Chapter 123Of Moss and Rubble

We left the castle, looking at Afentis to navigate us. Nuru had done an admirable job finding out the details from the books. But, for someone like me who didn't know the landscape that well, it would still be hard to find. Fortunatly, Afentis knew the area well and guided us smoothly through the evening. Faith had brought a backpack with some useful things. Flashlight (even if we didn't really need that), small shovel, brushes and some other stuff I didn't know about.

Nuru was carried between me and Faith, like yesterday. Though she was a lot more alert than previously. She giggled softly on the wind, her arms spread and her eyes open and happy. She loved the feeling of flight almost as much as I did. The air past your body, playing with your hair.

Like swimming, with more freedom and easier breathing.

Nuru looked quite the princess with her dark golden dress, wavering in the wind. The thought of showing her to Khuna snuck into my mind and didn't let go. She was beautiful, in a mysterious and open way. And considering her liberal feelings about nudity, Khuna would probably like her.

I blushed in remembrance. Even if it made me uncomfortable sometimes.

Faith looked at my face, making me blush even more. She whispered soft words on the wind. "It's only natural."

She had a point.

We flew across the landscape for minutes, maybe even half an hour, before we arrived at a ruin. Most of it was still recognizable as an abbey or a church. But other pieces were completely collapsed. Most of the rubble appeared to have been moved around quite a bit.

Black soot on the inner walls served as a reminder of the terrible fire that had passed. The wood inside had almost completely burned or rotted away, leaving the bare stone alone to live through the ages. We arrived outside of the ruins themselves, hoping to get more sense of the layout from down below.

No garbage.

It was a bit surprising in this day and age to not find garbage from tourists over here. One would wonder if this ruin was not on any map on purpose, to avoid tourists and the like. It brought back memories of holidays with my parents, where we would visit old castle ruins that were simply littered with cigarettes, bottles and wrappers. Glad to see that wasn't the situation here.

Afentis wanted to step in but held back and turned around. "Amy, your show."

I walked past him, giving him a quick kiss on his cheeks as I passed. Faith and Nuru followed me in, Nuru holding her dress to avoid it getting dirty. The main walls were all still standing, only one of them collapsed under the weight of the roof, probably. My eyes and ears were open to take everything in. It was very quiet all around.

Except for a strange noise.

It was a sort of soft rumbling, growling that came from really nearby that I couldn't quite place. Such an odd noise that reminded me of a rumbling stomach, but I didn't have one anymore. I just felt the craving for blood, like being pulled toward it, without the feeling of hunger.

But Nuru didn't.

"Nuru, are you hungry?" I asked, worried.

Nuru nodded. "Yes, Miss Amy. I haven't had anything since previous evening."

I was shocked. "Why didn't you say anything?"

Nuru answered directly. "Because it might not be your wish for me to do so."

Faith stepped in. "I brought some food for her." She opened her backpack and pulled out a few sandwiches.

Nuru accepted them happily and started eating neatly but fast. She really was hungry. I tried to keep a grip on things.

"Did you bring anything to drink?" My eyes probably betrayed how thankful I was.

Faith smiled. "Yes." She winked to me, Nuru was too busy eating, and giggled softly as she handed the bottle to me.

Nuru had already almost finished her little meal. It made her a lot happier and she looked up at me almost guilty for enjoying the bread. I handed her the bottle for her to drink and nodded, waiting for her to finish drinking before I spoke again.

She gave the bottle back to me. "Thank you, Miss Amy."

I smiled. "Please tell me when you need to eat or drink, or ask anyone else politely. Oh, and thank Faith for bringing it along."

"Thank you, Lady Faith." Her voice polite and open.

We went back to our discovery. There was so little left. Just some walls with some minor rubble. The rest had been washed away by the weather over ages. Moss and grass was growing everywhere, a soft blanket for Nuru to walk on. It also covered any possible remnants of the past. So hard to tell if there was anything left.

We stood in the mass hall and looked around for anything interesting. Picking up stones and looking at the walls. But there was nothing there.

"Miss Amy?"

I walked toward her. "Yes?"

"There is something behind the wall here." She pointed at the wall behind the altar.

Afentis had followed us in silently and stepped beside me. "It's worth a try."

Before I could say anything he had stepped forward and pressed the wall, softly at first but harder and harder. I could hear the crunching noise of stone sliding on stone. Mortar breaking away from the wall in little pieces until it finally gave in.

A large gap had opened to a spiral stairway that was build into the wall.

Finally.

Something to really explore.