|
Chapter
11: Separate Ways
There was
a throbbing pain in my head, along with the rest of my body. I slowly opened my
eyes, a blurry figure was sitting nearby. My eyes began to focus, it was
Schimmel. He was leaning against the wall, out of breath and holding his left
shoulder, but I didn't see any blood.
Schimmel
glanced down at me and grinned. "Hey, you okay?" he asked.
"I can't
move... and my body is sore... but other than that, yeah I'm fine." I said,
trying to move my arms.
"Well
that's good. Better than not being able to feel anything." Schimmel chuckled.
I tried
moving again, despite the pain. I was able to roll onto my back, being facedown
on a cold stone floor was not comfortable. "What hit me, a dozen drunk Nords?"
"No... a
bonewalker." Schimmel said, wiping the blood off his sword.
"I see...
wait, where's Trelana?" I asked, just now realizing she was missing.
"She's
resting over in the corner... exhausted. When the bonewalker attacked she
panicked, throwing a ton of ice magic at it, even after it was laying dead on
the ground. Then she used what little energy she had left to heal us."
"Trelana...
that's right..."
"What?"
"I
remember now... for a while I couldn't remember who she was, the face was
familiar, but that's it. After hearing her name it slowly came back to me. We
helped each other out a lot when I was staying at the Ald-Ruhn Mages' Guild. She
told me that one of her biggest fears was bonewalkers... no wonder she freaked
out." I mumbled.
Schimmel
stood up, looking down the passage the bonewalker had come from. "It's too dark
down there, I can't see a thing."
I slowly
got to my feet, still a bit sore. "I didn't think to bring a torch... planning
ahead isn't my strong point."
"Luckily
I have more common sense than both of you." Trelana said, looking over at us. "I
borrowed these from my friend, catch." she tossed a glowing ring at me, and then
at Schimmel.
I stared
at it for a moment before slipping it on my finger. My eyes tingled for a
moment, and everything seemed to get lighter. I could see down the tunnel
easily.
"What are
these?" Schimmel asked, putting his on.
"Night
Eye enchanted rings... better than any torch." Trelana said, leaning against the
wall. "I'll be waiting here... I need... more rest." she mumbled, leaning
against the wall.
"Okay,
we'll be back soon." I said, turning toward the tunnel. "I'll take this one, you
get the other."
Schimmel
nodded and walked down the other tunnel, a path had appeared there as well.
I glanced
back at Trelana, who was already asleep, before walking down the tunnel. I just
had a bad feeling about leaving her there. The tunnel went on for a while and
then stopped at a dead end. I looked around for a switch, or even a few symbols,
but there was nothing to be found. I was about to turn back when I heard a
crash. A stone wall had dropped behind me, blocking the way out. All I could do
now was wait for something to happen.
Schimmel
walked cautiously down the tunnel, keeping his hand on the hilt of his katana.
The tunnel soon came to an end. There was a lever of some sort on the wall. As
he approached it there was a loud noise as a wall came crashing down behind him.
He had no choice but to pull the lever in front of him. He pulled it down and
heard a click. Nothing seemed to happen. He pushed it back up, still nothing.
Schimmel began to flip the switch from one position to the other rapidly,
wondering if it was broken.
I watched
in amazement and confusion as the wall leading deeper into the tomb rose and
dropped repeatedly. I wondered if this was some kind of test, if I had to jump
through at just the right time, but the movement was so erratic I'd probably get
squished in the attempt. After a while it finally stopped moving and remained
open. I waited for a moment before running through. The passage continued for a
while until I found a small pedestal with three raised stone slabs upon it, each
had a different picture. A sun, a moon, and a star. Something was written just
above them, it appeared to be a riddle. After reading it I discovered I could
only press one of the switches, one opened the door for Schimmel, another would
kill him, and the third would kill me.
Schimmel
gave up on the lever, leaving it in the down position. He paced the small area
he was trapped in, getting a bit impatient. He sat on the floor, staring at the
wall. After two minutes he reached into the small pouch on his belt and removed
some jerky he had been saving. He chewed on it, waiting for something to happen.
I took a
deep breath, hoping I had figured out the riddle. I put my hand on the star slab
and pressed down hard. I flinched as I heard a click, half expecting something
to happen to me. A moment passed, but I heard nothing. Whatever happened,
happened to Schimmel. What I couldn't stand was not knowing if I had opened the
door or killed him.
Schimmel
sighed, laying on the stone floor. There was a click and a grinding noise, he
looked up to see what was happening and saw the wall rising. He leapt to his
feet and began walking down the passage, still chewing on a bit of jerky. More
clicking sounds were coming from up ahead, he soon found what was making them.
Over a dozen spears were popping in and out of the walls, ready to impale anyone
foolish enough to go any further. There was another switch on the wall just past
the spears. The way back was still blocked, so he knew his only choice was to
press on.
Schimmel
watched the spears carefully, trying to figure out the pattern so he could get
though. After a couple minutes he got ready to run, casting a spell that made
him faster, he needed all the speed he could get for something like this. He
charged into the spears, easily dodging some of them while narrowly avoiding
others. He got close to the end and they began to get closer together. When he
was less than a foot from escape, one of the stone tiles beneath his feet
shifted. All the spears went into walls simultaneously, and Schimmel leapt
forward as they all thrust outward, each one striking the opposite wall. One of
them managed to slice his leg during his final leap, but as he looked back he
knew it could have been much worse. After healing his leg, Schimmel pulled the
switch, and all the spears returned to their original walls.
I was
huddled on the floor, worried and going over the riddle in my mind again and
again. Almost convinced that I had pushed the wrong button and killed Schimmel.
I was brought to my senses as the wall slid to the side, revealing the passage
deeper into the tomb. I stood up, relieved that Schimmel was still alive, if I
had killed him I'd be trapped in here. I hurried down the hall, wondering what
the next trap would be. I slowed down when I was at the end of the tunnel. There
was a switch on the wall, but no visible traps. I walked slowly forward, waiting
for something to happen. I stepped in front of the switch, thinking it was too
easy as I pushed down on it. After the click I heard a strange sound, I looked
back the way I came and saw thin streams of water coming from small holes that
led all the way back to the other door. The hall was going to fill with water if
Schimmel didn't hurry.
Schimmel
looked up as the door slid aside, and stepped through. He wasn't sure what to
think after seeing what was ahead. It was a short passage compared to all the
others, and there were levers lining each of the walls. He walked to the end and
saw a large orange switch by the doorway leading deeper in. He pressed the
switch, but as soon as he took his hand off, it slid back out. He turned back to
the levers along the wall and shrugged, there was no writing on the walls to
tell him what to do, so he began pulling them down one by one. By the time he
got halfway back down one side of the wall the first one he pulled popped back
up, followed by the second, and third, until the one he still had his hand on
flipped up, flinging it off. He pushed it back down and waited, it soon flipped
back up. He did it again, this time timing how long it took before it switched
back.
After
timing it, he walked back to the door he entered and stood in the center of the
hall, facing the levers. He stretched for a moment and got ready to run, making
sure he could reach both walls. He charged down the hall, flipping the levers as
he passed by them. He skidded to a halt just before crashing into the wall and
glanced back, all the levers were down.
The water
had risen to my shoulders and I was beginning to lose hope. I heard a click and
the door leading further in began to move. The water rushed through the opening
doorway, dragging me with it. I was pulled all the way to the other end of the
new path, and my back struck something sticking out of the wall. The next door
began to open and the remaining water drained out. I slowly stood up and
stumbled out the door, looking around. I had come to a large room, there was a
path leading to the right and another straight ahead. I heard a faint sound
coming from the right path, it sounded like footsteps. I readied my bow and took
aim at the path, wondering if it was another bonewalker.
Schimmel
stared at the orange switch, pressing it repeatedly. He tried holding it down,
and heard a click. The door creaked open and Schimmel continued deeper into the
tomb, beginning to think there was no end. The path turned left, and he saw
light coming from up ahead. He walked cautiously toward the light, his hand on
the hilt of his katana. The second he stepped out of the hall an arrow whizzed
past his head, striking the wall. He leapt back and heard someone yell.
"Oh
crap!" I dashed over and looked down the path, Schimmel was standing there a bit
shaken from the sudden attack. "Schimmel, are you all right? I'm really sorry
about that, I thought you were a monster..."
Schimmel
gave me an irritated look. "Next time know what you're shooting at before you
let go of the bowstring! Jeez..." he said, beginning to walk past me when he
noticed my robe was waterlogged. "What happened to you?"
"Riddles,
floods, nothing much." I looked down at his torn pant leg. "What about you?"
"Switches, spears and lots of running."
"I hope
we're almost out of here..." I sighed, walking toward the path deeper into the
tomb.
We walked
down an all too similar passage for a while, before arriving at another large
room. There were symbols on the opposite wall, along with a lever and stone
door. I walked over and began to read the symbols while Schimmel leaned against
the door. After reading the warning I was a bit confused.
"To
continue alive you must see through the eyes of a necromancer...?" I mumbled,
reading it aloud.
Schimmel
gave me a confused look. "What?"
I
shrugged, "That's what it says." I pulled the lever, and the room started to
shake. The floor began to collapse and the door opened. I ran over, but stopped
after seeing what was ahead. There was a golden staff mounted on the wall. I
looked back at the crumbling floor as the chunks of rock plummeted into
darkness. Schimmel ran forward through the doorway, but I quickly grabbed the
back of his shirt and pulled him backwards as hard as I could. He stumbled
backwards a few steps and tripped, knocking both of us down into the hole
created by the destroyed floor.
|
