As Kage knelt on the ground clutching his hand, the two men in the room got on either side of them and began to advance. Kage didn’t want to let go of his hand. He knew that it was only the pressure he was applying that was keeping large amounts of blood to gush out. But he knew he would have too. When the men got within three feet of him, he decided to charge the man on his right. He crashed into the man and tried to pull the native’s axe away from him. Blood spewed from his fingers and Kage’s face went white. The native twisted the axe so it would his bad hand, and Kage went numb. The other native brought his sword inches within Kage’s back before Greegan stabbed the native in the back. Kage was punched in the face and went down, but Greegan then appeared over him and kicked him in the groin. The native hollered out and a dagger went into his mouth, impaling his head into the floor.

Just as Kage regained consciousness, two more natives walked into the room with their weapons drawn. Greegan sheathed Kage’s sword in his own belt and tried to pull Kage to his feet, but Kage was barely responding, and couldn’t get to his feet. Greegan let go of Kage’s hand and stepped back, right onto a trap door. The floor opened up under him and the thief fell into the darkness. Greegan fell into a large puddle in the middle of the room; his head hit the floor hard. When he looked up, he saw that he was in a small room surrounded by statues. Above him, where the trap door let in the light source, he saw Kage slowly crawling into the trap door after him. One of the natives grabbed Kage from behind. Greegan grabbed a long wooden staff that was lying next to him and hit the native in the face with it. The native dropped Kage and the knight fell into the trap door. Greegan then used to pole to close the trap door and to his delight he found the it fit into a groove in the trapdoor. The pole was actually used to lock the trap door on that side, and Greegan found the second groove on the floor that was used to secure it. The natives tried to pound the door open but it was locked now.

Kage and Greegan looked around the small dark room, now only lit through the small cracks from the trap door. Some of the statues showed women holding children while others were likenesses of fierce monsters. They were well-fashioned but had long deteriorated because of the moisture that still permeated the place. A snake slithered around the head of one of the statues. There was s single doorway leading out of the room into a hallway. Kage grabbed a soot-covered cauldron rag to wrap his hand in and then took his sword back from Greegan. They leaned up against the statues away from the snake, and listened to the footsteps above them. The natives seemed to have given up or had left to try and make their way around to them.

“Let’s wait a few minutes and then go back up.”, said Greegan.

“Wait, look, this must be the inner temple. The black pearl, it must be here, not out there where just anyone could get it.”, said Kage.

“Kage, you’re delirious. You’re still thinking about that? If you don’t get your hand looked into soon, you’re going to lose consciousness again and die. We have to get back and find Marina.”, said Greegan. Both of them knew Marina could close the wounds, but she couldn’t regrow or reattach his fingers.

“No! This is my last mission. This is for Yoy. I have to get it. I’ll never fight again; I can’t even provide for them anymore…. I HAVE to find it!”, said Kage. And with that, he kept walking, deeper into the temple. Greegan stared at him. He knew Kage had finally lost it. The smoke, the loss of blood, he wasn’t in control any more. No one was. But for some reason Greegan followed.

Just as Greegan was took a step towards the passageway, he heard a click on the floor where he stepped and then the sound of metal grinding against stone as something fell towards him. Greegan jumped and rolled ahead, right into Kage, barely missing being skewered by a falling portcullis. The two looked at the gate that now blocked the way back to the temple’s exit. Knowing Kage was useless with his hand, Greegan tried to lift the portcullis unsuccessfully and then cursed himself. He thought he could humor Kage for a few minutes and then convince him to follow him back up, but a single step in the wrong direction had now trapped him in inner recesses of the island cult.