"Miss Jubi!" Gilda exclaimed. Her shocked gaze reflected in the Elder around her.
"She spoke," Solar murmured.
"And she's right. We shouldn't go in those caves," Jolt said, glaring pointedly at Griffin.
"Yeah, I kind of agree," Pounce said hesitantly.
"They're just caves," Griffin said before anyone else could chime in.
"They're creepy caves. Something's not right about them," Jolt retorted. He jerked a thumb at Jubilee who had pressed her face against Gilda's leg. "Even the kid agrees."
"We're going, and that's that." Griffin nodded at Night Shade. "Lead the way."
Night Shade increased her red glow then stepped slowly into the cave. The other wisps increased their glows as well and Moonlight Band entered the Burnt Sand Caverns. Griffin followed Night Shade, stepping cautiously around thick stalactites jutting from the ground and ducking under stalagmites hanging from the ceiling. The wisps' red, light blue, and lavender glows spilled over the black rock, helping him to see where to step. It did little, though, to help search for the hidden Elder Object. Shadows flickered in vary-colored lights, filling in every divot and notch in the rock. Griffin tried shadow veiling once more, hoping to be able to sense the ancient, stronger magic like he'd done with the Merneyan shell. Just like the last two times, however, his vision immediately became flooded with inky black.
Griffin suddenly crashed into something hard, and he stumbled backward from the blow, pain throbbing in his forehead. He let the shadow veil slip away, revealing the thick stalagmite hanging directly in front of him. Night Shade paused and glanced back worriedly at him.
"Keep going," Griffin growled, stepping around the stalagmite and rubbing his head.
The Moonlight Band's footsteps echoed as they walked, their movements joining a faint dripping sound in the distance.
There must be an underwater spring or something here, Griffin mused.
The cave suddenly dipped down, dropping deeper into the earth and cutting them off entirely from the light of the cavern entrance. Griffin could sense his followers' unease, but he refused to let the pace slow.
"Griffin?" Night Shade spoke after some time, her voice sounding loud within the confines of the rock.
"What is it?" Griffin matched her stride, the wisp's strong glow washing over him in an eerie red light.
"I've been leading us down this main tunnel and bypassing the smaller caverns, but eventually we're going to have to turn," Night Shade explained. "I sent a ball of magic ahead and it bounced back. This tunnel leads to a dead end."
Griffin ran a hand through his thick black hair, frowning. "Very well. I'll figure out which tunnels to take and let you know."
Night Shade nodded then hesitated. "Um, also..."
Griffin fought against rolling his eyes. She's going to complain about the caves, isn't she?
"There really is something wrong here," the wisp said in a hushed voice, confirming Griffin's suspicions. She glanced back at the Elder behind them. "I don't want to make them panic, but I thought you should know."
Griffin sighed. "What makes you think something's wrong with the Burnt Sand caves?"
"This." Night Shade held out a hand and formed a sphere of red wisp magic. The sphere shone brightly for a second then flickered and went out.
YOU ARE READING
The Land of Green and Gold Part II: Silence
Fantasy*On hiatus until the rewrite for book 1 "Flight" is finished. Also note that chapters 1-19 are being rewritten and will actually form the final part of book 1* Long ago there were humans and a magical people called Elder. The humans despised the El...
