Young Writers Society

Yeah, I've decided to make threads to house 3 chapters at a time. If you haven't read the previous chapters, you should.

Chapter 4

Deadly Discovery

The air was warm and soothing. It felt as if it was spring in this world, whatever it was called. The tall grass swayed gently in the breeze. The incessant chatters of insects and other small animals filled the air. Though most of these creatures stayed away from the two humans traveling through the prairie, Xavier always stayed alert, for if he was in another world, he might as well look at some wildlife.

That night, Lily and Xavier stopped to rest and eat some of the food Alcon had given them. The air was much cooler, and a blustery wind made their teeth chatter. Still, they managed to find a sheltered hollow after a few minutes of searching, so they slept in relative comfort.

Early the next morning, as they topped a large hill, they noticed a shimmering on the horizon. In late afternoon, they identified it as a large lake.

When they stopped for the night, Xavier gratefully removed his shoes and rubbed his feet, which had grown painfully sore. Lily was doing the same.

On the third day, Lily suddenly stumbled and fell. Since she was still helping Xavier along, Xavier fell down with her.

“I must have stepped in an animal’s burrow,” said Lily. “Nothing’s broken or sprained and—what do we have here?”

With an expression of glee, she pulled a small object from the grass.

“What is it?” asked Xavier.

“There was a little hole right in front of my face. And I found this in it!” She sat up, and held the object in her hands. Xavier looked at it, and gasped. It was a small, green gemstone, shaped like a crescent moon.

“It’s pretty,” said Lily, putting it in her pocket. “Come on. Let’s continue.”

The water of the lake was as clear as glass, and looked incredibly clean when they finally neared it. Xavier ran up to it and knelt, and was about to scoop up a handful of water, when suddenly, something ran at him, knocking him away from the lake! Whatever his assailant was, it stopped attacking, even as Xavier battered at it. As soon as Xavier realized that it had stopped, he too stopped. And he was surprised that the thing that had tackled him—was a young boy.

“Who are you?” he demanded.

“Me---me name’s Ardeth,” the boy said, shakily.

“Why did you attack him?” demanded Lily, rushing up to join them.

“I—I didn’t mean to hurt ye, truly. I just wanted to keep ye away from the lake!”

“Why?”

“Lake Aldurvara is sacred! No one is allowed to drink directly from the lake!”

“That’s crazy!”

“No, it’s true, I swear! If you want water, go to Alavari!”

“Alavari?” asked Lily.

“The lakeside city,” he said, pointing toward a large hill near the shore. “It be on the far side of that there hill. Come on, I’ll take ye there.”

With that, he ran up the hill, so fast that Xavier and Lily could barely keep up. They reached the top, and beheld Alavari. It was surrounded by a high stone wall, and inside was a large city filled with bustling streets and buildings. The light gray flagstone streets shone in the mid-afternoon light.

When they reached the gates, the two guards crossed their spears. “State yer business,” one asked. He sounded bored.

“We’re here to talk around, get some help, and hear the news,” said Lily.

The guard who had spoken lifted his free hand to rub a scar on his cheek. “Fair enough. Yer only a couple o’ kids, so I guess ye can’t cause too much trouble.”

They moved their spears aside to let Lily and Xavier through.

“Where do we go first?” asked Xavier as they walked through the gates.

Lily said nothing, but pointed toward a man sitting on a wooden stool in front of a table covered with various objects. “He might be able to help us.”

They approached the man, who wore an orange tunic and brown leggings, and Lily placed her hand on the table. Seeing them, he sat up straight and placed his hand on the table. “What can I do fer ye?” he asked. “Me store ‘ere is home t’ the greatest selection of goods in all the world.”

“We’d like to know where we are,” said Lily.

He laughed. “Alavari! Dontcha know that?”

Lily took a small step closer to the table. “We know the name of the city, but what about the rest of this place?”

“Oh, you mean you don’t know?”

“We come from far away.”

“Judgin’ by yer weird clothes, I can see that!” the man said as he ran his fingers through his moustache. “The name’s Kelton.”

“I’m Lily, and my boyfriend here is Xavier.”

Xavier stamped his foot. “I am not your boyfriend!”

“Don’t have a tantrum,” she laughed. “I was only teasing.”

She turned again to face Kelton. “Well, we’re lost. We came here from where we live through some portal, and we couldn’t find our way back.”

The man scratched his head. “This land be known as Avilandra. If yer problem stemmed from some sort o’ portal, ye ought to go to the city of Ciar Nelova. It’s full o’ learned men and women. Someone there may be able to help ye.”

“Where is this Ciar Nelova?” asked Xavier, excitedly.

“See fer yourself,” he said, and passed him a rolled up sheet of paper. Xavier unrolled it. It was a map, depicting a fantastic world. They were near the center, right by Lake Aldurvara. To the south, the rolling Sylvatola plain stretched for miles and miles until meeting the edge of a huge forest. To the west, the plain continued for a while until it met the coast of a sea, similar to the sea on the far eastern part of the map. To the north, the plains slowly turned into the great Actibas Plateau, and then the massive Wolftooth Mountains. To the north and east, the plain soon turned into the vast Mallunon desert. Cities and towns were few and far between.

“You can keep the map if you want,” said Kelton.

“So where’s Ciar Nelova?” asked Lily.

“Far, very far,” Xavier said, a touch of hopelessness in his voice. It’s on the western shore of Lake Luna, a crescent-shaped lake in the Wolftooth Mountains. The trek from the sea to here took three days. This looks like it would take ten! Need I remind you that we don’t have any food, water, or clothing besides what we have now, which isn’t much! And we don’t have any money either!”

“I think we should see if we can earn some money,” she said as she took the green stone out of her pocket and tossed it up in the air.

As soon as Kelton saw the stone, he gasped, and then smiled. “Ye may not have any money, but I believe ye got the goods t’ trade.”

After about half an hour of bargaining, Lily and Xavier walked back toward the open gate of Alavari. Apparently, the stone Lily had found was a sizable chunk of a rare and valuable gem. They had purchased a short sword for Xavier, a bow with a full quiver for Lily, bedrolls and clothes for both of them, a tinder box with flint and steel, two cooking pots, a block of salt, a pack for Lily, and more food.

“It sure was good luck that you tripped and found that stone,” laughed Xavier.

Lily sidestepped to avoid two small children shrieking with delight and running after a cat. “Sure was.”

Without another word, Lily and Xavier walked out of the gates of Alavari and back onto the open plain.