The cohort stepped forward, standing before the magnificent stone tablets with writing engraved on them.
The left-most read:
Forever near, yet never close, the glow that births both hope and fear.
Madness awaits those who seek reward in endless march, no end in sight, nor the hoard
The line of stone that never veers, it mocks those wishing for treasure near
The endless straight, vast and drear, turns sanity to discord
'What could this even possibly mean?' Anemone thought before continuing onto the next tablet.
Where end meets fang in stones' embrace, lies the key to Nothing's boundless space
Nothing's knowledge awaits in sacred tone
A stairwell stirs from shadows' trace, descending deep to where secrets are embraced
Shatter the guard that devours its own, thus awaking the steps to the empty thronea
'This one feels significantly easier than the previous, but I don't know the answer.'
Then the cohort continued on to the third and final tablet.
Branches lead to peril's hold, where dead ends whisper chilling fright
Tomes and spells in darkness sealed, await the seeker bold with fight
Wisdom cowers as warriors ignite, charging forth with unyielding might
Yet might comes in many forms, parchment will aid and guide you aright
An indifferent voice cut in while everyone began to read.
"I already know the third one, it leads to a maze."
Anemone stood there, slightly shocked, while Father Hatheway responded, "How do you already know?"
"Because there is a chest with a piece of parchment and a quill, which is for marking out the route."
'Well, at least I don't have to think too hard for that one then.' Anemone sighed internally with relief.
"Do you know what each verse means?" Father responded.
"Verse one, 'Branches lead to peril's hold, where dead ends whisper chilling fright,' I believe means the turns inside the maze lead to death or danger. Verse two, 'Tomes and spells in darkness sealed, await the seeker bold with fight,' well, that explains itself, hopefully… Verse three, 'Wisdom covers as warriors ignite, charging forth with unyielding might,' I believe, means wisdom is of no use here. Verse four, 'Yet might comes in many forms, parchment will aid and guide you aright,' means that we can either brute force it, or use the parchment and quill to mark the paths so we do not retrace our steps."
'Lord, am I talking too much?' Tasim thought to himself.
"Well, thank you for the explanation-" Father said before Anemone cut in,
"Would you like to conquer the maze first or wait until right before the goblins come to figure out the other riddles?"
"I am excellent with directions!" Astrape announced before Father responded to Anemone in Tasim's stead,
"Let's wait and try to figure out the other riddles first, young one. First, we should look at the first riddle and break it down line by line… 'Forever near, yet never close, the glow that births both hope and fear.'"
"The stars!" Astrape said with excitement.
"I think the future," Tasim said with his normal, bored tone.
"I think maybe the soul," Anemone said, her voice not sounding very sure compared to the others. "Because the soul is the part of you that has your hopes and fears embedded inside. Even as you grow older and change, the things that you hope for will not change. And your soul is near, but it's not something you can see, so it must be far. The stars being the correct answer, I believe, is wrong because we are underground and we can't see the night sky."
"How do you feel about the future, young one?" Father replied.
"The future? I don't know exactly."
"Well, let's look at line two, 'Madness awaits those who seek reward in endless march, no end in sight, nor the hoard.'"
"The 'hoard' must be the treasure, along with the 'reward,' so the march must be a challenge of some sort," Anemone said, Astrape nodding slightly while Tasim stood there with a lack of concern.
"Line three, 'The line of stone that never veers, it mocks those wishing for treasure near.'"
"My answer must be right, cause the line of stone could be a shore, and line one referring to the stars means that maybe the answer lies in the stars." Astrape cut in before Anemone replied.
"I don't think the riddle will lead us outside of the dungeon, so it must be something within. Either within us, or within the dungeon, either physical or mental."
"Now line four, 'the endless straight, vast and drear, turns sanity to discord.'"
"An 'endless straight' makes me think of a hallway, a vast one, that is dreary because of the stone it is made of. And looking at line one, this makes sense as it talks of being near, but never close, meaning the 'glow' in line one must be the treasure room at the end of the endless straight."
"Now, how long are we talking? I don't want to spend my entire time here just walking." Tasim said with a slight hint of worry, contrary to his normal tone.
"Well, it must be around here somewhere, through one of these doors."
"Oh great, now we gotta walk through an endless corridor, isn't that just gr-"
Tasim was cut off as a stone door began to rise upwards, creating a loud rumble as debris fell, clashing onto the floor, and now one of the doors was open. And before everyone stood a very long hallway, with a dim, but noticeable light at the other end.
"'The glow that births both hope and fear.'" Astrape muttered under her breath.
"Well, time to get walking, this will be fun," Tasim responded, stepping toward the opening as small dust and rocks continued to fall. "The walk back will be even better, carrying treasure that weighs us down? How amazing… Let's go."
Tasim began to walk, quickly disappearing into the darkness, followed by the other three, with Father following the group from the back once again. The corridor was made with a pattern, every five meters exactly (~16 ft) was another archway supporting the ceiling, with torches that became alit as the cohort walked past them. The stone was overgrown with moss, making the walls cave in when touched. The pace at which everyone walked soon became a single rhythm, their steps blending so perfectly that none could be told apart.
The air was slightly salty, the scent of which happens before rain washes over a region, with a slight humidity that seemed to become less and less as the minutes passed. The hallway seemed endless, and the faint glow never seemed to draw near, but as they glanced back, the entrance was already far behind them. The steps became so in sync that the cadence of their heartbeats became one, forcing their ears to make up noises in between steps. The silence that was born in between each step caused their minds to go insane.
Second after second, minute after minute, hour after hour, they began to question their sanity. They began to wonder if they had walked past one archway, or one thousand, and no one could tell. Their footsteps echoed off the stone walls, the glow ahead seemed to dim and brighten, pulsating, but in the end, it did seem larger than before, if not by much. Their cadence began to slow, as everyone observed their surroundings, Tasim noticed that the archway they were passing was the same as the one, four archways back, and four before that, and before that. This corridor seemed like a loop, an endless stretch with no escape. The flame Tasim was holding this entire time had gone out multiple times, now leaving him empty of animal fat. Eventually, the glow seemed closer, but less dim. The lack of conversation was getting to them, but the light at the end of the hall seemed closer, filling them with hope.
A few hours after beginning the walk, their minds were breaking, but now, before them stood a large metal door with bars producing a window of sorts. The door was rusted, causing it to be extremely difficult to pry open, but as they stood there, trying to open it, the rust disappeared, leaving a new, shiny door that seemed to glisten. As the group opened it, before them stood a plush throne, with a skeleton, sitting with their leg crossing the other, adorning their head was an intricate crown, made of gold, embedded with rubies, jades, emeralds, diamonds, saphires, hundreds of small gems, placed with perfection.
Surrounding him was a hoard of treasure, gold coins, swords, staves, other crowns, gems, chests, and many other types of gold treasure. To the side of the throne stood two braziers, aflame, casting a light onto the treasure. Alongside the flame, a light was being reflected off the skull of the skeleton, a faint blue light which was as soft as moonlight, but it wasn't moonlight.
"u-uh.. a fairy? Oh my god! A FAIRY! Oh my god, they are real. I thought they were just part of folktales. It's actually real. Do you all see this, or am I going crazy?" Astrape exclaimed.
"Yes, yes, we see it," Tasim said, still feeling as though he had gone insane from the march.
"How are you already okay after that? I need rest; my mind feels as though it is breaking down." Anemone responded, while falling down to the ground and lying there.
"Are you okay, young one?" Father began to worry, not caring about the fairy.
"But, why is it here? It should have disappeared." Astrape said aloud, hoping someone would answer her question.
"Well, if fairies are tamed, they become bound to someone, forced to stay with them until they fade out of existence," Tasim responded.
"But, I heard that fairies are unable to be controlled by humans."
"There are tales of humans, kings, and other powerful humans controlling them.
"Wowww… One day, I am going to tame one. I would love to have any kind, especially one with elemental abilities."
"…"
Tasim ignored Astrape as he began to wander the open area filled with treasure. He scanned the bones, the glowing fairy, who had no body and only produced blue light. He made his way around the throne, looking around, kicking up small bits of dust as he walked. He found himself standing over a circle that slowly began to glow with a faint blue light. Slowly became darker and darker as the ring was filled with the light. He became startled, quickly stepping off the mysterious circle with runes surrounding it. Instead, he looked to the throne, the back of it specifically, where a goblet stand stood along with small writing which was located on the back of the throne.
I was a god.
I was a king.
I was a son.
I was a father.
I was Nothing's.
I knew all that is and all that is not.
I wiped out armies with one thought.
I manifested my will upon the world
I was the first to invent what humans call magic.
Yet magic is more than spells; magic is a crutch.
Magic is an echo of a greater voice.
Close your mouth.
Silence your words.
Let the mind dominate.
Impose your will upon the world.
Stand upon the sigil to learn your true nature.
Place upon the goblet any power you wish to understand.
A mark is placed upon those who have begun to develop their power.
Tasim backed away for a moment, finding himself upon the sigil again, and before he knew it, the runes that lay upon the ground were a bright blue, but produced no light that was cast upon the world; it was only visible to him. A blue aurora surrounded him before quickly disappearing. And a new line of text was now on the back of the throne.
Tasim - Unmarked
Vitality: Low
Will: Brown
Resonance: None
Title: None