THE DARK CASTLE

CHAPTER 10

THE DARK CASTLE

Leo stepped forward towards the

game , when he noticed someone running towards him he hardly noticed in the dark it was an animal. He grinned heavily and told his friends shrieking , look it's an animal !'' Everyone got very happy and started to applaud , yayy !

something good happened. " When the animal got a little closer , he noticed it was an ibex , hi ! I'm Leo and you ? Ibex ran towards the game and his 51 inches curved horn which was curved slightly more backwards grabbed the game and threw it far away. What are you doing? Leo said darkly. He looked into his eyes which were completely red. If you have the courage , then take your turn , he said. Leo moved towards the game and with him all his friends , as they moved forward they saw more human skeletons , about a thousand in numbers laying on the ground , hanging on the tree , skulls and human phalanges were on the ground as that is so normal. When he was about ten steps away from the game , a colony of bats attacked them. What happened to these animals ? Why are they behaving like that ? Autumn said incredulously. I don't know ! Run from here , Brooklyn replied. They were running here and there to save their lives. Look, it's the pride of lions , Clara said brightly looking at the front , ahan , now no one can harm us , the lions started to roar looking at them , and began to run towards them as they wanted to attack them. RUN!! Wan shrieked , they were all running then suddenly Brooklyn's voice stopped them. Ouch , my leg got twisted , I can't run anymore , Brooklyn said breathlessly. No ! please , these animals are not behaving like they were before they will definitely eat you please don't stop , please try , Parker said despairingly. Where is Violet ?? Leo asked crackling. Did they eat

her ? Wan said incredulously. Of course not ! the lion's head cut off in the air and flew , there was a sword in Violet's hands , which the mermaid gifted them and she said go Leo throw the dice , go as fast as you can , Hurry up.

We will distract these animals , be ready to run away in so much , Wan said curtly. Leo sat down and Wan created a melodrama , Oops , my leg is hurting a lot , I can't run , Lions saw her with nasty laugh and ran towards her and Leo ran away from behind. Violet came towards them and started to kill them , and began to blow their necks.

It was looking as if a war was going on.

From the front a streak of tigers , pack of wolves were also coming. Violet was fighting with them , injuring them , she threw the sword towards Brooklyn and she caught it.

Leo threw the dice and he got 6 , 1 ; Break the curse. Again a voice began to rumble in the air , so , finally you all managed to reach here , incredibly completing all the dares , and I know your beloved animals have also told you that you have to break the curse , go find the book and do it , and the voice laughed squeaky. Where should we go , there is no one here to help us ! Autumn said sadly. Don't be sad , we all are still alive to help each other , if we have done that all , then we will do it too , Parker said enthusiastically.

Yes ! everyone said gingerly.

Take that candle , it will help us in the dark , said Wan. When Brooklyn picked up the candle , the candle went out.

She picked another , and it went out too. Leave it , we can't take it , Clara said jabbly. When they moved on , there was a very big sea , the water was rippling , and the clouds were thundering , and a big medieval ship was on the seashore. It was a

galleass , it had four cannons on each side , the galleass was 160 ft long and 40 ft wide with 76 heavy oars. Hexagrams were drawn on the sail of the galleass. Shall we ride on it ? asked Leo. I think yes , Autumn said , what do you all think ? She said further. I think we should , Wan said , how about you Violet ? Yes , let's go in , the wind was blowing so hard they were talking aggressively , standing at the coast.

Their hair was blowing in the air and the clouds were still thundering , it seemed to be raining soon. They all got into the galleass , as they got in , the oars started moving automatically and the galleass started to board. The galleass was moving so fast that they could not handle themselves , and were falling here and there. Suddenly it started to rain , and a storm came in the sea.

The rain was pouring down heavily , the lightning was flashing , and the gales started getting out of control. Now the galleass was also losing its balance , it was getting into the water and coming out repeatedly. Everyone was screaming for help , do something or we'll drown , Clara said , freaking out. What can we do? It was gone by itself and is moving so fast , Violet replied. Look there , thousands of owls and bats are coming from the front , and before they attack us , do something , think about it , Wan yelled.

What to think , use the cannons , Violet shrieked. So go ahead , Wan replied.

Leo , Parker , Brooklyn and Clara try to control these oars and Autumn , Wan , come with me , Violet said. When Violet threw an explosive , Autumn said , look there are so many cannons , we should use one more. Yes, I am going , Wan replied. After a while , Autumn got excited and said look , I can see something there , turn this galleass that way. What is it ? Leo shrieked , something like a castle , a dark castle or a black castle , see there , she replied. It looks like someone is guarding it , Parker said. Is that for

real ? Can't you see it's in the air , Parker said surprisingly.

It was black castle which was built in the middle of the sea , the stairs were going up , and far above the sea it was built in the air. And a merman which was merman from below but terrible from above , he had twisted horns and a triangle face , sharp stained fangs , and he was black in color from top to bottom and holding a very big hammer with millions of tiny thorns in it made of iron. He saw them and gave a nasty laugh , and said come Yussaxer was waiting for you. YUSSAXER ? Clara wondered , it's probably his name , Leo replied awkwardly. Attack him Violet , Wan yelled , Violet threw the

explosives , but Yussaxer jumped in the water. They were now very close to the castle when suddenly a strong wave swept the galleass into the water.

Ohhhh....Swim up , swim up , climb on the sail , Violet yelled. They made a mini boat with the sail and safely landed on the stairs. Clara ! Where is Clara ? Parker said anxiously. She was pulling her hand out of the water and was drowned completely , the waves of water were sometimes bringing her closer to them and sometimes taking her farther away. Look , Clara is drowning , do something !! Wan yelled. Look around ! Find something , Leo said vehemently. We have this

forestay , it was attached to the sail , can we use this ? Parker said brightly. Ummm...hmmmm , Clara ! Can you listen to us , catch this forestay , we are throwing it , Clara !! Wan said shruggly.

I don't think she can hear us Violet interrupted , I have an idea , Brooklyn come here , you're so slim , we'll tie it around your back , you jump into the water and catch her quickly , before she goes far away , as we'll feel the forestay more heavier we will pull it. Do you agree ? She asked her then. Yes ! of course , Brooklyn replied. Wonderful ! take that sword with you , for any

safety , Violet replied.

They tie the forestay to her back and hold it tightly and Brooklyn jumps in ,

she saw Clara , and it seemed like she was unconscious. Brooklyn swam closer to her , pulled Clara but she felt Clara was a bit heavier. She pulled her , then she noticed that her legs were in Yussaxer's mouth , when Yussaxer opened his mouth to swallow her , Brooklyn pulled her , Yussaxer seemed even more horrible under the water , from his neck to his face were very big gills which were red in color.

She started to move away from Yussaxer , but he started to chase her , she attacked him on his face , he turned around and sank , and Brooklyn drew her sword out of the water and signaled to her friends. Pull her , pull her , Leo said loudly that everyone got alert and started to pull the forestay , because Clara was unconscious , they felt it heavy , but still they successfully brought them up. She is unconscious , I don't know if she has inhaled a lot of water or Yussaxer has harmed her , Brooklyn said breathlessly. Yussaxer ! They all got shocked , yes , he was about to swallow her , Brooklyn replied.

No , Hopefully she had inhaled a lot of water , mouth-to-mouth resuscitation !

Hurry up ! Violet said anxiously. What ? Wan asked. Turn her head to the side and allow the water to drain from her mouth and nose. Ok ! Begin mouth to mouth resuscitation on the land , Autumn said heavily. Breathe in her mouth , Parker said anxiously. Brooklyn starts to breathe in her mouth. Breathe

strongly ! Leo yelled. Strongly breathe four times at least then check her

chest , Autumn shrieked. Pinch her nose , Leo said. Check her pulse , Parker checked her pulse , any signs of life , Violet asked. No ! Parker replied despairingly. Repeat the cycle , don't lose hope , Wan said. Suddenly Clara sighed , a ray of hope awoke in everyone , do it , do it , they all started screaming. Clara slowly opened her eyes and grinned. Thank God ! Nothing happened to you , Wan said emotionally. Stand up , let's enter the castle , Autumn said.

There were eleven turrets of the castle ,

the five turrets in the middle were built such that it was shaping it triangular , from the other six , three turrets were sloping on the left and right side. Turrets had skull-like structures on their tops , with light coming out of their eyes , nose and mouth. The shape of the castle was more like a hexagram. They began to climb the stairs , and reached a 20 ft big arched door.

There were Jack-o'-lanterns on both sides of the door , which were illuminating. As they came in front of the door , the door itself opened. The door creaked as it opened. They entered , inside were long cobwebs about a thousand in number and more taper candles were fixed on the wall , Jack-o'-lanterns were fixed on the wall too. A very big fanus made from candles was fixed on the ceiling and on the floor of the castle there were books.

On the walls arched lattice windows were made , from which clear lightning was seen and the sound of thunder was also clear. The bats were hovering here and there in the castle.

Look , a lot of books are there , Autumn said. They approached the books. The books were very dusty but the ground was more dusty. There were skulls on top of the books and something like red ink beside them. When they removed the skulls from the books, they saw that the books were full of blank pages , each page of the thousand pages book was blank. There was a staircase in front of it. The two stairs built on the left and right side were going up and the one built in the middle was going down.

Parker , Brooklyn both of you go down ,

Violet , Autumn , Clara move from these stairs on the left , Leo let's go from these stairs on the right side , Wan said , ok ! Everyone agreed. Parker and Brooklyn moved down the staircase.

The stairs were circular , with about sixty steps and in the middle was a round empty space from which darkness below was visible. They got down and entered a very big hall , on the ceiling , there hung a dinosaur's skeleton. There were rough walls in which on one of the walls very big human skulls were made in such a way that they were half inside the wall and half out the wall. There was something strangely written on the wall. What kind of language is this ? Brooklyn said awkwardly. I don't know , maybe this is the way to go forward and we will have to look for the book to solve this too , Parker replied thoughtfully. Let's start searching , Brooklyn said.

Violet , Autumn , Clara moved left and were wandering there , moving straight they entered an arched door again , it was a round library with around one thousand book shelves and it was having millions of books none of the shelves was empty. To take any book out , spiral staircases were built. Woah !! There are so many , but how to recognize the one we need. There was a beautiful white cage hanging on the ceiling , which hung from a white chain whose chain was so long that the cage was only a few inches away from them. Inside was a beautiful white dove, imprisoned. Leo and Wan moved to the left. There was an arched door too. They entered the room where a pot twice their height was on the green fire and wood , and something was boiling in it. As they walked into the room , they saw an hour-glass , which was as big as the size of a tree. All the sand of the hour- glass had came down just a little bit up was left and it was coming down fast. What does that mean ? said Wan. Let's tell everyone about this , saying that Leo and Wan ran fast.

Leo and Wan went downstairs , and began to shout ,Violet..Autumn..Parker..

Clara.. Brooklyn ! Come quickly wherever you are , hurry up. Is that

Wan , Clara said anxiously. Let's go fast. Hearing her voice , all her friends came to them immediately. What happened ? Is everything alright ? Parker asked breathlessly. Nothing to worry about , but we saw an hour-glass

whose time is just about to end , Wan said breathlessly. Yes , and below is a hall , with strange language written on the walls. We were searching for the

book , then Wan called us , Brooklyn said. Maybe we can find that in the library , there was a library on the left , Autumn said excitedly. They all ran happily but when they reached the library they were left speechless. How did we find the book we need , in so many books? Leo asked exasperatedly. The dove in the cage began to flutter , as if he was trying to say something , maybe he knows , let him free , said Parker. Not maybe , certainly ! Violet said brightly. No !! don't you remember how strange the animals are behaving here , Leo said sternly. No , if he was like them , then he would not have been imprisoned here ,said Wan , demonstrating. That's the decent thing to do , and it should end there , open his cage , said Clara calmly. Parker climbed the stairs and opened the

cage , the dove came out and flew up and disappeared from sight. Look , I didn't say don't do that , now she will go and inform all her friends , Leo said bitterly. Shortly after Leo said this , the dove with two more doves was flowing down towards them. Oh no ! They are definitely coming to attack us , come and hide somewhere , Leo said heavily.

Leo , shut your mouth , can't you see , they have a book with them , I was right they were imprisoned so that we would be confused as to whether they were good or bad. The doves approached them and dropped a book , on which

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was written. Yes , these are the exact same letters which were on the wall ,

Brooklyn said surprisingly. Really ? But what is it written? Open up and find out.