//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: The Palace of the Phoenix // Story: Daring Do and the Ivory Idol // by Fedora //------------------------------// There was a definite sense of decay as Daring Do and Scootaround approached the entrance to the old abandoned palace. It was erected on a hillside, where the mountain met the flat land. Indeed, the entire structure appeared as if it was built into the mountain itself. Daring believed that it was. The structure stood about twenty five feet tall, and had broken remains scattered about the entrance. The remains were that of great statues that had not stood the test of time, and had crumbled over the thousands of years they had been left. "Woah..." Scootaround gasped. She was looking into the palace itself. The entire place was carved out of stone, which had browned and crumbled in many places. The entrance was covered in a twisted thicket of vines, which Daring attempted to swat out of the way and pull off to open a path. She was partially successful, and managed to squeeze into the first chamber. She held the path open long enough for Scootaround to follow behind her before releasing the vines. "Alright kid, here's the plan," said Daring, eyes adjusting to the dim lighting that several cracks in the ceiling afforded, "I'm going first. You step where I step, and don't touch anything. Got that?" "Yeah," Scootaround said, sniffing the air. The place smelled of dust and reeked of rotting plant matter. She followed closely behind Daring, looking at the carvings on the walls. She could see what appeared to be pictures, of tapirs crowding around a magnificent bird. She turned her attention towards the ground. Beetles scurried about, leaving tracks in the dust. There were funny little holes in the wall in front of her, and on the ground there were bits and pieces of bone, including a broken rib cage. The bones creeped her out, but she was intrigued by the unlit torch hanging on the wall. As Daring continued ahead, Scootaround tried reaching up for the torch. Wouldn't Daring be proud of her when she got a light source? She was going to be a big help. The filly grasped the bottom of the torch and lifted with both hooves, pulling it out of the holder it had been placed in. As soon as she did so, the corridor began rumbling. Daring wheeled about in one swift motion, and Scootaround heard the cracking of her whip. A tight force wrapped around her waist, and she was yanked forwards suddenly, crashing into Daring Do. As soon as this had happened there was a metallic screech, and Scootaround looked up to see sharp spikes jut out of the holes she had seen in the wall, right where she had been standing. She was speechless for a moment, not saying anything. Daring stood up, dusting herself off after having been thrown to the ground when she had pulled Scootaround towards her. Daring undid the coil around Scootaround's waist, and returned the whip to her bag. Scootaround got up, and looked up at Daring. Dr. Do was not amused at all. "I touch nothing from now on." remarked Scootaround, gulping. She gave Daring the torch she had gotten, and Daring placed it onto the ground. She unslung the bag from around herself and began rummaging through it. She produced a piece of rock, and a small piece of black-looking metal. "What's that?" Scootaround asked, looking sheepishly at Daring because of her blunder. "This is flint," Daring said, holding up the rock. She held up the piece of metal with the other hoof. "This is steel. Not just your regular old stainless steel, this is high carbon tempered steel." She struck the two together, and a shower of sparks erupted from the reaction. Daring had placed a small piece of black-looking cloth on the top of the torch, and this caught one of the flying sparks. Upon seeing this, Daring placed the other things back into her bag, and proceeded to blow onto the spark. It expanded, and soon the end of the torch was ablaze, lighting up the chamber around the two ponies. Daring grinned, and slipped her hoof into the holder bar of the torch, lifting it up above her head. "There, let's shed some light on the subject," said Daring. She looked up to see what was being illuminated. The ceiling was high above them. They had entered a large chamber, with what appeared to be several bridges high above their heads, and several other chambers and corridors leading out. The floor below them seemed to be wriggling and crawling with all sorts of bugs and spiders. "Oh, great." Daring remarked, looking at the bugs. She held her torch down close to the stone floor, waving it to and fro in an attempt to scare away the little creepy crawlies. She was successful, and she looked back up, motioning for Scootaround to follow her. The two ponies soon came to a side chamber , with a set of stairs leading up to the next level of the palace. Daring looked at the stairs cautiously. She placed her front hoof down (the one that did not hold the torch) and saw that the stone was still sturdy enough to support her weight. She nodded, satisfied that it was safe to continue, and ascended the stairs. Scootaround followed suit, placing her hooves as close to where Daring had stepped as she could remember. When the two ponies had reached the next level, they were surprised to see that it was not as expansive as before. There was a tightly-spaced corridor, and several side chambers that were sealed off behind stone doors. "Which way do we go, Dr. Do?" asked Scootaround, looking at the stone doors and the open passageway ahead of them. Daring could see another set of stone stairs ahead in the distance, in another section of the corridor adjacent to theirs. "I'd say forward." Daring said, "I think these sealed chambers were probably holding cells for prisoners, or maybe to keep cats in." "Cats?" "Yeah, jungle cats. Big ferocious beasts. Lots of ancient societies kept them contained," explained Daring, "But we're not interested in that. I'm gonna just keep going this way." With that being said, Daring stepped off down the hallway. When her hoof made contact with the stone floor, it struck something. She jumped, expecting some kind of sudden reaction or spikes to shoot out, but nothing happened. Well, nothing happened at first. The small square tile that Daring had stepped on sunk down, and below them something fell. Daring could hear the sound of some kind of stone block smashing into something else below them, and then a low rumble started. In the center of the hallway, one of the doors began moving. It slid slowly upwards, flipping upside down and going into the wall. As soon as it did so, another stone slab was swung up from the floor, and moved in the same arc. The motion became faster and faster, like a ship's propeller moving. "Damn," Daring said with a groan. The swinging slabs were moving much too fast for her to jump through and make it. She had good timing, but to attempt to jump through that would be suicide. She looked towards Scootaround, who was following the rotary slabs' motion with her head. She wouldn't be able to get through any better than Daring, and without a strong set of wings Daring didn't feel that backtracking her steps and simply flying was an option. They had to find a way to get through. "Scoot, look around on the walls," said Daring, as she looked at the walls to her left, bringing the torch in closer to see. "See if you can find some kind of release lever." Daring looked at her wall. There wasn't any doors on her side, and as far as she could tell there were no levers. She did spot one tile that looked slightly out of place, but when she pushed it with her free hoof nothing of interest happened. Scootaround first looked at the door, sizing it up. There were inscriptions of great jungle cats on the side, and to the left there was a square block that jutted out of the wall. Perhaps that was the release lever? Scootaround tried pressing up against it, but it didn't budge. She stood on all four hooves again, and tightened her hat around the top of her head. She leaned back, then rushed forward, slamming her side up against the block. This time the block sank into he wall, and a second rumble could be heard as the door slid aside. "Dr. Do! I opened that jungle-cat holding thingy!" exclaimed Scootaround. Daring turned her head, holding the torch aloft with one hoof as she went to examine the inside of the chamber. As the torch entered the chamber along with Daring's front half, she was greeted with the site of a skeleton. The teeth embedded in the skull were sharp-looking, and the animal's bones were covered in layers of cobwebs. The stale air smelled pungent, and she wrinkled her nose. "What is it, Dr. Do?" said Scootaround, unable to see into the chamber. Daring leaned back, wanting to take a breath of fresh air. She coughed, trying to wave away the bad smell of decay. "Looks like somepony forgot to feed the kitty." Daring said. She did get an idea, though. She turned to look back at the skeleton. It was the size of a large jungle cat, and was bulkier than a tapir or a pony. It was not only longer, but slightly taller as well. "Lend me a hoof, Scootaround," said Daring, "Help me move this jungle cat out of the chamber." Upon hearing this, the filly recoiled. She didn't look too happy about the prospect of having to drag out a corpse, even if it was only the dusty bones. "Oh come on, Scoot!" Daring said, "This might be our only shot at stopping those rotating slabs." Scootaround seemed to turn green as she nodded. She took a deep breath, and tried to close her eyes as she leaned into the chamber containing the skeleton. She grabbed one side with both hooves, holding the hips and tails aloft while trying not to look at them too hard. Daring leaned in and grabbed the neck vertebrae, tucking them under her free front leg. Together, the two ponies dragged the cat skeleton out of the chamber and into the corridor. Scootaroud looked happy to be able to place it back down. "Alright, kid. Hang on to this torch for a second," said Daring. Scootaround slid the burning torch off of Daring's hoof, and slid her hoof into the ring used to hold onto the torch. Daring nodded, and proceeded to grab the skeleton about the midsection. She walked it over towards the rotating slabs, waiting for the opportune moment. When one of the slabs had just barely passed the midsection, she pushed the skeleton out onto the next approaching slab. The skeleton landed on the slab, and just seemed to sit there as it was brought vertical, and then disappeared along with the rest of the slab into the space behind the wall, and out of sight. Daring backed up from the rotating slabs. There was a sickening crunching sound, and a mechanical clicking that grew louder and louder. Something sprung loose, and the rotating slabs grinded to a halt. Daring looked to Scootaround, raising an eyebrow. She motioned for the torch back, and Scootaround slipped it off of her hoof, and back onto Daring's. "Alright, that seemed to work," Daring said, "I don't know how long those bones will keep the gears jammed up. We'd better press on." The two ponies made it up the next flight of stone stairs without much incident. Ahead of them was a bridge that crossed an open space. The ground was far below them, and a fall would surely be crippling, if not worse. Daring looked at the stone bridge carefully, examining the tiles on it. They were all rectangular tiles, laid on top of the bridge's foundation in a criss-cross pattern. Daring turned to speak to Scootaround. "Stay here for a moment kid," she said, "I'll let you know when it's alright to cross. Don't want to stress this bridge with too much weight." Scootaround nodded, understanding what she meant. Daring then proceeded to step onto the bridge. She could feel the strain of the tiles, and the scratching sound of them sliding. When the bridge held, she took another step. Her sense of unease heightened as a tile wiggled loose, and fell through the bottom. Apparently the base of the bridge had cracked and deteriorated in parts. This was not a good sign at all. Daring took another step, and was greeted with a groaning sound. The gravity shifted, and she felt herself pitching forward as the floor beneath her fell away. Daring scrambled backwards, hooves striking other tiles hard enough to make them come lose. She was gone before they had fallen away, however. Daring was able to dash back to the safety of the sturdy ledge as the rest of the bridge collapsed with a thunderous sound. Leaning her head over the edge, the torchlight was able to illuminate a pile of crushed tiles far below on the ground, which had set off a number of spike traps with their weights. "Well then, that's no good!" Daring exclaimed. She looked at Scootaround, whose eyes had widened after seeing the bridge collapse. Daring wasn't sure on how to get across to the ledge on the other side. She looked up, hoping to see a low-hanging vine or some kind of bar jutting out that she could grab onto with the end of her whip and swing across, but there was nothing of the sort. Daring turned her attention towards the walls around the chasm. The level they were on was clearly visible around the entirety of the wall because the walls contained a larger chunk of stone on the level than the other pieces. Daring trotted over to the wall, leaning in closer to see the small edge. It was only six inches jutting out, far too small to simply walk across. She looked back to Scootaround, who was watching curiously. "C'mere, kid," said Daring. Scootaround followed Daring, and both ponies stood near the edge of the ledge adjacent to the main wall of the palace. Scootaround looked in closer under the torchlight to see the ledge Daring was motioning to. "You can't be serious..." murmured Scootaround. Daring nodded. She leaned up against the wall, trying just to stand on her back hooves. She wobbled a bit, but by using the wall as support, she was able to stabilize herself. She positioned her right back hoof near the start of the extremely short ledge jutting out of the wall, and stepped onto it. "Do just like I do, Scoot. Be careful, and wait for me to step." Scootaround nodded, and stood on her hind hooves as well, tightening her hat over her head. Daring gulped, and took a sideways step. The ledge held firm, and she was emboldened to take another, and then another, and another. This was going much smoother than expected. Step after step followed in succession, and soon Daring Do had reached the midpoint. She took another step to the side, and her hoof kept going. Daring cried out in alarm as her right leg fell through as a small section of the ledge broke off and fell. She caught the other side of the break with the back of her right hoof, and the torch was knocked free, falling into the chasm below and extinguishing itself as it landed in dust and dirt. Daring struggled, grunting as she tried to push herself back up into the awkward two-legged standing position without tipping over or falling. The sweat poured down her face, and she didn't have a free hoof to wipe it off with. With a great push, she was able to regain her balance enough to lean back against the wall. Daring rested for a moment, heart racing. She wiped the sweat off her face. "Alright, Scoot. When you get to where I am, be careful. There's gonna be a space of about twenty inches you'll have to jump across." Daring said, as she stepped over the empty space in the rock and reached the more sturdy other side. Scootaround followed her lead, making a small sideways jump over the empty space in the ledge. By this point, the two ponies were close to the other side, and they made it over without other incident. Daring was glad to be on a more stable surface, and she could see Scootaround shared the sentiment.