Crownsmith Chronicles

"Do you think it's here?" Benj asked, looking around the cave. It was located behind a statue that resembled the bird on Lucia's map. The bird, if that's what it was, did not look like one they had seen before. It had a triangular head that went down to a long triangular beak held to the middle of its chest. Its wings made him think it wasn't a flying bird. They were round and stumpy. Sure, the statue was old, but for something with so much detail put into the nostrils of a beak, there wasn't any sign of feathers.

"This is it," Lucia stated, having no doubts. The cave was about the size of a house, with an opening about the size of a door. Tall grass and weeds from thousands of years without gardening nearly blocked the entire entrance. The inside of the cave was a letdown. It was just tall and big enough for Benj and Lucia to stand in and look around disappointed together. There was nothing in there.

"Well, that was fun," Lucia said flatly. "Time to head back?"

"We just got here. Maybe we should look around a little more before giving up?" Benj tried convincing her. "Can you touch some things and see if there's buried treasure or something?"

Lucia adopted a thoughtful expression and looked around for something to touch. She wanted to find a chisel mark or anything that looked like it was made by human hands. Otherwise, she would see the history of a rock, which was decidedly uninteresting and unhelpful. As she looked around, she thought of the statue up front. She nearly cussed for not thinking about it earlier.

She exited the cave and walked through thick grass and weeds to get to the statue. She pressed her hands onto the bird's head and looked around. The sky slowly rotated into a comfortable spot before stopping. From where she stood, she saw that the tall grass and trees used to be perfectly manicured gardens, and in the center of the cave, she saw a living space with furniture and clotheslines. What caught her attention was a second cave opening across the cooking fire. Inside the stone was a perfectly carved passageway with art surrounding a door. She watched for longer, but nothing happened, so she looked back into her current time.

"I found it!" Lucia called as she walked towards a wall of stone. "Right here," she placed her finger where the door used to be. Looking closer, she could tell the rock was shaped a little differently, but it would have been impossible to tell if she hadn't known what she was looking for.

"This might sound weird, but we need to carve a path through this stone."

"You want to carve a hole through this rock?" Benj asked blandly. "How?"

"It used to be a doorway. Whatever is blocking this might not be that thick. Anyway, it's hollow underneath." She slapped the stone with her hand, making a deep thud.

Benj stood once more, staring at a problem that required a creative solution. He pulled out his dagger and tapped it against the stone wall. It was not soft. Not wanting to damage his silver dagger, he sheathed it and looked around. If he could find flint, he might be able to chisel away at the wall. A lot of people didn't realize that when you start a fire with flint, it's actually the steel that breaks off and creates the spark, not the flint itself. Since it was stronger than steel, it could definitely work to break down any lesser-quality stone. However, if he had a large enough rock, he could just throw it at the wall.

Benj snapped his fingers. "Let's throw rocks at it."

Lucia looked and spotted a large rock. After failing to lift it, she picked up a smaller one and threw it at the wall. By the sound it made, it was definitely hollow. Benj had a massive boulder over his head, and he got a running start and threw it. A crack appeared as small as a fingernail, but it was enough to kindle the fire of hope inside each of them. They renewed their efforts, throwing rock after rock at the cracked spot until the crack grew large enough to crumble. They spent more time attempting to widen the hole, but soon, it was big enough for each of them to crawl through.

The scent of rock dust mingled with the stale air and something more sinister. The dark room, barely lit by an opening, expanded into a larger area. Both Benj and Lucia envisioned all the possible treasures they might discover after they finished adjusting their eyesight to the dim surroundings.

They sat in silence, inhaling the blend of stale air and the fresh air coming in through the hole they had made. A table in the middle of the room slowly came into view, along with other objects. They were hesitant to light a fire, fearing that it would create too much smoke, making the air difficult to breathe. Considering the way the air smelled, and how stagnant it was, ventilation was unlikely.

Benj stood and walked to the table first. In the center of it was a glass vase holding something he couldn't decipher just by looking at it. He reached his hand forward and took out three glass balls.

"I think I found something," Benj said in a low and raspy voice. "That's weird. What's wrong with my voice?"

Lucia screamed out of surprise and then, without moving, said with a shaky voice, "Don't scare me like that. For a second, I thought we had opened a gateway to the underworld."

"Sorry," he croaked with a voice that seemed unfamiliar, even to him. "There's something wrong with my voice. I think it's these balls I'm holding."

"What is the first thing I ever said to you?" Lucia asked, testing to see if it was actually Benj talking to her. It was dark and they did just crawl into an unknown chamber.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"How am I supposed to know? You tried ripping me off," Benj replied, realizing that he should probably put the glass balls away. He placed them into his pocket and tried speaking again. "What was the first thing you said to me?" he asked in his old familiar voice. He was excited to explore the voice-changing runes later but didn't want to scare Lucia. They were in a dark, damp cave, and she was a little on edge.

"I don't know. I just couldn't think of how to test if it was really you," she said, audibly relieved. Your voice is back. What happened?"

"I'll show you when we get out to the light. I'm interested in seeing for myself, too, but it's pretty dark in here," Benj said, beginning to search for more treasures.

"I think I see something," Lucia said, sounding unsure. "I just looked at this room from the viewpoint of a long time ago, and I think there's a hidden cabinet here. I just don't know how to open it."

Benj was in the middle of asking, "Should I get some rocks to throw at it?" when he heard a soft clicking sound.

"I found it," she said, opening a false panel on the wall. "There's something inside!"

Having been in the darkness for so long, their eyes had become completely acclimated to the dark. Benj could make out Lucia pulling a box from an opening in the wall, and he could also make out a perfectly square rock. He thought it was a box before he picked it up and felt its stony texture and weight.

By the time Lucia was ready to leave, Benj was bored. All he had been able to find was the voice-changing balls and the square rock, and the longer he sat in the room, the more stuffy it seemed to feel. Needless to say, he was the first one out.

"Did you find anything cool?" Lucia asked, sliding out into the sunlight.

Benj held up his square rock for her inspection. She nodded slowly, unsure how to compliment him on his brick. After she felt like she had inspected the rock long enough, she pulled out what she found hidden in the secret enclosure. It could have also passed as a square rock. It was a grey and red rectangular box that looked like whatever it had been before had petrified.

She shook the box, and it rattled. "I think I can get it open. Quick, give me your knife."

Benj frowned and instinctively placed his hand over the hilt, protecting it. He asked, "What's wrong with your knife?"

"How many times do we have to go over this?" Lucia asked, exasperated. "My knife is too nice to use."

"Then why bring it?" Benj began asking but then got a better idea. "How about you just hit it with a rock?"

When Lucia started eyeing his square rock, he put a protective had over it too. "How do you know this thing isn't special? I mean, it is perfectly square, and it was in the hidden cave. Also, how many rocks have you seen are this perfectly square?"

"Can you see anything written on it?" Lucia asked, standing up and walking towards one of the rocks they used to open the false wall.

Benj leaned in and looked closely at it. There didn't appear to be anything inscribed on it. Still, he felt that it should at least be used to stack other rocks on top of it or something. He placed it near the bird statue and did just that, balancing three other rocks on top of it. It wasn't much, but satisfied his desire to do something with it.

When he was finished, Lucia was still throwing rocks at her crusty box, trying to open it. Benj reached inside his pocket and took out the three glass balls. He nearly dropped them when his hands appeared old and wrinkly. It had been too dark to notice before.

"Lucia, look at my hands!" he yelled in his old and croaky voice.

Upon seeing him, Lucia paused with a stone held over her head. She looked at him with a mixture of surprise and fear. So, Benj placed the glass balls back in his pocket and held up his hands soothingly. "It's just me; I think these balls change my appearance," he said, his voice restored to normal.

"Let me see," she said, all apprehension replaced with excitement. "I knew I was forgetting something! You had me going in there with the voice change in the dark! I thought you were doing that voice on purpose. This is even scarier. I almost threw that rock at you."

Benj reached into his pocket and pulled out the balls. He gave her one of them to inspect, her hair instantly turned grey.

"Hey! Your hair is back to normal!" Lucia said, taking a lock of her own hair and pulling it to where she could see it. "This ball turns your hair grey! Give me another one."

Benj gave her another one, and she just held it as they both waited for something to happen.

"What does this one do?" She asked with the grave voice of an old woman. "My voice! I sound like an old person! Stay out of my shop, young woman. Don't make me tell you again! This is so cool!"

"That would mean this next one is what gives you the wrinkles," Benj said with a normal voice as he handed her the third and final glass ball.

Lucia instantly grew wrinkly and a little bit pale. She immediately hunched over, pretending to have a shake to her walk, and pretending to be as old as she appeared.

"Can I borrow your knife, young man?" She asked, reaching slowly towards his belt. "You wouldn't make an old lady use her nice one to open the box, would you? I'm sure there's some sweets in there if you help me."

Benj was enjoying himself too much to say no. He reached down to his knife, still laughing, and gave it to her. "Just take it," he said, enjoying the entertainment.

"Why thank you, young man. Am I blushing? It's so hard to tell anymore. It's been at least fifty years," she continued before finally giving Benj back the glass relics.

Not wanting them to fall out of his pocket and realizing that he didn't have anywhere else to put them after the troll incident, he asked if he could use her pack. After tucking them away safely, he heard a snapping sound followed by a celebratory yelp.

"I got it!" Lucia exclaimed, looking at the contents of the box. Inside lay a coin, several scraps of metal, and a bronze bracelet. The bracelet, somehow completely untouched by the corrosion of time, almost glimmered in the sunlight. It was two halves connected by a joint on one side and a clasp that locked together on the other. Lucia put it on her wrist and snapped it in place.

"Isn't this pretty?" She said, holding her hand in the air to display the bracelet. "I might need to clean it up a little," she yawned and sat down on the ground. "Treasure hunting really took a lot out of me. I'm getting sleepy."

"What else is in the box?" Benj asked, moving towards her.

Lucia didn't respond; instead, she opted to lie down on the gravel and close her eyes. Benj didn't blame her. It had been a long day, and he didn't think taking a nap was such a bad idea. Only what Lucia said next put his sense of danger on high alert.

"It's cold."

Benj looked at her critically. She lay on the ground, curled up into a ball, and shivered. It was not cold, not in the least.

"Lucia, are you okay?" He asked, but she didn't open her eyes or respond.

That wasn't right. Benj walked over to her and saw the bracelet. He wondered if it had negative effects somehow. He would have to risk touching it to take it off her. Rotating the bracelet, there didn't seem to be any visible way to disconnect it. Her skin was cold on his hand. He began to panic, twisting and turning it around, trying to unsnap it. He tried pulling it free, but it remained stuck.

The more Benj tried to pry the bracelet off, the more tired he began to feel. Ice-cold fear kept him alert as his eyes began closing. There was no use. His fingers were almost numb, and he couldn't break Lucia free from the cursed band. He let go of it, but it was too late. No amount of pinching his leg or slapping his cheeks was able to keep him alert. So, in one last attempt to protect Lucia from the cursed bracelet, he took his magic nullification ring out of his pocket, slid it on her finger, and drifted off to sleep.