"Stop looking back, you're slowing us down." Bentora shoved Emeryl's shoulder.
"Ne, sorry." Emeryl trotted away from her. Leiko kept close to Emeryl's side, following him.
"Almost there, we just have to find the hole." Blake informed them.
"Are you sure you'll be alright? You still look pale." Prism glared at him.
"I'm fine." He brushed some silky black strands out of his face.
The ceiling came to an abrupt curve, spiraling into a rocky wall. Inside the wall a small dark hole peered at them. They'd seen it from much further away, and debated where it led. Blake insisted it must be the way out, while Prism determined it could be anything and they should be careful.
Eric had laughed earlier at Emeryl when they found a spot of light pink lipstick on his cheek. He, of course, turned bright red. Then Blake joined in, declaring that he'd been right about Emeryl the entire time. Only Prism tried to get the others to stop teasing the young elf, but even he had a good laugh over it. Nudging Emeryl's side suggestively, Eric winked.
"Stop bothering him. We're almost there." Prism scolded Eric. Emeryl shied away with red cheeks and a glowing face.
As they reached the black hole Blake victoriously stepped through.
"Well? What's there?" Prism asked.
"I can't see." The voice echoed out of the unbelievably dark room.
"Here, I have a torch." Prism pulled out the stick and flicked the end of it on fire. He stepped into the room and the torch blew out.
"Hmmm... I don't think we're the first wizards to come this way..." Blake thoughtfully concluded.
"Hold on, I have something else." Prism replied.
"What's going on?" Eric's voice popped up.
"Looks like someone cast darkness... hm... what's that?" Blake noted a gray panel that could barely be made out in the darkness. A sudden light flickered in the middle of the room. Prism held a small shiny orb in his palms, and carefully placed it in the air.
"There, let there be light!" he announced. Everyone had already entered the room to see what happened. It was very small with rocky walls and a short ceiling.
"No hole..." Prism glared at Blake. The drow was too busy with something else.
"Look, panels are cut into these walls." He pointed out. Four stone tablets were pressed into each corner.
"What do they say?" Eric asked.
"Wait, they might be spells. Blake, read that one over there, I'll read this one, Emeryl, behind me, and..." he glanced around.
"I can read!" Leiko yelled.
"Fine, for lack of any other choice you can read that one. Let's see what happens." Prism went to his tablet as the others spread out.
"Whoever it is has..." Emeryl began. Underneath Prism the ground burst and swallowed him up before he had a chance to react.
"Augh! Prism!" Eric leapt, hitting the ground.
"That's a spell if I ever saw one." Blake replied, "Just don't..."
Leiko ran over from her panel to where Prism had been.
"It just says... Aaa!" the ground burst again, devouring her up and ignoring Eric.
"Leiko!" Blake jumped from his post.
"Where are they going?" Emeryl asked.
"I don't know. Maybe we should all read it." Blake suggested, "What were you going to say before? What's on your panel?"
"I was saying whoever made this had a strange sense of humor," Emeryl nodded nervously, "It says 'Lather, rinse, repeat.'"
"Mine was 'Even the blind man can see.' Leiko's said," Blake glanced over his shoulder, "'Greed is the richest man's enemy.'"
"What did Prism's say?" Emeryl asked.
"Wait! What about us?" Bentora demanded.
"Oh, yeah, you can't read. I'll read it to you." Emeryl trotted over, "It says, 'Face...' Augh!" The ground exploded around him, ignoring Eric again.
"Hey!" Eric tried to grab him but missed. Even the spider attached to Emeryl's head disappeared. Alone with Bentora and Eric, Blake reached for his bottle.
"Not now! We need to get there too! Last time you drank you wobbled around for two hours!" Bentora snapped.
"That was because of me animating dead, not..." Blake suddenly remembered his dream, "Wait, I think I know what it says."
Dusting his clothes off, Eric gave him a questionable look.
"I can't read... but I know you at least have to look at it to know what it says." He replied.
"No, I have it. It says 'Face the panel to leave.'" Blake told them, "Try it!" Skeptically, Eric turned around and looked at the stone tablet. Dirt exploded around him and his body was eaten up. Blake gestured towards the panel, and Bentora took her turn. Holding his breath, Blake stepped up to the stone tablet.
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