CORDELIA

Chapter 4

I slowly opened my eyes, half awakened , all I could hear was the dripping of water which echoed everytime it fell from the stalactites. My head was hurting and I felt dizzy, the surroundings were extremely cold. I looked around , it was a dark ice cave with sharp icicles and flowstones hanging from the ceiling , the hellicities covering either side of the passage with crystals of ice stacked near the bottom. The gloomy azure light reflecting from these crystals helped me to look around as I took big steps pushing through the thick snow. I reached the end of the path which had a sloping end ,and my eyes widened. There was a huge ruined ship standing there in the middle of water crashed against the large hellicities, completely broken and frozen , few tree branches protruding out from there and between the ship, the shrouds were hanging from the broken mast. It almost looked like our ship.  

" Where am I ? What are these? Am I alone here", were the only thoughts that circled my mind.  

" You are not alone here", I was startled by a sudden deep voice. I looked around and got flabbergasted as I saw a young boy who seemed to be my age or a year older. He was wearing a scruff shirt half torned revealing his lean muscular chest, breeches and a sashing cloth and belt wrapped his chest. He had blonde hair and blue eyes which sparkled like those of ice crystals and had a black eye patch covering one of his eyes.  

" Who are you?" What are you doing here?" 

" I am Edwin."

" What are you doing here? And you look…" 

" Don't mind my looks, I came here to show you your way.", he said with a sad smile. 

" What are you talking about..! Where are my friends?"  

" Probably they are on their way too" 

" Which way are you talking about?" 

" Come here ", he said and went to the direction of the ship. 

" Wait! I will not go anywhere! Tell me what is happening? Where am I?" 

" You will not get any answer unless you follow me" , he said as he slipped down the slope holding the rocks and while reaching out for the rope hanging from the bulkhead, he climbed the rope and finally reached the bowsprit. 

" Here for you!" He cried and threw the rope towards me. I held it and looked at it, hesitating to make any further moves but finding no other choice in this deserted cave I decided to follow him and started climbing up and finally reached the top. He reached his hands out to pull me to the deck, his hands felt cold and lifeless.

" Maybe it got numb", I convinced myself.   
It was even darker inside. He was walking ahead of me. I felt uncomfortable as he was going deep into a dark gangway until we reached a staircase leading towards the downstairs compartment. He went down. 

" I don't think that we should go in", I said sheepishly but it was weird as he did not give any reply and started to climb down the stairs. I followed him, it was not only pitch dark but an eerie silence surrounded the path which made me shiver. I held him tightly as I could barely see anything. His body was getting colder and the silence was no more to be felt rather I could hear the sound of ocean waves. Finally we reached the bottom but I was astonished. I could hear the sound of wild waves and howling storms just like what I heard on the ship . But my breath got taken when I heard the scary yet faint screams of people as if they were being brutally slaughtered. I shivered and backed off until I got tripped by something. It was a wooden box , I opened it and saw an old golden signet ring which had a skull carved on it. I held it in my hand , the emerald on top of it gave an eerie glow with bright light coming out of it engulfing me that I could barely see anything.