Chalice Option B: Down
Readers voted to head down the stairs. Shall we see what’s at the bottom?
Chalice Option B: Down
Without anything more to guide you, you shrug and decide to head down the stairs.
The farther you go, the quieter the roar of the waterfall becomes. You figure you’re getting farther away from it until you come to the bottom of the stairs and find yourself facing one of the most intimidating metal doors you’ve ever seen.
Heavy bands of iron cross the door and a lock bigger than your fist holds it closed.
You step closer and kneel down to peer through the lock, hoping to get an idea of what’s on the other side.
You come eye to eye with a large blue iris. It blinks and you hear the heavy click of the scaled lid moving.
“Stay away!” Comes a shout from the other side of the door. Oddly enough, the tone doesn’t sound threatening. It sounds more pleading with a high squeak at the end like the words are half question.
“Why?” you ask.
“What?” comes the startled reply. This time you can tell it’s female.
“Why ‘stay away’? You sound scared.”
A huff rattles the door and you take a shocked step backwards.
“Stupid. Stupid. Stu…” The voice fades like the person’s walking away, then it comes back, making you jump with its sudden, “Stay away!” A moment later, in complete contradiction to the shout, the lock on the door moves with a deep grating.
You hold perfectly still as the door swings inward a smidge and you see in the crack that blue eye looking out. You can also see a large, scaled snout.
She’s too big to be a drake. Could this be an actual dragon?
“Why aren’t you running?” she asks. “I said stay away.”
You shrug, for some reason not feeling your flight instinct kicking in. “Stupidity?” you say.
There’s a long, drawn out pause, as she eyes you more closely. Then, “well, if you’re going to be stupid, get in here,” she swings the door open.
Still, your flight instinct isn’t reacting. Has she beguiled you somehow? You don’t feel beguiled but then, what does being beguiled feel like? You shrug again and step through the door.
Her tail swings it closed behind you and you find yourself in a cavern beneath a gigantic waterfall. Below the waterfall to your right sits a lake. It glows with the same blue as the walls of the stairwell.
But what really holds your attention is the dragon. She’s also blue, shimmering like the waters of the lake.
“You’re here for the chalice,” she says. It’s not a question but you nod anyway.
“For my sister,” you explain.
“Than you chose the wrong direction,” she says, “the chalice sits on the edge of the falls.” She nods upward toward the top of the waterfall. “Or you chose the right one,” she continues on, musing, “cause the drakes kill anyone who heads up the stairs.”
“What about you?” you ask, confused by her.
“Me? I’m their treasure. I’m the one who makes the chalice work, a water dragon. I lend the water in the chalice healing abilities. But the drakes keep me away from the chalice, so really, there isn’t a right direction.”
“You’ve got to touch the water in the Chalice? Or can it be any cup?” you ask, trying to understand.
“It’s got to be crystal. But the drakes will kill you anyway, when you try to leave.”
“Why do you let them?”
She laughs. It shakes the walls of the cavern. “I keep them out of here only by the door. But they won’t let me leave the cave. There are just too many of them for me to fight.”
This sparks an idea for you. It’s foolish but then, you’re already in a bad situation. “What if I can help you? Can you help me with the Chalice?”
“How?” For the first time you feel a little scared of her as her eyes narrow and she lowers her head to your height. Her teeth are as long as your forearms.
“You help me get the chalice and I’ll draw the drakes away so you can reclaim the cave.”
She thinks about this while clicking her claws on the floor. Each tap grates at your nerves.
“We can climb the falls or try the stairs,” she finally says. “Which way, stupid human, would you like to try?”
Bb. The Falls?
or
Bc. The Stairs?
Vote for how you’d like to continue. The next installment in this adventure will arrive Tuesday.
Until then, blessings,
Jennifer
