Chapter two: Pitfalls
Here is part two of my story series I am trying. Let me know what you think.
Chilly_Nose
Since the rescue of Star from the tribal cats, she has been fairly reticent. I tried on numerous occasions to get her to open up, but to no avail. Every time I tried she would just change the subject and wander around the woods looking for mushrooms as her excuse. It was after the third time that I just gave up and watched her move through the trees.
"Hey Star," I said pointing to a patch of morels I just walked past, "here are some of your mushrooms."
"Hurray! I love these things!" Star said with glee, trotting over quickly to scoop them up. "Want any?"
"We might as well sit and have a quick lunch. I brought some salted pork, we can have a little feast," I said with as much sarcasm as I could. I took a seat next to the nearest tree. Leaning up against it, I started to root around my pouches for some of the pork. Star came to sit across from be, folding her legs beneath her. Finally finding the pork, I gave half to Star. Her black tail wiggled with happiness as she passed some of the mushroom over to me.
I watched the black lab munch on her food. Star is a black lab, about 5 foot 5 inches. Long and slender, you could tell just by looking at her she was built to run. Wearing a very low v-cut purple t-shirt I could see her modest breasts standing proud, a little silver necklace. She wore a pair of ankle high hiking boots and a pair of low cut jean shorts. I, on the other hand am, an alaskan malamute, the kind that is white with the little pink spots. Standing at 6 foot 1 inches, I do not like to run. I am built more for the endurance aspect of life, like finding this dumb artifact the Mages want. A sleeveless white shirt and a pair of green pants is my normal attire. The little black collar around my neck acts as both a necklace and a ward against mental attacks.
We finished out short meal rather quickly, but did not stand right away. Star, usually full of giddy energy, sat there unusually still. "Whats wrong?" I asked.
Star rose her head and met my eyes, tears forming. "I don't want to go home after this. I'm scared that I'll end up just like my mother."
My heart about broke at the sincerity I could hear in her voice. "What does your family do that you are worried about becoming?" I asked softly.
Star looked away before answering. "My father runs a whore house in the city. My mother was one of the whores there. She died when one of her patrons came in drunk and pulled a knife on her. I am scared if I go back, I will not be able to escape again."
"Then don't go back," I answered simply. "I have a nice apartment back at the Mages enclave and I am sure they will not mind if you stay there for a few months before you get on your feet and find something you want to do."
Star looked back at me, rubbing the tears out of her eyes. "I am sorry I misled you earlier. I purposefully said the little line about using the treasure to make my parents understand and cutting off abruptly. I really do appreciate your offer."
I gave star a long look before replying. "I guess I will let it slide for now. No more lying now though, alright?"
"Sure," Star said while standing, brushing the dirt off her shorts with her paws. "Well that is enough boring talking about my dumb past. Lets go find that treasure!"
I got myself to my feet and watched her bound off. I started after her when I seen her abruptly fall through the forest floor. The sound of sticks breaking was very loud compared to the relative quiet of the forest. I rushed over to where she fell to make sure she was alright. I reached the hole and looked down to see her sprawled on her back, laughing with uncontrolled mirth. "You alright down there?"
Star, still shaking with laughter, stood up and waved to me. "Yeah I am fine, no thanks to you. Don't you know better than letting a helpless woman walk through the forest by herself?"
"Well maybe if you did not weigh so much you won.." I got out before a huge clump of mud hit me in the face. Losing my balance I tumbled down and landed next to her. I cleaned the mud out of my eyes and watched her loom over me, holding up another pile of mud in her paws ready to toss in my face again. "Alright alright, I yield to your muddy fury."
"That's better," she said smugly and looked around. "This place is creepy."
She was right. From my back I could see a roughly made room of stone with a dirt and mud floor, no exits except the one Star made through the ceiling. It was all the spider webs and lack of lighting that made it look worse than it actually was. At least that was what I kept telling myself. Getting to my feet, I stopped to listen. It almost sounded like someone was breathing. "Stay quiet," I said as softly as I could and got my axe into my paw. Trying to be as silent as I could, made easier since I do not like wearing shoes, I approached where the sound was coming from. I traced the noise to one of the walls. This wall was filled with a lot more spider webs than the other three, I noted. The spider webs were also moving from some unseen breeze.
I used my axe and brushed away the webs. Behind them I seen a small hole. Putting my paw near it, I could feel the swelling of air in time with the breathing noises. "Alright, you can relax. It is just the air finding an escape finally. I wonder how long this place has been here?"
Star came to stood close next to me, hugging my shield arm. "Cyg, lets go. I do not like confined places."
I patted her paws with my free paw and said, "I want to see what is behind here." Star back up quickly.
"Well hurry up."
I cleared the rest of the spider webs from the wall and discovered a series of holes in them like the one i found earlier. "Hey come here, what do you make of this?" I asked Star. The wall, along with small holes, also hada series of drawing on them. They almost looked like they were telling a story, written in black. From left to right I saw different scenes of the story. It started off with a human looking fellow holding up a bright object to the sky. The sky parted and a hand reached down to take the object. The man was then portrayed pulling the bright object back to his body. The sky closed and the arm that was reaching through was cut off. The man picked up the hand and had a brief montage of wrapping it and dipping it in something. Next he was pictured in a graveyard with shapes coming up from it from their graves. The man held the severed hand down to the ground as they rose up. There was another panel that had the man fighting a new person, this one looked to be a dragon, along with his small army of dead. The dragon was pictured stabbing the man through the chest, the hand in free-fall to the ground. The last panel had the dragon placing the hand on a pedestal with the dead closing in on him.
"Creepy," Star muttered.
"That looks almost like what I was sent to retrieve, the hand of Arkol. I was told that Arkol is an overlord from days long past. He was known for being rather brutal to his subjects. There is even some rumors that he was responsible for starting to build the unfinished pyramid before his rule ended." I told Star.
"Well it is still creepy," She responded. She walked back to the wall and looked closer. "Maybe there a room behind this that the wind is coming from?"
"That is possible, but how do we get there?" I asked.
"We gotta solve this puzzle first of course. Let me think. If this is all about some mighty hand that can raise the dead, maybe the challenge to to stick your paw in the correct hole like the hand's original owner did through the sky."
"That is reassuring. Just get it chopped off like he did too."
"Unless you chose the right one of course silly," She said cheerfully. We both looked at the wall trying to figure it out.
I pointed at the hole on the far right, where it was near the dragon placing the hand on a pedestal. "My guess is that one. Besides, it is the only one big enough to stick my paw into."
"Are you actually going to do it?" Star asked nervously.
"If it helps me find the hand of Arkol faster, I have to try." I said, trying to sound brave. Contrary to that statement, I do like having my paws attached to me. This scared the crap out of me. I took a deep breath and slowly put my paw into the opening. I tried to feel for any traps along the way, but I found nothing other than smooth stone and spiderwebs. I got my arm all the way in, almost to my shoulder before I found a lever at the end of it. "Hey I found a lever. Stand back in case something bad happens." Star needed no further encouragement and went back to the other wall, being careful to avoid the spider webs.
I pulled the lever.
Nothing happened.
"Really? Nothing?" I said to the wall. Letting go of the lever, I felt it snap back in place. A huge cloud of dust billowed out from the other holes. I started to cough uncontrollably and pulled my arm quickly out of the hole. No sooner did my arm come out did the holes slam shut. Still coughing, my eyes watering from all the dust, I watched the wall slide back about 2 feet and then move to the right, opening another room. Star came to stand next to me, her paws over her nose and mouth to stop from chocking like I was. After a few minutes of wheezing, I finally managed to control myself again.
"Well that sucked," I said, reaching for my small canteen to clear my mouth from the dust. "I really hope that was not full of asbestos."
"Oh you big baby, it was just centuries old dirt. Maybe some dead people mixed in," she said pointing.
The new room was a crypt, complete with the smell of stagnate air. I sneezed, daring Star to say anything further and walked in. The room was filled with the dead. Except for one bookshelf which held numerous leather-bound tomes. I walked around the sarcophagi, looking for identifying marks. Star went over to the book case and picked up one of the books. I watched as it crumbled into dust in her paws. "Careful, those books are super old."
Star shot me a look. "Thanks, I would have never guessed," she said sharply.
I was looking at the last sarcophagi when Star called me over. "Hey Cygnus, look at this." She held out a book that looked like time ignored. The book was titled 'The Resurrection of Arkol'.
"Jackpot. Now lets get out of here. I've had enough of this dust," I said with another sneeze.
We left the crypt without incident, thankfully.
"Looks like it will be dark in another couple hours. Lets set up camp and see what this book says. Sound good?" I asked Star. She nodded in approval.