Chapter 2. Awe

Mary stood behind the heavy rock and narrowed her eyes down the step, which was shrouded in darkness.

“You must be kidding me,” she grunted.

“Don’t give up now, please,” the voice came again with a whisper behind her.

The voice sounded so close that she couldn’t help but flick around in fear. But there was still no sign of anyone around her.

She turned and focused her gaze on the concrete stairs that ran down through the shadows of darkness. “Why not you come up to me instead of me walking down there?”

Her best guess was that the stairs led to an underground. Even though she was curious about matters of mystery, this right before her was giving her creeps that she didn’t have any courage to take a step closer to the step.

“I can’t. I am stuck. That’s why I need your help.”

“Stuck?” Mary’s eyes widened with disbelief. “How come I can hear you from afar while you are not even here?” Her mind raced with thoughts. She wondered about the possibility of hearing the voice of the person she had not yet seen.

“That’s because you possess a unique amount of power. In simple words, you are special.”

“Come on!” she gnawed. “Why is it that you always have a perfect word to say to make me change my mind?” She knew it was a trick to get her down the step, but she didn’t have the power to resist. After all, she wanted to see to the end and figure out what type of person could whisper to her from afar.

“Please, my dear. There’s no time. The day will soon dawn.”

At these words, Mary couldn’t resist anymore. She couldn’t shirk off this curiosity that had overwhelmed her.

Raising her leg, she threw her first step on the concrete stairs. The moment her feet touched it, flaming torches that ran down the walls came to life, lighting up her path.

“Wow!” she exclaimed. Her cheeks flushed with excitement. “This is magic.” She stared at the flaming torches. Her fear suddenly disappeared. It was as if the flaming torches had lit up her courage along with her path.

She sighed with relief and continued on her way down the stairs. Reaching the feet of the step, she stopped and peered at something. It was a heart scribed on the wall. Next to the heart was a vicious wolf.

Her thoughts went deep, wondering what that could mean. As she was about to draw closer to the scribed drawings on the wall, the whisper came to her again. “There’s no time for sightseeing. Take your left and walk down a bit.”

Without disputing with the voice, she did as she was told. With each step she took to the parts of the place shrouded in darkness, the more flaming torches on the walls came to life, lighting up her path. Walking down a bit, she finally came to a halt in front of a round stone that looked like an ancient tombstone.

“Are you kidding me?” she grumbled. “How am I supposed to move this stone?”

“It’s not as heavy as you think. Roll it away.”

“Seriously?” Mary furrowed her brows. “If it’s that simple, why not you come the hell out and do it yourself?” she blurted out.

“I can’t, I am stuck. You have to stand on the right and push it to the left.”

“Hmmm.”

She moved closer and stood by the right of the stone. Like she was told, she gave a push to the stone. The stone rolled toward the left side and strolled down a bit before crashing to the concrete floor.

She breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s simple.”

“Yes, it is.”

“So, can you now come out?”

“No, I can’t. I am still stuck.”

“What do you mean?” she lashed out in frustration. “I just pushed the stone away.”

“I know you did, but I am still stuck,” he said. “Please, if you don’t mind, step into the opening before you, and please watch your head.”

Mary mumbled in frustration. She was tired already but didn’t feel like stopping her unknown quest without making a finding. The space beyond the opening was also shrouded in darkness.

She proceeded forward. Bending her head a bit, she walked through the opening. The moment the flaming torches came to life, lighting up the scene like magic, it became clear to her that she had just stepped into an underground tomb.

“What?” she gaped with surprise. There was a closed casket before her. The casket was sitting on a table rock. She couldn’t believe her eyes. “Did you bring me here to show me an underground tomb?” she queried with hate in her voice as her eyes widened with fury.

That was the only casket around. It was a dead end. There was an awful smell. It wasn’t just an ordinary smell but the stench of death.

“You have made it this far,” the voice whispered once more. “It’s time for you to complete the task at hand.”

Mary didn’t look happy. Her countenance had changed. Her face was contorted with rage as she clenched her hands. “I am done. I am leaving,” she blurted out.

As she was about to turn to leave, the flaming torches burned with rage, startling her to a stop.

“What do you want from me?!” she yelled. Her fear just came back. She glanced around swiftly and finally focused her gaze on the casket.

“I want you to approach. Open the casket and remove the daemon dagger buried in my chest.”

“What?” She looked shocked. Unable to make sense of what she just heard, she fired volumes of questions. “Are you dead? Are you a ghost? Was I talking to a ghost all this while?”

She looked subdued and stupid for not inquiring about the voice earlier before she ventured into the unknown quest.

“I am neither. Just finish your task.” The whisper this time was a bit harsh.

She noticed the tone but ignored it. Slowly, she drew closer to the casket. “Oh, no. I hate this.” She grunted.

Placing her hand on the casket, she quickly slammed it open, revealing its content to be a desiccated man with a daemon dagger buried in his chest.

Fear pushed her back as she tilted backward on her heels. “Oh, my God!” she cried out. She peered at the desiccated man with fear in her eyes. “Err… What’s…”

Her words were suddenly pushed back to her dry throat. “Don’t let the look deceive you,” a whisper came next to her. “Just pull out the daemon dagger, and you will see how charming I look.”

Fear couldn’t keep her away much longer. She summoned courage and proceeded toward the casket. With both hands, she held the daemon dagger and pulled it out from the desiccated man.

The moment the daemon dagger left the man’s chest, his eyes opened and glowed like wildfire.