บท 224: Harmony of Dissonance, Part 1

"What's the meaning of this, Laddie?" Lieutenant Doyle asked in confusion. "Is this another one of Vlad Tepes' dead ends then? A hoax like all the others that claimed to have the secret to entering Castle Vlad but were just meant to lead the treasure seekers astray?" 

"No, it isn't," I replied. 

"But it's empty, Wisdom," Liara countered in a disappointed tone. 

Well, if we were just taking things at face value then sure. The coffin was empty. There was nothing resting on the dirty velvet cushion lining its bottom. As Liara said, no corpse, no hidden contraption, or secret passage. It truly did seem like it was empty, and that was the trap. 

"Vlad Tepes was freaking paranoid, guys," I reminded them. "There was no way he'd ever make this easy for us." 

"Kringlaugd wierd, ein hamarr for qvoki ne skeifr drpr munni ne svinhqfdi!" a dwarf roared, drawing all our gazes to the fight happening between us and the shield wall.