Excerpt:
They reached the doors and he couldn’t help himself but reach out and touch the carving. There was a grating noise behind them. Chris threw himself to the floor, surprising himself with how fast he moved. Both Fable and Arlaya, however, were flat against the wall on either side before he hit the ground.
As he strained to hear what trap he might have triggered, Chris realised he was holding his breath. He heard nothing and ventured a look back up the steps they had come down. The three remaining torches were still lit, allowing him to see beyond them, up to where there should have been a large square hole. All he could see was stone ceiling.
“Well,” he said, climbing to his feet and dusting himself off. “We can well and truly forget any thoughts of keeping the element of surprise.”
“It could just be an automated system.,” said Fable, stepping away from the wall. “You know, triggered by someone touching the door,” she added, raising one eyebrow at him.
“Yes. It doesn’t mean anyone is here. Anyone other than us, Malkiorn and Djeff, that is.” Chris noted the quaver in Arlaya’s voice but decided now was not the time to point it out. He felt her fear, but he was determined to carry on.
“We’ve come this far,” he said, turning to face the door. “I don’t think we have a choice but to continue.”
He reached for the door again, this time grasping one of the metal handles.
“Wait.” Arlaya stepped forward and studied the design on the door. “This isn’t just a pretty pattern,” she said, holding her torch closer so she could get a better look.
“What is it then?”
“It’s writing. I’ve seen examples of it in the library. It’s a lost script that no one has been able to attribute, but we have enough recorded to translate.”
“Why can’t we just read it, then? Doesn’t this thing in our ear translate text as well as audio?”
“It does, but it has its limitations. This is something that no one thought to program into the Peacemaker database.”
She pressed further forward, her nose almost touching the stone door as she read. Her lips moved as she did so, forming each word as she translated, although she did not speak. With a gasp, she leapt back, a wave of fear hitting Chris as she did so, her terror almost palpable as she stared wide eyed at the writing.
“What is it? What’s the matter?”
Arlaya looked from Fable to Chris and back again. “We can’t go through there,” she said, her voice trembling.
“What not?”
“Because on the other side of that door is a Shrix nest.”
—
Dawn is the first book in a new Science Fantasy series called The Enchanters. It mixes magic, alien worlds, a dystopian future, fantastic monsters, a galactic prophecy, and killer tech. If that sounds like fun, then dig in!
Download Dawn: The Enchanters Book One by Mark Wylie while it’s on sale on Amazon April 5-7.
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