Adroit Academy

paths and doors

So, here is the first chapter. I am terribly sorry for taking so long and apologize ahead of time for any horrible grammar mistakes. >.< Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

---recap---

For a good five minutes we all stood there in utter silence. Though none of us said a thing, we were all wondering if this was real. Soon my curiosity combined with the silence got the best of me. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m willing to give this a try. I mean, we’ve got nothing to lose.” They all shrugged, agreeing with me. A smile bloomed on my face in anticipation of the aforementioned riddle. Together we searched both sides of the paper for the ever so elusive riddle. Ten minutes had passed, yet we hadn’t found a freaking thing. I threw my arms up in exasperation. At that moment the letter caught the sunlight streaming through the window and something shined.

--end recap--

My eyes were naturally drawn to the shining light coming off the letter in my hand. I pushed everyone out of the way and held the letter up to the window. On the paper was a bunch of strange markings that seemed oddly familiar but I couldn't quite tell what they meant. "Fudge, I finally find a clue and I can't tell what the heck it is." I screamed, utterly frustrated. Ryan peered over my right shoulder and he immediately started chuckling. "Don't laugh at me, it's not funny." I whined, giving him my best puppy dog eyes. He stopped chuckling and a small smile graced his lips as he flipped the paper over and pointed to the shining message.

"Shut up! Don't say it." I managed to say with my cheeks darkening a deep red as I realized I had been trying to read the message upside down. Once again I looked at the message with my friends now gathered around. "Large as a mountain, small as a pea. Endlessly swimming in a waterless sea." Kamri recited aloud.

For a second we all just looked at each other trying to figure out the answer. "It's a unicorn." I supplied confidently into the thoughtful silence. "Jas, that makes no sense, you weirdo." Jon teased. "Yea, well you're a poopy face." I huffed, sticking my tongue out at him and then pushing him away. He pushed me back, causing me to stumble over my own feet and fall to the ground, hard. Soon we were both beating the heck out of each other. It was clear that neither of us was going to win, but I was not backing down. I had too much pride to. Both Kamri and Ryan had to force us apart so we wouldn’t beat each other into a pulp. We had a couple of cuts and bruises, nothing out of the ordinary for us though.

As we caught our breath after fighting I heard a soft low voice say, “I think it’s an asteroid.” I turned to the voice and saw Ryan was the source. Before I could ask what he was talking about, our papers all illuminated. The once white color of our letters was now a silvery glow. The four of us gathered in a circle and began reading the message embedded in the glow, “The path, oh young ones, follow wisely, choose, in your true instincts trust for not to lose.” “What path?” Kamri uttered, completely confused.

No sooner had the words left her mouth than a deep cracking sound was heard. All of us swiveled to the source of the noise and I gaped at the huge vine-like crack on the wall. The vine started to spread, cracking an intricate design. The design shimmered into a silvery pattern set in a smooth black wooden door. For what seemed like hours, we stared stunned at the once white kitchen wall where the door now stood. Before I had time to react, Jon lunged for the door and wrenched it open.

A cool breeze floated past us making me shiver. Behind the door stood a winding staircase, dimly and eerily lit from an unknown source. “This is so freaking awesome. Oh heck yea, we beat the sphinx.” I sang while doing my happy dance. “Let’s do this.”  Jon piped up, heading up to the door. “Hold up crazy, you’re forgetting something.” I said as I pulled him from the doors entrance. “We need to bring food, duh.” I told him. His eyes lit up and he ran for the food pantry.