"Of course it responded to the signet ring," said Lavinia. "I don't know why I didn't think of it myself. I'm sorry. Were you injured?"
"No, I'm fine," I replied. The adrenaline was still pounding through my system, putting me on edge, but I put on the most reassuring smile I could. "Not a scratch on me."
"I must confess, it was quite spectacular seeing your abilities firsthand," remarked Lavinia. "I think I made the right choice hiring you."
I felt pride surge in my chest at the praise, but it was tempered by guilt. Intellectually, I knew I had actually done objectively well, and I shouldn't let impostor syndrome trick me into thinking that I didn't deserve to be here, that I was being grossly overpaid, that I was dragging the others down, that I should just go back to the job I was good at. Unfortunately, that didn't stop my brain from thinking those things anyway. Focus, Annabelle! I thought. This is no time for self-recrimination!
My anxiety was interrupted by the aroma of a salty sea breeze as Liona finished casting her divination. Her eyes glowed seafoam-green as she scanned the room. Then she pointed to the northernmost pillar. "There! Secret door. There's a hidden switch at eye level—sorry, my eye level, not yours, you guys are tall—just toggle the switch and the wall should open up."
"I'll do the honors," I volunteered, finding the switch disguised among the carvings on the pillar and clicking it into place. The snake designs on the wall animated and began writhing aside like living creatures, forming a coiling archway into the vault.
The vault was an octagonal room supported by a single large pillar with dozens of deep grooves along its sides. The seven walls each bore fantastically detailed bas-relief carvings of exotic monsters in threatening poses: a tentacled monster glaring eye and a mouth full of teeth, a looming dragon, a fish-like creature with three eyes and four tentacles, a two-headed giant wielding a pair of immense clubs, a spherical creature with four eyestalks and a bulging central eye over a drooling maw, a gorilla-like beast with a fanged maw and six eyes, and finally a towering a towering black spider with seven eyes. Each monster's eyes consisted of glittering red stones. The now-familiar eight-pointed star pattern radiated across the ceiling from the grooved central pillar, but its arms were black, save for the one pointing south toward the entrance, which was red.
"The treasure is supposed to be in here," said Lavinia, looking worried. "Is there another secret door?"
Liona scanned the room. "Not that I can detect," she said. "Sorry."
"The carvings are pretty, though," Kala mused. "Were any of these creatures mentioned in that note? They are all looking in different directions."
Lavinia took the note from her pocket. "The note mentions chimera, cyclops, medusa, and umber hulk. I don't see any of those here," she said.
"The eyes count up," said Snickers, pointing to the carvings. "One, two three, four, five, six, seven." He scuttled into the room and began poking at the walls and floor with a long stick. "And big pillar can spin. See groove? It turn like spinny thing on combination lock."
"Snickers, you're a genius!" said Liona. "I mean, I have no idea what the eyes mean, but can you crack the combination?"
"Watch. Learn." The kobold cracked his knuckles and retrieved a small stethoscope from his pack. "Or don't learn. Snickers fine either way. Just be quiet while Snickers work."
We waited silently for several minutes while he turned the column experimentally. Even Squawk was quiet, although he wasn't moving either, so he may have just been asleep. Then Snickers threw up his hands. "Nope! Nothing Snickers can do. Lock too good. Snickers not even hear clicks."
"Maybe I could help," I offered. "I, uh, read a book once about cracking safes? I think I remember bits."
"Bah! Amateur!" he scoffed. "Okay, Annie can help listen other side. Not break Snickers concentration! Understand?"
I nodded, and took up a position on the other side of the column, ear to the stone, listening carefully for anything that sounded different. Snickers tried again. After another several minutes, he straightened up again. "Nope. No use. Lock too good. Uncrackable. Sorry."
Lavinia laughed bitterly. "I never thought I'd wish my family vault were easier to break into."
"Maybe the column is a red herring," suggested Liona.
"It doesn't look like a fish at all to me," said Kala, frowning.
"No, I mean, maybe we don't even need to touch it. Maybe the answer is in these eyes. Are there any hidden catches or levers in the carvings?"
Snickers began appraising the carvings. "Eye gems sparkly, mostly worthless though. Maybe 2 gold each," he said. "Wait." He crouched down and sniffed at the floor. Then he tapped at the wall. "Hollow space behind carving!" he said.
"The walls to the alcoves must slide open somehow!" I said excitedly.
"Yes, but walls also very thick," said Snickers. "Very hard break through. And if treasure on other side, break through might damage, lower treasure value. Better open lock normal."
"Okay, let's call that Plan C," said Liona. "I guess let's try Plan A again and sit down and see if we can solve this coded message. Did anyone bring snacks? We might be down here a while."
"I think the eyes have something to do with it," I offered. "It can't be a coincidence that they're arranged in numerical order. And the riddle talks about 'looking' in a direction."
"Sunrise would be in the east, and sunset in the west," said Kala.
Snickers pulled out a compass. "East that way, west that way," he confirmed.
"Maybe we have to bring all those creatures into the vault and have them face the way the note says?" said Kala, almost hopefully.
"Certainly not!" said Lavinia. "I know my parents never kept such beasts."
"Medusas, basilisks, and umber hulks all have special abilities related to their eyes, and the cyclops is named after its single eye," I said. "The chimera...I don't know much about chimeras. Is there anything special about their eyes?" I looked hopefully at Kala.
"I don't know much about chimeras either," she said, shrugging. "They have three heads, so I guess they have six eyes, if that helps."
Snickers jumped up. "Numbers! Combination lock has number code!"
My eyes widened as I caught his meaning. "The number of eyes on the monsters?"
"And direction changes for each one, same for most locks like this!" he said, rushing back to the pillar. "Six turns east, one turn west. What next?"
"Medusa," said Lavinia. "That's two eyes, I think."
Snickers turned the pillar again. "Next?"
"Umber hulk looks to sunset," Lavinia read. "I don't know how many eyes an umber hulk has."
"Four," I said, recalling the illustration in Professor Frimpdiggle's Underdark Bestiary. "One pair of compound eyes, and another smaller set of eyes above them."
"And basilisk is two," said Liona, standing on her tiptoes to peer at the note in Lavinia's hand. "They pretty much just look like lizards."
Snickers made the final turn, and there was a rumbling sound as the walls shifted, revealing five alcoves, each filled with treasure chests. Then the little kobold turned back to us and took a bow. Kala, Liona, and I cheered, while Lavinia merely offered an approving smile and a slow clap. Squawk, evidently roused by our cheering, gave an indignant "Squawk!"
There was just one problem. We opened the first chest. It was empty. And the second chest. Empty. And the third chest. Empty. All the chests in the first alcove were completely bare. So were all the chests in the second alcove. And the third. With each chest we opened, Lavinia looked more and more distraught. When the fourth alcove turned up empty too, I thought she might break down in tears right there in front of us.
Thankfully, when we got to the fifth alcove, we got a reprieve. "Oh, thank the gods," said Lavinia, her voice trembling slightly. The chest was full of coins and papers. So were the other remaining ones. It looked like several thousand gold pieces' worth of cash, plus some ledgers and a small iron coffer containing a thick pile of documents.
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