The Heart of King Travis

Arialis

Let me start out by telling you this. My story up until that point hadn't really dealt with magic (or at least the part I knew about). I never bothered with spells or fantastic creatures because I was never encouraged to do so. No magic was allowed at Primrose and Tremaine was strongly against anything to do with it. Those few reasons were why I never got the chance to encounter it in its greatest form.

Spencer didn't tell me what I was getting myself into when he got me mounted on a dappled horse and instructed me to follow him on his Clydesdale. It seemed like we walked for ages as we passed through about three smaller villages. As my horse swayed from side to side, I noticed how most of the villagers were covered in sunburns. Their faces were blank and their fingers were gnarled as they farmed or built new homes. Not having thought much of it, I glanced up to the  King's Palace. It was the most gorgeous building ever. White gleaming towers were swirled in a way I'd never seen before. A clear pond was right in front of it, which gave the palace a woodland feeling. I could even see the great sky blue doors from where I was.

Although I didn't like the king, I still got excited at the idea of visiting his magnificent palace. However, that wasn't where Spencer was leading me. Instead of taking his great big horse down the paths to the villages or to the castle, he strayed and walked into a large clearing. I pulled on my reins to stop before walking away from the path, scared for what might have come next. Spencer immediately noticed that the sound of my horse's tiny hooves had stopped. He turned around and simply said "Come on, Arden," with his signature smile. He waved his arm toward the field, wanting me to follow. Mustering all of the courage I could, I nudged my horse's side with my heel to lead it on once more.

The field we crossed seemed almost infinite. Tall yellow grass tickled at my feet as I felt the beat of the hooves pushing me forward. Finally, we reached a line of trees. Spencer turned back to me and said "We should be able to get to our destination in about fifteen minutes." If he wanted to hurt me, he would have done it already. I carefully steered my horse through the tall pine trees before we reached a valley. I quickly skidded to a stop, realizing that it was close. Spencer hopped down from his mount and patted his horse on the back. He walked over to me and helped me down as well. "Looks like we're here, Arden. We're going to tie our horses up on those trees over there." He pointed at a smaller group of about five trees and I nodded. We lead our horses over and tied their lead ropes.

Spencer turned to me and whispered "You won't tell anyone about this, right?" I nodded, but I was scared. What secret could he be hiding in the valley? He lead me over to it and I looked down. It was so deep that all I could see at the bottom was black. The sedimentary rock at the sides gave me a good perception of depth, so I could tell this valley was extremely enormous...possibly thousands of feet deep. "How do we get down?" I asked nervously. He wasn't about to just show me that valley and call it a day. But what if he wanted to push me in? I took a step back from the edge, and he took the hint. "Why would I push you in,  Arden? I'm not that violent." He looked a bit offended, and I felt bad. "It's OK, Spencer. I just haven't trusted anyone in a while." Spencer glanced down at his shoes before looking at the valley again.

"There's a staircase over there," he said as he pointed behind me. We walked past the group of trees where our horses were tied and I saw it. A small, stone set of stairs descended into the valley's great depths. They were only the width of one person, so Spencer couldn't help me down. I let out a small cry as I saw how far they went. "Spencer, I can't do this. Can't you just bring whatever you want to show me up here?" He shook his head. "What I want to show you needs to be seen in the valley. If you lean against the side as you walk down, you should be fine."

I looked at him once more, and he seemed to be serious. I can't believe I even thought the field was the scariest part of this. "Will you go first?" I asked. He let out a small laugh. "Of course." With that, he lit a puny match and started his descent down the stairs. As I watched him and realized he wasn't falling, I decided to give it a try. Solid. I took another step down and put my right hand against the valley's smooth side. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. As I walked, I got more comfortable. "What are you showing me, Spencer?" I asked with the curious delight of a six-year old opening presents on a birthday. "You'll just have to wait and see," he said in a purposely mysterious tone. All of a sudden, my foot lost its place on one of the stairs.