Tales of Six

Chapter 18 : Don't you trust me ?

Passing the door, Savyna and Kaen see a new room.

Kaen, whining- Awwn, how many are there ?

Savyna just rolls her eyes at Kaen's childish behaviour, and observes. The room seems square, the ground is paved with large square tiles, and the left wall bears a giant carving of an eye. Savyna, her torch in hand, steps in to illuminate the end of the room. She sees an opening, similar to the other rooms, but the second she steps in, a ray of light shoots out from the eye onto Savyna, and a rumbling sound echoes. Savyna hides from the light behind her arms, before realising the light doesn't hurt. She looks back at Kaen, then to the exit. It's now closed. She walks up to it and the beam follows her, but this time there is no hole, no handle, no riddle.

Savyna- I don't get it.

Kaen- I think... Come back here.

Savyna, still suspicious, begrudgingly goes back to the entrance of the room. Kaen motions to step out completely. Savyna follows the instructions and the light beam stops at the edge of the room, then turns off. The door rumbles.

Kaen- It's open now.

Savyna- So what, if we're inside the door is closed ?

Kaen- If we're seen inside. It's an eye. Turn off the torches.

Savyna looks at her own torch and the fire dies. Kaen hands her torch to Savyna with a big smile. Savyna stares at Kaen then rolls her eyes and removes the fire there as well. Kaen, now in total darkness, walks forward. A few steps in the room and the eye still hasn't lit up. Kaen turns to Savyna and shows her a thumbs up.

Then realises she can't see it because of the darkness.

Kaen- Hey it's good you can-

A beam of light suddenly blinds Kaen and the door closes.

Kaen- What ? Why ? Does it also detect sounds ??

Savyna, bored- Apparently...

Kaen grumbles and comes back at the entrance to turn off the light and re-open the door. She turns to Savyna.

Kaen- Alright, we just need to walk straight from here to the other side without light and without making a sound. Let's go.

Savyna doesn't move and just stays at the entrance, waiting. Kaen focuses and starts walking forward. Just before reaching half of the room, Kaen steps on uneven ground, and it moves slightly as the light beam turns on and aims at Kaen.

Kaen- What !?

She lifts her foot and kneels to the ground to get a better look, the beam still following her. A tile appears to be just a little bit higher than the others, and when pressed it goes down to the same level. Kaen looks around at the other tiles with the light in her face, but blinks and is too blinded to see. She closes her eyes, breathes deeply and opens them up again. Her irises have gone orange and she now seems undisturbed by the beam of light. Kaen looks at the tiles on the floor, frowning.

Kaen- I still can't see shit. There's too much air and the detail is too small.

Kaen stomps out of the room and waits for the beam to turn off, then she turns her eyes purple.

Kaen- Way better now.

She scans the room with her shadow vision and discerns a path from here to the other side, while avoiding the elevated tiles. She turns to Savyna who makes a small fire in her hand, just enough to see each other's face, and Kaen returns her eyes to normal.

Kaen- I know where to go. But you have to follow me closely, since I can't guide you by voice inside.

As Kaen starts moving to the entrance of the room, she notices Savyna still doesn't move. The wood elf looks uneasy and unwilling to go through. Kaen goes to take Savyna's free hand in hers and looks her in the eyes.