BAM! BAM! BAM!

Eliot and Boro took turns to lure the golem over and watched as their contraption hit the automaton square in the middle each time. On the fourth strike, the chest of the creature crumbled. Bits and pieces of clay flew to all corners of the chamber. Having lost the main structure that held it together, the golem’s limbs fell to the floor. The construct was no more.

“Hahaha, it just kept being pounded and pounded! So dumb!”

“That’s it! First room done,” said Ben with glee.

“I wonder how many there are…” muttered Liza.

They enjoyed the feeling of accomplishment for a spell and then moved onwards. Liza was holding her trusty trap detection apparatus, the wooden stick, and taped at the floor regularly. Under the light of the torch, they all saw as the stick suddenly sank into the ground.

“It really looks like a normal floor! It’s vexing to admit, but I’d have probably fell for that,” said Fang Chu.

“The hole occupies the entire width of the corridor. We need to figure out how long it is and see if we can jump over it. Can you help us with that, Boro?”

The dragon nodded and sunk into the floor. A few seconds later, he reappeared from the ground, five meters away from them. It was as a large pitfall trap. Those that detected it would not necessarily be able to make the jump, especially those that wore heavy armor.

“That’s doable. I was afraid it would span the entirety of this corridor,” said Fang Chu.

“You can get to the other said?” asked Liza.

“Easy.”

Liza turned around to ask the same to Eliot when she saw the young man make a dash and jump across the air. He flew over the hole and landed a few meters past Boro. Liza, whose mouth was agape for a moment, shook her head. She then put on her stern face and shouted.

“Don’t go ahead alone Eliot! If you keep doing that, I’m going to get mad!”

The young man shuddered, his itch for exploration subsiding greatly, like a bucket of cold water was thrown on top of his head. He took his distance, broke into a run and jumped over the hole again, joining the rest of the group back on the other side. Liza eyed Eliot sternly and continued.

“I think I can make that jump, but honestly, I’m not too thrilled to find out. Since you two can seemingly cross over it at leisure, let’s make a rope crossing so Ben and I can reach the other side without much effort.”

Fang Chu grabbed one end of the rope and jumped over the pit. She and Eliot held the cord tight, enabling Liza and Ben to avoid the obstacle safely. Once they were all on the other side, Liza grabbed her stick again and took the lead. No other traps were found by the time they reached the end of the corridor. They stopped at the edge of the passage and peeked inside the next chamber.

It was a rectangular room in shape, with its walls and floor constructed of the same grey stone that was used throughout the rest of the tomb. There were no monsters present in this new area, nor were there any other doors or exits. It seemed like this was the final chamber. Liza and Ben were both perplexed by this.

Inside this final room there were only three things: a sarcophagus, a large table jam-packed with treasures and a grand mirror. The sarcophagus was made of white marble and was resting on top of ascending steps, like a throne. Statues of angels and demons were placed on every step, one in each side. It made for an imposing resting place and it occupied the entire right side of the room.

The large table and the grand mirror were both set up against the left side wall. Piles of precious gems, strange containers, bars of rare metals, ancient books and all kinds of things littered the surface of the table. It was enough to leave anyone stunned and tempted beyond measure. The mirror was two meters tall and of intricate crafting, but it seemed rather plain and simple when compared with the huge amount of treasure besides it.

“That’s it? Kind of a short dungeon,” said Fang Chu.

“Wow! Look at all those stones!” exclaimed Eliot as he was about to rush off.

“DON’T MOVE AND DON’T TOUCH ANYTHING!” shouted Liza and Ben at the same time.

Eliot was caught off guard by the shouts and stopped on the spot. He could tell Liza was really angry this time and even Ben was shouting at him now. What had he done this time? He felt wronged! Pouting, Eliot walked outside the room and sat on the corridor floor, his back turned against the rest of the group. Boro followed him in an act of solidarity.

“Is that okay?” whispered Fang Chu.

“Let’s leave him be for now,” Liza sighed. “We already verified the corridor and the first chamber, he should be fine over there. If he starts doing as he pleases here though, things might turn for the worse. I’ll need to have a long talk with him later.”

“Yeah, he has no concept of danger. Eliot is too accustomed to being impervious to anything it seems,” Ben nodded.

“We’ll coax him later. Right now, I’m curious about this room. It goes against everything we’ve seen so far. A Mirsha believer erected his tomb on a remote forest and protected it with a large dome barrier. How could he make it only two chambers big and leave a clay golem and a pitfall trap as the only defense mechanisms? It doesn’t make sense.”

“Yeah, I don’t like it. Any room that looks like a safe place is definitely a trap! The most annoying rooms are always the ones with no monsters in it,” added Ben.

“You two stay put, I’ll make a pass on the area with the stick.”

For the next two minutes, Liza went around the place poking her stick on the ground. Her forehead was wet with perspiration and her muscles were tense. She was ready to react as soon as there was a response of any kind. Liza didn’t dare to approach the sarcophagus and kept her probing to the center and the left side of the room. Especial attention was paid to the region near the table and the mirror, but she didn’t mess with them. Only when she was done poking around and saw that nothing had happened did she let out a large breath of relief. At least on the ground there was nothing waiting to harm them.

Back on the corridor, Eliot would look behind his back and watch as they carefully explored. He was felling even angrier now that no one had come to talk to him. The young man harrumphed and continued to “ignore” the rest of the group.

At this point Liza was ready to move to the most suspicious target in the room: that huge pile of treasures. She grabbed the stick by the very end of it and stayed the furthest away as she could from the table. Then, in a swift motion, she poked at one of the largest gems and pulled back. The wooden stick went straight through the gem before returning. Again, it was an illusion. However, this time it was not that simple. The tip of the pole that made contact with the illusory stone was ignited by a black flame that began to spread quickly.

Startled, Liza dropped the stick and jumped back with a shout. The black flame soon enveloped the tree branch completely and burnt it to nothingness. Not even ashes remained. The flame then consumed itself, leaving behind no evidence of its actions. The stone floor remained spotless, without a single scorch mark.

Surprised by the shout, Eliot turned around in haste. He was just about to get up to inquire what was going on when he noticed that everyone was fine and they were talking amongst themselves, completely ignoring him for the moment. Puffing his cheeks, he sat down again.

“Holy shit! What was that?” exclaimed Ben.

“That flame was strange. Are the treasure illusions made of this flame or are they just a bait, encouraging you to put your hand on the fire?”

“I don’t know, I’m just glad I reacted fast enough. That spread too quickly!”

“If those treasures are a trap for the greedy, where are the real ones hidden? It must be somewhere in this mausoleum, right? Or is it actually true that the goddess collects them? Maybe those are illusions of the real treasures the goddess took?” Ben said unsure. He half believed his theory. If it was possible to teleport someone from Earth to this world filled with magic, why couldn’t a goddess who took dead people’s things exist? It was only fair.

“I’m not sure. No one knows if it’s real or how it works. People’s tombs are either discovered early and raided or not found at all. Perhaps you’re right, but who knows? There is one thing for certain though. This is not the last room! It simply can’t be! Where is the thing that is keeping the barrier around this place going for this long? Unless it’s in the mirror or sarcophagus, which I highly doubt it, there must be a secret passage!”

“We have to search for a secret passage again?”

“Hey, at least this time our backs are against the wall… well, they’re actually. But it’s not that urgent! We have six months to figure this out!” said Liza encouragingly.

“Oh, you guys did something like this before?”

“Once, but the situation was different then.”

“I’d love to hear about it.”

“Perhaps another time.”