Three weasels followed an old desire path towards the supposed monument, following the Boss ordering them to search for any trace, his greedy actions being put foremost as always. The rambling rat had convinced him. He had chosen Scus to be the leader one again, with two others following him who he believed to be less stupid, Kilch, and Ferge. All three, needless to say, did not appreciate being sent out to hunt for something that didn’t exist. Surely, the Warden enjoyed their unhappiness, immeasurable disappointment, and the looks on their faces when he told them to make this pointless journey, all for the sake of becoming more wealthy, only to not pay a fair day’s wage to any of them.
The tall grass along the sides of the narrow-worn path swished and broke, as Ferge walked among the right edge, only to step back in line with the other two once he became annoyed by the feeling of grass itching against his body.
“I think it’s time we make a move, boys.” Kilch admitted.
“What’d’ya mean?” Ferge asked, riding Kilch’s steps.
“We should all go against ‘em, riot! I mean, why do we even work for that shitbag?”
“So we’re not homeless.” Scus piped up behind Ferge.
“Says you, you’re the one who sold that thing’s stuff for tons of money!”
“I deserve it, I do more work than ya guys.” Scus became more of his usual self, cocky.
“I side with Kilch, but I get where Scus is comin’ from.” Ferge said, quite literally caught in the middle of the conversation. “Why’re you in the back, anyway?”
“Because, I got’ta make sure you don’t do anything.”
“You’d think we’d do something? Run off? Why’d you have ta tell Boss about this shit?” Kilch turn his head back.
Scus sighed annoyingly, “Look, I’m just doin’ what I was told...” His face told his mood, eyes half-shut, and mouth in a blank frown.
Kilch huffed, “Yeah, if you wan’na suck Boss’ dick!” He let out a shrieking laugh.
“Just shut up.” Dismissing the insult, Scus pushed Ferge in the back, not-so-subtly telling him that he shouldn’t be slower than the weasel behind him. Ferge had a chunk of wind blown out of him.
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“The path’s gettin’ wider, by the way.”
Sure enough, the dirt spread, like a beam going through a prism. The clearing they came to had the appearance of a a baseball field, the dirt turning into trampled grass on the furthest point.
“Well, let’s start lookin’. Not like we’ll find anything anyway.” Scus shrugged.
The three ambled around, almost nonchalantly, lifting up large rocks, looking around at trees among the treeline, and putting footpaws to soil as they tromped.
As the other two stayed on flat ground, Ferge remembered the rat. Eavesdropping, he considered what he had heard days before, ‘It’s over a mountain, tucked inside, buried underneath. The bronze shines in the sun.’ They were nowhere near a mountain! Some distance from where the trees began, however, there was a large hill that fitted itself into the ground, covered in leaves and trunks. While the other two searched as a team on the opposite end of the clearing, Ferge stepped into the forest, catching footing here and there, wary of poisonous moss and plants. Creeping up to the peak, the steepness rose; soon he was on the verge of all-fours. Twice, he looked back, making sure his trail, his idea, wasn’t being followed, nor that they had spotted him. Very faintly, just as he had reached the top, he heard them talking, yelling, ‘Where is he?’ and to show himself, but it was too late. Standing almost almost as if victorious, he peered over the edge—a drop. The soil-ridden face of the other side shown bumpy and was riddled with jagged mounds of dirt and broken twigs. The supple perimeter gave way, quickly disintegrating underneath him.
Ferge felt his life before his eyes the moment when gravity let him fall. Tumbling, rolling, knocking, he bounced down to the escarpment below, with bodily noises washing over him with every instance of him hitting something. His mind couldn’t think until it crashed down once and for all with a thud and a hard grunt, his body covered in bruises. Lying still, face half sunken into the wet leaves, he saw something. The sun made a very crude, dirty reflection, aiming into his right eye. Blinking many times, Ferge lifted his head, and the light disappeared. Dropping again, it returned, and with a sigh he closed his eyes, relaxing his sore body. Seconds passed, then a minute, and he came to a conclusion. Rising, Ferge groaned, and headed for the sunshine being cast towards him. There was a wall made from dirt and ivy, and a rectangular plaque with etched letters. Removing the soil, the words read:
The tomb is barren, yet full of life
A place that is bleak and whole with strife
The releasing of me will cause renewal
For the body is a key for which is the tool
And the body is that of obscure and pure
Taking a step to the left, Ferge began to dig away at the ivy, bewildered. Then he dug at the thickened dirt, and then his paw clawed on rock or stone.
“EY!” Scus screamed, meters away, “We’ve been lookin’ for you, dumbass!” Ferge’s head shot to the left as the two walked towards him, “What the fuck did you do to yourself?! Why are you over here?” Then the two saw.
“I fell, but I found this!” Ferge got out, ignoring the constant pain he was in.
The three looked at the bronze plaque in a mixture of disbelief and anger. With something having been uncovered, it was realized that their work was now far from over, and they would need to report their findings to the Warden, who would then possibly report it to the Exporine kingdom, who, in turn, would do anything they could to get to what was inside. After so many previous attempts and years to discover such a structure, and yet it had been shielded from them within plain sight.
To the left of where Ferge had been digging, there was a circular hole bored into the stone, with more smaller, square stones adorning the strange opening, which was just large enough for one to stick their arm inside of. Burrowing out the dirt from the hole, it stretched into the monument, ending with a rounded off stop, as if like a one-way street with no exit. Apart from the opening in the rock, the stone was flat, and no other details were present beside the bronze.
Could this make them rich, or would it make the people who sat above them rich? Of course, there was only one way to find out.