"There's no door."
Waif is right. You pass through a marbled arch straight into the lower level of the tower itself. Everything inside, though ruined, still retains a certain measure of refined elegance. Sand partially covers the lavish, tattered carpets. Shredded tapestries rot on the walls, parts of them still sporting vivid color.
"Which Queen was this built for?" you ask.
"I don't know," Waif says. "But she had great taste."
The second floor is several stories overhead. Two staircases wind their way upward in opposite directions to the next level. One of them is stone. The other is green, set with pieces of jade inlay.
"Which one?"
Waif shrugs. "I suppose it doesn't matter. It appears they both lead to the same place."
Do you take the stone staircase? If so FLIP TO PAGE 147
Or does the green jade staircase sound better to you? HEAD TO PAGE 71
112
"Let's head over to that open area," you tell Waif. "That way if there's another tremor, at least nothing will fall on top of us."
The avenue eventually yawns into what must've been a beautiful, scenic Oasis. Water once fed this place in abundance. Smooth tiles mark pathways through gardens now filled with nothing more than sand. There are fountains everywhere, and statues of birds and fish. Everything is done with amazing craftsmanship, from the empty pools to the mosaics set into the surface of the marble benches.
"The rulers of Atraharsis were engineers," Waif explains. "They built many wonderful things. These were their gardens, fed from beneath the city by a great aquifer."
You remember your grand-uncle telling you tales of a tunnel system beneath Atraharsis. In his stories the tunnels were filled with treasure, not water.
"I thought the Hall of Kings was beneath the city?"
Waif nods. "It was said to be, yes."
"Then maybe we should look for a way down."
While searching the area you walk past a group of exquisite female statues. They stand in a circle, laughing, splashing, playing... all except one. The lone woman faces away from the group, palm up, with one outstretched arm. It's almost like she could be pointing.
If you decide to follow in the statue's direction GO TO PAGE 40
If you'd rather search the Oasis for other clues HEAD OVER TO PAGE 84
Or maybe you'd rather just continue onward. If so, TURN TO PAGE 102
113
You step onto a red tile. You don't hesitate, or even think about it -- you just do it.
Nothing happens.
"Excellent," Waif says. "Now just stick to the red ones."
Unfortunately it's not going to be that easy. The next red tile is too far away. You'll have to step on one of the other colors first. You choose again...
Waif winces as you place your right foot onto one of the black tiles. This time you move slowly, shifting your weight little by little. As your trailing foot finally leaves the red tile, you grit your teeth...
"We still okay?"
You sense Waif nodding somewhere behind you. "We're good."
By sticking just to the red and black tiles, you make you way across the hall. Your partner mimics your path, taking exactly the same steps, until the two of you stand safely on the familiar flagstones of the opposite hallway.
Waif shrugs as he looks back. "Maybe the white tiles did nothing too?"
You can only smirk. "Why don't you try them?" you suggest. "I'll wait here."
Continue braving the shadows of the Underhalls when you TURN TO PAGE 44
114
The interior of the Ziggurat is a collection of dust and shadows. The sun streaming in through the doorway reveals only a small slice of the chamber. The rest is lost in darkness, at least until Waif files in behind you.
As your friend's torch illuminates all the but the far corners of the rectangular room, you can make out writing on the walls. Beautiful glyphs are carved in neat, immaculate columns. For a moment you wish your grand-uncle were here. He would sit here deciphering every one of them, telling countless stories from long, long ago.
"Any idea what they say?" you ask Waif.
His eyes dart up and down as he holds his torch up to the wall. "Mostly they are a warning. The ones I know, anyway."
"Warning against what?"
Waif shrugs apologetically. He points out that some of the writings look smoother than the rest. Rather than a bunch of glyphs, this part of the wall appears to be a map.
"More tunnels," Waif says. He drags a finger along a series of dust-caked lines. "They connect the Ziggurat to the catacombs of Atraharsis."
In the back of the room you find a small exit, and beyond that, another chamber. This one however, glows with a light of its own. A red light.
"Come on!" you cry. "This way."
Not far above you, an opening in the ceiling leads to a pure crimson chamber. Hand and footholds have been carved into the wall, forming a ladder of sorts.
"That's the top, right?"
"I think so." Waif looks apprehensive about the light. Probably he's just spooked.
"Well let's go!"
Climb the ladder to the top of the Ziggurat and TURN TO PAGE 25
115
The giant piece of wall hurdles inexorably downward, screaming through the dust and chaos. There's no time to move...
BOOM!
It crashes violently into the ground only a few feet away! Smaller pieces break off, showering you with dirt and gravel. You might have a few cuts or scrapes when everything is said and done. The good news is, you're going to be okay!
As the tremors grind to a halt you feel Waif's hand close over your arm. He pulls you from the alley and leads you into the open area, eliminating any further risk of getting crushed.
"We shouldn't delay," you say when everything has returned to normal. "Between the sandstorms raging out there and the ground shifting in here who knows how long this city will stay unburied."
Waif nods his agreement. "We need to move quickly for another reason," he advises. "Sullivan and his crew would have felt the tremors. If I were him, I would be heading this way to investigate."
You stare back at your friend blankly. You hadn't thought of that. Just one more thing to worry about...
Better keep up the pace. HEAD ON OVER TO PAGE 105
116
You walk the streets of Atraharsis exuberantly, your head still spinning with accomplishment. The star jewel is going to solve all of your problems. You and Waif will be known, respected. Maybe even famous! But best of all, recovering the priceless gem will certainly save your grand-uncle's estate.
"Where to now?" Waif asks.
You walk over to where the street is the most broken. Beneath the rubble, the sunlight illuminates a man-made underground passage of brick and stone. "Down there," you say. "The Underhalls."
It's almost crazy. Atraharsis has proven unstable enough, yet here you are willing to go deeper. But you know you'll never achieve your final goal without traversing the series of tunnels dug beneath the city.
"Is Sullivan after the Hall of Kings as well?" you ask Waif.
"Of course."
"Then you know it's down there," you point. "We're here, and he's not. So let's go do it."
You climb down and begin walking the tunnels. Eventually all sunlight dissipates, leaving you in halls that are pitch-black and choked with dust. Waif's torch lights the way, but beyond its glow the rest of the world is totally unknown. The darkness is like a blanket, draped in every direction.
Abruptly Waif stops walking. You bump into him.
"The halls run left and right here," he says. "Which one do we take?"
If the left passage sounds good, HEAD TO PAGE 51
If the right hallway sounds better, GO TO PAGE 119
117
The serpent looks like the most deadly of all the glyphs. Therefore, you theorize, it must be safe.
"Let's take the snake," you tell Waif. Your friend hesitates, but only for a mo
ment. Holding the torch before him, he follows you into the shadows.
The corridor continues for a long while. It also appears to curve to the right. At certain intervals other corridors open into the main hallway, but all of them are impassable; each one is choked closed with rubble and sand.
"Think we picked the right one?" Waif asks.
You shrug. "Impossible to tell until we get there." And just as you finish saying it, 'there' arrives in the form of another darkened chamber.
The two of you step forward and peer inside. But it's not until you've entered the room that you realize what just happened...
"It's the same room!" you cry. You see six walls, six glyphs -- everything is precisely the same as you left it.
"Did we walk in a circle?" Waif asks.
You glance back at the hall you just came out of. Etched into the stone above it you see the horse.
"Yeah. Looks like the horse and serpent are connected to the same hallway." You frown. "We walked all that way for nothing."
Waif flashes a gold-toothed smile your way. "No, not nothing. We just eliminated two wrong choices."
He makes a good point. Now there are only four exits left for you to choose from.
If you pick the exit marked with the DOG, TURN TO PAGE 146
If you pick the exit marked with the CROWN, TURN TO PAGE 99
If you pick the exit marked with the CAT, TURN TO PAGE 156
If you pick the exit marked with the HAWK, TURN TO PAGE 160
118
The sound of barking and braying eventually fades into the distance. The jackals are gone! You guide Waif through a few twists and turns just to be on the safe side, and emerge back onto one of Atraharsis's wide, sand-swept avenues. Everything around you is the same sun-bleached beige.
A long, low structure captures your attention, mainly because of a large inscription over the doorway. Pulling out your grand-uncle's journal, it takes only moments to translate:
The Greatest Treasures Lie Within
"This is it!" you exclaim. You can't jam the book back into your rucksack fast enough. "Waif, come on!"
Inside, the building is half-filled with sand. An entire wall is caved in, and sunlight streams in from above. The rest of the structure is filled with shelves. Wall to wall, they're packed with thousands of scrolls and scroll cases of yellowed bone.
"Where are the treasures?" you ask. Absently you pick up a stack of papyrus pages bound crudely together with glue. The precursor of an actual book.
"I believe you're holding them."
"This?" you cry indignantly. "These books and scrolls?"
"No," Waif explains. "The knowledge within these books and scrolls. To the founders of Atraharsis, that was more valuable than anything else. Even gold or jewels."
You frown as the fragile paper turns to dust between your fingers. "Well then they won't mind if I look around for some real treasure."
You can search the library some more by TURNING TO PAGE 30
If you're pretty sure the treasures you're looking for lie elsewhere, HEAD OVER TO PAGE 124
119
The hall widens here into a large, rectangular room. It might have once been a sub-basement or an antechamber, but now it appears empty. You notice it's a lot cooler down here. Other than some dark stains across floor, the only other feature is an identical exit in the opposite wall.
"There's something lying over there," Waif says. "In the corner."
He moves that way before you can say anything. After having led the way through the city, it's weird having to follow your partner now. But he's the one with the torch.
"Slow down," you tell him. Your voice is nasal. It seems that with every movement you make, the dust of centuries swirls its way up your nostrils.
The object comes into view. Three moldy, decrepit sacks are stacked in a rough pile. Who knows how long they've been there. Your nose wants nothing to do with them.
"Should we check them out?" Waif asks.
Four thousand year-old sacks? Why not? Check them out when you GO TO PAGE 98
On second thought, why bother? Maybe you should continue on by TURNING TO PAGE 152
120
"The sun rises in the east," you reason, "so most of the sunlight is streaming in from that direction."
A moment later you're standing by the east lever. Waif stands at the ready, wincing with anticipation as you pull it.
For a few seconds nothing happens. You're afraid that maybe the mechanism is too old... that centuries of being buried have destroyed whatever it once did. But then you remember, this is Atraharsis. Its craftsmen were celebrated and renowned for their amazing works of engineering.
There's a distant boom, followed by the low, hollow grinding of stone on stone. As the tremendous granite block begins lowering itself, a stone door rises out of the floor in the east hallway. It continues upward, blocking the sunlight as it moves to meet the ceiling. Once there, it stops.
Sunlight still enters from the west, but that light is subdued, diffused. Your eyes adjust to a room that is now mostly dark. Through the star jewel, crimson light streams in from above. But now you see something else... a pattern of small depressions cleverly cut into the wall and ceiling. A path that leads straight up -- and over -- to the star ruby.
"I got this," Waif tells you. He climbs the wall nimbly, using the shallow depressions as hand and footholds. When he reaches the ceiling he grabs two similar depressions and kicks gently away from the wall. He's dangling thirty feet in the air now, by only his fingertips.
"Be careful!"
As if he's been doing it his whole life, Waif moves hand over hand across the ceiling. You marvel at his agility. When he reaches the star jewel he plucks it free, tucks it into his shirt, and reverses direction. You breathe a deep sigh of relief as he makes the wall again and scrambles back down. When he hands you the gemstone he's wearing a broad smile.
You did it! You recovered the star ruby of Atraharsis!
Time to head back down the Ziggurat and into the city. TURN TO PAGE 135
121
"Here," you tell Waif. "Help me with these. Ready? One... two..."
Simultaneously you pull down on the black and blue levers. They move smoothly, but with the feeling of a heavy weight somewhere behind them. There's a loud CLICK deep within the wall, followed by a few long seconds of nothingness. Then...
WHOOSH!
A puff of wind swirls up from behind the panel, blowing all the hair away from your face. The rushing of water gets louder. And louder...
"Switch it back!" Waif yells. He's shoving on the levers with all his might. "Switch it back!"
Quickly you grab hold of the sticks alongside him. You heave forward, putting all of your weight behind it, when suddenly...
SNAP. Both levers break off in your hands!
Your partner looks back at you in growing horror. He opens his mouth to say something, but before he can get anything out the room dissolves in an icy explosion of water and stone...
As the unstoppable force of the underground river sweeps you under, you realize with dismal certainty this must be
THE END
122
The staircase finally ends. Out of breath and out of steps, you make it to the very top of the Queen's Tower.
The view from up here is amazing. The broken city of Atraharsis lies spread out beneath you, like a bunch of child's blocks tumbled over. The obelisk sits high on the cliff overlooking it all, and beyond that, the desert stretches in every direction.
A long, slender column of smooth stone rises high into the sky above you. Atop it, gleaming green in the morning sun, is the star emerald of Atraharsis.
Your stomach lurches just thinking about how high off the ground you are. And yet the emerald is even higher, impossibly out of reach.
"How are we going to get it down?"
The corner of Waif's mouth twists in thought. "I can climb it," he tells you. For once however, there's no confidence in his voice. He alm
ost looks skeptical.
"No way. There are no handholds."
"There are always handholds," Waif replies.
Scattered at your feet you notice a bunch of square stone blocks. Some of them are embossed with images of what appear to be animals. As you kneel to examine them, Waif taps your shoulder and points to the base of the column. "Look at this."
Set into the column itself are three square holes. Two of them are empty. The third one is already filled with one of the animal blocks: the rodent.
"I'm starting to understand the people who built this city," you tell Waif. "And I'll bet anything this mechanism brings the column down."
123
"We need to put the correct blocks into the first two holes," you say. "But which ones?"
You scavenge around the top of the tower. You find only five different blocks to choose from.
If you know which two blocks to pick (and don't guess!), take the number of the FIRST block as the tens column and the number of the SECOND block as the ones column, and GO TO THAT PAGE NUMBER.
For example, if you put the crocodile block (1) in the left hole, and the lion block (5) in center hole, you would go to page 15. (HINT: It's not page 15)
If you don't know which two blocks to use, DON'T GUESS. Waif still might be able to climb the column. In that case, flip two coins:
Treasures of the Forgotten City (Ultimate Ending Book 1) Page 9
