Stepping out onto the sandy alcove, which Sage guessed you could call a beach, the group switched off their lamps and looked around.

"What are we looking for?" Matthew asked.

"It's a good question," Sage said, "... there was nothing in the riddle that told us where to start looking," bringing up the picture on her phone, she zoomed in to each part, "I don't see any … wait … what is this?"

Looking at the picture and then around, she absently gave her phone to Stuart while the others looked over his shoulders. Sage moved along the wall, looking for the strange mark she had seen.

"It's not there," Stuart said, "I think what you're looking for is nearer the entrance."

"Have you seen it?" Maddy asked.

Stuart nodded, "Pretty sure I have … every time I've come here to greet someone with Matthew."

"Okay, let's find it," Sage said.

"Is it the correct place to start?" Maddy asked as she handed Sage her phone.

"I don't know," Sage said, "but it's the only thing on the map that is odd."

Nodding, Maddy followed Sage as she moved slowly over the sand, looking around at the stone walls protruding in a protective roof above them.

"I wonder how long this place was like this before anyone found it," Sage said, looking up and suddenly gasping as she stopped, staring at the ceiling. Maddy bumped into her before following Sage's gaze.

"Oh my, do you think that is the actual Coronet … if it is, I think you found it," Maddy whispered, looking at the men moving away from them, "shall I call them?"

"I think we need to keep this quiet," Sage said, "hopefully they will realise we're not with them and come looking for us."

"What was that mark on the map then?" Maddy asked, her words coming softly as Sage changed position to look at the engraving in the stone above them.

"Not sure," she whispered, "but I'm wondering how anyone got it right to chisel that into the rock face …" Sage said, changing position again, "… they must have been level with it, but how?"

"The other question is, do we need to get up there?" Maddy asked, looking around.

"It's definitely a very ornate coronet," Sage murmured, "do you think they decided to chisel a likeness somewhere permanently to let us know what it looked like?"

"Perhaps," Maddy said, mimicking Sage's movements and trying to get a better look at it, "for all the talk of the Coronet, I've never seen a picture of it."

"Maddy," Sage narrowed her gaze as she stared at the ceiling, "does that look like a crack in the rockface?"

"Where?" Maddy asked, moving to stand beside Sage as she pointed to an area on the ceiling.

"There … just to the side of the coronet … it seems to be a faint line …" Sage murmured, "… right there."

"It does look like a … "she stopped talking, frowning before she continued, "… that can't be a crack …" she pointed to the opposite side of the engraving, "… there is the other side, it's there as well … I think its a straight line on both side."

"Could it be possible that it's this easy? Is this where the Coronet is kept," Sage said, "or perhaps there is another clue to the whole thing."

"Who knows, we were able to find a lot of information leading up to this moment, and then suddenly we're in the dark," Maddy said, "it doesn't make any sense."

"If we take away the fact that we have the internet to look up information, there really isn't that much to go on," Sage said, "I'm not surprised that it took this long for a decent amount of progress to be made."

Their communications hissed into life as Stuart's voice was heard, "We found it. Where are you two?"

"We've found an engraving of the coronet," Maddy said, "I'll stay here and send Sage to you."

Sage nodded and headed toward the men, leaving Maddy to mark the spot; she didn't want to lose that engraving with time being so short. Rounding the stone curvature, Sage found the two men pointing at the wall and discussing something.

"Where is this mark?" Sage asked, stepping into the small space between them.

"Here," Stuart said, pointing at the rockface, "we were just discussing the strange markings around it."

Sage crouched, bringing her gaze to eye level with the engraving. Reaching out slowly, she dusted away the damp sand on the stone, "The sea level rises to this mark," she murmured, looking up the wall and noting that the rocks were dry from just above the mark, "you wouldn't find it at high tide … only low."

"Perhaps that is how it was missed for so long," Stuart said, "I only saw it a few times …" he cocked his head to one side, "… you're right; it was low tide when I saw the mark."

"Look at this," Sage said, "it's the shape of a keyhole."

"Keyhole?" Matthew asked, bending down to have a look at the mark, "you're right, that is a keyhole… it looks like it's packed with sand," pulling out a knife, he began to dig out the damp sand in the hole which plopped onto the wet sand at their feet like lumps of hardened coal before it suddenly started to flow easily onto the saturated sand in front of them, "seems like whatever is in there is dry."

Sage drew the leather pouch with the key from her belt. Opening it, she looked at the ornate top, "Well, I'll be smitten," she whispered as she slowly moved the key until it lay against the rockface and the ornate top fitted into the engraving above what they thought to be a keyhole. The rock face shifted slightly, causing another sand avalanche to happen as it slowly slid wider,

Stuart and Matthew began shifting the accumulated sand from the cave-like crevice behind it. Sage frowned into the darkness as a shadow of something appeared; it looked like a box becoming visible. As the level of the sand dropped, reaching in, she wiggled it free from the remaining sand, lifting it and bringing it toward her.

"It's a small wooden chest," Sage whispered; no sooner had she pulled the chest free than the door slid back into place, concealing the hiding place, "wow, that was quick."

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Let's take this back to where Maddy is and open it there," Sage said, "if we stay here, we'll end up getting wet. The tide is rising."

"How do you know?" Matthew asked, looking around.

"I …" Sage paused, looking around before she shook her head, "… I sense it."

Stuart and Matthew looked at each other meaningfully over Sage's head as she moved away. The trio moved toward Maddy, who still stood where Sage had left her, looking at the ceiling momentarily before she reached up toward it, but her fingers didn't reach whatever she saw; Sage chuckled, drawing Maddy's attention.

"Trying to see if you can reach that far up?" Sage asked, smiling.

"Not really," Maddy said, returning the smile, "what do you have there?"

"Found a small wooden chest," Sage said, "the kind you'd find on ships."

The four knelt in the sand, the chest in the middle of the loose circle they made, and Sage pushed the key into the chest, turning it and lifting the lid.

"What is that?" Maddy asked, looking down at an odd object on a leather-bound stack.

Sage carefully lifted the circular golden orb mounted on a golden rod, "I think this is part of the prize from that day all the rewards were handed out."

"It's beautiful," Matthew murmured, "it has all those blue dots on them."

"Those aren't dots," Maddy whispered, "they're sapphires."

Holding it up, Sage said, "They seem randomly dotted about."

Stuart gasped, "It's the location of each of the islands, and according to this, there are more than we know of."

Their communications hissed into life, and Avidan's voice came to their hearing, "You have company … coming through the archway … now."

The four looked toward the doorway, Stuart rising as his sister and men splashed out onto the sand.

"Sally?" Stuart frowned, taking in his sister's expression before her eyes fell to the orb in Sage's hand; it hardened before looking at her brother, "Sally, what is it?"

"We have company," she said, her gaze falling to the orb again, "whatever you're doing is going to need to be hurried up."

"How many?" Matthew asked, straightening from his crouch.

"Ah …" she glanced over her shoulder at one of the men, who nodded and moved forward.

"At least fifty," he said, glancing worriedly at Sally, "heavily armed."

"Where did they land?" Stuart asked.

"They didn't…" Sally said, inhaling deeply, "… they entered by land."

"Watch the beaches as well," Sage said, wrapping the orb in a leather cloth and pulling out the remainder of the contents, "has the village been alerted?"

"It has," Sally said, "what do you have there?"

Sage glanced at her, "It's a good question we're about to find out," opening the leather binding around the rectangular object, Sage felt the sudden sensations of surprise and wonder clashing in her chest as she took in the small globe held in a glass and wood container, "spectacular."

"Does it give you any information to get rid of those men?" Sally asked, striding forward.

Turning the container in her hands, Sage took in every angle, "There's something here."

"What is it?" Maddy asked.

"It's writing of some sort," Stuart said, "another language … I've never seen that before."

"Unsurprisingly its Gaelic," Sage said, "Siubhail an Saoghal gus do dhachaigh a lorg, eòlas fhaighinn air do chridhe agus a bhith mar aon leis na h-Uile.

Is e tuigse air a' chridhe an iuchair airson a' Chrùn a chaitheamh."

"What does that mean?" Sally asked, frowning.

"Well, it's only in Scottish Gaelic, so we must be coming to an end," Sage said, encountering questioning looks from those around her, "until now, everything has been in Irish and Scottish Gaelic."

"Fair enough," Stauart nodded, "we're ... nearing ... the end. We're not there yet. What does it mean?"

"Oh ... sure," Sage said, looking from her four companions to Sally and then at the container, "Travel the World to find your home, know your heart and be one with All. Understanding of the heart is the key to wear the Crown."

"Sounds like a riddle," Sally said, shaking her head, "why can't they say this is what is needed and do this to get to the end?"

"I asked that as well," Maddy said, "there was an explanation, but I don't think you're in the mood to hear it right now."

Sally grunted, looking over her shoulder as her men moved near the entrance, "You need to go wherever your next step is taking you."

Sage noticed Sally's gaze drop to the orb and globe, "Are you a Channing or a Cooper?"

"What?" Sally asked, frowning, "What are you asking?"

"You can barely contain your desire to possess these items," Sage said softly, "what are you? A Cooper or a Channing?"

"I hardly think it's relevant," Sally said, "my last name is Cooper."

"In your heart ..." Sage persisted, "... are you a Cooper or a Channing?"

Sally's gaze shot past Sage to clash with her brother, "Is this your doing?"

Stuart stood beside Sage, "It's no one's doing, but there is something Grandfather said about a brother and sister ... one being a Cooper and the other a Channing. Will you allow greed to master you, or will you protect and serve?"

Sally stared blankly at Stuart briefly before whispering, "Protect and Serve."

Stuart sighed, nodding, "Then let us work together to keep these lands the sanctuary it has become."

Nodding, Sally met Sage's gaze, "To answer your question ..." she rolled her shoulders before continuing, "... at heart, I'm a Cooper, but I think like a Channing ..." Sally raised her hand stopping any interruptions from the group, "... both will serve us in ways we will only know when the time comes."

Sage smiled, "That is good enough for me," she wrapped the globe in the leather and placed both in the chest, locking it again, "Stuart, you're taller than all of us. See if you can mark that spot where the engraving is."

Pulling a piece of chalk from his belt, Stuart stretched, barely making the ceiling and marking the area.

"Where to now?" Maddy asked.

"I think it starts with the riddle," Sage said, glancing at her watch, "wait a moment ..." quickly pulling the orb from the chest and locking it again, Sage turned it slowly in front of her, "... Stuart, you said it was a map of the islands."

"Yes," Stuart looked over her shoulder, "we're... here," he stopped her hand and pointed to a small red gem, "that's a ruby."

"Yes, it is," Sage whispered, "if we're here and we follow the line to each island as they are connected here, how long will that take us?"

"I'm not sure?" Stuart said, looking at Matthew, who moved to look over Sage's shoulder.

"About forty-five minutes," Matthew said, "if we leave now, we can make the trip to all of these islands, even the new ones and back here before time runs out."

"Then go," Sally said, "my boat is around those rocks. We'll stay here and hold them off as long as possible."

Sage nodded, following the group toward the rocks and Sally's boat, "Avidan, you there? "

"We're all here," Avidan's voice crackled over the communications.

"We're heading into the unknown," Sage said, "we may lose communication with you. Your orders and authorisations are in play now ..." Sage said, "... should we not make it back ... destroy the Channings and protect Coopers Cove and all it holds dear."

"We hear, understand, acknowledge and accept our missions," Avidan said, "Godspeed to you all."

Rounding the corner, Sage found a power boat waiting, "Sally doesn't mess around."

"She never has," Stuart chuckled, helping Maddy and Sage into the craft, "trust her to have it ready to go at a moment's notice."

"Extra fuel barrels at the back are full," Matthew said, "as is the tank."

Turning the key, the boat roared to life as Stuart detached the rope from the rock it was moored to.

"Everyone ready?" Maddy asked.

"Let's do this," Sage said, sitting next to Maddy on the padded and covered bench, "anchors away."

Matthew grinned at her remark and gunned the engines into the deeper water, heading toward the first island on the orb.