Koran walked around the room. He passed the stairs that led to the second floor. The back wall was covered in a painting of a simple, yet beautiful garden with a mountain topped with snow in its background. An elderly lady was kneeling by a creek looking sadly at her hands.
“What an interesting painting,” said Katie softly when she came by to inspect. “Do you know where this is?”
Koran shook his head.
“We should check upstairs,” said Tyson. Without waiting for an answer, he walked up the stairs and disappeared from sight. Katie and Koran followed him.
The second-floor room was slightly smaller than the one below. None of the walls were painted but instead had dark red curtains draping them. They found Tyson staring at a stone tablet placed in the center of the room. It was quite large.
Katie looked over Tyson’s shoulder. The inscription was brief but clear.
If you take it, you’ll never get out.
Katie read the words out loud. “What do you think it means?”
In response, Tyson pointed to a small carved hole underneath the warning. It was an uneven oval shape.
“It looks like some sort of gem belongs in there,” said Katie. “Though the gem is probably badly cut, like an emerald or a sapphire.”
“It could be something else,” said Tyson. “Another gem, I mean.”
“Doesn’t matter,” said Koran. “Somebody already took it. I wonder if they were able to make it out.”
“Or maybe we’ll meet them on our way out?” suggested Tyson.
They heard a loud bang as a door opened. They jerked their heads back and saw a large swarm of oversized bats flying towards them, their red eyes gleaming and their teeth bared, all sharp and pointed.
Nayara smiled as she entered her cabin. She had gotten rid of Fredrick many hours ago and left the rest of her more devoted servants. Her ships were sailing quickly towards their destination. She unlocked one of her small drawers. Inside it was just one item: a deep green jade in a roughly shaped oval. Nayara smiled. She pulled out a necklace from her pocket. The necklace belonged to John Dimes. These were the two items she needed to complete her mission.
Acquiring the jade was easy. She stole it from the heart of the ancient city of Galbatrar. She knew the leaders of the city had protected it well and had given their lives to keep it safe.
Queen Nayara knew well that the city was designed to trap anyone who entered it so that no one would be able to take the jade. But Nayara knew a way around that. She didn’t enter the city alone, but only she left the city. There was a certain magic that she taught herself, and it proved useful. While she could safely walk back through the gates of Galbatrar, the next person who entered would have to pay the price she never would.
18
Dawn Ascending
Katie screamed and threw her hands over her head. The bats came swarming in at a rapid rate. As the bats attacked, Katie could feel her hands being cut open. She tried to swat them away, but the bats only become fiercer.
She couldn’t see the others but was able to hear them well enough despite the loud sound of the bat’s fluttering wings and screeching. Katie ran forward, guessing where the stairs were. She ran into someone but didn’t know who. As she ran down the stairs, Katie could feel blood dripping from her hands.
The bats didn’t stop their rampage until after Katie got out of the building. The cobbled street felt rickety beneath her feet. She looked around for the other two, and as if on cue, they both ran out of the building, the bats chasing them before disappearing back to the upper floor.
Then the bells struck. First, it was three times, and the number three glowed on the ground. Then the bell stuck two more times, with its corresponding number glowing a deeper red. Then the last bell struck, only once, and its ominous sound reverberating throughout the city, a deep rosewood-red number one radiating on the streets.
Katie, Tyson, and Koran waited with bated breath, half expecting another bell or lack thereof, to cause their instant deaths. It never came. The deadly silence that followed made them feel like they were suspended in eternity.
“What happens next?” Tyson asked, his timing almost comedic. He let out a breath and looked over to Katie and Koran.
“I think we just lost three hours,” said Katie. “And we’ve only got one left.”
Koran took a few steps forward. He craned his neck as if there were a sign above them in the sky.
“Whatever was taken from that tablet,” said Koran, “I think the city believes we took it.”
“What does that mean for us?” asked Tyson.
Koran gave him a hard look. “I think the city is going to try to kill us.”
As he said it, a howling wind came rushing through. A loud whistle accompanied the wind. Katie looked over toward the streets where they had navigated through earlier. Then there were just a few seconds of silence. From the sky, a volley of fireballs rained down towards the city. Mesmerized, the three of them watched the pellets of fire approach, hitting the streets and setting the buildings on fire.
“Run!” Koran shouted. Katie and Tyson didn’t need telling twice. The three of them ran between buildings, attempting to distance themselves from the rain of fire. They could hear explosions behind them, but nothing got too close.
Katie dared to look back and instantly regretted it. A ball of fire crashed just twenty feet from her and exploded. Katie tripped and fell on her knees. She felt pain sear through her leg. Tyson quickly helped her get to her feet. The fire shot down like missiles. They
