The Rainbow Pearl: Part Two

Ariadne watched the horizon as the sun came up, making the ocean sparkle brilliantly. As she stood by the small mast, she noticed a couple of blankets moving. She ripped them off.

     Nestled under there was a Faerie Draikess.

     Ariadne moaned, and the Draikess woke up, fluffing her wings expectantly. Her green-hazel eyes stole a questioning glance at Ariadne for a moment.

     "Who are you?" asked the Faerie Draikess curiously. Ariadne did not answer. She was too far gone into her own thoughts, staring back at the small shore, almost lost into the horizon.

     "Hey!" squawked the Faerie Draik, tapping Ariadne on the soldier.

     Ariadne whirled around, pushing her sword point to the Draik's throat.

     "If you ever do that again, I'll kill you," she hissed, releasing the Faerie Draikess, still leveling her gaze.

     The Faerie Draikess resumed her post on the blankets as Ariadne looked back at the island. She could pick out some boats coming towards her. They were coming fast.

     "Can't you do something!?!" Ariadne cried.

     "Hmm…I might…if you tell me who you are."

     "Ariadne," muttered Ariadne hurriedly. The boats were getting closer.

     "Okay, I'm Cela," Cela answered. She mumbled a few hushed words, and an excruciatingly hard gust of wind blasted the small sails, nearly knocking Ariadne overboard.

     "How did you do that?" she asked quizzically, watching the boats disappear.

     "I'm a training mage, you know," Cela replied, waving her hands in the air and making a huge wave in the ocean, splashing down onto the poor boats that had just reappeared.

     Land did not seem very far away, after all. Ariadne landed the boat, and Cela made it disappear, so no one but she could see it.

     They had landed on a tropical paradise. The waving palm trees on the desolate but sandy enough shore seemed to greet them heartily. Cela gazed wide-eyed at the masses of coconut trees bunched together into a small but tropical forest.

     The sun beamed down on them as they proceeded to where they thought the village was. They soon heard loud shouts.

     Cela and Ariadne raced to the scene to find people screamed hysterically as the natives tried to attack them. Cela was all that Ariadne needed. Before Ariadne could lift her big sword, Cela waved her hands around and a big fence of tall trees swarmed around the natives, catching them in a giant cage. Cela once again waved her hands around, and the cage flew off into the jungle, landing with a crashing noise far away.

     Ariadne gaped at Cela. Cela smiled a teeny smile; unlike the scowls she had been giving Ariadne.

     They made camp at the outer fringes of the jungle.

     "So, why are you trailing this 'Morgras' person-is he evil, or something?" Cela asked, munching down on a Taokicarrot.

     "He is evil, eviler than the rest of his vile group. He literally destroyed Meridell. He and I were the only ones who escaped," Ariadne answered, viciously crumbling a piece of sand in her hand. Cela looked up, seeing fierce rage shining in her companion's eyes.

     "I know what you mean. My family…was decimated by an epidemic of the Sneezles. Nobody could get to the Healing Springs-it was…blocked," Cela said comfortingly, patted Ariadne on the back. The only thing that broke their silence after that was Cela's loud snoring. Ariadne smiled. It was good to have a friend.

     The waves crashing against the rocks woke Ariadne up. The waves never crashed with such vehemence, it seemed, back in Meridell. A slight breeze wafted into their camp as Ariadne watched the younger villagers scurry around, searching for Kraku Berries.

     Cela awoke, rubbing her eyes, and blinking. Yawning forcefully, she pulled out a mirror from her bag.

     "What are you doing?" asked Ariadne curiously, peering over Cela's shoulder.

     "I'm scrying," Cela answered, rubbing her mirror. It was dusty and cracked, with small inscribed words on the side.

     "Can you find out where Morgras is?" inquired Ariadne, looking even closer. Pictures formed on the mirror's surface.

     "I think I can," answered Cela, looking even closer.

     "Aargghhhh!" yelled Ariadne, toppling backwards. Cela glanced at her momentarily, alarmed. Cela looked back at the mirror.

     There was no Morgras in the mirror. Cela was staring at a crystal door, with opal doorknobs and an engraving on it.

     There were pictures. One was a big sword, like the one Ariadne was carrying. Cela could barely make out the words: The Sword of Skardsen. Two more pictures followed. One had two wands crossed against each other, and another had a Dark Nova on it. The picture disappeared.

     "Did you see Morgras?" asked Ariadne, regaining her composure in a second. Cela noted she seemed rather hurt, emotionally.

     "Nothing, just a picture," said Cela, explaining what the picture looked like. She didn't ask Ariadne what had happened.

     "Maybe it means we need to go to that door," Ariadne suggested thoughtfully, biting her lip. Cela nodded knowingly, putting her dusty mirror back.

     "I think…that was the Hall of Dimensions!" exclaimed Cela. Ariadne looked at her, confused.

     "The Hall of Dimensions-what is that?" asked Ariadne.

     "The Hall of Dimensions is a place that you can access anywhere in the world. There are many traps in there, and something called the Timekeeper guards it. You could meddle with time in there!" replied Cela.

     "Exactly what Morgras would want to do-his golden opportunity!" shouted Ariadne. Cela smiled.

     "We've got to go look for it!" Cela cried, racing towards the boat, Ariadne hot on her heels.

     They sailed off into the horizon.

     Since the scrying session that Cela had, Ariadne had not thought a bit about her rainbow pearl in her locket. The foamy waves rocked her about as she examined it once again. The pearl was still there-a bit duller that it used to look, but just good.

     Ariadne looked up at her Faerie Draik friend. She was standing, motionless, at the tiller, humming a bit to herself. Her magic had protected them from about everything-Ariadne hoped that it would hold up.

     Cela stared at the horizon, her keen green-hazel eyes penetrating through the blinding sunrays. It was awfully hot, she noted, and she expected a tropical storm anytime. She just hoped that it would start after they had reached land.

     Of course, it didn't.

     "It's a hurricane!" Ariadne heard Cela yell. She put the pearl back into her locket and looked up. Sure enough, a huge cloud was building. Gargantuan and black, it loomed overhead. Cela and Ariadne raced down below the deck, into the small storage space. It was dark and creepy.

     "Can't you make it light up?" asked Ariadne, shying away from a large Spyder that crawled across the floor.

     "I can't make light out of nothing-I need something!" yelled Cela over the roaring waves. Ariadne could feel their little ship being buffeted mercilessly amongst the ocean.

     Ariadne heard a sickening crack as the boat smashed against something. Water poured it fast as she and Cela scrambled out of the storage space.

     Ariadne could see the huge waves coming up against her as she and Cela clung to a fat board. Ariadne plunged her sword into it for a better grip.

     The hurricane was batting their little boat against the rocks again and again, crushing it to splinters. Ariadne could hear the roar of the waves in her ears, and the sea spray crashing into her mouth. Water burnt her eyes as she hung on to her sword. She was cutting her hand on it, she knew, but Ariadne was oblivious to the pain.

     The cold wind was making her freeze as the waves crashed around her. She felt tired, and wanted to let go. The big board was splintering, but she wouldn't look. It splintered in half, and Ariadne could hear an ear-splitting cry-Cela's cry, she knew, as she was swept away from her partner. Reality finally broke through. Ariadne could feel her burning hands as she inched them up to grab her sword hilt. She knew she had to hang on…she had to.

     Ariadne could not hear the roaring wind anymore, or feel the sea spray in her fur. It had…stopped. The ocean felt as calm as a lake, and its surface was as smooth as glass. The only movement in it was the occasional splashes, nearly undetectable.

     Ariadne let out a small sob of discontent. The storm was gone, but where was Cela?

     Ariadne could feel excruciating pain in her hands. She knew they had been cut by her sword. She coughed and floated on her board, waiting for land.

     Somewhere in the ocean Cela lay, exhausted, on her half of the board. The sun shone down upon her, drying her off as she floated. She wondered where Ariadne was, but she didn't dwell on it. She knew she was alive-she just had the ability to survive.

     Lifting her wings up, Cela found newfound strength swarming in her. Land could not be far away, and she would probably find Ariadne on it.

     Cela flew off.

 To be continued...