I nodded and walked straight down the path he’d pointed to. It had a mystical ambience. The ground was foggy, but not as much as the lake in front of the dragon's lair. I had never seen anything quite like it before. Trees bearing fruit were growing everywhere. It looked so delicious, but I didn't dare to eat anything. I don't want to be stuck here just because of my grumbling belly.
I followed the drizzle of the waterfall, and when it came into view, a feeling of tranquility swept over me.
So beautiful.
I crouched down and rested up on my knees. The reflection in the pond didn't look anything like me. Her face held all the questions. Would my friends still be waiting if I got outside? I started to think about my question. I needed to make it clear. Today's date was Friday the eleventh. I would ask where the sword is tonight, Friday the eleventh of May. If it showed me nothing, I’d know it didn't exist anymore and we could go home.
I sighed. For the love of blueberries, please exist.
"Where is the King of Lion sword on Friday evening, the eleventh of May, tonight?" I said loud and clear.
At first nothing happened, but then the water rippled and turned into a movie screen. My heart leapt with joy as I saw it tied up in a cloth and bound with strings. It zoomed out after a couple of seconds, showing the inside of a jacket. Three seconds later, it showed me a man in his forties with a crooked nose, as if it had been broken way too many times. He had grey streaks mixed with his dark brown hair. The sun was starting to set. He flew on top of a dragon, a Sun-Blast. I saw the scenery from the sky above, and I knew it wasn't the way we’d come. They landed carefully on top of another mountain. When his dragon let him slide off his wing, he took a small rocky path surrounded by bushes and trees.
He carried on walking towards the volcano. Nothing made sense until I saw that he was in a trance. Cheng mentioned that Goran liked to compel his subjects, and I could easy make the connection. He entered the volcano and didn't seem to mind that his skin started to melt off his body.
My stomach turned at the sight, and I covered my mouth. I saw his hand as it pushed away his jacket and took out the parcel. He untied the strings. The flesh on his hand and face bubbled from the heat. His face held no emotion and the scene made my skin crawl. The strings and garment wrapped around the sword turned into ash before it hit the floor. The sword was next, and I watched while it disappeared into the lava. Last, it was the Dragonian, melting away into a pool of goo.
It stopped, and I had gotten what I came for. I reached the rainbow dragon that was cleaning his huge claws with his teeth.
He froze in midair, with his talon still in his mouth, and yanked them out. He tucked them back under his body. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “We need to talk, Elena.”
“Sure,” I said, trying my best not to smile at his little moment. A jolt of pain jabbed through my shoulder again.
“Are you sure I can't fix that for you,” he asked one more time.
I shook my head.
“As you wish. I will take you back to the entrance. I am sorry about my behavior earlier. It’s rare that I get a maiden that is worthy of the fourth task. I don't part easily with maidens, so you can imagine how hard it is for me to part ways with you.” He spoke to me as if I was the love of his life. Creepy.
“You will sign a book. The Keeper carries it with him. Look at it as a treaty and you must never tell anyone what you saw in here, otherwise,I will claim your first born. Your name in the book seals the deal. You may tell others what it is you have seen in the pond, if that is your wish, but nothing more. What you’ve seen in the Sacred Cavern must stay with you until the day you die.”
“I promise.” I understood now why not one of the women that made it out alive ever broke it, especially the Queen.
“You can't tell them about the treaty either. Nothing, Elena.” He made double sure that I didn't forget that. “Not even hints. I can use the pond at anytime and will know when you have broken the treaty.”
I nodded, showing my understanding.
He got up and stretched. I couldn't hold back my laughter when he arched his back like a cat. I could swear he grinned, but didn't know what a grinning dragon looked like. His wings unfolded, and he grabbed me the same way he had earlier. It was so embarrassing to be carried that way, and I was glad that I couldn't say anything about what happened here to anyone.
He took me back the same way I came. Wind blew my hair back and I struggled to breath. I waited for him to hit something, but he never did. He landed gently and put me down. “You sure you don't want me to heal that shoulder of yours.”
I shook my head, as I took huge breaths to calm my beating heart.
Lucian.
Suddenly, he turned into a man, a really beautiful man with a glint of the rainbow in his eyes and auburn hair. His body was to die for. He asked me the same question in a seductive voice, making me swallow hard as I looked down.
I shook my head one last time.
“Well then. Farewell, my fair maiden,” he said, and bowed his head. The cave rumbled again and the door opened. I just hoped everyone was still waiting for me outside.
Tears filled my eyes as I knew in just a few seconds I would see Lucian's face again. It was only a crack in width, and I huffed.
Really. He wasn't kidding with parting ways. I squeezed myself through the opening, crying out in pain as my shoulder felt worse. The first person that grabbed me was Becky.
I yelled, and she let go as if I was a hot potato.
“What happened?” She looked at me with huge brown eyes.
“My shoulder.”
“You got hurt?”
I nodded.
“And they let you out?” she yelled, surprised, and pulled me away from the doors. All of them froze and stared at me with huge eyes.
“No! I had to finish.”
What the hell is going on here?
“You finished?”
“Elena, you just went in a minute ago.” Blake found his voice next.
“What?” My voice broke. I realized that it was still night time.
Lucian got himself free from whatever held him to the ground and grabbed me just as Becky had done.
“Ouch!” I cried again.
A minute? I knew that I hadn’t been in there for a minute. I saw the freaking sun come up.
“You dislocated your shoulder, how?”
I shook my head.
He sighed and started to kiss me all over my face. “We must push yourshoulder back.”
“Wait, you said you finished?” Arianna asked in her bitchy tone.
“Yes, I know where to find the sword.”
“It still exists?” half of the crowd asked in unison.
“You really finished?” Lucian asked with a glint of a smile, and I nodded.
The wind started to blow hard and it was followed by a loud thud. The keeper came back, and we all bowed down again. He stopped me with one of his front paws. “Not you.” He bowed his head. He stayed like that for a short moment and got back up. “Well done, Elena Watkins.”
A book appeared out of nowhere, and he held it out to me. I swallowed hard, knowing what that book was, because the rainbow dragon had explained it so beautifully. I took it from him, forcing myself to let go of my other arm.
It wasn't a big or thick book, it looked really ordinary. I opened the page and saw the five names of the five women that had made it out. I hit my pockets, searching for a pen.
“Does anyone have a pen?” I asked.
We all chuckled as none of us had brought a stupid pen.