The Omen, page 12
part #5 of Eden's Gate Series
“Do you?” I asked smugly.
“I think so,” she said. She put a finger on her lip and scanned me up and down. “What’s an electric pole exactly? It’s not what I think it is, is it?”
I scratched my head as I guessed what she might think it was, but after coming to some Aaron-like conclusions, I quickly informed her that it definitely wasn’t anything that she thought it might be.
I snorted lightly and stared at Keysia for a moment while we both continued to chow down on our food rations. We made eye contact and smiled as we ate, but neither of us said a word. There seemed to be an unspoken connection that had blossomed between us—like a tiny flower growing under stress but had finally burst through the barrier above it.
Eventually, I held my hand out to hers, thinking that I’d grab her and pull her in for another kiss, but as soon as Keysia reached her hand out to grab onto mine, there was a clanging sound and a distant, muffled yell from somewhere. It was the voice of a human male—perhaps from somewhere below.
“Damn,” I said, tilting my head and trying to find the direction of the sound. “Was that Sung?”
“It sounded like it,” Keysia said.
I took a deep breath, sighed loudly, then shoved a huge chunk of food ration between my lips. With my mouth full, I said, “Let’s finish up and get going. We‘ve got to hurry.”
I wanted to nudge things between Keysia and me a little further, but I knew that I had plenty of time to figure out things with her later. Sung and Ozzy, however, were trapped somewhere, and it was my obligation to find them. Messing around with cute elven girls couldn’t be on the priority list.
Keysia quickly chewed the last bits of her food ration and stood to her feet as I threw the last chunk of mine in my mouth.
She tilted her head to the chamber that was up ahead and grinned to me. “Are you ready?”
I nodded, jumped to my feet, and smiled. “Let’s do this.”
Chapter Thirteen
2/4/0001
We stepped carefully into the chamber with our weapons drawn, each of us anticipating an attack at any moment. I glanced from side to side, and looked up to make sure there wasn’t anything strange hanging from above.
The ceiling of the chamber rose high into the air, and around us were a dozen massive statues of Barbaros and Orc men, similar to the ones we saw prior to entering the temple. Each statue held carved weapons of war and were decked out in what appeared to be leather or cloth armor, though it was difficult to tell in monotone grey stone.
Thankfully, nothing attacked us, and as we pushed further into the room, it was clear that the room was free of immediate danger.
“This is amazing,” Keysia said as she fastened her staff on her back and rubbed her hand across one of the Barbaros. “It must have taken ages to construct all these.”
I sheathed my sword and smirked, knowing that they were probably ‘constructed’ in an instant, given that the whole world consisted of ones and zeros that Dr. Winston had contrived. “Yeah…”
I walked to the far wall, and looked for a way forward, but there appeared to be no doors or additional exits on any side. Other than the statues, all that was in the room was a pool of liquid on the far-right wall. Like the pool we had seen earlier, this one was filled with what appeared to be more stagnant water, and there was a barred opening leading toward the direction we came.
“Is this a dead end?” Keysia asked.
“Looks like it.”
“Maybe we should go back and look for another way.”
I took a deep breath and held it in a moment as I scanned the room and thought about the situation. I was growing frustrated and I wondered if we should have just tried reactivating the traps, so that we could follow Sung and Jeremy into the holes.
As I scanned the room, my eyes noticed a pile of wreckage at the feet of one of the Barbaros statues. The stone sword that the statue had been holding was broken in two near the center, and the bottom half had been turned into chunks of rubble. A large portion of its boot had been destroyed as well.
Beneath a broken Barbarous, Trynzen had said. The Barbaros’ body wasn’t totally broken, but it was the first Barbaros statue that I’d seen with significant damage.
I kneeled and tossed a few of the broken pieces of stone aside. There were no obvious hiding spots underneath the Barbaros, but without having any idea the sort of item Trynzen had tucked away, I had to consider that it might be under the debris.
“Gunnar?” Keysa asked as the speed of my tossing increased.
“Give me a minute to check this out,” I replied.
“Is this your version of dumpster diving?” she asked.
I nodded. “The quest item Jeremy and I had was under a broken Barbaros.”
Keysia sighed as if she was unsure that I’d find anything, but then she kneeled and started helping me move pieces of rock. “What are you looking for exactly?”
“Some sort of trinket, I guess. We didn’t get many details when we received the quest.”
“You received a quest to find a trinket with no idea what the trinket is?”
I sneered as I remembered our bizarre conversation with Trynzen and how we had basically bribed him for information. “The guy wasn’t exactly forthcoming with info. I don’t think he would’ve shared anything with us if he thought we’d actually make it here.”
“Hmmm,” Keysia said. “Deceptive quest, possibly.”
I lifted a rock, paused, and looked at it. I hadn’t considered the idea that Trynzen had lied to us. He had been hungry for our food rations, after all, so it was a possibility. There was always the chance that he was a lot smarter than he came across as and lied simply to get our food.
I tossed the rock aside, lifted another, and my stomach flipped when I could see a small hole bored into the boot of the statue. “There’s something here,” I huffed as I started shoving as much of the debris out of the way as fast as possible.
The hole was just large enough to fit my hand, and when I reached inside, Keysia whispered, “Careful,” and placed her palm on my shoulder.
A smile crept over my face when my hand felt something metal and square.
I pulled the item out to find that I was holding a tiny silver and gold box in the shape of a treasure chest. It was sealed shut, caked in dust, and had a tiny keyhole on the front.
You’ve received: Trynzen’s Trinket Box. Durability: 85/100. Quality: Average. Rarity: Legendary. Weight: 0.2kg. A box belonging to Trynzen
“Hell yeah…” I said low.
“Is that what you were looking for?” Keysia asked.
I nodded.
“Can you open it?”
I reached into my bag for the lockpick that we had looted on the way there, and grinned at Keysia as I held it out in front of me. “I don’t know, but I’ll give it a try.”
I rested the box on the top of the stone statue’s boot and stuck the lockpick in, steadying my hand and concentrating on the small pins that were inside. As the lockpick entered the box, I counted four pins that slid out of the way to make room. And just as I had done every other time I had picked a lock, I tried to secure each individual pin before any of them dropped.
I managed to secure the first pin with the lockpick, but while I was trying to secure the second pin, the pin reset, and the lockpick broke.
“Damnit…”
“Give it another shot,” Keysia said. “You’ve got this.”
“I only had that one. You didn’t happen to bring any, did you?”
She shook her head. “I have no lockpicking skills, Gunnar. I wouldn’t have thought to bring anything.”
I shrugged, sighed, and lifted the flap of my bag to place the box inside. “Well, I guess it’s not so important right at this moment. Now that we’ve got the quest item, we should just focus on finding Jeremy and Sung.”
Keysia nodded and took a step towards the entrance from which we came. “Let’s go.”
I fell in after her, but after only a couple of steps, I noticed a strange stone that was on the wall of the room, similar to the one I had leaned on earlier which had caused a trap to trigger. It wasn’t easy to spot due to its very subtle difference—only slightly lighter than the rest of the wall and a little less shiny due to its dryness. It was easy to overlook, especially when surrounded by all the breathtaking statues that commanded the attention in the room.
“Wait a minute,” I said.
Keysia paused and raised an eyebrow, but she didn’t say anything.
I pointed toward the strange stone to her left, then noticed yet another stone further along the wall to her right. I turned my head and pointed at that one as well. “Check out the stones. They’re exactly like the trap that I triggered earlier.”
Keysia squinted as if she couldn’t tell the difference between the stones and the rest of the wall. “Are they? Where?”
I walked up to one of the stones and could see faint lines around its edges. It was tightly packed, but there didn’t seem to be any mortar or seal around it.
I purposely placed my hand on the stone lightly, making sure not to press it in.
“Hey!” Keysia shouted. “Be careful. You remember what happened last time, right?”
“Yeah,” I said with a slight nod. “But maybe they’re not all traps. There was a trap and a puzzle in the room where we lost Sung and Jeremy. There might be a method to the madness here too.”
Keysia frowned. “If you die, I’ll be left to fend for myself.”
I grinned. “Reborns can’t die, remember? I’m bound to the stone outside the temple, so If something happens, meet me back there in a couple hours. Monsters don’t respawn, right?”
Keysia smirked and didn’t seem confident in my proposal.
I glanced down to her feet, dismissing her uneasiness. “You should back up a little bit. If this is another trap, I don’t want something to happen to you.”
Keysia swallowed and took several steps back.
I braced myself and looked in every direction before putting weight on the stone. I wanted to be sure that I could duck, dodge or run in case a dart or something worse headed my way. I took a deep breath and pressed hard on the stone.
The strange stone easily slid into the wall, almost as if it were greased, and there was a loud ‘click’ when it was fully set in. I winced, expecting some sort of harm to come my way, but this time, nothing seemed to happen. I glanced to Keysia, looked around, and a second later, there was a low gritting noise. A rectangular section of the wall in front of me started rotating inward.
The odd stone had triggered a hidden door.
I sighed in both relief and anticipation at what we had found. Both Keysia and I grinned.
“What is this?” she asked.
The door made a thunking noise when it fully opened, and I cautiously peaked inside. There were no threats that I could see, so I waved at Keysia to follow me in.
The room was small, about the size of a closet, and there was a small treasure chest with a dusty rucksack sitting beside it. Otherwise, the room was completely empty.
I winked at Keysia. “Not a way forward like I hoped it would be, but this is why we’ve got to take chances sometimes.”
Keysia twisted her lips as I kneeled to check out our findings.
I started by opening the treasure chest, and luckily it was unlocked. There was a small pile of gold inside, a couple of emeralds, and two other items.
You’ve received: Degenerate’s Ring of Power. Requires 25 Intelligence. Durability: 8/10. Quality: Average. Rarity: Epic. Weight: 0.1 kg. +2 Intelligence. +2 Wisdom. +10% Magic Damage. -50 Health.
You’ve received: Radiant Electrical Choker. Durability: 7/10. Quality: Average. Rarity: Rare. Weight: 0.2 kg. +5 Wisdom. +10% Lightning Magic Damage
The ring wasn’t particularly useful to either of us as we wouldn’t be willing to sacrifice the health debuff it caused. The choker, however, seemed perfect for Keysia. I read out the stats and handed it to her without even asking if she wanted it.
“Wow, this is great,” Keysia said as she wrapped the choker around her neck. “Thank you, Gunnar.”
I slid the ring in my bag. “No need to be humble. You helped get us here.”
I swung my eyes towards the rucksack and started rummaging inside.
You’ve received: Kettleroot. Durability: 9/10. Quality: Average. Rarity: Uncommon. Weight: 0.1 kg. A reagent with various uses.
You’ve received: Dried Thale. Durability: 10/10. Quality: Average. Rarity: Common. Weight: 0.1 kg. A reagent with various uses.
You’ve received: Aged Red Wine. Durability: 3/10. Quality: Average. Rarity: Uncommon. Weight: 0.5 kg. An alcoholic beverage. Be wary of addiction and side-effects!
I wasn’t sure what use either of the herbs had, so I just slid them in my bag and held the wine bottle up for Keysia to see. “Nice... We’ll have to share a few drinks sometime.”
“I’m not much of a drinker, but okay! I can make an exception,” Keysia replied.
I took one final look around the room, but there was nothing else of interest. We both stepped out, and the hidden door seemed to somehow know that we had exited. It slowly began to close once we were out of the way.
After finding a small treasure hidden behind the wall, I felt a little more confident and a bit excited about the next odd stone as we marched towards it. Again, I told Keysia to step aside, took a deep breath, then leaned some weight onto it.
The stone slid in effortlessly once again, clicked, and like before, there didn’t seem to be any sort of trap. A few seconds passed, but unlike the last time, the wall in front of us didn’t open. There was a low gurgling noise, and then the sound of flowing water.
I glanced to Keysia then looked to the direction of the sound on the far side of the room. I gave her a slight nod, and she seemed to understand my unspoken instruction to follow as I turned and ran.
At the far side of the room, the stagnant body of water was quickly draining away, exposing the floor below it and a full, circular barred door that seemed to lead back the way we came. When the water had fully drained, a scummy green and yellow sludge covered the floor and the walls where the water had rested.
“Look there,” Keysia said, pointing towards the corner near the barred door.
Sticking out of the floor beside it was a small metal lever.
I groaned as I eyed the sludge. “I guess we’re going to have to get down in that if we want to check it out.”
The empty pool where the water had been sitting was about six feet deep—just deep enough that jumping down onto the slippery surface was dangerous, but just shallow enough that we’d be able to pull ourselves up and out without much problem.
I sat down on the edge of the pool to lessen the distance of my fall then pushed off. I managed to stick the landing with a splat, but when I was turning my attention around to Keysia, my feet slipped several times, and I’m sure I looked ridiculous, flailing my arms and trying to hold my balance.
“Whoa…” I huffed as I held my hands out to my sides and regained a sense of steadiness.
“Careful,” Keysia warned right before she pushed herself off the ledge. Keysia stuck the landing as well, but as she was straightening her back, one of her feet slipped in the goop, and she almost tipped over before regaining her footing.
“Careful,” I mocked and winked.
Keysia lifted her foot, and the slimy sludge created a long stringy web from the floor to the bottom of her feet. “What is this?”
“I don’t think I want to know.” I raised my foot and looked at the bottom. Whatever it was, the texture was gross and it smelled like rotten eggs.
I walked carefully towards the lever, cautioned Keysia to stand back and watch out for traps, and pulled.
The lever was loose and easily moved to its opposite position. There was a loud clank, then the sound of heavy gears crunching against each other. The bars in front of us rose slowly, opening up the empty waterway.
“Yeah, baby!” I cheered.
Keysia blinked several times. “Baby? I don’t see a baby, Gunnar.” She turned to me and blinked again. “Or are you referring to me? I’m not a child.”
I chuckled and rubbed my chin as I tried to figure out how to explain the expression. “You’re not a baby, but sometimes Reborns say that as a term of endearment.”
“You endear me then?” Keysia blushed.
I shook my head but quickly switched it to a nod. “No… I mean, yes. I do endear you.” I rubbed my chin again. “When I said baby, it was more like ‘awesome’.”
“Like a whole snack?”
I shook my head. “I don’t even know where the fuck Aaron got that from, but when you see something awesome or something exciting occurs, you can say ‘Yeah, baby!’ to express awe and excitement.”
“Hmmm…” Keysia turned towards the path ahead of us and said in an excited tone, “Yes, baby!”
I winced and sucked air between my teeth as I shook my head. “No, not like that. You’ve gotta say ’yeah’, or it doesn’t sound right. And you have to kind of groan it or coo it out.” I scratched my head as I thought of a better way to explain. “Imagine you have an elven pie. You smell the aroma rising to your nostrils, and you’re about to take your first bite. Put that feeling into it as you say it. Say it slow, like you know you’re going to savor the taste.”
My mouth watered, and Keysia’s stomach groaned.
“Okay, okay,” I said and raised my hand. “I need to stop talking about elven pie.”
“Yeah, that’s a good idea.”
I raised my hand to cast another round of Divine Sight on us both. The path ahead of us was otherwise empty aside from the sludge. “Let’s see where this leads to and quit wasting time. Jeremy and Sung are still in here somewhere.”
