They walked for what felt like an eternity, the path sloping ever downward. Flickering torchlight danced along the slick walls, revealing mossy growths and narrow fissures that seemed to whisper with each passing draft. Occasionally, a small offshoot or cramped hole yawned off to one side—a gaping invitation to get hopelessly lost.


    “I’m starting to think these tunnels go everywhere,” Traebus remarked, scratching another rune into the stone at a fork in the path. “Half of them probably stretch right under the ocean. Wouldn’t that be our luck—poking around and suddenly a giant wave floods the place?”


    Dusk flicked an image of an underwater cave full of fish, as though to say, Well, fish dinner’s not the worst outcome.


    “You have a point,” Traebus admitted with a shaky chuckle. “But personally, I’d rather not turn into sea monster bait.”


    Sparky sniffed at a faint trickle of water that ran across the floor, sending up tiny arcs of static as he hopped over it. He projected a flicker of concern—something about the water tasting metallic.


    “Yeah, let’s not drink that,” Traebus muttered, glancing at the slow trickle with mild suspicion. “If it’s mixing with seawater or odd minerals, I don’t want to find out the hard way.”


    The deeper they descended, the more the environment shifted. One passage branched off in such a sharp downward corkscrew that Traebus half-expected it to emerge onto a submerged lagoon. Another angled upward in a jagged slope, too steep and slick to attempt without serious climbing gear.


    “What is this place, a labyrinth from some bored earth goddess?” he muttered. “It’s like the entire island is hollowed out inside—just waiting for travelers to slip in and never reappear.”


    Dusk snorted softly, but sent him a mental nudge of reassurance: No giant bugs here—yet.


    “Fair point.” He absently patted the stone wall, as though the cave itself might be listening. “At least we’re not stepping around any gargantuan exoskeletons.”


    He took a moment to catch his breath, bracing himself against the damp rock. “Let’s pick one tunnel and see where it leads. If we find a place that looks dangerously like an underwater cave… we turn around, deal?”


    Sparky trilled agreement, sparks flickering. Dusk let out a low chuff, clearly in favor of not getting drowned.


    “Right,” Traebus said, exhaling. “On we go, explorers of the world’s weirdest basement—somewhere under an ocean that’s probably teeming with monsters we haven’t even dreamed of.”


    With his torch leading the way, he chose a middle path slanting downward yet again, hoping it might reveal something more than endless tunnels. The faint echo of dripping water accompanied them like a ghostly guide, pushing them ever forward into this strange subterranean maze.


    Eventually, the tunnel flattened out again, opening onto yet another cavernous chamber. The air here felt different, less stale, carrying a faint, cold draft that set Traebus’s skin prickling. Dusk paused at the threshold, sniffing warily, while Sparky peeked over his shoulder, sparks trembling along his frills.


    “All right, let’s see what fresh wonders we’ve discovered this time,” Traebus said, stepping forward. His torchlight revealed a vast, open space. The center of the floor disappeared into a jagged fissure that split the cavern cleanly in two, as though some giant had taken an axe to the stone.


    “Yeesh,” he breathed, inching closer to the edge. “Somebody just had to drop a canyon in here.”


    Dusk hovered protectively by his side, sending a mental flick of Careful, while Sparky crept up to peer over the lip, tail puffed in alarm. The gulf below was impenetrably dark, a black void that seemed to swallow any light before it could reach the bottom.


    “Now that’s unsettling,” Traebus murmured. On a purely scientific whim—or maybe because his common sense had taken a short vacation—he lifted one of his spare torches from his pack. “Let’s see how deep this goes…”


    He ignited the torch with a small burst of magic, held it out over the crevasse, and let it fall.


    They watched in eerie silence as the torch tumbled end over end, its flame carving spirals of light in the darkness. For a few seconds, it illuminated the rock walls before vanishing, still flickering, into the endless black. Time stretched on—five seconds, ten seconds, fifteen. Traebus silently counted, waiting for the faint glow to strike something… but it never did.


    “Okay, that’s way too long,” Traebus said, forcing out a half-laugh that echoed in the gloom. “I’m not sure if it’s bottomless or if it’s just shy. Either way, I’m not climbing down there. Probably leads straight to the center of the planet or something.”


    Sparky let out a tiny mrrp? noise, as though to say, We’re not going there, right? Dusk, meanwhile, sent Traebus a mental image of him tripping over the edge and plummeting forever.


    “Very funny,” he muttered, cheeks flushing at the thought. “I’ll do my best not to reenact Traebus Versus the Bottomless Pit. Unless, of course, we’re short on excitement.”


    He inched back from the abyss, exhaling shakily. “Okay, so bridging this thing is out of the question unless I fancy building a stone walkway with a mile’s worth of materials.” He cast a look around for any sort of natural crossing—an arch of stone, a fallen stalactite—but saw none. The cavern walls on the far side looked just as ominous and unreachable.


    “All right, folks,” he said, turning to Dusk and Sparky, “I say we mark ‘Giant, Possibly Bottomless Crevasse of Doom’ on our mental map and backtrack to that last fork.”


    Dusk chuffed in what Traebus chose to interpret as firm agreement, while Sparky let out a rapid succession of clicks and trills—likely a celebration that they weren’t about to go spelunking in the black hole.


    Traebus offered a shaky grin. “I was hoping for a cave of hidden treasure, not the world’s biggest death trap. But hey—maybe next time.”


    With that, the trio turned away from the gaping void, taking one last wary glance at the invisible depths before retracing their steps into the twisting tunnels they knew—however slightly—were safer.


    They made it only a few steps back toward the smaller passage when Traebus’s torchlight flickered across something reflective on the far edge of their side of the crevasse. He paused, squinting.


    “Uh, guys,” he murmured. “I might be seeing things, but is that… shiny?”


    Dusk lifted his frills, peering into the darkness, while Sparky let out an intrigued trill. Sure enough, a dim glimmer winked at them from farther down the same side of the fissure—like a distant star clinging to the cavern wall.


    “Oh, great,” Traebus sighed. “Because caves aren’t hazardous enough without a ‘mysterious sparkle of doom.’ But you know, I did come here looking for adventure, so… let’s go see what trouble that is.”


    Dusk flicked an image of him tumbling headfirst into the pit, to which Traebus replied with a roll of his eyes. “Yes, I know, I’ll be careful. I only leap into certain doom if it’s absolutely necessary.”


    With slow, deliberate steps, they picked their way along the rocky ledge that curved around the massive crack in the earth. Every so often, a stray pebble rattled down into the darkness, making Sparky squeak anxiously. The faint glint grew brighter as they drew closer, until they finally stood about a dozen paces away.


    Traebus held out his torch, the flame dancing across a smooth section of stone. Embedded in the wall was a faintly metallic vein that seemed to catch the light like polished metal—or perhaps some type of gemstone.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    “Would you look at that,” Traebus breathed, running a careful hand over the spot. “Feels like metal—maybe iron, maybe something else. Hard to tell in this light. But if it goes deeper—”


    He trailed off, glancing at Dusk, who sent him a wave of mild curiosity. Sparky hopped closer, sniffing at the stone as if expecting it to emit a snack.


    “Well,” Traebus said, a playful grin tugging at his lips, “this definitely beats a bottomless pit. At least it’s not actively trying to kill us. Yet.”


    He retrieved a sharpened bone chisel from his pack—one of his more experimental tools, considering he was running low on proper metal—and pressed it against the vein. With a steady hand, he gave it a firm tap.


    Instead of merely scraping the surface, the thin veneer of rock suddenly crumbled, revealing a smooth, polished surface beneath. The chisel struck it with a loud, resonant clang that rang through the cavern like a gong.


    Traebus immediately froze. Dusk’s frills snapped open in alarm. Sparky leapt two feet into the air, sparks flying wildly from his scales as he landed back on the ground with a distressed squeak.


    “Uh,” Traebus muttered, gripping the chisel like it had personally betrayed him. He peered closer at the exposed section. “Okay… that’s not just some random iron deposit. That sounded solid.”


    Dusk flicked an urgent mental image of something waking up, paired with the distinct impression of run. Sparky, for his part, skittered backward and tried to hide behind Traebus’s boot.


    “Well, in my defense,” Traebus whispered, as though that would somehow stop whatever he just disturbed from noticing, “how was I supposed to know it would do that?”


    The cavern remained eerily silent, save for the faint echo of the metallic clang still bouncing off unseen walls. Traebus exhaled slowly. “All right. So maybe we just walk away… very casually… and pretend I did not just take a hammer to something that might be a vault door, or a buried war machine, or a sleeping metal god. Sound good?”


    Dusk and Sparky did not object.


    Before they could get more than a few steps away, the entire veneer of rock let out a sickening crack and collapsed in a thunderous cascade of stone. The noise echoed through the cavern, bouncing off unseen walls, multiplying in intensity until it sounded like the whole underground was crumbling around them.


    Traebus flinched and threw an arm up instinctively, though nothing hit them directly. When the dust settled, he turned, blinking through the haze, and nearly dropped his torch.


    Where once had been a rocky outcrop, there was now a massive, smooth surface gleaming under the firelight. A rectangular outline was unmistakable, etched into the metal like the frame of something ancient. It looked… man-made. Or at least, something-made. And if Traebus wasn’t mistaken, it was a door.


    He stared at it, slack-jawed. “…Well, that’s cheating. Who put that here?”


    Dusk sent him a mental impression of confusion mixed with deep unease. Sparky, on the other hand, inched forward and poked the metal with his nose before scrambling back like it had personally insulted his ancestors.


    Traebus stepped forward, running his fingers over the impossibly smooth surface. It was cold to the touch, too refined to be natural, yet somehow buried under layers of stone. The more he examined it, the more mind-boggled he became. If this was really a door, it meant someone—or something—had built this. And judging by the level of craftsmanship, it was far beyond what he had expected to find underground.


    “This doesn’t make any sense,” he muttered. “An advanced metal structure? Here? Under some random island? Buried under who knows how many centuries of rock?”


    Dusk chuffed softly, flicking him an image of a long-dead civilization swallowed by time.


    Traebus exhaled sharply. “Yeah, I was afraid of that. But if that’s the case…” His lips curled into a determined grin. “Then I have to see what’s on the other side.”


    Sparky let out a distressed mrrp of protest. Dusk merely stared at him, unimpressed.


    “Oh, don’t look at me like that,” Traebus said, already reaching for his tools. “You can’t just dangle a mystery like this in front of me and expect me to not try to open it.”


    With newfound determination—and maybe just a hint of reckless curiosity—Traebus set to work, determined to uncover whatever lay beyond the forgotten door.


    Five minutes later, Traebus sat on the ground, arms crossed, glaring at the unmoving, perfectly pristine door. "Okay. So, this is embarrassing."


    He had tried everything. His stone chisel? Not even a scratch. A bone saw? Laughed in his face. A hammer and brute force? His shoulder still hurt. Even his magic, which had a history of sometimes working when it wasn’t trying to explode things, had failed to so much as warm the metal.


    Dusk flicked a mental image of him smacking his head against the door repeatedly, which was dangerously close to reality. Sparky, meanwhile, had long since given up on helping and was now sprawled out nearby, staring at the ceiling as if contemplating his life choices.


    "I’m just saying," Traebus huffed, rubbing his sore knuckles, "if this is a door, then there has to be a way to open it. Otherwise, it’s just a very aggressive, oversized wall pretending to be interesting. And if there’s one thing I hate, it’s a smug piece of architecture."


    He stood up, rolling his shoulders. "All right. Let’s review. Hitting it? No. Cutting it? Nope. Magic? Might as well have tried complimenting it."


    Dusk flicked him a mental suggestion: What if it needs a key?


    Traebus narrowed his eyes at his. "That would make sense. Which is exactly why I hate it."


    Sparky trilled lazily from his spot on the floor. Just admit you lost.


    "Oh, I am not losing to a door." Traebus squared his stance and pointed a dramatic finger at the metal slab. "Listen here, you oversized tin can, you will open for me. Because if you don’t, I will come back with explosives. And I will find a way to make those explosives. Do you hear me?"


    The door remained as immobile and unimpressed as ever.


    Before Traebus could launch into another round of fruitless door insults, a low, rhythmic thump echoed through the tunnel behind them. The trio froze.


    Dusk''s frills snapped upright. Sparky scurried behind Traebus’s leg, sparks flickering in alarm. Slowly, very slowly, Traebus turned his head.


    Lumbering down the tunnel, the massive insect they had encountered earlier emerged into the cavern. Its spindly legs moved with unnerving precision, mandibles clicking idly as it navigated over loose stone and debris. The torchlight gleamed off its bronze carapace, casting jagged shadows against the walls.


    Traebus swallowed hard. "Oh. Oh, fantastic. It followed us. Just what I wanted."


    Dusk sent him a very loud, very pointed mental warning: Do. Not. Move.


    Traebus, for once, agreed. The trio stood stock-still as the insect strode past them, utterly indifferent to their presence. It didn’t even hesitate, didn’t sniff, didn’t seem remotely interested in the panicked creatures frozen mere feet away. Instead, it walked directly up to the massive metal door.


    Then, with the ease of someone walking into their own house, the door hissed open.


    Traebus’s jaw nearly hit the floor. The seamless slab of metal they had spent the last fifteen minutes failing to scratch slid away without a sound, revealing a dimly lit passage beyond. The insect clicked once, then marched forward, disappearing inside like it had done this a thousand times before.


    The door slid shut behind it, leaving Traebus, Dusk, and Sparky staring at the empty space where it had been.


    Sparky made a series of sharp clicking noises, which Traebus was pretty sure translated to, Are you kidding me?!


    Dusk slowly turned his head toward Traebus, his expression unreadable.


    Traebus, still staring at the door, let out a weak chuckle. "Well. That answers that question."


    He dusted off his pants, straightened his shoulders, and took a deep breath. "All right. New plan. We follow the bug. Because apparently, that guy has VIP access, and I want in."


    Dusk let out a long, suffering sigh. Sparky, after a moment of hesitation, trilled in reluctant agreement.


    With renewed determination, Traebus stepped forward, placing a hand against the metal slab, waiting to see if there was any way to trigger the same silent entrance.


    Dusk exhaled heavily through his nose, sending him the very distinct mental impression of I cannot believe I’m stuck with you.


    The moment Traebus''s fingertips brushed the surface, the door hissed again—this time, sliding open just as effortlessly as it had for the insect. He exchanged a wide-eyed look with Dusk and Sparky, then squared his shoulders. "Well, that worked better than expected. Let''s not waste the invitation."


    They stepped inside, finding themselves in a vast, pristine hallway. The walls, floor, and ceiling were perfectly smooth, made of some polished stone that gleamed despite no visible source of illumination. The light simply existed, diffused and even, casting no harsh shadows.


    Traebus turned in a slow circle. "Okay, how is it lit in here? There''s no torches, no lamps, no glowing runes—nothing!"


    Sparky trilled, flicking his tail. Magic?


    "No, see, that would make sense," Traebus argued, rubbing his chin. "But there''s no glow. Even magic usually gives off something. This is just... happening."


    Dusk, scanning the space, flicked an impression of mild unease. There were no doors, no markings, nothing to suggest where they were or where they should go. Worse still, the massive insect was nowhere to be seen.


    Traebus frowned. "That thing was huge. There''s no way it just vanished—where did it go?"


    Sparky let out a low mrrp of suspicion, sniffing the air. Nothing. No scent, no trace. It was as if the creature had walked into this hallway and simply ceased to exist.


    Dusk sent a sharp mental nudge of warning—something about the unnatural stillness of this place.


    "Right," Traebus muttered. "So... we are currently standing in an impossibly clean, well-lit hallway that swallows up giant bugs and offers no explanation as to why. This isn''t ominous at all."


    Sparky let out a nervous trill. Dusk just stared at him, clearly unimpressed.


    With a resigned sigh, Traebus rubbed his face. "Fine. We came this far. Might as well see how deep the rabbit hole goes."


    Steeling himself, he took the first step forward.