Isolation

There were dark spots in her vision, and her head was pounding.

She turned her head to the side, squinting in hopes it would allow her to see something, anything.

Then her heart skipped a beat.

Ariella!”

The door closed.

Ariella watched the scene unfold, wide-eyed with horror. Her comrades were struggling to get to their feet, shouting out her name; Men panicking, reaching for their swords— Ariella opened her mouth to shout something back. She tried to run over the burning piles of cursed gold in the forbidden temple—Trolls were screaming and Soldiers were arriving and the dragon roared—

The vault’s door shut with an echoing clang… and then silence.

Utter silence.

It was like the world had suddenly frozen. Ariella startled, astounded, to see that most of the false treasure disappear. The curse had halted. The moment the door closed, everything had returned to its proper place. The vault was pristine and clean, almost untouched.

And it was deathly quiet.

Panic seized Ariella’s heart. “Help!” she called, rushing to her feet banging on the vault’s door. It did not budge. “Open the door! Open the door!” Breathing fast, Ariella went to reach for her sword— only to find that it was not there. The sword must have fallen out of her holster among all the chaos.

She wiped a hand over her muddy forehead, realizing how sweaty she was. It was astonishingly hot in the vault. She removed articles of her armor. It was no doubt that she was losing oxygen.

She ran a hand through her thick, curly raven hair. Someone would open the door. They had to. Whether it was a Troll, her men, or a scheming warlock, someone will save her, maybe even kill her, but they couldn’t leave her here.

Maybe there was another way out? Ariella thought hopefully. She turned to begin her search in the forbidden tomb. Doomsday was upon them and it was up to her and her people to find the “Gem of Vyn” and destroy it before it is too late.

Then she saw something strange.

Laying in the middle of the vault, isolated on the floor, was a Locket.

“What are you doing here?” Ariella called out to it

The locket was large and heavy, made of shining, luscious silver with a mesmerizing blue topaz heart stone embedded in the middle. It was stunning, not at all gaudy like most royal jewels that Ariella had seen… it looked more masculine than anything else. Like it had been designed for a man…

It wasn't an ordinary locket, and she knew better than to touch any of these curse jewels. Ariella gave the locket a last look over before continuing her search to escape.

Then she saw it. A sword, but not any sword, her sword. Amazed, Ariella saw it sitting high on display, but then her heart fell into her chest.

No, she saw her sword in the hands of her enemy when the door closed. This sword was a replica. A fake. She went and grabbed it, anyway. She pulled it from its display and swung it experimentally once, twice. It felt real.

“Let see what you can do,” she murmured, turning to face the heart-shaped locket.

With one almighty swing, she brought the sword down upon the cursed necklace. It made a loud clang when it collided, sending the trickle soaring across the room and banging into her discarded armor. It looked perfectly intact.

“Fuck,” A swore. She let the fake sword fall from her sweaty palm. “Damn it.”

The sword was not real. Of course, it wouldn’t work. Arielle shot the locket a nasty glare before turning her attention back to the door.

“Help!” she shouted again, picking up the worthless sword. She started thrusting and cutting at the door repeatedly. “Let me out! Let me out!”

Ariella yelled, pounded, and even kicked the giant metal door, trying with all her might to get them to open up. But she had a terrible feeling that they could not hear her.

And it was so hot! Why was it so hot in this vault? Scowling, she approached her chest plate. Then immediately retracted her hand as it was scalding hot.

“Ouch!” she blurted out as she nursed her wound.

She went to turn back to the door to continue shouting and raving again but stopped.

The necklace was back in the center of the room.

She had just hit it; Ariella had just swung it to the other side of the vault, angrily… but it had moved. It sat exactly where it had been before, unscathed.

She gawked at the object. When had it moved? How had it moved?

“No,” Ariella said, pointing at the necklace accusingly “You did not move. That is not possible.”

The locket, being an object, did not respond.

“Fuck,” Ariella said again, once more running her fingers through her hair. Her hands were shaking. How on earth…

Then She realized.

“You’re doing this,” she whispered, pointing at it again. “You closed the vault door.

Ariella shook her head. Warily, she turned her back on the object “Let me out!” she screamed again.

Nothing.

She was going to die in here.

The necklace had not moved again… but there was something different about it.

“No,” she said again.

The Jewelry remained still.

“No way.”

Ariella began pacing she was already feeling light-headed.

She dropped to the floor, sitting in front of the locket. She looked at it with narrowed eyes. This was a trap, an obvious trap.

“I have no choice” Slowly, she reached for the necklace, putting it around her neck. It was cool to the touch. She nearly moaned when it touched her neck. It was the sweetest, coolest sensation she ever felt.

Ariella heard a voice speaking in such a soft whisper she barely heard them.

“Let me in your heart” …

Just like that the spell was broken The beautiful illusion that the necklace gave her was dispelled as she ripped the necklace from her neck, tossing it to the ground in a panic.

The locket glittered innocently at her, as though it were winking.

She took a deep breath. What did she just do?