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We had heard of The Devil's Curve for years, but we never thought it more than a wild rumour. So when Charles and I found ourselves staring at the illuminated entrance of the famed "Mouth of the Devil", we had little else on our mind than the rumoured treasure to be found within its walls.
As involuntary steps of curiosity took us closer to the shiny entrance, time seemed to stand still, and the story of the dark treasure came once again to my mind...

It is told that a sorcerer once lived in this town, and that he had kept his dark practices a secret due to enforced laws against the practice of sorcery. For years he had successfully lived among the people with no one suspicious of his presence, until he had come undone by that sickness which even the greatest of sorcerers are not immune to; the love bug.

It is told that he had fallen for a slave girl, but her master had refused her permission to marry him. For even thinking of marrying and becoming a free citizen, the slave master had punished the slave girl badly. This had infuriated the sorcerer who then used his magic to bring a deadly flu upon the slave master.

This action however, had then revealed to the people who he truly was, and the king had ordered him banished, and the slave girl was hanged. Upon news of her death reaching the sorcerer, he had cast a spell on the King's entire fortune, and had hidden it all in a secret cave; "The Devil's Curve".
It is told that the cave can only be illuminated for ordinary eyes, under the light of a full moon...

This was the first full moon in decades I thought, as we stepped into the Mouth of the Devil...

...

It was Charles who first saw the path; a dim blue light that ran along the left side of the inner wall of the cave. Apart from the light, not much else was visible. Charles took one look at me and ventured forward. I followed, there was not much else either of us wanted to do at that point.
We walked down, following the light as far as it led. As we walked, broken shells seemed to cracked beneath our feet. And after what seemed like the best part of fifteen minutes, we came upon it, the dark treasure in all its splendor...

It was more impressive than legend had portrayed it to be. There were layers upon layers of shiny objects, piled up as far as the eyes could see. It illuminated the inner recesses of the cave, and gave the whole place the feel of an unreal nirvana.

Charles and I stood in awe, and for the first few seconds we filled up our eyes rather than the bags which we had brought with us. We soon settled to the task however, and when we were satisfied that we had carried enough, we headed back for the Devil's Mouth.

It was on our way back that we saw them; illuminated by the shiny bags on our shoulders, piles of bones and skeletons lined up the path from which we had come. It took me only a split second to realize; no shells ever cracked when we came, only the bones of men long dead, men who had apparently come after the dark treasure.

Without thinking, I dropped my bag and ran as fast as I could up the path to the entrance of the Devil's Mouth. As I came upon the wall now standing where the entrance had been, I crumbled...

Charles walked up a few moments later, heaving the two bags on each shoulder. He was never one to give up easily.

But as the shiny bags illuminated the path, words materialized on the opposite side of the wall. Defeating words which I wish we had seen thirty minutes earlier...

Beware! One way path!

A teardrop escaped my eye as I remembered the last part of the legend...

Maybe once a century the full moon rises, but the Devil never gives up that which he takes...

As if he could read my thoughts, Charles looked at me and murmured, "Not just the treasure, the treasure seekers too"

I nodded...

THE END?

#SladenSpeaks

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Initially written for a cliffhanger contest organized by lymmerik. This is the full version without word count limitations... Hope someone out there had fun reading...
There just may be another part coming, I'm not sure yet...
Yours... SladenSpeaks

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