The True Queen- Book Two

Chapter Seventy: Rayana

They move slowly toward the great gold tree. As they get nearer, Ray's throat dries in awe as she looks up at its sheer size. It rises high into the sky, making her feel like an ant beneath it. The bark shimmers gold in the low light of the pink sky. It is smooth and pure in its rich metallic colour.

The boat comes to a stop and time stands and steps out with ease. He holds out his hand and Rayana takes it. The ground is more of that feather-like grass. They walk up to the base of the tree and Rayana gazes at the giant twists roots that disappear into the ground around them.

A strange song seems to carry on the breeze that makes the large golden leaves flutter. It almost sounds like wind chimes, delicate and pretty. Rayana, having paused to look around, runs to catch up to Time. As he approaches the tree, she can see his reflection in the gold. She catches her own reflection and gulps again spotting her own glowing gold eyes.

Time puts his hand on the bark and the patch beneath starts to glow. Rayana steps back as glowing lines begin to swirl around, making strange patterns. Slowly, they are revealed to be a set of large arched doors. Time turns back to her with a gentle smile and flicks his wrist. The doors open slowly.  He gestures to the darkness inside. 

Ray's hands shake and she moves slowly toward it. Time doesn't make an effort to move.

"You're not coming with me?" she asks.

"I am not," he states. "This is for you to learn."

"Okay," she whispers. He nods his head and turns, walking back toward the boat. Ray clenches her fists and looks toward the darkness behind the doors. She takes a deep breath and lets it out again before walking inside.

It is pitch black but the light that comes from the open doors. They slide shut though and Ray is left in nothing but darkness. Ray can hear her own breaths loudly in her ears. In her chest, her heart races loudly.

It is so quiet.

A swirl of golden light darts in front of her before hovering in front of her face. It sparkles and flickers. Ray bites at her lips and reaches out. Her finger presses into it softly. As soon as her finger touches it, the little flicker flies up above her with a whistle. Ray jumps back as the golden ball explodes with light. This reveals the huge enormity of this hollowed-out tree. She can see all the way up to where the tree separates into branches. The roof of it seems to glitter with hundred of different colours that shimmer and send little dots of rainbow reflections all over the golden walls. Thousands of little shimmers start slowly falling toward her, like leaves falling from a tree. Ray can't help but smile as she takes in its beauty and holds out her hands to catch some of the sparks.  She gasps as they all begin to spin around her. More and more gather, and soon she can't see anything but the golden flecks.

Ray's hair flicks around her wildly as the speed of the sparks picks up and she falls to her knees from the force of it as they spin around her like a tornado. A scream leaves her mouth and she holds up her arms to cover her eyes from the blinding light. Pressure beings to weigh down on her body and it pushes her down. Another scream leaves her mouth as she struggles to even hold herself up.

"Open your eyes," a voice sounds in her head. It isn't time. This voice is deeper and there is so much power to it that Rayana can't help but do as it says. She moves her arm down slightly and flutters her eyes open. Her breaths come out in short and sharp pants as she squints away from the blinding light.

Her breath catches as she spots an image in the light. It isn't clear at first and vanishes almost as quickly as it came. Then it comes back again. It looks like a woman. Another figure appears. This figure stands in front of the woman and is much taller and bulkier than her. Ray frowns and crawls closer.