SS - Chapter 10 - Perilous Paths

Wasn't planning on doing another chapter today, because morning wasn't that great, but I did! Bonus I guess.

“Did… did we win?” Camille stuttered as the tokens all sunk back into the little map. 

A moment later a grinding noise filled the chamber, and the massive table slowly began to slide away from us. Underneath was a set of stairs leading deeper into the complex.

“I think we won,” Selena muttered in response.

While I was still inspecting the new path Camille skipped down the steps, stopping at the bottom landing just long enough to wave Selena and I forward. We followed but at a more measured, and cautious pace.

The stairs ended in a small room, with three long corridors which appeared to lead to another set of identical rooms. In the center of the room was a black stone pedestal, which had an engraved bronze colored plaque on top. The script on it was old, containing traces of both the ancient Thalic and old Valmir languages, but it was different enough from both that it would have taken me days to try and puzzle through the short message.

Thankfully, I didn’t have to. As soon as I got close enough a window opened up, overlaying the old script with modern Thamir. 

Follow my Steps and I shall show you the way.

To my refuge where I now lay.

Heed my words, and I’ll tell you no lie

Step out of line and soon you will die.

This challenge before you will be the last,

Keep moving forward, just follow the path.

“The dungeon’s writing poetry,” Camille moaned. “That’s never a good sign.”

“Wait,” Selena muttered. “You’ve seen something like this before?”

“Only once. It was a messed up labyrinth where the walls were covered with nonsense, and the rooms were filled with strange hybrid creatures. I don’t know how long that core had sat there, but had obviously gone mad,” Camille stated.

“I don’t think that’s the case here,” I said, studying the poem.

“Even if it’s not, we can’t trust anything this thing tells us,” Camille declared. She stomped away, heading straight for the center hallway. 

“Don’t!” Selena and I shouted at the same time, but it was already too late, Camille had already stepped inside. There was a barely audible ‘click’ as the tile she stepped on sank into the floor.

Camille threw herself backwards, diving out of the hallway just as hundreds of darts, huge gouts of flame, and swinging blades emerged out of the walls and filled every inch of the hallway with various flavors of death.

“I don’t think it’s that way,” she declared, her clothes steaming from the fire. She twisted around and stared at the now quiet hallway. “I could have sworn there wasn’t a single slit, hole, or nozzle in that hallway when I stepped in. Where did all that come from?”

Selena stepped over to her, extended her halberd, and poked the walls experimentally. The polearm passed right through.

“Illusionary walls? That’s cheating!” Camille declared. 

“How did you know they were there?” I asked. “Can you see them?”

“I can see there’s something there,” Selena admitted. “It’s like a light haze over all the walls. It’s not like I can see through it or anything.”

“And it’s over all the passageways?” Camille grumbled.  “That means they’re all trapped! This dungeon’s cheating!”

“I don’t think it’s cheating,” Selena muttered. “Based upon what I’ve seen, if the dungeon wanted to kill us, it would have tried something trickier than trapping all the passages. If I had to guess, it covered all three hallways to counter me, so I couldn’t tell which were trapped and which were safe.”

“Dungeon aren’t that tricky,” Camille huffed. “They’re like animals, driven by instinct. Sure the older ones do develop some sort of rudimentary intelligence, but countering individual abilities? Doesn’t happen.”

“Well it happened here,” I snapped. “Just think about what we saw in that last room. This place doesn’t just know what we’re capable of, but everyone in the village too, and it created an accurate simulation based upon that knowledge. This is not a standard dungeon.”

“It gave us hints on how to proceed, I say we try and figure them out rather than walking blindly down corridors,” I declared, pointing at the tablet.

“What was the first clue again?” Selena asked.

“Follow my footsteps and I’ll show you the way,” I reminded her.

Camille slowly stood up, brushed herself off, then pointed towards the first hallway. “That one has a picture of a spider above it, I say we try that one.”

“What makes you think that’s a good idea?” I grumbled.

“Well, the other two have the picture of a tree, and a sword above them. They really don’t fit the theme.”

Selena squinted at the reliefs. “How did you even see those? They’re so subtle?”

“I got a really good look at the first one when I was diving out of the hallway,” Camille proclaimed. “Found the other two shortly afterwards.”

“Not exactly something I’d be proud of,” I muttered.

“The logic’s sound, but I still don’t want to walk blindly down one of these passages,” Selena said, inspecting the hallway. “How about I use my poleaxe to probe for triggers first?”

“I’m all for making this trial safer,” I said. “Go for it.”

Stepping right up to the threshold, Selena methodically tapped each and every floor tile she could reach. When she was done she stepped back and smiled. “I think this is the right one.”

“If we get to the next room, and one of the hallways has a reference to the next line, then we know we’re on the right track,” I said as I moved up to join her.

Before we could step inside Camille slipped in front of us, and cautiously crept forward. She crossed all the way to the other side before gesturing for us to follow. 

The next room was identical to the first, with three different branching corridors. The only thing that was missing was the pedestal. 

“We have a sheaf of wheat, a cave in the mountain, and… what is that, a fish?” Selena asked, confused. “Fish with legs?”

“Then we go down the middle one, it’s the only one that fits ‘refuge’ or ‘laying’” I declared.

Camille nodded, and headed to the door, waiting for Selena to test it before stalking forward. “It’s clear.”

Rushing into the next room Selena started listing the symbols before I even got there. “River, Hawk, and Book. It’s the Book, right?”

“It’s the only thing that fits,” I agreed. “Test it.”

The girls worked together to quickly clear the hallway, and we moved on. 

We passed through the skull door in the Wolf, Knight, Skull room then, more hesitantly through the dueling swords door for the bear, swords, castle room. 

That brought us right to the end of the labyrinth. And presented a whole new problem.

“Why aren’t there any symbols? How are we supposed to know which way to go?” Camille pouted. “Now the dungeon’s cheating.”

“Why would it change the rules now?” Selena asked as she paced back and forth, stopping every once in a while to inspect the doors. “What was the final clue again?”

“Keep moving forward, just follow the path,” I recited.

“What path? There are three different ways to go! Shouldn’t there be the relief showing a path into the mountains, or a crossroad sign, or something?” Camille scowled. “How are we supposed to know which way to go?”

“The poem hasn’t led us astray so far, so there must be a hint in that line,” Selena reasoned. 

I nodded, eyes taking in each door in turn before I finally pointed at the middle door. “That one.”

The girls exchanged a glance. “Why?” Camille finally asked.

“Since the doors aren’t labeled, it means we need to interpret the clue a different way. I choose to interpret it literally,” I explained.

Camille stared at me blankly.

“Keep moving forward,” I repeated. “As in, don’t turn left or right.”

“That’s stupid,” Camille grumbled.

I crossed my arms in front of me. “If you have any better ideas, I’m all ears.”

Camille just stared at me, unconvinced, but Selena ran to the doorway. “I’ll check.” 

The room was quiet as she probed the hallway. 

“It’s clear,” she declared, delightedly, after a minute.

“How confident are you about this?” Camille asked. 

“Considering the circumstances? Confident enough to go first,” I replied.

Camille snorted, “Yeah, but I’m not going to let you do that.”

Turning on her heel, Camille stormed over to the hallway and passed through without a second’s hesitation.

“You could have at least crossed cautiously,” I shouted after her.

“You said you were confident,” she yelled back.

Selena glanced between Camille and me, then shook her head as I stepped past. “You two have worked together way too long.”

The ‘final room’ was small, little more than a fork in the corridor. Despite its unassuming appearance, I could feel something. A power, and sense of anticipation. 

As we stepped up to the fork a window appeared. Not a small forest green one, like mine, but a massive silvery grey one which said:

To the left, you will find that which lured you here. To the right, those you came seeking. 

You can only choose one. Choose wisely.

Camille leaned closer. “Have all your messages been like that?”