Amber-Rose and the Stone Heart

CW: gore, violence

“Remind me again why I decided to tag along?” I complained as the water flooded into the room at an alarming rate. My sneakers were wet and squishy in seconds.

“This is not the time!” Amber-Rose yelled back at me, running her hands along the cracks in the stone floor. She was likely searching for a hidden trapdoor, no doubt.

“What can I do?” I asked her.  

“Keep your head above the water, and whatever you do, don’t drown. Okay?”

“Easier said than done.” I looked back the way we had come. The exit had been tightly sealed off by a large boulder that was jammed in place. I attempted to push it open, but all I accomplished was tearing the flesh back from my fingertips

“Damn you, Andy,” I said. He had been our tour guide, but he was also the reason we were in this predicament. “You seemed cool.”

The water reached my waist, and I waded through it in a fret.

“Any time now,” I called.

“It’d be faster if you weren’t stirring the water up.”

“Sorry,” I said. “But I have the right to panic.”

Rolling her eyes, Amber-Rose threw her head underwater.

“Stay calm and don’t panic,” I murmured under my breath. “Amber-Rose will save the day, yet again.”

By the time she surfaced for air, I was treading water.  

“I think I found something,” she said in between heavy breaths. She swam back down to the floor. A short while later, her blonde head resurfaced.  

“Anything?”

“I need your help, Nathan,” she grabbed my hand and I let her drag me under.

I pushed my way down to the bottom, following Amber-Rose. She led me to a stone slab and then proceeded to try and lift it. It shifted, but only slightly. I settled across from her and heaved at the slab. Slowly, it began to rise, and the pain in my fingers was almost as unbearable as my need to breathe. When it was up enough, we tossed it aside and rose to the surface. My lungs burned, and I gasped for air. The water had almost reached the ceiling, but we had just enough room to tread water and keep our heads up.

The water took its time to drain, and when it had all disappeared through the gap in the floor, we went to examine it. Under the stone slab was a ladder, leading down into a spacious cavern, where the water now rested.

I followed Amber-Rose down the ladder, it creaked beneath our weight.

“I can’t believe Andy did that,” I said as we reached the bottom and slumped on a rock above the water.

“I can,” she calmly replied.

“How? He was so helpful.”

“Exactly, and he was a little too eager.”

My forehead creased as I thought back to our past few days through the jungle. “He’s after the Stone Heart, too?”

Amber-Rose grimaced. “Not him, his boss.”

“Boss?”

“Yeah, Brutus.”

“How do you know that?”

“I kept an eye on Andy at all times, and sure enough, he contacted his boss about our progress.”

“You knew he’d betray us! Why didn’t you tell me!”

“I’m sorry, Nathan, but you let your emotions get the better of you. I couldn’t let on.”

“We almost died back there. I wouldn’t have entered the cave if I had known he wasn’t on our side!”

“We had to enter the cave, or we would have been ambushed by Brutus’s men!”

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me,” I sulked. “I could have helped.

Amber-Rose looked away.

“You do trust me, right?”

“I would never let anything harm you, Nathan. You know that, right?”

“Yeah,” I mumbled.  

“Now let’s get that Stone.” She got up and marched away.

I stared after her in disbelief before I remembered to follow.

“Can I at least check the map?” I asked as we wandered along, following the torchlight.

“Yeah, but It’ll be no use.” She tapped her pocket.

“Why?” I said pulling the map out. “Oh.”

The map was soggy, and the ink had bled all over the page. “We’ll never get there before Brutis.”

Amber-Rose tapped her head. “It’s all ingrained in here,” she reassured me. “And we’re actually closer than you’d expect.”

“What? How? Isn’t it supposed to be at the mountain?”

“Yeah. And we're directly under that mountain.”

I looked up at the cave ceiling as if expecting to see a sign that this was true.

“Don’t we have to be outside?”

“Maybe not,” Amber-Rose pointed ahead at a dim light up ahead that wasn’t coming from her torch. We rushed ahead.

As we approached, I saw that the light was coming from a series of torches mounted on either side of a narrow tunnel. As we cautiously made our way down, more and more were set alight. It was both spooky and magical at the same time.

Amber-Rose put her hand out in front of my body to stop me from walking forward.

“What?” I hissed.

She held a finger over her mouth, and I shut my mouth and strained to listen. Two voices sounded from up ahead.

“What do you mean we can’t get through? Blow it up!”

“But we’d be risking a cave-in.”

“For the final time, I don’t care. Get it done, or I’ll find someone else.”

“Yes, sir.”

“They're here,” I mouthed.

Amber-Rose’s mouth tightened, “We have to stop them.”

I nodded.

Further down the tunnel, there was an explosive bang. We winced and hurriedly covered our ears. The tunnel shook, but thankfully, it didn’t collapse.

“They're in,” Amber-Rose confirmed, peering ahead.

“What can you see?”

“Andy and another man. I can only assume this is Brutus.”

“Is he big and threatening looking?”

“No. He’s sort of scrawny.”

“Can you take them?”  

“I think so.” Without another word, Amber-Rose crept forward towards the unsuspecting men. I held back for a moment, only daring to come forward after I had heard shouting and a loud thud.

I watched as Amber-Rose stepped over Andy’s unconscious body and raised her fists at Brutus. The man held his arms up in defeat. 

“Please,” he begged. “Don’t hurt me.”

“You’re Brutus?” She asked, never taking her eyes off him.

The man shook his head and pointed down at the floor where Andy lay. Amber-Rose didn’t even turn her head to look. “I know who that is. Now, where’s Brutus?”

Andy began to pull himself back up and I watched with wide fearful eyes. Amber-Rose didn’t notice, she was solely focused on the man in front of her.

“That’s Brutus,” the man said, intently.

“Look out!” I screamed as Andy got to his feet and tackled her to the ground. Amber-Rose bumped her head on a rock on the way down, and blood trickled down her forehead.

I charged forward, screaming a battle call and smashed into Andy’s side, just as he was getting to his feet. I knocked him off balance, and together we tumbled to the ground. He raised his fist and threw a punch into my gut, making me cry out in pain. I lunged for his eyes and scraped my already bloodied fingers along his face. I missed his eye by the length of a fingernail. He bit down hard on my finger, breaking the flesh. I kicked out at him with all of my remaining force.

In the chaos, Amber-Rose got to her feet and grabbed the rock she had hit her head on. With force, she knocked Andy unconscious.  

“Thanks,” I groaned, carefully removing my finger from his mouth. “I need to get this disinfected.”

“You had my back,” she said, amazed. 

“Of course,” I said. “That’s what friends are for.”

She wrapped her arms around me, and I winced at the pain that followed.  

“No need to get all mushy on me. I’ll survive. Now, how about we get what we came for and get the hell out of here.”

She nodded, wiping a tear away from her eye. “You fought bravely.”

“My survival instincts kicked in. I was feral.”

She helped me to my feet, and together we entered the previously blocked room. Inside, a stone shaped like a human heart rested on a pedestal in the centre of the room.  

Amber-Rose approached it, still clutching the stone. I watched intently as she expertly swapped the stone with the heart. The pressure plate didn’t even budge.

“Nicely done,” I complimented her.

“Thanks, I’ve been practising.”

I let myself breathe for a moment before saying, “Now, let’s get out of here.”

We found a way out of the tunnels by following the real Andy, who made sure we knew he hadn’t really liked his boss very much and was glad we were the ones with the stone heart. He sneakily helped us pass by Brutus’s men undetected.

“So what’s so important about this stone anyway?” I built up the courage to ask.

“Haven’t you heard the stories?” Andy said a little too eagerly.

“No,” I replied. “I just knew that we had to get to it before the wrong people did.”

“Legend has it whoever keeps the rock on their person is granted immortality.”

“Wait,” I called out to Amber-Rose. “If it’s that powerful, then what are we going to do with it?”

“Don’t worry,” she replied. “I’ve got a plan.” She winked at me and then glared at the real Andy. He shrunk back.

“I wouldn’t tell anyone,” he told me sheepishly.

“Don’t take it personally, she won’t tell a soul,” I said. “Her lips are sealed. Even to me.”

Andy and I walked on in silence, with him staring longingly at the stone held tightly in Amber-Rose's hand.

I woke up in the middle of the night and found Amber-Rose sitting up, her back resting against a tree. Her eyes were constantly watching her surroundings.

“You should have woken me up. I could’ve kept watch and you’d have gotten some sleep.”

“I’ve been thinking,” was her only reply. 

“About what?” I asked. I didn’t expect an answer.

“You’re right to be angry at me,” she said. “I should have told you.”

“About Andy,” I said, remembering I’d been mad at her earlier.

“I shouldn’t have doubted you. I’m sorry.”

I rubbed the back of my neck. “I understand why you didn’t, I was just hurt, that’s all. I thought we were different. I thought you could trust me, and to find out you didn’t, well it hurt.”

“When Brutus took me down, you could have run, but you fought for me. And I couldn’t help but think I’d misjudged you. You really do have my back, don’t you?”

“Always,” I replied.

She leaned in and rested her head on my shoulder, her eyes drifting shut. “I’m taking the heart to a guardian,” she said, drifting off. “Will you accompany me?”

I glanced down at her, amazed. “You’re telling me this? Amber-Rose, is sharing something important with me?”

She slapped me half-heartedly on the arm. “Will you help me?”

“Of course,” I whispered. “You can trust me.”