Treasures of the Forgotten City (Ultimate Ending Book 1)

by Danny McAleese

  If the coins come up BOTH HEADS you should TURN TO PAGE 100

  If the coins come up BOTH TAILS you need to TURN TO PAGE 136

  If you get one HEADS and one TAILS you should GO TO PAGE 169

  124

  Further west, the broken roads and avenues turn mostly to sand. Among these, with the sheer face of the cliff looming not far in the distance, you come across a broad series of standing stones.

  "The Necropolis," Waif tells you. "It's on your map."

  A chill runs through you as you make your way through the ancient cemetery. Elaborate monuments mark the lives of people who've been gone for four dozen centuries. There's an air of stillness here. An unsettling calm. As creepy as it seems, this is the one place Waif doesn't seem spooked by. As superstitious as your friend is, it appears death is the one thing that doesn't frighten him.

  "Donovan! Look!"

  You've been avoiding the grave markers, but not Waif. Pegged to one of the taller ones, a diamond-shaped amulet of pure silver gleams in the sun. Beneath it, a message has been scrawled in charcoal.

  A Key to Use in Distant Thunder

  Before the Waters Pull You Under

  "It's in English!" you cry. The flowing black letters are distinct and familiar. You flip open the journal to compare the handwriting. It matches perfectly. "It's from Murdoch!"

  Carefully Waif removes the amulet from its peg. He flips it over, finds nothing on either side, and hands it to you.

  125

  "Why would he leave this here?" Waif asks. "And why the message?"

  "Murdoch's expedition split up," you explain to him. "He had more than one group searching for the star jewels. They must've been leaving hints for each other."

  "Okay, but why the rhymes?"

  You think about it for a moment. "I don't know. I always figured he was just a strange guy. But maybe... maybe there was another expedition looking for Atraharsis also. Kinda like us and Sullivan."

  Waif reads the charcoal message again, this time out loud. "Waters," he laughs. "Pulling you under?"

  With one hand you pick up a fistful of sand. The wind carries it away as it slips through your fingers. "I don't know," you say. "Atraharsis was dried up long before Murdoch's crew got here." A frightening thought occurs to you. "Maybe they were dying of thirst."

  Waif nods solemnly. "Or seeing a mirage."

  As you slip the strange amulet into your pocket you see a wide road leading back to the east. Not far down, it forks to the left and right.

  If you take the left fork HEAD DOWN TO PAGE 103

  If you'd rather take the right fork, GO TO PAGE 18

  126

  "Waif! Hel--"

  Your friend reaches out for you, but just a moment too late. You drop through the air a good fifteen feet, bounce off the stone beneath you, and instantly begin rolling down the face of the Ziggurat. Sharp, jagged stone claws at you from every direction. Cut and scrapes however, are the least of your concerns right now...

  Acting quickly, you splay your arms and legs outward in order to slow your roll. It helps, but it also leaves you vulnerable. At one point your left leg is bent backward at a disturbing angle. There's a muffled pop that originates from somewhere behind your kneecap, and you find yourself screaming in agony.

  The wind is knocked from your lungs as your back slams into one of the stone slabs. Lifting your head groggily you take stock of the situation. You've fallen about halfway down the Ziggurat, and your leg is most certainly broken.

  The good news is that you'll live. Everything but your pride will eventually heal. But as Waif scrambles down to help carry you back through the gates of Atraharsis, you come to the solemn realization that this is

  THE END

  127

  You back up slowly, trying to gauge the distance. Sometimes the jump looks impossible. At other angles, it looks easy.

  "Just do it already," Waif calls from the other side.

  Here goes nothing!

  You run... and jump. Halfway across you realize your leap isn't nearly as good as Waif's. You're going to fall short!

  The air leaves your lungs all at once as you slam chest-first into the opposite wall of the small chasm. Your hands and fingers claw at the dirt, but they're slipping fast!

  Waif's face goes from one of total confidence to a complete, almost comical look of dismay. He runs over, grabs your wrists, and pulls you up just before your fingers give way. You lay there panting, sucking in air but not oxygen, for what seems like forever.

  "Sorry," Waif says sheepishly. "I thought you--"

  You hold up one hand until your breath comes back. "You know why they call you Waif, right?"

  Your friend blinks. "Because I am small. And thin."

  "And fast," you chuckle. "Come on, let's go."

  Close one! Time to brush off the dirt and HEAD TO PAGE 21

  128

  "If these symbols are glyphs of 'doom', we should probably learn what they are. That way we can avoid them."

  You look the tower up and down, trying to find a weak spot. One of the mid-sized boulders seems to be loose. If you brushed away enough sand, you're sure you could shift it.

  "C'mon Waif, help me with this one."

  The two of you get to work. You spend the next ten or fifteen minutes clearing compacted sand away from the ancient stone. It's like scraping cement, only softer, easier. Eventually you can wiggle it. A little bit at first, and then a lot.

  Soon you're pushing, shoving. When your shoulder hurts, you start kicking. Nothing seems to be working. You're about to give up when all of a sudden...

  "Waif, look out!"

  A stone splits in half near the bottom of the pile with a resounding CRACK! Then the whole thing topples over. It's falling... but not in the direction you wanted it to!

  Quick, flip two coins! (Or flip the same coin twice)

  If they both come up HEADS when they land TURN TO PAGE 80

  If either (or both) of the coins show TAILS after flipping HEAD BACK TO PAGE 32

  129

  You race into the temple's inner sanctum, with Waif right behind you. A stunningly beautiful mosaic makes up one entire wall. In the center of it, gleaming brightly, is a star sapphire the size of a baseball.

  "That's it!" you cry exuberantly. "Waif, we did it!"

  BOOM!

  No sooner do the words leave your lips than the room explodes with a hollow bang. A giant block of granite has dropped from the ceiling of the hallway you just came from, totally and completely sealing off the exit. Waif looks utterly pale. If your partner delayed even just another second he'd be as flat as a pancake right now!

  "How... how do we get out?" he wavers.

  Slipping your grand uncle's journal from your rucksack you turn quickly to the temple entry. By the cerulean light you read the following passage:

  When Drowning in a Sea of Blue

  Only Royals May Pass Through

  Waif blinks. "Well we're certainly drowning in blue. But what's royal in here?"

  The room itself is fairly empty. A raised dais near the mosaic contains a collection of thick glass spheres in an array of different colors. Most of them are broken. A few are left intact. Looking back at the sunlight streaming in through the star sapphire, you notice something interesting...

  "I got it!" you tell Waif. "See that brass mount in front of the sapphire? It's made to fit these lenses. The priests of the temple could swap them out. Use them to change the color of the room."

  There are three lenses left unbroken. But which -- if any -- is the right one?

  If you mount the red lense FLIP BACK TO PAGE 26

  If you try the yellow lense instead HEAD OVER TO PAGE 37

  If the green lense seems right to you, TURN TO PAGE 74

  130

  You sweep up the torch and make your decision: before helping Waif you need to cut off the creatures at the source. You touch the flame to the ancient sacks...

  The spider's nest goes up in a giant fireball
! It flares, and for a brief moment the entire chamber feels like you're getting the worst sunburn of your life. The spiders cringe, curling up into tiny balls. They fall away from Waif's body like black rain.

  "What was that?" Waif blinks.

  "Their nest."

  Your friend is still blindly patting down his arms and legs. He must've been staring directly at the flames. As you search the room, the glint of metal catches your eye. You kick apart the burning sacks to reveal a large pile of red and black tiles. On top of them is a smaller stack -- this one of silver ingots.

  "Help me gather these," you say, pointing.

  Finally satisfied he's gotten rid of any last stragglers, your partner helps gather up the silver bars. Each is stamped with the rough glyph of a lion. Waif finishes, wobbling as he stands. "Almost too much to carry."

  "Almost," you grin.

  The halls are dark and full of cobwebs. FLIP OVER TO PAGE 152

  131

  You follow the widest road away from the broken Tower. After walking for quite a while you come to the skeletal remains of a once-magnificent grove.

  "This place was the pride of Ta and Sa-Niah, two brothers who ruled the city together," Waif tells you. "They brought all manner of trees and palms to form a garden here, right in the center of Atraharsis."

  Lines of bluish stones make up a broken path through the grove. You pass beneath half an arch, then come to a broken stone bench resting between the hollowed-out husks of two once magnificent trees. A headless statue stands nearby, holding a worn tablet. And on that tablet, etched in charcoal...

  "Look! It's the symbol from Murdoch's journal!" You rush over to the statue. "He was here!" Beneath the symbol, scrawled in jagged black lettering:

  Gold and red or you will be dead

  Heed these words and live instead

  "Grim..." Waif swallows. He looks around nervously. "What do you think it means?"

  You both freeze uncomfortably, waiting for something terrible to happen. Nothing does. The screech of a bird reaches your ears from somewhere far away.

  "I understand Murdoch's crews leaving messages for each other," Waif says. "But what's with all the rhymes?"

  You shrug. "Robert Murdoch was eccentric but brilliant. No one's sure why he was such a weird guy."

  "Hey!" Waif laughs merrily. "That rhymes!"

  Punch Waif in the arm and continue on by TURNING TO PAGE 18

  132

  You step forward slowly, keeping your eyes peeled for signs of danger. The rest of the palace seems empty. There's nothing else here to find.

  Eventually you approach the moaning face. With every step you take, things get a little more eerie. Finally you're on top of it. And that's when you realize the wall behind the face is broken and open to the street.

  You chuckle. The moaning sound is nothing more than the wind blowing through the large ceramic mask. A glint of something else catches your eye. With your elbow, you shatter the lower half of the bearded man's jaw to reveal a small, secret niche. Still resting within the space you find a threadbare pouch of silver and gold coins!

  "Here!" Waif catches the pouch as you throw it over to him. Coins spill into his palm and his eyes light up instantly.

  "Any objection to holding these?" you ask.

  "None!" Waif cries excitedly.

  Good job, ummm... facing your fears?

  Head back outside and TURN TO PAGE 55

  133

  You see the East Gate of Atraharsis long before you arrive there. Presiding over it is an enormous stone colossus. The statue might once have been magnificent, but is now so blasted by sand and sun it's almost entirely featureless. It's impossible to tell even if the figure was originally a man or a woman. Either way, it points with one broken arm into the city, in the direction of a long, slender tower.

  "That's the Queen's Tower," you tell Waif. "According to Murdoch's map."

  "I thought it was your uncle's map?"

  "Grand-uncle," you explain again. "And yes. Err, I mean, no. I mean, he bought the map from someone who knew a guy whose second cousin was once married to a member of Murdoch's crew, so..."

  Waif looks back at you utterly confused.

  "Forget it. I'm sorry I said anything."

  You turn your attention back to the entrance to the city. One of the tremendous iron-bound gates is still here, the rotted wood hanging from a monstrous hinge, half-buried in the sand. Just beyond that, the wide, sand-strewn avenues of Atraharsis lay spread out before you. After the cold desert night, the sun is starting to feel good on your back.

  "We may need this," Waif says, pulling a torch from his pack. He lights it, and the flames drive away just that much more of the morning cold.

  You have three choices of direction here.

  You can head north, to where there seems to be some sort of movement in the early morning shadows. If so, GO TO PAGE 90

  You can head west, toward what looks to be some sort of hole or well dug into the ground. EXPLORE IT BY TURNING TO PAGE 82

  Finally you can head south, where the avenue appears to open into a broad, spacious area. DO THAT ON PAGE 167

  134

  The East Gate could still be a long distance away. If there's an easy way into the city right here, you figure you might as well explore it.

  "Let me get a better look," Waif says. He drops his pack temporarily and starts climbing amongst the jagged stone. "It appears the tremors have opened a--"

  Your friend's sentence is interrupted by a great sucking sound. The sand and stone shifts all around him, and before you can do anything Waif is sliding downward into what looks to be a giant sinkhole.

  "Help!"

  You're still on solid footing but you're losing your partner fast! You could rush down and grab him (giving up solid ground) or you could try to find some other way to rescue Waif. Time's running out though...

  If you rush forward to grab Waif, TURN TO PAGE 141

  If you'd rather sit tight and explore other options, FLIP BACK TO PAGE 64

  135

  You leave the Ziggurat behind you and enter the Grand Plaza. Dozens of palaces and two-story structures rise up to form a large community here. All of them are fancy and elaborate. You marvel at how beautiful everything is, even in utter ruin. A whole team of archaeologists could spend their entire lives here, and never get tired of their work.

  "Up ahead," Waif indicates. "Look. The street."

  The tremors have hit this part of the city especially hard. There are few structures left standing. What appears to be a large, jagged wall is actually the other half of the avenue, risen up out of the ground.

  "See that?"

  Beneath the broken avenue, a series of underground passages run beneath the city. As sunlight filters down you can see the walls are paved with smooth, clean stone.

  "The undercity," you say excitedly. "This is what we want! This is where we'll find the Hall of Kings!"

  Waif hops down. Casting one last glance up at Atraharsis, you follow him.

  "Which way?"

  The light of your partner's torch illuminates a long hall, which runs north and south. Both directions look identical in every way.

  If you take the north passage, GO TO PAGE 65

  If you'd rather go south instead, HEAD TO PAGE 81

  136

  You look at the blocks again and again. But no matter how long you stare at them, you still don't know which ones to use.

  "Looks like you're climbing," you tell Waif.

  Your partner rubs his hands with sand, stretches his fingers, and begins the ascent. At first it's slow going. Only the smallest cracks in the smooth marble of the column give Waif any potential hand or toeholds. Yet somehow, insanely, he still manages to climb his way up. He's halfway there, then three-quarters... and then finally he reaches the top.

  "Waif!" you hiss. "Be careful!"

  Slowly and delicately, Waif removes the glimmering green jewel from its mount. Then he slides back down the column, hugging the ma
rble with his entire body to keep from slipping too fast.

  "That was amazing!" you tell him when he's back on his feet. You almost can't even believe it. "You're incredible!"

  "I am Waif," he grins. He holds out his hand and drops the jewel into your palm, where it shines with a radiance all its own. It's the single most beautiful thing you've ever seen.

  Congratulations! You've recovered the star emerald of Atraharsis!

  Somewhere off in the distance, a dust cloud swirls on the desert horizon. You squint into it, but can't make out any details.

  "Let's get of here," you tell Waif. Together, you make your way down the steps and out of the Queen's Tower.

  Nice work getting the jewel! But can you keep it?

  HEAD ON OVER TO PAGE 116

  137

  The rumbling gets louder. The tremors get more violent. Waif yells something over the chaos, but you can't hear him.

  The giant chunk of stone hurtles downward. It's coming straight for you! There's no time to avoid it!

  A sunburst of white sparks explodes somewhere in the back of your vision, then everything goes black...