“Huh,” I blurted out. Maybe this would be my end, after all.
Seconds later, I heard a loud crunch as the massive boulder took out Skeletor and a familiar whoosh as the fast-moving hunk of stone rolled right on top of me, yet somehow missing me entirely.
My eyes went wide, and I stared all around me in shock, only to notice that the ground I’d fallen on happened to be that two foot deep impression I’d seen on the way in.
“Blind, stupid luck, indeed,” I muttered. Told you it was a thing, kiddies.
But my respite didn’t last long. I heard a rumbling again as the boulder shifted and came rolling back in my direction.
I shot up, pushing myself up to my knees, all the while wondering how this boulder trap was even possible, then remembered that steep incline I’d come down on the way in. My mind marveled at the overall construction of the place, built perfectly to house this one wicked trap and keep the family’s treasures safe.
‘Twas a bit overkill, really. It kinda ticked me off.
I watched as the boulder came rushing backward in my direction, and I stumbled back, crawling away from it on my hands and knees as I tried to right myself and head back toward that recess in the wall I’d taken refuge in earlier.
Fortunately, I didn’t need to go that far. The boulder creaked and rumbled, coming to a stop in that same depression I’d just been in. I could see the tiniest hint of a bone stuck to the side of it and smiled a bit at that.
Skeletor had been a fine combatant. It was nice to see his end had been equally spectacular.
The ground beneath the boulder made a slight grating sound that I’d somehow missed on its earlier trip through the corridor, and the giant boulder started to descend into the earth. Soon enough, the boulder was gone, and the coast was clear.
I glanced down at the opening in the ground, which had failed to close itself completely this time. It was at this point that I noticed the constant hum of machinery had also stopped thrumming in my ears.
Shaking my head, I let out a long sigh of relief. Ancient machinery couldn’t hold a candle to the modern stuff, I guess.
But that still left how to make it over the gap. The door had only closed maybe half a foot, leaving a six foot or larger gap, and glancing downward, it wasn’t immediately obvious how deep the hole went.
There was nothing for it. I’d have to jump the gap.
I took a deep breath and backed up a few paces, staring down my latest obstacle.
“You can do this, Damian,” I told myself. I shook out my hands a few times and stared down the gap. “It’s just like track and field in high school.”
That’s right, I went to high school once in the late 1950s. Springfield Raptor pride forever and all that. I’d been looking for something new to do, but got bored and dropped out a few months later, though I still had a class ring for it somewhere.
I sheathed my katana, then took one more deep breath and sprinted forward, taking huge steps down the corridor. At the last moment I lunged, jumping high into the air in a majestic arc, limbs flailing and reaching for the ledge on the far side.
One hand found purchase on the lid of the indent, but the other landed on that stupid shield from before, which I ended up pulling into the hole. It clattered along the walls, spiraling downward into the darkness.
I felt my good hand slipping, so I reached upward with my other hand again, this time being more successful and finding solid stone to latch onto.
Then I pulled as hard as I could, forcing my body upward. It was like the greatest pull-up ever, and I was never that great at them to begin with, but I managed, and a few moments later I sprawled out on the solid ground, panting and trying to catch my breath.
I was safe at last from the massive trap that had been set to stop me. Somehow, I had persevered.
A few moments later, I got up and unbuckled Grax’thor from its scabbard, holding it in my hands again.
“Some cursed weapon you are,” I spat at it.
But it wasn’t really the weapon’s fault that I’d lived. I still had that stupid luck blessing of my own to contend with, and at best, this blade would only even the odds. Besides, I probably had to actually wield the thing for it to have any effect.
Shrugging, I fit the blade back onto my back and started walking forward. Somewhere in the earlier scuffle, I had dropped my light charm, and I could see it staring at me there on the other side of the chasm.
A shudder ran down my spine. No way I was going back for that thing now.
I left the light charm there and crept toward the opening up ahead of me, inching my way through the inky darkness all around me that got thicker and thicker, threatening to swallow me.
I felt a knot form in my gut and tried to force it down as the fear started to get to me.
Was it all in my head, or were the gravesites around me a little more menacing than they’d been earlier? One skeleton had already tried to attack me. It was only reasonable that there could be more.
I freaked out and stumbled forward, tripping on something in the low light and getting the wind knocked out of me again, but there it was before me, shining like a beacon - the entryway. It was only a few meters up ahead.
My hands scraped against the stone floor of the cavern and I pushed myself up again, then bolted, making a beeline for the
