7135
“Wait a minute!” You said aloud. “This is a bit more literal than I could have imagined.” You said as you skillfully took a moment to juggle the little rocks around above your head, thrilled that you at least had some kind of lead about what the puzzle had been urging you to do. “L-I-E-S… 7 1 3 5”
For a moment, the others looked at you a bit cross- puzzled themselves about what you were talking about. “7135 7135” you repeated.
“Okay, this dude is really losing it in this madhouse… Isn’t he? hah!” Barley continued to joke. “Oh!” In that very moment, he realized what you were talking about as you showed him the combination visually. “Oh! It looks like-” He figured it out instantly and nearly leaped for joy as he watched you setting the stones.
“The numbers represent letters! Of course!” Casey said, nearly slapping herself in the forehead for not figuring it out sooner. “Okay! Let’s try it out!” By the time she had said that, you were already setting the last stone.
That’s it! The small group was absolutely elated about solving the puzzle. Stakes definitely felt high considering the message inscribed into the plaque, but you were all completely relieved to know that your lies had been sufficient enough to not die.
The room started to shake and suddenly the walls began to open. They turned on some kind of giant hinge and the statue split apart in straight cut corners as if it was designed to part in that way. You all waited excitedly to see what was on the other side, and what you saw did come as a bit of a surprise.
On the other side, it was exactly what you expected. Some kind of dark room, deeper inside was the small flickering light of a fire. After traveling alone for so long, the idea of others being around kind of made you nervous- regardless of the fact that you were trying to find the others.
There was something about the way the all-consuming darkness wavered in and out around that dark reddish singularity far out in the middle of the room. Whatever it was, you just hoped that you had seen it long before it had seen you.
Written by Drifting Dragon on 18 January 2022