The Prince of Light

Chapter 25

There were twist and turns and soon we reached the first trap. A giant pit opened up. Something weird happened. I felt the weird ancient energy rush over me and I reached the edge and jumped the entire 9 feet across. Ash jumped onto one wall and then the other and landed with a roll. He stood up. We took off again. Several more traps appeared and each time we overcame them. Soon I felt a cold blast chill me to the core. It was a deep, paralyzing fear. Ash didn't seem to be affected and we kept running. Soon it was almost unbearable. I stopped. Ash looked back and came over.

"What is it?" He asked.

"It's so cold, like a deep ice in my heart." I replied with chattering teeth.

"We must be nearing the first dark lord. It must be some sort of fear radiating creature. Hmm. You should be immune to the fear since you are the light prince." He said. I shook my head.

'Voice? Any help?' I thought.

'Just face the problem and know that you will win. Or maybe imagine someone dear to you. That normally helps with the fear.' It said. I pictured Kendra in my mind. The fear vanished along with the cold. Warmth spread through my body and I nodded that I was ready. Ash and I walked slowly now and rounded a corner. The tunnel opened into a room full of petrified trees. A moan came from the grove and a figure started to walk out. A wrinkled old man shuffled out slowly. His skin was gray and clung to his bones. A thick, wooden nail stuck out of his neck. His teeth were rotten and black and his head was bald. He shambled forward like a zombie. I took a ball of light and shot it at him. It bounced off the thing and hit the dirt. A miniature explosion happened as it hit.

"It's a revenant. We got to take out the nail!" Ash said. I ran forward and the cold overtook me again. I stumbled and my knees hit the cold stone underneath. Ash gasped as he felt the effects of the fear. I heard him stumble and hit the ground. I suddenly felt a bubbly rage warm my soul. I stood up; using all the energy I had and looked it in the eyes. The revenant was 5 feet away and grinning. I reached out and grabbed hold of the nail. A deep shock sparked into me. I could feel it fighting as I pulled out the nail, centimeter by centimeter. The revenant reached forward and grabbed my neck. The same feeling that I had when I had the dream drowned me in fear, hurt, and an odd comfort. Slip into my arms, the dark seemed to say. All the pain will go away. It said. That made me snap. A power unlike anything I had ever felt before swept into my body. My eyes had been closed from the pain and now I snapped my eyes open. It was like a nuclear bomb had happened and it was like trying to contain it in my pinky. I felt waves of heat coming off of me and slowly, the revenant's hand started to burn. I yanked out the last of the nail and the revenant was instantly disintegrated. A giant explosion emanated from the creature. I was thrown back into the wall and a searing feeling happened on my hand. A few moments later I lost conciseness. I could feel a tingle in my throat and I jerked my head up. I gasped for air and Ash looked relieved.

"You did it. You beat a revenant. Nobody has ever done that. Well, humans anyway." He said. I got up slowly. I felt spent. He held up the silver bottle. I took a couple swigs of it. I felt my energy return and we walked through the grove. On the other side we ran and bypassed traps. Soon we reached another room. This one had pillars and a chasm.

"I don't like this....." I said. Ash nodded. We jumped across together. Soon a wail was heard coming up from the chasm. We both jumped across even faster. At the last pillar, a black object sped up from the chasm and shrieked. It hovered for a moment. It was a woman with blue skin and white, frizzy hair. Her teeth were all sharp and she had claws. A blue, tattered dress swirled around her. Her eyes were split like a snake's and red. It had giant bat wings.

"Fury!" Ash said and he jumped to the last pillar. I shot a beam of light at it. It dodged and swooped at me with its claws. I shot light right at it and it swerved. My palms tingled. The dark feeling was back. The Fury rushed towards me. I raised my palms and the thing stopped. It looked hypnotized. I looked at Ash. He shot a bolt of gray at the Fury and it disintegrated. I jumped to the next pillar then onto the solid land. I sighed and we ran on. These traps were getting more dangerous. Spikes shooting out of the wall and swinging clubs. We reached the next room. It was a flat room that went straight across. There was a pillar in the middle of the room. On top of it was a golden sphinx. She opened her eyes and grinned.

"Hello. Would you like to pass?" It asked.

"Yes." I said.

"You got to answer a riddle first." She said.

"Ok. We're ready." Ash said.

"I am an animal but a man; I have two horns for each hand. What am I?" She said. Ash and I answered at the same time.

"A minotaur." We said. The sphinx sighed. "That counts as two." I said.

"Yes....." She smiled. "Next one. The ancient giant from the east was slain by man and by beast. And laid upon his pyre, to feed a ravenous desire, He'd swallow a woman whole. Then, still feeling hungry, he tried to swallow a horse and thus he died. What city am I?" She said.

I remembered my lessons on Greek mythology.

"Troy." I said. The sphinx frowned.

"Now this isn't acceptable. I shall not let you pass." She said.

"We're warning you, let us through." I said. She roared and pounced. I held out one hand and the sphinx stopped in midair. She started to vibrate. "You were warned." And with that, she exploded. I walked to the other side. Ash followed.

"You surprise me every second I'm with you." He said.

"I know." And we walked down the long corridor. No traps sprung up. Finally, we reached the end and it opened up into the far end of the cavern. A small tree was growing, and moonlight seemed to be filtering from somewhere, illuminating the tree. It showed a small pool of water at the base of it. We walked up to it and inside was a gleaming sword.