A dungeon has made itself known, explored by humans in times long past. Few that have ventured to said dungeon have returned from within, and even the very few haven't a clue what sort of treasure lies inside, for something within had driven them aw...
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Maya Cadora laughed a little at her roommate's response. Maybe she had been about to nerd out on her, so what?
She took her attention away from the bud and looked up at the sky, slowly growing darker as evening came. It wasn't safe to be in the woods at night. It was unfortunately time to go back.
She took one last picture to remember where the fairy lantern was, and began to hike back down the trail, she took her phone out to text Mattie that she was on her way back to campus, to which she responded with a "👍" emoji. She'd nerd out about the flower when she came back.
As she walked, Maya took a long breath of the brisk forest air. The chill of fall was starting to settle in, while still warm from the summertime, and the leaves were slowly changing their green to browns, oranges, and reds to match the changing seasons. This was what she needed: a pleasant nature walk; the perfect getaway from the stress of college life.
Attending Keystone University was certainly an experience for Maya. She had taken a dual major — one in environmental science and another in history — and was swamped with homework and various assignments within the first couple weeks of school. While she enjoyed staying busy and studying these sorts of subjects, it was nice to get out and get some fresh air to decompress and destress. She needed this.
Birds were singing their last tweets as they flew to their rests in their nests and burrows, and squirrels and smaller mammals began to shelter in their holes and burrows. The chirps of birds were slowly being replaced by those of crickets as she continued back towards the parking lot.
She slapped her arm as a mosquito went for a bite, killing it. She winced as she looked at where it had bitten her, knowing that would itch for a while. Over her arm, however, something caught her eye.
She stopped on the trail and started to creep towards it, pushing brush out of her way to get to it.
A stone structure sat half buried in the earth; crumbling ruins seemingly centuries old with a small path that led up to them. However, in the midst of the ancient broken stone, a golden archway stood proud, untouched and untarnished, as if brand new. The archway housed a closed door, locked from the looks of it. Glyphs could be read on the surface of both, but not in any language Maya presently knew.
She snapped a photo and texted Mattie immediately.
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