Shattered Promise

“Ok, ready? 3, 2, 1… go!”

I zoom off, trying to find the perfect spot. “90, 89, 88,” I hear my sister calling. I ran up the stairs and looked into my parents’ room. Should I hide under the bed? No, she’d find me too quickly. Oh, what about in the bathroom? No, it's almost all glass. “50, 49, 48.” I start thinking I'm not going to find a spot in time until I remember the woods. “39, 38, 37," I run down the stairs as quietly as I can and sprint out the doors. I see a little flash of black and see a little black cat walking by the entrance to the forest. I run up to the cat, but before I can get a proper look, it darts straight into the forest. I keep running and running, trying to find the cat, but then something starts to feel weird. 

I look around, and the trees look distorted, and then I realize something is very wrong. When I went into the forest, it was daytime, but as I went deeper into the forest, it got darker and darker. I think I’ve gone too far into the woods, and the trees have blocked out the light, but then I see the moon peeking through the trees. Tiny little lights are floating around and a faint blue fog is covering the ground. I look a little closer at the lights and realize that they aren’t lights but tiny fairies flying around. Where am I? I turn to run back to where I came from but instead, I see a giant castle with mountains covering the land. The castle’s exterior has dark grey stone walls, high towers, and large stained glass windows, the castle is sitting on a stone hill with a staircase up one side and trees, bushes, and other greenery covering the ground. I notice a cave on top of one of the many mountains with something similar to a dragon guarding the entrance.

I feel a tap on my shoulder and jump around to find myself face to face with who I think is another human until I see the horns on top of his head, his pointed ears, and that instead of feet, he has hooves.

 “Hi, why do you look like that?” asks the satyr.

“Excuse me?” I reply, surprised at what he just said.

“I’ve just never seen one of your kind before,” he says as he lifts my hair looking at my ears.

“Anyways, what’s your name? Mine’s Damos,” he says with a grin.

“Um, Audrey. Where am I?” I say. 

“Oh, well, you are in Draeldion, Realm of the Dragons,” says Damos.

“Do you know how I can get out?” I ask.

“Well, I don’t know why you would want to leave, but you can go see the king. He might have some answers.”

“Okay, thank you for your help. I appreciate it, but… how do I make it across the lake,” I say.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” he exclaims. 

He waves his arms around and suddenly, there is a boat in the lake.

I look at him in disbelief. I say thank you and get in the boat.

“You’re welcome! I hope to see you again soon,” Damos says.

I ride across the lake and make it to the dock. I look up at the castle. I’m momentarily stunned by the enormous, majestic building. I picture myself living there, and I almost forget my whole goal is to leave. 

I climb out of the boat and start the hike up the stairs to the castle. I make it to the castle entrance and try to walk through the doors before a guard stops me.

“Where do you think you’re going, young lady?” a guard with dark green skin and long blue wavy hair says.

“It’s okay, she’s with me. Let her in,” says Damos, who is now standing beside me. 

“Oh, I’m so sorry Your Majesty, go right in,” the blue-haired guard says.

“Where did you come from?” I say, surprised. “You were just over there!” I point, dumbfounded, across the lake.

He walks me into the castle and through the halls. As we were walking, I asked him what the guards meant when they said, Your Majesty.

“Well, I’m the prince of Draeldion and heir to the throne,” Damos says.

“Wow, really? that’s so cool!” I say to him.

He smiles and continues walking. I started looking at the interior. There are two giant staircases, one on each side and multiple ballrooms with shiny white marble floors and painted ceilings. When I was done admiring the castle, I realized we had stopped in front of what I thought might just be the biggest room I had ever seen. When we enter, there is a huge throne in the center of a gold dais in the middle of the room. There is a banner along the sides of the room, huge diamond chandeliers, and a red carpeted floor. The king lifts his head, sees me, and then looks at his son. The king says in a large booming voice he says: 

“What do you need young child?”

“I would like to get back to my house. I was just playing hide and seek with my sister, and I ran into the woods, and now I’m here. Can you help me?” I say with a little sob.

“Oh, my child, it’s okay. There is a way to get back, but it requires you to go up to the very top of The Neverending Peaks and find the old witch that lives there,” the king says.

“I will do anything! Thank you so much for your help,” I say as I dart out of the throne room. Before I can get fully out the doors, I stop and turn around. 

“Wait, where are The Neverending Peaks, and how do I get to the old witch?” I say, feeling a little embarrassed.

The king laughs and says, “I present to you a golden sword, an enchanted map that will show you exactly where to go, and finally, a supply of never-ending food. But I will remind you that this is not an easy task and will take quite a bit of time”

“I know, but I’m willing to take the risk, thank you so much, Your Highness, your kindness will not be forgotten,” I say as I grab the basket and the sword and walk out of the room.

 I walk out the doors, pull out the map, and look at where I’m supposed to go. There is a tiny blue path that leads me up the peaks. I head over to the bottom of the mountains and prepare for the climb. It is a steep, almost vertical start, then twisting paths and another almost uphill climb. I grab onto the rocks and haul myself up. I climb the rest of the hill, and when I finally make it up to the top of the peaks, I’m already tired. The next part is a narrow, twisting path that is very high up. I just have to hope that I won’t fall. 

As I slowly make my way to the other side, I trip on a rock. I almost fall, but I manage to catch myself. I make it to the other side and start climbing up the final ascent to reach the mountain’s summit. I'm about halfway up the mountain when I hear a growling sound beneath me. I look down, and there are five snarling dogs. They’re barking and trying to climb the hill. I start climbing as fast as I can. I finally pull myself up and over the edge and slowly back away before my back hits something hard. I turn around and see a massive dragon with its teeth bared toward me. I scream louder than I think I ever had in my life. I guess someone must have heard me because behind me someone says something in a croaky voice:

“Oh, little girl, don't be scared! He is not going to hurt you unless you try to break into my cave,” says who I think is the old witch

“Oh, no, I was sent to come see you by the king. He said that you might be able to tell me how to get home,” I say.

“Well, why don't you come inside?” She points to the entrance to the cave.

I follow her into the cave and have a seat on the sofa. She offers me a drink and I gladly accept. She sits down on the sofa and starts asking me how I got here and how long I have been here. I tell her the whole story. She says that there is one way to get out, but I am going to have to go quickly. 

“At exactly midnight, there will be an opening that only appears once every year. You will have 5 minutes to get back to your house before the portal closes and you are stuck here,” she tells me

“You have three hours. You better go now if you want to make it back! Good luck,” she says with urgency in her voice.

I grab my stuff and head out the door but before I leave I pocket a little figurine that I think is cool. It is in the shape of a little fox. I start climbing down the hill and surprisingly there are no dogs. I’m almost at the bottom when I realized I had left my map. I just hope that I will be able to remember the way I came. I make it to the bottom of the mountain, look at the watch, and realize I only have 30 minutes until midnight. Now it is a race against time. I run past many people. They all had very distinctive features whether it was that they had blue skin, elf-like ears, or goat legs. I come to the stairs and race down them, hop on the boat, and start paddling to the other side. I hop out of the boat and start walking through the forest when I hear rustling in the bushes and assume it's just a bunny or some other wild animal, I hear more noise and feel as though someone is following me. I draw my sword ready to fight but instead, Damos walks out of the forest.

“What are you doing here” I ask him

“I'm just collecting some berries, what are you doing here?” he says and looks at me suspiciously.

“Oh I'm looking for the portal, do you know where it is?” I say

“No sorry,” he says as he walks back into the woods 

There are 5 minutes till midnight, and I'm still walking through the forest trying to find this portal. I sprint toward it but I slam into a barrier and get thrown backwards. I’m lying on the floor when I start to hear a countdown. I started to get dizzy and that’s the last thing I remember before I passed out. When I wake up I expect to still be lying on the floor of the forest, but I’m on a giant bed in the middle of a very lavish room. when I look around I sit up too quickly and almost pass out again.

“Sit back down before you hurt yourself anymore,” says a voice from the left

I look over and realize I am not sitting on the forest floor. I’m in the prince’s private quarters.