I returned to the camp where I found Brendan and the campfire completely soaked through. The whirlpool from what I could see had raised the water level around him and the shot I made had taken out the rest.

I hesitated to leave the water, not really wanting to get a grilling from him, his expression from here was not a pleasant one, and even though at the moment he was not a fan of even fighting, but an Ursus’s rage was something I had only heard rumours about.

“I know you’re there Alex.” Brendan looked over to the water. “Had fun did you?”

I slowly walked out of the water rubbing my head. “Sorry Brendan, I didn’t realise it would cause this much destruction from just testing her power.”

“I had just dried off,” he snarled.

“I can help with that,” I walked closer, holding out my hand. “Mila can manipulate water.” I held out my palm, then pulled it back, feeling the flow of water as I drew out all the water from his soaked fur, until he was completely dry. “See.” I smiled holding up the ball of water from his fur.

“Alright,” he snorted. He tried to remain annoyed at me, but I noticed a hint of impressed in his expression. “Did you find anything?”

“Only this.” I held out my other hand, still holding the crystal with the tiger’s face in it. “It just screams Tigra, don’t you think.”

“Well, her cousins are tigers,” commented Brendan. “Going to make her a present, are you?” he smirked.

I looked away, “Maybe.”

“Can I just point something out?” wondered Brendan.

“What?”

“You need to practise hiding some of your emotions around her,” remarked Brendan. “You do light up like a light crystal when you see her.”

“Do I?” I glanced at Mila still playing in the water.

“You do master,” she replied.

“I’m just saying, you need to be careful,” mentioned Brendan. “If other Animalia find out how you feel about her, it could spread through the castle like a wildfire and Dumah who you say is bad, may use it against you, especially in controlling the king even more.”

“I get it,” I nodded, everything he was saying made sense. “But how do I even control my emotions.”

“An Ursus when angry never shows it,” he said.

“Huh?” I just looked at him.

“We Ursus have very short tempers, but we’ve learnt not to show it, it can cause a lot of problems when dealing with certain situations,” informed Brendan. “I’ll give you a little test, as we continue through this stunning place you can’t show how it is making you feel.”

“Seriously.” I looked around. “How can I not?”

“Have to start somewhere right,” I nodded. “Now let’s wonder about until we find your crystal.” I nodded again, taking in a gulp as I tried to remain serious. “Good start,” he gave me a thumbs up. “One more thing, most warriors know when to hide their emotions, especially when bluffing.”

“Learn all that from your brother?” I questioned.

“Yeah,” he nodded.

I touched his shoulder, wanting to give him a reassuring smile, but I knew I shouldn’t, I needed to pass his little test. “I believe his wisdom will guide you well.”

“Same,” he smiled.

We headed off through the underground cavern. I looked around in awe, but with great difficulty prevented myself from smiling. “This is so hard,” I moaned.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“You can do it,” encouraged Brendan. “I think this will be a helpful skill in the future.”

“Hope you’re right.” I sniffed the air, picking up the scent of the sweet fruit. I gulped. “You hungry?”

“Yeah,” he nodded as we both stopped to look at the fruit trees. “A snack wouldn’t hurt.” I nodded in agreement.

We spent the next few minutes collecting some of the fruit from the trees. They were completely different from what I had seen in the orchards, the skins was a glittering blue as big as apples. I greedily dug into my first one.

“They’re like giant blueberries,” I mentioned.

Brendan didn’t reply as he dug into one too. “Mmm,” he enjoyed that.

Brendan and I continued while eating the delicious fruit. I did my best to hide my enjoyment, but a little emotion seeped out. I popped some into my pouch to give to Tigra and mum when we got back, perhaps we could even plant some.

We wondered the area getting to see the wildlife, the species were similar to those above, but their coats showed off a glittering effect, shining from the crystals. It was completely peaceful down here, you wouldn’t think there was a whole other world above and the same for those above, not knowing of the world below their feet.

“I still can’t get over what is down here,” commented Brendan.

“It’s always been here,” remarked Mila still swimming in the waters beside us. “Those fruit you were eating are called Bluapples, they were my first master’s favourite.”

“I can see why,” I nodded. “I see something over there.” I pointed ahead while keeping serious. I glanced at Mila; it was heading away from the water. “Come on Mila.”

“Coming master,” she disappeared returning to the choker.

“She really enjoyed herself,” said Brendan.

“She did.” I headed straight over in that direction, where we found a huge hoard of crystals. I was about to go all emotionally excited, but I stopped myself, taking in a deep breath.

“Good job,” smirked Brendan.

“You have no idea how hard this is for me,” I said.

“I do,” he nodded. “My brother had me play my favourite game and I wasn’t allowed to show how happy I was, to be honest I never did reach the end without smiling, I blame him, he was smiling at me.”

I let out a little laugh. “Crap.” I covered my mouth, then slumped forward. “How about you just nudge me or something when I start acting strange when I see Tigra.”

“What if I’m not there? He questioned.

“Then wish me good luck.” I moved on to looking around the hoard of crystals. “Do you think these form naturally?”

“All crystals do,” responded Larana. “There stored power can last for years and these ones can be used to harness elemental energy, quite rare and more refined than the ones on the surface.”

“You know a lot,” commented Brendan.

“When you’ve been around for as long as I have, you tend to learn about a lot of things,” she responded. “Now master, the crystal you are looking for shall shine more brightly than any other.”

“Got it.” I continued to look around, if the crystals had been the size of trees it would have been like looking through a forest. “Nope, not here.” I shook my head.

“There are hundreds of crystals and it’s not here.” Brendan seemed displeased.

“Sorry bud,” I shrugged. “Next.” And we were off again.

We spent the next what felt like hours searching through thousands of crystals, but I still couldn’t find the one that was meant for me.

I noticed the cavern was becoming dimmer, perhaps even down here it had its own versions of night and day. I also noticed it was getting colder.

“Master,” Larana went to speak.

“I know,” I glanced at Brendan. “Let’s set up camp.”

Brendan and I set up camp near a group of trees for some sort of shelter, we had no idea what nights here would bring, so having the extra cover, kept us hidden and gave us a little advantage if something did happen.

Brendan lit the fire, while I had Larana dispersed the smoke as it rose, using her power was starting to become second nature. I understood her power so well, understanding the limits I had when using it and I knew there was still so much of it I still needed to unlock, perhaps finding the crystal intoned to my power would help me discover more.

“I’ll take the first watch,” said Brendan.

“You sure?” I asked.

“Yeah, you did a lot with Mila today, recover your strength just in case we need it,” responded Brendan nodding.

“Alright then.” I got comfy by the fire and drifted to sleep, where I dreamt of a little hut made of crystal stones, glimmering faintly in the light. I thought I would see more like some of my other dreams but that was all there was. A hut perhaps waiting to be found.

When it came to my turn watching I discovered how peaceful this place was, there was the distant sound of some kind of wild animals, maybe a cat species or even wolves. I looked up at the grand crystal hanging from above, if those with dark intent knew it was here would they try to steal it, or maybe someone would want it as a power supply.

The shadows of birds flew passed above me, I even caught the glimpses of bats, deer with crystal antlers and glittering fur, it almost seemed that this was a whole other world. I would have loved to stay here even longer but I thought this place deserved to be left in peace once I found what it was that I was looking for.