Ancient Temple (2)

"I think we should leave right away."

"And miss out on the treasure vault that's probably right through that archway? Lyra, where is the adventurer within you?"

Finn pressed, pointing past the symbol. "Lyra, think about it! A place this old, this well-hidden... the treasures inside must be legendary! Are we really going to let some spooky old drawings scare us away from a life-changing fortune?"

Brom and Lyra hesitated. The lure of treasure was strong. Finn saw their wavering resolve and pushed his advantage. "One last room. That's all I ask. We peek inside that archway, and if there's nothing but dust, we turn back. I promise."

Lyra looked at Brom, who, despite his skepticism, couldn't deny the logic of Finn's appeal to their greed. With a frustrated sigh, she nodded.

"One last room."

"Yay! I knew you were the best."

---------------

Lyra cautiously led the way, her enchanted arrow lighting the path. Brom followed, axe at the ready, with Leon right behind him. Finn brought up the rear, his face a mask of barely contained excitement. They stepped through the archway marked with the symbol of Al-Melios.

The room they entered was different. The air was thick with a strange energy. In the center stood a massive, black sarcophagus covered in glowing runes that pulsed with a soft light. On the sarcophagus was a huge symbol, the symbol of Al-Melios the demon.

"By the spirits..." Lyra whispered, her face pale. "Sealing runes. So many of them... I've only seen these in books. This isn't a tomb." Her eyes widened in horror. "It's a prison. We're in the place where they sealed the demon."

As soon as she spoke, a deafening BOOM echoed behind them. The heavy stone door slammed shut, trapping them inside. The only light came from Lyra's arrow and the pulsing runes on the tomb.

"What was that?" Brom roared, spinning around. "Finn, you idiot! Your 'treasure vault' was a trap!"

"I... I didn't know!" Finn stammered, feigning fear. "I swear!"

Brom took a step back from the sarcophagus. "Then we don't touch anything. We find another way out. Now."

"It's too late for that," Finn said.

His voice was different now. The nervous excitement was gone, replaced by a chilling calm as he stepped forward with a strange smile.

"Finn, what are you doing?" Lyra demanded, aiming her bow at him. "Get back!"

"Oh, Lyra," he said. "You are so smart, so cautious. You almost figured it out." He reached into his pouch and pulled out a small, iridescent pearl that shimmered with a sickly green light. "Almost."

Before anyone could react, he smashed the pearl on the stone floor.

It shattered silently, releasing a thick, black gas that spread quickly across the floor.

"Hold your breath!" Brom yelled, but it was useless.

When the gas touched them, Lyra gasped as the light from her arrow sputtered and died. The runes on the sarcophagus were now the only source of light.

"My... my mana," Lyra choked out, her voice filled with panic. "I can't feel it! It's gone!"

"Mine too," Brom growled, his voice tight with fear. He relied on mana to use his heavy armor and axe effectively. Now, he felt sluggish and weak.

"What did you do, you bastard?!" Lyra screamed at Finn, who stood calmly in the middle of the black mist, unaffected.

"This?" Finn said, gesturing to the gas. "A little concoction I call 'Mana-Bane'. It doesn't harm the body, but it completely severs your connection to mana. And without mana..." He smiled, a terrifying, ecstatic smile. "These powerful seals are just pretty drawings on a box."

As he spoke, the glowing runes on the sarcophagus began to flicker and die.

"You... you were a cultist all along," Lyra breathed, the pieces finally clicking into place. "The mission, the treasure... it was all a lie."

"Of course," Finn said, walking towards the now-darkening tomb. "My family has served the Devouring Prince for generations. I was the one who posted the mission. I needed three strong souls to serve as the catalyst for his return. You are the final offering."

He placed his hands on the heavy lid and began to push. Dark tendrils of shadow shot from the gap and wrapped around his arms. His skin sizzled, but his face was filled with ecstasy.

"Do you see?" he screamed as his body started to dissolve. "It is my glorious destiny! My life for the Master!"

As the shadows consumed him, his triumphant laughter echoed through the chamber. "Welcome... the Devouring Prince! Welcome, Lord Al-Melios!"

The heavy lid of the sarcophagus slid open with a deep groan, and from the absolute darkness within, a power ancient, hungry, and utterly malevolent began to stir.

A formless shadow began to pour from the open sarcophagus, spilling onto the stone floor like thick, black ink. It didn't have a solid shape, but writhed and pulsed, a mass of shifting darkness and countless, silently screaming mouths that opened and closed within its void-like body. A chorus of discordant whispers echoed through the chamber, a sound that scraped directly against the soul.

"Finally," the voices whispered as one, a sound of ancient, ravenous hunger. "Free..."

"Leon, what is that thing?" Kira shrieked in his mind, her spiritual form flickering violently. "It feels... so cold! So hungry!"

"Get back!" Lyra yelled, instinctively drawing her bow, even though she knew her arrows were just mundane shafts of wood and metal without her mana. "Brom, get ready!"

The warrior stood his ground, his knuckles white around his axe handle. "What do we even hit?" he growled, sweat beading on his brow. The Mana-Bane gas had left him feeling weak and sluggish, his heavy armor now a burden rather than a defense.

He roared and charged, swinging his axe with all his might. The massive blade passed through the shadowy form with no resistance, as if cutting through smoke. The demon didn't even seem to notice.

The shadowy mass ignored the two struggling adventurers entirely. Its countless, silent mouths all turned, its collective gaze fixing directly on Leon. The whispers in the air grew louder, more excited.

"Ahhh... what have we here?"