Dwellers of the New World Chapter Eighteen ( Pt 4 ) Into The Unknown

For a long while they continued on down the tunnel. Simon began to worry as the owl had not returned, he doubted himself as a sudden cold breeze came from out of no where, giving them all shivers as it whooshed along the narrow space they walked; then came the sound of wailing and groaning, the combination was terrifying, leaving them all scared witless.

“How much further?” Whispered Varden, fearing the sounds.

“We just keep going – Tawny will keep us safe,” declared Simon not wanting to appear afraid, but apprehensive as withered faces began appearing, revealing their pain and anguish.

High pitched screams had them covering their ears, while still holding their torches as they slid down the wall. They sat with eyes closed not wishing to catch sight of the terror in the faces of those ghostly figures. It felt like a great weight was pressing down on them, consuming their energy. Varden now understood what real terror was and wished he'd stayed back in the Chamber.

'Why did I come here!' He thought to himself, believing he was about to face death itself.

Simon seeing the look of terror on the others faces, had experienced this moment many times in nightmares, but he had been falling in his dreams, with the ghostly figures appearing as real people that had messages for him as he slept, now he hoped he'd discover what those messages meant.

Sadness crept over the three, they were feeling all the pain these spectres were experiencing, as their screams and moaning became all too much for Simon.

Taking a deep breath the boy came to standing and felt in his pocket for the owl that Martha, his Grandmother had given him; as he held it in his hand, a strange thing happened, one of the spirits approached him, floating before the boy, it stretched out it's long spindly finger and touched the wooden owl.

Simon quickly closed his hand afraid the spectre would steal it, but the fingers passed through his hands, giving the boy a shudder. The ghostly figure came even closer and gazed into the boy's eyes. Simon had no where to go, he was fixed to the wall and couldn't move, the fog enclosed him as the others seem to fade into oblivion, now it was just the two of them staring at one another, then the spirit backed away and beckoned the boy to follow.

Simon was hypnotised as he accompanied the floating figure that drifted, suspended in the air, compelled like a magnet to comply with its wishes.

Still the spirit drifted in and out of the fog, its face though contorted, seemed to be smiling, letting the boy know that everything was as it should be. Simon could hear his name being called, but the voice was so faint, it was hardly audible and no longer seemed important.

The boy could hear water, as if like a flowing stream, as the ground below his feet was no longer firm, but spongy, like walking in a bog. Fog had turned to a wet mist as the air became damp and it felt like he wasn't in the tunnel any more.

That spindly finger continued to guide him onwards, and even though Simon felt compelled to speak, no words would leave his lips, his mouth felt dry as he swallowed, the saliva gone with each breath he took, mouth open to the elements, his lips unable to close, still they continued on.

Suddenly Tawny came flying through the air from out of a clearing, he had a gleaming crystal in his talons, it threw out a rainbow of colours, yet there wasn't any light to reflect off the crystal, the brightness seemed to be trapped within. The owl came to land at Simon's feet and the spirit beckoned the boy to take the crystal.

As if the ghostly figure had planted the seed of truth, Simon knew immediately what he had to do. “The spirit's telling me this is our way out – that's what you're trying to tell me, isn't it?”

Again the spectre gazed into the boy's eyes, sending a message of hope, not with words, but with its mind.

“I must follow Tawny, he will be our guide and lead us out of this place. The crystal will light our way.” Simon was released from the spell and became excited, feeling that his whole life had been leading up to this moment. Looking up from the owl, he went to say thank you to the spirit, but it had disappeared, leaving only the sound of dripping water somewhere off in the far distance.

With Tawny's help, it didn't take him long to return to the others. Brad was beside himself with worry. “Where did you go son? We couldn't move, I thought I 'd lost you forever.” He picked the boy up, hugging him, afraid if he let him go, he'd be gone again.

“Father! It's okay – I've been given this crystal, it's going to guide us out of here.” The diamond shaped crystal dazzled the little group and lit up the whole tunnel, so they extinguish their torches and made their way back to the chamber. Again with the help of Tawny, it didn't take them long to return once more. Ben was now bandaged up, though feeling woozy, the others had managed to keep him awake, but the cut hurt like mad.

The boys were stunned to see the three figures coming out of the tunnel, they were sure they'd been lost forever. Poor Varden was surrounded and questioned, but found it hard to put into words what had just happened. It felt to the boy like he was under interrogation and didn't no how to handle the situation, until Simon came over and said that everything was going to be okay, they were going to find a way out. Brad watched on as his son relayed what had taken place, proud to think that Simon held the key to their escape.

“We were trapped in a tunnel,” Simon informed the others. “It was very scary at first, I thought I was going to die, cause these strange floating figures were pressing down on me. I had no energy as I fell to the ground. But then something strange happened.” He produced the wooden owl from his pocket again and showed everyone. “When they saw this!” He held it up. “Then they beckoned me to follow and led me to a strange place, but I've no idea where I was, the apparitions seemed to read my mind and talk to me without speaking – it was all very weird.”

Dawson knew immediately what the boy was talking about. “That's exactly the same phantoms that spooked me, I have to say they scared me to death nearly.”

“We don't need to fear them any more,” replied Simon. “As I was saying, one of them guided me to this place where Tawny appeared with this crystal;” He held the diamond up, its light again beamed brightly around the chamber, producing many colours.

Addie never said a word, but recognised the crystal, it was the same as the one he held in his backpack, but wasn't as bright, or as clear. He thought to himself! 'I only wish I could remember where I got it from!'

It frustrated the man to think he held something so special, but couldn't tell anyone about it, so he kept quiet.

Varden and the rest of the boys had a good idea that this must be the crystal that Gregor had hidden, it was the best news yet, but the problem was, they had no idea where they would end up.

Dwellers of the New World Chapter Eighteen ( Pt 5 ) Out Of The Darkness | ABCtales