Eiden put his heart and soul into his magical training while waiting to see Mashu.

It was a good idea they decided to come early, Eiden thought, looking at the group of loud kindergartners coming, running to the shop.

"Mashu, I'm very anxious about finding the location. Did you get any information?" Eiden put a small sack of gold on the table.

"My lord, I'm not sure this is the correct information you need. But, I thought it could be." Mashu took a map from a drawer and spread it on the table.

"My lord, according to some friends I heard, Lord Elvin is enraged that you are not located yet. However, is not taking extreme measures, with no arrests whatsoever, they think he fears a civil uprising over that. Rumors were running around, the young lord was hurt and probably died, and the Palace is not revealing information." Mashu paused for a moment.

"Mashu, what I'm doing out there is a work of great importance." Eiden felt the need to clarify.

"I understand, my lord, besides, I don't trust Lord Elvin is looking for you out of goodness. Well, to the business. I told them I was worried about my old master's grandchild disappearing and asked them if they thought the young lord was hidden somewhere. More than a few people are unhappy about the new government and Lord Elvin's son's behavior, and I found a few heavily guarded places.

The reason most guards are wary of these is they think some of these places are used for dark magic, extremely heavy dark magic. My lord, I beg your pardon, if you're planning to get into any of these places, isn't it better you take the rightful place first?" Mashu bowed low.

"I have a family, but my blade is right beside you if you decide to fight for your legacy."

Eiden was deeply disturbed by everything he heard. And a little scared.

"Mashu, no, I don't doubt any of my father's people's loyalty to me. But, it's not the right time yet. It'd be pointless bloodshed. Besides, it's not my place, it's my mother's. I'm immensely grateful that you found these for me. I'll be on my way." They both bowed to each other as he stood up. Eiden on second thought paused and looked at Mashu.

"Please don't take part in any useless rebellions, Mashu. There's a higher force than you see. Another thing, don't underestimate my uncle or Evan. Take care of your family."

Eiden took Cissa's hand and teleported away.

"Eiden, you're being scary, Kit," Cissa said, putting an arm around Eiden. Eiden chuckled but soon adopted a grave expression.

"I'm being serious, Cissa. There's something bigger going on. No one is doing this, just for taking over the government." When they went into the house, the friends were eager to hear what information they brought.

"Ierma, I want to see, Guru, do you think it's ok to visit again?" Eiden asked.

"My lord, if the lord wants to see him, he might be expecting you too. He has a way to know."

Eiden took Ivar's arm to be led to the cabin. The hermit was tending to his garden and turned to see them. He silently came, opened the door, and gestured to them to sit. For a while, there were no other sounds than Guru washing hands and boiling a teapot. Eiden was also immersed in his mind.

Eiden took a moment to gather his thoughts.

"I'm scared." What. Where did that come from?

"You will have to endure the pain and loss to gain a victory."

"What if I'm wrong?"

"Mistakes are part of the quest."

Eiden took out the map.

"The flowers," he pointed to two marked spots on the map.

"Must be grown to sustain a black dragon. You found the vellum from Southern tribes. The only way such stories remain there means someone in that area was familiar with the existence of the flowers. People massacred humanoid creatures from the South, meaning the dragons must have come from the South. My parents disappeared while trying to go to the South."

"Your deductions seem logical." Guru replied.

"I found the vellum from the tribes that used to live in the foothills of Mount Sorax in older days. They don't live there anymore. But it could be the other place. I can not say exactly."

Eiden stared at the map for a while. And stood up.

"Thank you, Guru, It's a pleasure to meet you. Good day," he took the map and bowed. Guru too stood up.

"The darkness is gaining. You must hurry," he bowed.

Eiden didn't say a word until he came home. The dinner was waiting for them. They didn't speak of upcoming dangers as they enjoyed the meal.

"Where did they capture you, Clade? you never told me what they asked?" After dinner, they sat by the fire, roasting hazelnuts.

"Not very far from the North border of the Sangona. Said that I must have known some people lurking around that area. Remember Del, his gang hates me. Think they told guards, I go out and know humans. Asked about the shaman. Told them, don't know. He left for Ocealia, years ago." Clade said, poking the fire.

"Guys, has anyone been to Mount Sorax?"

"What?" all three jungle dwellers looked horrified.

"No one goes around that area. There were a lot of myths and stories. Myths or not, that area is haunted." Nub shuddered. Eiden pulled out the map.

"There are two places, under heavy security. One is around the foothills of Mount Sorax, another one is close to the summit. I'm going to the latter, plains near the summit. It's more isolated and no one even accidentally would go there. I think it's where the black dragon is hidden." Eiden showed them. Cissa shook his head a few times, opening and closing the mouth to say something.

"Eiden, it's very dangerous in that area, dark and evil, people say so"

"Eiden, you know, nothing even flies around that area. What is anyone doing there I don't understand?" Nub flattened her ears at the disturbing idea.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"I guess, it's time for me to tell you what else I remembered." Eiden sat up.

"That day, up on the hill, I had another memory dream. It was my mother and father talking to me. Mother had this prism-like crystal. She said it's the heart of the North Sea. I don't remember all of it, but she said it's from my maternal grandfather.

Papa passed away only a few months after Mother was born. From what I understood, he wanted Grandmother to find his kin, black dragons. And open the door. I don't know what kind of door. But he had said he was a door warden. And the key to the door has two parts. His part is what was given to Grandmother. The other part should be with his kin." Eiden looked around to see others staring at him, with various degrees of surprised expressions.

"Err...Eiden. How are you supposed to ask a dragon?” Ivar's confusion was almost comical.

"I don't know. But, I think, if they had been fair, then they would be able to talk" he shrugged, imagining a large beast roaring his name.

"Papa said his kin, means they ought to be fair." Eiden took a roasted hazelnut.

"I'd been thinking. The vague memories I have of the explosion, Mother was attempting to find a link to the other half of the key. There was a runic circle, must be some portal."

"Oh ohh," Nub made an excited, keening sound.

"You mean if you find this half then you can create a portal to the other half, and find your parents."

"That's the only way," he nodded.

"Well, that's a crazy idea, I'm in any way." Clade tapped Eiden on the head.

"What's your plan?" Cissa asked.

"Just go. Find the black dragon. Grab him and teleport back to our cave. Ask him where the key is." Eiden grinned, animatedly acting like taming a beast.

"Whoa, smart kitten," Cissa headlocked Eiden and they both rolled on the ground. Others watched them in amusement, but everyone's mind was filled with the impossibility and the dangers of the task.

Eiden's friends were ready to come with him, and though he preferred Ierma and Ivar to stay home, they also insisted on coming with them. Ierma and Eiden prepared as many as protection amulets, and runic stones. They agreed that Ivar would take Cissa, and Eiden would take Clade and Ierma take Nub as companions when teleporting. When the teleportation was exhausting, they switched to walking and after three days, arrived at the cave, early in the morning.

"Now what?" Clade asked while taking the grass mats out from their hidden stash of goods. He spread them on the floor, and the group quickly gathered around to have breakfast.

"We need a place where we can conceal a large amount of magic." Eiden munched a piece of bread.

"Why not here? You did magic last time." Nub asked.

"That's very little. But, here we're talking about cleansing a black dragon. The magical signals will show our location like the light of a beacon if we do that here." Eiden explained.

"True, even with concealment wards, this place is too open." Ierma agreed with Eiden.

"You have a plan, don't you?" Ivar asked.

"What gave me away?" he laid out his plan, which he had been thinking about for a while.

"We go further inside, follow the rivulet. We need to take advantage of natural magic to conceal our presence. We need to find a place where the air is clear like here, with water close by, and a large space." He paused and looked gleefully at his friends' terrified expressions. Cissa gulped and lowered his pointed ears.

"But it's dark and cold down there," he mewled and said in a small voice.

"I don't think it's very dark there," Ierma shook her head.

"These mountains are rich in crystals, especially like this one, not exploited by humans or creature people. There might be a lot of glow crystals." she explained.

"Seen bigger caves in other places. Both our people and humans come to collect crystals, and break these pillars." Clade pointed to stalagmites.

"They are used in medicine, as well as in clay work."

"Let's go," Eiden stood up, wrapping up the conversation. Ierma gave him a wheel of golden thread which he wrapped the free end around a pillar and secured it with his magic. That way, if anyone is not able to teleport, they could still follow the thread.

The tunnel was dark, and just a little space to walk as a line, on the banks of the rivulet. The width of the tunnel fluctuated and the rocky interior was getting increasingly moist with the water seeping through walls, making the ground slippery. They reached a carven resembling a large theatre, where the rivulet they followed was widened to create a lake that covered most of the floor of the cavern.

Then, it elongated at one end, and fell over a naturally formed steep and a few feet wide staircase of calcite stone, creating a beautiful cascade system, which glowed in the dark as with lights emitted by the crystals embedded in the walls.

The water was seen to collect in another round basin-like pool tens of feet below. But the view of the pool made them gasp in wonder and fear at the same time. In the middle of the pool, an enormous whirlpool was sucking the water into unknown subterranean depths.

"Let's teleport down to the banks. Be careful, it might be slippery." Eiden took Clade's hand and went down. The bank was wet and covered with a slimy substance.

"Come down," Clade yelled and it echoed through the chamber making them jump.

"This place is crazy, Eiden. Let's leave," Clade, who usually kept a cool head, sounded shocked by seeing the mass of rotating water and hearing unending echoes of his call. But, Eiden was not paying attention to him. He knelt on the bank, searched the ground, and slowly walked near to the cascade system.

Deep in thought, searching in his mind for any ancient civilization that lived in the area, he heard a scream. Quickly turning around, he saw Nub falling into the pool, it was happening in slow motion, as she was trying to grab air while falling backward.

"NOoo." Ierma screamed. Ivar was going to jump (fool), and Eiden yelled.

"Don't jump." He struggled against the power of nature to get hold of Nub with his power of magic, and soon Nub was lifted out with a large wave of water and deposited in the bank, the wave splashed on the ground underneath her and flowed back to the pool. Eiden reached them as fast as he could without slipping.

Nub was clinging to Ivar, shocked. Eiden yelled at Ivar for trying to jump, while he sat scowling darkly at Eiden.

"This place is not naturally made. Someone diverted the rivulet here." Eiden told them.

"What?" Clade and Cissa both looked at Eiden like he was going mad.

"My lord, I had seen much bigger natural caves than this.'' Ierma said that she had been to such caves in the Moonstone and Fairwitch Mountains.

"Oh, I don't doubt that Ierma. But look closely here, this pool is shaped into a more uniform round shape, and those stairs aren't natural either. I think they were carved a very long time ago, then with time a lot of substance was deposited making the stairs look natural."

Eiden disclosed his findings and others, including Nub now recovered from the fright, started to look around for evidence as Eiden focused his attention on the walls. He used some water to wash a little part of the wall. To his utter amazement, the washed part looked like polished marble and granite pattern.

"It looks like the pool has steps too." Ivar was kneeling on the banks of the pool, with his light directly aimed at the water.

"Wow." Everyone crowded around him to the newest evidence.

"It has some kind of steps, but they are like broken or weathered, I think." Eiden tried to part the water to see the walls of the pool closely, but the force of the vortex was too powerful and fast to keep the gap open longer.

"Guys, can be a secret door. Once read a storybook about a secret safe." Clade seemed to have forgotten his frightful echoes. His eyes were shining with curiosity.

Eiden smiled at his friend's child-like enthusiasm about a secret entrance.

"We should definitely check it." Eiden removed his outer clothes.

"My lord, you're not going into that." Ierma sternly protested.

"Come on, Ierma, it's not that bad, I just need to follow the water down."

"But, my lord…" Eiden gave her a reassuring hug.

He took a deep breath and concentrated on his magic. Then, teleported to the center of the vortex, and cocooned himself with water, while descending into it.

For a moment, he thought he was in the middle of an explosion. Then, he was falling and falling with an ear-deafening roar and white foamy water surrounding him. He was falling with a cascade. Bracing himself to sink deep into water, Eiden prayed to fall fast, as his air was running out.

Suddenly he hit a cold water surface and sank into the unknown darkness of a subterranean lake.