A scrawny rat scurried along the cold stone floor, searching the oppressive darkness for its next meal. It quickly hunted through the familiar piles of rubble that littered the room, occasionally stopping to nibble experimentally on the vines that grew down from the walls before moving on. Its search this day- or night, as the gloom of the ancient stone ruin made it impossible to tell - had been fruitless thus far, and the familiar pangs of hunger were beginning to become unbearable. Just as the rat was about to move to another room, it noticed a faint azure light in the distance.
The rat watched the glow warily, unused to the sight of any light piercing the endless darkness it had lived in all its life. As the light grew brighter, the rat hurried into a crack in the stone wall, hiding itself away from the out-of-place light coming towards it. The rat began to hear a clip-clop sound, faintly at first, as the source of the glow came into its view.
A four-legged creature emerged from the tight corridor. It was a deep blue, and a horn on its head was the source of the strange light. On its battered body, it wore a dark brown vest, worn and covered in dirt and small blood stains. On its flank, it carried a torn bag. Upon its head was a hat with a wide brim. The creature was not one that the rat had ever seen before, and it decided to stay concealed in its hiding spot. It was probably safer that way.
The creature cautiously crept forward, nervously eyeing the walls and ceiling as it moved towards a pedestal at the end of the room, paying great attention to where it placed its dirt-covered hooves. The rat wondered vaguely why the creature was being so cautious and wished that it would move faster so that the rat could return to its search for food.
*click!*
The brick which the creature had placed its hoof upon suddenly lowered into the ground, and the creature adopted a look of panic. A large, silver spike shot out from the ceiling, gleaming in the bright blue emanating from the creature’s horn. The creature dropped to the ground in the nick of time, the spike piercing through the air and halting less than an inch from the creature’s head.
The creature crawled awkwardly out from under the spike and stood up on shaky legs, sweat forming on its brow as it tried to control its erratic breathing. After a moment, it looked up cautiously, as though expecting another spike to slide out at any moment and stab through its head. With a quick hoof, it snatched back its hat, which had been impaled by the spike, and continued onwards.
Slowly, weary of more traps, the creature tip-toed towards the pedestal, eyes practically glued to the ground in search of any trap trigger. It reached the raised dais at the end of the room without incident and gave a relieved sigh before walking up. The pedestal was engraved with images from an age long past, depicting scenes of death and destruction, and the creature eyed them uneasily. After a short while, it shifted its attention to the item which rested on the pedestal- a brass bowl, engraved with intricate lines and symbols. That rat had inspected the bowl several times, never finding even the tiniest scrap of food in or around it, and thus wondered what possible interest it could hold for this odd creature. If it was also searching for food, the creature was wasting its time.
The creature paced around the bowl, licking its lips nervously as it scrutinized the artifact from every angle. It circled several times around the pedestal before it was satisfied that it was in no immediate danger. It shut its eyes tightly and, much to the rat’s astonishment, the bowl was enveloped in an azure field that lifted it a few inches up off the pedestal. The creature stood completely still, eyes shut and ears straining to hear the slightest indication that another trap had been sprung. After a brief moment, during which nothing happened, the creature opened its eyes and glanced around before sighing in relief. The bag on his flank became wrapped in a similar blue glow and began floating towards the bowl.
Without any visible or audible warning, the floor surrounding the pedestal fell out from underneath the creature. With a yelp, the creature fell into the pit, its scream quickly losing volume before fading completely out of the rat’s hearing. The creature’s hat, which had fallen off its head when it fell, floated down and settled at the edge of the hole as the floor swung back into place, concealing all evidence that the trap was there at all. The brass bowl fell down onto the pedestal, causing a small ringing sound to emanate throughout the room.
The rat sat patiently for a few moments before judging that it was safe. Slowly, it creeped out from the crack in the wall, its tiny claws clicking on the stone, sounding thunderous in the silence. It reached the bag that had fallen onto the ground beside the pedestal and cautiously poked its head in, exploring it for food. It pulled out a half-eaten bar of oats and started to eat, devouring the feast excitedly.
These creatures didn’t seem too bad.