The Swords of Memory: Second Chances

Chapter 29

Eli, Hayden and Daphne stepped up to the huge gate of the castle they had been heading towards. A large cloud was anchored above the castle and kept it in darkness even in the middle of the day. They had crossed the bridges on the edge of the lava pit and under the giant blue ring. They had then followed a thin and winding path with a seemingly endless abys on either side down to the land below. Hayden said that it was what used to be known as the dark realm before the realms more or less united. They had planned to bypass the abandoned castle and go right to the giant village but once they saw the cloud, which was the mobile home of the cloud people, they had no choice but to go to the castle below it in hopes of finding the other sword of despair.

"Are you sure it's safe to go in there?" Daphne asked. The castle was solid on some parts but it was largely in ruins. There was no telling who or what would be inside.

"I would say you could wait outside but I'm not going to leave you alone out here." Hayden responded. "I never heard anything about a species living here but if this is where the cloud kingdom decided to stop there must be a reason. We should be careful, but we have to keep going." They went into the castle through a hole in the gate and started to wander the halls. The castle hadn't looked that big from the outside but the halls seemed endless. It was dark inside and it wasn't long before they were lost.

"Where's Grant when you need him." Eli said in reference to the lack of light.

"Give me a second." Daphne said, digging through her bag of seeds. A few seconds later she had a small amber seed in her hand. "This might help." She put the seed in between a crack in the hard stone floor and closed her eyes. The seed started to grow and within seconds it had grown into a full grown plant with three amber flowers that let out a surprisingly bright orange light. Hayden recognized them as the flowers that had been around Daphne's swing in the garden. Daphne opened her eyes and smiled. She smelled the flowers and then plucked them from the plant putting one in her hair and doing the same for Eli and Hayden. She took a seed from the new plant and put it into her bag as the plant began to grow new flowers to replace the ones she had taken. "Thank you flower." She said and the light from the newly growing flowers intensified for a moment.

Eli looked over at Hayden and laughed. Both of them had put on the attendant cloaks while they had traveled and the addition of the flower in their hair took a lot away from the elegant and powerful affect the cloaks gave. The capes had turned back to black once they entered the castle and had made them look mysterious but the flower made them look like kids playing dress up. "You look ridiculous." Eli said to Hayden.

"You're one to talk. You look like a little girl."

"And what's wrong with being a little girl?" Daphne demanded. She clearly saw the flowers only for their practical purpose and beauty, which made them very valuable in the dark hallways.

"Nothing. It's just that..." Hayden started and then trailed off. He didn't have the heart to tell Daphne he was embarrassed to where the flower. She had grown up away from usual human customs. She didn't know that flowers were usually seen as girly.

"What Hayden is trying to say is that we are trying to look tough and intimidating in case we run into another race. Having flowers in our hair kind of takes away from that." The flowers in their hair abruptly dimmed and went out, plunging Eli and Hayden into darkness.

"Fine. Good luck not tripping and breaking your neck." Daphne said, taking the lead and leaving them to struggle over the rubble after her. They quickly realized they would never catch up without some light and Hayden called after Daphne. After apologizing profusely, the flowers started to emit light again. Finally, able to see, they made much more progress through the halls. There were many rooms that came off the halls but most of them were either empty or completely blocked off by rubble.