They passed the gate, encountered a slight increase in lighting, vine-free walls and more intricate drawings, though these designs were noticeably different from the ones they saw before. Last time Katie had led them left, so this time she took a right. A gust of wind rushed past them. She slowed down her run. Even with the increase in light, it was still pretty dark and as such, Katie couldn’t clearly see what was ahead of her, but she thought she could make out a building with columns in front of it.
Taking her chances, she turned in the opposite direction. Only a few hundred feet went by before she knew she made the right choice. Their path became narrow, and the walls looked dirtier, covered in moss and grime.
But then they could see what the city actually looked like, and it was indeed a city. Buildings lined one another while still more towered behind them. They were of different shapes and sizes; some tall and others shaped like domes or pyramids. The largest building looked to be about eight stories tall. Each one was made of stone and marble. Trees grew out on the streets, and their roots were so large that they jutted out of the uneven ground. In the night sky, the moon was visible.
Then there was the sound of the bells and the number five materialized in the ground.
“I hope we’re at least halfway there,” Koran said. “I don’t really see a way out of here, but Katie, you definitely got onto something.”
Katie glanced around. Wherever she could see the end of the city, she saw only another massive stone wall. Their only way out was the way they had just come through, and Katie thought that would not be the best idea.
“I don’t see a way out,” said Katie. “This city is entirely surrounded by that wall.”
“Then what do we do?” Tyson asked.
“I think we need to check inside the buildings,” said Katie. “I can’t tell you why, it’s just a feeling I have.”
Tyson nodded with his arms folded over his chest. “Which building should we try first? We’ve only got five hours.”
“Yeah, I know,” said Katie. She walked around slowly, Tyson and Koran behind her, though she never left the cobbled street. She contemplated entering a few of the buildings, but after some thought shrugged to herself like I didn’t matter which and led them to the closest one.
The building had no door to it, rather just a large rectangular opening for anyone to walk in. Inside was considerably darker than outside, as there were no lights. Koran looked around a bit before saying, “It’s empty,” and they walked back out.
Katie promptly walked into the next building. This one had a similar design to it; rectangular, but instead of a hole, this one had an oak door. When she pushed it open, the door fell to the floor and crashed, ripping apart the eerie silence that permeated the city.
When the noise and its echoes faded, they search the building, and they found this one to be similarly empty like the last.
Then they went to the next building. And the next. They searched building after building for anything that the city inhabitants may have hidden as a clue but found nothing. The only things they found were the occasional dusty furniture pieces, such as old tables or rickety chairs. Sometimes they found the odd clock, moth-eaten curtains, or rugs made from ivy.
An hour later and they heard the ringing of the bell and the number four appeared. Katie felt exhausted. Her feet both ached and felt numb. But what wore her out most was the fact that they still hadn’t found anything. Even if they didn’t know what they were looking for.
They talked about the warning just outside the gates of the city. They figured that they were supposed to find what the city folk had hidden but were not supposed to take it.
They were standing out on the street again. Katie looked around. They hadn’t even covered half the city yet and their time was running short. They also didn’t know if there was another puzzle to figure out once they did find what they were supposed to find.
“We need a different tactic,” said Koran, glancing around and rubbing his forehead. “We won’t get anywhere if we keep searching like this.”
“Should we split up?” Tyson asked. “You know, cover more ground?”
“No,” said Katie. “While that would help, it would be more dangerous. We’re sticking together.”
Tyson didn’t seem to have an issue with this.
“Let’s check out the less plain buildings,” said Katie. “It’s probably the first thing we should have done.”
“Like which?” Tyson asked.
Katie looked around. “That one,” she said, pointing on a cylinder-shaped building that was only three stories tall. It was like a small tower.
“Sure,” Tyson said, and they headed towers the building. It took them some minutes to reach it as it was farther away than the main part of the city that they had been searching in. Koran entered it first. They climbed up a spiral staircase until they reached the top. There was a diamond-shaped window that overlooked the city with an obscured view as it was part of a building that wasn’t the tallest.
There was nothing inside, so they walked back down the stairs and back outside. Koran found a building that was made of pure white stone. It was only two floors high but stood taller than most buildings. When they entered, Katie could feel that there was something different about this building. The walls were lined with small, faintly glowing stones that looked like each one contained fire.
“This could
