They stood on a hill overlooking the ruins of the once vast building that had housed the Dragon's Gate. All was quiet. No creature stirred and the breeze was silent.
"You know," said Legault thinking aloud, "if you had told me ten years ago that I would one day come back to this accursed island under my own free will, I would have called you a dirty liar."
"Ha, you and me both," chuckled Raven.
Dart was too wrapped up in his own thoughts to notice the conversation. Where were Geitz and his men? Surely they must have gotten here by now...
"So Captain, shall we make our move? ...Captain?" said Heath, trying to get Dart's attention.
"Oh...wha? Sorry mate. Lost in me thoughts, you know."
"If I'm reading the map right," said Canas, "then the treasure should be hidden somewhere to the west of the entrance. We need to look for a carving of an eye."
"An eye?"
"Aye, an eye. That was Han Gak's symbol. Find the eye, and we find the treasure."
"I don't like this Dart, something doesn't feel quite right. It's too quiet. Where are Geitz and his men? They should be swarming over this place," said Raven.
"I hear ye mate. Something ain't quite kosher if ye kin t' me meanin'. But we don't 'ave a choice. Someone's gotta make the first move. Heath, I want you to scout the area. See if you can't find Geitz an' his boys. Meanwhile, the rest of us'll be searchin' for this treasure."
"Aye aye, Captain," and with that Heath was off in the air. The rest of them started down the hill, in the direction that Canas had pointed out.
They split up and fanned out through the ruins. It was easy to tell that it had once been a grand building, but the over the centuries Mother Nature had been slowly reclaiming it. Everything seemed to be covered in a layer of thick moss.
They had been searching for some twenty minutes when a shout rang through the air.
"Over here!"
It was Dart who arrived first on the scene, panting hard.
"Master Dart, look at this," said Canas, pointing at small eye carved in the stone wall. "Splendid, isn't it?"
"Aye, 'tis the most beautiful thing I've ever laid me eyes on," said Dart impatiently. "Now more importantly matey, what do we do now?"
The rest of the crew had arrived by now, and the formed a half circle around the eye.
"Well... truth be told, I don't actually know. The instructions were a little vague at this point..."
From Dart's expression, that obviously wasn't what he wanted to hear.
"But don't worry Master Dart, I know some excellent spells that just might do the trick." Canas pulled out a dark blue tome from within his cloak and flipped through it. "Aha, here we are. Now, Incantatious Anegus Sesamius!" Canas stared expectantly at the wall, but nothing happened.
"Hmmm, well that didn't work. But never fear, I still have some tricks up my sleeve."
"Step aside magic man," said Legault dismissively, "this is clearly a job for a thief." Legault stepped up to the wall and began examining it closely. "Ha, how childishly simple. Watch and learn my friends." He pressed the carved eye and stepped back.
"What's that supposed to-" Dart was cut short as the eye began to glow. The wall rippled and suddenly the wall had been replaced by a low stone building. Dart blinked once, twice and once again for good measure. He couldn't believe his eyes.
"Incredible," gasped Canas, "that is a truly powerful spell to conceal an entire building!"
But Dart didn't hear him. His mind was too busy with what he saw before him. He took a step towards the doors, and then another.
The building resembled a mausoleum. It was made of a dark rock, different from the rubble around it. It had two great big doors, with strange characters written all over it.
He stepped up to the doors, and hesitated. Did he really want to open those doors? Did he really want to see what lay behind them? His life's goal, his sole ambition lay just mere metres away, how could he stop now?
He took a deep breath and pushed against the doors with all his strength. They swung open with surprising ease. Dart gasped. The sunlight from outside swept in an illuminated every corner of the room. It was empty. It was empty! Well, not completely empty. In the centre of the room, sat a single treasure chest.
Dart walked forward, his shoulders slouched. What could possibly be in that chest that was worth one hundred million gold? His crew followed at his heels with bated breath. No one dared speak.
Dart reached the chest. There was no lock. He grasped the lid and threw it open. In it sat a folded piece of parchment, on which sat one single, solitary gold coin. He reached down slowly and picked up the coin and then the paper. He unfolded it and began to read it silently. After a few moments he looked up and began to laugh, a loud booming laugh. The paper dropped from his hands and landed gently on the ground. Rebecca and Wil exchanged worried glances. Had Dart finally snapped?
Canas bent down and retrieved the letter. He started reading it aloud, so that all could hear.
Dearest DartIf you are reading this, please allow me to apologise. It would seem that I beat you to the punch. But there's no shame in being second best, especially not to me. One hundred million gold, you have to admit, that's a prize few people could resist- particularly not one such as myself. I should also thank you. After all, if you hadn't shown me the map, I could never have found the treasure. And let me tell you Dart, what a treasure it was. Imagine the room you are in now, but filled to the ceiling with gold and jewels. Oh, I'm sorry, I don't mean to rub it in, but I think you deserve to hear the truth. But don't worry my darling Dart, I have not forgotten your dream. I have taken the gold and hidden it somewhere anew. If you examine the other side of this letter, you will see a map with clues as to the treasure's new location. Of course it's not all there; I had to keep some for myself. I think with this money I can finally settle down now. I've had more than enough with the mercenary business. And once again, I am sorry it didn't work out between us, you know. I hope this map, at least in some small way, makes up for it.
Good Luck and Happy Hunting
Yours truly,
Farina
They looked up at Dart expectantly. He turned slowly to face them. A great grin came over his face.
"You heard the letter me bouyos, we have a treasure to find! Ha ha, let's go maties!"
He was a bout to charge out the door, when Heath came rushing in, a look of deep worry on his face.
"Captain, it's all a trap!" he said breathlessly. "Geitz has us surrounded!"
"Don't worry 'bout it matey," said Dart tucking the map into the back of his pants.
"Hey," said Heath, a look of confusion coming over his face. "Where's the treasure?"
"We'll explain to ye later. But right now, I've got to go have a chat with our good friend Geitz."
Dart and his crew emerged into the sunlight to find Geitz and about thirty armed sailors waiting for them.
"Ahoy matey, long time no see," said Dart cheerily.
Geitz scowled.
"I suppose I should thank you for leading me to the treasure. I really couldn't have done it without you."
"Don't mention it matey. What's one between friends anyway? I should warn you though, you might be a tad disappointed by what you find in there."
"Bah, I don't need to listen to you. Out of my way water rat." He barged past Dart and into the building. He emerged a few seconds later, a wild look on his face.
"What have you done? What kind of magic is this? Tell me!" he yelled.
"It seems someone beat us here is all," said Dart calmly. "But don't worry mate, they didn't take everything. Here, catch," he tossed the gold coin to Geitz. It landed at his feet. Gietz stared at it wide eyed.
"You're a dead man!" and with that he pulled his massive battle-axe from his back and charged at Dart. Dart side-stepped him nimbly and with one swift motion whipped a small hand axe at him. It hit Geitz square in the back, and he toppled to the ground, dead.
Dart turned to the mercenaries who had watched the whole scene unfold in silence.
"Hey mates, yer boss is dead, so I have new proposition for ye. How 'bout we all get off this island as fast as we can. There ain't no treasure to be found here."
A particularly gruff sailor spoke up.
"Sounds good t' me. If'n ye want me opine, I've wanted off dis island since the moment I set foot on it."
The boat set sail soon after. Dart stood at the front of the ship staring at the letter. Secretly, he was almost glad that there had been no treasure. One adventure had ended, but another one was just about to begin.
Fin