A Tale Of Sister's Revenge

"Cave Of Secrets"

“This is it. This is the place where it is kept. We have to reach this mountain.” Eva said to Sam

“Ok then hold me tight.” Sam told Eva. “We will come back soon Helen. Just stay safe.”

They both vanished from there and reached that place in the map. “Are you ok?” Sam seems concerned

“Yes, I am habitual to this type of things.” Eva replied, the expression on Sam’s face tells that he was really impressed.

They were standing right on the mountain and seeing the peak view. The mountain is pristine and white, even the dark green of the pines is mostly coated in the crystalline snow. They could stand there drinking it all in, listening to the silence that hangs so thickly in the frigid air. But they must keep moving to stay warm and to find what they are looking for.

The mountain path ahead was loose rock, each one washed smooth by the river that once ran freely over them. Sam braced his feet, attempting to guard against the inevitable rolling in random directions, but his ankles tumbled left and right regardless. Thickly dark green boughs arched over the path from each side, competing for the light. Under their dappled shade, the harshness of the mid day sun was muted but it did little to make the steep incline any easier. Sam lifted his eyes to the distance ahead. After rising sharply in a way it simply turned out of view, likely carrying on in just the same way.

The path led them up a trail that had been created by many footprints. It was obscured by bushes and fallen rocks and sloped high into the valley. The path halted and a cave appeared. Ivy wound round the cave and concealed the entrance that was a jagged opening. Inside was dim although being lit by two small fires in the corner of the cave. In the centre was a small roasting pot and in the far corner there was a small woven mat made with dried grass. In the gloom a hunch figure lurked. Inside the cave small, loose stones littered the floor causing Eva to trip as she got closer to the rock face. She shone the beam of her torch ahead and another cave inside a cave came into view, the entrance was so small she almost missed it. The cave was built into the muddy brown rock of the cliff, the stone guarding the entrance was jagged and uneven, arranged in such a way, that it would be difficult for passersby to spot. Inside the beam of her torch was enveloped and lost in the blackness, Eva had to move around by following the damp wall of the cave with her hands. All of a sudden, flaming torches sparked to life, lighting up the tunnel ahead and bathing the entire cavern in a flickering orange glow.

“We have again come back to the same place from where we started,” Eva said in a tired and disappointed voice. “You see that symbol, I made it before we entered this cave.”

“So we have to change our approach,” Sam said in a motivated voice. “You stay here and let me do some magic.”

Sam came back within a minute. “This is the way to reach the final cave.”

“How do you know?” Eva asked

“I tried one million combinations and finally found the way to it.” Sam feels really good about his work.

They both reached the end of the cave and an old ancient gate came in their path.

The Iron Gate had been forged centuries ago. It was a clear six feet tall rusty iron gate fastened by an equally rusty chain, the base of which was partially concealed by tall, rank grass, and made of twisted black rods, showing that it had not been opened for a long time. The gate was hung upon two stone piers covered with lichen. On the top of one was a stone globe. That which had surmounted the other had been removed or had fallen off through the action of time and weather. At the end, some were curled in convoluted patterns and opportunist spiders had created webs there. The latch lifted with ease and it swung open almost without sound. Whatever this place was it was occupied and maintained.

As Eva touched the gate it started to open up. A statue made up of stone was standing next to the door.

“Who are you? Why have you come here?” The rock statue asked.

“How could a statue speak?” Sam looks confused

“Welcome to our world,” Eva said. “Now please let me talk to him.” She added. “My name is Eva and I am here to go inside the cave of secrets.”

The cave of secrets is not a cave in actual sense, but a room which was used by the ancient people to hide things from each other. A lot of secrets have been locked inside that cave and it is the same reason why it is not easy to locate it and go inside the room.

“No one is allowed to go inside the cave, except me,” Statue grunted. “But I can take you inside with me. You only have to answer my three easy questions. If you answer those correctly I will take you with me, if not then the whole cave will fall apart and you will die here, buried under the rocks.” Then he had a monsterous laugh.

“No, we are leaving.” Sam was scared. “I don’t want to die in here.”

“You just stay quiet. Let me handle this.” Eva said, “We are ready to answer your question you can start.”

“The first question is. I am the beginning of sorrow and the end of sickness. There's no happiness without me nor is there sadness. I am always in risk, yet never in danger. You will find me in the sun, but I am never out of darkness.” Statue asked.

“Well I missed my literature lectures in my college so can you eliminate that part,” Sam said

“You just stay quiet.” Eva stared Sam with angry eyes. “The answer is letter S. S is the letter that comes in the beginning and end of sorrow and sickness. It is always there in risk, but does not come in danger. S is there in the sun too and never out of darkness. So the answer is S.”

“Yes, you are amazing with this Eva.” Sam gains some confidence now. “Now I can feel that we can win.”

“You are right, but it was just a trial question. Now the second question is, it’s been around for millions of years, but it's no more than a month old. What is it?” Statue said.

“This question is wrong. How can something be there for millions of years but cannot be a month old?” Sam argued.

“I told you to stay quiet and let me concentrate,” Eva shouted. “The answer is Moon. Moon has been around the earth for millions of years, but it dies in every 28 days only to reborn again.” Eva nailed it again.

“You are good with this, but the last question will be toughest of all. What is harder to catch the faster you run?” The statue asked his last question.

“Yes, I got this one.” Sam jumped in happiness. “Don’t worry Eva I know the answer to this question. It’s me, time, the faster you run it becomes harder to catch time.”

They both looked curiously towards the statue to see if this is true or not. “You are wrong. Now you have got only one more try left. If it fails then you know what happens. Hahahahah.” The statue replied.

“What is harder to catch the faster you run? What is harder…..” Eva muttered again and again in her mind. “Think Eva think.” She is trying extremely hard, but couldn’t find an answer. Then suddenly a smile touched her face which tells that she might have found the answer. “The answer is your breath. It becomes harder to catch one's breath as he/she runs faster.”

“You are really intelligent Eva and you deserve to go inside the cave. So follow me and remember don’t touch things which you are not meant to touch. Otherwise, otherwise, you know what will happen.” Statue opens the gate of the room

“What did he just said?” Sam was worried, but Eva didn’t replied and just went inside. “I am asking you what did he meant by that?”

“Just stop asking silly questions and start searching the air gem,” Eva said ignoring his earlier questions. “We have to find it before anyone else does.”

“How do you know it is here only, because I couldn’t see anything like that here?” Sam said after he searched the whole place for another thousand times.

“There is story related to this stone.” Eva said “The story goes like this that once upon a time there was a half human half elf wizard named Nikrith Traris. He was one of the most powerful person on earth and he was the owner of the air gem at that time. There was one stronger warrior whose name was Halvor Hustad. He was an elf hunter. So he one day tried to hunt Nikrith Traris down and he almost succeeded, but at the last moment Nikrith escaped. Nikrith knew that he will again come for him and if Halvor succeeded in killing him then he will take this gem too. So he hides that gem in a place where a lot of secret things were safely hidden, the cave of secrets.”

“Oh, but I have already looked for almost a million times and didn’t find it.” Sam said

“You are looking for this, I guess.” Eva turned around to see whose voice it was. “You are a bit late guys.” It was Ovi standing right there and holding the gem in her hands.

“Give that gem to me.” Eva asked

“Your father didn’t teach you any etiquette.” Ovi replied, “Don’t you know how to greet people when you meet them.”

“My father has taught me enough lessons, but I guess your father didn’t teach you a thing.”

“Ok don’t be so angry, I will start first. Hello, I am Ovi the mother of destruction.” Ovi is testing Eva’s patience. “Thank you Sam for what you did for me and this is may be the first time we have met, but I have heard a lot of stories about you, Eva. They say that you are really smart and strong.”

“Yes, you are right we have met for the first time but even I have heard some stories about you, stories in which you tried to attack earth but lost and then locked inside a prison.” Eva was up to the task. “You are just a beast nothing more than that.”

“You can call me beastly, devil, or any name you want.” Ovi said politely. “It is in the nature of a beast to be a beast. It is fun too. Don’t you love the thrill of the kill? Don’t you love to chase an animal only to snuff it out? Why deny your natures? It is the first nature a living being gets- survive, hunt, and kill. There is joy in power, in dominating, in making others subservient to your will. Don’t you want that? A beast is just another of nature’s fine beings. Morals are for the weak, those not strong enough to seize power for themselves. They await a Godly force to save them or inspire them to a blood-less victory. Even that is a tool for me, how simple it is to inspire them to kill in the name of God. Perhaps that makes me their God, perhaps it is the beast they want.”

Sam started to clap and Eva stared at him in confusion. Her eyes were asking the same question again and again as what you are doing bro.

“Amazing speech, it was just amazing,” Sam said

“You liked it? It took a lot of time to prepare this.” Ovi replied

“Why don’t you try in politics and government?” Sam asked

“No, I prefer to be a queen, not an elected president,” Ovi answered

“Oh, I got your point.” Sam nodde

“What is this going on Sam?” Eva shouted, “Did you forget that why are we here and who she is?”

“Oh, yes sorry. I just lost in her speech.” Sam said, “So what next, are you going to give that stone to us or not?”

“You really want an answer to that?” Ovi said

“I guess that means a no,” Sam said

“But I have an offer for you.” Ovi said “Come Eva, join my army. You don’t have the man you don’t have the powers and you don’t have mirror world anymore. Why lead those poor souls into slaughter there is no need for a battle get on to your knees and kneel. I am a woman of mercy.”

“I am not going to take that deal under any circumstances,” Eva replied in an angry voice.

“Let me complete first.” Ovi interrupted Eva in between. “My army is standing at the shore of the floating island, waiting for my command. So I am giving you an hour’s time to think. If you think of taking this offer than you know where to find me otherwise you know the consequence.”

Eva quickly took her sword out and charged towards Ovi. She thought of killing her right there so that all this will stop with her death. As she was about to kill her from behind Ovi quickly turns defended herself with her sword and then unarmed Eva with her quick moves.

“You are not going to die today. Go home and think about my proposal because the clock is ticking.” Ovi said calmly.

The Floating Island

“The time has come. We have received the orders from our Queen and it says, destroy the island.” General said to his army. “So start the show.”

“Archers take your position.” Prince Oscar shouted who was protecting the walls. “Get your shields up! Watch for arrows from the windows!”

Oscar barked orders pierced the terrace. He snatched a longbow from the wall nearby and drew a fire arrow on their attacker. Everyone follows him. Arrows from the whole part of the wall caught the black warriors and they toppled off the top of the ship. Their army on the ground uses this time to run to their positions as their attackers were trying to defend the fire arrows rain.

“How long have they been watching us?” someone from the black warriors growled.

“Probably hours.” The whisper that drifted back shook a little.

Rohini was extremely tense and worried. She didn’t have the same confidence that she had in the morning. The scenes of the last battle that she fought came in front of her eyes. She got paralyzed and stuck in the moment by thinking of the loss that she suffered in that battle.

“I saw them, those shadows on the roof across the street. I saw them, and didn’t do a damned thing.” She started talking rubbish things. “If their attack had started even a little earlier, they would have killed me in my sleep.”

“This is not the time Rohini.” Mark shouted, “Get your head straight and prepare to attack.”

Rohini shook the hurtful thought away, trying to expel a raw pain that was beginning to draw between her eyebrows. A great bell sounded in her ears. It faded more slowly this time. With a scowl, Rohini released another arrow just as the windows darkened.

A dozen forms blocked the moonlight, crouching in the street through secret passages. Their ghostly silhouettes were greeted with the chilling battle cry of the knight’s army and the general public. The black warriors showed no fear and offered no response except for releasing a dozen small, steel balls that tumbled from their hands. They were the suicide bombers. The street exploded into blue smoke as the canisters hit the ground.

The smoke balls were meant to cause confusion in the Knights army and to break their defence as the Black warrior's army has reached the shore and were waiting for an opportunity to enter the city. But the Knights army held their ranks, blinking the inky smoke from their eyes. As the first line of the attack broke through the mist and reached the gates, they were cut down quickly. They never even released a scream. The Knights won the first bout and their army got a new wave of motivational energy.

King Andri was proud that his army held their positions and lines despite the disconcerting smog that broke up shapes, sounds and created chaos inside the city. He urged them on and yelled in their shared triumph with every darting enemy he cut down. His blade was slick with oozing gore, and bodies littered the floor.

“Get the cannons.” Black Warriors general commands his army. “Fireeee” He shouted with such a powerful voice that his voice even reached the city.

The Fire cannon easily breaks the defence of Knights army. This made a path for the black army to easily enter the city.

Oscar charged the first attack. He urged them on and yelled in their shared triumph with every darting shape he cut down. His blade was slick with oozing gore, and bodies littered the floor at his feet. The battle cries of his filled the air. But the black warrior continued to block out the moonlight in a constant stream, and the knight's formations began to break under the enemy’s swift, relentless attacks. Obviously trained for the smoky conditions, the Oscar darted from the fog to strike before ducking back into obscurity. While their blades mostly connected with the interlocking shields of the knight's forces, the close quarters of the warehouse made traditional shield mates ineffective. The line began to falter.

Now it was time for Pshyfrost to show his moves. To play in the real match and use all his skills that he had learned while training. Pshyfrost spun as a black warrior darted to his right. He spun again as it came from the left. Trying to keep his back away from the increasingly frightful foes, Pshyfrost turned, again and again, making his way to the nearest wall. Finally, he saw a clear chance and struck out with his icy hands. He don’t need any blade his hands are enough to do the job. His hands caught him cleanly through the middle and came away coated in blood. But too late did he see the second black warrior dart from the side. A burning agony sprouted from his ribcage. Mark was quick enough to turn and kill him too, but a third shadow sprang from the smoke again. The Knights were outnumbered by the blacks, but Pshyfrost was extremely good with his powers.

“Keep your formation! The smoke is clearing!” king Andri command came out with more strength than he felt he had. But then there was the sudden sound of steel and bronze shields. It was a sound which created by the black warriors who were locking into a formation, a formation of a blade.

This formation was one of the most deadly formations and killing everyone who tries to break the formation. The formation was marching forward straight inside the gates and toward the king. Pshyfrost tried to enter the formation and succeeded but he was then thrown out of it. Even Rohini and her fire-breathing dragon could not break it from the sky.

Oscar darted past him to the right, sprinting towards the formation lines. He lunged from his kneeling position and caught him in the small of the back. He fell heavily, and his blood pooled around his still twitching limbs. A warrior quickly came out of the formation and was about to kill Oscar, but Mark came to his rescue.

The king looked in danger as the blade was standing in front of him. His best warriors were unable to save him.

“Kai? Father!” His son Oscar’s voice rose to a frantic pitch somewhere behind him. He felt his heartbeat in her ear, and it slowly drowned out the bell that was knocking around inside her skull.

Just then a new wave of sounds hit the floating island, a new sound which brings hope, the hope of winning and surviving.

Another large fleet of ships attacks the fleet of black warriors from behind. Jonet was commanding the new fleet to the war. The roar of the Somako warriors created vibrations in the whole floating island.

Jonet came to the rescue of the floating island and gave a strong reply to Ovi. This is the first defeat of Ovi and it was just a starting as she will face a more reunited earth from now on.