Aveyond: Rhen's Quest

Chapter 26: Trapped

"Rhen! Rhen! Wake up!" she felt someone slapping her face. She stirred around, gaining consciousness. Another voice came in afterward.

"Let me help," a few strange words followed and she couldn't hear them clearly as he said in a fast, low tone. No sooner Rhen could react than freezing water doused over her face.

"Wh--?! What was that for?!" Rhen shrieked. She sat up and daggered the green-hair guy.

"I'm just trying to wake you up and see whether you're still alive or not," he shrugged.

"I'm fine," she rose to her feet. "And let's go."

"Oh, thank you very much and you're welcome," mumbled Lars as he followed the others behind.

They have been walking under the scorching sun for minutes and there were no sign of any creatures, beast or even the demon. Elini attempted to sense the demonic scent in this place, to no avail. Lars tried to cast some water out of thin air but failed as the surroundings was hot and dry that all the water have been dried out.

"Look over there!" cried Lars as he was pointing somewhere not far from him. "It's an oasis!"

"I don't think it is--" before Dameon could finish Lars ran towards the place as he was too thirsty to have second thoughts. No sooner had Lars reached there than the oasis was gone. Too late, he realized it was just a mirage and cursed himself by swinging his arms wildly into the air. He was about to wail in agony when the ground shook. They covered their eyes so that the sand would not go into them. As the ground stopped shaking, they opened their eyes and gasped as a marvelous castle appeared in front of them.

"Somehow, I'm so envy that the genie could live in such a beautiful castle," commented Elini. She pushed the huge door open and peeked inside, with others following behind. The door slammed shut once they were all inside.

"Oh, I'll take back for what I said," she wrinkled her nose as a putrid smell waffled throughout the whole place. It was so smelly that even a fly or a cockroach could not withstand it.

"Let's move. The sooner we finish with the demon, the earlier we can get out of this place," hands igniting flame, Lars walked into the corridor. With a flick of his fingers, rows of torches came alive, burning as brightly as they could. With his spell-book armed, Lars led the way. After minutes of giant-rat-slaying and spiderweb-removing they reached a crossroad, one went down to the bottom of nowhere and the other one were stairs climbing high up above.

"The demonic scent is getting stronger. It's coming from that way," pointed the summoner to the path with the stairs. Rhen made a mental note that they would venture the other path once they have done searching with one side.

They climbed the spiral stairs up and stopped in front of a wooden door. Series of words that they could not read (Arcane words, in Lars' opinion) engraved on it to prevent intruders from entering the room.

"Let me try," the sorcerer stepped in front of the door, opened his spell-book. "Telegu Kahsaro Tia!"

The words disappeared and Lars opened the door, gesturing the ladies to enter. No sooner the two entered the room than the door slammed shut instantly. Lars tried to undo the spell but to no avail.

"Rhen! Elini! Are you alright?" called Dameon.

"We're fine!" replied Rhen at the other side.

"Looks like this door locks itself magically," said Elini. "The owner of this palace must have been protecting this room from outsiders for good."

"Hold on! We'll find a way to save you! We'll be right back!" the ladies heard running footsteps fading to a distance.

"Guard up, sword singer. I have a feeling that our friend here is a strong opponent," warned Elini. "I summon thee, Aiz Daeva from thy Gate of Glacial!"

"Thanks Elini," said Rhen. "This place is cooking me up!"

"Don't mention it. Now, where are we?" they scanned the room.

"It must be a treasure vault," said Rhen. They saw gallons of gold pieces, crowns, sapphires, diamonds, emeralds and other jewels that had never seen before. She gasped when she saw a ruby-red sword lying on top of a pile of gold. She picked it up and the sword's knowledge transferred to her in an instant.

"It's the Sword of Might!" exclaimed Rhen.

"I'm glad you found your weapon," spoke Elini, who was admiring at an exotic-looking whip. "Dessert dragon leather, not bad."

They also discovered some useful equipment that might suited well for the guys. For instance, an emerald-green dragon orb, scorpion-skin cloak, a fancy staff for the priest.

"Alright, enough with the shopping. Let's get back to business," pointed Elini toward a room at the back of the treasure vault. "The scent is getting strong."

Upon entering the dark corridor they slowed down, torches blazing along the wall. The end of the corridor expanded and they found themselves in a dome. A pedestal lied in the middle of the room and on top of it lied a fancy looking belt.

"If I'm not mistaken, it's the belt that the curator talked about!" exclaimed Rhen.

"Wait! There might be booby traps set in this room," warned Elini, looking at the ground as if there were lots of mine burrowed within. She turned her head to the ice demon who was following them all along. The demon nodded and walked ahead. It melted, leaving trails above the sandy path. The demon vanished when it reached the pedestal.

"Now, let's walk carefully," Rhen followed her behind, trudging on the snow step-by-step. Once they were at the middle, they stopped.

"No, wait!" before Elini could stop her, Rhen took the belt. The path where they came from went missing and they were trapped inside the room. Danger washed over their faces when sand poured in quickly, filling up the the room like a waterfall.

~~~

After the ladies were trapped at the other side, the guys took the other path and went down the stairs. The putrid smell went stronger as they descended. A wooden door was left ajar at the bottom of the stairs and they went inside naturally.

"Ohh, what in the name of the god...?" Lars and Dameon pinched their noses as they could not stand the smell any longer. The wooden door locked itself and they were trapped inside. They looked around, walking carefully as they did not want to step on any bones of the remains that scattered on the ground. Out of a sudden Lars squeaked as he tripped onto something and lost his balance. Dameon grabbed his arm before he landed on a pile of rotten bones. He thanked him and got to his feet. No sooner they continued than Lars did not see a bone and stepped onto it.

Crack!

"Uh oh," gulped Lars. The bones rattle and started moving, pieces joining together. Tibia, fibula and tarsals forming to a leg; Ulna, radius, scapula and clavicle formed to an arm; Skull, ribs and so on. It was seconds before an army of skeletons were looking at the intruders. Some were holding swords, some holding shields. It take minutes for the skeletons to surround that two.