Treasures of the Forgotten City

by Danny McAleese

  "It stung me." Waif's voice is sad, melancholy. You don't like the sound of it. There's too much resignation.

  "Maybe it wasn't poisonous?" you say hopefully.

  "No," he tells you calmly. "It was."

  You reach for his hand. Maybe if you act fast enough you can squeeze the poison from the wound. But Waif pulls away as if reading your mind. "You can't. It doesn't work like that."

  His face goes pale and his knees buckle. You catch him as he falls, but not before Waif knocks over the other two lenses. In slow motion you watch as they shatter against the stone floor of the temple.

  With Waif sick, and the two of you trapped in the inner sanctum, you slowly come to the grim realization that this is probably

  THE END

  30

  "This place is huge," you say. "There has to be something here."

  With that, you and Waif begin searching the library. Since everything is over four thousand years old, most of it falls to ruin at your touch. Some of it has survived though, preserved deep beneath the cool desert sands.

  You find few things of interest; some old quills, some decorative tiles, a container that might have once held some sort of ink. But it's under a broken table that you find the most interesting item: a partially intact chest.

  "Waif, look at this."

  You pull forth a yellowed map of Atraharsis. Most of it has faded into obscurity, but you can still see the near-invisible lines of corridors and hallways running beneath the city.

  "The catacombs," Waif says. "They were halls carved out by the engineers of Atraharsis, by order of its many kings."

  Beneath the map you find a pair of carved jade bookends. They appear very valuable. As you reach for them, Waif's eyes go wide with terror.

  "No! Wait!"

  Hurry! Roll two dice! (Or just pick a random number from 2 to 12)

  If the total is 10 or greater, TURN TO PAGE 76

  If the total is 9 or less, FLIP DOWN TO PAGE 94

  31

  You step forward and kick over the pile of bones. Scattering them away with the toe of your boot, the symbol of a horse is revealed.

  "What does it mean?" you ask Waif. Only Waif is long gone. He's already halfway back down the alleyway.

  A symbol beneath the bones. Hmm...

  A clicking sound reaches your ears, from somewhere not far in the distance. You can't pinpoint the direction, but for some reason it sends a shiver right through you.

  Best thing to do now is to catch up with Waif. TURN TO PAGE 102

  32

  Your partner's eyes go wide as he heeds your last-second warning. He dives. Then, as you look on in horror, he's buried beneath a ton of sand and rubble.

  "Waif!"

  You scramble around the monolith, fearing the worst. But when the dust settles you find your friend safe and sound, sprawled out just beyond reach of the falling mountain of rock.

  "Thanks," Waif says as you pull him to his feet. "I didn't see it coming down."

  Together you haul away the base stones that once made up the bottom of the tower. When you finish clearing away the dust and sand, a third glyph is there. It's a snake.

  "Horse, hawk, serpent," you repeat, scrawling them in your grand-uncle's journal. "Bad glyphs."

  Waif brushes himself off and looks up at you. "The worst."

  Slip that journal back in your rucksack and TURN TO PAGE 41

  33

  The sand-strewn road winds its way north and east, past several broken tenements and shattered homes. The architecture of Atraharsis is inherently beautiful. Even in its ruined state, you can make out the pride with which everything here was once built and maintained.

  All of a sudden Waif stops. His face is drawn with discomfort.

  "What is it?"

  Your partner looks like he swallowed an onion. "It's nothing," he mutters. "Let's go." He continues walking again, but you notice he's shifted to the other side of the street.

  Standing near the road, in the place Waif avoided, is a small mausoleum. The squarely-built tomb is decorated with beautiful columns and cornices. The doors and windows are gone, but tiny shards of colored glass still jut upward from within the frame. What may have once been a statue is broken off at the base.

  "Should we check it out?" you ask. Waif cringes visibly. He shoots you a look of dread and dismay.

  "Come on," you tell him. "We can't just pass everything by because you're superstitious about it."

  If you'd like to explore the mausoleum, HEAD OVER TO PAGE 86

  If you're pretty sure Waif would faint if you did, skip it and:

  Continue along the wider avenue by TURNING TO PAGE 43

  Or take the side road that veers to the right OVER ON TO PAGE 97

  34

  "Snake eats rodent," you say, picking up the stone embossed with the serpent. You slide it into the center spot.

  "And owl eats snake," Waif chimes in. He places the owl stone into the remaining slot, completing the sequence.

  For several moments, nothing happens. Then, with a low rumble, the sleek marble column begins retracting into the floor. It happens smoothly, flawlessly. You can only imagine the engineering it took for something like this to work, much less hold up after so many long and buried centuries.

  Eventually the column is no more than a pedestal, three feet high. The rumbling stops, and your prize is finally set before you. Waif looks at you expectantly.

  "Should... should we just..."

  You reach out and remove the beautiful green jewel from its stone mount. The star inside the gemstone reflects back the white brilliance of the sun.

  Amazing job! You just recovered the star emerald of Atraharsis!

  It's a powerful moment in your life, and you can't help but get choked up about it. You think of all the things you can do now. All of your problems solved...

  "My uncle would've loved to have been here," you say sadly.

  "Grand-uncle," Waif corrects you with a mischievous wink.

  The walk back down the tower steps is a lot nicer than the walk up!

  Continue on by TURNING TO PAGE 116

  35

  "Waif, use the torch!"

  You point to the moldering pile of tapestries. They're caked with long centuries of dust and filth, but you're crossing your fingers they're still very flammable.

  Your partner backs up to the pile. Glancing back to make sure you're clear, he puts the torch to them. The entire heap of fabric erupts in a blaze of yellow flame!

  The slug rears back, more from the heat than anything else. Living down here its entire existence, you're fairly sure the creature must be blind. The blaze perfectly illuminates the entire chamber. For now it drives the slug to the opposite end of the cave, but you know it won't last forever. When the pile burns out...

  "Look!"

  Waif points to an exit -- a pitch-black tunnel, not far from where you're standing. It's too small for the slug to get through. You breathe a long, shuddering sigh of relief, and then you're sprinting through the opening. Running side by side along the corridor...

  The darkness can't last forever, can it? Find out when you GO TO PAGE 44

  36

  "Let's skirt around the city and head for the East Gate," you say. "It'll give us a better idea of what we're facing."

  You walk along hard-packed ground on what was once a well-traveled road. To your left, the sun-bleached, broken walls of the city tower over you. On your right, the desert stretches all the way to the featureless horizon.

  For a long while, nothing is out of the ordinary. But then, out of the corner of your eye, you swear you detect a hint of movement somewhere high on the parapets.

  Before you can even say anything, Waif starts moving in that direction. "I think I see a crack in the rubble," he explains. "A way into the city."

  You frown. "It might be better to stick to the road. We don't even know where the gate is yet."

  If you'd like to try Waif's shortcut into Atraharsis, TURN TO PAGE
134

  If you'd rather continue along the road that leads to the East Gate, HEAD DOWN TO PAGE 133

  37

  Your eyes fall on the yellow sphere. It gleams a golden color, even in the blue light.

  "Gold is royal, isn't it?" You're only thinking aloud now. When Waif says nothing you pick up the yellow lense and mount it directly in front of the blue sapphire. The light shines through the both of them, turning the entire room a sickly green.

  The silence is broken by a loud hissing sound. Snakes! You spin out in a circle, bracing for an attack that never comes. Nothing else enters the room. Nothing except...

  A cloud swirls through the chamber, threatening to envelop you both. Glancing around you notice that up near the ceiling, several stones have retracted into the wall. Spraying forth from these new openings is a shimmering, glimmering cloud of dust. Diamond dust.

  "Cover your mouth!" you warn. "Don't breathe it in!"

  Roll two dice (or just pick a random number from 2 to 12).

  If the total is a 5 or greater, GO TO PAGE 54

  If the roll comes up a 1, 2, 3, or 4, FLIP BACK TO PAGE 14

  38

  It's no use! No matter how hard you run, the jackals run faster. They've got more legs. More endurance. More--

  "Aarrghh!"

  Waif screams as one of the creature's teeth tears into his calf. Enough is enough! You stop instantly and move to stand guard over your fallen friend. If they want to get to him they'll have to get through you first!

  Between Waif's torch and you screaming your head off, you manage to keep the jackals at bay. Eventually they get tired of trying to find an opening. Slinking away, they head back down the avenue to find easier prey.

  "Thank you," Waif says through gritted teeth. You can see he's in obvious pain, clutching his leg tightly with both hands. Gently you pry his fingers away from the wound.

  "It's bad," you tell him. "I can stop the bleeding, but you need a doctor. Pronto."

  Waif nods, grateful for the help. The good news is you'll both be okay. But your adventure, unfortunately, has to be cut short.

  It's a shame, but for now this is

  THE END

  39

  You mark off a pretty good distance. Then you take a running start, keep your eye on the gap, and at the very last moment, jump...

  Only you don't jump. You trip!

  You're focusing so much on your footwork that your eyes and body betray each other. Half a meter before the jump you realize your front foot is going to come down too far forward. You try to make a last minute adjustment but your heel slips off the edge of the chasm. Tumbling wildly, you fall backward into the hole!

  Waif cries out for you. The sunlight disappears. The last thing you remember is a growing darkness as you fall and fall and fall...

  Sorry to say it, but you have reached

  THE END

  40

  "There," you say. "She's pointing to that alley."

  Directly in line with the statue's outstretched arm is a narrow avenue. Waif looks at you skeptically for a moment, but still falls in behind you.

  The alley is empty, nondescript. Other than sand, it contains nothing. As you continue along, the buildings seem to creep closer in on both sides. The feeling of claustrophobia is unsettling. Then, just as you're about to turn back, the avenue comes to a dead end.

  "Ugh."

  Against the far wall is a thick pile of bleached bones. They look to have come from a large animal, maybe a camel or something similar. An ominous feeling steals over you, and for some reason you feel wracked with a shudder of despair. You jump at the squawk of a bird of prey, somewhere high overhead.

  "This is wrong," Waif says. "We should not be here." He makes a sign in the air, presumably to ward off evil.

  If you're brave enough you can search the bones by TURNING TO PAGE 31

  Then again, no one will blame you for backing out of the alley OVER ON PAGE 102

  41

  After walking some more you stumble upon a wide area where many streets come together. Several stone pillars form a ring around a central depression, and inside you can easily see the remains of a large fire. The blackened timbers and thousand-year old ashes are mixed in amongst the desert sands.

  Leaning against one of the pillars, standing exceptionally tall, is the outline of a human figure. Wordlessly you extend your arm to keep Waif from walking past you.

  "Do you think it could be one of your former group?" you whisper. The two of you are crouched down beside a broken hunk of granite.

  Your friend shakes his head. "I know all of Sullivan's crew. I've never seen a man that tall."

  His words are a relief, but at the same time they create even more mystery. Who could this be? Is he hostile? Dangerous? Above everything else, how did he get here?

  "I can probably circle around," you tell Waif, "and get behind him."

  "What will you do then?"

  You shrug. "Haven't figured that out yet."

  The figure is still leaning against the pillar. What's next?

  If you decide to circle around and sneak up on the unknown figure HEAD ON BACK TO PAGE 16

  Or maybe you'd like to take a more direct approach and just call out to him. If so, FLIP TO PAGE 101

  42

  Slowly you step beside Waif, not taking your eyes from the cheetah even for a second. Your hand closes over his as you gently take the torch.

  "When I do this," you tell him, "run out of here and don't look back."

  Waif looks frozen by fear. You have to tell him two more times before he delivers the smallest, most imperceptible of all nods. Then, fighting against every last ounce of flight instinct, you take a step toward the big desert cat.

  "HI-YAAAA!!!" you scream, for lack of anything else to say. In one hand you still hold Murdoch's journeyman's pack. With the other, you swing the firebrand before you in a wide, threatening arc.

  The cat arches its back... but it retreats. First one step, then two. You scream again, a third time, and by the fourth you're already running full speed, following Waif out of the cave. You're a good hundred yards into the sunlight before you finally stop. Even then you expect to look back and find the creature mid-leap, ready to deliver the killing blow...

  "She's gone," Waif assures you. He's right. The road is between you and the cave mouth is totally clear.

  Smiling broadly, you hand the torch back and begin rifling through Murdoch's pack. Beyond an empty canteen, a container of lamp oil, and what looks to be some kind of hundred year-old jerky, you find two crumpled, yellowed pages. They have a ragged edge, as if torn from...

  "The journal!" you cry. "These are the two missing pages!"

  Quickly you open your grand-uncle's journal and match the torn edges to where they were ripped from the book. For the first time in a century, Murdoch's work is once again complete. The pages themselves show only two large glyphs. One is a hawk, the other a snake. Both of the drawings have been crossed out.

  "What's it mean?" Waif asks.

  "Not sure. But these glyphs are crossed out for a reason."

  Solid job. Head down the road some more by TURNING TO PAGE 97

  43

  The road spills out into an enormous city square. This was a place where crowds would gather to meet, shop, or socialize. You can only imagine what that looked like -- thousands of people buying, selling and trading from all manner of distant lands.

  All that's left of the place now is sand and silence. Flat, smooth cobbles stretch out in every lonely direction.

  "Where to?" Waif asks. You answer him by pointing. The Queen's Tower is now twice as big as it was before. You're getting close.

  The road takes you beneath a series of broken archways, back into the streets at the other end of the square. Three rusty iron cages hang from the last arch. Waif mutters a curse and traces a mark in the air with two fingers; a sign of warding.

  "This was a place of suffering," he says in disgust.

  "Not
anymore," you assure him. The cages are empty now, but you'd rather not think of the things they've seen.

  A shadow suddenly passes over you, from somewhere high above. It sends an involuntary shudder through your body.

  "There are markings up ahead," you say. "Maybe we should check them out."

  Waif wholeheartedly disagrees. "No. We should leave this place quickly, and not look back."

  If you take the time to check out the markings, FLIP BACK TO PAGE 27

  If you'd rather take Waif's advice and hurry through this area, GO TO PAGE 91

  44

  You stumble on, shivering against the darkness. With all the past weeks' heat, sweat, and toil, you never once thought you'd be missing the desert sun.

  "There's a light on up ahead," Waif says skeptically. He sounds like he only half believes it. "It's... some kind of room."

  Sure enough he's right. As your eyes begin readjusting you can start to see things beyond the light of your partner's torch. You emerge from the hallway into a large granite chamber. Tiny shafts cut into the ceiling bring light down here, presumably from somewhere up in the city above.