The Seventh Secret

Chapter 14: The Gold Tunnels

Now we're going back to Poppy and Nevyn, who are currently with Dlav, Chasica, and Brummett as they are walking in the secret passage underneath the library. The children began touring the secret passages as part of their training as guardians of the Secret Library. Poppy could hear the whispers of those who were in the library before her time, and the whispers of those who would come after her time in Greywyn Academy was over.

She said, "Is the library in the tunnels?"

"Not exactly," Brummett said as they turned a corner. "But the tunnels were built to confuse those who sneak into the passages. There are five tunnels altogether and four of them lead to the dungeons."

"And the dungeons haven't been used in almost 100 years," said Dlav. The others stared at him as he continued, "The gold tunnel is what leads to the library, but we're not going to visit that place right now."

"So how do we find it?" said Nevyn. "The gold tunnels, I mean."

"Only if your light touches a glint of gold in the tunnels, and you need to be careful, as the tunnels can be deceiving," said Chasica. "Any of the tunnels can have a gold glint inside them, but that could lead you to the dungeons, and it's nigh impossible to escape from them. But if the entire tunnel turns to gold, then you have found the library. But not right now."

"So when do we show them how to find the library?" said Dlav.

"I said not right now, Dlav," Chasica said as she glared at them. "Would you take a look at them? They have no magical training and no eagerness to attend this school. But we're going to fix that. How we will do that, oh, I have a plan."

"Whatever your plans are, they're not good," said Brummett. "None of them are. Mostly, they involve you putting a spell on the person..."

"And what good am I if I happen to be the smartest student in the school and I can't practice my magic on the new guardians?" Chasica snapped at him.

As Chasica and Brummett argued, Poppy could hear her name being called. Or rather, that of Rhiassa. She found herself walking toward the sound. "Wait!" Nevyn saw her walking away and covered her ears, having taken her away from the noise. She turned around and glared at him, saying, "What was that for?"

"That's for what happens when you start following strange noises," said Nevyn. "You need to stay safe."

"Safety is for losers," Poppy snapped as she pulled Nevyn's hands off her ears. The sound was gone. "Anyway, we need to keep going. The rest of the group is waiting for us."

Nevyn nodded as they went to join the rest of the group.

* * * * *

Meanwhile, Skefan, Salvatore, and Yictocy went to the library to check Poppy and Nevyn. When Vanessa told them that the children were in the tunnels, they nodded and went back to the office to check on "Alex Frost."

"Alex Frost," also known as Hunter Shadowknight, was still in the office. He had been there for two hours, and was told to write about everything that had happened to him before he came to Greywyn Academy. He had lied about his association with Shadowwolf while attempting to play a role as an orphan who was oppressed by laws which prevented orphans from escaping their predicament by going to school and/or seeking work in other countries of the former empire.

Hunter set the quill down and stood up, hoping that his story about himself as an orphan would be accepted without any question. So far, he wrote, "I don't know who my father and mother were. All I know is that I've been in and out of different orphanages all my life. When I was 10 years old, I was forced to work as a servant to a wealthy family. I ran away from the family and hid in the streets, doing whatever I could to survive. When I lived on the streets for six years, I learned about the new guardians who had been taken to Greywyn Academy. Knowing that there was a chance for me to seek education without the repercussions of the law, I decided to chance it and take everything I owned, leaving my hometown of Eglatwea and come here."