Finding The Treasure

"We now have all three of the pieces we need, now lets put them together and maybe copy the map onto a new piece of paper since these pieces are pretty old." Kalysta said as she picked up the pieces and put them together on top of a white sheet of paper, then went to go and copy it with a photocopier. Lorelei following her handler into the next room while everyone else waited. "I'll go and find a local map of the area surrounding so that we can use it to try and locate certain landmarks that will help us find our way." Isabelle said, heading into the room that Kalysta had gone into which was an office. Sakari stood and walked over to the couch, Aiolia following closely behind her. Arulia was laying on the rug in front of the fireplace, relaxing next to the warmth, she lifted her head to see who was approaching, and then went back to relaxing as she realized it was just Sakari. Sargon was laying on the other couch, a pillow over his head and ignoring everything around him, Sirtir laying on the floor next to the couch with an old hamburger wrapper, licking and chewing on it. Adela stayed at the table, waiting for Kalysta and Isabelle to return so they could take a better look at the map and start finding landmarks, Eros staying right at her side.

Isabelle looked over the two maps once they returned from the office, and started to compare and find familiar landmarks, tracing and circling things on the local map. "We'll rest here for tonight and head out tomorrow, what do you guys think?" Kalysta asked as she stood next to Isabelle. "Sounds fine to me." Sargon replied, Sakari just waved a hand to say it was okay while Isabelle and Adela were too busy looking at the map. "Alright then, and we'll make it an overnight trip, so we'll have to gather some supplies in the morning." Sargon with Sirtir left for his hotel, as well as Adela with Eros and Kalysta with Lorelei. Arulia stayed next to the fire with Aiolia and Sakari who were staying overnight at Isabelle's place, while Isabelle went to her room and went to bed.

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Sakari rode into the yard in front of Isabelle's place and rejoined the group that was getting ready to head out. "I brought a helper." she said, Tonka following her and Aiolia, wearing a harness and pulling a sled behind him. "Good, we'll need the help when and if we find the treasure most likely." Kalysta replied, tightening the saddle on Lorelei one last time before attaching her saddle bag to the saddle. "And also to carry some of our supplies on the way there so we can get there faster." Adela added as she stood next to Eros who was looking wearily at the large dire standing behind Sakari. Sargon silently finished tacking up and carried over his tent to the dire and put it on the sled behind her. "Good idea, can we get him to carry the tents?" Isabelle asked Sakari. "Sure, it would lighten the load for the others and we can get their quicker." Isabelle removed the tent from Arulia's saddle and brought it over to the sled, strapping it down. Arulia shaking a little as she felt the weight come off her back.

They took off in the same direction they had taken to get to the valley with the third piece of the map, but turning off before reaching the path leading to the valley, heading around one of the surrounding mountains and turning a little more southward. "There it is." Arulia said, looking at the forest ahead of them. Arulia seemed to get on the defensive as she saw the darkened forest, as well as Aiolia and Eros, Eros picking up a deep growl. Sirtir seemed a little nervous due to the reactions of the other tokotas, but didn't growl. Tonka stood defensively next to Sakari, but didn't react as badly as the others. Lorelei looked at the forest, waiting for any instructions or orders from her handler. "Alrighty, lets get going then." Kalysta signaled Lorelei to head in, trotting down the slope towards the forest. Aiolia stopped growling as Sakari ordered him forward and he followed Lorelei and Kalysta right into the forest. Tonka stuck right next to them, as they headed into the trees. "Come on stupid." Sargon said, getting Sirtir to follow the others into the dark shadows. Isabelle ordered Arulia to wait, making sure Adela and Eros to follow. "Come on Eros, we'll get left behind." she tried to coax him to move forward, and he hesitated, but Arulia motioned towards the forest, trying to encourage him to follow her, and he did, trotting to catch up with the rest of the group.

They were glad to reach a clearing where they decided to camp, just sheltered enough to protect them from the wind and spacious enough for all their tents to be pitched. Sakari and Isabelle planned to share a tent, pitching it on one side of the designated firepit spot, next to Kalysta and Adela's, while Sargon's was on the other side of the firepit. Sakari took out a tarp and used it to create a shelter for the tokotas near the trees right behind the girls tents. They got a fire started and they ate, not staying up long though so that they could leave to find the treasure early the next day.

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They stood before the ruins, looking up at the old stone that was now worn and overgrown. "Neither map says anything about ruins. There are no ruins anywhere near this area." Isabelle turned the map and looked it over, looking very confused as she looked at where they were while Arulia watched the ruins closely as if something was going to pop out at them. "Maybe that just means we've found the right place." Adela offered as she looked up at the ruins, Eros growling and not wanting to get any closer to the old structure, the wind blowing through the spaces between the stones creating an eerie howling sound. "Well, let's head in and get that treasure." Sargon said, just about to get Sirtir moving towards the ruins. "Wait." Kalysta said, looking up at the ruins, Lorelei looking pretty agitated as well by the structure. "Ya, if we rush in we won't know what we are rushing into. There could be traps." Sakari added, looking into the entrance of the ruins and seeing nothing but blackness. Tonka stuck close to the handler and Aiolia fidgeted a little nervously, only calmed by the calming reaction of his handler. Sakari dismounted and removed the sled from Tonka's harness, taking the bags that were on the sled and tying them to the large die instead, not wanting to slow the dire down too much in case they ran into trouble. "Really? You think there will be traps in there, like the ones seen in movies?" Sargon looked at the others like they were crazy. "It is possible, and other explorers have run into traps before." Kalysta replied, dismounting as well. "And since we are the first here, that would mean they have not been triggered for a long while at least, so we have no idea. Better to be safe then dead, right?" Adela said, looking at the others who nodded in agreement, even Sargon did, though it was reluctant.

Kalysta picked up a large round rock and walked over to the entrance, throwing the stone inside and watching it roll across the floor with a clacking sound. Nothing else seemed to happen and so she turned and walked back to the others. "Lets take some stones with us and use them to check for traps every so often, that way we know where they are." she said. They all nodded and packed up some stones into their saddle bags which did not impress the tokotas any since it was more weight. Though Tonka seemed to handle the weight well since she didn't also have to carry a rider. They walked into the entrance, the handlers now on foot which made the weight more bearable for the tokotas. Adela picked up the stone Kalysta had thrown and put it in her saddle bag, deciding to reuse it. Kalysta and Lorelei took the lead, as the hall widened enough for two teams to walks side by side. They flicked on their lights and looked around, watching the walls and floors for any sign of danger and testing to make sure it was safe before moving on. So far nothing sprung out at them, but they stayed cautious. "I don't think there is any danger." Sargon said, Sirtir looking over his shoulder and trying to get a better view of what was ahead of them. "You can never be too sure. That might be what they wanted us to do, let down our guard." Sakari replied as her and Aiolia walked next to Lorelei and Kalysta. Tonka walked next to Arulia and Isabelle who were right behind the leaders, leaving Adela and Eros to walk between them and Sargon and Sirtir who were behind them, which was fine with Eros who was glad they would not be the first to face any danger they came across. The path finally split off into two ways, making them stop in their tracks. "Shall we split up, or try one path and then the other?" Kalysta asked. "Let's split up." Sargon replied first. "Same groups as last time." The others looked to each other and shrugged, splitting up and heading in either direction.

"Alright, let's hope we don't actually run into any traps." Adela said nervously, looking around at all the markings on the walls, many of them worn over time. Eros stuck to her side like glue, being protective and comforting as they made their way through the tunnels. "I hope so too, but you never know with these places." Isabelle replied, her hands shaking as she gripped a flashlight in one hand and held on to Arulia's harness with the other, the sphinx not minding as the handlers stayed close by, making it easier for the tokota to stop her if she sensed danger. "We have our trusty tokotas next to us, they'll probably pick up danger long before we will, so that is probably comforting, right?" Kalysta gave the other two a smile, trying to reassure them, watching Lorelei for any sign of danger as they headed further down the tunnel. Kalysta threw another rock ahead of them, first hearing the clacking sound it made every time before, then followed by a loud rumbling. "Ah! What's that?!" Isabelle look horrified as she looked around, all three tokotas growling protectively and doing the same. Kalysta looked for anywhere to hide for all of them to avoid any trap that was too follow, but nothing seemed to happen. "It stopped?" Adela stood up and looked around, finding that nothing had changed. "It must have been the other two." Isabelle said, looking worried. "See if you can get them on the walkie talkie or anything." Kalysta said. Isabelle pulled out the walkie talkie and turned it on, trying to get a hold of Sakari.

"I don't think there is any danger." Sargon said as he watched Sakari throw another stone. "Like we said, better to be safe then dead." she walked forward with Aiolia right next to her and picked up the stone. Tonka stood back and waited each time for Sakari to confirm it was safe and move forward before following, blocking Sargon's path for the most part, but that didn't bother Sirtir who was curiously sniffing the area behind them as they kept moving forward. They moved forward a little more and turned a corner, Sakari then throwing the stone in her hand down the hallway. "So far we have run into nothing." Sargon complained, wanting to move faster. Aiolia's ears popped up, making Sakari look from Sargon to the rock she just threw. "You may want to rethink that..." she said as she saw the rock sink into the floor, triggering something. "Oh crap..." he mumbled. All the tokotas were on edge as they looked out for where the danger would come from. Sakari looked behind them, seeing a shaft in the roof. "Oh no... Run!" she yelled, leaping into the saddle on Aiolia's back and letting the long mane take off at full speed. Sargon was quick to follow suite, getting Sirtir to chase after them, the curly knowing very well this was no time for burger hunting. The large round stone hit the floor hard and rolled quite quickly after them down the hall, leaving no space between the walls and the stone to dodge it. "Is it just me or is this very cliché!" Sargon yelled as they ran full speed towards the smaller exit at the end of the hall. "I must agree with you on that!" Sakari yelled back. "Prepare for another trap, there will probably be one in the next room!" she added, looking at the door nervously. They ran out the room, Aiolia not even stopping, and Tonka right next to them, Sargon burst through just in time as the stone hit the wall and stopped, blocking the exit. Sakari finally slowed Aiolia down just enough to hear the walkie talkie. "What was that?!" Isabelle sounded horrified as she yelled through the speaker.

"It was just a very cliché large stone rolling down a hallway!" Sargon yelled, though it sounded faint on the end of the other team since he was still behind Sakari a ways. "Wait, you guys actually triggered a trap?!" Isabelle asked, looking at the other two women with her with worry. A sudden cracking noise could be heard on the other end of the walkie talkie, making Adela's and Isabelle's eyes grow wide. "Got to go, the floor is falling apart!" Sakari said in panic, then the other end went dead, the other teams hurrying to escape the new trap they ran into. "Well, that confirms the presence of traps." Kalysta said as she stood up and looked to the tokotas. "We'll have to be even more careful from now on, who knows what we'll find down this hallway." she added as she started back down the hallways with Lorelei at her side, moving more slowly then they had been before. Isabelle and Adela stayed behind Lorelei and Kalysta, Eros and Arulia more on edge then they had been before. They walked through the space, only hearing the clanking sound of the stone they threw occasionally, and the sound of their shoes and paws on the stone. Kalysta threw another stone, sighing as nothing seemed to happen, but Arulia growled and grabbed the back of Kalysta's coat, Isabelle being pulled by the tokota as well as she held onto the chest piece of the saddle. Lorelei gave Arulia a look, but the sphinx didn't let go, instead she started to pull the handler back, making Adela and Eros back up as well, surprised by the sudden movement backwards. "What are you guys doing?" Adela asked in confusion. Kalysta looked forward just in time to see the arrow fly across the hallway and to see all the holes in the walls, full of points. "Kepp backing up!" she said, now moving back with the tokota, Lorelei rushing to follow as well, back to a safe spot as they watched the arrows fly, ducking down in case of any stray arrows and the tokotas making sure to cover their handlers, surrounding them.

"Great, giant rocks, falling floors, what's next? Arrows from the walls? It's like we are in and Indiana Jones movie." Sargon grumbled as the five of them finally stopped long enough to catch their breathes. "I'll agree with you. This is all cliché. I wonder if this is where they got the ideas for the traps on those movies." Sakari replied, patting Aiolia on his neck, letting him catch his breath and trying to calm him down. Sirtir was stuck to Sargon's side like glue, no longer wandering around and looking back as the empty space behind them. Under the floor was nothing but large spikes, and a few very old skeletons that either starved or were pierced by the large spikes. Tonka looked over the edge and then wandered back over to the two handlers and two other tokotas, nudging Sakari who lifted her hand to pat the dire. "Good girl." she said, looking down the hallway either way for any sign of more danger. "I'm going to contact the others before we move on, let them know we are okay." she said, taking out the walkie talkie again and turning it on. "Guys, hello? Isabelle, we made it through the two traps and are now safe." she said, waiting for a reply. "Good to hear, maybe that's a sign that I won't get an arrow in the butt today." Isabelle said sarcastically, hearing the whizzing of another arrow. "Arrow to the butt? You guys found your first trap?" she asked, looking a little worried. "Yep, and good thing we had Arulia with us. She heard it before we could end up shish kabobs." Isabelle replied. Sargon was giving Sakari a look like I told you so, and shaking his head. "Alright, well, try and stay alive, or turn back. We have to keep going on this end. There is no way we can get back the way we came. Talk to you guys later." Sakari said as she put the walkie talkie away. "Lookie at that, arrows from the walls." Sargon said with a smirk. "Let's keep going." she said and they headed down the hall again, checking for any more traps with a stone before moving forward.

The arrows finally stopped, letting the group get up. "No more arrows gonna fly?" Adela looked over the large furry bodies surrounding the handlers towards the hallway, seeing all the arrows scattered across the floor and some sticking in between the stones in the walls. Lorelei was the first to shake herself off and take a step back, letting the handlers get up and move. Arulia was hesitant, but finally followed Lorelei, turning her head to look at Isabelle and make sure she was okay. Eros nudged Adela to make sure she was okay, looking her over worriedly. "It's okay Eros, I'm alright." she said with a smile, patting the tokota to try and calm him down. "Let's throw another stone just to make sure." Isabelle said, pulling out a stone and throwing it down the hallway. It lowered into the ground like the first, but after a bit, nothing happened. "Alright, I think we are safe to move forward." Kalysta said, taking the lead and heading down the hallway, throwing another stone once they reached the end of the arrow trap, making sure they could continue moving forward. Nothing happened and so they moved forward. It was quiet for a bit, but a growl from the tokotas made them all alert. "Oh crap." Isabelle said, her eyes widening. "What?" Kalysta looked back, seeing the stone Isabelle has stepped on sink down into the floor. "Do you think we should run?" Isabelle asked. "I vote yes." Adela replied and Kalysta nodded. They hopped into the saddle without hesitation, taking off down the hall, just in time as the walls on either side started to move inwards and spikes poked out from the walls, coming towards them. The end of the hallways seemed quite far away from the explorers.

"Great, a dead end." Sargon said, looking at the wall before them. "Let's just stay calm. Who knows, maybe there is a hidden passage or a puzzle or something here that we are not seeing." Sakari replied, looking around and feeling the wall. Everything seemed uniform an just like the rest except for a circle on the wall before them. Aiolia nudged Sakari and pointed to the wall, letting out a bark at the circle. "What it is Aiolia?" She asked, looking at the circle and then seeing if anything would move. "It looks like it's supposed to move, but it won't budge." Sargon said as he watched. He reached into his saddle back, making Sirtir tilt his head curiously and he pulled out the strange stone they had found earlier. "Maybe it has something to do with this." Sakari looked at the stone and motioned for him to try it, taking a step back and standing next to Tonka who looked at the stone curiously and cluelessly, wondering where it came from. He turned it and flipped it as he tried to fit the piece into a few spots where it could sit. It slid into place and he gave Sakari a victorious look. "Good thing we kept that stone." She said, watching as he turned the stone key and the wall opened. The room was fairly empty, leaving the two confused. "Alright, where is the treasure?" Sargon said, walking in with Sirtir right next to him and looking around at the shelves and empty space. "Looks like someone may have beaten us to it." Sakari said, looking around. Sargon, grumbled to himself and looked around, suddenly grinning. "Looks like there is another door over there." he said, walking over. Sakari looked at Aiolia and Tonka and followed the other handler and watched him open the door.

The walls, slammed shut right behind Eros and Adela, luckily the two were out long before the spikes could kill them. "Alright, now that we are out of that death trap, let's dismount for now and keep moving." Kalysta said, not wanting to stay in one place too long anymore. They kept going until they came across a dead end, making them stop in their tracks. "Well, this is just great." Isabelle said, looking confused and nervous. "How are we going to get out now?" Adela asked, looking worried. "We'll find a way out, don't worry." Kalysta said, trying to reassure the other two, but she was not so sure herself. She looked to Lorelei for support. Arulia growled at the wall, the sound of shifting stone making them all turn to look at the wall. "Oh no, is this another trap?" Isabelle said, looking horrified and clinging onto the saddle that Arulia was wearing. Eros growled and stood in front of Adela protectively, while Kalysta got ready to fight or run. The wall opened up, revealing a very surprised Sargon. "It's just these three." he said, sounding disappointed. "You guys made it through alive!" Sakari said, walking past Sargon and Sirtir to greet the other ladies. "Thankfully, but the way back is blocked as far as well know." Adela said. "Same on our end. No floor." Sargon chimed in, looking around the room some more. "Looks like someone beat us to the treasure." Sakari told them, letting them look around the room for themselves.

They sat around and sighed for a bit, all of the tokotas resting from the difficult and terrifying runs. "So, how are we getting out?" Sargon asked, looking at the others wth annoyance. "We'll find a way." Kalysta replied, patting Lorelei who she was leaning back against. Tonka and Aiolia were relaxing next to Sakari, the handler patting each of them every once and a while, while Eros was still watching protectively over his handler, waiting for more traps to jump out at them. Arulia was sitting just outside of the ring of explorers, watching Sirtir who was the only one up and looking around, sniffing out anything interesting in the room. He padded over to a wall and lifted up onto his hind legs, grabbing what looking like an old rope and pulled on it to see if it was something he could play with. The room started to shake a little, sending everyone on alert. Sirtir ran back to the group, getting a scolding from Sargon as the wall that held the rope opened. The room stopped moving, making the handlers look at each other, and then at the new room. "Maybe it's our ticket out?" Adela suggested, letting Kalysta and Sakari head in first. They spotted the chest in the middle of the room and Sakari carefully walked over to it, watching the floors and being careful until she made it and managed to open it, revealing gold and gems. "The treasure!" she yelled back, making the others all rush in and over to the chest.

"Finally! Something worth hunting for!" Sargon said, reaching for the gold. "Stop!" Kalysta said, grabbing his hand. "Oh what now?!" he growled out, giving her a glare. "Look at the base of the pedestal." she said. "It looks like this isn't all one piece..." Isabelle said. "Meaning it's probably a trap." Sakari finished. "The pedestal is pretty low, so I'm guessing if the weigh vanishes, and the pedestal rises, then it will trigger a trap." Kalysta added. "Great... so I guess we can't take it?" Adela asked, looking dissapointed. Tonka tilted his head and walked over, nudging Sargon who was closest. "What do you want?" he said, giving the dire a glare. He nudged the handler again and then turned his head to point at the bags with stones he was carrying. Arulia seemed to pick up on the idea, and turned her head to grab the saddle back on her back with her teeth, trying to pull it off to make a point. Isabelle pulled the bag off so Arulia would not wreck it. Sakari looked to Aiolia and then grabbed his saddle bag. "The stones!" Isabelle chimed. "Replace the treasure with the stones!" They all beamed as they heard the idea and they quickly got started filling bags with treasure and putting stones around the chest on the pedestal. They empty the chest and put the stones in it, tying the now full treasure bags to the harnesses and saddles of the tokotas, distributing the weight evenly.

After some searching, they finally found a tunnel leading out, and they headed back to camp. It was already dark out by the time they reached freedom, the stars shining down on them, and they were all pretty glad to be out of there. They smiled and relaxed around the fire, deciding to divide out the treasure there and then head out in the morning. Each one got two small bags of treasure, though the gold and gems were probably worth a lot. "Hey Sargon, you still have that stone key?" Sakari asked him. "Ya, why?" he asked. "I'll trade you a couple gold pieces for it." she offered. He though it over a moment before pulling out the stone key and handing it to her, holding out his empty hand for the gold which she placed in it gladly. She looked at the stone with a smile and was glad for the interesting adventure and the new souvenir.