RAVEN’S GAMBIT | EPISODE 73: The Eye of Dust and Flame
The air was thick with the copper tang of ancient decay.
They stood before the latest door in the corridor of illusions and traps—a squat stone slab with a brass ring glinting in soft, flickering blue light.
“I’m starting to hate magic doors,” Tessa muttered, absently fingering the hilt of her dagger.
Sir Cedric frowned, adjusting his grip on his longsword. “Stay sharp. This place reeks of death.”
Thog grunted in agreement, cracking his neck as Lira leaned close to whisper, “If it reeks of death, why do you look so at home?” Her smirk was met with a chuckle from Elowyn, though Thalia only rolled her eyes and nocked an arrow.
Sir Cedric pulled the ring and pushed.
Inside, the chamber lay still and solemn. A wooden sarcophagus sat on a low stone table, surrounded by shattered chests, overturned urns, and looted coffers. The smell of mildew and forgotten ages clung to every crevice.
"This... looks familiar," Sir Cedric muttered with an edge of disdain. “Another false tomb?”
But then they saw it.
The sarcophagus had been partially opened—inside, a mummified corpse, its wrappings torn, lay still... except for the faint gleam of a massive amethyst in its eye socket, like a grim sentinel of some long-lost king.
Tessa knelt beside the body with her usual quiet fascination. “Do you think it’s—?”
“Don’t touch it,” Elric warned. “That gem pulses with necromantic energy. It’s warded.”
“Still valuable,” Thog grinned.
“Still cursed,” Elowyn replied flatly, pulling Thalia gently back from the edge. “Let’s not do anything reckless.”
“I’ve got it,” Tessa said quickly—and before another word could be spoken, she plucked the amethyst from the eye socket with a delicate twist of her fingers.
The gem flared once, brilliantly violet… then crumbled to dust, releasing a blast of putrid wind that whipped the room into chaos.
From the sarcophagus, the mummy’s body twitched. Its remaining wrappings rippled and writhed, as if caught in some invisible current. A dark light flooded the empty socket, and the corpse sat up, slow and regal.
“Who dares disturb the sanctum of Naran’Shuul... Mummy Lord of the Fire Catacombs?” the voice boomed from a mouth without breath.
Sir Cedric stepped forward. “We do. And we’re not here for ceremony.”
The Mummy Lord raised one rotting hand—and a wave of necrotic energy surged forward. “Then die, mortal insects.”
Combat erupted.
Thalia loosed two arrows in rapid succession, the first sparking against an invisible barrier, the second sinking into the undead priest’s arm.
Thog barreled forward with a roar. “You want death? Meet my axe!”
He swung—but the creature vanished in a flicker of fire and smoke, reappearing behind Elric.
“Slay Living,” it hissed, touching the wizard’s back.
Elric screamed, his knees buckling—but he stood, gasping. “Too slow, rotbag,” he growled, his hands forming arcane sigils midair. A cone of ice blasted from his fingertips, chilling the mummy and slowing its stride.
Lira tossed a vial of alchemist’s fire onto the mummy’s path, then rolled behind a broken urn. “I swear if this one gets up twice—!”
“Behind you!” shouted Elowyn, hurling a radiant blast of sacred flame at the mummy’s back. The creature howled, half its shoulder disintegrating in the searing light.
It raised its arms again.
“Insect Plague,” it droned—and the room filled with a buzzing storm of spectral, biting locusts. The swarm chewed at their flesh and minds.
“Stay together!” Sir Cedric bellowed. He plunged forward, swinging his master worked long sword with a divine fury, cutting a path through the swarm. “Back to the grave, you wretched husk!”
Thog slammed his axe into the mummy’s ribs. “No more tricks!” His strike sent bone splinters flying as the creature staggered.
Tessa came from behind, daggers in hand, dancing beneath the plague cloud. She pierced the linen-wrapped chest and twisted. “Found the heart.”
The mummy let out a howl of rage—but faltered.
“Thalia—now!” Elowyn cried.
Thalia fired once more. The arrow, enchanted with Elowyn’s magic, streaked through the storm and buried itself in the mummy’s head. The spark of false life flickered—
—and died.
The corpse fell back into the sarcophagus with a hiss like steam. The buzzing insects vanished. Silence returned.
Tessa wiped sweat from her brow. “Well. That sucked.”
Sir Cedric nudged the body. “There’s a ring under the wrappings.”
“Magical,” Elric confirmed. “Ring of fire resistance.”
“Fitting,” Lira mused. “We could all use a little of that soon.”
They stood, bloody but alive, watching as the cursed sarcophagus settled into stillness.
"Rest now, Naran’Shuul," Sir Cedric said softly. "You picked the wrong heroes to curse."