Château de Cédre

Chapter 4

In a gloomy, fog-filled forest, deep with-in thousand year old cedar trees stood the oldest, darkest castle in the land. It was covered in moss and twisted vines that reached up to the tallest tower, which kissed the lowest layer of clouds. A sliver of silver light shone through a crack beneath all the foliage. As I walked to get a closer look, I heard a loud rumble. It had come from the direction of the castle.

This had to be the place, the place I had seen in my dreams. If it was, then the Orb of Souls would be here. The gypsy woman I had been to last month told me that my mother and sister, who had fallen into a comatose state recently, had had their souls stolen from them by the evil wizard, Lumiére Noire.

It made sense that the wizard would be in the tower, and the dragon would be in the castle guarding the Orb. What better place to hide a mystical artifact that holds hundreds of people’s souls than in a ruined castle?

I turned my gaze upwards, and reached into my pockets. I pulled out two iron spikes, and dug them into the side of the tower, slowly climbing hand-over-hand up the wall. An ominous rumble came from the dark sky above, and I hastened my efforts, not wanting to be caught on the outside of a tower in a rainstorm.

After approximately half of an hour, I pulled myself through the only visible window of the tower, just as the rain came down, thundering against the wooden roof of the tower, and creating a curtain of water outside of the window. Turning my back to the window, I found myself standing in a shadow-filled hallway, the dark tendrils only occasionally interrupted by flaming braziers on the wall.

At the end of the corridor, stood a lone cedar door, ominous in the shadows. With a nervous gulp, I started walking towards it, my heart hammering loudly. It seemed stupid, coming here, hoping this wizard would release the souls of my sister and mother, simply because I asked him to.

I took a deep breath, and opened the door slowly, knocking lightly on the wood, my hand quivering. Peering into the room, I am amazed to find, not the wizard, the dragon, or the Orb, but tons of scrolls and books written in an elegant, magical language. After looking through several books and scrolls, I came across an ancient journal with a beautifully drawn picture of a sword. It had thorns wrapped around the blade, making their way up to a pitch black rose on the hilt of the sword. Beneath the drawing were the words, “Infinie Augmenté.”

I decided to take a closer look, so I blew away the dust from the cover and opened to the first page. In the center of the page, written in a delicate manuscript, were the words,

“Only he, who is the chosen one, can unlock the secret to this journal.”

As soon as I read it, I knew that this journal held some valuable information and I needed to find out what it was. I flipped through the book, skimming the pages, only to find the rest of it was written in a foreign language.

Having spent enough time here, I put the journal in my pocket, to be looked at in a later time, and made my way out the door. When I approached the window, I was pleased to see that the storm had ceased.

When I reached the ground, I placed the spikes back in their proper place and headed toward the castle. I followed a pathway, polluted and cracked, until I spotted the entrance.

As I got closer to the door, I noticed words engraved in the stone above it. I grabbed a torch from the wall and held it up to the elaborate writing. “C’est lá que reside l’entreé du Chateau de Cédre” I grimaced, and pushed open the heavy oak door, which groaned and creaked under the slight force I placed upon it.

With a soft smile, I slipped inside, and left the door open. There was no sense in making more noise than absolutely necessary. I stepped into what must have once been a grand hall, which now was in a state of decay, the stone, that the entire thing was carved from, crumbling and broken.

Sauntering forward, the floor creaking with every step, I took in my surroundings. There were several old doors and eccentric décor throughout the room. To the left stood a tall spiral staircase, made of black and gray colored stone which had withered away over the years, lined with a dull red carpet. Located in the center of the room there was a fireplace, which from the looks of it had not been used in thousands of years.

I decided to check out the upstairs first, which seemed like the best place to begin looking. Peering up the stairwell, I started moving slowly up the unreliable steps.

Once I reached the top, I was again greeted by a large room, also in ruins. This room had a high ceiling with beautiful chandeliers, which looked like crystals, hanging in various places. The walls had an elaborate pattern carved in each and every one of the stone blocks.

Across the room, I noticed a faint glow coming from beneath the only door in the room. Perhaps this was it. Maybe the Orb would be in this room, and if so I could finally release my mother’s and sister’s soul. I moved toward the door slowly.

When I made it to the door, with a trembling hand, I pushed on it slightly but it did not budge. I pressed my hand to the door again and shoved it with a little more force than before. This time the door creaked and groaned as it opened.

Stepping into the room, I was astounded. Instead of finding the Orb, which I thought would be here, I find myself in a room full of darkness. I walked in a little farther, using a wall as a guide. Spinning slowly, I looked around the room searching for a trace of light, only to be disappointed.

Since this room seemed to be no help, I turned and started making my way back out the room. I had taken about five steps when I tripped and fell over something. Getting on my hands and knees, I searched for what had been in my way. Nothing was there. Maybe I had just tripped over my own feet. Standing up and dusting myself off, I felt a sudden burst of warm air coming from above. I looked up and found myself staring into a pair of fierce looking, jade eyes. It looked like I had found the dragon.

Still gazing into the dragon’s eyes, I slowly staggered back a few steps, but when the dragon let out a thunderous roar I spun around and darted out the door. I couldn’t hear it following, so I turned back to look. Its head was close enough to the door to where I could only see the glow of its eyes.

After letting out a monstrous snarl, I thought it was going to turn back, but instead the dragon breathed fire and it was coming straight for me. I turned and ran as fast as I could toward the staircase. But it wasn’t fast enough. The scorching heat from the fire was burning my skin from head to toe. It was getting hotter, which meant it was getting closer. I was almost at the stairs, when I dropped to the floor and slid, just as the fire rushed past my head. The next thing I knew the fire had died down and I had crashed into the banister and was rolling down the stairs, dragging the old carpet with me.

**********

Lying in a tangled heap at the bottom of the stairs, I grimaced in pain when I pushed the carpet off of me and tried to stand. Instead, I gave up and took a well-deserved break. Leaning against the banister, I tried to relax and rest so I could continue my quest to save my mother and sister, but I suddenly remember something. The journal.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the old journal, running a finger down the length of the spine. Lifting the edge of the cover, the book creaked as I opened it.
I started flipping through the journal, scanning the pages as I did, when I noticed something different. Some of the pages had been deciphered. Curious to find out what was written, I started reading.

Infinie Augmenté, the Infinite Rose, is the only one of its kind. It is more powerful than anything in the world. But its magic must only be used for good. The sword lies within…….

“Within what?” I say as I franticly skimmed the rest of the page, but the rest still hasn’t been translated. I throw the journal on the floor and cover my face with my hands. What did all this mean?