The Dresses Three

Chapter 2: A New Landscape

As soon as she uttered the words, a stone slab descended and slammed shut, blocking the way in... and out.

The sound echoed through the chamber and died out. The perfect stillness was eerie and the three of them shuffled closer together, not quite huddled, but nearly so. A lone sound came to their ears and, as one, they turned toward it. It was the sound of paper, that 'shhht' sound of two pages rubbing against one another.

They watched the page of the ancient book turn.

"Do you think it's another poem?" Matt stage whispered.

"I don't know. Maybe it's a map," Lance answered, voice equally low.

Mercy sighed. There was no way around it; she would have to look if they wanted to know. She was hesitant to step up on the dais, however; the last time she did, they'd gotten locked in.

"Go on! Go see what it says," Matt said, poking at her.

She threw him a penetrating stare and, because he was in his right mind, he cringed from it.

Seeing no other course of action, she took the three strides she needed in order to step up. No tiles moved and she let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

The book, still illuminated from above, practically glowed. The paper was so white, it seemed as if it were made just yesterday. Yet, Mercy knew in her gut this wasn't true.

She leaned in.

On the page there was a picture, or rather there were three pictures on one page, of each the chamber's three gigantic amethyst geodes. As soon as she glanced up to tell the young men what she saw, shafts of light shined down on them.

"Wow," Lance said as they all saw the amethyst points sparkle. "I take it that we're supposed to get in them?"

Mercy nodded. "I think so, yes."

"You two know that I'm afraid of small spaces, right?" Matt revealed and he swallowed visibly.

The book's page rustled and Mercy watched as it tuned before her. This time, there weren't any words on the next page. There wasn't a next page at all. Instead, a small area was carved into the rest of the tome and in it rested a book about the size of Mercy's hand. She reached out and took the palm-sized book. As she did, they heard a tinkling sound and the light above the tome faded away.

"What's that?" Lance asked.

"It's another book," Mercy said.

"Yes," Lance said, scowling, "I can see that, Mercy. But, is it another of poems? A map? A recipe book?"

"Well, I don't rightly know, Lance," Mercy shot back. "I haven't actually opened it yet, now have I?"

Matt looked from one to the other, not knowing what to do. Mercy, thankfully, took action and opened the book.

"I—I can't read it!" she exclaimed. "It's in a language that I don't know. What are we going to do?"

Matt brightened. "Bring me the book," he said, gesturing to her to come to him. "My magic is languages. It's why I'm becoming such a well known scholar."

She gingerly stepped off the podium. This time, there was no tile switch to make their lives more complicated. Handing the book to him, she said, "I hope that you can read it. It's obviously important."

Matt opened the book and studied it. He saw the words there swim and rearrange themselves into a map. He turned the page and studied some more, reading the text that revealed itself, then turned the page once more.