The Magical Quest

Chapter 14

They hiked another hour before everyone was too exhausted to keep going. Night was falling, and it was getting dark. "Let's stop here. We should get some sleep." Maia said. "Oh, sweet mother, THANK YOU," Luke groaned, sat down on a rock, and promptly took off his shoes to soothe his blistered feet. "My calves are killing me." Jess was climbing into the branches of a nearby tree. Confused, Raj watched her tie a rope around her waist, securing herself to the branch. When he finally got the nerve to ask her why, she replied with: "If we get ambushed by Storms in the middle of the night, they'll get you first." She said this while scowling, probably because he had woken her. Raj settled himself against the trunk of the tree. The stars were so bright, he could almost see his shadow. Luke had wedged himself into a crevice in a large, rocky outcropping next to them, while Maia, Harriet, and Chris chose their own sun-warmed rocks to sleep on. Fircone was already sleeping near the base of the rocky outcropping with Matthew and Thundra, and Lily was curled like a cat in the branches of the tree that Jess had tied herself to. Only Becka was still awake, looking for somewhere to sleep. She finally sat down and leaned against the tree next to Raj. "Bright stars, huh?" Raj remarked. Becka grunted in response. "I'm just glad I can sleep at least one night without Thundra hogging the blankets." she muttered. Raj gazed up at the stars. Ordinarily, he would easily be able to get his bearings by finding Polaris, the north star, but the stars were so bright he couldn't find Orion, much less the Little Dipper. Becka shifted her weight. "I'm worried. I mean, about Jess. I found out she's an Aquarius. That was one of the zodiac signs mentioned in the Great Prophecy. She's only realized her potential three weeks ago. Her inexperience, plus the fact she's probably a Chosen One will only kill her quicker." Raj shrugged. "Well, you're Pisces. You've got nothing to worry about yourself." Becka sighed. "Well, I worry about my friends." Raj decided not to talk any more. He was shy for a reason. Whenever he had to talk about a touchy subject, whatever he tried to say always came out wrong, and usually made people mad at him. "I'm going to sleep." he muttered, and slowly managed to doze off, even with Thundra snoring in the background.

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    Jess woke with a start. She didn't know why she'd snapped awake in the middle of the night, much less the cold feeling; as if a psychotic snowman was breathing down her neck. As far as she knew, everyone else was asleep. Jess gazed around in the dark, letting her eyes adjust. After a while, she could see a bit. Heading towards the rocky cliff to see if the cold feeling had woken anyone else, Jess noticed a small cave in the rock she could've sworn wasn't there before. The thing that was even weirder was that its presence in the cliff face just felt wrong, and she couldn't explain why. The cold feeling seemed to increase in intensity as she got closer, but she felt drawn to it, like a moth to a light, for an inexplicable reason. Ducking under the opening, Jess slowly moved forward, walking around stalagmites, holding her sword ready, but still in baseball bat form. As she went deeper into the cave, Jess thought she heard voices coming from up ahead. The cold feeling was increasing the farther she went in, and Jess knew, she just knew, as if there was something there that was hers. Suddenly, Jess was plunged into complete darkness. Her footsteps splashed on the wet floor. Then, she saw what she thought was light around a corner. She could see a faint, golden glow, like that of a fire. She kept moving closer...and closer...and closer.... She was right at the corner, and reached towards the light, and her skin was tingling with cold, like she was outside in the middle of winter.... Then, without warning, the light intensified to a blinding brightness. Jess let out a cry of alarm, but no one could hear her. Golden tendrils shot from the light, wrapping around her fingers, dragging her around the corner and into a solid, blinding wall of churning, swirling golden light. Suddenly, the glow faded, just as fast as it had brightened. Jess looked around. She was standing on a ledge, above a huge, empty cavern. Frantically, Jess looked for an escape route, but the wall behind her was as solid as a rock. Looking down, Jess saw there was a giant whirlpool below her. She could make out the pale outlines of animals, birds, fish, and people all swirling in the cloudy, pale blue water that glowed in the cavern. A wolf pack was running not far below her, and a man was sprinting near the bottom. Jess stared at the water. Then, she saw something else. Something that disturbed her. It was herself, very close to where the water was swirling down some sort of hole, dancing with someone. She couldn't clearly see the person. Whoever it was, the figure was cloudy and distorted. Jess leaned even farther over the edge, and her fingers touched the surface of the glowing water. Suddenly, there was a rushing noise in her ears, and Jess was yanked over the edge, and was quickly sucked to the bottom, and through the drain hole. Startled, Jess looked up. She was sitting in her old bedroom at her Aunt Sally's place. She stared around, and jumped when she saw her thirteen-year-old self lying in the blankets. Suddenly, the walls began to quake and tremble. Jess rushed over to the door, but it was locked shut. The last thing she heard before the ceiling collapsed was her own, terrified scream. She struggled in the plaster chunks, and realized they'd turned to dirt and rocks. Frantically, Jess clawed the dirt away and gasped for air, and a dragon lunged out of nowhere and locked its teeth around her leg, and agony flooded through it. Suddenly, it dropped her, and she was lying near a river of lava, agony flooding through the leg that had been bitten. A figure cloaked in black was raising a crimson-bladed lightsaber high above her head, and right before the blade hit, the scene changed, and she was lying in the street, surrounded by debris and chunks of asphalt. Then she heard a strangled cry of agony that sounded horrifyingly familiar....  She woke on the cold floor of the cave. Panting, she scrambled to her feet and bolted, vaguely aware of where she was going or what she was doing. Jess tripped over a rock, and caused someone to stir, but she kept moving, fueled by terror. Finally, she stopped. Jess found herself standing on a rock high up on the plateau. Panting, she sat down and curled into a ball, still terrified. She gingerly poked her leg, but the throbbing pain had mysteriously disappeared. "Uh, Jess?" someone's voice said below her, making her jump. She peered down, and remembered she had a flashlight. Turning it on, she pointed it in the direction of the voice. "Gah! Ow, bright!" Luke yelped at the base of the rock. Jess sighed, and put it on low brightness. "Why are you up?" he asked. "Why do you need to know?" Jess snapped. "Alright, what's bothering you?" Luke asked. Jess scowled at him. "Nothing." she muttered. Luke closed his eyes for a few seconds, then frowned. "Well, your emotions show otherwise. Something scared you pretty bad. Also, you're mad at me." Jess was startled. "How the heck did you do that?" she asked. "Oh. It's a Jedi thing," Luke replied. "I can use the Force to read other people's emotions. A few of my friends think it's kinda creepy, though." "Obviously," Jess retorted. "Stay out of my head, please." Luke sighed. "I give up. Good luck trying to sleep. Also, can I borrow that flashlight?" "Whatever." Jess groaned. "I'm sleeping up here. Go away." Luke turned and jumped off the rock. For a moment, Jess thought she saw him smile.