Trap

15

Although the group of teenagers wanted to bring Linda back to the city, her body was in such a bad condition and they wouldn't be able to go back for some time. 

So they buried her body beside the tallest tree in the surrounding area and prayed for her. 

No one was in the mood to talk any further; the atmosphere of the group was depressing. 

All of them just went back to sleep, though none was able to sleep throughout the night. Some were filled with sorrow, while some were filled with fear, and there was even someone who felt excited among all this chaos. 

The night passed in silence inside the forest, and in the early morning, they were all ready to head towards the Zhorian inheritance. 

...

They travelled for an entire day, but the closer the group got to the inheritance, the more beasts they encountered. 

They avoided the ones they could and killed some. Finally, by the end of the day, they had arrived near the entrance of the inheritance. 

But instead of charging inside during the night, Dax decided to spend the night outside and enter early in the morning.

They set up their tents and began to prepare the food. 

But the attendants weren't in the mood to eat anything. The meat that they had eaten so hungrily the previous day now almost made them vomit, as it reminded them of the gruesome scene.

The nine of them barely talked among themselves. Vritra explained his plan to them. All their excitement was gone, and only fear remained, so they all immediately agreed to follow him. 

Sana still looked just as depressed. She didn't speak a single word and seemed out of it.

Soon, they just returned to the tent. 

******

[ You have entered the Zhorian Tomb. ]

[ Follow the trail and enter the Tomb room. ]

A few metres behind the group of rune masters, the nine attendants followed while carrying the bags. 

They were all completely silent as they carried the bags inside the inheritance, walking exactly as Vritra had instructed them. 

' Follow the trail... ' Vritra wondered in his head as he read the messages that had appeared suddenly in front of his eyes. 

He looked around but didn't see any kind of visual trail; there was no smell either. 

What kind of trail am I supposed to follow?

The rune masters approached cautiously, some carrying weapons while others remained unarmed. Their movements were deliberate and cautious.

A few meters behind them, a group of nine attendants formed a tight formation and closely followed their trail. 

Vritra was at the last of the group, and Sana was walking in front of him, as she walked behind the other girl. 

Instead of walking in a straight line, they walked in a manner which seemed random; currently, they were walking in the centre of the cave. 

Vritra had an inexplicable feeling; he could almost sense something in the distance, but it was hard to know the exact location. 

' So am I supposed to follow this feeling? Anyway, for now, I know the way we need to take, but it should be pretty deep inside this. ' Vritra pondered silently; he didn't know what kind of challenges awaited him, but this tomb is only going to get more dangerous. 

Originally, there was barely any light inside the cave, so the rune masters were using torches, which looked pretty similar to the ones on Earth. 

The path was completely dry, and the walls contained marks of battles, but none of the rune masters were affected by any of this.

[ Slug Winged Raptor, 1st Gate late stage. ]

After walking more than six hundred metres in a straight path, a message appeared in front of Vritra, but a couple of rune masters had already charged forward to slay the beast. 

They were both probably at the 3rd Gate, since the tattoos on their right arms were black coloured. 

The two men mumbled something and used some kind of plant rune which made strong vines grow out of the ground that wrapped around the beast's body and killed it within a few moments. 

The Slug-Winged Raptor released painful groans, but even the slimy material present on its scales or its wings wasn't of any help in stopping the vines; it was entangled to death. 

Then one of the men tore open the Raptor's chest and took out a marble-like object from near its heart; then he shook his head in disappointment.

Vritra observed this in silence. 

After which they threw the corpse to the side and without wasting any time, they all continued their journey inside the tomb. 

Often, they would find themselves standing at junctions, and the task of finding the right way was given to a couple of men who had been leading the group all this time. 

They were probably using some kind of rune; it too was a plant-related rune. 

As they walked further, the number of beasts they encountered kept increasing. 

Soon they were facing against a group of four 3rd Gate beasts; the rune masters had become more serious and now even the 4th Gate rune masters had joined the fight. 

It didn't take long for the four beasts to fall, but this time the beasts didn't only depend on the physical attacks but also used some kind of abilities. 

Vritra would have been greatly surprised to see this, but unfortunately they were not able to watch this battle as they stayed back with a few rune masters for their safety. 

' We are heading in the right direction, ' Vritra thought as he sensed the trail; he could feel himself getting close to the trap.

Not long after, a group of over ten Raptors of 2nd and 3rd Gates came charging towards them.

This time, even though the attendants were pretty far away from the men and women who were engaged in the battle, Vritra could vaguely see the fight. 

' So even beasts could use abilities; are they also using runes? ' he pondered while staying vigilant of his surroundings. 

The wings of the Raptor, which seemed pretty useless previously, now looked extremely dangerous; the 3rd Gate beasts were using their wings in different ways. 

But with his limited sight, Vritra could barely see the fight. 

After around thirty minutes, the battle finally came to an end. All the beasts were killed, a woman had received slight injuries, but they were all ready to progress. 

One after another, they tore open the chests of the Raptors. 

" How far is it? " Azhar questioned in a low voice. 

Vritra finally averted his gaze and replied: " We will be there in less than an hour. At that time, I'll give the signal. " Thanks

Azhar nodded and returned to his position at the front of the group. 

They had been walking inside this inheritance for more than seven hours by now, only stopping at junctions or when they encountered any beasts. 

After a few minutes, they began to walk forward once again. 

...

Almost fifty minutes had passed when suddenly Vritra lightly tapped twice on Sana's shoulder. 

Without turning back, she did the same to the girl walking in front of her. Just like that, Azhar soon felt two taps on his shoulder and knew that it was finally the time. 

They got into a single but random-looking line and slowly began to get closer to the wall on their left. 

The rune masters noticed their movements but didn't think too much about it, since from the beginning, they moved towards the left wall whenever they felt tired to lean on it. 

Slowly, the distance between the two groups was increasing. 

The nine attendants leaned onto the wall while pressing their hands randomly on it. They had to find some kind of trigger which could activate the trap. 

After walking hundreds of meters, Harris, who was walking exactly behind Azhar, pressed his palm against a pointy, bulging stone, and he instantly felt it moving inside until it was on the same level as the rest of the wall. 

RUMBLE

The cave shook, and before anyone could react, the nine attendants felt themselves sliding downwards. 

Azhar was the first to fall as the land below his feet just disappeared, and one after another, they all began to fall inside it. 

Vritra only had a moment to decide whether to jump away or not, but he could feel that trail leading him into that trap, so he just allowed his body to sink down into the darkness. 

Even the rune masters had not expected this; they were focussed on their surroundings but didn't really pay much attention to those slaves, and by the time they noticed, all nine had disappeared.