The Explorer's Quest

Everything Falls in the End

Vanessa picked the Stone up from the ground. She cringed as her eyes turned blue and the mark on her cheek from when Brutus slapped her disappeared.

"We have to get out of here," said Johnny. He started running outside and the others followed him, as well as the stone warriors that had killed Brutus.

They came outside to the stone stairs. The wind had really started to blow hard now, it blew Johnny's hood down and revealed his greasy hair. He turned around to make sure the other three had followed, and Hugo was just coming out of the fortress. Johnny took a step down onto one of the stairs and the rest collapsed down into the water. He jumped back, startled, then said, "Come on! Up this way!" He led the group up a small path that had been revealed in the destruction.

Everyone scrambled up the rocky path, holding onto roots poking out of the natural wall next to them for support. The wind was merciless, and the warriors were following them up the path but slowly dusting away from the wind. Vanessa tripped, and dropped the Chintimanni Stone. It rolled off the side of the path and plummeted into the water below. "No!" she screamed.

"Just leave it," said Hugo.

One of the warriors slammed its axe down next to Vanessa, but it touched the ground it crumbled into pieces. She got up and grabbed another root for support, and Johnny shot the warrior with his revolver twice. The warrior fell backwards and dusted, its orange eyes leaving its body.

They made their way up to the top of the cliff where the path had led them, and surprisingly the wind slowed a little. Johnny looked over the edge at the fortress, and watched the dust blow it all away, the cracks in the earth pulling it down, the walls collapsing inwards. He looked down at the dock, where he saw the ship breaking apart and sinking into the cold waters, the same waters in which the Chintimanni Stone rested and where it would rest for all eternity. The trees in the distance slowly withered away into dried weeds, their leaves flying away and leaving them behind forever.

Hugo and Grant walked over and stood next to Johnny, and Vanessa sat on a rock to the side. "And just like that, everything is gone," said Grant. "We didn't even get a chance to get any of the treasure."

Johnny's hair blew to the side. He let the wind control his hair this time. It felt good. "The treasure is not what makes the journey special. It's the expedition itself, the adventure. 'It's never about the treasure, or the gold or the artifacts. It's about the adventure, the experience. It's about living your life to the fullest, finding your full potential and expanding it.' We all did things we didn't know we were capable of."

"Hold on," said Hugo. He searched through his satchel and pulled out a few gold coins. "I still managed to get at least a little bit of treasure." The gold coin began to fade, it started to shrink and rust formed on it. A hole appeared in the coin and it got larger and larger until the coin was gone. Just like everything else, the coins had faded from existence as well.

All four of them stayed there for awhile, letting the breeze comfort them and watching the sun rise out of the clouds and reveal itself.

"Well, what do we do now?" asked Hugo.

"We go home," said Johnny.

Nothing in this world ever lasts forever. And all good things must come to an end. However, I can assure you that although this may seem like the end of a story, the sun is only rising, and this is not the end of the adventures of Johnny Thundré and his partners.