The Emerald the Sapphire and the Chase

[PieTaster]

The tunnels and passages seemed endless and so did the myriad of rooms which they connected. Ever since the quake had opened the lost catacombs seven days previously, there had been a nearly constant discovery of new pathways. The race was on to find the great treasures of legend and so far much gold, jewels and ancient writings had been recovered. Everyone was scrambling to make their claims and no amount of sage nor sermoning from the tribe shamans could stop the madness. Not only was the rush for personal gain, but also to keep the treasures and relics from falling into the hands of the enemy. These sacred sites belonged to the anointed people, the Koshan.

There was danger at every step, yet Shai preferred to work alone. It was much faster that way - and more profitable. Cave-ins, traps and cut-throat rivals were worth any risk, as the one who got there first would claim the glory, either for himself or for the clan. The morning's aftershocks had revealed yet new tunnels and Shai crawled and climbed his way through (glad that he wasn't overly tall), driven to be the first. He had delved deep into the hillside so that he was not certain to have enough torch light to return.

Slipping his slender frame between the rocks of the latest chute, Shai brushed the dust from his jet black hair as he found tiled floor beneath his feet. This was something. Straightening himself up to stand, he brandished the flickering torch. A chill of excitement enveloped him as he took in the sight. It was the most fabulous room that he had seen so far. A high arched ceiling loomed above with star charts and deities etched and gilt into the dome adorned with colored gems that glinted back in the dim aura of the foreign fire light. Only the Gods knew just how long they had been hidden in the darkness before he had just awakened them to wipe the sleep from their eyes with a glint or a sparkle. A wall at least twice his height split the cavern into two, it's facing covered in large bold runes above a small altar near its end with a huge luminescent blue stone in prominent display - a sapphire like he'd never laid eyes upon. Shai reckoned that neither had the eyes of anyone else for ages.

With a lump of chalk, he marked the entrance from whence he had come and approached the shrine with caution. He scanned for traps, cracks in the floor, odd looking tiles, holes in the wall, before slowly approaching. The sapphire was round and disc-shaped and the size of the palm of his hand. His face reflected back at him in the gem's perfect surface, his high cheekbones, flat nose and squarish jaw, the ends of his fringe swept loosely over his brow. Up close, he saw fractals in the stone, dancing in the torchlight, mesmerizing him for a moment before something snapped Shai back to his senses. It was the runes, the markings that only few could read - and he was one who could.

At the sacred place across the land, bring the stones and unite, for one to rule all in benevolence and wisdom

It took a moment for it all to sink in. It was the Ascendancy Prophecy - the legend told for generations of the one people that would rule in a golden age. Shai read on. The last inscription at the bottom was an instruction. The message was how to open a gate. He blinked and read again, looking for symbolism or other vagueness to decipher, and although it was not devoid of this, it was a rather literal instruction to open a gate - the gate to the sacred altar of unity. Shai read it a third time and took a moment to mischievously chuckle to himself over the wording.

He could not let any of this fall into the enemy hands, not the stone, nor the words of the prophecy. It could only be claimed for the Koshan. Again, he checked for any traps, any cracks gaps or holes, inconsistency in color of the altar's masonry. He saw none, but of course knew that concealment of such devices could be exceedingly clever, especially when guarding such priceless treasures, and so took a deep calming breath to steady himself before lifting the gem from its mount. It nearly filled his palm, its blue hue softly highlighting his face, reflecting in his green irises. Nothing tripped, triggered nor moved. Then standing up straight, he inhaled deeply once more and closed his eyes, reciting the scripture over in his head repeatedly to etch it into his mind.

When he reopened his eyes to the dwindling torchlight, Shai realized by the way that the message was written, that this was only the second part of the instruction. The first part had to be elsewhere in the room, but when he looked about he suddenly froze, sensing that he was not alone. In the silence, a foot fall shifted on the other side of the wall. Shai pocketed the stone into his shoulder sash, then crouched at the ready, he gripped his stave. With a flick of his wrists it clicked open and each end telescoped out to full length.

"Who goes?" Shai called harshly as he jumped past the end of the wall and saw her - the heathen.

 

[scarlettnuit]

She had been sent because it was her duty to her tribe. She had been sent because the quest would prove her worthy to lead. She wondered if she had really been sent because she didn’t want to take any of it seriously. Having destiny should have made her sure of her path. The repetitions of others should have created a false truth that lived deep within her. Yet, here she stood, covered in dirt and soot, feeling that someone else would have been better for the task, someone wiser, someone stronger.

However it was her task and she would complete it. After having crawled her way through dirty caverns and tiny passages, she stood on an out cropping of rock, looking at the Koshan man below her. She instantly reached for her bow and notched an arrow at his head. This tribe had been the cause of many misfortunes for her own, and to find them here, so close to the prize, raised her ire to say the least.

Being a tribe of honor, Nera jumped down into the light of the torch, as they felt every enemy should know who sent them to the afterlife, Nera wanted this Koshan to know who killed him.

“I am Nera, daughter of the Djenabe tribe of river chief. It is I who will take your life should you speak untrue,” she informed him as she looked briefly at his rune, her own buried her bag, the same emerald color of her eyes, “What business does a Koshan have in this cave?” she asked.

 

[PieTaster]

"I am Nera, daughter of the Djenabe Tribe of River Chief. It is I who will take your life should you no speak true. What business does a Koshan have in this cave?"

She had dropped from her perch, garments flowing, to alight upon the stone floor and spring into ready stance at the edge of the aura of his dim torchlight. She'd been lurking in shadows, waiting for some time, premeditating such entrapment. He could expect nothing less of a Djenabe, to deploy the skills of a hunter against innocent men.

"What business is none of yours," he offered. "So what then happens that I speak true?" It was then that he saw the other side of the wall, in dull heavy shadow its identical gem mount stood empty. She had it.

"You could have had both," he smirked, "Instead what lust drew you away but the opportunity to murder? You would pass up the secret to paradaise just to slaughter one more. "Such is the difference between our tribes." He gripped his staff. "I could kill you just as easily, but only to quash your threat."

A rumble grew and quickly the echoes of its thunder enveloped the air around them. The ground wobbled beneath his feet and Shai wavered to hold his balance as his eyes scanned the jeweled dome above, finally coming to rest on the heathen who was similarly bracing her stance. Dust fell around them and clouded his vision and causing him to wince. It was another aftershock. With a loud crack, the wall dividing the room quivered and waved. He felt the stone beneath his feet begin to stabilize, but as the rumbling began to subside a stronger pulse hit. Shai could only watch helplessly as the prophetic wall snapped in half horizontally and fell upon itself. Instinctively, he leapt aside as the stone slammed to the floor with a colossal crash. He waved the dust from his face but could see nothing but the faltering glow of his torch in the cloud. The rumble eventually subsided and he waited in the silence, listening for her, the deadly bitch somewhere in the dark, certain that her wretched cunning would be doing the same or worse.

Her cloaks coated in the settling dust, she looked like another fallen rock in the dark but he still spotted her. Carefully, he placed his torch down and bounded out of its range as to not be an easy target. Shai took a moment to survey the damage. The quake had destroyed the wall and the runes inscribed upon it, the cloud of dust beginning to coat the random rocks and pebbles that it had become. Clicks and clacks of randomly pelting pebbles taunted him in the dark as he crouched over the ruins - a tragic loss of wisdom!

He was behind her now, perfectly hidden in the blackness. It was a shame to even give away his position by sound.

"What did the runes say?" he asked coldly. "Tell me and you shall live."

 

[scarlettnuit]

She listened to him speak and sighed a little, “Had you been in the position of power, you would have done the same thing. Your tribes has killed us in the hundreds, why should I trust you, “ she gritted between her teeth.

Before she could interrogate the Koshan further, there was as rumble. She kept her arrow aimed at him as long as she could, but soon she had to put both down to scurry to the safety of an outcropping of rock. There was more shaking, more dust and rock, and then complete darkness. There was some dwindling light from the Koshan’s torch, but a majority of the room was painted in inky black.

She closed her eyes for a moment to build the room and it’s attributes in her head. When she opened them once more, sure of where her bow but be, and slowly inched towards it in as much silence as she could managed. As she trod closer, her she unwittingly sent a rock tumbling with the movement of her dark blue cloak. Before she could react, Shai was upon her, his blade resting against her throat.

“What did the runes say?” he questioned her.

She had only had the briefest of moments to evaluate the engraving, but she knew well what it said. The other half had been in ancient Koshan, a language she could understand if spoken, but their writing was a complete mystery to her. She too, only knew half of the puzzle.

“It said for the gate to be opened, a Koshan must bow to a Djenabe,” she lied. It had given her a location, but not the key to the portal.

She then elbowed him in the stomach and dropped down, rolling towards her bow and grabbing it gratefully. However, before she could notch another arrow, he was on her and had her pinned to the ground. She lay on her back, her hood thrown back from the force of her landing. It revealed pale skin, auburn hair, and the haunting green eyes that matched the glowing rune on the wall, as well as the one secreted in her bag, though it’s glow at being so near it’s brother rune caused light to leak from her bag.

“Unhand me at once,” she growled defiantly, “or on my soul I will destroy your rune and all will be lost for your pathetic people.”

 

[PieTaster]

"It said for the gate to be opened, a Koshan must bow to a Djenabe."

His laugh spat from lips stretched by sarcasm. He almost admired her sense of humor. From her position beneath him, her further threats were idle. Then the Earth rumbled once more and Shai cursed the timing. He was so close to bringing home the greatest and most prosperous secrets in the history of his people, a hair's width from forging the destiny of a hero for the ages, yet the elements conspired against him. There was a thunderous crash to his left and they way that he had come was a thoroughly unrecognizable pile of rubble. Despite the settling of the falling rock, the rumbling beneath them, under her back, did not cease. There would only be more damage. It was just a small matter of time. He had to escape before he was crushed to death with her. He stood and gruffly lifted her to her feet as well, turning to face the ledge from where she had dropped.

"Show me the way that you came," he demanded. "Get us out of here." Then prodding her to urgency in the back with the butt of his staff he followed. "Move! Before this becomes our burial chamber!"