Chereads / Chronicles of a Lost Empire / Chapter 5 - Chapter Five

Chapter 5 - Chapter Five

"Are you sure?" Lyra questions, her voice shaky.

 

Arin nods. "Go. We've got this. Head down this trail. You should find the map somewhere around there. The cave's exit shouldn't be far off from there either. Now go"

 

Lyra nods, taking Huddy's hands as she takes the path Arin had directed her towards.

 

On getting there, Lyra's eyes ransacked the area searching for the second map piece but she couldn't find it. "Are Arin and Eryndor certain the map was here?. Huddy, help me look for it as well"

 

Huddy didn't respond which made Lyra to turn to face him. To Lyra's surprise, she finds Huddy shaking in his stead with a horrified expression all over his face.

 

Lyra rushes up to Huddy, shaking him. "Huddy, what is it?"

 

"D-Dragon"

 

Lyra looks around them. "Where?"

 

"Back there. With Arin and Eryndor"

 

"Listen, Huddy. Snap out of this. Help me find the second map piece so that we can go home, okay?"

 

Huddy nods. "Okay"

 

Huddy and Lyra begin to search frantically for the second map piece and eventually find it tucked under a rock boulder.

 

"There!" Lyra gaps, rushing towards the rock. "Huddy, help me move the rock"

 

Straining, Huddy and Lyra managed to move the rock boulder away and secure the second map piece.

 

"Let's leave now, Lyra" Huddy says, dragging Lyra's hands towards the cave's exit but Lyra doesn't budge. "What now?"

 

"We can't just leave them there, Huddy " Lyra says. "What if something happens?"

 

"They can handle it"

 

Lyra remains quiet. "You know what?" She hands over to Huddy both the first and second map pieces. "Take this with you and leave the cave. I'll join you shortly"

 

"You aren't actually thinking about going back in there, are you?"

 

"Yes, I am. Now, go" Lyra leaves the map pieces in Huddy's hands as she runs back to where she had left Arin and Eryndor.

 

On getting there, Lyra finds Eryndor with a leg injury as Arin tries to bandage it up.

 

Instantly, she runs up to them. "Are you guys alright?"

 

Arin stares at Lyra wide-eyed. "You're still here? Didn't you find the second map piece"

 

"I did" Lyra takes the bandage from Arin's hands. "And you're doing this wrongly"

 

She examined the wound which looked like it was gotten from a scratch of the dragon's claws. Lyra couldn't help but imagine the pain Eryndor was in.

 

She notices blue slimy creatures over the wound. "Did you apply something on it?"

 

"They are called blue jeepers" Arin replies. "They are magical creatures that serve as pain relievers"

 

Lyra nods her head as she wraps the bandage over Eryndor's wound. "You guys managed to defeat the dragon?"

 

"No, but we did cause it some harm that made it crawl back to whatever hole it came from"

 

"We'll we aren't safe until we get out of this cave so let's leave" Lyra advises as Arin helps Eryndor up to his feet.

 

"If you found the second map piece, why did you come back?" Eryndor couldn't help but ask.

 

Lyra shrugs. "No reason at all"

 

Arin smiles. "Well, I'll hand it to you and your friend. You two are good ones"

 

Lyra furrows her brow, confused. "My friend?"

 

Eryndor gestures behind Lyra as she turns around to see Huddy rushing up to her. "Huddy?. Why didn't you leave?"

 

"I couldn't leave you in this cave all alone, Lyra. Not when I know you wouldn't do the same if it were me"

 

Lyra nods her head, grateful to shave Huddy by her side once more. Turning to face Arin and Eryndor, she states. "Let's leave this cave"

 

"Sure" Arin responds as he and Huddy throw either of Eryndor's arms over their necks; helping him to walk.

 

As the duo proceeds towards the exit of the cave, the dragon reappears with a scar-- like a burn-- on its eyes. It was obvious that the dragon had come for revenge.

 

As soon as it sights the quad, it roars. The roar shakes the whole cave as parts of it begin to crumble.

 

"We need to move faster, guys" Arin advises as the quad quickens that pace towards the cave's exit.

 

The quad reached a tiny space--where the dragon couldn't reach them-- which was equally near the cave's exit.

 

Just as they were about to cross the cave exit, the exit suddenly collapsed trapping them inside.

 

Now the quad stood in a tiny space with a blocked entrance at one end and a dragon at the other.

 

Huddy's bravery dissolves as he clings tightly to Chuck."Now, what?"

 

"Don't panic" Arin advises. "We can still find a way out. Drop Eryndor down"

 

Huddy drops Eryndor's arms down as Arin helps his brother get seated on the ground. Arin felt around the cave exit for another way out but came up with nothing.

 

An idea suddenly strikes Lyra. "Huddy! The map!"

 

Huddy hands the two map pieces back to Lyra as she puts the pieces together. She knew that this map could only lead them to the ancestral power but old Oliver had always told her that nothing was ever by coincidence.

 

Therefore, Lyra believed that the second map piece being here wasn't a coincidence either. There had to be another way out. She was certain.

 

Lyra stared at the map for a while but couldn't come up with anything. Just as she was about to give up, she saw it. A small blue door on the map.

 

Piecing the location of the blue door from where they stood, she realized that it wasn't that far off. "This way, guys"

 

"Where are we headed?" Eryndor inquires.

 

"Just trust me" Lyra leads the trio toward the direction of the blue door on the map.

 

The journey was an endless one that led the quad to only move deeper inside the cave.

 

Just when they were about to lose hope, they saw it; A faint blue door in the distance.

 

Lyra walks towards the door, her hands on the knob but she didn't pull it. "All in favor of walking through?"

 

They all nod. "All in favor"

 

Lyra pulls the door as a bright light nearly blinds her vision.