VERUM

Chapter 13: Meeting the Unexpected. (Part 1)

It was all the same, the passage through the barrier. It was as easy as the second time. The bright white light was identical too. The only thing that changed was the view, the place.

It was a beach, an extensive beach with ocean water swaying up and down with its satisfying and relaxing roar. Where the water ended, the land began and far back stood a canopy of palm and coconut trees. They slowly danced with the occasional rhythm of the wind. Their rustling sound was monotonous yet soothing.

It was a dusk sky which was mostly dark with a little bit of tint of orange. The water reflected the bright orange and the scenery was blissful. This light was enough to locate their path.

Even if both of them admired the view, Jack seemed like he was ‘hypnotised’ by the view and he walked ahead. “Where are you going?” Lily asked him.

“To have some fun!” he replied.

“What?! You gotta be kidding me. We got a situation here, haven’t we?”

“Oh babe! You know how much I love sea sides.”

“Oh my God! This boy!” Lily said under her breath and nods in defeat. Lily smiled but inside she was cautious of Impraedo. Jack opened his shoes and went towards the water. He was acting totally childish. Lily here, loosened up a little and relished the cool air. She looked at Jack who was randomly collecting sea shells. She chuckled to herself at this. As Accalia said, “It is basically the calmest realm.” and it indeed was.

It was all serene until Jack out her name. He mouthed and gestured at her, “Come here.” She ran towards him. As the approached him, he said, “I think it a big one.” He was crouched on the wet sand with his trousers rolled up above his knee. Lily too pulled up her jeans till the shin and crouched in front of him. She did not touch her knee to the drenched sand.

He was digging quite near the water. The little waves of the sea water crawled to them and touched Jack’s knees and Lily’s feet. It was cool enough to drive one to a different world.

At a bit of a distance, where the water cannot reach, laid the sea shells that Jack collected all the way. As he kept digging and removing the sand, they were gaining an idea of the size of the shell. It was truly big but the trouble was that it was stuck somewhere. When all the sand was rubbed away, a shining Oyster was revealed. It was of the size of an average size of a palm of an adult. Jack tried to take it out, but it was too tough.

He pulled hard and it seemed that the Oyster was attached to two pieces of wood which were intertwined together. They both looked at each other confusedly. “Looks like you found the thing we were not looking for.” said Lily.

The Oyster and the engraved woods were now above the sand. What was still beneath the sand looked somewhat like glass but it was getting harder and harder to pull. No matter how strongly and roughly it was pulled by him, it did not budge or break as if it was enchanted by an unbreakable charm.
The sea water was now at a distance from them as it was probably the time for low tide. The sand was slowly drying up. Jack gave up and said, “I don’t think we should dig in for a thing unknown.”

“Yes. Defeating Impraedo is our target.” She said lowly. As close as they were getting every step, a fright was building up in her and was gathering to form an uncomfortable lump inside her stomach.

Here, Jack tried to push it back down to where it was. As he pushed the large Oyster down, not only it didn’t work but also it felt like a spring. When Jack pushed it down and released his hand spontaneously (maybe to get a better grip), the Oyster sprang back up and it kept moving upwards. Thing slowly pushed out of the wet sand and ‘the thing’ turned out to be a small, lavishly sculpted, thick stone pillar.