Chapter 10- Destination: Almost there

Zale's POV.

I woke up early in the morning on the 3rd day, trying to get packed up because today was the day we were leaving. My room was the same way I had left it 6 years ago. Had it already been 6 years? It was for the best though, I didn't want them to come to harm. I know, sometimes I wish that I could just throw Tyler to one of the monsters, yet sometimes I don't..

Anyways the room. It was a dark blue color, with pictures hanging on 2 of the walls. My bed was to the side that was near the window, not exactly the best choice if you want to stay clear of monsters. I had a closet that was near the left corner of the room, which was the opposite side of where my bed was. Then my bathroom was near the side of closet. That was my room, barely any decorations, but I liked it a bit empty.

I walked outside of my room and headed down the hallway. Xander's room was next Amira's and Jaz's as they had shared a room. I went into Xander's room first to see him sleeping. I crossed the room, looking at the clock that said 4:30. I shook Xander awake as he looked up at me with groggy eyes.

"Zale? What the he-" He started as he squinted at me. I put my hand over his mouth to keep him quiet and put a finger to my lips. He nodded, and started to get up, changing as I walked outside to make sure that no-one was awake yet. He came right behind me and we walked over to the girl's room. Amira was already awake, sitting by the window. Jaz was still sleeping in her bed, but it looked as though a tornado went through it all.

"Jaz, wake up." I said to her as I shook her. Amira turned around at the sound of my voice and reached down to grab her pack. Xander stood next to the elf, talking to her a bit while I was still trying to wake up the Athenian girl. She groaned a little, as she lifted her head.

"Come on, time to go." I told her as she looked up at me. She gazed around the room, looking over to Amira and Xander. She sighed then grabbed her pack from underneath her bed. We went out of the room, looking for a sign that anybody was awake yet. Thank the gods that no one was. The next step was the stairs that always creaked a little unless you stepped down them really softly. We came into the kitchen, grabbing a small snack, nothing that my family would miss.

"What are you guys doing?" A tired voice asked. We spun around, looking the way that the voice had come from. I sighed, seeing that it was just William.

"That's none of your concern, go back to bed William." Amira said softly. He turned toward her, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't have to listen to you." He spat as he pointed a finger toward the Elfish girl. She started to laugh quietly at his statement as his face turned into confusion.

"No, you don't. But, I'm pretty sure that you won't want your ma awake in the early morning. Especially when she gets angry." She pointed out. He started to stutter but soon walked out of the kitchen. I shook my head at his actions and pointed to the door. The group nodded and we walked our way out. The sounds of the early morning greeted us as we walked out onto the porch. The birds were singing their good morning song, the crickets were chirping quietly, and the trees were groaning. I smiled as I took a deep breath before following the rest through the forest.

"You sure you know where you're going Amira?" I asked her as I caught up.

"Yes, Zale. I know the way." She replied. Yesterday, she walked, well discovered, the way to the mountains. Apparently, the portal to get her home was in the mountains. We had no other lead, so why not? But if she was wrong.. I couldn't even try to imagine how she would react. The rest of the way was quiet until we got to edge of the forest. Looking up, I saw the Appalachian mountains. The snow was still clinging to them even though it was the middle of summer.

"Where do we go next?" Jaz asked as she broke the silence. I looked over to Amira, and saw that she was clutching her neck. However, she looked scared as she noticed that there was a key necklace on her neck.

"I don't know." Amira whispered as she looked down.

"Well, I suggest we ask him." Xander stated as he pointed to a man that was by a cabin further up the mountain. We nodded and followed the path that led to the cabin. The path wasn't that long and before we knew it, we were there. I turned and looked over the edge of the mountain. Wow, you could see the large forest and then on the outskirts was the town. I looked a bit south and saw the house where my family lived. The steam was just coming out as though mom was just cooking breakfast.

"Hello! How can I help you!?" A voice merrily greeted. I turned and saw a man that had brown/grey hair. He had a really long bread that reached his stomach that showed that he ate a lot. He wore a long sleeved shirt, and a a pair of jeans as well as a hat that was spread out where his head met with the hat, but was closer together as it went higher.

"Do you know a cave, that is like an old mining entrance?" Amira asked, looking for the first time in days, hopeful. He thought for a second and then stroked his beard.

"Matter of fact, I do. Just follow this path and then head up the slopes of the next mountain. Then make a right as that pathway ends and there it should be!" He told us as he laughed. We nodded and started to walk down toward the path.

"Hey, what's your names?" The man asked us.

"I'm Zale, this is Xander, Jaz, and Amira." I introduced. "What's yours?'

"Tom Bom.. I have a longer last name, but I like this way better." He says as he starts to laugh. Amira looked at him, with her eyes going wide, before she spook.

"Do you know a Tom Bombadil?"

"I might." Was his answer as he winked at the elfish girl. She started to laugh and we walked down the mountain. The rocks tumbled down, as we tried to go down the mountain without getting hurt. They started off small, but then started to get bigger the more that we went to the bottom. In about an hour since we started, we made it to the bottom. We sat down for a second, catching our breaths before Jaz looked over to Amira.

"Did you even sleep last night?" She asked. Amira turned toward the sound, gazing down at us since she was still standing. She seemed to think for a moment before shaking her head.

"Why not?" Xander asked. She took a deep breath before facing us fully.

"Couldn't. Somebody kept flashing in front of eyes every time I tried to close them." She explained. We nodded, standing as we started to go ahead with the next part of the climbing the mountain. This part was surprisingly easier, but then it helped when rocks weren't tumbling down as if they were trying to kill you. The path, however, was a lot steeper then it seemed. The road (If you could call it that) took about 2 hours before we reached the top. I looked at my watch and saw that it was about 3 in the afternoon.

"How come it's this late?" I wondered out loud. Amira snickered as we turned to look at her.

"Not everything is a short cut. We went the long way through the forest because there were monsters close by your house, waiting for you to go. That's why I told you we should go earlier. If we woke up at normal time, we would just get by the edge in around an hour." She explained, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. Which in a way, it was... We made a right turn as Tom said and came across an old building. Wait, it wasn't even a building. It was just a couple of wooden planks that served as cover for the little railroad that came out of the dark abyss that the cave held.

Amira walked straight into it, without even waiting for us to follow. Looking at each other, the rest of us grabbed out our lights and started to head in. The beams looked as though they were fireflies in an endless, dark night. The cave had seemed abandoned for a long while. I coughed out because of the dust that was floating around in the cave. I looked for Jaz and Xander as I started to feel as though the cave was closing in on us.

"Amira?" I called out. The was a short reply in front of us and we kept going down the long 'hallway'. Soon I hit something hard and I shined the lamp in front of me. It was just a wall of bare rock that jutted out. Jaz laughed and we turned away, going down the pathway again. The 3 of us stopped as we set our flashlights on Amira who was crouching by the wall.

"Amira?" Xander questioned as she inserted something into the wall. "What are you doing?" She stood back up, smiling at us before the whole wall shook that led to an grassy hill. She led us out to the field and we watched around as I heard a whoosh come out of nowhere.

"Amira! Long time no see!" A voice shouted.

"Nice to see you too, Radagast." She smiled. Wait, who's Radagast.