Heart part 1

Chapter 30 - Further Down The Antlion's Trap

A cold air of silence spread across the room. It was so quiet, you could hear everyone's hearts thumping in their chests. Sandy and Dandy locked eyes for a few moments. Hers were fierce and alert while his remained light and carefree. By this point, everyone in the room had stopped what they were doing and had all of their attention focused on them. As several taut seconds passed by, they all waited with bated breath for someone to make the first move.

" You look quite disappointed for someone who's appalled." Sandy abruptly uttered, breaking the silence.

" Of course I'm disappointed!" Dandy gaudily exclaimed, shooting up from his seat. " I've just found out that dozens of people died on my land and there's no culprit to show for it! Who knows how many others he's claimed since then!"

Still giving him a dirty look, Sandy was unconvinced. " I know your kind. Don't think your little facade is going to fool me."

With his sly smile growing large, Dandy glanced down at her. His crimson penny eyes jeered at her from atop their thrones. Jaqueline looked across at Esther.

" H-hey, maybe we all should just try to calm down and get back to dinner. Wouldn't want all this food to go to waste." Jaqueline uttered, giving Sandy a stare. Ignoring her, she continued shooting him a glare.

Feeling a murderous glare send a chill up her spine, Sandy shot her eyes past Dandy and saw Bagon staring blood-drenched daggers her way. When he got there was a mystery, but what was certain was if she didn't watch her choice of words, then getting thrown in a dungeon would be the least of her concerns. Darting her eyes across the rest of the room, she could see the other guards doing the same. But amidst all their bloodlust, she could feel something else. She had no clue what it was, but she could sense something flowing in the air. Something great and unimaginable. Unbeknownst to her, a large crack emerged and began to tear its way across one of the legs of her chair. Taking a silent gulp, a pulse of fear coursed through her veins. But before she knew it, the feeling was gone. It was as if a switch had been flipped, it was gone in an instant. The large crack had frozen in place, stopping at the exact moment before disaster. Drifting her attention back to Dandy, he had already begun to sit back down.

" Anyways, there was something I was meaning to discuss with you four-" His eyes glanced across the room. "-or I guess I should say three. It's about our plans for tomorrow."

It took Esther and Jaqueline a moment to recoup.

" Wh-what about tomorrow?" Jaqueline asked, still sorting through the jumbled mess in her head.

Dandy grabbed his glass and began to bring it up. " I was wondering...are you three planning on taking another day or two to 'rest up' or are we going to start heading out? I can't imagine how far the Core could be and who knows how long it will take to find it. There are plenty of dangerous creatures that stalk the Staf desert."

" Oh, don't worry. We already know where it is, actually." Esther told him as he took a long sip and guzzled nearly half of the glass' contents down.

" Oh really?" He licked his lips dry. " I hope you don't mind if I ask where you obtained such information."

The air in the room grew tense.

" Oh...well-" For a split second, she glanced over at the others. "-let's just say we got it from a reliable source."

" Supposedly..."

Letting his glass fall back down to the table, he ran his eyes across each of their faces. " If you aren't going to tell me...fine. But I will get the information out of you one day."

Letting out a sigh, he leaned up in his seat. " Well, where is it then? I'm sure you must have some sort of map or something."

" Of course. It's with the-" Esther stopped dead in her tracks. Her eyes grew wide. Looking at the others, they had the same expression. They must've now just realized it as well.