The Golden Rider Book 1: The Golden Traitor

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

I was in a daze for the entire time Adonis flew us to the mountain.  What should have taken only a short amount of time seemed like hours as we flew in silence.  I still clutched on tightly to the edge of the saddle, and we landed at the base of the mountains.  I continued to sit on Adonis’ back as he lay down.

Val?  He asked breaking the silence.  We need to find the black rock and the paper Corbett talked about.  I nodded slightly before finally dismounting off of Adonis’ back.  I unhooked my bag and flipped through it finding the paper in the back and ignoring all of the other things Corbett had put inside it.

“It’s just a bunch of letters,” I muttered as I looked at it.

Is it a code?

“I’m not sure.  It just has a bunch of different R, L, and S combinations followed by one U.”  I flipped it over to make sure I wasn’t missing anything.  When it finally hit me, I slapped myself in the face at my stupidity of not realizing it sooner.  “Right, left, and straight.”

Oh, then what does U stand for?

“I don't know.  Maybe up or under.  Anyways, we better find the stupid black rock.”  I let out a small laugh.  “I’ve been muttering about stupid rocks more than anyone should have to.”

I don’t get it.

“I’ll tell you later.  For now just find the black rock.  I can barely see out here, so I’m pretty much counting on you eagle eyes.”

I’m a Dragon, not a dang eagle.  Adonis muttered, and we started walking along the base of the mountains.  What if it’s behind us?

“Then we turn around.  Do you still see smoke?” I asked.  He turned in the direction we had come in.

Yes.  It’s almost right across from us.

“Corbett said that the rock is directly across from his house, so it must be around here somewhere.  If we don’t find it soon, we can turn around and head in the other direction.”  I held the paper out so that the moon’s light rays would shine on it.  “I have to memorize these directions.  Once we get into the mountain, I don’t think you’ll even be able to see where we are going.”

It’s that dark?

“Of course.  There isn’t any light that can make its way into those mountains.”  We walked for a little while longer without any luck.  I continued to read off the letter sequences in my head to help me remember the way.  Adonis continued to look back and forth between the mountain and the direction we had come.

There it is!  He finally exclaimed and I looked up.  He waddled over to where there was a boulder just a bit taller than he was.  At first I thought he was just mistaken because of the shadow of the rocks above it, but as I got closer I could see that it was indeed a large black rock.  I followed him over and ran my free hand along the crevices.  It was an unusually smooth, but as I walked to its edge, I could see talon marks from a Dragon.

“Here, I think you have to push it to the side,” I told Adonis.

Got it.  Stand back.  I moved backwards and watched as Adonis put one claw on the side of the rock and used his shoulder for extra strength.  He grunted in effort, but the rock soon rolled away revealing a dark pathway.  I took one last look at the paper with the instructions before climbing on Adonis’ back again and strapping myself in the way Corbett had done.  You’ll have to relay the instructions to me.  Adonis said as we walked into the dark passageway.  The light from the moon only illuminated the first couple of feet inside of the tunnel, and I couldn’t see anything in the darkness.  Adonis turned around and looked at the rock that had once been hiding the tunnel.