An Unlikely Alliance (Closed for CoSurvivor)

"you need to warn me next time you plan on doing that..."

By the time Chance had paused in his kisses to speak, Ana too was breathing heavy. She could not help but smirk in response to his words, and then her body was melting into him as he kissed her again and she felt his hands moving over her. She fervently kissed him back as he grabbed her ass and pulled her to him, her arms sliding up to drape around his neck. As she felt his manhood poking against her she moaned softly against his lips.

"I think...if we do anything..we need to shed some clothes."

She nodded her agreement. He'd helped her strip from the waist down but still had all of his own clothes on. A problem she was more than happy to help remedy.

Pulling back a bit, her hands moved down to his hips where she had already pushed down his clothes a bit to set his manhood free. Her hands sliding over his skin, she hooked her fingers into the offending fabric and proceeded to push it further down until it fell loose around his feet. She smiled, taking a moment to let her hands slide up over his backside and then his lower back to revel in the feel of his skin beneath her palms for a bit before grabbing at the hem of his tunic and pulling it upwards. Even then she took her time with enjoying him, kissing parts of his stomach and chest as they came into view.

Her hands made every square inch of his body feel like he'd been hit by a bolt of lightning. Each time her fingers touched his back, or her lips caressed his skin, Chance had to fight 'not' to groan outwardly, he wanted her, needed her again and as she raised his shirt, he helped, if but just a little. When his shirt joined the rest of his clothes on the floor, Chance stood in front of her fully naked, he took in a strong inhale, his muscles flexing, his abs tightening in anticipation of being with her again. Chance helped take off her tunic, releasing her perfect breasts, he wanted them wanted to roll each one in his mouth again, suckle each and watch as they hardened under his attention. Instead, he picked her up in his arms, both hands going to the back of her thighs, lifting her and stood her on the top of the bench.

Quickly chance sat as well, turning her, and just as her pussy faced him, he quickly slipped his tongue between the folds of her pussy. The taste of her pussy made him groan...a deep moan of desire to taste her. Chance held her hips, dragging his tongue within, savoring each drop of her that he could gather on his tongue. Chance took his time, he knew he wanted to make her wet, drenched even, and intended to do so until Ana called his name. When she did... he quickly moved, and stood, turning Ana again and taking her in his arms, kissing her madly.

He could feel his manhood sway in the cool air, then subtly poke Ana in the butt, bouncing off her left butt cheek he deftly lifted her and moved his hips seeking what he knew they both wanted.

The tip of his cock met Ana's pussy, he lowered her just a bit until he could feel the tip of his cock about to enter her. breaking one of many passionate kisses, he lowered her just a little more until he was almost all the way in her. The welcome feeling of being inside her again made his cock just a touch harder...

"Ana..." he struggled to say... as he moaned, grinding into her thrusting his hips up as he lowered her more onto his cock.

Ana could not help but let out a moan of deep satisfaction as Chance slowly began to lower her down onto his cock and she could feel each inch of him beginning to fill her. After all of the attention he had given her with his mouth just now she was more than ready for him, her insides hot and so incredibly wet as they gripped him. He'd pleasured her until she'd called out his name in bliss, her legs trembling. Now as he began to thrust into her she felt them tremble a bit again.

"Oh gods..." she breathed out as she bit her bottom lip, her back arching with pleasure as he lowered her onto him more and moved within her.

"Mmm yes..... Oh yes Chance, don't stop!" she pleaded.

She moaned out again, her body moving of its own accord and trying to push herself back against him and drive him in further as he thrust up inside of her.

Chance buried his face in her chest, kissing her bare chest with in passionate chaos, his lips crashing against her skin, the warmth of her body radiating through him, just as they began to mold their bodies against each other, Chance could feel they were growing closer and closer deeper within. Carrying her in his arms now riding on his cock he could feel every muscle in his body scream at him to make her his...

Slowly he rocked, his hips moved but his cock demanded to be inside her, and every time it seemed that his hips might sway back far enough to pull completely out of Ana, his mind screamed at him to be inside her again. Their rhythm increased, and the sound of their bodies crashing against each other echoed off the walls. Coupled with the deep animal groans of desire that escaped his lips, Chance knew they must sound monstrous...

But a monster of passion and desire, not of fear, or hatred... The overwhelming desire to be as close to Ana as he could be made it all the more important to him that he please her... This need was enough to block out any physical pain he might feel from their position.. but it built a need to make her his. His rhythm slowed, and chance let her down so her bare feet could touch the floor, and just as he did, he turned Ana in his arms kneeling behind her, deftly pushing his face between her legs, his mouth finding her wetness.. tasting her.. teasing her... dragging his tongue up leaving kisses along the crack of her ass as he reached the small of her back and up to her neck Chance looked down and could feel his cock now resting just below her pussy.

Hot, sweaty and filled with the need for her Chance rested his hand on her hip and slowly took her hand in his, having her help guiding him back inside from behind.. Pushing his cock in, he could feel the head of his cock all the way inside. Groaning... feeling them as one again Chance took her hands in his, her hands over his, but fingers intertwined he covered her breasts and pulled Ana to him.. By the gods he wanted her...

If Chance had been worried that he was not pleasing Ana enough, he need not have been. Her desire had grown along with his as their bodies moved against one another, her cries of passion joining in with his groans and echoing through the empty cavern.

When his rhythm had slowed and he'd set her down on her feet again she'd tried to regain her breath, but already he was turning her in his arms and kneeling behind her, his lips and tongue teasing her wet and sensitive pussy and making her breath in a ragged gasp in response, followed by a moan as she felt his hot tongue and breath moving over her.

"Chance...," she breathed with a shiver as she felt his kisses traveling up from the base of her spine to her neck.

Beads of sweat glistening off of her chest and brow despite the cool cavern air, she smiled as she felt him take her hand and bring it back to his manhood to guide him back to her entrance, gasping softly and letting out a satisfied moan as he began to push into her again and fill her once more.

His hands found hers, their fingers interlocking and making her heart swell and her passion rise at the same time. When their hands covered her breasts and he pulled her to him she groaned in response, her head falling back against his chest and her backside flexing and rocking back against his hips as she felt her nipples growing even harder as they brushed against the rough skin of his hands.

Chance wasn't thinking of what to do next, truly he just wanted her, wanted to hear her cum,feel her orgasm flow through her body and wash over him. but he couldn't hold back the most basic desires he had, which was to take her.. make her his.

Chance groaned out and as he did, he could feel himself breathing faster. each time his hips crashed into Ana's backside he drew her back by pulling her into him by her breasts. His fingers spreading just enough to capture her nipples between them, pinching them lightly, caressing her chest and squeezing her breasts as he rocked into her.

He could think of nothing else, and their rhythm increased so did his urgency to please her, to give her pleasure enough so that she'd soak them to the bones with her nectar.

If the old gods could see them, see their lovemaking in these old halls, he wondered if they'd approve. His only follow-up thought was he wondered if any other lovers graced this bench or the stairs behind them with carnal pleasures. He was sure if the walls could talk they'd have stories to tell.

Chance could feel his toes tingle at the thought of what they were doing, and that same feeling began to stretch through his body... Slowing and almost stopping. he whispered..

I"m close...so close...but I don't want to cum inside you unless you want me too."

A whimper of raw need escaped Ana in response to Chance's whispered words.

"It's okay..." she whispered back, her breathing heavy.

She was close as well. Very very close. His increased rhythm while his hands had teased and caressed her breasts had pushed her higher and higher into the throws of ecstasy, but then just as she was nearing the peak he'd shifted to almost a complete stop. His slow movements felt both blissful and torturous now as her body begged for its release.

Taking his right hand and moving it with her own, she slowly slid it down towards the juncture of her thighs.

"...I want you to."

Guiding his hand with her own, she coaxed his fingers to rub against the small sensitive bud there, her back arching and her body tensing as they did.

"Please Chance...cum with me."

Chance could feel his body want to tense up and release, but he dearly wanted to grant Ana her wish, to bring her to climax with him. Guided by her delicate fingers his hand slipped down between her legs, finding the soaked folds of her pussy. With her encouragement, he slowly rubbed her clit. listening to her body, and how she responded, Chance applied only enough pressure to bring her off. in no why did he want to cause her pain. Vaguely he could remember a lovemaking opportunity he'd had another life time ago when he'd been reminded that a woman's body was soft, not rough like a man's that you only needed to apply just enough pressure, and not to rub on her like a man might try to rub out dirt on a a wooden floor.

Only when he could feel Ana tighten up herself, only when he knew she'd crashed over the edge did he give in to his own body allowing the tingles to push him till he couldn't hold back.

"Ana... AH AH Ah ah......"

Chance could feel himself begin to cum, wave after wave of ecstasy washing over him as he pushed deep into Ana burying himself deep within her. His cock pulsed within, he could feel the warmth of her own orgasm wash over him and his own joined hers. He held her there, finding strength to keep them both upright when he truly wanted to just collapse in a heap, but he could feel his legs grow weak they need to sit down.

Spent.. absolutely spent he turned Ana and brought her with him to the bench, it wasn't all that comfortable, he could feel the cold stone greet him as his bare ass sat upon it.. but he turned Ana to face him, bringing her up and into his lap....

Chance wanted to say something, but couldn't muster the words, he wanted to tell her he was falling in love with her. He'd just found her, they'd shared a common bond as to why they were down there and while yes, he could tell they were close, would it push her away if he actually said it? He didn't believe in 'true love' he didn't believe in the fairy tales of his child hood, especially since he'd been so blatantly lied to. But he could feel his need to be with Ana more than a physical thing. despite the odds.. He wanted this...

Ana's hand had stayed upon Chance's as he rubbed her clit, gently encouraging him and showing him with her touch as well as her body what gave her the most pleasure; what motion to make, when to go faster. Her body rocked and writhed of its own accord, loving the combined feeling of his fingers rubbing her clit while his cock remained within her.

Soon she could take no more and her release had claimed her, her body arching and growing stiff as her legs trembled and her pussy tightened around him. Then with a moan she went cascading over the edge, her core clenching and unclenching around his cock as the delicious tremors washed over her.

She heard him follow, felt him push deep and pulse within her, eliciting another moan of pleasure from her as she rode out her orgasm. When she was finished she felt as if her body was hot wax, limbs turned to liquid and no longer able to keep herself steady. She was grateful for Chance holding her and keeping her upright, eagerly complying when he moved and brought her down to sit upon his lap.

She melted against him, arms wrapping around his core as she leaned into him and rested her head upon his shoulder. She said nothing, simply regained her breath for a moment as she enjoyed his nearness. Never in her long life had a person's mere presence made her feel in such a way. Yes the sexual energy between them could not be denied, but it felt like something more than that. A ... connection. Something that she could not yet fully explain.

She tried her best not to think about it, to push it from her mind and not worry about the implications of it or what it might mean once this quest was over and they had to return to the reality of their lives as the heirs to two rival kingdoms. Right now she simply wanted to enjoy this moment.

Chance reviled in the musky smell that was coming from them, the smell of sex, sweat and desire seemed to come from every inch of their bodies. The only thing missing from This scene, the one he was currently in, was in dire need of a soft bed, or a soft bed of grass, anything better than the hard, cold unforgiving piece of stone that his ass was currently sitting on. Damn if the cold stone wasn't distracting.

It was uncomfortable, and cold, and yes... dust was going to get everywhere. Yes... bud did he give a shit?

No.

He could truly think of nowhere else he wanted to be, and he intended to stay like this, at least for a bit longer. Eventually, they'd have to get up, stumble over to the stream of water that was flowing out of the wall and make an attempt to clean up. the thought of running his hands over Ana's body suckling on her nipples, hearing her moan in desire...made him stir. For a moment he thought of turning Ana and having her straddle him, and encourage her to be in control of their next attempt to derail themselves and drag their feet, delaying themselves for however long necessary.

The thought of falling sleep with Ana was.. a wonderful thing. and as much as he wanted to stay here, with Ana in his arms he knew eventually they'd have to move. Eventually, after an unknown time, Chance finally spoke.

"There is nowhere, nowhere I'd rather be than naked with you.. but if we intend on trying to save everyone, we might want to eventually get going."

standing up, letting Ana find her feet, he did pull her close, his semi-hard cock between them almost nudging her in her pelvis.

"I mean we could just venture down there and find the most interesting spots to have sex...Wouldn't that be a map to follow..." Chance joked, truly it was intended to be funny, but damned if he didn't think the idea had worth, especially standing there with Ana in his arms, both of them completely naked.

"I mean.. we'd have to label each spot.." he subtly dragged his finger down her chest, lightly trailing to her navel.

"Each one.. would have to different than the last..."

"Hmmm...and I bet you would know all the best spots, having ventured down there before...maybe we could even discover some new ones..." Ana replied with a smirk, the path Chance's finger had made down her stomach tingling in response to his touch.

She raised herself up onto her toes a bit, wrapping her arms around his neck and placing a lingering kiss upon his lips.

He might have been joking, but Ana had to admit that it was very tempting indeed to try and delay the end of their journey as much as they could, to make it stretch out and make the most of this underground world that they had all to themselves... but she knew they could not.

Time was too precious a commodity to them now. Though she could not see the passage of the sun overhead anymore, she could feel the hours passing by. How long did they have until the events that she had seen in her vision would come to pass? A week? A day? They had no way of knowing.

With a sigh she drew her lips away from his and looked up at him, disappointment showing in the violet depths of her eyes.

"But for the sake of everyone else I think we will have to settle for what few spots we can squeeze in along our way, and we have already spent quite a while at this one...we better keep moving."

She was right, Chance nodded in agreement, at her words that they really did need to get a move on. They were probably running out of time, at least that was always the pressure he'd felt since the very beginning.

Moving around, he helped collect her clothes, as well as his own bringing them back to Ana from where she sat on the bench. Getting themselves dressed he couldn't help but steal glances over at Ana while she dressed and covered her amazing backside.

When she was distracted by getting her boots on, Chance took the opportunity to run a hand across her hip, slowly running his hand across the curve of her ass. The thought of getting her naked again, right there right now while she was distracted was very tempting, but he'd seem very much like the typical horny human by doing so.

No.. they'd have time for the carnal pleasures that their closeness would encourage. for now, they needed to get going.

When they were finally dressed, Chance pulled Ana close and kissed her warmly. "I know we need to go.. and we will find time to be together soon. Just...it's, it might be difficult to keep my hands off you."

Chance lead the way, torch in hand. The walls became more established now as if artisans had taken time to cut the tunnel out of rock. thousands of years ago it must have been that these tunnels were carved out, which leads farther down, and back to the staircase.

It didn't take long before they reached what at one time was a 'T' in the tunnel system. the one they were in continued, but there was another which was completely blocked off, a number of smaller boulders surrounded one massive one.

"I think, that's the way we wanna go"

Ana had smiled in response to Chance's comment about having trouble keeping his hands off of her, the look she gave him in response letting him know that she didn't mind the thought of that one bit. In fact, she might have a little trouble keeping her hands to herself as well. She might have been the one to point out that they had derailed for long enough, but it had been her kiss that had derailed them in the first place after all.

Their continued walk through the tunnel had thankfully been uneventful, and when they reached the blocked portion that Chance had mentioned before she looked it over with curiosity. Could this potentially be the same cave in that the amulet was rumored to have caused. The way it blocked one passage but not the other, she couldn't help but think it looked intentional.

"I think, that's the way we wanna go"

"Right," she commented with a nod, as she reached into the front of her tunic and retrieved the amulet from where she'd pinned it there for safe keeping, "Lets see what we can do about clearing the path then."

Once more the glow of the amulet could be seen as she held it within her hand and turned to look at him.

"But first, I better take a look at that information in your book that you mentioned."

"Well let's see what the old tome has to say about the amulet."

Chance reached into his bag, pulled out the old book and started flipping through pages. Reaching the illustrated page where the unified couples were standing together, Chance knew he was close to some of it. Turning the page, then one more time he nodded and read aloud.

"It says here the amulet was of great power, which was primarily used by the queen. It could do almost anything, it was said to be more powerful in the hands of an elf, probably more so because of your inherent magical abilities"

Chance held the book open so Ana could read the same thing he just did, there wasn't much to it and it was written in common, and she was probably very verse not just in speaking it (which they'd been doing since they'd met) but also in reading it.

Chance handed the book to her and walked over closer to the blocked tunnel, and inspected the walls.

"This was an entry way, maybe a gate way. looking over the top it looks like at one time something had been across the top but has been either carved, blasted way or fell off the wall."

looking at the pile of rubble near the base where the tunnel entrance was, he kicked a few small pieces and shook his head,

"Broken stairs too. This was a path to somewhere important.. that's for sure."

"I suppose we've got two things going for us, the amulet is restored, and it's in your hands. I think... the Amulet will listen to you, do as you will it to do?".

Ana looked over the writings about the amulet in the book Chance had handed to her as he walked over to inspect the walls, listening as he shared his findings with her.

He was right about her being able to read Common. Despite having grown up in the Elven kingdom, she was well versed in the common tongue and could both read and write it just as fluently as she could speak it. Such things were necessary for a future ruler like herself, and she'd had many years to practice.

While looking over the page her eyes found the copy of the Elvish inscription that Chance had mentioned as well.

"To bring light to the darkness," she murmured, speaking the translation of the words aloud.

Not much to that part either. What exactly did it mean? Had the amulet been gifted to the humans to help create a light source for them down here?

"I think... the Amulet will listen to you, do as you will it to do?".

"Well what I'd really like is for it to move these rocks back into place so we can take this tunnel instead of having to go the long way around," she commented absent mindedly, her eyes still down on the contents of the book.

As she had spoken the words however, the bits of rocks and rubble around Chance's feet had shifted slightly for a moment before stopping again, creating a soft rattling sound. Her head jerked up in response to the noise.

"What was that?!"

Chance was shaking his head finding a great deal of humor in Ana's frustration. She had a point, getting through the blocked tunnel could possibly cut days, maybe a week off their venture the bottom of the world. Or at least that's what he hoped. What he feared, was that there was something sinister blocked behind the massive stone slabs, and the people who put them there, his and her ancestors, had a very good reason for it.

His reservations over their actions was minimal, and as Ana began to give a half-hearted complaint, he watched as the rocks around his feet moved. Chance looked at the stone slab, there was no way her actions could have made it move too right? Out of curiosity, Chance reached out, put his right hand on the stone wall and gave it a push.

As expected, it didn't move. Chance felt somewhat silly, what was he expecting? he had no magic powers? Sure his sword was imbued with abilities but those were limited compared to what Ana could do with that amulet.

"What was that?" Chance heard her ask, Chance turned to Ana, stepped away from the wall, and stood next to her. Chance lovingly kissed her cheek, and smiled. Gently he took the book from her, closed it and spoke encouragingly and earnestly.

"That was you. Imposing your will. I'd say... try again, with a little more focus."

Chance wasn't sure what was going to happen next, but if Ana was able to control it's power, she'd move that massive bolder like it was a pebble.

At the shifting sounds of the rocks Ana had been worried at first that a bloodworm or something else might have been climbing out of them towards Chance, but as he calmly walked over to her and kissed her cheek she knew that could not have been the case. She smiled slightly at the kiss and gazed up with him with a questioning look as he took the book from her and closed it until he finally explained what she had heard.

"That was you. Imposing your will. I'd say... try again, with a little more focus."

"Me?..."

Her eyes widened slightly in surprise and she looked over at the rocks again. The movement she'd heard had been caused by her?! But she hadn't done anything! All she'd been doing was thinking aloud about...

In that moment, as she started thinking again about how she wished the rocks would move back into place and out of their path, the shifting sound could be heard again. Only this time she could see the rocks moving as well. The sight of the movement surprised her however, making her loose focus, and just as soon as it had began it stopped.

She looked down at the glowing jewel in amazement. It seemed as though all she had to do was think about what she wanted it to do while she was holding it, so if that was the case...maybe all she needed was to focus more like Chance said. Her eyes narrowed upon the jewel in determination.

"Okay...lets try this again..."

Hand forming a fist around the amulet, she closed her eyes and tried to concentrate, focusing her thoughts on her wish for the passageway to be clear, imagining in her mind what each boulder would look like as it was put back in its proper place.

Chance gave her space, he was quiet, and actually tried to breathe as quietly as he could, afraid that any noise, any sound he might make could break the spell. At first he watched Ana, while she was in full concentration over what she was doing. She looked peaceful, yet Chance could tell this was one thing he shouldn't interrupt.

Turning his attention to the tunnel, Chance watched as slowly time rewound. Chance could see the massive boulder move, two massive cracks pushed in upon themselves and as it moved back into the tunnel and began to roll up and into a spot that looked li had originally held it. As the giant stone moved, Chance could smell a dampness to the air escape the once sealed off pathway, he could smell stale air, but thankfully he couldn't smell one thing he feared the most, death. He'd feared that someone, or many people had been sealed up in there when the tunnel had been collapsed. As the ceiling reformed, not everything returned to it's former position. Chance could see that whatever carving or sign had been above the archway leading in never reformed. Maybe the spell Ana was casting, just didn't address it or the carving was so decayed by time that it would never reform. Either way it was lost to time.

Only when the tunnel entrance was completely open did Chance dare take a look further into the opening. The tunnel was carved out of the rock in a the same sort of architecture that Chance had come to expect from the tunnel system this far down. Artisans had done this, men and women who took great pride in the structure of their work. Thinking back to the deep tunnels of his boy hood home, he thought of the tunnel worms and how the walls had the same sort of formation to them. Only.... there were what looked like artwork on the walls. Or at least that's what the shadows appeared to be as he stood well outside the entrance.

Turning his attention to Ana, he waiting until her concentration on the amulet was complete, he took no chances that interrupting her might cause another cave in. With concern in his eyes, and equally in his voice, Chance approached Ana and spoke quietly.

"You ok?"

Ana had done her best to block out any noise or distractions around her as she'd focused her mind on getting the rocks to shift back into place, allowing herself to slip into almost a trance like state as she felt the power of the amulet begin to grow. It was a strange sensation as she held the amulet tightly within her hand and let its energy flow through her, using her as its conduit. It was both draining and yet energizing at the same time. It was so powerful! She'd never felt anything like it, not even when having one of her visions!

"You ok?"

Chance's voice was quiet, but somehow it reached her, and her grip on the amulet eased. She nodded in response to his question, but swayed ever so slightly upon her feet as she opened her eyes and stared up at the restored tunnel in amazement.

"Holy stars!..." she breathed in wonder.

Chance nodded, and simply gave her a "mmhmmm." taking a moment he reassembled the staff he'd used earlier in their adventure, placing a glow stone inside the cage and extending the staff into the dark unexplored tunnel that had been sealed off... for more than ... well he wasn't sure when it had been sealed off, or who did it.

Looking at Ana he gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze and lead the way.

"I don't know what to expect in here.... We could have just opened a prison for some creature to consume us all, or... there might be some actual hard evidence of our past that our ancestors tried to bury down here."

Looking at the walls of the tunnel, the walls began to take on a more artistic shape. He could see carvings, natural curvature in the rock was accentuated by what had been carved into the rock,, shineing the light further down the hallway Chance could see that the tunnel did indeed expand eventually. some short corridors, small living spaces, all cleaned out, top to bottom, as if people lived here but picked up every belonging they owned and moved. It wasn't done hastily, it was done with care, not leaving much if anything behind that would last this long, or not get reclaimed by time.

The carvings and design work was completely foreign to Chance, he'd never seen anything quite like it before, it was at least in his eyes, stunning, intricate and a the artistry had a way of making the rooms seem as one with the tunnels that had been carved out here. What's more, it no longer seemed like these were caves, or tunnels, but possibly these were hallways of a residence, or a family home, on a grand scale.

"Ana, could we be in elvish territory? maybe this is where your ancestors lived when they coexisted with humans so long ago? Maybe that's why it's sealed up??? because they left it? never to return??"

Taking a slow, deep breath to steady herself, Ana had pinned the amulet back onto her shirt so that her hands would be free and then followed Chance into the dark, letting his staff light their way.

Just like him, she had no idea what they would find. He was right, they could have potentially released something dangerous, but... as they ventured onward she quickly became convinced that this was not the case. While the carving and design work looked completely foreign to Chance, Ana was having the exact opposite experience.

The stunning and intricate patterns that had been carved into the rooms of the tunnels with such careful detail, the way it all flowed seamlessly and merged itself with the natural curvatures of the rock... It was the same as what the Elves had done when carving out their homes in the trees back in her kingdom!

"I think you are right," she answered in amazement in response to Chance's questions as she traced her fingers over one of the engravings, "All of these engravings...they look like the ones back home that our people etch into their trees..."

Her fingers stilled as she looked up to gaze around at the empty rooms and hallways.

"But what happened to make them decide to leave?"

"But what happened to make them decide to leave?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, but if I had to make an educated guess, knowing what we do about our ancestors, I don't think this was done in a hurry. There's nothing left here, just empty rooms, as if everything was painstakingly moved, knowing that whoever lived here would never be back, no reason to leave anything behind, especially when they sealed off the entrance we came through. My next question would be, is it the only entrance? Is there any other way into this area besides the one we used?"

Looking over at Ana he asked another question, "Do your cities back home have maps? Or signs on the walls for navigation so you don't get lost? I mean this place is vast, maybe the markings on the walls do that. In the grand castle, back home there are markings on walls, above corridors and along the floor, they give you a guide as to what floor you are on and if the room or rooms beyond lead anywhere else. It takes some getting used to but once you know what to look for you can get around pretty quickly."

As they walked further into the undisturbed area, it became more and more apparent that a lot of people has lived here and stretched further below, and above their heads than he'd originally thought. The corridor they'd followed to get in here had opened up into a much more natural cavern, doorways and windows were part of the natural cavern structure. He wasn't sure and he wasn't about to make assumptions that Ana couldn't fill in the picture on. And, if her people were as secretive as his own, he was sure they'd be keeping secrets from her.

They reached a grand atrium, the center of the circular room had three staircases that lead straight down curling around a central shaft that lead down far down into darkness. However, looking straight up Chance could see something he shouldn't this far down. but there was no mistake, He could see rays of sunlight penetrating through a massive green cover far above. Whatever was above their heads possibly at one time let in enough light that people could see without the assistance of glow orbs this far down.

"Ana, this place is amazing..."

Ana looked up at the green cover far over their heads and the few rays of sunlight that had managed to filter in through it in wonder.

"There's a glass dome at the top, but its been left unattended for so long that the vegetation up there where it is located has overgrown it and it's all but covered now," she voiced aloud since she knew his eyes would not be able to see it as hers could, "It looks just like the one we have in the atrium on the topmost level of the tree that houses royal palace back home."

"And if this is the the top like at the palace, then that would mean..."

A look of realization lit upon her face and she turned and hurried towards the staircases, examining the patterns etched into their railings carefully.

"This one! This is the one that will lead us to the other exit down below," she explained excitedly, "The markings are nearly identical to the main pathway leading through the palace back home."

Watching the elation of discovery wash across Ana's face was refreshing. He was afraid for a moment that walking through the past, specifically, her people's past was going to be a bit shocking for her. Chance had done enough personal discovery about his own heritage to where it took a lot to surprise him anymore. As she stood there, just a few feet away from the railing to the nearest staircase, the light caught her just right, covering Ana in an aura of light. It must be this the elven underground palace and its magic properties which made her appear even more beautiful than she truly was. Of course, Ana being an elf, just accentuated her beauty, but there was something more at the moment. whatever it was Chance didn't care.

Getting close to the edge, Chance peered over the edge into the darkness, then up to the canopy above them. We won't get this chance again surely. Taking her hand in his, Chance turned her to him and asked politely.

"So.. if there are directions all the way down, do you think you can direct us up? maybe we can spot whatever is up there? I mean... This place is undisturbed, and who knows when or if we'll be back this way again. We should investigate.. a little. Don't ya think?"

Chance raised an eyebrow at Ana and pleaded his case. "Please? There might be some answers up there too.."

Ana could not help but smile in response at how politely and earnestly Chance pleaded his case and asked her to lead him through the Elven chambers, almost like a young child asking permission to go out on an adventure. She felt driven to keep pushing on in their journey, to venture deeper into the ruins, but she could not help but give in to his request.

"No, you are right, there might be answers hidden here as well. We can investigate for a while and see what we come across, I should be able to guide us," she agreed with a nod.

She pointed to the carvings that she had found.

"In the palace we use carvings like these to mark the major passage ways, each one is a little different from the other," she explained, "It seems this place uses the same system."