The Dark Realm

Claustrophobic Codes

The next room was full of light already. Torches hung on the wall, illuminating the room. Stone tiles decorated the floor each one was a different symbol. Another door stood at the end of the large room.

"Can we just walk across?" Luke asked. Lilly shook her head.

"I doubt it. I don't think that it will be so easy. Remember what we just had to go through. It's probably booby trapped."

"This isn't an adventure movie like Indiana Jones or something. This is real!" Luke exclaimed.

"The last room was. This one is almost guaranteed to be. Fiction is based on fact after all." Lilly explained. Luke sighed in defeat.

"You're right. So what do we do?" Luke asked.

"We have to figure out what the trap is. Luke, hand me that key."

"What, why?"

"Just do it, please." Luke tossed the little golden key across to Lilly. She examined it. On the side were six symbols: an oval, a sword, a crown, a lily, a crescent moon, and a star. Lilly scanned the floor. Each of those symbols was on a tile somewhere on the floor. Maybe if they try one of the oldest tricks in the book...

"Luke, step that tile next to you, the one that has the oval on it." Lilly pointed to a tile a few feet away from Luke, who was closer to it than she was.

He looked at it and placed his foot there. It wiggled a bit and then fell through. Luke slipped, his foot dangling in the recently created hole.

"Luke!" Lilly raced over to him, not stepping on the center tiles. She grabbed hold of him and pulled him up.

"My bad." Lilly looked at the key again. Was it just a coincidence that the symbols on the key were on the titles as well. No they couldn't be. The wall began to move slowly inwards.

"Not this cliché!" Luke whined. Lilly had to think fast. There was another oval tile all the way across the room. It was the only one that had a double.

A thought struck Lilly. She flipped the key around so the symbols were in the opposite order: star, crescent moon, lily, crown, sword, then lastly oval. That made more sense. Lilly examined the floor for all of the symbols. Yes! The star was the closest and the oval was the farthest.

"Luke, follow me." Lilly jumped on to the star tile. It didn't fall through. The walls were coming closer. She needed to hurry. She leaped to the next one, the moon, which was almost a foot away. She almost lost her balance and toppled over, but luckily she caught herself.

Luke hopped on the star  just as Lilly leaped to the tile with her symbol on it. It started to glow when she hopped on it. Luke jumped onto the moon. The walls were getting closer now. They were only about a yard away.

As Lilly leaped onto the crown a shiver ran down her spine. She didn't know why but she didn't like this tile. Lilly wanted to get away from the tile so badly that she jumped barely looking at her next tile. She ended up falling onto a tile with a heart on it. It fell through.

"Lilly!" Luke exclaimed, worried about his best friend. Luke jumped onto the lily, a sense of familiarity and peace washed over him. Lilly pulled herself up.

"Don't worry. I've, ugh, got this." Lilly grunted as she pulled herself onto the tile with a sword on it. A feeling on sadness washed over her as she jumped onto the tile. For some reason this tile upset her, yet she felt close to it. The walls were only about a foot away now. Lilly dashed onto the oval. Luke jumped onto the crown.

"Luke, hurry up!" Lilly yelled at him as she jumped onto the tileless floor next to the door.

"I'm coming!" He leaped onto the sword tile. As soon as he did an image appeared in his mind. It was him confronting Max in a barren field, a sword in his hand. Another one flashed in his head as the first on disappeared. A sense of dread filled him. A bloody body laid on the ground, a black sword protruding from the center of it's chest. A voice could be heard in the background.

"No!" They screamed. It was a soft and sweet voice Luke would recognize anywhere. He could hear Lilly starting to cry, in his mind only of course. The real Lilly snapped him out of this vision.

"Luke, move!" Luke jumped onto the oval and then onto the platform next to Lilly. Lilly put the key from the last room into the keyhole on this door and said, "When you landed on the sword tile you were just standing there, with a glazed look in your eyes. I swear it almost looked like your eyes turned silver. It was creepy, you know."

The walls were only inches away from them, forcing the two friends closer together.

"Why is this working?!" Lilly asked confused.

"Let me see it." Luke commanded. Lilly handed it over. Luke looked at the key and then at the keyhole. It front of the key wouldn't go in. Luke checked the decorative handle. He slid it through the the hole, just as the wall was pushing them together. It worked. The walls started to move backwards. Quickly, they rushed out into another hallway, not knowing that someone was close behind.

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Honestly I am very pleased with how this chapter turned out. I really like it. What do you think Luke's vision means? Why did he have a vision when he stepped onto the sword. Who does the black sword belong to and who gets stabbed with it? Tell me what you think in the comments! Thanks!