Prince Kiran and The Cave of Ethlone

Chapter Four- The First Trip

They climbed and climbed, feeling their fingers slowly fall off with the immense cold that pierced their skin. Kiran could feel the altitude sickness getting to him almost immediately after they started their ascent to the top, they were getting close but the terrible feeling lingered. His head started to feel like it was on fire and his stomach was churning every way possible. The scar on his arm was burning (just like that night in the cellar with his family), that feeling made everything feel all that worse. The last time that he had felt the scar burn that much, somebody that he cared about was dead before he could take another bloody breath.

His hand clenched tightly around the map in his hands as they approached the entrance to the cave where the cauldron was said to be stored. Theodore pulled them behind a rock as they could hear the ghostly whispering of the spirit that guarded the place- King Lachlan's voice reached Kiran's ears and it terrified him. Peering past the rock, he could see the misty figure of his dead relative floating by the entrance. The air somehow managed to get colder, Theodore looked down at his fingers to see a shade of white that he had never seen before.

"Hold my hand, I'll warm your hand up." Lena told him, Theodore cautiously placed his freezing hands into Lena's hands. Their rosy cheeks seemed to get redder but Kiran couldn't tell if it was because of the cold or something else but he chose to just focus on the task ahead rather than his accompanices' love lives.

Lachlan's ghost remained there for a while before disappearing back inside of the cave. It didn't seem like it was going anywhere but at the same time, Kiran was growing impatient- how bad could this guard be? They emerged from their hiding spot, creeping slowly to the entrance. They see the figure looking down the cauldron that they had been looking for as if he was looking for his own prophecy. How were they going to do this successfully that wouldn't lead to any deaths?

Theodore looked at Blackthorn who was more interested in the surrounding area than the task at hand, a thought flashed into Kiran's mind as he asked "Kiran, can ghosts see dragons?"

"From what I have heard, yes... You aren't suggesting what I think, are you?" Theodore scratched his dragon's ear for comfort. "Blackthorn may be stubborn but he isn't stupid."

"Alright then, Mr Dragon Expert, what do you think we should do about the ghost?" Kiran asked with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "What other bloody choice do we have? Unless Lena happened to have some sort of potion to get us past him."

"I would have if you didn't tell me to put the potion back that we found at Malachi's place... I do know potions well, Kiran. That potion could have helped us here!" Lena snapped with a lot of frustration in her voice. "It's obvious that you don't really have a plan on how we are going to do this, do you?"

"Look, I'm sorry about that, I didn't know that this would happen. I was barely told anything about this place for crying out loud." Kiran didn't want to agree with her about not having a plan but he knew that she was right about that. He should have thought more when they were back at Malachi's place, he knows that Lena is knowledgeable about magic so why didn't he just let her? He felt stupid at the moment.

Theodore grabbed the same device that he had used the day before from his pocket, clicked the top of it and hoped for the best as they snuck into the cave, eyeing the guard that had not moved from where he was standing.

Theo and Kiran both peered into the cauldron together, Lena keeping a close eye on the ghost that had stepped back to the entrance, vials in hand. Theodore spat into his vial so Kiran did the same.

Theodore slowly tipped his vial into the cauldron, watching the substance inside start to bubble in front of his very eyes, sizzling like a sausage- then a small piece of parchment flew out of the water and into Theodore's outstretched hand.