I was more excited and curious about opening the small coffin than worried or nervous. This was an item that was summoned specifically for the purpose of helping me. I had no idea what kind of strange properties it may contain… But I was more than ready to find out. With the coffin in hand, I grabbed hold of its lid and gently lifted it open.
When I opened the lid, I was a bit underwhelmed by what I saw. The inside really just looked like what you would expect most coffins to look like. It had a deep velvet red interior. Don't get me wrong, for a miniature sized coffin it certainly looked like fine craftsmanship. However, a part of me was hoping to find something stored inside. The only thing that really caught my eye was a strange symbol that seemed to be engraved into the underside of the coffin. I had never seen a symbol like that before, it sort of looked like an upside down crescent moon with three lines going through it. Nightingale seemed to understand that I was a bit disappointed and spoke up, "Ivan, don't get ahead of yourself. Have Raven touch that symbol on the coffin lid." Of course I was somewhat hesitant, but I trusted Nightingale's words. I approached Raven and asked him, "Can you please touch this mark?" Raven did not even hesitate, and immediately raised his hand to the coffin lid. He reached out one of his boney fingers and lightly tapped the symbol. Upon doing so, a gust of black smoke immediately ejected from inside the small coffin and enveloped Raven. In an instant, Raven was gone. "What was that! Where did he go!?" I exclaimed. Nightingale snapped his fingers and said, "Focus, no need to get worked up. Look into the coffin." I looked down quickly at the small black coffin in my hand, and shockingly there he was. A much more miniaturized version of Raven laid inside the coffin completely calm. "This… This is incredible!" I said to Nightingale in excitement. Nightingale laughed aloud and said, "HAHA, Yes this is indeed a very useful Item. In fact, if my suspicions are correct, you may be able to store far more than just Raven within this small coffin. I told you once before that enchanted items have amazing capabilities for storage. Interestingly tho, this coffin seems to be directly geared towards storing corpses. It is an artifact that is very much suited towards your blessing. From what I have been able to gather thus far about your divine power, you seem to have an affinity for manipulating bones. But that's not all, it goes much deeper than that. Based on how Raven here has been resurrected in his current form, I would wager that you are also able to preserve whatever remnants of their souls remain within their physical bodies. Otherwise Raven wouldn't be able to communicate or act independently as he does currently. Then when I recall the situation of when I came upon you within that wretched prison, you are clearly capable of resurrecting even more skeletal beings. We don't know the limit to your ability just yet, but if you are able to find more capable corpses such as Raven… Then you may very well be able to store them within this coffin and call upon them when needed." Nightingale finished with a devious grin. This was definitely an amazing artifact. Now that I could store Raven like this, then I would be able to travel with him without worrying about him being seen. You could imagine the trouble it would cause if a walking skeleton adorned in swords was seen wandering around. That definitely would not be good attention. On top of that, if I could continue to collect more skeletons like Raven… I may be able to create my own fighting force that can help me in finding Oli and Sid. I was incredibly grateful to Osseous for providing me with such a useful item.
After speaking a little more with Nightingale after using the Coffin, he told me I should give it a name since all great artifacts have names. I decided to call it the Obsidian Crypt. After that, Nightingale was insistent that we needed to get a move on with leaving this city. He gathered me and the other kids rescued from the prison and made a general announcement. He planned to have His apprentice Jewel lead the others back to their homes or wherever they felt safe. Bastien and Henry were stubborn about leaving me, but I told them to trust that I would be alright and that we would meet again soon. Henry made me promise to find him if I ever needed help, and Bastien stated adamantly that he will be there too. They were trustworthy friends that I had made, and I was proud of that. The two of them said that they planned to search for any signs of Dune's whereabouts if he really did end up escaping from the prison. Jewel said that she would assist them in this endeavor, since she wanted to ensure all of the kids from that prison were brought to safety. Kimo and Lillez were to head back to their respective kingdoms and promised me a place to stay if I ever came through the areas. I was grateful for that. Nightingale informed me separately that I would be accompanying him on some errands before we left this city, and then we would head straight to a city called Alabaster Metropolis, an area known for the Grand Coliseum. He said that he had a lead towards the group that stole some of his artifacts and that they most likely will show up in this area. Since he also said the group that kidnapped us could be related to them, I was more than willing to accompany him in order to take them down. Additionally, I may be able to find some clues as to finding Sid and Oli if we went there. According to Nightingale, there would be a large event taking place soon and the information network of the metropolis was second to none. If there were any sightings of either of them in any other kingdoms I would be able to pay for a request to provide that kind of information. Things were heading in the right direction for the first time in a long time. All of my newfound friends had said their goodbyes as I was taken down into the heart of the cavern city. Nightingale explained that this city, Gamula, was created as a means to escape the harsh and dangerous weather on the surface. As he tells it, this city started out as a cave system and was then expanded into what it is now. At some point however, there was an immense labyrinth created below the city by an unknown entity. Apparently the Labyrinth interacts with the city of Gamula to an extent due to its proximity and has caused many missing persons reports throughout the years. Additionally, it has caused different parts of the city to shift and rearrange at times without anyone noticing. Nightingale said that there are even parts of the maze that are said to act as portals to different parts of the world, yet they are so unexplored that no one has been able to verify where they may lead. It made perfect sense based on how the prison shifted and moved as I was confined there. I was just glad to be rid of that nightmare of a place.
As we meandered through narrow streets and alleyways, it was very interesting to see the layout of the city. It was filled with various different buildings that almost seemed to be stacked on top of each other. There were street vendors everywhere selling all sorts of bizarre items and food I had never encountered before. In a strange way, it really reminded me of the slums in Bane. It was lively, and you could tell that all of these people were seeking wealth of some kind. What interested me the most however, was actually the different races of people I was seeing for the first time. Bane was a pretty standard kingdom and almost all of its residents were of the race called the Gaianess. This was the most common race you would find across the other kingdoms. From the books I'd find in our old apothecary dwelling, there were apparently 6 other races in the world that I had never encountered. Of the races I could actually remember from the book, there were the Affarown, the Gillinteen, and the Testerane. I unfortunately couldn't recall the other three. The race I knew the most about was the Testerane, as they were considered a special race that was born from the God of Lights lineage and were said to hold powers of holy light within their bodies.