I NEED TO FIND a way to complete whatever obstacles were hiding inside the cavern, to get the reward: a look into the magical mill pond. Cheng said that it could reveal our innermost wishes and desires, whether present, past, or future. I would find the sword’s location, even though I didn’t know for certain if it still existed.
I remembered that only five people, mostly women, made it out alive. That part kept me from running straight to the cavern that very instant. Not knowing what hid inside the caves scared the living hell out of me. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but then again, when did I ever have things easy? That wasn’t about to change anytime soon. The thing was that nobody else did anything besides guard the Academy.
I thought again about what Goran would do once he broke out of Etan. If he destroyed Paegeia and the wall, the humans would come, and the dragons wouldn’t stand a chance. It would end in a war and be the end of my new home. With that thought imprinted on my mind, death didn’t sound like such a big sacrifice anymore. I would rather die than watch my biggest fear come to life.
For the next few days, I read up on everything that had to do with the Sacred Cavern. Cheng must have found his information in these books and articles, so I kept looking. Most of the stories said that it was impossible to make it out of the cavern, but the queen and four other women had. Could this be why she’d appeared inside my dreams? Could she have been pointing to the Sacred Cavern?
For some reason, everything was starting to make sense. Why I dreamed about the queen, and what the Viden’s words meant. This was my destiny. I was the one meant to find the sword.
I read through the article again, waiting for something else to pop inside my head. The words “young women” caught my eye. Why were there only young women who made it out alive? I researched everything I could find on young women and ended up reading about maidens. In those times, maidens held a different meaning than they did today. Paegeia’s dictionary read, “Maiden: a woman with her virtue still intact.”
A virgin? For the love of blueberries, the ones that made it out were all virgins!
Something Becky said to me the first time she discovered that I was still intact jumped to my mind. It was about Brian. My fingers flashed across the keys, and I hit the search button the minute the word “Sun-Blast” was typed.
Articles about Sun-Blasts appeared on pages and pages in front of me. It contained everything I needed to know about these dragons. Sites of how bad they really were hit my attention, and I clicked on the link. Pictures of young girls appeared staked against a pole, naked with a Sun-Blast leaning over them; all held fear on their faces. The scene jolted through me and I shivered. I got a funny feeling that a Sun-Blast guarded the millpond. It made sense why others didn’t make it out. That had to be it. I found a map detailing how to get to the Sacred Cavern on another site. It didn’t look that far, but then again, I was no expert when it came to reading maps. My other concern was how to get there. They had bus schedules, but that cost money, money I didn’t have.
On the fourteenth day, the night after my third guarding duty, I went back to searching more about the Sacred Cavern. I found a number of really good books, and it took me a few hours to page through all of them.
I took the book that contained the most information about the Sacred Cavern and went back to my room. Cheng really did have good theories. I laid the book over my chest after reading the last paragraph and closed my eyes. There were still some things I needed before I could even think of leaving Dragonia, things I had no idea where to get.
I made up my mind that I would take Ginger. I had ridden her once, well with Lucian on the trails, but how difficult could riding a horse be? It would have to be on a horse. I really needed a few bucks, but who to ask? Master Longwei would want a valid explanation. Lucian was the other source of income, but he would ask exactly the same thing. I didn’t know a single person who wouldn’t question my intent. I was screwed.
My head pounded as I laid out my plans.
“Elena, what are you doing with that book?” Becky snatched it from my chest. I hadn’t even heard the two of them come in. She read from the open pages and her eyes filled with concern.
“Nothing, I just wanted to read up on something,” I said as I cleared my throat.
She raised one eyebrow as if she could see right through me.
“The Sacred Cavern? What on earth is going on in that mind of yours? Why are you reading this?”
My upper lip twitched slightly. I really sucked at lying.
She flipped the book closed and her eyes widened. She gasped and froze as understanding washed over her face. “Have you lost your mind?”
“Becky, it’s more than two weeks. They haven’t found the sword yet. Think about it, the Sacred Cavern holds the only thing that can make us see anything we want to,” I said.
“Elena, people disappear in that cave.”
“Five didn’t.” I showed her with my fingers and motioned for her to return the book. “Look.” I pointed with my index finger at the five women who had made it out alive.
“These people were raised in Paegeia. No, let the council find the sword!” she yelled.
“Becky, are you blind?” I snapped. “They’re not going to find it. They don’t even have any clue about where it might be.”
“Elena, you’re only sixteen, think, please.” She was adamant, but so was I.
“No, I’ve made up my mind.”
“What’s wrong with you, Elena? Have you really lost your marbles? What are we supposed to do if you don’t come back?” Sammy’s eyes sparkling with tears.
“What are you afraid of?” I yelled at both of them, shaking my head in disbelief.
“Elena, you don’t know how dangerous it is.” Becky pleaded this time in a softer voice.
“I don’t care, Becky. Something tells me if we don’t find the sword, things will get a lot worse.”
“Then you don’t give me much of a choice,” she said, and left. I ran after her, thinking of what a coward she was being by bringing Master Longwei into this, but when she changed her course and headed toward the cafeteria, I frowned.
“Where are you going?”
She ignored my question. I followed her into the library and saw her heading straight to where Lucian sat quietly reading.
I huffed.
She leaned on the table to speak to him softly.
I turned around and left to go back to the room. I didn’t care if she told Lucian about my plan, just as long as it wasn’t Master Longwei. I got ready to run up the stairs when someone yanked me back and pushed me to the side of the stairs.
“Is this true?” he growled, and looked straight into my eyes.
I looked around me for other students but found none. “Lucian, please, I’m not going to stand here and wait while the sword gets destroyed.”
“Elena, the Sacred Cavern? People don’t come back,” he said through gritted teeth. He sounded the same as Becky had a few minutes ago.
“The queen did, Lucian. There’s no other way.”
“No,” he ordered.
“No?” I said, surprised. A few kisses and he thinks he owns me.
“I said no. It’s too dangerous, and not to mention how stupid it is.”
His words pissed me off even more, and he would learn how much, right now. I was sure about my foretelling. “You aren’t the boss of me, Lucian McKenzie. I’ll decide how dangerous it is. Besides, none of you knows what danger really means or what will happen if the sword is destroyed. You think your worst enemy is Goran and what he’ll do to you once he frees himself of Etan. Try imagining what will happen once that wall disappears. Your precious dragons won’t stand a chance against the other side. The people living on that side don’t listen to anyone, and they have the weapons to destroy and incinerate countries like this one. So don’t you dare tell me no.”
I made sure that every word counted before I pushed him away. Becky and Lucian fell silent, and I hoped I’d left them with something to think about.
When I entered the room again, Sammy was gone. I hadn’t seen her with them, but at the moment, it didn’t matter if she was with them.
An hour later, the door opened and Lucian, Becky, and Sammy entered.
I pretended to read, trying to prepare myself for my trip. To be honest, the words might have swirled around on the page, because I had no clue what I’d read this past hour.
I knew it scared the living crap out of them, and maybe I should be frightened too, but there wasn’t time for that. The humans would destroy every single dragon if the wall was destroyed.
Lucian knelt down in front of me and placed his hand on my knee.
I glared at him for a second and slowly put the book off to the side.
“Elena, please don’t do this,” he pleaded.
“Lucian, I meant what I said. I can’t live my life in fear anymore. If the sword is the only weapon that can protect us from all evil, then we have to get it back. Why am I the only one considering this?” I yelled at all three of them. “Paegeia is your birthplace, for crying out loud!”
Becky and Sammy lowered their eyes and stared at the floor. Lucian closed his eyes for a moment before taking a deep breath.
“Elena, what you’re thinking of doing is suicidal.”
“Do you have a better plan, Lucian?”
He shook his head.
“Then the cavern is our only hope,” I said.
