The Crown, The Elixir, The Sword (on hiatus)

Starry Skies

Just as the girls were about to exit the chamber, the ground started to shake as a creaking echoed through the room.

"What now?" Sasha complained.

Slabs of stone sprouted along the walls, forming a spiral staircase up to the roof. As the staircase formed, the ceiling slowly rose until it opened up, revealing a star-filled sky.

"Sooo," Anne whistled. "What do we do?"

"I think we just go up the stairs," Marcy responded.

Slowly, the girls walked towards the staircase. They looked up to the sky far above. With a deep breath, they braced themselves for the trek and started climbing. Time passed slowly, as their heavy breathing echoed through the chamber. Halfway up, Marcy staggered and slumped against the wall. Her short breaths whistled in the air.

"Marcy?" Sasha started. "Are you alright? Do you need to sit down?"

"Yeah," she managed. "I'm fine."

"We should take a break," Anne suggested.

"No!" Marcy argued, "I mean, I'm alright. Let's keep going."

Marcy pushed herself up, and continued up the stairs, supporting herself against the wall.

The girls progressed up the stairs much slower now, the lights around them shifting as the sky twisted far above. Soon the stars faded as night turned to day, still, the sky seemed no closer. Finally, when the sun crested over the rim of the cavern. With shaking legs and heavy breaths, the girls tumbled over the edge and lay on the cool; late-morning stone. Minutes passed as their ragged breathing calmed and their tense muscles relaxed. When quiet finally passed over them, Anne pushed herself up and looked at the landscape around them.

The three girls had emerged on a windswept plateau, bare trees provided weak shade across the space. Patches of dry grass grew through cracks in the stone. A snow-capped mountain towered above them, and far below the forest glittered in the sun. heavy fog covered the canopy so only the tops of trees were visible, but Anne could make out the faint shape of many strange creatures moving amongst the wreckage from the storm. Sasha and Marcy had also sat up and were looking at their surroundings.

"We must be halfway up the mountain!' Marcy gasped.

"Seriously?" Sasha asked, "But we went so far underground, it didn't seem we walked nearly long enough to make up that distance. if not double it."

"That's what I don't understand." Marcy responded.

"Well, whatever the reason," Anne interjected. "I hope the other temples are easier than this one."

"Don't get your hopes up." Sasha stated flatly.

With that, the girls stood up and looked for a way to descend the mountain. Ash dust blew in their faces, and leaves crunched under their feet as they walked. Time passed as the sounds of the forest echoed around them, and the sunlight fell over them, casting long shadows across their path.

"So," Sasha said, breaking the silence. "Why a sword?"

"I've been thinking about that," Marcy answered, hopping over a loose stone. "From my research, each of these stones was supposedly created by the Great Guardian. Each one represents a 'Strength' of heroes. Heart strong; mind strong; and physically strong. The first temple was physical strength, and to me, it seems as though the temples are giving us items that represent that strength."

"I wonder what the other items are." Anne said, looking toward the horizon.

After some time, the girls made it to the bottom of the mountain and started to look for the clearing where their horses were. After locating the cave, they followed the river to the meadow. Thankfully, the horses were still there and appeared to be unbothered. As the girls approached, Bessie lifted her head and looked at Anne. She whinnied happily and pranced over the brunette. Anne brushed her hand against the mare's snout, the horse huffed and moved toward her hand.

"Hey, sweet girl." She hummed resting her head on the horse's neck.

From above, Rocky swooped down and landed on Sasha's shoulder.

"We should probably send a message to the queen, and let her know that we have retrieved the first stone."

"I'll do that now," Marcy said, stepping toward Joe.

She went to a saddle bag with mesh siding and a wood frame. Marcy undid the clasps and a creature jumped out onto Marcy's hand. The creature fit perfectly in Marcy's palm, with feathers along its entire body. It was mostly blueish-grey, with flecks of reddish, purple, and green on its wings.

The bird turned its head and looked up at Marcy with one eye, Cooo, it hummed, stomping its feet.

"Hey, Iris," Marcy said, stroking the pigeon gently with her finger.

"You've had that thing with you this whole time?!" Anne shouted.

"uh..yeah?" Marcy said laughing lightly. "she's usually pretty quiet but-"

"So, she was in that box, this whole time?" Anne asked.

"we'll, yeah" She tried to explain, "Iris doesn't need too much space, and is pretty self-reliant. Plus, she is a homing pigeon, I thought it would be a good idea."

"You can gawk over the bird later Anne, right now we need to get this message out before it gets too dark." Sasha stepped forward, dropping her bag on the ground.

Quickly the girls got to work. Marcy wrote a message for the queen, while Anne and Sasha set up camp.

"We are almost out of food." Anne said digging around in the saddle bags.

"I think there is a town nearby..." Sasha responded, stoking the fire. "Marcy, write down that we are headed for Elnry to stock up on supplies."

By the time the message was complete, it was four pages long and briefly summarised their journey so far. Marcy slid the paper into a tube and tied it to Iris' leg. She raised the bird into the air, sending it off to Caecilia. The three girls sat around the campfire, they focused on rationing their food and talked lightly. sparks from the fire fluttered up joining the stars in the sky.