Fan-Fic Fridays: The Secret Symbol - Chapter 34: Frost and Ice

The Secret Symbol

Chapter 34

Frost and Ice

         All of what Dawn relayed to everyone, along with Lilah telling some of it, blew everyone’s mind about Dawn’s past, Vixxen’s past, and some of what Vixxen’s problem is.

         Once everyone had entered the Clubhouse, we took a few minutes to set up the prop for the Dragon Eye to sit on to get a look through all the lenses combined.

         Hyrith folded his arms and gave a slight smile, “Maybe I should go out on more patrols or just ‘simple’ missions.  Seems like those result in the most action.”

         Cazi added, “Tell me about it.”

         “How could I?” he asked.  “I wasn’t there, you were.”

         Cazi lifted her left first finger as if she had a comeback, but she and the others realized Hyrith’s comeback was enough to leave Cazi quip-less.  He did not even realize it until he saw Cazi not say anything.

         “Did I do what I think I just did?” Hyrith question, looking astounded.

         “I think you did do what you think you just did,” I responded.  “But if you are amazed at that, just wait until we put all of these lenses in the Dragon Eye at the same time.”

         The air in the Clubhouse became noticeably tense with anticipation.  As soon as I put the last Dragon Eye lens in and set the Eye on the table, propping it up on the make shift prop of two knifes, we all bent down towards the Dragon Eye waiting for something to happen.

         Not more than a minute later did I whisper something to the rest of the group, “Hey guys?”

         “What?” Annabeth answered in a hushed tone.

         “We forgot something,” I stated.

         “Forgot what?” asked Asvord.

         I stood up straight and said, “What’s the first word of the Dragon Eye… excluding the ‘the’?”

         “Uh,” Dawn said as if we were all muttonheads, still in a quiet tone.  “Dragon.”

         “Yes,” I responded in a whisper.  “And what do we need to make the Dragon Eye work?”

         After a moment’s passing, we all rolled our eyes as it dawned on us.

         Cazi facepalmed and whispered, “Duh, we need a dragon.”

         Quietly saying, I suggested, “Annabeth, Asvord, Hattori, Explod, Dawn, and Elsa.  Could you go get your dragon and bring them back to the Clubhouse?”

         “Sure,” they all responded.

         Before she left, Dawn spoke hushed, “Why are we whispering.”

         I whispered back, “I guess because the feeling of waiting to see what the secrets the lenses hold made the tension in the air to cause us to whisper.”

         A couple of minutes later, those I picked returned with their dragons.

         “Asvord, Spiker’s first,” I said.

         Asvord guided her dragon over to the Dragon Eye, sitting on a nearby table, and she signaled her dragon for a light flame.

         The fire showing through the Dragon Eye displayed on the wall the first group of symbols we saw, which started this mystery in the first place.  But, no matter the combination of gears I turn or the buttons I pressed on the bottom the Dragon Eye, the same symbols appeared.

         Moving on to Hattori and Shadowstrike, I did the same process.  Still nothing new, however, we saw the second set of symbols we saw.  A pattern arose.  Through each set of rider and dragon’s flame we used, the same results came; though, be it different symbols each time, we had seen each before.

         After showing the last image of the symbols, via Annabeth and Anora, Elsa said pointing at the wall, “those are new.”

         “No,” I replied frustrated at why this is not working.  “I and some other saw them at Dragon’s Edge.”

         “Oh,” Elsa added, disappointed thinking she helped.

         Dawn spoke, “That can’t be all there is.  Each time, just now, we saw a different image.  Could we try all the flames together?”

         “Worth a hot,” I agreed.

         We did just that.

         “Look at that,” Elsa excitingly said.

         A flicker of a totally new image started, but as soon as we got closer to look at it, it faded.

         “Wah happened?” I questioned raising then flopping my arms down.

         “What are we going to do?” asked Annabeth.

         I replied, “I open to suggestions.”

         “I’ve got one,” stepped up Garth.  “I seem to recall, at some point we used natural fire to look through one of them.  Can’t remember if it was the same one, but I think we found something new.”

         “Yeah,” I responded.  “Let’s try it.”

         Garth jumped into action and quickly set up a lamp to where the fire would be able to shine through the Dragon Eye.

         Finally, with Garth ready to light the lamp, we will find out what we have been waiting to see for a long time.

         Garth lit the lamp and the light began to shine through the Dragon Eye.  An image of many symbols began to show on the wall.  But not just any image, the complete map and new symbols at each step with a completely new symbol right in the center that I had never seen before.  All the colors of each lens appeared on each of their specific steps.  Though, this time, the steps surrounded the symbol in the middle.  The colors that are on the image are as follows: Red, green, white or clear, orange, blue, yellow.  The white shown through the center of the image and reflecting a mixture of all the other colors combined.  The five remaining each had an equal section on around the center of image.

         Lilah stepped back for a second before moving forward, “That’s… That’s my clan’s seal!”

         The seal resembles a dragon, or at least I think it is a dragon.  There are only outlines of the dragon and its details.  The dragon’s head filled nearly the whole center.  Several thin spikes coming off of its head with what looks like to big horns pointing downward and a slight curl inward at the bottom of them.

         I thought, “Very intimidating look.”

         I have not even begun to read the new image, yet already a stunning result.

         Speechless, I continued my focus on the new image and to begin the decipher.  For once, no one spoke a word as I worked.  All are just as eager as I am to know what these symbols mean.  We all no doubt wanted to know right away what this new image is trying to say to us, but the deciphering took an extreme amount of time.  What felt like eternity working on the image, was only an hour and a half… “only” an hour and a half.  None of us moved from the Clubhouse and only took a few steps different from when I started.

         I had gone back and forth between my notes, the image, and Fishlegs notes.  Now if Fishlegs were here, it probably would have been considerably less time to decipher.  But in the end, doing it this way seeing how Garth and the final one, it saved us time anyway.  One thing that was annoying to work around is because the image is being projected, I could not just stand right in front of the image.  I had to stand to the side and take notes.

         The hour was spent taking notes.  The half hour was spent taking my notes of the symbols and rewriting them in the language we understand.  That last half hour, most every took a seat somewhere, yet still close to where they had been standing.  Also, even the dragons seemed very interested in what was going on as every one of them is alert and watching me work.

         Finally, sitting back in my chair and letting out a big sigh.

         That alerted everyone, including the dragons, to walk over to me quickly as if I had just got out of the stove fresh baked buttered biscuits.

         All are eager, but Annabeth is the first to ask, “Did you figure it out?”

         “I think I have,” I replied.  “Working on the thing for this long, halfway through I got the gist of what these symbols are trying to say.  Not sure if it is a riddle, a warning, a clue, or all three.”

         “Well speak up man, come on,” encouraged Cazi for me to just spit it out.

         “Okay,” I smiled.  “After passing the symbols through Fishlegs’ alphabet he made, then into its exact wording, and then into better words we would understand… It goes something like this, ‘You have come on a long journey to find and figure out what these Eye of the Dragon lenses are holding.  No doubt you have had successes and losses along the way, but are you up for the final push?  What are you willing to risk to find gain?  How will you use the treasure?  Is it even treasure at all?  Are you even going for the treasure?  Will you use it as a weapon?  Whatever you find, remember this: Use the treasure wisely or a beast of frost and ice will devour you.”

         While everyone took a moment to take in this massive clue, I questioned Lilah, “Does any of this ring any bells for you?”

         “No, none of this does,” Lilah confidently said.  “Just surprised and confused as to why my clan’s seal is on the image.”

         Lilah almost said that a little too confidently for my tastes, but maybe the mystery part of my brain is comparatively on triple night patrol after five hours of sleep the previous night.

         Cazi then asked, “So, is that all you found?”

         “No, frankly, that is just scratching the surface,” I responded.  “However, the majority of it is just review of things we already know, though be it giving a few extra details here and there.  Feel free to read my notes if you would like.  I can’t remember all of this, maybe some of you could try to take parts.”

         “Is all of this information important?” wondered Garth.

         “I don’t know,” I replied.  “All I know is, the more we know, the better equipped we are to handle the next thing this mystery throws at us.”

         Elsa sat hopped up to sit on the back of the couch, lean down on her hands while her elbows rested on her knees, “What is this treasure it speaks of, this beast, and this… this warning… all mean?”

         Elsa looked very deep in thought as I continued with the new information I learned from the new image, “For a massive amount of info I learned from the image, here are the highlights.  Each of the lenses are in fact needed to open the door, we already figured as much.  Then it is not very clear after that, but it does hint at something else is needed to unlock something else.  I believe this to be the Dragon Eye itself.  The word ‘lightpath’ used as one word, keep reoccurring over an over again.  It also seems that whoever wanted these secrets to stay hidden does also applauds the fact that whoever finds this will find what few have found in a lifetime.  Again, vague.  Most might think the treasure, but not direct or indirect mention of the treasure is named.”

         “Something else important,” I went on.  “It will not be as easy as just open the door, walk in, and walk out with the treasure.  There are traps to be avoided, riddles to decipher, and puzzles to solve.  The way it talks about these things, it will be tougher than even I am imagining it to be.  It does tease at the fact that there is treasure right inside the door.  But on the other hand, if you want an even bigger treasure, you must for go and give up the treasure you would see once you enter the first chamber.  Further entrance into hallways and other chambers, it keeps talking of only one way out and it not being backwards.  Once you exit the first chamber and continue further inwards, you must commit, there will be no turning back.  They did mention that depending on when you find and solve the mystery to this point, things are subject to change.”

         “Geez, they thought of everything,” Cazi quipped.  “Did they mention any monsters creeping in the shadows waiting to pounce?”

         Knowing Cazi is being sarcastic in saying that, I countered, “Actually, they did.  Well, in a way.  The listed that until the subject to change terms.”

         Dawn folded her arms, “Sounds more like a terms and conditions agreement in a contract that we never read and just move on to the fun part.”

         “How true that is,” I answered.  “All of this info is as important as the next.  Some of which, I don’t even understand.  I mean, I know what it says, but the wording chosen just doesn’t make any sense.  Although, that could be because I did not translate it properly.”

         Dawn added, almost miffed at me, “So, what you are suggesting, is that all of what you worked on for the last two hours could potentially be completely wrong.”

         “Yes,” I agreed but defended.  “But on the parts I am sure of, I am so sure because of the fact that Fishlegs notes confirms what is being said, as he gave his own opinions on the subject matter.  Plus, my gut is telling me that the things I have told you just now is correctly translated and deciphered to where we can leave as soon as we can and go back to that island and see if we cannot solve this mystery before Vixxen does.”
         Cazi teased, “Ooo, look.  He made it into a competition.”

         “Why would I not?” I grinned.

         No questions were raised about, “Why should we leave so soon?”  Everyone is as excited and eager as I am.  Not all of us could go, so, I picked out a crew to join me.  Annabeth, Cazi, Asvord, Dawn, Lilah, Meen, Explod, Ali, and Garth.  The rest I said should stay behind and be ready for a back-up team if we need reinforcements.  Smoky would be coming with us so that we could “call” for the reinforcements.

         Everyone agreed and then prepared for the trip and the stay there at the island.  We will bring all of our weapons and supplies for various situations.  Each dragon rider packed according to each’s specific style of fighting and what things they are good at in other areas of sleuthing.  About a half hour later, all those who are going are packed and ready to go.  A few minutes after that, we all mounted our dragons and took off to solve this long standing mystery.