Lost In Battle

2

 Lastly, she showed me my room. It was small and cozy and looked out over the bright blue sea. Children ran around the white beach while their parents watched them adoringly, in the distance, seagulls swarmed a small fishing boat as the captain threw some fish at the hungry birds. The sun stood low on the horizon and seeing as Mum had started working the minute we arrived, I set out to enjoy the warm afternoon.

"Where are you going?" Ariadne's voice startled me. She was sat on the porch in an old rocking chair, an amused smile graced her face.

"I wanted to go for a walk. Got any recommendations on where I should go?"

"Go down to the sea, but turn left and follow the path through the dunes. It's lovely there, and not too crowded."

"Thanks! I'll be back before dark."

"Oh, and Archie?" She called as I was about to walk away.

"Yes?"

"Be careful out there. Don't get lost."

I gave her a small nod before heading in the direction she had pointed to. Beautiful white houses lined the sidewalk on either side, the sound of music and laughter could be heard through the entire street. I squinted a bit as the afternoon sun shone brightly on my face.

The path Ariadne had mentioned was slightly hidden behind a wall of rocks but as she had promised, it was almost deserted. I walked for a while until I reached a split, if I went right the road would lead me back to the overly packed beach. Left however, was a smaller path, that didn't look as though it was actually part of the track. Before I knew it, I had turned left.

The path was steep, steeper than I had anticipated. I tried to grab hold of a tree not too far from me but my shoes started slipping in the sand. I slid down the track before coming to a painful halt against the side of a cliff.

"Stupid slippery sand." I mumbled, pushing myself off the ground. As I looked around for another way back—there was no way I was going back up that hill—I noticed a small cave-like structure a bit further to my right. It was tight but I could just about squeeze through when I hunched over. At the end of the tunnel, vague light shone through and I could feel the chill breeze of the sea lightly caress my cheeks. Using the light of my phone I made my way down what seemed to be stairs carved into the rocks. The passage led to a small, deserted beach.

The minute I laid eyes on it I was perplexed. It wasn't the giant stone pillar rising from the water that caught my attention. No, it was the fact that the sea had seemed to split itself, creating a perfect path towards the pedestal. I tried to leave and get out of there—honestly, I did—but for some reason I felt myself walking closer, my feet sinking in the still wet sand.

At first glance the pillar looked like any other pillar you'd see on say for example the Parthenon, but my eye fell on a hand, carved delicately into the stone. Embedded inside of it was a small, glowing blue crystal. I traced the outline and without thinking, I pressed my hand to it. It fit perfectly in the carving, but as I tried to pull away, I found I couldn't.

The previously serene blue sea was quickly changing to a threatening mass, closing in on me faster than I liked. Storm clouds gathered above me, I could feel the ground shake from the booming thunder.

No, not this again! I thought to myself as the first flashes of lightning lit up the dark sky. As I tried to pull my hand away with all my might, a first bolt struck the pillar. Soon after, a second one hit, and before I knew it, the invisible walls that had been holding up the sea disappeared. The water submerged me almost instantly, the current pulled me in each and every direction, but still, I couldn't free my hand.