The Whispering Wail Sword:Part Seven

     Sir Weston opened his eyes. His muscles felt weak and the breath was gone from his chest. There was nothing to be seen anywhere, the darkness was overwhelming. Where was he? He thought he heard water running in the distance, but that simply didn't make sense to him. As he caught his breath he hesitantly called out into the darkness. "H- Hello? Is anyone there?"

      "Shhh!" someone nearby silenced him. The voice spoke in a whisper. "Sir Weston it's me, Mina, and Talzadon is here too." Sir Weston looked around again as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. Faintly, he could make out a glow emanating from the Whispering Wail Sword in Talzadon's paws. Mina briefly illuminated the area with a small flame. They were in a dense forest, decidedly outside the normal boarders of the kingdom. Based off the appearance of the trees, Sir Weston guessed they were just outside of Meridell in the direction of the Haunted Woods.

      "How did we get here? Why does my body ache?" Sir Weston asked quietly as he rubbed his large forearms. "We were in the castle, and then… Oh no! The knights, King Skarl! I just remembered, are they alright? How did we escape?" Mina glanced over at the Whispering Wail Sword. Gesturing silently, almost mournfully at it.

      "I, I don't know if the others are okay. My great uncle told me where we needed to go so I told Talzadon to teleport us out here with the sword. Talzadon how did you know where to take us?? You didn't even know I was related to Min Marger until a few minutes ago."

      Talzadon shuffled his feet nervously in the dirt. "I didn't know where this place was. I thought maybe you cast the part of the spell that determined where we would go."

      "What? I don't know any spells at all!" replied Mina.

      "Then, how did we get here?? Talzadon face was wrinkled with concern."

      Sir Weston scratched his head as his memory of the events that took place just a few minutes ago slowly came back to him. "The Sword fights for good," he began. "It must have cast the spell itself, knowing that this location would help us defeat Zartarath." The Sword glowed ever so slightly brighter, as if to approve of his conjecture. "That begs the question though, where are we?" Talzadon looked towards Mina and Sir Weston's eye's followed. They could barely see each other in the light of the sword.

      "Well, I guess I have to tell you now," Mina reluctantly started, "but you mustn't tell anyone, and I mean not a single Neopet ever. There are only three pets alive right now who know about this place. Pass me the sword, I think it will come in handy." Talzadon handed her the sword and Mina tested its weight. The enormous, dark and iridescent sword seemed to produce colors Sir Weston had never seen before. "It's strange, it's as if it's not as heavy as it once was. The sword is as tall as me but right now it feels no heavier than the swords the children use.

      Sir Weston looked skeptically upon the situation. These two had caused an awful lot of trouble in the past few hours, and somehow he felt as if he was responsible for fixing it. He felt panicked. The castle was under attack, and he, Sir Weston Mirewood, Master of the Guard was off lost in a forest with the Mage of Meri Acres and a second-class guard knight. Even worse, they had the Whispering Wail Sword. Sir Weston supposed that was better than Zartarath getting his smoky, inky, claws on it. Lost in thought, he barely noticed when Mina began to wander off with the Sword in the direction of the running water. "Wait!" he cried out as he chased after her and Talzadon.

      In the light of the sword he could tell they had reached a small clearing in the forest. The sound of running water was louder than ever. He imagined a small river was only a Blumaroo hop away. "This is it." Mina called them over to a grassy portion of the ground. A large Fearie circle of mushrooms grew up from the blades. Mina lifted the sword with less effort than before. She set the tip at the edge of the circle and pushed slightly into the earth. She began to trace the dirt just outside of the circle of mushrooms with the sword, dragging it behind her as she went. The sword began to glow and became brighter with every step.

      "What is this??" Sir Weston gruffly complained. "What is she doing?" he asked Talzadon.

      "I think she's casting a spell!" Talzadon replied. "She told me she didn't know any magic."

      Sir Weston didn't know if he should stop her or not. After all, the last time someone stuck the sword into the ground a wraith came out. Just as he was about to say something Mina completed the circle. The line in the dirt shone as if sunlight was coming through the cracks. The sword glimmered and there was light enough to clearly see the surrounding forest. "Reveal!" Mina shouted, raising the sword to the sky. The light became blinding. Sir Weston closed his eyes, then slowly opened them as the light receded. A tall and skinny stone tower had erupted from the ground. Covered in vines and lichens, it stretched towards the tops of the tallest trees. Lit torches illuminated the exterior and revealed a wooden door at the base.

      "What is this?" demanded Sir Weston.

      Mina, apparently exhausted sat down, her eyes glinting with the glow of the sword. "This is my Great Uncle Min Marger's secret study. He built it to house the secrets of Neopia he had uncovered. He trusted its location only to Kayla the potion maker and myself. He told us to come here, so I assume there must be something among his papers that can help us defeat Zartarath."

      "This is amazing!" cheered Talzaon. "I thought you didn't know any spells."

      "Well, I don't really. Revealing this location is the only one I know how to do. That's why I needed you to cast the spell to teleport us here. I suppose I have a bit of a natural talent, but all my family became mages. I wanted to do something different for once, to be my own Neopet. But I'm sure glad I learned that one." She looked at the ground, suddenly sullen. "Talzadon I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier when you released Zartarath; it wasn't your fault. I was extra strict because I was up for promotion to knight first class, but I guess there are more important things than that. We have to save Meridell now. You, me, and Sir Weston." Sir Weston looked up with surprise, but nodded, accepting the responsibility.

      "No Mina, it's okay. It was me who was wrong. I should have listened to you when you said we should take it to the king first. But you're right. We have a job to do now. Let's see what Min Marger wanted to show us." Talzadon gestured to the tower.

      Mina opened the door to the tower, which was unlocked, and stepped inside. Sir Weston and Talzdon followed behind. The inside had no torches, but was lit by a thick forest of glowing mushrooms they grew from the ceiling and the wall. The first floor was extremely cluttered with magical artefacts. Entire sacks of Fearie dust lined the walls. Sir Weston had never seen faerie dust before. In fact, he had only seen a faerie once, and that was when he went on a quest to aid Lady Illusen. He poked one of the bags with his paw and a small puff of pink glitter flew out of a small tear in the seam.

      "Hey! Don't touch anything, I don't know what half this stuff does," Mina called back to him. Sir Weston tried to wipe the fine layer of magical dust off his paw, but it only seemed to spread. The more he wiped his paw on his tunic, the pinker he looked. As he walked he focused on his clothes, continually patting them in an effort to release the powder. Not paying attention to where he went, Sir Weston tripped on a sack and landed face first in a pile of multi colored faerie dust sacks.

      "Gaaahhhh! Look at me!" Sir Weston exclaimed as he stumbled to his feet. He was completely pink now, covered in glitter, which glowed brightly under the light of the mushrooms. Mina looked a bit panicked, but Talzadon was intrigued.

      "Faeire dust has many useful properties, I wouldn't consider it a bad thing to be coated in it. It can heal wounds, give you super strength, and it will light up the night if properly used. Wait a minute, look!" Talzadon pointed at the sword which lay next to Sir Weston. It was glowing brightly, pulsing with power. Faerie dust filled the air. Sir Weston reached out to touch the sword. When his paw hit the hilt, the sword lifted itself into the air, and raced up the spiral staircase.

      "WHAT is going on????" screamed Sir Weston.

      "I don't know, but I think we should go get the sword!" Talzadon ran up the steps, kicking up dust as he went, his pawprints glowing on each step. Mina flew after him, leaving Sir Weston alone on the bottom floor.

      "WESTON" he heard Mina yell from what seemed to be a few floors up. He sprinted up the steps two at a time, not sure if she was in danger or if something else was going on. At the top of the steps was an open door to the main study. Light poured out of it and faerie dust danced around in the air. He skirted inside, nearly loosing traction on a dusty rug. Mina and Talzadon stood in awe looking at something hanging on the wall. Weston followed their gaze. Glowing with a rainbow shimmer on the wall was a suit of armor, and in its glowing glove was the Whispering Wail Sword…

     To be continued…