Whispers of darkness: Secrets

3. Inside stone

Mirya screamed. It was dark and damp, but it wasn't cold. She was falling, and it felt almost like she was on fire. She'd fallen into rock, but... it felt like air.

What's happening? Where is this going to take me? Why did I ever listen to that cat? He was probably just my imagination.

Her thought came to an erupt halt when she stopped in mid air. Wind whipped her hair around her face and her muddy dress fluttered.

As her eyes got use to the light, she saw Whispers standing on the air beside her. The strong wing blew through his fur, ruffling it this way and that.

"Is this... real? Or am I dreaming?" She gasped when she saw that they were in a cave with a stream of water flowing beneath them. It was all glowing with a blueish tint. But there was an exit. All the colors glowed through, and Mirya wondered what was in there. "Where is this place?"

"It's the Ithlondern." Whispers answered.

"The whatnow?"

"The Ithlondern. You'll have a lot to learn once we get to the place you need to go."

"Is this... magic?"

"Kind of... though where I come from it's called Cetey."

"Cetey." She repeated the name a few more times. For some reason it sounded... right.

"That's right. Now we must continue. I'm sure they're not far behind."

"Who's 'they'?" Mirya's heart thumped hard as she and Whispers touched the ground right beside the stream. If Whispers wanted to get away from 'them', then they must not be good.

"They're not good, trust me." Whispers rushed ahead before Mirya could ask how he knew what she'd just thought. So instead, she rushed after him.

But he stopped right before they got to the exit.

"You might want to prepare yourself. This won't even be the most shocking thing you'll see today."

"Umm... I'm ready." She said.

"If you say so. But I can sense your hesitation now, and it says your not."

He was right. There was nothing that could've prepared her for the sight in front of her. But somehow, she managed to stay standing.

They were in a Crystal cave. A huge one. The roof was so very high, and it streached out so far that Mirya couldn't even see one side of it.

The stream that she and Whispers had been walking beside sprayed a sparkly mist as it flowed up. Like a waterfall, but more like a waterfly, or something.

The 'waterfly'- Mirya had decided to call it that- was split in the middle, revealing a steep drop off a cliff. Likely spikes at the bottom.

"This part takes trust." Whispers meowed.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean what I said. Trust. There's a bridge there, and you have to trust it to see it."

"Really." Mirya wasn't convinced. "You want me to tell myself that there's a bridge, and walk off the edge of a cliff, just because you told me to?"

"Basically, yes."

She laughed. "Not gonna happen."

"Please, you have to trust."

"Trust what?"

"Trust me- and the bridge. And never trust what your instinct tells you."

"Hmm... still not convinced..."

"Okayfine!" He padded towards the cliff, took a deep breath, and stepped off.

"Wha-?!" Mirya was shocked. Whispers was standing on the air!

"Now will you come?"

"Okay," She agreed, walking to the edge. But before she could step off, she looked down. 

"Bad idea." Whispers grumbled as she stepped back. There were sharp, pointed crystals at the bottom- very sharp, and very pointed.

But she saw Whispers do it, so she knew it was there.

She closed her eyes and stepped forward.

"You can open your eyes now."

She did, and was shocked for the third or fourth time. She wasn't standing on air. It was a bridge made entirely of... rubies.

It was shimmering red.

"What? But... how?" She was very confused.

"It's Cetey. What did you expect." He perked his ears suddenly. "Hurry up! We must go now!" He started running.

Mirya had no choice but to follow. But she looked back once, and saw a flicker of a dark blue- and the shimmer of something metal, like a sword. That made her run faster, and she didn't look back again.

"What is this place?" Mirya was in a different cave. It wasn't as beautiful as the crystal cave, and it wasn't as magical as the time when she sank in the rock, but it had it's own type of beauty and magic.

"Come," Whispers hissed quietly. "we must get past the hole in the roof and into the secret tunnel."

"There's no hole in the roof." Mirya whispered.

"It's farther down. And be as quiet as you can so we can sneak past the guards."

"There're guards?!"

"Yes. The Kingdom of Cetey and the Ithlondern League are not exactly friends right now- and," he added before she could ask what the Ithlondern League was. "I'll explain everything to you once we get where we need to go."

They continued in silence, and surprisingly there were no guards.

"Break time." Whispers told her as they exited the small tunnel and entered a cave with vines coating the walls.

"Is that the hole in the roof that you were talking about?" She asked, pointing up to the gaping hole above them.

"Yes. Stay in the shadows."

"Okay." She watched him glance around wearily before running right into a wall. Into the wall. She sighed, running after him and into the stone.

When she emerged on the other side, it wasn't another cave that greeted her like she had expected. It was... a boy?

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