Saving the Last Lycan King

Chapter 1

Sophie

The day had passed by agonizingly slowly. It felt as though time was standing still as I tried to get finished with my most important tasks. I couldn’t believe that tomorrow was my last day here and while I’ve had a great time here and felt grateful for this opportunity, I also felt disappointed. Mostly because of the events about the tomb itself, and I also felt like my work was being used for something I didn’t approve of.

“What’s going on in that pretty head of yours?” Nathan’s voice sounded and I peeked up at him, wondering how I didn’t notice him walking in here. While he had always been acting kind and sweet, I didn’t appreciate his continuous attempts at flirting. He was my boss after all.

“Oh, nothing special. Just thinking about this being my last full day here.” I answered honestly and he pursed his lips briefly before giving me a sad smile.

“Right. We really enjoyed having you here as a part of our team, Sophie. I hope you know that? And with everything you’ve found so far, we have enough to locate the tomb.” He explained, once again letting me know how important it was for them to find the tomb.

“But who is going to describe and log everything you find in the tomb?” I asked, hoping that he wouldn’t think of me as prying. “I’m the most qualified person to file everything, Nathan. You know that.” I added, feeling a little bold as the words flew out of my mouth.

“I’m aware and please trust that I will contact you if we need your services again.” His answer made me sound like I was some type of escort to be hired whenever my services were needed, the comparison making me want to scoff. Without saying anything, I just gave him a forced smile and stared at him, waiting for him to leave again.

“Anything else, or can I go back to work now?” I inquired when he didn’t move from his spot. He shifted his feet and dragged a hand through his hair, making it look even messier than before.

“No, I… No. It was lovely to work with you, Sophie. Good luck in the future.” He managed to croak out into the tension-filled air between us.

“Likewise.” I replied with a nod of my head, my eyes following him as he left the tent. Once he was gone, I opened my bag to retrieve the small piece of velvet, feeling the need to make sure it was still there. I carefully unwrapped it, making sure the ring was still there, my eyes inspecting it carefully again. From what I had gathered, it was like a compass of sorts, and I strongly believed that this was the thing that would lead me to the tomb.

Several hours ticked by and once I had finished tidying up my workstation, I joined the others for dinner around the fire. The sky had turned completely black with small stars twinkling above us, casting a soft light down at us, as we sat around the fire. The flames danced as they ate the remaining pieces of wood and I tried to store as much warmth from it as I possibly could. I could practically feel the ring burn in my pocket and I found myself counting down the minutes until I could leave, the eagerness to find him almost crackling my nerves.

When people started to leave for their own tents, I figured it was time for me to head out on my little mission. With the ring secured on my finger, I watched with curiosity as the small arrows started to flicker around. The black one seemed to be stuck, as it was almost vibrating on the spot, but the red one was spinning around furiously. I turned around and somehow it seemed to align the two arrows as they shifted completely. Amazing. As I followed the arrows, I briefly wondered for how long I should do this? I didn’t know if the tomb would be close or somewhere far away. A click sounded from my finger and I glanced down, only to see that the red arrow had shifted. I turned to my right, watching carefully as the red arrow aligned with the small dot on the metal plate, and then I walked forward again. This happened another three times and it felt like I had been walking for over an hour feeling the chilled air of the night creeping over my exposed skin. I had marked every direction and turn I took on a map I had in my bag, making sure I could follow the route again, should I lose the ring. Better to be safe than sorry.

Then, I saw the outline of a small and weird stone formation in front of me and had I not been in search of a tomb, I would have walked straight past it. Three stones were resting on the ground, covered by a plate of flint, and in the middle of it was a relatively large hole. Could this be his only source of light, as he mentioned in one of the various letters? Without thinking, I kneeled down onto the dusty ground and let my hands gently slide over the surface of the flat flint stone, feeling the smooth stone underneath my fingertips. They traced the rough and almost patterned outline of the hole. Chilled air wafted into my face, but all I could see was darkness. I glanced down at the ring and noticed that the arrows were completely still and I quickly retrieved the map to mark the spot as the potential tomb.

“Hello?” I called into the darkness and I could hear the echo of my voice. Using all of the strength in my legs, I tried to push the flint away from the other stones, but it didn’t budge or move even one centimeter. Even though the night was cold, I was starting to sweat profusely, but I was so close now, that I couldn’t give up. I was missing something important… If this was indeed his final resting place, it shouldn’t be easy to find a way in. My hand dug into my bag again, shuffling around inside in search of the cylinder, an artifact found at the beginning of my employment, hoping to find another clue. I glanced back at the hole again and then at the cylinder. And again. Then it hit me, the cylinder must be the key! With almost shaking hands, I slowly inserted the cylinder vertically into the small hole and turned it until it fit with the pattern of the hole, and when it did, I turned it yet again until a loud click echoed through the void underneath me. With a loud crack, the ground rumbled further to my left, leaving the once uninterrupted and dry soil broken in several places.

I can’t believe I’ve actually found… Well, something! Feeling slightly excited, but simultaneously nervous, I made my way towards the hole in the ground and peeked down into the dark abyss. My breath was coming out in short pants, almost as if expecting something to happen, but when nothing did, I started to pull away some of the larger pieces of stone. The light from the moon fell into the space below, gently illuminating the stony and dusty ground. I couldn’t help but wonder what was down there. Artifacts? Scrolls? Silver or gold? Or maybe just nothing. But then my eyes caught a blurry movement and all the air left my lungs as my eyes stared into a pair of warm, almost golden eyes staring back up at me. I could feel my heart thumping inside of my chest as my hands dropped the stone they were holding, and I felt myself falling through the hole as I passed out from shock.