The three, plus golem so really four, stood in front of the entrance to the cave that Tormund had known the location of. It appeared as a rend in the earth, a deep crack that almost looked like some huge creature ripped the ground in two.

  “Well that’s not ominous at all.” Tormund said, staring down the crack. Nearby Aegis whined quietly.

  “Uh maybe we try and find another way.” Jesse suggested.

  “Aye, maybe we can try to make a raft.” Tormund said.

  “Jesse, I’m detecting people approaching in the distance. Consistent with Kaelan’s energy signature. I do not believe a raft will be an option.” Golem offered. Jesse noted his continued development, as he offered an opinion unprompted.

  “Well I guess that idea is out.” Jesse said aloud. “Golem reports we are about to have company.”

  “Well shite.” Tormund responded. “Guess we go down then. They are unlikely to follow us down there.”

  “Why do you say that?” Jesse asked.

  Tormund grimaced and then said “Have you looked at it?”

  Jesse approached the edge. There were ridges along the descent downward that could serve as resting spots and make Aegis able to climb down with minimal assistance. If they could get the dog to come on her own power at least.

  He climbed down a few feet and then called her. She loped over, then whined, looking down. Then she hopped down to follow Jesse. “I know girl. I don’t like it either. Tormund, give our touches a light will you?”

  The not-wizard ignited the torches. Jesse continued to climb ever downward into the crevice. As they moved Aegis would hop down to follow him, but she panted and looked around nervously. Finally they reached the bottom of the climb, Jesse wasn’t sure how long they were moving. Sweat poured down his face. Up ahead was a crack that they would have to squeeze through as the only path forward. Jesse would have a harder time moving through it, being built larger than Tormund. Aegis would have the easiest time. Or so Jesse thought.

  Jesse silently noted the scratch marks around the opening. It made squeezing through the crack all the more ominous, not knowing what was on the other side.

  Tormund stared at the crack, shaking his head. “I can’t go in there.” He said. “I won’t fit.”

  “You will fit more easily than I will Tormund.” Jesse replied.

  “No, it's too tight.” The arcanesscent said.

  “I know tight spaces can be uncomfortable. I’m right here with you. You go in first and we will take our time going through it.” Jesse said, voice calm and warm. He needed to reassure the man.

  “Okay..” Tormund said, sounding anything but.

  He moved and slid into the crack. He had a little wiggle room moving horizontally but he couldn’t face it straight on without his shoulders brushing the sides of the wall. Jesse was an even tighter fit and followed a moment later. Aegis had no issues walking into the crack.

  “We are okay. Just visualize an open space.” Jesse continued to speak softly. “We will be out soon.”

  “We need to turn back. I can’t do this.” Tormund said urgently. This was why Jesse sent him in first. He blocked the way out.

  “We can’t turn back. They’ll capture us, maybe kill us. We need to keep going.” Jesse told him. “I’m right here. Focus on other things. Like the damp smell of the cavern and the cool air down here. The coarseness of the wall. We are going to get through this.” Jesse coached. He had seen people become claustrophobic in tight spaces at work before. You never really know if you are going to be until the tight space is around you.

  Soon the group exited the other side of the crack into an open space. Tormund took deep calming breaths, sitting on the stone floor. Ahead of them is another drop. It didn’t look far but there was something off about it. Jesse raised his torch to look at the room they were in more closely. Bones. There were bones everywhere. Old armor covered a small handful of them and weapons of unknown use and design were clutched in their hands. They’d stumbled into a tomb. More scratches covered the walls and floor.

  “Oh dear. By the gods.” Tormund said as he surveyed the room. “Well I’m not going back through that crack but let’s not linger here. The dead don’t need to be disturbed.” He was more serious than normal, and understandably so. There were hundreds of corpses.

  “I’ll go first.” Jesse said, hefting his spear. His shield was slung across his back. Tormund had his torch and club and wore his armor. Jesse hopped down into the hole. When he landed he stumbled and fell over, the fall slightly farther than he expected, at a little over 10 feet.

  “Are you all right?” Tormund yelled down.

  “You only sustained light bruising on your knees and a scrape on your hand.” Golem informed Jesse.

  “Yeah, just watch out when you come.” Jesse said. “Toss down Aegis for me and I’ll catch her.” He said, laying down his weapon and torch.

  Aegis wasn’t happy about it but came falling a moment later. Jesse caught her, which was hard considering how far the drop was. It hurt and his muscles protested but he managed to keep her safe.

  Tormund dropped down next and was much more graceful in his landing than Jesse had been. The two raised their torches. They were in… a hallway? It was clearly a hallway. A very wide hallway, but still. The walls and ceiling were stone, aside from the hole they just dropped in from. On the wall was a mosaic of different colored tiles. Spread periodically on the ceiling of the hall were lights. Not torches or sconces or even candle chandeliers, no they were what appeared to be light bulbs. They had a central filament in a glass tube with wires coming out each end.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “What?” Jesse said aloud. “What is this?”

  “It looks to be a ruin.” Tormund said. “Likely from the Tekessara civilization. I’ve uh read these are dangerous places to be. Also illegal, though I suppose we don’t be needin to worry about that.”

  “How did you find out about this cave again?” Jesse asked.

  “I just read the location in a book.” Tormund answered absently. He was examining the mural.

  “Golem, are those real light bulbs?” Jesse asked.

  “Yes they are. They will function similarly to an older style filament bulb rather than the LED bulbs more modernly used.” Golem replied. “They do not appear to have power any longer.”

  “How long since the Temessars civilization was around?” Jesse asked Tormund.

  “I don’t know. A long long time ago. Many generations.” Tormund offered.

  “Interesting.” Jesse said, moving to examine the mural. It depicted what appeared to be people with some sort of being watching over them. Above it was writing but Jesse couldn’t read it so he assumed that Golem couldn’t translate it yet. “This place makes me nervous.”

  “Me too. Maybe let’s keep moving.” Tormund replied.

  Jesse peered down the long hallway in both directions. In one he thought he saw a blue glow, much like the cave on that first night. He walked down the hall that direction for a dozen or so yards before he could make out the crystals. He thought he saw a slug moving in the distance as well.

  “Shit.” He said, feeling a spike of fear.

  “Whats that?” Tormund asked, squinting.

  Jesse told Tormund of what he found earlier in his journey and the spiders that followed.

  “We should head the other way.” Jesse said to Tormund, turning around. Golem, scan for approaching creatures please.

  As they walked down the long and empty hallway, Jesse felt the temperature continue to decrease. He started to shiver. Aegis padded along beside him, looking around nervously. It seemed it wasn’t just them that this place put on edge.

  “I’m detecting an approaching energy signature. As well as a couple more in the distance but not moving.” Golem reported in his mind. “These are not like the ones I have scanned previously. I can not detect what they are composed of through the stone.”

  “Golem says we are about to have company.” Jesse told Tormund. “He doesn’t know what kind. Not from the direction of the crystals though.”

  After another minute of walking a faint blue light appeared ahead. Unlike the crystals, it was moving. They got closer and could see it had the outline of a person, but was opaque. The person looked human but wore a long flowing jacket over what appeared to be some sort of metal combat armor. On its chest was a symbol, only faintly able to be seen. It was a cog and a crystal. Hadn’t he seen that before?

  “What the hell is that?” Tormund asked, wide eyed.

  “Hello. Uh I’m Jesse. This is Tormund.” He said to the… ghost? Is that what it was? Jesse hadn’t believed ghosts to be real but this new world was changing his perspective on things. “We uh just need to get through here and find our way out. Do you think you can help us?”

  Am I going crazy? Jesse thought to himself. What is with this world?

  The ghost thing stared at them, unblinking, unmoving. Aegis growled at it quietly, puffing up and getting low.

  “So uh, we will just be heading around you if you don’t mind.” Jesse said, inching towards it but skirting the wall. Golem, can you give us anything on this thing? He added mentally.

  “It appears to be made completely of essence. It has no physical form. It is just energy, but a lot of it.” Golem replied.

  At that moment the creatures head snapped toward Jesse and it flew at him. He redied his spear but it simply passed through it and him. It felt ice cold and his vision went dark momentarily. When it came back the chamber had changed.

  The lightbulbs Jesse had noticed before now glowed soft and yellow, illuminating the hallway. It was clean and the stone around them was polished. The mosaic no longer was missing tiles. The most surprising of all though were the people. Hundreds of people walked in one direction on the left and the other on the right. It was orderly. The people wore loose fitting robes or long flowing coats, much like the apparition they had been with moments before only without the armor. These clothes clearly had machine stitching and the fabric was some sort of synthetic.

  “What’s going on?” Jesse asked a nearby person. They continued walking as if he had not spoken.

  Okay this must be some sort of hallucination triggered by the ghost passing through me. Unless I’m dead. God, I hope I’m not dead.

  It was then that he noticed the… robots? Constructs? They were mechanical in nature and moved with the flow of people. They came in all different shapes and sizes, some small and humanoid, some large and carrying heavy luggage or cargo. Some drove on wheels while others had multiple legs. It was truly fascinating.

  As quickly as the vision had come on, it was gone. Jesse found himself a little disappointed by that fact. It faded and he found himself back in the dimly lit and abandoned hallway. Tormund stared off into space. Aegis licked at Jesse’s hand, clearly concerned. The ghost was nowhere to be seen.

  “What was that?” Jesse asked.

  “Neurologically it appeared as though you were dreaming. The energy source entered you briefly and caused the abnormal brain activity.” Golem told him.

  Did you see what I did? Jesse asked his AI.

  “I did not.” He replied.

  “Well that was odd.” Tormund commented, coming to. “It’s like we were in the past. Do you think what we saw was real? Back then I mean.”

  “I don’t know. It could be or it could be a skewed version that the ghost wanted us to see. There wasn’t really anything too crazy though so I don’t have much reason to doubt it.” Jesse said.

  “Not crazy he says. Metal men and he says it’s not crazy. Why do you suppose it wanted us to see that though? And where did it go?” Tormund asked.

  “I don’t know but I’m sure that wasn’t the last we’ve seen of it.” Jesse responded. “Let’s get moving.”

  The three continued down the hallway. It felt like they were walking for ages, passing more murals and burnt out lights, before they approached the end. There they found a large circular door. It had intricate carvings covering it but the focus of it was again that symbol of the cog and crystal. Above the door was a mosaic of a figure watching over with rubies in the place of its eyes. The rubies danced in the firelight, casting a sinister light on the image.

  “There’s no handle.” Tormund observed. He pushed on the door. “How do we get it open?”

  At that moment Golem spoke into Jesse’s mind. I’m detecting hundreds of small life signatures streaming this way.

  “Oh no.” Jesse said aloud. “I think the spiders are coming. Whatever we do, we better hurry.”