The Crystals of Hope

Chapter 7: Memories From Before

As they headed to the Northwest Mountains Virago snatched the map from Erwin, again.

"Hey!"

"Don't worry I'll give it back. I just want to see where we're going." Virago said as she studied the map.

"Why?" Nea asked suspiciously.

"Because I lived in these mountains before I lived in the forest."

"Is there anywhere you haven't lived?"

"The Wild Waste," Virago stated plainly. As Virago was studying the map. Suddenly, her face turned as pale as a ghost.

"What's wrong?" Nea said, noticing Virago's appearance.

"N-Nothing, it's just. . . it happened a long time ago. . ." She said, never taking her eyes off the map.

"Your face just went as white as snow. Something's definitely upsetting you," Erwin pointed out.

"Oh, c'mon," Fay demanded, impatiently, "you're gonna have to tell us eventually, so why not just tell us now?"

"Fine, I'll tell you once we set up camp for the night," Virago said, noticing how far the sun had traveled in the sky.

They found a clearing nearby, and set up camp for the night.

"Um, I don't have a tent?" Fay demanded, again. But as much as she expected them to bow down and give one to her, no one moved. Then Virago walked towards her. And surprisingly she said, "You can have mine."

"Thanks." Fay was still surprised.

"But where are you going to sleep?" Nea asked.

"In the tree's," Virago said, trying to hide how much she hated this girl. "It's nothing different from what I'm used to anyway."

"So, you gonna tell us why you were so pale earlier?" Caspian made himself comfortable and sat down waiting for a juicy story. " Give us all the dark details."

"Caspian!" Nea whispered, nudging him. She had become talented in jabbing Caspian in the stomach in the time they had traveled.

"No, it's okay," Virago said somberly. "On my twelfth birthday, I was with my parents and little brother. There was an accident, and . . .'' Virago took a deep breath pushing back her tears. Her voice was shaky, "I was the only survivor. After that, I was in a coma for about four days at a healer's home named Adelis, she found me. She took me to her cave in these mountains, where she and a fighter, Barin, lived. They took care of me, and Barin taught me how to fight. When I was about fourteen and a half, they were imprisoned by Doldred and sentenced to death." Tears slid down her face in anger, "I went to free Adelis and Barin . . . but it was too late. They died in the Death Talon Dungeons. As a warning, if I ever tried to break in again to free a prisoner, I received this scar. After they died, I could never bring myself to go back to the cave."

After Virago had finished her story everyone went quiet. No one knew what to say.

"So . . . you think that the crystal has something to do with that?" Nea asked.

"No, I know that the crystal is in the cave," Virago stated.

"How do you know?" Caspian asked, confused.

"I can feel it," Virago said passionately. Then her face reddened in anger at herself and Dolderd, "But it's not worth the trip. I'll never go in."

"Don't say that, you just have to try." Nea encouraged her, " let's just-"

Then Virago interrupted her, "don't you see?! I CAN'T DO IT! C'mon, it's getting late, we'll talk about this tomorrow." And with that Virago stormed off and started climbing a tree.