XXVII - Coffin in Ice

                                    

                                          
October 11, in the year of 8845, Reminis Calendar (RC) 
                          
“Ahh, you've arrived. We've been waiting for so long.” The voice belonged to a creature with a toad face and a body of a Salamander. It was coated with slimy blue skin that shimmered with magenta stripes. Unlike an ordinary Salamander that Elli saw in her childhood books, it had limbs like a monkey, claws like an eagle, and the body size of a full-grown cat.
                          
The creature slumped at a throne; a crown made of some crab skull covered one of its eyes. A ring of smoke swirled out of its mouth. At first, Elli thought the creature was smoking. It wasn't until the creature coughed out more smoke that she realised it was suffered from some kind of stench. More eyes blinked at the newcomers from the darkness. Toadmanders of smaller sizes limped out and gathered around the throne, with bags hanging loosely over their tiny shoulders.
                          
“The war is about to commence,” the leader said. “You must stop them. Quick, use the blue portal over there. You can reach the Gate of Hell in seconds, and the mysteries of your identity will be cleared.” The leader looked at Elli as it said, but it didn't allow the newcomers to digest the words. Raising its grumpy finger, it pointed to a blue shimmering curtain that was wide enough to transport a tank.
                          
“Where's this place? What do you mean by the mystery of my identity?” asked Elli.
                          
“No time.” The leader groaned and coughed out more smoke. Clearing its throat, the creature put its thumb and its index finger on its magenta lips and whistled. 
                          
The bed of the swamp shook as six gargantuan shadows came from darkness. The adventurers gasped as they saw six water dragons stood twenty-foot tall before them. White fluffy mane ran down the spine of the dragons, which was about fifty feet long. Strapped on each of the dragon’s back were ten brown saddles. The dragons let out a low moaning as they saw the strangers, fear filled up their sapphire pupils. They beat their wings anxiously, causing strong hurricane to twirl in the water. 
                          
The largest dragon stood before its brethren, bearing its jaws threateningly at the strangers. White electricity current streamed down from its gills, causing the water ripple around the gills to blast like lightning. Clasped in its talons was a blue dragon egg bigger than a truck tyre. Elli noticed the other dragons were also each holding an egg.
                          
“Easy, Diego, they are our saviours. They mean us no harm. Adventurers, we must flee now. We sense an egregious calamity is befalling,” the leader of the Toadmander said.
                          
The dragons knelt before the Toadmanders for the creatures to climb up. The Toadmanders each took a seat on the saddle. The leader sat at the front on the dragon called Diego. Its talons clasped around the rein, readied to take off.
                          
“Wait, where're you going? We need your help to defeat the Vampists,” Elli called after them.
                          
“We're flying to the East Sea. Our menial power can’t stand against them. But as long as we can still breathe, we'll protect the water dragons. They are tame and aren't bred for fighting. Only the blood of King Eremiel’s descendant can prevent history from repeating. Go up and everything will be clear.”
                          
With its last words, the leader of the Toadmander yanked the reins, and Diego the Dragon took flight. The other dragons flapped their wings and shot out of the swamp. The adventurers quickened their steps to the blue portal. Once they were in the curtain, they were being extracted upwards so fast like air molecules in a tube. The process was less tormenting than what they experienced in the Home of Arch. With a pop sound, they landed on a stony and damp platform. 
                          
Elli could hear the sound of water calling from behind a huge unyielding door. In front of them, the flat stone door gleamed with colourful gems. Coils of steel chains trussed on the ceiling above the door. A red wheel the size of a grain mortar was attached to the left stone wall; a metal panel clasped on the right. The Black-Borns cast some incantations but the wall remained unmoved. Looking at the design of the locks, they discussed their strategies. Benedict would be in charge of turning the giant wheel so that the steel chains could be moved; Maxim and Vortex had to bring down the metal panel to open the door, when they saw the steel chains moved.
                          
After all members were in position, Marko asked, “Ready?”
                          
Benedict nodded with high determination. He laid six of his hands on the wheel and turned it, but the stubborn piece of metal remained unmoved. He pulled harder. His biceps and tendons cackled around the concaved space. After what seemed like a season, the wheel shuddered to life and the chains attached on the wall budged. The sound of old gears grinding on each other caused Goosebumps to run over Elli’s skin. The stone door rumbled but it stayed stock-still.
                          
“Maxim, Vortex, now!” Marko directed.
                          
Maxim and Vortex leaped to the metal panel. They steadied their legs horizontally on the wall and wrap their hands around the panel, like primates clinging onto a stubby tree branch. With a howl, they brought the panel down to mid-way. Their boots fumed, dragging against the wall. The stone door raised three-foot tall and hung in the middle. It shook violently, as if it would crash at any moment. On the left, Benedict spun the wheel harder. The chains rose higher. Maxim and Vortex pulled the panel down with all their might, but something seemed to gum beneath it.
                          
“The panel won't go further!” Maxim puffed.
                          
“Quick, all of you go in first. I'll hold the chain,” Benedict commanded.
                          
The gangs needed not to be told twice. They scrambled underneath the door. Each time they went through the gap, the door dropped an inch. After the last shadow vanished behind the door, Benedict let go of the wheel. He yelled and skittered underneath the gap. The mechanism stumbled down the moment he lugged one of his arms from the slit. They let out a relief sigh and cast their vision in front.
                          
All of the hardship was thrown to cloud nine as they saw the panoramic view before them. Waterfalls draped over them, like crystalline curtains plummeted from the sky. They gasped and walked down a flight of stairs. A green pavement welcomed them. They stepped gently on the footpath, scaring their weight would hurt the grass. Willow leaves caressed their hair and the wind hummed in their ears.
                          
Wing creatures with panicked look seeped in and out the trees, beckoning them to advance further. The adventurers hurried down the grass pavement until they saw a cave entrance cloaked by curtain of seashells. Marko pulled it aside and they walked in. The place looked like Eden Garden, the perfect world everyone wished to live in. Stalactites hung down from the ceiling, sparkling with blue celestial light.
                          
“Hey, check this out.” Marko beckoned to a black board on the cavern wall. Colourful handwriting shone from it, reading, Odyssieurs Record.
                          
“No one has ever been here before,” Elli exclaimed. She lifted up a black chalk and doodled on the board. Instead of having black wordings coming out, the board dissolved into the softness of sand.
                          
Elli felt like drawing on a beach. The lines she pencilled in shimmered with hues of indigo, golden, metallic, and a range of tints she could never found in her crayon box. The others mimicked Elli's behaviour. After leaving their names, they walked further into the cavern, when they saw a huge ice coffin. Instead of lying down, the coffin was standing. In it, were three statues, a man that seemed like a king, a woman whom Elli perceived to be the queen, and a little girl that seemed to be a princess.
                          
The group advanced further, except Lukas and Roxy. Roxy’s face turned pale and cracked up like the lines on the ice. Lukas eyed her in panic, when a menacing and familiar voice called out.
                          
“Do you need more orientation?”