The cramped, damp tunnel pressed in on all sides while Nekari squirmed deeper. She ignored the grit and cool mud seeping through her light clothing, her sharp senses straining ahead, the rope a faint tug around her waist.
The thrill of easy victories earlier had ignited something within her – a burning greed, a longing for wealth beyond their meager adventurer's bounty. Images of glittering coins and sparkling jewels danced in her mind, pushing out reason and caution.
"Just one decent score," she whispered to herself, the sound swallowed by the heavy silence.
"Something worth all this crawling… enough to never have to risk my neck in a damp hole again."
Minutes felt like hours in the suffocating dark. She inched forward, navigating by touch as much as sight, her sensitive whiskers twitching at the stale, mineral-scented air. Then, the confined walls widened. The tunnel spat her out into a small, roughly hewn chamber. Nekari stumbled to her feet, stretching with relief as the claustrophobic pressure eased.
"Huff!" she panted, brushing grime from her face and tail. "Made it! Not too bad."
Dust motes danced in the thin beam of light streamed in through the hole behind her, illuminating the chamber dimly. It wasn't large, maybe ten meter across. Cobwebs thick like curtains draped the corners. Sitting against one wall was an open, empty wooden chest.
"…Hah! Of course," Nekari hissed in disdain. She stalked over, kicking aside loose stones and rat bones, her initial hope withering when she saw the dust and spiderwebs inside the chest, clinging to the empty interior like a shroud.
She slammed the lid shut with a disgusted sneeze.
"Nothing! Not a copper piece! I came all this way for an empty box! This whole damn place has been picked clean!" Frustration and disappointment warred in her chest, making her fur stand on end. She paced the small room, her claws clicking on the stone floor, her cat ears twitching downwards.
"Let's see what lies deeper," Nekari muttered, the lure of potential riches overriding her initial disappointment. She padded softly across the dusty floor towards the only exit from the chamber – a broad, arching corridor sloped downwards. The air grew colder and staler as she descended, the rough walls unadorned by markings or traps as far as her sharp eyes could discern.
After several meters, the passageway abruptly ended. Before her rose a pair of colossal double doors, carved from a single slab of obsidian-black stone, veined with gold that gleamed faintly even in the near-darkness. Towering upwards, they dwarfed the lithe catgirl, radiating an ancient power and oppressive weight.
No scuff marks, no scratches, no disturbed dust lined their seam or base. They appeared utterly pristine.
"Unopened," Nekari breathed, a gleam sparking in her eyes, a wide smile spread across her feline features, her earlier frustration vanishing like mist.
"A secret room! Untouched! That means… treasures!" Her heart thumped faster. But the momentary euphoria faded quickly as the obvious problem hit her: "But how to open it?"
She traced a hand over the cool, smooth surface, finding no visible handle or keyhole. The seam between the doors was razor-thin, unyielding when she tried to pry.
Frustration building, she stepped back, scanning the area around the door frame. On the right side of the door, pressed flush against the wall, stood a life-sized statue carved from the same obsidian stone. It depicted a nude human woman with perfect, unnervingly realistic detail, down to the individual strands of hair flowing over her shoulders and the subtle curves of her form.
The statue stood slightly leaning against the wall, her legs parted suggestively, both hands pressed firmly against the stone behind her. Her expression was serene, eyes closed, but the posture radiated a sense of… waiting tension.
Nekari's gaze swept across the chamber again, ignoring the statue's unsettling allure. Directly opposite the statue, she noticed faint impressions on the dusty floor – two circular depressions, perfectly spaced to match human feet. Looking upwards from those marks, another two hand-shaped indentations carved into the stone wall at shoulder height.
Her tail twitched thoughtfully. "A mechanism?" stepping over to examine the floor marks more closely.
"Someone has to stand here… like this?" She gingerly placed one boot on the first circle, then the other. It fit perfectly.
She turned to face the wall behind the statue, raising her arms until her palms aligned with the carved hand-prints. The stone felt oddly warm against her skin. She leaned in slightly, mimicking the statue's stance against the wall across the chamber.
Nothing happened.
The obsidian doors remained stubbornly shut. Nekari sighed, shoulders sagging. "Maybe Rolfe could muscle his way through, but not me…"
A devious spark flared in her mind. "Or…" she whispered, a sly smile curling her lips, her eyes turned to the nude statue once more.
"The statue's naked… maybe…?" Excitement battled with hesitation, her ears perking up attentively. Nekari scanned the empty chamber again, no sounds nor movement save for her own heartbeat.
She was deep underground, miles from the surface, alone with this ancient puzzle.
"All or nothing," she decided, the prospect of untold wealth overwhelming her caution. "I'm alone here and the others won't know."
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