Rhyss mentally listed her priorities.

Water. Food. Rest. Those should have been the very first things they did, but she wanted to know the lay of the land before anything else. She didn't need another magic eater literally getting the drop on them. Again.

She would never, ever say it out loud, but she was glad Bel and Heln hadn't let her go off on her own. It was incredibly against protocol. If she wasn't already expelled then she would have been when she put in her report. Though it wasn't as if the seemingly safe courtyard was any better than trying to find a way to the top of one of the towers, so at least she could argue her case.

If she even wanted to.

Joining the Guard had been her life's dream. Her entire childhood had been spent listening to her mother's tales of daring and adventure. Under her mother, her sister Reta had risen in the ranks. Her step-sister, Brina, was one of the best healers the Guard had at their base.

So, no one was surprised when Rhyss turned fifteen and immediately signed up for the Guard. Not a single person questioned that she was the top of her classes both in the Guard and at the Eleti Academy. Of course, it was absolutely expected that she would be brave, strong, and hold true to the motto of the Guard: to defend City, citizen and magic itself.

Fear crawled in her guts like snakes at just the thought of going up to the tower alone. The sounds the magic eater had made echoed in her ears, the sound of her boots against the ancient tile too much like the clacking of its beak.

"Stay behind me." It was easier to be brave in front of other people. Especially Bel and Heln, who were just unobservant enough to believe it despite how her hands trembled and her voice was just on the edge of shaking. "Even if this room somehow keeps the constructs out and it seems safe, we have no idea what could have moved into these ruins."

"I'm voting dragons," Bel said.

The expression she threw at her over her shoulder had once made KwaTelin burst into tears, and he was nearly twice Rhyss's size.

Bel beamed back at her, ruining the effect of Rhyss's glare completely. She turned forward quickly. Bel's smile did not make her heart stutter annoyingly. It was a stress response to constant irritation, probably.

"Two things: dragons have been extinct for almost a thousand years, and they might not have been real. Oh, and a third thing, if they were real they were supposed to be absolutely huge. I don't even think they'd fit in this cave," Heln pointed out.

"It would still be completely amazing, maybe they'd be friendly. Friendly small dragons that want to be friends." Bel sighed at the glares she received. "Fine. I'm voting nothing but more spiders. I hope you're both happy with your lives and your decisions."

Rhyss really wanted to ask her why, but there was an equal part of her that just didn't want to know, so she ignored her.

The second courtyard was more overgrown than the first. It must have been lined with ornamental trees, but in lieu of careful pruning they had become a nearly impassable tangle. It took a while to find an entrance that led to a set of stairs.

They spiraled up into the heights of what she guessed would be the southernmost tower, but without sun or stars her sense of direction might have gotten completely turned around.

"Okay. Bel, I know it's really hard for you, but I want absolute silence." Rhyss gave her the second-best death glare in her arsenal. Either that or her words were slightly more effective this time, because at least Bel didn't smile at her. "You too, Heln."

Heln nodded, and Bel saluted. Rhyss could handle Bel's silent sarcasm as long as it stayed silent.

The staircase was dark and the stairs were cracked. The vines and leaves of a plant she didn't recognize spilled down through an opening like a green waterfall, choking up the hollow center of the tower. She saw a few small spiders scuttle away from her light and shuddered despite herself. Cobwebs draped the walls like sheets.

The stairs ended a few floors up and they stepped out into a wide room. The remnants of a mural were still clinging to one expanse of wall. Pillars held up the ceiling, carved with leaves where they weren't covered by living vines. The pillars in the center of the room had broken a long time ago, the stone of the ceiling scattered across the floor. Light from the crystal, blue and cold, filled the space left behind. Rhyss could see the tip of the crystal, not as high above their heads as she thought, like a spear from a god.

The room seemed empty, but something was making her uneasy. "Heln, do you sense anything?"

He shook his head. "Even if I had my shields down all I would sense is that tree or the crystal, it's pretty intense this close."

Well, of course when she really needed him, he was useless.

That wasn't fair, and she knew it. He looked pale and overwhelmed, and she probably didn't look much better.

"If it helps, I don't think anything magical in nature could live here, so if we fight anything it'll just be a regular old, well, I don't know, giant bat." Heln shrugged.

"Giant spiders," Bel whispered.

"Pretty sure I asked you to be silent." Rhyss didn't bother to look at her, trying to see in the strange light, but the far corners of the room were lost in a hazy twilight. She thought she saw something move and slowly put her hand on the hilt of her dagger.

"Well, then I suppose I won't tell you that there's a staircase right over there." Bel pointed to a corner that was thankfully opposite of the one she had been staring at. "I'll just stay quiet and follow orders like a good little soldier."

The staircase was still barely visible in the dim light, even when she was looking directly at it. She wasn't even sure how Bel had seen it. Once again, that annoying feeling of admiration towards Bel rose up in her.

"You will now, I hope." Rhyss tried to not let panic hasten her steps and it was nearly a losing battle. She wanted to skulk around the edges of the room, but she walked straight through the center. If anything was in the room with them, it didn't stir.

The stairs were almost completely intact. There was one spot where they had to jump, but it wasn't far and with their help even Heln made it without too much trouble.

"I've decided I'm going to live in this tower."

"It'll be easier jumping down." Rhyss promised him.

The top of the tower was flat, at least, but completely open to the elements. She thought the top would have been even with the bottom of the crystal, but somehow it was still far above their heads.

Rhyss walked to the edge. Beneath them, the dark expanse of trees rolled out like an ocean, broken up by white buildings that ringed the castle. Some of them had been built almost right next to the wall on the other side.

"I'm moving up here with you, that was exhausting." Bel got close to the edge, but Heln stayed by the stairs. "Watch that first step, Rhyss, it's the biggest doozy of all."

"This isn't the only building, it's just the biggest one." Rhyss ignored her and peered into the darkness. From here she couldn't see the lights of the forest, but the buildings gleamed in the light from the crystal. "There are a bunch in the trees, I'm surprised we didn't run into one."

"That's fantastic, let's climb on top of one of them instead." Heln's voice wavered slightly.

"I think it's a town," Rhyss said. "Well, it must have been a town, or something, once."

"An underground city, huh?" Bel leaned even farther than Rhyss would have dared. Just watching her made it feel like her stomach was free falling without her. "Wow, there are a whole lot of them. Heln you should see this!"

"I'll see it from the ground, thanks." Heln was definitely paler in a way that had nothing to do with the odd light. He closed his eyes, tightly, shoving his glasses up into his hair like it would remove him from the situation. "Which I think we should go to. Right now. Before this tower collapses and we die."

"It's been standing for who knows how long," Bel reasoned. "The odds of it falling while we're on it are like. So low. Infinitesimally low."

"We ended up down in these caves, didn't we?" Heln's voice cracked. "I'd say our luck isn't particularly good."