CRYSTALLUM LOST DREAMS | Fantasy Novel |

Chapter 17 - Part 3

She shook her head. "It wasn't your fault."

"You shouldn't be near me, there's a danger I could hurt you."

"You wouldn't hurt me..."

He shuddered, moved instinctively, and turned her forehead to face him. Elidana stretched a forced smile and tucked her hair back with the hairpin. She gave him a kiss and took more time than usual.

Cora looked up. "Goodnight, Elidana," he whispered, "may joyful dreams accompany you until dawn." This time, he wasn't pretending, no pretense behind that gesture. As far as it was worth, Cora really wanted her to forget everything for one night.

Elidana held her breath and stood up. She left the tent without even arguing or thanking him. He ran a hand over his eyes and slipped onto the bed.

His eyelids, in the end, became heavy and he could no longer distinguish sleep from wakefulness.

He heard a rumble, a deafening noise that made him jump to his feet and run outside. The idea that the Kharzanians had found them gripped his chest. He turned towards the now extinguished campfire and checked tent by tent, seeing that each of his friends was sleeping in their place. "But what..." he said aloud. He looked for Camiel, who was sleeping sitting up, clutching the hilt of Iak's sword, as if nothing had disturbed his rest.

With a growing doubt inside, Cora crossed the campsite. A gust of wind rose from the ground, tousling his hair and enveloping him in a whirlwind that pushed him forward.

Before he knew it, he found himself once again before the monoliths. He tried to observe the inside of the opening. There was something there. He squinted his eyes; perhaps it was just an illusion. But with a second glance, he caught a glimpse of a small flame, a flicker that began to pulsate. His heart began to beat with force. An inexplicable burning dried up his mouth, and his forehead was covered in sweat. That flame, as distant as a candle, had captured his attention.

Elena appeared less than an arm's length away from him. "Who are you?" she asked.

He took a step back. "Cora," he replied.

"What do you know about the Fourth Dogma?" Miria interjected. The twins were now just two simple women made of flesh; the moon's shadow only marked their outline.

"Huh?" Cora went back to observe the gallery.

"The colors of the Dormin tree are those of the sea and the sky, but the fire that fuels the Pact Rite is as red as blood, and you have just witnessed it," Elena said in a tone halfway between fear and curiosity.

Both remained still, facing him.

"What is that light?" Cora asked.

"We don't know. None of us was involved in what Dormin did not create," Miria spoke calmly, "A necessary lie so that the sacred land of Laeth could still smile at its children."

"Am I dreaming?" Cora asked; the light inside the tunnel clicked like a torch flame, and he flinched.

"This is our world, the place where our consciousness resides. Whether it's a dream or reality, what does it matter?" Elena asked, "You have seen beyond our judgment, Traveler. That's enough to spare you from death."

"We just want to find a place to hide, and you're capable of stopping those who want to harm us," Cora explained.

Elena and Miria looked at him again. Cora felt their eyes on him even though he couldn't scrutinize their expression. "A gift, yours. An ancient gift older than these mountains. Accept a flower that has not yet bloomed and that holds every drop of its essence waiting to awaken," Miria said.

"Will it be enough?" asked Elena.

Cora shifted his gaze between the two of them.

"Will you unravel Laeth's deception, Traveler? Are you capable of it?" they said in un unison. "In centuries past, you are the first to have discovered the hidden fire."

"I don't know what you're talking about, but if it's necessary to enter, I ask you to give me a chance."

They bowed their heads and wrapped themselves in their clothes. It seemed like a ritual. For Cora, it was approval given by a mere nod of the head. "So be it," they said at the same time.

Cora abruptly opened his eyes, stunned awake. Hyon and Elidana were screaming like mad.

"Hurry, let's go!" the girl shouted with her head in the tent.

"What happened?" he asked, drenched in sweat. It wasn't yet a day.

"Come on! Hyon said to grab our things. The guardians are not in the monoliths, the barrier has just opened in front of the passage."

Cora grabbed the sack and ran to the others. Camiel was already at the entrance and continued to throw stones into the gallery.

"Run!" said Hyon. He hopped with the sack in his arms and used his staff to avoid dropping anything. Aran, Fez, and Marmorel were by his side.

"Go through..." said Camiel. He entered last and the barrier closed behind him.

"But how..." Hyon exclaimed once inside. The light had returned to the large stones. Bewildered, she glanced at Camiel.

"Take it for what it is, master," the Hozman said. "A stroke of luck."

Hyon shook his head. "There is no such thing as luck around here, of that you can be certain.