257 I Owed You That Much

Before any of them could react, Loiden slashed Marco on the neck. Lycster flinched. Vy came to his side and shielded him from seeing what happened next. Aether did not move, watching the grave robber tear off his comrade's shirt as blood gurgled and splattered out of the neck wound. 

Poor Marco was too in shock to realise what was going on. He reached out his hands in a feeble attempt to stop Loiden. All it warranted was a punch to the face, knocking Marco out cold. 

"I owed you that much," Loiden muttered. 

Vy could not believe what had just happened. She looked over to Aether with the same shocked expression, he too was bewildered by what was going on. Never did any of them ever thought the situation would turn out like this. 

"You could have aimed for one of us," Vy commented, she could no longer bear the silence. 

Loiden paid her no mind as he cut into Marco's bare chest, opening him up. Vy grimaced as she watched the man carve out the still-beating heart of his comrade. It was one of those things that you wanted to look away, but find yourself staring. 

The crude operation ended soon enough, blood splattering and oozing out of Marco's chest cavity. It dyed the limestone steps in red gooey liquid. 

"Too risky," Loiden replied as he held the fresh beating heart in his hand. His hand was also stained red. 

Loiden looked at the scale and placed the heart on the empty plate. Vy and Aether watched on in silence. Lycster peeked through his sister's hands. On the other plate of the scale was a feather. 

The scale balanced out for a while, but soon enough, it weighed down on the side with the heart. The entire chamber began to rumble and without any warning the platform that held the scale collapsed into the ground, revealing a pit down below. 

This caught Loiden by surprise as he began to fall. He grabbed onto the side of the floor, hanging on for dear life. Marco's body fell into the pit, creating a splash. There was water down below. 

The pit was pitch black, it was too dark to see what was down there. Vy peered over the ledge. She formed a small sphere of fire and sent it down into the pit. The sphere of fire revealed a long way down. Under the light of the fire, she could see the shape of a creature, splashing out of the water. 

Seeing Marco's corpse, the creature wasted no time. It chomped down on the corpse with no mercy. The crunch of the bone echoed all the way out. The sound of it sent a shiver down Lycster's spine. 

The creature had six muscular legs. 

-It's a hexa hippopotamus[1].- Aether commented after peering into the pit. 

Uncertain if the spirit was friend or foe, Vy did not take a step further either. The cat spirit had black fur and it slowly walked up to the edge of the pit, where Loiden was holding on. The man only had one hand on the edge. 

He tried to raise his other hand up to place on the edge and pull himself up, but it was of no use. The cat spirit got closer to the edge and looked straight at Loiden. Annoyed by its presence, Loiden tried to use his free hand to grab the hide of the cat and throw it into the pit. 

But when he did so, more cats appeared, all of them staring down at him with their glowing eyes. Soon enough, the cats fused together into a larger form. It placed one paw on Loiden's hand and protracted its claws. 

It's sharpened claws dug deep into Loiden's hand, causing him to wince and curse in pain. Without any warning, the cat pushed his hand off the edge. Loiden yelled out as he fell straight into the pit. 

He landed in the water with a splash, but the water was not deep enough to break his fall, causing him to break his back upon impact. The hexa hippopotamus wasted no time, clobbering over to its free meal. 

Up above, the pit was soon covered up by an even ground, sealing the screams of the grave robber beneath it. 

Vy took a step back and sighed, "I owed you that much."

Now with the threat settled, Vy turned her attention back to the cat spirit. The cat spirits were no longer fused into one, all of them had dispersed and surrounded Vy, Lycster and Aether. However, they did not move towards them. The cat spirits simply sat in their own individual spots and silently watched them. 

Vy turned her attention to the treasure that was laid out all over the chamber. Some of the chests were open, overflowing with gold jewellery, gemstones and scrolls. As tempted as she was, Vy turned away from them. 

She focused her attention on the cat spirits instead. Vy walked to some of them and placed her hand out. Without much resistance, the cats came up to her, allowing her to pet them on the head and scratch them beneath the chin. 

"These cats were never a threat," Vy came to a realisation. 

Seeing as the cat spirits were harmless, Lycster also began petting them. He was melting in their cuteness. Aether, on the other hand, couldn't care less for the feline spirits. However, something interesting caught his eye. 

The sarcophagus at the end of the room was glowing. 

-Vy, you might want to see this.- 

[1] If you're wondering what in the Universe this is. It is exactly what the names suggest, a monstrous six-legged hippopotamus that is ready to kill and feast.

You're welcome :D