I entered the cave, using the flashlight to guide my way. The interior looked exactly like I’d imagined—empty, with rock walls and a dirt ceiling. It smelled wet and musty, and the walls shined under the light. But the strangest thing was the temperature. The mountain had been cold—as expected in the Canadian Rockies. The inside of the cave was the perfect temperature. So perfect, in fact, that I had to remove my outer layers.
I turned a corner, stopping at the sight ahead—winding steps that seemed to go down forever. They were made out of rock, appearing to be part of the cave. There was also no railing. Someone could easily lose their balance and fall straight down the center. I doubted I would lose my balance—my gymnast skills would certainly come in handy—but if I needed to use these stairs, I would still be extra careful.
I peered over them and shined my flashlight down, unable to see to the bottom. Curious, I picked up a nearby pebble and threw it down the center of the stairs. I waited, and waited… but never heard it hit the ground.
I shined my flashlight around the rest of the cave, trying to see if there was another path, but this was the only way forward. So I tested out the first step, glad when it held under my weight.
Then I began the long trek down.
Annika
I’d been going down the steps for what felt like hours. I wasn’t sure exactly how much time had passed, but it was long enough that my stomach had started grumbling from the lack of food.
Finally, I saw something that I was starting to think I would never reach—the bottom.
I hurried down the last few steps, throwing my arms in the air in victory when my feet touched the ground. But I didn’t want to waste time celebrating. Because ahead of me was a simple wooden door—it was the only object at the bottom of the stairs.
I reached forward to open it, surprised when it easily swung open. I sucked in a sharp breath as I gazed inside.
It was full of what appeared to be ancient, magical objects. Crystals, swords, daggers, cards, pendants, jewelry… they were all there, covered in cobwebs, apparently having been undisturbed for decades.
There were also skeletons, laid out sporadically, their gaping eyes staring out at me and warning me to turn back around. My spine tingled under their hollow gazes, and I shuddered, unable to stop looking at them.
Who had these people been? Why hadn’t they been able to escape?
I forced myself to avert my gaze, trying to shake the thoughts away. Those people were long dead.
There was only one thing I needed to worry about right now—finding that sapphire ring. It had to be in here somewhere. I just needed to find it and avoid touching any of the other objects in the process.
I approached a table surrounded by swords—on the table were pieces of jewelry. I ran my flashlight over each piece, making sure not to touch any of them.
It didn’t take long to find the sapphire ring. After all, there weren’t many pieces there, and only one of them was blue. But it was small, in a plain, simple setting. All of the other pieces were extravagant in comparison.
This had to be it.
I lifted it from the table, making sure to heed Camelia’s advice and only touch the setting. The ring appeared to be in my size, and sure enough, it slipped easily onto my finger.
I held it out, admiring it. Although simple, the gem was truly beautiful, glistening as if it held a galaxy of stars within it. I’d never been super into jewelry, but wearing this ring somehow felt right.
Suddenly I heard something from up above—shrieks and flapping wings.
I tilted my flashlight up, screaming as a flock of bats shot straight down toward me.
Annika
They were in my face, in my hair—they were everywhere. I screamed and screamed, clawing at them to get off, but it didn’t help.
I whipped the flashlight around, knocking as many of them in the head as possible, but soon they were on the flashlight, gripping it with their claws and pulling it from my grasp. They flung it somewhere far away, and it was so dark that I could barely see.
Still, they continued attacking, scratching at my skin and clawing at my clothes. I kept on screaming and swatting, but eventually fell down onto the ground, ready to give up.
They weren’t stopping, and it hurt. I screamed at each tiny slice of my skin.
But was this really how I was going to meet my end? Not by a vampire, or wolves, or a witch… but by bats?
No. I refused to go down without a fight.
And so, despite Camelia’s warning, I reached for one of the swords near the table and started swinging it blindly, trying to injure as many bats as possible.
Seconds after I started swinging, they stopped attacking. They flew back up to wherever they’d come from, and they were silent, as if they were never there at all.
I gripped the sword tighter, my heart racing at a million miles per minute. My skin burned where they’d attacked.
I hurried to where the flashlight had fallen and picked it up, still holding the sword with my other hand. After all, if the bats decided to attack again, I wanted to be ready.
Suddenly, the wooden door slammed shut, and the cave started to rumble. Quiet at first, and then louder and louder until the objects inside shook from the force. I could feel the rumbling deep in my chest. It sounded like an avalanche, and it pounded on the door, but somehow the door held strong.
I backed away, running to the end of the cave and holding my sword out ahead of me, as if that would be able to keep me safe from the crumbling cavern.
Finally, after minutes of shaking and rumbling, the cave quieted. I looked around, but nothing seemed misplaced.
The rumbling seemed to have stopped for now.
I took another look at the glimmering ring on my finger. I’d gotten what I came here for—it was time to get out of here. But first, I placed the sword back down where I’d found it. Camelia had been explicit in her instructions—I wasn’t to touch anything other than the ring. I didn’t regret my actions—that sword had saved me from the bats—but these objects were full of powerful magic. Who knew what type of magic that sword contained?
A part of me wanted to bring it back with me in case I ran into another problem like the bats, but another part of me knew I shouldn’t. Camelia had seemed confident that she could control the magic in the ring. And who knew what I would be letting loose with the sword? Best to leave it where it was.
And so, I made my way back towards the door, opened it… and my heart dropped at what I saw.
Annika
A pile of rubble. That was all that was in front of me. The earthquake… the avalanche… the stairs must have broken apart and collapsed.
I had no way out of this cave.
I was stuck.
My chest tightened, and I looked around, searching for another way out. I ran around the room, placing my hands against the walls to search for an escape. A door, or something. The entire time, I avoided touching any of the magical objects. Because the stairs had collapsed immediately after I’d touched the sword.
Given Camelia’s warning, I doubted that timing was a coincidence.
I pounded on the walls until my knuckles were raw and bleeding. But there were no secret doors. Eventually, I sunk down to the floor, defeated. It was no use. I was trapped here.
With no food or water, it wouldn’t be long until I died. If I didn’t run out of air and suffocate first.
I would deteriorate and join the skeletons decorating this haunted cavern.
This cave was cursed. I was stupid to have come in here to begin with.
If it hadn’t been for those bats… I never would have needed to grab the sword. I would have been fine. I would have taken the ring, gone back up to Camelia, and been turned into a vampire.
I held out my hand, admiring the cursed ring that had brought me here in the first place. It truly was beautiful. How had a thing of such beauty caused me so much trouble? Soon I would be dead, and it was all the fault of this damned ring.
I twisted the ring off my finger, wanting to throw it across the room. But I stopped myself.
Because something else that Camelia had said flashed through my mind.
The ring contains great power…