Darek thought he would pass out on the soft, clean bed prepared for him—but that was not the case. While his eyes were closed, his mind would not shut down. He rolled in the sheets for hours even though he was dead tired. His face half-buried in the pillow, he glanced around the room, his eyes shifting from the ticking clock to the door. He watched the hour hand move ever so slowly across the unnumbered dial. Finally, he gave up on sleep. Darek got to his feet and paced back and forth in the room, thinking about many things.
His life, as he knew it, was no more. He could no longer see his friends; some of his friends even ended up betraying him. What was he supposed to do now? He originally wanted to get off the planet. But even if he did so, there was no point. There was no place he could go.
Now that he had met Merdon, this planet wasn’t as bad as he thought. That was one of the reasons he didn’t feel like risking his life on some crazy mission. He could start a new life on this planet. He could become one of Merdon’s subjects. He didn’t mind being a servant. It sounded like a simple life. If they needed someone to help out the human village, then he could work there. It all sounded good—but was that what he really wanted, or was there something else?
As he continued to ponder, he regretted his actions in the throne room. I shouldn’t have done that, he thought. I was the one who asked her to help me in the first place. In the end, I refused to help them. He hung his head. Maybe…I’ll help them, just this once.
He paced around several times more, trying to gather up the courage to apologize. As much as he hated the idea, the best way to say sorry would be to offer help for their endeavor. Maybe the mission wouldn’t be so bad after all. It’s not like it was the end of the world.
He left the room, but he wasn’t sure where to go. It was already late, so the others were probably resting in their rooms. Darek figured that if he wandered around, he might find a wolf on guard duty and ask him for directions.
Darek proceeded down the corridor, which was now dimly lit by evenly spaced torches. Peering out a window, he saw that the Sun bugs were now gone from the cavern. The cave was now pitch-black. It must have gotten late. Rathos had told him before that the Sun bugs only leave a few hours prior to the rising of the sun in order to reach the surface in time.
Darek tried to get an understanding of the layout of the mansion, but the more he walked, the more he became confused. Every hall looked exactly the same. He could not tell where he came from or where he was going. After walking for a long time, he caught a colorful painting from the corner of his eye.
The painting was of a man who was striking a rock with his staff. In the background were a hundred more rocks; some were smooth and polished while others were rough and edgy. It was a pretty distinct painting, beautifully drawn and lifelike; none of the other dull paintings remotely resembled it. However, something was odd. He remembered walking past a painting similar to this just a moment ago. Could he have been walking around in circles?
Darek began to panic. He didn’t have to worry about being embarrassed about it since he was alone, but he never thought he’d ever get lost inside a building. Morning was near. If he couldn’t find them in time, he might never get a chance to apologize to Azura.
Then he recalled a tale about children who left a marking wherever they went so they could avoid getting lost. Darek whirled around, making sure that no one was watching, and then pulled out his dagger. I hope no one sees this. He took the tip of the blade and made a little scratch on the wall, near the floor. He inspected his handiwork and grinned. There. This way, I won’t get lost.
Darek walked several more steps and crouched over, cutting a small bit of the wall in a different and more elaborate design. He proceeded to do so repeatedly to ensure that he would know where he was going. The hallways looped around with stairs heading down, then back up, and back down again. Sometimes he came across troublesome obstacles: two-way forks along the path, hidden trapdoors, and even giant springs that bounced him up to the next floor. After walking for an hour, he got tired from constantly crouching over.
“When is this ever going to end? I haven’t seen anyone at all!” Frustrated, he started to run through the hall. However, no matter how much he ran, there was no one to be found.
After running around for another half hour, he was exhausted and his feet were sore. He had forgotten to wear shoes. He screamed at the top of his lungs and punched the wall several times to vent his anger. “What is up with this place?” Panting for air, he leaned on the wall.
While resting, he heard a distorted female voice.
You…it is you…
“Wh-who’s there?” Darek’s jumped up, his knees quivering.
The voice spoke louder. You are the key to…come…I’m waiting…
“Oh…I get it now!” Darek snapped his fingers. “I’m dreaming!” He smacked himself in the forehead. “Man, I’m such an idiot. I should’ve realized it earlier. I haven’t seen anyone after such a long time, I was stupid enough to cut and punch someone else’s wall, and now I’m even hearing weird ghastly voices!” Darek clasped his hands together. “Now…how do I wake up?”
The paint…
“The paint? You mean the painting?” Darek took a gander at the nearest painting. It was the same one he had seen before: the painting with the man and his many rocks.
“What do I do to wake up?”
Touch…for you are…
“I am what? I’m him?” He chuckled at the thought. “How stupid. The guy looks nothing like me. Dreams never seem to make any sense.” Then he lifted up his hand and saw that his palm was glowing brightly. Darek placed his hand on the painting. Suddenly, the wall crumbled away and shattered like glass, revealing a hidden stairwell. All the broken pieces of the wall and painting vanished without a trace. “How disappointing, that didn’t wake me up.” He shrugged. “But I guess I might as well enjoy this strange dream.” Darek followed the winding staircase down into a basement. Without any source of light, he descended into the darkness, feeling carefully for the next stair before stepping down. However, as he neared the final steps, he noticed some light through an open door at the bottom.
The door led into a small laboratory. “So far it doesn’t look like a nightmare…” Darek wandered around. With so many different, interesting things, it felt like a playground. He peeked into the rainbow-colored test tubes, messed with the weights on the scales, sniffed some weird slime-filled Petri dishes, fiddled around with the t-shaped devices, melted a few pens with the burners and even checked out a working computer system.
Open your eyes…see me…
Darek shook his head while playing around with the computer. “I’ve been trying to wake up, but it doesn’t look like anything is working.”
Wake up! Not from dreams but from reality!
The voice was strong enough to make Darek’s head rattle. There was a sense of urgency in its tone that was hard to ignore.
“It’s starting to give me a headache. I wonder if it’s trying to tell me something else.”
Darek got up from his seat and felt another presence in the room. A mysterious radiance came from the back of the lab, covered by a cloth curtain. Curious, he pushed away the curtain. He came face-to-face with two giant crystals, one blue and one red. They towered over Darek; Darek was rooted in place, gaping at their captivating beauty. Imprinted along the exterior were several inscriptions and markings in a language foreign to him.
“Wow, even the markings are amazingly complex and beautiful. I can understand why they’d want to cover up something like this. It looks valuable.” While Darek was busy gazing at its wonder, he noticed something within. “What’s this?” It was hard to see at first glance. Darek went up for a closer look, squinting as he tried to make sense of the enclosed objects. The more he stared, the more he understood what he was looking at: the dark silhouettes were actually human figures. There were humans inside! Each crystal housed a person.
Shocked, he stumbled back. As he darted out, he hit someth
ing, or rather someone. It was Rathos.
“Oh, it’s just you!” Darek exclaimed, wiping away some of the sweat from his face. “You scared me there for a second.”
Rathos said sternly, “You shouldn’t be here.”
“You’re not going to chase me until I wake up, are you?” asked Darek. “I hate those nightmares. Always leaves me in a sweat.”
“What are you talking about?” Rathos cocked his head. “Anyway, this is a secret lab. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone about it.”
“Only if you promise not to chase me,” Darek begged him.
Perplexed, Rathos said, “I don’t understand why I would. But I’ll give you my word. I’m not going to chase you. Now tell me, why would I chase you?”
“Well, that’s because this is a dream. Like if I pinch myself, it won’t hurt.” Darek pinched himself as hard as he could. “Ouch.” He stared at Rathos in an awkward silence, and then pinched himself again. “Ouch.”
“So…does it hurt?” Rathos asked.
“Yes…” Darek stood there dumbfounded. He had made a complete fool of himself. His face blushed with embarrassment. Thankfully, only Rathos was around and he didn’t even crack a smile at Darek’s mistake; if anything, Rathos acted genuinely concerned. But there was a more pressing matter that held his interest. He turned around to see if the crystals were still there, and indeed, they were right there before him.
“What are they?” Darek asked, pointing at them. “Those aren’t real people, right?”
Rathos walked up to one of the crystals and placed his hand on it. “I don’t know what these crystals are. We found them several miles south of here in a large network of underground caverns. My master thought it’d be good to study them, but we have learned nothing. We even tried to break them open, but we can’t even scratch its surface.”
“You aren’t performing any strange experiments here, are you?”
“Well, I suppose everything around here is strange,” Rathos said, beaming.
Darek furrowed his brow. “Hmm, I’m sorry for asking such a weird question.”
All of a sudden, Darek realized there were so many things that couldn’t or shouldn’t be, if everything he was experiencing was never a dream. A mountain of questions piled up in his head; all in a rush he blurted out, “Why would you have a secret laboratory under the mansion? Where do you get the electricity to power everything? And what about that wall? How come it disappeared? Why would you have the same picture in your hallway, over and over again? And whose voice is inside my head? Why is the—”
Rathos motioned with his hands for Darek to calm down. “It seems to me that you have a lot of questions. I suppose I can explain some things.” He led Darek out of the small chamber.
When they were seated near the computer, Rathos said, “In regards to the technology, we are using relics from our old civilization. We tried to salvage as much as we could. For the past century, we have been studying the technology, although it is very difficult to learn everything.”
Darek said, “Where does the electricity come from?”
“From a waterfall. We have several turbines hidden from plain view. My master is the one who designs these things. He has studied engineering extensively.” Rathos paused. “I’m surprised you found our laboratory. We were sure no one would be able to detect the barrier. My master wanted to hide our secrets from the elders. So I must ask…how’d you find this place?”
“There was this voice inside my head that guided me here,” Darek explained. “I don’t really understand it myself.”
“A voice?”
Come…
“There! There it is again! Can you hear it?” Darek exclaimed.
Rathos became silent, trying to hear anything out of the ordinary. “I hear nothing.”
Am I the only one who can hear the voice? Darek wondered.
The voice beckoned Darek again, Come closer…
Darek could almost sense the direction of the voice. It was coming from the back room. He walked past the cloth again and looked at the crystal. Could the voice be coming from inside?
You are the key to…
“I am the key.” The blood vessels in Darek’s hands were surging with warm blood. Darek looked at his hand again. It gleamed. Placing a hand on each crystal, he watched as they melted away like ice. Vapor filled the backroom. When the vapor cleared, the crystals were gone and two strangers, a man and a woman, were standing in the room with them.
Unsure of their intentions, Rathos backed out of the room, pulling Darek with him.
The strangers followed them out. The man looked mature. He had the appearance of a fierce warrior with his stalwart body, honed to perfection. He had a roughly shaven beard, very short red hair, and rugged mean looks. His clothes were sewn from animal hide. The woman, on the other hand, was elegant. Her bluish green hair ran down her back, stopping just above the back of her ankles. Her body was wrapped in loose gray cloth.
They knelt on the ground before Darek.
“Who are you and what do you want?” Darek demanded quickly.
The woman replied, “I am Reza and this man is Drey, my bodyguard. You have freed us from our slumber, so we will follow you. May we know the name of our new master?”
“Um, I’m Darek. Why were you in those crystals?”
“Long ago a powerful and evil sorcerer cast a spell on us.”
Darek tapped his feet in a long drawn out silence. “That’s it? That’s your story? There has to be more! Who’s the evil sorcerer and why did he trap you?”
Reza pursed her lips. “We don’t know. He trapped us because he was powerful and evil.”
Darek narrowed his eyes. They were clearly hiding things from him. With quick thinking, Darek said, “Okay, you can follow me. I could use a few extra hands.”
Rathos whispered to Darek, “Are you sure? Do you not find them suspicious? I’ve never heard of any legendary sorcerers in our history who could do such things.”
Darek replied, “They look harmless enough. I also can’t help shake this feeling that they really need our help. I’ll test their sincerity myself. Haven’t you heard the saying, ‘Keep your friends close, your enemies closer, and strangers even closer?’”
Rathos said, “I don’t think it quite goes like—”
Darek said curtly, “Same idea. We’ll find out soon enough who they really are.”
Meanwhile, in the midst of their conversation, Windzer and Hortmel snuck out of the basement.
“What do you think?” asked Windzer.
“This place is nice. They built it well.”
“I’m not talking about that,” said Windzer, sounding annoyed.
“Then are you talking about Merdon being a traitor?”
Windzer shook his head. “While that is useful to know, I wasn’t referring to that either. I’m more concerned about those crystals and those people in them.”
“What about them?”
“I feel like I’ve seen them before but I’m not sure where.”
Hortmel rubbed his chin. “You might be right. But we’ve lived a long time. It’s hard to remember everything.”
“Well, I’m sure it’ll come back to us soon enough, but now is not the time to ponder,” whispered Windzer. “We must leave before anyone discovers us. Now that we’ve caught wind of Merdon’s plan, we can be sure that we were lucky to have come to this place.”