Last Quest

Chapter 7: The Lock

Liora and Lucius were already at the clearing, which used to be a place filled with children's laughter and play during the day before the Inscription appeared. It was a relatively small patch of grass on a hill, surrounded by the swamp and lit by moonlight. The stone stood tall in the middle, now seeming otherworldly and out of place, as if someone had placed it there—a theory they had already discussed. Liora lit her lantern with a spell, moving it closer to the symbols.

"Are we sure we want to know what it says?" Lucius asked, growing worried. Last time they came here, it was morning, and the darkness surrounding them now made for an unpleasant setting.

"I would rather fear what it says than fear not knowing what it is," Liora whispered as she opened the old book. "May he who rests see..." she read from the stone. "The... son... no, the sun!" She flipped some pages, glancing back at the stone. "May he who rests see the sun no more," she read, with slight worry in her voice.

"That's sinister," Lucius said jokingly, trying to ease the tension.

Liora was silent, her eyes darting between the book and the inscription, worry growing in her expression.

"What does it say?" Lucius asked, fearing the answer more than before.

She stood up, turning to him and closing the book. She seemed confused, even scared, as if she hadn't expected to find something truly concerning. "May he who rests see the sun no more. May his many eyes stare at only darkness. May he forever bask in the forsaken power he called to our world."

"They're talking about... you know?" Lucius realized.

Before Liora could answer, a deep rumbling noise came from the stone. Turning around, she saw the symbols begin to emit a green light. The sound intensified, and the ground started to shake. They watched in fear and confusion as a pulse was sent from the stone. Liora fell to her knees, her head throbbing with pain. Covering her ears, she looked up at Lucius, who seemed panicked but unaffected by the pulse. As she shut her eyes, her vision filled with flashes. She saw an endless void. At first, she thought she was alone, until an eye, as tall as her, opened in front of her. She turned around to see more of them—they all stared at her. They looked human, but wrong, like something pretending to be human. She finally opened her eyes to Lucius shaking her. Her heart was racing, and she struggled to catch her breath. She looked back at the stone; it was quiet, but the symbols still glowed. She stood up.

"We have to leave, Lucius!" she yelled, backing away from the stone, leaving her book on the ground.

"What happened?!" His voice trembled as he stared at her with wide eyes.

"We have to tell someone—we have to tell them what we did!"

"What did we—" Lucius tried to ask, but she interrupted him.

"I saw him! I saw Dov Troso! It's him. The inscription was about him. I don't know how, but he will leave the rift, and we have to do something!" She explained as they made their way out of the clearing. She hurried downhill through the tall bushes, closing her eyes and pushing the branches aside. As she made it down to the boardwalk, she bumped into someone. Looking up, she saw a stranger, but her attention was quickly drawn to the dragon standing behind him. Melrytos came closer to her, sniffing her face. She took a step back.

"Who are you?" she asked, now recalling seeing Dravon in the town.

"Doesn't matter right now," he answered. Pointing to the glowing stone on the hill, he continued, "What is that?"

Before Liora could answer, Lucius stumbled out of the bushes behind her. Quickly getting up, he looked at Dravon. "You're Cranonian," he remarked as they made eye contact.

Dravon glanced back at Melrytos. "Great observation. Now, why is the stone glowing?" he asked, starting to panic himself.

Liora tried to calm herself before answering. "There was an inscription... in Cranonian. I read it out loud, and it made a sound, and everything shook, and—"

"What did it say?" he interrupted her.

"Why would I say it again?!"

"I'll read it, then," he said, heading to the clearing.

"Let's go with him," Lucius suggested to her.

"Why?!" Liora asked, not wanting to see the inscription again.

"Because he has a dragon? We're not walking back to town alone after that," he said, heading back to the clearing before Liora could protest. Not wanting to stay alone, she followed him.

Dravon looked at the inscription, studying it for a moment. "May he who rests see..."

"Stop!" Liora yelled.

"Relax, I wasn't going to." Dravon looked back at the two. They were on edge, keeping their distance from the stone. Noticing the glow from the symbols, he commented, "This looks so sinister—why would you ever read it out loud?"

"In our defense, it wasn't glowing before," Lucius answered.

"Do you know what it is?" Liora questioned him.

Dravon thought about what Maldric had said before. "No, but—" He was interrupted by a sound from the stone. Melrytos raised his head, tilting it. Dravon backed away from the stone, which was now breaking down, rocks slamming to the ground, until it was only a pile of rubble. "But I know who probably does," he finished.

They arrived back in town, but Maldric was gone from the place where he and Dravon had parted. Seeing that, they decided to go to the academy in search of him.