The sun set as a small group traversed the dense jungle terrain. They had been traveling for almost a week and had finally reached their destination. An ancient pyramid tucked far into the heart of the jungle. "Finally. My paws have been killing me," exasperated a griffin.
Another member chuckled to himself. "Griselda, your paws are killing you so much that your paws are killing me," retorted the unicorn traveling with her.
Griselda chuckled back. "Okay that one was actually pretty funny, Tome," Griselda retorted playfully to the unicorn traveling with her.
"If you two are done joking, we've got a job to do. Tome," the leader called back. The leader was a tall, green, muscular earth pony. Tome Seeker opened the satchel bag he was wearing and pulled out a picture. He compared the temple in the picture with the one before them.
"Yep, that's the temple, Leaf. The temple of Arkabel."
"And you're sure the artifact is in there?" the fourth member, a changeling, asked; more out of concern than doubt.
"About ninety-nine percent sure, Gacheru."
"Good enough."
The four of them walked down to the pyramid, stopping just before the base. Ancient hieroglyphs were etched into the stones. There appeared to be no entrance within sight. The only way into the pyramid was through a crack in the stone walls. With Tome being the only one small enough to fit through it. Squeezing himself in, Tome found himself in a small room with little to no light.
"Do you see anyway to open a possible entrance in there?" Leaf asked.
"Not really," Tome answered back. His horn lit up, glowing orange, with a small ball of light at the end. Now, with a source of light to see by, Tome took notice of a group of levers. Each one had a big hieroglyph etched above them and a line of smaller hieroglyphs running beneath the levers. Tome pulled out a book and set to translating the ancient symbols.
After about a minute, Tome had gotten a rough translation. The bottom heiroglyphs stated that one of the three levers would open an entrance, while the two other levers would release the ancient beasts below (whatever that meant, Tome wasn't too found of finding out). The left lever was marked by the symbol for the ancient alicorn, the middle lever was marked by the symbol for Tartarus, and the final lever was marked by the symbol for the Windigos. "Only one of those is synomous with life." Tome pulled the left lever and two stones moved down. Revealing Griselda, Leaf, and Gacheru on the other side. "Helloooo, good to see you."
"As always, good work Tome." Leaf walked forward with Griselda and Gacheru both following close behind and Tome leading. He was the only one that could provide light for all of them. Venturing forth, the four of them walked as one through the ancient ruins.
"I'll scout ahead for any traps." Gacheru slinked forth, his jet black carapace seemed to meld into the shadows along the walls, along with the rest of his body.
"Gacheru, wait!" Leaf shouted out. He didn't wait, he was off to do his own thing, again. Snap! A set of axes swung in front of Leaf. "Gacheru, was that you?" Leaf asked out to the darkness.
"Yeah, there was no way to disarm the trap. The ropes had been rotting away for centuries. It was just barely holding itself together," Gacheru's voice called out to his allies. A moment later and Gacheru's body became visible against the dark corridor. Tome looked back to Leaf, who nodded to him. Tome looked to the swinging axes, took in a deep breath, focused his magic, and stepped forward. The swinging axes stopped and shook slightly in place for a moment. The three passed the trap and Tome released the axes. They returned to their endless swinging. The four walked down the hall, eventually finding themselves in a large open room. All throughout the room laid an innumerable amount of dead bodies, all still wearing ancient armor and still with their weapons by their side. In the center stood a pedestal with a small book.
"That is the incredibly dangerous artifact that we trekked through a week's worth of jungle and forest to find. A fucking book!" Gacheru shouted out. The shout echoed around the desolate room.
"That book is incredibly dangerous," Tome shot back at the changeling.
"Enough bickering," Leaf ordered. "Tome, you know what to do."
"Alright." Tome bounded down the steps, only to be stopped by a sharp sound. "What was that?" Tome asked aloud to his teammates. The lifeless bodies suddenly weren't so lifeless. The corpses stood up, focusing their attention on Tome, the intruder. "Draugr!" Tome shouted. He readied his magic. The draugr surrounded Tome, all poised to attack. Tome put up a magical shield to stop the onslaught of attacks. Swords, axes, spears, and even clubs merely bounced off the shield harmlessly. The arrows embedded themselves. The spells dispersed across the spherical shield once they hit it. But with every hit, Tome felt his magical reserves falling, and he was taking a lot of hits.
"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Griselda shouted furiously. She unsheathed her two dual-wield swords. Both were wide, curved, and battered blades. Griselda then jumped into the swarm of draugr and started mowing down the draugr left and right, making a charge right to Tome. Leaf and Gacheru quickly followed her into the swarm of reanimated corpses. Leaf swung the shield off his back and split it in two. He latched the respective halves onto each of his respective fore-hooves and started whacking away at the draugr. Gacheru threw tiny, but incredibly sharp, daggers. The daggers flew back to Gacheru after he threw them. Every time a draugr got close, he'd turn invisible to stab them in the neck with his short sword and return to throwing his daggers.
Griselda downed the last of the draugr between herself and Tome. Tome couldn't keep the shield up any longer and dropped it. The draugr quickly took advantage of his exhaustion and closed in on him. "Gacheru, go help Griselda and Tome!" Leaf shouted upon seeing Tome's exhausted state. Gacheru looked over at Tome and nodded. He turned invisible and, as fast as he could, flew over to Tome and Griselda.
Griselda was standing over Tome, keeping all the draugr at bay, and swinging at the ones foolish enough to get close. "This would be easier if Zamira were here," Gacheru muttered. Zamira would already have a tonic ready to give Tome back his strength. But Zamira was still resting after her injury of their last mission, so he needed to do her job. Gacheru turned visible and was met by a swing from Griselda. "Whoah, Griselda, I'm on your side." The look of realization on her face said all Gacheru needed; she hadn't mean to do that. Gacheru bit down on the cork of a tonic and pulled it out. "Here, Tome." Gacheru put the tonic of mysterious green substance up to Tome's mouth. He poured some in and forced Tome's mouth shut. Tome's eyes went wide from the horrid taste. Tome tried to gag the liquid out, but Gacheru kept Tome's mouth shut and tilted his head back. Tome, forcibly, swallowed the liquid and panted for breath.
"I hate that stuff," Tome said once he got his breath, gagging all the while.
Gacheru chuckled slightly. "No kidding." Leaf rushed over to Tome, making sure he was okay. Leaf looked around at the endless number of draugr surrounding them. "Tome, can you prepare a spell that'll take out all the draugr?"
"Can I?" Tome asked with a smirk. "Just keep them off of me for the time being." Tome stood up and summoned all his magic. Flowing all of it into a single, powerful spell. The draugr rushed forward, knowing all-too-well what Tome was about to do. Griselda sliced at the approaching undead and paced around Tome, deterring the other draugr from approaching. Leaf used his shield to block the magical shots fired by the draugr and Gacheru knocked out all the arrows with his daggers.
Tome felt the magical energy build up in him, directing it into a fire spell. The force of the spell gnawed at him, it was burning hot, and rivers of sweat ran down his body. He gritted his teeth. The energy was too much now, he had to release it or it would consume him. Tome unleashed all the magic and columns of white-hot fire erupted from beneath the draugr. The flames engulfed the draugr and illuminated the entire area. The flames died down and left merely smoldering piles of burnt corpses in their place. Tome fell over. "Don't worry, Tome. I got you," Griselda said, catching Tome.
"I'm good," Tome assured her. "Now, lets get that book." Tome stood wobbly back up and turned to the podium. He walked over to the book. He inspected the hieroglyphs on the pedestal. The faint hellish sound of numerous ponies crying out in screams of terror and agonizing pain emanated form the book itself, but Tome ignored them. A common trick, ancient runes would be placed on things like this, they actually did nothing; merely there to scare off possible thieves. The hieroglyphs read The King's Acronom. Tome reached for the book. The moment his hoof touched it, the screams became all too real. All of them resonated within his own ears, inaudible to the others. Tome screamed out in pain along the screams he heard.
"Tome!" Griselda was the first to start towards him and the first to reach him. Tome held his hooves against his ears, trying in vain to block out the screams. The book opened of its own accord and the pages flew out of it, forming a whirlwind of pages around Tome.
"MAKE THEM STOP, STOP, STOP!" Tome screamed out. One of the pages touched one of his hooves and grafted itself to his leg. "AAHH! IT BURNS!" Griselda tried to tear the paper away. It wouldn't budge. More and more pages flew onto Tome. Each one brought even more excruciating pain. The screams were drowned out by Tome's own screams of agony. The pages formed into a whirlwind of air and paper leading into the book. Tome felt himself being dragged into the book by an unseeable force. In Tome's ears, above the screams, he heard a single, dominate voice. It was a deep and ghastly voice, laughing malevolently at him. Griselda grabbed Tome's forelegs. Leaf and Gacheru followed suit, all trying to keep their friend from the book's grasp. The free pages formed themselves into tendrils, wrapping around Tome.
"Don't worry Tome, we've got you!" Griselda shouted as she pulled harder and harder against the force of the ancient book. The pages tore themselves off of Tome's body, leaving a view of Tome's bare muscle and bones. Now Tome's body was being torn apart by the book. The pages continued to graft themselves to his skin and tear themselves off. Tome felt his heart beat slow.
He could feel the life being stolen from his body. Seeping out of him and into book. His eyelids dropped lower and lower. The sounds in his ears became softer and softer. The world around him darkened and faded out of existence.
"TOME!" Griselda's shouts were the last thing he heard. Her desperate face was the last thing he saw. Her claws refusing to let go of his hooves were the last thing he felt.
The Equestrian Royal Secret Secret Service (referred to as the E.R.S.S.S.) was located in an indiscreet location in Canterlot. The flash of blue and a crackle sound echoed, bringing with it Delta Squad; Leaf, Griselda, and Gacheru. The three walked, heads down, in silence. Griselda was carrying a wrapped up bag and Gacheru was levitating The King's Acronom, safely in his magic. The three were greeted by a zebra. She looked at the faces they held, the bag Griselda carried, and the tears dripping form her eyes. She understood what had happened.
"Griselda, I'm sorry Tome didn't... didn't..." she couldn't bring herself to complete the sentence.
"Thanks, Zamira." Griselda looked up long enough to see the look on her face. It was one of extreme pain. Even Gacheru didn't need to sense her emotions to see the pain.
"We should start the burial ceremony." Griselda nodded and walked over to a circular pit. Usually the Head-Quarters was loud and busting with constant work, but the burials were the few times when all the agents there fell silent. Griselda placed the bag in the center and undid the bindings.
There laid Tome's mutilated body. The only pieces of skin left were small patches. Most of his muscles and blood veins were exposed, but no more blood dripped. Zamira looked over to Leaf. "How did this happen?"
"The book. It tore him apart when he touched it." Leaf motioned back to the book Garcheru was holding.
The ceremony lasted the rest of the day. It was the first time it was performed in almost half a century. The first time an agent has died in that time. It consisted of everypony lighting a pyre built around the deceased's body. When all was over, the most painful part started. Finding a replacement. It was a cold fact that the E.R.S.S.S. just couldn't allow a team to operate while down an agent.
The Director called in Leaf to her office. Leaf opened the door and was immediately addressed. "Agent Leaf, please take a seat." the Director offered. Leaf sat down in one of the seats. It was just himself and the Director. "I understand that what I am about to tell you will most likely be uncomfortable to you and your team, but it is a undeniable fact. We must find the late Tome's replacement." the Director opened a drawer and pulled out a small stack of folders. "These are all the promising candidates currently in guard training." Leaf silently took the four files and opened each one.
The Director sat watching Leaf look through the folders. All of the candidates were promising, but three of them just didn't appear to be cut out. The final one, however was different. But Leaf was unsure about the whole ordeal.
"You're unsure if its right. Aren't you. You feel like that choosing would just be a disgrace to Tome's memory," the Director spoke up. "I know that feeling. I understand whats going on in your head, I've been there before as well. But we have to move on. It's what Tome would've wanted, he never wanted to be laying around not doing anything." Leaf nodded in agreement.
"This one." Leaf pushed the final folder over to the Director. "We need to test him first."
"Alright."
