For many months I have put this chapter off to the side, with new stories and projects to work on. And finally, I updated this thing! Whew~ Do you even know how much brain power it took me to make a ending for this chapter? A lot of them! But, enough of that whining, At least I got it done, and more is to follow! So please, read and review!
Disclaimer: Big Fish Games and the Drawn Trilogy are not owned by me, rather, Big Fish owns Drawn. I'm just a fan of the series, and you should too.
A dark hallway was spread before Daniel as he turned around from the doors. He slowly walked down it, his eyes adjusting to the darkness. The corridor was dark, and it smelt of old air, mixed with the dustiness of books and a smell of… chemicals? Daniel kept on walking until he saw another pair of double doors, the same pair he saw when he entered this tower. He pushed them open with both of his hands and a gust of air rolled out.
The light was so dim, but the blue orb that had led him here was illuminating his surroundings. It looked it used to be a grand foyer. There was a desk off to his right, and a fireplace to the far left. A torn painting hung from the back wall, and another one that was sliced in half, hung above a fireplace with a curiously made face with the two halves of the metal, so that it looked like it had a mouth. Papers were strewn all over the desk and the floor. All of them were half-finished sketches: A squirrel on a stump, a Rabbit in a field, a crow on a piece of wood.
Not much else was in the room except for an overstuffed chair and a stool near the hearth, and a statue of a old man with a narrow face, spectacles, a small beard, and crinkled features, especially with the old suit and the turned out feet. It was place in the dead center, strangely enough. It was cracked in places, especially around his face. Daniel studied the poor statue and noticed that the statue had some weird anomalies, like a twitch of a small pinkie or a movement of a shoe. The orb suddenly stopped in its roundabout around the room and came closer to the statue. It bounced on the face of the statue.
"Its just a statue," Daniel told himself, ""nothing special about it." So why do I feel so uneasy? He thought, still looking at the statue with squinted eyes, Suddenly, the statue blinked and asked "What did you say?" Daniel jumped back and drew his sword, wary of the speaker's surprising entrance.
The sudden jump made the orb bounce off of the statue, and into a pile of books with a loud crash. A dust cloud from the pile made Daniel's eyes water, and he coughed, still raising his sword.
"What did you say?" The statue asked again, this time very slowly like Daniel was a slow boy. "I said, what did you say? I didn't need to repeat myself." Daniel lowered the sword, but still held it. "Who…who are-" he was going to say, but the statue cut him off.
"What is that?" He asked.
Daniel was confused, "What is what?"
"That! The thing on your hand! That!"
"Oh," Daniel said comprehendingly, holding the gem up, "This? This is a… uh… I have no clue of what it is, really. It looks like a gem, but if you know what it is-" The man looked at him with furrowed brows. "How did you get that? What are you, Who are you?" he corrected himself, "You don't look like a kings knight, what are you, a kitchen's boy?" Daniel was at a loss of words as the statue listed off things that he thought that he was. "A magician? A deaf man?" Daniel couldn't take it anymore; he started to laugh.
The statue put on a confused face and then tilted his head. "What's so funny?" He asked. "I… I'm so sorry" Daniel said, in between guffaws, " I'm not any of those things!" "Then what are you?" the statue asked again. Daniel straightened up and then sheathed his sword. "Daniel Wilks, Dragon's head Guardsman, Faction 675, northern wall division." The statue narrowed his eyes and then quipped. "That's a long title for a boy of your age." Daniel nodded his humble head and then said. "Well, it is. But I supposed that your name is shorter than mine? Or should I just call you statue?"
The statue chuckled and then said, "Franklin." Daniel's eyes widened. "That is short." Franklin nodded as far as his head would take him. "It is, and I prefer it that way." Then, his demeanor became serious. "In any case, I still have to ask, where did you get that gem?" Daniel looked at his hand and turned it into a fist, the gem still pulsating blue. "I got this from a young girl with… unnatural abilities." The statue nodded. "Ah, so Andromeda had made council with you." Daniel was taken aback, but he nodded. It appeared that the two had met one way or another. Now that he learned the maiden's name, he can maybe get a clue to what happened between her and him long ago. "Yes." He said, "And she gave me this." Franklin tried to look closer at the gem, but in his state, the only thing that he could do was look down with stone eyes.
"That is a powerful gift, I take it you will use it well?" Franklin asked. "Well, I'm not so sure. It almost took my arm off so…" Daniel said, shrugging his shoulders. Franklin laughed. It was strained, haughty in a way. "They do that, yes." He said. Daniel then heard a birds call, a crow. Franklin's head turned slightly to a small painting of a farm. At least, what remained of one. Daniel thought as he turned to look at it. The canvas that the frame had held was no where to be found, in fact, there was a gaping hole in the middle of the painting, and Daniel could see the crow lined wallpaper. "Ah." Franklin said crossly. "It's them again." He sighed and turned back to the young warrior, who looked confused.
"The King had this tower guarded by his many traps and tricks, all made to keep my mistress up on the top. She dares not to go down, for if she did…" Franklin paused, collecting his thoughts, "If she did," He continued, "Then there would be no future for us or her. Only darkness would remain. And your king would be triumphant." Daniel nodded. There was direness in this situation. Even though he was only awakened to this world only a few moments before, he had a feeling that the girl might provide him with answers as to why this was happening.
"So, how do I start?" Daniel asked. Franklin motioned with a slight jerk of his head to a wooden chest that was underneath the painting on the crow wallpaper. Daniel approached it, and squatted down, looking at the little thing. "The lock was made by a smith who worked with the king, and the mechanisms have been…. Tampered with, I'm afraid." Franklin said. The manservant looked over at the young boy, expecting him to sigh, stand up, and then shake his head, like all the others have.
Instead, the boy chuckled. "What is this? A joke?" Then, with one hand, he twisted the circular rings that made up the lock. Franklin watched, flabergasted as the lock, now in the unlocked position, the lock giving the look of a arcane sun. With a click, the chest's lock gave way, and Daniel opened it. It revealed a scrap of canvas, two small paintings, and a single handcrafted metal sun. Daniel picked up the canvas. On it was what would look like a field, with a farm in the background. He stared at that, then up at the frame right above it. Daniel stood up and, not knowing what he was doing himself, he placed the canvas scrap right in the center of the frame. It fit perfectly, and when he was done, anyone could barely see the outline of the torn piece of canvas.
Actually, no one could see the piece. Daniel did a double take. No, this isn't right…. It just… fixed itself? It looked like a real painting now…. Daniel looked back to Franklin and was about to say something when he heard a noise. Bird calls, especially ones from crows eminatted from the painting. Daniel turned back, and then was blasted back with an unknown force. The orb bursted from it's pile of books and bounced off the painting. The sudden wind stopped. Daniel slowly stood up and walked back over the painting. It now had the same texture of rippling water. "What sorcery is this?" He muttered. "It's Iris's doing." Daniel turned, startled. "The girl?" He asked. Franklin nodded. "Iris's family had a rare and special gift." He explained, "The paintings that she creates becomes magical doorways into other worlds. It's all from her imagination, and the brush does the rest."
Daniel nodded. "So that's why she's so dangerous, because of this gift." He muttered. "Indeed." Franklin said. Daniel stared at the rippling painting in fascination. "So, what do I do now?" "You go in." "What?" "Mister Daniel. You go into the painting, simple as that. The tower is cursed, and to get to Iris, you need to break the curse. So, get into the painting, otherwise, it'll suck you in." Daniel scoffed. "As if."
As soon as the words left his mouth, the painting made a sucking sound, and it was like a wind tube, with Daniel being slowly dragged into the painting. The guardsman quickly grabbed onto a chair, but the air quickly loosened his fingers and he was sucked into the painting, feet first. As the paint and canvas molded over his face, he stretched out his hand towards the Tracker Orb, and it stopped bouncing off of the frame and back into the gem. His hand was the only thing left that the painting sucked up, and as he finally gave in to the painting, his glove slowly glowed blue, then he was gone. There was nothing left, except the paining, the room, and the statue. Franklin stared at it, then a voice emminated from the fireplace. "Punk's in for the time of his life." It said, the coals smoking slightly. "Yes, Fireplace, indeed." Franklin said, sighing. "Does he even know what he got himself into?" It asked, "My eyes may be gone, but I can sense that things are about to go down." The stone guardian looked back at the painting.
"We shall see, dear friend. We shall see."
