Grunting, Lewis swung the sword that Jonathan had given him, hacking away the thick vines that hung down from the trees in front of him. When Thomas had guessed that it would be heavy going, he had underestimated The Misty Islands. For hours, as it turned out, the five of them had been battling their way through the forest.

As if the dense undergrowth and steep terrain hadn’t been bad enough, they had been hampered by Arthur for the last hour or so. On a particularly steep climb, he slipped on the loose rock, snagging his ankle as he slid back down the hill. Covered in cuts and bruises, he now hobbled along behind Lewis and Thomas, with Amanda and Emily helping him as best they could.

‘How much further?’ Arthur called in frustration.

Before Thomas could try to assure him that it wasn’t far to the top of the hill, for what would have been the umpteenth time, Lewis hacked the vines blocking their path away. In an instant, the forest was gone, replaced by a barren, rocky plateau. It was as if the forest had been drawn on a piece of paper, and this was the edge of the page.

Sheathing the sword at his waist, Lewis turned to Arthur, lifting his arm around his shoulders and taking his weight off of Emily. ‘Let’s find you somewhere to sit down,’ Lewis said as he helped Arthur through the mangled vines. Glad to finally be free from the forest, Lewis and Amanda helped Arthur awkwardly over to a large boulder.

When Arthur’s weight was off his shoulders, he straightened up, wiping away the sweat on his face. Leaving Amanda to examine Arthur’s ankle, Lewis walked over to Thomas and Emily, who were standing at the edge of the plateau.

‘See anything?’ Lewis asked, still breathing heavily from the hike through the forest.

‘Trees,’ Emily muttered. ‘Lots of trees.’

Whether she meant it sarcastically or not, he didn’t know. To be honest, he was too exhausted to care right now. ‘Our journey wasn’t in vain,’ Thomas said as he produced the telescope he had been using to examine the ship from Tristan. It had been a surprise to Lewis how well Thomas had dealt with the hike. If anything, he hardly seemed fazed by the tough terrain they had covered.

‘The tomb?’ Lewis asked hopefully as he tried to see what Thomas was looking at. Whatever it was that Thomas had seen, he couldn’t see it.

‘No,’ Thomas said as he handed the telescope to Lewis. ‘Look at the small clearing about half a mile away,’ he said, directing the telescope to it as Lewis looked through it.

‘What am I looking at?’ Lewis asked as he saw a bronze-coloured pillar standing in the centre of the clearing.

‘Do you see the pillar?’

Silently, Lewis nodded.

‘It seems a little out of place in the forest, doesn’t it?’ he said as he took the telescope from Lewis, passing it to Emily so that she could take a look.

‘What is it?’ she asked.

‘I haven’t seen anything like it in a long time,’ Thomas said. ‘In fact, the only time I’ve seen something similar was amongst the ruins of a city called Oldiron.

‘That’s the old precursor city near Eraea, isn’t it?’ Emily said this before Lewis could even remember where he had heard the name before.

‘You know about Oldiron?’ Thomas asked, taken aback.

‘Winston told us about it,’ Emily said. ‘He was the one who took us from Arcis to Eraea,’ she added when he looked bewildered. ‘He said it was destroyed by Arcadia in the precursor war.’

‘Correct,’ Thomas said simply, taking back the telescope and peering out over the forest with it.

‘So, if the tomb isn’t there, then where is it?’ Lewis asked.

‘Oh, the tomb is there,’ Thomas said, pocketing the telescope again. ‘Are you alright to carry on walking, Arthur?’

‘It looks pretty bad,’ Amanda said from where she sat on the floor in front of Arthur, his foot resting in her lap. ‘He should keep off it, really.’

‘I’m fine. Did you find the tomb?’ Arthur asked, ignoring Amanda’s frustrated sigh.

‘The tomb is about half a mile downhill,’ Thomas said, crouching down to examine Arthur’s ankle for himself.

‘I’m fine; half a mile is nothing,’ he said, pulling his foot out of Amanda’s lap and standing up to try and prove his point. For a moment, he really did seem to be fine until he wobbled slightly, wincing before sitting back down again.

‘Lewis, can you try and find a branch he could use as a crutch?’ Thomas asked.

‘Sure.’

‘I’ll come with you,’ Emily said quickly, hurrying over to his side. With a glance at Thomas, who nodded, Lewis turned away, treading their path back to the forest.

‘You think he’s alright?’ Emily asked quietly once she was sure that they were out of earshot.

‘No,’ Lewis said simply. ‘I’ve seen a lot of injuries while I was with the guard. That looks like more than a twisted ankle.’

‘What are we going to do?’ Emily asked, watching as Lewis started cutting at the vines with the sword again.

‘I don’t know. I don’t think Thomas wants to leave him up here on his own, and there’s no way that he could get back to the ship without us,’ Lewis replied, pulling at the vines as he searched for a branch that would be suitable for a crutch.

‘We’re better sticking together,’ Emily agreed slowly, her voice dropping to barely above a whisper. A second later, Lewis realised why. Suddenly, he felt uncomfortable, as if they were no longer alone.

‘Can you feel it too?’ Lewis whispered.

‘We aren’t alone. Emily nodded, looking around carefully.

‘Take this,’ Lewis said, handing her the sword. Slowly, he pulled his bow off his shoulder, notching an arrow carefully. ‘Come on.’

‘Where are you going?’ Emily asked, despite following him deeper into the forest.

With his bow at the ready, Lewis ducked through the undergrowth, listening intently for any sounds that didn’t come from Emily following him. As a light breeze picked up, the leafy canopy above them quivered, shadows flickering around them.

‘We should head back,’ Emily whispered. ‘Thomas will be

Grabbing hold of her midsentence, Lewis pulled her aside, ignoring the pain as the thorns from the bushes scratched at him. Before she had a chance to complain, he saw something move out of the corner of his eye.

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With baited breath, he drew back the arrow, using the tip to push the branch in front of him down slightly so that he could see. Whether she had seen the movement as well or it was just because of how he was acting, Emily stayed silent.

At the sound of a twig snapping, Lewis leant forward. As he caught sight of movement just a few feet from where they were hiding, he lunged out of the bush, bow at the ready.

Standing between the trees was a deer.

The sound of him moving caused the deer to look up, momentarily stunned by his sudden appearance. Sighing, Lewis lowered his bow, watching as the deer turned tail and bound off into the forest.

‘Perhaps a little warning next time?’ Emily asked, appearing beside him suddenly. Still with his heightened senses, Lewis swung to face her, drawing the arrow back quickly. When he saw her, he relaxed slightly, allowing her to push the bow away so that it wasn’t pointed directly at her face.

‘We need to get back to Thomas,’ Lewis said, returning the arrow to his quiver before grabbing her hand and dragging her back the way they had come.

‘It was just a deer,’ Emily said, trying to reassure him as she took her hand out of his.

‘It wasn’t just a deer. I know it wasn’t!’ Lewis snapped, taking her hand again and pulling her through the trees and out onto the rocky plateau.

Before she could reply, his eyes fell on Thomas, Arthur, and Amanda. They were exactly where they had been when they left, except they were all staring at Lewis and Emily.

‘We need to move,’ Lewis insisted. ‘We aren’t alone.’

‘It’s alright,’ Emily said calmly. ‘There was a deer foraging in the forest; we thought it was a person.’

‘Did you find anything for a crutch?’ Thomas asked, glancing between the two of them warily.

‘No,’ they both replied slowly.

‘Don’t worry,’ Thomas said with a weak smile. Standing up straight, he walked towards the edge of the forest, surveying the trees in silence for a moment. With a crack that echoed across the island, he snapped a dead branch from one of the trees. ‘This will have to do.’

Satisfied with the branch he had found, Thomas returned to Arthur’s side. With some help from Amanda, Arthur got to his feet, taking hold of his makeshift crutch.

‘Is that better?’ Amanda asked, watching as Arthur took a couple of steps.

‘A bit,’ Arthur said with a smile. As soon as she looked away, Lewis saw him wince again. ‘Let’s get going before it gets dark and I bust my other ankle,’ he suggested with a laugh.

‘Arthur’s right; we can’t afford to waste any more time up here,’ Thomas said. Taking the lead, he beckoned them towards the edge of the rock plateau that looked out over the forest. It wasn’t until now that Lewis noticed that there was a vague path leading down the hillside and into the forest.

Setting off after Thomas, Lewis felt a hand on his arm. Jumping, he turned to find Emily at his side. ‘It’s alright; it’s only me,’ she said quietly.

‘Sorry, I’m still a little jumpy,’ Lewis muttered.

‘It was just a deer,’ she said reassuringly as she slid her hand down his arm to take his hand. With the feel of her hand in his, he felt his heart rate begin to return to normal.

‘I still feel like there was more than a deer in that forest,’ Lewis said.

‘Try not to worry about it; we’re all together now,’ Emily said gently. ‘I do know what you mean, though.’

‘You think there was someone in there as well?’

‘I don’t know,’ she said as she watched Amanda and Arthur, who were walking awkwardly with the crutch, following Thomas ahead of them. As if she had felt their eyes on her, Amanda glanced over her shoulder at them, offering a weak smile. ‘Perhaps it’s just the precursor's presence on the island making us feel like this.’

‘What do you think we’ll do when we find the crown? It’s not as if we can go through the forest in the dark,’ Lewis asked as they climbed down the rocky hillside that felt as though it had been carved into a rough staircase.

‘I guess we’ll just wait until morning,’ Emily said. ‘I wonder if Thomas packed tents or something.’

‘It would probably take me all night to put a tent up,’ Lewis said with a laugh, the nagging feeling in the back of his mind fading slowly. ‘Even then, it would probably fall on me while I was asleep.’

‘You’ve never put up a tent before?’

‘No?’

‘Sorry, you're just such an outdoorsy person, I figured you would have,’ Emily shrugged.

‘Afraid not,’ Lewis said.

‘Keep up, you two!’ Thomas called. Looking up, Lewis saw that he was waiting at the edge of the forest with Amanda and Arthur, who were looking more uncomfortable by the second. ‘We don’t want to get separated in the forest.’

‘Sorry,’ Emily said as they hurried to catch up with them. ‘How far do you think it is?’

‘Not far,’ Thomas replied as he withdrew his machete and set off into the forest. Fortunately, it seemed as though they wouldn’t be needing it here as they moved through the trees with ease. ‘The path took us around the hillside slightly, so we should be able to double back and find the clearing.’

‘The precursor pillar—how do you know the tomb is near it?’ Lewis asked, ducking under a low branch.

‘As far as I know, the tomb has been here for centuries. When Arden Vandemark decided it would be the perfect place to hide the crown, he would have needed a way to protect it,’ Thomas explained. ‘If it was any old tomb, then anyone would have been able to walk in and take the crown, assuming they managed to get this far. He would have added his own protection to it.’

‘What do you think he used?’ Emily asked. ‘We aren’t going to have to fight a dragon or something, are we?’

‘No, I doubt that,’ Thomas said. ‘The forest is in too good condition for there to be any dragons here.’

‘Wait, I was joking,’ Emily said. ‘Dragons don’t exist. They’re just creatures in stories.’

‘Dragons do exist,’ Thomas said, as if he came across one every other day. ‘They aren’t around here, though. Apparently, they prefer more secluded places.’

‘So, there are huge flying, fire-breathing creatures just roaming the wild?’ Emily asked, bewildered. If it hadn’t been news to him as well, Lewis would have laughed at her reaction.

‘You’ve never mentioned dragons before,’ Arthur said as he struggled over a huge root that was sticking up out of the forest floor.

‘There’s never really been a reason to bring them up before,’ Thomas shrugged.

‘Have you ever seen one?’ Lewis asked, helping Arthur walk between two particularly close trees sideways.

‘Not in person,’ Thomas replied. ‘I saw a picture once. Many, many years ago. It was wreaking havoc near a small village in the Oria desert.’

‘Where’s the Oria desert?’ Lewis asked. Even after seeing Arcis and Eraea, he couldn’t think of anywhere that suited that type of climate. If anything, The Misty Islands were as close as he had come with their white sand beaches.

‘It’s southwest of Tristan, across the ocean,’ Thomas said. ‘There isn’t much out that way, really. Whitemire is the only port anywhere near there. I think they used to run a trade ship between there and Whitecliff years ago. Other than that, there’s only Oria, which is built around a huge oasis in the desert.’

‘What happened to the dragon?’ Emily asked.

‘A dragon hunter killed it,’ Thomas said matter-of-factly. ‘Here we are.’

Unlike the last time they left the forest, it was a gradual process this time. Slowly, the trees thinned until they stood in the clearing, the sun shining down on them from high above.

Standing before them was a huge ruin of a stone building. Directly in front of them, a series of archways gave them a glimpse of the trees on the other side of the clearing. To the right, at the back of the ruins, was the tree-covered hillside that led up to the plateau where they had been earlier.

‘I thought you said Arden Vandemark would have put some security around this place?’ Lewis said as he looked at the piles of broken stone bricks. ‘It looks like it’s about to fall down.’

‘He will have. Be sure of that,’ Thomas said as he set off for the archway that led into the ruins.

‘This is huge,’ Emily muttered beside him. ‘I can’t believe it was that hard to spot.’

‘I know,’ Lewis agreed as he followed Thomas into the ruins, Amanda and Arthur following behind them.

‘Through here!’ Thomas called, appearing from under an archway to their left, a little way ahead of them. ‘There’s your security,’ he said, pointing at the bronze pillar that sat in the centre of a raised stone circle.

‘The pillar?’ Lewis asked in confusion. ‘How does that work?’

‘Emily, have you got the star map?’

While Emily rummaged through her bag for the star map, Lewis examined the pillar. The metallic surface had been covered in thousands of tiny, intricately crafted symbols. ‘What does all this mean?’ he asked, turning to Thomas.

Stooping down, he examined the symbols that Lewis was pointing to. ‘No idea,’ he shrugged.

‘Here,’ Emily said, holding out the glass prism to Thomas.

‘Thank you,’ he said with a smile, turning to the pillar. ‘Now, we just put this in here.’

Turning the prism so that it was upside down, he placed it into the hole in the centre of the pillar and stepped back. For a moment, it seemed as if nothing was going to happen, and then, ever so slowly, the centre of the pillar began to rise, lifting the star map with it.

When the centre of the pillar had raised a foot or so, it stopped. The centre of that stage started to rise, lifting the star map higher. After another two stages, the pillar stopped moving. The top of the pillar was now just above Lewis’s head. Unsure if anything else was supposed to happen, he looked around. Like him, Emily was looking around as well. On a pile of bricks a little way from the pillar were Amanda and Arthur, watching curiously. But it was Thomas who drew his attention. He was still focused intently on the pillar, waiting for something else to happen.

Before he could ask, there was a soft crack from the pillar. Creaking, the top section of the pillar split open, dividing into four pieces. As one, the four pieces opened outward. Held up by some invisible force, the star map sat in the centre of the four pieces.

‘Now we wait,’ Thomas said quietly as he set his supply bag down beside the pillar.