I Am Rosaline

After a very long silence while coasting the skies, Dorian turned to me and asked, “Do you have any idea where we are?”

I looked over at him. I realized how awful I must seem to him. I had to learn to keep my temper under control or I would end up alienating all of my friends and the last thing I wanted was to be on my own.

I gazed down onto the sands below us and answered softly, “We are over what used to be Nubia. It’s just a large expanse of sand now with a few spots of greenery. Do you remember Nubia and how green it used to be? I remember coming here with you and finding the Dafuffa, which we were later told was a Nubian temple.” I started feeling a little more hopeful and not so sad about my behaviour. I continued talking, “Oh, Dorian, do you remember finding the rock gong? We played on it and danced and some of the indigenous folk joined us and we danced for hours and laughed.” I felt so light in spirit when I remembered these things. We were young and free back then and our only worry, was making sure that the goats were all fed and that we returned home in time for supper.

“Yes, I do remember, Rose. I can remember how sad we were when the Egyptians invaded Nubia and took Nubians as slaves. The Egyptians and Nubians both built pyramids for their deceased royalty. Then the tables were turned when a Nubian became Pharaoh and introduced the cobra into the crown. I remember things like that, especially when one culture influences another or one person influences another.” He looked at me and I wondered what he was trying to say. Did I influence him in some way that led him astray? I was too afraid to ask, but I knew I had to because clearly Dorian needed to tell me something.

“What are you trying to say, Dorian? If there is something you want me to know you had better tell me because I can’t read your mind. Maybe I can and just don’t know it yet.” I tried to make light and laugh, but he looked back at me with a serious expression on his face.

“What we are about to do is pretty dangerous, you know, and what bothers me is you haven’t had a complete recall and I don’t think you realize how dangerous she is. There are a lot of us who have been affected by her and the power she wields. Are you going to tell me what your plans are or are we flying by the seat of our pants again?” I could see that he was concerned, but as usual Dorian underestimated me. He should have known by this time, that I always thought these things through and was as careful as I possibly could be. If and when things changed, I would adjust my plans. I wondered if he was afraid of Erin and then thought over his comment about being influenced by someone. I felt a little apprehensive and looked over at him, but he looked very calm and serene.

“What really happened to you Dorian? Is there something I should know and more importantly can I trust you to have my back? You never come right out and tell me what is bothering you. I always have to drag it out of you. Just talk to me. This is a dangerous time for both of us and I understand your apprehension. I am also feeling very wary and apprehensive because I don’t know what is coming, but I am going to try my damndest to stop Erin from getting her hands on our father’s scrolls. Please Dorian, just talk to me.”

I knew I had tears in my eyes, because I could not imagine Dorian being hurt by someone and having to fend for himself. I knew that he could take care of himself, but he was my dear friend and I could remember how much I loved him and having him around.

“I can remember a lot more than you, Rose, and the fact that you don’t remember bothers me quite a lot. Erin has done a lot of bad things to you right through your lives and the fact that you are here now is not going to stop her. She does not know what you remember and will assume the worst. When I saw her coming into the camp I honestly thought it was you for a moment. Then she lashed out at Benna and I knew that she had found us. I am almost certain that she used Benna to find us because of the connection between them from the amount of time they spent together. Dante, on the other hand, is untouchable because of where he is. He spent one lifetime with Erin and then she returned she chose not to be reborn. She decided that she had a better chance of getting to you here than in life and Dante knew that he would have to hide because he knew her so well. Now that he has changed sides, so to speak, he is her enemy. When he managed to get their one twin daughter, Sienna, Erin made it her mission to eliminate Dante.”

He looked totally distraught and I knew how much this bothered him and how important it was for him to make me understand Erin’s power.

I did not want to let on how much I knew, or how much I actually remembered, but I could see how upset he was, so I told him something I have not told anyone else.

“Dorian I remember more than I have told you, Michael or my mother. I recall how Erin pushed me into the well near our home and if you had not seen what she did, I would never have survived. When we confronted her she claimed that it was an accident and that she tripped and bumped me into the well. I know that she was the one who was behind me being attacked and stabbed when she found out that I was the one who found the new burial site and that the symbols can only be deciphered by me. I know about Sienna and Dante’s life with Erin. But there is one thing that keeps coming back to me that I do not know. I do not know who is behind Erin. How did she turn? Who is the one that turned Erin against her loved ones? I know for a fact that she would never have come up with these schemes on her own. Erin is a follower, not a leader. There is more to this than we are aware of, and I am going to find out exactly what is going on and why.” I knew my voice sounded forceful, but I truly believed that everyone had good in them and all you had to do was find it and nurture that seed.

I looked at Dorian and saw just a shadow of the Dorian I had met when I first got to the Grey City. The hard set of his jaw caught my attention and I asked, “What is wrong Dorian? Is it something I said?”

But he answered with a stony silence and held out his hand in a motion that made me come to a stop, and then I heard it. There was a humming noise emanating from below so I moved a bit closer to Dorian.

Once again my own issues got in the way. I could have sworn at myself over my self indulgent behaviour.

He showed me with a finger over his lips that I must keep quiet and then pointed to his head and showed me to keep quiet there too. I wondered what was going on below us. No one knew where we really were and I had no doubt that we were not being followed.

Dorian pointed down to the clouds below us and I understood that he wanted us to head down and perhaps see what was causing this noise.

We dipped down a little lower and were surrounded by white fluffy cloud and the humming noise grew louder. Dorian moved himself beneath me as we started to leave our hiding place in the clouds. No sooner had Dorian moved out of the cloud than he jerked upright and pushed me back into the cloud. I was knocked back and lost momentum and almost tumbled out of the cloud, but Dorian grabbed my arm and hauled me up. He showed me with his thumb that we had to head up higher, so we moved off and I flew as quickly and as quietly as I could.

I couldn’t imagine what was beneath us, but obviously it was bad enough for Dorian to move with extreme haste. He had a strained look on his face when he turned to me. “We have to move and move very fast. Where are we going Rose? Wherever it is, we have to get there in a hurry.” He was talking into my head again and I could hear the urgency in his voice. This was also very new to me. Hearing the voice of someone standing, or flying, right next to me!

I replied without moving my lips, but used my eyes, face and mind. “We need to head west of the Valley of Caves. Remember where you met me and I put those tattoos on you? Well, we must head north from there for about thirty minutes. What is going on down there Dorian? If you won’t tell me I will take a look myself.” I looked below and started heading downward. Dorian grabbed my arm and jerked me back up and hissed in my face, “There is an army of Gibborus beneath us heading north. There must be at least a couple thousand of them and the humming noise is their breathing in unison. Lucky for us we have excellent hearing. You don’t need to see them, Rose, you just need to get a move on.” His sarcasm was not lost on me, but his voice sounded very strained and tight and I could understand him not wanting me to see so many of those awful creatures. I just might start doubting my own abilities. Or, turn all weird and join the crew of the damned! I sighed softly and shook my head and rolled my eyes at myself. Dramatic much, I asked myself!!

I set my sights on the west and moved as fast as I could. I could not let them stop me. I made up my mind that I was going to stop Erin, or Erro as she now insisted on calling herself. I wanted to see her face to face and find out exactly what went wrong all that time ago.

As I flew beside Dorian, I started thinking about the good and bad seeds we are born with. What makes us choose which seed to nurture or is it based on our circumstances? I knew I had a bad seed inside me, and for a time I did nurture this bad seed. I recall a lifetime that I spent nurturing this seed and the bad things that I did. I had everything I could ever have wanted, but I was still unhappy. Taking what did not belong to me did not make me happy either. I lied, cheated and connived to get what I wanted. Towards the end of that life I knew I had to make right all of my wrongs and that was what led to me leaving everything I had acquired to charities. I had no one to leave my accumulated wealth to because I had been too selfish to think that far ahead, to the day I would leave the world behind and not be able to take it all with me. There was no one who wanted to be close to me because of how devious I had become. How naïve and stupid I had been. That life was a learning curve for me, and when I made the choice to return once more, I became a nun and studied in a convent for many years. I never made Mother Superior or anything like that, but perhaps that was my way of making up for my previous life. I studied what I had previously missed out on. I was made aware that there was more to life than meets the eye. Life was meant to be cherished. Learning and gaining a better perspective was what I believed it was all about. There was a higher knowledge that I aspired to. I opened my heart and my eyes to something that could not be seen, but was felt. I kept going back, while Erin chose to stay and acquire her powers by other means. I know she was a part of me and I could feel her. She tried very hard to get to me, to reach inside of me to gain some perspective of who and what I had become. I was most definitely wary of her, but not afraid. Erin was, after all, my twin sister. I brought my attention back to my present moment.

There were no longer clouds beneath us, the heavens were blue and the sun was shining warmly, but Dorian and I remained as high as possible. I looked below and saw what was left of the Egyptian temples that were once adorned in the most beautiful colours. At one time it looked as though the heavens had opened up and poured out a rainbow on the walls and facades of the beautifully built palaces, temples and walls of tombs. All that remained was sand and sand blasted ruins of these once splendid buildings.

I looked over at Dorian and I could see he was looking at the remnants of the once glorious city beneath us and I was sure he was thinking the same thing that I was.

I looked around at the now unfamiliar landscape and started to panic. Would I be able to find the cave again? So much had changed over the many, many years since I had last been in this place. There were no longer the old trade routes or the many inhabitants as there once was. What if we ended up in the wrong place and I wasted too much time and then was unable to find what I was looking for? I started to feel a tightening in my chest and looked from one end of the horizon to the other. I could not see anything that looked familiar. I started to breathe loudly and scanned the horizon again.

Suddenly I heard my mother’s voice, “Clear your mind and look at the landscape with eyes of old. No matter which dimension you are in know that the sun, moon and stars never change. Let them be your guide.”

I closed my eyes and felt the breeze flowing over me. I could feel my hair blowing across my face. I steadied my heart and thought of my mother and what she had taught me these past few days. “Look deep inside and find the place of solitude where it’s warm and calm.” I felt myself drifting into this place and knew I had a smile on my face because I had learned to find great joy in my cocoon of solitude. I allowed my memories to come to me and slipped back into the day I was asked to decide where to bury our fathers.

I took out the maps that I had been given to me and pored over them for a very long time before making any kind of decision. I had asked Dorian to go with me to look carefully at where I wanted to make the new tombs. He was convinced that we would never find our way back, but I told him that if we watched where the shadows lay and how the sun moved across the sky and where we first saw the moon and stars there would be no way that we would become lost because that is what my mother had taught me.

I returned to the present. “I’ve got it! I know where to go, Dorian. We must head north and when you see a rock that resembles a human nose we need to head down. You cannot miss it because it’s very big and even though there may have been some erosion the shape will still be there.” I felt a sense of urgency again and moved faster. Soon I was flying past Dorian and straight into the sun.

“Hah! There it is. Look over there, Rose.” I heard Dorian’s excited voice beside me a few minutes later.

I looked over to where he was pointing and a rock in the shape of a nose could be clearly seen. It was not exactly as I remembered, but nonetheless, the shape was there just as I had thought. With great excitement building up in me, I headed downward. I kept my eyes peeled for any movement below that seemed out of the ordinary. There was no movement. There weren’t even animals or reptiles moving.

“Rose, to the left of the cave mouth is a cliff. Let us go down that way, then there will be no chances of any surprises. When you go into the cave, I will scout around towards the right just to make sure everything is clear. I will be waiting for you when you come out.” Dorian sounded just as excited as I was.

Our feet touched the ground at the same time and the smallest amount of dust fluttered up into the air.

I turned to Dorian to tell him what I had been keeping to myself until now. “Dorian you have to come with me. I cannot enter the tomb without you. The symbols that are tattooed on your body is an incantation that will expose the tombs and they will only be exposed when the sun is at its zenith.” I waited for his response. He stood in front of me with a look on his face that I could not quite place, but I did see anger mixed with alarm and surprise.

“What? Are you trying to tell me that I have been walking around with these marks on my body for so long without even knowing the complete reason what they are for? You told me that they were in incantation you had for keeping me safe. What if Erro had found out and come after me? You knew all along that these markings could possibly cause my death?” The shocked expression on his face and his words hurt. I did not mean to lie to him, but I could not tell him the whole truth. Could he not see I was trying to keep him safe?

“I did not mean to deceive you Dorian. I told you only a partial truth, but I did not lie to you. If I had told you the whole truth about the symbols, would it have made a difference to you? You know it would have and you would have had this burden on you and I did not want that. I could not put the symbols on myself because that would have been so obvious. When you chose to stay in the earthly realm and behave the way you did it saved your life, why do you think you were given the chance to redeem yourself? Not everyone knew about the symbols, only those who needed to know, and the ones that are trusted knew about them. Erro could not touch you on either realm you ended up on. I made sure of that Dorian. I would never have done something like that without making sure you would be taken care of. Please, believe me.” I hoped that he believed me, because it was the truth.

“No. I will not understand why you never told me. I will never understand how you did this to me without revealing the truth. This is my body that you tattooed. I should have known when you insisted on doing the tattoos yourself. My God, Rose, what if you never had recall? What if you never remembered anything? I would have walked around with these symbols until someone from either side, good or evil, managed to work it out. I would be used and then cast aside like a used water skin!” Dorian was furious with me, so I decided to tell him the last bit of the secret I kept from him.

“There is more.” I said and looked at him. His blue eyes were flashing and his lips were pulled thinly across his teeth. He put his hands on his hips and said “Now would be a good time to spill all the beans and by all I mean all.” His words hissed through his lips and I could see his aura start wavering and changing colour.

“Alright, you need to calm down or you are going to bring attention to us. Your aura is vibrating and wavering, never mind the changing of the colour. Samara made it very clear that we had to keep our auras on the down low.” I said, looking him straight in the eye. I couldn’t remember Dorian ever being this angry with me.

“I need you to know the rest of the secret that I have been keeping.” I spoke hesitantly.

He threw his hands up in the air, gasped and rolled his eyes in a “what next” kind of way before raising his eyebrows expectantly.

“Once I have said the incantation, the tattoos will disappear from your body.” I said calmly and turned to walk into the cave. Leaving the rest usaid.

Without another word we walked down the small passageway, carefully picking our way to avoid the sharp rock outcroppings. I had forgotten how narrow the passage was. In some places, we had to walk sideways. The dust was throat chokingly thick and I was relieved when we entered the first small antechamber. A small opening in the roof of the chamber provided minimal light, but light nonetheless. I looked around the haze for the second opening, but couldn’t find it. Had I made a mistake? I shook my head and frowned deeply to stop myself from doubting my memories. It was clear that a lot of changes had taken place over time. I closed my eyes and focused inward. It didn’t take long before I could see the antechamber as it once was. I looked around. There it was. I could see the opening.

I opened my eyes and looked to where the opening had once been. Evidently the earth had moved at some point and rocks had fallen in, covering the opening.

“We need to move these rocks. They are covering the entrance to the next chamber.” I turned around and looked at Dorian.

He was standing in the middle of the chamber, looking up with a very intense expression on his face. I moved forward to touch him but he put up a hand to stop me. I stopped in my tracks and looked up to see what he was looking at. Above us was the small opening that was allowing light in and I noticed a small amount of sand falling down in front of us. Without moving my feet I leaned a little closer and looked up. There was definitely movement above us. My pulse started to race like crazy and I could feel my eyes widen. I looked back at Dorian and caught his eye.

We could not be separated now. I would not be able to do the incantation without him and if I couldn’t complete this mission, all would be lost. I chastised myself for not having brought someone to stand guard outside, but I simply did not trust anyone else enough to reveal my plans.

I looked back at Dorian and told him with hand signals that I was going to close my eyes and go back outside. I needed to see who was out there without being seen and I knew Dorian could not do it, so it would have to be me. I motioned to him that he had to move back so that I could move up through the small space above us. I slowly moved backwards to the opposite side of the chamber. I quietly sat down and closed my eyes. I needed to push my uneasiness aside and concentrate, but it was difficult in this situation and it took a while longer than I had anticipated. Rolling my head on my neck and loosening the muscles on my shoulders I tried again. Successfully this time.

I felt myself move forward and up to the opening in the roof of the cave. More sand started spilling down. I couldn’t sense anyone, but I remained focused and continued on my trip upwards.

I felt the sun warming the top of my head as I emerged into the sunlight and looked around. There, standing in the burning sun, I saw four men wearing warrior-like garments: Thick leather breastplates, arm and wristbands, shields and swords. They were standing facing the different corners of the earth and staring with vigilant eyes. Not a word was being spoken. Their auras were blue and green and they were calm and relaxed as well as focused. I thought about Michael and realised that he must have sent them.

Michael seemed to have an invisible connection to me that he only seemed to use when he deemed it really necessary and he knew that I had no other protection than Dorian, hence the warriors. Clever Michael, I thought.

I felt much more secure now and headed back down into the cave. I opened my eyes and saw Dorian still staring up at the hole in the roof of the atrium. I stood up quietly and went to stand beside. “We cannot stand here for much longer, you know.” I whispered to him.

Dorian jumped visibly and turned to stared at me. “That is not funny! We need to get moving and you’re fooling around.” I couldn’t help smiling, but forced myself to suppress the hysterica laugh that wanted to explode from my chest. Must be neves and adrenalin, I guessed.

I told Dorian who I saw was above and started moving rocks. I described what they were wearing and how odd it seemed to me, but Dorian told me that Michael’s men all wore that hardened leather attire. “Have you figured out everything about Michael yet?” he asked me while moving rocks and blowing dust away from his face.

“What do you mean? I know he has higher connections than we do and he is able to organize an army. I am not quite sure what you mean by that question, Dorian.” I stopped to look at him and wondered where this was going but he just shook his head and told me, once again, that I would figure it out soon enough.

“If there is something you feel I should know why do you not just tell me?” Dorian’s response frustrated me to the point of throwing a rock down loudly and forcibly turning him around to face me. “I am so tired of this guessing nonsense. I am sure that I will not spontaneously combust if I learn something from the past.” I knew there wasn’t time for this, but I was growing tired of Dorian insinuating things, and of him telling me I would figure it out soon enough when I didn’t understand. This was driving me crazy.

“I am not at liberty to divulge anything from your past that you have not yet discovered within yourself. I will not break these rules, Rosaline, not even for you.” He gently removed my hand from his arm.

“You sound like Samara now. I have no more time to retreat within and try to find what is missing. I have to rely on friends like you, Dorian.” As soon as the words were out of my mouth I regretted saying them. I did not want Dorian to think I was using him as a shortcut. Before he could reply, I quickly apologized, “I am sorry. I should not have said that. I do understand what you are saying. I’ll just have to be a work in progress as we get through this pile of rubble and the upcoming battle. Forget what I said and let’s just get on with this.” I nervously started to move more rocks.

Dorian gently put a hand on my arm and took the rock from me. I looked at him and saw that he was very serious. I didn’t know if I actually wanted to hear what he had to say.

“You have an inner strength that you need to find and the only way you can do that is by no longer relying on everyone else to define who and what you are. You have to harness it and then work with it until you have your gift under control. It will come to you when you are ready and I will be there to see it. I am here not only as your friend, but also as your defender and that is my gift to you.” He said gently. Then, “Enough of this now, back to work. We still have an enormous rock to move over there.”

I acknowledged that what he just told me was true. I had to rely on myself, and stop looking to everyone else for answers.

I moved forward to help Dorian move the remaining rock that was obstructing the entrance. I felt myself growing angry and frustrated as we struggled to move the huge monstrosity. I could feel the burning sensation in the pit of my stomach again and air hissed past my clenched teeth. The rock wasn’t budging and I was desperate to get into the inner sanctum of the cave. Time was running out and all the time Erin was drawing nearer. I could sense her and feel her closeness, but somehow I just could not get to her when I closed my eyes.

I started feeling a buzzing sensation in my head as before. I put my hands up to my temple and held my head in my hands. Suddenly I heard my mother’s voice telling me as before, to harness my energy and pull it from where it was hidden. I never understood what she meant when she first said it to me, but now I was starting to get the idea. It was all me. It has been within me all along. A strength. My gift.

I started to draw the energy I was feeling from my head and stomach into my arms and hands. I began to shake from the extreme effort and I suddenly felt the heat from within me running down my arms and into my hands. I opened my eyes to see what was going on and was almost blinded by a bright, electric, sparking orb that was growing in size as the heat from within me grew. This blue heat was emanating from my hands and forming a ball-like glow between my palms.

Dorian’s voice came to me through a haze, “Control it Rose. Don’t let it control you. Keep aware of your surroundings and focus on where you are sending your energy.” I could hear him, but struggled to see him. I couldn’t believe this was happening then. Why now? We were running out of time and my psyche decides to show me something new now? We needed to get into the cave and I was figuring out for the first time about my gift.

All at once I knew what to do. I held my hands out to the rock that was blocking the entrance and concentrated on removing it. The blue orb grew to the size of a small plate. I pushed internally with all my might so that the orb would move and without any warning the blue orb shot forward into the massive rock and it exploded into tiny little sand particles and a gust of wind blew around me. There was no sound. Just a pile of pebble sized pieces of the monstrosity and sand. Lots of sand.

Shaking from head to toe I could feel my energy levels start to settle and the burning heat dissipated and I turned to look at Dorian. He was standing with his arms folded across his chest and a smug smile on his dust covered face.

“Oh my God, Dorian. What just happened here?” I was so stunned I stood rooted to the spot.

“That, my dear Rose, is your gift. You’re obviously still a little rough around the edges with your control, but hey, no one is perfect on their first try. With that kind of energy who knows what you are capable of?” he laughed and turned to the cleared entrance. I stood beside him and hesitated a moment before entering the chamber. I knew this was a gift, but it used up so much energy to get it working that I wondered if it was a gift at all. But then, I supposed, like everything else, it gets better with time and time was something I did not have at the moment.

“Dorian, something strange is happening to me. My whole body is tingling. I can feel the sun and I feel a strange pain in my chest. What is going on here?” I was angered by my own voice that sounded so small and weak. I liked to think of myself as larger than life and strong, not as a weak and feeble woman.

“The more you learn, the more you begin to feel. Those are the rules here, Rose. You will start to feel everything again once you have achieved complete understanding and a controlled handling of your powers. The most potent feeling you will have, is one of disappointment, believe me. Our time will come again once the reign of man comes to an end.” He came over to me, placed his hands on my shoulders and looked at me with the softest and most gentle look I had seen from him since I had realized who he was.

“Dorian, I am afraid. My power scares me. If this is what I am capable of after such a short while, what can I expect from Erin who has had lifetimes to harness and perfect her powers? What if I cannot do what everyone thinks that I can? What if I let everyone down? I don’t think I could cope with that.”

I was feeling really scared and hopeless.

“Don’t think like that. You are very capable and don’t give yourself enough credit. You’re capable of so much more than you realize. I believe in you and so does everyone else who knows you.” His voice took on an urgent tone and he glanced towards the second opening, “We are running out of time, Rose. We need to get the scrolls to a safe place where Erro is unable to get her hands on them.”

I lifted my hands and combed my fingers through my hair in a frustrated manner, then shrugged my shoulders and stepped into the main cave. I would worry about everything else once I had moved the scrolls to safety.

I watched as the last of the dust settled and moved further into the inner sanctum. Nothing struck me as familiar. There was nothing to indicate that anyone was buried in this area. Another small opening in the roof of the cave allowed a thin shaft of light through that illuminated a small section of the floor. We needed more light for me to see clearly. I looked around. Hidden in the shadows on the cave wall, I caught sight of old torches suspended on what looked like metal brackets. I glanced towards Dorian. He had also seen them. He bent down to pick up two stones while I turned to walk further into the darkness. Behind me I could hear the stones striking together. Shortly afterwards, there was a light behind me and Dorian handed me a torch.

I walked forward and realized that the sanctum was very big. I picked up a stone and threw it into the darkness. The stone cracked against something in the distance. The torch lit my way as I walked in the direction in which I had tossed the stone. All at once I came to a complete stop and looked at the walls and roof of the cavernous room. They were vague and clearly corroded, but there were symbols covering the walls and roof just like the ones I had tattooed onto Dorian.

I stood very still and closed my eyes. Almost immediately I could see what this tomb had looked like when we re-interred our fathers. We had painted pictures on the walls depicting their lives and much of what they had taught us. The brightest and most beautiful colours had been used to paint the murals just like the ones in the Egyptian monarchy tombs, but over time the colours had faded and the walls had crumbled. I opened my eyes and could still see the beauty of their tomb. They were buried with great honour and love.

“We have to wait until the sun is directly above us. That is when the suns rays will guide me to where I have to stand before I can say the incantation. All will be revealed to me at the right time in the exact place and at the precise moment. You will have to remove your shirt when I do. Your symbols are the incantation remember. Perhaps you can kneel on the floor.”

“I cannot see anything here. There are no graves, tombs or headers for us to see where they lie. Are you sure this is the right place, Rose?” he looked around the cave.

“You told me that you have faith in me, so now you will have to put your money where your mouth is and trust me. I know time is of the essence, but everything will happen as it should. How funny is this that you are sceptical and I am the one gaining confidence?” I added sarcastically, but lightheartedly.

“You know what I mean. I have a lot of faith in you, it’s just that there are a lot of caves in this area and anyone can get a bit confused, it’s called Valley of the Caves after all, you know?” he quipped equally sarcastically back at me.

“This is stupid. I am confident that this is the right place and I know that we have to wait a little bit longer so that the rays of the sun can guide us. I did this a very long time ago, but I do remember it now.”

Just as Dorian was about to say something, one of the soldiers appeared in the doorway, his whole body blocking out what little light was coming from the other chamber. I was still amazed at the size of these warriors. They knew how to make a girl feel protected alright!

I looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. He looked down at me with his quiet, grey eyes, “They are much closer now. You will have to be very quiet. If they get any closer, my men and I will lead them away to another cave.” He did not wait to hear my response, but turned and headed back out into the sunlight.

“Dorian, help me to close up the entrance. We need to barricade ourselves in here for now and if things go pear-shaped we will have to destroy everything inside.” I looked at him closely. He knew exactly what I was saying. I was prepared to die protecting these scrolls and I knew that Dorian was too.