.

The throne was located on a dais with a circular base ,reachable by three steps along the rim. The wall behind the dais was in a much better condition as it was still covered with white plaster which was contrast to the black basalt walls with their finely cut hexagonal stones.

The throne was carved from basalt as well and looked simple and plain. The seating was comfortable enough for a large human. Somehow it looked inviting.

I sat down on the throne, which was way to large for me, and laid my arms on the armrests. It felt somehow empowering.

Suddenly a tingle spread over my bum and my thighs. While I stared ahead mouth agape, trying to get back my bearings, the tingle went all over me and I was encased by a deep purple light.

I tried to jump to my feet, but I couldn’t move a finger. The purple light spread out all over the dais, stopping in front of the stairs. Then I screamed at the top of my lungs.

The other were jumping to their feet, but I couldn’t hear anything in spite of seeing them cry out loud. Then the purple veil slowly got more and opaque and after a few moments it was all I could see.

Still I couldn’t move a limb. I stopped screaming as I realized it wouldn’t help at all, but I couldn’t close my mouth again. An eerie presence started to form in my mind. Focusing on breathing, which somehow worked fortunately, even if it made no sense. For a while I felt being perused by that eerie presence. I focused on keeping my bearings as I felt completely exposed to the presence.

I couldn’t put my hand on it, but in a way the presence felt familiar. Then my head started to hurt feeling like someone was squashing my brain and my eyes lost focus. For a long moment the feeling persisted, but tuned down to a bearable level after a while.

Then the hall appeared back in my mind. The walls were covered by tapestries which showed Dragons in flight or on land in various poses. The door of the hall stood wide open. A paved place could be seen beyond another, smaller hall.

Suddenly a dark cloud suddenly blocked the door, and a bright barrier blocked the entrance. Shadows of people could be seen for a few moments before they crumpled to the ground. I got to my feet and pulled at a spine at the back of the head of the dragon head at the head of the armrest.

Then the perspective changed and I could see a stone door sliding back into the wall, opening a secret passage.

“Flee as far as you can or perish!” a voice boomed in my head and I felt panic creeping into my mind.

The armrests had dragon heads now and without thinking I pulled the same spike that was pulled before.

The others were standing in front of the dais looking at the throne in despair. Hope started to creep in their eyes as I jumped to my feet.

“We must leave! Fast!” I yelled, starting to circle the throne.

“Wait! We need our stuff!” Milly started to pursue me.

“We fetch our stuff and follow! Caroline! Loraline! Come!” Tilly cried.

I dashed through the secret door. Behind in the darkness a circular room, the only way out was a spiral stairway up. I could hear steps closing up from behind and bolted up the stairs at top speed.

I got some distance to my pursuer, but I nearly fell because of a demolished stair on my way. There were no exits, thus I ran up as fast as I could. Then the stairs ended at a twisted metal door. I started to rip at the door, the footsteps closing in with from behind me.

With all my strength I could pull the door a few centimeters back, but the steps directly behind me now. In panic I turned around and stared wide eyes at my pursuer. I screamed in panic as he stepped up to me and then a stinging pain exploded on my cheek.

My eyes cleared and I could see Milly in front of me, torn between utter rage and fear. My mind finally started to clear again.

“Lilly! Stop running head over heals up unknown stairs!” Milly furrowed her brows and got hold of my right hand.

“Milly! We have to leave! Now!” I recognized I was breathing heavily.

“Not without our Backpacks!” She gave me a stern glare.

“Your’re. Your’re right.” I looked down to my feet.

“Of course I’m right, as always.” She pulled me into a hug.

“I had been panicking.” I forced myself to breathe consciously.

“It’s all good now. What happened?” She pulled me in closer.

“Let’s leave this place as quick as we can!” I heard the others coming up the stairs.

“Okay. What shall we do?” She released me again.

“Help me with that door, but careful, we don’t want it to tumble down the stairs.” I looked her in the eyes.

We started to pull at the door and pulled it about two thirds open. The others had reached the top of the staircase as well at the time and kept out of the way the door would take on the way down. They were loaded with the extra backpacks and Tilly carried my halberd as well.

“Here’s your stuff. How do we “ Tilly lost balance as the ground started to shake.

“An earthquake!” Milly grappled me as we tried to keep on our feet.

“Don’t fall!” Caroline diverted Tilly against the wall as she started to tilt downstairs.

A bang came from behind be, and I was hit in my back. Fortunately the armor had soaked most of the impact.

“There! Daylight!” Loraline pointed behind me.

“Good!” I looked over my shoulder.

There was a small crack across the stone barring our way. A few stones got loose from the the ceiling and I heard stone bumping down the stairs.

After a while the earth was stable again.

“Let’s break down that wall!” I let go of Milly and smashed my shoulder against one part of the blocking stone.

The stone didn’t budge.

“Let’s see if this one gives way!” Milly threw herself at the smaller part of the fracture near the floor.

The crack widened. Another earthquake hit the area. Cracking noises came from down below.

Frantically I hit the small piece with the butt of my halberd. Tilly joined in with her spear.

“The crack widens!” Caroline yelled from behind.

Finally the slab gave way and it looked large enough to squeeze through.

“We wait for the quake to cease!” Milly gave me a stern look.

“Yes. Miss Milly.” I winked at her.

Finally the ground was calm for a few minutes.

“I go first.” I shoved my halberd through the hole and squeezed myself to the outside. I was standing in a small crack.

We got our backpacks came out without a problem. It was a good thing they were not filled up to the brim anymore.

Loraline and Caroline had a bit more problems, but finally we were all on the outside.

“Let’s get out of here. I explain later.” I climbed out of the crack to the east.

“Why did you even sit down on that throne?” Milly climbed up as well.

“Because I could. There was no magic in the area. I checked.” I swept the terrain around us.

To the left was a valley which looked as if it was the source of the barrier in the main valley, while the gorge with the creek and the water fall was to the right. A lake blocked the way up the valley.

“We have to pass that, but at which side?” Loraline observed the way ahead.

“We should keep to the north side, if that turns out to be blocked or difficult we can always turn south later.” I put on my backpack and readied my halberd.

There were a few more earthquakes over the next hour and then a stronger one threw us all to the ground. We had gained a bit altitude and several stones came down the mountain flank, but it was no avalanche fortunately.

As we got back to our feet there was a large crater just behind the lake. We looked at each other and all were pale as a sheet.

“We should continue till evening. I tell you more at dinner. It’s not much, but I think we don’t want to be around here in the near future.” I grit my teeth.

We passed the lake without much of a problem and continued our way until dusk set in. There were a few more earthquakes in the afternoon.

We decided to take a place to rest on a small hillock with a good view at the surroundings.

While we had dinner I told them what happened while had been sitting on the throne.

“You couldn’t know that something was amiss with the thing. I hadn’t seen any magic either.” Tilly leaned back and propped herself on her arms.

“It was horrible. I thought I would never see you again!” Milly hung her head.

“It was terrifying. I was next to panicking most the time.” I gave Milly a hug.

“The dais was covered in a purple light all the time. I jabbed at the dome with my spear, but it was just deflected.” Tilly pressed her lips together.

“We didn’t try to touch it though.” Milly buried her face in my shoulder.

“Well, if I had known what happened I would have given the throne a wide berth.” I petted her head.

“You survived it, and we will hopefully get away from this mess. Do you have an idea what will happen?” Caroline pulled her legs to her tummy.

“Not really, but all those earthquakes might be a sign that there will be a volcanic eruption. We better be as far away as we can. We need to stay on the move anyway.” I shrugged.

“There were eruptions in the claws in the distant past, but since the end of the Dragon Wars, there is no recording of such an event.” Loraline tilted her head and looked at me.

“Well. Let’s hope were not in the vicinity when it happens. Volcanic eruptions can be tremendously dangerous. What I saw reminded me of a pyroclastic flow.” I sighed and looked back down the valley.

“Let’s get some sleep and continue on our way tomorrow as early as we could.” Milly looked up again with teary eyes.

We got ready for the night and I fell asleep a good while later, cuddling closely with Milly and Tilly.