He was not near to the blast as he would not have been standing too close to a being that caused such uneasiness in him. He took a step back regardless. He was not about to get scalded by the actions of the elemental.
Miroslaw began to understand a bit more of the place he was in through the elemental's words. He concluded that there were more of them down here. He wondered if it was a good or bad thing to have such a creature loose. He resorted to the old proverb, “An enemy of my enemy is my ally.” He foresaw the creature aiding him if he ran into that machine again.
Miroslaw nodded to the water as it made its exit. He ducked under the water, looking back to Rogelio. He stated, with a bit of demand in his delivery, “You heard her, Rogelio. You are the guide. Let's go.” He pressed forward, following whichever direction the rat led. He had no idea where to go and his only hope rest on the rat's knowledge of the caves.
Death is no more than turning us over from time to eternity. Whether that eternity is damnation or salvation is determined in the time we have.
The rat seemed reluctant to go, "No, we must follow, stay with her!" and then he tried again to get into the steam pipe before realizing it was too hot even for his love. Finally admitting defeat, Rogelio sighed and nodded his head when Miroslaw said it was time to go.
The guide led the warrior to the end of the corridor, moving past the other doors, and up a spiral staircase. When they reached the top they encountered what appeared to be a door.
There was no knob, or a way to push it open upon initial inspection, but it was clearly a door of sorts only appearing as a slab slightly pressed into the wall. Off to the side there appeared to be a slot in the wall where something would fit, about the length of a playing card.
"This was not here before," Rogelio said as he scratched at the door, confused.
He thought it may be a simple illusion alike to the randomly appearing corridors, but that idea was put to rest when the rat scratched at it. He analyzed the area a bit more. His eye caught the strange slot-like opening in the wall. He knew this had to be important. It seemed to be some sort of key slot, but he had no key. He moved his hand to it and asked Rogelio, “Do you know what fits in here, Rogelio? Anything at all?” They had to keep moving or surely the machines that were likely following them would catch up.
Death is no more than turning us over from time to eternity. Whether that eternity is damnation or salvation is determined in the time we have.
The rat looked around and at the slot, confused, "This door was not here, yes, never here at all! Machines were dead, pipes not full of steam."
There was a low hum coming from behind the walls along with the echo of machines. Just hours ago the ruins were good as dead and left to be picked by scholars like Gargamel. Now it's as if it were reviving itself slowly, picking itself from the grave.
"There must be another way down, yes, there must be!" "No, more metal legs down there!" Rogelio slapped himself. "But, there's a door! A door here!"
Whilst the rat argued with himself, Miroslaw remembered that there were other passages in the corridor before.
Miroslaw contemplated to himself about how the place was coming to life. It was still a very eerie place, and he can see why people like Gargamel wanted to research it. There are surely countless mysteries of this place. Miroslaw did not fancy trying to understand them. He only cared about getting out. Nothing good happened down here.
Seeing Rogelio argue with himself, he states, “Alright, calm down. I see no way to get this door open. Lets head back down the last corridor and check some of the other paths. We will find out way out!” Miroslaw sounded hopeful, but truly he was not. He remembered back to falling down that wretched tunnel and it seemed like it lasted forever. He had no idea how far underground he actually was, but he knew they were probably not anywhere near the surface.
Miroslaw turned to head back down the stairs to see what awaited him. Perhaps he could find something to fit into the strange slot in the wall, though he liked the idea that there was another set of stairs much longer that would take him right out of this place.
Death is no more than turning us over from time to eternity. Whether that eternity is damnation or salvation is determined in the time we have.
Miroslaw returned to the previous corridor unabated, the humid air and the hiss of steam still present. There were two doorways on either side of the hallway, left and right, that he had the option of going through.
Rogelio stayed put near Miroslaw not wanting to venture far from the warrior should he encounter another guardian of the ruin.
Miroslaw did not weigh the decision too highly. He walked warily to the passage on the left. He tried to remain as silent as he could, trying not to cause any excess attention. He had calmed down since the last tussle with the creatures and his breathing was steady. He peered around the corner to take a look before walking blindly into the unknown.
Death is no more than turning us over from time to eternity. Whether that eternity is damnation or salvation is determined in the time we have.
The warrior found himself in a very wide room filled with more machinery that he couldn't fathom at a glance even with an educational background. Or wikipedia.
In front of him the entire wall was a glass window that peered into a dark void. In the middle of a room was a stone table with an assortment of trash; torn up scrolls, metal parts, sticks of charcoal. On either side of the room, standing at attention, were stone and metal statues with large swords. Opposite of the window sounds could be heard along with the clank of many gears.
Examining the far side of the room, just at the corner, Miroslaw could see another similar slot that he found earlier only this one had something in it.
Miroslaw deemed it safe to enter. He peered around and contemplated what to do. He questioned Rogelio, not expecting much, “You know what any of these machines are for?” In a whispered tone. As he questioned, he walked to the table and grabbed the charcoal. Charcoal was a useful thing. He stored it in his pockets.
After that, he went to examine the statues more closely. Were the swords in decent condition and how large were they? If he could smell a use for it, or if it simply could bring a decent price on a market, he would attempt to remove one from the statue. Hoping he could manage to escape this hell hole, he still sought something for all the troubles it has brought. If not, he would give it no more attention.
He would then head over to the object that was lodged in the slot. He would examine it more closely before trying to pull the object from the slot. He thought it worth trying on the other slot. Perhaps this “key” was universal.
Death is no more than turning us over from time to eternity. Whether that eternity is damnation or salvation is determined in the time we have.
Just as he predicted, Rogelio shook his head at Miroslaw's question. The warrior picked up the charcoal with no incident as he continued to explore the room.
The sword, however, was not as easy to remove and remained firm in the hands of the statue. Even with his great strength, Miroslaw couldn't budge the weapon.
Going over to the wall slot, he found the key just sitting there with no apparent mechanism to hold him back from taking it. So he did.
As soon as he pulled out the artifact, the black wall covering the window lifted up from the other side and gave way to an incredible sight. Just on the other side of the viewing window, Miroslaw could see a massive room even more impressive than the one with the talking crystal. It was like looking at a coliseum from the top most seat.
the room was lined with what appeared to be ebony, and in the middle of it was a pyramid just as dark. From the top of it spewed emerald energies that danced around like lightning straight into a fixture in the ceiling.
"Monster!" Rogelio suddenly cried out.
When Miroslaw turned, he would find that the statue whose weapon he tried to rob was awake and moving. Without hesitation, from the other side of the room, the creature swung his sword straight at Miroslaw and the weapon became a bladed whip with the tip soaring straight at the warrior.
Miroslaw jumped at the effect of pulling the key from the socket. It startled him, despite expecting something to happen. It caused a small spike in his adrenaline, but was followed by an expression of absolute wonder coming to his face as he looked at the newly visible room. He stood, frozen for a bit, taking in the amazing sight.
The awe was short lived as he heard Rogelio's cry. He immediately turned to see the now animate statue. He pulled his body to the right of the strike, attempting to evade the incoming strike. At the same time, he rapidly brought both his hands over his shoulders to retrieve his claymore. Unfortunately, his movements were slow purely from the shock of the sight. The whip blade sliced into the side of his ribs as a gasp of pain came forth from Miroslaw. Judging by the pain that came forth from the cut, Miroslaw guessed that it was a significant laceration.
In the next moments, Miroslaw would bring his claymore straight from the sheath to smack the whip away from him and sprint out of the room. As he ran, he could feel his tunic becoming wet, but the pain was not as bad as he expected. It actually dulled fairly quickly after the initial slice. He would be wary of another strike as he sprinted for the door. He saw no need to stay in the room, as he had what he came for. He was running on the assumption that the statue to be immobile.
Death is no more than turning us over from time to eternity. Whether that eternity is damnation or salvation is determined in the time we have.
The blade immediately retracted and the statue was swung his sword again as Miroslaw rushed out the door who managed to just avoid the attack. Unfortunately, his assumption was incorrect and the automaton was on the move after the mercenary.
The warrior on the other hand was faster than the statue and could outrun it, however, as far as he knew it wouldn't give up the chase that easily.
Fear rose as he heard the statue could indeed move. It was not a welcomed sight, but Miroslaw would alter his actions because of the fact. Fighting it would probably be best, considering he truly did not know how determined a statue would be. It could chase him forever and cause even greater trouble later on. He contemplated waiting just on the other side of the door and performing a good old-fashioned tripping, but decided to take a slightly different approach.
He silently waited on just beyond the door he had just came out of. Back against the wall, he listened closely to the movements of the statue. With the slight break he had, he examined the cut he received from the statue and was relieved to find it was not as significant as he had guessed. It would take a bit of care after the soon to ensue fight, but for now, it will not cause him much trouble.
The plan was not entirely thought through, but it was all Miroslaw could come up with. He readied himself for his plan, propping his sword up against the wall to free up his hands. As soon as the statue made its way out the door, he intended to charge it and pin it's arms against the door frame, placing his own back against the opposite side of the door frame for leverage. He then would try to use the door frame to smash the statue's hand off through repeated bashing if necessary. Similar to the metal spiders, he knew any sword attack would be met with serious backlash and cause more pain in his hands. He needed to use a more blunt based attack, and he saw nothing better that the surroundings.
Death is no more than turning us over from time to eternity. Whether that eternity is damnation or salvation is determined in the time we have.
If that statue could make expressions, it would wear one of surprise as the warrior jumped him at the door. Using his immense strength, Miroslaw busted the ancient statue's hands off, the weapon falling to the ground with a loud clank.
However, though disarmed (heyo!), it wasn't about to give up on its quarry. The statue lunged its head forward and smashed the warrior's head with its own, forcing Miroslaw off.
The guardian then launched a powerful kick toward the mercenary.
The statue had a head as hard as stone! The force of the blow sent Miroslaw backwards, out of the doorway. He did not have time to collect himself after the blow to his skull before the statue sent a kick at him. He attempted to grab the leg with both hands, hopefully stopping it before its collision.
If he were successful, he would attempt to throw the leg with all his strength to the side, and, effectively, sending the thigh into the door frame. He would then lunge forward, ramming the statue, aiming to tumble it over.
Death is no more than turning us over from time to eternity. Whether that eternity is damnation or salvation is determined in the time we have.