www.steffilane.com -- Steffi's Place -- The Black Box

Free Web Hosting Provider - Web Hosting - E-commerce - High Speed Internet - Free Web Page

The Black Box

The rag-tag group of four stopped beside the road. They put their gear down and seemed to be trying to decide what to do next.

The setting sun warmed Maxalla’s face as she looked at the town gate. "There’s no one to let us in." Her long black hair fell to her waist. Her dark, almond-shaped eyes were worried.

"Nonsense!" replied Graham. Graham was the oldest member of the group. Normally he didn’t have much to say; keeping mostly to himself. He let the group speak for him. He wore long black robes and walked using a staff.

"Yeah, throw a fireball at it, Graham! That would look really neat in flames," said Talan.

"OK, let’s gather up our gear and get in there," said Graham. "I think I see some movement."

The quartet gathered their heavy gear, hoisting it onto their backs and started down the hill along the winding road, down past the sign that read "Welcome to Spielburg. Population 5,000."

The group moved slowly through the cobblestone streets of the town. As they walked to the center of town, the road began to rise up gradually. The road ended at the center of town, at a dried up fountain. Talan immediately began to pick through the crusted bottom and retrieved a gold coin. Maxalla grabbed the greedy thief and made him stop. Redmoon noticed a sign hanging on a nearby door that said "The Red Boar." "Hey! Everybody look! It’s a tavern. Let’s go in and get some food." The group gathered up and walked into the tavern. It was loud and crowded, but the smell of cinnamon, apples, and vanilla gently waft across the room. There was only one table free, near the fireplace and the kitchen. They wound their way through the crowd and claimed the table for themselves. Soon a huge man walked over to their table, and asked to join them. The man, who was over seven feet tall, introduced himself as Stratus. He introduced his friend as Cyrrid.

Stratus had dark hair and eyes and he was full of muscles. Cyrrid was a short fellow, about four feet tall, and he wore a red robe. He seemed like a person who had not spent much time around other people, the type that likes to be alone. He mumbled a few words every few minutes or so.

"Well, there is plenty of that to be had. The monks from the temple on the hill have lost a very important artifact and Cyrrid and I are going to find it and claim the reward. Would you like to join us?"

"Talan, could you just stop being greedy for even one second. Consider the greater good that could be done here," said Maxalla.

"Talan, one day you are going to get us all killed by your greed. You are so consumed by greed that you can’t see anything else. You really need to lighten up," said Redmoon.

"Well, the reward is 14,000 gold pieces. That’s 2,000 each. Cyrrid and I figure that’s enough for us and we doubt that we will be able to find it alone. There are many dangers in the place where it was lost."

"The Serpentine Cave, in Ogre Valley," answered Stratus. "I wasn’t kidding about the danger."

"Well, give us until the morning to think it over, to decide whether we want to help you or not," said Maxalla. "We’ll be spending the night here at this inn. So, meet us here first thing in the morning and we’ll let you know what we’ve decided."

The two men left the group to discuss their plans. As usual, Talan’s greedy streak continued to appear. Talan thought the group should go. Redmoon, his in typical reckless fashion, thought they should go. After all, there would probably be monsters to kill and glory to be had. Maxalla believed the group should go, but was hesitant because she was unsure about the purpose. Why, after all, would the monks have had a precious artifact out in a place like that? Graham wanted to go, too, if for no other reason than to try out a few new spells. So, it was decided, they would go and they all went off to their rooms to rest up for tomorrow’s adventure.

The day dawned bright and cheerful. Maxalla arose before the rest of the group. She set about preparing a few things for the journey. She made sure that there was enough fuel in the lanterns, and that there was some rope and candles and extra oil. By the time she had finished, the others had awoken. They ate as a group in the inn. They talked about their excitement for the adventure today. Talan pulled out a piece of paper on which he had written his shopping list for spending his share of the reward money. At last Stratus and Cyrrid arrived. The group gathered up their belongings, paid for the food and last night’s room, and they all stepped out onto the street.

"I know the shortest way to the Ogre Valley. As well as a few short-cuts through it," said Stratus. "I’ll lead."

The group fell in line behind him. They wound their way through the village to the other side of it. Fairly soon, they were out in the country, misty fields on every side they looked and several small mountains in front of them. The mountains had a purplish hue to them this morning.

"That’s Ogre Valley," said Stratus as he pointed to a large gap between the two largest mountains. "I think it is best to travel on the North side, hugging the mountain to pass safely through."

Graham, who had been silent until now, said, "Whatever you think is best. Is Serpentine Cave on the North side? And is it IN the valley?"

The group started through the large gap and tried to stay as close as possible to the mountain on their left. After several twists and turns and a few close calls with the Ogre guards, they stood in front of a dark, rocky opening. Maxalla distributed the lanterns and everyone lit their lantern. Then they stepped through into the darkness. They allowed their eyes a moment to adjust to the sudden darkness and started down into the cave. The walls were cold and clammy. The floor felt slippery. They wandered until they came into an enormous, crystalline room with several passages.

"It’s a black box with some carvings on the top. The carvings are supposed to be from some ancient language, but not many people really know for certain. Since the monks have proclaimed it an artifact they won’t let anyone outside of their monastery near it."

"If they won’t let anyone else near it, then why are they letting people look for it?" asked Redmoon.

"Are there any monsters in the cave? How did it come to be lost in a place like this?"

"They were performing some secret ceremony and were interrupted. They rushed out, leaving it behind. I think we’ve seen all the monsters we are going to see."

"Now, we go right," called Graham. No one seemed to be paying attention anyway. They were all just following Graham. He seemed lead by instinct right now. They rounded a corner and found themselves in a room with an altar. Sure enough, the black box was there!

Redmoon took the box, studied it for a few minutes and said, "Maxalla, this looks like one of the languages you know."

Maxalla took the box and looked at the top. "Oh, yes. I do know it. This is not good." She frowned. "These are warnings about the consequences of opening this box. We cannot open it."

Talan grabbed the box from Maxalla and exclaimed, "I’m opening it. If it’s worth so much to the monks, it must have something special in it. Maybe we could get more money from what’s inside it."

Maxalla was quick. She drew her sword in a flash. Stratus drew his sword. "Talan, don’t do this," Maxalla said. "You don’t want this kind of trouble."

"I’m so sick of you Maxalla. You think you are so damn smart and know everything, well, maybe just this once, you don’t know shit. And I WILL open this box."

"Talan, wait, you mustn’t. This is very important. Just give me a few more minutes to read, then we can all decide."

"No, I’m not listening to you anymore, Miss Goodie-Goodie. That’s it. I’m opening it!"

As Talan felt the first tumbler fall, the cave started shaking. Maxalla attacked Talan, "STOP! This is madness." Her sword fell across his left arm, severing it. Graham turned away. Redmoon and Cyrrid ran screaming from the room. Maxalla and Stratus continued attacking Talan, trying not to kill him, but to stop him. Talan managed to spring the lock quickly. The box fell to the ground, open. The earth shook. Pieces from the ceiling started to fall on them. Talan’s eyes were wide with fear. He started to scream. He disappeared into a red vapor mist. He seemed to "melt" away before their eyes.

Maxalla and Stratus were knocked off their feet. Stratus began sliding toward a great fissure that had opened in the floor. Maxalla reached out to try to grab him. She started slipping. Stratus reached out toward some of the debris on the floor to slow them. It didn’t work. Stratus flailed about in an effort to keep them from sliding so fast. She and Stratus slid faster and faster. Neither of them had seen Graham. They fell over the side of the crevice. They fell and fell, it seemed like forever. Stratus thought, "I should’ve listened to Cyrrid, why did we involve these people?"

Maxalla heard a loud "CRUNCH!" Maxalla thought, "Damn Talan, I knew you’d manage to get us all killed. You are stupid, didn’t you know better than to mess with anything that had the words ultimate evil written on it?" Then she died.