"Take this necklace, my child. Your mother wanted you to have it."
Elias awoke. Or, rather, he opened his eyes after trying to fall asleep for an hour. He wasn't really sure how long he'd been awake, but the young prince knew it was the middle of the night. Conceiting defeat, the snake-man rose up from his covers.
Oh, he heard a scratching.
His long (almost fan like in a way) ears twitched, trying to pick up some sort of sound. Wrapping his blanket around himself Elias got up to investigate. It sounded like a mouse of sorts in the wall. Ugh. At least maybe one of the guards would like it as a snack? The naga slithered along his room's walls, pressing his ear to them. Eventually he narrowed down a spot. Strange, there was a loose stone there. Elias scratched at it. Hm. It felt like it was loose enough he could just pull it right out. Oh. Turns out, Elias could pull it out. When he removed the stone, he saw a small hole. It was a little keyhole, actually. It looked around the right size for the thing on his necklace, actually. Hm.
Shrrrk
Elias opened the wooden drawer. He took out the amulet on his necklace and inserted it in the slot. It clicked, and a somewhat small rectangular hole opened up below it. A little mouse scampered out, and Elias grabbed it. He bent down, looking into the dark hole. It was almost like a vent. "Trapped, little thing?" He said to the mouse. If his amulet gave him access to these passages, they must mean something right?
For a while Elias thought about what to do. He toyed with the mouse in his hand, occasionally petting it, and sometimes letting it almost escape before catching it again. Ugh. It was too tempting. Elias crouched down once more, and slithered into the hole. Of course, he took the mouse with him. He could use the company.
The inside of the passages were tight- barely enough room to turn around. However this didn't really deter Elias- he was rather comfortable with that, being a naga and all.
The passages lead all around the fortress that Elias resided in. He was honestly impressed, if not a tad confused. However, one pathway caught his attention. It was even narrower than the others- therefore he had to go down it! Elias stuffed the mouse in his mouth (no, he wasn't going to eat it) so that his hands were free to help him pull himself along.
The- the outside! This passage lead to the outside! Elias rarely got to go outside, and whenever he was he was always escorted. He hated that- but it seemed now he had an opportunity to truly explore. Elias exited the passage- only to turn back around. If he was going to explore he wanted to be prepared.
