Seventeen: Monster
"Hah!" Lilith drove her blade through the mummy before her. Then she slashed upward at an angle, slicing its skull and half a shoulder clean off.
The mummy toppled and let out two ragged wails, then went still. Only sour green ichor bubbled from the severed husk, stinking like a swamp.
"Ew." Lilith pinched her nose, disgust rising first, then she shuffled back a few steps. She glanced around. She wiped the slime off Shattered Ark on a wall, smearing grime like moss.
Even cleaned, the Ark carried a faint reek, clinging like smoke. So the Little White Dragon kept the blade in hand, not trusting it near her clothes.
There were six mummies in the room, matching the six stone coffins she'd just seen, like echoes answering echoes. She had no idea how they'd crawled out.
The last one had fallen to her blade moments ago. The room should be safe now. Still, tension sat in her chest; she hadn't checked for hidden mechanisms.
This chamber linked three more rooms besides the small entry. The Little White Dragon planned to sweep them one by one, right to left, like reading a scroll.
As usual, she used blood to open the sealed stone door. The right room mirrored the entry: six stone coffins lying in tidy ranks, like soldiers asleep.
She'd only found six mummies in the main hall, so she eased each lid with extra care. She feared something would spring out and take a bite.
Luck held; no seven or eight burly men jumped from the coffins to sink their teeth in.
Bad news followed; the coffins brimmed with more gold and silver, a cold river of treasure. And Lilith couldn’t take it.
Annoyance flared, then resignation. The Little White Dragon hauled every coin and trinket out, then stacked them by the door like a little altar. She picked a few portable pieces, then walked away numb.
"It's fine, it's fine. Two rooms left," Lilith told herself, smoothing her mood like water over stone. Surely the last two weren’t the same.
She went to the middle room. Blood opened the door again. She drew a steady breath, then shoved the door with both hands.
As expected—six familiar coffins, stone faces set like old judges.
Lilith stood quiet for a moment. Then she turned, and closed the door with a soft click.
"Let’s try the left one," she said, forcing lightness into her voice, and moved to the final door.
Unlike the plain doors before, this stone slab bore eerie carvings that promised nothing good. A goat's head hung on the frame, like the door wore a curse.
Lilith raised her sword, alert as a cat. She unstrapped Astrolabe from her back and gripped it in her left hand.
"Float," she whispered a spell. Soft white feathers on her belly glowed a cool blue, like moonlight on snow. Her body felt lighter, heart lifting with it.
She roused her resonance with the constellations. She nudged the door just enough, slipped through like a streak, and vanished into the room.
The space behind the stone door was broader than she'd guessed—almost eighty meters long, like a hall carved into night. Someone had folded extra room into the world.
A feeling pricked at her: she’d missed something crucial. The thought slid away like a fish; she couldn’t catch what she’d forgotten.
Her foot hit the floor with a wet sound. She glanced down. The ground lay under a thin skin of water. Its color matched the walls; under the cool blue of Stellar Magic, it had hidden.
Lilith lifted Astrolabe high in her left hand and walked to the center, letting her gaze sweep like a lantern beam.
With water sheathing the floor, quiet sneaking was impossible. So she went to the middle and chose sight over silence. In resonance, clearer vision meant earlier warning and quicker escape.
Her speed was her edge now. No need to cower.
At the very center, under the water’s skin, a stone hump broke the surface. Lilith prodded it with Shattered Ark, wary as a fox. No response. She set her palm on it.
The moment her hand touched stone, the air bit back.
The hump flared with a searing purple light, like an amethyst struck by lightning. Blinded, Lilith snapped her left arm up to shield her eyes. Her legs kicked, and she sprang back.
She opened distance fast. After a heartbeat, she lowered her arm and stared at the stone now floating in air, heavy as a heart ripped free.
It wasn’t alone. Countless pebbles shot up from the water with soft plips, then gathered under the floating core, guided like swallows flocking to a lead bird.
In minutes, a giant of stone stood before her. Nearly five meters tall, a cliff of a body veined with dark-violet runes. It bent forward, massive torso folding, and from that bulk a small, almost pitiful head peered down at Lilith with tiny eyes.
The Little White Dragon lifted her chin and met the towering rock giant’s gaze, trying not to lose too badly in sheer presence.
"Who are you?" the stone man asked, voice like a drum under a mountain.
"Uh... a little girl who wandered in by accident?" Lilith scratched her head, embarrassment first, then a casual lie.
"Hmph. Falsehood." The stone man snorted. It raised its left fist, slow and solemn, eyes locked on Lilith. "Intruder, you have one more chance."
"Okay. I came seeking the Legendary Sword." Lilith chose honesty. With that weight behind its words, another lie would draw a fist like a falling boulder.
"The Legendary Sword? How do you know of it?" Surprise creased the tiny brow. Even those pebble eyes seemed to jump.
"I went to the Vampire Royal Library. I read about it there."
"Vampire..." The stone man fell silent. Danger tingled along Lilith’s spine, cold as dew. She fixed her gaze on it and, without a sound, began to edge toward the door.
"Traitor!" the stone man roared. Its fist crashed beside Lilith, and water burst up, splashing her head to toe.
"Whoa!" Lilith bolted back, rolled to widen the gap, then whipped Astrolabe up and hurled a frost orb. Ice locked around the giant’s ankle.
"Traitors must die." It glared at her, vicious as a winter wolf. It stomped, and the ice around its joint shattered with a sharp crack.
Lilith set her jaw, eyes hard on the stone colossus. A fierce fight was coming. No way around it.
