Furnace

"You know, your mentioning someone being on the cove wall brings back an old memory that I haven't thought of in years. One of my teachers, back when I was ten years old, said this place had a lot of history for us to find. I specifically recall him saying that the whole shore was riddled with secret caves, some of which went inland. They are supposed to be interconnected, the work of a people who vanished long ago and are now covered up. We never found anything, of course, and I don't believe the tale has ever been taken seriously. To my knowledge, no thorough investigation has been made, certainly not in my lifetime. I'll have to look into it. Ah, here we are."

"It's in the third cave on the right," said Marla, guiding him.

Shelby lit the torchlights for all of them and illuminated the cave.

"Yes, it is exactly as I remember it," said Maglykos. "Show me this throne."

Shelby walked up to the strange knob and twisted it. As before, the wall parted, only this time it opened fully and exposed the concealed chamber. The breastplate was missing. The throne, however, lay strewn about the stone floor. It had been pulverized into thousands of useless chips and there was nothing left to suggest its former shape. Worse, there was something sinister lying in the corner amidst a pile of the debris. It was the dead and bloodied body of Rufi, sprawled on the pile.