Chương 68: The Stone Coffin
'Am I back where I started?' There had not been another four-way junction that Arthur had come across and this particular one had a smudge of moon dust on one of its corridor, so the answer to that question would be an affirmative yes.
As Arthur came to terms with the reality, disappointment washed over him. Try as he might to not get frustrated, the young man had a hard time holding that feeling in check.
How could he not when he realized all of those time and resources that he used had gone to waste? The time and the moon dust he used to navigate the maze so far, all that was for naught since it had led the young man back to square one.
Arthur kicked the pebble right next to his feet to vent his frustration. The pebble bounced against the wall and rolled into the darkness.
'Arthur, calm down. Do not let this get to you. It is not over yet.' Arthur gave himself a pep talk internally and took several deep breaths to calm down. 'You've gotten over multiple similarly sticky situations in the past before and there is no reason why this should be any different.'
To distract himself from focusing on the stuff that might bring him down, Arthur turned his focus to the positive things that he could draw from the situation.
Arthur stood in the middle of the junction and studied the four corridors that led away from him. He leaned closer to the smudge to confirm that it was indeed the moon dust that he had left behind from before. It was.
'Wait, if that is the case, then this can be turned into an advantage for me as well. This could be a valuable guiding principle.' Arthur nodded as he slowly changed the perspective around in his mind. 'As what I've learned from Lady Myra, sometimes all you need is a change in one's perspective.'
The wires in Arthur's mind started to connect. 'The first time when I came across this junction, I took the corridor on the left and smudged it with the moon dust as a sort of marking.
'However, when I returned to this junction for the second time, the corridor with the smudged moon dust is directly opposite from the corridor that I walked out from.
'This means that the position has changed. The corridor that led me here from the cave in is now on my left and the corridor that I just came out from was the right corridor from the first time I arrived at this junction.
'Therefore, with the method of elimination, this means that the corridor now on my right is the only one that I have not taken!'
Of course, Arthur realized he had not accounted for the other choices that he did not make at the other junctions but for now, he was going to focus on the situation that was right before his eyes.
He would take the chance with the right corridor that he hoped would lead him to a new part of the maze that he had not explored rather than retrace his steps. Turning back, Arthur believed, would have confused him even more.
With a renewed purpose, Arthur went down the right corridor.
As Arthur moved forward, he noticed something different about the maze. The walls appeared to be more worn and the corridors were a lot more crooked and messy. It felt like Arthur was moving to the older part of the maze.
Arthur did not know what to feel about this discovery. At the very least, it proved that this was a road that he had not traveled before.
Eventually, the young man came to another fork in the road. However, this time there was something different.
The fork to the left led down to a long corridor that he could not see the end of, while the right fork led to an alcove that was quite close to the centre of the junction.
Arthur slowed down to observe and inspect the alcove. Perhaps he might come across something handy that might prove to be useful to his adventure.
Arthur stepped into the alcove with the lamp. The light from the lamp revealed to Arthur a rectangular construct that was about 2 metres wide and 4 metres tall. The construct was made from stone, thus creating the illusion that it grew right out from the stone ground.
The young man stood from afar to observe the new discovery. The construct had a stone lid and Arthur was cautious of wandering too close just in case there was something inside the thing that might attack him.
There was nothing else in the alcove other than the large stone box. The surfaces were unadorned except for the lid where an emblem of some sort was carved into it.
It was an emblem of two people fighting and Arthur had the feeling there was something ceremonial about it.
As Arthur studied the thing, the more he felt like he was looking at a stone coffin.
Arthur carefully moved away from the box. The chance of it being something dangerous far outweighed its potential usefulness. Arthur had not forgotten the fact that he was trapped inside a forgotten crypt. There was no way something good was going to come out from him opening random stone coffins that he encountered on his journey.
If he had a choice, he would have no part of this. Arthur turned from the alcove and went on his merry way.
However, as he stepped into the other corridor, he heard a creak coming from behind him. The young man's heart froze.
With a nervous heart, Arthur turned around and saw the stone lid was slowly being opened. The sound of stone brushing against stone echoed in the young man's mind. Dust from years of abandonment fell as the lid moved.
Eventually, the lid opened large enough for a desiccated hand to poke through. It curled around the edge of lid as it continued to push the lid away. It was then that Arthur knew, even if he tried to avoid trouble, trouble would find a way to come to him.
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