Norbert looked down at the swirling blue sphere, the smoke quickly moving around itself. Crouching down lying on the floor, Norbert just stared at the smoke, waiting for it to move, for something to happen. Obsius hopped around to the side, staring down at the sphere for a moment before hopping back across, staring at the wall before continuing around the level they found themselves on.
Norbert stared back at the sphere, seeing it as before, just swirling around the place far below him and looking up to the other side of the chamber, I saw archways leading into darkness. Following it around with his head with the circle, he found the floor he was on.
Staring up at the ceiling, the dome reaching its apex above him, staring around Norbert, unable to see any floors above him. Tracing the rings with his eyes, not seeing any way to get down from one floor to the next, not at least on the floor he was now, not counting jumping off the side and hoping he didn't break anything or disturb the smoke as a way of getting down.
Crawling back over the edge so the smoke was lost from view, Norbert went over to Obsius, leaning down as he examined what the bird was following along. He wipes the ground with his hand, seeing dirt spiral away into the air. Tracing the mark with his fingers, Norbert didn't understand it, reminding him of the writings he saw at the entrance.
Opening his backpack, Norbert felt around. Fingers grasping a torch as he brought it out, taking the flint out of the backpack with it. Norbert held the torch up with his feet before striking the flint with his dagger, sending sparks down on the torch.
After the first attempt, the sound echoing around the chamber halls, Norbert stood back up as he walked over to the edge, staring back down at the swirling smoke, confirming that it hadn't moved from its position in the centre of the room. Norbert walked back over, leaning down and lighting the torch.
Picking it up, Norbert lifted it above his head, confirming that he could see around the area before putting it back down on the ground and wanting to have it marked which path to make it out if he had to make a quick dash. He stared around the room again, seeing all the other passageways he could get lost down. Norbert shivered at the thought of being trapped underground, slowly being drained.
Clapping his hands on his cheeks, waking him from his stupor as Norbert looked around, his mind confirmed that he would need to pass through the passages to make his way down to the bottom, wanting to see why the smoke was down there spinning, and not moving around as he stared at the others around him.
Reaching down picking up Obsius, Norbert placed the bird on his shoulder as he left the torch behind him. Walking around, Norbert went to the closest passage, taking another torch from his bag and lighting it as he raised it above his head. Staring into the darkness, now pushed back by the light, looking down the hallway, seeing no way of making it to a lower floor.
Continuing several paces around, making his way to the next opening, he looked down this one as well, seeing the corridor lead further on, with no bend or twist to be seen, just a straight passage. Looking further, Norbert saw signs that something had once been here: gashes on the stone walls, dust and dirt on the ground, chips of stone on the ground. Not wanting to know what could damage the stone and leave or whatever traps could be down there, Norbert went forward to the next one.
Around the circle he went, each one being a bust for one reason or another. Cave-ins, roots blocking the path, doors blocking it with rusted chains. All of them had some signs that he shouldn't enter, no clear path down below opening up to him.
Breathing out in annoyance, now standing next to the torch he marked for the exit out of this place, Norbert reached into his pouch, taking the coin out before gazing at the two sides.
"Heads to find a path, tails just to jump down," Norbert asked as he stared at the coin, continuing to twist the coin between his fingers. With a grunt, Norbert flicked the coin into the air, watching it spin around.
Thrusting his hand out, Norbert tried to catch it but could not, sending the coin tumbling down into the bottom of the chamber. Hearing it tink against the stone until it finally stopped, Norbert looked down at the ground, happy to see that the smoke sphere hadn't moved from its spot the last time Norbert had seen it.
Breathing out in relief, Norbert looked up at the top of the dome. "Well, guess that answers that question, huh," Norbert said to the air. A single mote of light appeared, landing on his nose.
Snorting in annoyance, the mote of light spun around before it moved away, starting to drift down. Breathing in, Norbert flushed his body with energy as he looked down at the many meters before meeting the ground.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
Closing his eyes, Norbert leaned forward, feeling Obsius flap on his shoulder, escaping from the free fall he would experience. Tumbling in the air, opening his eyes, the torch extinguished next to him as the ground came plummeting towards him.
He held his arms before his head and curled up; Norbert braced for the impact.
THMMMP
Still curled up in a ball, Norbert looked around, happy that he was still in one piece. Groaning as he patted his body, confirming that nothing was sticking out where it shouldn't and that there were no unexpected sharp pains.
Standing up and dusting him off as he looked around the floor, he found himself. A twinkling on the ground, catching the torch's light several meters away, Norbert walked towards the small metallic object, laughing at what he had seen. Facing up to him was the head's side of the coin, the woman's face staring back at him.
Chuckling to him, Norbert pocketed the coin and called out to Luck, "You are a tricky one sometimes; now I see how people lose trust in you." Norbert said, wondering how the goddess would react when he next saw her.
Popping the coin back in his pouch, Norbert walked over to the torch and picked it up, surprised that it hadn't lost any of its light during the fall. Holding it up, Norbert looked around the chamber, spotting the light from above, marking the entrance dancing above him. Staring around, he could now see the chamber correctly, the three levels above him rings that slowly went smaller and smaller on each floor.
I walked to the edge, where there were doors and stared up at the ceiling, knowing the next floor was just above the stone. Stretching as high as he could, fingers just missing the top even when he was on his tippy toes.
Returning down, he lifted the torch, examining and seeing not the letters from before but the magic circles he was familiar with seeing dotted around the place. He walked along the ring, following it with his eyes as he stared at the centre, changing out of magic vision to see what the smoke was forming around.
Obsius joined him as he stood near the chamber's centre, staring at the ceiling, squinting as he tried to make something out. The stone at the centre of the chamber ceiling had something different, just a deep darkness compared to what the surrounding material reflected.
Lowering his eyes back to the centre of the room, Norbert took a step closer, not wanting to go any further, so as not to touch the smoke he knew was just in front of him. Slowly walking around in a circle, Norbert held the torch in front of his face, seeing as the flames were pushed to the side, pulling away from the torch as it started to flicker.
Taking it out of the blue smoke location, Norbert stared back at the fire, seeing it still before descending again, the light now a constant bright light.
Looking back to the centre, Norbert spotted a podium standing a meter tall. Norbert gazed at it, shuffling ever closer, the material different from everything else.
It is a dark black material, unable to see any light reflected or coming from it. Their eyes went higher and higher across the black statue as his eyes stopped at the top, the material thinning out, gaps appearing until it turned into a cage.
Looking around, he gasped, seeing several of the bars meant to keep whatever it was in and secure were missing and sheared off. Eyes travelling down to the statue, he spotted black dust lying dormant and still.
Walking around, eyes looking at the cage, wondering what type of item it could hold. Changing to magic vision, the blue smoke appeared in his vision; Norbert instinctively took a step back, not believing he was so close to touching it before. Calming his breath, he stared at where the obelisk would be with the cage on top.
Remembering when he nearly blinded himself with Luck when he stared at the white room, he focused on the blue smoke, willing himself to see through it and the obelisk that he knew must be something here.
Leaning ever so slowly forward, he continued to stare; after what felt like minutes, the blue smoke started not to be so visible, fading into the background, allowing the other obscuring elements to appear.
The black material came into view as Norbert stared at the top where he thought the cage should be. Looking up and down the column, nothing showed in the magical vision, just a black, empty void.
Noting it down to ask the others when he returned, Norbert scanned his eyes back to the top of the cage, staring at space. Going on his tippy toes, Norbert looked down and into the cage, surprised at what he found in the centre, blazing with glory.
Sitting there was a plate made of the same material the goblet with the purple liquid was in. Face frowning in thought, he stared at it, seeing a square indent in the centre like it was meant to hold something. Whatever that something was meant to be was no longer there.
Tearing his eyes off it, Norbert examined the chamber he was in, the runes he spotted before with the magic circles now alight with a green tinge to them. Taking his dagger out instinctively, Norbert began flickering it around as he paced the chamber floor.
What was meant to be there? Who built this place? Was it the same people as in the last crypt he found himself in? Why were these scattered in random forests anyway?
He continued to toss the dagger, catching it each time; Obsius came onto his shoulder, screeching at him. Norbert held the dagger in hand as he stared at the little bird, now alighted on his shoulder and pecking at his ear.
"Ok, you have my attention; now, what do you want to say?" Norbert asked the bird.
Receiving tweets in reply, the bird spun around, looking back at the obelisk. Spinning on his heels, Norbert saw it was the same as before; opening his mouth to reply, he was interrupted by the bird again.
"Yes, yes, how could I forgotten." Norbert told the bird as he changed to magical vision, voice stopping in his throat at what he saw.
The once-contained smoke was now bludging in areas, tentacles seeming to form out before retracting. It continued to move in random patterns as Norbert just stared at it, beginning to walk away.
"Yeah, I think it's time to go," Norbert said to Obsius, looking up at the top floor, trying to find the light up there and his escape from this place.