"Hey guys, have you finished packaging the equipments", Julian Becker shouted at his team.
"Only the ropes are remaining, Captain" replied Elias with blonde hair and sharp face,He wore gold-rimmed spectacles and brown jacket with many pockets in it.
Wearing the black jacket, dark pants, Julian climbed the RV and sat on the driver seat. He opened the cylindrical scroll which is made up of good. It doesn't look old rather it resembled a type of Safe storage. Julian wiped his sweat, combed his black hair neat, revealing the pair of beautiful blue eyes that reflected a short sized building with a name board, Becker Family Ltd.
Julian lost his father followed by his mother in a series of tragedy events when he was still young. Lived with the name of "traitor's son", he moved from his hometown when he graduated in KG College, excellling in Archeology. He studied from an orphanage. Then he did his Bsc.Geology course in a place far from the orphanage where nobody could know of his father.
This is Julian's Company, his family, it's his life, his blood, it's all Becker Family Ltd.
It consisted of 6 members, they have connections with prominent dealers around the globe, usually related to explore the dangerous places. Making map for unexplored places. Selling the historically important things which they took from the sites that they explored. Its basically a team made for adventure.
"Okay guys,now then,all of you take your seats, we are gonna set off"
Elias, Alan, Serena sat on their seats, remaining three..they are not assigned for this job. It's Geoge, the cartographer and Logan who manages all the logistics related things, together they went to buy some equipments for their next mission.Jeff, he is ill and he stayed in his house. Julian sighed, thinking of the other three.
Julian drove the vehicle for miles and miles arriving near a jungle. The jungle is deep, filled with many trees and shrubs. The soil is moist with fallen leaves and branches of the tree.
Somewhere deeper within, the cry of an unseen birds echoes were heard, the sound was sharp and haunting. The air itself felt alive, warm and humid. The scent of the plants and their decay parts filled the jungle.
The four of them,Julian, Alan, Elias, and Serena moved through the thick jungle with slow, careful steps. The map in Julian's hand was already soft from humidity, edges curled like it had been used for a long time in rough manner.
Beside him, Alan held the brass compass, its glass scratched but still clear enough to show the restless needle. It twitched between south-west and west every time the wind shifted, but Alan tapped it lightly with his finger until it steadied.
"Needle's holding between two-seventy and two-eighty," he muttered, he is leaning near Serena so that she could see. "The tomb should be close. Maybe we should walk another kilometer."
Serena nodded, sweeping aside a curtain of vines with her machete. Elias walked at the front as usual, strong yet maintaining his cold and silence,his tough body steadily moved among the big trees of the jungle. He glanced back every few steps, making sure the others kept pace. To him, this wasn't just another mission,he treated them like family walking into unknown territory.
The jungle thickened as they followed the compass's stubborn direction. Birds cried from somewhere deep in the canopy, but the sound faded as they walked forward for an hour
Finally, the map and compass agreed as they reached a stone arch half-swallowed by roots and ferns. The gate to the tomb was a door attached to the ground itself. It was oval-shaped, barely the size of a grown man, built with slabs of dark stone etched with ancient symbols and lines that none of them could understand.
"This is it," Julian announced that they have reached their destination successfully. Now all they need to do is
Elias bent first, brushing away dirt until he found the metal ring. Together, they heaved the slab, lifting it with a heavy groan. A cold air rose from below, carrying the smell of stale water and something far older.
Alan leaned forward and dropped a pebble into the darkness. They waited. After three seconds, there was a soft splash.
"Underground water level," Alan said after putting a small fire piece into the dark hole. "But it sounds deep though."
Serena pulled a glowstick from her pack, cracked it, and dropped it next. The green light drifted down, reflecting faintly off a thin sheet of water spread across the floor far below,only ankle-deep.
"That's manageable," Julian said. "We can go down."
Blub,blub
"It's really water guys, make sure to follow Julian, we are heading towards that left land with blue torch like colour glowing"
...
Julian went first, lowering himself through the narrow opening and dropping with a splash. Serena followed, then Alan, and finally Elias The air inside was colder, and their footsteps echoed strangely as if the walls themselves were listening.
The tunnel opened into a wide cavern illuminated only by their lamps. Stalactites hung like the teeth of some patient beast, and the ground was uneven stone carved by centuries of dripping water. At the far end stood a door, it is like a massive, ancient, and nothing like the small first door they enetered
It looked like a fragment from an old castle buried under the earth. Two towering stone panels rose nearly twenty feet high, engraved with swirling patterns and faded symbols. The metal bracings,iron or something older, they were rusted into deep reds and blacks, yet the door still felt powerful, as if it guarded secrets that had refused to die. A pair of stone creatures, lion-like but with wings folded along their backs, crouched on either side, watching the four intruders with blank, eternal eyes.
Alan exhaled slowly.
"Well… that's definitely not what is like, its differnet from the description on the map"
Julian stepped closer, fingertips brushing the cool stone.
"No," he whispered, heart pounding. "But this is exactly what we came for, it might be the last unknown door we are going to enter"
The heavy stone door groaned as Julian pushed it open. Dust drifted down from the carvings as the echo travelled into the darkness ahead. The four of them stepped inside,Julian leading with a lantern, Alan behind him with the map, Elias carrying the rope and tools, and Serena watching the rear.
The corridor smelled of old stone and damp moss. Thin snakes slipped across the floor, pale and silent, giving the entire place a quiet, eerie feeling.
Julian lowered his voice.
"Everyone stay alert. You step only where I step. No one goes off-pattern."
Alan nodded. "The tomb builders liked pressure plates. If we miss one, we're done."
They moved carefully. The first trap revealed itself when Alan brushed away a hanging vine,something clicked inside the wall and a dart shot out, slicing through a strand of Serena's hair before embedding into the stone pillar.
"Darts!" Julian shouted. "Don't touch anything unless I check it!"
They continued forward. The floor ahead looked slightly raised. Elias tested it by dropping a broken stone on it. Instantly, the tile sank,and a massive boulder dropped out from the ceiling.
"Left wall, now!" Julian yelled.
They pressed flat as the boulder roared past, shaking the hallway. Elias released a sharp breath.
"That was one bad timing."
"Let's make sure it's the last," Julian muttered.
Next, they reached an open chamber with cracked square tiles. They looked normal,old, dusty stone. Alan stepped forward to test the nearest tile. Nothing happened.
He exhaled, took the next step
The floor flickered like smoke.
"Alan! Back!" Julian shouted.
Alan jerked backward, but the tile beneath him vanished entirely,an illusion. The stone dissolved like dust, revealing a dark space beneath him.
Alan dropped with a yell!
Aaaah!
Julian bent forward but,but only caught empty air as Alan fell straight down into the dark space. His scream echoed, then ended abruptly with a hard, distant crash.Serena's eyes filled with tears. Elias clenched his teeth, fists trembling, all of them were shocked
Julian forced his voice steady. "We will keep moving. Alan didn't die for us to stop here."
They stepped only on the tiles Julian marked, reaching the far side.
The next chamber was covered in thick, bark-textured vines hanging from the walls and ceiling. At first they looked lifeless dry, almost dead. Serena brushed one aside.
The vines snapped to life. It had a big plant like mouth with acid secreting out of it. They suddenly started to move. All of them tried to eat the small crew.
It wrapped around her wrist, then several more shot forward, catching her waist and legs. Elias tried grabbing her, but the vines dragged her off her feet toward a massive plant stuck to the left wallwide, round, and full of curved, bone-like thorns forming a hungry mouth.
"Serena!" Elias shouted.
Julian slashed the vines with his knife, but they were unbelievably tough. Serena screamed as one vine tightened around her neck.
"Find the main root!" Julian ordered.But the root wasn't visible, it was buried deep inside the stone wall. The plant pulled Serena once more and pulled her into the thorn like teethed mouth. A sickening crunch echoed through the hall, bones crushed, muscles were torn by the carnivorous plant. It's a big heart break for Julian
"What the.."
The vines loosened and the plant shrank back into the wall, as if satisfied.
Elias fell to his knees, shaking. "She was right there… right there…"
Julian grabbed his shoulder. "We'll get out. For her. Move."
They pressed into the next hall,quiet, wide, strangely clean of vines and dust. At the end stood a massive stone door. Julian pushed it open cautiously.
A low rumble rolled out.
Torches along the wall ignited on their own, lighting a huge chamber. In the center stood a creature eight feet tall, built like a giant man with the head of a bull. Its body was covered in old black armor streaked with gold patterns. The armor looked carved, ancient, and impossible to pierce. The Minotaur held a massive axe with chipped but deadly edges.
Elias whispered, "This thing… it's a guardian."
The Minotaur lifted its head and roared, with steam rising from its nostrils.
Julian raised his knife. "We don't run. Elias, circle left. Serena is gone, Alan is gone we survive for them. Move!"
The Minotaur charged. The ground shook. Elias dodged, but the axe swung faster than expected. The blade ripped through his shoulder.His arm flew off squeezing out red blood from it.Elias screamed and collapsed, clutching the bleeding stump.
"Elias!" Julian shouted.
The Minotaur roared and swung again at Elias's head, but Julian sprinted forward and tackled him out of the way. He rolled, barely avoiding the next blow.
"Get back! Stay down!" Julian yelled.
He jumped, climbed onto the Minotaur's back, and stabbed at its neck. His knife barely scratched the armor.
"Hit its face!" Elias shouted out with all his might.
Julian grabbed the creature's horn and swung himself upward. The Minotaur shook violently, trying to throw him off. Julian drove his knife into its eye. The creature roared so loudly that dust fell from the ceiling.
Half-blind and furious, the Minotaur swung the axe blindly, smashing pillars and cracking tiles. Julian jumped off, rolled toward a fallen stone slab, and grabbed the Minotaur's dropped short axe,though for him, it was the size of a heavy longword.
He braced himself as the Minotaur stood before himself like a wall.
"Come on… drop already…" Julian muttered.
The Minotaur's knee finally buckled. The monster finally fell forward revealing its chest exposed.
Using this chance,Julian charged and buried the axe into its heart. The armor cracked and split, dropping the pieces of armor onto the ground.
A thick cloud of black dust rushed out like a dying breath.The creature collapsed and didn't move again.Julian stood there shaking, gripping the axe with both hands.Elias lay on the ground, pale and drenched in sweat, tears running down his face.
"Alan… Serena…" he whispered, voice breaking. "We're the only ones left…"
Julian knelt beside him and wrapped a band around the bleeding wound.
"We will survive," Julian said quietly. "For them. For the ones we couldn't save."
He looked at the broken axe still embedded in the Minotaur's chest and the ruined chamber around them.
"And for whatever waits behind the next door, no matter what's behind that it can't make it up for the lives of Alan and Serena, and you...you too are going to leave me soon, aren't you,.." Julian said these words with pain that strucked on his throat. His eyes watered and he saw the golden door before him.