The horse figurine she had found seemed to have a soothing quality to it. As she held it, it made her feel calmer, and more steady. Maybe even a bit more confident in her ability to deal with whatever happened next.
Lei'lira started to look around, but was quickly distracted when she felt the figurine shift in her hand. Startled, she looked down, and found that it had somehow turned into a key. Curious, she studied the key carefully. It was beautiful. The key was the same shade of blue that the horse figurine had been, and it had silvery inlay that gleamed in the glittering lights of the cave. It was as light as a feather, as if it had been made out of light itself. And as Lei'lira stared at it in awe, it made her think of beautiful clear blue skies, and the sheer joy she felt as she watched her herd running on a beautiful trial like the one the key brought to mind. Was the key magical in some way? Perhaps. But Lei'lira was convinced that if it was magical, it was meant for a good purpose.
Strangely enough, the faint glow coming from the carvings throughout the cave was enough for her to see clearly by. When she had entered the cave, she had thought it would be dark and dreary...frightening. Instead, it was beautiful in its own way. She noticed some glowing blue mushrooms that grew along the floor of the cave, but what really drew her attention was the pool of water in the center. Lei'lira found herself drawn to it like a moth to a flame as she peered into its depths. Did anything live in it? And if so, what? There were also the carvings that lined the pool. There were so many of them. Surely they had to mean something...but what?
Behind the pool, she saw a large door. One side was made out of blue marble...the same shade of blue as her key. The other side was a dark onyx. Lei'lira couldn't help but be put in mind of light and shadow, two sides of a whole. She glanced at the key she was holding.
Well, I think I know what I'm supposed to do with this. she mused.
Lei'lira glanced at the other woman in the cave.
"Do you have a key, too? I think we need them to open this door."
But how was the question. Lei'lira began looking for a key hole of some kind. Instead, she found a riddle.
"I am trapped, and forgotten
Chained and locked,
These bars do hold me
So escape I cannot
What am I?"
When Rastian spoke again, he sounded closer than he had been before. It startled Lei'lira into jumping a bit, but it did seem to confirm what he had said about being in the cave, so she relaxed again within trills. Then she glanced at the doors once more. Was Rastian trapped behind them? It would explain why they couldn't see him in the cave. Then again...if he was a spirit of some kind, they wouldn't necessarily be able to see him either way.
"Do you have any ideas what the riddle means?" Lei'lira asked the other woman hopefully.
She was horrible at riddles. But the riddle required an answer, so she began trying to figure it out. Right up until she heard a rumbling sound behind them. Alarmed, she whirled around to see what was going on, and was horrified to see the tunnel sealing up completely. As she stared at the place where it used to be in shock, she couldn't even tell that there had ever been a tunnel there.
'What is this?" she demanded in mingled fear and anger.
She considered demanding that they be freed immediately, but she resisted the urge. Clearly that would do nothing. Rastian had claimed to be trapped himself. So either he had no control over what had just happened...or he was behind it, and wasn't going to free them just because she demanded it. She had no tools or weapons that might be used to force her way through the newly sealed rock, so she took deep breaths and forced herself to calm down as best she could as she turned back to consider the riddle. Perhaps answering it would free them...if they could indeed answer it.
"I really don't like this "price to pay" if we answer wrong..." she muttered.
So. Trapped and forgotten...well, lots of things could be trapped by bars, and if trapped long enough, it would only stand to reason that they would be forgotten. That really wasn't at all helpful. The most obvious answer was that Rastian was trapped. He himself had said that he was imprisoned in this cave. But the most obvious answer was almost certain to be the wrong one. Wasn't it? So where did that leave her?
Lei'lira eyed the doors themselves thoughtfully. One light side, and one dark...they really did seem to resemble light and shadow. Was that significant somehow? And if so, was it tied to the riddle? If so...how? Light and shadow were both intangible things. And intangible things couldn't be chained up of imprisoned with bars.
I really hate riddles... Lei'lira thought as she tried to think.
After trying to look at the riddle from every angle, and puzzle out clues that might lead to an answer, she decided to go with the obvious choice, and hope for the best. It was the only thing she could think of, and maybe she'd get lucky. After all...if Rastian was trapped in a cave in the middle of nowhere like this, it seemed very likely that he had been forgotten. Maybe.
"I think the answer is you, Rastian."
Hopefully. And if she was wrong, Lei'lira hoped very much that the "price"...whatever it was...would only be paid by her.