The Trials

by Zee

Ch 7: Door or Door

"And you said this leads to the room with the statues?" Mosina asked, pointing to the charcoal drawing of an unfinished fork on her make-shift map.

"Yep," Night Watch answered. The three of them sat in a circle by the lake shore, Echo and Night Watch helping Mosina map what they had so far.

Mosina adjusted her glasses as she finished her drawing, satisfied with the uneven circle that represented the statue room. A larger circle on the map had some wavy lines inside of it, representing the lake room they were in.

Barring the two lines that led from the room at opposite sides, two more stubby lines protruded from its sides.

"These are paths we have yet to take," Mosina said, pointing at them. She drew a small plus sign next to one of the stubby lines. "This one is at the end of the bridge there," she said, turning around and pointing to the stone bridge in the middle of the lake. "It's a higher elevated entrance."

The bridge led from the shore of the lake to a large ledge near the top of the room. An entrance to a tunnel sat against the wall where the bridge ended.

"Right. Think we can move on, then?" Echo asked the group. Night watch hummed, nodding her head.

"Yeah, I'm ready," Mosina said. "Let's take the lower tunnel, first."

"Alright, then," Echo said, standing up.

Mosina rolled up the map and stuffed it into her saddlebags. After gathering up the rest of their things, the trio started to trot along the lake shore towards the indicated cave entrance.

"So, that's three of us," Night Watch remarked while they walked.

"Yeah. I hope the other three are alright," Mosina acknowledged.

"That's what we said about you, too," Echo said, smiling at her. "Glad you did turn out okay."

"Hey, I may be bookish, but that doesn't mean I can't hold my own." Mosina chuckled.

"They say nerds are the horniest," Night Watch said, winking to her.

Mosina huffed, blushing. "Says you."

They came to the entrance to the tunnel and formed into a single file line to fit through the narrow cavity. As they entered, it became dark again, the blue light from the crystals of the lake room failing to follow through to the tunnel. Echo took the lead and Night Watch brought up the rear, both of them bearing light crystals.

"How do those work?" Mosina asked. "How do you summon those guardians?"

Echo paused. "I'm not sure, actually. It kind of just came out when needed."

Looking around, she noticed that the cave walls and floor were relatively dry, and the tunnel had an uphill angle. Stalagmites and stalactites were void, since no water seemed to drip from the ceiling.

"Not much we can do about it, I guess,” Echo mused. “Just hope we can use it during the right time.”

The trio walked silently for what seemed like an hour, until the narrow tunnel finally widened enough for them to walk side by side. A bright reflection from the blade of Night Watch's silver spear shone against the stones, bouncing back and forth. Echo couldn't help but feel mesmerized after watching nothing but light and rocks for so long.

Suddenly, as they advanced through the darkness, something large embedded into the wall to their right revealed itself. It looked as though a circular hole was carved out of the wall, and a giant circular stone slab was put in place.

"Is that... a door?" Night Watch asked quietly as she walked towards it..

"I don't know," Mosina said, approaching it.

Echo hung back, eyeing three holes carved into its surface. Each of the holes were different shapes.

Mosina gently placed a hoof on it, and when it didn't budge, she gave a little push."It's sealed tight, if it is a door."

"Those holes..." Echo whispered, coming up beside Mosina. "Hold on." She unbuckled the straps to her right saddlebag and fished out the wooden, triangular prism.

Mosina's eyes widened when she saw the object cradled between Echo's hooves.

"Maybe this will..." Echo trailed off, lifting it and placing it over one of the holes that was shaped like a triangle. Sure enough, it slipped inside easily. She pushed it the entire way until the end of the prism levelled with the surface of the stone. Echo shuddered as the carving of the cringing face came into view, after lifting her hoof off of the door.

Suddenly, a loud, clinking sound echoed through the tunnel around them, causing the bat ponies to step back. But after a moment of silence, they relaxed.

"Interesting. That was a key, huh?" Mosina asked.

"Yeah. Night Watch has one, too," Echo said, eying the other two holes that were embedded into the door, one shaped as a square and another as a circle.

"Let me get it," Night Watch said, going into her own saddlebags and pulling it out. She winked at Mosina. "Such a shame. I wish I had the circular one."

Mosina rolled her eyes.

Night Watch lifted her square prism and slid it into the appropriate slot on the door. As it settled into its place, the door emitted another loud clank.

"I guess that means we need the third key, then," Echo said, a little disappointed. She tried to avoid the other cringing face on the square prism, mirroring the face on the triangular one.

"Bleh, I hate that," Night Watch complained.

"Well, nothing to do now but move on. I'll mark this on the map later when we have the time," Mosina premised.

Giving one last glance to the presumed door, the trio turned and continued into the darkness.

Comments

[reader of the night]

I suppose that your going to dump all your stories on this place too?
Because that would be a good thing in my opinion, easier to keep tabs on them.

[Zee]

3175998
Kind of. It was more for a reason to me to transcribe it into traditional paragraph format, since that's what I'm used to, normally.