The Shadow Wanderers

Chapter 29

Everyone slept in the meadow instead of the caves, wanting to be in each other's sight while Ransley kept watch. They had decided to continue the journey as soon as the mist withdrew from the surface.

Changing into the clothes she had brought, and carrying a heavy heart, Calista rode her griffin with Zayden. Her anxieties about the rest of the journey had been peaking and she couldn't untangle one thought from the other. She felt her hopes slithering away despite her determination to complete the job they'd set out to do.

They were flying nowhere; directionless and weak. Calista noticed the air getting thick as they traveled further, having no idea how far they had reached from the starting point. She found it harder to breathe in the dense air, the sheer force of it blocking her nostrils.

The griffins' wings fluttered and faltered in the strong wind, their balance going haywire. Their creatures had started to panic, screeching out loud noises in confusion. Zayden held his griffin by his neck, gently stroking its fur to console it.

The rest of the griffins stopped in mid-air, as though an invisible wall of air stopped them from flying any further. Confusion seemed to surround in the air, infecting the immortals in its wake.

Ransley's griffin caught up with Zayden's, still struggling to fly.

"My king, trust this sign. The Cliffs want us to land," Ransley said, certainty dripping from his words. Zayden noticed how he was still following his idea of the cliffs playing them about this place, and now he believed it wanted them to land.

Zayden peeked below and a shiver ran down his spine as he saw the unusually barren land with the trees turning lifeless. Something about the place's eerie ambiance did not settle well with Zayden. Despite himself, he ordered them to retreat to the ground.

The griffins landed, feeling much more contended to be on their feet than in the air. Zayden helped Calista down while they looked around.

It was a graveyard of dead trees and grayed-out soil. The chill in the air forced Calista to rub her hands and hug herself tight. Ransley and the commanders appeared near Zayden.

"Your Majesty, I can feel the sword is nearby," said Ransley. His eyes appeared to be glinting, and a different kind of contentment could be seen on his face than the rest of them.

The commanders Xavier and Darin turned to the Serafiel with a look that screamed disbelief.

"If the Serafiel is willing to trust his gut instinct, then so are we," said Zayden, generally directing his words to all of them. Ransley nodded, inadvertently taking the lead and walking towards some nearby hills.

"Everyone, on your guard!" Zayden announced, and the soldiers all took their swords out or carried their weapon of choice in their hands.

The griffins were left behind with two volunteering soldiers, while the rest of them followed Ransley to a hill covered entirely in black. They walked around the hill till they come across an opening in its rigid core; a cave with a large mouth the shape of an arc.

The immortals had no problem seeing in the dark so they went inside; Calista holding Zayden's arm for guidance in the dark. There were chills on her body and a force fought inside her brain to stop following them blindly into dark places. But the other part of her irrationalized all her fears in determination to retrieve the sword, no matter what.

The inside of the cave was just as Calista had predicted—cold, dark, and damp. She turned her head everywhere to look at something, anything, but her eyes fell on nothing except pitch-blackness. The darkness of the place eerily reminded her of the Pit of Gloom, the simulation of which she had visited with Zayden.