The Traveller

by LavenderRain24

Chapter 3 - The Unicorn Statue

Crumbling rock and dirt fell all around her as her heart skipped a beat from the shear shock. "Ooof!" She landed hard on the sand that had piled up below her in the cavern. "Ow... that was hard!" Sapphire rubbed her bottom from the impact but her tailbone still ached from the fall.

"SAPPHIRE! CAN YOU HEAR ME?" Yousef called out in a loud worried tone. He poked his head over the edge of the opening.

"Ye-yeah dad! I'm ok. Just a bit sore from the fall..." the girl looked up and gave a small smile to her dad but she couldn't look up at him for long as the light shining through was too harsh for her eyes. "It's surprisingly cooler down here!" She called out to him.

"That's to be expected! Below ground is always cooler since there's no sunlight getting in. What can you see down there Sapphire?" Amir asked her from above. She couldn't see him but he must've been close to her dad. The distance caused their voices to echo in the cavern.

"It looks like a square shaped cave. Straight walls and corners." She peered into the darkness and saw a glowing light in the distance. "I see a light. About 100 feet away."

Amir and Yousef looked at each other in surprise... "Is it a tunnel?" Mr. Stone called hoping it led somewhere with a better access point.

"No I don't think so. I'll get a closer look." Sapphire said as she stood up and brushed off the dirt from her skin and clothes. She noticed that her white clothes were covered in dry dust now thanks to that little mishap. Taking it slow, she headed into the darker part of the cave, and found herself face to face with a life size statue of a unicorn. It seemed to be holding a staff of some kind that looked to be made of a slightly different stone... almost looked like... "Ice?"

"Dad! There's a large statue down here... it's a unicorn holding some sort of staff."

Yousef was gobsmacked. He looked at his friend Amir, "Amir, we HAVE to get down there. It could be the biggest mystery of all time she's just discovered. Perhaps even proof of many theories of scientists." Amir was stunned silent.

"What do you mean Yousef? It's just a unicorn statue."

"I don't believe so old friend, I think Sapphire's just found the story of a life time. Sapphire!" Mr. Stone looked back into the hole, "Step back sweet, we'll find a way to come join you."

"Ok dad!" Sapphire stepped aside the statue till she was touching the staff that had a strange oval sphere on top that was emitting a glowing blue light. When she touched it with her hand to see if she tell what it was, it glowed ten times brighter illuminating the entire room. "Dad... something's happening!" But no one came to the opening. She figured they must've been organising the team in a rescue attempt. 'I don't want that man in the black head scarf to find this thing.' She strongly believed he was not to be trusted. Sapphire grabbed onto the twisted staff covered in ice, it was freezing to touch but she had to pull it free.

"Man... ngh... it's stuck tight in the hoof." She pressed her foot against the platform of the statue and used it as a leverage to yank it free. Finally managing to unhook it from the statue's grasp, she felt a weird sensation as the ice began to glow and crack beneath her fingers. "Uh oh..." Sapphire watched in silence as the ice broke clean off the staff revealing it was actually made from dark oak wood. All twisted almost like a hair plait and to her surprise a large blue precious stone sat neatly embedded into the middle of the staff on top - protected by two limbs of the wood twisting along the sides of it. "Is that... a sapphire stone?"

Hypnotised she didn't hear the noice of machinery coming from the surface as it started to shake the ceiling. A numbness growing from her finger tips all through out her body she fell under what seemed to be some sort of trance and a vortex began to form around her and the staff. Unable to speak, she wasn't able to react to what was happening before her eyes. It was like her body had been completely taken over but she was still aware of her surroundings so she could only watch in silence.

What felt like minutes was only seconds as the vortex glowed the same blue light as the stone and completely filled the area with a bright aqua blue light until everything turned black after a loud muffled explosion of energy.

Ears still ringing from the blast, she slowly opened her eyes and waited for her sight to readjust. When the blurriness went away, she was confused at what she saw. 'What on earth?' She thought as she stared into the thick dark greenery of what looked like a forrest. But none like ever she'd seen on tv before. Sapphire felt so weak for some reason she could barely lift her head to look around when she heard a rustling coming from the left of her position.

"H-hello?" Her voice was shaky and she felt a shiver rush down her spine. I didn't think it was that cold in the cave... then again it's not the cave anymore... wait, how is that possible? With thoughts running wild in her head, she managed to lean on her elbow and look to where the noise came from.

"Hello young one, do not fear, my name is Zecora and I am now here." Sapphire heard what she can only describe as horses hooves so the one named Zecora must've been riding when she came across the girl.

"Uh...what... what happened? I feel dizzy..." She put her hand on her head but as she lifted it, she got the scare of her life!

"Wha.... what's wrong with my hand?!" Either she was still out cold and dreaming all of this or something was very wrong.

"It's a hoof!" She was utterly speechless at the sight of her hand being a hoof... and not just a normal one either, it was lavender purple! "Why is it purple?? What's going on??" Feeling her heart race she knew she was having a minor panic attack. She breathed in and out so fast she began to feel light headed again. "Oh... boy... I... don't feel good..." Letting the attack take over her mind she fell unconscious once again and collapsed back on the grass.

Author's Note:

What's just happened to Sapphire? What did that strange staff do to her? If you want to know then keep reading through to the next chapter!

Comment below if you're enjoying this story!

Comments

[Replica Knight]

Needs work but it's alright so far