Young Writers Society

Dusk vibrating, all of their arrows leaving Vendetta’s quill and swirling around it. “Orchid, go forth. Light the way.”

One of the brighter arrows shot through the doors, illuminating the once darkened entrance with a bright purple light.

“Wait, do all of your arrows have different abilities?”

Dusk hummed. “Yep!”

"Hey Dawn, do you have magic powers too?" Valeri asked.

"Hm... I suppose my blade could light the way as well. There's also something about the gem in my hilt, but I apologize, I can't quite remember. Something to do with flame, perhaps?"

"Cool!" Carter said. "Can you become a flaming sword?"

"Maybe?"

Guy grunted impatiently, and José said, "Alright, who's going first?"

Dusk vibrated. “I’ll go. I don’t like being too far away from my arrows.”

“I’ll go with you then, since we’re bonded.” Vendetta took a deep breath and entered the temple.

The floor was made with uneven limestone tiles, and the walls were covered incomprehensible carvings that had faded with time. Orchid’s light casted long, sharp shadows that almost seemed like they were about to spring to life.

Valeri nodded at Dawn, and they entered the temple as well. She glanced behind her and saw Carter guiding Otto as he walked backwards into the temple. José, Wormy, and Guy followed.

"Annd there's the token dead guy." Valeri grimaced at the sight of a skeleton laying to the side, dagger in hand. "I wonder if all creepy temples order their skeletons from the same supplier?"

Their joke fell flat, and Valeri swallowed nervously. Was it just them, or did the carvings seem to change positions when no one was looking?

Orchid steadily moved forward, consistently staying just ahead of the group.

Vendetta looked around, Deimos and Phobos erect and ready to strike. “Is it just me or is almost too quiet in here?”

Their voice echoed throughout the temple. José whimpered.

"Yeah..." Valeri whispered. "It's like this temple is holding its breath for something..."

Suddenly they felt a draft of cool air, and the passageway opened out into a large room. The stone floor was missing chunks in places, and vines covered the walls. At the far end of the room was an altar and a closed set of double doors.

Valeri stopped at the entrance. "I have a bad feeling about this."

“Uh, Dusk? Do you feel anything strange, magical, or deadly here?” Vendetta looked around, careful not to cross the threshold.

Wormy took a step back, pulling José away from the entrance.

Dusk vibrated. “I can’t tell. There’s a slight magical air, but I can’t determine the source.”

“Alright. Only to be sure.” Vendetta picked up a stray stone and tossed it into the temple.

The stone hit the ground with a thud and rolled a bit. Some of the vines on the walls shuddered, but soon they stopped and there was nothing except the quiet settling of stone.

After waiting another few seconds, Valeri said, "Dawn, maybe you could check it out? Just in case there's a height sensor or something?"

Dawn glowed slightly brighter and floated forward. It crossed the room uneventfully, but as they were heading back towards the group, they paused. "Did you notice these statues in the walls?" Their light illuminated a row of stone soldiers on the right wall.

Vendetta shuddered. “Are we going to have to fight them, Harry Potter style?”

José scoffed. “Harry Potter is so inaccurate. Don’t listen to anything those books say.”

“But does that take away the fact that we might have to sword fight against literal rock statues?”

Dusk huffed.

“Sorry. And bow fight.”

Dawn floated closer to the statues. "They're all covered in vines... it looks like they haven't moved in a while. Maybe... maybe they're just for decoration?"

Just as Dawn finished their sentence, there was a loud cracking sound, and everyone froze. The statue right in front of Dawn creaked again, and with a sound like a mini landslide, its head tilted forwards out of the wall. Vines ripped and a couple of pebbles skittered to the floor.

Dawn flew out of the way as the statue opened its mouth...

“Hail, adventurers who have dared to enter this temple! You have foolishly stepped into the chamber of choice.”

The rest of the statues came to life, wrestling their way out of their vines and causing a general mess. There were nine in total, all creaking and groaning.

“To leave this place, you must choose one of us. Four of us are friendly, four of us are foes, and one of us knows the way out and the way home. Choose wisely adventurers.”

Vendetta groaned. “Fighting monsters I can do. Making decisions? You might as well eat me now.”

"Do we get any clues, at least?" Valeri asked.

"Clues, the adventurer asks?"

"Ha, there be clues all around..."

"...if ye can solve a few tasks..."

"...and avoid the holey ground."

"Hmm... holey as in full of holes, or holy as in sacred...?" José mused. The statues crossed their arms and settled into waiting positions. "And what could the first task be?"

Suddenly, there was a flash of white light, and a glowing skeleton key appeared five feet above the adventurers' heads. "Oh. Well, that was flashy."

Guy grumbled against the tape, straining against his duct tape bonds.

Dawn shot into the air. “I got it!” They smacked the key out of the air, Vendetta barely catching it before it shattered on the ground. “Okay! What are we supposed to unlock with this?”

The statues didn’t respond.

Vendetta flashed a thumbs up. “Good talk!”

"Very helpful, stone statues," Valeri grumbled. "Well, I suppose there's that weird altar on the other side of the room... Should we check it out?"

"What about the floor?" Carter asked.

"As long as we avoid the holes, it should be fine, right?" Valeri peeked into one of the holes and gulped. "Oh. I can't see the bottom of this hole..."

“Oh, great. Bottomless pits. Thank you so much, Guy.” Vendetta sighed, carefully stepping over the holes.

Dusk and Dawn made it to the altar first since they got to avoid all of the holes by just dramatically floating over them.

“Woah!” Dawn hovered closer to the altar. “I think I’ve seen an altar like this before.”