3

In the morning the rebels kept up their side of the deal. Amadeus watched from the side of the ship as multiple men and women, who were dressed in every day common clothes, moved the boxes to wooden carts lined up to their right. At the same time there were a few men moving wooden chests onto his ship, five to be exact. When everything had been moved to their respective places, a man climbed aboard the ship and made his way towards Amadeus. Amadeus looked at the man inquisitively, wondering who he could be. The man leaned onto the railing beside Amadeus, looking out towards the city.

“Aren’t you supposed to be moving boxes? What’re you doing up here?” asked Amadeus.

“No, I’m here to deliver a message from my leader” said the man.

Instantly, Amadeus recognized him as the man who had made the deal with him last night.

“What’s the message?”

“It’s not exactly a message. It’s more of an invitation.” The man then turned his head to look at Amadeus. “You haven’t spent a lot of time here, so I’m not surprised that you don’t know, but your name is very well known in the city Amadeus. The common people here respect you, and the higher ups despise you, but also respect you”.

“Why? What did I do to earn their respect and hate?”

“What haven’t you done? You’re a world famous pirate who’s earned a fortune without stealing a single gold coin. You’ve made all of it through your many adventures to places people would never tread. The nobles despise you because you’ve gotten the treasures they’ve hired people to get, but they always end up either empty handed or dead. The commoners respect you because you’re just a common man doing the impossible”.

“And now I’m washed up, I’ve got nothing but my ship, and I’m trying to earn all my money back through any means necessary. What’s the damn invitation?”

“It’s an invitation for you to join us Amadeus. You have skills that could help us fight back against the nobles of the Grand Capital. You could help us make change for the less fortunate who are taken advantage of by those higher up than them”. Amadeus contemplated the man’s words for a bit. They softened him up a bit, but they didn’t bring him to any kind of immediate answer. Amadeus looked out towards the city. He knew how bad his hometown of Sensua was. Criminal acts were common there and it was all spearheaded and ruled by mob bosses who cared for nothing except money and power. With a city as big as this, things could possibly be even worse. After a couple more minutes, Amadeus said:

“Look, I want to help, but I can’t. I have two brothers to look after and a whole slew of other problems to face. I wish I could lend a hand, but my plate is full right now. Sorry”.

“No, I understand”. The man then reached into his pocket and pulled out a small sky blue stone hat had an indent in the center of it. He handed it to Amadeus who looked at it curiously.

“What’s this?” asked Amadeus.

“It’s a messaging stone. You press that indent in the middle and it records whatever message you want and then sends it to the other stone that it’s linked to”.

“I’m gonna assume you have the other stone then?”

“You’d be correct. Consider it an extra gift for the Wolf’s Blood”.

“No person with enough common sense just gives something like this away without expecting something in return. What’s the real reason you gave this to me?”

The man gave Amadeus a warm smile as he said, “It’s for if you happen to change your mind about the invitation”. The man then stood up and walked off the boat and joined his other workers in moving the boxes. Amadeus looked to the magic stone in his hand then to the city while grasping the stone firmly in his hand. Amadeus simply stood there in silence for a few moments before going to wake up all the crew members, as well as his brothers, to split the pay between the lot of them. After that was done, the amount that was left for Amadeus was two hundred and eighty thousand gold, for he had fifty crew members on his ship, including his brothers, and he gave each of them ten thousand gold apiece, except for his brothers who he split his two hundred and eighty thousand gold with equally. Afterwards, he repeated what he had told his brothers to tell the crew. “Anyone who isn’t coming with us to the island gets left here after they’re paid”. After that, twenty of the fifty crew members took their leave from the ship for various reasons, some of them Amadeus would’ve cursed them for, but he didn’t. He completely understood their reasons for leaving. But those that stayed, he had newfound respect for. They had less than optimal crew for a ship of this size, but they’d manage.

Soon enough, they were back out at sea and heading towards the island, with Alfred making sure all the crew members were on top of managing the sails, keeping lookout in the crow’s nest, keeping the deck clean etc. For the duration of the trip Amadeus was somewhat anxious, worrying that The Queen would appear suddenly, or force her way into his mind. He thought about turning the totem back on, but it would be pointless as The Queen had no intention of killing him and destroying his ship if he complied with her orders, which he fully intended to do. Even if he tried to hide from her, he would eventually have to leave the ship, allowing her to find him instantly. From reading his mind, she knew where he and his family lived, and she knew the dark secret that could possibly tear him away from his family. No, he couldn’t take the risk of simply disobeying her and hiding forever. There was too much at stake. If his brothers and his mother were to find out what had led him to retire and blow all his money on alcohol, it would be disastrous. Tears flooded from Amadeus’s eyes as the terrible memories creeped into his mind. A shaky, sketchy agreement, a harsh unjust punishment for failure, lies put in place to hide the terrible truth, and an early retirement followed by constantly paying barkeeps to help not feel anything for hours at a time. All of this led to a desperate, broken man who was willing to do anything to earn back what he had lost.

Amadeus wiped away his tears and focused on the sea ahead of him. He took a swig of his rum and allowed the smell of salty seawater to fill his nose and the cool air to fill his lungs. He indulged in the wonderful noses of the ship in order to distract himself from his own thoughts. Immediately, his mind went back to his past ventures as a pirate. Back then his crew never stayed the same. Most would leave after they had gotten their large pay from whatever haul Amadeus had gotten. Some would stay, but would leave later after they had had their fill of his wild adventures. One thing that was constant though was that Amadeus never brought any of his family on board because he always thought it was too dangerous, but Alfred and Richard constantly begged him to let them come with him. Amadeus chuckled to himself and thought, “Looks like they got what they wished for”. Their mother was never worried for Amadeus despite all the adventures he went on. Whenever Amadeus planned to visit home he fully expected his mother and his brothers to ask about his latest venture, leading him to prepare a story in advance after it had happened so many times. Every time he talked about how he would narrowly escape from danger she would retort with how she knew he would make it out safe and sound. She would say that she prayed for his safe return and that she was confident that the prayer would help him survive. The day that Amadeus had planned to finally bring Richard and Alfred with him, she cried more tears of joy than Amadeus had ever seen. That day was the day that all three of her sons would finally be following in their father’s footsteps. Before they left she forced her sons to all pray together for their safety on their journey. Amadeus had never been someone who aligned himself with any particular religion like his mother did, who believed in polytheism, but he thought it funny that he had survived this long while narrowly avoiding death so many times along the way. When Amadeus expressed his worry about her being alone while they were gone, she reassured him that she was never alone, that their father was always with her.

Once again the moon began to reveal itself on the horizon and cast the earth below in a pale light. Amadeus saw his brother walk towards him from the cabins and stop just beside him. “Is it time to switch already?” asked Amadeus. Alfred nodded and took control of the wheel as Amadeus let go of it. Before Amadeus left, Alfred said, “Richard told me that it’ll be some time, around a couple weeks, before we get to the island”. Amadeus nodded in return and went to his cabin. He hoped he would get a good night’s sleep tonight as he would have to switch places with Alfred in the morning, with him doing the same when night came, in a continuing cycle until they came to the island. When Amadeus got to his room, he immediately went to the back to the larder to grab a mug of rum before he went to bed. When he got there he opened his personal chest in the hopes that his last bottle of stardust wasn’t actually his last bottle as it was the best kind of alcohol he had ever drank. Much to his surprise however, he found a familiar book called The Art of Magic: A Beginners Guide to Casting Spells. It was the book his father had bought for him soon before he had been killed, but what it was doing in his chest was beyond him.

Curiously, he placed his mug down and opened the book to the first page and read the first few sentences. “To the buyer and reader of this book, to learn about magic, one must understand it first. Magic is made up of mana, an infinite source that can be found in all living things. Casting spells means tapping into that supply from one’s own body and channeling it into different forms of magic that act in different ways”. Amadeus continued to read on, completely ignoring the rum that sat on the floor next to him. It was as if he had unlocked a part of himself from long ago that had been hidden away because of everything that had happened in his life. “The ability to tap into one’s own body is something that does not come easily and expecting it to will only lead to failure. Along with this, tapping into one’s own body can be dangerous because your body only has so much that can be tapped from it. In a later chapter, we will discuss ways to increase the supply that one can hold within their own body. But for now, we will discuss how to tap into your body and how to be safe about it”. Amadeus began to nod off as his eyes began to drift. But he kept reading on until he no longer had the willpower to keep reading and he fell asleep on his bed, his book in his hand. He had managed to at least complete the first page before he had given up his body to sleep’s embrace and nodded off to the land of dreams.

…

Amadeus awoke, groggy with slightly blurry vision from being jolted awake so suddenly. He rubbed the blurriness from his eyes and looked around the room to see his brother standing beside him, illuminated by the morning sun. “Hey, get up. It’s your turn to sail the ship. I’ve got one of the workers sailing the ship and he’ll only stand up there for so long” said Alfred. Alfred then turned his sight to the book in Amadeus’s hands that caught his attention. When he picked up the book and read the title, a look of surprise appeared on his face. “Huh, magic? It’s been quite a while since you started messing with that stuff. What made you start back up?

“I don’t know. I just found it in my chest” Amadeus answered as he began to change into some new attire. Alfred twisted and turned the book in his hands, as if he was trying to find or confirm something in particular, but in reality it was just in sheer confusion that Amadeus, someone who had no interest in magic beforehand, seemingly took an interest in it all of a sudden.

  “Is this the book that dad bought you? He was always trying to get us to learn that stuff. You were the only one that was ever interested though” asked Alfred.

  Amadeus looked to him after having gotten fully dressed and said, “Yeah, it’s the one that he got me for my birthday. He wanted me to make something of myself and not become a pirate like he did. The least I can do is start studying the basics at least”. Amadeus then grabbed the book from Alfred’s hands and tossed it into the wooden chest before saying to Alfred, “Better get some sleep before night comes and it’s your turn again”. Before he went back up to the top deck, Amadeus had half a mind to scold him for allowing one of the workers to sail his ship, but he thought it a waste of time. He simply went up and took the wheel from the worker and sent him back to his work, for it was Amadeus’s fault for not being up and ready anyway.

  For the next couple of weeks, whenever Amadeus wasn’t sailing the ship and had the free time, he read the book of magic he had found. His interest grew more and more over time as he continued to read and at one point, after several says, he even tried to channel tap into his own body and create something small, like a small flame. “Alright,” he said to himself. “Focus entirely on the energy within your own body, just like the book said,”. Amadeus closed his eyes, took in a deep breath, and then exhaled. He pushed all his focus toward the energy within his own body. He could sense it; it was like a flowing river within himself. The first step for Amadeus was finished. Now it was time for the second step, redirecting that energy. He began to put his focus on the river itself. He focused on every single detail of the river. The water itself, the rocks that rested at the bottom, the fish swimming around in it, and the sound… of the sea. Suddenly, Amadeus lost his focus and opened his eyes back to his room of the ship. He cursed the ocean in frustration at the distracting sounds it produced and then tried to focus on his own energy again, only to fail once again. He tried this several more times before giving up and cursing in frustration.

But then, an idea came to his mind. He made his way to the larder of the ship and found the totem he had used so long ago to hide the ship from The Queen. He moved it away to his room and looking at it, he chuckled to himself about the irony that what was once something that he hated was now going to help him. He adjusted the settings on the totem, which were in the form of convenient dials, and reduced its range to only be a small area around himself. He turned it on and began focusing on the energy within his own body once again. After he had imagined all the different details of the river once again, he focused on moving the river. He saw the river twist and turn before him. Just as he was beginning to redirect the river to his hand. however, another obstacle stood in his path, his own thoughts. Suddenly, the river before him ran wild. Flowing faster and more out of control than ever before. A torrent of voices all erupted from the river, all of them assaulting Amadeus at once. He clasped his hands to his ears, begging for them to stop, apologizing over and over again hoping that it would soothe the depressive, self-destructive voices into a calmer state. Terrible somewhat repressed memories began to assault his mind, forcing him to beg and apologize with greater intensity. He fell to the floor, tears streaming down his eyes as he wished for this nightmare to end. When he finally opened his eyes, it all went away. The violent river, the voices, the memories, everything. He slowly got up and looked around to see his old room once again. He thought about what had just happened and cried profusely at the thought of having to face the force of his own mind. He flipped through the book to see what he had done wrong and found the instructions on how to tap into one’s own body. He read through every step until he came to the warning at the bottom of the page. “This is a warning to the dear reader of this book, and if that’s you please read this before attempting to tap into your own body. Along with a limited supply, tapping into your own body opens the mind of the user, exposing them to the full force of it, the good and the bad. If you aren’t ready to deal with what your mind has in store for you, then you aren’t ready to learn magic yet”. Upon reading this Amadeus threw the book across the room in frustration. Richard, who had come to investigate after he had heard everything of the last minute or two, found Amadeus crying a river with his head in his hands. Immediately, Richard sat by his side and said, “What’s wrong Amadeus? What happened?” After Amadeus didn’t respond, most likely from his inability to at the moment, Richard looked around for what could have caused him to be crying so much. When he saw the magic book he picked it up and saw where Amadeus had left off. When he read the warning his eyes widened in surprise and he quickly went to comfort his brother for as long as he needed to. He fully understood what had happened and understood why his brother didn’t respond to his questions. Amadeus, even if he couldn’t say it, greatly appreciated his brother’s presence. Afterwards, after Richard left, Amadeus lied down and tried to get some sleep for the coming morning when he’d have to sail again.

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…

For the rest of the voyage to the island, Amadeus refused to attempt tapping into his own body, or even open the magic book at all. Whenever he went near it, his mind instantly went to what had happened that fateful night. “No, I can’t. I can’t do it. I just can’t” he thought to himself every time he so much as looked at the book. The book sat in the same place that he had thrown it and it was there that it would sit until Amadeus was ready to try his hand at magic once again. When that would be however, was something that was completely unknown to him. After what had happened, Amadeus tried his hardest to push the thought of it out of his mind as thinking about the book instantly brought his mind to the fact that he was a failure. He had failed his father’s hopes that he would learn magic and shy away from the dangerous life had had. And now he failed his father’s hopes once again by not even being able to learn the most basic pieces of using magic such as tapping into one’s own body. He wanted to burn the book, but he knew that it wouldn’t solve anything. If anything, it would make things worse as it would greatly lessen his chances of ever learning magic as well as destroy the last connection he had to his father.

Soon, the wall of ice that Richard had mentioned days earlier began to appear on the horizon. One of the crew mates in the bird’s nest called this out to Amadeus, who allowed a smile to grow on his face at the good news. As they began to approach the island, Amadeus heard The Queen’s sudden voice in his mind. It was so sudden that it made him jump in shock. “It seems you’ve finally arrived. I am following you now as I have been for some time now. I’ll lower the wall of ice and allow you passage to the island. Do not forget what you’re here to do. Retrieve that rare herb. Don’t waste time getting it and do it by any means necessary. Or else”. And just like that, the voice was gone. Just like the Queen said, as they approached, the wall of ice began to lower, as if sinking downwards into the ocean, revealing the never before seen island that awaited them. From what could be seen, a mountain rose above the jungle surrounding it that sat its base. At the mountain’s peak sat a large fortress that looked to be built encompassing the entirety of the peak of the mountain. As Amadeus approached the mountain, he ordered the crew members to prepare the smaller boats as well as to prepare to drop the anchor. The crew members did exactly as they were told and the boat was successfully stopped some distance away from the island. Amadeus hurried and notified Richard that they had reached the island and then went to wake up Alfred, but he was already up and was getting dressed. When his brothers were able and ready, he discussed with them about how things should be handled.

“A majority of the crew should stay here to guard the ship, that much is obvious” Alfred noted. Amadeus and Richard nodded in agreement.

“Yes, at most we should have a group of seven men going into the island to find this herb. If it’s powerful enough to cure The Queen of her disease, it’ll be in that fortress at the top of the mountain” said Amadeus. He then pointed towards the peak of the mountain for emphasis.

“If that’s the case, then how’re we going to get up there?” asked Richard.

Amadeus looked towards Richard and said, “If I’m going to be honest. I don’t know. We’ll have to see about it when we get there”.

“Maybe The Queen could help us with that” suggested Alfred.

“No, it probably wouldn’t work. The Queen’s too big to be anything else but a hinderance. Plus, I doubt she’d help us anyway”. Suddenly, the ground began to shake beneath them. A good distance away from the ship the water erupted like it had once before and behind the torrent was the Queen herself. Suddenly, her voice came to the minds of Amadeus, Alfred, and Richard, and said, “As much as I would like to help you. There is magic that keeps me from getting near the fortress”. To demonstrate she moved her head close to the island, only for her to stop just before it as whatever kind of magical invisible wall that she hit in the air created a rainbow color the second that she forcefully came into contact with it with a light ‘thud’. Suddenly, her voice came to the again saying, “Why there is a magic wall here that prevents me from entering, I don’t know”. She then looked towards the three brothers and said, “I anxiously await your return. Do not take too long”. The Queen quickly sank into the water, ending another eruption of water into the air. Luckily for Amadeus, neither her entrance nor her exit seemed to damage the ship in any way. Afterwards, Amadeus decided that it was time to start making their way through the jungle. Before they left, Amadeus had Richard attempt to judge the distance between them and the fortress and how long it would take them to get there. “At least twelve hours”, was Richard’s answer. With this information, Amadeus told the crew members to gather some food and from the ship’s larder and some canvas from the storage for the journey towards the fortress. After everyone returned, he then told everyone in their group to have their weapons ready at all times and to be as attentive as possible as they had no idea what they could possibly encounter on this island, especially if there was magic involved already. The six members of his team, including his brothers, all followed his orders to a T and had their swords and guns, only guns for the crew members carrying food, at the ready. Amadeus had everyone stay close together, with Alfred repeatedly making sure that everyone was accounted for. Alfred stood in the back of the group, mentally keeping a check on all the heads of his party. He counted every one of his brothers and all of the crew members they had brought with them. He happily congratulated himself in his mind and continued walking.

The mysterious fortress could constantly be seen looming in the distance, acting as foreboding as anything could possibly be. Richard sped up to be next to Amadeus and asked, “What do you think we’ll find in there?”.

Amadeus replied without looking at Richard, “I don’t know. There must be a good reason that the people who used to live here wanted to keep The Queen out”.

  “But why would they want to keep her out when they have the herb that saves her life?”

  “I don’t know. It’s just another mystery to add to the pile”.

  There was a minute of silence before Richard asked, “What if they’re alive?”

  “Who? The people that lived here?”

  “Yes”.

  “That’s impossible. There’s no human that could have lived for over a thousand years”.

  “They created a barrier that could keep The Queen out. Extending their lives doesn’t seem so implausible”.

  “Maybe”.

  By the time they had reached the base of the mountain, the morning had turned to early evening, coating the sky in orange. Amadeus stopped the crew in the clearing and told everyone that they would rest here for the night and then start the ascent in the morning. He had the crew members create makeshift tents with the canvas while he and his brothers made a simple campfire in the middle. After all was said and done, Amadeus passed out the food, which consisted of fruit and dried meat, and then sat down and ate himself. As they ate near the fire, the glow of it illuminating their faces, one of the crew members asked in a gruff voice, “Isn’t a bit weird how we haven’t seen any animals yet?”

  “Well, we’re a big group of men with weapons. Doubt any kinds of animals would wanna try and attack us” said Alfred.

  “No, I mean we haven’t seen ANY animals. Not even any flies bitin’ or birds chirpin’. Somethin’s goin on here. Somethin’ mysterious!”.

  “Well, I ain’t complaining. Less to deal with” noted another of the crew members.

  Silence filled the air for a few minutes before a crew member asked, “Do ya think we’ll find that herb up there in that fortress cap’n?”

  “Where else could it be?” Amadeus answered after swallowing a mouthful of fruit. “You don’t usually just leave something so powerful and important lying around anywhere, do you?”

  “No, I guess not”. There were a few minutes of silence before he asked, “Well what if it isn’t there?”

  Amadeus looked toward Dickson and answered, “Hmm?”

  “I said what if it isn’t there? Look captain, I’d be willing to follow you to the end of the bloody Earth, but I don’t know about searching this whole damn jungle for a single plant”. Alfred shot him an angry look that caused him to recoil a bit in fear. Amadeus noticed Alfred’s mood and said, “No, Alfred. He’s right. I’m not gonna force you guys to do anything. If we don’t find the herb up there, I’ll search the jungle myself. You all can wait in the boat. But come morning”. Amadeus stood up and threw away the core of the apple he had eaten. He looked at the men before him with a face more serious that he had ever had. “I expect full cooperation. I won’t hesitate to throw you off the damn mountain myself”.

  Soon everyone went to bed in one of the canvas tents except for Amadeus who continued to sit by the fire. Next to him was a leather pack he brought from the ship. Slowly and hesitantly, he opened the pack to reveal the magic book he had tried to read previously. He took it out of the pack and by just looking at the cover, memories of what happened previously flooded into this memory, causing him to drop the book. He picked up the book once again, tears beginning to stream from his eyes. He prepared to throw it into the still burning fire until a sudden voice said, “I heard from Richard what happened about the magic book”. Amadeus looked around to see Alfred standing across from him. Amadeus must’ve not noticed him walk up when he was focused on the book in his hands. Alfred sat down across from him and gave him a warm smile, with Amadeus only giving a weak one back. There were a few minutes of silence between them before Alfred said, “I know it’s hard trying to live up to what dad wanted you to be. I guess when you look around at the current situation we’re in, he was right. But I bet he couldn’t predict that you’d manage to live up to what he was. The most infamous pirate ever known”. A few more minutes of silence passed. Alfred then stood up and then sat next to Amadeus. He wrapped his arms around him in a brotherly embrace. “You can burn the book if you want to. It’s your decision and I won’t stop you. I just want you to know that despite everything. You’re the greatest pirate that ever lived and not being able to live up to what someone expected of you will never change that. Alfred then released him and made his way back to his tent. He looked back to Amadeus before entering, who gave him a warm smile through a flood of tears.

  Amadeus, now alone by the fire once again, looked at the book in his hands. He then closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and focused once more. Once again, he imagined the river before him, with all its twists and turns. He then went to attempt to redirect the river towards his hand. Just like last time, however, the river suddenly grew violent and the voices barraged him all at once. Amadeus tried his best to fight all of them off, using Alfred’s words as his mental sword and shield. Slowly but surely, the river began to twist and turn as he moved. He stretched out his right arm and then raised it into the air as high as it could go. The river began to be pulled towards his raised hand. However, as the river got closer, it became more and more wild and the voices more violent. It had become so much that Amadeus felt his head would explode at any minute. He put all his effort into holding on as long as he could, despite his mental fortitude beginning to wane. When it felt like all was lost, the river immediately calmed down and the voices went away in an instant. Amadeus looked to his right hand and saw the water of the river that had now formed a sphere in his palm. Amadeus became excited, but he didn’t let it ruin is focus. Slowly, but surely, he began to move the water through his body. As it passed through to his other hand the water felt surprisingly warm. Like his body was heating water as it passed through it. When the water reached his left hand, instead of forming a sphere, it seemed to be absorbed into his palm, causing his hand to glow blue. With this, Amadeus focused on casting the first spell he had read in the book. Create Flame. With all the power he could muster, he focused on making this spell a reality. After a minute or two, a small spark appeared in his hand, then another, and another until a very small flame was created. Amadeus opened his eyes to see the small flame, that was about the size of an ant, actually in his hand. “Well, it’s a start” Amadeus thought to himself.

  He then thought back to when his father first started teaching him magic as he was a very well-known and talented magician in Sensua. When he wasn’t sailing the high seas he was enchanting equipment or creating magical items for willing buyers. A lot of his free time was spent showing Amadeus and his brothers the wonders of magic to the point that their mother complained that, even though he was spending a lot of time with their children, he wasn’t spending enough time with her. His excuse was always that he was one of the only dedicated mages still alive ever since the in the world ever since and that the art and study of the old magics was being forgot. His father saw passing on his knowledge of magic as his one true calling and the one thing that he was created for. He would always retell the story of The Night of Destroyed Knowledge that happened in The Grand Capital that was the beginning of magic being forgotten in the world. Amadeus enjoyed the memories he had remembered, but he was growing more and more tired with every second. Eventually, he promptly went to sleep as he had to be prepared for the challenges that the next day would surely bring.

  When morning came back around Amadeus managed to wake up earlier than everyone else did. Instead of waking everyone else up and telling them to get ready, he took the time to practice casting the ‘create fire’ spell like he did last night. Every time he tried it, he only managed to produce the same small flame, however. “There must be something I’m missing!” he thought to himself. After a few more tries he gave up and looked up towards the fortress atop the mountain. He wondered about how in the hell they were supposed to get up there, especially without any equipment to do so. That’s when an idea struck him. He quickly stood up and began walking around the base of the mountain, while still in the clearing. He thought it best to give the crew members a couple more hours of sleep with everything he’d been asking them to do. After a half hour, Amadeus didn’t find anything that supported his suspicions. He doubted that there was any way that the people who made this place climbed the mountain themselves, or else they would have made an easy way to get up to the fortress via a pulley or some other contraption. They had to have some alternate means of reaching the top. After an hour had passed, he had reached the other side of the base and had had his suspicions confirmed. Before him stood a massive cave opening dug into the side of the mountain. Amadeus raced back to the encampment to deliver the good news. He woke everyone up and had them all get ready and then explained what he had found. He led everyone to what he had found and then told them to gather a stick or two and that he’d worry about the fire. Using his small flame, he managed to create a torch for everyone to hold. He told two of the crew members to bring the food with them, but to leave the encampment behind, as Amadeus didn’t know how long they would be in this cave for.

  Surprisingly, the cave stayed level throughout the entire exploration of it. It didn’t have any kind of incline or decline. The path they walked twisted and turned in different directions every so often and even narrowed at some points, but that was it. Amadeus thought of what one of the crew members said last night and also found it weird that no kind of creature had taken residence in this place. The only sounds that could be heard was that of their footsteps, increasing Amadeus’s suspicion about this place. After they had been walking for what felt like an hour, the path they walked widened as they came to a massive cavern in the mountain. Light shined down through a hole in the center of the ceiling onto what looked like a wooden lift. The path before them weaved its way through a stone field of stalagmites towards the wooden lift. Amadeus pointed towards it and said, “That must be how they got up. They created a pulley system to bring them to the top of the mountain. Come, let’s get this over with”. As they approached the lift, Alfred caught up with him and said, “Doesn’t this seem a bit unsafe Amadeus? We don’t even know if it works. It’s been here for at least a thousand years”.

  “Well, we don’t exactly have the stuff needed to scale a mountain. This seems to be our only option. I doubt dying from a fall would be any less painful than what The Queen would have in store for us”.

  “Yes, I understand that, but it seems foolish to risk our lives like this”.

When they got to the lift, Amadeus turned to Alfred and said, “Fine. I’ll test it out myself before I risk yours, Richard’s, or the other crew member’s lives”. He looked at the lift and say that it had a single rusted metal lever, most likely for going up and down. As he stepped onto it, it jolted a little, shaking a bit of dust from it.

“This isn’t what I had in mind,” said Alfred who shot Amadeus an annoyed look.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. Besides, if I die, you become the new captain” Amadeus responded with a joking smile. He attempted to push the lever, only for it to be stuck. He put all his force into it, eventually causing the lever to give way and move with the ‘CLANG!’. The lift slowly began to move upwards towards the ceiling of the cavern. Amadeus then grabbed the lever and pulled it back, causing the lift to drop back to where it was originally. “See, it’s safe” said Amadeus. The other crew members stepped on, shaking the lift even more. When everyone was on, Amadeus pushed the lever once again, and looked up towards the light as they began to ascend.