“Are you sure leaving Xeik behind is okay?” Drake asked the black winged half celestial. “I mean, this is right down his alley. I know he’s a kid and all, but he really does have the talent.” This was the third time he had brought up the argument. Sure, this was a task from two of the world’s Goddesses, and yes, it was likely to be rife with danger, but Drake had full confidence in the kid’s abilities.

Perhaps it was less that he had confidence, and more that he wasn’t sure entirely how he should be interacting with Danwe alone. After their initial run in, things had been awkward for Drake. There was a part of him that wanted to embrace the woman that haunted his dreams, and kiss her. Then, there was the sensible part that had no idea who she was. And likewise, she had no idea who he was. For all she knew, he was a raving lunatic who claimed to have dreams of her.

But she had placed trust in him, at least long enough to get to know each other and work on it from there. And for that, Drake was thankful. While meeting Danwe hadn’t stopped all of the dreams, at least he had stopped dreaming of her and their previous world’s destruction. That was a load off of his shoulders.

“Fine, fine,” he said, waving his hand. “We’re almost to the entrance. What do you think we’ll find?” he asked. So far, they had teleported from Zets’ki to Sihajja, which in itself was a wild experience. Now, they were approaching the Eytelia Ziggurat. As they got closer, Drake started to get that feeling of excitement building in his chest. He had discarded his cloak in favor for his normal gear, leather-worked armor over his tunic and pants. If anything got too dangerous, he would just shift into his half-draconic form for more protection. Until then, he liked having the mobility of the lighter armor.

Once more, he checked the remainder of his equipment, and nodded.

“All right…let’s get ready, then!”

"The Blood Echo is going to expect him to be with us here. So him NOT being with us keeps him safer," Danwe reiterated for the third time. She knew full well that Xeik would have been incredibly useful in this endeavor, but there was just way too much risk in bringing him along. She had an obligation to keep him alive for the Heaven's Dawn, he was their leader after all. She couldn't say why it was so important to her, it was almost a motherly instinct towards the boy.  
 That being said, not having Xeik there as a buffer between her and Drake was… odd. Not bad, but odd. Drake had told her that he had dreamed about her, long before meeting her. She wasn't sure how she felt about that, really. Somewhere between flattered and concerned, thought at the same time, she couldn't lie that she didn't feel strange things about Drake. Something familiar and affectionate, but she couldn't put her finger on why, and perhaps that was the only reason she had come to trust him so fast.   "I don't know. This place is ancient. You can feel the power here," she said. "Whatever it is, I can bet you it has the promise of being lucrative. And of course we help save our world at the same time," she added with a shrug. She cracked her knuckles and pulled off her own cloak. It was much more humid there at the Ziggurat than it had been in Zets'Ki and nowhere near as cold. She stuffed the garment in the dingy red sack she always carried, and it never seemed to get any bigger.   "I'm ready when you are. Let's go," she insisted and crossed the threshold of the Ziggurat.

As they entered into the main chamber, the entire aura shifted. Where it had been a near enjoyable trek to the ziggurat itself, the interior had a completely ominous feeling to it. Inside, there were seven giant sized doors, lit up by a magical flame between each. Drake made an audible gasp at the sheer size of the doors.

“Well, this is certainly…something,” he said aloud. “All right. First door then…” He made his way to the far left, and pressed against the door. To his surprise, it wasn’t difficult at all to open, as if inviting them in. He shrugged, and looked back at Danwe. “I guess it’s ‘challenge accepted.’” With a smirk, he lead the way in. As the door shut behind them, Drake heard an audible click.

“Oh…well, that’s not good.” As he spoke, the torches ahead of them lit up one by one, revealing a long hallway. Drake couldn’t even see an end, as part way down, it seemed as though the hall made a sharp turn. Overall, through, it seemed very straightforward.

“Okay,” he said incredulously. “I guess we walk.” He started forward. Not two steps in, he heard another audible click. “Oh, for the love of-” From above, a hidden chamber opened. Immediately, Drake rolled forward, narrowly dodging a giant boulder as it fell and crashed down in the spot he had previously been standing.

“HAH!” Drake exclaimed. “You can’t get me! I’ve got the reflexes of a-” Once more, there was a click. …really? A trap door beneath him opened, and once more Drake found himself scrambling. “Nononononononooo!” Another click.

“For the love of the Gods! You’ve got to be-” There was a loud crash, and then silence. For several seconds, the silence seemed to hang in the air. Alarmingly, there was no sign of Drake. Then, finally, there was a flash of light, and all of the traps were suddenly gone.

Finally, another flash, and Drake was once more standing at the entrance of the hall. He looked over to Danwe in disbelief. “I’m…not dead?” he asked, checking himself over. “Not dead. So…it’s not deadly, at least…I think.” He looked to Danwe. “Slap me. I want to know if I’m still alive…”

When Danwe heard the door close with the click, she made a face. "Of course they would make it impossible to leave. The only way out is to move forward," she mused. Her eyes narrowed as she looked about the room which was dimly lit by torches and not very well. The far end of the hall was shrouded in shadow, and seemed to take a sharp turn. Her senses tingled and she reached out to grab Drake's sleeve as he made the executive decision to head down the hall to stop him. 

"No wai—" it was too late. There was a click and a massive boulder crashed down to the spot where Drake had been standing a moment before. Danwe winced, but Drake's triumphant shout made her relax for a moment until there were more clicks and cries of disbelief from Drake. She couldn't see what it was that had gotten him, but after a moment there was silence. "Drake?" she asked slowly. There was a flash, and all the traps reset, and all was quiet until a second flash and Drake was standing next to her again, looking quite incredulous. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding and looked at Drake as he started asking rather absurd questions, and made an equally absurd request. However, she wasn't going to deny him the request. She slapped him swift and sharp. 

"You feel alive enough," she said. "What the hell were you thinking?" she asked him, incredulously. "You can't just walk out into a place like this that way! Can't you see the pressure plates and the gaps in the stones?" she asked him. 

The slap was swift and painful, but that was good. Drake could confirm, without a doubt, that he had not been revived as a spirit or some other undead-like entity. There was a sigh of relief, followed by a glare at the Lightning Thief. Her comments stung a bit, as her tone was harsh, as if scolding a child. He was about to shoot back a few nasty comments of his own, but he managed to keep himself in check. Instead, he needed to stay focused on the facts.

“What pressure plates!?” he growled back, looking down the hall. Surely enough, to his untrained eye, he saw nothing except an empty hallway. This was far past his area of expertise, if he even really had one to begin with. “Look, lady…” he said, turning his attention back to Danwe. “I’m a mercenary dragon warrior…thing. My skills include beating stuff with my claws, and hitting things with my sword. On occasion, I can do a few other things, but past that…well, it’s not really my forte. Besides, I normally don’t have to worry about stupid things like this….”

He sighed, turning his focus once more to the hall. Try as he might, he couldn’t see anything. It was mildly infuriating to say the least. The absurdity of it all…at least with Danwe, he stood a small chance of actually getting through the first trail. “Look…if you’re so damned good at this, how about you lead the way.” He stepped to the side and threw his hand out sarcastically. “I’ll follow you…and if we’re lucky, I won’t mess up.”

Danwe's face found her palm as she shook her head in incredulity. His snarky comments made her want to slap him again, the bloody cheek. However, she just glared instead. Slapping him would have only made them both testy, and considering their… less than stellar working relationship, she didn't want to antagonize it more, no matter how tempted she was. 

"Look here, buster," she said, returning the equally snarky title back on him, "those so called 'stupid things' just handed you your ass just now. If this had been a real situation it would have seriously injured and/or killed you completely. So a little respect might be due," she recommended. She rolled her eyes when he sarcastically suggested that she go first. At that point she almost did slap him again, but again, decided against it. 

"Keep that attitude up, and I might just push you," she muttered. She moved forward, avoiding the spots where Drake had just tripped, she counted, four different traps. She paused after making it several feet across the hall before she sighed and looked back at Drake. 
"Would you like to learn? A little bit about traps and spotting them? I've been teaching Xeik…I'd be willing to help you…"

Drake stood back and watched as Danwe took her time, stepping over the apparent triggers for the traps. She seemed intently focused, and despite their earlier argument, the draconian couldn’t help but be impressed at her dedication and focus. While he personally had never heard of the Lightning Thief, she was well known as one of the top thieves.

That might have been a part of the problem. It wasn’t that he had anything against thieves, but perhaps he wasn’t expecting the woman from his dreams to be…well, such a shady character. Sure, she probably had noble intentions, but she could lie. And that, Drake figured, was a big problem.

Still, he was genuinely surprised when the thief asked if he wanted a lesson. He looked at her, contemplating an answer.

“Sure. It couldn’t hurt.” Carefully, and with a grace that might have surprised Danwe, Drake mimicked her movements near perfectly. Small movements like this were similar to reading and learning a new style of swordplay, or martial arts. This was more than easy. It didn’t take long for him to reach the halfway point between where he started and where Danwe was. Even if it was only a few feet, it was still a lot, as there were traps everywhere.

“Okay, then…what’s the first thing to look for, then?” he asked.

Considering his apparent dislike for her particular skillset, Danwe was actually surprised when Drake accepted her offer. Honestly, he was a quick study, as she noticed that he copied her movements across the floor with remarkable precision. "There are all sorts of different types of traps. What you are really looking for is there trigger," she told him. She carefully crouched down and motioned for him to take a look. 

"Of course, there are the super obvious ones, like trip wires made of twine or even rope. Some pressure plates are super obvious," she explained. "But the truly tricky ones, like the ones here, there is almost no indication. Don't feel bad that you couldn't see them at first. Most people don't notice something as delicate as a spiderweb," she said. She pointed to a very fine fine thread that was practically touching the toe of his boot. 

"This one," she said. "Is running across the entire width of the hall," she told him. "See the slits, or rather the lines that pass just in front the thread? I'll bet blades of some sort," she told him. She stood back up and motioned for him to carefully step over the super fine thread. 

"I know you look down on my occupation," she said. "But these skills aren't just for breaking in and stealing. Many thieves and rogues are employed to set the traps themselves, or find themselves dungeon delvers to recover lost relics," she said. "You never know when you need a deft hand," she said softly. "They can get you out of trouble… even save your life if the situation comes down to it," she said. She stood up and carefully skipped around several different circles on the ground. 

"Careful here. These ones are fire traps. The circles will shoot fire upward if you step on them," she said. "There is a narrow pathway here that serpentines… it's barely as wide as your boot. Watch your footing," she insisted. 

Drake found himself picking up her points fairly quickly.  All of the concepts were simple to understand.  However, when it came to the practical aspect, he was almost at a loss.  Where Danwe seemed to notice every detail, Drake barely saw anything.  It took him standing completely still, and focusing quite a bit to make out the things that Danwe had pointed out.  It wasn't that he couldn't see them, but that they weren't standing out to him.  

Which was strange, as he thought, because he could see the twitch of a muscle to indicate how someone was about to move.  The details like that are what kept him alive in a fight.  But when it came to something inanimate, it was like he was practically blind to the intricate differences.  Still, he did manage to see most of what Danwe pointed out, if not almost too late before running in to each and every one of them.  But it was a start.

"You know," Drake said.  "It's not that I look down upon it.  I do understand…it's just…"  He sighed.  "I pride myself in straightforward combat.  It's almost like an honor thing.  And anything that affronts that honor ends up hitting a nerve.  And, I'm sorry to say, sneaking around doesn't really suit the way my honor works.  Perhaps…it has something to do with being draconic as well.  Dragons are prideful creatures as well, though I'm not entirely sure if they'd be okay with shadowy tactics or not."  

They were close now to the end.  Drake could see the door that lead to the other side…the end of the line.  "Okay.  So far, so good.  What's next?"  He tried to spot the next set of traps himself, but sighed as nothing jumped out at him.  "I can't see anything…it all looks the same."

Danwe chuckled softly. "It's funny you say that about Dragons being honorable. Pride, yes, but honorable… maybe not so much. It seems to me, that any dragon I've met or come across they are all sneaky in one way. Just like you as a matter of fact," she mused. "All the really powerful ones, like you… they all take human form. If that isn't sneaky and underhanded, I don't know what is," she said coyly. She winked at him and went back to checking the floor. 

Soon they were most of the way across the room. Danwe paused with Drake right behind him. His comment about everything looking the same perplexed her. Not because he was wrong, but because he was spot on. The rest of the floor looked completely ordinary. She couldn't see any pressure plates, trip wires or any slits in the wall that were an indicator of a trap. 

"Neither do I…" she said. She crouched down and carefully ran a hand over the floor. She couldn't feel anything. She stood up. "Right… well…" she took a step across the floor. And then a second. She turned to look at Drake and gave him a shrug. 

"I guess that's iiii—" she was cut off as the entire remaining section of floor fell out from beneath her feet, and was swiftly swallowed up by the darkness below. There was a whoosh and she flew back up and landed on the opposite side of the breach. She looked a little shaken but composed herself quickly. 

"Well that was exciting… I think this gap is about fifteen feet. Do you think that you can jump that?" she called over to him.