By the time we reached Blackridge Hill, the sun was slipping behind the clouds, turning everything grey and quiet. The place looked harmless at first—just uneven ground, tall grass, and scattered rocks. Nothing unusual.
But that's what made it suspicious.
Living walked ahead, studying the map, when suddenly—
TWANG!
A thin wire snapped under his boot.
"Living, STOP!" I shouted.
But it was too late.
A hidden dispenser embedded in the hillside clicked, and an arrow shot out with a violent whistle. It zipped past Living's cheek—so close it sliced a thin line across his skin.
He froze, wide-eyed, barely breathing.
Palash grabbed him by the collar and yanked him back. "Dude, you almost got skewered!"
Clem crouched down instantly, examining the ground."They're everywhere," she whispered.
Now that we knew what to look for, the trap became clear. Thin tripwires nearly invisible in the grass. Pressure plates hidden under dirt. Dispenser holes disguised as cracks in stone.
Someone had built this place to kill.
Living swallowed hard. "If that arrow hit a little lower…"
Chakshu interrupted, pointing. "Guys, this wasn't made by raiders. This is old. Really old."
Clem brushed dirt aside to reveal a carved symbol beneath the wire—a swirling pattern we didn't recognize.
"Whoever put the keys here," she said, "they wanted to make sure nobody reached them."
A cold wind blew across the hill, rustling the grass. For a moment, none of us moved.
Then I stepped forward carefully. "We go slow. We check every inch!"
With nervous breaths and pounding hearts, we continued up the hill, every step deliberate, every sound making us flinch.
We moved slowly across Blackridge Hill, avoiding every wire and suspicious patch of dirt, until finally… we reached a flat stone platform carved into the ground. It was the only place untouched by traps.
In the center stood a squat stone pedestal covered in moss, with seven rotating rings carved around it—each ring etched with strange symbols. On top rested a cracked stone tablet.
Clem brushed away the dust. "Looks like… instructions?"
The tablet had a riddle scratched into it:
"Seven signs guard the hill of bone. Turn the world as it once was known. Match the sky, the earth, the tide—Only then may death subside."
Living groaned. "Why can't these people ever just use a keyhole?"
Chakshu knelt beside the pedestal. "No, this makes sense. The traps probably deactivate if we align these rings correctly. It's like a combination lock."
Palash looked around nervously. "Better hurry. I swear I heard footsteps behind us."
I studied the rings. Each one had symbols—sun, moon, waves, mountains, a tree, a spiral, and a star. Seven rings. Seven signs.
Clem pointed to the map we found in the chamber. "Look. These symbols… they match the doodles on the map corners."
We placed the map on the pedestal.
Each corner had a symbol next to a direction.
Sun – East
Moon – West
Mountains – North
Waves – South
Tree – Northeast
Star – Northwest
Spiral – Center
"Okay," I said. "Maybe we rotate the rings to face the right directions."
Chakshu grabbed the first ring and twisted—CLICK.
A faint vibration shook the ground.
Living grabbed the next—CLICK.
Palash turned the third ring—CLICK.
We all held our breath.
Clem adjusted the star symbol to the northwest—CLICK. A low rumble echoed beneath us.
All traps on the hillside suddenly went silent. The tension in the air disappeared like someone cut it loose.
"I think we did it…" Living whispered.
Then—A deep grinding noise came from underground.
Part of the hill split open, rocks sliding aside, revealing a staircase descending into darkness.
I stepped back. "The key's down there."
Clem tensed, gripping her weapon.
"And whatever else is guarding it."
We descended carefully into the underground chamber. The air grew colder with each step, the walls narrowing as if the hill itself was swallowing us whole. Our footsteps echoed through the stone corridor until it opened into a massive cavern.
At the center stood a pedestal glowing faintly with blue light.
And on it…the second key. Metallic, ancient, carved with the same seven-symbol pattern.
Clem whispered, "That's it… finally."
Living reached for it slowly.
The moment his fingers touched the key—A distant clatter echoed from above.
Then another.
And another.
Boots.
Lots of them.
"Guys…" Palash muttered, staring back up the stairway.
Before we could even move, silhouettes appeared at the top steps—torches lighting their faces. Ten, maybe twelve of them, blocking the only exit. All armed. All grinning like wolves.
A tall man with a scar across his jaw shouted, "Hand over the key! Now! And maybe we won't gut you in this hole."
We backed up instinctively until our backs hit the cavern wall. No side passage. No hidden exit. No cover.
No escape.
Clem raised her gun but her hands were shaking. "We're trapped…"
The group started descending, slow and confident.
I scanned the chamber desperately.
And then—I saw it.
A thin fissure in the floor. A swirling faint light beneath the stone. A crack… as if the cave had another level below us.
Dangerous. Unstable. Completely insane.
But it was the only option.
I whispered urgently, "Everyone… get ready."
Chakshu glanced at the ground. "Wait—don't tell me you're thinking—"
"Yes," I said. "Exactly that."
The rival group reached the last few steps.
I took a breath.
And jumped onto the fissure with all my weight.
CRACK. The floor split under us.
"Move!" I yelled.
We leaped backward just in time. The floor split open completely, and the stone in the center dropped like a trapdoor snapping off its hinges.
The rival gang didn't even understand what was happening until the ground under them vanished.
Their screams filled the cavern as they fell into the darkness below. Then—sharp cracks followed by wet thuds echoed up from the pit.
Dripstones. Long, sharp ones.
They had been waiting under the chamber like a deadly forest of stone knives.
Chakshu speechless. "Damn."
Clem looked away, her face tense. "At least they won't follow us anymore."
The chamber fell silent after the last echo faded into the pit. For a moment, none of us moved. The hole in the floor was wide, and the dripstones below looked deadly even from up here.
Living crouched at the edge and pointed. "The key… it's stuck on a rock. It didn't fall all the way down."
I leaned carefully to look. He was right. The silver key was hanging on a dripstone halfway down, caught on a small curve in the stone. If it had fallen an inch more, it would've gone straight down with the bodies.
Chakshu groaned. "Bro… why can nothing in our life be simple?"
Clem checked her bag. "We have rope. Not much, but enough."
Palash smirked a little. "Well, Magic, looks like today is your lucky day. You get to do something stupid again."
I rolled my eyes but grabbed the rope anyway. "Fine. But if I die, you're all haunting my funeral."
We tied the rope around my waist. Living double-checked the knot like ten times, which honestly made me even more nervous.
I lowered myself slowly, my feet pressing against the rough wall. The air grew colder as I went down. The dripstones below gleamed like teeth waiting to tear me apart.
The key was just a little out of reach.
I stretched my arm. Just a bit more. A bit more—
My fingers touched it, but it slipped.
I pressed my foot against another rock and leaned further. My hand shook, but I grabbed the key tightly before it could fall.
"Got it!" I shouted.
Above me, Chakshu yelled back, "Then hurry up before you fall and join the spike family!"
Everyone pulled me up fast — probably faster than needed — and I landed on the ground chest-first, gasping.
Palash picked up the key from my hand and wiped the dust off it. "One key saved. five more to go."
Clem smiled a little. "Nice work. Let's get out of here before more trouble shows up."
We left the chamber behind, but we still had five keys left to find. After leaving the broken chamber behind, we climbed out of the underground path and made our way back to the top of Blackridge Hill. Everyone was tired, bruised, and covered in dust, but we finally sat down on a flat rock to take a breath.
I opened the map we found in the hidden chamber. The old paper felt rough, but the markings were clear. All seven key locations were drawn like small circles, each with a symbol inside.
Palash pointed at the next closest one."This one… on the east side of the forest. It's not too far if we keep walking."
Chakshu rubbed his legs dramatically."Not too far? Bro, I feel like my legs are gonna walk away without me."
Living didn't say anything, but he was staring at the symbol of the next key—a small flame shape.
Clem crossed her arms."If the this key was protected by traps, the other one will be worse. We should be ready for anything."
I folded the map and stood up."Then we go now. The longer we wait, the more other teams will catch up."
Everyone nodded slowly, gathering their bags and whatever supplies we stole earlier.
The wind on top of the hill felt colder than before.Maybe it was the fear,Maybe it was the excitement,Maybe it was both...
We moved towards the path leading east, the map in my hand and the third key waiting somewhere out there in the shadows of the forest.