Their companions had quickly picked up on the increasing tension between them. As always, Aidan loved to test Rynn’s patience, as the latter was prone to retaliate when Aidan made Isla the source of his teasing remarks. When Aidan suggested that Isla reconsider her sleeping arrangement and join him and Kai for a more “eventful evening”, Rynn had silently flicked his finger and sent Aidan flying off a ten-foot drop behind them.
By day five, however, stress was creeping upon them like a fog. Jade was adamant the prophecy wassomewhereon the south side of the mountains, but they’d already checked all of the caves, cliffs, small wooded forests and creeks, and any other place they could possibly fit their bodies. There was no sign of any prophecy.
“Jade, maybe we should try going further up,” Kai finally offered.
“No, it’s here. Ifeelit. We must be missing something.”
“We’re not missing anything. We’ve searched every inch. You must be a little off,” Aidan said.
Jade shot him an annoyed glare, and he held his hands up defensively. “I said alittle.”
“You don’t understand. It’s here. I’ve never felt anything like this before. The earth isliterallypounding beneath me.” Jade knelt to the ground and put her hands on the rock, closing her eyes. “It stops anytime we move away from this area.”
Isla sighed and leaned her shoulder against a large boulder jutting out from the side of the mountain. When the bickering started, she knew she could only wait until they calmed themselves down. She reached for the canteen of water slung around her shoulder and took a sip, slumping down the rock until she was sitting on the hard ground. Resting her head against the stone, she closed her eyes and lazily ran her fingers through the small rocks and dirt at her side.
Her eyes popped open. She felt a small divide where the large boulder met the rock wall. She thought it was all one solid piece, but it almost felt like the boulder was separate from the rest of the mountain. Scrambling to turn over and get on her knees, she felt along the tiny crack and found that she could stick two fingers in the small gap.
The boulder was blocking something. An entrance?
“Jade,” she called over her shoulder. “You might want to come take a look at this.”
Multiple pairs of feet hurried toward her. “What is it?” Rynn asked.
Isla straightened and pointed at the crack. “I think there’s something behind this boulder.” She pushed against the giant rock. “But I don’t know how we’re going to move it. It’s enormous.” The entire boulder was about two times her height and ten times as wide.
Kai snorted and Aidan grinned. “Good one,” Aidan said.
Rynn gave her an amused look. “I think we can manage.”
Jade walked forward and placed a hand on the boulder. Isla felt it shudder as Jade glanced her way and said, “You may want to move.”
Isla quickly obliged. A buzzing filled the air, as if the earth anticipated its master at work. Jade reached her free hand out and clenched it into a fist. An echoing rumble began, growing louder and louder until the massive boulder before them crumbled into a million pieces, debris and dust flying at her face.
Isla’s jaw dropped as she wiped specks of dirt from her eyes. One moment, it had been an immovable force. The next, it was dust at their feet. She blinked, speechless, as the four elementals strode past her like nothing had happened. Aidan grinned and nodded toward the newly discovered cave entrance, as if to say, “After you.”
She cleared her mind of the shock at Jade’s incredible power, unable to imagine how long the large boulder had been covering the cavern. Had anyone ever seen the inside of this cave? The thought that they might be the first living beings to find it amazed her.
Stepping forward into the small, circular area, she noticed a path in the center that led to an even smaller section. It smelled ancient and musty, with cobwebs strung along almost every surface. Isla squeaked and shook her leg frantically as something small and hairy crawled up her skin. Rynn looked at her and raised an eyebrow.
“I don’t like bugs, okay?” she muttered, which earned her a familiar half-smirk.
“Alright, Jade, where is this almighty prophecy?” Aidan said.
“You have eyes. Why don’t you start looking?” Jade retorted.
He made a face behind her, and Isla held back a laugh.
“You won’t need to look far,” Kai’s awestruck voice echoed from deeper in the smaller cave. “Here it is.”
A hushed silence fell over the group as they followed her, squeezing close together as the walls grew tighter around them.
Kai let out a stream of water from her hands to clear away the dust and webs that clung to the stone wall. As she did, words the size of a hand and written in jagged cursive began to appear to them. They were faded and eroded from millennia of wasting away, barely legible in the shadows of the cave. Rocks and small spiders tumbled from the crevices as the water revealed the hidden message.
Aidan snapped his fingers and a flame appeared at their tips, casting the prophecy in its golden haze. Isla backed away and accidentally stepped on Rynn’s foot. “Be careful with that! You almost got me,” she chided Aidan.
Aidan chuckled. “Sorry about that. Wouldn’t want to ruin that beautiful red hair.” He winked. Rynn’s arm instantly closed around her waist, and Isla held her breath. His chest rose and fell at her back.
“I can’t believe it’s here,” Jade whispered, bringing Isla’s attention back to the words. “The twin to the one on Iona. It’s actually real.”
