The Rainbow Pearl: Part Three

Ariadne coughed up her last bit of seawater in her mouth as she lay on a sandy shore. She sensed Cela was not far away.

     A big sign had been nailed into the beach near where she lay. It said: WELCOME TO KRAWK ISLAND.

     "Not a very promising welcome," Ariadne muttered, standing up. She was amazed her sword had survived the encounter, much less her locket.

     Cela hovered near. She saw Ariadne, and flew down happily to meet her.

     "Ariadne!" Cela cried, flying down. Ariadne ran over to her.

     "I thought you were-dead, Cela," said Ariadne, hugging her. Cela smiled another secretive smile.

     Ariadne and Cela looked around at the island. It was desolate and foreboding-nothing like the island they had just been on. They could hear loud shouts coming from a small, dingy building down the path in which they had found.

     "It must be a tavern," Ariadne said, cocking her head slightly, as if to catch a whiff of something. Cela sensed that something must be wrong.

     Cela whirled around to see a shadowy-looking Krawk standing there, dagger in hand.

     "Well, why aren't you two fine little ladies back home, eh?" he drawled, flipping his dagger up and down. Ariadne was obviously nervous-Cela could see her rapping her sword blade.

     Ariadne's heart was racing-that Krawk did look pretty scary, after all. She could detect a rather sharp, edgy tone in his voice, like he was up to something. His eyes were the things that chilled her. They were a pure, golden yellow color, like gold. Morgras had the same eyes as those…

     "Run, Ariadne!" Cela yelled, jerking her back into reality. She glanced at the Krawk, who was now a Kau.

     "Morgras," she hissed as the dagger he was holding grew into a long, slim sword. There was no turning back now.

     She ran, quicker than she ever had before. Her feet pounded in the ground, spurring up sand as she flew towards the road. Cela was stalling Morgras-she had created a small magical barrier. It would hold him off, but not for long.

     Ariadne heard the Morgras cry out as he smashed through the barrier, a triumphant smirk on his face. Dark thorns sprang up in front of her, causing Cela to trip. Ariadne stopped in her tracks as the vines crept over Cela.

     "I'm not leaving you behind," said Ariadne stubbornly. Cela bit her lip, flapping her wings in distress. The vines had stopped creeping up on her.

     "You have to go, Ariadne-if you don't, everything's going to spiral into destruction. Just…go," Cela pleaded. Ariadne wanted to cry. She didn't want to leave.

     Ariadne spurted off again, and didn't look back. She could hear Cela's cries fading, weakening ever so slowly. Then all was silent.

     A shrill laugh cut through the air as Morgras charged after her, a grim smile on his face as he came after her with the force of a bullet.

     Ariadne dashed into a dim alleyway, hoping to head him off for a while. It didn't work. Morgras came in to as Ariadne dashed backwards, sword in hand. She stumbled back and hit a solid wall. Drat! A dead end!

     Morgras hefted his sword into the air, and cleaved down. Ariadne shielded her eyes, ready for the impact.

     It never happened.

     Ariadne heard Morgras cursing. She opened her eyes to see his sword dug into the earth a millimeter from her toes. Vines had attached themselves to the sword and were creeping upwards.

     Ariadne ran, kicking Morgras soundly in the process. Her only hope now was the mold-laden tunnels she had seen earlier. Without a thought, she ran towards them, hoping that they would lead to safety.

     By the time she reached the mouth of the tunnel, Morgras was already coming after her. She crashed forward blindly, groping for something to pull her forwards.

     The tunnels reeked of mold and grime. Within the dim darkness Ariadne could sense the way through. How, she did not know.

     Charging through the tunnels was not an easy task. Even with some inner sense guiding her, Ariadne still encountered stout rocks protruding out from the tunnel walls. Morgras was trailing her, she could tell by the occasional glimpses of light coming in back of her. Ariadne quickened her pace.

     As she ran down one of the tunnels, she felt water dripping on her forehead from a stalactite. It rolled down her nose and down her chin, and then dripped onto the floor, into another puddle. Ariadne could hear Morgras coming; she could even feel the outer fringes of his faintly glowing light touching her. She ran on.

      The blackness she had run into was even blacker than the one she had run out of. In the past she could see glimpses, only faint, mind you, but glimpses, nonetheless, of what was ahead of her. Ariadne was shrouded in total darkness.

     She backed against a wall, pushing her back against it with all of the strength she had left in her. Not even when Morgras came, shining the light in her face, did she move.

     The evil grin on his face was replaced with a puzzled frown. Morgras did not understand Ariadne. In the past she had run from him, but she stood still now, waiting to die. He stood still, looking at her with contempt unlike any other.

     Ariadne was done. Her strength had left her, and in her mind she was waiting for Morgras to strike his blow. She could hear him cackling, laughing...yet her frozen face of bravery never left her. She blinked only slightly as Morgras raised his sword, shining in his magical light…

     "No!" someone out of the blue shrieked, a blast of magic shooting out from nowhere. Morgras was stunned briefly as he was hit. The force blew him backwards into the wall.

     "Cela?" was Ariadne's perplexed question. The Faerie Draikess popped her head out from a corner.

     "But…I thought you were dead-" Ariadne said. Cela smiled another one of her curious smiles.

     "Never mind that-" Cela's statement was cut short as Morgras stood up, fully recovered, his eyes shining with anger.

     "You're not going anywhere," he snarled, firing a purple streak of light at Ariadne. It blasted through the air and hit the tunnel a hairsbreadth from her head. It smashed through the whole wall, causing it to begin to crumble.

     "Run!" Ariadne yelled, grabbing Cela by the hand as they charged through the hole. Morgras, coughing as dust flew into his mouth, followed close behind.

     They came to a big crystal door, just like Cela had seen in her scrying session. The only things different were that the sword in the picture was missing, like it had been torn out, and the doorknob had a weird slot in it.

     "Come on," muttered Cela, jiggling the opal doorknob. It wouldn't yield to even an Unlocking Spell.

     "I think I know what we've go to do," suggested Ariadne quietly. She jammed her sword into the picture. It was suddenly locked in. She also put her locket into the doorknob. The same thing happened.

     Cela opened the door.

     A burst of golden light rushed through, and Cela and Ariadne found themselves facing a marble-floored hallway. A lushly woven red carpet unraveled itself down countless hallways. Ariadne and Cela went forwards, following the carpet as it led them down the main corridor, and into a room of mirrors.

     They were all as shiny and luminescent as mirrors should be, with golden frames elaborately decorated with inscribed words.

     Ariadne could smell something's harsh breath filling her noise. Cela rubbed her eyes as the smell filled the room.

     Ariadne's mind was filled with lovely buzzing noises, almost luring her into sleep. She was about to drift off into a state of half-convalescence when something in her mind trumpeted out.

     "The Timekeeper!" Ariadne shrieked, jostling Cela out of her profound slumber. She was right.

     The Timekeeper was a loathsome beast, created to keep the Hall of Dimensions safe from harm. It had many large tentacles with small suckers on them, and a strangely fashioned head, long and thin like a hot dog. It was covered in greenish-blue slime the dripped onto the floor, and its mouth was only a hole with three, exceedingly sharp teeth that clacked together when it growled. It had a flat shell that was covered in mold, and its eyes were constantly blinking, and were different colors each time it blinked.

     Cela exhaled slowly.

     "It's sleeping," she assured Ariadne as they crept out of the room. They were about to run out of the Hall of Dimension when they met Morgras along the way.

     Superficially, he seemed on all terms wanting to kill them, but instead they found he was busy trying to pocket some of the strange artifacts.

     "Oh, you," he groaned. Before they had time to react, he had frozen them in place. Ariadne found herself staring at him pocket some of the small statues and glowing orbs.

     She could smell the monster's harsh breath again. She made an effort to grimace, but she was still frozen in place. Morgras seemed indifferent to the monster's breath; he simply hummed a bit and smiled.

     Ariadne, much to Morgras's unknowingness, saw the monster lumbering up to him. She closed her eyes, and heard a loud bellow and something she quite couldn't place. The spell around Ariadne and Cela had broken.

     Ariadne dared open her eyes only after everything had been silent. Her mind turned a blank, and she looked at Cela. The monster had disappeared, and so had the Hall of Dimensions.

     They were standing on a small flat in Meridell. The castle lay broken, but Ariadne could see that in the distance they were rebuilding it.

     Some things, reader, do turn out the best.

The End