We continued to traverse the labyrinth, each step taking us deeper and deeper inside. I couldn’t speak for Raven but I was on edge the entire time.
Once we had gotten some distance from the collapsing maze, Raven had helped me with removing all of the thorns that had fired into me on my way through, I looked like a porcupine with the thorns definitely hurting when they were taken out than when they were shot into me. I had been peppered with them, Raven however had managed to get through unscathed other than a minor graze to her cheek where she must have slammed into the ground.
“I hope we have no more maze’s to contend with,” I said as we continued to walk side by side, I was exhausted, we had already been through so much and yet somehow I felt like we were only just getting started. I didn’t speak for the conversation, it was merely to fill the silent void between her, I was nervous, understandably so. Raven kept a calm exterior throughout our walk, despite the dangers that we had faced, truly nothing seemed to phase her and she just kept going.
“I know you can’t tell me but I am interested as to how you are so bad ass, who knows maybe one day you will be able to tell me.”
Raven didn’t even glance up at me, choosing to focus on the terrain.
“Or not, it’s up to you, I just want you to know that if you do. Want to talk about things. Well I am here, whatever it takes I want to find a way for you to be able to speak to me. Even if that means you teaching me how to sign.”
Raven looked up at me this time, giving me the double bunny sign.
I mimicked her hands and and copied her.
“See I am getting it, bear with me kid, I am trying.”
Raven smiled, dropping her serious exterior before shaking her head before stopping in her tracks. She pointed ahead.
“Is that?” My spirits raised when I realised what she was pointing at, in the distance there was a blackened glow, like a reverse light, it was strange, but it was circular.
“Do you think that’s the Orb?” I didn’t run, I didn’t charge forward, I took my time, checking for traps, making sure there were no tricks this time. I had learnt my lesson from before and put it simply, I did not trust this place.
It didn’t take us long to get close enough to see what was ahead of us.
The Orb sat atop a circular stone table in the middle of a large clearing. The floor was decorated in individual, stone slabs, all different shapes that connected in a large mosaic, different symbols carved into them. On the outer edges were a series of wooden platforms, vines and ropes hanging down in front of them. Around the outer edge was more stone and trees, that I didn’t know where they led to. I honed in on the orb just to make sure it was what we were looking for and not a trap.
Orb Of Zephyr
Mythical Artefact
Origins Unknown
Details Unknown
Well that isn’t helpful, I thought. As I continued to look around.
“Careful, there must be more to this, this seems too easy.”
Raven slapped her hand against her forehead and I knew by her smug grin that she was being sarcastic with me.
“It says it's a mythical artefact, I am guessing that means it is pretty powerful.”
Raven slapped her hand against her head again.
“Don’t be a smart ass,”
I took a step forward naively onto one of the stones in the ground, it crumbled under my foot, luckily I regained my composure and stepped back, peering into the blackened hole that now replaced the stone. Below was filled with wooden spikes, the smell was rancid, the air was stale and unforgiving and a bunch of flies made their escape, at least I thought they were flies anyway as they buzzed around me while I swatted at them before making their bid for freedom.
“Ok so we know the catch now. One wrong move and we will fall onto a pit of old wooden spikes, certain death it would see. Well it could be worse.” I laughed to myself, I didn’t know who I was trying to kid. “How are we meant to figure this one out?” I stood there scratching my head at the different symbols that were carved into the stone. They clearly meant something but the question was what?
Raven knelt down and pressed on the stone in front of her, it crumbled under touch, the stones were definitely pressure activated.
“Careful kid.”
She leant forward and pressed the stone next to it, that collapsed too. Kneeling up she scanned over the stones for a Monet before pointing me to towards the wooden platforms on the outer edge.
I could see what she wanted me to do so I headed over and used the rope attached to climb up to the top. On the top there was another stone, with a carving on it, five other platforms were spread out forming a half circle around the back of the circular formation. I looked back at Raven and counted the stone steps between her and the Orb, there was five.
“Ok I think we have this figured out,” I said looking at the carving in front of me. "Can you see a carving of a tree?”
Raven started walking around the outer edge of the circle stone before stopping, she gave me a thumbs up.
“Right, press it lightly, let’s see if this works.”
Raven pressed won on it slightly and the symbol in front of me flashed white with a blinding light. I could only hope that was a good thing.
“It still there?”
When my vision returned, Raven was already standing on the stone, it was also lit up, the tracks of the carving, glowing brightly. The platform under me started rumbling, as I braced myself for it to collapse, I realised that the stone in front had me had pressed into the ground. A trap triggered firing arrows straight from the wall beside me. I lucked up to the sky and smiled, someone was watching over me as all three arrows that shot out missed me thankfully, I wouldn’t have had time to dodge them, but at least now I knew that these things were rigged to activate when the corresponding stone was touched. I hopped down of the platform and climbed up to the next one to see what stone it was. Like the other, the carving sat in the centre of the stone.
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“This ones a snake, can you see a snake?”
Raven looked around before finding it, as did I. It was a couple of stones away, likely to stop people from just pressing the stones, to find the right path.
“Can you reach it?
Raven stood tall before leaping forward and landing on the stone with the snake on, with an agility I had no chance of, it was a good job she was down there and not me.
After last time I wasn’t taking any chances and I quickly happed from the platform onto the ground before anything could be shot at me. With a chink I heard a mechanism activate and from my right, a large log, with a pointed end came swing ing at me through an opening in the trees.
“Shit!” I cursed as I dived forward clumsily, somehow dodging the trap. These guys were not messing around. I climbed up to the next one, tentatively looking at what the symbol was. “This one is wavy lines, like the ocean, I assume you have an ocean here? Water maybe.”
The next carving was three away from Raven. She stepped to the edge of her stone before taking a small step and leaping across, landing on the stone, this time stretching her arms out to keep balance.
This time I just ran and jumped to the next platform and I was glad I did. No sooner dod Raven land on the next stepping stone, a boulder came out of nowhere, flattening the platform completely. Another second or tow and I would have been toast.
I pulled myself up and bent over panting.
“gimme a second kid, I don’t know if you have noticed but as soon as you are landing on those things it is triggering traps on my end.”
There were two more steps to go, two more pairs to match up and then we could get the hell out of here. When I looked at the next symbol it was hard to make out what it was, it was an animal, but what kind of animal I had no idea.
“Ok, so this one is kind of boar shaped, a pig or something like that.”
Raven slapped her hands to her sides, clearly not impressed with my description.
“It's got a long snout, I gestured with my hands while talking, looks like a few fangs.”
I readied myself as Raven crouched ready to jump like a coiled spring. I noticed an extra detail, my focus being on the shape, of the picture I hadn’t noticed the zigzag markings on the carvings side.
“Wait, there are zigzag markings on the side of it too.”
I was too late though Raven had already leapt and me adding the detail did not help her one bit as she hesitated when she jumped. She wasn’t going to make it and it was going to be my fault.
Raven’s movement wasn’t clean, she kind of staggered in the air, slowing, the step she needed was the furthest one away too, about four steps away from her. There was no way I could have made that leap and I only think Raven could because she was a rogue.
“Raven!” I called out, not that me shouting after her gave her any sort of hand. She landed on the stepping stone just before the boar like one she needed. It crumbled like ash under neath her and she plummeted like a stone. Slamming her hands onto the right stone she clung on with her fingertips, struggling to keep a tight grip.
“Shit!”
Raven held firm, struggling for a moment before pulling herself up and giving me the hardest death stare that I had had from her yet.
I snapped back waiting for a trap to spring around me as the two stones lit up at the same time with a blinding flash. The sound of a latch unhooking caught my attention again, this time there was more of a grumble, like the entire ground in this place started to grumble and groan as it shook into life. It was enough to cause me to wobble as I struggled to keep my balance, Raven was ok though she had better agility than me. I wooden pole pushed its way out of the stone circle where the orb sat, it was thick, with spikes protruding out of it. Stone on stone grinded together ad to my horror the wooden spike started turning the lights of the puzzle. It was on the opposite side of you and moving fast than I would have liked.
“Look out Raven!” I pointed at the trap as it hurtled towards Raven. We needed to get to that last stone and quickly. Taking a running jump I cleared the air, fuelled by my adrenaline and landed on the final platform. This one rocked as I thundered into it and I worried that age and decay would cause it to collapse under my weight.
I spun around as Raven vaulted straight up in the air as the wooden spike that was about the width of a tree trunk flashed by her. She landed back on the stone again managing to keep her balance while simultaneously giving me an expectant look.
I looked at the stone in front of me, this one was more portrait like, it was a head and shoulder profile, with two large horns protruding from the side of its head.
“Ok this one is like a bull, it has two horns coming from the side of its head, I gestured the two horns, not that that would be much use to raven. She had to leap into the air again as the trunk whipped around again. “Can you see the last stepping stone?”
Raven started looking, as did I, the sooner we got her to safety the better.
“Over there?” I yelled, this stepping stone was even further away than the last, how was she meant to make that jump.
Raven jumped over the trap again, it seemed to be speeding up, the spikes around it spread out unevenly across the surface.
Raven clicked her neck and waited, she needed to be quick, if she wasn’t as soon as she landed the trap would clatter into her and I was powerless to help. Her I hopped down from the platform and moved to the side of the puzzle to cheer her on, she was too far in for me to do anything though, I had no way of helping her and I felt powerless.
“You can do this Raven!” Was the best I could offer as I cheered her on from the ide.
She waited, biding her time and I panicked, what was she doing, why wasn’t she moving the trap was about to swing back around again.
That was what Raven wanted, as the trap passed the stone with the bull she jumped across, planting one foot on the spiked trap and used it as a step to continue her momentum. I wasn’t sure if she pressed into a spike or not, she didn’t show any signs she did. She landed on the last stepping stone, before turning to face the stone centre circle and used her momentum to jump across to the middle, landing with a theatrical roll.
“Yeah!” I cheered, throwing my fist into the air as she had made it across. The spinning trap ground to a halt as Raven dusted herself off and moved towards the Orb Of Zephyr. She looked hesitant to pick it up as she approached, she removed her scarf to wrap it around her and then she did something that surprised me. She spun around and threw it across the circle pit around her, using her neck scarf as a sling. Her accuracy was impressive and it slammed straight into me and I wrapped my arms around it like a rugby ball.
“Get your ass back over here,” I said as I started to unwrap Raven’s scarf and take a look at the Orb. It was heavy, it reminded me of when I used to play bowls with my grandpa at his nearby bowling club. It felt strangely satisfying to hold in my hand, an unnatural coldness to it. There was a cracked swirling marbled pattern in the finely polished stone and it had a strange glowing black energy around it. It reminded me of the negatives you used to get on old school photographs, before everything went digital. I felt charged with it in my possession, but at the same time it made me feel uneasy, a strange anxiety pushing to the centre of my chest that I couldn’t shake.
The Orb Of Zephyr
When you activate this thing you will know
Only the chosen can wield this Mythical artefact.
Chaos
Its description gave me know clue how to activate it, the best thing we could do was get this back to Sy and let him tell us what it was and what it did.
Raven started hopping across the stepping stones back to me as I wrapped the orb back up in her scarf, draping it around my shoulder so I could wear it like a papouse, holding the orb close to my chest. My heart beat felt intensified against it, it was almost nauseating.
“You did great kid,” I said as Raven reached me.
The ground rumbled again and the last of the strapping stones lit up, this time there was a thunderous roar followed by heavy footsteps coming from the clearing on the opposite side of us. I had completely forgotten about the final trap, except this time it sounded like something living was coming for me. It stepped out from the trees.
“You have got to be fucking kidding me!”