'Wonderful,' Jamie thought bitterly. 'I avoided entering the last one, and now I'm forced into this.'

He passed a hand through his hair, bracing himself for whatever might lie ahead.

Beside him, Maria appeared just as unsettled.

"You received it too?" Jamie asked.

"A mausoleum?" she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper. "Is there a god buried here?"

"I have no idea," Jamie admitted. "But it seems, gods can die, and it's not as uncommon as one might think."

"Isn't it?" Maria replied, her tone marred by disbelief.

"No. There's one very similar beneath Hafenstadt," Jamie explained.

Maria's eyes widened. "There's nothing about that in any of the histories," she said, shaking her head in astonishment.

"I suspected as much. From the looks of it, it's from before the city was built," Jamie explained.

The group pressed forward as they approached the center of the immense hall. The floor was covered with tiles in varying colors, ranging from emerald greens to deep blues and crimson reds. Each tile was etched with runes unknown to Jamie.

Some of the soldiers moved ahead, spears at the ready in case the orcs returned from the shadows.

"Careful!" Andrik barked, his voice cutting through the silence like a whip. "Spread out across the hall, but avoid advancing too far."

Slowly, they fanned out, tension thick in the air. As they neared the center of the chamber, the first soldier stepped onto a tile marked with a glowing green rune. A sharp click echoed.

"I think I stepped on something," he said, his voice edged with unease.

Before anyone could react, a grinding noise resonated from above. Heads snapped upward in time to see a hidden panel in the ceiling slide open. From it, a viscous liquid dropped.

The substance engulfed the soldier. A noxious stench filled the air, rancid and acidic, clawing at the back of their throats. The soldier's scream tore through the hall as the liquid began to eat away at him. His skin blistered and melted, sloughing off in gruesome strips to reveal raw muscle and bone beneath.

"ARGH!" he shrieked, his eyes wide with sheer agony. His armor sizzled and warped.

Horror rippled through the group. Several soldiers instinctively rushed forward to aid their comrade.

"Stop!" Jamie shouted. "Not another step!"

The sudden scream froze nearly everyone in their tracks. Yet, amid the chaos, a few souls pressed forward. Two more soldiers stepped onto the tiles, one glowing a sinister red, the other a haunting blue.

A sharp click echoed once more. In a heartbeat, the hall transformed into a lethal battleground. From the right side, a volley of arrows sliced through the air with deadly precision. At the same time, a bolt of lightning erupted from the ceiling.

The soldier on the blue rune had no time to react. The lightning engulfed him, searing through flesh and bone. The stench of burnt flesh filled the air as he collapsed, smoke spiraling from his charred armor.

The other soldier was no better. The arrows found their marks, piercing armor and flesh. Eyes wide with shock, he reached out as if seeking salvation, but his knees buckled, and he crumpled to the cold stone floor.

Screams died in the throats of their comrades, strangled by horror.

"The entire hall must be riddled with traps," Jamie remarked.

Maria's eyes widened as she glanced downward. Her next step would have landed on a blue tile. Muscles tensed, she froze mid-stride, keeping her foot suspended in mid-air.

"Serana, can you sense anything? Any traces of mana?" Jamie called out, his gaze darting between the floor and the mage.

Behind her brother, Serana clutched her staff tightly, knuckles pale as she stretched out her arcane senses.

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"No," she replied, shaking her head in confusion. "There's no mana signature. Perhaps it's... something divine?"

"Damn it," Andrik spat, frustration and fear flickering across his face. "We don't have any clerics or paladins to confirm or dispel whatever this is."

"Those who already have their feet on the ground, stay put," Jamie commanded, his mind racing. "What are the chances that every tile is trapped?"

"Unlikely," Maria responded thoughtfully.

"Right." Jamie patted down his gear, searching for anything that might aid them. From a small pouch at his belt, he retrieved a handful of silver coins. Weighing them in his palm, he formulated a plan.

"This will serve as a test," he announced. "First, we'll see if objects can trigger the traps."

He scanned the floor, identifying a green tile. With a calculated motion, he tossed one of the coins onto the tile.

The moment the coin touched the rune, a sharp click sounded. All eyes watched as a tiny opening appeared in the ceiling above. From it, a droplet fell, splattering onto the coin. A hiss filled the air as the silver sizzled and dissolved, leaving behind a scorched mark on the stone.

As Maria watched the acid plummet from the ceiling, her heart lurched. She was quite sure the next step would fry her with a lighting bolt. Muscles straining, she fought to halt her momentum, planting all her strength into her supporting leg to prevent taking that next step.

"Can we use the coins to spend the traps instead?" Maria suggested, her voice tight with urgency.

"That's our second test," Jamie replied, his eyes narrowing. "Do the traps activate only once?" Without waiting for a response, he drew another silver coin from his pouch and flicked it toward the tile where a soldier had been electrocuted moments before.

The coin clinked as it struck the stone. For a heartbeat, there was silence. Then, a bolt of lightning arced down from the ceiling, striking the coin.

"Shit," Maria muttered under her breath.

Jamie pressed on. "There must still be safe spots. What if we avoid touching the floor?" He proposed, a glint of hope in his eyes. Retrieving another coin, he hurled it across the room, ensuring it didn't graze the walls. The coin sailed through the air and landed with a faint ping on the distant floor. This time, nothing happened.

"Alright then," Jamie concluded, a hint of relief in his voice. "It seems the traps are triggered by contact with the floor tiles. So if we don't touch the floor, we might avoid them. Any ideas?"

He scanned the faces around him, but met only anxious gazes and tightened lips.

"We could try vaulting across using our spears, but one misstep and..." A soldier trailed off, doubt evident in his tone.

"I can attempt to freeze sections of the floor," Serana offered, clutching her staff. "But I don't have enough power to create a bridge strong enough for us all."

Jamie exhaled slowly, frustration seeping into his expression. "Alright. We'll have to find another way."

He studied the chamber, eyes darting over the patterns of runes and colors that stretched out before them. Some of the soldiers shifted, the strain of holding their positions beginning to show. Some trembled, beads of sweat tracing lines down their faces.

Noticing their fatigue and fearing a misstep could lead to more casualties, Jamie made a decision. "Everyone, listen up! If you have anything you can throw, start tossing them onto tiles of different colors. We've seen what happens with blue, red, and green runes. Let's test the others. Focus on the remaining symbols. We need to understand what we're dealing with."

It wasn't the most sophisticated strategy, but time was against them, and they needed answers fast. The group complied, hurling objects. They threw anything from daggers, empty scabbards, fragments of armor. The chamber erupted into chaos. Explosions rocked the foundation, sending shards of stone flying through the air. Arrows shot from concealed slits in the walls, whistling past them to embed in the opposite side. Jets of acid spewed forth, hissing as they corroded everything they touched.

Amidst the chaos, a pattern began to emerge. Between the explosions and lightnings, certain stones remained the same.

"The white and black stones aren't triggering anything!" a soldier shouted, a note of exhilaration piercing his fear.

"That's it!" Jamie exclaimed. "Everyone, test before moving. Focus on the white and black tiles!"

Andrik stepped forward, his voice commanding. "Form up! Advance carefully across the white and black stones. Watch your footing. One mistake could be your last."

The entire group was drained. Their faces reflected their fatigue and despair, yet they they couldn't afford to rest. They continued to advance from room to room, finding and endless procession on challenges. Deadly traps and enigmatic puzzles that tested their limits to the utmost. Hours slipped by as one chamber led into the next, a torturous maze designed to break them.

At last, they emerged before a spiraling staircase that twisted downward.

'We've lost ten people,' Jamie thought grimly, his gaze sweeping over the ranks of their expedition. Morale was crumbling; they hadn't even faced an enemy, yet the labyrinth had claimed so many.

Reaching the base of the staircase, they were assaulted by a fetid stench that hung in the air.

"The smell of sewage," Jamie noted, wrinkling his nose as he steeled himself to press onward.

Flickering flames danced at the entrance of the new chamber. They casted sinister shapes that writhed along the cold, gray stones of the walls.

Jamie's eyes were immediately drawn to the center of the room. There, atop a raised pedestal, stood a figure shrouded in shadow. Narrowing his gaze, he strained to make out the details. Surrounding the pedestal were five individuals, their stances rigid and alert. As one, they turned to face the intruders. There was no welcome in their expressions.

But what seized Jamie's heart was the sight beneath the pedestal. A woman knelt there, bound or restrained. Yet something about her was familiar. As their eyes met, a jolt of recognition surged through him.

"... brother."

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