The Book of Destiny

Early in the morning, before dawn Lica was woken by someone shaking her shoulder. She opened her eyes and saw Swein.

"Angelica, get dressed and go downstairs, hurry up. The horses are ready."

"Horses?" she did not understand.

"Have you forgotten about our mission?"

"I remember!" Angelica said. "And I have already got dressed!"

"Then let's go!"

The Prince took Lica's hand and helped her up. Then he was waiting while Lica was lacing her trainers and they went to the stairs quietly. And now the riders were speeding toward the Kingdom of Night.

"What's the hurry?" Angelica asked. "Why have you woken me up so early?!"

"Have you forgotten that I cannot stand the light of the day? So I had to wake you up before dawn."

"I thought after the ball you would sleep the whole day!"

"If I stayed for another day, our relationship with the Princess would go too far..."

"I am not surprised; you fixed your eyes on her the whole evening!"

"The end justifies the means! Now I know where the Book of Destiny is!"

"Oh, you schemer!" Lica shouted. "So you have arranged that on purpose?"

Swein slowed his horse and grinned:

"I do not like white color, dear Angelica! But I do love dark blue."

And he spurred his horse again.

Her heart leapt with joy but she didn't show anything and followed the Prince. After a while they were cloaked by the thick fog again.

"So, now the main thing is – not to lose our way," the Prince said quietly. "Soon we have to turn left."

And they went on...

Lica did not notice where they were going. She was automatically following her companion. When the fog lifted they were at the foot of the high mountains, Angelica even was surprised by that.

"Are these the mountains you had seen before?" the Prince asked her.

"Yes, I guess," she nodded. "Let's stop! Somewhere there must be a move, which the Princess had used to lead us outside the dungeons. It is pretty safe. We just need to remember where it is."

Swein stopped his horse. And Lica was examining the mountains.

"There must be the main entrance to the cave on the right," she said. "So, the secret passage is near here. Get down, Prince, we have arrived!"

They dismounted and tied their horses to the tree growing nearby.

"Wait," Swein said. "I have taken something from the palace."

And he pulled out of the small bag a coil of rope, oakum and matches.

"Oh, you are very farsighted!" Angelica smiled.

"Of course. How would we look for the Book in the dark? You are unlikely to think about that!" the Prince quipped.

"But you can see in the dark like a cat!"

"But you cannot! And what do I have to do - hold your hand all the time?"

They found two strong sticks and wrapped them with oakum.

"Come on! The secret passage is over there!" Lica pointed.

Swein and the girl were going along the foot of the mountains and saw the narrow cleft. The Prince lit their torches and they climbed inside. As they were walking the cleft was getting wider.

"You have not told me where we should look for the Book of Destiny yet," Angelica asked Swein.

"According to Princess, the Wizard had a lab with the hiding-place, where he was keeping the Book. But what it looks like, the Princess does not know as well the Wizard didn't allow her to come inside."

"Well, at least we have a clue. It is bad that I have never been in the lab."

"But you said that you had known these dungeons!" the Prince grumbled.

"But not as good as you have your fingertips!" she quipped. "And now you should be as quiet as possible. I don't want that somebody will hear us."

Lica pushed Swein aside and went first. It seemed to her that she knew this corridor but sometimes she didn't. However, she was here a long time ago. Suddenly the hole widened and our heroes came in the small hall with the stream flowing in the center.

"I know!" Angelica whispered. "Here we had met the Wizard. That wall - right in front of us - it can move. The Princess had come out of it. Henry and I had gone out of the passage on the left. There was no lab of Wizard. So we need to go to the right!"

And she cautiously entered the right corridor leading from the hall.

Everything was different here. The ceilings seemed to hang over their heads. The air was so heavy that they had difficulties breathing. After a few turns Lica and the Prince came to the edge of the deep abyss.

"Well, where are we going now?" the young man asked incredulously.

Angelica stretched her hand with a torch forward and looked around...

She couldn't see the opposite side of the abyss but she heard some unpleasant splashes below. And then the girl looked at the cliffs hanging over the abyss. The right rock was vertical but the left had a small ledge - just half foot - but they could move on it.

"We are going there!" Lica pointed it.

"You are crazy! We are going to fall down!" the Prince whispered.

But he could not resist not being sarcastic:

"But there are two of us, so we can sacrifice one!"

He gave the girl his torch and set his foot on the dangerous path.

Swein nestled up the wall and slowly began to bend the rock around. A few minutes later he disappeared around the bend. For a while it was completely silent and suddenly she heard his voice:

"Angelica, you were right! Laboratory is here!"

It was silence again but ten minutes later she heard him again:

"Angelica, there is nothing even looks like a hiding-place!"

The girl immediately stuck her torch in the cleft of the rock and followed Swein. Slowly, step by step, she was moving on the narrow ledge. At some point she nearly stumbled and began to balance on her left leg over the abyss. The stone, she was holding on, suddenly broke off and the girl fell in.

She only had time to scream. But the fall was not long. Lica got hurt her legs by the stone floor and sat down. The Prince bended down from the top:

"Angelica!" he cried. "Angelica, are you alive?"

"Yes, I am alive!" Lica said. "Only hurt myself."

"You scared me! Why have you followed me? You should have waited for me there!"

"Well, would you like to give me a lesson!" she smiled. "By the way, can you see from the top where I have fallen? Because I'm poorly guided in the dark!"

"I think it is ledge! You were very lucky... A little more to the right or to the left - and you would have died! Stay there! I am going down!"

Soon she saw the rope and the young man was sliding down it.

"Stand up!" he gave his hand to Lica.

And then suddenly froze.

"What is it?" he asked quietly, pointing at something behind Angelica.

"Where?"

The girl looked back. But she could not see anything instead of the black wall.

"It is there in the rock, right behind you!"

"I cannot see in the dark, have you forgotten?"

"Oh you are right!" the Prince nodded.

He carefully removed Angelica and came up to the wall. Then he started touching it and suddenly they heard a click. The part of the rock moved to the side.

"The hiding-place!" Lica gasped.

"There are stairs. I'll go down myself! And you stay here and wait and do not take anything!"

Swein like a cat entered the dark hole. A few minutes later he came back to Angelica, holding a thick folio.

"Here it is! The Book of Destiny!" he said, smiling happily. "Take it! I am going upstairs first and then help you out."

Lica took the book and the Prince quickly climbed the rope. Then he pulled the girl. They were slowly rounding the rock going along the ledge. Angelica pulled out the torches from the cliff and our heroes entered the dark cave tunnel leading outside.