Quest Chasers: The Deadly Cavern (A Magic Fantasy Adventure Book Series)

by Thomas Lockhaven

  Eevie’s body was beginning to stiffen with fear. Her legs began to tremble with the thought of standing on a step no wider than a pencil, with nothing but blackness on either side of her.

  “Eevie, I think I’ve found the pattern.... If this next step holds, then we’ll simply need to choose every third step!”

  Eevie nodded her head yes. Now she knew how it felt to be a high-rise construction worker walking across steel girders hundreds of feet in the air. She closed her eyes; just the thought gave her vertigo.

  “Eevie, I’m going to test the third step. If it holds, you will need to jump down to me.”

  Eevie nodded. She watched as Tommy raised his leg and then slammed it into the third step. The shock of slamming into something solid jarred Tommy’s leg, causing him to fight for balance.

  “OK, I think we’ve found our pattern,” said Tommy matter-of-factly. “I’ll run one more test just to be sure when we get to the next step.”

  Tommy looked at Eevie. He knew she was struggling, so he smiled at her. “Eevie, you and I go up and down steps every day. This isn’t going to be any different,” he said soothingly.

  “Yeah, but if we fall off the steps at home, we don’t fall into the abyss. I fall on my shag carpet or my dog.”

  Tommy tilted his head. “Eevie,” he said evenly, “you’re not going to fall. I’m not going to let you fall. Put your back against the wall, and slowly stand. Use the wall for support.”

  Eevie slowly slid up the wall. Her legs felt weak, as if they were going to abandon her at any moment. She stood and got her bearings.

  “You got it,” encouraged Tommy.

  “If you let me fall, I promise you my ghost will haunt you for the rest of your life.”

  “I’m more frightened of the thought of having to deal with you the rest of my life,” laughed Tommy. “OK, Eevie, let’s do this.” Tommy reached out his hand; Eevie leaned forward and grabbed it tightly. Without warning, she leaped down onto the step with Tommy, slamming him into the wall with a thud, her forehead cracking against his.

  “Ugh,” Tommy exhaled as stars exploded behind his eyes. “Don’t they teach you about concussions in soccer?” he asked, rubbing his head.

  Eevie continued holding onto Tommy for a moment. She was feeling better, but unfortunately, as she did the math in her head, they were going to have to repeat this process at least another thirty times.

  Nearly an hour later, they could finally see the bottom of the stairs. As they descended, a small room about the size of a tool shed became visible. Directly behind Eevie and Tommy was the staircase of doom. In front of them was a small stone room lit by two candles.

  Tommy crouched down on the last remaining step and gasped, “Holy...”

  Eevie crouched down beside him, placing her hand on the wall. Before them stood a giant wooden door. There was writing on top of the door, and across the middle of the door were four evenly spaced wooden buttons numbered 2, 3, 4, and 5.

  But what caught their attention was the floor. At least a half dozen skeletons lay on the last step and on the floor in front of the door. A dismembered hand and arm hung from the door handle.

  “Eevie, remember when you said that you thought that there were some people that made it through and some that didn’t? I have a feeling that we are meeting the unlucky ones that didn’t make it,” said Tommy quietly.

  “They made it this far and died...but why?” asked Eevie.

  Tommy pointed. “Because of that—another puzzle.... Whoever did this must have been denied books or puzzles as a child, and now they’re trying to make up for lost time?”

  Eevie ignored Tommy and began reading the puzzle out loud. “If the answer to 6 is 3 and the answer to 12 is 6, what is the answer to 8?”

  “Well that’s easy—the answer is 4,” said Tommy. “Four, right? This is our easiest one yet! Half of 6 is 3, half of 12 is 6, and half of 8 is 4.” He stared at Eevie, waiting for her to acknowledge his sudden ability to coax his geek gene into action. And to further prove his point, he pointed at the 4 button. It was worn smooth from being selected more than the others.

  Tommy studied her expression and said, “I know what you’re thinking. The answer is too obvious, isn’t it?”

  Eevie shook her head in agreement. “Yes, it’s too easy. I think that it’s a trap. They want us to believe it’s 4, and I’m betting these poor souls picked 4 as well. I need to think this through.”

  When it came to intuition, Tommy had learned long ago to trust Eevie. If she felt that something was amiss, they should proceed with caution. Right now her “amiss meter” was registering at 100 percent.

  He began repeating the riddle over and over in his mind. If 6 is 3 and 12 is 6, what is 8? Maybe if I spell out the letters in six, three, twelve, six, and eight and take the first letters—they always do that in mystery books. STTSE. Does that make a word? Ugh, it doesn’t matter because I need a number, and those letters don’t spell a number.

  He tried arranging the letters in his head, but none of the combinations seemed to even form a word.

  Wait. He had another thought. What if I count the letters in the words? Six has three letters, three has five letters, twelve has six letters, six again has three letters, and eight has five.

  “So,” he whispered to himself, “3, 5, 6, 3, 5.” The next number in the sequence should be 6!

  “Eevie, I think I got it!” said Tommy excitedly. “Listen, before I confuse myself! The numbers in the riddle are 6, 3, 12, 6, and 8. If you count the letters in each number, you get 3, 5, 6, 3, 5.... Do you see the pattern? The next number should be 6!”

  “Tommy, there’s no 6; it only goes up to 5. But I think you’re a genius.”

  “Of course I’m a genius,” said Tommy, giving Eevie a look that said that ‘everyone pretty much thinks this—it goes without saying.’ “So, while I know that I’ve provided you with the key information that you need to solve the riddle, tell me what you think I know, and I’ll tell you if you’re right,” said Tommy confidently, folding his arms across his chest.

  Shaking her head, Eevie smiled. “I’m not going to even pretend to understand that. Shut up and listen for a second. If this works, I’ll buy you a T-shirt that says ‘Genius’ on it.”

  Tommy made a zipping motion across his mouth, then whispered, “I wear a men’s medium or a boy’s husky.”

  Ignoring him, Eevie began. “Look, if we break the puzzle up, it’s really quite simple. If 6 is 3, it means that the number 6 when spelled out has three letters. Then 12 is 6 because when spelled out...” Tommy finished her sentence.

  “Twelve has 6 letters!”

  “The 8 is 5, Tommy,” said Eevie excitedly. “The answer is 5!”

  “You’re right, that’s exactly what I was thinking,” smiled Tommy. “We make a great team.”

  “There’s only one problem,” said Eevie, staring at the door. Tommy followed Eevie’s stare. A skeletal hand and the bony remains of an arm hung from the door handle. The bony hand was clenched in a fist as if the person died trying to pull the door open.

  “You’re afraid of the skeleton? After all that we’ve been through, it’s a skeleton that stops progress?”

  “I’m not afraid of the skeleton,” said Eevie. “I just didn’t want to have to touch the skeleton...it’s creepy.”

  “Fine, I’ll move it. I want to get out of here.”

  “No, I need to do this,” said Eevie.

  She pulled on the arm. There was a crisp snap as the arm separated from the hand.

  “Ugh.” Eevie dropped the arm as an involuntary shiver rose up her spine. “I’m thinking he was low on calcium,” she said, arching her eyebrows.

  “Perhaps a little less protein in your diet...sheesh,” said Tommy.

  Eevie grabbed the skeletal hand. Wow, it’s really on there. She wrapped her hand around the hand and pulled. SNAP! The hand broke free as several bony fingers fell to the ground. Eevie looked at th
e hand and was about to toss it with the rest of the skeleton when she saw something that gave her chills.

  The hand had a serpent ring on it just like Tommy’s.

  “Tommy,” Eevie hissed. “Look!” She held up the bony finger to show Tommy.

  “Drop it,” Tommy yelled. “Drop it!”

  We're Not Alone...

  Before Eevie could let go, the serpent quickly slithered around her finger. Eevie screamed and tore at the snake. The ring squeezed tighter and tighter. Eevie watched in horror as the serpent’s head drew back and drove its fangs into Eevie’s finger.

  Eevie screamed, tearing and pulling, but the ring wouldn’t budge. The snake’s fangs turned red with Eevie’s blood. She stared transfixed as its silvery eyes turned blood red.

  Eevie stared up at Tommy, having forgotten about the ring until now. Now she understood how he must feel to have this horrid thing wrapped around his finger. Her heart beat angrily in her chest. Her finger ached and throbbed.... Tommy wrapped his arms around his friend; he didn’t know what to say. The only words that came out were, “I know...I know.”

  Tommy clenched his jaw and slammed his fist into the number 5. There was a loud metallic click as the door unlocked. He grabbed the handle and yanked the massive door open.

  Light poured in from the open doorway, blinding them. A thick, horrid stench filled their lungs, gagging them. Reflexively, they covered their faces with their hands to let their eyes adjust to the light.

  They both jumped as the door slammed shut behind them, the sound of the loud metallic click letting them know that the door had locked.

  Through watery eyes they took in the room. It was massive, like a cathedral. Scattered throughout the room, thick spiral columns of twisting stone rose up to the ceiling. What looked to be hieroglyphics covered them from top to bottom. Huge gray boulders were scattered across the ground like marbles.

  Across the room, a set of stairs ascended into a dark tunnel that cut through the rock. Giant black lanterns lined the walls, illuminating the room, and in the center of the floor lay a huge pile of clothes, shredded and caked with dirt and dark stains that they could only imagine was blood. Bones were scattered throughout the room and up the darkened stairway.

  “This is cheery,” whispered Tommy through clenched teeth, his eyes darting back and forth.

  Eevie slowly turned in a circle, her eyes scanning every detail of the room. Her eyes followed each column toward the ceiling, looking for a hidden ladder or doorway. The only exit she could find was a set of carved stone steps, leading up into yet another dark tunnel.

  While Eevie searched for a way out, Tommy investigated the huge boulders. He wanted to make sure there weren’t any unwanted, hidden surprises. As he walked toward the pile of clothes, the stench was incredible, his throat burning with each breath.

  “Eevie, some of these clothes look like they are centuries old.” He picked up a tattered wool jacket. A gold locket fell from one of the pockets to the ground.

  Tommy held it up by the chain. It was a beautiful gold locket with ornate patterns inlaid in the gold. “Whoa, Eevie, check out this locket—it’s beautiful!”

  Eevie ran over to Tommy. “Let me see.”

  She turned the locket over in her hands. She pushed on a pin that protruded slightly from the bottom and it popped open. Inside was a small piece of folded parchment.

  “Tommy, look,” said Eevie excitedly. “There’s a piece of paper inside.”

  Eevie carefully unfolded the yellowed paper.

  “It looks like it’s Latin,” said Tommy, leaning over her shoulder.

  “Incantamentum,” whispered Eevie. “Maybe like an incantation? Like magic?”

  “What does it say under that?” asked Tommy. “Anything in good old English?”

  “It says, ‘Inprecor—Invoko Presamis Ignis Potionem (duo),’” said Eevie, slowly trying to say each word. “Tommy, the top must mean something like an incantation and then the word Invoko must mean to invoke whatever the rest of this means.

  “Well,” pointed out Tommy, “the word duo has to mean two. So...does that mean you say it together, or you say it twice?”

  “Maybe we should look at the World Translate app. I don’t know if we should be saying something when we have no idea what we’re saying.”

  “If you turn into a frog, I’m sorry but I’m not going to kiss you,” said Tommy, smiling.

  “Good idea. I’ll get you that genius T-shirt in matching colors if you keep this up.”

  Eevie grabbed her phone. Her fingers flew across the screen as she loaded the translator app.

  “The first word, Inprecor, means a wish or a curse. I was right, Invoko means to invoke. Hmm, that’s strange, Presamis isn’t recognized by any of the language dictionaries.” She looked at the writing again: P-r-e-s-a-m-i-s. She hit enter again; no match.

  “Just skip that word, Eevie. What are the other ones?”

  “Ignis means, uhm...torch or fire.”

  “Oh yeah, like ignite,” interrupted Tommy.

  Eevie nodded. “And Potionem means...”

  “Potion, I bet,” said Tommy, nodding his head. “Right? Man, I got this Latin thing down! I should have taken Latin, not Spanish. I’m a natural.”

  Eevie sighed. “Yes and yes, and you’re right, duo means two.”

  “So,” said Tommy, puffing up his chest and speaking in his most authoritative voice, “this is a curse, and you make it happen by saying those words. I still don’t get it. Is it a fire potion? Because that makes absolutely no sense.”

  “There’s another curse below it, Inprecor, which we know means curse.” Then Eevie sounded out the next word. “Vene-fi-cium, which means...” She paused as she typed. “Poison, and tango means...touch.... So...Poison touch! So sinister...” Eevie raised her eyes from her phone and noticed Tommy was no longer joking.

  “Eevie, don’t look up,” whispered Tommy out the side of his mouth. “We’re not alone.”

  “Wha...” The look on Tommy’s face stopped her.

  The hair stood up on the back of her neck as she felt the slow, icy crawl of panic move up her spine. She carefully followed his eyes. It took her a minute to see it. Mixed within the hieroglyphics was a strange-looking monkey creature. Like a chameleon, the creature had taken on the color of the column, and the hieroglyphics appeared on its body as a strange living camouflage, giving the appearance that it was transparent.

  “It looks like a really strange monkey,” whispered Eevie.

  Peeling itself slowly from its perch, the animal turned and stared directly at Eevie and Tommy, and then without warning let out a screaming shriek that turned their blood to ice.

  Without thinking, Tommy grabbed Eevie by the arms and pulled her behind the nearest boulder. Scrambling in the dirt, he picked up a baseball-sized stone, and then peered around the boulder. The creature let out another shrill scream and then leapt up onto the column just a few feet from where they were hiding.

  “Go away! Go away!” shouted Tommy, raising the huge rock threateningly.

  The beast turned its head and scowled at Tommy, baring its razor-sharp canines.

  Tommy gulped. The monkey had incredibly large claws that left claw marks in the rock as it moved. He felt around on the ground for another rock, just in case he missed with the first one.

  Suddenly, the monkey let out a howl that reverberated off the walls, causing Tommy and Eevie to clutch their hands over their ears.

  Tommy watched as the creature quickly scampered across the ground, up the stairs, and into the mouth of the tunnel. It turned, baring its teeth at Tommy as if daring him to follow it.

  “I’m not afraid of you!” yelled Tommy, lying. Inside, his heart was pounding, and he could feel his hands shaking.

  Eevie was peering around the other side of the rock. She looked up at Tommy. “I bet we have to go up those stairs to get out of here, and that creature knows it.”

  “Who
knows how many of those things there could be?” said Tommy. “We could be walking into an ambush.”

  Eevie picked up a couple of smaller stones. She filled the pockets of her hoodie to the point she was afraid it would rip. She looked at Tommy, who was filling his pockets as well. We either continue, or we die, and I don’t want to die.

  “That thing is crazy fast, and it has massive teeth and claws,” said Tommy, emphasizing teeth and claws.

  Darting from the boulder, they reached the bottom of the steps.

  “Do you think they are a trap like the other stairs?” asked Eevie, nervously.

  “I don’t think so. The monkey creature ran up the steps and he looks like he weighs at least fifty pounds. But...to be safe....” Tommy paused, thinking. “Let’s go single file, just in case. So we’re not standing on the same step.”

  The monkey had disappeared from the entrance of the cave. The inside of the cave was dark, lit by a few sparsely placed lanterns. The interior was much larger than they had thought, and to their right an underwater stream ran beside them and disappeared into a large crack at the entrance of the cave.

  The tunnel looked as if it had been hand chiseled. Deep grooves remained where tools had bitten into the rock. To their left, jagged outcrops of rock lined their path.

  Eevie grabbed Tommy’s arm.

  “What?” whispered Tommy.

  She pointed to the wall. Written on the wall was the word Mortus.

  Underneath were dozens of names: Eli, Sara, Christopher, Edward, Elizabeth.... “Does mortus mean dead, like mortem?” whispered Tommy.

  Eevie nodded. “I’m pretty sure it does.”

  “There’s like a hundred names. Who would kill all of these people?” whispered Tommy, not expecting a reply.

  Eevie froze as a few of the names began to fade in and out. The black outline became clear. It was the monkey.

  “Tommy!” screamed Eevie.

  The monkey jumped from the wall to a row of rocks on their left. He let out a horrific screech that made their ears ring. Both Eevie and Tommy reached into their hoodies and pulled out their rocks.