Waterfall in a Ravine

WIAR Part 7

The three scampered down the winding path to the great city. The tunnel they exited from was, from an onlooker's perspective, almost at the ceiling. "Why couldn't they make this path smoother?" Grayson whined. "We haven't used this path in years!" Speckton said. He yelped, as he nearly slipped on a rock. "I wish this water would stop dripping on my head," complained Lucy. Grayson, Lucy, and Speckton slipped, slid, and tripped down the road until they emerged at the entrance. The otherkinds looked doubtfull. "Are you the human children 'destined' to save us?" asked a metallic looking deer. She had to crouch down to look at them both in the eye. The otherkinds were at least two times taller than the kids. "Yeah!" cheerfully said Grayson. "Um... Great!" said the deer, with a fake smile. "Err... Why do they looked confused? asked Grayson. "Shouldn't they be happy?" "They don't know your potential. That's why The Queen picked you. Now, come on, we have a queen to talk to!" cheered Speckton.  They walked down the winding path of the road. The city's buildings looked like it was ripped out of a cartoon, yet it was all so real. Although, there was one curious thing on the roads. "What's that?" Grayson asked. He pointed to a hole that had wires sealing it off. You could see a little bit of the inside, and there were buildings down there. "Oh, those are the grates. There were holes, so we seled them partially. I'm not sure why, though. Maybe to spy on them?" Speckton said. "How did the neons get here, though?" asked Lucy. Speckton made some grunting noises and said, "I don't think I've ever known.."  "So... how old is this place?" Lucy questioned. "Um.. About 300 years old," That explained why some of the buildings looked run down. "Do I really need to tell you the whole story?" Speckton whined. "Yes!" Lucy chimed. "Well.. uh.. It all started when some magical force washed over the country. No, the world. Some animals gained that magic, and pretty much could walk and talk like humans, while still looking like an animal. The 'force' also affected non-living objects you humans have made, and.. they grew legs and faces," Speckton explained. Grayson imagined a toast with a face. "Oh yeah, the items could have children with the now magic animals, and don't ask how that works. Now, you can imagine the humans were curious about these walking animals. After all, they were giant animals. Then, someone thought that bigger animals meant more meat, fur, and other stuff." Speckton grimaced. "They had guns in the 1600's?" Lucy slapped him on the back of his head. "Of course they had guns!  They killed the native Americans with them!" Lucy yelled. "And they also killed them with diseases, such as smallpox," she explained, with a smart-Alec tone. "This is supposed to be a deep and sad story about the lives that were lost before The Queen discovered this. very. cave!" Speckton shouted over the group. The group of otherkinds seemed to quiet down. "The queen is that old? In my dream, she didn't look THAT old!" Grayson said, with the same volume before the crowd hushed. Speckton growled, "No you... Argh. 'The Queen' is just a title. Back to my story. No interruptions!" Lucy said, "The queen found the cave and teleported all the animals there. Am I right?" Speckton rubbed his temples and whispered, "I thought these kids weren't going to be such a handful," 

"You started it," said Grayson, to Lucy.

At last, the castle came upon them. If you could say a couple of cylinders were stuck to one big cylinder was a castle. It seemed as if it was trying to stand up straight and proud, but it looked so old, it couldn't hold it own high, pointed, ceiling straight. The windows were dusty, with curtains closed. Heck, the whole place screamed dusty, and old. "Huh. In my dreams, the castle looked nicer,"  said Grayson, with a puzzled face. "Heh. Trying to impress you maybe..?" Speckton questioned. "Now, we're going to meet the most important Otherkind here, so don't act stupid. Both of you,"