Playing with Fire

Playing with Fire- Chapter Fifteen

To reach the prize one must pass through the shroud, giving up their comfort to unlock the mysteries

Only when you have felt the pain of millenia may you learn what is offered"

The old man rolled the scroll back up and passed it to me, placing it in my frozen hands. I shook my head to regain my composure and clear the confusion.

"What the hell does that mean?" I sputtered, hands on the smooth fabric of the green tunic that covered my hips. "None of it makes any sense!" The old man shrugged nonchalantly.

"I ain't got no damn idea," he chuckled, settling himslef down on a discarded cushion and opening a leather-bound book. It remained silent save for the sounds of him flipping the crisp yellow pages. He didn't seem to even realize we were still there. Hayden shook his head in frustration. I felt the same as he did, especially when the elderly man turned around and continued reading.

I opened my mouth. "Where is the Black Lake Mountain Range?" The old man ignored the question, and Hayden clenched his fists.

"How do we get there without a Dragon?"

"What does the riddle mean?"

"Did you ever give this information to anyone else?" The old man spun in his seat, then lifted himself much quicker than a man his age should have been able to. His brown eyes seemed sad for a moment, a hidden flicker of devastation. It was gone before I could realize what it meant.

 "Only one other," he muttered, not meeting either of our eyes. "A man, maybe thirty-five. He seemed very ambitious, very interested in just what the sandstone instructed. Too interested, really. I never saw his face, he covered it up because of the winter winds, but his eyes were blue and his hair was very dark. The rest of him was covered in fabric. He visited every day, learning more and more about the Shāyán de xié'è and the Black Lake Mountain Range. One day, after two years of coming to my house daily, he disappeared. I never saw him again. He may just be the one you are looking for; he knew more about than anyone besides myself."

I stared in horror at the old man, thinking of someone with bad intentions finding and putting use to the evil practices rumoured to be on the sandstone. Was this mysterious man the one we were looking for?

"Thanks," I murmured, leaving the old man to return to his book. Hayden huffed, seemingly unhappy at the help of the old man, but followed me out the door. The sky was stil dark, and yet the Sacred Dragon Pearl didn't become frigid in the cold night air. Rather, it almost pulsed with an inner warmth.

We walked through the streets until Hayden spotted a few Guards stationed outside a cafe. I ran up to them, dropped the Pearl into the hands of the shortest one, and muttered a quick, "here you go." The surprise on their faces was comic, and as soon as I had sprinted back into the shadows to join Hayden I burst into silent laughter.

"Oh man," Hayden snorted. "Did you see their faces? They certainly weren't expecting that!" I giggled softly, leading Hayden and myself to an unknown destination. I had no idea how we were going to get to the Black Lake Mountains.

I voiced this aloud, waiting for Hayden to come up with something as I tried to solve the problem as well. Finally Hayden snapped his fingers, a sound that reverberated around the small alley we were hiding in and made me grimace as I checked to make sure none had heard.

"We can catch the next wagon travelling there," he said, looking proud of himself for coming up with it. "We learned about them, remember? They bring miners up to the Black Lake Mountain Range, for the rare gems found on the shores of the lakes." I nodded, eyes sparkling as I realized that we still had a chance. Of course, we would have to figure out what that riddle meant...

We kept a steady pace through the city, following the map that showed us the exact location of the wagons. The rooftops kept us away from the Guards and out of sight of the streetlamps. The Sun was just starting to rise as we caught site of them, white tops gleaming like tiny pebbles against a backdrop of dirt roads and green hills. Far beyond them we could see the outlines of snow-capped mountains, silhouetted against the orange and pink sunrise.

"Wow," I breathed, taking a few steps closer as my eyes drank in the beauty of the scene in front of me. Moutains, hills even, were new to me. The closest I'd ever seen to them were the tall islands of the Dragon Isles, but those didn't compare to the majestic range before me.

The Sun peeked over the mountains just as we made it to the wagons. The area was bustling with people, all dressed in rough, dirty garb that came with miners. A tall, lanky man was directing miners to the wagons, checking to make sure they had what they needed.

"Where are your clothes?" he demanded, looking us up and down. "Scratch that. Why do you have a girl with you?" Hayden and I gulped.

"Our father sent us here to punish us and teach us the value of hard work," Hayden explained. The man seemed to accept it, and reached behind him to pull two packages from a table. They contained miners overalls, a few tools and a set of matches.

"Get changed there," he said, pointing to a wooden shack that smelled of manure and sweat. "Then hurry up and get into a wagon. We leave in five minutes." We raced into the shack, facing opposite walls as we slipped out of our usual garments and into the tough fabric of the miners overalls.

The wagons smelled like sweat as well, especially the overweight man that sat extra close to me and leered at me with blackened teeth. Besides him, everyone else pretty much ignored us. We werenèt all that interesting to a group of miners.

When we finally started moving, I leaned out the back to get a view of the city. It was all tall buildings and in the center of it all a massive black and red castle. The Sacred Dragon Pearl was probably in there right now.

"Here we go," I murmured, so quiet that onlt Hayden could hear. "The beginning of another adventure. Let's hope it's a short one." Hayden nodded.

"Let's finish it, soon."

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YAYY!! I finally finished this, and on my birthday! Thank you muse for recognising this! I had the busiest weekend ever, so... yeah. Hop you guys enjoyed, and have fun reading the rest! Once it gets finished, of course. Wish me luck.