The False Prince

09 | The Storm of Fire

"Not a chance." Echo shook her furry head when Oliver had asked her to accompany him on his quest to find Prince Tabazan's missing brothers.

"Please!!! You're my only friend." The wizard pleaded.

"I'm not doing anything for you. It's not my fault nobody likes you." She stuck her tiny, pink nose up in the air.

"If you help me, I'll give you all the fish you want." He told her.

"For life?" She grinned mischievously.

"For life."

"Are you and your talking feline ready yet?" One of the guards snarled.

"Yes. Just give me the first letter, and we'll be on our way."

The man with the greasy hair handed him a rolled up piece of parchment. When Oliver had read all of the instructions, he gestured for them to follow him. They obeyed without complaint.

After about two hours of walking, the group of five stopped at a moonlit lagoon. It was all quite beautiful except for the sky, which Oliver stared at with horror. Describing the upper atmosphere as erratic was an understatement. The sky was literally on fire.

"What do we do now?" The two guards asked him.

"Um, get that boat over there." He pointed to a rowboat that was bobbing on the water near the shore of the sandy beach. The men retrieved the small vessel, and everyone got hopped in. Echo, who had an extreme fear of water, hid in Oliver's satchel. Two of the men rowed the boat toward the other end of the lagoon while Oliver lolled in his seat. The group had to constantly dodge giant balls of fire that were falling from the sky and stop them from scorching their boat, so traveling through the water was difficult. Suddenly, a celestial leviathan rose to the surface of the salty lake. Her majestic, silver scales gleamed like stars as she spun in a circular, downward motion. Speed seemed to be her prowess because, in no time, she had created a terrifying looking maelstrom.

"Turn back! Turn back!" Oliver screamed, but it was too late. They had been sucked into the maelstrom.