Chapter 40: Chapter 40: The Lion’s Maw

"They appear to be catching up," Nikola stated.

"Let's get moving," Luke decided, and the group of five began to proceed hastily down the next hall, before any of the other parties could appear in the wolfy room.

A staircase that swooped up and to the left was waiting at the end of the hall, and they took the steps two at a time, eager to stay ahead of the crowd. Phoenix took up the rear and pointed his bow downward, one eye narrowed in a focused stare. He lagged slightly behind the others.

The stairs stopped one floor up. When they made it to the next platform, Nikola - who was in the front, the fastest among them - looked left and right. The room that greeted her was a foyer, with three branching paths. There were no distinguishing traits between the three of them. To her, that meant that there had to be some other way to tell which was the 'right' one.

"Phoenix, shoot an arrow down each of the paths," Nikola urged just as he joined the rest of them in the new area.

"Right," he replied, and shot the arrow he already had loaded down the middle path. It whistled at it traveled through the air and as soon as it got to the midpoint of its trajectory, something shifted with a 'click'. As the arrow sunk into the wall, the floor opened up, the carpet that was drawn down the middle of it falling into the chasm. Peculiarly, it stayed taut like a flimsy bridge, hanging steadily over the open space.

"That one is an option, but I would be quite alright with something easier." Phoenix put another arrow into place, and loosed it down the left hallway. In short order, the paintings lining the wall burst upward and jets of flame scorched the bolt before it could hit its mark.

"Nope," Luke decided with a shake of his head, "next."

The final arrow sailed to its destination just as the pictures returned innocently to their places. The first trap had also reset, the carpet sitting flush on top of the seam that had opened. In the case of the right hall, nothing special happened and the arrowhead wedged cleanly into the little table sitting at the end.

"Right is right," rumbled Giga.

After some exploratory tiptoeing on Nikola's part, the pack of players all moved on to the small furnishing, at which point wall slid down from the ceiling and closed off the path they had chosen, joining cleanly with the floor.

Nikola's shoulders tensed but relaxed when she shifted her perspective on the matter of them being trapped; perhaps this was a reward for the ones furthest ahead? No projectiles began to fire at them, even when they took out their weapons and began to shimmy around, testing the waters.

"Perhaps this is a way to keep those ahead, ahead. Let us not lose our lead," Nikola communicated to those around her, and no one disagreed.

They proceeded with caution down the only available path; a curved hallway that trended upward as they went. It curled into a spiral, leading them up and up, until they reached a large, ornate door. A lion's head stuck out of it, its mouth open and lined with rows and rows of silver teeth - far beyond the natural amount.

The one who had joined them most recently put her hand up.

After a few beats of silence, Gold quirked an eyebrow in her direction. "Yes?"

"U-uh, right. There's a magical aura c-coming from the lion's head. Also, who do I pay and how? We never really-- figured that out." She ended her sentence with a small, shameful bow, her lime-coloured eyes focusing on the floor, her hair tumbling into her face.

Phoenix stepped closer to her. "Let us go work out the details while the others examine this new obstacle. Do not worry; I will put the coins in our shared inventory," he said the second bit in Luke's direction, who flashed a thumbs up in response.

The two of them stepped away briefly, Phoenix leading the mage girl away with his arm poised lightly around her shoulders.

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"So it's magical," Luke started, "but how?"

Nikola's eyes scanned the room for anything else that could be of interest, but it was just the door, thick and heavy. She tried knocking on it, but it was so dense and sturdy her knocks barely made any noise. The lion head continued to stare ahead, its vacant, stony eyes staring at nothing.

"Well, the only thing special about it is its many sets of teeth. Let's try feeding it." Luke pulled out a stick of jerky and placed it in the lion's maw. It crunched down on the offering once, and then twice, but ultimately seemed unfulfilled. It stopped trying to consume the jerky after the third try.

"What do lions eat in their natural habitat?"

"Meat," Luke responded with a mild frustration in his tone, "which is why I tried to feed it meat. I guess it did get us some information - the lion's hungry. But for what?"

"Try something else."

Gold brandished a carrot from seemingly nowhere, and held it cautiously in its jaws. It sniffed with its grand nose, but didn't even bite down on the vegetable. Gold shrugged and took a bite off the end himself.

"It is willing to try meat, but does not desire vegetables. Perhaps what it wants is fresh meat, with blood still running through its veins." Nikola's tongue flitted out to wet her lip.

"I will be the first to volunteer to not stick my hand in the lion's mouth," Phoenix chimed in from off to the side.

Suddenly remembering the existence of the mage, Nikola padded silently over to the pair that seemed to have finished talking payment. They were just finishing up an exchange when Nikola piped up.

"What is your level?"

"Oh, it's 5. I'm a level 5 mage." She tucked her silky hair behind an ear, revealing her elven heritage.

"Given the state of the rest of your party, I doubt you are planning to return to them. As we have an open spot in our party, do you wish to join?"

Shock fell over her face, a pinkness rising to her cheeks. "Really? You would have me on your team?"

"Your options are limited, given that the wall sealed behind us," Nikola stated frankly. "But there is one catch."

"Oh? W-what is it?" She blinked two glittering green eyes, tilting her head to one side.

"I wish for you to stick your hand in the mouth of the lion you said was magical."

Her hair slid out from behind her ear as her shoulders clenched in horror. "W-what?!"

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