The Mystery of Stellaris

ℭ𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔱𝔢𝔯 11

The trio's hard work had finally turned out on a positive note. Aman was slightly teared up after seeing the bright glimmer of the rooftop of the villa. He controlled himself and suggested Andrew and Alex move ahead. All three of them reached the entrance of the villa after a long trek of steep uphill and treacherous paths filled with wild ravenous animals. The gate of the villa was made with solid iron and the compound was built with a thick layer of basalt and granite which was indeed considered as a most valued element during the old times. Even trade used to take place using granite for its toughness with slightly obstructed reflection. The witches used orbs made of granite to tell the fortune to the people during the old times. The religious places were constructed with black granite arches to withdraw negative energy before they entered the holy shrine. Granite was almost treated as equal to gold. The walls were constructed with black granite just like the religious places in the old times. Even after many years, the walls of black granite had still that quality of reflection in them. The wall had formed a distorted image of the trio. 

The gate had gold handles on either side. They weren't able to believe their own eyes. As they went to open the gate, it was shut tight and was not even budging. Andrew applied full force to open the gate, but he failed to do so. Eventually, after a long time standing outside the gate, Aman observed three indents carved on the gate. He slowly wiped the dust off them. He realized that the shapes matched the ivory pieces that the trio had. He eventually collected the ivory pieces from Andrew and Alex and placed them inside the cavity. Moments within, the gate budged and opened with a loud squeak. They slowly stepped inside the lawn and began moving towards the door of the villa. As they progressed they could see various sculptures of the mythical gods and demons that were placed on tall pillars made from obsidian. They were indeed stunned to see the obsidian pillars as Zephyrion has no volcano nearby which made them wonder how could it be possible for the ancient builders to fetch obsidian from the distant far lands. The trio moved on with a puzzled mind. As with the statues, due to the environment nearby, the statues were covered with thick moss which made it difficult to recognize. They finally reached the door after a while. The door was made completely from pure mahogany with gold inlay work at the sides. Despite of many decades, there was not even a single damage to the wooden door. Alex was completely excited as he jumped in between to open the door. He tried to open the door with all his might but it didn't budge just like the gate.

"Andrew! Don't just stand and stare, help me to open this door!" said Alex as he continued to push the door. Andrew went and stood beside Alex as he also joined hands to open the door. Even the mighty force of Alex used all his strength to open the door. But it didn't budge at all. Aman took a step back and watched at the door and he suddenly snapped his finger indicating that he realized something and rushed towards the door. He began inspecting the door with a keen eye and moments later, he started removing the cobwebs that had formed on the door handles that were iron which was gold plated. 

He saw the motif of a burning torch on the door handle and felt something. He pulled down the door handles and suddenly the obsidian pillars began coming down and went under the ground. Flames were lit at the torches that were present beside the door which shocked Alex and Andrew. The door began to open slowly sideways. 

"It was surely a puzzle," said Aman as he stepped into the villa not knowing the trouble that was about to face.