The Dreamer

Chapter 21

We descended down the staircase and I don't know what to expect anymore. It's dark. There aren't even any torches down here. I mentally sigh, realizing that I have to use my bow. I easily coax the light out and we can immediately see our surroundings better. Mia squeaks when she sees the light illuminating from me. "How are you doing that?"

"My bow, or gun now, has powers," I sum up for her. "I was pretty shocked too." To pass the time I told her about the curse that's on Zeke (with his permission of course) and my own powers and we soon find ourselves in another temple. It's still dark but the light illuminates the whole area. The path splits up into three different sections with room for only one person on each. "I guess we split up now."

"Do we have a choice?" Mia asks still very clearly afraid of what's happening. "Nope." So we all go forward. I take the path that's farthest to the right while Zeke takes the middle and Mia takes the far left. We can all still see each other and the paths look like catwalks, only there's no railing, the walls and floor are made of rock, and looking down you can't see the bottom. There are vines that cover some of the rocky walls too. There's not a breath of air that blows past us, yet it's cold.

"I wish we had a jacket," Mia says. Her voice travels throughout the place and not a single thing moves. I can't argue with her. I can feel myself shivering in the dress I'm still wearing. Then suddenly, I get to a dead end. There's a large gap between me and the next platform. Oh no. "What's this?" I look and see Mia looking at a lever that stands in the middle of her path. I see her reach forward and my heart stops. "Wait!" But it was too late. She pulls it and we hear another loud rumbling noise. Mia panics as I press my back up against the rock wall. Tiny rock pebbles fall down and when they hit each other or the wall, it echoes throughout the cavernous area. It almost feels like an avalanche of rocks are about to comes tumbling down on us.

We all relax when nothing happens, that is until something suddenly drops right next to me. I scream, slightly jumping back almost losing my balance. I quickly regain it and I see that the gap is now gone and replaced by a new platform. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine! Let's just hurry." I take a careful step onto the platform and make sure that it's steady before I walk across. We try to keep up with each other, matching our paces. As I'm walking, however, the ground under me suddenly cracks. I can hear the same sound farther from me where Mia is. "Eira," I hear Mia's fearful voice cry out. I look to see the groundbreaking under her feet too. "Don't move!"

"It's still cracking!" I look at my feet to see the same thing for me. "Jump ahead!" I shout to her. She does, but the ground breaks under her pressure and she's able to grab the edge. "Mia!" Then the ground under me broke. I dig my fingers into the ground, trying everything I can to stop myself from falling or slipping anymore than I have. I knew I wouldn't last long hanging here. "Eira!"

I turn and see Zeke trying to figure out how to save us, but a voice rang out. "You must choose who to save." It's a female voice this time. It rang out like the first temple we went to. "Choose?"

"Yes. Choose who you shall save." My heart drops and I struggle to try and climb back up, but the rock is too slippery under my feet and I don't have enough arm strength to pull myself up. I hate P. E. I shout in my mind. I look helplessly at Zeke and he's already looking at me. I knew he would save me, but I look at Mia.

I can see the fear in her eyes. She still has so much to live for. I can't let him do that to her. "Zeke! Choose Mia!" I shout to him. I can see his panic setting in when I told him what to do. "But you'll die!"

"I don't care! I'm her older sister. It's my job to annoy her, try to not murder her, and keep her alive!" Zeke shakes his head. "I already told you Eira! I won't be able to live without you!"

"And I won't be able to live with the guilt that my sister died on my watch! Do it or I'll let go!" His face fell and my heart drops further into my gut. I didn't want it to end like this. I thought I'd be able to be happy, maybe have a family later. He shakes his head at me, telling me he won't and I smile, figuring he wouldn't. "Be happy, will you?" I look at Mia who stopped struggling to look at me. I bid the same quickly goodbye, wishing her happiness. She doesn't say anything, just stares.

I don't want to die, but I want them to live more. I let go. I close my eyes and wondered what's at the bottom. Is it empty? Is there a rushing river? Are there spikes? I can hear Zeke call out to me with a voice full of heartbreak. My heart pierces and cracks, but I hoped for him to live happily.

As I fell, I came to peace with it. Might as well come to terms with the inevitable. I take a deep breath and I feel like time slowed down. I remember everything in my life, the happiest ones starting from the day I met Zeke. When I exhale my breath, I suddenly feel something hit my back. I gasp, feeling myself suddenly stop falling. What's going on? Am I dead?

I blankly stare up, blinking a few times. I feel around with my hands to feel something smooth and soft against my skin I sit up and I see a giant green leaf holding me. What the...

Then I feel something wrap around my waist and start pulling on me. "Hey!" I look down to see vines tugging at me. I fought them, but they lift me up from the leaf and start to carry me up. Wait, so I'm not dying? I got higher and higher and I see where I fell. The vines keep carrying me and instead of setting me down where I was, they set me down at the end of the three paths where they come back together again in front of a large wooden door.

I see Mia and Zeke already there, but they look distraught. Zeke is on his knees, looking down while slumping. I can hear Mia as she wept. I smile seeing how much that they actually care for me. The vines gently set me down behind them. It was so gentle that I couldn't even hear when my feet touched the ground. Mia sniffles while Zeke just stays silent. But I see drops of water hit the floor in front of him.

"So, when's my funeral?" I joked to try and lighten the mood. They both froze and quickly turn around. I smile seeing their shocked faces. Zeke was the first to stand. He immediately ran to me pulling me into his embrace. I can feel him shaking and he drops to his knees, still hugging me. He presses his head into my stomach and I can feel his tears soaking into my shirt. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. Honestly, I'm still confused about the whole thing."

He whispers something, but I couldn't hear him. "What?" He quickly stands up and takes me by the shoulders. "Don't do that again! I could've lost you!" I look into his eyes and see that he really thought I died. I can see how panicked and torn up he was. "Please, promise me you won't do that again."

"Zeke, I can't do that." He shakes his head but didn't say anything more. "You're alive!" I hear Mia shout. Then she hugs me, but it was brief. "Well, who else is going to annoy mom and dad?" She smiles at me with relief and we hear the voice call out to us again. "You have passed the test."

"Test?" Zeke shouts, "It was a test?! She could've died."

"Indeed. Therefore you have passed. She has sacrificed herself so you two could live. Her love for both of you is strong. For the younger girl, it's protective." A sudden light, similar to a spotlight, hits Mia and she squints her eyes in the powerfulness of it. Then it moves to Zeke. He stood there with a stance of pride and bravery and sense of self. "And for the boy, romantic. The same goes for both of you to her." The light moves and stops next to me.

I watch as a woman forms from the light. She slowly fades into reality with a smile. She's beautiful. Her long bouncy blond hair fits perfectly with her thin tall frame. Her pure white dress makes her look like a goddess. I sneak a peek at Zeke to see his reaction. I elbowed him in the side when his jaw dropped. He turns to me as I raise a brow at him and he laughs at me.

"It's clear that you all are worthy to pass. If you don't mind, I think I'll stay with you three for the rest of the trip here."