Andy: A world unknown

Chapter 3: The book

"There it is" Andy whispered immediately she spotted her dad's key to the library. Apparently, she had sneaked into her parents room while they were out, so she could get the keys to the library. She gently picked it up from his study table and quietly left her parents room unnoticed, like a museum burglar going undetected.

When she got to the library, Rosa and Derrick were already standing at the entrance.

"Are we robbing libraries now?" Rosa's words came out immediately she spotted Andy walking towards them.

"Quiet down Rosa" Derrick said as Andy tried to open the door.

"Let's go" she said after slightly pushing the door open.

"lead the way boss" Derrick sarcastically said

They moved to the receptionist table and searched for any key they could find that'll help open whatever it was that the key hole at the engraved carving of the mountains could open. After a while, Derrick found a bunch of keys that looked ancient, all put together in a key holder. There were carvings on each key.

"I found something" he said as he pulled out huge keys from one of the drawers at the receptionist's table.

They took the key and tried the one with a similar carving to the mountain's peak that had the key hole.

"Here goes nothing" Andy said as she turned the key after placing it in the key hole. Once she had done, The wall shivered, like a slumbering beast awakened by her touch, and then pivoted slowly to reveal a narrow gap. A waft of cool, dusty air rushed out, carrying a scent of paper and adventure.

Heartbeats thundering in their ears, the three friends exchanged excited glances before Andy took the lead, stepping into the threshold of the hidden passage. The others followed, their eyes adjusting to the dim light as they ventured into the unknown.

"Don't you guys think we should go back?" Derrick asked after feeling frightened by the little mouse that squeaked as it ran over his foot.

"Scared of a little mouse?" Rosa's words hit Derrick almost immediately.

"Careful!" Andy screamed as she held onto Rosa, who almost fell off from what looked like the end of the passage.

There seemed to be a broken bridge in front of them. They were stuck between going back and going forward. And they request Derrick build a bridge, strong enough to held them, with what was left of the broken bridge in front of them. His abilities were not that strong so he suggested they moved all at once, since he was only capable of making one bridge stand at a time. They kept moving until they got to the end of the bridge and Andy kept leading the way until they got to an open space

"it's Booby trapped" Derrick said as he picked up a rock from the ground and threw it to the open space right in front of them, arrows were shot towards the direction of the stone thrown

"Okaaaaay... how'd you figure that out" Andy questioned after showing how frightened she was.

"Well, there's no open space in a cave that's safe" Derrick said as both Andy and Rosa stared at him in confusion

"Didn't you ever listen to bedtime stories?" he asked "And plus, it was just a guess"

"What now?" asked Rosa

"Well..." Derrick said "... according to most bedtime stories my mum told, all we have to do is step on the right rocks" he indicated by pointing at the different rocky terrain.

Andy stood for a while, lost in thoughts, she picked up a rock and threw it on the lightly coloured rocks on the floor and arrows were shot at it. She picked another rock and threw it at the dark coloured rock, which were slightly different from the previous rock she threw the first rock at, and there was no arrow shot in its direction.

"No way we're doing that" Rosa shot a disagreeing look to Andy's look that spelt out "there's our answer"

"Ah!" Derrick yelled as he saw a mouse pass by again.

"it's just a mouse, D" Andy laughed at Derrick, as they all turned to stare at the rat afterwards. The rat ran into the open space and stopped at one of the arrows and licked the tip of the arrow. After a few seconds, the mouse started acting strange and slowly stopped all form of movements afterwards.

"it's dead?" Rosa asked rhetorically in shock "it. Is. Dead" she said, this time a little more terrified. The worry in the way her voice sounded got them all in a similar fright.

"The arrows are poisoned" Andy said boldly, like she wasn't frightened at all, as she pointed out the obvious as though no one else knew what had just happened was a result of poisoning.

Andy turned to them and said "I need you both to trust me" "Step on the rocks I step on" she reassured them that nothing was going to happen to any of them.

One by one, she stepped on each rock and they followed every step she made. The last rock required them to not just hop, but leap forward as as far as they could. Rosa missed the last jump, but was pulled away by Andy and Derrick before the arrows got shot. Luckily, they all got through the second hurdle, since their entry into this secret cave, with Andy's words of motivation.

"We're finally out" Rosa said but immediately stepped backwards once she noticed an entire room filled with huge sharp objects like axes and swords, with some of them swinging from one end to the other, and some of them thrusting in and out from one end to another. There was also quick sand and some other mind terrifying things in front of them. An entire room dangerous enough to kill all three of them, if they dared to take a step forward.

"Anything from your bedtime stories that could help us out?" Andy asked Derrick, who had nothing to say at that moment.

"Okay, since we're all considering bedtime stories now. My mum told me one similar to this in front of us. The story about Khun" Rosa said while pointing and swirling her hand in the direction of the room

"She said there was some kinda riddle that Khun had to solve. A riddle of..."

"...trust" Andy said the last word with kira almost immediately "My mum told me a similar tale"

Andy spotted some kind of ancient writing on the floor from where she stood. A writing that needed decrypting. This writing looked more like images than words, and Andy seemed to have an idea in decrypting them. After staring and analysing each of them, she read them out loud "With no doubt and no fear, cross this path like it isn't there

"Like it isn't there? it is not, not there. Like c'mon we can all see it" Rosa raised both her eyebrows and swirled her hand in the direction of the room again, like she had done earlier, while trying to prove her point.

"Maybe we can see it, but it isn't there" Derrick said with uncertainty

"Like an illusion" Andy said "With no doubt and no fear cross this path like it isn't there" she repeated as she took a step forward. She took a deep breath in and out to calm her nerves for what she was about to do "Here goes nothing" she said as she took a step forward, and then another after that. Both her friends just stood behind and watched her move, as those huge objects looked faint as it went through her and restabilised it's shape, structure and assumed thickness, that they had earlier seen, as it went back to it's original position to start the whole process again.

Rosa quickly followed behind Andy immediately she encountered the entire transfiguration, Derrick followed after her. They got to the end of the third hurdle and we're finally in front of the cave's door, that slowly opened once they graced the entrance with their presence. The cave shook slightly, like it was vibrating it's way to a switch button that helped the door to open up.

"Whoa" Andy's eyes widened with excitement and thrill and so did the others as they walked down the four-step stairs in front of them. The cave had seven rock built throne chairs, with three on each side and one in the middle. Also in the middle of this arrangement of throne chairs was an altar that had an ancient looking book, resting on its structure. There were also different human looking statues, and beside each of these statues were petite and more odd looking statues. These statues seemed to have been broken down, the remains had three of four tiny looking legs that had claws.

"What is this place?" Rosa asked in wonderment.

"I don't know" Andy replied

"In pages beyond the mountains peak" Andy said as she walked towards the book that laid on the rock built altar. She blew the dust off the top of the book and tried to open it. The book was sealed. There was no key hole or words that needed decrypting to help them open the book. However, Andy kept up with the struggle. She pulled harder until it caused an impact that pushed her to the ground. The book slowly kept rising and suspended itself just a few inches above the altar, with pages flipping on its own with intense force.

Rosa and Derrick helped Andy get up as they watched in awe the pages of the book flip. it finally came to a halt and laid itself to rest on the pillar.