"Judging by the lack of a corpse and the stench, I'm guessing it was one of those giant green slime monsters." Dala suggested. 

She nodded her head at Sharifa's suggestion to move on. Reaching into her backpack, she pulled out a torch and lit the end of it with a match. The orange flame lit up parts of the room and made their immediate surroundings visible. They were in a massive room made of stone and brick with no windows and a large bed in the center of the room. The bed lacked any sheets, presumably eaten by bugs or some other creature long ago. The only thing that remained was the metal bedframe. Half-faded ancient markings on the floor circled around the bed. There were alters at each corner of the square room that had been carved in the shape of a mountain. The room was almost silent with only the echoes and groans of the building to create a noise. Cobwebs and dust decorated these walls while at the end of the room there were two massive doors. But the thing that stood out most in the room was a skeleton lying in the bedframe. The skeleton was covered in dust and the bones were ancient. 

"Geez, these temple guys sure know how to make a creepy atmosphere." Dala commented, trying to create a little humor, "Yeah lets get out of here. I don't think the treasure is gonna be in here." 

She pulled at the large heavy door and after a while managed to pull it open to where a person could get through. The girl refused any help during the effort, determined to prove herself capable of opening a simple door, even if it was made of metal. The doors led out to a massive arched corridors where the walls were covered in ancient inscriptions and unlit torches. The floor was dotted with the remains of a bright orange carpet that had been eaten through by something. Suddenly Dala stopped and silently listened to something. The sound of a loud snoring echoed through the halls. The snores were inhuman, almost beast like. 

Although they couldn't see it yet, up ahead was a two-headed 13 foot tall giant that had found its way into the underground temple through an old tunnel dug by some other monster. The giant was pale as the moon and had dark brown hair that had been crudely cut short by a rusty blade. There were two weapons that rested next to this creature, a large hand axe and a rock. The giant was sleeping on a pile of ripped cushions and rugs that it had torn from other areas of the temple. Both heads were asleep and it was on its back, sprawled across the hall of the floor and effectively blocking the way. 

”Hm, can’t say I have encountered one of them before, don’t think I want to see one that’s alive though. But at least you’re ok.” Shar replied before suggesting that they move and away from this place. Dala light the room up and Shar looked around, this place was huge, and this was just a bedroom by the look of it, but one with no windows which was odd. Sharifa walked over and saw the skeleton laying within the metal bedframe, and the markings on the floor. A ritual of some kind perhaps? But not being one to know much about magic Shar left it alone and turned back to Dala as she spoke.

Of course Sharifa did offer to help with the heavy door, but, Dala refused the help wanting to do it herself. Shar couldn’t help but grin as she watched Dala get the door open just enough for them to pass through it. Into the corridor Shar kept her eyes opened for anything that might be a threat, only being a step behind Dala, trusting her reflexes to get her in front of the young human in case something did attack.

Shar stopped as Dala did, catching the same noise coming from ahead, something was asleep in here. ”Stay here for a moment.” Shar whispered and walked ahead, allowing her eyes to adjust to the dark away from the torch. ~Ah shit.~ She thought as she saw the sleeping giant that was ahead of them. It was blocking the way forward, but this place was large that Shar thought she could fly them over it. Stepping back to carefully to Dala Shar whispered as she grabbed the torch from the human and snuffed it, plunging them into darkness, but Shar could still see, at least in black and white. ”Stay silent, it’s a sleeping giant.” She explained, using as few words as possible. ”Keep hold, I’ll try and fly us over it.” She instructed and grabbed Dala by the waist with her lower arms and used her upper arms to wrap around Dala’s chest so that her arms were under Dala’s arms. Awkward, but the best for Shar to carry someone and fly at the same time. Thankfully, they didn’t have to go too far and Dala wasn’t exactly heavy.

Taking a breath Sharifa opened her wings and the only sounds in the hallway then were the giant’s snoring and Shar’s buzzing wings. The snoring was louder, but they both had to hope that Shar’s buzzing would not wake the giant. It would be an obstacle to get around when they came back, and that is if they had to come back to this way, perhaps they would find an alternate way out here and avoid this giant on the way out.

Dala waited as Sharifa walked ahead to see what was making the noise. Normally Dala wouldn't have allowed someone to go alone, but she felt a certain trust that Sharifa would be able to handle it. The wasp warrior had already shown her strength and skill before and could handle herself in a dangerous situation. Her friend carefully returned and explained quickly there was a sleeping giant. Dala quickly slammed her mouth shut and prevented herself from saying anything in response. The warrior lifted her up by the waste, chest, and under her arms. It was awkward but effective enough. Dala looked down as they flew over the giant and saw the two headed monstrosity. Her curiosity was almost as powerful as her fear. How on Revaliir was such a creature created? Was it the gods? Or had a giant messed around with a hydra? There were so many questions wondering around her head with no answers. They quickly landed on the other side, far enough from the giant. Dala looked back to see the giant peacefully sleeping without any sign of waking up. Once they were far enough away from the creature, Dala looked to Sharifa. 

"Geez, leave some cleverness for the rest of us." She said jokingly with a smirk. 

Most warriors would have gone to attack it right away. Dala would have tried to avoid it but only because she felt she was too weak to take it head on. The hallway eventually ended, leading to a massive dining room filled with three long tables that stretched across the room. There were three doorways that lead to other rooms. One of them was blocked off with rocks and stones that fell thousands of years ago. Skeletons were crammed around this exit, some in positions that implied they were trying to dig out the stones that blocked the doorway. Their hands lingered on the stones while the rest of the skeleton bodies laid face down on the floor. In the center back of the room was a large throne-like chair with its own table in front of it. A skeleton sat in that chair, head lying down on the table but in one of its hands was a scrolled up piece of thick parchment. 

An excited Dala rushed over to the skeleton in the giant chair, hoping to be able to read the parchment paper and forgetting about the dangers of the temple. Luckily, she made it over without any monsters or traps going off. The girl reached into her satchel and pulled out a type of translator then pulled the scroll from the skeletons' hands. Dala carefully began translating the scroll, only to discover it wasn't a scroll but a letter. A letter to the skeleton's mother. The letter read, 

-Dear Mother, 

I feared that we have angered our god, for he has decided to sink our glorious temple. All the exits are blocked off and we cannot escape. I've tried going through the treasure chamber but we can't get past that cursed riddle. Between the lion, the bear, and the tiger, they all seem like they would be able to survive anything. I never thought our own safety checks would end up dooming us. Still, I will find a way to escape or at least get this letter to you mother. If its the last thing I do…-

She translated most of the words and was able to come up with this general message. Dala thought for a moment then began looking around the temple. It was unclear what she was looking for at first, until she crouched down a little hole with a series of cockroaches going in and out of it. After a few minutes she managed to catch one and placed it in an empty bottle from her satchel. 

"There we go." She said to Sharifa, "Now lets see… which door do you think we should try? The left one or the right?"

Those were the only two options left. The south door wasn't an option thanks to the blockage. 

Shar grinned at Dala’s comment. ”We still have to get around it again on the way out if we don’t find another exit. Hopefully it’ll still be sleeping then, but who knows.” They continued down the hall until it terminated at a grandiose dining room, complete with skeletal guests still hanging around. One of the three exits was blocked by fallen rubble and the way some of the skeletons were laid out it appeared as if they had been trying to remove it when they had died. Shar sighed, horrible way to go, they probably died of starvation or exhaustion while trying to get out.

When Dala took off, again, Shar went to grab for her but buzzed with annoyance when she missed. The wasp carefully walked through the room over to Dala, following the same path and let the human read the letter. When Dala was finished and had collected the cockroach she asked Shar which way they should go from here. But, before Shar answered she reached out and grabbed Dala by both shoulders and leaned down to face her. ”Next time we enter a room for the first time, don’t run through it like that again, understand? You already fell through one floor, next time who knows what might land on, or what kind of trap you might trigger.” The mild scolding done, she released Dala and looked between the two doors.

They were identical to each other, and they didn’t know enough about the layout to know where might one lead compared to the other. Sharifa thought for a few moments, mulling things over before she started to think aloud. ”I’m willing to bet that one of these doors would lead to a kitchen area the other to sitting rooms and one to possibly bedrooms and living quarters. Well, we won’t know until we check.” She shrugged and started for the left door, walking carefully as she did, looking down at where she was stepping and glancing up now and then.

Nothing happened as she reached the door and checked it over, did not appear to be trapped, but she was starting to think it would not be a place for traps. She opened the door slowly and peaked in for a moment before fully opening the door to let Dala in. Sharifa stepped into a short hallways and crept down it until she reached a larger room. ”Well, that’s door number one I guess.” She said as she relaxed as they had indeed entered the kitchen for the mansion.

Anything perishable had long ago turned to dust, pots and pans still were strewn about. The old fire place that was for cooking was full of old coal and soot, the chimney caved in and crushed. A few rusted knives were scattered here and there, along with two more skeletons. ”Poor bastards.” Sharifa sighed and looked to Dala after walking around the room once. ”Shall we head to the door number two?”

Suddenly Sharifa grabbed her shoulders and looked her in the eye. Dala's brow furrowed and she began to worry if something had happened. Then she realized it was just a warning about not running into a room right away. Sharifa was right about the traps or any other dangers that could rear its ugly head. The way Dala had gone through the room could have gotten her killed. When she was younger she had always been more cautious, knowing that everything could kill her. Now she was older and her confidence had risen, perhaps too much.

"Right. No more running into rooms." Dala agreed.

They moved onto the next room, this time with her following behind Sharifa. Rusted pots and pans decorated the floor while cobwebs covered the corners of the room. Dala reached towards the table and pulled out a rusted knife that had been stabbed into the wood. She inspected it for a moment, as if she was looking for something, then placed it back on the table. There were two skeletons, both were holding each other and sitting on the ground, showing they knew their fate. Dala gave Sharifa a nod as they walked out of the room, heading towards the other door. 

The second door led to a short hallway. The walls were covered in old torn tapestries, depicting figures and monsters of old. The end of the hallway opened up into a large room with three massive statues in the center. The first statue was of a lion, the second was of a tiger, and the last was of a bear. The other side of the room held a locked large door that presumably, led to the exit. Above the door was a face carved in stone. When they approached the door, the stone face opened its eyes and looked down upon them. The face opened its mouth and a booming voice filled their ears. 

"The door will open when the greatest survivor is revealed." The stone face spoke. 

Reaching into her bag, Dala pulled out the jar with the little cockroach in it. She walked up towards the door and placed down the jar in front of it. The stone face above the door looked down upon the jar and then back at the teenager. 

"You bring me this?" It questioned. 

"A lion or bear or tiger can't survive down here, otherwise you wouldn't need stone statues of them. Me and my friend-" She gave a quick wave to Sharifa as if to ask her to stand with her, "We have seen skeletons and death. Even the troll we saw has to go to the surface for food. The only thing that could possibly survive down here without ever seeing the sun is this bug." 

Dala waited nervously for the face's response. She had snatched the bug after reading the scrolled letter that the skeleton held. And she knew how hard it was to kill cockroaches, even monsters and giant beasts would have trouble with killing the annoying roaches. Still, there was always the possibility that the stone face wouldn't accept the answer. The stone face closed its eyes, and the door opened. 

"You may pass." The face said one last time before closing its mouth for good. 

The door opened to reveal a massive treasure room. There was a stack of chests each stuffed with glittering pieces of gold. The gold wasn't in shape of coins, rather it was nuggets and jewelry. Colorful gems rested in piles, from rubies to star sapphires to other rare crystals. In the center of the room was a scroll held up on a pedestal. The scroll was tied together with a golden ribbon and surrounded by rare artifacts. 

Dala seemed to understand the warning that Sharifa had given her and the wasp nodded and moved on, trusting that Dala was going to remember that warning. The first room they entered was the kitchen and there was nothing of value within, and no clues to where to head too next. So the two adventurers turned around and headed through door number two, which led to a short hallway with tapestries depicting figures of old and monsters that Sharifa had no names for. As they walked into the large room with the statues Sharifa walked towards them as she looked around, while keeping an eye on Dala who went to the door.

When the face above the door spoke it startled Shar enough that in a heart beat she had her stingers exposed from all four arms as she turned. Seeing that it was the face speaking the wasp drew her stingers back in and walked over as Dala placed the cockroach in front of the door. Sharifa watched Dala for a moment and then looked to door until it spoke again, allowing them to pass. Shar grinned. ”Speaking of leaving some cleverness for the rest of us. Well done.” Shar commented, impressed, knowing she would have gone with one of the three animals that were present.

As the door opened and revealed what was inside Sharifa could not help but have her jaw drop open. So, much, treasure! She stood there for a moment opened mouthed before collecting her thoughts as she noticed the scroll on the pedestal and looked to Dala. ”Guess that’s what we’re after, but that looks too easy. Let’s be careful and look for traps.” Shar warned and carefully moved into the room towards the pedestal to start inspecting it.

Dala nodded, looking at the ground of the pedestal to see if there was anything out of place. Then she looked up and spotted what she needed to see. Above them was a massive cage dangling on the ceiling with a rope attached to it. The rope led over to a wall and vanished into it. Picking up a gem from one of the piles of gold, she motioned for Sharifa to step back and threw it at pedestal. The precious sapphire, probably costing hundreds of silver, hit the pedestal then the floor. Click! The cage flew down and landed over the pedestal. 

"Look! I stopped that stupid trap!" She said with a smile, "Now we just need to get… the scroll…"

It was only now that she realized the cage sitting over the pedestal was keeping them out. She had stopped them from getting trapped in the cage but now the scroll would be much harder to reach. The teenager reached her arms in between the metal bars and tried to grab the scroll but she was too far from it. Then the girl attempted to lift the cage. She grunted as she pulled on the metal bars, pulling as hard as she could but to no avail. Dala looked over to Sharifa and a bright idea appeared in her mind. 

"Sharifa, you're arms are longer than mine. Think you can reach into the cage?" She asked. 

The length looked exactly the same length of one of Sharifa's arms. Having two arms would probably make things easier. Once Sharifa retrieved the scroll, Dala was practically bouncing up and down with excitement. All their hard work was about to pay off! Dala took the scroll and opened it, only to have her face fall with disappointment. The scroll was filled with valuable spells that any wizard, witch, or magical individual would want. There was even a potion recipe for some of the most valuable potions in the world. Dala tossed the scroll aside and began to climb into the treasure piles, looking for a different scroll. 

"That's just about some spells or something. It's not the scroll of knowledge I'm looking for." Dala explained. 

After a bit of searching, she found an old dusty chest shoved in the corner of the room. It was a large chest, labeled on the top with ancient words. Dala flung open the chest, which the previous residents didn't even bother to lock or guard. There were five scrolls inside. Dala looked through each and every one of them, then gathered the scrolls in her arms with a beaming smile and rushed over to Sharifa. 

"I found them! And there were more than I thought there would be!" She exclaimed, "Look! Ancient tax records!!! They even have charts on these babies!"

Dala showed one of the dusty scrolls to Sharifa. The details of the scrolls contained tax records, how they did their taxes, and laws over taxes. The previous residents only put the records in the treasure room since it was where the taxes were stored. But even the previous residents thought these things were ultimately worthless, hence the lack of traps surrounding the chest. But they seemed to make Dala happy. She was hugging them to her chest then stored them in her satchel. 

"I got everything I wanted!" Dala declared, "Feel free to take any treasure you want." 

When Dala managed to spring the trap on purpose and the cage landed on the ground Sharifa smiled. ”Well done.” Stepping over to the cage with Dala she watched the human try and reach for the scroll but she couldn’t reach. Shar tried to lift the cage along with Dala but that didn’t work out either, so, Shar nodded when Dala suggested using her long arms. ”Ya, I might just be able to.” The wasp reached into the cage and found that her fingers were just barely able to reach. Frowning for a moment she grinned and her stinger snapped out, giving her more than enough reach. She used it to knock the scroll off its place and used her other hand to catch it before it hit the ground.

Retracting her stinger Shar handed the scroll to Dala, who looked disappointed when she looked at the scroll. Sharifa caught the scroll when Dala tossed it aside and opened it looking it over, that was some impressive stuff! She glanced to Dala who was searching through the piles of treasure and shrugged, placing the scroll in her own pouch if Dala didn’t want it maybe Angela could have some use for it.

When Dala got excited Shar buzzed over to her quick to see that she had found another chest with more scrolls. ”Tax records?!” Sharifa exclaimed, all of this loot and she wanted the tax records?! ”Ok, hold on, explain to me why you wanted the tax records and not, you know, all this silver and gems?” Sharifa questioned, but was starting to go through the treasure herself, might as well take what she wanted. Mostly Shar was looking for rare gems instead of straight silver coins, as gems tended to be lighter to carry compared to what they’d be worth in silver allowing her to carry more.

Sharifa found a cupboard they hadn’t been in and opened it, finding a smaller chest inside and opening that to find some more gems, but she could feel the magic coming off of these. ”Hm.” Instead of grabbing a gem she grabbed the whole smaller chest with her lower arms and turned back to Dala. ”Well, I’m no mage, but, I can sense magic coming off of these, any ideas?”

"Well I've got enough silver at home to build a kingdom." She said, "And scrolls full of spells don't work for me since all I've got is some useless light magic. But these tax records can tell me all I need to know about ancient economies and how they dealt with rising prices, crop failures, and a hundred other things!"

Dala had a giant smile on her face at the idea of such knowledge. This was what she meant when she was talking about scrolls of knowledge. The girl double checked she had all her stuff with her then waited patiently for Sharifa to pick out the stuff she wanted. The gems and sparkly treasure was just a pile of objects. Objects that could bring wealth but what good was that when she already had plenty of hard earned silver at home. 

Sharifa eventually found a cupboard with a small box that held several pretty gems. Dala could sense the magic radiating off of the stones but lacked the skill to identify what kind of magic it was. The girl inspected the gems closely but was careful not to touch it. For all she knew, these particular gems could be cursed or have some sort of charms cast on them to cause mischief. They could also produce something useful to the owner but the teenager had no way of telling for sure. 

"I'd say take them with you but don't touch them until you can get some sorcerer or wizard to check them out." Dala suggested, "If they turn out to have great magical qualities then you could use it or sell it. If they turn out to be cursed, you can send them to your greatest enemies or something."

There was something else, lingering in the back of Dala's mind. She paused for a moment and tried to think of what she had forgotten. There was something that she was missing about this whole situation. Her eyes widened with realization. 

"Wait a minute… why would a bunch of people in a sinking building want to go to the treasure room?" She asked, "That letter from earlier in that dead man's head showed him wanting to get into this room. Everybody else was trying to escape through the blocked entrance so why would he or she want to go into here?"