Yu Chen awoke the next morning with the strange feeling that he was forgetting something. He didn’t know why he felt that way, but the itch bothered him for the rest of the day.

  Did it have to do with his conversation with Xiao Huang the night before? He turned his mind over, but the thought eluded his grasp. It was like trying to grab a handful of mist, whatever it was.

  He’d have to ask the dragon when he saw him again. Yu Chen was looking forward to it. The little fellow had promised to train him personally, as soon as he stepped into Foundation Establishment.

  A frown crossed his face as he stepped out of a house, looking around at the city that spread out around him.

  He still needed to submerge himself in the yellow river, but he’d have to escape this strange, sunken city they’d found themselves in first. He didn’t think the dark waters ringing the city would serve his purpose, despite Serbo au Serbo’s claim that they’d belonged to the river.

  No, he thought, staring into the distance where those dark waters lay. Even if it was an option, he wasn’t willing to risk it. He didn’t want to go anywhere near the strange creatures who’d made their home out there.

  They’d just have to do what they’d been doing, turning the city over as they looked for clues. He was traveling with Sun Yuan today, exploring another area of the city as they looked for the strange runes Xue Lan had pointed out.

  “They all look the same,” Sun Yuan said, stepping out of a nearby building with a frown on his face.

  Yu Chen nodded. He hadn’t expected much else.

  The runes weren’t nearly as hard to find as they’d once thought they’d be. The scripts were everywhere; they banded the doorways of buildings and were scrawled across the walls, even the very paving stones beneath their feet had been etched with them.

  “Keep looking,” Yu Chen said, “We’ll find something different eventually.”

  “Let’s hope.” Sun Yuan sighed, before entering another building. A shop this time, by the looks of it.

  Yu Chen shook his head, frowning as he looked at the script on a nearby wall. He’d probably never forget these shapes, he’d seen these strange markings enough to recognize them in his sleep, and sometimes he cursed the builders lack of ingenuity.

  Or perhaps he should praise them. The entire city still stood, and all it took were the same seven or eight symbols they’d placed over everything. Well, almost everything. The spire was dense with far more of the esoteric symbols, many of which they’d still never seen replicated elsewhere.

  At least Xue Lan had begun to make some sense of it all, although she’d been reluctant to say too much.

  His thoughts cut off as a sharp crack sounded out. Looking up, he saw a blue thunderbolt streak through the sky, shooting out from somewhere within the city.

  Something fell in a nearby building, followed by a muffled curse. “What was that?” Sun Yuan asked, poking his head with a frown.

  “A signal, the others must have found something.” Yu Chen said, leaping onto a nearby rooftop. “Let’s go.”

  Sun Yuan jumped up, following him. Yu Chen had to measure his pace, lest he leave the other boy behind. Not that he had to worry. They were all fairly familiar with the city's layout by now, and it didn’t take them long to reach the other side.

  “Over there,” Yu Chen said, slowing down as he spotted the other three. They were gathered beside a small, innocuous building near the outskirts of the city.

  “What’d you find?” Yu Chen asked as he came to a halt, Sun Yuan panting beside him.

  Serbo au Serbo shrugged, nodding his head towards the others, his bow still held in a slack hand. Yu Chen turned, looking towards the other two in askance.

  “Take a look at this.” Yan Ziqi spoke up, waving him over. “Some of the symbols here are strange, Xue Lan thinks they match those on the spire in the center of the city.”

  Yu Chen glanced at the girl, but if she noticed she paid him no mind. She knelt beside the building, focused intently on something she was scrawling into the dirt.

  It was dirt, Yu Chen noticed, frowning as he stared around them.

  It hadn’t taken them long to figure out the properties of one of the strange runes on the stonework around them. It kept the plant life away, preventing it from overgrowing the city as it had everywhere else. Strange plants and lichen, moss and algae ran rampant, covering everything the stones did not.

  Except here.

  “Strange, isn’t it?” Yan Ziqi mused. “Serbo au Serbo was the first to notice. The man has a surprising eye for details.”

  The patch of clear dirt surrounding the building wasn’t the only thing that was different about it. The building was short, and squat, lacking the windows the homes in the city had. There was one large door in the front that appeared to be made out of the same strange metal as the gate in the spire.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  It looked more like a bunker than a domicile or shop.

  “The runes here are different as well,” Yan Ziqi said, a touch of excitement entering his voice, “There, and there,” he said, pointing around the building. “There’s more of them too. They circle around the entire building, although they are densest around the door.”

  Yu Chen nodded, stepping forward to look at the runes etched into the strange bluish-grey stone. There were far more of them, and he didn’t recognize half the shapes. They were arranged in a complex pattern, forming a script Yu Chen couldn’t make heads nor tails of.

  “Any luck translating it?” He asked, running his fingers over the engravings. Xue Lan had managed to figure out the meaning behind most of the more common marks, such as the ones for hardness, and another she said created the soft glow.

  “I think so, but you’d have to ask the expert for the details.” Yan Ziqi said, shrugging his shoulders. “I’ve done some simple inscriptions before, but I’ve never studied runework like this.”

  “Have you looked inside yet?” Yu Chen asked, gesturing towards the closed door.

  “No,” Yan Ziqi said, shaking his head, “We haven’t. the door won’t open. Serbo wanted to try breaking it down, but Xue Lan wanted to try another way first.”

  “Finished.” The young girl said as she stood up, dusting herself off. “Now, let's see if it works.”

  Yu Chen looked down, his eyes widening. She’d scrawled her own line of runes in the dirt around the building, similar, yet different to those etched upon its walls. With a wave of her hand the runes lit up and the low hum of vibration filled the air.

  To his surprise the runes surrounding the building lit up as well, first one then another, another frequency rising to match the first.

  “Resonance.” Xue Lan sighed. The bags under her eyes worried him, she hadn’t been getting enough rest. “My master would chortle if he saw this,” she said, the ghost of a smile crossing her face, “we ward against it for a reason.”

  A loud creaking noise sounded out, something long rusted grinding against itself as it moved for the first time in millenia. The door slowly slid down, disappearing into the earth.

  “Of course, it only works if you know which runes to use.” Xue Lan said, her smile blossoming, weary, but satisfied.

  “Wasn’t it difficult, working with such different runes?” Yu Chen asked, curious.

  “They aren’t different runes at all.” Xue Lan said, shooting him a glance. “They are ancient runes. Primitive.”

  Yu Chen nodded his head slowly.

  “Do you think that technique can get us into the spire?” Yu Chen asked, his voice hopeful.

  Xue Lan’s smile faltered a bit. “We’ll have to see. The runes might be more primitive, but they’ve formed a strong shield. Perhaps we’ll find answers inside.”

  “Let’s hope.” Yu Chen said, stepping into the building.

  The doorway opened onto a staircase that led down, the room within far deeper than it appeared on the outside. It was well lit though, and the low hum of machinery filled the air – as something long forgotten continued its age long purpose.

  Yu Chen came to a halt at the bottom of the stairs, staring at the large thing filling most of the room.

  It was like nothing he’d ever seen. Strange tubing ran out of it, running across the floor and throughout the room before plunging deep beneath the earth. A glass window on the side of it glowed with a soft light.

  He stepped forward to look through it.

  Energy roiled within the machine, pulsing violently as it was pulled from the depths of the earth.

  “What is this place?” Yu Chen muttered to himself, stepping back with a frown.

  He turned, looking around the rest of the room. There wasn’t much to see other than a few tables and chairs that sat against the edges of the room, covered in stacks of ancient papers.

  He had no idea what this place had once been, but it was obviously important.

  “What is that?” Sun Yuan asked in fascination as he came down the stairs behind him. The others filed in, quickly crowding the small space they had available.

  “Dunno,” Yu Chen said, “Never seen anything like it.”

  “Fascinating!” Yan Ziqi said, rubbing his chin as he stared around. “Look at this!” he said, bending down near one of the tubes, “These are covered in runes as well!” He turned, looking towards Xue Lan. “Can you read them?”

  Xue Lan knelt beside him, staring intently at one of the tubes. “I’ve never seen this pattern before, but some of these are similar to what we use today. This one describes pulling, or something similar enough. And these ones are all over the city, precursors to our runes of hardening.”

  “How do these runes work, anyways?” Yu Chen asked, looking at the engraving her finger was tracing over.

  “Think of them like words in a sentence.” She said, her voice unconsciously mimicking someone much older. “Each symbol means something on its own, but they can take on a different meaning when you combine them together. Formations give the runes guidance and structure, by forming them into specific patterns.”

  “I see,” Yu Chen said. He didn’t, not quite, but he was glad to hear her speaking again. She’d kept to herself the last few days, not that he blamed her. “What makes these runes primitive?”

  Xue Lan didn’t reply right away, her finger running over one of the symbols. “I know half a dozen variations for hardness, but I’ve never seen this simple form used before. It’s not even taught. After all, the more complex the formation, the more intricate and precise the runes it requires.”

  “At least, that’s what I used to think.” She sighed. “The rune I was taught had a second outline to reinforce the idea, making the object extremely hard. Another common variation gives the rune a thicker base, and slants it downwards, to symbolize weightiness.”

  She paused, looking up at him. “That makes the object not just hard, but heavy as well, and difficult to move.”

  “But these,” she shook her head, “these are almost… pure. They lack some precision, but the meaning is unmistakably clear.”

  She stood up with a sigh, regarding him with a solemn look. “Whoever lived in this city was doing things with runes that I’ve never seen before.”

  Yu Chen frowned, looking around at the others as he thought about what she’d said. Yan Ziqi was carefully poking through the papers on the desk, while Sun Yuan and Serbo stood around the machine, captivated by the energy flowing through it.

  His frown deepened, following one of the tubes running into the ground. Where was it getting all of the energy anyways?

  “It’s on top of an energy well.” Yu Chen said, his eyes widening in recognition.

  “What?” Yan Ziqi said, turning around at his words.

  “This place is built on top of a well of natural energy.” Yu Chen said, pointing at the tubes. “No wonder the shield hasn’t faltered after all of these years.”

  “He’s right.” Xue Lan said, frowning at the tube in front of her. “Containment, Refinement, Balance.” She spoke slowly, at times hesitantly but her voice firmed as she went on. “Stability. I don’t recognize this one, but I think it has something to do with… Holding?” She muttered to herself. “No, something else. Similar though.”

  “So if we break this machine, the shield around the spire disappears right?” Sun Yuan asked, looking at the machine.

  Serbo au Serbo snorted. “Or river fall on top us.”

  Yu Chen winced. That would be a problem.

  “Give me some time.” Xue Lan said at last, her eyes flashing with determination, “I’ll figure out a way into the spire. One way or another.”