The Hunt for the Power Stones

Chapter 73 - The Box of Stones Mystery

"Gabriel tied up the horses and they all got on the Icy path carefully, James was the first to begin walking across, it seemed stable enough so the others followed closely behind, The 4 heroes ran across except for Jeffrey he really didn't like the Ice so he stayed behind with the horses. Our heroes ran as fast as they could, they did not want to stick around for very long. They all reached the entrance of the castle and saw the giant pillars Adeline had placed. "What now," said Nathaniel holding his burnt skin, "should we knock?" "No, you idiot, who else do you think will open," said Nathaniel. "Fuck it, we can handle her," said Malik, "Knock, Knock" The door slowly unlocks, "MALIK" yelled Queen Athina before giving him a massive hug, Nathaniel and James both bowed down as Gabriel sees the 2 knights and does the same, "Oh boys, get up, Thank you so much for coming for me, Your king and I had almost lost all hope, I don't know where he is, your brother has him in some Den the last time I saw him," said the Queen, "We don't know either, Once we stop Servic, I'll make him tell me, But first there is one last thing we need," said Malik, "I saw Adeline fall into the castle, where is she your highness," said James. She stepped back to allow our heroes to see the Madness, Adeline was on the ground with blood all around her and 2 arrows in her chest, "But how? I shot her hand and missed the second arrow" said James. Queen Athina lifted her hands, they were red and bloody. "Mother? you killed her?" said Malik, "Don't sound so surprised, not my first time taking a life," she said. Our heroes stopped to look at each other in surprise, "Oh, I almost forgot, this is what you are looking for right?" Queen Athina walks over to a bowl on a table and our heroes look down to see the beautiful glowing Amethyst stone. "You didn't touch it right?" said Malik, "Of Course not Honey, I know what those things do" Nathaniel was still in pain and Queen Athina had just noticed his burns " Oh are you alright", "I'll be fine your highness" he replied "Oh nonsense, come here" Nathaniel followed the Queen to the same place she helped Servic with his acid burns. The Queen put some Aloe vera onto his burn wounds and he instantly felt better. "Thank you, your highness," Nathaniel went back to his friends and opened the box of stones. "How are we supposed to take down Servic and Morpheus with the stones, we can only use 1 at a time," said James. "I'm Hoping Amelia has an idea" said Malik, Nathaniel carefully grabbed the Amethyst stone and slowly inserted it into its designated slot.

The group looked down to see all the 10 gem power stones in the box, What happened next was not expected, the box quickly shut its self and made a "click" sound, "What just happened" said James, "I, Don't know?" said Nathaniel, he went and picked up the box but the bottom half came off, "What the hell" said Nathaniel, They all looked down to see a long Golden dagger, "I didn't know that was there" said Nathaniel, "OH MY GOD, that's my family crest, It must be my Grandfathers" said Gabriel as he picked it up. The Dagger had a shiny Golden coat but it had strange imprints, 10 of them to be exact and they all looked different shaped. The Imprints went all along the side of the Blade, "this blade got released when all 10 stones were in the box " said Malik " These Imprints look like the perfect spot for the stones" said Nathaniel, "Let's put them in then", Nathaniel tried opening the box but it would not budge, they all tried but it would not open. They tried connecting the 2 halves of the bottom, but it still would not open. "it must be a special box, Only Amelia or your Grandfather would know how to open it" said Malik, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, Massive lightning bolts during the day appeared close to the whispering woods, "That's gotta be Servic" said Nathaniel, "I know but how are we going to fight him, we don't have the right tools and Gabriel is still recovering" said Malik still in pain and holding his chest. "SWOOSH" A massive Dragon flies over our heroes, it was Prometheus, Amelia jumps off when she sees them under her. Prometheus continues flying towards the lighting, Amelia lands with grace after shooting air under her to soften her landing, "What are you guys doing here" says Amelia. When she notices Queen Athina she bows down in respect. "NICE BLADE, that belonged to my father," says Amelia to Malik, "Yes, but we cannot open the box of stones to fit them into the blade. "My Father was a crafty man, the reason why is, to prevent the wrong person from using this power, I designed the box with my father, only 2 members of my family can open it, Gabriel give me your hand!." Gabriel hesitantly raises his hand towards his mother, Amelia slowly asked for the Golden blade, Malik hand's it over and was surprised with what she did next.