A Journey To The Clouds, Escape From Cloud Castle - Book Two - ✓

Chapter Two

We shall trap you

We shall kill you right on cue

Your worst nightmares shall come true

You shall find the exit with the caribou

The Crew of Doom will not give you grace

When you meet us face to face

Do not expect us to embrace

The haze that has been cast in this place

Deep beneath the Crew of Doom's lair

There lays a savage hare

Next to it there is a tame mare

She shall take you to the stair

Up the stair, there is a fork

There shall now be a stork

He will take you to the cork

There, you will find the long walk that could seal your fate

She reads it aloud and gasps with shock and frightened understanding. Her eyes scan the page and she looks up with her jaw open.

"Whatever they're talking about... must be in here. This castle somewhere." Ally finally says. I nod in agreement.

"Should we start looking for it?" I ask her.

"Not yet. We should look for some more clues."

"Ok. I'll go get my finger dusting kit, Sherlock." I say sarcastically. She cracks a smile that makes my cheeks turn cherry red.

"You know, I wonder how the poem got there in the first place. There was nothing up here before." I remark. Ally nods in agreement, though she says nothing.

We start looking around on the table and almost instantly, Ally finds another sheet of paper.

"Connor!"

"What?"

"Remember the 'steal their mother's code?"

"Yeah."

"I've got something like that."

"Ok I'm coming over."

I rush towards her, carefully trying not to step on anything too valuable. The table creaks slightly as I step carefully over to her. I pause for a second, worried for if any guards would hear the creek but I don't care as I keep moving towards Ally. She then holds it up and I lean over to skim it.

Trap the young

I stare at it in shock. What does this one mean? It's probably like the previous others... but this isn't Lily's or Hazel's writing. The countless letters and codes tell me that, specifically. I can tell Ally noticed that as well, as her face is scrunched up and her head is tipped to the side.

"Who could have written this?" She wonders. I can tell the question wasn't directed to me.

"I'm not sure. It's not anyone we know, that's for sure." I reply. Ally's eyes widen for a split second, and my eyes narrow as I look at her.

"You know what, it might be. The Crew of Doom could have written this." She says. I nod in agreement as I reread it.

"Trap the young. . . we're considered 'young', aren't we?" I wonder.

"Maybe this was written by the Crew of Doom. . . maybe as a warning?" Ally asks.

"Could be!" I exclaim in a whisper. Maybe it was placed here intentionally. I think. It would make sense, how obvious it was.

"You know, I'm starting to think it could have been put there intentionally. . . like we were meant to see it. . ." she trails off.

"I just thought of that!" I exclaim. She raises an eyebrow.

"Hey, great minds think alike." She says, turning her back on me to look for more clues. Her silky smooth hair flips around her shoulders as she bends over to examine the area where she found the clue. The table still creaks every step we take.

"You think I'm great?" I smile at her. She rolls her eyes at me.

"In your dreams," She mutters. I clear my throat before continuing with the task at hand.

"You said that it could have been left here as a warning, right?" I ask, looking at the once stunning dark oak table.

"Yeah."

"Well, why would the Crew of Doom want to warn us?" I ask again.

"Good point." she reconsiders, "The Crew of Doom is the type to go all in." She adds.

"So, why would they leave the paper here if it wasn't meant to warn us in some way, shape, or form?" I ask, deep in thought. She shrugs.

"I think we should look in case there are more." Ally says after an awkward silence.

We don't find any more sheets of paper however. So we walk around just to explore the place we are apparently trapped. I find a dark, cool room where it appears there were sword fights. There are still some swords that are in a relatively good condition. Since Ally has her fathers sword, I take one.

It is the perfect fit. It has a ruby encrusted handle and the blade, like most swords, is silver. Just then, Ally calls me over from a few doors down. "Connor? You need to see this."

"What? Did you find another clue?"

"I know this place."

"You do?"

"Yes. Mermaids and Fairies were imprisoned here."

"What about Lily and Hazel?"

She hesitates before answering.

"Yes."