Chapter 36 Beast Warrens

We moved into a large chamber. It looked ancient, moss covered, with that luminescent stone casting a low glow over everything. Miggy muttered some words and threw three glowing orange orbs into the air. Huh. So he’d multi-classed into Shaman. Didn’t know that.

There were no mobs here, there was also no obvious way through. Three large stone doors, each one ten feet tall were aligned from left, middle, and right before us. In the very centre was some kind of light receptacle. There was an opening in the warrens above us, where a beam of light was cast down, hitting the receptacle.

My mind whirred, I couldn’t help it. Questions like, well, so it hits because we just so happen to be here at this time of day. That if we were here at another time of day, or if it was a foggy day, would there be no beam of light? I smiled inwardly. Just had to accept it. System be systeming.

‘It’s a puzzle,’ said Miggy, as he took it all in. Larry growled, clearly unhappy that this was a situation that could not be solved with chomping down on something. I looked closer. He was right. I looked around, climbing a nearby mossy outcropping so I could get a bird’s-eye view. Receptacles were arranged on a four by four grid with the one in the middle the only one that had that light coming from it.

‘Okay, I have an idea,’ I said. ‘Take the light thing and move it so it shines on the…the one on the far left.’ Miggy nodded, moving the middle receptacle so that the light shining down now shone on the receptacle on the left. I felt a rush as I saw my instincts were correct, the leftmost receptacle transmitting its own light onto the leftmost door.

Then…nothing happened.

I frowned. Miggy’s brow furrowed. Larry growled.

Just when I thought we might try something else however the door crumbled, revealing…a stone wall behind.

Okay. Wrong door. Guess we just tried the others-

Stone began to grate. The chamber began to tremble as the ceiling of the chamber began to descend.

Oh, and there were spikes. Big enough to skewer Larry like a kebab.

Fuck.

‘Okay, okay!’ I shouted frantically, my mind whirring. Miggy was staring at me. I knew what he was thinking, that it would probably have been better to trade places. His wisdom was almost double mine. Was wisdom…

Focus.

I scanned the remaining receptacles, ignoring the impending doom about to skewer us. Trace a path, a path of light…

‘Move it so it’s hitting the one just to the right of it, then from that one forwards.’

Miggy wasted no time. But even no time was ten seconds. Ten seconds for those spikes to descend. Thankfully, the light shone correctly, and now it was hitting the middle door. I breathed a sigh of relief as that door began to crumble too, revealing…

A wall.

Another wall?

The clamour of the stone grating began to increase as the spiked ceiling descended faster now. More than half the chamber’s height was gone.

‘Reaver!’ shouted Ayla. ‘Come on!’

I stared again at the square. Three across, three deep receptacles. Accounting for the angle of the light, that the receptacles could only move 180 degrees…

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I called out the final sequence, praying I was right. I was stooping now and had to jump down from the outcropping. I wondered if the outcropping might halt the advance of the ceiling, but it simply segmented and descended in other areas. Miggy moved swiftly. He was moving one, then two. Shit. He was going to run out of time.

I sprinted forward for the centre most receptacle, roughly manipulating it so it shone on the door at the right. I watched as the door seemed to fill with light. This time it did not shatter. This time it retracted.

But the ceiling was still moving. Why the fuck was it still moving?

Ayla seemed rooted to the spot. No time for chivalry. I grabbed her hand, and sprinted for the door, having to dive — the fucking ceiling was so low. I felt something move past me, grateful as that blur revealed itself as Miggy and Larry. I looked back to see the spikes now fully crushed against the floor. A skeleton was skewered, his empty features looking to me.

Bad luck, buddy.

‘You couldn’t have told us about that?’ spluttered Miggy, turning to Ayla. ‘Tribe or no tribe, a death trap — that would’ve been helpful to mention!’

Ayla glowered. ‘I…’