2.58 Island of Dread

Hampered by dim lighting, Neter scanned the path for clues as he hurried back along the tracks toward Atlan, he could see plenty of tracks in the dirt to prove he was right. There was only one direction the dogons could have come from. If those savage beasts came from the Gora tunnel, there would be tracks there, too. He wanted to have a closer look at the gates now. Had the evidence simply been cleaned up?

         He hurried back to the junction and studied the ground. There were only a few tracks by the gate... He scanned the scene for signs of carnage, but not only were the bars devoid of any signs of struggle, these were much older gates, the layers of soot piled up revealed they had barely been touched in decades.

         He felt sick to his stomach as the clues pointed so ominously toward only one conclusion. The gates weren't there to keep Aquilla out, the gates were there to stop Malodon's wild dogs from coming into Atlan! Could Atalon really have put gates there to protect the city of Atlan, without protecting the children of Culloom? Was he that thoughtless?

         "GORA" He studied the sign with a feeling of dread, deeply disturbed and unable to leave his questions unanswered. With a heavy sigh, he headed down the ominous tunnel, sword in hand. Lighting was scant all the way, the stench of dog feces was strong here. It wasn't long before the track divided again. He scanned the walls for a directional sign.
         "HELLIAS?" Neter pondered the options ahead, puzzled, as far as he knew, there was only one passage to Lemuria. The tunnel to Hellias was tempting, it sloped downward to eerie darkness...

         The tunnel that continued on to Gora was more promising, it sloped upward, a cool waft of fresh air breezed into the tunnel from that direction hinting of land access. The upward path eventually emerged into another dead-end station. Like Culloom there was a well worn stairwell tucked into the far end, the sunken stone steps revealed it's ancient age and heavy traffic, this place that he had never been to, was older than he was.

         Suddenly, he spotted a child's shoe. He picked it up and looked closer, inspecting the accompanying garbage and debris that were scattered in the corners of the station, searching for signs of human remains but there were no signs of carnage here, all there was, was this shoe. Deeply concerned, he hurried up the hollowed stone stairs, knowing in his gut what this place was. There had always been rumors of a secret lab, but no one had ever found it, they had searched so many times. This was it.

         It was twilight by the time he reached the outside world, the stairwell opened up into a very small walled courtyard. There were no greens, no decor, only a set of old oak doors suggested an entrance to any sort of establishment. It certainly wasn't an attractive institution, the place looked neglected, the walls covered in moss revealed it's age. He lifted his nose to smell the air, it had a familiar odor that he couldn't quite place...

         He picked up a pebble and threw it at the door. Suddenly a cacophony of howls and shrieking barks shattered the silence from behind the stone walls, followed by growling, howling in unison.

         Neter drew the sword, but he appeared to be safe, the creatures alerted to his presence couldn't seem to scale the wall. As he crept towards the doors to investigate farther, the barking began again, shrieking wildly from behind the stone walls, they didn't sound like any animals he knew. They had sharp voices, they sounded fierce, too. Perhaps Vikkar was right. Malodon had something dangerous hidden away on Gorias.