Chapter ten- The Haunted Cave
The walk home was short, and we didn’t talk much on the way, we were too excited to. When we reached my house, I told Richard to stay outside while I hurried inside.
I put my bag on the couch, and hurried upstairs to my mother’s room. I noticed the door was open when I reached it, although nobody was in the room. The bed was made, curtains drawn, although the desk was covered with crumpled paper, as well as the garbage can. I looked up and down the hall, and nobody was in sight. Perhaps I could see what my mother had been doing…
I walked over to the desk, and touched a few of the papers. Which one should I look at? I picked up one from the garbage, its paper crumpled tightly into a ball. I opened it up quietly, and I realized there were words upon it. I looked back at the door again and back at the piece of parchment. Perhaps I could just read a little… Even though most of it was crossed out with pen. I read:
It certainly was my mother’s writing, and it sounded as though she was trying to tell whoever she was writing to something, but couldn’t find the right words. I opened some other letters, and it said quiet the same things. I wondered what she was talking about …
I heard creaking up the stairs, and I shot away from the desk. I walked into the hall, and saw a shadow coming up towards me from the stairwell. I slouched on the wall, as though I was just hanging out. My mother walked up the stairs, and saw me.
“Hi mom.” I said casually. There was something strange in her eyes, but she didn’t seem suspicious of me.
“Hey, Mary. When did you get home, sweetie?”
“Just now. Hey, mom, can I go do my homework with Richard?” I asked hopefully. I was worried; she knew he was fire…
Her answer surprised me, and the way she said it surprised me even more. Her voice was not… Cautious. “Sure, honey. Go ahead.”
“Really?”
“Yes, just stay out of trouble.” She replied. Like I could follow that rule.
“Thanks, mom.” I rushed downstairs, and out the door. Richard was still standing there, with an annoyed look on his face.
“Geez, it took you about time. What took so long?”
“Sorry, I got sidetracked. I can go, so let’s start walking.” I answered. I wasn’t going to tell him about the letters my mother was making- it could be nothing.
We walked through Unicorn Way , past the shimmering stream that runs around in a circle around the Park. I remember playing here with my mother, and when Sabrina was born we didn’t do it anymore. Maybe we could have a picnic in a couple of days when it is Saturday, its not a long time since it was only Wednesday.
We walked through the Commons, and turned left into the Shopping District. The Shopping District was crowded as usual, beautiful tiles scattered the decorated stone on the ground being stepped on by many people, unnoticing the architecture. Houses and shops were on both sides of the streets, stone fences blocking off the trees and bushes. We turned right on a forked road, and walked forward through the bustles of people. Eventually, in front of us was a large tunnel with a wooden sign hanging over it. The sign read: Olde Town
It looked similar to the Ravenwood tunnel, although the inside wasn’t at all. Olde town was a wide, open space with few trees. Lots of tiled stone were placed on the ground, with three small hills going downward to three tunnels. We walked down and looked at one tunnel, Cyclops Lane .
“What is Cyclops Lane ?” I asked Richard.
“Well, these places are based on schools. As you can see in the title of Cyclops Lane , a Cyclops is a creature made by a legend. The source of magic that uses legends are Myth- so Cyclops Lane is dedicated to the myth school. I’ve never been in there, but I’ve heard a lot of stories about the creatures in there. Do you know there are Minotaur’s are in there?”
I looked at him. “What is a Minotaur?”
He chuckled. “Well, I think a Minotaur is something like a breed from a bull and a human.”
“Sounds handsome.” I laughed. We walked down a bit, and stumbled upon the tunnel to Triton Avenue . I looked down at the other hills, and I remembered Richard saying there were three tunnels.
“Richard, if Triton Avenue is the second tunnel, what is the third?”
Richard looked at the hills in remembrance. “I believe its Firecat Alley, Mary. It’s the town dedicated to fire- I’ve heard there were men made out of lava there.”
I laughed. “Yeah, right. Is there a land dedicated to Balance?”
“Nah.” Richard and I walked closer to the Triton Avenue tunnel. “Not that people have seen of, but I heard there was a place like it. It’s probably more than a town, though, if you know what I mean.”
“No, I don’t know what you mean. More than a town?”
“Yeah, I don’t know what I’m blabbering about either.” Richard chuckled. “Let’s just go into Triton Avenue to get to the Haunted Cave
“Okay.” I said as we reached the tunnel. We rushed through it, and what we saw when we entered blew me away.
“Richard-“I gasped. Instead of the sky that we have been encountering before we went through the tunnel, it was a different sky. Dark blue clouds covered the sky, with no sign of the sun. “Richard, the sky is different!”
Richard chuckled. “It’s dedicated to a school, Mary. If you can guess, this town is dedicated to the Storm school. Storm as in, raining, lighting, thunder and absolutely no sun. If you’re looking for nice, sunny rays of sunshine, here isn’t your spot.”
I looked at the sky in amazement. “So the sun never, ever shines here?”
“Not that I’ve heard of.”
“Weird.” I muttered. I glanced around the entrance to Triton Avenue , and everything was very watery and gloomy. Houses had dark blue stone, water streaming down the roofs and into the gutters in all directions. The sidewalks were grey, the streets were grey, and the cottages had no flowers.
“What a gloomy place.” I exclaimed.
“Eh, you get used to it.” Richard replied. I followed him as he walked forward, and every street we turned had the same gloominess. Further down the road of the town, we took a right and walked down a stone hill. Wet willow trees were on patches of grass, but that seemed to be the only place with any source of plant. People in purple and yellow were running around, desperate looks on their faces. I wonder why they were so serious looking?
“Why are those people running around look so… Determined?” I asked.
“Those people.” Richard pointed out. “Are some Questures. They happen to be on a serious mission right now, I guess.”
“Hmm.” I watched one scurry past us. “I wonder what it is… Should we ask?”
“You could.” Richard replied. “Although they look like they have no time for it.”
“I’ll ask anyway.” I answered stubbornly. I saw a girl with black hair and blue eyes, and I stopped her in her tracks. She looked irritated.
“What do you want?” Her voice was urgent.
“Why are you guys in such a rush? Is Malistaire here or something?” I asked.
She twitched at Malistaire’s name. “How dare you speak of such a name? You are foolish as you are curious… Ask yourself what is happening in Unicorn Way , and if you don’t know, ask somebody who does.”
I was shocked by her answer. “Nothing is happening in Unicorn Way- or Triton Avenue .”
She just stared at me. “You’re a Novice at magic, what would you know? The undead is swarming, and you are too young to figure it out. Malistaire is a dangerous man, little girl.”
“I’m not little.” I growled. “If you may know, the girl in the newspaper is me, and I also happen to live on Unicorn Way !” I realized this was the first time boasting about being in the newspaper.
She looked at me strangely. “Then you are a strange child, Mary Ravengem.” She walked away. It surprised me that she remembered my name… Does everybody remember?
“Am I strange?” I asked Richard as we continued on.
“Nah, just powerful.” He replied.
“You think I’m powerful?” I blurted out.
“Well, Malistaire left you in one piece for a reason.”
“I suppose…”
We turned to the right, and ahead was a dead end- besides a strange thing on the ground. It kind of looked like a button of some sort, stuck to the ground.
“What is that?” I pointed to it.
“They are called pinicles, some type of Teleporter.” He answered.
“Teleporter? Do you mean we will have to use it?”
“Well, how do you think we are going to get up there?” Richard pointed up, and I looked up to see a large cliff, unable to be built with stairs.
“Is it dangerous?” I asked with worry.
“No, people use it all the time.” Richard assured. He took my hand and led me toward the pinicle.
“You sure?”
“You bet ya.”
We walked onto the platform, and it was smooth against my feet. I closed my eyes expecting something to feel, but I felt nothing. In a second, Richard and I stepped off the platform. When I opened my eyes, the scene was different.
We were still on the same platform, although the scenery was completely different. Instead of the place we were standing a second ago, we were standing on the cliff we were looking up at. The idea of teleporting took my breath away- science and magic mixed together! Extraordinary!
In front of us were three, narrow streams under three stone bridges. The view suddenly reminded me of the trolls under the bridges in the stories my mother told me every night as a bedtime story. She stopped when I turned eight. I would listen to her soothing voice, eventually falling asleep as though the books she read were lullabies. With her voice, they probably were. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was a good singer.
A house as big as a tiny shack sat on the right side of the Pinicle, a fat man with and apron sat in front of it, working on something. Maybe he was a sword maker or something.
“Follow me, Mary.” Richard grasped my arm and led me over the bridges. I almost expected trolls to jump out and yell: You may not pass!
“You must remember the path to this cave pretty well.” I told him. He seemed to know exactly where to go.
“I’m good at remembering things.” Richard replied, tapping his temple. “All fire students have the gift of good memory.”
I wonder if my dad remembers my mom and sister. Or me. “Why is that?”
“Every school has a personality trait. Fire had good memory, Ice is all honest and that crap. Storm students are the super brains; Myth students are awesome at art, such as writing and painting. Death are the charmers, manipulators you can call them. And finally, there’s your school; Balance. They’re professionals at battle strategy, and supposedly hold strong wisdom. Heard that Death students can’t even fool them.”
“What about the life school?” I asked. I had a precious proud spot for Balance now, since I supposedly hold strong wisdom. I wonder what my mother’s school would be.
“Heh, the Life students are the social butterflies. Good with singing, they are.” Richard chuckled.
Go figure. “Well, that’s no surprise.”
“What, your mom can sing?”
“How do you know my mother is Life?” I asked, surprised.
“Lucky guess.” Richard replied.
“Well, you’re right. I never heard my mom sing, but her voice is different. Maybe it’s just me, but the stories she told me when I was little, with her smooth voice and all that, it doesn’t surprise me that she can sing.”I explained.
“Wish my parents read me stories when I was little.” Richard put his hands in his pockets, and looked down. We walked. “Just a little further.”
“What about your family?” I asked. “I tell you everything about mine, and yet, I know nothing about yours.”
Richard thought for a minute. “Well, my mom died when I was four. Got a bad sickness, she did. My dad loves me and all, works his hardest. He’s a shop merchant, earns little gold an hour. At least I’m an only child, you know. It’s hard enough for him to supply both of us.”
I was shocked. The hot, cheerful, kind guy of Richard GreenBlade didn’t have a mother, and was poor. Well being poor is what we had in common, I suppose. “Richard I- I’m so sorry!”
“Yeah, its fine. I’m fine, I mean.”
Same thing I said when he figured out my father had left my family. And that was a lie.
I was just about to comfort him some more, but he stopped in his tracks. I looked at what he was looking at, and realized we may be at the cave. In front of us was a huge, enormous piece of rock. The door memorized me the most, with an arched doorway. It looked as though the door had been barred up, and then smashed down.
“What happened to the door?” I asked.
“Looks like the work of either monsters, or Questures.” Richard replied.
I studied the melted metal and iron dust from some kind of explosion. “I don’t think Questures could melt metal or make iron explode.”
Richard laughed.”You seriously underestimate Questures.”
“I will estimate right when I see it.” I replied haughtily.
“Whatever you say, princess.”
I rolled my eyes. Never been called that before. “Whatever Mr. Smart-allic.”
Richard laughed, and I laughed with him. “So, Mary. Are you ready to enter the cave inside this amazingly large boulder?”
I looked up at the large boulder. “Richard, I don’t even think it’s a boulder. It might just be a big wall of rock.”
Richard scanned the boulder. “I agree. Now let’s go in before I get bored.”
I faked a gasp. “How is it possible to be bored with me here?”
I heard Richard chuckle. He took my hand and I followed him. I could still feel heat radiating from the melted bars of the entrance. “Careful not to interact with the bars, they’re still hot.”
Richard nodded, and he stepped over the bars first. Ahead of us was complete darkness, but if Questures were in here, there must be some source of light. We were just going to have to keep walking.
“Are you sure this is safe?” I asked.
“Yeah, trust me. I’m more educated in the magic of Fire, I will protect you.” Richard replied proudly. I glowed in happiness, knowing the guy I liked was going to be with me the whole time. I stepped over the bars, and entered a world of darkness.
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