Faint sunlight filtered through the thick tree branches and dried the dewy grass that swayed in the gentle gusts of wind. The only sound in the stillness of the morning was the River of Silver Sphinx, running its course along the whole perimeter of the Forest of Death. Its impenetrable waters washed away giant stones and carried small ones to the sandy shores. Over the years, the powerful current progressively widened and deepened the riverbed, and only at the cliff of the huge rock did it suddenly rush down with all its force.
Neptune never got tired of staring at that river, sitting on a rock, admiring the surrounding scenery and unwinding without any thoughts. He wanted to do it now, but he had an important task, so after pushing the star-shaped gemstone, he ran into the Crystal Palace and up the stairs. In the room, he rushed to the drawers. One by one, the papers fell on the ground, but soon the boy found what he was looking for and heaved a sigh of relief. It was the part of the map he’d been searching for ever since Lynn and Gordon rescued him from the dungeons. It took him a long and tiresome search to find the way to the gate of the World of Absence, but he finally succeeded. All that was left was to find Ravenna, which concerned him the most, because she might be in serious danger. Neptune, however, made an effort to ignore negative thoughts and focus solely on the goal.
Pocketing the map, Neptune quickly left the Crystal Palace and headed towards the River of Silver Sphinx. After crossing the rocks and the meadow, he reached a wide gravel and looked around restlessly. Making sure that no one was watching, he rushed to Lynn’s house and stealthily opened the wooden fence gate. The woman was already waiting for him in the front yard.
Peering anxiously through the fence, she asked, “Nobody saw you?”
“No,” the boy shook his head. “I took the map, I’ll show you what I found.”
“Okay, be careful, so they don’t kidnap you again.”
“Don’t worry, they’ll kidnap me anywhere if they want to,” he said with a grin. “But as long as I hide my energy, they won’t be able to detect me. They also won’t check the Crystal Palace anymore, assuming I won’t be back there after what happened.”
“I know, but you should still be careful. Tasdar isn’t the kind who wouldn’t think about how you might behave,” Lynn warned him as she opened the door. “Come in, we won’t talk in the yard; I don’t want to draw anyone’s attention.”
Neptune agreed. They went through the hallway and into the living room. The boy quickly pulled out the map and unfolded it on the table.
Pointing at the red dot, he said, “Here. Phoebus marked this place. This is where we have to head on.”
With curiosity, Lynn leaned over the paper and examined it with her eyes. It was hard to read anything on the several hundred-year-old map because of how faded the characters were.
“And you know what exactly this place is?”
“Yes. The gate to the World of Absence is located in the Ancient Dungeons of Atakana.”
“Really?” The woman raised her eyebrows. “Then where are those dungeons?”
“I’m not sure, but it should be in the city of Arachrath, where I used to live. I’m familiar with the area, so finding it shouldn’t be too difficult,” he tapped the Fishermen’s Village location on the map and started to slide his finger along the red-marked path. “But we’ll find out later, right now we must find Ravenna before she reaches the entrance Tasdar blocked.”
YOU ARE READING
Demon Daughter (Book I)
FantasyOn the night of the Blood Moon, a girl was born, destined for a dark future. She is the daughter of a demon, created from a false love, but she knows nothing about her origins because during the war she was sent to live on Earth with Lynn and Roger...
