Hekate had never really been one for Dungeon Diving, she'd only ever really gotten into it because Calypso was so curious about what secrets lie within the depths. The whole process was cumbersome and dangerous, and it was her girlfriend's recklessness that made her feel obligated to come. Who else would bringe the supplies needed to make it through? Or common sense to walk away from something too risky to approach? It wouldn't be Achilles, that's for sure. 

Today, however, she felt something dreadful in her marrow as they left the lodgings. Pre-emptive anxiety, like a storm was looming on the horizon, ready to strike them down. Calypso had been dismissive, said that it was her nerves, probably. Maybe she was right, maybe it was all going to be fine...even if that put in her stomach never dislodged itself, if anything, the closer they got to the Dungeon Entrance, she was certain it was getting stronger.

"Calypso, are you sure we have to do this today? Achilles get's back from his trip in two days. The dungeons aren't going to disappear." Hekate said tentatively.

The roan mare looked up from her map, pen in mouth. "What? Of course, we've never skipped a Friday dealve. We are't going in for long, just looking into a low-risk route the Guild was interested in persuing." She replied. "It's categorized as an F level, literally nothing!"

Hekate's hoof pawed the ground a few times worriedly, her expression unconvinced. "Ok."

Frowning, Calypso turned towards her fully now, trotting the few steps over to give her her full attention. "Look, I promise it'll be quick. In and out, back before noon. We can do whatever you want afterwards, maybe I can bake those cookies you like?"

She sighed heavily and nods. "Alright, I'm fine. Lets do this." 

"Awesome!" Her face lit up immedately. "I'm all set to go."

...

The walk through to the dungeon had been relatively uneventful but they were coming upon their target location. A little offshoot that had previously been covered by rubble. An earth tremer had dislodged some of the stone, and a team had been sent to clear out the rest, meaning whatever was beyond the blockage needed to be mapped. There were no records of the area being previously checked, but the entire area up until this point was low risk and easy...at least it was supposed to be.

The tunnel they were talking was narrow, and when Hekate looked downwards towards the natural stone floor, she wondered if it was her imagination that it seemed...worn smooth. Well travelled. "I thought this place wasn't documented before."

"It wasn't," Calypso agreed, not noticing what she meant yet.

Hekate didn't persue it, merely pinned her ears back in uncertainty.

She wasn't sure how long they'd been trotting along after that, it was dark and the heat of the torch she was holding was starting to irritate her, nevermind the dampness of the air making her pelt feel boggy. The discomfort of it was almost enough to make her miss the change in the atmosphere, only really refocuing when she noticed Calypso had stopped dead ahead of her and was staring at something.

A door.

"Calypso?" Hekate asked hesitantly.

The other mare, however, seemed more interested in the thing before them than her words, already in motion to check it out closer.

Hekate couldn't help but want to shy away, yhe door seemed to eminate a dark, forboding feeling as it loomed before them. "Calypso don't, we don't know what will be on the other side." She reasoned, voice small in the dark stoney cooridoor.

"I'm sure whatever is on the otherside is long dead, if anything at all." Calypso responded back, pressing a hoof into what seemd to be a lever or a switch.

A deep, cocophanous rumbling shook the floor as the stone door slowly ebbed upwards, wotes of dust and dirt shaken free from the old mechanism that powered it. From the darkness of the room opening up before her, the first thing she noticed was candle light flickering. When it all came into view, there were even glowing track marks across the walls in ornate, ancient symbology. There were three pointed structures, each covered in glowing runes and strung with rustic, handmade ornaments made of twig, herbs, and crystals. The candles were set between them, arcing into what Hekate assumed was a full circle. 

At the center of it all was a raised pedistal with a long coffin on top, and at its end lay a slanted slab of polished black stone. A humanoid skull sat wearing a crown, stuck in place above a dusty old tome. The air inside was cool, the dampness absent here somehow, and the dread Hekate had felt before...had reached a fever pitch. She backed up a hoofstep, paniced and wide eyed, but ger gaze was stuck on the foreign skull and it's pristine crown...and how the candles underneath were not melting - they just kept burning.

Calypso edged forward into the room, mouth agape, and seemingly unperturbed to the ghostly scene. "This must be an ancient burial room...I wonder who for." She said, voice low in reverence. She approached the arching structures and the display, eyeing the book and it's 'companion.' "A human's, too...this is OLD old."

"Caly please," Hekate begged into the silence, lunging into the room in a panic, wanting to get her away from the display.

Unfortunately, though, the black roan mare had already reached out and lifted the crown from the skull's head with the intent to look at it's construction, see if there was a maker's signature on the inner side. The only thing she got, however, was something snapping in the air. Like a blast of wind had hit them, all the candleflames went out, and the glowing runs on the walls and on the spires flickered. A heavy mist began to roll from underneath the pedistal coiling, serpentine, across the ground at their hooves. Hekate had just managed to be at her side amidst the fallout, and - unfortunately - became the target of something else alltogether.