Behind My Shadow - Book Three

40. For Quite Some Time

"C'mon! How much longer are you gonna keep me out here?" I demand, giving my compass a shake for good measure. It keeps pointing forward. "Urgh, I've been walking all day!" I glance up at the sun in the sky, it'll be setting soon...

I feel no closer to finding my shield now than I did yesterday, only now I'm feeling more desperate because I have to find it before midnight. Or else. I swallow hard and anxiously pick up my pace.

I've thankfully managed to leave the bogs far behind me, now I'm pioneering through a rocky prairie. Enormous boulders rise out of the grassy plains of blue and green grasses, and deep holes are scattered all throughout the land making running through these tall grasses a challenge. I should know, I've tripped over a dozen or more already. 

Far in the distance, I see more mountains. I can only pray and hope that my shield isn't hidden somewhere up there. It'd probably take me the rest the night just to get over there.

I anxiously glance at my compass.

Much to my alarm, the needle is spinning. It's just spinning crazily, like it lost its senses.

"No, no! Not now! C'mon!" I try to still the needle with my finger, but it keeps on spinning crazily even after I try to balance it. "What does this mean?" I groan with despair. What am I supposed to do with this? It can't be broken! I mean, yeah, it has been used for countless years and obviously must've seen some better days but still! It can't quit like this! Not on me! "C'mon, this is the last piece of Vorpal I need to find!" I plead with it.

It still keeps spinning wildly.

I sink to ground with a dejected sigh. Why is it choosing now to act up? It was so perfect earlier! I gingerly lay it on the ground and hide my face in my hands. My god, these Labors are killing me. I've never been subjected to this much stress before! The pressure is practically crippling. 

I wearily drop my hands and lean back on my heels. I can't help but wonder what would Vyndren do...

The thought of my Dark Rider makes my heart twist with pain.

Ugh, I miss him so much it kills me...

I briefly glance at my compass again. To my surprise, it's stopped moving, now it's just pointing at me. "What?" I feel my heart sink. "Are you trying to tell me I have to go back the way I came?!" I shake my head helplessly. "I can't! You brought me all the way out here!" I stumble up, picking up my compass as I rise. I turn to look in the distance where I came. To my dismay, the needle resumes spinning chaotically. "Oh, you don't even know what you want," I sigh and slump back down, leaning back against a boulder glumly.

The needle stops again. It's pointing at me once more.

I furrow my brow. "What...does that mean?" I tilt my head as I study it.

It stops moving when I stop moving.

Does that mean...?

I frantically look around. Is the shield right here somehow? But where?

I frantically start feeling the ground over. Is it buried? Is it right here beneath this boulder I was just leaning against?

I swiftly snatch one of the smaller rocks on the ground beside me and anxiously start digging. Am I crazy? I keep wondering as I feverishly dig, the soil leaves streaks over my arms and stains my clothes as I keep unearthing more and more dirt. I might be crazy; I certainly feel slightly insane out here using a rock to dig with no promise of a payoff -