Dawn of Arcane Destiny

Chapter Sixty-Five

Lillia realized that the tunnel was sloping down. She was heading deeper down. She wasn’t sure if she should be nervous about that. Her nerves were already tight to their maximum capacity. But as soon as the thought occurred to her, the tunnel started sloping up.

After a while, she slowed her run. She hadn’t happened across another trap for a while. She was more than alert, but it was hard to be prepared when you didn’t even know what to be prepared for. As she walked forward, she noticed something on the ground in the dim purple light.

On the floor was a smear of blood, and several bloody handprints. What could that be from? She looked around for other signs of blood. There were a few drops further down the tunnel, but it wasn’t a lot. Whoever or whatever the blood was from they weren’t fatally injured. But the smear and handprints, they would have had to trip or fall to make that pattern.

Oh.

She looked back the way she came and saw the pressure plate nearly hidden on the ground. Luckily, she had avoided it this time around. But she was back where she started. How? The tunnel had gone in a straight line. No turns or curves. Was this another trap? She cursed herself. She had wasted so much time already!

She started running forward. She was so tired. She didn’t remember running as much as she had in the last hour or so. She took a deep breath and steeled herself and ran forward again. This had to be another trap. There was a way to get past it. These traps were a form of protection, but Lillia suspected that the ancient elves also put these traps in place to force the adventurers to prove, not only their wits but also their worth. Zavian help them all if a common sycophant got a hold on the Sword of Amasar.

Lillia focused harder on her surroundings as she ran. She felt her boots’ friction on the rocky ground beneath her. The walls and purple crystals whipping by. She gasped in the musty cave air into her air-starved lungs. Then she noticed it. The walls seemed to hold still. She still felt her feet scuff across the rocks, but she wasn’t making any progress. The tunnel seemed to elongate, going on forever. She couldn’t even see the end.

She stumbled to a stop looking around at her repeating surroundings. How did she get past this gauntlet?

She looked in both directions, even though she knew it was futile. It was pointless to continue forward. What if she went backwards? She shook her head at her own idea. She had a feeling that she would run into a similar problem.

So, where to go?

It was a one-way tunnel. Or was it? Lillia almost laughed at herself. That was crazy. She was crazy. Pure stupidity. But part of her paused. She didn’t have any other ideas. And it was unexpected.

Lillia turned towards the tunnel wall and stepped forward. It could be like the entrance to the cave. She wasn’t a Mystic. She wouldn’t be able to see it. But it was a possibility. She stepped up to the wall until her nose was almost touching the rough wall. She took a deep breath and stepped forward.

***

Lillia gasped in disbelief when it worked. She looked behind her at the rock wall. It looked solid as ever, but she had walked straight through it. She blinked several times. The cavern she was in was lit brighter than the tunnel outside.

“Holy Zavian.” Lillia breathed. She looked down and realized she was standing in two inches of water. The water was black as if it were polluted, but it didn’t smell polluted. Lillia swished her boot in the water, but no dirt separated in the water, it was just black.