Chapter 7

Together they ran to the large stone wall. It seemed that part of the way was crumbling down. Cautiously they stepped over the debris, into a small overgrown area. Through the overgrown weeds, they saw the castle. The castle was dilapidated. The stone pillars were falling apart. Pieces of stone had fallen to the ground leaving dents where they landed.

They glanced around when they noticed the entrance to the castle. It was a large intimidating wooden door. They looked closer and saw that it was left ajar. Cautiously they walked through the heavy wooden door and looked around. Inside dust covered everything, upon candles, chairs, the staircase and thick spider webs found home on top of the dust. The central room they stood in was large. There were many doors leading out of the large room. They each walked to different doors and all were locked.

A noise behind them made Chadwick jump. He turned quickly to see what it was. The wind ripped passed both of them, coming through the outside door. Alana ran and closed the door. She said "stand in the center of the room with me". They both walked to the center of the room. "There is something here we are not seeing. Something hidden." She looked around very slowly and then spoke again. "Stand and be very still. Take small, slow breaths." He looked at her intently, nodding his head in agreement. So far she had never been wrong.

As he stood and watched, she reached into a very small purple pouch and pulled out a handful of powder. It was a fine powder, silver in color. She brought her hand to her lips and blew the fine powder into the air.

The powder turned to a fine dust, which spiraled around them and all over the room. Chadwick soon found himself standing in a mist of silver. The fine powder hung in the air within the room. It was all around them, as well as above. It filled the massive room from floor to ceiling. With each breath he took, he noticed the silver swirled and changed to gold. He looked at Alana. She was slowly walking around the room, checking each corner and around each door. Her slow movement caused golden wisps to follow her. When she reached the corner behind Chadwick, she froze. "What does that look like to you?" she spoke as golden swirls left her mouth. She was pointing to a brick wall.

Chadwick slowly walked toward her, then to the wall, leaving streams of gold following him. He walked even closer to the wall and saw spiraling wisps of gold. He stepped closer until he was right next to the wall. He ran his hand down it when he noticed a draft escaping through a crack in the wall.

While looking and inspecting the crack he saw a faint light coming through the crack. Reaching for his sword, he used the edge of it, and his brut strength to try to open the crack. With one burst of strength, the crack seemed to pop open of its own accord, revealing a jagged, rough edged door. He and Alana exchanged glances as she quietly stood beside him. With his hands he pried the hidden door open so both he and Alana could get in.

Silently they walked through what seemed like a small corridor. Another door stood at its end. This one also built of thick wood. Gently he pushed it open; a hideous creak announced their entrance. He cringed and shook his head at the sound. 'Great Job. What better way to announce yourself.' He thought, and quietly prayed no one else was able to hear it.

A small room revealed itself, glowing in a red light, as a musty stench reached his nostrils. He heard Alana stifle a cough, as the longer they were in that room the stronger the scent became. He cautiously scanned the room. Books of black magic and potions lay around. Tables and chairs were turned over, as though frenzy had taken place. Bottles of dark colored substances lay toppled over, spilling contents upon melted candles, parchment and anything else within its path. Alana was looking around, repulsed by what she was seeing.

Upon the back wall of the small room were cages, full of starving and dying animals. He watched as she made quick work. Reaching into a white pouch that she must have had hidden (for he had not seen it before), she pulled out a handful of sparkling white grain. She gave each animal a piece of grain. All animals ate, including the lizards, and snakes. She quickly started opening cages, releasing mice, rats, lizards, snakes, birds, and squirrels. Chadwick watched as within seconds as birds flew overhead, mice, rats, snakes and other animal scurried upon the floor, down the corridor to their salvation. It was as though even the animals most close to dying, regained strength to make the trip outside. As the last creature, a tortured looking squirrel, ran across the floor, something caught Chadwick's eye.

What caught his eye were the chairs. One of the chair legs had bunched up the think black rug upon the floor. Upon further examination he saw that there was red light coming from under the rug. He hastily flung the rug up, which revealed a wooden trap door. Without hesitation, he grabbed for the handle and pulled.

Bright red light pierced his vision, and he winced at the sharpness of it. He saw out of the corner of his eye that Alana stood covering her eyes to the light. As his eyes calmed, he took a deep breath and silently crawled down the rickety ladder. He set his foot on the ground, but it wasn't the firm ground he was expecting. It was sand. He had set foot in barren, desert land.

He reached above to help Alana, who was only moments behind him. He reached and grabbed her hand as she set her thin leather boot onto the uneven surface of the ground. He pulled her close to steady her unstable stance, as her boot was soft-soled, and gave nearly no support in the soft sand. As he looked down onto her face, her eyes were fixed on something else in the distance. He followed her vision. She was looking at the sun.