Guiltless

Desperate

 We were here.

   It took us a year and three months but here it is, right in front of us. I almost want to cry.

The hidden treasure of Alryi.

       Time had moved slowly, but we had made it. Issac clutched my hand, as we moved towards the giant stone chamber. The stone was covered in markings, some kind of language. Ivy draped the walls, and the stone was worn down. We stepped forward, pushing open the heavy door. 

      Sunlight filtered in through the few windows that weren't caked in dust. As we slipped through the doorway, dust flew up into our eyes and mouths. Issac coughed quietly, and we both pulled our tearing, worn out shirts, over our mouths.

   My eyes were weary. I didn't see the clear trap directly in front of me.

    Issac let out a yell, and dove on top of me just as an arrow whizzed past my head, grazing my hair. He let out a soft breath of relief into my hair, and carefully, we got up again. "Please", he whispered, "Be a little more careful." I nodded slowly, my neck aching from uncomfortable sleeping places. 

  The corridor narrowed, and Issac took the lead with me trailing behind. The light of what looked to be the main room grew closer and closer. We slowly edged towards it as the hall got narrower and narrower. We were nearly crawling by the end of it. We had successfully managed to avoid multiple traps in the situation, although we did set a few off, but managed to get awat fast enough. But this was completely uncalled for.

   The ground beneath us shook, and then a long metal bar appeared on the ceiling. It almost seemed to taunt us as the ground began to shake more violently. Instinct took over, and I grasped the bar tightly and saw that Issac had done the same. And we were lucky we did.

    The floor fell out from under us, leaving us hanging off the bar. I could already feel my hands slipping, and I gasped, trying to regain some type of grip.  I eventually got a grip, but I could see that Issac was starting to slip. Suddenly the bar began to retract.

   Issac regained his grip, but the bar slowly moved into the wall, leaving us with little to grasp onto now, but it didn't stop. As it moved, we slowly became crushed against the wall. My back was pushed against the wall painfully, sharper points in the stone jutted out into my back. Issac's body and mine collided as the bar stopped moving. I let out a sigh of relief, and as the floor slowly began to rise but then stopped. I closed my eyes and focused completely on holding onto the bar, but I could feel myself slipping. Issac seemed to notice.

"Lillith, please," he whispered, voice hoarse. "Just... hold on." 

So I did.

As the frozen floor jolted, screeched, and then began to rise once again, Issac let out a languid sigh. The floor eventually lifted our legs and became solid once again. We both collapsed to the ground and shuffled off the platform.

As we lay panting, the realization that the cobbled halls had faded into icy cold steel began to set in. An indent of the lined metal floor buried itself into my cheek and leg as we let the chilly steel cool off our exhausted forms. 

All but to soon had we slowly dragged ourselves off the floor and clung onto each-others bodies for support. We began our languid trek down the frigid halls. Our footsteps echoed off the walls and ceiling, and the sunlight had begun to fade from the dust-caked skylight.

  We stopped for a moment and agreed in painful silence that we needed to sleep if we were going to make it to the end of this alive.

  After thoroughly examining the area around us for any traps we sipped at the last of our water. Issac slowly resred his head on the cold floor, and wrapped an arm around my waist as i layed down next to him. And with dry mouths and rumbling stomachs, we whispered goodnight.