Some time has passed and we meet the girl again when a surface mining stomp onto ancient place, that had been over a time covered by layers of sediments. As the academic personal set and run excavation site, a villain show up with his bandits, pursuing agenda of exploit and plunder. They greed has been enormous as they set they eyes on a sealed mysterious door, thinking that is an entrance to the vault contain an ancient wealth. They even forced the peaceful expedition team of historians, researchers and paleontologist to help them thought, treating everyone with they gun rifles. Somehow, the girl was a part of the expedition to the ancient site, as she simply arrived there on her own. With ease, she grain the trust of others by showing her knowledge of an educated person, cooking skill and mature manners wort of a lady. She had failed to react when the bandits take over, but that bring her onto a litchi situation.
And so, she stand up in front of the supposed sealed door. Just a minute ago, the bandits gave up on using hammers and pix-axes to break the door or the walls, they were unable to damage any of it. (Yet...) She was staring at the (monument?) for a while, until the villain notice her and make really despicable threatened to the academic personal.
So she sighed in defeat and turn around to face them, keeping her manners in check. "So? To be clear: All you want is to open that sealed door? Hmm. Do you know?, that not every safe contains a treasure valued by all. Are you stone set to undo this seal, no matter who will say, what? Even ready, to face the possibility that this is not the vault to protect wealth but crypt to seal out evil from the world?"
The professor leading the expedition tried to sway the discussion to another topic, but the girl dint let that happen. "What I am trying to point out here is: That considering the available technology for this era, the approach toward the sealed box will eventually become more and more violent, to test new theses. Inevitably, its only a matter of time, until the seal will be broken. If not him, then you will do it. And if not you then someone else. At this point its only logical, to prevent the permanent damage on the box itself and possible information's preserved on inside of the box walls."
Bandits dint take her seriously, considering her speech as attempt to talk them over; as amusing. So she step up the game. Especially when the villain mocked her. "I am able to open this door, right now. It that regards, you will not need the academic personal anymore. For they mission: Except the inside of the place behind me, they collecting of information and samples for a documentation are complete. And you don't found value in that. Allow them to leave with those things."
Leader of academic personal resisted, but she addressed the issue directly. "Professor, please! Its not a time, to let be consumed by a greed. Yours sole job here, is bring the research data home. Without them, no research at all. Additionally, you hold a responsibility for you team. Sacrifice them here, and they will pull you out from any further enterprises. So swallow you pride! Death people dint tell the tale to those who don't talk they language. Professor, take the research, take you people and evacuate everyone from the village all the way to the city and behind the walls. Do not stop until you carry the notes into a safety."
But the villain laugh to her face, saying that he will not allow them to leave without taking everything. "I see, that my words are not taken onto necessary account. Then let me bargain. I putting on the table the knowledge you all missing. Behind those door like thing is a guardian. A nasty one. I am not sure about its spec, but I believe its a beast type. Considering the weaponry on you side, you group shall had a decent change against it. But that require to construct the defense perimeter, maybe a cage to restrict the entrance area to the vault against possible runners. In that scenario, you clearly dint want some goody academic personal with a moment of heroism, to interfere with the operation. Especially when you need to focus to lead the hunt. Whit every observer gone from the site, there shall be no problem to disappear after the heist, leaving this place empty when troops come to investigate when the mining stop."
As for question of what to expect inside she shake her head. "I don't know. Try to imagine a really big goofy animal wit a really though skin, that use more its weight to squishes the fools who dint jump away from its way. Or agile predator, using its agility and wits to hunt down everything around. Or something that crawl on ground, that runs on instinct to devour everything on sight, terrifying spectators by the sheer numbers. Prepare you defense for any possibility. Some says, the reward shall be equal to the challenge, but that can be just a romantic saying."
The leader of academia expedition shout something about betrayal, but the girl disband it. "And you professor, consider the slight possibility, that they will not be enough to defeat the monsters."
Someone state, that she made everything up, to trick the bandits and save the researchers. But she seem to be carefree towards any accusations. "What if there was none guardian? Then the door will be open and the box free to explore. But this is the point my knowledge are on end. I can only open the door, then the rest is in yours hands. Considering my perspective: Defeating the monster will benefit me more, that someone getting any possible treasure there. No matter if is academia or bandits, its just looting. Of course I don't believe, that you will be okay, with me, claiming ownership of the box content, simply from be able to open it. However, if there is something there that caught my interest, then we can negotiate a proper price. Not that I hope, that there will be something like that."
"As for the instrument…" She pulls out the harp from her bag. As soon the fingers run across the strings, all on that place had noticed the change on the door. It reacted to the play. She glanced at them with determination in her face. "So~o, do we have a deal?"
.
The expedition team was taken away and the bandits do some preparation, fortifying some positions, shooters taking sniping positions and they set some trap devices. The defense line was still provisional, but the villain dint wanted to wait any longer. So, the girl stand up in front of that door and start to play on harp. With her stare pined at that monument, someone may say, that she played a music based on a sheet written directly on that door, that only she can see. With every note a reaction was building on the monument until the song was completed, the password inserted and that rock start to move.
It was indeed a door, but the girl dint wait to see what lies behind, as she immediately start to run away. The villain planed to prevent her from leaving the excavation site, but she change her direction from heading to the exit from ruins to somewhere else, deep in the excavation site. So they though she simply going to hide somewhere. But that itself raise a lot of distress in the bandits who dint bother to going to catch her as they prepare to defend against whatever will come out.
As the door loudly locked into open position, a silence echoed to the site, everybody hold they breath. They were not sure… but they feel that something is there, in the dark. And that something wake up, opening its eyes, that stared at them from the shadow with an inhuman eyes. A single bestial scream was enough to trigger the doom, when to many eyes awake from an eternal sleep.
Simply to tell, the bandits were not enough for the monsters rush. Indeed they slay a lot of them, but the defense perimeter collapsed pretty fast. They got overrun…
The girl itself expected this and do not try to use the main entrance to the excavation site, if she do she will be overrun by the monster. But still one like a big cat, set its eyes on her. She aim to escape the monster by ditching onto a rabbit like hole/cave/tunnel. It was hardly big enough for an adult to fit, but it was enough for her to crawl. The monster jump in, to continue the hunt, but was defeated is a single move, by a white (rabbit?) with red eyes, that was well suited to hunt down this monster. Somehow those two exchanged glances and the girl continued to crawl the tunnel, while the rabbit waited for another prey.
.
She got outside and stand up on a hill side that surrounded the surface mine. She immediately saw the train station in distance and the chaos around the steam passenger train. Because this was a mine, there was a one seat's cable-way for people from mine to move around. It looked more like a roller coaster attraction that anything that had higher purpose, especially when she used it. Conveniently it lead toward the train station. She arrived there in moment when the train was almost ready to start leaving. People were running toward it get on board. One minute and we ready to go. After she set turnout on railroad so the train can leave the station onto road leading onto city, she too climbed up directly to the engine cabin.
But… one of the monster show-up the moment the train starts to move. Bandits, that were on duty to force the bystanders to leave, manage to take that beast down. But they were not enough for the second one. Eventually that thing start to pursue after the noisy thing on rail track. Because it was faster that the train itself, and it dint show something like fatigue as if it was un-allive, it was no doubt that it will eventually catch up.
.
On the end of the train, on the last passenger car bridge railing, used as platform for boarding/getting out; stood professor, mine foreman and local woodsman/ranger. They planed to do something with that monster, but they saw of what that thing is capable. Then, to they surprise, the girl stood up next to them and spoke: "So many of them… It it has not been they who awake them, then other will do. Don't freak out professor, they were defeated before, they will be defeated again. Civilizations will come and go, only the trials of time to test them, will stay. But too many candle light will lose its lights, because this day." She was holding a stick of dynamite in her hand, hasty modified to work like a hand grenade. She climbed the railing and glanced at the beast who was moment away to make a last jump onto the bridge. Her body tensed as she prepared to jump onto the monster like a circus performer and deliver the grenade to the monster mount.
And indeed, there was this swallow... Soon, the monster exploded from inside, droping onto track, ceasing to move.
.
As the train continue to move, the woodsman with sweaty face and wide open eyes was staring after the monster. In his hands was a bow, that he used to shot an arrow onto the monster eye, so it will open its mount. At last that worked.
Next to him was the mine foreman, with reached out hand, as if it was him who throw a dynamite grenade to the suddenly open mount.
They first exchange a silent glance and then turn around to see the situation next to the door to the passenger train cart. There, with back on the wall and but on the floor, was Professor, with hands around the girl waist, holding her down to the point she cant move from that seat with a belt.
Because they all were silent, it was she who spoke up. "Incredible. The excitement beating heart of me is tearing me apart. What a fool I am, to think I must do this myself. But be aware, that keeping me around will only bring a more challenges. But you already accepted that, pro—fe—sor…" The fatigue finally caught on her, and while in a protective hug, she finally faint out. Falling onto a sleep.