They followed the long stone corridor until it opened into a small chamber. The walls were mottled and flaking, yet the one directly ahead shimmered faintly with light.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaEWLqXGmQO
Slowly, words began to form upon its surface—each stroke sharp and deliberate:
“Riddle:87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVzVV6z0pjn
A house has four corners.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqtzh2de6JT
In each corner sits a cat.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ9SNb49kWI
Each cat looks at three other cats.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjYnOZl6RDM
How many cats are there in total?”
Tamsin blinked, startled for only a moment before blurting out,87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE6JJyxN0ed
“Four corners… one cat in each… so—four.”
Glen glanced sideways at her, his tone cautious.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsAwmpElnoi
“Four?”
At his word, the air in the room seemed to still—87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ94RducmseA
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvUrMcMcLy3
as though the stone itself was holding its breath.
Then, a deep voice echoed around them:
“Correct.”
Bang—!
The ceiling shuddered. Something dropped heavily to the ground before their feet.
It was a pair of small cloth dolls. Their button eyes were crooked, their stitched mouths twisted into eerie smiles—as if watching the two of them.
So this… was a “doll”?
They froze, breath caught, before each reached down to pick one up.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWhTGPmpcOU
Glen slipped his into the small pouch at his waist—87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDOxbRTFMG2
and Tamsin, glancing down, realized with a start that a similar pouch now hung from her belt, though she had no memory of putting it there.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdJiNlm95EY
After a moment’s hesitation, she placed the doll inside.
At that instant, the iron door at the back of the chamber creaked open, its hinges wailing like something alive.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo7pao5vRMF
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBsedE6mw69
It was as if the castle itself was summoning them onward.
Tamsin and Glen exchanged uneasy glances—87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE3qHiyaj5P
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaWAMKNrcSb
then stepped forward together.
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr2TaojB955
They passed through crowd, then room after room,87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxsHrTfIY7L
each one presenting a new kind of challenge.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwpg7QUHKyB
Some were riddles of numbers, others puzzles of pattern and logic.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2JOIV2ngOL
At times, they had to think fast, bend their minds in strange directions.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsC9uZBLgs1
The tasks grew steadily harder—87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCkHXUTYgvs
yet together, they always managed to find the answer.
And each time they succeeded, a doll would fall soundlessly from above,87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡozR565CD5R
landing before them with that same unsettling grin.
The dolls began to pile up quietly in their pouches.
“Five,” Glen murmured, patting the lump at his side.
Tamsin shuddered, forcing herself to look away.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTUgp2aT4Ae
“These dolls… it feels like they’re watching us.”
“Don’t think about it,” Glen muttered back.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCpeCnKuDOm
But his own eyes flicked uneasily away.
When the stone door opened again, they expected another riddle.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2yasHKiYXd
But it was the same chamber—87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpTtEobeXCH
only this time, the words forming on the wall were different.
“What are you most afraid of?87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC4mc67u1IP
Why?”
They froze, staring at each other.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL1kceq4XSA
This wasn’t numbers.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9AKjRPjXF0
This wasn’t logic.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMuhEKFV3La
How could such a question have a right or wrong answer?
Tamsin hesitated, then spoke tentatively.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLuMbpG5NQc
“I… I’m most afraid of insects.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYwDCTg38Me
Because they’re impossible to catch.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn1gBN3I4WL
They move in the dark… silently.”
The wall remained blank.
Glen frowned, then offered his own answer.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk96MQwiru2
“I fear heat. When I sweat, when the air grows thick and suffocating—87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡslaKILFRcY
it feels like I’m burning alive.”
Silence.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbYfHaxgpFZ
Thick, waiting silence.
Then a shrill sound sliced through the air—87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqiDBmHavia
like metal scraping glass, drilling straight into their skulls.
“That is not what you fear most.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt5suwNpdsZ
Answer again.”
The voice struck like thunder, so loud it made their heads throb.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdEwhQuNhV4
Tamsin clutched her ears, but the words still rang clear in her mind.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1gRWwIjuCl
No doll appeared.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyXdmQcDR2P
The wall stayed empty.
“How… how could it know?” she whispered, her voice trembling.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ZlPOPlUpC
She was afraid of insects—terrified of the way they scuttled unseen through the dark.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjsYdSNpkAC
So why… why did this place say she lied?
She turned toward Glen, who looked just as shaken. His brows were drawn tight, his expression raw with confusion—not deceit.
Unease coiled in her throat.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIJ2DaYOCUH
“I… I’m afraid of death,” she said haltingly.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgMrfocRurR
“Because… I still want to live.”
Glen drew a deep, trembling breath. Her words seemed to pull something loose inside him.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuAgnzzibii
“Then… I fear fire,” he said softly. “The heat, the pain of burning—it’s worse than anything else.”
They held their breath.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf8xNlsNQMw
The air seemed to stop moving.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZV65fc8Epl
Their hearts pounded in their ears.
Then the voice returned—colder, heavier than before.
“That is not what you fear most.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjuRJ04A423
Answer again.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡssBMmHAtm9
Last chance.”
Silence fell like a weight.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBFhzEMSWWz
The words last chance echoed through the stone chamber—87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8xpcvcggjd
a curse, a warning, a noose tightening around their souls.
Only one chance remained.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH33L5l5g3n
If they failed again—87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9sMwQoYjX2
what would happen to them?
To be continued...
ns216.73.217.114da2
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