Chapter 9
2367 Words
After a few moments of silence, Ray turned back into his Digger form and stepped away from Isabel. She looked at him for a moment, heart racing with her back pressed against the wall, and she couldn’t believe he had gotten that close to her. Ray looked at her and chuckled at the look on her face.
“You good?” Ray asked, and Isabel nodded, feeling her cheeks flush.
Haven poked her head out of the c***k, and when she saw Ray and Isabel, she flew over to them. Isabel straightened and pushed herself off the wall.
“That was a close one,” she breathed, and Ray nodded.
“I’ll say,” chimed Ray.
Isabel’s cheeks turned red, and she looked away. Haven looked at the girl and shook her head.
“Do you think those monsters are going to come back?” asked Haven, and Ray looked at the fairy thoughtfully.
“They might,” he stated, and Isabel looked at them.
“Well, come on, then. Let’s get moving before they do decide to come back,” stated Isabel in a rushed tone, heading down the tunnel.
Ray and Haven looked at each other and then followed the girl.
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Ray and Isabel ran down the bending tunnel, and Haven fluttered with them. They checked every cell on the way, but there was still no sign of Dig. Surprisingly, there were other prisoners besides the old man they had run into before, but the captives looked at Ray and Isabel as if they hadn’t seen another living soul in centuries.
Ray, Haven, and Isabel hurried through the tunnel’s last leg and saw a large steel door at the end.
“That door leads to the castle,” stated the Fairy Guardian as they reached the door.
Ray noticed the control panel and looked at Haven.
“How long have these people been down here?” blurted Isabel, and Haven looked at her sadly.
“Most of their lives. After the guardians revealed themselves and the king was destroyed, everyone seemed to forget this place. I am also guilty of that,” explained the fairy and hung her head.
Ray looked at his Fairy Guardian with care and smiled.
“Once we find Dig, I think we can change that,” he stated, and Haven’s eyes lit up.
Isabel grinned at them. She didn’t mind seeing a softer side of the Earth Guardian and thought it was cute.
“Haven? Is that you?” asked a mysterious voice.
Ray and Isabel looked at the fairy as she gasped and fluttered to one of the cells. Curiously, Haven peered through the bars and saw her old friend’s face in the shadows.
“Dig?” she choked out, and Ray and Isabel looked at each other.
Curiously, Ray and Isabel walked over to the cell.
“Yes, my magical friend, It’s me,” the man said and stepped into the light.
Haven sighed happily and flew into the cell.
“No! Wait!” yelled Ray as he tried to grab the fairy, but the creature was too quick for him.
Ray glanced into the cell and locked eyes with his Spirit Guardian. Dig’s eyes widened, and Ray smiled.
“By the gods, you’re here!” he exclaimed, and Ray grinned.
“Of course. You know I couldn’t leave you in this dingy place to rot,” Ray chuckled, and Dig laughed.
Isabel looked at them and cleared her throat.
“Yeah, I don’t see the humor in this, so can we get back to the mission?” she asked, annoyed.
“Yes, I agree with her,” chimed Jared.
Ray and Dig nodded as their smiles faded and cleared their throats.
“Right. There will be plenty of time for chit-chat once you get me out of here,” said Dig, and Isabel gave him a dirty look.
“You mean when we get everyone out of here!” she snapped, and Dig looked at Ray.
“You forgot about your people down here. I think the least you can do is let them live the rest of their lives in peace.”
Dig looked at Ray and sighed.
“Of course. We will free everyone,” the Spirit Guardian said, and Isabel grinned.
“Thank you, Dig.”
Dig nodded, and Ray grinned. Haven happily fluttered around the cell, and everyone chuckled.
“Okay, now how do we get these cells open?” asked Ray, and Dig pointed to the control box by the door.
“One of those switches will open all of the cells,” he explained, and Ray nodded.
Cautiously, Ray walked to the panel and started flipping switches. Surprisingly, nothing happened after he flipped the last switch, and he looked at Dig and Haven oddly. Dig looked up at Haven, and the fairy sighed.
“Haven? What is it?”
“The power machine must have faltered,” she said, and Dig looked at her oddly.
“What are you talking about? The machine has never faltered, no once. Someone has tampered with it. Damn Demon!” he snarled, and Haven jumped.
Isabel looked at Ray as if he had the answers, and he raised his hands defensively.
“Okay, okay. I have an idea. First things first, we will go see what’s wrong with the machine. We need the power back on before we open the gates,” he suggested, and Dig nodded, putting his hand to his chin.
“Good idea. The power machine is located at the back of the castle.”
“Thanks. We should get going,” stated Ray, heading for the door.
“Ray, wait!” called Dig, and the Earth Guardian turned around.
“Yeah?”
“Please be careful. If Belhazur is the one who tampered with it, then it will be heavily guarded by those things,” said the Spirit Guardian, and Haven gasped.
The fairy shot at Dig and stopped in front of his face.
“Those things are our people!” she exclaimed, and Dig chuckled, looking at her sadly.
“Those things were our people, Haven. The Basilis killed them. Our people are gone.”
In defeat, the fairy hung her head, and Isabel looked at Ray curiously. He nodded and turned to Dig.
“Okay, here’s the game plan. We will go out and fix the machine and then come back and free everyone,” he stated, and Dig nodded.
The Spirit Guardian watched Ray, Haven, and Isabel open the door and disappear into the castle.
“Do you think they can pull this off?” asked Jared, walking to the bars, and Dig gave his brother a hopeful look.
“They are our only chance, so yes, dear brother, they will pull this off and save us.”
“I hope you’re right. I would love to eat something other than bugs,” stated Jared, and Dig chuckled.
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After dinner, Chelsea, Liam, and the boys headed upstairs, and Gale led Chantelle into the back courtyard. Gently, he led her to the old wooden swing and sat down. Chantelle looked at the sky, gently rocking and enjoying the cool evening air.
“It’s such a beautiful night. If only we could see the stars, it would be perfect,” she said, and Gale smiled, taking her hand.
Chantelle smiled, but her smile quickly faded when she heard Gale sigh. She looked at him in question, and he looked at her with sadness.
“I don’t mean to spoil your perfect night, but I wanted to tell you that if we go to war, I have to help defend my kingdom alongside my people,” he said, and she nodded.
Gale searched her eyes for a moment and realized she was hiding something from him. He gently squeezed her hand and looked at her with concern.
“What’s wrong?”
Chantelle looked at the king for a moment and sighed.
“I was thinking the same thing. We all have to protect our home. That is why I start training tomorrow morning,” she explained.
Gale looked at Chantelle in shock and then shook his head.
“No, Chantelle. You can’t. Roman can’t come home and bury his mother. He just got you back,” stated the king.
He couldn’t believe she had made this decision without talking with him first. Roman didn’t want to lose his mother, and Gale didn’t want to lose Chantelle either. She bravely smiled at Gale.
“If I die, then my son will know I have died an honorable death,” she stated firmly, and Gale sighed heavily, searching Chantelle’s eyes.
He knew she had made her choice and wouldn’t be able to talk her out of it, so he would have to honor it no matter how much he disliked it. Gale shook the thoughts from his head and squeezed Chantelle’s hand.
“Then it is settled. We shall both start training in the morning,” he said, and Chantelle smiled.
They continued to enjoy the evening air together, swaying on the swing.
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Cautiously, Ray and Isabel walked through the castle, and Haven rode on Ray’s shoulder. They were surprised that the place was empty. Isabel looked at Ray nervously, and he signaled her to keep her eyes peeled.
The inside of the castle was elegant and spacious, with wide hallways, large rooms, and wide staircases. The pictures on the walls of kings and queens that once ruled Earth World Realm. The men and the women in the photographs were lightly dressed, standing in the vibrant foliage of the land. Ray thought the paintings were fascinating and decided to ask Dig about them later.
There was a lot of history that he didn’t know about the Earth World Realm, and Ray wanted to learn everything about the realm. Isabel looked around wide-eyed, and Haven looked at the girl in question.
“Is there something wrong?” asked the fairy, and Isabel shook her head.
“No. It’s just that I have never been inside the castle before. This place is beautiful,” the girl stated, and Haven looked around, shivering.
“This place is a lot creepier if you ask me,” stated Haven, and Ray gave them a thoughtful look.
“What?” asked Isabel, and Ray jerked his head toward the hallway.
“Come on. Let’s go fix the machine,” he said, and Haven nodded.
“This way,” said the fairy, fluttering down the hallway.
The magical creature led them down the hallway and into the back courtyard. The yard was as big as the one back in Halondelle, but instead of an old wooden swing, there were elemental boulders with the Earth symbol engraved in them.
The fairy guardian led them to the back of the castle, and they saw the power machine.
“There it is!” chirped Haven, and Ray nodded as he and Isabel walked up to the mechanism.
The machine had a gear system built into it, and a large tree branch was wedged between two gears.
“Look!” exclaimed Isabel, pointing to the tree, and Ray walked closer to the machine.
Ray saw a ledge he could hoist himself up on and get closer to the jam. He grabbed hold of the ridge and pulled himself up with a grunt. Isabel was right behind him, and she grabbed the edge. The Earth Guardian grabbed her wrists and pulled her up quickly. They were so close, and Isabel found herself staring into his eyes. Ray looked at her for a moment, and then a look of concern came across his face.
“Hey, are you okay?”
Isabel only nodded, and he let go of her wrists.
“Come on. Help me with this,” he said, walking over to the log, but Isabel only stood there.
Ray looked at the girl in question and chuckled.
“You coming?” he asked, and Isabel looked at him as she nodded.
“Yes,” she finally said and made her way to the branch.
“You aren’t going to spaze out on me now, are you?” Ray asked, placing his hands on the branch, and Isabel looked at him.
Quickly, she shook her head and laughed.
“No!”
Ray gave her a thoughtful look and raised an eyebrow.
“No? Then what was that back there?”
Isabel smiled and shook her head.
“Nothing to worry about.”
Ray only nodded and put his hands underneath the tree.
“By the look of things, it looks like it was jammed in at a downward angle. We are going to have to unjam it by pushing it upward,” he explained, and Isabel nodded.
“Let’s get to it!”
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Ray and Isabel spent a lot of time trying to get the log unstuck, but the branch barely moved. They stopped to catch their breath, and Ray looked up at his Fairy Guardian.
“Are we still clear?” he called, and Haven nodded.
While Ray and Isabel were working on the machine, the fairy decided she would fly above them and be on the lookout for any monsters. Haven thought it was odd that the power machine wasn’t guarded like they expected it to be. Surprisingly, the back courtyard was deserted, but something in the air didn’t feel right.
Ray looked at Isabel.
“You ready to try again?” he asked, and the girl nodded.
“Sure, but I think I will push at the base,” Isabel stated, and he nodded.
Isabel crawled under the log and placed her hands above her head. Ray ducked under the branch, put his hands under the branch, and looked at Isabel.
“On three.”
They counted to three and pushed as hard as they could. Suddenly, the giant tree moved, and Isabel breathed a laugh.
“It’s working!”
“Keep pushing!” grunted Ray, and then Haven appeared in front of his face with wide, fearful eyes.
“We’ve got company!” she fretted.
- Writer
