Fall of a Hero: Hearts Without Foundation (a Fantasy Adventure)

Dark Prophecy

My eyes bulged, and I set up.

"You traded places?!"

Serpo suddenly and smiled a delicately sly smile. "Yes," he smirked. Oh, I was so confused! I didn't know what to believe anymore.

But Serpo interrupted me before I could get angry at him again or try and find out if he was telling the truth. "Here, I'm going to show you the Etchings," he said, striding over to the fireplace with prowess,"The reason that there is fire, but the logs don't burn is because of a very special crystal that I had gridded into the fire about a year ago. You must see it," he stated. Grasping my pounding left hand, I followed.

"Into the fire," he commanded, stepping in it," I promise, you won't get burned." I grabbed his hand, again without choice. He was right though, I didn't get burned. Serpo lifted a stone slab underneath the fire and logs and slipped under. I let him lead me down.

At the bottom of the hole was a thin tunnel. It was really a tight squeeze for me, and I was afraid that I might get stuck down there. And another thing-there was no light down there at all. I got nauseous. It seemed to have no end.

"Ugh, I hate this tunnel," he groaned, regretfully, "Why didn't I make it bigger?"

I arched an eyebrow. "You dug this?"

"Yea," he replied, "I was digging it with the work shovel I stole the day I met Maledicta. For years I pined at this tunnel...just to hit the cave."

"What cave?"

Just then he stepped out of my way into a large expanse. Light flooded into my gaze. When I succeeded at blinking away the blindness, I saw it. An immense room gaped before me in the open space.

On the sides and the ceiling there were sharp stalactites of this gorgeous, thick layer of a crystalline material that shimmered with the colors of an aurora. It was so smooth looking and so clean. It beckoned me. I just wanted to touch it...

"What are you DOING?!" Serpo hissed. I grimaced and pulled back my hand. "Never EVER touch this," he sneered, "Do you know exactly what this IS?"

I murmured no.

"It's a banished element! It was locked away in another dimension and somehow it found its way to Alicubi!" he scowled at me and took the poker from the fireplace he had taken with him. "Watch."

He took the poker and gingerly tapped the nearest source of the stuff. Instantly, the aurora crystal spread and began crawling up it. Quickly, Serpo tossed it into a corner before it made its way to his hand.

"I don't know why it does that, but it has to be the reason that we don't have it here naturally," he said, "Now you must promise me that you won't tell anyone about this, you hear me?"

I agreed, but then I questioned how he could have made the perpetual fire without touching this. He shrugged and pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to me.

It was a glove with four arrows like a compass. My soul was stirred by it. I trembled inside, something activating my sixth sense. I felt strange.

"What is it?" I asked, trying to ignore the sensation.

"It's some weird glove I found at the floor of the cabin. Don't know what it's called, though. All I know is that it's about the only thing I know of that which the crystal has no effect." I gave it back to him, and he continued.

"Ok," he breathed, "Now, this way."

We came to the far end of the room where there was a horse-sized statue of the crystalline that sparkled and glowed. There looked to be glitter inside it as if a million pixies were playing tag. I stared at it for awhile. It seemed to be of some sort of creature, but I couldn't make out what. The thing was uncanny.