I stumbled over the vines as they latched around my feet, causing me to have to yank them free, breaking the thin green plant. My heart was racing as my legs begged for rest, but I refused to lose sight of the reindeer as it ran deeper into the rainforest, the vegetation slowly becoming less and less as I continued running further into the forest.
Then the reindeer seemed to disappear, I slowed down to a walk before looking around in confusion. "What?" I mumbled out, as I continued to look around before my eyes stopped on what looked like a door with the symbol of a vine surrounding a paw print. I walked up to the door, I raised my closed fist, about to knock but the door opened before I could. However, there was no one on the other side, curiosity sparked in my gaze as excitement filled my gut. "Ghost?" I questioned, walking through the doorway, before the door closed behind me, the room going dark.
Then torches hanging from the walls lit up, blue flames dancing along the ends, making a path down a tunnel. I followed the torches path hesitantly, looking around at the cavern walls seeing ancient paintings, each one telling a story of their own whether it be a battle or of peace. I looked around in awe till the tunnel split off into a small cavern, an orange glow emitting out of the room. I looked inside to see an old woman sitting in the middle of the room, a staff resting in front of her. I walked into the room, looking around to find familiar beings, Gaia and Anu
"You're late." The old lady spoke, humor in her tone.
"I'm sorry? Late for what?" I questioned, looking at the old lady in confusion.
"For your test." She responded as she stood up, picking up her staff as she did so, using it as a crutch as she turned around to look at me. "Now no more questions!" She spoke, placing a finger over my lips as I was about to question her further. "Follow me your majesty." She stated as she walked past me, going into the corridor.
I let out a sigh, shaking my head slightly as I followed behind the old woman. I remained silent as I looked around the cave walls, the sound of footsteps being the only thing I could hear as we moved deeper into the caverns. The torches flickering as a breeze whisked down the cavern sending chills down my spine. The old woman then stopped before an entrance, sunlight flooding into the open cavern. I looked around in awe as vines and moss came from the opened hole on the middle of the ceiling of the cavern. A small stream trickled across the middle of the floor, birds flying down, taking a bath in the stream. A range of flowers and plants grew around the cavern floor in the crevices of the rock.
"Your first test will be choosing something from this room." The old woman stated with a small nod, looking up at me expectantly.
I looked at her with a blank expression, wondering if she was being serious. Since when did anyone say anything about being tested? When nothing was said I let out a sigh, before I began walking around, looking along the ground as I merely walked around. I then noticed something out of the corner of my eye, looking over I see what looks like human bones. "What is this place?" I question as I look at the skeleton, crouching down to see a rusted sword going right in between the ribs.
"This cavern is a fine example of the world we live in. Life and death, good and evil." The old woman spoke as a butterfly flew past her face, landing on a spider web, the spider going over towards the butterfly, making it its meal. "However, these aren't always as clear as we think they are. Oftentimes, these things would be grey, as for it depends on the point of view of the person and who's telling the story." She added, her eyes trained on the butterfly and the spider.
"So I can choose anything in this room?" I questioned, my eyes trained on the sword in front of me.
"That is correct." The old woman answered with a nod.
I was about to reach for the sword before I noticed something in the other ribcage of the skeleton. I looked down seeing there was a black feather resting inside the other ribcage. I reached my hand inside the ribcage, grabbing a hold of the feather before pulling it out, examining it with my eyes.
"This, I choose this." I say as I stand up, holding out the black feather towards the old woman.
The old Atlantean let out a hum in interest, her eyes looking at the feather with a curious look. "Are you sure, child?"
"Positive." I responded without hesitation, watching as the old woman took the feather from my hands. She nodded, "Come, follow me. Your next test will begin." She then began to walk towards a cave on the far right side of the cavern. I followed behind her without complaint, interested in the next task despite the whole thing being so sudden.
She then entered another cavern, only this one was much darker, the only source of light was torches that were let up in the four corners of the room with a small table in the middle of the room with a bowl of colorful flames. "Find the dagger in this room." She spoke, gesturing to the room around us.
I raised a brow in her direction, wondering if she was being serious or not, I looked over to see a lazy grin on her lips, hearing her mumbling about food or something. I shook my head letting out a sigh, before walking up to the bowl in the middle of the room, seeing a silver dagger inside the bowl. I was about to reach my hand in till I stopped, thinking the flames were some sort of illusion, however I felt heat coming from the flames. Confused, I pulled my hand away, my brows contorting into confusion. I turned to look at the old woman who had her eyes closed with the lazy smile still on her face.
I looked back down at the bowl, before looking around the room, before my eyes landed on a brilliant orange flamed torch, something about it seemed familiar to me. I walked over to it, gaining the old woman's attention as she looked on with a curious gaze. I then picked up the torch, examined it for a few moments, noticing it was hollow. I then turned the torch upside down, a dagger with a phoenix symbol on the handle, fell out, landing onto the ground, bouncing slightly. I placed the torch back onto its holder before bending down, placing a finger on it, surprised to feel it was only warm. I picked up the dagger before carrying it over to the old woman.
"Clever girl." She complimented, taking the dagger from my hands to examine it herself. "Hmm, curious ... very curious." She mumbled, as she looked down at the handle of the dagger before slipping it into her sleeves. "Come, it is now time for the final test."
I followed her out of the cavern back into the hall, slowly growing more confused as time went on, rubbing my hand along the silver cuffs as my mind slipped into deep thought. 'What does all this mean?' I wondered as I followed the old woman into another room.
This room was filled with small wooden carvings of all sorts of animals ranging from fish to even the nedirine. I looked around, beginning to wonder who was able to do all this, especially of each animal.
"Choose one." The old woman spoke, leaning on her staff slightly.
I look at her before looking at the wooden carvings, walking forwards to take a look around. They were amazing, each and every one. Most looking almost like the real things, I couldn't help but giggle as I noticed a wooden figure looking similar to Echo. I walked past, glancing down at one that was a wolf for a moment before moving on. I then locked eyes with a wooden statue of a reindeer, looking as if it was walking across a grassy terrain. I reached down, picking up the reindeer statue, before jumping in surprise as the whole room went door, causing me to drop the statue as I looked around in confusion, light slowly returning to show the room empty. I then looked back in front of me, coming face to face with a reindeer, the same reindeer I have seen many times before.
I looked at it in awe, it huffed, it's hot breath warming my face. "Hello." I spoke in a warm voice, feeling as if I was speaking to an old friend. I reached my hand towards it, watching as it bent its head down, licking my hand causing me to giggle lightly.
I then hear a growl, I turn around seeing a familiar three headed dog, its three heads snarling in my direction. A woman with red skin and hair stepped into the light beside the three headed dog, a smirk decorating her lips. The symbols of the scythe and trident creating an x while the lightning bolt went down the middle. I looked right into her eyes to see the reflection of a burning city ... the city Atlantis. Screams echoed in my ears, along with the clashing of metal, lightning cackling, and thunderous roars.
I stumbled backward, the wooden carving falling from my grasp, tripping over my feet, causing me to fall onto the ground. I sat back up quickly, opening my eyes to see I was back in the wood carving room. I breathed heavily as the old woman crouched down next to me, holding the reindeer statue in her hand. Her face held seriousness, "What did you see?"
I looked at the statue for a moment before looking back up at her, "Destruction"
??? POV
A woman walked through the forest towards the beaches of the island, dragging a blood stained sword, a smirk decorating her lips. "Nothing has ever changed ... brother ... father. You two are still weak." She cackled, her eyes losing their sanity as she laughed.
"Your majesty." A voice spoke behind her, causing her laughter to come to a halt, her eyes returning to normal. She turned around to find two cloaked people, kneeling down in her presence. Behind them was a submerged Atlantic sub, the waves knocking in the side. "We are here to take you home."
A grin spread across her lips, as a longing shined in her eyes, "Home."
Hello ladies and gentleman and non-binary friends! I know it has been awhile. Sadly college and work have both been pushing me to work my butt off. Not to mention a certain new addition to care for.
Speaking of which, this is the surprise I wanted to show you all during my live on Instagram! Everyone I would like you to meet Loki, he is eight months old currently, loves to climb anything involving leaves, loves exploring, very curious, and hates water. He is a ball python, he is mostly an axanthic morph which means he will have more shads of black and grey than brown like normal ball pythons. He also wrapped his tail around my thumb and I knew he was the one (Mind you I held one that I was actually going to get before him but something didn't feel right with that one). So here he is!
So as you can guess ... I've had my hands full. But don't worry I am still working on each book evenly. Letting my brain choose which one it wants to write so I don't strain my brain too much and end up writing something trashy.
Well that is all I want to show ya! I hope you all have a good day/night! Till next time!