Chapter 2: It all Falls Down
Mikayla effortlessly walked down a rocky downward path. The girl was wearing sandals, at that. However, the kings struggled, holding each other tightly hoping they wouldn't fall and break a leg. Lanny followed behind them, secretly wishing they would break more than just legs. He decided to "accidentally" push the pair down the rocky incline. And of course, with such lack of balance, the two boys tumbled clumsily down. The boys felt the pain as they groggily stood up to brush themselves off. Mikayla gave a questioning look to Lanny to which he responded with an unknowing expression.
"We are alright! Just a little bruised and a lot battered, but all good! Brady here probably slipped or something." Boomer assured as he dusted of the dirt from his clothes. He eyed his twin, thinking he was the one to blame for their spill.
Brady panted heavily. "We must be pretty close, I feel like we've walking forever." He rubbed his pained knee.
Mikayla gave him a look of disbelief. "Um, your majesty, the palace is literally right there." She pointed at the castle grounds they were just on. This was going to be harder than she thought.
An hour into the hike, the boys met their fair share of more hills and spills, along with annoying bugs, animal surprises, and unbearably warm weather. While Mikayla led the way, the boys walked in a zombie-like manner right behind her, feeling more and more fatigued. Mikayla grew tired of slowing down her pace to have the boys keep up. She decided that if the boys really wanted to get out of this jungle, they were going to have to push themselves to keep up with her. She maintained her pace, for if she didn't, they would all get to the festival when it ended. Lanny felt like this was their perfect opportunity to follow through with his plan, with Mikayla far ahead and the kings far behind, nothing was going to go wrong.
"Man, I am so tired. We're barely halfway there! Who does Mikayla think she is? Dragging you two imbeciles –I mean impeccably rugged guys, around the jungle trail, when there are perfectly good shortcuts to get to the east side!" Lanny lied.
Lanny's plan was to lure the boys away from the guard girl and into an unknown cave. Knowing that many of Kinkow's caves were known for ambiguity, darkness, and danger, Lanny was confident that the cave in which he would lure the boys would be unsafe. He'd hope the boys would dwell deep enough to realize the dangers and their little rescuer Mikayla would be too late to save them.
"Yeah! I'd much rather the shorter route than tumbling down each and stepping on animal poop every ten minutes." Boomer agreed. If there was anything he wanted more, it was to find a faster way to the village.
The trio of boys stopped as Mikayla walked ahead, slicing the vines and leaves that blocked the trail, not realizing how far behind the boys really were. She gave up talking to the boys when the only responses she was given was them wheezing for help. "Follow me," Lanny said, pulling out a map. "There's a cave close by that will lead us directly to the East Kinkow Village! In fact, the cave is right over there."
"What about Mikayla? Wouldn't she get worried?" Brady inquired.
Lanny gave a sour expression. "Oh she's fine. I heard her mumbling earlier about how she likes guys who can beat her at things," Lanny laughed nervously, he needed to get his story straight. "So if you make it to the festival before she'll be all yours…"
Brady smiled brightly, "Well what are you waiting for? Let's go!"
Boomer shrugged his shoulders and they made their way. The cave was very close by and Lanny hurriedly led the boys. Mikayla finally put her machete away as cut down the last of the vines. When she looked back to check up on the boys, they were nowhere in sight. Mikayla began to panic, but luckily spotted the pair with her eagle eyes, nearing a mountainous area in close proximity.
"WHERE ARE YOU GUYS GOING?" Mikayla yelled and ran her way toward the boys. She didn't look the least bit tired. The boys were already in the cave entrance.
Lanny had to improvise fast. "Well this is the shortcut! Just follow it and you'll be in the east village in no time. I'm gonna go check up on Mikayla! See ya!"
"What on earth are you doing? Why are you guys going into this cave?" Mikayla demanded answers now. In no time at all, Mikayla had trekked her way to where the boys were. She marched her way inside the cave, past the boys, blocking their further entrance. She put her hands on her hips furiously and that was enough for the boys to back up towards the opening.
"As much as we enjoy a scenic route, the only scenic things I really want to see are girls in bikinis! So Lanny told us to take a shortcut through this cave!" Boomer replied.
Mikayla shot a mean look at Lanny. "There is no cave shortcut to the village! And if there were it wouldn't be in a cave like this! A cave this well lit and comfortably decorated is signs of a mysterious luring cave. I've read about these in the Great Book. They're warm and inviting to travelers and then all of a sudden… UH OH!"
She was cut short by a loud rumbling. The cave entrance was closing off as rocks from the mountain started crumbling down. In desperation, everyone began making way out of the cave. Lanny's small physique allowed him to dash quickly and make his way through rocks. Boomer was lucky to be standing close to the entrance as he also made his way out. He dodged falling boulders and rolled to the ground to escape entrapment. Brady was also just as close to the entrance, but Mikayla wasn't. He was not going to get out without her. Instead of running toward the entrance, he ran toward Mikayla and grabbed her hand and ran. But it was too late. Mikayla was too far into the cave to even have a chance at making it out. She knew it from the moment the rocks started dropping. The rumbling shortly ceased and the once open cave entrance was now barricaded my rocks. There was definitely no way out.
Mikayla tried lifting a rock out of the way, but they were solidly stuck together. The rocks fit like puzzle pieces. If Mikayla could not lift these rocks, Brady was sure he had no chance.
"Are you guys okay?" Boomer yelled through the piles of rocks. Luckily they heard him.
"We're fine!" Brady called back. He attempted to lift one of the rocks out. No luck.
Mikayla, again, tried lifting the large boulders, hoping to break free. And despite her strength, nothing budged. "Boomer, Lanny, we need you guys to get help! The rocks are not budging at all! And whatever you do, please do not let this get to my dad."
Boomer looked around. There was no Lanny in sight. He assumed he already made his way back to get some sort of help. "Then what do I do?"
"Boomer you need to go back and find The Great Book. There's a section on mysterious caves and there should be some of solution to this! Can you make your way back, get the book, and come back to help us?" Mikayla had only wished she had read up more on caves like this. Then she wouldn't have to rely on a less-than-reliable source, such as Boomer.
Boomer knew he had to get his brother and Mikayla out. "Yes, yes, and yes! I'll be back before you know it!" And there, he left back to the palace grounds –that is, if he remembered where it was. He luckily saw little Lanny running through some bushes.
"Lanny!" He called out.
Boomer ran towards his cousin and luckily caught up with him. Lanny had no other choice, but to meet up with the other brother. His plan, yet again, failed. Although, he took it as a fifty percent success rate, having one king trapped and having Mikayla there instead was just a bonus. He smiled deceivingly, as he figured out another way to get rid of the remaining king.
"Um, so how do I get back to castle from here?" Boomer asked. He already knew that with his sense of direction, he'd probably end up in Hawaii.
Lanny mischievously replied, "Well you want to take the dirt path on the right, make two lefts at the fork trees, climb up the grassy knoll, make another right, left, past the waterfall on the right, and through a straight jungle path. This, I guarantee, is the fastest way back to the temple." He scribbled it all down on the map he carried and handed it to Boomer. What Boomer didn't know was that he was leading him directly into Tarantula People Territory.
"Well aren't you going to come?" Boomer asked.
Surprised, Lanny made up another lame excuse, "Oh well I was going toward the east village to get some more immediate help! Yeah, that's it! And since my cave shortcut was uh, cut short, I guess I'm just going to have to take the normal way!"
Boomer agreed, "Good idea! I'm pretty lucky to have a cousin as helpful as you!" Before he could further compliment the boy, Lanny quickly ran the opposite direction. Wow, that little guy sure wants to help them out, he's running like he's on fire! I need a mindset like Lanny! Boomer thought to himself. He began his trek back to the palace, not realizing he was headed to some unknown destination, instead of the castle.
