The Enchantments: Book 2 - The Key of Gandar

Chapter 24: The Castle of the Cliffs

Roudem stood at the precipice of the huge cliffs staring out across the desert. He and his hoards had been at the base of the cliff for two days now and there was no sign of the youngsters. He knew they would come but the desert had started to take its toll out of him and his minions. The sun, so hot and devastating had begun to sap them of their strength and he feared their will as well.

He returned his gaze to the great castle. He knew it had been chiseled out of the rock some thousands of years ago, but the magnificence and sheer grandeur of it made even him wonderstruck. Two tiers of turrets stood at either end of the great structure and these were now weathered by the wind and decay of the desert. The high wall in front stood crumbling yet still impenetrable from all indications. The only entrance they were able to see was the main door built directly into the rock.

He remembered the first time they had tried to enter the great castle. It had been a nightmare even for him. A powerful field that seemed to suck the life out of the creature met the minion he had sent forward to open the gate. The minion crumbled and turned to dust at his feet, then he watched as the glowing aura of the creature melted into the nearby door and disappeared from view. Since then they had not ventured near the structure again. He had hoped the group of youngsters would have been the first to try to enter but he also knew that the one named Simeneon would not be as stupid as the creatures that looked up to him.

A noise from the east caught his attention and he turned staring into the sun. A small aircraft passed overhead and he took an interest in the plane only briefly as it sputtered along. Suddenly a curious event began to unfold; two small objects dropped from the plane and began a descent to the ground below.

He watched with great fascination, as the two dots seemed to be falling too quickly, and then all of a sudden something appeared above them.

"What is that?" Roudem said a little too loud causing the others around him to follow his gaze.

"Those are parachutes my lord, the military uses them to drop in on targets they usually couldn't get to by land." A minion to his left said.

Suddenly it all made sense. The two dots coming from the sky were parachutes and by the direction they were falling they were going to land on the top of the cliffs away from any possible minion interaction. Roudem was suddenly furious; the two meddlesome kids were outsmarting him again. They were using the one element Roudem had not foreseen... the sky!

Simeneon felt the most exhilarating freedom ever, next to the dogsled experience in the Arctic. She saw the cliffs through her goggles and moved her body and arms in a direct route towards it. She looked back at Fin and saw he was having as much fun as she was. This was a great idea by Charlene, and for the umpteenth time she wished she could find a special way to thank her.

She checked the gauges on her arm and moving just far away enough from Fin she pulled the main ripcord and readied herself for the inevitable jolt. She shot back into the air holding on for dear life as the main chute opened magically above her. The feeling of floating on air was substituted by the most tranquil feeling she could ever imagine. She drifted down occasionally peering over to see if Fin was with her.

She wondered how long it would take Roudem to realize what they had planned. She just hoped that they would recognize too late allowing Fin and her to get to the castle untouched. She knew her idea was only a pipedream, but if she thought about the dangers every time she set forth into the unknown she would drive herself crazy.

The top of the mountain came up upon her fast so she swiveled her body in order to drop in the middle of the giant cliff. She calculated the distance and prepared her body for the sudden impact. Staring intently at the dirt and the second her feet touched the ground she rolled to the left spraying dirt and dust into the sky.