SPENCER CALLAGHAN_The Dragon's Pearl of Wisdom by Ryan Conway

Author:Ryan Conway [Conway, Ryan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-09-20T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Treasure Trove

A fter sliding down the chute and tumbling out onto a sandy stone floor, Spencer slowly and achingly pushed himself up, shaking his head, and looked around at his unexpected surroundings. He found himself in a small, dome-shaped brick chamber that resembled a stone igloo. It was dimly lit from one side, where a flame-colored light entered the chamber from the unseen depths of a winding passageway.

"Spencer, are you down here?" Sean's voice echoed from one of the unlit tunnels. Spencer turned in the direction of Sean's resonating voice, and saw a dark threshold gradually light up. "Yes, I'm here," he shouted in the direction of that threshold.

The passageway lit up further, until Sean and the rest of the group appeared in the doorway with their lanterns and flashlights. Spencer's worry turned to relief upon the realization that he was no longer alone. They reunited at the center of the domed chamber. "How did you all get down here?" he asked them.

"We walked," Marcel answered sardonically. "By the way, I'm sorry about dropping you down here. I didn't realize the seal was a trap door. You all right?"

"A little startled and shaken up," Spencer replied. "But not hurt… I'm good. Anyway, I meant, how did you find another way down here?"

"We found the stairs leading down here through one of those side hatches," Sean replied. "The middle lever opened it, too. Guess they wanted us to have two ways down."

"So, what is this place? Can we get to the trove from here?"

Sean pointed at the entrance from which the blazing illumination radiated outward. "This passageway should be it. Why else light it up?"

"Misdirection? A warped sense of humor?" Mei Lynn muttered. The others pretended not to hear. After Sean gestured toward the tubular, torch-lit passageway with a flourish, they entered together, Marcel leading and Sean bringing up the rear. They soon became aware of a breathy roar, like the sound of flames forced through a narrow passage; as they advanced, the sound grew louder, until it echoed through the network of tunnels. As the group followed Sean around the bend, they realized the hallway was longer than previously thought. Flickering torches illuminated the brick wall throughout, and the end of the tunnel was even brighter. Who had lit the torches? And more importantly, who'd left behind the sparsely scattered gold coins on the floor of the passageway?

As they proceeded down the corridor, it became clear that the coins were overflow from the trove they'd yet to encounter, possibly sent down the passageway by the movement of the earth over the years. The number of coins and other small precious objects increased as they advanced, until finally, the passageway emptied into a small, squared-off chamber. Across from the doorway from which they had emerged existed another doorway into a continuing passageway; on the wall to the right, a giant vault door sealed another entryway. It was a massive, round door, apparently of solid gold, with bas-relief imagery. Its surface exhibited the same dragon motif as the seal through which Spencer had fallen earlier.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.