Arc gazed around the opening of the cave as he walked, marvelling at the hundreds of glistening emeralds that caught the streams of sunlight. They were objects of beauty, but he felt something otherworldly radiating from them as though they had great untapped power dwelling within their shimmering cores.
“How could these possibly be here naturally?” Julie wondered aloud.
“I don’t think they are,” said Arc, tearing his gaze from the emeralds and looking deeper into the cave. “That bullet didn’t create the cave, it uncovered it. That tank was pointed this way on purpose…but why was no shot ever taken?”
“Do we want to find out?” asked Jack.
“Of all times to not be curious, it’s now?” asked Arc. “Considering you were the one playing in a tank, that ship has failed my friend.”
“I’m cautious because of the tank, Arc,” said Jack, the frustration in his voice evident. “It was much more dangerous than I’d even imagined and now we’re walking into…well, I don’t know what we’re walking into.”
“And a little bit of exploration is how we find out,” said Arc, pulling out his revolver and marching ahead.
The gems of the tunnel continued to twinkle their brilliant green as the trio walked along. Julie was especially captivated and leaned in close to gaze deep into their cores before running to catch back up to Arc, all the while Jack wouldn’t leave her side, fearful that something would go wrong. The young man didn’t know what it was that would go wrong, but he knew it would be something. Something always went wrong.
“There’s light up ahead,” Arc said quietly over his shoulder.
True enough, from around a bend came a flickering green light upon the stone floor of the tunnel. It danced around as though excited to have guests in its humble home, hidden far away from what remained of civilisation.
“Green light,” said Jack, throwing up his arms. “Green light is never good.”
“Why?” asked Julie.
“Do I really need to explain that? Normal light is white, yellow…or orange! You don’t see green light and for good reason.”
“Son of a…” muttered Arc, upon rounding the bend. His eyes were wide and his mouth hung open as he trailed off.
Before him lay a large bridge of dusty sandstone that stretched out over a dark chasm leading into the abyssal nothing. As the bricks of the bridge crossed the chasm, they slowly turned into a small set of steps of no more than a dozen before going flat again at the doorway of a temple built into the wall of the cavern.
The front of the temple bore pillars either side of the door and two further pillars where the front face of the temple ended and turned back into the wall. Nestled between the pairs of pillars were four alcoves, two upper and two lower, that held braziers containing uncountable amounts of small emeralds that were casting the green light throughout the chamber.
Unlike the emeralds that used the sunlight from outside to shine, these emeralds were glowing from within. Whatever magic flowed through them, Arc couldn’t guess, but he hoped that it was merely some sort of light-emitting spell rather than anything more sinister.
“Jackie Boy, what have you stumbled upon?” asked the spellslinger starting to laugh quietly.
“I…don’t know…” said Jack, his eyes taken in by the mysterious temple before him.
“Are you curious yet?” Julie asked him breathlessly.
“Yes,” he admitted.
Julie moved to step forward onto the bridge, but Arc held up a hand to stop her.
“If we’re going to do this, we go cautiously,” he said, passing her his guns.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Making sure that I don’t get you two caught up in something too dangerous again.”
“Too dangerous?” asked Jack.
“A little danger is fine.”
Arc placed one foot on the bridge and tapped it around in front of himself before. Once satisfied, he took another step and let his weight fall upon the bridge. He did a small hop and was assured that the bridge was stable.
The spellslinger walked to the edge of the bridge and looked over the waist-high wall that would protect only the smallest of people from falling over in the event of an accident. He gazed into the black below and let out a high-pitched whistle that echoed throughout the cavern.
“Anything?” asked Jack.
“Nothing,” said Arc, taking a couple of steps back. “Let’s keep to the middle of the bridge.”
He held out his hand and the twins walked up to him. Julie handed him his guns back and he stashed his spellcaster in its holster but kept his revolver in-hand.
“I’ll lead the way,” said Arc. “Any word of trouble, the pair of you turn tale and run. You grab your kit from under the tree and forget about me, alright?”
Julie made to protest, but Jack spoke first. “Alright,” he said. “You’re the boss, after all.”
“Glad that’s clear.”
Arc let the way along the bridge, looking all around the cavern in case any dark creatures were hiding in the crevices in the ceiling or lurking just out of sight at the edge of the pit. For all he knew, there was a nasty troll holding onto the underside of the bridge.
Upon slowly ascending the steps, Arc peered into the dark doorway. Up close, it wasn’t as lightless as he first thought. From somewhere inside, came more green light that was shining faintly within, but not enough to light the way clearly. Arc took a small leap and landed in the lower left alcove where the brazier of glowing emeralds lay. He grabbed a small handful of them and shook them lightly, letting them clink in the palm of his hand.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“This’ll do,” he murmured, shoving a few handfuls of them in his pocket and then taking another fistful.
He leapt back over to the steps and passed a couple of the illuminating gems to each of the children before walking through the doorway. Before going far, he looked over at them.
“Keep close,” he warned them.
Arc led the way through the musty corridor with his left hand held high and open to light the way as best as he could. There were chambers littered throughout the temple, but he couldn’t see into them well and opted to continue down the straight corridor, thinking he would start with the room furthest away and explore his way back to the start.
He crept towards the green light that grew brighter with every step. He knew now that it was another emerald, but this one appeared larger than the rest. Yet, it was not only the size that was different. The light that this one emitted was sparser, as though being blocked by a large obstacle, yet nothing stood in front of it.
Upon reaching the door to the large chamber where the emerald stood, Arc had to hold back a gasp while the twins both yelped. There was nothing blocking the emerald from the outside, rather, there was something inside; something shaped remarkably like a human.
“I don’t believe it,” said Arc, sweeping his hand around in an arc and scattering crystals around the room to brighten it.
He walked up to the large emerald that stood taller than he did. It must have been at least eight feet tall and appeared as solid as any other. There was no doubt that the figure inside was a human; a man, in fact.
He was tall and broad with a thick beard and long hair that ran to his shoulders and was kept out of his eyes by a purple headband. He wore a white tunic and baggy grey trousers along with a pair of lightweight shoes that Arc couldn’t discern as to whether they were green or yellow. What stood out most about the man was the amulet he wore around his neck that bore another crystal—no doubt an emerald—that was surrounded by swirling silver rings.
The spellslinger carefully circled the crystal, looking for a way that this man could have climbed inside. He started to chuckled as he made his third lap of the man and started shaking his head.
“What’s so funny?” asked Jack.
“This is one of the most bizarre things I’ve seen, and I’ve seen some weird stuff, Jack.”
“How long do you think he’s been trapped in there?” asked Julie.
“I don’t know,” said Arc, ceasing his circling and standing to face the man. “I don’t even know if he’s trapped. Perhaps, he’s put himself in some sort of stasis. Look at his face.”
Jack and Julie walked closer and examined the man’s expression. He looked calm, almost resolute. He didn’t bear the look of someone who had been trapped here against his will.
“Can you break him out?” asked Jack, lightly tapping his fist on Arc’s holstered spellcaster.
“Firstly, never touch that,” Arc scolded him. “Secondly, why would I want to? With this guy locked up here, anything we find is ours for the taking.”
There was a sudden flash of the intensely bright light from the crystal and the trio scurried backwards as it began to audibly crack. Arc kept his revolver pointed at the crystal while shielding his eyes from the blinding emerald light.
As the remnants of the crystal encasing the man clinked to the ground and then faded away, a voice spoke out. “You would steal from me, would you?”
“Damn,” muttered Arc before raising his voice and lowering his gun. “That was an error in judgement on my part, I’m afraid.”
“Is that so?” came the man’s gruff voice as the light faded and he became clearly visible to the three.
“That is so.”
“Might I ask you, regretful thief, why it is that you’re trespassing in my temple?”
“My name’s Arc,” said the spellslinger, holstering his revolver and holding up his hands. “There’ll be no need for hostilities, this is all a simple misunderstanding.”
“This temple should not be known to anyone on the outside. And it certainly shouldn’t be accessible by walking through the non-existent door.”
“Well, there was a bit of a mishap with a tank. You see—”
“That tank?” barked the man. “That blasted tank should no longer be operational. What year is it?”
“45-AA,” answered Arc.
“Curses! I’ve only been sealed for three years and you go and wake me, you bum.”
“Bum?” asked Arc in bemusement. “What’s your name, Mister Emerald?”
“Minator,” said the man, scratching his chin and frowning.
“Minotaur?” asked Jack, taken aback.
“Do you see any horns, you little runt? Minator, not minotaur. Do not compare me to those beasts.”
“Please excuse him,” said Arc, walking forward and holding out his hand. “I feel like we got off on the wrong foot and I don’t want any bad blood.”
“You’re only saying that because I’m awake,” said Minator with a sneer. “You were perfectly happy to rob me while I slept. Weren’t you, Arc?”
“Guilty,” said Arc, rubbing the back of his neck. “Truth be told, I wasn’t even sure if you were alive.”
“Looting then, eh?”
Arc held up his hands. “Alright, alright. I’m sorry. Not sure what else I can say, Minator. You come across a ruin buried in the desert and you hope you might find something worth a damn inside that can pay for your next meal. There’ll be no looting, thieving or robbing, I assure you.”
“Fine,” grunted Minator, holding out his hand.
A relieved Arc accepted the handshake and the twins dared to approach.
“What were you doing in inside that crystal?” asked Julie.
“I thought that was obvious by now,” said Minator. “I was sleeping.”
“I realised that, but…why?”
“Is the world still the ravaged hellhole that it was after the Arcanaclysm?”
“More or less,” shrugged Arc.
“There’s your answer,” said Minator. “I’m waiting for the world to fix itself. It may take a century, it may take a millennium, but I don’t much fancy wandering the wastelands looking for things to steal for my next meal.”
“It’s not all bad,” said Arc. “Hell, the three of us weren’t alive in the old world. The world as it is today is all we know so we might as well make it a better place in the time that we have.”
Minator scoffed. “Your futures were stolen from you by the disaster. The fact that it doesn’t bother you bothers me and I would appreciate it if you would let me return to my sleep.”
“Are you a mage?” asked Jack.
“Hardly,” said Minator, tapping the emerald pendant on his neck, “but this gives me two very specific powers that keep me safe while the world rebuilds itself.”
“Emerald armour and…?”
“What’s your name, young man?”
“Jack.”
“Throw those emeralds in your hand on the ground, Jack. In fact, all of you throw your emeralds onto the floor.”
Jack and Julie did as they were asked while Arc took the three handfuls of the tiny glowing gemstones from his pocket and them turned his pocket inside out to remove the ones he missed. Minator gestured for them to step back and they did so.
The man from the emerald clasped his hands together and breathed in deeply before holding them out. The second he did that, the emeralds all across the floor rose up and shot towards him before swirling around in a circle by his feet. One by one and quicker than the trio’s eyes could keep up with, the emeralds fused together seamlessly.
They formed a small humanoid creature, no more than four inches tall. It walked towards Arc and then turned its head up to look at him with its eyeless face as the spellslinger stared at the creature in shock.
“This is one of my minions,” said Minator, picking up the miniature golem. “And I can make as many of these creatures as I want using the emeralds in this cavern. In fact, I can make them as big as I want too. Follow me.”
Minator led the way back through the corridor and Arc, Jack and Julie silently followed him. The four walked down the steps and stood upon the bridge, turning to face the braziers. Minator tossed his emerald golem onto the ground in front of him and it climbed to its feet, standing patiently by.
As before, the man clasped his hands together and then held out his hands. All of the glowing emeralds from the braziers arose and flew towards the golem, joining with it one by one. Within seconds, it had grown from the size of a finger to a nine-foot-tall hulking brute who could have snapped any of the four humans with its emerald hands.
“It would have been a bad idea to steal from me, Arc,” said Minator coldly. “Wouldn’t it?”