Crustel

Chapter 6

 I lend my hand to Ethan so that he could get down from the boat. He accepted my help and looked around. He walked forward and yelled, "We are at the peak of the mountain! How did you know about Aura River?" now he was asking questions. I giggled and snapped, "Royals know everything, Ethan." We laughed. Then we saw an eagle flying so high over us. I love eagles. So, I was gazing at its wide wings. Ethan stared at me. He coughed. 

 He pointed his wand to the forest. The light was produced from the wand. His blue eyes turned as black as charcoal. I stopped gazing at the eagle. We continued walking towards the forest. The trees were so huge and those were mesmerizing. It was full of distractions but I didn't stop. Bargan's reminder was a hard knock on my head where I can't forget it. I couldn't believe everyone and even this boy, Ethan. I followed him and walked till my feet felt tired but we didn't stop. He said meeting Lama is the only choice.

 All of sudden, I heard the sound of waterfalls. "Ethan, how long do we have to walk?" I asked curiously. He pointed me to a huge eye-catching serene waterfall. "Behind the waterfall, there is a small cave. Lama lives in the cave." I was excited and at the same time terrified. How could a person pass through such a big waterfall? Ethan read my mind. "Don't be afraid. This waterfall is just an illusion. Lama doesn't like visitors but he will definitely help the future queen to save her kingdom; our kingdom." So, I somehow pull myself together. I saw a path through the waterfall. I ran towards the waterfall and suddenly I tripped by a small stone and fell on the cave's ground meanwhile Ethan walked calmly and lend me his hand. I accepted his help and got up. I looked around. The cave was splendid. The walls were like the ancient Pyramid in Egypt. Full of information and pictures. The language was different and I was not able to read it.

 "Are you done gazing? We came so far to meet Lama. Not his cave's wall!" Ethan growled. I ignored him and looked down. The floor had a strange pattern. "Hey, the floor has a strange pattern? You said Lama doesn't like visitors. So, would these be traps?" I saw fear in his eyes. Since the moment I met him, I have never seen fear in his eyes. "Maybe..." he sighed. He stepped on a bluestone. To his horror, a sharp axe almost cut his throat. "Blue is dangerous!" he gulped. I studied the wall. I expected some safety details from the pictures.  Then my eyes met a picture of an axe on a boy who was standing on a bluestone. I saw it carefully. There were four different colours of stones; blue, red, green and yellow. I was standing on a green stone. No harm for me. So I overlooked the information about the green stone. Lady Luck was definitely not at my side. An enormous black and gold striped serpent was in front of me. I thought it was the end of my life. For a moment, everything was black and dark. Actually, I was about to be the serpent's lunch but thanks to Ethan, he pulled me and we were standing on a yellow stone. 

 We were relieved to see the axe and that huge serpent disappearing. I looked back at that wall for yellow stone's information. I really hoped that the information will become a great relief but as I said so, that Lady Luck is not by our side, a thunderous sound was able to be heard. I knew that was a bad sign. The cave was shaking like it was an earthquake. I ducked as well as Ethan too. The path we came was closed by huge rocks rolling for every corner. I quickly saw the wall. It said, "Yellow Stones are the hope of Lama. If you survive the yellow stones attack Congratulations. You will be able to meet Lama at a special place." I showed it to Ethan. Before Ethan read it fully, I saw a giant rock falling towards us from the upside. I pushed Ethan away. The distance between the rock and me was just a few millimetres. Ethan felt relieved but I wasn't. This was something weird. The cave was silent. We stood still. Expecting for the worse. 

 A pair of sparkling gems were on a statue of a panther. It was hypnotizing. Without my knowledge, I was walking towards the statue. Ethan was following me. The sparkling red gems were ruby. I have never seen ruby in person. I wanted to touch it. My hands and my brain lost coordination. My brain gave me an alert not to touch gems but my hands were fast. I felt the gem. Slippery, shining, splendid, shimmering red ruby. To my dismay, I felt someone pulling my arms away. I thought it was Ethan but it was not a hand. It was a paw. That statue came alive. Oh no! That's the end of a precious eighteen-year-old girl's life. The panther opened its mouth to have a bite of my flesh. I was lucky enough to escape. I felt that I was seeing my death near me. The panther searched for me. It was strong. I looked around. I saw Ethan was still there. The panther stopped searching for me as it got a better meal. I had to save him. I used my stick, I mean the wand but something weird was happening. The panther didn't eat him. It was singing. A singing panther? Well, my fear flew away. I went near Ethan. Ethan was smiling and dancing as the singing panther sang an awesome song. I love that song. 

 I saw Ethan's bag. The sphere ball was glowing yellow. I sneaked and took his sphere thing as dancing with the rhythm. The sphere spins as fast as a cheetah. It went upwards and made a  shield. A hemisphere shield in yellow was protecting us from the panther. Ethan came to reality. "What's going on? How did this shield appear and why is that panther singing?" Ethan added his questions. I told him about the hypnotizing moment and my sneaky job but we still had no idea about the singing panther.