Knowledge Is Power: The Last Reader

The entrance slammed shut behind them with a sound like thunder.

Aria spun around, her heart racing, and stared at the massive stone door that had just sealed itself. The runes on its surface glowed briefly, then faded, leaving them in near-total darkness.

"Did that just—" she started.

"Close," Kelly finished, his voice flat. "Yes. It closed."

"That’s not good."

"No. It’s not."

Bunny’s cheerful demeanor had finally cracked. Her eyes were wide, her voice carried a note of genuine fear. "What do you mean it closed? It’s not supposed to close. It’s supposed to stay open. That’s the rule. The entrance is supposed to stay open."

"Not when there’s a Shiny," Kelly said. "Not when it wants to hunt."

Aria felt a cold knot form in her stomach. "Hunt?"

"The Shiny. It’s not just watching us. It’s been herding us. Guiding us. Making sure we followed the path it wanted us to follow." He paused, his voice grim. "And now we’re in its territory. Its hunting ground."

"Great," Kelme said, his voice carrying a note of dark amusement. "So It’s trapped with us."

"No," Kelly said. "That’s not how this works. It’s not trapped with us. We’re trapped with it. There’s a difference."

"Is there?"

"Yes. One implies we have the advantage. We don’t."

---

The chamber was vast, its walls covered in ancient murals that seemed to shift and move in the dim light. The air was cold and still, carrying the faint scent of dust and something else—something metallic.

"So," Aria said, her voice carrying a note of forced calm. "Why is it doing this? Why does it want to hunt us?"

Kelly sighed, running a hand through his thinning hair. "Monsters get more experience from killing humans. And it’s easier for them. We’re not as fast. Not as strong. We don’t have the natural defenses that other monsters do."

"So it needs prey."

"Exactly. And we’re the prey."

Kelme laughed—a loud, genuine laugh that echoed off the walls. "Well, hate to break it to her, but I am no prey. No lesser predator should dare hunt me. I am what turns lesser predators into prey."

He struck a dramatic pose, his chin lifted, his eyes blazing with confidence.

Aria and Bunny clapped, their applause echoing in the vast chamber.

"That was beautiful," Bunny said.

"Very dramatic," Aria agreed.

"Truly inspiring," Bunny added.

Kelly didn’t clap. His expression remained flat, unimpressed. "You’ll probably die first."

Kelme’s confidence faltered. "What?"

"I doubt your charm will work on her. Smart creatures are harder to charm. And Shinies are very smart. They have human intelligence, human malice, human cunning. Your charm won’t even register."

Kelme’s face went pale. "That’s... that’s not..."

"So stop the drama and start thinking."

Kelme looked at him, his expression shifting through several stages of realization. Then, slowly, he nodded.

"Yeah," he said, his voice carrying a note of reluctant acceptance. "You’re probably right."

He laughed, a short, self-deprecating sound.

Aria hit him with a rock.

"OW!" He rubbed his head, staring at her with a mixture of shock and indignation. "What was that for?!"

"You lost your aura way too fast," she said. "One second you’re confident, the next you’re a mess. I had to do something."

"So you hit me with a rock?!"

"It was the only thing within reach."

"You could have just—I don’t know—said something encouraging!"

"That wouldn’t have been as effective."

"It wouldn’t have hurt as much!"

"Exactly. The pain helps you focus."

---

Kelly was already moving, his eyes scanning the walls, the floor, the ceiling. "We need to find a way out. There’s always a way out. The Shiny has a lair—a secret room it’s marked as its own. That’s where it will be strongest. We need to avoid that room at all costs."

"How do we know where it is?" Aria asked.

"You’ll know. It’ll be obvious. Shinies like to mark their territory. There’ll be symbols, markings, maybe even—"

He stopped. They had entered a new chamber, and the walls were covered in symbols. Strange, twisting symbols that seemed to writhe in the dim light.

"Those are the markings," Kelly said, his voice grim. "We’re close to its lair."

"Great," Aria said. "So we go the other way."

"Too late," Bunny said, her voice carrying a note of dread. "Look."

They turned. The entrance behind them had closed, sealed by a wall of solid stone.

"We’re trapped," Kelme said.

"No," Kelly said. "We’re not trapped. We’re being herded. It wants us to go forward."

"Into its lair."

"Yes."

"So we’re walking into a trap."

"Essentially."

"Great. Wonderful. Fantastic."

---

They walked forward, their footsteps echoing in the silence. The symbols on the walls grew more frequent, more elaborate, seeming to pulse with a faint, malevolent light.

"This is creepy," Aria whispered.

"That’s the point," Kelly said. "It wants us to be scared. Fear makes you sloppy. Fear makes you make mistakes."

"I’m not scared," Kelme said. "I’m just... concerned."

"Concerned is just a fancy word for scared."

"It’s not. Concern is rational. Fear is emotional. There’s a difference."

"Is there?"

"Yes. Concern involves planning. Fear involves panic. I’m planning."

"You’re trembling."

"That’s adrenaline. Adrenaline is different from fear."

"Is it?"

"Yes. Adrenaline is a physical response. Fear is a psychological one. There’s a difference."

"You’re scared."

"Fine. I’m scared. Happy?"

"Extremely."

---

They reached the end of the corridor, and the chamber opened up before them.

It was vast, its walls covered in the same twisting symbols. In the center, there was a pedestal. And on the pedestal, there was a chest.

A beautiful chest. An ornate chest. A chest that seemed to glow with an inner light.

"Don’t," Kelly said.

"I know."

"I mean it."

"I know."

"Don’t even think about it."

"I’m not thinking about it."

"You’re thinking about it. I can see it on your face."

"I’m not."

"Was too."

The chest lunged.

"OH COME ON!" Aria screamed, blasting it with light.

The chest exploded, revealing a small, golden key. The same key they’d found earlier. The key to the Shiny’s lair.

"We already have one of those," Aria said.

"This one’s different," Kelly said, picking it up. "This one opens the lair."

"Great. So we have a key to the place we don’t want to go."

"Essentially."

"Wonderful. Fantastic. I love this tomb."

---

They found the lair’s entrance at the end of another corridor. It was a massive stone door, covered in runes and symbols, with a single keyhole in its center.

Kelly inserted the key, and the door swung open.

"Oh," Kelly said, his voice carrying a note of surprise. "Oh, that’s not good."

"What?" Aria asked, pushing forward. "What’s not good?"

She looked inside the lair, and her blood ran cold.

The room was filled with treasure. Gold, jewels, artifacts, everything an adventurer could ever want. And in the center, sitting on a throne made of bones, was the Shiny.

It looked like the woman from before—the one in the tattered clothes—but different. More real. More solid. More hungry.

"Welcome," it said, its voice smooth and inviting. "I’ve been waiting for you."

Aria felt her hand drift toward the key in her pocket.

"Don’t," Kelly said.

"I wasn’t going to—"

"You were. I could see it."

"I was just checking."

"You were checking like someone who was about to open a door."

"I was not."

"Was too."

The Shiny laughed, a sound like breaking glass. "You’re all so predictable. So easy to manipulate. You see treasure, and you forget everything else."

"Shut up," Aria said, stepping forward. "We’re not afraid of you."

"Yes, you are. I can smell it. The fear, the doubt, the desperate hope that you might survive. It’s delicious."

The Shiny’s voice slithered through the chamber like honey laced with poison. It sat on its throne of bones, its form shifting between the tattered woman and something else—something ancient and hungry and utterly inhuman.

"Yes," it purred, its eyes gleaming with malicious delight. "It’s one of the mimic race traits. We get stronger from other people’s emotions. The blessing of the heart, and all those emotions you’re feeling? I love it."

Aria felt her stomach drop. She’d been feeding this thing. They all had. Every moment of fear, every flash of greed, every desperate hope had been fuel for the monster sitting before them.

"Now," the Shiny continued, its voice carrying a note of mock thoughtfulness. "Which one of you wants to die first?"

It looked at Kelme, its smile widening.

"Maybe the idiot who said he eats lesser predators for breakfast? The one who lost his confidence so quickly that his friend had to hit him with a rock?"

Kelme’s face went pale. "That’s... that’s not— I didn’t even say it like that."

"Or perhaps," the Shiny interrupted, turning its gaze to Aria, "the girl who is filled with greed. Like she was born into a certain lifestyle, certain values, and then lost it all. Leaving nothing but fear. I wonder, I wonder..."

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