The Crown, The Elixir, The Sword (on hiatus)

The Sword

They stepped through the doorway, into a large chamber. Stalactites of garnet and rose quartz sprouted from the roof. In the centre of the room, a pool of lava rested, and rocks stood on the pool as stepping stones. The room was hot and everything glowed red.

"What do we do now?" Anne asked.

"Not sure," Marcy responded.

"Isn't it obvious?" Sasha stated, stepping toward the pool. "We have to jump across."

"That thing is like, fifty metres across!" Anne argued. "We can't jump that distance."

"That's why there are rocks."

"In lava! That's dangerous!"

"Oh my god!" Sasha shouted. "Why do you have to be such-"

"Guys!" Marcy interrupted. "Stop fighting. Let's just take a breath, and figure this out logically."

"There is nothing to figure out," Sasha said, exasperated. "It's obvious."

Then Sasha turned toward the pool, quickly jumping from stone to stone. Not too long later, she landed on the other side of the pool with a bow.

"See? Nothing to think about." She turned away from them. "Hurry up!"

The other two girls made their way across the pool much slower than Sasha did. The heat from the lava boiled their skin as they hopped across its fiery surface. When Marcy's feet finally hit solid ground, a loud noise echoed through the chamber. Slowly, the stones started to sink into the lava. They were left stranded.

"What do we do now?" Anne asked,

"I don't..." Marcy began to say.

She was cut off by a metallic chim, as each chim hit, a crystal on the wall behind them lit up. Soon the outline of a door had formed itself in the lava-worn stone. Patterns etched themselves into the dark surface, like the veins of a great beast. Sasha stared at the door for a second, then she stepped forward and rested her hand on it. The rock crumbled away, revealing a smaller room. Hesitantly, she stepped forward, gripping the hilt of her sword. The room was dark. No crystals, and no patterns on the walls, but against the far wall was a giant obsidian boulder. The glossy surface glinted light from the previous room, illuminating everything around it.

"Okay," Marcy said, stepping forward. "Let's think about this, it could be a trap."

"I'm not so sure. Everything's been pretty straightforward so far."

Sasha walked over the boulder. Bending her knees and pressing herself against it, she began to push. Slowly, the boulder moved, as it revealed the wall behind it. It was blank.

"What?" Sasha said, out of breath. "I don't understand-"

Lights started swirling around the floor, meeting in the centre. Where the lights met, the ground opened up and a pedestal raised through the opening. On the pedestal was a statue. The figure was short and held the handle of a war hammer in its hands. The head of the war hammer sat on the floor. It wore armour, patterns of light swirled around in the cracks of the armour, glowing red against the dark room. The statue stared down at the three girls, its hollow eyes studying them.

"What is it?" Anne asked, leaning towards Marcy.

"I'm not sure. Maybe some sort of guardian?"

The stature then blinked, moving its hands, and it grabbed tightly onto its weapon. The statue lifted the hammer, and rock dust and gravel fell from its body. It moved the hammer over its head and struck the ground. The floor shook, knocking Marcy off her feet.