Chapter Text
Jimmy felt like this was a bad idea.
Sure he felt like a lot of their escapades would probably get them killed but this one felt different. It felt cold, final. Like this would be their last adventure.
Of course no one listened when Jimmy said finding the magic maze was a bad idea.
Grian and Joel had told him not to be a wuss and Lizzie had said that they'd be fine. He tried to trust his friends, really he did.
He couldn't shake the feeling of impending doom though.
Something was going to go wrong.
He just hoped they'd all survive so he could tell everyone he told them so.
It doesn't help at all that Scar has been the one to aquire the map. He was a merchant, a salesman. He had an eye for a deal and was one to trade if he thought it was good enough.
He also keeps an eye out for stories of abandoned cities or hidden treasures for Grian.
He'd said that the people with the map had attempted to find a magic maze with treasure hidden deep inside. They split the party, one half going in to scout ahead while the other waited behind for the all clear.
The scouts never came back out.
Naturally Grian thought this was the perfect place for them to go and explore.
Jimmy seemed to be the only one who picked up on the man's cautionary tale.
And now here they were, gear in hand as they stood before the large metal gates. One of the gates hung at a weird angle, creaking as it swayed side to side from the light breeze coming from the cavern behind it. The gates were very ornate, made from a dark metal that was potentially netherite. They'd been built to look spiky and intimidating.
Without any hesitation, Grian pushed open the gate that was still firmly on its hinges.
It creaked and screeched as it was pushed open, the sound grating and piercing. Lizzie had to put her hands over her ears in a futile attempt to block out the sound.
Joel led the way inside, walking them past a large doorway. It was inscribed with runes, though they didn't glow or seem to do much of anything.
They entered a long hallway then. It was dark but they could still see due to the soulfire lanterns hanging from the roof and the walls. The corridor was lined with frozen statues, ice carved into works of art.
About halfway down, Jimmy made the bone chilling realization that these statues weren't normal.
They were of people, frozen with their mouths open in an attempted scream trying to break through as they clawed at seemingly nothing. Some of the sculptures were angry, most of them were terrified.
He stopped, looking closer at a statue that caught his eye. It was a pair of people, hugging each other and crying as one screamed out in anguish. His eyes widened when he saw them.
Deep inside the blue ice were two people, hugging each other and crying as one screamed in anguish with several thick layers of ice surrounding them, mirroring their movement and expression. They appeared to have been frozen like that, dying in the cold.
These sculptures were people.
He backs up, suddenly aware of how many corpses are in the room.
Jimmy was no stranger to the dead. He'd seen many bodies on his adventures, usually decaying and rotting and having died in some horrible way.
He'd never seen bodies like this though, killed cruelly and preserved perfectly.
He falls to the ground, shaking too bad to stand as he's suddenly hyper aware of how cold it's gotten. Distantly he hears three pairs of footsteps running up to him, slowly getting louder. His friends must've been farther away than he thought.
Lizzie crouches into view suddenly, breaking his eye contact with the statue. Breaking his eye contact with the frozen corpse inside, permanently frozen in fear and sadness. His eyes are forced to meet hers as her warm hand cup his face, preventing him from looking anywhere else.
"Jimmy! What's wrong? What happened?"
"Th- the the sc- the statues. The ice have people in them. They're dead but they're there."
Grian and Joel look at each other skeptically before Joel approaches the statue. He looks at it closely for a moment.
Jimmy doesn't need to see his face to know his eyes widened in shock and realization.
"Holy-" he cuts himself off. "That's messed up."
Grian hums in aknowledgment as Lizzie rubs Jimmy's arm comfortingly.
"That's... Not ideal. Definitely not a good sign but we've had worse!"
"I think I'll have to disagree with you there Lizzie. How do people get frozen like this?"
Lizzie opens and closes her mouth a few times as she attempts to refute Grian's claim. "You aren't helping. Do you want Jimmy to leave?" is what she eventually lands on.
Grian shakes his head no as Joel lifts Jimmy off the floor.
"Floors' cold mate. Don't be sitting on it."
"This whole place is cold, Joel." He snaps back, the venom in his voice surprising everyone including himself. "This is a very bad sign. I told you all that coming here was a very bad idea but no one ever listens to me. I know I say it a lot but I was serious about it this time. Now that we came and saw that this place is bad news can we leave?"
The group is silent for a moment before Lizzie nods. She gently grabs his arm in a comforting gesture. "Yeah. We can leave."
The building has other plans though. The floor collapses under them, sending them all tumbling down into darkness. Jimmy grabs onto Lizzie instinctually.
Before Grian can instinctually fly away, they land inside some minecarts, a seatbelt tethering everyone to the ride. They begin to move, following a track through an icy cave.
The wall at the far end, right next to where they had landed, crumbles. Out of it comes a ravager. It bellows before coming charging after the minecarts which neither speed up nor slow down.
Jimmy hugs Lizzie tightly, eyes wide. She hugs him back just as closely. Gran screeches in panic, hurriedly attempting to find a way off the ride they'd been forced on. Joel screams. He attempts to reach over and hold Lizzie and Jimmy but is unable to due to the positioning of the minecarts.
Just as the group brace for impact, a large wall of ice shoots up from the ground. The whole cavern shakes as the ravager runs into it, repeatedly banging the sudden wall in an attempt to continue its pursuit.
The wall dissapears from view as the track slopes down suddenly, taking them deeper. The whole group is left staring in silent surprise and fear, no one making a sound.
It isn't much longer before the carts slow, coming to a stop inside a similar cavern of ice. A large, ornate door blocks them from proceeding further.
The seatbelts in the minecarts suddenly release their hold and the frazzled adventurers stumble out. Jimmy and Lizzie hold onto each other for dear life, holding each other up as Grian flexes his wings. They puff up before smoothing back down a few times as he stares off into space. Joel takes a seat on the ground, leaning his back on one of the spikes of ice coming from the ground. From the look in his eyes alone, Jimmy can tell that Joel's life flashed before his eyes.
They don't get any time to pull themselves together though as the stone door begin to move. The sound of stone grating against stone demands everyone's attention as the heavy stone slabs slide into the walls. They stop after a short moment, the silence deafening.
Grian leans back, looking down the tunnel they just came down.
"I guess the only way is forward."
Lizzie hums in aknowledgment. It's broken and nervous. Jimmy attempts to comfort her by wrapping a wing around her. She runs her fingers through the feathers in response.
"Well... Onwards?"
Joel gets a halfhearted cheer in response. Everyone trudges through the doors though, no longer excited about this experience.
The doors slide closed behind them, sealing their fate.