The Falling Kingdoms: The Hidden Coffins

Chapter Twenty: The Fire Chest

I was walking through a metal tunnel, a dark and deeply twisted tunnel where all I could see was darkness and all I could hear was the sound of my footsteps against the metal ground. Then all of a sudden, a light flickered somewhere. I saw a little bit of reflection and I started running towards it. My voice wasn't able to come out of my mouth for some reason. I was sweating heavily and was extremely scared by something.

"I'll not let anything happen to you..." Arnold's voice echoed through the tunnel and I ran faster towards it.

Where are you, Arnold?

I reached the end of the tunnel and saw Arnold standing at the edge. I tried to speak.

"Arnold..." I murmured.

"I'll never let anything happen to you."

He said, and with that he took a step back and fell out of the tunnel.

"NO!" I cried and hasted towards the edge, watching Arnold fall down it...into obliviousness.

I woke up with a jerk and sat up.

A dream. Just a dream. 

"What's wrong?" Raymond asked in his sleepy voice, sitting up next to me.

"I..." I tried to speak but no words came out of my mouth again.

"Aviana..." He moved closer to me, keeping his hands on my shoulders and swinging me to face him.
"Was it a bad dream?"

I stared in his eyes, dropping a few tears. "Yes." I told him.

"Come here. It's going to be fine." He pulled me in his arms, embracing me and giving me warmth immediately.

"It was Arnold." I mumbled in his chest while sobbing loudly. "I couldn't save him."

"That was not your fault. It's going to be okay." He kept rubbing my back and telling me the same words again and again. I tightened my grip around his body and sighed in the gratefulness of having him in my life.

"It's going to be okay." I repeated his words.

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Cool wind splashed on my back as I walked behind Raymond in the woods. The sun hid in the clouds today, making the woods seem darker than it already was. Sounds of wings of hawks and chirping of small birds could be heard by me. It all reminded me of the day I came here with Arnold. Shaking my head, I stared in the front again, trying not to think of him. It hurt a lot. After a while of silence, I couldn't help but ask him.
"What is this fire chest? Like, chest of a demon on fire or something?"

Raymond chucked at that. "No, Aileen. It's a secret. You'll see."

I scowled at his back and kept forwarding. Soon, a clearing came into view and I sighed in relief. The clearing was nothing but a rocky path which seemed endless to me. I furrowed my eyebrows. We stopped after a few yards, Raymond's eyes on the ground.

"What?" I poked my nose.

"Intrabit in pectore flammas." He chanted in his powerful voice.

Within a minute, I heard a shuffling noise. My eyes moved towards the sound and I saw the ground beneath us was shaking.

"Raymond!" I exclaimed in panic.

He held my hand and pulled me back in a whip. I stumbled but kept standing straight, holding on to his shoulders. The place where I stood before was now cracking from between. It bit by bit separated and the stones rolled aside. I could see it's hollow as it got apart. I let my sight move as the crack in the ground was long, at least till a few yards away. It was thrilling, exciting and surprising. I couldn't help but gape at it. The separation stopped. I leaned in a little bit and saw a deep abyss inside the opening.