•••••Continuation of Chapter Two••••••

༺***2***༻

We need a plan," Jad said, gathering his friends in a corner of the outer wall, away from the gate.

They were sitting on cold stones, their bodies trembling from the cold and fear. Sema was wrapping her scarf around her foot as if she were hiding the inscription. Maria hadn’t raised her camera for a while, but she hadn’t taken any pictures either. She was staring at the blank screen.

"My camera isn't working," she said in a hoarse voice. "Ever since we got here... the screen is black. The battery is full, but... nothing."

Ilya took the manuscript out of his bag. He opened it carefully. The pages hadn’t changed, but something about the ink seemed clearer. The words that had been faint yesterday... were now deeper. As if time here doesn’t erase, but rather writes.

"Listen to this," Ilya said, reading from the page that had been blank the day before. "It was empty. Now... there are words."

He read in a low voice:

"And when the strangers entered the Land of Shadows... the earth wrote upon them. So that they would not forget that they were not here by their own will. And so that the earth would not forget them when the time came for... the Crossing."

He closed the manuscript quickly.

"That page was empty!" he said, his voice rising. "I saw it myself! There was nothing there!"

"Maybe..." Maria said slowly. "Maybe the manuscript isn't meant to be read... maybe it writes itself."

Silence.

"We need to go in," Jad said suddenly.

They all looked at him.

"What?!" Sema exclaimed. "After all this? After what that... that thing said?!"

"Because what it said," Jad replied, his voice growing quieter, "it said we can’t get out. It said the forest was a flask sealed from the inside. That means..."

"That means there’s no way back," Maria finished.

Jad nodded.

"If we can't go back... and if we don't know where we are... and if time doesn't pass here... then staying here means death. Or something worse than death. We need to understand this place. And understand what it wants from us."

"And what the Three Kings want," Ilya said quietly.

They looked at him.

"The Shadow said it wasn’t one of the Three Kings. It said it was something forgotten. That means the Kings are still there. Inside the fortress. Shaddad. Atheela. Heyman. They are the ones who rule here. They are the ones who..."

He stopped.

"They are the ones who know how we get out," Maria said.

They all fell silent.

Then Sema suddenly stood up. Her face was still pale, but something in her eyes had changed. It wasn’t fear. It was something else. Something like defiance.

"If we are going to die here," she said, her voice trembling but resolute, "then let us die with our eyes open. Let us know why we are here. Let us know what they want from us. And let us know..."

She looked down at her foot.

"Why it was written upon me."

Jad looked at the gate. Then at his friends.

"So... we go in?"

No one said no.

© All rights reserved to the author | missareejgirly

This work is purely fictional, and any resemblance to names or other narratives is purely coincidental.

Copying or republishing any part of the story without the author's permission is not permitted.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***