Rusty stone faded as it gave way to dark rock, charcoal colored walls now surrounding them. Keeping a watchful eye, Casimir couldn’t help but ruminate on the weight of this mission. The reality of Ava having to face and trap an ancient god had truly begun to hit him the last several days. Now they were here in this cave where Lomos was said to have been trapped for thousands of years…and he could hardly wrap his mind around it.
At last the tunnel opened into an enormous chamber. A chamber that seemed to lead…nowhere.
Lit braziers sat along the edges of the room, the orange flames dancing and casting eerie shadows along the dark walls.Smaller braziers dangled from chains above them, their bright fires adding more disconcerting shadows throughout the space.
He halted the group once they were freed from the passageway, scanning the room for any kind of trap.
“I do not see signs of any crystals…and I do not see anywhere else to go,” Maeryn said.
“Nor do I,” he said. “Did we miss something behind us?”
“I don’t think so,” said Raine. “What we need is probably deeper in the caves. There must be a hidden passage in here somewhere.”
They remained where they were, looking for any indication of where they should go. In the center of the room, the floor had a strange sheen. Like it was wet, except the water was odd-looking, a rainbow of swirls floating on top.
One of his men pointed across the chamber. “There. It looks like there’s some type of lock or puzzle. Carvings in the wall.”
The man strode toward the puzzle. A click echoed in the chamber. The soldier froze, looking at his feet. The stone he’d stepped on had lowered into the ground, like some sort of button. The hair on the back of Casimir’s neck stood on end as he prepared to lunge and pull him from whatever trap he might have set off, but a wall of rock burst from the ground, blocking the rest of the group from the center of the room.
“Get down!” Imsel shouted.
Casimir curled over Ava on instinct, shielding her. There was a snap of a chain, a crash and an explosion. They were assaulted with heat, but fortunately protected by the stone wall. Someone shouted, several others screamed.
Within seconds, the heat faded, and the group took a collective breath as they stood. Imsel raised their hands, lowering the barrier they’d created.
That was them?Casimir wondered. He’d thought the wall was a part of the trap.
View no longer obstructed, Casimir took in the chamber. The center was still on fire, but the flames were slowly burning out. And the soldier who’d been standing there?
Completely disintegrated.
“Oh gods…” Zara whispered.
The shiny substance on the floor had been an accelerant of some type. And when his man stepped on a trigger, a brazier had released from the ceiling, igniting the floor and burning everything in the vicinity.
Casimir lowered his head and murmured a brief prayer for the loss of life, the others following suit.
Gisela raised her hand. “Shall I put it out?”
Ava lunged and grabbed her arm. “No!”
“What is it?” Casimir asked.
“It’s like a grease fire in the kitchen. Never put water or ice on it. It’ll explode again.”
“She’s correct,” Imsel added. “It is some type of oil. If you try to douse it with your ice, it will make it worse.”
“So, what do we do?”
“Wait for it to burn itself out,” Ava said. “It won't take long.”
They waited another ten minutes for the fire to cease, the substance on the floor now completely gone. Along with the first member of their party. Eleven left, and they’d been in here less than half an hour.
“Now what?” asked Raine.
Casimir gestured to the far wall. “I’m assuming that’s the key to the next chamber or tunnel. We must reach that side of the room and figure it out.”
“We could walk along the wall and avoid the center,” suggested Jareth.
