If I Had a Heart

Elias glanced down at his own wrist. He wasn't particularly enthused at the prospect of placing a human heart up in that cavity, but if it was what it took to get out of here then a sacrifice would have to be made.

He studied the two items in his hands, then held the satchel up. It looked as if it could hold whatever would fit into the statue's cavity.
"I would certainly prefer we find a heart rather than give a heart," he mused. "Do you suppose this satchel has anything to do with it?"

"We could put the heart inside it," Aumrauth mused. "Maybe we can start with the scorpion heart, and if that doesn't work, consider other options."

Did he think putting a heart in the hole would get them out of there? Not necessarily. But was he curious to see what would happen when they did? Absolutely.

Eira looking down at her wrist. Amurath was right. Reluctantly, she had to admit that - to herself, anyway. They were here for a reason. Summoned, kidnapped, in some way stolen from their homes and marked like lambs to the slaughter in some room of ritual. What the markings were for, what the colors meant, and who had summoned them were all questions that swam dizzying circles around her already disoriented mind.

She shook her head, slowly drawing in a deep breath.

She exhaled.

You have to think clearly.

"We should leave this place," she said, "The rest of the chests will bring us more trouble than help, I think, and I don't think we can risk that. We have to explore. See if we can find who, or what, brought us here. The ritual we were brought here for..." she couldn't quite look at the statue, "I don't think we should be speculating about how to complete it. Whatever it is is probably really, really bad." Her fingers anxiously tugged at the band, the light around it shivering and waving with her nerves.

Mel had no idea what the symbols meant on the items, but it seemed important. Maybe it was a future clue of some sort.

"I don't know if we should put the scorpion heart in the statue. I mean, imagine putting a pig heart in a human. It just doesn't work," she said, then looked back at the statue and studied its strange features. "I think... if we had to put a heart in there, it would have to be from the same creature." She looked back at the chests, then at the tunnels. "And something tells me the the creature isn't in one of those chests."

Raptor immediately - and almost defensively - put his hand over his chest when Aumrauth suggested they put one of their own hearts in the statue's cavity. Was he the only one who was concerned about how quickly Aumrauth had jumped to the idea of human sacrifice? Or was everyone else making a mental list of who they wanted to sacrifice the most?

And how high was he on that list?

He wisely took a step back from the group.

"I also think we should leave," Raptor said, "but I've been suggesting that we do since before we opened the chests."

"I agree," Elias said. "No sense in staying here when there's nothing else to be had." He glanced back up at the creature, wrinkling his nose. "This appears to be a monument, probably of a godly nature. I doubt there's anything like this lurking about down here--we would have heard it. But I've been wrong before."

Ainsley watched as the group continued their discussion. It looked like there were two options here: escape or find the heart. Logically, the boy knew that he should focus on getting out of there, but something in the back of his mind told him that finding the statue's heart was important. There was a good chance it wasn't, but he couldn't make himself give up on it.

"We should look for the heart," he interjected, tugging at the red string on his wrist. "Whoever brought us here did it for a reason, and I'm thinking that statue has something to do with it."

Raptor shook his head.

"We should leave," he said. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, trying to hide how much his hands were shaking by tucking them into the folds of his arms as fists. "For all we know, the statue's missing heart is just a stylistic choice. This place is dangerous. The best thing we can do is leave it - and I don't have any interest in searching for a heart."

He didn't add that he didn't have any interest is someone's being sacrificed if the heart couldn't be found. Aumrauth had seemed fond of the idea earlier, and something told him that the immortal man seriously meant what he said.

"Oh poo." Aumrauth sighed and rolled his eyes. "You guys are no fun. But it sounds like either way, we're all going to be wandering around these tunnels at some point - just with different objectives - so let's not go running off by ourselves just yet." He smiled a sour, bitter smile.

If he had his magic right now, he wouldn't need any of them.

"Uh, you-" he pointed to the girl, Mel, and Ainsley. "You two. You're interested in finding the heart, yes?"

Ainsley nodded, trying to exert more confidence than he was actually feeling. "I think it's our best bet if we want to get out of here alive." He nodded again, almost to assure himself more than the others. "As I said, we're here for a reason. I'm betting that heart has something to do with it."

Mel shifted her weight, feeling pretty smug that Aumrauth—the same person who chugged two bottles of wine, killed a scorpion in one swipe of the knife, and casually asked whose heart they'd have to sacrifice—asked her if she'd like to join him to find the heart. Okay, he didn't actually ask, but it was close enough to an invitation. He seemed like an... interesting person to be around, assuming that he wouldn't turn on her last minute and rip out her heart as a sacrifice.

"I agree with bloody guy here," she said, nodding. It was pretty bizarre that he would choose to join a quest after almost dying, but that makes him all the more fun. "The cave didn't bring us all here just so we can leave. Finding the heart seems like the next clue out of here."

"Do you hear yourselves?" Eira said in disbelief, "The cave didn't bring us here for anything good. It obviously has some pretty damn sinisted intentions. It just tried to kill us." She threw up her hands, "But whatever. You do what you want. I'm getting out of here."

"I'm inclined to agree with Aumrauth," Elias said tentatively. "I'm not sure there's a way to get put of here without finding that thing's heart, and frankly I have things to do and a life to live. I'm not staying here any longer than I must."

"Right. Go on, go find the heart with the guy who thinks human sacrifice is a good alternative if you can't find one lying around." She rolled her eyes and turned away. "I'm done with this. Who here is coming with me, looking directly for the exit?"

Nikolai still couldn’t remember anything before getting here. He didn’t know why that had happened, but it was entirely possible that escaping this place would get his memories back... Maybe. It was really more of a wild guess that he wanted to hope in.

“Are we splitting up... indefinitely?” he asked hesitantly. “Or... If I go with anyone who wants to find a way out, should we come back here to take you there?”