Another Friend in Amphibia

Chapter 11: The Ghost of Amphibia's Rulers

Drake and Nyx walked through the tomb; they weren't expecting to come across anyone, yet Drake made as little noise as he could just in case. This whole place was unsettling for him. The tomb itself was nearly pitch black with only tiny glowing mushrooms to illuminate the way. They turned the corner and Drake was met with a hallway. The walls were lined with sarcophagi, standing upright, side by side. The strangest thing was the fact that some of them had large holes which revealed they were empty on the inside. Where did the bodies go?

The whole situation reminded Drake of an MMORPG called Creatures and Caverns Online. It was based on a tabletop game Marcy got everyone to play with the same name. The first undead dungeon looked exactly like this, and it was playing out the exact same way.

The area ahead seemed to be getting darker. Drake drew his sword ready for anything. Nyx turned around and gave him an inquisitive look. "Just being careful. Also, I can't see in here." Drake said to her as he held the sword close to himself. He was a lot more mindful with his words now that he knew Nyx could understand him.

Nyx turned around, offering him her tail. Drake was hesitant at first but eventually relented. He gently grabbed the tip of Nyx's tail and let her guide him. Her tail was a lot higher than he remembered. Drake thought he would have to crawl to reach it, but he just had to bend down a little bit.

The two pressed forward. Nyx wasn't bothered at all from the scenery. In fact, she seemed to be at home in a dark place like this. Drake on the other hand, was alert at all times. Since the near total darkness made him effectively blind, he had to keep his ear out and rely on Nyx to be his eyes. He looked like he would jump at the slightest disturbance. They passed by more hallways filled with sarcophagi, some were still closed and looked undamaged, but none of them had bodies. There was also a much brighter source of light there around the corner.

Did they finally make it out? Drake let go of Nyx's tail and ran ahead of her, excited at the prospect of getting out. As he approached, he heard footsteps. Drake stopped and peered right around the next corner. There was a circular room, there weren't any sarcophagi but there were three other paths. Directly on the other side of the room was a door made out of steel bars with torches on the other side. He saw the shadow of someone getting closer. Someone was coming this way.

A total of five people came. There was a brown well-dressed toad, a lime green frog with extremely long arms and legs wearing what looked to be a British police uniform carrying a lantern, two heavily armored newts holding spears, and a tiny dark purple newt wearing robes.

"Where is it?" the toad asked as one of the armored newts opened the door for him.

"The secret chamber is nearby. I'm sure of it." the frog answered.

"There's nothing here." the toad grabbed the frog by the shoulder and pinned him against the wall. "You have wasted my time and Jacinda's time with this fabrication." he gestured to the small newt.

"You call my honor into question Mayor Hopper!" the frog challenged.

"A frog with honor? Don't make me laugh." the toad let him go. "You had one job."

The frog stood up and tried to negotiate. "Wait! This tomb has a lot of ancient treasure. It's a fine alternative."

Jacinda stepped forward. "Unfortunately, my superiors in Newtopia are not interested in buried treasure. They were very specific about their request."

The toad mayor approached the frog once again. "Look me in the eye when I'm talking to you. You don't want to disappoint them, do you?"

The frog nervously replied. "No."

"Good. Then we are in agreement." The toad closed and locked the door as he and the rest of the group went out, trapping the frog policeman inside. "Find the secret chamber and you just might make it back alive."