*DISCONTINUED* The Thirteenth Empire

Chapter 7 - Xornoth's Tower

I stuck out my hand to climb another step but instead I felt flat ground. Startled, I realized there was no more stairs. "Ha!" I cried in relief as I scrambled upright. I was level with the entrance to the cave! The only obstacle was that in between me and the cave, was a wide chasm that fell all the way back down to the ground below.

I swore loudly. I grabbed the rope that served as a railing and slung it over an outcropping that jutted out from the wall of the cavern. I yanked on the rope to check the security. I took a deep breath as I got a good grip on the rope and swung. I landed on the other side.

"Ha!" I jumped up. "Woo!" I did a little celebratory jig. I scrambled back just in time as the cliff cracked and fell off. I peered over the edge breathing hard. I heard a distant thud sometime later.

I turned toward the cave entrance and started for it. The mouth of the cave was about twice my height and decorated with intricate carvings. I entered the cave. Carved into the walls were detailed images of the three ancient stags of Rivendell. Ior, Aeor, and Xor. Parallel on the opposite wall of the cave were carvings of the three champions. Morgana, Alinar, and Cohnal.

Morgana, the champion of Ior, was drawn with knee length hair and had a very playful and light air about her. Alinar, the champion of Aeor, was depicted in the traditional Rivendell garb, with a more composed, down-to-earth look about him. Cohnal, the champion of Xor, was carved with a long braid down to his back, and had much more mischievous demeanor.

I always thought the triplets were like us. Scott was always very uppity and acted superior to me and Xornoth while the latter frolicked without a care in the world. Me and Xornoth loved playing pranks with Katherine and Lizzie. Katherine began to distance herself from everyone including me after Xornoth left and her parents, the King and Queen of the Overgrown, died.

At the end of the corridor there was a round wooden door with a rusted metal knob. I walked towards it, breath held in. Once I reached the door I twisted the metal doorknob and pushed open the door. I entered a dark, cavernous stone room. The floor was covered in sand.

I stepped further into the cave. Stalagmites hung ominously from the roof, threatening to fall at any moment. The door emitted a creak behind me. I spun around too late as the door shut behind me. Trapped in the pitch dark cave, I searched my inventory for some torches.

One. I had a single torch. I transferred the torch to my hot-bar. I exited the inventory and switched to the slot with the torch. Just as I was about to place the torch when I noticed something odd. There were several small patches of sand that were glowing, no, pulsing softly with red light.

I reached toward one of the patches and plunged my hand into the sand. I pulled out a shard of glowing red glass. I ran my finger along the edge of the shard. I saw something carved on the shard. A scythe? I rotated it.

No, a horn. I grabbed a couple of shards. I pieced the three shard together to form the image of a devilish face. The demon? Then the room started to crumble. I rushed to grab all of the vision shards as the room caved in. Sand began to flood the cave as I scrambled around attempting to grab all of the vision shards.

My eyes darted around as I hurriedly searched for any shards that I may have missed. Then I saw a red glint out of the corner of my eye. A stream of sand was quickly burying the last piece. I lunged forward and clawed frantically at the mound. I scooped up the vision shard and broke for the door.

I slammed myself up against the round door repeatedly in a last-ditch attempt to batter it open as the cave filled with sand. I sucked in a deep breath as the sand submerged me fully. I groped through the sand for the steel door handle as I slowly suffocated. I felt the thin metal rod, cold in my sweaty hand.

I pushed down on the handle and banged against the door one last time. The massive wave of sand that had been building up inside the cave launched me all the way out. I rolled to a stop and took several deep lungfuls of air. The parrot trilled as I looked slightly to the right. I was lying right on the edge of the abyss. "Woah!" I screamed and scrambled away.

I checked for all of the vision pieces before I began the long trek back down to the bottom of Xornoth's tower. I left the tower, unsure of how long I was in there. I rushed along thinking of the possibilities of what the vision might contain, and I forgot to look out for Scott. Bam! I fell back after I rammed into Scott himself. A vision shard fell but I snatched it up before Scott noticed.

"y/n?" Scott asked. "Where are you coming from in such a hurry? And what is in your hair?" his gaze shifted to the top of my head. I reached my hand up to my hair and felt hundreds of tiny grains of sand still clinging to my hair. Shoot. "Um," I started, my mind racing to find a believable excuse. "Scott!?" said a voice. Lizzie ran up to the pair of us. "I'm losing my gift!" cried Lizzie. Oh, no. "What?" asked Scott.

Lizzie explained "Meandy/nwerehavingthislittletalkaboutmecarryingtomuchsoItriednotto carrysomuchbutIrealizeditwasputtingmebehindandInewIwasgonnaleteveryonedownsoIstartedgrabbingalltheaxolotlsbutwhenIwenttothrowtheaxolotlsinthesanctaurytheywere..." her lip trembled. "HEAVY!" Lizzie ran away sobbing.

Scott turned to you "What did you do? What did you say to her?" "Nothing,I-" He cut me off "I have to go help prepare for Katherine's coronation tomorrow. Stay away from Lizzie until Jimmy and I can talk to her. And whatever you're doing, stop doing it. We can't have any more problems!" I stood there fuming as Scott stormed off towards his house.

It provided a minimal comfort knowing that I had a palace and Scott just had his house even though it was pretty big.

After a moment, I fully registered what Scott said. I facepalmed. Katherine's coronation! I completely forgot! And it's tomorrow!? I pulled down on my face in frustration. It was getting dark and I'd deal with this tomorrow.