Chapter 7 Traps and trials

Here is Chapter Seven: Traps and Trials of The Family Treasure Trove, continuing the thrilling journey - about 1,000 words:

Chapter Seven: Traps and Trials

Three days passed since Lina and Sammy uncovered their family's inheritance beneath the baobab tree. They had not spoken a word of the mask or scroll to anyone but Grandma Zawadi. The air around the house felt different now-charged, aware.

But peace would not last.

Late one evening, just as dusk painted the sky purple and gold, a motorcycle rumbled into the yard. A tall man stepped off, cloaked in a city jacket and boots dusty from travel.

"Uncle Baraka!" Sammy yelled, running forward.

Baraka swept the boy up with a laugh, though his eyes flicked toward Lina and Zawadi, guarded.

"You came," Zawadi said, her tone unreadable.

Baraka nodded slowly. "I heard about Father... and other things." His eyes lingered on Lina. "You've been digging."

Lina swallowed. "We've found things. Important things."

"Dangerous things," Baraka corrected.

That night, over a tense dinner, Baraka told them why he had truly come.

"I intercepted a message in the city," he said, voice low. "Someone else is looking for the treasure. Someone powerful. They've been following the rumors, tracing symbols, even buying land near the village."

Zawadi's lips tightened. "Then it has begun."

"What has?" Sammy asked.

"The Trials," Baraka said. "They come when the treasure is disturbed. And not all who seek it come with clean hearts."

Lina's mind raced. "But we didn't take anything-not really. We just followed Grandpa's clues."

Baraka leaned in. "That's enough to awaken the watchers."

Zawadi nodded. "The guardians left behind by your ancestors. They are not spirits, but tests. Traps that protect the legacy."

"Are we in danger?" Sammy asked.

Baraka looked at him. "Only if we stop now. The treasure must be sealed again... properly. Hidden from those who would misuse it."

That night, Lina couldn't sleep. Again.

She returned to the attic, mask in hand, scroll unrolled across her bed. One line kept echoing in her thoughts:

Only a Moyo can find it. Only the worthy can seal it.

At dawn, they gathered provisions and followed Baraka into the hills east of the village. He had deciphered part of the scroll's hidden map-drawn with lemon juice, only visible under heat. The real treasure, it seemed, was deeper, buried in an ancient vault hidden beneath Kikombe Hill-a place shunned by most locals.

As they reached the foothills, strange markings appeared on stones: spirals, hands, and the Moyo family symbol-a three-leafed tree with roots encircling a circle.

"We're close," Baraka murmured.

At the base of the hill, they found the entrance: a cave mouth hidden behind vines. Cool air flowed out.

"Here's where it gets tricky," Baraka warned, lighting his torch.

Inside, the air grew damp. The walls shimmered with mineral streaks, and the floor was etched with carvings: old language, even older warnings.

"Moyo wa kweli atapita. Mwizi ataanguka."

("The true heart will pass. The thief will fall.")

The path narrowed into a corridor. Sammy stepped forward-and a panel sunk under his foot.

"Sammy, wait-!"

But too late. Arrows shot from the wall. Baraka yanked him back just in time. One arrow grazed his sleeve.

Lina's heart pounded. "Traps."

Baraka inspected the floor. "Pressure plates. Only certain paths are safe."

"How do we know which ones?"

Zawadi touched a carving near the wall-a spiral with three dots. "The family pattern," she whispered. "Step only where it repeats."

One by one, they moved through the corridor, tracing the Moyo pattern on the floor. The wrong step triggered darts, collapsing tiles, even bursts of smoke. Twice, Sammy nearly slipped-but Lina caught him.

Finally, they entered a vast underground chamber.

At the far end stood a stone pedestal-on it, a golden bowl engraved with vines. Behind it, a mural of a great tree whose roots wrapped around the earth.

"This is it," Baraka breathed. "The seal."

But as Lina stepped forward, the ground quaked.

A rumbling roar echoed from above-and from the far shadows, something stirred.

At first, Lina thought it was stone-but then it moved.

A creature, carved like a lion but covered in moss and bark, its eyes glowing blue, stepped from the wall. A guardian.

Sammy gasped. "Is it alive?"

Zawadi shook her head. "Not in the way we are. It is bound to the treasure. And it's watching who touches it."

Baraka stepped forward. "Let me try-"

"No!" Zawadi and Lina said at once.

Baraka froze.

"It's meant for her," Zawadi said softly, placing a hand on Lina's shoulder. "The one who heard the call."

Lina stepped forward, heart racing. She reached into her satchel, retrieved the mask, and placed it over her face.

The guardian's eyes locked on hers.

Lina raised both hands. "I am Lina Moyo. Granddaughter of Solomon. I do not come to take. I come to protect."

The guardian blinked once... then knelt.

Lina approached the pedestal and placed the scroll inside the golden bowl.

A hum filled the air.

The mural of the tree shimmered-its roots pulsed with golden light, wrapping tighter around the base of the pedestal.

The seal was restoring.

Suddenly, cracks split the chamber walls. Rocks tumbled.

"It's