CHAPTER 7 - In a Beacon of Emerald

"We've... come... so far," I panted, sitting down on a tree stump. "Maybe... we should... stop... for now."

"According to the map," said Casper, "we should be there soon." He rolled up the map and tapped me lightly on the head with it. "Come on, Steve."

"Can't we rest for five minutes?"

"And let the king catch up to us? No way."

I guess he had a point. Sighing, I lifted myself off the tree stump and trailed after Casper. My backpack felt like it had a blue whale stuffed inside, making my shoulders ache horribly.

"We're past the halfway point, right?" I groaned.

"Of course."

"Thank goodness..."

We wandered through a sunny, grassy forest. I insisted we come this way. It was better than Casper's choice of a mountain that extended high into the clouds. Some shortcut.

Unsurprisingly, Thunder was still bounding with energy, barking at us. I guessed it was dog language for 'Hurry up, Steve!'. Sometimes I wonder where dogs get all their energy from. Maybe it's something in their food?

I was still wondering about it when I tripped and fell flat on the face. Luckily there wasn't anything unpleasant hiding in the grass.

"Steve!"

I looked up. Casper was peering down at me, holding out his hand. I took it gratefully and was promptly yanked to my feet.

"Sorry, Casper."

"It's alright. What did you trip on, anyway?"

He went down on his knees and inspected the grass where I had tripped. I just stood there watching him, confused, wondering why he was so curious as to what I tripped on.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"According to the map," he responded, "the chamber should be..."

Click.

"Aha." Casper lifted up a large, square patch of grass as if it were a trap door. "Come over here, Steve."

I did as I was told. It turned out that it was a trap door, disguised by all the grass growing on top of it. A dark staircase was hiding underneath it.

"Nice, Casper. Is this the way to the chamber?"

"It must be. And you must have tripped on the hook that opens the door." He glanced at my backpack. "Would you happen to have any torches in there?"

"Yeah, a few." I rummaged around in my backpack and pulled out a couple of unlit torches and some flint and steel. "Here, hold these a sec." I passed both the torches to Casper while I furiously rubbed the flint against the steel to light them. The sudden whoosh of the flames startled us both. He passed one of the torches back to me, and we began our descent into the chamber.

None of us said a word on the way down, not even Thunder. We had to listen closely, in case the king was already down there. After what seemed like hours of climbing down the spiraling staircase, we found a small room. Nobody else was there. The walls, floor and ceiling were made of obsidian. The room was dimly lit and had a strange, earthy smell. Two torches lit the chamber on each side of a small glass case.

An empty glass case.

"The carrot!" Casper gasped. "It's gone! The king must have taken it!"

"Oh great," I said sarcastically. "I have a feeling we don't have long left before world domination."

"I have a feeling you're right. Quickly, Steve. Is there anything here that could point us in the king's direction?"

"What about that note on the wall?"

"What note?"

"That." I pointed to a tattered piece of paper on the wall. It read:

'La zanahoria de oro
La zanahoria de oro
Un radiante belleza
Un sol brillando
El poder de la zanahoria
El poder de la zanahoria
Es más que la riqueza
Es más de la fama
He aquí la zanahoria
He aquí la zanahoria
En un becaon de esmeralda
Para las profundidades del abismo
El mundo va a caer
Dé rienda suelta a la potencia
De la zanahoria de oro
La zanahoria de oro'

"Is that Latin?" I wondered.

"Of course not," Casper scolded. "It's Spanish."

"What does it say?"

Casper carefully removed the note from the wall. "My Spanish is a little rusty."

"Try, Casper!"

"Don't rush me!" Casper gazed at the note intently. I waited. Then, suddenly, a look of shock spread across his face.

"What is it?"

"Steve. Listen to this. The note says:

The golden carrot
The golden carrot
A radiant beauty
A shimmering sun
The carrot's power
The carrot's power
Is more than wealth
Is more than fame
Behold the carrot
Behold the carrot
In a beacon of emerald
To the depths of the nether
The world will fall
Unleash the power
Of the golden carrot
The golden carrot."

"Th-The depths of the nether?!" I cried. "Are you sure you translated that right?! You did say your Spanish is rusty."

"No, that's what is says, I'm sure of it. What I want to know is what the rest of it means. Particularly the beacon of emerald."

"Read that bit again."

"Behold the carrot, behold the carrot, in a beacon of emerald-"

"Maybe that's what brings out the carrot's power?"

"Hmm. I think you may be right. But where would we find a beacon of emerald?"

I shrugged. "Beats me."

"I wish you'd stop saying that."

"I wish you'd stop being so grumpy."

Casper glared at me. "We don't have long, Steve. The king has the carrot and he's likely taking it to this 'beacon of emerald' as we speak!"

"Well, maybe Thunder could track the king?"

"How?"

I reached into my backpack and pulled out the porkchop I was supposed to eat for dinner the first night. "Here, boy. No, don't eat it!" I struggled to free the porkchop from Thunder's grasp. When I finally managed to tear from his jaw, there was a huge chunk missing and it was slimy with dog slobber.

Casper smirked. "Smooth move."

"Oh, shut it."

Sniff. Sniff.

"Hm? What's he doing?" Casper asked me.

I glanced at Thunder. He was heading back up the staircase, his nose pressed to the ground.

"Th-Thunder! Wait for us!"

Leaving the half eaten meat behind, Casper and I chased Thunder back up the staircase, into the open world, weaving through the trees. We had no idea where we were going, but he seemed to be leading us back the way we came.

"Where is he taking us?!" Casper yelled, out of breath trying to keep up with Thunder.

"I don't know!"

Then, suddenly, Thunder stopped dead in his tracks, his ears pricking up. I knew my dog well. He could hear something. I put my hand to my ear and listened.

I could hear it. What was it? The wind? An animal? Maybe a plane?

...No. Muttering. I listened closer.

"Steve? Why are you-"

"Shh! Don't you hear it?"

"Hear what?"

"Listen!"

We waited, in complete silence.

"...poder de la zanahoria... más que la riqueza..."

"Isn't that...?" Casper trailed off.

"Isn't that what?"

"Quickly, Steve." He grabbed hold of my wrist and started dragging me towards the voice. "We have to hurry!"

"What is it?!"

"It's the king! That muttering you heard, it's the poem from the chamber!"

As we ran closer and closer, feet pounding on the grass below, the voice became clearer.

"El mundo va a caer... dé rienda suelta a la potencia!"

When the voice became crystal clear, Casper suddenly ducked down into a bush, pulling me with him.

"Ouch!"

"Shh! Do you see him?"

"See who?" I peered through the branches.

"The king, of course! There he is, do you see him?"

Through the leaves I could just about see a small pink blur. "Yeah, I see him."

"Get your weapon ready, Steve." Casper pulled out his sword. "I can see guards too."

"What's the plan?" I asked, retrieving my trusty iron sword from my backpack.

"We attack."

"Is... is that it?"

"We also have to find the carrot."

"Right. And then what?"

All of a sudden, before Casper could answer, a loud, echoing whoosh blew through the woods. A beam of blinding green light shot into the sky, straight into the noon sun. This was it. The beacon of emerald.

It was now or never.