The Hex

Chapter 2

It wasn't a far drive to the park, only about 15 or so minutes, even less now that no one was on the roads and Maya was free to drive a little bit faster than normal.

She turned into the entrance to Keystone Park, and her face fell when she got to the booth that allowed admittance to the parking lot, and she realized just what time is was.

It was past 1 in the morning; the park was closed.

"Ay...forgot about that..." Maya facepalmed and backed out of the driveway. She drove a little bit more and parked her car at a convenience store down the road.

The cool night air of autumn was beginning to settle in, and Maya held her sweatshirt close as she snuck into the park. Keeping to the shadows, she made her way back to the trail where she'd been hiking earlier that day.

Trudging through the forest lit only by moonlight, she eventually reached the same spot she had found the dungeon before. Swiveling her head around in the dark, the glint of gold in the moonlight caught her eye. Using her knife to hack her way through the brush, she reached her destination.

The door to the Hex was all that was visible on the darkness, with the rest of the structure eclipsed in an imposing shadow looming over her. As she stepped closer, runes and glyphs began to glow with ancient magic on the door and the archway leading to it; glyphs of a foreign language previously lost to time. Maya pulled out her book and flipped to the page depicting the Hex, translating the glyphs on the arch.

Surrender Yourself, Fortune Awaits The Willing.

Knowing what she needed to do, Maya walked up to the door and gently rested her hand upon it. She took a breath, and reminded herself of her goal to find whatever treasure lurked within, ready to take on any challenge she may have to face in order to get to it.

She spoke. "I surrender myself, for I seek fortune."

A soft light began to glow around her hand, and traced itself between the doors. Dust crumbled and fell as the doors slowly strained themselves open, breaking up centuries of vegetation that had been growing on them.

A musty air centuries in the making wafted out from beyond the doorway. Torches came alight one by one, illuminating a staircase delving deep beneath the earth through a hallway of stone and brick, eroded from millennia of wear and weathering.

Maya gazed down into the stairwell, pondering how deep it went. This would likely be longer than just a quick peek; she cursed at herself for not thinking to pack more. She shook her head and slapped her temples, psyching herself up despite how ill-prepared she felt she was.

"No turning back now..." She breathed. "Well...aquí vamos."

She entered the dungeon and took a torch from the wall, descending down the stairs into the dungeon. The doors to the Hex groaned as they slowly closed shut behind her.

~

Dust particles floated in the air all around, revealed by the warm glow of Maya's torch as she continued to descend deeper into the temple. Her hand glided along the carved walls to guide her as the stairwell went further underground.

In the torchlight, she could make out images along the walls. She held the torch closer, revealing the images further to be paintings; paintings of mythical beasts and creatures, and the humans that fought them. The paint was faded and dull, having been thousands of years old, yet Maya could still make perfect sense of it.

She looked further down, reading the images like some sort of art museum exhibit. She found an image of the door she had entered on the surface, lit by a spotlight from above and surrounded by four kneeling humans, each dressed in a strange, feathered garb; the best approximation Maya could think of was a mix between Native American and Aztec wear. The people seemed to be looking up to the heavens, praising their gods; possibly for the dungeon itself. Was it possible that this place hadn't been built by these people, but had come from someplace else, like a higher power?