The Ancient Prophecy Ch. 09

When the sensation subsided, she found Maya sitting next to her. "I hope you like it, Mistress... No offense, but you're very easy to please..."

Anna chuckled, then grabbed Maya's shoulder and dragged her down on the bed. Since Maya didn't resist, Anna could easily pin her body down.

"I just learned this new trick from the Book of Elements..." She said slowly. "And you're going to be my first victim..."

Anna hung her palm over Maya's form and chanted the spell. Then tiny sparks appeared from her fingers and zapped through her thin bodysuit, striking her nipples. Maya let out a yelp and jerked from the shock. It wasn't strong enough to damage her body, but enough to induce the desired sensation. Maya moaned as Anna played with her breasts.

"Ladies?!! Are you okay?!!"

Anna slumped over Maya, startled by the intrusion. Neither of them expected that Hawk would hear them and decided to check.

"Uh... We're completely fine!" Maya answered.

"We heard some weird noises from next room." Hawk called again beyond the door. "I'm just making sure everything is okay."

"We're fine!" Anna said. "That must have been the royal swine from the pen next door!"

"Uh... okay... Sorry" Anna wouldn't think that Hawk would buy her story, but she sighed in relief anyway.

Maya woke up and kissed her on the forehead. "Sleep now, Mistress. I'll wake you up for supper later."

"B... but you haven't got your release..." Anna protested.

"Don't worry about me." Maya smiled. "My needs can wait. Plus, I really enjoyed your new trick. Now sleep. You need your rest."

Anna smiled warmly before exhaustion took control and put her slowly to sleep. This time, she dreamt of clouds.

The journey to the desert took two days. They had decided not to use the dragons to avoid too much attention. Unlike Humans, Dwarves didn't use horses for transportation, so they had to walk.

Canyons and rocky ground dominated the route. Although it was autumn, the weather was intensely hot due to the lack of vegetation around the area. The land was dry, parched by the sun. Dust filled the air. The only thing that could possibly cheer up the party was Holgreb's war story from his 45 years of being a barbarian. Unfortunately, it didn't do its purpose.

"But hang on..." Holgreb insisted. "Let me tell you what I did when I was with Gurkhar!"

"Yeah... for the 25th time..." Anna mumbled.

"Uh huh... I'd bet you killed 45 vampires, 105 trolls, 208 troglodytes and 315 hobgoblins then..." Hawk mumbled.

"That's right..." Roberto sighed. "And you killed one-eighth ogre as well..."

"One-eighth...?" Maya asked. "How can..."

"He's explained that before!" Roberto quickly answered, not wanting to make Holgreb start his story. "He shared the kill, equally, with his seven friends..."

"Oh..."

"Wow... you guys really like my story that much you remember the detail!" Holgreb smiled brightly. "Here... let me tell you a story when we defeated this evil spider queen..."

"Oh brother..."

"Atrus, how far is the nearest village?" Anna asked.

Atrus didn't answer. When she tugged his shirt, he turned at her and pulled the cloth from his ears and waited expectantly. Anna grumbled, slapped him hard, and repeated the question.

"According to the map, it might take another half an hour..." Atrus answered.

The party groaned. Anna slapped Atrus again, ignored his protest and plugged her ears with her earrings.

"Sorry for the interruption, folks..." Holgreb announced cheerfully. "Now for the story..."

They finally arrived at Niddol, a small mining village at the outskirts of the Desert of Desolation. They didn't expect a welcoming party, but they never expected to be welcomed by nothing.

The village was completely abandoned. There was nobody around. The houses were still erect, but the occupants were gone. The street was dusty and deserted. Only the eerie sound of the hot wind was heard.

"Spread out..." Atrus ordered. "See if you can find what's wrong with the villagers..."

The party spread out and entered the abandoned buildings while Atrus and Roberto stayed outside to watch over. They tried to notice if someone was watching them, but there was no one around. The village was indeed completely deserted.

"Master Atrus!"

Atrus and Roberto scrambled to the nearest building where Maya was. Maya was kneeling on the floor, staring at the rusted door before her. She traced the old door surface, revealing a thin, obscure line of red-smeared wood. A few red dots were also spread across the surface.

Blood!

"There has been a fight here, Master." Maya said slowly. "But there are no bodies..."

Together they searched the room, but they found nothing. When they got out of the building, everybody was gathering.

"I found nobody in the tavern." Anna reported. "But the tables and chairs were scattered around the room in a very odd way."

"Same here..." Hawk nodded.

"A very odd way?" Atrus asked.

"Yeah... like, a round table stuck on the chandelier on the ceiling." Anna replied. "It seems like there has been a tornado inside the tavern."

"There is one cupboard full of clothes." Aurelia spoke up. "But there was nobody around. They couldn't just abandon their homes without taking their clothes along!"

"Probably this is the pyramid's curse..." Roberto suggested.

"I won't be surprised!" Holgreb announced, then pointed at a direction. "As far as I remember, the Pyramid of Salthi is just beyond tha..."

The Dwarf didn't finish his sentence. Instead, his finger was stopped midair, pointing at a direction of a small sand dune. Beyond the dune, a thin trace of black smoke was seen.

"That... that's where the garrison is..." Holgreb muttered in shock.

"Smoke..." Atrus suddenly yelled, "The garrison is under attack! Let's go!"

They were too late. The party stared silently at the broken wooden gate. Several burnt buildings still produced black smoke from the fire beneath the stones. Deserted assembly ground was full with black dents of scorched ground. Whatever had attacked the garrison, it had destroyed it utterly.

Yet the problem stayed the same. The signs of battle were everywhere, but there were no bodies. There were spots smeared with blood. There were fallen axes and iron helmets scattered around the complex. There was a tumbled pot full of cooked lunch. But there was no sign of the survivors, as if the entire garrison occupants had been swallowed to void.

Anna knelt near the scorched ground and inspected it carefully. The scorched mark interested her. The mark couldn't be made by fire. The mark was a little jagged on the sandy ground. Whatever hit it, it had to be really powerful, for the blow left a small, yet deep crack on the center.

"Do you have any idea what caused it?" Roberto asked.

"Something incredibly hot and strong..." Anna rubbed the rough ground with her glove"

"A firebolt?" Atrus suggested.

"No... stronger than that... it fried the ground rather quickly..."

"Shock spell?" Maya answered. "It travels pretty fast..."

"Good point, Maya... If I'm not mistaken, this mark is probably caused by... lightning bolt."

"HAH!!!" Holgreb laughed. "In the desert! We see lightning bolt in the desert once in a century!"

"I know it's odd..." Anna agreed. "But I can find no other explanation for this..."

"Spread out, people!" Atrus ordered again. "See if you can find something interesting."

The team spread out, searching the ruins for something useful. There was hardly anything useful there, because most of the things were either broken or burnt.

"Uh, guys!" Holgreb suddenly called. "I can use a hand here!"

Roberto came and found that the Dwarf was standing before a ruin of what had used to be a storage shed. The building had crumbled down, leaving only a pile of big stones.

"You want me to lift these rocks up?" Roberto queried. "What would be beneath them?"

"You should trust a barbarian in this kind of event."

Roberto shrugged and took his gigantic Kaiser Sword from his back. He jammed the sword into the piles of rocks, which gave it no resistance. With a strong yank, the boulders gave way, revealing a golden chest.

Roberto gazed at the Dwarf. "Sixth sense?"

"The result of 45 years of constant training." Holgreb simply answered. "Now to open it..."

Holgreb opened the chest carefully and took a peek inside to make sure there was no booby traps inside the chest. Soon, he retrieved a small object wrapped in dirty cloth. Soon the party gathered around him. The object turned out to be a small round medallion made out of gold. The object was very jagged at certain edges. A strange sculpture of a spider was carved on the center.

"Wait a minute... I know this symbol..." The Dwarf muttered. "It's the same symbol carved on the pyramid walls!"

"So we're in the right track..." Hawk's eyes suddenly opened. "Wait a sec... You've been to the pyramid?!"

"Yeah... four months ago... with Gurkhar the Dwarf!"

"WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY THAT EARLIER?!!!" Maya screamed and later closed her mouth, realizing her mistake.

"You want to hear the story of how we defeated the goblins around the pyramid? Just say the word!! Well, I was with Gurkhar then when those goblins... Man, they're tough..."

The party sighed. "Oh brother..."

The maid screamed again with renewed intensity. The dark man was quite amused. She had been bound for three hours, and he had been entertaining her without stopping. He forcefully slammed his cock all the way inside her unwilling pussy. She struggled against her bondage, doing an erotic dance before her captor. Finally the agony became too much and she fainted as soon as the demon shot his unholy seeds inside her womb.

A thin mist appeared, slowly turning into the image of a ghoul; a soul in agony. The ghoul moaned around the air, twisting frantically fighting a losing fight for its freedom. Yet the message was sent.

"Ah... visitors... They have arrived..."

The demon waved his hand and the unconscious girl disappeared. He let out a wicked smile. He had been waiting for this moment. Finally, he could be free once again. His unholy prayer had been answered.

"Finally... The worthy one has arrived..."

A faint image of a young girl appeared before him. The petite girl was wearing the official priestess suit for the Order of Lycra. He could feel her strength. He could feel her determination. The girl, he thought, was the spirit of the group he was supposed to defeat.

"Defeat the soul... and the body will yield..."
The Pyramid of Slathi stood silently in the middle of the desert, reaching for the cloudy afternoon sky. To the east the vast field of sand stretched over the horizon, threatening unwary adventurers with beasts, deadly scorpions, and violent sandstorms. For many years the pyramid had served as the marking beacon for the Forbidden Land. For many years the pyramid was seen as the final safe haven for the lost adventurers as they were unaware of the ultimate danger lying beneath.

Roberto slowly rubbed the cold stone surface with his palm. "It's odd... The surface is so smooth. There's no hint of age! It seems like the pyramid was built just yesterday, by the finest mason in the kingdom!"

"It's definitely protected by magic..." Anna closed her eyes and listened to her deeper sense. "It's not right... The magic is not bad... but it resists me... as if trying to ward me off..."

"I hope we have more choices." Atrus said. "But we'll have to enter the pyramid eventually."

The entrance was just as simple as a hole on the surface. The long tunnel was quite small for them, although it fit Dwarves quite well. The tunnel was completely dusty and dark, preventing further inspection. The think scent of mold filled their nostrils, defeating even the bravest soul.

"We can't get in now..." Aurelia said slowly in her low, melodic tone. "I'd say we camp at the garrison and returned tomorr..."

Before she could finish her word, a high eerie sound was heard in the air. The dark cloud stirred violently in the sky. Suddenly the air around them became uncomfortably hot.

"Wait a minute..." Anna muttered. "Atrus, this is a desert, right?"

"Right."

"There's no water in the desert, right?"

"Very little." Holgreb agreed.

"So there will be very little water vapor in the desert, right?"

"True."

"Then what's the cloud doing here in the desert at the first place?"

The party looked at the sky and was dreaded at what they saw. The dark cloud was getting thicker and thicker. An obscure, thin line of light appeared beneath the surface.

"Mistress... The garrison! There was indeed lightning bolt!" Maya suggested.

"What?!! It can't be!" Holgreb snarled. "This is a desert..."

Then he knew that he was wrong when a lightning bolt hit squarely on top of the pyramid, sending bolts of electricity throughout the surface and into the sand. The ground shook upon contact with the bolts. Tiny sparks blasted away from the tip of the pyramid and fell down on the ground. The party suddenly recalled one of many facts in the Land of Lore. If it didn't make sense, then it had to be magical."

"I'm not really sure, but I have this strange feeling..." Roberto mumbled. "I've been to this case before... you know... thick cloud, hot air... I've seen this before in Aragon... I believe they call this... uh... tornado?"

The Elf and the Dwarf were not affected at all, but all Human members quickly stared sharply at him. "WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SO?!!!" Hawk roared.

A loud roar at their back regained their attention. A large, dark cone appeared from the cloud and descended upon the sand, lifting it along its swirling surface. Then suddenly tiny bits of sand filled the air, hitting their faces and entering their nostrils. The party, especially Aurelia and Holgreb who had never seen a tornado before, began coughing and choking. Even slightly blurred by the sand, Anna could see the tornado closing on them.

"Come on!! Get inside!!" she yelled.

The party quickly scrambled inside the dark tunnel. Anna entered last and sealed the entrance with her magic barrier, preventing the sand from coming in. The tunnel was extremely dark and cramped. Nobody dared to move for a while, fearing what might lie beyond the darkness. The problem was solved when Anna summoned a few floating fireballs to illuminate the tunnel.

"What in the name of the Guardian was that?!!" Aurelia complained.

"Well, I suppose there's no turning back now." Atrus muttered. "We're going in."

The party readied their weapons, except for Roberto, whose weapon was too huge to be used inside the tunnel. Almost everybody had to crouch several times to fit inside. Outside, the sandstorm raged violently, occasionally producing low-pitch roar across the tunnel.

The fireballs guided them through the tunnel until they reached a larger room. As the party member emerged from the tunnel, mumbles of awe came in turn. The room was as big as a small house, except that it was completely fortified with stone. The ceiling was very high, too high for a structure built without purpose. But the main fact was that the walls were inscribed with strange sculptures and ancient writing. The writing went upward toward the high ceiling.

"Anna... Can you understand their writing?" Atrus asked, still staring at the wall.

Anna knelt before the wall and studied the writing. It was neatly marked and sculptured on the stone surface. Various pictograms were scattered around the strange letters. She had read several books about languages from nomadic age, but she had never encountered this style before. She shook her head.

"Never seen this kind before. I'll try to decipher it."

"No need." Holgreb mumbled. "We have what we need here."

The Dwarf walked clumsily across the room and brushed the stone surface with his hand, revealing a small hollow circle. "This might be some kind of keyhole. See the symbol here?" Over the hollow circle there was a sculpture of a spider, just like the one on the medallion. "We've found the key."

The Dwarf produced the medallion from his bag. Suddenly a loud roar was heard across the room. Anna's body twitched suddenly with a yelp. She stared blankly for a while; her breath raced quickly.

"Anna?" Atrus asked nervously.

Anna was silent for a while. "Something's wrong..." Anna muttered finally. "The strange forces around the pyramid jumped at the medallion... I can feel them probing my mind..."

"Are they bad?" Aurelia asked. "I can't feel anything."

"No, they're not bad... They're... If they were good, they wouldn't repulse me just like that... Something is wrong... I have a bad feeling about this..."

"Ignore it!" Holgreb claimed. "It can mean good charm!"

After saying that, he slammed the medallion in place on the hole. Suddenly the whole place shook with tremor. Thick dust fell from the ceiling, momentarily blinding them. A loud crash was heard, followed by a roar of mechanical gears, then silence.

"Nice move." Hawk mumbled. "Good charm indeed."

Soon they found that a large boulder had blocked the small tunnel, sealing the only entrance. Roberto and Hawk tried to push, but it seemed that the boulder was far too heavy. They had been trapped inside the room.

"Well, we're doomed." Roberto announced. "We'll probably suffocate in a few hours."

"Or not." Maya added slowly. "Hear that sound?" A low whistle of the sandstorm raging outside could still be heard. "This room has access to open air. Probably at the ceiling."

"Great!!" The prince said. "I suppose there Salthi guys prefer the slow and horrible death for their uninvited visitors. We could starve for days and stay alive!"

"Relax..." Atrus said slowly. "There's got to be a way out."

"I suppose so." Anna agreed. "I'll start by deciphering the writing. You guys can start searching. And Holgreb!" The Dwarf twitched at Anna's sharp call. "Touch nothing!!!"

Anna knelt back before the wall, facing the writing. She rubbed the stone surface with her bare hand, feeling the cold stone against her skin. When she withdrew, she noticed thick dust on her finger. This place had been abandoned for a long time since the lone mage summoned the pyramid. Now they had to find out what had happened to him, and to do so they had to enter first.

If you don't know where to start, start with the most apparent and obvious symbol, she recalled her knowledge, and start from there. Her eyes quickly picked up a rough sketch of five people standing in line, which was slightly bigger than other symbols. She traced the writing, skipping the weird language, and found another symbol in shape of a circle and a spider on top of it. Then she trailed the writing until she reached a strange symbol of a box with arc-shaped top. A door! And the spider medallion is the key! Then she met another symbol of a spider, a cloud, a lightning bolt, and an arc-shaped gate, followed by strange writing. Are they trying to describe a storm? Then what's with the second spider?

Something in her mind told her to check the symbols again. Slowly she rubbed the first spider symbol and was surprised to find that it was curved inside. Slowly and carefully she rubbed the surface, cleaning the dust. The spider symbol was made out of shiny stone, different from the rest of the wall. It was small compared to the entire writing, yet without the dust the spider would be quite apparent to normal eyes under plenty of light. She took some time to draw a deep breath, touched the symbol, and pushed the spider with all her might.

The symbol yielded to her push and a tremor shook the room again, refilling it with thick dust. A loud roar of mechanical gears was heard. When the dust cleared up, the party was staggered. A portion of the wall had slid down, revealing a door. Another dark and long tunnel waited beyond.