(Several hours later.)
Morning light shone brightly over the rooftops of the slums.
The district looked much less creepy and dangerous during the day.
The sight of broken chimneys, damaged houses, laundry hanging from windows and people shouting at each other over missing chickens could be seen as far as the eyes can see.
The normal chaos of poor life.
High above those streets stood a thin stone tower. It leaned slightly to one side and looked like it had been abandoned for years.
Most people that live around the area avoided it. Mainly because of the stairs inside the tower being half broken. So, no one in their right mind would actively seek it. Another reason for people to avoid it was were some rumours claiming that this place was haunted.
At the very top of the tower was a small room with a broken wooden roof.
A nice and thin mattress lay on the floor beside a small wooden table.
A chair with one shorter leg leaned against the wall.
Several knives rested neatly beside the bed.
And in the center of the room, Karna slept face-down on the mattress.
He was still wearing the clothes from last night. One boot half hanging off his foot.
Then sunlight slipped through a narrow window and landed directly on his face.
"…Why is the sun so bright today?" Karna groaned as he pulled a pillow over his head.
He lay there for about five seconds then as if he remembered something, his eyes snapped opened immediately.
"The gold!"
He rolled onto his back and sat up quickly.
Karna grabbed the heavy bag of God that lay beside the mattress and pulled it into his lap.
The sound of coins clinking together instantly improved his mood. He loosened the rope and opened the bag.
"Alright!" Karna said while rubbing his hands together. "Let's see how successful last night really was."
Although there was no need to count again as he had already done so last night in the tavern, but his mind wasn't satisfied and repeated that action.
"Fifty gold coins." he said, a wide smile spreading across his face.
He lifted one coin from the bunch and inspected it in the sunlight.
A noble crest of Lord Mavren's merchant company was stamped into the coin.
Karna tossed the coin lightly into the air and caught it again.
"Well.." he said proudly, "that explains why the guards were so angry."
He stacked the coins neatly into small piles. Although it is true that some thieves immediately spend their gold to prevent themself from getting caught red handed, Karna preferred not to spend it before doing his planning first.
His mind immediately began calculating his necessary expenses.
Food… bribes… equipment… all of these have their own expenditure.
'I could easily live comfortably for months with this kind of money' he thought.
He leaned back and folded his arms while simply admiring the gold in front of him for a moment.
Then the memory from last night slowly crept back into his mind.
The smugglers in the tavern.
Their conversation.
The gravekeeper.
The dungeon.
And at last, the ring.
His brain immediately divided the idea into two categories.
The first one being extremely dangerous. While the second one being extremely profitable.
He set the coin down as he was lost in his thought and then imagined something else.
'What if the rumor was real?'
'What if there actually was treasure hidden beneath the royal crypt?'
'What if nobody had taken it because everyone else was too scared?'
Karna's lips slowly curved upward as he contemplated on his thoughts.
"But what if it's the first case? What if I die a horrible death?" He asked himself this question then shook his head with a grim smile.
"Unfortunately..." he muttered to himself while scratching his head, "I am not known for making good decisions."
He pushed himself out of the mattress and walked toward the window while stretching his arms.
"It's not like I'll be killed simply for gathering info." He said while looking at the busy slum streets below.
"Well" Karna said,
"I suppose I should ask a few questions."
-----
Karna turned away from the window and stretched again, his back popping slightly.
Sleeping on a thin mattress was not really a good experience for his spine. He rolled his shoulders, grabbed a small cloth pouch, and began scooping the gold coins back into the larger bag.
*Clink.*
*Clink.*
*Clink.*
Fifty coins vanished back into the sack as Karna tightened the rope around the top and lifted the bag experimentally.
The bag was still heavy. Although it bringed joy to him, the same can be said for other thieves when they will see that amount with him.
It last the last thing he wanted right now.
Karna glanced around the room and his eyes landed on a loose floorboard beside the mattress.
"Ah."
He knelt down and pried the board up. Below the board was a shallow hiding space carved into the wood.
Inside were several items. Like a small dagger, a folded map of the city and a much smaller pouch— the same one that was in his hands— containing some coins in case of any emergency.
Karna dumped most of the gold into the hidden compartment making the coins clatter softly against the wood.
When he finished, only five gold out of fifty coins remained in the bag.
He tied it shut again and the floorboard slid back into place again. Now if someone robbed him, they would only get five coins instead of fifty.
Which was still unfortunate, but far less tragic than the previous scenario.
Karna grabbed his coat and headed toward the door. The spiral staircase inside the tower creaked loudly as he descended.
Several steps were cracked while some were missing entirely. He had fallen through it more than he could count when he first moved into this place. He preferred not to repeat that painful experience.
After some intense acrobats, he finally emerged from the tower and walked straight into the street.
-----
The first rule of street investigation was simple.
Ask people who already know the things he desired. In the slums, information traveled relatively faster than disease.
Karna stopped near a group of young pickpockets sitting beside a fruit cart. They were arguing something about whose turn it was to distract the vendor.
"Hey! Big brother!" One of them noticed Karna and waved.
Karna raised a hand in greeting.
"Morning, professionals."
One of the boys grinned because karna called them specialists.
"Did you hear? Someone robbed Lord Mavren's convoy last night."
Karna blinked. "Really?"
"Yeah" the boy continued excitedly. "The guards are very furious about the incident."
"They can only be furious like they always are. It's not like they can catch the culprits." Another boy snorted.
Karna rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Well" he said casually while snickering inside his head.
"if you hear anything about that thief, let me know."
The boys nodded in unison at his request.
Then Karna lowered his voice slightly.
"Actually, I'm looking for something else."
"What big brother?"
Karna leaned against the fruit cart and asked.
"Have you heard about a dungeon under the royal crypt?"
The boys stared at him with their faces blank.
One of them blinked slowly.
"…What dungeon?"
"An ancient dungeon" Karna repeated patiently. "Under the royal graveyard. Have you heard about it anywhere?"
"Nope." The second boy shook his head immediately.
"Sounds fake to me or else we would've heard about it somewhere." The third boy shrugged.
"that's a fair point." Karna nodded.
'Were the smugglers lying? But it's not like knowledge about an ancient dungeon would spread like cabbages. I'll have to check more.' he thought.
After He felt that he wouldn't gain anything from here, he pushed himself away from the cart and walked away while saying.
"Carry on with your criminal careers soldiers."
-----
His next stop was a narrow street where several beggars usually gathered.
Beggars see everything even if people ignored them.
Which meant they noticed things others didn't and hear things one normally wouldn't hear.
A thin old woman sat beside a stone wall with a wooden bowl in front of her.
Karna went towards her and dropped a copper coin into the bowl.
*Clink.*
The woman looked up and smiled.
"Oh" she said. "It's you."
"I try to maintain a good reputation." Karna smiled too.
"What do you want?" She snorted.
"Information."
"Of course you do."
Karna crouched beside her and asked.
"Have you ever heard about a dungeon under the royal crypt?"
"Why?" The woman squinted at him.
"You can say I'm a little curious. Tell me, have you heard about it?"
"…Maybe." she scratched her chin slowly.
"Maybe?" Karna leaned forward slightly with furrowed brows.
"I heard something years ago but i don't know if it's accurate." she said. "some treasure hunters were talking about it."
"What happened to them?"
The woman shrugged at his question.
Karna nodded slowly then asked.
"Did anyone say how to get inside?"
"No."
She then pointed a thin finger toward the northern part of the city.
"But there's a gravekeeper who who might know about it. Although he drinks too much and might not give you the right answer."
Karna raised an eyebrow then nodded.
"Can you tell me about him?"
" His name is Old Bram," she nodded and said. "He works at the royal graveyard."
"Bram....huh" Karna repeated to which the woman nodded.
"He drinks every night at a tavern near the graveyard."
Karna's interest sharpened immediately and quickly followed up. "Which tavern?"
"The Rusty Shovel."
"Thank you." Karna stood up again and proceeded to leave.
The woman coughed and tapped her bowl meaningfully when she saw Karna leaving.
"Really?" Karna sighed but reluctantly dropped another copper coin inside.
*Clink.*
"Information isn't cheap, young man." she said smugly.
"Apparently not." Karna said and walked away.
As he moved through the streets, he asked several other people the same question.
Some of them were a smuggler, a locksmith, and a street gambler.
But alas, most of them laughed at him when he asked about the dungeon.
"Dungeon under the royal crypt?" one man said. "You sure you aren't drunk?"
Another shrugged. "Even if it exists, nobody's dumb enough to go there."
Karna smiled wryly after hearing all of them.
"Well..." he murmured.
"I suppose I should meet this Bram."
He turned toward the northern road that lead to the royal graveyard.
According to the beggar woman, Bram spent most of his evenings in a tavern called The Rusty Shovel.
And if there was one thing Karna understood very well… It was how to get drunk people to talk.
---
It was almost evening when Karna reached the northern edge of the city. The buildings here looked very different from the slums.
The walls were not broken, the street were straight unlike the maze he was used to, and the houses had better roofs.
Although it was not like the noble territory, it was certainly cleaner than the chaos he was used to.
Karna walked slowly along the street, hands in his pockets, head moving around pretending to admire the view.
The beggar woman had been very specific about the tavern. The Rusty Shovel. Which, in Karna's opinion, sounded like an excellent place to drink and complain about life.
A few minutes of walk later, he found it.
A crooked wooden sign hung above a wide door. The paint showed a shovel with a bent handle and most of the metal parts on the sign were rusted.
Karna tilted his head slightly.
"They certainly named it with honesty."
The inside of the tavern was quiet compared to the Crooked Lantern. Only a handful of customers sat around the room.
Karna spotted his target immediately.
It was a single old man slumped over the bar with a mug in his hand. The man wore dirty work clothes and smelled strongly of alcohol even from a considerable distance.
Gray hair stuck out wildly from under his cap and a small shovel leaned against the bar stool beside him.
'That must be Bram.' Karna smiled slightly as he walked toward the counter.
"What would you like to have?" The bartender looked up as he approached.
Karna placed a silver coin on the bar.
"Ale."
The bartender nodded and poured the drink without another word.
Karna picked up the mug and casually sat on the stool beside the old man.
Bram did not notice him. He was staring into his mug with a wierd face as if it had personally betrayed him.
Karna took a sip of his ale. Then he glanced sideways.
"Long day?"
"Every day is long." Bram grunted. His voice was rough and tired.
"I understand that feeling." Karna nodded sympathetically.
Bram slowly turned his head and squinted at him.
"You look too young to understand anything."
"That's what people keep telling me even though I'm 22." Karna smiled.
Bram snorted and took another long drink.
Karna waited a moment then he casually reached into his pocket and placed another silver coin on the bar.
The coin slid slowly toward Bram.
*Clink.*
The old man looked down at it and then back at Karna.
"What's that for?"
"Conversation." Karna shrugged.
Bram stared at the coin for some time before finally grabbing it and shoving it into his pocket.
"Fine." he sighed. "Ask what you want to."
Karna leaned slightly closer.
"I heard something interesting today."
"If this is about graveyard ghosts, I'm leaving." Bram groaned.
"Wait! Wait! It's not about ghosts," Karna said hurriedly.
"Then what's it about?"
"A dungeon."
Bram froze for a moment and said nothing then he slowly turned toward Karna again.
"…What?"
"A dungeon under the royal crypt." Karna repeated, this time more clearly.
"Who told you that?" Bram's eyes narrowed.
Karna took another drink.
"Oh, you know" he said casually. "Rumors."
Bram stared at him for several seconds then he shook his head.
"Stupid rumors."
"Probably" Karna agreed as he leaned back slightly. "But rumors usually come from somewhere."
Bram rubbed his face with one rough hand.
"Kid" he said, "you should stop asking questions about that place."
Karna tilted his head.
"So it is real. And here I thought I was an idiot chasing a ghost."
"I didn't say that it exists." Bram immediately scowled.
"You didn't have to." said Karna, smirking.
The old man sighed heavily. He looked at his mug. Then he lifted it and drank the rest of the ale in one long gulp. The bartender silently refilled it while Bram took another drink.
"…It does exists." Then he spoke quietly.
Karna felt a small spark of excitement inside his chest.
"Under the royal crypt?" He asked.
Bram nodded slowly.
"Although it has been sealed for years."
"Why?"
"Because people are f**king idiots." Bram laughed bitterly.
"Treasure hunters, adventurers, mercenaries." the old man continued.
"They all hear the same story everytime." He shook his head recalling the old times.
"What story?"
Bram leaned closer and lowered his voice.
"That there's treasure down there."
Karna nodded. "And?"
Bram looked directly into his eyes.
"They all died."
The tavern went quiet for a moment.
Karna took a slow sip of his ale and asked.
"What killed them?"
"Traps. Monsters. Curses. Could be any of them, no one knows exactly." The old man pointed a finger at Karna.
Karna thought for a little while. Then he asked calmly.
"Where's the entrance?"
"No." Bram immediately shook his head.
"No?" Karna raised an eyebrow.
"No."
Bram took another drink. "I'm not helping you get yourself killed."
"Isn't that very responsible of you." Karna sighed.
Bram leaned back on his stool.
"Forget the dungeon" he said. "Forget the treasure."
He jabbed a finger toward Karna again.
"People who go down there don't come back."
"Let's say hypothetically," Karna said, "if someone extremely brave and incredibly intelligent wanted to look at the entrance…"
Bram snorted loudly.
"Then that person would be extremely dead."
Karna went quiet hearing the old man's words. He finished the rest of his drink and placed the mug on the counter.
Then he looked at the old man again.
"So… where is it?"
"You really are an idiot." Bram groaned loudly.
"Professionally." Karna grinned.
"Look old man, I'll take responsibility for my actions even if I die there. and you don't have to feel sad because it's my decision. How about that?"
The old gravekeeper stared at him for a long moment, then he sighed deeply.
"Fine... Go die or whatever the hell you want. It's in the royal graveyard."
Karna leaned forward slightly.
"Go on."
Bram rubbed his temples.
"There's a crypt building at the top of the hill."
"Oh! I've seen it!" Karna immediately said in excitement.
"Behind it," Bram ignored his excitement and continued, "there's an old stone door there."
Karna's smile widened.
"Listen carefully." Bram said angrily
Karna nodded. "I'm listening."
"The door leads to stairs."
"Down the Earth?"
"Very far down." Bram's voice dropped even lower.
Karna sat quietly for a moment and then stood up.
"You're going, aren't you?" Bram frowned.
"I might take a walk there." Karna shrugged.
"Idiot."
"Whatever you say."
Karna placed another silver coin on the bar.
"For the information."
Bram stared at him. Then he said one final sentence.
"If you hear whispering down there…. run. Run as fast as you can."
"…." Karna paused.
"Whispering?"
Bram nodded slowly. "Some of the treasure hunters said they heard voices. But they died mysteriously after that."
A small chill ran down Karna's spine.
"Thank you for this lovely advice."
He gave the old man a cheerful salute and then turned and walked toward the door.
Behind him, Bram muttered into his drink.
"Damn fool."
-----
The sky had already begun turning dark blue as the sun sank behind the western hills allowing long shadows to stretch across the street.
The northern district was much calmer at night than the slums.
Karna pulled his coat tighter around his shoulders and began walking north.
'Royal Graveyard'
He had seen the place before from a distance. A large hill outside the city walls where the nobles buried their dead.
A place filled with stone monuments, fancy crypts and statues that probably cost more than most houses in the slums.
Karna walked past the last row of houses. Ahead of him, the road slowly climbed upward towards the hill.
He kept walking as the road grew emptier the further he went. Eventually the sounds of the city faded behind him.
The hill rose slowly ahead of him as he walked and the scenery came into his view simultaneously.
At the top of the hill stood a tall iron gate and beyond it were rows and rows of stone graves.
The moon had fully risen now, bathing the entire graveyard in pale silver light.
Karna stopped near the gate and studied it. There was only one way to go to the other side.
So, Karna stepped back and then he climbed. His boots found small gaps between the bars, and within seconds he was halfway up the gate.
As he reached the top, he swung one leg over— then dropped down on the other side. His boots landed softly on damp grass.
The graveyard welcomed him with complete silence.
Karna straightened and brushed dirt from his coat.
"…Alright! Time for action!" he muttered while looking around him.
Now that he was inside, the place felt very different. Rows of tombstones stretched in every direction. Some were small and simple, others were large stone monuments carved with noble family crests.
Statues of armored knights stood guard beside certain graves. Their stone faces stared into the darkness.
Karna began walking slowly through the rows, his boots crunched softly on gravel paths. He passed several large crypt buildings made of pale stone. Each one had heavy doors and engraved names of noble families.
Karna read a few of them while walking.
"House Delvar."
"House Irenth."
"House Valen."
The deeper he walked into the graveyard, the thicker the fog became. It drifted between the tombstones like water flowed in dry land.
Karna slowed his steps slightly.
'Something about this place feel creepy. Or should I say strange? It's not exactly a feeling of danger but a little uncomfortable? Yes uncomfortable!' he accessed his thoughts while he walked.
Suddenly, Karna stopped walking.
'Why does it feel like someone is watching me?'
He looked over his shoulder and found nothing except for fog and rows of graves.
He turned back toward the hilltop. At the highest point stood a large stone building.
'The royal crypt. Finally!'
It was much bigger than the others, tall pillars stood along the front entrance. A wide staircase led up to heavy double doors.
"Well" Karna exhaled slowly as he said.
"That's definitely the place."
He climbed the steps toward the crypt. Finding the doors were closed and locked. Exactly what you would expect from a building meant to hold the deceased of royals.
Karna stood in front of them and studied the structure.
'Bram said the entrance was behind the crypt.'
"Alright." He nodded.
He stepped down from the stairs and walked around the side of the building.
The fog thickened again behind the structure while the ground sloped slightly downward.
Karna walked through and then he saw it— An old stone wall built into the back of the hill, and a large stone door in the center of the wall.
Karna stopped several steps away from it while accessing the door.
Heavy stone blocks surrounded it while rust covered the iron handles. Thick chains wrapped around the center.
Karna stepped closer, his boots tapping softly against the stone ground.
Karna crouched and examined the lock.
"Now. Now. Isn't this interesting?"
Then— a gust of air so faint passed past his ears that he almost missed it. Almost like a soft whisper.
Karna froze, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"…Did I just—"
The whisper came again in a barely audible form.
Karna slowly turned his head but there was nothing behind him except for fog drifting through the graveyard.
Karna rubbed his temple slowly.
"…Okay. There's nothing... Not creepy at all!"
He looked back at the ancient door.
Then at the broken chain.
Then at the darkness beyond the crypt.
Karna took a slow deep breath.
"Well," he muttered quietly.
"This is definitely getting weird."
-----
Karna remained near the ancient stone door in a crouched position, his one hand resting lightly on the cold ground.
For a few seconds he didn't move. The graveyard around him was completely silent. The royal crypt loomed behind him like a pale stone giant. And in front of him stood the sealed door to the dungeon.
Karna rubbed his temple again.
'Maybe Bram was right' he thought recalling his conversation about the whispers.
'Or maybe the ale is still messing with my head.'
He leaned closer to the door and examined the chains again. Rust clung to the iron links but after looking closely, one section of the chain had clearly snapped at some point in the past. The broken links hung loosely against the stone.
He stood up slowly, then he placed both of his hands on the heavy chain wrapped across the door. The iron felt cold, much colder than the temperature of the night around him.
Karna frowned slightly.
He tugged the chain once and barely moved.
He tugged again, this time much harder, making the broken section shift slightly with a grinding sound. But the stone door behind it remained perfectly still.
Karna leaned closer, this time examining the edges. And there, something strange caught his attention.
The door wasn't perfectly sealed as a thin gap ran along one side, barely wide enough to slide a hand through.
Karna tilted his head.
"Well. well. what do we have here now?"
He crouched again and peered into the narrow crack.
Inside the gap was darkness not the normal gray kind, but the pitch black one. Karna leaned closer towards it but at that moment he heard the whisper again. This time— a slightly clear whisper but not enough clear to fully understand it.
"…come…"
Karna froze and his entire body went still as he slowly leaned back from the crack.
His eyes scanned the graveyard behind him.
There were fog, graves, silent statues and nothing else.
Karna swallowed a lump of saliva.
"…Okay" he said quietly.
"That one was definitely not the ale."
He stepped away from the door slightly and crossed his arms.
"There are no such things as ghosts. That I know, as I've used this truck several times myself. It must be something else."
Inside his mind, his thoughts began swirling in a rapid pace trying to understand the situation. He immediately came with some possibilities.
"One of the possibility is of someone being inside the dungeon but that's unreasonable because this place has been sealed for years."
"Another possibility is that the wind is making strange noises. But believing that is almost stupidity."
"Then there is only one reason left to explain this. There is something inside this dungeon that is whispering.... If it's true, then I'm going to be royally fu*ked in this royal crypt."
Karna stared at the door again while Bram's warning immediately played in his mind.
"Yes," he said to himself.
"That was a very good advice." Karna nodded slowly.
He took two steps away from the door but then he stopped as the whispers came again.
"…come…"
His eyes drifted back to the broken chain.
Then to the thin gap in the stone.
Then to the darkness inside.
The whisper came again, this time almost pleading.
Karna's curiosity flared instantly after hearing the pleading and he leaned closer to the door again.
"…You know," he said quietly toward the crack in the stone, "If you want me that much, who am I to say no to an invitation?"
He crouched again and studied the broken section of chain more carefully.
The rust had weakened it badly and several links looked ready to snap with enough force.
Karna gripped the chain again, then he glanced once more at the silent graveyard around him.
He turned back toward the door.
"Well" he said under his breath.
"Let's see how sealed this place really is."
He wrapped both hands around the broken section of chain while tightening his grip.
And pulled.