Chapter 10 - Despair

Naemon's mind raced. He had to find a way out, a way to escape this tomb-like prison. He circled the room, his eyes scanning for clues, for signs of a hidden passage, a secret door. Nothing. Just the stone walls, the wooden desk, the narrow bed, and the disturbing presence of the skeleton.

Despair gnawed at him. He couldn't stay here. He had to escape. He turned his attention back to the door, the only possible exit. It was a rotten wooden door, nothing special except for the strange symbols and runes scratched into its surface.

He studied the symbols, trying to find a pattern, a clue. Nothing. They were just symbols, meaningless squiggles to him. Frustration rose in him. He kicked the door again, harder this time, but it didn't budge.

He paced the room, his mind racing. His gaze returned to the desk and fell on the outstretched hand of the skeleton, still clutching the quill.

Naemon pulled himself together and took a deep, deliberate breath to calm his racing heart. Determined to find a way out, he walked back to the skeleton.

Standing next to the skeleton, he turned the desk chair so that it faced him. Naemon gulped nervously. "I have no other choice..."

The old robe the skeleton wore was still in top shape despite its age, as if it hadn't spent years in a cave. Naemon was sure the robe was made of exceptional materials.

He carefully searched through the magician's remains, hoping to find something useful. "Who would imagine that one day I would rob a dead man? Father, your son is a grave robber..." he muttered to himself.

Naemon's fingers grazed the brittle bones as he examined the pockets and folds of the robe. Finally, he felt something in one of the pockets. With a twinge of hope, he pulled it out. It was a small, hand-sized bronze lantern. A red crystal glowed from within, casting an eerie light on his hands. The light wasn't bright enough to illuminate more than his hands.

He was fascinated by the small lantern. It was the first time he had seen a real magical object. He looked at it more closely. Golden runes were painted on the glass sides of the lantern. Somehow, it reminded Naemon of a prison.

As he held the lantern closer to his face to take a closer look at the red crystal, an instinctive fear overcame him, as if the inside of the lantern was calling to him. A shiver ran down his spine. He quickly put the lantern on the desk, and the fear disappeared as quickly as it had come.

"I... I don't think it's a key. It's more likely something evil!" he exclaimed.

Naemon remained calm on the outside, but inside his nerves were on edge. Enchanted doors? A skeleton? A magical lantern that scares the living daylights out of you? Great, and all of that in a locked room with him.

He turned back to the skeleton and continued his search. The only thing he eventually found was a black metal ring with a raven on it. He pulled the ring from the skeleton's bony fingers and held it up to the faint blue light. The metal felt cool in Naemon's hand. The raven on the ring had an impressive grandeur. Although the ring looked impressive, Naemon felt a pang of disappointment. "Is that all you have, old mage? No other treasures or a magical key?" he murmured quietly.

He first tried to touch the rotten door with the metal ring, but nothing happened. With a sigh, he also put the ring on the table. He wasn't naive enough to put the ring on right away!

Naemon left the skeleton behind and climbed back into the pond. The cold water washed around his legs as he waded through, looking for a clue as to how he ended up there. He kept telling himself, "If there's an entrance, there's an exit!"

After a thorough search, he finally discovered the source of the pond water. In the farthest corner, water flowed from an opening in the ceiling, forming a small waterfall. The opening was just wide enough for Naemon to fit through.

Hope sprouted in him. He jumped up and grabbed the edges of the opening. His fingers grazed the smooth stone, but he couldn't find a firm grip. With a splash, he fell back into the water.

Frustration rose in him. "Damn, I just have to get a grip, and then I'm sure I can crawl up!"

Naemon gathered himself together and took a deep breath. He stood directly under the opening and jumped with all his strength. His hands grabbed the edges, but the stone surface was just too slippery because of the water and the algae growing there. Again, he fell back into the water.

Naemon floated on his back and stared up at the small opening above him. He realized there was no way out. Even if he somehow managed to get up, the walls of the hole were far too slippery, and he didn't know how long the hole was.

He was trapped. Trapped in this prison made of stone.

Naemon didn't move at all. He just floated on the pond water and stared desperately at the exit, which was close and yet so far away.