01
Wisdan crept through the tunnel alone. With he around, murk awaited with its dark gaze as a quiet lioness waiting for her prey, but it was shrunk back reluctantly by a swaying fire of a torch in Wisdan's hand. I must hurry up. The light is burning down, and the darkness couldn't always await. Wisdan thought. Each step of him must keep on an eye that any slip would leave a new fresh dead. Wisdan had seen the corpses on the way, their withered bodies twisted in horrible posture, not a few pieced apart, he was no mood to join the antique buddies at all, so, I must watch up.
This tomb was ancient, any stone here much older than anyone else Wisdan had thieved, but this didn't matter him, especially for a seasoned thief. He went forward step by step in the narrow tunnel, and the only companies were echoes of his moving. Six hundred and ninety-eight, six hundred and ninety-nine, he read the count of steps in mind and stopped moving at seven hundredths. I get the end. Wisdan looked up and saw nothing but a stone wall ahead. Under the dimming light, he was able to see there was empty on the wall. Come on. There must be something. Wisdan spied around as the torch up for driving the darkness away. He found a groove. He scanned again. This time brought him nothing new but several long, dark, wriggling shadows. Finally, he touched the groove and wiped off the thick dust bit by bit with the gloved hand, revealing a round symbol, that's it, I get the hand. At the centre of the symbol, a figure of unfolding hand still, and a straight line went ahead form the palm's top. Seven hundred feet to worship the palm, and the eye shall open the door, where is a way to the seasons' womb. They were all right as the priest's talk, Wisdan touched them in exulting. Eventually, this symbol would lead him to the untouched treasures which had lost long.
Wisdan flicked against the edge of the hand, the size is right. He fetched a deep breath, fumbling into his package and took out a slab. It was slick and black, carving with a badge of an eye. The Eye of All-Vision, an old relic of Dawn Order, a small and waned cult. He was told an ancient power upon this stone when he got this slab. It seemed an ordinary rock, though. "It's a keystone, you know?" Wisdan could remember the words, "For open the Tomb of Seasons, where locked a terrible demon by our god." He was told so by a priest, a head of a cult who was not able to afford a drink, what a miserable guy. Wisdan hoped he said the truth, at least the part of the keystone. A locked demon? He'd never believe such nonsense. Yes, demons, wights, wraiths, walking dead, he had heard enough, all of them lies for evading thieves, at least Wisdan had never met one. Anyhow, I shall see what would carry on. Wisdan put the slab close on the hand, waiting for something happened. If there was something wrong, would I be a dead man in no time? Weirdly, this thought across his head when he heard a rustle ahead. Then the wall lifted as a door.
That works, with a long exhaling, Wisdan taking a glance to the depth beyond the door, then, he frowned. Accompanied by the silent dark, the tunnel went much broader and higher into a large square. If this place were so important to the cult, there should be a room for storing treasures, at least for religious items. The sacred shrines, gold statues, holy relics, and anything else. Anyway, there was merely a simple stone room, no shrines and statues, only a lot of corpses lay in the shadows.
A doubt arose. Are there truly treasures? Wisdan recalled when he met with the priest. That guy attempted to deter he into this tomb vainly. There must be something important, that usually meant wealth as well. If this were a riddle, I would get it. Wisdan thought, he went into the room, soon he found several braziers at the corners. He kindled one with his torch.
The light removed the long last murk leaving a few feeble shadows. Now Wisdan was able to notice the difference of? The deads. They were not thieves. The remains seemed priests of Dawn Oder itself, although their clothes had shattered in pieces, the attire not much different to that poor guy Wisdan had met up. And he was able to see rusted shackles at the remains' wrists and ankles, all of them in much pain posture and left a trace of hard struggling. Are they prisoners? Wisdan shook his head, or perhaps there is some treason, that should make sense. His eyes spied around and found a mural on a smooth wall. It was a figure of a massive wheel with four rounds at its top and below and left and right. Each round with an ancient glyph. The Wheel of Seasons... Wisdan had seen this badge ever. "Each round means one of the seasons." He remembered the same badge in a statue's hand at the ragged temple. "The Lord of Dawn, the god who created the sun, and lord of cosmos." the poor priest told Wisdan so, the statue was fade and mottled and cracked, though. "Lord of Dawn turns on the wheel, circling the seasons well, you know?" Wisdan was told while the priest flushed with a mug of ale. There is something more. Wisdan noticed, he saw a slot in the centre of the mural, and its size is right as well.
Wisdan grinned, he took out the slab again, putting it into the slot.
Bang... Bang... Bang... The entire room quivered with hard rattles, the mural wall lifted, revealing winging stairs behind. Wisdan nodded, taking a glance at a tiny sandglass hanging on his belt. This little thing had an attached shot at below, and its sands nearly went down. The morning is on the way. Wisdan thought. This way should lead me to the hidden treasures. But whatever it was, he must hurry up. Wisdan whistled, going up with the stairs.
Through the end of the stairs, Wisdan accessed a tremendous place. The murk mustered and gazed down at him as a hushed giant staring a baby. His torch high for searching in the darkness. He found something, a large bronze brazier. With the torch's spark leapt on the driest woods, an intense fire ascending as a flame serpent into an enormous fire sphere over high. It hovered, whirled, as a small sun wiping away all darkness in no time. There was a huge round hall with an enormous dome. Four thick and sturdy pillars at four corners, they seemed like bronze as well. A massive bronze ring linked all of them surrounding the flame sphere as a centre. Each one had a pool beneath. The pools were empty but one, a bronze hand stretched from the ring over a pillar, hanging something in the pool with thick chains. The Wheel of Seasons.... This place, this very place as a living Wheel of Seasons at all. Even for an experienced thief, Wisdan had never seen such a situation. A hovered flame ball? Come on. He would snort so nonsense before, but now? He was not certain.
This place was quite empty. No corpses. Probably no one touched here for thousands of years. Wisdan noticed even not any dust on the ground. By the way, no clues of treatures as well. Wisdan spied over the entire hall, the doubt returned. It doesn't make sense, something hid must be here. The Dawn Order was a powerful cult many many years ago, Wisdan had read it. His eyes glanced across the pools, they seemed to use for storing something, and something must be under the one with chains. That's it, that must be the treasures. Wisdan nodded, attempting to approach it.
Clang... Clang... Clang... Before he acted, he heard the clatter and felt the very place was quivering slightly, like an old but faultless machine. He saw the chains moved and a giant thing ascended leaving a long and twisted shadow. A metal cage. It's amazing... Wisdan never thought this very place was still working even though it had past thousands of years. The Lord of Dawn turns on the Wheel, huh? The priest was right, seems his antique mates built such a wheel. He peered at his sandglass for it was just the time of dawn break.
There was something in the cage, not small, with several chains hanging up. Wisdan's eyes narrowed, yet it didn't seem like treasures at all. In the distance, that figure slender and slim, it looked like a.... woman.
"Lord of Seven..." Wisdan's breath halted, the woman in the cage didn't seem a corpse, at least a corpse couldn't be so fresh enough, her skin seemed smooth and even unblemished. She wore nothing and pieces of cloth strewed around. The woman knelt in the cage. Her torso bowed and draped her legs, and her head lowered nearly close the bottom of the cage, Wisdan couldn't see her face that had been veiled by her long black hair. Her arms were bent behind her back, hanging up by chains. Wisdan could see two pairs of shackles locked her wrists and pushed her elbows together with chains from the ceiling of the cage. When Wisdan approached, he noticed the same shackles and chains locked her ankles as well. The priest's words came to him, "That's a sacred place, the Tomb of Seasons, I mean." He said in a nervous voice. "It was a prison for an ancient demon." For a moment, Wisdan assumed himself out of the reality. He had never believed hoary tales of ghosts, demons, undead, but this time had far beyond he expected. Is she the demon? He wasn't able to know.
With a clank of the chains, the woman was moving slightly. This occasion gave Wisdan a real shock. By the name of Seven, Wisdan couldn't imagine who or anyone else alive in buried tomb thousands of years. In his dismay, the woman's head up to him. It was not a demon's face, Wisdan had never known what was a demon's face, though. A young woman's face showed up in his sight, and even too young, seemed eighteen at most. She looked like entirely a human rather than a demon, her face pale and wan, haggard with pain. Her eyes blue and grey and bright, staring at Wisdan a long while, seemed to have had a long waiting, then she spoke.
"You are here, at last" her bloodless lips moved in a thin and feeble voice, "every morning we have expected this moment, we even lost the count."
Wisdan dumbstruck. Suddenly his head filled with only the priest's words. "Promise me," That fat guy warned him in a serious voice, "you won't open the tomb with this stone anymore, and not to unleash the demon! You must promise me! " Wisdan could read an apparent fear on the priest's face. "If you do that, you will doom us all, and the entire world." Wisdan felt a chill at his spine, he tried to clear throat, "What are you?" He asked.
The women in the cage didn't answer directly, she studied Wisdan, seemed to read something, "You are a thief, do you?" Her voice fatigued, "you are here for seeking treasures, a tough way you must have. Unfortunately, there are no treasures, at least no sort as you expected." She fetched a gasp, went on. "Yet we will give you one, someone you will reward, that might be the greatest one in the world, or might not."
Wisdan gazed the women's eyes, the hoary tales all returned. He remembered in one story, demons fond honey tongues for taking over victims' souls. And this woman's words sounded like a trap at all.
"What reward?" Wisdan narrowed his eyes.
"You doubt it's a lie, do you?" She gave Wisdan a feeble smile. "we don't ask you to unleash me, and you can't do that as if you have the intention. " She took a glance over Wisdan. "This place is old and very powerful, " her voice as a whisper, "mortal can't free us, at least can't at here." She turned her eyes on Wisdan again. "The amulet, under our collar. It's the only one we can grant you." Yes, Wisdan noticed a golden collar locked her slender neck and a glowing amulet draped over her chest. That was a real treasure. Wisdan's eyes nearly possessed by it. But Is this a trap? Wisdan thought the stories.
"You must come close to take it. We can't give you with our own hands." The women's voice went on, "We are but in chains, the chains are mighty and suppress my powers all, we can't hurt you anymore, and we'd never hurt you, you shall see. " Oddly, Wisdan heard a bitter in her words. She is in chains, and the chains seemed sturdy enough, he paused a while, come on, anyhow a locked girl couldn't beat you, man. And you couldn't go home with empty hands. Eventually, the greedy brought he a boldness, "If there is any trick, I will see." He approached the cage, snatching out the amulet with his hand swiftly.
The amulet was gold, with a gold pendant as well. Wisdan saw an eye carved on its centre. Another badge of Eye of All-Vision? Indeed, it might be valuable jewellery, but the greatest one in the world? That was too exaggerate. "What's this?" Wisdan asked.
"Your destiny." A long while the woman answered, in a hushed voice. Suddenly, Wisdan noticed the glowing light much stronger. Its gold light seemed solid with long and living threads, and the light threads were wrapping up him from his head to heel. "What's this? What are you doing to me?" In fear, Wisdan yelled, managing to throw off the amulet away, but this attempt didn't work. Countless light threads tangling him quickly as a seasoned spider wrapped a prey.
"We'd never hurt you, we told you so. Each word we told you is true. " Wisdan heard her voice, sounded very tired. "You must take your destiny on your own, and even that is far beyond hard. May the god leads your way if there is truly a god. " The women's voice with great sadness for Wisdan had been swallowed by the light.
Before he lost his consciousness, Wisdan heard her lost words. "When the time comes, you MUST do your own decision, and remember only the chains can evade the doom."
"Then, we might be free."
