The entrance of the cave was lit with the sunrays but as far as my eyes went, the inside of it was dark. So, the priest had given me a torch which was already lit with fire.

He said, "Princess Bianka, make sure you find the box when you reach the stone statue of the goddess. You will have to take the whole box with you."

I nodded.

"Also, if something happened, there is no way to let us know so, if you don't come out before the sun goes down, my people will come find you." He said, "But that would be considered as a failure even if you come with the box."

I nodded. "I will keep that in mind. Thank you for the instruction."

So, I had limited time and deadly traps.

They all stood just before the entrance as I turned around. I took a last glance at Arashi and found that he was worried as well. His posture was stiff and he was looking at me like, he wanted to stop this.

I smiled at him as he nodded. I knew from his eyes that he told me to be safe. And I walked inside.

The more I walked inside, the more the darkness surrounded me. Soon the light that was coming from the entrance had vanished and now I was alone in that valley of darkness with only the torch and the traps. The air felt thin when I had successfully entered further from the entrance.

I looked behind but there was no sign of the entrance anymore. I felt a sudden chill on my skin from the fear.

I looked upward and searched for some sharp edge rocks. My torch's light couldn't go further so to see the inside of the cave, I closed my eyes and kept looking at the darkness while I held the torch away from my eyes.

'To see the darkness, you have to face the darkness.' that was what Arashi told me but as I wasn't a trained person like he was or his men were, so, he gave me a trick.

I put the torch down on the floor and took out the ropes to tie my sleeves up and also tied the kimono up to my waist. I was already wearing a pair of tight trousers inside which he had given me after Rei left. I took out the eye patch from its pockets and binded it on my left eye. He had instructed me of the traps I would be facing. He said, each path had a different sets of traps.

I waited there while keeping my eyes closed for a while and finally looked up. The sharp edges of the rocks were now prominent a few yards away. It glinted in the darkness to kill some of its prey.

I went to collect some solid rocks and threw toward the path ahead, with a great noise, some of it fell down. My breathing fastened as I imagined myself being walking there and getting killed.

But as he had instructed me to keep my breathing steady, I took long breathes and calmed myself. Sweat formed on my forehead and on my palms but I reminded myself that Arashi had given me all sorts of tricks.

I nodded to myself as the danger was about to begin.

I took the torch and went forward, making sure to step on the stones that fell on the path since other steps would activate some other kinds traps.

Slowly and steadily I went ahead. The silence grew more as I could hear my own breathing.

As I kept walking, I found three lanes and I knew one of them was a dead end with a stony boulder in it. It would activate once I take the path and there was no coming out or evade the giant boulder.

He had instructed me to look for signs.

I went to each entrance of the lanes and looked at the ground. I saw a bunch of rats. I squeaked and jumped back as they squeaked with me and immediately scattered away.

The torch flickered at my heavy breathing. I mumbled, "Arashi never told me about the rats!"

But they weren't the threats here. They just lived here and I finally found the sign I was looking for.

One of the lanes had less rats and I saw the stony path there were a bit smoothened. It must be because of the large boulders kept grinding the surface.

I marked it was the second lane. Now the trouble came after that because as per Arashi's instructions, both of the lanes had the statues of the goddess. But one led to the heavy traps and to its treasure hold. However, it was now emptied. And the other one had less traps but it led to a route which can make us reach to the other side of the cave. It was the route he told me to choose.

I guess, it was the route the crown prince wanted to search.

Arashi had told me that they could keep the box in any one of them but they would most likely to put the box on the longest lane since it would take time to reach also there was a fact that the priests weren't that athletic to go for the traps. They would likely to take the easiest one.

Arashi had told me that it could be any of the two but I had to look for a sign. I kept searching and thinking but there was no signs and the rats weren't really helpful either.

I didnt know which one to take and had no time to waste either. Now I was scared, worried, anxious and all the above I felt helpless. Whole of my life I had never felt these excitements.

I paced around and finally decided to go through the third one.

I took the third lane and went inside. I kept my pace slow and my eyes or ears would follow any movement or sounds U get. I had never been so anxious in my whole life.

And soon, I reached a narrow lane. I went two steps and jumped back. Suddenly, a heavy wooden block smashed the ground beneath it as my heart went flying out of my mouth and immediately it went upward again.

I whispered, "I think I will just die with all the shock and the surprise even before I reach there..."

The air had gotten too thin and it felt almost suffocating. He had told me to keep my cool but it was way different than it sounded. It wasn't easy to keep any kind of cool when a bunch of traps were waiting for your demise.

I gulped down as I knew I had no choice but to run before it could smash me me from above.

I threw the torch the other side of the narrow lane and I was glad that I had worn what Arashi had given me. It was the Kuro Soldiers' trousers. It certainly weighed nothing and made it easier to walk or run.

I wasn't really accustomed to running but at that time, I was glad that the empress made me run around the palace when I was training under her.

I was still nervous and scared but I had no choice. It was either I run or find another path. The traps were made to use any times. But some of them were disabled since they ran out of goods. Like the previous trap. The sharp looking rocks above us. If they personally did not put there and more of those stones, the trap would run out of its sharp edges.

I couldn't gather up enough encourage to run but I decided to make a haste for it.

And I started to run on the stoned floor. I heard the screeching sounds of the box coming down but my legs moved faster.

I felt the box just above my head as I jumped to the other direction and I landed harshly on the floor missing the box only by a mere inch. My heart was jumping loudly as I knew how fast I would have to run.

I hissed as I got a few scratches and blood came out in bids.

I sat up to inspect my injuries and an arrow just flew by my right ear. All the hair on my skin stood straight, blaring high alert in my mind. I immediately laid down flat on my face as hundred of arrows kept flying just above me from every direction.

I was just glad they weren't coming down so they were pointed at each other so they could finish the person who dared to come here.

Wait! Why there were so many arrow!

Did that mean I just took the shortest lane which had the most of the traps!

My heart thumped loudly as I messed it up.

Arashi had already given me the routes of this cave and I made sure I engraved the map inside my head but the problem was this cave had many entrances and we didn't know which one they would select. So, he told me to look for signs since that would determine my next move.

But still it was hard to determine which one had the most traps. Certainly he had told me to choose the longest distance since most probably that was the route they would choose to hide the box but now I couldn't even go back.

But the main problem was, they might haven't taken this route which meant, all of my struggles and all the time I would waste here would be for nothing.

Now I was questioning my own decisions...

Why had I even agreed to take the trial!

Am I really a stupid!

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18th November, 22
1412
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A/n: So here was my 5 chapters update! Enjoy!