Chapter 77: where the living dare not tread.

The royal mausoleum was cold.

Damian's breath fogged before him as he walked down the stone-hewn corridor, his footsteps reverberating in a heart-beat echo that mimicked his own thumping pulse. Flame-blessed lanterns hung from the pillars, small Cinders flittering in glass cages like butterflies imbued with the souls of the departed.

On either side of the aisle, marble coffins were placed to rest, their lids bearing intricate designs and engravings. Closer to the entrance of the underground mausoleum were minor nobles and lesser lords, granted a place in the halls of the royal family due to some or other contribution in their lives. Warriors and soldiers who had stood against Sidralis' enemies were also venerated here, placed alongside their forebears who had spilled blood to forge the kingdom out of the Starfall's chaos.