WARMTH covered Iḷēhaḥ as she relaxed in the soft bed. But suddenly, she awoke and gasped for air, as if she had been resuscitated. Her breathing labored for some moments before becoming normal, but her left arm quivered and would not stop. She looked at herself and saw she was in a silk gown and pajamas. Looking around the space, she noticed the room was shaped like a dome, and at the top a large hole was inset where she could faintly see the edges that merged into the blackness, much like a tunnel.
She at last rested her eyes on the persons who stood near her bed and saw she had startled them. They looked to be servants, dressed in tunics and shawls, and were—at the time—tending to her. She noticed that, though they were fair, they bore fangs in their mouths and had slightly scaled skin that traveled from the bottom of their chin down as their necks flared toward the top like a hood. When she looked around the bed, she saw that some of them had the body of a snake.
She immediately leaped from the bed, grabbed one of them, and cried in desperation, “Is this the land of the Gazhigam?”
“Yes, yes!” said the snake-woman. “Gazhigashrahthya! Ye have arrived in the realm of the Gazhigam. Your friends await outside; they behold the sights of our land. It shall not be long until they meet the King, so I advise haste!”
Iḷēhaḥ at once changed out of the bed robes into her raiment and made outside with the servants in tow.
The realm was vast, as it was deep. Its ceiling rested high above, with many stalactites of varying size and thickness. All the buildings were shaped like domes. Above the roofs were stone tubes that connected to the ceiling. It was hard to tell a house from a public building for there was little in difference between them, but if one looked close they could see that the hue of the stone and mortar that encased them was just slightly darker for the latter.
The buildings circled about a great shining abyss whose depth could not be ascertained, but glowed bright with red and orange hues. All around the walls of the abyss were the Gazhigam workers hard at work, building their tunnels and extracting mineral and ore.
A haze covered the realm, made thicker with steam that emitted from the many baths that dotted the area. The dampness of the air and heat from the haze prickled her skin, but she gave it no mind.
With haste, she walked about the bustling streets in search of a way into the abyss. The servants who followed her tried their best to relay directions, but she hardly listened to them. She was desperate to find the others.
She ignored many of the sights along the way and rushed through the horde of Gazhigam—who walked or slithered about the place—much to their vexation. Though many were hospitable, they did not take well to foreigners cutting through or moving faster than they were, for they took it as slight against their snake-life form.
After a few hours of going back and forth, and many complaints and insults thrown their way, the servants at last caught her attention, and she followed them through the concentric paths till they reached a wide fenced ramp. She scurried down the steps without wholly listening to what her escorts had to say. They passed by many of the workers who scaled the walls with either their claws—if they had them—or rope. A brightness filled the space, with many gems gleaming in the light of the torches and open flames.
As they descended deeper and passed many tunnels, she noticed that the abyss widened and that walking the path along the steps would take much too long to reach the bottom.
“Is there not a quicker way to descend?” asked Iḷēhaḥ, panting.
“Ye should have harkened to our words,” said the servants. “Many lifts and sights dot these tunnels, and it is much like a maze to reach them. Yet your friends should have boarded the lifts toward the bottom, of whose descent outpaces any slithering or walk.”
She calmed herself and bowed. “I apologize servants; my gratitude to you for your guidance.”
They backtracked toward the upper steps and made way into one of the larger tunnels. Along the path, the walls seemed to glow by will of their own. There were neither torches nor self-illuminating flowers and this seemed rather strange to her, but she did not pursue the thought further: her mind was still fixed on the others.
It was not long until they reached their destination. It was a platform made completely of stone, stretched to the edges of the walls. There was no sign of rope or other mechanisms that would allow it to move, and many persons stood on it with those whom looked like the attendants situated at the front. They went inside and the attendants nodded to each other. They held their left arms forward, and a light gleamed in front, and soon, all atop the platform passed into darkness.
The descent was quick. Iḷēhaḥ did not feel the rush of wind or any other force pushing them below, and she was content with the smoothness of its motion. When a few minutes passed, the light of the red and orange hues flooded their view. She could see magma pouring out from the walls into a deep chasm below. The lift then circled around the walls of the abyss and she could see that the earth itself was moving the lift, with the base of the pillar stretching into the chasm.
And looking to the attendants, she could see that they bore Dvı̄sahlvah upon some small scepters held in front. Shifting her gaze once more around, she could see many such lifts all circling the walls. The deeps of the realm was indeed vast and its base was much wider than the top allowing for nearly a hundred or more such platforms to circle about, though if one were to look below, hard it would be to see with the blinding of the light.
As they neared the end of the abyss where the light shone the brightest, the platform slowed in its motion as they could hear ringing in the distance. They descended into another tunnel and it halted at the other end upon an elevated area.
All the passengers disembarked, and Iḷēhaḥ and the servants walked to the edge. Below, they could see crystals that gleamed in the light of the magma and many domes that elevated in tiers that seemed to stretch for miles into the distance. At its end, they could see a stone palace hued in orange and red resting atop its own platform, with a large bell hanging atop that slowed in its motion, all while streams of magma flowed from behind.
“We suspect your friends to be there,” said the servant, pointing to the palace. “We should make haste to them.”
Iḷēhaḥ agreed, and they descended the steps, following the rest of the disembarked passengers.
This area differed greatly from the upper level, for it seemed mostly officials and soldiers walked about the roads. Many of the domes seemed to be administrative buildings and they could hear much clamor among them with talk of food supply, trade—especially that related to the gems that were acquired from mining—taxation, and even talk of strangers having been brought by a guardian of the realm who were now waiting by the palace. The strangers no doubt referred to Iḷēhaḥ and the others, and she seemed to have an idea who the guardian was, but did not speak of it and instead quickened her pace.
