by Daniel Heck
I spin the wheel yet again.
I return to the main chamber.
You investigate the declining passage. Within a few yards, it abruptly ends in a roughly diamond-shaped room. The corners are rounded by age and wear; shards of stone and brick lay out of place in a multitude of dusty piles. A puddle in a far corner fosters immense amounts of moss and lichen. Two of the walls display banners inscribed with images of weaponry; their edges hang frayed and disheveled. Feeling cautious as you step forward, your torchlight illuminates a cylindrical column in the chamber’s exact center.
You look closer. The column extends about halfway to the low ceiling, and on top sits a wheel. Someone has engraved the outline of an arrow such that it wraps around the base of the wheel, pointing counterclockwise.
Your light reflects off several items on top of the wheel. Black lines divide the rough wooden circle into fourths. Upon one section sits a pair of demure leather boots; upon another, a scroll, tied with red twine. A third section holds a large, rusted key. You think,
Could that open the door I encountered earlier?
Finally, the fourth section holds a skull. Grayed-over and ancient, it looks human in build, although it’s missing a few molars, and the eye sockets appear unusually small.
Curious, you slowly reach toward the key, and grip it. When you pick it up from the wheel, though, the key only moves an inch or so before you feel unseen force tug it back downward.
Magical. Of course.
You glance again at the arrow at the base.
Am I supposed to spin it in order to get these items?
Intriguing...
Daniel J. Heck
Daniel is a 2004 graduate of Iowa State University with Bachelor’s of Science degrees in Technical Communications and Computer Science, and has been writing fiction for approximately ten years as of publication of this volume. He thanks the universe for all blessings, including and especially his home, family, pets and loving wife Michelle Herring. Daniel’s hobbies include Lego design and acting in central Iowa community theatre productions, plus a side gig as a delivery partner for Uber Eats.