When Lucan opened his eyes, he saw brown hair in his field of vision. Zack was still lying on his chest and sleeping peacefully. Lucan took a deep breath, breathing in Zack's sweet scent. Then he turned his head to the side. What?
Lucan carefully tried to wake Zack.
"Zackory."
He heard only a murmur. Apparently, the succubus didn't want to give up his comfortable pillow, nor did he want to get up.
"Zackory. I found a way out."
With these words, Zack stiffened. He opened his eyes and turned his head. A little sleepy, he looked at him.
"What?"
Slowly he straightened up and tried to shake sleep out of his limbs. He scratched his head and looked at Lucan, who had also straightened up.
"You've found a way out of here?" Zack asked in an alert voice. The demon nodded.
Zack was still a bit sleepy and in a bad mood because he had been woken up from a restful sleep. But it was now a priority that they get out of here. Something like yesterday couldn't be repeated – could it? A slight redness covered Zack's cheeks when he thought of it.
"How?" he asked, distracting himself.
"I'll show you. Lie on your back again. Then turn your head to the right and look at the wall," Lucan said.
Zack did as described. Then he saw it. At the bottom of the wall was an opening about two yards long, which hadn't been visible from above. It was just big enough for a grown man to come through.
"On wings and on legs you should not leave this room anymore," Lucan repeated, the words that stood on the ceiling. "That doesn't mean you can't get out. On the back or stomach it is very possible," he added.
Relieved, Zack breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, then let's crawl out of here." He collected his things. Carefully he pushed the lamp through the opening. Behind the opening was another room. Then, Zack lay on his back and crawled through. Arriving on the other side, four large boilers with fire flared up. The room was brightly lit. Zack stowed the lamp in his backpack and waited for Lucan to follow. Both straightened up and inspected the new environment.
The room looked like the previous one. Only, the difference was that this time the riddle was right in front of them on the wall. A large gate was in front of them and sixteen hand-sized square stone tablets with different patterns were embedded on it.
"A sliding puzzle," Zack said, stroking the stone tablets. He gently pressed against the stone tablet in the upper left. It popped out and landed in Zack's hand.
"How can this mystery be solved?" Lucan asked.
Zack looked at him and explained: "A sliding puzzle is solved by moving the stone tablets back and forth until they give the final image. There is always only one free position to which you can push one of the adjacent boards."
Lucan understood. "Then we should first determine what the final image should look like, right?"
"Correct." Zack opened his backpack and pulled out a thick drawing pad and a pencil. "Don't look so skeptical," he said with a grin.
Zack tore a page out of the block and placed it on the first board. Then he lightly pressed the pencil from left to right over the sheet. The pattern of the panel formed on the sheet. I understand. He takes over the patterns. The succubus proceeded similarly with the other boards.
"Lucan, can you cut out the squares with your claws?"
Lucan nodded. He grew a claw from his index finger and cut out the first panel from the leaf. Others followed. After all the copies were finished, they placed them on the floor in front of them.
"I think this is part of that. The lines connect to each other," Lucan said. Zack nodded and put the two together.
"I think this belongs to the top," Zack said and put on the next one. So they proceeded step by step and a square painting was created.
"What is it?" Lucan asked as he reviewed the final picture.
"This is Kukulcán or Quetzalcóatl – the feathered serpent, the creator and nature god. He is the deity worshiped at this temple."
"Alright, and now we have to move the plates so that they represent the final image?"
Zack nodded. Now the hard part would start. Solving a sliding puzzle with sixteen fields wasn't easy. If you make a wrong move, you would get into a loop from which it was difficult to get out.
"We have to record every move in order to be able to return to the initial state if necessary," Zack said. "We number the fields like in chess. The vertical rows are given the letters A to D, the horizontal rows with the numbers 1 to 4.
Lucan agreed, that made sense.
"The missing plate, i.e. the "hole", is in the loosened state at the bottom right. Thus, we have to start in the upper row to be able to solve the puzzle. The "hole" must be at the bottom right again at the end."
Until now, the demon has been able to follow the explanations. He sat down on the floor and took the pencil and the pad to write down the instructions.
"B1 to A1," Zack said, moving the first board.
"B2 to B1."
Lucan noted the moves while Zack moved the panels. Twice they had to go back several moves. Hours passed, then they had arrived in the bottom row. Zack moved the last panel to the left and exhaled relieved.
"Done. The only thing missing is the loose panel," he said to the demon.
Lucan collected the leaves and stowed them in the backpack. They wouldn't leave any garbage behind here, that would dishonor the place. The demon took the last panel and went to Zack. He carefully placed them in the hole and pushed them into the door. A click told them that it was locked in. Then the door began to open. It scraped loudly across the floor.
In front of them stretched a long corridor. As they entered it, torches gradually flared up on the walls, shining their way.
"The journey continues," Zack said. Silently, they walked down the long tunnel.
That would probably drag on a bit, so Zack asked the demon, "Lucan?"
"Hm?"
"You've learned a lot about me lately. But apart from the fact that you grew up in a village, I don't really know anything about you."
The demon smiled. "Do you want to know more about me?" he asked. Zack nodded.
Where should I start? Preferably at the beginning. Then Lucan began to tell his story as they walked down the aisle together.
________________________________
Finally they have escaped the trap.
Now a little anecdote from Lucan's life awaits you.
Your Mouse Goddess
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Zackory - a fateful touch (Vol. 2) ✅
Paranormal"You will take a warrior with you. Someone who can defend you in the worst case. Someone who can think strategically and who knows about the situation. Someone we can trust unconditionally," Astaroth said. And who is this someone supposed to be? Th...
