Hunting Thingamajigs

MIchael lit his wand with the most powerful Lumos spell he knew. It might well be enough light for all. He went slowly and carefully down into the cavern, pausing periodically to let Brian hammer in spikes for rope lines. It was a trecherous steep downward slope, and Michael wanted rope lines to keep them all safe. He anchored the lines into the clips on the spikes and tested them by throwing himself off a sharp edge to see if the clip would hold. It did. He anchored his feet again and gave them instructions, one step at a time, to each one, about where to put their hands and feet in order to stay balanced. He didn't trust any of them to be as experienced as he was, and if he was responsible, he wasn't losing them.

The further down into the dark they went, the steeper it got, until they were indeed scaling downward. Brian didn't like it. He could feel death. He could smell blood. Old blood. Stench. Foul. Bat guano. Nastiness. And water. He could smell and feel the humidity of underground mineral filled waters. He didn't think he needed to tell anyone to be careful. That seemed more than obvious. The colors of the rocks began to change and become more vibrant and beautiful from the mineral deposits of the waters. He was sure they were going to see beautiful stalagtites and stalagmites at the bottom. And that might well be the only good thing about it if there was anything at all.

Jim,cassidy and jack all followed Michael non speaking but all thinking that the cave was a good hiding place for an artifact. Cassidy slipped twice but Jack caught her holding her upright as they moved on the steeper it got the more they helped each other. Cassidy saw the walls start to take on a glow and she smiled. deadly but beautiful right?" she asked Michael as she fell back on Jack once again and sighed " slippy too , do you see the end yet ?" she asked but Jim chuckled.

" the end is when we find the artifact Cassidy" he told her Jack nodded as cassidy tipped her head.

"Right just wish we were on level ground " she said shifting her harness " this harness is giving me a bad wedgie"

Michael finally set his feet on the rock floor of the cavern and looked around quickly and carefully. He heard Brian land behind him, and he didn't have to look. He knew Brian's wand was already drawn and at the ready. They were silent, on guard. Looking around. Brian noticed a number of bats hanging around. Brian pointed them out to Michael, but Michael already knew. He didn't think they were vampires. Just bats. Of course, it was hard to tell, but they just looked like regular order bats to him. Michael saw some dead and decomposing bats and figured that was where the smell was coming from.

When everyone had landed on the stone floor of the cavern, Angus reeled in the end of the rope so it didn't drag, and Michael moved them forward. He and Brian were trying to get the lay of the cavern fixed in their minds from what they had seen on their map so they had some sort of clue as to where they needed to be going.

Jim landed to stand next to Micheal along with Cassidy and Jack Jack stopped Cassidy from slipping and chuckled." you should stop falling on me Cassidy" he told her and she chuckled stopping as she then saw the bats standing quiet so they would not be disturbed she held her nose at the smell as Jack pointed to the dead bats on the ground. " bat guano stinks" she siad softly and Jim chuckled nodding.

"Any guano stinks, its poop cassidy" he said and she rolled her eyes looking around she saw something under the bat Guano and walked over wiping it with a hanky she found some carvings " Michael, this anything?" she asked.

Brian and Michael walked over to the carvings.

"Yes," Michael said. "It is. Brian, check your map."

"I know the map," Brian said. "It matches a symbol in a room down here off to our east."

"There is no bloody room to the east," Michael scowled. The east was nothing but stone wall."

"Not true. There's a room on the east, and the river runs through it."

"Where the hell is there any room?"

"The symbol is wrong."

"What?"

"Its blue here. Its purple on the map," Brian said. "Its wrong."

"It needs red," Angus said.

"Yes," Michael said slowly, "It certainly does." He got out a large bowie knife out of his belt and cut the palm of his hand deep enough that the blood flowed freely. He waited a moment until his hand was covered. He smeared the blood over the symbol on the wall. The symbol itself began to glow purple and Michael began to hear rumbling. Tumblers. Like an old antique muggle safe. Something was moving in the rock. Perhaps this was a door after all.

Cassidy stepped back letting them look at the carvings she listened and watched as Brian cut his hand and smeared it on one of the carvings. Cassidy looked around as she heard the tumblers a door opened beside her and she chuckled " hay is this the room?" she said pushing the door all the way open and stepping inside the dusty room Jack watched from the doorway with his wand drawn ready for any attacks that might happen. Jim looked around the room and knelt at the rivers edge.

"Hay Brian, there's some thing in this river " he said looking into the clear moving water at his feet

Brian took Michael's bleeding hand and sealed the wound as the secret door opened. He and Michael followed the others through as Jim announced there was something in the river.

"Great," Michael sighed sarcastically. "Why is it there that there is always a monster in the underground river? Stay back as close to the wall as you can. And if these things work correctly, the door to get out is on the other side of the monster."

"Of course it is," Brian said. "You read the map, didnt you?"

"I watch muggle movies," Michael said. "It all works out the same way. Who's volunteering to get eaten?"

"What!" Sergio frowned.

"Whoever is wearing the red shirt, you get eaten first. Muggle law," Michael said dryly.

"Oh, stop it," Brian punched him lightly. "You'll scare them to death."

Jim chuckled and shook his head as cassidy looked over at him " muggles " he said softly and cassidy chuckled , Jack on the other hand was looking aorund still his wand held up and at the ready.

" don't be so easy to blow that out of the water somethings not right, and its not bat guano ether I smell" he told them all sniffing a foul oder in the air around them. Cassidy looked at Michael and Brian as she took out her wand ready in case of a fight.

Brian picked up a rock and hurled it into the water. A large angry serpent reared up from the depths.

"Damnit," Michael cursed at Brian. "You just had to piss it off, didn't you? Figures. Damned basilisks. Nobody brought the Gryffindor sword, did they? I knew you'd forget something, Angus."

"It was your day to bring it," Angus said, taking a battle stance, along with Brian and Michael.

"Well," Brian said, "lets get it." He fired at the basilisk, and it wounded it but it only aggravated it. It struck at Brian. He had appointed himself the bait and the distraction. He wanted the rest of them to battle the beast while he fired shots to agitate it and keep it focused on killing him rather than the others.

Jack and Jim moved beside Brian and fired their wands while Cassidy saw an old sword on the ground picking it up she slashed at the basilisk as it roared and lunged for Brian's head. Suddenly the sword once slicing it easily as she thrust slid into the wall behind the snake and the floor gave way. The creature fell threw and was washed away to leave cassidy stood stunned looking at the others. Jim breathed heavily and smiled at her.

" well done Cassidy" he said Jack sniffed and smiled relaxing where he stood.