Crustel

Chapter 48

  We were quite tired as we walked so far. Unusually, my amulet didn't glow after I agreed to go to the Dark World. I tried to communicate with the sorcerer. To my dismay, he didn't answer me. Ethan noticed these. Then, we stopped by a huge pitch dark cave. "We can sit for a while here. I can get some food for us," Ethan said. We blinked hardly, "Wait, how will you get food in this cave?" I asked him. Kanyal was too tired. So, he stayed silent. He didn't talk much but Erica agreed with me. "Yeah, it's dark here," she said worriedly. Ethan ignored us and when inside the cave. After a few moments, we weren't able to see Ethan as he faded into the darkness.  We waited at the entrance of the cave. All of sudden, we heard footsteps. Kanyal, Erica and I hid behind a huge rock. We peeked a bit to know what was going on. To my horror, lots of tall and humungous men arrived with torches and sticks. They were almost as huge as the cave's entrance. 

  I was able to feel Kanyal gasping and Erica opening her jaw as wide as the cave entrance. I shooed them. "Hey, you hear anything?" A tall guy with a bird-shaped tattoo on his wrist asked the others. They denied. They continued walking into the cave. "Ethan's inside!!!" Erica reminded me as she said slower than a whisper. I knew her urge but I reminded her that we are on the way to the Dark World where the king wouldn't be harmed. Much to our surprise, we heard children giggling. They were running outside. I cast an invisibility spell just for our safety. We remained silent. Suddenly, the kids decided to play hide and seek. "In the count of ten, the game starts. 10, 9, 8, 7," a kid started counting. Others ran towards the trees but one ran towards us. We tried our best to stay silent but the kid suspected something. 

"It smells sweet... Sweet as the Light World!" He didn't hide. He was standing in front of the rock and thinking. Much to my dismay, my amulet started glowing in purple. "Not again! I thought I found out the purple's purpose!!!" I groaned to myself. The brighter my amulet glowed, the more my invisibility spell started fading. We were in a panic. "No way!" Kanyal groaned. "Guys, come here! We will start again the game in a while!" The kid called his friends the moment he saw my wrist. So, I wasn't able to hide. I got up. Kanyal and Erica got up as well. The kids were not shocked. They were suspicious and reactionless. We couldn't understand them. The kid started the conversation, "Who are you? I know you're from the Light World but what is the purpose to enter Dark World?" He asked as we were criminals trespassing. "Hey kid, I didn't mean to enter the Dark World. We just sat here to take rest," I said calmly. 

  Erica and Kanyal nodded. The kid didn't smile. His friends were still reactionless. "You're lying. You're trying to enter the Dark World!" he said firmly. "We are the royal guest!" Kanyal said excitedly. "What do you mean as Royal Guest? You're the Prince of Aquanya, and you the Princess of Taleas. Why would you guys be the Dark World's Royal Guest?" The kid sounded more like an adult or teenager. We heard the footsteps. It was the men who went into the cave. They were coming towards us. "Should we run for our lives?" Kanyal whispered to us. "You just got us into trouble. Just wait and see! I don't think they might harm us," Erica whispered back. "Young women and man, what brought you here?" A tall guy who I mentioned earlier (tattoo guy) asked us. Before I tried to explain to him, Kanyal interrupted and said we were the Royal Guests. 

Erica groaned. "The Prince of Aquanya and The Princess of Taleas coming as the royal guest is not acceptable," He didn't continue. He saw me the way the kids saw me. REACTIONLESS. "Excuse me, what do you mean?" I asked. None answered me. Then, Kanyal asked, "What about The Princess of Crustel?" Still, none answered. We didn't understand what was going on. I felt the fear in me. All of sudden, I noticed his tattoo glowing in purple. My amulet glowed in purple too. I tried to stop my amulet from glowing. I covered it with my hands but the light became brighter till I noticed the engraving on the cave wall. It was almost the same as Lama's cave. I noticed the floor. It had the same coloured stones. I was stunned for a moment. "This couldn't be happening," I said to myself. Just to prove myself a fake hope. Kanyal and Erica were clueless. I witnessed Kanyal standing on the bluestone. I pulled him to my side. He was thrilled to see a giant axe that just passed him a few millimetres away.

The men observed me. "So, you know about it. Fascinating!" The tattoo guy said. It was dark again. The light dimmed till it was pitch dark again. Abruptly, the men bowed. The moment they bow, one by one turned into rock and rolled as they formed path. I overlooked a fact that every man had a bird-shaped tattoo and they started glowing again. It was like a pathway. The kids were still in their human form. "Follow the path. Only you!" He said to me. I was too startled but didn't portray it. I turned one last time before I followed the pathway to look at Erica and Kanyal. They were equally startled and stunned as the cave was glowing in purple. It was mystical. My amulet glowed in purple and levitated. An arrow popped over my amulet pointed me the way I should follow. 

I left everyone behind and followed it. To my surprise, Ethan was noticeable from far. He was under an enormous fruit tree. The fruit glowed in purple. The arrow denoted the tree then faded languidly. I pulled myself together and went towards Ethan, The King of Dark World.