Game of Tombs (Good Ending)
#2 of Game of Tombs
Written by TwistedSnakes
A dragon sat alone on a carved wooden chair with his wings tucked behind against its thick backrest. He spent the last twenty minutes staring at the office he was sitting in. It was furnished very well with regal tapestries, stone busts, and large bookshelves that covered sections of the wall from floor to ceiling, from which a chandelier hung with a few lit candles.
He was getting bored, his clawed toes dragging circles around, ruffling the fibres of the plush, red carpet. There was another chair beside his, and both were facing a grand oak desk. Behind the desk was an empty chair, taller and grander than theirs. Why he was invited to such a meeting was beyond him, but he wanted to get it done and over with. There were defenceless caravans to loot, tombs of the rich to plunder. Yet here he was, here on an "official invitation" to sit in the office of some rich person and do nothing.
He admired his reflection in the suit of armour that stood against the wall. He was a handsome dragon (at least to himself), covered in dark-blue scales, except for his grey leather chest plates. He flexed his arms, spreading his wings to pose. As he focused, the luminous cyan streaks across his scales glowed brighter, and he adjusted his pose.
Just then, the door behind him slammed open as someone entered. He quickly closed his wings, placed his clawed hands on his lap and turned to the front, pretending that nothing happened. The new entrant walked over to the other chair beside the dragon and sat down. Slithered would be a better word though, as he was a naga: a creature with a human head and torso, but a snake's body from waist down.
The dragon glared at the creature. The skin of his upper body was a blue-ish grey, and his face was angular, sporting jet-black hair. From the top of his head, two sharp horns poked through his hair. His snake half, however, was covered in a scaly, navy blue skin, with a pale grey underside.
However, the naga's appearance was not why the dragon was staring. The real reason was that the naga was all too familiar, and this meeting was one the dragon did not wish to have.
"Orion," the dragon snarled under his breath, holding his deathly stare.
"Ahh, Cresssstorrrr," the naga hissed, with a slight expression of amusement that they should be meeting again.
"What are you doing here?" Crestor hissed back.
"Well, I ssshould be asssking you the sssame thing," Orion smiled.
"Don't play games with me snake boy. Why are you here?" Crestor snapped.
"Well, I had the privilege of getting an invitation to the grand Guild of Dungeon Ssseekersss with the promise of a huge quessst. I daresssay you'd received the sssame invitation?"
Crestor grunted in reluctant assent. He had received the same invitation, but he skipped over to the timing and location of the meeting while ignoring the rest of the letter.
Just then, a side door opened, and a wolf sporting a fancy suit entered, and sat gracefully on the large armchair behind the desk. Taking his time, he adjusted a metal nameplate that read "Thyrius Colins - President", then poured himself a glass of water from a jug sitting on his table, and took a slow sip.
Crestor felt underdressed in the wolf's presence. He was dressed in a leather harness with layered shoulder pads, complete with an empty weapon sheath meant to house a two-handed sword, and a brown loincloth. He had wanted to bring the sword in too, but the rhino guards at the front wouldn't let him in if he didn't give it up. He grunted, reminded of his indignance at the guards. Security. He huffed.
He looked over at Orion, who seemed to be totally oblivious to their attires, having only came in fully nude. Orion noticed his glare and smirked in response.
Before Crestor could react, the wolf cleared his throat. "As you both would have read in the invitation, the Guild of Dungeon Seekers, or GoDS for short, have our eye on two very unique dungeons." He took another sip of water from the glass. Using a pair of tongs to pick up a slice of lemon from a plate, he dropped it into the glass and took another sip.
"We have sent a few teams from our guild, and none of them has returned safely, much less even gotten a glimpse of the treasure. Even our best teams..." Thyrius paused, a dark look flashing before his eyes. "... sustained major injuries when they returned. They had to be put out of commission."
He sighed. "Their losses are our losses, and I feel their pain. But let's not dwell on this. You both are here because you are the two best mercenaries out there. Experienced with the raiding of tombs and dungeons." He shoots them a dirty look. "Albeit with the desecration of ancient and valuable artefacts."
Crestor stole a glance at Orion. Orion? The best mercenary? Crestor snorted. Well, second best, because obviously, he was the best. "Anyway," Thyrius continued, "this time you will not be raiding. Instead, you will bring us back the ancient artefact at the end of the dungeon, and we will pay you ten times what it's worth. You will be rewarded handsomely for your feats."
"So now, do you accept this offer?" the wolf gestured, opening up his paws to them.
"Which dungeon?" Crestor asked bluntly.
"Well, in the letter we described in detail two dungeons that the both of you can choose from: the Mountainous Ruins in the Xhar Peaks, or the Pantheon Temple in the swampy jungle of Isedor."
"Yes, I meant which one do you want us to go?" Crestor quickly tried to hide his ignorance.
"Well, I have no personal preference for either. All we want is to eventually clear out the both of them without suffering any more casualties." He took two dossiers from the table and handed one to each adventurer.
The two adventurers read through the documents. Each of the files documented every detail the guild knew about the dungeon, complete with a map of each dungeon. Orion studied each map closely. Crestor, on the other hand, glanced at the photos of the place. He trusted his instincts. After all, plans always fell short in the face of reality.
After they were done, they swapped dossiers to understand the other dungeon. Or in Crestor's case, examine the diagrams and photos. "Hey! This map just has a circle on the dungeon location," he pointed out in the files on the Pantheon Temple.
"Ah, that's because it is immensely difficult to map anything out in the thick jungle. I trust you both will be able to find your way to the temple, should that be your choice."
While Crestor fussed over petty technicalities, Orion assessed both options. Having lurked in the shadows, he had the luxury of eavesdropping on rumours whispered in the dead of the night. They all pointed to the same thing: that a certain "mirror" was at the end of the labyrinth of tunnels dug into the Xhar Peaks. Ths "Evermirror", as it was called was said to be enchanted with the ability to see into the future. The Pantheon Temple, on the other hand, had its secrets well-kept. Only once did Orion heard the mention of a "Crown of Ocean Jewels" in the heart of the Pantheon Temple.
If he were to hazard a guess at the most valuable treasure, he'd guess the elusive "Crown of Ocean Jewels" would be more valuable. After all, fewer rumours meant fewer adventurers having actually made it close to the end, which in turn means more dangerous and hopefully more valuable. The only problem is... "Must we ssshare the rewardsss?" Orion asked, breaking the silence.
"It is up to you. We will pay you ten times what the treasure is worth. How the both of you choose to split it is of no concern to us," came the response.
Crestor shot Orion a dirty look. Share the loot with him? Heck no. If they were stuck in an airtight room, he'd rather suffocate than share the same air Orion breathed. "Wait. Can we each go for one dungeon? I work better alone, and Orion here might not be accustomed to the efficient methods by which I operate," he suggested, with venom in his voice as he pronounced the naga's name.Orion, however, was deep in thought. He could go for the less-valuable Evermirror now and split the spoils with Crestor. After that, he'd come back for the Crown by himself, under the radar of the surveilling Guild. However, with Crestor there to bear the brunt of the traps, he could get the Crown relatively unscathed. That sounded like a plan.
"You are to both go together. Do not underestimate the dangers of the dungeon," Thyrius ordered. "While it is of no loss to the Guild should any of you die," the wolf admitted with a stony face, "it is in everyone's best interest that you survive."
"So why did you choose this stupid place?" Crestor grumbled, as his wings got stuck in a tangle of vines for the umpteenth time. He swung his broadsword at the vines, and trudged swiftly behind Orion's wake of trampled undergrowth, shaking his wings free of vegetation.
"This jungle is easier to traverse than the mountains, so we can get to the dungeon faster," came the response, "which means we can be done and not have to work with each other anymore," Orion lied.
Crestor nodded. Sure, he could tolerate the naga, but the earlier he was done with the mission, the better. He'd have brought his mercenary team along with him for this mission, but Thyrius had forbidden it, saying Orion and Crestor should be the only ones to step into the temple. Crestor snorted.
This was stupid. Of all the people he was forced to go dungeon raiding with, it was this stupid naga. Ironically, their first meeting was in a dungeon too. Unfortunately, Orion happened to be one of the guardians of the dungeon happened to be raiding. While Orion managed to catch Crestor in one of the traps, the rest of Crestor's raiding party made away with Orion's treasure. The experience had left a bitter taste in both their mouths. Crestor spat angrily into the bushes.
Meanwhile, Orion continued navigating the front. Despite the vague map, he knew the way straight to the temple from the information he gathered on his own. They've travelled westward along the Syndian river until the first tributary, where they followed the tributary up to its source on a hill. From the highest point on the hill, they made a beeline for the lightning-struck tree. Having just passed it, they needed to continue forward to reach the dungeon.
Orion slithered up to the bank of a swampy lake. They were almost there. He moved smoothly into the lake, making barely a ripple.
"Ugh, there's water here," Crestor complained, following Orion into thick, sickly green-coloured waters. The water level rose to his chest, splashing loudly against his pecs.
"Why, isss the big dragon ssscared of a little bit of water?" Orion taunted. His long snake body allowed him to raise his body up to keep his chest high above the water as he slithered gracefully through the swamp.
"Hmfph," Crestor huffed. "I just don't see why we couldn't just go around the swamp.
"Well, I have a good feeling about thisss place," Orion lied. They should be able to see the dungeon any time now. "What'sss there to be ssscared of anyway?"
Almost as if the gods of irony were smiling upon them, a creature rose up in front of them. At a glance, one might think it was a large, feral jaguar, albeit on the large side as it towered over two times the adventurers' height. However, unlike a jaguar, it had green skin stained from the years of algae growing in the swamp. Instead of a regular jaw, it had four tentacles surrounding a large, muscular mouth lined with sharp teeth. Poking off the top of its head and behind its jawbone were webbed fins, and behind its neck were gills.
The creature roared, sending the adventurers stumbling backwards. "Bunyip!" Crestor yelled a warning. A beast of this size required "special attention". Crestor sheathed his broadsword into his scabbard on his back and pulled out a two-handed claymore.
Orion lunged at the beast, using his bare hands to grab its fur. However, the layers of slime and slippery algae on its fur caused him to slip, and he fell into the water. The cold embrace of the water sent him into a brief moment of shock, as he found the waves engulfing him. Struggling, he burst through the water surface. The bunyip had moved on from him, heading towards Crestor with his sword raised.
Orion charged at the giant creature again, this time using his tail to spring himself forward. He soared through the air, snapping through vines before landing on the back of the beast. His spread his arms to try to hang on to the creature in a hug and wrapped his body around the torso of the beast, and slowly started constricting.
Crestor, on the other hand, did not have much mobility. His body wasn't exactly streamline, and wings were ineffective in water. Instead, he knew he had to rely on his combat tactics. He observed the creature. It had strong limbs which he could stab to lame and reduce its agility. However, it would probably turn on him with its huge mouth, and that would be that. He only had one shot at this, so he needed to hit hard. He would have to go straight to the heart.
However, to get to the beast's heart, he would have to aim for its most-vulnerable position: from the chest. As the bunyip stomped around, struggling against Orion's constriction, Crestor was pretty sure he wouldn't survive. He swam towards the creature anyway.
Orion was having problems. Constriction was his mode of killing, and with the force he was exerting his prey's rib cage should already be cracked, and ideally piercing their lungs. The bunyip's body, however, held fast in the face of Orion's strength. Apart from a little bit of difficulty breathing, the creature seemed unaffected by Orion's murderous intents, instead opting to try to wrestle the attacking naga off his back.
"Sssome help here, Cressstor?" he hissed angrily.
Crestor needed to time this right. Left paw down. Right paw up. Right paw down. Left paw up. "On the next cycle," he thought. As the beast raised its right front paw, Crestor dashed for the bunyip's chest. This is it! He swung the sword upwards. The force of a two-handed sword was not to be trifled with, and Crestor was certain the beast would die instantly from this blow.
"Thud," the sword hit solid bone and bounced off. "What the-" Crestor was cut off as the paw of the struggling beast slammed against his chest and drove him into the murky depths. The paw stomped him into the swamp bed and forced the air out of his lungs in a gasp. Thankfully for Crestor, his body sunk into the muddy ground, helping him narrowly avoid getting crushed to death under the weight of the beast.
Freeing his wings from the mud, he burst out again.
In the meantime, Orion contemplated using his venom to subdue the beast. On one hand, his poison was effective and could bring down a human in a minute flat. Although with a beast of this size, he'd need about five minutes or so. On the other hand, the beast had very dirty fur, and Orion would rather not let it touch his mouth if anything to avoid a severe case of food poisoning. It seemed like he didn't have a choice, with Crestor apparently being useless. Closing his eyes and his mouth, he stuck out his two fangs and plunged them into the beast.
The beast roared, raising itself up on its two hind legs, threatening to throw Orion off its slippery exterior. The beast, however, seemed to be weakened by the venom, slowing its movements.
Crestor panicked. The beast would land right on top of him. He needed to think fast. Suddenly, he noticed something he hasn't been able to see from afar. The chest of the beast had visible ridges running across it as the rib cage pushed out from under the skin. If he could trace the gaps towards the centre... his view was obstructed by the writhing naga. "Fuck you snakeface, get your body out of my way!" he yelled. Lifting up his sword with two arms, he leaned back and spread his wings to balance himself. This was all or nothing. He pointed the tip towards where he thought the gap would be and kept the gaze. His body was screaming at him to close his eyes, to flinch, to brace himself, but he needed to focus his aim. Time seemed to slow down for Crestor as the beast's huge body fell upon him.
The sword pierced through the gaps between the cage, and into the heart of the beast. Blood squirted out everywhere into Crestor's face and the surrounding water. Then the beast landed on him.
With half his body stuck under the beast, Orion pushed against the body of the beast, trying to create a gap to release his body. There was a heaving sound from below the carcass, and the body rolled over, revealing a choking dragon, coughing out a mixture of blood and dirty water. "Fuck!" Crestor screamed.
"Sssome fighter you are," Orion said scornfully.
"And you? What did you manage to do?" Crestor washed the blood off himself in the scum-filled swamp.
"I poisssoned the beassst."
"That must've helped. I mean, it's not like a stab in the heart would have killed it or anything."
"Oh pleassse, I'm not the one who got hurt before even entering the dungeon," Orion nodded at the streak of blood that Crestor seemed unable to wash off. "Ugh," he lamented, realizing that the bunyip's broken ribs must've ripped off his scales in its descent.
"Come on," Orion said bemusedly, "I think I can see the temple doorway up ahead."
Orion brought them to a clearing in the swamp. A stone doorway stood in the middle of it, and tall pillars flanked the left and right of the pathway leading up to it. It appeared to have been a grand courtyard before the swamps claimed the land, submerging it. There were steps up from the courtyard towards the huge doorway.
As the two waterlogged adventurers approached the doorway, they could see runes and inscriptions running across the door and doorway. While Crestor stood blankly in front of the cryptic symbols, Orion's vast knowledge of different languages gave him a clue.
"The language bears similarity to the Eeshni dialect, although a bit cruder," he thought. "That would mean I'll have to read it from bottom to top."
"You understand any of that?" Crestor asked, staring at the silent naga.
"No," the naga lied. "Let's make a move on."
The two adventurers pulled on the chain on the side, hoisting the huge stone door upwards.
"Fuck, this is heavy!" Crestor grunted.
"Shut up and pull," Orion snapped back.
They strained and pulled until the door was up. However, the hooks meant to hold the chain had broken off the stone walls, leaving them with no place to anchor the chain. "Looks like we'll have to make a run for it," Orion suggested.
"Are you fucking crazy, snake boy?" Crestor retorted.
"No. If we hold on to the chain and pull it to this side, we should be right next to the door when we let go."
"Fine. But if we both die, my blood is on your hands," Crestor threatened.
"Sssure," Orion rolled his eyes.
As per Orion's plans, they held fast to the chain and pulled it closer to the doorway. "On the count of three. One, two, THREE!" Orion counted, and the both of them made a leaping lunge for the doorway, slipping through as the stone door slammed hard on the ground behind them with a loud boom.
"Now, how are we going to get out?" Crestor asked, looking back at the stone door that now blocked their exit.
"Perhaps I should have considered that," Orion admitted.
Crestor growled. "No matter. We're in now."
They turned to face the sanctum of the temple. If they tried hard enough, they could imagine it in its former glory, with statues and grand pillars standing before the walls of painted murals and carved motifs, reaching up into the sky as they met together under a stone dome, sheltering a grand stone fountain in the middle.
Unfortunately, the centuries of abandonment had taken its toll on the temple. The painted murals had long flaked away, and the leaking rain and moisture slowly eroded the motifs and statues. The dome gave way to vines so thick, it only allowing small trickles of sunlight to enter the temple. The portions of the ground had given way, now flooded with swampy water. The fountain too lost its original lustre having been chipped away by the weather, and it now collected stagnant rainwater in its layers of algae-stained basins.
Crestor and Orion stood in silence for a few moments. Time seemed to stand still as they surveyed the once-glorious ruins of the sanctuary. There was something in the air that neither of them could place their fingers on. It was almost as if there was a strong sense of evil lurking in its every nook and cranny, waiting to strike the second they let down their guards. However, there was something else in the air, like a tinge of sadness, as though the temple could somehow feel remorse for its sorry state.
Orion retreated back into his thoughts. From here on out, he had gathered no more knowledge of this place, only having heard vague, conflicting speculations of the dangers within. There were a few doorways that led off from the main sanctum. It probably didn't matter. Unless it had something to do with the inscriptions on the doorway...
"We're going through that doorway," Crestor declared, breaking the silence as he pointed a clawed finger in the direction of the nearest door.
"And why ssshould we go through that door?" Orion asked dryly.
"Well, seeing that we both don't understand the markings, it's not that much different from random guessing," Crestor shrugged. "And I have a good feeling about this door."
Orion smiled. Crestor had somehow picked the doorway that had the words "Artifact Storage Room" written in the ancient language. "That's a stupid reason to choose that door," he insulted Crestor anyway.
Keeping their distance between each other, the two adventurers trudged their way into the chosen door.
The two raiders came to a large room, where the ceiling was about five times their height, enough for Crestor to fly in. There were three statues standing in the middle of the room in a triangle, each of them a humanoid body with the head of a beast. The one facing the entrance was a heron, with a long beak and a beautiful tuft of feathers carved out of stone.
Orion walked to the left side of the room, keeping his distance from the statues, should there be a trap. Crestor took the cue, and went to the other side, standing in front of the other statue, oblivious to the possibility of traps.
"Thisss one'sss a wolf," Orion announced.
"I got a dog thing," Crestor responded.
Orion sighed. He knew Crestor was wrong. He pretended to look at the statue, then knocked Crestor hard on his head. "Oww! What the heck was that for, snake-boy?" Crestor snapped.
"It's a jackal, you idiot," Orion responded.
There were two doors on the other side of the room, each one in front of the statue. "Let's open the doors," Crestor suggested, making his way to the closest door. Orion hissed in annoyance and went to the other door. However, no matter how they pulled or pushed against the doors, it refused to budge. There seemed to be no hidden levers or buttons they could use to activate the door.
"Guesss it's a puzzle room then," Orion motioned to the three statues.
Crestor continued looking. "Hey, this stone mask comes right off," he said, as he unhooked a smiling mask off the wall. Going to the other walls, he tried to pull the other masks, retrieving a sad mask and a faceless mask.
"Give me that," Orion said, snatching up a mask. "Three masks, three statues. I'd guess one mask goes on each statue." He examined the sad mask in his hands. Slithering to the jackal statue, he put the mask on its face, and the two stone pieces clicked together.
"How do you know the mask goes there?" Crestor asked.
"Just a guessss. We need to try sssomething," Orion responded.
Following suit, Crestor reached to put the happy mask on the wolf statue. "Wait!" the naga stopped him. "Thisss looksss like the blank masssk ssshould go here inssstead." Snatching the two masks from the dragon, he put the other two masks in place.
A grinding sound echoed through the chamber as the two doors sunk into the ground, revealing dark corridors behind them. As he slithered back, he noticed Crestor staring at him. "Sssee? I wasss right," he hissed.
Crestor shrugged, his brows furrowed. "Well, I say we take the door on the left," he suggested.
"And why should I lisssten to your ideasss? All I've done isss lead usss in the right direction. How about you? What have you done?" he lashed venomously at Crestor.
Crestor looked hurt for a second, then steeled his face in an expression of anger. "You know what I think, snake? I think that you aren't taking this seriously. You think this is a race, and that the winner gets crowned the 'ultimate mercenary' do you?"
"How dare you!" he hissed back at Crestor. But Crestor wasn't wrong though, this was a competition. The more information he deprived Crestor of, the greater his contribution would be to the recovering of the treasure. Hmm, if he did manage to get the Crown all by himself, he could perhaps make off with it, and blame Crestor for it being stolen. All's fair in love, war, and tomb-raiding. "You know what," he began, "if you hate me ssso much, why don't we sssplit up. You take your beloved left door, and I'll take the one on the right."
"Fine by me, you damned onion!" Crestor retorted, swiftly storming into the other room.
Watching the dragon go off, Orion smirked. With Crestor's ignorance of the lore of this place, he'd have the upper hand with the puzzles. Who knows, maybe Crestor might fall for these traps and perhaps die. He could make it out with the Crown, hide it, then claim to the Guild that the mission ended in failure with Crestor's death. Ahh, how everything fell into place.
He moved in large, confident curves as he slithered to the door on the right.
After descending a few flights of stairs down, Orion found himself in a cold room. Water was dripping from the ceiling, forming algae-filled puddles in the recesses on the ground. "Ugh, Crestor is so irritating," he thought. "Best mercenary? What a joke. Although if it were a competition, I'd be the winner. While I've been finding our way around and deciphering clues, Crestor's been bumbling around and getting in my way. The stupid dragon almost triggered a trap with the masks too." Orion mentally shook his head in annoyance.
At least he's rid of Crestor now. For the time being, he needed to focus. His eyes swept over the room for information.
The left, right, and far walls each had a medium-sized alcove in its middle, each labelled something different in the same unknown language that had been engraved all over the temple. Orion used his knowledge of the Eeshni dialect to decipher the engravings. While the language of the temple differed a little from the Eeshni dialect, most of it was the same. The label on the left alcove said "•FULH SA•", the one on the right said "HOR YEH", although the one in the middle appeared to have faded away in time.
Orion stole a smile. It was almost as if the temple was built to help people solve its puzzles. While at the entrance, he was deciphering the inscriptions on the frame of the doorway. Orion recalled the texts again.
Bird of water the •FULH SA is SEIL VI• DEAH.SEIL VI• DEAH opposite; fox dog the BEH LEH URHS.•KARS SOL• embodies wild dog FARHL •DEZ.
He had most of it deciphered. "FULH SA" held the concept of life, happiness and meaning, and "KARS SOL" held the concept of neutrality. The rest of the terms appeared to be the names of the gods and goddesses the past inhabitants of the temple worshipped. On top of that, the text was meant to be read right to left. Putting it together, he got:
Sylvidia the Heron is the embodiment of Life/Happiness.Beleus the Jackal embodies the opposite of Sylvidia.Faldes the Wolf embodies neutrality.
That was how in the previous room with the statues, Orion knew the happy mask went on the heron, the sad mask went on the jackal, and the neutral mask went on the wolf. He also chose the door on the right that read "FULH SA•" too. Who wouldn't choose the door that said "Life"?
He went over to the alcove labelled "HOR YEH", which meant "Oblivion" and examined three shabtis that were sitting there. Each of them had the heads of the three deities: the heron, jackal and wolf. Easy.
Orion left the wolf shabti in the alcove with the missing label. The heron of life went into the "FULH SA•" alcove, and the jackal of death went into the "Oblivion" alcove. That was it, right?
The ground began to rumble. Suddenly, stone slabs closed off the doorway and the alcoves, and the ground began sliding into the left wall, revealing a dark pit below. "Fuck, did I do it wrong?" Orion quickly slid against the left wall. The stony floor would soon be gone and he would be falling. He had to think fast.
He felt against the stone walls, looking for a place to hang on to. The alcoves were closed off, leaving just a smooth rock face. No switches, no levers, no nothing either. Damn it. He pressed his body against the wall and braced himself.
What was left of the floor was soon gone, and Orion found himself falling through the air.
Crestor in the meantime had come to another room after climbing up many flights of stairs. The room he just entered contained a huge stone sphere sitting on a wide pedestal. The ceiling here had collapsed around the sphere, and nature had overtaken whatever was left of the walls. The bright noon sun made it hard for Crestor to take a closer look at the sphere.
He walked over to the shade to properly examine the sphere. A feral jackal was carved into the sphere, chasing an avian heron which was taking flight. The pedestal was labelled "FULH SA" in a gold font. To the left and right of the engraving were two disc-shaped indentations.
Crestor scoffed. Yet another easy puzzle. A few months back, he had the fortune of hiring a mercenary who had studied the ancient language of the Priati. Over time, it had evolved into the language of Eeshni. However, texts from the ancient civilization still remained, and his hired mercenary helped him understand the language inside out.
He too was reading the texts on the entrance doorway. Something that caught his eye was the use of the word "FULH SA". That word in itself meant life force, but not "life" itself. A dot in front of the word would make it spell "•FULH SA", which meant the start of life. A living, breathing being. At the end, it would turn the meaning on its head, and the word "FULH SA•" meant dying, death and sorrow. The cycle of living and dying was presented as "•FULH SA•".
The dots were pronounced as hisses in the language. Crestor silently whispered to himself. "-hiss- Phulsa -hiss-". Not the most easily pronounceable word. "-hiss- Phulsa -hiss-," he pronounced again.
Back at the entrance, he noticed that Orion's eye movements were moving right to left. Exactly the way one should be reading Priati. Yet he claimed not to have understood a thing. "So much for wanting to discuss the meaning with him," he spat.
As he searched the room, he eyed a disc hiding under the rubble. Stretching his claw under the rocks, he picked it up and blew off the dust. One more disc to go.
This puzzle was easy too, just like the one in the statue room. Happy mask on the heron, Sad mask on the jackal, and the mask of oblivion on the wolf. Very easy. However, he had purposely swapped the masks, and as expected, Orion knew where the masks were to go. He had understood the language yet lied to Crestor about it. "Idiot snake," he thought. So much for working together.
He found the other disc hiding behind a large slab of fallen ceiling that was leaning against the wall. The disc was stuck against the wall, but he would need to stretch his arm in to reach it. He flattened himself against the wall and stuck his hand into the gap. Nope, he couldn't reach it. He edged in a little closer. Ugh, at this rate he'd be under the slab. He didn't want to risk it falling on him.
Crestor backed off the wall and turned around. He rested his back against the wall and stretched out his wing into the gap. The tip of the wing could reach it! All he needed to do was dislodge it and flick it in his direction.
A flick and his wing slipped off the coin. One more try, and he flicked his wing again. Suddenly, the stone slab slid, and it fell flat on the ground. "Shit!" Crestor yelped. His wing was stuck under the fallen slab. He wedged his claws under the slab and pulled upwards. "Damn it, it's not moving." He tried again, but the slab remained stubborn. He was panting in exhaustion and desperation. Damn, he needed help! Even the sight of Orion right now would be good.
Distracted at his predicament, he didn't notice a person walking towards his kneeling body. Noticing a shadow over him, Crestor looked up into the face of the person. "Fuck." There was a sickly sound of wood smashing into bone, and Crestor fell limp to the ground.
Crestor woke up with a start. There was a sphere. Coin. Crocodile. He winced in pain at the last word. That crocodile must have taken him here. But where was here? He looked around. He was in a stone room. Water dripped from the ceilings and creeper plants lined the walls. He must be in the underground chambers of the temple.
Torches lined the walls, which meant someone was using the place. "Crocodile," he thought angrily again.
A shadow hanging from the ceiling suddenly spoke. "Cressstor?"
"Snake-boy!" he snapped. Wait, they were in trouble together. He went to examine the figure. Orion was hanging from the ceiling by his tail, suspended by a thick string of black latex that coated his body. His arms we bound at his waists and the hardened rubber around his neck formed a posture collar.
"Who did this to you?"
"Graku, that crocodile. He must have brought you in too."
"Damn it, where is he now?"
"I'm behind you, dragon," a gruff voice called out behind him.
Crestor spun around and came face to face with a huge anthro crocodile. "Take a step closer and I'll run you through." He felt behind for his sword. "What?! Where did you put my sword? No matter, I'll kill you anyway!"
The dragon lunged for the Graku with his claws extended. However, Graku merely grabbed his wrist. Using Crestor's momentum, Graku flung the dragon into the ground.
"Oof!" Crestor felt the wind being knocked out of his body as he was dazed from the impact. The crocodile, however, wasn't giving him any time to recover. Holding the dragon's wrists in a vice-like grip, Graku pulled him over to a wooden rack at the side and chained his wrists to one end. Lifting up Crestor's legs, he adjusted the dragon so that he was fully on the rack before chaining his ankles to the other end.
"Nghh!" the haze in Crestor's mind cleared and he found himself shackled to a torture rack. "Let us go you alligator!" he shouted.
"Firstly, just so you know, I'm not an alligator. I'm a crocodile, and there is a difference. Secondly, you're getting a little too noisy for my liking," Graku calmly replied. He went to a bucket that was near Orion's inverted body and pulled out a handful of black goo from it. Graku's claws worked the slime, shaping it into a round hollow tube. Going over to Crestor, he used one hand to pry his mouth open.
The dragon struggled, straining against his chains and twisting his neck but the crocodile was stronger. With a well-positioned squeeze, Crestor felt a sharp pressure in his jaw and he gasped in pain. The black tube went deep down his maw, and Graku stuck it there with more sticky glue.
"Mrawwr!" he yelled through the gag. Graku ignored him and made a second tube, this time for Orion. Orion was ready, and he clamped his jaw shut as the crocodile approached. "You're trying hard, but it's not enough." Taking more goo, he smeared it over Orion's nostrils, blocking off his air. He had to open his mouth to breathe!
Orion resisted. Coiling his tail back and forth, he pulled himself to the ceiling, avoiding the crocodile's claws. "Come back here you!" Graku shouted. He grabbed one of Orion's horns and pulled it downwards.
Orion winced in pain as he was forced to straighten out. He wasn't going to give in. If he was going to be gagged, he would make it as hard as possible for the crocodile. His mouth remained shut, as he slowly ran out of air.
His body was screaming at his mind to open his mouth and take a gulp of fresh air. But he needed to hold on. His lungs joined the fight, burning in pain as they tried to inhale air that would not come. His mind fought back to keep his mouth shut, but the pain was too much. His body wrestled the control from his mind, and his mouth opened to take a huge gasp. The tube gag went in and was stuck in place. "Mawrrsss!" he hissed at the offending crocodile.
"Now, you guys are still very noisy so I'm gonna have to finish this up." He snapped his fingers, and the goo around Orion's crotch began massaging and stroking the area, making him feel warm there. "Mfft?!" he realized what was happening. Against his will, his member slowly poked out from his slit, rising up through the goo that was on his body.
In the meantime, Graku smeared a handful of goo around Orion's crotch, letting it massage and excite the highly-strung dragon. "Hmpft!" he gave the crocodile a death stare as if it were punishment enough for subjecting him to such a humiliating situation. However, he couldn't help it as his pink cock stood erect out of the goo.
Graku didn't skip a beat. He lifted up the rack that held Orion's body, rolling it on the wheels at the other end so that Crestor's feet was in front of Orion's face. Adjusting the rack, he rotated it so that Crestor's body was standing vertically in front Orion, supported by nothing but his arms. "Arhhh!" he winced in pain as his shoulders felt the pressure of the weight of his body. In front of him, he could see Orion's grey-coloured dick pointing towards him. Orion too found himself facing the dragon's pink cock.
Orion's eyes widened in horror as he realized what Graku was doing. Graku wheeled the rack closer to Orion, bringing the two closer together. Crestor turned his face away to avoid the incoming naga's dick, but Orion, with his posture collar, found his mouth being filled with draconic dick against his will.
"Dragon, you got to play fair," he reprimanded mockingly. "He's sucking your cock, so you got to take his!" He directed the naga's throbbing member into the dragon's tube gag, and Crestor whined angrily at the back of his throat.
Making sure the two didn't escape from their new-found gags, he smeared Crestor's maw and Orion's crotch with more sticky slime and did the same with Orion's mouth and Crestor's crotch.
With their mouths busy and wrapped with the black goo, they could only manage angry, muffled sounds. "Much better," he stepped back, admiring his handiwork and the resultant silence.
However, something seemed missing from the setup. Hmm, it needed more squirming. He went over behind Orion's back, and held him by the shoulders, and pulled him backwards. He attached a string of extra-viscous goo to the naga's back, and stretched it to the ceiling behind him, pulling the naga away from Crestor.
The crocodile let go, and Orion's body swung forward towards Crestor, giving both him and Crestor a face full of each other's throbbing member. The rubber on Orion's back stretched and pulled him back, giving the two helpless victims some breathing space, until gravity took over and Orion's body was thrust back into Crestor's.
Both of them were unable to resist the continuous cycle of mutual fellatio. Orion felt embarrassed, growling angrily at the crocodile, while Crestor continued to struggle against his chains as his arms felt like they were on fire from supporting his hanging body, whimpering in pain.
Finally satisfied, Graku moved on to the next part of the plan.
Orion's momentum had disappeared hours ago, leaving each victim's cock thrust deeply into the throat of the other, hard and ready to cum.
Graku however, had other plans for them. As the two raiders were bound together, he had been concocting a paralyzing agent. He dipped two needles into the blue liquid and pierced Crestor and Orion at the soft fleshy muscle just below their neck.
They each felt a buzzing throughout their body as if their nervous systems were suddenly unable to send electrical signals the right way. There was a strong numbness in their bodies, so even as Orion fell to the floor as Graku released him, he didn't feel anything other than a soft thud as his head collided with the ground. Crestor's shackles were released too, but the paralyzing agent refused to let him move, so he fell face-first into the ground like a plank.
Graku helped Orion up, and let go, letting the naga stand frozen in place. The crocodile went on to reposition his tail and torso such that the naga looked as if he was raring to attack. Picking up an ornamental bow and arrow, he placed them in Orion's hands, ready to shoot.
He repeated the process with Crestor, this time posing the dragon leaning forward, his two hands grasping his two-handed sword at his waist, ready to thrust it forward. His wings were outstretched, and his eyelids were positioned so that he stared intently in front of him.
Orion and Crestor were panicking helplessly. They were being posed against their wills and until the paralyzing agent wore off, they were unable to resist.
Graku came over with a bunch of thin, absorbent bandages. He started with Crestor, wrapping his body with a tight layer of the strong fabric. He made sure to bind the dragon's member securely, sticking out in front of him. The result was a mummified dragon, posing as if ready to strike. If not for the holes in front of Crestor's eyes, one might not realize that there was a living dragon below the wrappings.
He repeated the same thing with Orion, making sure to keep the pose as the naga was bundled in tight bandages. Orion's two eyes stared forward from the eyeholes in the bandages.
Graku stepped back. In front of him were his two subjects. He had an hour more before the paralyzing agent wore off, so he had all the time he needed. He dragged over a heavy bucket filled with a grey resin. Once dried, the resin would give the appearance of solid stone. Picking up a wide brush, he began his work on the two adventurers.
Voices rose from below the canopy as some adventurers trudged through the swamps. "Eck, why are there so many vines everywhere?" one voice called out.
"It's the jungle," another responded. "What did you expect?"
"Careful, there's water now," a third voice called out. "Be on the lookout for any swamp monsters or anything."
"Monsters? I'm ready for monsters any time," said a fourth voice.
The four adventurers waded their way through the deep swamp.
"There's something smelly now," a hyena commented. "Smellier than usual."
"There's a giant jaguar corpse over there Niall," the ferret pointed. "That's probably where the smell is coming from."
"Just keep moving," the lizard of the group instructed.
The brightly-coloured gryphon hung around the back, looking for danger. "There's a temple up ahead!" he called out.
The group waded over to the entrance, coming to a stone doorway that had runes and inscriptions running across the door and doorway.
"Hey, there are some statues here!" Niall pointed out two stony figures guarding the doorway with a sword and a bow. Their eyes were dark as if a black gem was laid in their sockets.
"Don't touch them, those could be traps," the lizard warned.
"It looks fine Seglagg," the gryphon assured the lizard.
"We should still be careful Frysco. The Guild told us this is one of the most dangerous dungeons out there, and I don't want to end up like the previous teams," the lizard responded. "Benji, anything?"
"Hmm, these statues look a bit familiar, don't they?" the ferret replied.
"Yeah now that you mention it, they do look like someone we know.
Meanwhile, the hyena found a chain lying around. "Hey! I think I found the way in! Help me pull this." The other adventurers turned their attention away from the dragon statue, instead helping Niall pull the chain, opening the door. They secured the end of the chain to the naga statue's body, keeping the door open.
"Well, here goes nothing!"
Suddenly, there was a sound of stone cracking as the chain came undone and slammed the door shut.
"I thought we tied it pretty tightly," Frysco wondered. The adventurers went to look at the chains.
"Hey, the statue has scales underneath!" Niall pointed out.
"Huh, is someone trapped in there?" the ferret asked.
"Only one way to find out. If there's someone in there, we should rescue them," Seglagg responded. Using a dagger as a chisel, he stabbed at the rock shell. After a few hits, cracks appeared and spread upwards through the body of the naga statue.
From his stony prison, Orion could see the adventurers attempting to free him. He strained against the stone. Was it his imagination or was it actually coming loose? Just a bit more... Rocking debris fell as the naga burst through his encasement, kneeling on the floor and panting. "Water..." he pleaded.
"Quick! Get the water!" Seglagg instructed, and Benji grabbed the water canteen from his back and poured it down Orion's dry mouth.
"Is the other statue an adventurer too?" Niall piped up. "Because it looks a lot like-"
"No, thisss ssstatue has been there sssince the conssstruction of the temple." Orion interrupted.
"Oh, okay. So are there any treasures inside?"
Orion shook his head sadly. "I looked everywhere. Nothing but trapsss. It ssseems to have already been cleaned out decadesss ago," he lied. "Let's leave this place."
As the adventurers walked away, Seglagg hung back. The dragon seemed a bit too familiar for comfort. Taking his dagger, he stabbed at the dragon statue. The brittle shell casing fell apart, revealing an exhausted but angry dragon. "You were going to leave me in there!" he croaked hoarsely, accusing Orion.
"No, I wasssn't. I wasss kidding," the naga defended himself smugly.
"I thought you said there wasn't anyone in there," Benji looked at Orion suspiciously. Orion shrugged. "Are there any other adventurers we should know about?" he asked with eyebrows raised.
"Nah, thisss isss the lassst one," Orion said truthfully. In the meantime, Seglagg had offered Crestor more water, which he gulped thankfully. "Now, let's get out of here," he instructed.
Orion watched the other adventurers leave before following behind. He gently uncurled his coils, revealing a shiny circlet of jewels, glowing with mystical power. He grabbed it with his tail and slithered into the water, hiding the crown under the surface of the water as he brought it with him.
Exiting the swamp, he followed the group off into the jungle. This trip turned out to be a good haul after all.
~ End ~