°??───??15??───??°
The empty pyramid in which Kally gains a static shock and smells a familiar scent
°??───???───??°
Kally squinted. It was dark and there was a strange chill to the air. She shivered.
“Kai, are you there?”
“Mmm…” the soft reply flooded her with relief. She squinted again, her eyes slowly adjusting until she could see pretty clearly despite the dim grey-scale.
“Ah, I can see now.”
Ahkaiyu brought up a glowing ball of water, “Oh, could you not?” The blue blinded Kally’s tender eyes.
“Ow—! Give me some warning next time.”
Her eyes, again adjusting now to the light, settled on Ahkaiyu’s troubled face.
“Where is your mask?”
Kally felt her face for it. Upon realising it was not there, she checked her pockets.
“It’s not there…”
“I can see that much,” he grumbled.
He sliced his other sleeve, chuntering to himself, “I’ll have nothing left by the end of this,” and presented her with a mostly identical mask to the one she had lost. “Here, put this away for now. You won’t need it in here, and it will only give you a headache. You can put it on before we leave.”
The tomb was not as full of riches as Kally had imagined. Whoever had been laid to rest here was either a pretty poor emperor, or grave robbers had stripped it down to the bone, and then chomped on the bone too it seemed. The walls were mostly bare and, as expected, made from sandstone. Kally had expected some symbols, or paintings or something to decorate those walls. Nothing. A barren room with dusty floors and no windows, dark and uninviting. The only thing of note was a basic looking table with a basic looking pot on it, by the entrance.
Kally sighed.
So much for relics and treasures.
All they had here was an empty room with three doorways to choose from and none of them enticed her.
“We best move, we do not know how long this will take us. Is Katoia asleep?”
Kally’s eyes flashed, then looked to the ground. “As always…”
He nodded, replying, “Good,” and strode through a doorway, hand hovering above his scimitar. Kally scurried after him, clutching the mask in her pocket. She did not want to lose this one too.
???
The next room was much of the same, but with two doorways. Again, a swift choice, hand poised over his scimitar. Only to enter yet another room, larger this time, with no enemies and nothing but four doorways. Another swift choice, hand shaking in annoyance around his scimitar. Once more, a barren room with nothing but three doorways.
Kally called out, “Wait. Doesn’t this strike you as strange?”
“Strange, yes.”
“How are you choosing which one to go through?”
“I just am.”
Kally groaned. Brawn over brains never felt more apt.
“There must be a system. Otherwise we will be just going through doors all day.”
Ahkaiyu nodded and looked to her for instruction. “I hate mazes,” she complained.
She kicked the dust from the floor in annoyance.
“I wish I knew what to do—”
Her gaze settled on the items by the doorway they had came in from. A basic table and a basic pot. She hit her forehead.
“We’re back… back in the first room.”
Ahkaiyu surveyed their surroundings. Sure enough, he agreed, this was the initial room. He recognised some of the scuffs on the walls and the spider was still hanging from the same corner.
Kally walked towards the pot. “Must be something to do with this—”
Ahkaiyu shouted, “Don’t! It’s probably a tra—”
His warning came too late. She had picked it up and was already looking inside. The scimitar of his was now raised and ready to be deployed.
“There’s nothing in here,” she laughed. “Except this ash.” She shook the pot and ash cascaded to the ground, mixing in with the dust.
“Oh, look. A key.”
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
She pulled off an ancient looking key from the bottom of the vase. “I thought people had stopped doing that years ago. So much for security.”
“Well, we still don’t know what the key is for.”
“Ah, come on… It must be for something around here. There’s nothing else here!”
Kally marched around the room, scrutinising every angle. She did this three times for good measure, and even checked the table for a keyhole. Nothing. She sighed. Maybe she was wrong again. Maybe the key, ornate and ancient as it was, maybe it was nothing to do with the tomb. Instead, it could be a key of a wanderer like them. A trick to cheer them up, imagining other poor souls stuck here and finding hope with this key. Maybe it opened up their pantry back at home. Kally’s stomach rumbled. The effect of their morning snack had not lasted long. She sighed and put her weight against the wall. A creaking sound, then a whoosh.
???
Kally blinked. The room was filled to the brim. Not trusting her eyes, she rubbed them. A table full of food, and drink. Fruits and bread and meats and, she gulped, beer. They looked delicious in their blue glow. The wall behind her pounded and the food vibrated slightly from it. The slosh of the beer enticed her.
She could make out Ahkaiyu’s voice, muffled and strained, though she could not decipher what words he spoke.
Though tempted by this spread, she had not forgotten where she was. As much as she wanted the taste of that apple, it was forbidden, and would most likely put her into a deep sleep - if ancient fairy-tales are anything to listen to. She turned to the wall and banged back, attempting to push what had pushed her through. If you both push…
The wall would not budge.
She would need to find another way out. As she moved, Ahkaiyu’s water flame moved with her. She was lucky it got trapped in here with her, really.
Ignoring the food, the room was cluttered. Bookshelves and bookshelves heaving with items, not just books: paintbrushes, tools and trinkets, jewels and oddities. Jars of specimens were interesting to look at, strange humanoid parts. Bizarre artefacts and relics of a time lost to them.
A painting, large and grand, drew Kally in. Its frame, wooden, looked strangely modern. Perhaps this was what captured Kally’s attention. It did stand out in this way. The painting itself was of a baem. Each purple scale was meticulously recorded, no detail lost, its sheen and regal power not left to the viewer’s imagination. The eyes, hypnotising in their yellow, seemed to hold in them a sadness and Kally reached out to it without thinking. She touched the rough oils. A scale flaked in her fingers, a dark ash colour much like the ash in the pot. Not dissimilar to the ash that had coated her the day before, Kally recollected whilst inhaling a waft of it. She had found it strange at the time, but what with everything else that had happened she hadn’t dwelt on it, the smell of lilac; faint but distinct.
A purple spark, of static shock proportions, singed her finger as the ash seeped into her skin. She rubbed it frantically, jaw clenched. She raised her eyebrows. What was even happening? The spark was pointing at the wall she had come from.
A blackened door, ash covered and glowing, now stood to the left side of the wall. She furrowed her brow as she walked up to it. Dusting down the ash, a keyhole that matched her pot key revealed itself to her. Relieved she had the key in the first place - how would she have escaped this room if not - she twisted the old key in the lock, hoping it would not snap as she did so. The door disintegrated, leaving a doorway and a pile of ash for Kally to step over. Quite the one for luck.
Kally felt Ahkaiyu’s hand on her shoulder before she saw him. He had swooped like a doksuri to check on her.
“Are you okay? Is Katoia okay?”
Kally laughed. She had forgotten about Kat.
“Still asleep.”
“What was in there?” Ahkaiyu peered through the doorway.
Kally did not respond. Her eyes were scanning the room for clues. Anything, to suggest a new door. Surely she could use the key again? Maybe it was to do with the ash? The door was formed of ash, and some weird purple spark that she could not yet explain. She ran her fingers through the ash, and the purple spark ignited again. She rushed to the wall garnished with doorways and rubbed ash in all the crevices, creating static shocks a-plenty.
Ahkaiyu stopped and stared.
Now it was her turn to look like a lunatic.
???
That was until the ash formed a door again, and taking out the key, they journeyed to the next room. Kally’s fingers glowed purple again this time.
“What happened to you in there?” Ahkaiyu placed his hands above hers, analysing the strange and ominous purple force.
He sniffed. “Lilac?”
“Yeah, I think it’s the ash.”
He pulled his head back and scowled. “That doesn’t sound right. Why would ash smell like that?”
“I’m not sure, I smelt it before, yesterday, and just now with the baem painting. A bit flaked off and turned to ash on my fingers… and then—” She gestured with her hands, palms facing upwards and purple flakes simmering from them.
“I see.”
“Why, what do you think it is?”
“Well, I cannot be certain. It sounds like it might be a temporary transferal.” His voice quietened. “Hopefully, that’s all it is.”
Kally, cheery and not hearing the last part, replied, “Well, the reason doesn’t really matter to me at the moment. It seems to be our only way out of here so we might as well use it.”
Ahkaiyu nodded.
“Try aiming it at the walls. Maybe there is also something hidden in this room.”
The room they had entered was even more sparse than before. Two doorways again but this time they were positioned differently.
“Wait, how do I even aim this thing?”
A blast of purple hit the ceiling, causing dust and debris to shower down upon them.
With a small amount of guidance from Ahkaiyu, Kally’s purple lit up the wall. Intricate patterns filled it up, purple swirls, moving, animated, until they dropped and formed slithering glowing creatures.
Baem.
Forty or so baem had just fallen from the wall. Kally, incredulous, watched as they snaked before her feet. Their heads wobbled but their eyes stayed fixed on her. They turned in unison and headed to one of the doorways, enticing her on.
“Should we follow?” She asked with raised breath.
“I cannot see another alternative. Apart from choosing the other door. I guess the question is— how much do we trust snakes?”
Kally laughed. She had already refused an apple, what harm could following snakes do her now? Besides, they were only baem.
As they made their way through the doorway, they realised the baem were guiding them through a maze of entrances and exits. Each room had varying numbers of exits with only one correct choice. Without the baem, they would surely be lost here for days. Given the state of Kally’s hunger, that would not end well. A diet of dust and ash can only go so far. Yuki must be trembling.
After passing through each doorway they noticed that the number of baem dwindled down, as if they were offering themselves in sacrifice for safe passage.
Down to one final baem, Kally and Ahkaiyu both held their breath as they prepared to walk through a doorway that wreaked of lilac.
Unbeknown to them both, they were about to step into the lair of a slumbering beast. A beast of mythic proportions, both in size and reputation.
°??───?? The choice in which they decide whether to let sleeping baems lie ??───??°
The next chapter will be released 16-05-2025 (dd-mm-yyyy)
? A faraway land, with blue eyes and pale faces vying for attention (Chapter 5)
? Gribbles play as a celebration is happening and Kally wakes up mouthing a name - Alena (Chapter 8)
? A young knight trains in a training ground (Chapter 10)
I will be moving to 1 chapter a week going forward. My plan was to release on Friday's originally but am open for another day depending on your preferences?
