Emerald Mountains (The Dream Traveler Series Book 2)

by Nicole Knight

  Our arms would be dead after trying to kill all of these by sword. Axel had his concealed blade out and was using it to stab bats with his magic, while he swung his sword by hand. I was so proud of him.

  While being distracted by Axel using his magic in combat successfully, a bat attacked my head. I screeched and used my left hand to grab the bat off my face. I used a fireball to hit it, and the bat disintegrated. At that moment, I had an idea on how to take care of these bats, and quick.

  “Drop to the ground,” I shouted to Axel.

  He immediately dropped to the ground, trusting my judgment.

  I created two whips of fire and spun them in a circle around me. The fire melted any of the bats it touched. After spinning enough times to make me dizzy, all of the bats were gone, and the area smelt like ash.

  “Wow,” Axel said.

  “What?” I asked.

  “That was impressive. I have never seen you do that before.”

  “Yeah, I just kind of improvised,” I said.

  Axel pulled himself up, and we kept moving. My ball of light had been waiting patiently for us, but I felt a source of urgency from it. Like it knew, this area still wasn’t safe, and it was urging me to follow it. It was an embodiment of my magic, and I trusted it completely.

  CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

  We walked for what felt like forever. Every once in a while, we would hear a strange sound in the fog, and the ball of light would urge me forward. I hope I never learn what else is out there.

  Eventually, the fog started to clear, and my ball of light began to dim in response. It stopped moving forward as the fog cleared more, and we were directly in front of a cave entrance. I looked up, and I gasped. I was standing in front of a mountain that was huge. It made the one I climbed on my first journey to the castle look like a hill.

  These mountains went higher than I could see. Jagged cliffs were pushing off the sides of the mountain. An occasional tree grew out from a cliff on the mountainside. The wind blew, and pebbles fell down the face of the mountain.

  Around the entrance to the cave were large formations of emeralds. It was how I knew we were in the right place. This was the Emerald Mountain, which housed the Emerald Caves.

  The caves were the source of the emeralds like mine. Its magic allowed the transportation of those between here and other worlds. I’m not sure if Earth is the only one anymore. After all, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were other worlds and others like me with everything I have seen here.

  I looked at Axel, and he was staring at the caves in wonder.

  “It’s beautiful,” he said.

  “Yes, it is,” I agreed.

  “I am going to go in there first. These caves are full of magic, but they are not fond of visitors. I was directed here by the Goddess. I will go in and find out what to do from here.”

  “No, you cannot go alone,” Axel argued.

  “Axel, I must. The mountains may not be expecting you, but they will expect me. I will call out if I need you,” I promised him.

  He took a deep breath as he relented to what was out of his control. I gave him a quick kiss for luck and then walked past the emerald formations and into the cave’s mouth. I turned back to look at Axel, who looked so conflicted. He wanted to be here for me every step of the way, but this was my destiny, not his. His part to play was to support me, but he couldn’t do my job for me.

  I steeled myself and then turned back around. I walked into the cave until I was surrounded by darkness.

  The entrance to the cave was just a pinprick of light behind me now. I could hear the sound of water trickling somewhere in the caves. I reached for my ball of light and called it awake. It lit very dimly, as I had expected it to. I did not need to be blinded here.

  When my eyes adjusted to the new light, I looked around. The walls were solid emerald. The many facets that made up the cave walls reflected the light back at me in various shades of green. Water trickled down the emerald wall to my right and then disappeared into the ground directly below it. The water reflected back even more beautiful colors from my light.

  It was like looking at the fish from the creek, or from the pond in Morthshadow.

  Magic was a fantastic thing.

  I walked a little further before instinct told me to stop. I looked around me, and to my left, a face was carved into the emerald.

  It startled me, and I jumped.

  I controlled my breathing so I wouldn’t worry Axel. I couldn’t have him rushing in here. Then the face came to life, and I almost jumped out of my skin. I held back a scream.

  “Who goes there,” the face asked, looking angry.

  “My name is Violet. I am Queen of the Morthlands and Ubriem Glacies.”

  “Ah, yes, I have been expecting you,” it told me.

  “You have?” I asked.

  I was skeptical that a face made of emerald had been expecting me.

  “Yes, the Goddess is my creator, and I am the keeper of her magic. In times of need, she asks me for help. I oblige as I am the gatekeeper of all magic in this plane, and the Goddess has given me purpose,” the face told me.

  “Ah, Venia told you I was on my way.”

  “Yes, she did. I can see that you have received direction from her if you know her true name,” the face said.

  “Yes, I have. She sent me here, but I am at a loss of what to do.”

  “Then it’s a good thing I know what I am doing,” it told me.

  Who knew a mountain could be snarky?

  “I will share with you some additional knowledge that you may need in your coming trials. Then we will do business,” the face told me.

  I nodded in understanding. I sat on the ground, but it was cold, hard, and damp. I put my palms facedown. Beneath my hands and my body, grass sprung up. It was soft and very green in the dim light.

  The face looked down at the grass and then back at me.

  “Impressive.”

  “Thank you.”

  The face looked confused for a minute like it was listening to something I couldn’t hear. Then it readjusted before speaking to me.

  “Ah, so there has been a change in plans. You may want to lie down,” the face told me.

  “Why?” I asked, right before I fell backward and was sucked into a vision.

  I was in the final battle. I could tell as there was nothing but chaos around me. The wolves were attacking my armies while the Tate and Corone armies marched right through us. Kennan sat on top of a low hovering dragon shooting beams of darkness from his hands. Anything the darkness hit, dropped to the ground at its touch.

  Kennan broke out into a fit of hysterical laughter; it felt evil. His sister was on her own dragon beside Kennan, and she looked over and smiled at him. Then the focus of the vision changed. I flashed to the bodies of Trin and Thomas. Trin had been stabbed in the stomach and bled out, while Thomas had a slash to his throat. They both gazed with blank eyes. I felt horrified, but this vision wasn’t done.

  Suddenly I panned to Jessica, who had somehow made it into this fight, with leather body armor covering her small body. She was bleeding out from a gash on her leg, but that wasn’t her focus. She was staring at her brother, who laid on the ground in a heap. I immediately knew he was dead. I could not feel his beating heart in my chest in the vision, and no emotions were coming from him. His body was broken and bloody, and it was hard to identify his official cause of death. It broke me completely.

  When I looked all around, there was so much death and carnage, especially on my side.

  I was on the ground, throwing fireballs up at Kennan and Samantha, trying to knock them off their dragons, but I didn’t have enough power. The fireballs would just lightly bounce off the dragons’ stomach, who looked annoyed with my effort.

  Then hellfire rained down on me from Kennan and Samantha’s hands, and I knew that was it. Everything I worked so hard for and the people I did this for were gone. I had failed, and I woke up from the vision as soon as the hellfire made contac
t with my skin.

  I had to take a few studying breathes. I sat up and pulled my knees to my chest, and I tucked my face into my knees. I rocked back and forth while I tried to calm myself from the vision.

  A minute or two later, I had myself mostly composed when I felt a hand on my shoulder. The face had been awfully quiet once I woke up from my vision, but I don’t think it has hands. I jumped, hoping it wasn’t Axel coming to comfort me. He was not supposed to enter, at least not yet.

  I looked over to the source of the gentle hand and saw Venia kneeling beside me.

  “Venia, what are you doing here?” I asked her, looking around the cave.

  The face in the wall was silent, but staring at us. He was in the presence of the Goddess.

  “My child, I know what you saw was upsetting, but it is not final. Your father was a wild card in this, and I had not planned on him coming to your aid, but here he is, sending you letters with important information. This is what plays out should you not go through the magical trials in this cave, and should you not get the assistance of the dragons. I believe you were also considering the femen and mermaids?” she asked.

  I nodded my head. I was still in shock that she came to me in person. I was teleported to her in a dream when we last spoke.

  “The femen will be a good choice, as they have other friends who can help you. But they may ask something of you will not wish to give. Remember, there is always another way. Now, you will go through the trials that the mountain will put you through. Each time you complete it, you will get stronger, and your magic will reach its true potential. It will give you the extra boosts you need to save your Kingdoms and the magic-workers. With this, there is also always a catch.”

  “So, I can truly change this vision; it doesn’t have to end like I saw?”

  “No child, but you and only you can change it. This is something out of my hands now. Kennan won’t bow to my influence. He thinks of himself as something like a God. The gods aren’t notorious for listening to each other.”

  I smiled at that, because how many tales exist of gods fighting and causing nothing but problems for those who worship them?

  “I will change it,” I promised her.

  “Oh, child, I hope so. I am quite fond of you, and it would hurt me to see you meet that fate,” she said while rubbing my arm to comfort me.

  “You said there would be a catch with these magic trials?” I asked.

  “Yes, but that is for the mountain to explain. This is his purpose, and I won’t take that from him.”

  The face nodded to her in thanks.

  Venia stood up and walked deeper into the cave. She had a shimmering purple mist behind her as she disappeared.

  I looked back expectantly at the mountain, ready to take on these trials. I needed to win the ultimate battle with Tate and Corone, and I needed my friends and family to survive. That means I need to be as strong as I can. I was shedding the skin of the girl who had been lost, scared, and miserable in her grief.

  I was going to become a warrior Queen. They may remember Victoria as their savior, but I will be their warrior, fighting like hell to restore the balance.

  “I can sense you are ready,” the face said, pulling me from my thoughts.

  I nodded.

  “Good, you are on a time limit. The first trial starts now,” he said. Then I blacked out.

  CHAPTER FIFTY

  “Iam in the first trial,” I told myself out loud.

  I looked around, and I was on a familiar-looking beach. It took me a moment, but then it came to me.

  This is the beach I washed up on when my ship sank. It had changed for the trial, while this was Morthsoul, and there should have been light in the sky, it was night.

  It was dark, and there was only light from the moon and stars to see from. It was a full moon, so that was a relief. It was eerie out here at night; the sound of the waves crashing brought me some serenity.

  I looked around, trying to find my first trial. I had no explanation of what to expect, and I was going into this blind. Victoria had nothing to say about this in her journal.

  I heard what sounded like a female scream, and I looked around frantically to find the source. The cry felt familiar. Then I heard more screams coming from the water. A tidal wave was heading towards the shore and about to crash down on a handful of swimmers. The screams still felt familiar, and I tried to place them as I began running towards the water.

  I was too late; the water crashed down on their heads before I could see who they were. Seconds ticked by, and a minute later, there was not a single head poking up through the water. This had to be the trial. The wave now crashed at my feet, still twenty feet away from where the waves were previously crashing.

  I threw off my jacket so that it wouldn’t weigh me down, and kicked off my boots as I ran down the now wet beach. I ran into the water, which felt ice cold. I was met with resistance from the water, and still, no heads poked out gasping for breath.

  How many people were there out here, and would I be able to find any of them?

  When I got waist high in the water, I dove into the water. It was so cold that at first, it took my breath away. I shot up out of the water with my hair sticking to my face. I took a deep breath and dove back underwater to look around.

  I opened my eyes, and the water was very dark, I couldn’t even see my own hand. I immediately called out for control of my light. It helped some, but not enough.

  I reached out further for my light and pushed more magic into it, making it grow larger and brighter.

  Would it work underwater?

  I focused my energy on bringing it under the surface, and at first, it faded to a feeble glow. I channeled more magic into the light, which started to get brighter, despite the dark water.

  That’s it! Keep going!

  How long have they been underwater now?

  I started swimming deeper, looking for anyone that the screams may have belonged to. After swimming for several minutes, I found something white on the bottom of the sand, and it had a black blob attached. The closer I got, the more my stomach dropped, and I wanted to hurl.

  Axel came into view, unconscious and not breathing on the ocean floor. I looked around, and suddenly more bodies were littered on the bottom, and I wanted to scream in horror. Not only was Axel here, but Trin, Wisdom, Aunt Beetie, and the twins were lying unconscious in different spots on the wet, dense sand.

  It had to have been minutes since they went under. I wouldn’t have much time to get one of them back and start CPR, how could I save all six of them? Or was I supposed to choose, was that part of the test?

  Would I have to choose who matters the most to me and my mission? If so, I couldn’t accept that. If I let someone drown here, would they die outside of the trials with no warning?

  A slew of curse words came to my mind because I couldn’t choose, and I wasted more time just thinking about it.

  Then I got a feeling I was being watched, and I broke out in gooseflesh. I was in a dark ocean and absolutely terrified. I didn’t know enough about this world, or this trial to understand what was lurking.

  When I saw a giant tentacle cut through the water, I could have peed myself.

  I need to get us all out of here and now. The first step is getting us through and out of this water. Water is something I can control, and I need to do it quickly.

  I brought my feet down to the ocean floor and pushed my hands out to either side. I called the water to my command.

  It weakly responded, willing to listen to what I was asking from it. I pushed magic from both of my hands and used it to start pushing the water away from me. The sea split in two in front of me and started retreating to my sides. It didn’t make it very far before the water wanted to collapse back into the small gap.

  Ice is solid, and it would be easier to contain than water, so I called to the water, urging it to freeze.

  I knew that I could freeze water when I tried before, but I have never frozen w
ater, saltwater to boot, in such a large amount.

  I could feel the water turning into ice against my hands; it slowly spread throughout the water. When it solidified in one direction, I switched and continued pouring my magic into the water to freeze it.

  Through the ice, I could see the giant creature approaching me. Its tentacles were whipping around its body, and it looked angry.

  Were we in its territory?

  I continued to freeze the water, and it was draining me. I forced my magic to start pushing the giant blocks of ice against the water to uncover more of my family from the ocean’s bottom. It felt like hours before their bodies were exposed to the air pocket I had created, and an air pocket this size took a lot of effort to keep from collapsing.

  While focusing on keeping the ice in place, I forced my magic to pull my family to my feet. None of their chests were moving, nor did they cough. Their skin was turning blue.

  I need to get them out of here stat. My ice would not hold long enough to do CPR on them here. I also have no illusions that the monster staring at me through the ice won’t crack it with one good swing of its giant tentacle.

  How do we escape?

  I need to keep them all together to help get them all topside. A quick glance down at my feet showed me a kelp bed.

  I shot some magic into the kelp bed to make it grow and instantly started cutting it back. I used the long blades of kelp and quickly wove them together with what control I had left of my magic.