Defining Moment
“Finally we approach. The law of similarity guides us to the hoard.”
“Tell me again what I’m doing here?”
“Enough! Your prattling will disturb the crypt’s nameless guardians. Then
I shall wish I had selected a mighty warrior in your stead. You shall play your
part in due time.”
“Dude, I’m like, totally into the untold riches and other stuff you promised,
but I don’t do great in confined spaces, especially cold, wet, smelly ones. I
usually do my thing in my room, y’know? With my laptop.”
“Silence! We approach the inner sanctum. Remain in this place and make
nary a sound, for fear of your immortal soul.”
“Here? Stay here? You’re gonna leave the torch though, right?”
“Fool! I shall need its illumination if I am to gather the treasure of
the ages.”
“So I stay in the dark while you...?”
“Yes. Only a mage steeped in the mysteries for untold lives of men can survive
the fell snares of the mausoleum of Herega, called the Deathless.”
“OK... but... isn’t that name, like, inherently contradictory?
***
“Mandor? Dude? That you?”
“Peace my querulous companion. I have liberated the fabulous wealth of
empires. My labours were not in vain. Now you must earn your share.”
“You said you needed my skills when you hired me. I, like, don’t see
how they’ll help is all.”
“I asked, and all men agreed you were the greatest in your field. The
new Turing one called you. Correct?”
“Yeah but...”
“Then lead us out, lest we
perish in the labyrinth.”
“Lead us out?”
“Yes Boy. The paths shift constantly – Herega’s final trap. But it is
your calling – the study of these places.”
“Oh shit!”
“What ails you?”
“Mandor. Before you placed the advert, did you actually look up the
meaning of the word cryptologist?”
___
This was written for Tuesday Tales 54 over at Stevie McCoy's Glitterword
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