Fates and Thrones

Riddles

The door creaked shut behind us, the sound barely cutting through the suffocating darkness that swallowed everything. Cold air pressed against my skin, thick and oppressive, like the shadows themselves, were trying to push me out. But I could not hesitate. Not here.

Jax and Aleesia were right behind me. Or at least, they had been.

"Stay close," I whispered, though I wasn't even sure they could hear me anymore. My hand reached out, searching, but all I touched was space. Panic surged up from my chest, sharp and sudden. The darkness wasn't just dark. It was alive. Shifting. Moving. I reached again. Nothing.

"Aleesia? Jax?" My voice echoed, hollow and too loud.

Silence.

For a moment, the panic pressed hard against me, threatening to take over, but I shoved it down. I've been alone before. Many times. This isn't new.

I can handle this.

But the Den whispered back. It knew better. It always knows better. And I heard it, gnawing at the edges of my mind, seeping into thoughts that were out of control. What if they're gone? What if this is how it ends? Alone. Again.

No. I wouldn't let it. They're still here. The Den is playing tricks.

I moved forward, step by careful step, forcing my breathing to stay steady even though my heart was trying to beat its way out of my chest. The darkness had swallowed me whole, but it could not hide them from me. They weren't far. I just had to keep going.

But as the silence deepened, another fear rose in me. Not the one I had just confessed, one that I'd never find what I was looking for. No, this one was worse. Losing them. The only people who made me feel not alone.

The ground shifted beneath me, uneven and unfamiliar, but I pressed on. My hands reached for walls, for a path, for anything that felt solid. Then I heard it. A sound like breathing, but not mine.

I froze.

The air around me seemed to be still. My fingers clenched the edge of my cloak like the thin fabric could somehow protect me from whatever was lurking in the shadows. The breathing grew louder, closer.

What is that?

Then, just ahead, a flicker of light. Barely more than a spark, but enough to draw me toward it. I moved quietly, though each step echoed far too loud in the empty space around me. The light led me to a narrow corridor, its walls lined with ancient carvings, barely visible in the dim glow.

And then I saw it. Or maybe it saw me first. A creature. Or...was it a memory? The Den had a way of twisting reality, distorting everything until you didn't know what was real and what wasn't.

I straightened my shoulders, forcing strength I wasn't sure I had. There was no way that I could stop. Not until I found them. I would not fail them.

"Hello, daughter of Fate and Sea. You have come for my treasure I see." A growling voice greeted me as I slowly approached. "You have two choices here. You can fight me and risk your life. Or you can play my game. You still risk death, but you have a better chance of survival."

I could feel it now, the presence moving closer, though there was no way I could make out its full shape. The air thickened, and every instinct in me screamed to run. But where? There was nowhere to go. My legs felt like lead, my heartbeat loud in my ears as I forced myself to stand my ground.

Then it emerged from the shadows.

At first, it was impossible to tell where one limb ended, and another began. The thing slithered and crawled at the same time, its long, twisted limbs bending at angles that made my skin crawl. Each movement was accompanied by the sickening crack of bone, like something inside it was breaking over and over just to keep it moving.

A pair of glowing eyes. No, three, flickered from within the darkness, staring at me, unblinking, tracking my every breath. There was something disturbingly human in those eyes, but they were set into a face that defied any form I'd ever seen.

Its skin shifted as it moved. One side of its body was covered in slick, glistening scales, reflecting the faint light in the chamber, while the other half looked leathery, cracked, and dry as if it had been rotting for centuries. Each breath it took was a ragged, wet sound, the kind that made me think of drowning.

And then there was the mouth. My heart stopped when I saw it. Stretching too wide across its face, splitting its features in half. Rows of mismatched, jagged teeth gleamed, each one jutting out at a different angle, like broken shards of glass. The thing smiled. A slow, deliberate pull of its lips, as though it could taste my fear.

A rancid smell hit me, thick and unbearable, like rotting meat left out for days. I gagged, the stench clawing at my throat, but I couldn't move. My body refused to listen.

"Make your choice, little one," it growled, inching closer. Its voice was deeper now, almost vibrating through the stone beneath my feet. "Fight... or play."

The air grew heavier with every word, and the walls of the Den seemed to close in around me. The creature stood between me and the only way out, its limbs shifting grotesquely as it waited for my answer. I could feel its hunger, the anticipation rolling from it like waves of heat.

My mind raced. I could barely think, let alone decide. Play its game? What kind of game? Or fight it and risk losing everything?

I had to choose. But either way, I was trapped.

"I guess it is time to play a game."