by C G Gaudet
The glass in Jameson’s hand explodes from the heat. He takes several steps to the center of the room.
“And now we all know,” he says slowly while watching the lava inch toward his feet, “one cannot catch fire in a bottle.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Pop Quiz
The only good news about our current situation is that the lava currently pouring into the room is doing so at a very slow speed. It’s less pouring, and more trickling, really. But we’re still locked in a room where there’s a hot liquid threatening to kill us all, so not the best situation I’ve ever been in.
Since no one else is testing the door handle because they’re all busy scrambling to find a safe place to stand, I decide to give it a go. It doesn’t even wiggle under my touch. It’s as though someone screwed a door handle onto a solid wall, just so they could watch people struggle to open it and laugh. In fact, it feels so suspiciously cruel, I search for a possible hiding spot. There are no windows or holes in the wall besides the ones full of liquid fire, but I do see a shadow stretched across the ceiling that doesn’t look right. As I watch, a mouth appears in the head like someone cut out the shape in the shadow, and stretches into a wide, comical smile. The laughter that follows is the same hideous sound that followed us in the corridors, but now that I see the source, it’s much more terrifying and leaves goosebumps down my spine.
In a movement nearly too quick to follow, it slides across the wall and through the seam of the door.
“I guess that means the door is real,” I comment to no one in particular. They’re all busy discussing what to do next, though I don’t hear any solutions, just a lot of shouting.
“Do you know how much blue fire would sell for?” Jameson’s saying. “Me either, but I’m sure it would be a lot. Plus, there’s all of the uses I could come up with if I was given half a chance. Of course, I didn’t know that touching it was going to cause the room to go on fire, but I had to take a chance. It was the only logical thing to do.”
“You can’t just steal everything you see,” Talie counters at the same time, making it nearly impossible to understand what either of them are saying. “That’s not how the world works. Everyone needs to share in the creations of our gods and saviours, and sometimes sharing means leaving it alone so we don’t all die in a pit of despair. Besides, any reasonable person knows not to try to capture fire in a bottle. I mean, it’s fire. How is it supposed to keep burning in a bottle without any source of energy or air? It’s completely illogical.”
“Maybe if I was given a skill other than to read languages,” Willow mutters to herself near the blocked wall we came through, “this wouldn’t be a problem. I got so excited by the chance to finally have a use other than standing around reading signs for people, that I went after the crazy shadow person just because I thought I saw it holding the silhouette of a staff. It could be anything, a stick of wood, walking stick, a trick of the eye, but I had to believe that it was a magical staff I could use to actually be of some use in this group instead of always being the one needing to be saved.”
“Oh boy.” I raise my hands to try to get their attention, but they continue as though I don’t exist. “Listen, guys, there’s a lot of emotions running wild here, but we need to work together to figure out how to get out of here without having our feet burn off.”
Not even a glance in my direction as the arguing gets louder and Willow starts rocking gently back and forth with a crazy look in her eyes.
“Nope.” I throw my arms up in annoyance. “I’m not dying here. Not like this. Not surrounded by you idiots.”
A sharp whistle leaves my lips and echoes through the suddenly quiet room.
“Listen up,” I shout before their conversations can start up again. “We are being defeated by a shadow right now. Do you hear how ridiculous that sounds? A shadow.”
I look them each in the eye and wait for the shame they should all be feeling to show on their faces before continuing.
“So what we’re all going to do right now is shut up and work together to get out of here, because there is no way I’m going back home to live my life knowing I was once a champion to a god, but was taken out by a god’s damned shadow. Agreed?”
Three shamefully muttered yeses follow, which is good because I’m starting to feel the heat lick at the soles of my new boots.
“Perfect,” I carefully pick my way over to Willow to get the best view of both the etched symbol on the floor and the ones on the door. “There has to be a way out of here. No one would build a room that didn’t have a way to shut off a trap like this if it was accidently set off. Especially since it’s taking so long to kill us. So, smart people. Do you see anything strange about these symbols? Something that might be a code or riddle we can solve to help us get out of here?”
“No,” Willow says too quickly. “It’s the same as above. It’s not a language, not one I can understand at least.”
A glance at Jameson tells me he’s thinking the same thing.
“Okay, but look at it,” I say. “Really look at it. Are there any patterns or similarities or symbols that you can understand?” They both give me a doubtful look, but I throw my hands up in exasperation. “This isn’t my specialty. I was given the ability to hit things. There’s nothing here to kill.”
Willow shrugs, clearly already defeated, but starts taking a closer look at the carvings. I turn to Talie who has her hands together and her eyes closed.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“Praying.”
I’m about to tell her how ridiculous she’s being when I remember the reason we’re in this mess. Kesarre said he couldn’t step on his siblings’ ground, but this is under the cathedral of Talie’s goddess. Maybe she can come down here and show just how generous she is by getting us all out of here.
“Is it working?”
Talie sighs and her hands drop to her sides. “It’s as though something’s blocking me from speaking to her. I’ve never had issues like this before. Usually she’s quite happy to help if she can.”
I try not to show my disappointment as I pull her a foot closer to the middle of the room to avoid the lava that spills into a carved symbol by her feet.
“I don’t think it’s your goddess.” I pat her shoulder to comfort her, even though I’ve never done anything of the sort before in my life. I’m sure I must be doing something wrong, because neither of us seem particularly comforted. “Whichever god of death or the underworld controls this place is keeping her and Kasarre away.”
Willow gasps and claps her hands. “That’s it! The underworld.”
She’s clearly excited, but since none of us understand what’s going on in her brain, we all stare at her and wait for an explanation. One that hopefully comes quickly, because I can feel the heat burning a hole in the sole of my boot in the same spot as in my old shoes. I have no desire to learn what blue lava feels like directly against my big toe.
“The underworld is said to be a shadowy reflection of the living world, right?”
“Of course,” I respond, feeling just as lost as before. “I say that all of the time. What are you talking about?”
Willow swallows her annoyed response and chooses to be the more mature of us once more by continuing her explanation.
“If we’re in the underworld, or at least a location on the living plane meant to represent the underworld for the god Latherty, then everything we see could be a reflection of what we might see normally.”
Jameson’s eyes light up with comprehension while I’m still trying to understand the shadowy reflection bit. He starts scribbling frantically in his book before flipping it upside down to show Willow.
“’So below,’” she reads slowly, “’As above.’” Their focus returns to the door and some of their initial excitement fades. “Great. We know what it says over the doorway, but what does it mean?”
Talie and Jameson move over to the door to get a closer look at the symbols while Willow and I sta
y back.
“This is great,” I say after a moment of them chatting to each other with theories they dismiss before fully getting their sentence out. “You’re working together like a real team. I’m so happy for you. But if you could hurry up, just a little, we’re running out of floor to stand on.”
Willow and Jameson turn to each other in the same moment with huge smiles on their face.
“The floor!” they say in unison, not helping either Talie or I to understand what they could possibly be thinking.
Chapter Twenty-Two
As Below, So Above
“The symbols on the floor are reflections of those on the door,” Willow hurries to explain. “The difference is that they’re scattered in different locations to make up the skull symbol carved into the floor.”
“If we account for the lava as being a necessary clue to solving the riddle,” Jameson adds just as excitedly, “then we must assume the link between the floor and door is based on timing rather than physical nearness.”
I look to Talie to see if she’s got any better idea what’s going on than I do, but she’s focused on the lava inching toward her feet and how little time we have left. Though she’s clearly being too polite to say as much.
“Quicker would be better guys.”
Jameson rolls his eyes and walks over to the door to press his hand against one of the carved symbols. The moment his flesh touches the stone, an inner glow pulses from the carving.
“We have to touch the symbols in the order they’re engulfed in flame,” he explains in small words just for me, or at least that’s what the annoyance on his face tells me.
A quick discussion between Willow and Jameson have them work out the order of what’s already been covered and what should be next based on the path of the lava.
Jameson hesitates with his hand over the final symbol, his eyes closed as his lips move in unspoken words.
The lava, mere inches from me now, bubbles and splashes just a couple of drops on my boot, but it’s enough to burn a hole clean through the thick leather and onto my foot. Searing pain draws out a scream which I direct all at Jameson.
“Do it now!”
His hand slams against a completely different symbol than the one he was hovering over, and Willow shrieks a warning, but it’s too late. My stomach plummets to my feet as nothing changes. Backing onto the last few inches of floor, I press into both Willow and Talie who are forced to do the same.
I hold my breath and wait for the lava to engulf my feet and kill me in the most slow and painful way possible.
A groan of old metal I recognize to be the sound of rusted hinges fills the silence of the room. I peek out one eye, sure I’m must be imagining the sound but there’s the door slightly ajar. I grab the girls and drag them past Jameson who’s grinning like a fool.
“See,” he says as we pass. “It needed to be a mirror image of the symbol, not the perfect copy I nearly pressed. The proper one was hidden between other carvings to create confusion.”
We’re well down the stairs beyond the doorway while he’s still trying to point out his triumph, so I go back to yank him by the arm out of the still lava filled room. I slam the door closed in hopes of stopping the flow from following us into the next room and turn back to Willow and Talie who are hugging with tears in their eyes.
“The wall didn’t open up,” I remind them since they’re all much to happy about this small victory. “So that means we have no way back, even if there wasn’t now lava for a floor in the room we just came from. We’re stuck in the middle of these catacombs with no way out and no food and drinks. Can we hold off on the celebrating a little longer?”
Jameson brushes past me to join the girls who have awkwardly separated and are staring at everything except each other.
“You always look on the bright side, don’t you,” he says as he passes.
Willow and Talie both react as though he’s just shamed me while Jameson stands all tall and proud of himself. It sends a strange sensation into the pit of my stomach I don’t understand.
“I’m sorry if I don’t see a bright side to our current situation.” The words burst out of me in a rush, though I have no idea why I’m taking this like a personal insult. “I’m a realistic person. I’m seeing the realism in the situation, and that realism is that my foot hurts, we nearly just died, and we have no escape plan.”
“But we’re alive,” Willow says as though continuing for me. “We’re in a labyrinth full of money and possibly magical items, and we’re champions for gods.” She raises her hands to implore me to look around at the stone walls surrounding us. I think she’s trying to make it seem exciting, but all I see is a great big old trap we’ve found ourselves in. “Look on the bright side, Jenny. This is an adventure all of us could only have dreamed of having a few days ago, while we were stuck in our boring lives. Would you rather be here dealing with traps and danger and excitement, or back at work selling candles?”
She gives me a look as though to tell me I don’t need to answer. She’s right. I know she is, but that still doesn’t change the fact that we’re stuck down here and my foot hurts.
“Let’s keep going,” Willow tells the others enthusiastically. “I’m sure there will be something even more exciting to find just around the corner.”
The others cheer their agreement and take up a brisk pace down the last of the stairs and into the winding corridor beyond. Although it was dark in the halls above, there seems to be a gloom even the powers from Kesarre can’t help me see through down here. I can make out where I’m putting my foot, but barely anything beyond that. The others must be dealing with the same issues since their pace has slowed down to a near crawl.
“I hate to bring up my pessimism again,” I say, earning a small groan from Willow, “But is walking around when we can’t even see where we’re going really the best idea?”
I reach out my hand to make sure I’m not getting too close to the wall, but my fingers find empty air. I pause to feel around a little further and discover it’s not a corner as I first suspected, but an opening in the wall. One about the exact size of the stones that marked the tombs upstairs. Reaching further in, I touch something hard and round, a little like the pole of my scythe. Picking it up on instinct, I bring it to my face than instantly chuck it away.
“Ew, ew, ew!” I wipe my hand on my pants, but I can’t get the feeling of what I just touched off my palm. “That was a bone. I just touched a human bone.”
Everyone pauses and turns back to me. Or at least, I assume that’s what they’re doing. It’s so dark in here, I can only barely make out their shapes. All four twist around to see what I’m talking about.
Oh. Oh no.
“Guys,” I try to warn the others about the extra shadow, when another shows up, followed by another, and half a dozen more. “Guys!”
The skeleton I just touched shudders and clicks together, rising out of the chamber where he was once buried.
“Get down,” Talie shouts.
I instinctively do as she says and hope the others follow as a blinding light radiates from her chest, blasting out around us like a blow from a fist. The sound of bones shattering against stone walls follow, and in the dying light, I can see the skeleton next to me collapse to the floor, unmoving.
“Wow.” I rise to my full height and smile at Talie. “That was pretty impress…oh.”
Once again there’s a fourth figure standing with the group. Her spell wasn’t enough.
“I think,” Talie says slowly as though she’s afraid if she speaks too quickly it will cause the creatures surrounding us to attack, “it’s time we start to run.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
The Bones that Bind Us
I swing my scythe horizontally to cut through the thin part of the skeletons in front of me where their spines meets their hips. The corridor isn’t great for such a long reaching weapon, but I can’t think of another to use in this instant. I can’t think at all. All I know is we n
eed to keep moving. Stay still and we’ll be swarmed.
“Gaahhh!” I shout in hopes Talie will understand I’m asking for her to blast a fresh path for us to get closer to the door I think I saw during the light of her previous attack.
“Eeeahhhh!” she responds.
I duck as low as I dare and pull Willow down with me, though she’s already crouched low having nothing else she can do but hide between Talie and me. Jameson does the same, keeping low between us and letting Talie and I do all the fighting.
It would’ve been real useful if Kesarre thought to give them at least a little bit of fighting power when he was handing out his champion abilities. It might have helped us not get quite so overwhelmed in this situation.
Talie’s magical light bursts from her chest, destroying the skeletons within reach and lighting up the hallway to reveal the door I thought I saw before. Pushing the others to move quickly, I get us to the door and slam my back against the wall next to it in hopes of having a moment to catch my breath.
I turn to thank Talie and find her doubled over, clutching her chest.
I’m about to say something stupidly positive like “Maybe we got them all,” or “At least we have a moment to think now,” when the silhouette of several of the monsters lumber into view.
“I don’t think there’s magic to this one,” Willow declares after a moment of discussion with Jameson as they examine the door we found. “It seems to just be locked.”
“Locks I can do.” Jameson drops to a knee to bring his face even with the keyhole in the door and starts fiddling around with a couple of metal sticks he pulls out of one of his many hidden pockets. “I just need a couple of minutes and we’ll be in.”
Two of the skeletons lunges toward us and I bring my blade around, forcing them back to the length of the scythe. Talie’s blade flashes as she brings it down on the collar bone of one coming from the other direction, shattering the bone and half of the monster’s ribs, and yet it keeps pushing toward us.