Chương 368: Chapter 363 - Intervals

Leon's boots scraped against uneven stone, the sound echoing through the ceilingless corridor like breath rasping in a hollow throat. Above them stretched only darkness, while the path ahead twisted in erratic arcs, narrowing and widening as though it had grown that way rather than been built. Set into the stone walls at irregular intervals were strange shapes — half-formed limbs, warped skulls, ridged spines curled in on themselves.

Some were the size of cattle, others no larger than a pinky, but all shared the same warped stillness. Leon couldn't tell if they were carvings or genuine remains, but the sight unsettled him, and his eyes kept drifting back to them. The way the forms merged with the rock… it was almost as if the stone itself had grown around them. Yet no creature should look like that, nor lie buried in such a way. The more he saw of Beld Thylelion, the less he understood.

"So," Skye said from his left, "you're telling me you really don't know what pulled you in here, or why you suddenly felt like lunging at Mel?" She gave him a sidelong glance.

"It's still just because she gives you 'bad vibes'?" Leon turned towards her. The young woman had swept her dark hair slightly aside, her gaze lingering on the wall shapes as she moved with a fluid stride. There was something about her presence that stuck with him, faintly reminiscent of the aura techniques used by fellow knights, yet…skewed. Off-balance in some deliberate way he couldn't quite place.

"I wouldn't phrase it like that," he replied slowly.

"But as I mentioned, your companion's techniques clashed with my aura. And no, I still don't fully understand why. But I did misjudge the threat it presented."

"Mmhmm. No, I get what you mean." Skye nodded half-absently.

"I don't particularly like it, but I understand. Briana?" A few paces ahead, the Oathbound in the cerulean cape glanced back. Her gaze met Leon's for a long second before she turned forward again.

"I believe he's telling the truth," she said.

"In his place, I might have reacted the same." Skye fell quiet. Leon noticed a faint crease form between her brows before it smoothed out. She looked past him to the woman walking at his right.

"And you're still vouching for him, Regina? Think he's trustworthy? Not likely to cause you trouble?"

"I am," the princess answered with a calm nod.

"Sir Leon is an honourable and disciplined man, and the youngest vice-captain the Solar Knights have ever appointed. That alone speaks volumes. I see no reason to doubt his integrity…and I believe I will be fine." Leon studied her face. He wasn't sure he deserved that level of confidence.

"Then…" Skye exhaled sharply through her nose.

"Think I was too harsh, biting into him back there?" The princess hesitated.

"…No. I think that was fair." Her eyes flicked to Leon, softer now.

"My apologies, Sir Leon."

"You have nothing to apologise for, Your Highness." Skye had offered some…pointed words after their first meeting, and Leon had chosen to endure them without complaint. The princess's gaze lingered on him, then drifted towards Skye and further along the path behind them. Her expression shifted, a faint tension creasing her face.

"…No," she murmured.

"I do owe an apology. And not just to you." Leon followed her line of sight. The robed woman several paces behind kept to herself, hands twisting in restless patterns, voice barely audible as she whispered to the stone beneath her feet. He had to continually suppress the instinctive unease she stirred in him. Melody—Mel, as they called her—was a presence he could neither place nor completely ignore.

It hadn't been long since they'd left the chamber where they met, but since then, at Skye's prompting, Mel had acted as though Leon simply didn't exist. She seemed just as uncomfortable with him as he was with her, and ignoring him had been the best way for her to keep calm. It stung more than he liked to admit, to have that effect on a person. It didn't entirely feel like a judgement he'd earned — but he couldn't entirely dismiss the blame either. Still, that wasn't the primary problem clawing at his thoughts.

"How many of your people did you say were on the surface before you were brought into this place?" Skye asked. Leon focused on her again.

"Roughly two hundred and fifty. That includes mages, priests, knights, and Shielders. But I don't know if any of them are here inside Beld Thylelion."

"Still, that's a decent number. If they did get dragged in too, we should run into someone eventually."

"We might, yes." Leon studied her for another second, but her gaze had already wandered, settling on one of the warped forms embedded in the wall. This one looked like a coiled, insectoid limb twisting in on itself. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. A small shiver passed through him, and he looked ahead. It reminded him just a bit too much of certain monsters he'd fought.

He could face dragons, bog-fiends, even the undead — but anything resembling insects unsettled him in a way nothing else could. Shoving the thought aside, he focused on the present. Despite their rocky introduction, they had agreed on a shared purpose in Beld Thylelion. Whatever had drawn them here, the truth at its centre mattered more. For now, Leon had pledged his sword to the princess and her companions. After a stretch of silence, his thoughts returned to the woman behind them.

Without turning, he spoke quietly.

"…Your Highness, if I may — how long have you known this 'Mel'?" Princess Regina glanced at him.

"A few months."

"And you?" he asked Skye.

"The same," she said.

"Me, Briana, and Regina found her in Silverborough."

"Found her?"

"Literally. She was in…bad shape. We helped her. One thing led to another, and eventually she joined us. I know how she might come across, but she's not dangerous. Not unless you threaten her first." Leon winced slightly but offered no rebuttal.

"…Do you know what she did before that? Who she is?"

"We don't," Skye said simply.

"Mel doesn't speak of her past," Princess Regina added.

"We don't know what she endured, but we suspect it was not anything pleasant." She watched Leon with a contemplative look.

"… You seemed somewhat familiar with the techniques she used. Do you know something, Sir Leon?" His brow tightened. Once more, he glanced over his shoulder to where Mel shuffled along, still murmuring to herself like she was trying to remember some forgotten dream. He had met her only once before, so briefly it barely counted. She was more of a mystery to him than to any of them. Especially given her connection to Scarlett.

He had once sworn to Scarlett never to speak of that link unless Melody became a danger to others or the empire. And a knight's word…

"You do know something, don't you?" Skye said. Leon looked at her. Her expression was both sharp and searching, weighing his reaction. She lifted a finger, pointing at him.

"That's the look of someone wrestling with whether or not to speak up." His jaw tightened. Lying had never been his strength, nor evading responsibility. He stayed quiet, but his gaze shifted towards Princess Regina. Could he truly remain silent before a member of the imperial family? Even with his oath to Scarlett, did his duty to the princess not come first? But… if Melody had never shared her past with these people, what right did he have to reveal it?

Scarlett had claimed the woman was innocent, that speaking of her history could put her in danger. And for now, nothing suggested her past was relevant. He wanted to ask Melody herself. After all, part of him could never fully trust Scarlett's word. It was entirely possible she had lied, or told only the part she wanted him to believe. Skye and the princess had said Melody was in rough shape when they found her. If Scarlett had been protecting her, how had she ended up like that?

If it had been the old Scarlett, the answer would've been obvious — failure, abandonment… or worse. But with the 'new' Scarlett, it was hard to tell. Skye was still watching him, cool but unreadable. After some time, she let out a breath.

"You really have to think that hard about it?" Leon lowered his head.

"I'm sorry. It's simply that…"

"You're not sure if it's yours to share?" He gave a slow nod.

"Not even with me, Sir Leon?" Princess Regina asked. He hesitated, meeting her eyes.

"…If Your Highness were to issue a direct command, I would obey. But I gave my word to the one who previously watched over your companion. I promised I would not speak of it." Her eyes widened faintly, then narrowed.

"But you do know who she was with?"

"I do." A long pause followed. The princess studied him, thoughtful. Then Skye's voice cut in.

"You don't have to tell us." Both Leon and Princess Regina turned towards her in surprise. Skye shrugged lightly.

"If she hasn't told us herself, there's probably a reason. I'd rather hear it from her when she's ready. Everyone's got ghosts. Drag them into the light too soon, and they might lash out and cause more of a mess." Leon regarded her for a moment. He was finding her personality hard to properly gauge. There was something disarmingly grounded about her, along with a quiet conviction without arrogance. For her age, she was remarkably mature — different from the princess' formality, but just as steady, if not more so.

Skye looked back at him.

"Just tell me one thing. The person who was with her before…were they good to her?" He hesitated.

"…They are hard to define," he said after a while.

"But I do believe their intentions were genuine. At least…towards her." That was the impression Scarlett had given him. But with her, truth was always buried under layers of subterfuge. He didn't know how Melody had truly lived while under her care, nor what had caused their apparent separation. Perhaps Scarlett had failed her. Perhaps his silence now was the mistake. Skye seemed to mull it over, then looked back at Melody, who was still whispering to no one. Her features softened.

"I'll take that answer. For now," she said, turning forward.

"There's plenty of time. We'll learn more when we're not stuck in some enormous ruin full of weird constructs and... whatever these fossil things are." Leon gave her a puzzled look.

"'Fossils'?" She gave him an equally puzzled look in return.

"Yeah. Fossils. These things?" She motioned towards the creature-shaped imprints in the wall beside them. He examined it, brow furrowing.

"You know what those are?"

"Of course. Remains of ancient creatures buried under layers of earth and stone. Over thousands and thousands of years, they get compressed and mineralised. The bone or shell turns to stone, but the shape stays. Like nature's record-keeping." Leon stared at the creatures in the stone.

"You're saying that's been there for thousands of years?"

"Well, more, usually. We're probably talking millions." He blinked.

"That seems…impossible."

"Sure, but that's just nature, isn't it? It's not that crazy."

"Skye, I think you may be imagining things again," Princess Regina said.

"Nothing takes that long to form naturally. Even the most generous accounts of the Material Realm's age place it under four millennia. Even if those are real creatures, they likely lived around the time of the Zuver." Skye was the one to blink now, looking between the two of them, then back at the wall. Her brow knit with quiet doubt.

"… That can't be right." Before anyone could respond, Briana came to a halt ahead of them, one hand lifting in a silent signal to stop. The corridor shifted abruptly. Rough, uneven stone gave way to smooth ground, and jagged walls merged into the clean, deliberate lines found elsewhere in Beld Thylelion. The dark, open ceiling above faded into solid structure. Ahead, the hallway widened into a chamber.

Walls and floor pulsed with shifting glyphs and runes, and at the centre stood another of those rectangular, alabaster-white structures that Leon knew concealed a powerful construct. But this time, beyond it, instead of branching corridors, a single circular platform was set into the far wall. A lift?