MAGISTAN

Chapter 12: The Gemstone Lock

The golden light inside the tunnel Sofia and Lorn ran into grew intensely bright. It blinded the vampire bats. They squealed and shielded their faces with their wings. Some flew into the walls. Others flew into the ground. And the rest... whipped around and flew away.  

Stooped over, Lorn propped himself against the wall. He took a moment to catch his breath.  

Sofia gawked at the bats. "What happened?" she asked, breathing heavy.  

Tense faced, Lorn glared at the ground thinking, I blew it. If only I had gotten to Sofia a few seconds sooner, I could have lured her into the other tunnel. Lorn knew that the golden light coming from the other tunnel would have vanished, a few seconds after they entered. Sofia wouldn't have been able to see anything. And while she was fighting off the Vampire bats, Lorn could have swiped the Golden key and disappeared without her knowing. But, none of that happened. And instead of telling Sofia the truth, Lorn pretended something else.  

"I saved you. That's what happened," Lorn declared, rubbing his forehead as if he had a nasty headache. He gazed at the tunnel they were inside. It was different than how he remembered it. Which he thought was strange, seeing how he'd walked through this particular tunnel so many times before. Instead of being lined with sandstone, there were blue roots everywhere. They wrapped around the floor, ceiling and walls and slithered like snakes in every direction.  

Sofia eyed the roots, watching the small blue bubbles inside as they floated upward and vanished. "Where'd you go?" she asked. 

Lorn pretended like he didn't hear Sofia's question. "Be careful," he warned, pointing to the blue roots that whipped back and forth over the pathway that wove through the tunnel.  

Sofia swiftly nodded. "I looked for you right before that girl came back. Where were you?" 

Lorn rubbed his forehead. He looked off into the distance. He didn't want to tell Sofia about his excellent hearing or his perfect vision. Nor did he want her to know, that he had heard as well as saw, the Purple Poppy Princess approaching before she did. He couldn't tell Sofia that the purple poppies he'd given to her in Dex's bedroom, he had taken from the Purple Poppy Princess's garden. And the last thing Lorn wanted Sofia to know was, that he could disguise himself as a rock, by drawing his head, arms and legs into his shell. So instead of divulging such things, Lorn pointed to a tiny twinkling golden light a little ways away. "There... Do you see it?" 

Sofia looked down the pathway. "I do," she announced. "Is it..."  

"The oyster shell," Lorn interrupted.  

Sofia's eyes lit up. She flapped her wings and fluttered in the air. "Come on," she insisted, flying away.  

Lorn watched as Sofia weaved in and out of the dangling roots that whipped through the air. He bolted after her. He dodged and hurtled the big blue roots. Soon he caught up to Sofia who was now flying around the oyster shell as if she were searching for a way in. "What are you doing?" asked Lorn. "It's right there," he insisted, pointing to a gold lock in the center of the shell.  

"I already tried it. It won't open.' 

"What do you mean it won't open?" 

Sofia landed beside Lorn. "It won't open," she repeated slowly, as if he didn't hear her. 

"Here," Lorn remarked, kicking aside the wooden keys that were around his feet. He climbed up a ladder that was propped up against the oyster shell. "It has to!" he insisted, holding out his hand. "Let me try." 

Sofia shook her head. "No," she sputtered.  

Lorn huffed. "Then you try again."  

Sofia flew up to the lock. She stuck the key inside and turned it right. It clicked. But, it didn't open. "See," she said, pulling out the key.  

"Hun..." Lorn mumbled, staring at the oyster shell and wondering why the Golden key didn't open the lock.  

"Maybe there's another way in." 

"There isn't," Lorn insisted, looking at Sofia. 

Sofia flew around the oyster shell.  

"Try it again. Maybe you didn't turn it all the way."  

Sofia flew over to the lock again. She reached for the Golden key. Only now it was floating several inches in the air.  

Lorn's jaw dropped as he watched the key move. It shifted right and pointed down, as if a magnet was tugging on it. 

Sofia gasped. "I think it wants us to go over here," Sofia said, as she soared downward and off to her right.  

Lorn scurried down the ladder.  

The Golden key led Sofia into a tiny tunnel tucked behind the oyster shell. "This way," she called out to Lorn.  

Lorn rushed behind Sofia who was now on her hands and knees, crawling inside. The tunnel was so small that Lorn had to tilt sideways just to fit through the opening. Once inside, Lorn found gems wedged into the sandstone walls. There were chunks of ruby, amber, emerald, aquamarine, sapphire and amethyst, everywhere. In a trance-like state, Lorn stared at an amethyst. Purple was his favorite color. So he plucked the amethyst from the sandstone.  

"They're so many." Sofia said, reaching out to touch a ruby. "Are they real?" she asked, looking back.  

Lorn slipped the amethyst into his shell. "Indeed," he said, with his ear cocked toward Sofia.  

"What is it?"  

"Shuu," Lorn whispered. "Did you hear that?" 

"Hear what?" 

Lorn cupped his ear. "Sounds like a waterfall," he declared.  

"You think?" she asked, crawling faster.  

Lorn hurried behind Sofia. He eyed the ground and sniffed the air. "It smells salty," he declared, wiggling his way through the gems.  

"It does," Sofia agreed.  

"You see the mist on the walls?"  

Sofia nodded. "I hear a waterfall too," she remarked, reaching the end of the tiny tunnel. There was a large opening over Sofia and Lorn's head. "Look Lorn! Look!" Sofia said, pointing to the Golden key that was now raised to eye level. The tip of it pointed upward.  

"Let me go first," Lorn said, trying to squeeze by.  

Sofia nudged Lorn back. "I have the key," she said and then flew through the opening overhead. She popped out of the hole. "Oh my!" she said, loudly. "It's beautiful!"  

Lorn quickly scaled the gem stonewall. Once he reached the top, he poked his head outside. There were waterfalls everywhere. They cascaded over the mountainous cliffs and plunged into a raging river that rushed through the grasslands and rolled into the ocean. There was a gentle mist that rose from the ground. As it drifted toward a cypress tree forest off in the distance it captured the sunlight casting rainbows everywhere.  

"Now look at it!" Sofia insisted, motioning to the Golden key. It was pointed toward the rocky mountain to Sofia's right. There was a stone column wrapped with gold vines along side of the cliff. At the top of the column was an oyster shell. It was like the other oyster shell only much bigger. The lock was different too. It contained a collection of giant gemstones. An enormous ruby, amber, emerald, aquamarine, sapphire and amethyst were embedded in a golden lock. "Come on Lorn," Sofia insisted, flying away.  

Lorn gawked at the giant gems. Each one seemed many times larger than Lorn. They're amazing, he thought. Eye's fixed on the gemstone lock, Lorn dashed across the river toward the base of the column. He had gone only a little ways when he noticed the ruby light up, like there was a candle burning inside. He halted. Captivated, he couldn't take his eyes off the flickering flame inside the ruby. The longer he looked he found an image forming inside the gem. The image was a woman. A red-hooded cloak drooped over the woman's face shielding her identity. In a low voice, the woman said, "Come hither. Come gray. Come night. Come to stay, Sofia?"  

"Lorn," Sofia shouted from above. "Hurry up!"  

Startled, Lorn looked up. He noticed Sofia was now fluttering next to the oyster shell with the Golden key stuck inside the gemstone lock. Lorn put up his hand. "No wait!" he shouted with a frightful look in his eyes. "Don't open it! It's not safe!"