Zerua rolled over with a moan. The green-tinged sunlight that coated the city in the daytime poured through the opening over the statue of Albrith and shone down on her and Kaidan as they stirred. She yawned, curling into him with a sigh. The warmth from the sun seeped through the blanket into her along with the muggy heat of the late morning.

Her eyes snapped open, and she bolted upright. They had to get going. This place wasn't safe. Memories of spending the night tossing and turning while trapped in nightmares filled her mind, and she scrambled to her feet, waking Kaidan in the process.

He grumbled, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. "What—" He opened his eyes, blinking in the morning sun. Then understanding crossed his face and the weariness dissipated. "Oh." He dropped his head into his hands. "I'd hoped it was all a bad dream."

She shook her head, shoving the blankets back into the packs and searching through their food for some of the dried quarfa meat. The tangy aroma of it filled the air as she tore the package open. "Here." She extended a handful of it to Kaidan.

He eyed it with a grumpy sigh. "Breakfast?"

She nodded, smiling. The smile dropped away instantly, unnatural to her in a place like this. "I know you don't like the chewiness of it or the strong, gamy flavor, but it's what we have."

Kaidan took it from her and popped a few pieces into his mouth. Grimacing, he chewed it for a few moments then swallowed. "Better than starving."

Zerua shivered. "Starving might be a better fate than whatever she has planned."

Kaidan shook his head. "Doubt it." He got to his feet, popping his back before he knelt down to fold up his blanket and pack it away. "Come on. We can eat while we walk."

Zerua pulled out another package that contained dried fruit slices and berries. Stuffing that into a pocket of her satchel for later, she tied the large rucksack closed and hoisted it onto her back. Tightening the straps, she took one more look at the pool and the statue of Albrith, which was still sending water cascading into the fountain. Her mouth was cotton, and looking at the water reminded her that they'd need to ration their own water carefully. Still, she needed to drink something. She untied the water skin from her back and took a quick sip, swishing the water around her mouth to dampen it.

"Ready?"

She nodded.

Kaidan took her hand and walked with her out of the temple. "We need to make that castle by nightfall."

Do we have to though? Isn't there any way to leave? Zerua bit her lip. "You're sure we can't just leave this place altogether?"

He nodded. "Look." He pointed in the direction they'd come last night.

Once again, nothing looked familiar, and no pathway led through the houses back toward the field. The houses had only dead-end alleyways between the decrepit outer walls of the buildings, forcing them to continue onward.

She stared at the giant wall of earth surrounding the city and the jungle that topped it with tears in her eyes. Will we ever get out of this place? No wonder Tebhor went mad! The silence alone is enough to drive a lone traveler insane. Her gaze moved to the moss-covered, broken up stones of the path leading further into Ashkarith's heart. "Was the truth worth this, Kaidan?"

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Yes. We have to know, Zer. No more lies. No more wondering what really happened. No more questioning if they were really the gods everyone claimed. The world deserves to know whether what they've always believed is true or not."

She tugged away from his embrace and began trudging along the cobblestone road. "They won't believe it even if we show them all the proof. They'll never change their beliefs to fit the truth."

Kaidan caught up with her and shrugged. "You never know. Some people will. And if we're the only ones who ever believe the truth, it's worth it to know we believed what was right, isn't it? I'd rather be alone in believing the truth than with thousands of others believing a lie."

"What if the truth isn't what we hope it is? What if we don't like what we find out?"

"Zer, what did we like about what we saw at that mass grave?" Kaidan ran his fingers through his black waves. "Nothing, that's what. This whole thing is a mess, and I'm hoping that either Sedra isn't the murderer we think she is or that Bane can shed some light on what happened so I can make an informed judgment on what on Alcardia I should believe if not the mainstream religious fanatics."

Zerua bit her lip and played with the ends of her braids. "You're right. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have doubted the reason we needed to come here. It's just—" She shivered, glancing around at the green fog drifting around them and the abandoned housing. "I don't want to die."

A bark of laughter escaped Kaidan. "Neither do I. But we don't determine when we die. Just what we do with the time we've got."

She twisted the ends of her hair around her fingers, staring at the castle on the hill several miles away. "I know that."

"Then why spend time fretting about when we go? The gods decide that, not us. Just focus on getting to the castle, and we'll worry about the rest there."

Taking a deep breath, she released her hair and quickened her pace. "Alright. Reaching the castle by nightfall. That's the new goal. Looks pretty close. How far can it be?"

***

The castle was further than they'd expected. Night had fallen once more by the time they trudged up to the silent entrance. The two had fallen silent much like the city, the stillness of the place getting to them to the point where their own thoughts were better than the loudness of their own voices.

Nothing had been locked so far. They'd walked through the yawing gates of the castle unhindered. The courtyard was devoid of life, though there were bones strewn across the blood-stained stones. The remains bore the signs of their struggle even in this state of decay. Arms had been broken, skulls crushed, and entire rib-cages bashed in. Beside him, Zerua dropped to her knees, retching on the grime-covered ground.

He wanted to join her there after looking at all this carnage. Somehow, even they'd both seen thousands of corpses in varying states of disrepair, this was different. Perhaps it was the ominous vibe that hovered over the city as a whole, or perhaps it was simply the thought that this had been a wholesale slaughter, not a battle, but either way, Kaidan didn't want to spend another moment in this place. He paused and held her hair out of the way, squeezing her shoulder as she huddled there, shivering.

"We've got to go on, Zer." He'd barely whispered, but it sounded to Kaidan like he'd screamed at her.

She rose on trembling feet and wiped her mouth. "I don't want to keep going anymore."

"I know. But we have to." Stumbling past piles of bones and blood-stained stones, Kaidan crossed the courtyard and approached the doors into the castle.

Zerua crept up the steps beside him, her face wan in the green glow emanating from everything around them. He curled his fingers around the door knocker, intending to see if anyone would let them in, but before he could, the doors swung open on silent hinges. The couple exchanged a glance, but at this point, it hardly surprised him that the doors would open of their own volition.

He peered into the dim interior, which was lit by the glow coming from the rock walls alone. The shadowy fingers of night groped at the corners where the light wasn't strong enough to keep the darkness at bay. Nothing stirred inside. Well, there's no going back anyway, so really, it doesn't matter, does it? He straightened, squaring his shoulders, and marched inside. Zerua followed and grabbed his hand, clinging to him as they walked.

A damp wind made the hair on the back of Kaidan's neck stand to attention. He wheeled about just in time to see the doors slam shut without a sound. He and Zerua stared at each other with wide eyes. He swallowed hard and turned to face the rest of the corridor and the network of corridors leading off it. "We're trapped."

She bit her lip, and a tremulous giggle erupted from her, echoing down the halls. "Thank you for stating the obvious."

"I—" Kaidan gulped. "I try to please."

The two of them walked further down the corridor together. As they did, the corridor's glow brightened, guiding them along the twisting passageway. The halls shooting off the main corridor didn't light up as they passed, so they continued walking along the one that was bright enough to walk through without stumbling about. Without a torch, they had no chance of finding their way about the dark reaches of the castle in a blind attempt to find an exit.

The tunnel twisted and turned, veering off first to the left and then to the right until they were hopelessly lost. Each footstep pounded against the stone and sent thunder down the tunnels. Kaidan and Zerua began to tiptoe, wincing at the racket their passing caused in the eerie tunnels.

The tunnel came to an abrupt end in front of an intricately carved door of rowen. Kaidan frowned, reaching out to trace the curving, looping symbols etched into the door's surface. "How is this here? This tree died out back when Ashkarith was built. This can't be in this kind of condition."

"Kaidan—" Zerua swallowed a hysterical giggle. "The entire city is in the same condition it must've been back when the siege happened. And you're asking how the door lasted in this state?"

He cleared his throat and dropped his hand away from the door. "Fair enough."

Zerua reached out to run her fingers along the door too, some of her fear dissipating as she examined the work of art. "This is amazing though. This artwork is from two-thousand years ago, but it's still in its original condition." She dropped her hands away from it and ran them over the snarling stone dragons framing the door. "And look at this, Kaidan! Dragons. Those went extinct during the Break after the continents split apart." She shook her head. "This is work from when Faelkish was on the same continent as Argos!"

Kaidan brushed his fingers over the fangs of one of the dragons. "These teeth are bigger than my hand. Imagine what a full-sized one of these could do!"

She grimaced. "According to the legends, they were able to take out an entire city on their own. It's a wonder they didn't burn down more of this place."

"They had no need to." A familiar voice whispered down the hall.

Kaidan and Zerua jumped, spinning about to figure out where the voice had come from. They faced back the way they'd come, peering into the now dim hallway. No woman in white stood there. A blast of frigid air hit them in the backs, and they stiffened.

"Come in." Bane chuckled. "You came for the truth. So now, you will receive it, and we shall see if you are the ones I have been waiting for."

They spun around to find the doors opening onto the throne room of Ashkarith Castle. Green fog trickled from the room and billowed up over their feet to dissipate into the halls of the foreboding castle. As the doors yawned wide, the couple teetered on the threshold, and Kaidan pressed a hand to his chest, convinced his heart was going to pound out of its place. He placed one foot forward and took the first step into the fog-filled room.

At the end of the long hall, through the fog, he saw a throne. And curled up on a glowing apparition of the rowen wood throne that had once graced the stone platform, was the ethereal spirit-form of the woman who was responsible for their presence in this forsaken city. There she rested, her spirit preserving the great city of her past until the time came for it to divulge her secrets. She opened her eyes as he approached, and he gasped, stepping back.

Her sooty black lashes framed sightless eyes that somehow laid bare his soul to the woman staring at him. He dropped to his knees, a sudden weakness overwhelming him. Behind him, he heard Zerua cry out as well and then heard her body hit the floor. As the room spun before his eyes and darkness encroached on his vision, Kaidan fought to maintain control of his body, fought to stay awake. "What are you...doing to us?"

Bane smiled and meandered over to him. She pressed her cold, clammy palm to his forehead. The room spun faster, and the darkness surrounding him grew. As he faded, he heard only a few words from the woman in white. "Showing you the truth."