From the hallway comes an unearthly howl. The whole cavern has an eerie, surreal quality. You shudder in apprehension as the sound echoes forebodingly along the walls, enveloping you in a veil of unease. Silently, hesitantly, you turn the knob of the door with a trembling hand. It groans audibly in protest, as if it had been still for a thousand years. Finally, you hear a clack, indicating the door is unlocked. There is no turning back now.
Drawing a breath, you try your best to regain your composure as you press against the door. It sticks to the frame for a brief moment before it breaks away with a sharp snap, drifting open under your gentle pressure.
The howling... stops. The echoes cease immediately, as if halted in their tracks by some supernatural force. You quake, the sudden silence only serving to fuel the fire of dread blazing in your chest. Looking ahead, you spot a monumental pedestal engraved with various elaborate designs. Wrapped around the pillar is a stone sculpture. A serpent; A huge, terrifying creature with its mouth stretched open in a palpable roar to reveal hundreds of thin, razor-sharp fangs. Its eyes are indicated clearly with two glistening black jewels.
You clutch your torch tightly with one hand. If you were any stronger the wooden handle would splinter from the intensity of your grasp. The otherwise total silence is disturbed by your breathing, tense and uneasy.
Your gaze shifts to the base of the pillar.
A book?
Gradually, you inch closer, straining to see the open pages. The torch light radiates a flickering golden glow, illuminating the paper enough for you to make out the various symbols. It is unlike any language you have seen before, and you gaze down at the indecipherable scribbles blankly.
Crack!
You jerk to attention abruptly, spinning around to face the door behind you.
I let my guard down.
You wave the torch in the direction the noise came from, finding nothing.
“...Hello?” You venture to say.
Flip.
You whirl around again, a gasp escaping you as your mouth falls open. The book is still there, but...
You kneel down to get a better look.
A different page...
To your surprise, the writing is completely different. You can read this one.
Come if you must, but come during night- a gentle goodbye to snuff out my light.
What...?
Filled with apprehension, you look up, gazing at the flickering flame on your torch.
Maybe.
You close your eyes, taking a breath...
And pause.
No. Come during night...
You shuffle through your coat with your free hand, taking out your timekeeper.
It won’t be nightfall for two more hours.
With a sigh, you put the timekeeper away and take a seat.
How long has it been? You ponder after what feels like an eternity. Lifting the timekeeper again, you squint to see.
...Only ten minutes?
An exasperated groan rumbles through your chest. Regardless, you rest your head against your hand, waiting.
“If this doesn’t work...” you mumble.
Finally, you glance to the timekeeper again.
Now.
Lifting the torch, you put out the light with a puff of air, engulfing yourself in darkness.
Nothing happens for a minute. Then suddenly you feel the ground start to quake. Beams of light slice through the blackness around you, blinding you momentarily. Straining to focus, you squint against the unwelcome brightness. Your vision clears in time for you to witness the statue beginning to crumble. It seems to stabilize after a considerable chunk from what would be the chest of the serpent falls to the ground. It reveals a black stone that refracts the light in all directions, casting it around the room in a brilliant display of colour.
You shudder in excitement as you approach the statue. Cautiously, you grip the gem with your fingertips, wiggling it a bit before it pops out of the stone.
The ground shakes beneath your feet, and you see a side of the wall open up.
Taking one last look at the impressive sculpture, you step out of the cavern through the new hole in the wall.
You pause as it dawns on you that it is light out.
But when I checked, it was dark... I was only in there a few minutes after... right?
Your thoughts are interrupted by an old man’s calling, brimming with pride. “Yume! Yume! You made it! I knew you would!”
You turn towards the elderly, stout man as he rapidly approaches you, cane pounding the earth and leaving a trail of divots in the dirt behind him. You immediately recognize his long grey beard highlighted with streaks of white.
“I guess I did.” You smile, his cheerfulness spreading to you almost instantaneously.
“How long was I in there?” You ask while he piles up more wood on the fire and rotates the chunks of meat.
“Hm? Oh, all night. Went in at noon yesterday and didn’t come out until this morning. I was starting to think you wouldn’t return. Course, I oughta know better. You probably woulda dug yourself out if you had to.”
“All night?” You think aloud. “My timekeeper said it had just gotten dark out when I checked.”
“Well, you know how it is. Sometimes you just lose track of the time. Happens to me all the time!”
“I believe you.” You smirk. He goes back to turning the meat over the crackling fire. You look down into your palm, gazing at the black gem in wonder.
One down, nine to go.
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