I followed the map King Alton had given me, filled with wonder as to the place which brought such distress to him, so much so he refused to even let Tigra come, even after she had finally been allowed to go out of the city with me.

Heading north of Cathopia, through the orchards, of which we picked up a few apples on the way as we had not stopped for food, since heading out and returning from the temple of the winged lions, so we were both extremely hungry by this point.

At one edge of the orchard came the beginning of the Jagged mountains, likely the area just behind the orchard was not as tall and jagged as the rest of the mountain range.

According to the map, there was a pathway that led up this mountain range, but we struggled to find it due to the edges of the mountain being overgrown. We had both taken a side and began looking, it took longer to find than I thought.

“Alex.” Brendan called over.

“Did you find it?” I asked rushing over with an apple in my mouth.

“Yep,” he nodded.

“I thought we would never find it.” I finished off the apple and threw the core back towards the orchard.

I smiled, feeling excited as this almost felt like a treasure hunt. We had the map, hidden pathway and X marked the spot.

“You’re enjoying this,” commented Brendan.

“No.” I looked away to avoid his gaze.

“Yes,” smirked Brendan.

Together we headed up the overgrown little path. It was rocky and uneven, you could hardly see where the path was, so to be honest I wouldn’t have called it a path.

The steepness of the incline increased as we made it near the top, it was getting harder to just walk and more climb. When we reached the top, we stopped to catch our breath, this would have been so much easier if I flew up with Larana’s wings.

I brought out the map and checked it over, matching it up with our surroundings and where we had come from.

“That way.” I pointed east in the direction we needed to go.

“What the heck could be up here that even the king fears it,” wondered Brendan

“Who knows,” I shrugged as we began making our way over the mountain range.

I glanced back in the direction we had come, seeing the entire city from up here, it was amazing and beyond that was the forests and the vast lake.

We crossed over two mountain ranges before we came across X marks the spot on the map. I felt a shiver go down my spine as we came to a cavern carved out of the mountain.

I touched the wall to feel that the surface was obviously Animalia made, well by talisman as it radiated with a faint elemental signature.

“This must be the place,” I said heading inside without hesitation, filled with a strange dread.

Deep within the cavern was a pair of plain, solid iron doors, gleaming faintly in the limited light.

I stared at the doors almost being overwhelmed by that sense of dread, was this the fear the king felt towards this place? My nose twitched as I picked up a single smell, the scent of death, just like when I came across the Ursus caravans.

I reached into my pouch, pulling out the key King Alton had given me. He had locked this place up for good reason and still sealed confirmed no one had been here since the last time he came.

“This place smells like death,” commented Brendan. He stood on guard just as hesitant as I was to open the door.

I placed the key inside the keyhole, hearing it click as I turned it. Brendan was the one who pushed it open, he had to really force it, confirming even more that no one had been here in some time.

As soon as I looked into the room, I could see the ghostly figure of someone who closely resembled King Alton, but he was of a younger age.

“What is this place?!” he cried looking at the back of the room, with such horror in his voice. “Daz.” Him and another Feles who looked like dad beside him ran forward and disappeared.

“What the hell?” said Brendan.

I stepped into the dark room, a large space with piles of old bones in one corner, smashed glass tubes along the back wall all connected to each other, leading to a large container of some kind, was this how they made those clones? King Alton’s reaction to my mentioning of it, led to that being the only conclusion.

“I don’t know.” I wasn’t sure what to make of the room. “At least it’s obvious no one or thing has been in here for a long time.”

“What happened here?” wondered Brendan.

“I’m not sure, but I think Queen Daz was somehow involved,” I mentioned.

“What makes you think that?” questioned Brendan.

I glanced at him uncertain to what I had seen. “I don’t know how, but I saw two Feles warriors, one cried out Daz,” I answered.

“You certainly get weirder by the day,” commented Brendan.

“Thanks,” I sighed. “Anyway, I recommend we just destroy it as his majesty ordered and ask questions later.”

“Sounds like a plan,” shivered Brendan. “This place is filled with so much hatred, sadness and fear.” Seeing that somehow Brendan was sensing what happened here, I sent him outside.

“Brendan, I’ll deal with this, please wait outside,” he nodded and left. I raised my hand summoning Arata beside Raziel.

“Arata glanced back at me. “You do know you still are not capable of withstanding the use of our power.”

“I know that, but an order is an order,” I responded. “Now just do it.”

“As you wish,” snarled Arata.

They both let out a breath attack, the combination of fire and lightning set the place in an overwhelming blaze, setting it all alight in seconds.

I felt the strain of their power, but just brush it off. If I was to learn to master their power I would have to use it.

I left the cavern as it began to collapse in on itself, my mission was now complete, perhaps the king could rest easy now, knowing it was gone.

“All gone?” asked Brendan wanting to verify.

“Yeah,” I nodded. “But now I would like to know what that place was. I fear the king will be reluctant to tell us.”

“Then who?” questioned Brendan.

“Queen Daz or…” I knew mum had been pretty close friends to the queen, perhaps she would be the only one I would get an answer from, as if this place was as bad as I feared, then I did not want to cause the queen any unwanted memories. “Let’s go.”