The Heartstone Journey

Book 1 | Ch. 10 - Dazzling Golden Dungeon

Early morning had set with the sun showing itself with all its blinding glory lighting up the world forcing the shadows back to the depths of whence it came. The two woke up to the smell of burning wood as their fire had died down during the night. Royal got up first getting dressed and preparing himself for the day ahead. He quickly went outside to check the weather conditions and discovered that it was quite chilly even with the sun shining bright. The wind felt as if it were trying to freeze you to death. The temperature was much lower than it usually is out of nowhere making Royal wonder what caused such drastic change. Cloudy came out from the little cave taking a gander noticing a roaming fog rolling in around them.

"It'd be dangerous to move in this weather. We should stay put till it dissipates just a bit at least."

"Yeah I think so too. That would also allow Nick to get just a bit more sleep so we don't have to hear his whining the entire time for the rest of the way up."

Royal said exhaustedly.

They both chuckled at the thought of Nick complaining the moment he wakes up. The fog grew thicker as they kept watch for monsters and other threats. Eventually the fog died down leaving the sky clear blue with puffy white clouds floating aimlessly.

"We should be able to continue with our journey now. Let's make haste."

Royal said breaking the silence as they all gathered themselves ready to depart.

"Yeah lets go! We wouldn't want to get lost or run into any problems."

Cloudy claimed.

"Alright everyone lets go!"

Royal yelled out to Nick as he got up in a daze barely able to notice what was going on but was eager to get out and away from the foggy weather and ominous threats once he came to understanding. As they began their trek Nick held onto Cloudy's shoulder for dear life for fear of falling down the cliff face. He wasn't sure if he could catch himself in time should he fall which made him frightened of heights.

"I think it's best if you hold onto me instead of falling."

Cloudy said.

"Huh?" Nick glanced up at him puzzled.

"I'm sorry to ask you to do this but would you mind holding my arm a bit tighter? I don't think I can keep myself upright if you keep moving around so much."

Nick nodded his head placing his other hand to Cloudy's shoulder.

"Thanks."

Royal smiled and patted his back reassuring Nick that he would be fine. They continued their journey leading the way without incident. Their sights eventually locked onto the top of the peak finally witnessing the top ahead with only just a short way to go now encouraging them more than before to reach their destination. The steps began to crumble under their own feet as if it was just sand. The walls of the mountain would shake and tremble causing rubble, debris to almost hit the three sending them down the mountain in a bad way. Clouds lingered in the sky with the sun poking through occasionally causing the tops of the clouds to glow and sparkle. As they neared to the top Royal went up ahead to scout out the area for any traps or dangers that may lurk nearby. After walking through the rocky terrain for a while and avoiding a few pitfalls Royal soon located a large opening that led through to the other side.

Royal mentioned for the others to wait for him as he ventured forward cautiously looking over his shoulder to see if anyone followed behind. He was relieved to see that there wasn't a single soul who came after him. He entered the tunnel to find it to be narrow with little room to walk through with a steep climb ahead. He went through careful not to lose his footing and make a fool of himself while climbing up until he reached the top. He saw light at the end making a dash for it forgetting he was supposed to look out for traps but fortunately his luck prevailed with nothing happening to him. What he saw made his jaw drop leaving him in awe. Eventually Nick and Cloudy followed behind not respecting Royal's order but he didn't mind this time so they could also see the wonderous scenery around them. Their breaths were stolen seeing everything around. They were at the top of the mountain top where everything was considerably larger than themselves. Rocks seemed like boulders, leaves were the twice the size of humans but not nearly the size of the leaves that came from Splinter Forest. The land spread out in front of them with fields of crops and plants covering the ground in abundance with tall trees surrounding it. There were plenty of animals roaming the top giving them a wide plot of land as they approached closer. The air was filled with the scent of flowers and the sweet aroma of fruits hanging in the branches above that were the size of trees. Birds were everywhere chirping merrily and singing their songs as they took flight for food shockingly though the animals were not the as large as the wildlife but it was confusing to say the least. Added to all of that there was even a lake in the center that could be considered a small ocean for how identical it looked.