Author's Note:-

Hi! I've actually updated! Here's the second chapter of 'A Pirran's Story'. Hope you like it!

Disclaimer Thing:-

I don't own Deltora Quest, or any of its characters. Please don't sue me! Thanx.
:-)


The Rainbow Cavern


Rebekah groaned and tried to sit up, her head swimming. Dazzling light met her blurred eyes. Where was she? Blinking furiously, she staggered to her feet. Great masses of fungus-like material stood tall and heavy as age-old trees. A stream flowed by small ferns and mosses blanketing the land around her. And the light. Bright rainbow light streamed from....everywhere. But where was the sun? And the sky? The green fields, the trees, the silver streams, the pretty flowers and shrubs? Where was the place she called home?

Glancing around her, she saw many people lying unconscious on the ground, others were wandering aimlessly around. Amidst everyone, there knelt Auron. She was pale, and her eyes were closed. Her blonde hair was covering half her face. Motionless, she just sat there, as if it had all been too much for her.

Stumbling, Rebekah made her way towards her. "Where are we?" she croaked.

"I do not know," Auron whispered. She still had not opened her eyes. "Somewhere...on an island...deep in the earth."

Rebekah stared. "You mean to say...we are under the ground? How?"

"Before..all this, you remember all the people - at least, the people who followed me - you all entrusted your power in me? When...when the shadows came...all was panic...so I used our magic to save us...to send us somewhere safe. There was no time to think, no time to plan...so I simply commanded the earth to...swallow us up." She gave Rebekah a grim smile. "No doubt Plume and Keras have done the same. But I think we are far separated from those treacherous beings." she hissed.

The others were beginning to stir. People everywhere were groaning and mumbling as they tried to sit themselves up. Auron looked at Rebekah. "I must tell the people what has happened."

Auron stood and climbed to the top of a huge rock where the people could see her clearly.

Clearing her throat, she cried, "My people!You will be by now wondering where we are. You see, when you all......."

Rebekah stopped listening. She didn't need to. Wandering along the stream, she strolled through the fungus-trees, the small ferns brushing her legs as she walked. Well, this place wasn't that bad. It had beauty in itself. The trees were clearing, and as Rebekah quickened her pace, she came to the edge of the island. The water glittered with many different colours Rebekah had never even seen before. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to live here after all. The shining rainbow light was beautiful beyond words.

In the hard months ahead, the Aurons built homes for themselves, and made boats from the fungus-trees. They learned to live on a diet of fish and other food from the coloured sea. Many found it difficult to change from the luxuries of Pirra to this difficult life under the land above.

Some wanted to find the people of Plume and Keras, to rejoin the Pipe and return to Pirra before it was too late, and the shadows could not be made to leave. But Auron forbid it, to the agreement of most.

"The Plumes and Keras's are savages! They would willingly massacre our entire population if they had the chance! They are the reason we are down here, instead of in our beautiful homeland! They are selfish, lying beasts, who cannot be trusted!"

And so it was.

But there were those who said they could not live without Pirra. So they began to weave spells to create images of Pirra. At first, it was only applied to their houses. But then they wanted to spread it to the entire island.

And Auron agreed.

Rebekah and many others objected. They did not want to live a lie. However wild, or strange this world may be, they much prefered it to a dream.

But Auron would not listen, and so it was decided that during the next few days, the powerful spell would be woven over the island.

That night, Rebekah was in a fury. "They cannot do this!" she spat at Shafan. "We cannot spend our days pining over what is already lost to us! We will never get back Pirra. It is a thing of the past. There is nothing we can do.We are in Auron now! This is Auron, an island that is under the ground, in a shining rainbow cavern. Not Pirra! No dream can ever replace Pirra!"

"Mother," Shafan soothed. "We can do nothing about it though. Turn your mind to happier thoughts. Den and I are betrothed. We shall wed soon." she smiled.

Shafan's calmness drove Rebekah mad. "How can you be so calm? Shafan, don't think I'm not happy for you....but they cannot do this!" she exploded. "I am going to Auron's house!"

"But mother-" Shafan started, but Rebekah had already gone.

Auron was busy weaving in her hut when there was a knocking on the door. "Come in," she called.

Rebekah stormed in the door. Auron held up her hand. "I know what you are going to say, but you know the answer. We are going to weave the spell during the next few days. It is the best thing for all-"

"You say it is the best thing but it is not! Do you not see? Even if we do create this illusion, it will still not be Pirra! It will still be the island, only our minds would have been clouded by....this...this illusion! This dream! This idea that....that...Auron, you just cannot do this!" she cried.

Auron leapt up angrily. "I can do whatever I want to, Rebekah! Do not forget, I am the leader of us all! I can do whatever I want! You are the history-keeper, not our Piper! And it is all the fault of Plume and Keras! If they had simply stepped down and let me be the Piper, we would still be in Pirra now, and we wouldn't have to do this!" she shrieked.

Rebekah looked at Auron in disgust. "And it is all the fault of Plume and Keras because they should have stepped down for you? And why should they have done that?"

Auron looked shocked. "You know very well. Because I was the best. You yourself voted for me, so I must have been the best." She raised her head high.

"I voted for you because, yes, you were excellent. Your music was beautiful. But you are too proud, Auron. You wallow in your pride, and that disgusts me." she hissed. "You think you are better than everyone else! You are vile, Auron! But let me tell you! You are no better than Plume and Keras!" she spat.

Auron's blue eyes widened. "No! I am not....no..." she staggered backwards, crashing into her desk, scattering pens and other items all over the place. "No!" she shrieked. "I am not! I never will be!" Red-faced, she pushed past Rebekah and ran out the door into the fungus trees beyond. "I am not!" Rebekah could hear her shrieking in the distance.

By now, people were rousing and sleepily looking out of their houses to find the source of the noise. Startled, Rebekah slipped out of Auron's hut and went back to her house. Shafan was waiting for her.

"What did you do Mother?" Shafan crossed her arms.

"Nothing. We...talked, but she refuses to change her desicion." Shafan stared at her suspiciously, but then shrugged and went back to bed. The next day...

"Rebekah! Shafan!" someone was calling them. Rebekah strode to the door and opened it to see Auron's little sister waiting anxiously.

"What is it, Jana?"

Jana's face was pale, her eyes shadowed, as if she'd had no sleep the previous night. "Auron's missing! We can't find her!" The small girl looked frantic.

"What?!"

"Well, last night, you know the noises coming from somewhere in the trees?" Rebekah nodded. "Well, after that, I went to see Auron. But she wasn't there! So I got my father and my uncle, and we started to look for her, but we can't find her! So, Father told me to get as many people as possible to go out and look for her. So please, please can you help me look for her?"

"Of..of course," Rebekah stuttered. Jana pulled at her hand and led her to a large group of people.

"Rebekah and Shafan are helping! Let's go!" Jana exclaimed.

Several hours later...

Rebekah and Shafan were scouring the island for Auron. Rebekah couldn't care less for Auron. She was too busy being lost in her own thoughts.

"You know," a little voice whispered to her, "this is exactly like the time that Esta went missing...you remember Esta...you know what happened don't you...you remember don't you..." Rebekah shook her head, attempting to clear the thoughts.

'No,' she told herself, trying to drown out the voice. 'This isn't like last time..Auron will be fine'

But the voice wouldn't go away. "You remember...searching through the bushes...looking for Esta's body...knowing all it was all your doing..."

"Stop it!" she shriekied, clasping her hands over her ears. "Stop it, please!"

Shafan looked at her in alarm. "Mother? Are you quite alright?"

At last the voice had ceased. "Yes...I am alright." she sighed. How long could she cope keeping Esta a secret? She did not know.

Shafan was still looking at her cautiously.

There was a shout from up ahead, at the mouth of one of the caves on the island.

Jana's father was clutching a scrap of white cloth in his hand. "I found this outside the cave," he called. "I am certain it is Auron's! She may have entered here!"

Rebekah and Shafan hurried to reach the others milling around the cave entrance, as if unsure about entering the cave.

"...Shall we go in?" Rebekah asked. She too was not certain on moving into the cave. I am not afraid, she told herself. Just.....cautious. The shadowy darkness of the cave was not very appealing. She hesitated, then stepped forward into the darkness. Shrugging, the rest followed.

Rebekah grasped Shafan's hand. Just cautious, not afraid, she reminded herself. The cave was sloping downwards, and Rebekah had trouble keeping her footing. Why on earth would Auron come down here? She wondered. In my opinion, she took what I said a little too seriously.

"Auron?" someone in the gloom called. "Are you down here?"

A low growl responded. What on earth...? There was a hissing sound and a torch flared, flames leaping over the cavern walls. Then someone screamed.

Seated in front of them was what seemed to be...a giant deformed spider. Eight long legs, barbed with spikes spread over the rough ground. Red eyes burned savagely in a lustering black shelled head. And there wasn't only one, oh no. There were many. And lying in a heap in front of them were a pile of bones stripped bare, white scraps of cloth littering the ground.

Rebekah could hear her own terrified scream ripping through the air. Grasping Shafan's hand, she stumbled up, up, back the way they had come. She ran, pushing past the others, desperate to escape the terrible creatures.

With a roar, the spiders leapt up and started towards strange people. Bellowing, they snatched up those who were too slow to run, tearing them apart.. Those who had dared intrude into their territory. Like the one in the white dress before, with the yellow hair. Well, they had dealt with her. Screams echoed through the cavern.

Sobbing, Rebekah flew up the slope. They were getting closer to the surface. Heart pounding, she scrambled up towards the exit. Screams could be heard from below them. Suddenly, her feet slipped from beneath her, and she skidded back down the slope.

"Mother!" Shafan wailed.

Rebekah couldn't stop sliding. Tumbling down, she landed painfully her arm. She howled in pain, hearing a sharp crack. Gasping, she tried to sit up. And something was coming. No! The giant spider! But she could barely stand. She could not run. She could do nothing. Nothing but sit as the horrid thing came closer and closer to devouring her.

"Help me," she moaned, but her voice was barely audible. Closing her eyes, she lay back down, waiting for the end to come....


Author's Note:-


Hello again! Hope you liked it. Thanks to all who read the first chapter, especially Maggie, Star, and PJ Blindclown for reviewing.

As before, please don't flame me!

Thanx :-)

Little Kitty

P.S. Cats will rule the world one day!