Dreaming Delver

Dreaming Delver

                "So you're sure we'll be safe?" asked the kid. Her name was Elowyn, and she was twelve years old. The adventuring seer had brought her along as part of a promise (and, secretly, a bet).

                "Yes. Don't worry, kid. We might not get all the way through, but nothing's going to kill us. My dreams'll keep us safe," he replied.

                The kid nodded, believing what the seer said. She had no reason to doubt him - the adventuring seer Rommel was well known for his daring dives into trap-filled ruins guided by his dreams, including many far more dangerous than the one they stood outside.

                The lands in which Rommel travelled, and Elowyn lived, were filled with such ruins. It was the legacy of a strange people who had come to the world long ago. Rather than simply leave, or take their magic and knowledge with them, they hid it away. Behind countless deadly traps; and such that running the gauntlet was one's best hope of retrieving what they had left.

                The treasure within, and the trap laden ruins, were plain to see. But whether they were tests to ensure worthy recipients, or merely some kind of joke or amusement, was argued endlessly. This was perhaps because for most the ruins were incredibly deadly. Scarcely any had been successfully navigated, despite generations of careful explorers working from the notes and experiences of the handful who made it in and out (but not the entire way).

                Rommel believed that they were intended to ensure the worthiness of the recipient, but his power had allowed him to be the most successful 'ruin explorer' in history. Twelve of the countless ruins had been completed by him, and he was the only living ruin explorer who had actually completed any. As such, his opinion was completely biased.

                Rommel finished gearing up, and turned to the kid. "Ready?" he asked, cockily.

                "Yes," replied Elowyn. Compared to the seer, who was laden with all sorts of exploring gear (rope, a pole, some rocks, lights, lockpicks, and so many other things) she seemed only ready to head outside for a picnic. Even her clothes were nothing more than ordinary day-to-day garb for the people of the region.

                "Alright. Stay behind me, and do exactly what I say, and you'll be fine. Mess up, and you'll be dead, so don't do that," said Rommel.

                Elowyn blanched a little, but steeled herself with childish enthusiasm and smiled. "Okay!" she said.

                Rommel walked through the entrance (a small, simple door marked with the same symbol as the many others) with Elowyn right behind him. She kept close all the way down. Like the other ruins, this one first descended far beneath the earth - it was thought to be a defence against enterprising diggers. There was at least one other major countermeasure, each ruin broken into had destroyed its prize almost immediately.

                Excitement let the fifteen minute walk feel like mere moments to Elowyn. At the bottom the passageway opened up into a massive room, lit by great orange lights. A large part of the central floor was covered in strange line patterns, and bones of shattered skeletons littered the entire room.

                "Wow," said Elowyn, awed.

                "I'm going to need to carry you through this one," Rommel said, "Up!"

                With a happy grin Elowyn hopped up onto Rommel's shoulders. "What's in this room, Rommel?" she asked.

                "It's a blade trap - the patterns on the floor are where the blades sweep along the ground. You can tell the order by looking at which mark lies over which - the floor repairs itself between sets so the marks are true," replied Rommel.

                "Cool," said Elowyn.

                A few careful steps took the pair right to the edge of the floor. "Hold on tight, Ello," said Rommel, "Here we go!"

                Rommel leapt out onto the floor; a blade slicing down right behind him as he went. As his feet touched down blades began to fall down from the ceiling, swinging towards the ground from all directions. How the machinery managed such directions was a mystery Rommel dearly wanted to solve (his calculations had shown that it was not possible without at least some magic).

                But there was no time to dawdle. Feet slamming into the newly smoothed floor, Rommel turned to his left and ran all the way to the chamber's wall. Without a pause he circled around, zig-zagging through the blades, some falling down right behind or before him.

                Most of the way across the floor, he turned and stopped. "What?" asked Elowyn, worried by the sudden stop.

                "We need to wait until the end of the cycle," replied Rommel. Elowyn could see he was right (or so she thought) - before them the blades fell almost constantly. But a few moments later the way ahead cleared, and the floor was whole once more.

                "Now!" yelled Elowyn. At her command, Rommel charged forwards, rushing along the gap. As they neared the far side of the trap he leapt - and almost lost his nose to a blade that swooshed down in front just before he landed, causing Elowyn to shriek.

                A little off balance, Rommel stumbled and toppled. Elowyn jumped off as he fell over, and said, "That was a little close!"

                "Phew! Yeah, but that was the way it had to be. You couldn't see it, but there was a blade right behind us as well," said Rommel, "And that's the only way through."

                "That was... So risky!" said Elowyn, still upset.

                "Don't worry, kid, that's the most athletic of the traps," said Rommel, "The next one's easy once you know what you're doing. And I, of course, do." He grinned, hoping to reassure her.

                "Okay," said Elowyn with a frown. "You better not be lying!"

                Rommel smiled broadly. "Would I lie?" he asked.

                "I guess not," replied Elowyn. Rommel rustled her hair, and they went through the doorway to the next chamber.

                The second trial was more complex than the first. A glass wall sat a few metres in, looking down to another chamber that was half-filled with a strange blue mist. Steps led down to the room, blue mist swirling around the lower steps. At the top of the stairs sat four jugs, labelled in the unknown language of those who had built the ruins.

                "What do we do here?" asked Elowyn, wide-eyed at the strangeness of the room.

                "This is a test of knowledge," responded Rommel, "You need to choose the correct jugs to proceed. As I know which, this is easy."

                Rommel walked up to one of the jugs, and tipped its contents - some kind of green mist - out onto the stairwell. It seeped down into the blue mist, which changed colour to a light cyan.

                "Can I do one?" asked Elowyn, walking up to him.

                "Sure - we only need to do one more. It's that one over there," said Rommel, pointing.

                Elowyn made her way over to the jug Rommel had indicated, and tipped it over. Purple mist spilled out, quickly flowing down the steps and into the cyan mist below. As Rommel and Elowyn watched, the mist softened to white.

                "And now we may pass through. Hold my hand, it's a little above your head height," said Rommel.

                After Elowyn had grasped his outstretched hand they began making their way down the stairs. Rommel talked as they walked, "This room went poorly in my dreams - it took two tries. Oh, but for a scholar who could understand their language!"

                "So you have two left?" asked Elowyn. Despite it obscuring her vision, she couldn't feel the mist around her.

                "I dream five dreams on the night before we begin, kid. But yes, I figured out this much through my experiences in the first three," replied Rommel.

                "O-kay," said Elowyn, wrapping her mind around the complexities of seeing the future as best she could at twelve.

                They emerged from the fog, having walked up identical stairs at the far end of the lower chamber. "This next one's a more complex puzzle - and it's lucky you're with me, because we need two people," said Rommel, letting go of Elowyn's hand.

                "Awesome!" said Elowyn, as they headed into the next room.

                The third chamber was filled with a series of switches, pressure plates, blocks, and bright beams of light reflected by mirrors. Elowyn recognised the style immediately.

                "It's a puzzle room," she said, her voice mixing awe and excitement. Puzzles based on the puzzle rooms of the few completed ruins (and, in two cases, reactivated - though trapless - puzzle rooms) were popular amusements, especially for children.

                "Yes it is. Don't touch anything - I know it's almost instinctive to start fiddling, but many of the wrong steps you can make here will kill you. Listen to what I say, and do it exactly, or we'll both die - regardless of what my dreams have revealed," said Rommel, placing a hand on Elowyn's shoulder to stop her rushing out.

                Though she was crestfallen, Elowyn understood the danger. "Alright," she said.

                It kind of saddened Elowyn to leave so many options unexplored, so many things forever unknown. Most of the puzzles had small rewards for the curious, even those in the ruins themselves, but Rommel couldn't take the risk. Nor would he waste time finding them, rather than going for the greater prize.

                Following Rommels instructions to the letter, Elowyn helped him solve the room. They moved boxes, turned mirrors, stood on platforms, and more; each step accomplishing a goal garnered from the complex riddle drawings revealed by the prior step. Elowyn had fun despite the straightforwardness in simply acting out the solution, rather than solving it herself. She'd never had the opportunity to be in such a room before, and it left her somewhat dazzled.

                What made her happiest is that it didn't feel like it took only moments - the memories were fresh, long, and happy. This was exactly the sort of thing she'd hoped to accomplish in Rommel's company!

                After the final puzzle was solved, and the door to the next room opened before them, Rommel asked Elowyn if she'd had fun.

                "Oh yes," said Elowyn, beaming. "That was the best!"

                Rommel smiled, and said, "I enjoy them too, although more so in my dreams when I actually solve them."

                "It must be boring, doing it multiple times," said Elowyn, as they made their way into the fourth chamber.

                "They're still fun to solve, I'm sure you've found as much with your toys."

                "Yeah!"

                The fourth chamber was slightly larger than the previous, and filled with statues. They seemed to be important women and men; rooms much like it in other ruins had been assumed to contain mythological or historical figures from the ruin builders culture. Beneath each statue were four slots, with simple shapes marked below them. More complex writing - labels, perhaps - was also on the bases of each statue. Strangely, the doorway to the next chamber was open wide.

                "This room is a test of knowledge, and trust," said Rommel, "I believe so, anyway. I am to place my hand into one of the holes beneath each statue and press a button; pressing the right buttons in the right order will remove the hidden trap on the far door."

                "So that's why it's just open," said Elowyn. She'd wondered why they didn't just head through.

                "Yes. Remain here while I press the correct buttons - I'm unsure if there are traps off the path I'm about to walk," said Rommel, very seriously.

                After Elowyn nodded her understanding, he began his work. Second statue on the left - middle hole. Third statue on the right - second hole from the left. End statue on the left - middle hole. Second statue on the right - first hole from the left. Fourth stat-

                Just as Rommel reached the fourth statue, a great rumbling started echoing throughout the room. With a deafening slam great stone doors sealed both the entrance and exit.

                "What's happening?" screamed Elowyn.

                "Shit," said Rommel, quickly jamming his hand into the the far right hole of the statue he had been heading to.

                "It's stuck! And-" Rommel continued, trying to tug his hand from the hole, "And I can't get my damn hand off it!"

                The rumbling continued, and suddenly water - no, acid - started streaming into the room. Rommel looked at it with grim resignation on his face, as Elowyn rushed up to him and started hitting.

                "You said we'd be fine!" she yelled, clambering up the statue to avoid the quickly pooling acid, "But we're going to die in here now! How could your dreams miss something like this?"

                Rommel groaned as the acid flowed around his shoes, quickly seeping in even as it dissolved them. "Kid," he grunted out, somehow managing to speak despite the pain, "I said we might not make it through but we'd be fine because of my dreams. And I said that - argh!"

                "Why?" screamed Elowyn, clinging to the statue in terror, "Why did you say that?!"

                Rommel steeled himself with titan-like effort and managed to say, "I said that because this is the fifth dream!"