Tavàri and Gabriel were looking for a temple that was supposedly full of gold and treasure. They had stolen the map from The King of Chandeur and his guards were after them. They were making their way through the jungle trying not to leave a trail. Gabriel was in front riding on Bless with Bones following behind. Tavàri was at the back covering up their tracks and creating fake trails through the bushes.
Tavàri felt a sudden sinking sensation as she stepped into a patch of soft ground. She looked down and saw her boot disappear into the dark mud. She tried to pull it out, but it was too late. She was trapped in quicksand.
"Gabriel!" she shouted, hoping he was close enough to hear her. They had to act fast before the quicksand swallowed her whole.
Gabriel heard Tavàri's shout and turned Bless around. He saw her struggling in the quicksand, about twenty feet away from him. "For f#ck's sake!" He cursed and spurred Bless forward, hoping to reach her in time.
He jumped off his horse and threw one end of his rope to Tavàri. "Grab it!" he yelled. "I'll pull you out!"
Tavàri caught the rope and wrapped it around her waist. She felt Gabriel tug on the other end, but the quicksand was too strong. It was pulling her deeper and deeper.
"Gabriel, it's not working!" she yelled. "You're supposed to be smart!"
"I'm smarter than you Miss. I-stepped-straight-into-quicksand!" He yelled back while straining against the rope.
"Well then get me out of here or I swear to the holy fire sprites I will haunt you when I die!" Tavàri retorted as she sank even further.
Gabriel looked around, desperate for a solution. He saw Bones and Bless standing nearby. He had an idea.
He ran to Bones and grabbed Tavàri's rope from her saddle bag. He tied the other end of his rope to the saddle. Then he tied one end of Tavàri's rope to Bless' saddle and the other end to Bones' saddle. He hoped the horses were strong enough to pull Tavàri out.
"Hurry up!" Tavàri yelled frantically as the quicksand came up to her neck by now.
Gabriel mounted Bless and shouted to Tavàri. "Hold on tight! I'm going to try something!"
Tavàri only heard the first part as her head sank below the surface of the quicksand.
Gabe slapped Bones on the flank and kicked Bless into a gallop, hoping they would follow his lead. The horses ran in opposite directions, creating tension on the ropes. Tavàri felt a sudden jerk as the ropes pulled her out of the quicksand.
She gasped for air as she landed on solid ground. She was covered in mud, but she was alive.
She looked up and saw Gabriel riding towards her on Bless. He jumped off his horse and ran to her side.
"Are you okay?" he asked, concern in his green eyes.
"I'm fine," she said, smiling weakly. "Thanks to you."
He hugged her tightly, relieved that she was safe.
They heard a whimper behind them and turned around. They saw Luna running towards them. She had been following a little bit behind the rest and wandered off from time to time.
She jumped into Tavàri's arms and licked her face.
"Hey, Luna," Tavàri said, stroking her fur. "You're a good girl."
Gabriel smiled.
"Come on," he said. "The sooner we find this temple, the sooner we can get out of this damn jungle."
They got back on their horses and rode away from the quicksand pit. Carefully watching for any more.
Eventually, they found a stone wall covered in vines and moss, hidden between the trees. They dismounted their horses and took a closer look. Gabriel moved some moss and vines to reveal an inscription on the wall. The inscription was written in many different languages including Common, Elvish, Infernal and Galactic.
The inscription read:
What is so fragile that saying its name breaks it?
Dè a tha cho cugallach is gu bheil an t-ainm ga bhriseadh?
∴⍑ᔑℸ ̣ ¦ᓭ ᓭ𝙹 ⎓∷ᔑ˧¦ꖎᒷ ℸ ̣⍑ᔑℸ ̣ ᓭᔑǁ¦リ˧ ¦ℸ ̣ᓭ リᔑᒲᒷ ʖ∷ᒷᔑꖌᓭ ¦ℸ ̣
† ϕƚ๏ϟ ᴈѣ ѣϵ ɣꞇ๏ꭾѯƿϲ ϫ๏ϟ ѣ๏ᶾ³Պ ᴈϟѣ ϡ๏ꝩϲ ϯꞇο˙ᴪѣ ᴈϟ ʢ̮̭̥̣̑̌̊̇
Tavàri scratched the base of her horns and looked at Gabriel. He was frowning and stroking his chin, deep in thought.
She sighed and said. "Come on, Gabriel, this is easy. We don't have all day. The guards could catch up with us any minute."
Gabriel glanced at her and said. "Easy for you, maybe. You're a tiefling, you have a natural knack for riddles. I'm an elf, I prefer logic and reason."
Tavàri rolled her eyes. "Logic and reason are overrated. Sometimes you just have to go with your gut."
She looked at the inscription again and smiled.
"I got it! The answer is silence!"
She shouted the word and the wall slid open, revealing a dark passage.
"See? I told you it was easy."
She grabbed Luna and ran towards the passage.
Gabriel shook his head and followed her.
"You're lucky that was the right answer. You could have triggered a trap or something."
He whistled for Bless and Bones to follow them.
Tavàri turned around and said: "Relax, Gabriel. You worry too much. Nothing can stop us now. We're almost there."
She winked at him and kissed Bones on the nose.
"Come on, boys! Let's go get rich!"
Tavàri and Gabriel entered the dark passage and followed it until they reached a large chamber. In the centre of the chamber, there was a pedestal with a golden orb on top of it. Around the pedestal, there were four statues, each holding a different weapon: a sword, a spear, a bow and an axe.
Tavàri ran towards the pedestal and reached for the orb. "Look, Gabriel, this must be the treasure!"
Gabriel stopped her and pulled her back. "Wait, Tavàri, don't touch it. This could be another puzzle. Look at the statues. They might come to life if you take the orb."
Tavàri looked at the statues and shrugged. "So what? We can handle them."
Gabriel sighed. "Tavàri, you're too impulsive. You don't think things through. There might be a way to solve this puzzle without fighting. Maybe there's a clue somewhere."
He looked around the chamber and noticed a plaque on the wall. Once again in many languages including Common, Elvish, Infernal and Galactic.
It read:
To claim the golden prize. You must choose the weapon wise. One will lead you to glory. The others to your demise.
Gus an duais òir a thagradh. Feumaidh tu an armachd a thaghadh gu glic. Treòraichidh aon thu gu glòir. An fheadhainn eile gu do bhàs.
ℸ ̣𝙹 ᓵꖎᔑ¦ᒲ ℸ ̣⍑ᒷ ˧𝙹ꖎ⟍̅ᒷリ !¡∷¦⨅ᒷ. ǁ𝙹⚍ ᒲ⚍ᓭℸ ̣ ᓵ⍑𝙹𝙹ᓭᒷ ℸ ̣⍑ᒷ ∴ᒷᔑ!¡𝙹リ ∴¦ᓭᒷ. 𝙹リᒷ ∴¦ꖎꖎ ꖎᒷᔑ⟍̅ ǁ𝙹⚍ ℸ ̣𝙹 ˧ꖎ𝙹∷ǁ. ℸ ̣⍑ᒷ 𝙹ℸ ̣⍑ᒷ∷ᓭ ℸ ̣𝙹 ǁ𝙹⚍∷ ⟍̅ᒷᒲ¦ᓭᒷ.
† ϟϵ ψƿ๏³ꝩ ϫϲ ꭾөƿᴦοϡ ƞꞇѯжϲ . † ℥ˉˀ ꝩϙѣϟ ъӨѣϲ ϫϲ ϕ°˙ƞөϡ ϕ³ѣϲ . † ϶ϡϲ ϕ³Ƿ ƿο˙ᴦ ℥ˉˀ ϟϵ ꭾƿөꞇƹ . † ϫϲ ϶ϫοꞇѣ ϟϵ ʒˉˀꞇ ᴦοꝩѯѣϲ .
Gabriel read the plaque aloud. "See? There's a clue. We have to choose the right weapon from the statues. But which one is it?"
Tavàri looked at the weapons. "I don't know. They all look pretty good to me. Maybe we should try them all." She grinned. "Or maybe we should just take the orb and run."
Before Gabriel could stop her, she dashed towards the pedestal and grabbed the orb.
As soon as she did, the statues came to life and moved towards them and the orb turned to dust.
Tavàri growled. "Cactus and brimstone! Why can't it ever be easy to get some treasure!" She drew her rapier and took a fighting stance.
"Goblins' beard Tavàri! I told you not to touch it!" Gabriel said as he drew his sword.
He looked at the statues and tried to figure out which one had the right weapon. He noticed that one of them had a bow that was made of silver, while the others had weapons that were made of iron. He remembered that silver was a symbol of glory in many cultures. He realized that the bow was the right weapon.
He shouted to Tavàri. "Tavàri, listen to me. The bow is the right weapon. Take the bow from that statue."
Tavàri smirked. "Got it!"
She ran towards the statue with the bow. She dodged its attacks and managed to snatch the bow from its hands. As she took it the statues and weapons all disintegrated. The end of the passage opens up to reveal a tunnel heading deeper into the temple.
Tavàri cheered and said: "Ha! Take that, you stone-faced freaks!"
She looked at Gabriel and smiled.
"See? I told you we could handle them."
Gabriel sighed but smiled at her. "You did well, Tavàri. But don't ever do that again."
She walked towards him with a confident smirk. "I'm a thief remember. I take what I want and I don't care about the consequences." She stood in front of Gabriel looking up at him with her fiery golden eyes.
Slowly she reached up putting her arms around his neck. Gabriel was frozen in place, his emerald green eyes lost in fiery gold. Tavàri slowly lifted herself onto her tip-toes. Gabriel closed his eyes leaning closer his heart beating at rapid speed.
Suddenly, Tavàri pulled away, letting go of his neck and smirking at him. "I'm also a master of deception." She chuckles as she walks towards the tunnel with Luna at her heels leaving a stunned Gabriel.
After a few seconds, Gabriel snaps out of his trance-like state and follows with Bless and Bones behind him. "Galla." He mutters angrily in Elvish.
At the end of the tunnel, they find a door. Tavàri pushes it open and walks through expecting to find a treasure trove on the other side. Instead, they find an empty room with a few remnants of gold and jewels scattered about.
"W-where's the treasure!?" Tavàri yells.
Gabriel looks around the room. He picks up a few small pieces of gold and inspects them then drops them again. As the pieces hit the ground everything starts to shake. A creature emerges from the ground in the middle of the room. It growls and uses its many limbs to move towards some small pieces of gold in the corner, picking them up and eating them.
(Refer to the picture at the start of the chapter for a description of the creature because I have tried and failed to describe it XD)
"Looks like the Xorn got to the treasure before we did!" Gabriel laughs.
"The what!?" Tavàri says anger suppressed under her words.
"The Xorn," Gabriel says falling into his lecture voice. "It's a creature that travels through dirt and stone as if it were water and it eats gold, silver and jewels."
"I-it just eats them!? It just eats treasure!?" Tavàri growls.
"Yes, and it seems this is its pantry." Gabriel chuckles.
"We risked our lives for that map! We got chased through the jungle! I almost died to quicksand! We worked so hard for this treasure and it's all been eaten by this...this thing!?" Tavàri rants.
"It seems that way." Gabriel smiles at his companion's outrage.
Tavàri huffs and storms back up the tunnel with Luna at her heels. Gabriel, Bless and Bones following steadily behind.
I'd say Tavàri was having a generally bad day. Maybe she'll get a break in the next chapter eh? Also, remember to take care of yourselves and get some sleep. (I didn't so don't follow my example please) ^^ <3