ꜱᴄᴀʀ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴋᴇʏꜱ

Chapter 30: Cazzlyn

 She ran her hands over the broken ribs of the tiger next to the last tree they healed. The bones looked old, they had a slight tan tint to them.

Rheton cleared his throat. "I wonder how long that's been there," He kneeled down to get a closer look at the tiger's skeleton. "Hey, look."

She followed his gaze to the broken vertebrae of the tiger. "What about it?"

"Look at how it broke," The neck of the tiger had been snapped into three. The first break was running down from the beginning of the bone to the middle part. The next two were smaller.

Cazzlyn shrugged the first break off. "It's probably just starting to decay. I think it's been here for around three to four years,"

He smiled at her comment. "I guess I know who to go to if I need my questions answered," She smiled back at him and continued to run her hand across the tiger's bones, until her finger stung.

"Wouch!" Cazzlyn yelped. She felt blood trickling down from the bed of her pointer finger. "Darn bone!" She ripped some of the fabric off of her shirt and wrapped it around the cut.

Rheton walked over to her and examined the sharp bone.. "This doesn't look like a normal tiger bone to me," He picked it up and cautiously twirled it between his thumb, index finger and middle finger.

She walked over to him and took the bone away. "It's a shark tooth," Cazzlyn traced the sharp end of the tooth in the dirt, like writing a message.

"Dear C,

If there is any chance you pass by this specific forest, and this skeleton take the shark tooth with you. To remind yourself I'm safe on this quest with this boy,-" She glanced over at Rheton's curious expression as he tried to look for clues in the skeleton of the tiger. "I'll be safe. Love you," Cazzlyn gently rested the shark tooth back in the crook of the bone.

Rheton shouted suddenly. "AHA! Here's the next clue. This time it's for me," He gently brushed his fingers across the paper. He cleared his throat and read the clue as she ran her palm across the newly revived trees.

"DEar Rheton,

Congratulations on healing the forest. Thanks for that if I haven't told you already. For your next mission you will need a key.,"

Cazzlyn's finger caught on cold metal in the pit of the tree.

He continued, "Looks like your companion has caught onto it already. Way to go you two. Please insert the key unto the smallest tree you see,

Good luck, companions."

Cazzlyn tugged the key out and tossed it to Rheton. He caught it with a swift motion.

She reached for his hand as they walked towards the small tree. Rheton squoze her hand again.

"Ready?" he asked. She nodded.

He inserted the key and a blaze of light blinded them.

Cazzlyn woke up groggily, her left hand was holding something. She turned to her hand that was holding Rheton's, he was gone.