Exquisite Pain (Garmau)

Chapter 3: The Dark Queen

What a shame, the girl who once believed in fairytales and magic, had to be struck down by reality with demons in her mind and the fear of never being loved.
~k.f.
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We docked on land and as I stepped onto the sand, I felt a strong magical presence.

She has to be here

"I'm gonna set up camp, you gonna explore?" Travis questioned. I nodded and tightened the straps on my bag. I pulled out my sword and held it tight. I made my way through the forest, I heard the distant sound of a soft sob.

Some say, as you walk through the forest leading to her fortress, you can hear the wails and sobs of her victims.

I remembered a passage that I read. I followed where I heard the sound from, and rounded the corner on a large hill.

In the distance, stone ruins sat crumbling. The only thing relatively in tact, was a temple of sorts.

I went back to where Travis was and sat next to the pit where fire was supposed to be.

He was trying to light a fire, but he was failing miserably.

"I saw some ruins, we can check them out in the morning" I sighed. Travis glanced at me, smirking.

"Sounds good"

I helped Travis with the fire and we ate some fish for supper.

I went to bed early, preparing for our journey the next day.

When I woke up, Travis was already awake and ready. I quickly got ready and ate the bread he had set out for me.

And after about fifteen minutes, the two of us went into the forest. I took the lead of course.

"So the ruins I saw were in this direction" I narrated as we ventured through the trees.

"There they are" I breathed as we rounded the hill. Now that it was broader daylight, I could see the ruins far more clearly. It looked like an old village of some sort.

"What are we waiting for?"

Travis carefully, and quickly, went down the hill. I followed him and we went towards the ruins.

When we got there, we stopped to breathe before entering. It looked like the archways could fall at any given moment, and, what little was left of, the streets were dangerous and had large gutters and holes.

"If I die here, bury me in the gold you promised me" Travis sighed and walked through the, or what looked like the, main gates. I followed suit and took in my surroundings.

Travis was meandering somewhere while I took my sword and stabbed it into the ground. I held the handle and tried to sense a magical presence of any kind. I'd become good at this with my family being around.

It was faint, but I felt it. There was a magical being here, and even though the presence was faint, it was obviously powerful magic.

I brought my head up and searched for the large cathedral I spotted earlier. I saw the tips of it, and walked towards it without Travis.

When I arrived, the cathedral was casted in shadows. I didn't need my blade to tell there was immense power here. I gripped my sword tighter and walked in slowly.

"Books?" Travis somehow found me and we were walking side by side.

"I guess" I whispered.

Books climbed high to the ceiling. Piles, among piles, of books were everywhere. I traced some of the bindings and looked at the titles.