Map: Part XII
“Where did you find that?” Aaron asked Rosie, coming to her side and inspecting the diamond-shaped carving.
She tossed it lightly to him, then folded her arms. “Well, after I was trapped by a stone avalanche, there was a period of time where everything was pitch black. But, then, out of nowhere, this light on the wall turned on.”
“That was probably me,” Aaron said, still turning the diamond over in his hands.
“Ok. Well, thanks. Because then I saw that the horse sculpture had been cracked, and the base was actually like a trap door. Again.”
Aaron’s eyebrows raised. Awesome.
She noted his expression. “Yeah. So I opened it up and slid down this chute and it had a landing with that on it,” she gestured to the diamond, “so I took it and slid down another chute that led me to that small room that you opened up.” She finished by pointing through the doorway that Aaron had opened.
“A chute?” Aaron replied in disbelief. Thrilled by this addition to their adventure, Aaron stepped past her to look in the room she had come from. He hadn’t noticed before, but it was tiny, and contained nothing. Nothing but a chute on the ceiling, just like she said. “Awesome,” he breathed, neck craning back, “I can’t believe I missed the sliding!”
He looked back to Rosie.
She rolled her eyes. “Well, you’re lucky. My ass hurts.”
He laughed and secretly still wished he had gotten to slide.
Then, remembering the diamond he was holding, he felt a rush of adrenaline. They were so close to unlocking the mystery of the map and finding the treasure! He beckoned to Rosie. “Let’s open this door!”
While Rosie pried the carvings out of the left door, Aaron fitted the diamond into its place in the right door. Luckily, Rosie had little trouble at all, and, after an excited glance between them, Rosie inserted the telescope and the bird.
As they had hoped, the now familiar sound of shifting stones began.
For the second time, Aaron stepped back, startled by the bright purple glow of the door. To her credit, Rosie didn’t move, and actually reached out a hand and touched the door before it slid up and away, revealing… a second door.
“Come on,” Aaron said, blinking. “We still can’t get through?”
“You thought it would be that easy?” retorted Rosie without looking at him. They both stared at the new door in front of them.
On it was a grid kind of like a small checker board. There were sixteen indented squares, all of them about the size of Aaron’s fist. They were unremarkable and contained far too few instructions for Aaron’s taste.
Rosie pressed on them lightly. Nothing.
“What’s this?” Aaron said, pulling at a knob. After a hard yank, he had discovered a drawer full of tiles. Pieces to the puzzle.
Read part I: https://theprose.com/post/243841/map