The Chronicles: Green Night

Wisdoms Question

"Hey Francis, you knew how to open the door, so you should probably go first," Anna said as she backed away.

"Haha. If you say so, I really don't mind," I replied, taking slow steps into the well-lit room.

As I ventured deeper into the corridor, I couldn't help but notice the walls adorned with portraits of Greek figures. Upon closer examination, I realized that these paintings depicted Socrates and his journey through life.

Lost in thought, trying to piece the images together, I unknowingly activated a pressure plate with my foot. In a matter of seconds, the floor began to shift and enormous razor-sharp blades appeared. They followed a pattern of disappearing and reappearing every two seconds, moving at lightning speed. One brush with these blades and we'd be sliced in half. Clearly, the ancient builders hadn't intended for their temple to be easily accessible.

"Oops," I muttered, turning to the others. Their expressions ranged from disbelief to frustration. My luck seemed to have taken a turn for the worse.

"Well, maybe we should consider going back and dealing with the vampires. If they manage to retrieve the artifact, we'll have twenty covens ready to confront them," Suho suggested.

"Yes, that might be the wisest option," I agreed and started to retrace my steps.

Unfortunately, as I turned around, the temple entrance began to close, and to make matters worse, the swinging blades appeared at the entrance to the corridor where the rest of the group was waiting.

Ignoring the danger, I began to sprint towards the entrance with all my might. To my surprise, the guys yelled at me to stop. It seemed they knew something I didn't.

"We're coming to you! It seems the vampires got here faster than you expected!" Lucas shouted as he and Anna cautiously approached the moving blades.

Suho and Robert were the first to jump and clear the trap. Anna and Lucas, however, still had to summon up the courage to dodge the slashing blades, and they had to do it quickly because the entrance was closing fast.

All I could do was watch anxiously as they leapt over the deadly obstacle and landed on the other side unharmed. Just before the entrance was sealed, we could hear the sound of the first door to our prison chamber being breached.

Why did the vampires arrive so quickly? I thought we had successfully concealed our escape, and the information I'd received seemed credible. Perhaps they had gone to the temple the same day they received our letter? This meant that two days had passed between their receipt of the letter and their arrival. Today was the day reinforcements were expected. I cursed my own stupidity.

"Is everyone okay?" I hurried over to check on the others. To my relief, no one seemed to be injured, which was the only positive development of the day.

"Yes, but we still have to navigate the other blades, so don't relax just yet," Robert warned.

We moved slowly towards what might be our end. We lined up, relying on my luck, and I was the first to attempt the jump. Holding my breath, I waited for the blades to disappear. When they moved under the ground, I jumped over them and landed safely on the other side. Anna, Lucas and Robert followed.

But as Suho prepared to jump, one of the blades grazed his arm, slicing through a thin layer of skin like an apple peeled by a razor-sharp knife. Suho landed with a muffled hiss of pain and we rushed over to examine his wound.

"Your skin is scraped, but there is no serious damage. Your bones are unharmed. Lucas, could you use one of your healing spells to mend Suho's arm?" Anna asked as she supported the injured arm.