“Not at all, Robert.” Said one skull. “You’re the life of the party.”

  “Yes quite.” Bounced the other. “Things were rather dead before your arrived.”

  “You see?” he said “Everyone is having a good time.”

  “Everyone is not having a good time!” Morell spit as he floundered to pull himself out of the bones. “Robert if you do that again, I’m going to club you.”

  “You’ll do no such thing,” Robert replied. “But if you can’t be a good cheer about a bit of fun then I guess it’s not worth the effort.” He then looked at the skulls again. “It looks like you two are on your own again.”

  “Perhaps they think our behavior is mere skullduggery.” Said one skull.

  “No bones about it.” Said the other. Siouxsie rolled her eyes, unamused.

  “That does it!” Morell said with disgust. “I’m already sick of this place! I want to get out now! No more jokes! Let’s get back to the others on the surface!”

  “Then you’re going the wrong way.” Said Robert pointing a thumb to the dark corridor on his right “I’ve already scouted the exit. It’s this way.”

  “Then that’s where I’m going!” Morell tromped in a huff through the bones. Stomping steps made quick progress, even going as far as angrily kicking the remains out of his path as he trudged. The twins followed him on their brooms, gels and fireballs lighting the way. After a few right and lefts, natural sunlight could be found coming down a shaft in the center of a room with a twelve-foot ceiling. Beneath the hole was a pile of remains with a base easily a hundred paces around. “The bodies!” Morell exclaimed. ”This place is ghastly!”

  “At least there’s a way out for you.” Said Robert. “See that? That’s the drain for the fountain in the middle of the temple.”

  “You want me to try and climb a stack of bones?”

  “You don’t have to.” Said Robert. “If you throw yourself on the pile and wait for a few days you’ll fit right in.” Siouxsie floated her broom close enough to take a swing at Robert’s head.

  “Don’t be morose.” She pointed a finger at his nose.

  “Relax, sister.” He said loud enough that Morell could hear him “There’s a small staircase recessed into the wall at the far end that’s just big enough for one person to slip through. There’s wind coming through it, so it exits somewhere on the ground floor where the others are.”

  “That’s a relief. I don’t want to stay in this grim mass grave a moment longer than I have to.” Said Morell, starting for the far side. As they walked, Robert began to notice markings in the walls along the way. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary; markings depicting lore or ceremonies and gruesome pictures of the dark harvest. None of these seemed to stand out from the others until halfway up the stairs a strange sigil caught his eye. It was carved into the stone of a different make than the others. Unlike the other heavy stone that was uniform with the rest, this one stood alone, like a misfit that didn’t belong.

  “Wait.” He said, grabbing Morell and Siouxsie by the backs of their clothes to stop them. “Siouxsie? What does that symbol look like to you?”

  “It looks like the witch symbol for knowledge.” She said. “But it’s upside down.”

  “And do you know what knowledge is when you don’t want someone to read it?” he asked

  “A secret.” She said. “Morell? May I borrow your mace?” The boy didn’t hesitate to hand it over. Upon taking it, she shook it to play with the unusually light weight of the item. “That’s really light for a mace.” She noted before drawing the weapon across her opposite shoulder and bashing the rock square on the sigil. The rock face being little more than an inch or so thick, shattered and fell inward to reveal a small empty space within. Siouxsie handed the mace back to Morell before they each raised their light sources to illuminate the hole.

  “Is…is that a box?” asked Morell

  “It’s a chest.” Robert said, extinguishing his fireball and clapping his hands to end his spell. He reached in and tried to pull the top open only to find it locked. “And it’s sealed.”

  “Is there a key to open it?” asked Morell. Robert looked at him with an odd expression.

  “What would be the point of burying a locked trunk and leaving the key next to it? You’d have to be the dumbest witch alive to go through all the trouble of hiding away a locked-“

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Isn’t that the key right there?” Morell said pointing to something small peeking out from beneath a piece of the broken stone. Both of the witches looked, and Robert reached in to grab the glinting object to learn that their companion was correct. It was a key of approximate size to the corresponding hole in the lock box. Robert looked it over before sticking it in the lock and turning it. The mechanism inside gave a grinding, rusty “clink” noise before the lid separated just a little from the rest.

  “Well, dip me in honey and throw me to the bumbles.” Siouxsie gasped in amazement. “That’s good luck.” Robert cautiously lifted the lid, the light of the fireball in his other hand lighting the cubby.

  “Books?” asked Morell

  “Witch books.” Siouxsie said. “Artifacts. Very rare. Robert, grab those.” Robert wiped his hands upon his cloak before reaching in and gathering a pair of large, black leather-bound books with yellowed pages peeking out of the middle.

  Each one’s thickness was the length of an adult person’s thumb. A thick layer of dust came out with them, causing Robert to wince and release a terribly loud sneeze. The whole structure shuddered so violently that tremors threatened to pitch them to the floor. Every bone and skull rattled in place like cacophony of empty death.

  “Bless you.” Said Siouxsie. From the rear, in the dark corridors they’d left behind, there came the sound of a huge inhalation of air, like that of an enormous titan waking from a slumber and owning their waking breaths.

  “What was that?” asked Robert with a concerned expression.

  “You’re the brave one in scary places.” Said Siouxsie. “You go have a look.”

  “No, I don’t think I will.” he said, drifting his broom away from the darkness.

  *pip* peeped Jam *pip*pip*

  *pip* pip* peeped Pumpkin.

  *pip* peeped Robert’s gel from within his cloak.

  “What are they doing?” asked Morell. “I thought they don’t make that noise unless others were nearby.”

  “They don’t.” said Siouxsie. “Let’s go. I don’t want to linger here anymore than we have to. I don’t want to meet whatever is making that noise.” The ground trembled a second time.

  “Nor I,” said Robert. “Departing sounds reasonable.” The three hurriedly scaled the staircase to return to the surface, none feeling safe until the shadows of the depths were far behind. Above ground, the others were happy to see the three return.

  “What’s down there?” the prince asked.

  “Mold, rot and death.” Morell said glumly. “I wouldn’t want to see it if I were you.”

  “But look what we found in the darkness!” Siouxsie said, alerting Ignatius’ eyes to the large books in Robert’s arms.

  “Those are old tomes indeed.” Said Ignatius, grabbing the top book and gingerly opening the aging cover and flipping though the pages. “This is a spell book; fire, wind and lightning…”He closed it and handed it back before exchanging it for the other one. “This one….” He said with an increasing expression of concern. “This one has…”

  “Has what?” asked Hoxley. The witches concern changed to worry.

  “The things in this have not been known to our people in ages. It was hidden away for good reason.” He said closing the book. Robert held his hand out to take the book back, but Ignatius didn’t give it to him. “No, Robert.” He said. “I think I’ll hold onto this one. This isn’t for you or Siouxsie.”

  “What’s in it that that we shouldn’t have?” asked Siouxsie.

  “Old magick.” He said, tucking the book somewhere in a bag hanging from his shoulder beneath his cloak. “Things not to be experimented with. Dark magick…forbidden magick.”

  “Then why not get rid of it?” asked Siouxsie. “Let Robert burn it.”

  “Try if you like but these pages likely don’t burn with natural fire. I assume it’s the same strange properties like the blankets we use to keep warm.”

  “How do you know such a thing?” asked Morell.

  “I know a great many things.” Ignatius told him and the other witches “But after seeing what’s in the other book I recommend they read it instead. There are lessons about strengthening your casts beyond your current abilities. As for this one,” he patted the area underneath his left arm. “This will be destroyed in good time before its lessons can’t get free of its pages.” The ground trembled again, and the gels of the group began to make their *pip* noises.