by J. G. Massie
A segment of wall slid back with a grinding sound, then shifted to the side, revealing the secret passageway. My enhanced vision did pretty well in the dark these days, but this was completely different somehow. Even I couldn’t see into that, and I doubted that anyone could either.
“It is time we understood the truth about our human visitor,” Lura said, gesturing into the blackness. “Enter.”
“Um, in there?” I swallowed. “Look, I’m all for adventure and fun, but I’m not so sure about—”
“Enter.”
“But...”
“Enter.”
“The thing is—”
“Enter.”
I could see this riveting conversation probably wasn’t going to end in my favor, so I took a deep breath and stepped into the darkness. I didn’t even so much as glance at Isaac. If he saw even the slightest hint of pleading in my eyes, I knew he would come rushing to my aid. He would try to talk them out of it, possibly even resorting to violence.
No... This was something I had to do on my own.
I heard the grinding sound as the wall closed into place behind me, and the last bit of light completely extinguished. Well, this was it. No turning back now.
Chapter 14
“Hello. Hello?” Wait, who the heck was I talking to anyway? Seriously, which was worse, knowing I was probably alone or someone answering? To be honest, neither one sat well with me.
The process was painfully slow, but my eyes did eventually get used to the darkness. The stone walls were a sickly yellow, dark with dank moisture and spotted with mold. The placed smelled like a pond, and the air was warm, thick and heavy, like it hadn’t been disturbed for centuries. Even the wood floor was rotting, the soft boards giving slightly with each careful step.
“Old McDonald had a farm...” I needed to distract myself from how creepy this place was, and the old kindergarten classic was the first song that came to mind. It served me well as I made my way down the narrow hall, scanning for trip wires and anything else that looked suspicious. “And on that farm he had some chicks, E-I-E...”
I peeked around the next corner. “O!”
At the end of the hall was a golden statue, some kind of Buddha-looking dude sitting on a stone plate with his legs crossed. He was bald, his earlobes stretched down to his shoulders, and he had six arms with two of them folded across his lap. The hall ended right here, so the only clue left had to be something with this statue.
“Well, hello there, handsome.” Searching for clues, my probing fingers went right for those sexy earlobes first. “Come here often? What’s your sign? You don’t talk much, do you? Ah, I see, the strong, quiet type, eh?” I pushed and pulled, rubbed and caressed everything I could get my hands on. Under different circumstances, my aggressive groping might have gotten me thrown in jail. “Don’t mind me. Just think of it like a doctor exam.” Still, nothing was happening.
Oh, come on. What would Lara Croft do in a situation like this?
I moved my way down his fat belly before discovering a bronze plate hidden beneath the screen of dust. I wiped it off and dropped to one knee, squinting hard against the low light. There were a few written lines etched into the plate, along with a random floating arrow.
Here I sit in darkness blind to what exists
This long sleep is my curse and day and night it persists
Be warned that death will come swiftly for he who does not belong
But the chosen is swift and agile and will avoid that which is wrong
He who defeats death with death shall finally prove to the world
That the chosen walks among us and they must go spread the word
I stood back up, rubbed my eyes, and shoot my head. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I shouted after a moment of thought. “Pfft... Freaking demented-ass nursery rhyme,” I mumbled, bending down to look again at the floating arrow. “Well, if this plate represents a map of the room, and that arrow is supposed to be pointing to a specific place...” I took three steps back, then inched my way to the left. “Then that spot would be right about...”
The wooden floorboard sank beneath my foot, and all my instincts screamed out at once. After a quick drop and roll, two arrows zipped over the top of my shoulder. Rolling back to my feet, I barely caught a glimpse of the wall panel across the room as it snapped shut. I streaked toward it, clawing with my fingertips to see if I could pry it back open. But it was no use. Smooth to the touch, there really wasn’t anything to hold onto.
“What the hell was that?” I hammered the panel with the bottom of my fist. But after a moment of clarity, I started to feel pretty stupid. For one, I should have known better than to just jump on the spot like that. Duh, giant arrow... Let’s see who is dumb enough to stand right here just because we told them to. “Um, is this pan hot? Think I’ll test it with my face.”
Now to figure out how this trap worked. Was it just my bodyweight that set it off, or something more? Only one way to find out.
Eager to test my theory, I began collecting bits of rotted wood and small stones. Carefully, I leaned back a safe distance before tossing them onto the spot one at a time. As they started to pile up, I assumed the weight would add up to something significant enough to trigger the trap. But nothing was happening. In fact, the panel wasn’t even sinking under the weight. I was certain I hadn’t stepped on it that hard.
Maybe it’s time for that diet?
Keeping low, I swept them away with my foot. Mmm... Why isn’t this working? Tentatively, I probed with my foot again and dared to touch the spot. Nothing...
One and done, I guess. The trap must have discharged, and that’s all, she wrote. I leaned forward and stood up with my foot still on the spot. Big mistake... Again, two more arrows came zipping from the wall. Due to my relaxed posture, it was even harder to evade this time. I could actually feel the cool air on the back of my neck when I ducked at the last second.
The panel snapped shut, and before I knew it I was right back where I began. “What...the...hell?!” I barked out in frustration. This was getting ridiculous. So it’s not about pressure, it’s about...me? It somehow knows whether or not I’m on the spot, and it even knows when I’m a standing target.
I paced around the spot on the floor, hoping to get struck by inspiration as opposed to an arrow. I needed to think outside the box here. This trap—heck, this whole room—was somehow linked to me. So what was I supposed to do? I knelt down and read Freddy Krueger’s fairy tale a few more times. I was obviously missing something. But what?
“Be warned that death will come swiftly for he who does not belong.” Duh... Yeah, trying to stick me full of arrows was my first hint at death. It all sort of fell into place after that. “But the chosen is swift and agile and will avoid that which is wrong.” Mmm... Swift and agile. Sure, I was able to evade in time. “He who defeats death with death.” Defeats death with death. Death with death? Does that mean what I think it does?
Unsheathing two daggers, I stepped near the spot on the floor. I slowed my breathing and calmed my emotions. I could feel the earth moving beneath my feet, its energy blending with mine, pulsing like a drum as it synced with my heartbeat. Time slowed, the world slowed.
I stepped on the spot and turned, flicking my wrists just as the wall panel snapped open. Arrows fired as my daggers tumbled through the air. An action that was less than a second felt like an eternity to one who controlled time, but I knew I had better be right. If not, nothing was going to save me this time.
With pinpoint accuracy, the tips of my daggers met the arrowheads straight on. They split in half, shedding splinters and dust in a violent burst of shards. Barely slowed, their paths unaltered, my daggers kept going, then snapped directly into the arrow shoots just before the panel closed. I heard a hissing sound, like an old locomotive engine releasing steam.
The golden statue quivered in place, trembling and shaking for several seconds. When it stopped, two gems came rolling down the crook of his arm, a
nd rolled to a stop in his waiting hand. One was red, the other blue. Man, these babies had to be worth a fortune! But I found it hard to believe they were just a gift for figuring out this puzzle. Collecting them in one hand, I rolled them around in my palm with a sigh. These could have certainly afforded me a nice, long vacation.
When I placed one in each of the statue’s empty eye sockets, they sank in, and a section of wall went grinding outward before sliding off to the side. Room one complete, time to keep moving.
“See ya around, sexy.” I rubbed his bald head for good luck and marched through the opening.
Chapter 15
Again my eyes were forced to adapt to the unnatural darkness, a living blackness that seemed to suck up the light like a black hole. My body felt heavy, as if the air itself were pushing down on my shoulders, further fatiguing me with every step. It was an effort just to breathe as my lungs drew hard against the living darkness.
Keep moving. All I could do was put one foot in front of the other, and even that was starting to feel like a chore. Ignore the discomfort, ignore the fatigue. My friends are counting on me. Have to push on. Must keep going. The hall was extremely narrow here, and I could practically feel the stone closing in around me. Breathe... Just fricking breathe, that’s the key.
Suddenly, I caught a flutter of movement from the corner of my eye, but when I turned... Nothing. Crumbling stone walls with strands of dark moss were all I could see. My mind must be playing tricks on me.
A second flutter caused me to spin back the other way, hand on the hilt of my dagger and ready to throw. But again there was nothing there, just the same brittle stone and moss. Come on, Tessa, get a grip. Don’t let this place mess with your—What the hell was that?
Unlike the fluttering movements I could still write off as my imagination (or me just losing my damn mind) I definitely felt something that time. I stared down at my leg, unable to decide what to do next. How strange is that? No matter what the emergency, there is almost always a step one to be considered, the absolute first thing that needs to be done in any given situation. One second passed. Four seconds before I could finally wrap my head around what I was dealing with.
“Spider!” I shrieked, slapping at my knee. The worst freaking thing on this planet, and it’s on me! But not just any spider. Nooo... It was a tarantula the size of Shelob! At least, that was how I saw it. Okay, it was probably the size of a quarter, but that makes no difference when the beast is touching you! When I smacked the little monster off my knee, I could even feel the bristly hairs on its legs brush across my knuckles. “Ewww! It’s as hairy as a bear!” With the effects of fatigue no longer an issue, I was off like a shot.
Horrified, I didn’t see how this could get any worse. Man, was I wrong. What started out as one little monster soon turned into hundreds. I could feel their meaty little bodies landing on me as they fell from the ceiling. They clung to my clothes and got tangled in my hair, as if each one were actually aiming for me like hairy little dive bombers.
“Ew... Ew... Ewww.” I twisted and spun, flailing about as I streaked down the corridor. I slapped at my shoulders and ripped at my hair, sliding the buggers out like clinging burrs. Blind with horror, it was miracle I didn’t run into anything. I dashed left at the next corridor, then right at the one after that. This place was a maze, but that was the least of my worries right about now.
Ohhhhh, but I hate spiders!
I had no idea where I was going, and quite frankly I didn’t care. The only goal I had was to seek shelter from Satan’s hairy-demon rain. The hall split again just up ahead, and either direction was just as good as the other. I hooked a right and immediately saw a bit of daylight ahead. A way out? Oh, I could only hope. I turned it up a notch and broke into a full sprint, slapping and shrieking the whole way.
Unable to keep my balance, I stumbled through the partially open doorway. Fully expecting to lose half the skin on my palms, and possibly part of my face, I threw out my hands and braced for the impact. But the landing was mercifully soft. Skidding to a halt, I lifted my face from the sand and spit out a mouthful of grit.
Hey, I’d rather eat dirt than spider legs. But heck, now where was I?
I heard a grinding slam behind me, and didn’t have to look to know that the door had just shut me in again. This must be round two? Er...yah? I pushed up from the ground and brushed off the sand as I looked around. What the... “Holy molly.”
Surrounded by a ten-foot wall painted with intricate designs, I couldn’t even see the far end of this place. This room was so vast that it eventually got swallowed up by the darkness. Along the parts I could see, there were images of shirtless gladiators grappling with ancient beasts, their lifelike muscles glistening with sweat.
The scenes were bloody and violent, enough to give me a pretty good idea of where I might be. Elaborate landscapes filled the spaces in between the fight scenes, complete with moons and stars which brought the night skies to life. Such complex paintings belonged in a historical museum, but this was definitely no museum.
“It’s a freaking colosseum! I’m in a gladiator arena, for gosh’s sake!”
The ceiling, if there even was one, was so high up that I couldn’t even see it. “I’m still underground, aren’t I? How is something this size even possible?” But given what I’d seen so far, I had already given up trying to decide what was possible and what wasn’t. My whole world was a lie as far as I could tell, best to just roll with it and stop asking questions.
Through the darkness, I heard the clacking of a steel gate, the links of its chains ticking one at a time. “Oh, great. Now what?” I started to back away. Reaching to my sides, I nervously began fingering the pommels of my swords. My, uh...swords? What the... Gone, both of them! Shit! I must have lost my belt sheath while I was running from the spiders.
Well, at least I still had my trusty...
Panic flooded through me as I frisked myself from head to toe. Where were my daggers? All my weapons were gone? Impossible, how could I have dropped every single weapon and not noticed? I briefly revisited the images along the wall, this time paying more attention to the theme. These warriors battling against these ancient monsters, they were all unarmed. All the fights were hand-to-hand, and probably to the death.
A test of strength, perhaps? The Keeper, the chosen one in this case, had to prove they could handle themselves no matter what sort of test was thrown at them. Weaponless, scared out of my mind, I didn’t seem to have much choice in the matter.
The clacking sounds stopped, and all I could hear was the light crunching of shifting sand beneath my own feet. Cocking my head to the side, I held my breath and strained to listen. This magical darkness had not only hampered my vision, but seemed to be muting sounds as well. How dare they take away my superior senses in an attempt to even the playing field? Sometimes fair...just didn’t seem fair.
The silence didn’t last long. I heard footsteps moving toward me, each heavy thump accompanied by a whooshing snort. Backing away further, it was all I could do just to keep the swelling panic from consuming me. With a last mighty snort, the massive beast finally stepped into view.
“Uh, nice doggy. Good boy. I’m sure we can work something out that doesn’t involve you tearing off my limbs and using them to beat me like a drum.”
Although “doggy” was the first thought that came to mind, this monstrosity was no dog. Not even close. With the head of a bull and the body of human, it was pretty obvious that Fido here was a minotaur, a legendary creature. His muscle bound frame looked like it belonged to a bodybuilder. Standing at around seven feet tall, he should probably be playing center for the Knicks.
“Who dares disturb my sleep?” he grunted. I looked back over my shoulder in search of someone to blame. Giving up on that idea, I put on my most innocent expression before finally pointing to myself. “And I suppose you are the chosen one?”
“You know, that’s debatable. Funny story, actually—”
“I imagine t
hat makes you special in some way.”
I shrugged, a bit confused by that last comment. “Isn’t that, you know, kind of the what the definition of chosen one is?”
He threw back his head with a sharp snort, the golden doorknocker piercing his nose swinging as he laughed. “Perhaps that is true, but special does not necessarily mean unique. If it did, I wouldn’t have my slumber disturbed every few years, for centuries on end.” He slowly shook his head, his droopy ears swinging from side to side as his muscles twitched.
“Do you have any idea how many chosen have died at my hands over the years?” He turned his belt, revealing a rather large sack tied to the back. Even when compared to his massive body, it still seemed quite large. He detached it from his belt and tossed it at my feet. It opened on impact, spilling its contents across the sand. I jumped back from the shrunken skulls, lifting my foot as one nearly rolled over my big toe.
“All chosen, or so they believed,” he added, as if I hadn’t already figured that out for myself. “Each of them special—at least, in one way or another, I suppose.” In sharp contrast with my mounting horror, the minotaur actually sounded quite bored with me already. He was surprisingly thoughtful and well spoken, you know, for a hideous beast who was basically the stuff of nightmares. “And now another one comes along claiming to be the chosen, claiming to be special. Forgive me if I have my doubts.”
His shoulders rose, head rocking back with a sharp intake of air as he sniffed in my general direction. “Yes, you are indeed a Keeper. That much I can tell for certain. But the Keeper, the one the mortals have been waiting on for centuries? Tell me, Tessa, what makes you so sure?” How does he know my name? He gestured to the pile of scattered skulls near my feet. “What makes you better than all of them?”
