Scattered Happenings

Chapter Eight

I sat the torch on a holder that was already there.
The wind hollowed loudly and everything looked so dreary. I am still in the Hawthorne kingdom right? I took a look behind me. It was still very sunny and all seemed calm. "Yup, still here." After a quick sigh my head turned back around and I noticed something glowing right over some thorn bushes.
"Oh great." There was no way through, I looked to the sides of me.
On the left side was a tree that I could easily climb. To the right, was big patch of poison ivy.
I Nervously let out a laugh, turned to the tree and nodded kneeing what I had to do.
I began to climb the tree. With just one foot resting on a thick branch I slipped.
"Ah!" Quickly I held onto the tree for dear life. "Why is this so slippery! It's like covered in oil!"
It took about 10 minutes just to get across those bushes. Finally I was able to hop off and tried to get most of whatever this was off of me.
"Who puts oil on a bunch of trees..."
A flower? That's what was glowing? I could've gone to that field to just pick a flower.
Well, I'm already here. Might as well.
With the shovel I ripped out the flower. It was weird, it wouldn't let me get the flower by hand.
"Tough roots?"
Standing up and preparing myself to climb back onto that tree, the thorn bushes were gone.
"You have got to be kidding me...how? What?"
At least I didn't have to climb that yucky tree again.
I remember there being some kind of mine before I walked over the bridge. Can't hurt to take a look. With the torch in my hands I crossed over the bridge.

There was another torch holder by the mine so naturally I set the torch inside of it.
It lit up the whole mine. Well, most of it was covered by big rocks and stones so there was only the entry of the mine and it ran just about 8 steps deeper.
Something devastating must have happened here. I explored carefully, I didn't want to chance of rocks falling down on top of me.
An abandoned mine cart rested on it's side on the wall of the mine. I looked inside and something glowed.
"A grappling hook! This could defiantly be useful."
I began to pick it up, then I remembered something.
While searching the castle I found another one of those pillars, but it was blue instead of red. I didn't bother to try to check it, the window was too high to reach. Not anymore! I grinned big
as I went back to the castle and went into deep thought.
These different colored pillars that hold different colored glass balls, even for this day in age that's not normal. I wonder if this is the wizard's secret. Maybe it's not actually in the castle, but all of the pillars might be, assuming there's more than two. And those pillars are connected to some kind of safe?
Before I knew I it I casted the grappling hook up to the window and climbed.
I was right, it was another pillar!
But I didn't have the blue ball to go with it. Should've tried to look for it first just in case.
With a big sigh I climbed down and looked around the castle some more. My stomach grumbled.
"Gosh, I didn't realize how hungry I was till now."
Not too long after that, I spotted a kitchen.
"Ooh! Food!" I zoomed to the kitchen just to find a pot filled with green goo. Pretty similar to the purple goo I saw on the cliff.
"Hmm." With the logs I found and placed it underneath the pot and with matches I lit up the stove.
The green goo melted away very quickly. I looked inside and I found a green glass ball!
"So there is more than two." I said as I picked up the colorful glowing ball. Before I could say anything else, it leaped into my satchel.
I chuckled as the green glass ball hopped into my bag as if it were alive. Before I left the kitchen, I noticed half of a wooden heart laying underneath the table. It glowed so of course I needed to take it.
I gasped holding the wood piece and remember what I saw in the dungeons.
In the middle of two cells was a strange door. It looked like copper. And it had half of heart missing!
"This must open up that strange door!"
With no time to waste and as fast as I could ran back down to the dungeons.
"This has to be the wizard's secret lair! The pocket watch must be right behind these doors." Trying to calm my excitement I placed the other half of the wooden heart where it belonged and right away the doors opened up wide.
"Talk about welcoming arms." I smiled and bit my lip as I walked down.