Chapter IX (9)

  With no other leads, the two of them approached the temple. These structures were built as places of worship and to safekeep the most precious objects. Despite that, when Sett pressed his hand against the stone slab that sealed off the entrance, it dissolved instantly, welcoming them inside.

  “It’s going to solidify behind us the moment we step inside,” Sett grumbled.

  “Without a doubt,” Mitsuko agreed. “You wait out here. Trigger it again in five minutes and I’ll let you know what I find.”

  “No.”

  “What?”

  “I’m going inside. You stay outside. Or else we both go inside together.”

  “That’s idiotic.”

  He flashed a smile, his golden tooth sparkling.. “You mentioned treasure earlier. I’m not about to let you run off with it.”

  “Fine,” she snapped at him. “But hurry up and don’t get distracted by the first shiny thing you see. My friend is somewhere in there.”

  He stepped forward without another word. The stone slab solidified seconds after he passed through. Then she sat back and waited. Nothing moved. It was eerie. She rubbed her fingers together, soot falling off them. She probably had the complexion of a phantom after an hour of bushwhacking through this forest. Everything in sight was covered in a layer of soot. Towering over the island’s horizon was the cause of it all. A smoldering volcano at the island’s center, releasing a constant, neverending, plume of ash.

  After what she judged to be a few minutes, she slapped a hand on the stone and it dissolved again.

  “You told the truth!” a man gasped, falling forward, his eyes full of tears. “We’re truly free. You’ve saved us.”

  Behind him, at least ten others stood. All were haggard and beaten. Save for the one armed cook who simply smiled, eyeing them each as if they were sacks of gold. Which, she supposed, in a way, they were. Each soul held a bounty on their safe return.

  “Do…do you have food?” a woman asked. Mitsuko thought she might be one of the sailors. “How long were we in there?”

  Mitsuko handed over what few snacks remained in her pack. Upon seeing their gaunt faces, she regretted eating most of it on the ship. But they took the jerky and nuts with quivering hands and thanked her as if it was a bounty.

  “Where is Holly?” Holly couldn’t be dead. She made foolish choices, but there was no chance she’d die to a trap while these people all still lived. But, despite her confidence in Holly’s competence, Mitsuko’s heart beat fast, dreading the possible answer.

  “The…gnome?” The sailor gulped and looked at her companions. “She went in the pit with the others.”

  “A pit trap?” Mitsuko didn’t believe it. That was too simplistic.

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  “No. The pit.”

  “I found them all huddled around the edges of a massive abyss at the center of the pyramid. No traps along the way.”

  “Only the call,” a gaunt man whispered.

  The others all shivered, despite the sun’s warmth.

  “She went in to find an exit,” the sailor said. “A few others too. But after a few minutes, they stopped calling back when we yelled down to them.”

  “If there’s treasure, that’s where it will be,” Sett said.

  Mitsuko closed her eyes and bit her lip. She knew exactly what her friend had been thinking. “That idiot wanted to map out the temple.”

  “Are you mages?” a survivor asked hopefully. “Could you go save them?”

  “No. And yes.”

  Mitsuko stepped forward and set her hand on the stone slab once again. Then Sett stepped up next to her.

  “Not about to steal all the treasure for yourself, I hope,” he said.

  “Anyone else want to join us?” Mitsuko asked the survivors. No one volunteered. “Then stay out here. And open that door every few minutes. We’ll be back.”

  They passed through the entryway and a moment later, darkness closed all around them.

  Sett raised his hand and a candle sized flame lit up on a finger. Everyone could do small cantrips like that with magic, regardless of their training as a mage. Everyone, except for Mitsuko, of course. Still, if they were going to go down into unknown territory, her one spell might prove invaluable. She cast it, checking their direction as they walked forward through the stone hall. Her compass spell let her receive at least a bit of an understanding of the temple’s position.

  It was only a minute before they arrived at the temple’s central chamber. Sure enough, there was a massive pit. The pit sucked in the light from Sett’s spell, dimming the room even further. Mitsuko had no doubt that it was enchanted.

  “Are you the one?”

  Mitsuko whipped around, trying to find the source of the whisper. But no one was there. Sett was over to the side, oblivious as he peered down into the abyss. He then took a soiled cloth from the ground and lit it with his spell, creating a small fire. He dismissed his spell.

  “Join me.”

  The voice was a trap. Another enchantment. Something in her head, designed to drive those trapped inside the temple mad. Or maybe it was a monster’s technique used to lure in prey. Temples were notorious for their monsters, after all.

  “We need to be careful,” she told Sett.

  He grunted. “You have rope? Or do we gotta take a leap of faith?”

  She did have rope. She had learned long ago never to go out into the wilderness without it. Normally, she had an enchanted rope that could extend five times its length, but that was at the bottom of the sea with the rest of her possessions from the Selcouth Sable. The rope in her pack was just a coil of normal hemp. Still better than nothing.

  “Hopefully it’s long enough,” she said. She tossed him one end. “Find somewhere to tie it.”

  Sett might be one-armed, but she had complete faith in a sailor’s knots. And that trust proved well placed as she tugged at the snuggly tied rope.

  “Ladies first,” he said, a twinkle in his eye from the firelight.

  There was no going back. She took a hold of the rope and slowly descended, hand over hand. The light above her disappeared from view.

  “Still alive?” Sett called down at her.

  “Yes.”

  “Good. I’m on my way down.”

  And then, the world around her disappeared.