Chereads / Legends of Varlaurea: The Dragon Emperor / Chapter 25 - THE GREAT SNAKE CULT 4

Chapter 25 - THE GREAT SNAKE CULT 4

From the roof top their jump into the inner yard between the outer building and the tower, and from that proceed to explore the ruin. When they look around the place there are telltale signs of recent activity in the ruin, like muddy foot print, trash and someone had fix some cracks on the wall with new mortar. Empress Aucelen also recognized the door that lead into the center tower is human design not Elvas, and it seems to be newly installed no longer than a few months. Go inside the tower, they follow the stone spiral stair up, and found something interesting while walking those step. Dark brown or reddish-brow drop stains, littered the stone steps up to the top floor.

"what is this? Blood?" Emperor Lam said, examine those stains.

"uhm…. Seem like it, look like something sinister is happening here." Empress Aucelen said.

On the top room of the tower they found more of the blood stain and rope stained with blood. After they leaved the tower Emperor Lam found an empty room with windows covered by the thick vines outside, the room it dimly lit by a few sunrays managed to squeeze through the thick vines. This room is stranger because, unlike other rooms full of dust and animal dropping, this room is clean. At the end of the room there are a small table covered with yellow cloth. The table seem to be used as an altar. On it, lied a baked clay statue of a serpentine creature with multi heads about a forearm high. The statue creature reminds Emperor Lam of his dragon form but minus the horns, legs, mane, and of course the multi heads things. Then in front of the statue, there are also a few blood stain on the cloth. On the wall behind the statue, strange symbols drawn on it, arranged in a circular pattern with the statue in the middle.

"what on earth is this?" Emperor Lam said. "some kind of language? Foreign script? The Upper's script? Or some form of the Ancient Language's script? Do you recognized any of this Aucelen?" he scratching his head staring at the strange symbols, he never saw anything like this, a few of them is just circles arrange in pattern with stick symbols mix in, and some of them are somewhat resembling a swimming tadpole, while some look kind of like a fusion of tadpole and human stick figure posing.

Staring at those symbol for a while, Empress Aucelen shake her head "no, I cannot read any of them, and this do not look like Ancient Language script neither, at least from my knowledge." She said, eyes still fixed on those symbol, and in her mind an uneasy feeling rising. But in fact she was lying with her husband, partially, yes, it is true that she cannot read any of those symbol, or neither they resembling Ancient Language script or any foreign script from other folks in Varlaurea continent. But still, in her mind, those symbol somehow look familiar. Empress Aucelen definitely had saw them before. A distain faded memory? Some old book? She cannot be sure, and that make her feel unease, dreaded even, and so she does not wish for her husband to know.

"look like those rumour about strange activities in the ruin was true." Emperor Lam said.

"yes it does, this is certainly making me curious. It seems some secret cult is using this ruin as a gathering place." Empress Aucelen replied, staring at the stain on the table cloth. "look at these stains, if they are human blood then maybe… I wonder… if the missing cases I have heard have anything to do with this secret cult."

"well, then we have to pay the governor a visit then." Emperor Lam said.

Afterward they leave the room without forget to erased all of their muddy footprint, Empress Aucelen even use her magic to return her "reed bridge" back to normal reed tumps, her master of magic and nature always amaze him, then they heading back to the waypoint. So like before, Emperor Lam dragging his legs through the wet mud again, but this time instead of leaping ahead his wife walks with him, stumbling through the mud together, dirty their clothes and laugh at each other muddy face.