When I looked up there weren’t any more obstacles in front of me. I couldn't believe that I had somehow managed to survive my worst nightmare.
I grabbed my shoulder with my other arm and ran. I fell over my shoelaces, the ones I knew I had double-tied. How the hell did they get loose?
I missed a blast of blistering fire.
My entire body froze up as a blast of fire erupted inches above my head. The heat from the flames baked the one side of my face. When the fire stopped, I got on my good arm and knees, lifted up my ass, and crawled into the third cave.
Using my good arm, I touched my hair and face. Everything felt fine, except that my face felt hot, and tight, as if it had shrunk a couple of centimeters. I wanted to cry when it dawned on me that I was going to be fine. Well, apart from the acute pain in my shoulder.
It was unreal to think that I just finished the second task.
Before I could process what was happening, an old chandelier came to life above my head and illuminated two doors.
Oh, please, I can't handle another obstacle. New words appeared on the wall.
“There are two doors. One leads to the fourth cave, and the other to purgatory. The door that leads to the fourth cave is the one guarded by the old man telling the truth. The other door that leads to purgatory is guarded by his twin that always lies. One exact question you may ask, but be careful for the question can only be a yes or no. Beware they don't know time or space, and your question may not be linked to whether they are related.”
I had to ask them the same question. A yes or no answer to find which one was guarding the door that leads to the fourth room?
Questions filled my mind immediately. If I asked the one are you guarding the door to the fourth chamber, both of them would say yes. I couldn't ask them personal questions either,or the time, because they didn’t know what time was. Yes or no answers. My mind suddenly went blank.
For the love of blueberries, this always happens to me.
Come back to me, Elena. I forced myself to concentrate on Lucian's words.
Think, think, think.
If I hid the door to purgatory and lie, what question could I lie about that would give the answer away.
It has to be about the doors, it couldn't be anything about the two men or their relation. Doors. One is hiding the fourth cave, the other one hiding purgatory. I knew it was in me somewhere. I could feel it and taste it on the tip of my tongue. Are you guarding the door of truth? No. Are . . . both doors…? My body went through an ocean of pins and needles. I might have it.
I ran to the hourglass and saw the sand running really fast. Two small crazy men appeared.
They were skinny as if they hadn't eaten in weeks and were missing a couple of teeth. They smelled really bad, and I started to make gagging sounds. Becky would have cracked up if she were here with me. They each had long beards and hair, with only a scruffy rag covering their private parts. When they saw each other, they started to scold one another. Cussing and fighting. How could one of them be capable of telling the truth?
“Do both doors lead to the fourth cave,” I asked the first one carefully.
“No,” the one on the left answered,and the other one on the right answered,“yes”. They started to fight again as they disagreed.
“I choose the door on the left,” I yelled, and it opened up.
I slipped past the crazy men that had started to go mental on each other and went through the door. It closed immediately after me, and I felt bowled over as I found myself outside. It was a weird place. Mist and fog covered everything. I could barely see through the mist, but I made out the shape of a small wooden rowboat. Plants and trees that grew near the swamp were everywhere. The Night Villain jumped to my mind. What if Lucian was right and I do need to fight a Night Villain?
I ran to the boat and cussed a little when the man inside the boat startled me. He wasn't as old as the two in the third cave, but smelled just as bad nevertheless. He resembled a lazy fisherman, with a hat covering his face.
I bumped the boat with my foot. “Excuse me.”
He woke up angst-ridden and grabbed the edges for balance.
“Jeewiz, miss, what are you doing here?” he asked in a frantic British accent, but smiled as soon as he realized where he was. “Ah, you have come to take a look at your future, maybe present or past.”
I clutched my pounding arm and asked, “What is it I have to do?”
“You got hit?”
I nodded.
“Those balls are a bummer. It was my idea,” he boasted.
I felt like kicking him, but was too scared that if I did, he wouldn’t help.
“Hop on. I'll take you to your final task.”
I climbed in the boat and closed my eyes. I didn't know how long I'd been away.
“So, you want to visit the millpond, hey?” he asked.