Chapter 2

If you stare long enough into the abyss, the abyss stares back. So the knight remembered the words of his teacher as he stared into the yawning blackness that lay before him. His humble torch was a mere spark compared to the impenetrable shadows below. He had travelled many miles in that darkness, sometimes walking, sometimes crawling, and sometimes running. On occasion he would light one of the few torches he had and see what hid in the blind places of the world. Some things were a wonder to behold, others unspeakable nightmares no man should ever witness. But still the knight continued on, undaunted by the crippling anxiety within his chest and the strangling darkness which threatened to overtake him. And now here it was again, the fear. He had come so far only to be met with a cavern of interminable immensity. He saw no way into the void below, no ledge or crevice to latch onto, only obscurity. Had he more torches, he would toss one down so that he might gain some semblance of depth, but he had only one and that was down near to a nub.

He turned away from the end for now, finding his way to a nearby wall. There, he sat and ate what food he had. Only scraps, dreams and wisps of wondrous pabulum. He nibbled at these crumbs, suckling at the memories of what they once were. The most decadent of cheeses, and the finest of breads were what graced his palate. Not the moldy scraps of aged sharp and hard crusts. He extinguished his torch, so that he might enjoy his meal. He would need what remained later.

When he had finished that, he removed his belt and scabbard and his shield. He laid them down beside him and removed his cloak. Bundling it up and laying it across the shield, he had a makeshift pillow. He needn’t worry about cold in the tepid and stuffy tomb so he had no need of a blanket. Sleep was a misconception in that caliginous miasma. With only the senses of sound and touch as his aids in the black, he had no concept of consciousness. Whether he truly slept, or simply lay there, his mind an empty slate, is forever unknown to him. If he slept, he had no dreams of which to remember. And if he existed as an unmoving, but awake entity, he had no memory of thought which entered into his mind. Even the concept of time was unknown to him in that dark.

Upon opening his eyes, however, he noticed the darkness was now incomplete. A shaft of glittering yellow light dared to break the ceaseless canvas of shadows. The knight waited, sure that he must be sleeping now and that this was a dream. However, as he shifted, the pains of the hard ground told him this was no dream. Still he continued to lay there, watching this light grow larger and larger, pushing back the darkness, fighting against it. When it grew no longer, the knight finally turned his head. The abyss was no more. From a monstrous gap in a truly distant wall of unfathomable height, sunlight broke through. It’s light touched upon depth, showing the treasure within. A stonework city lay forgotten in the crevasse, vast and unceasing. That something so large could lay within the earth was an almost impossible thought. And that it could lay forgotten from the world was even more bewildering.

From his loft, the knight could see the entire lay of the city. It formed a half circle, walls surrounding what city there was. In the middle of the city, the center of the wouldbe circle, was a castle, towering above the citadel, silently watching. Stately walls separated it all into two parts, town and castle. City is too generous a word for such a haggard place. Ruins was more appropriate. The knight believed it as such. He wondered at what this place might have been. How grandiose the structures were before, what pillars had stood as lonely sentries, guarding those below from the perils above. The bustle of life and the sound of people. Laughter and tears, the shouting of children, the groan of cart and animal. All these sounds must have made it a true wonder of the world. And the silence which remained after these things fit all too well in the holes the people had made for themselves.

Grey stone exposed to the darkness and damp gave way to green and yellow lichens. Buildings lay in ruins, crushed by the hammer of time. He wondered if this was the place he had sought, but knew in his heart that it was not. He had many miles yet to go, and this was simply another marker in his memory. The wonder which had first enraptured his heart, now gave way to pity and sadness for the empty skeleton. Now it was merely an echo, a lonely beacon to the follies of man; the thought that we might outlive time. He turned from the husk to a ladder, which had eluded him in the dark. It grasped the wall, ancient and rusted. The ground below was a distant land, near unseeable. Putting a foot on the first rung, he pushed experimentally. It groaned, but held fast. He donned his gear, staring at the light peeking through the fissure on last time. Then he began his enduring descent into a forgotten city.