Chapter 1
Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer looked in wonder around the large room with hundreds of people, all of which were seated and were perfectly still. Like a house of wax figurines.
The clothes the figures had on were nigh indescribable, the colours, the patterns and pictures, and the precious stones that adorned nearly every inch of their persona.
The final figure was the most richly dressed, very tall, with a fierce and prideful look upon her face. And yet, she was very beautiful too.
There was a second figure in front of her, kneeling down with her head bowed, offering a golden bowl to the beautiful woman before her. The figure was a short young girl, hardly over the age of six or seven (or so Polly thought), with short curly hair a cobalt black. She wore no jewelry, nor anything to show a royal status, only a simple grey dress and stout leather slippers.
"How odd," Polly muttered, inspecting the girl slightly more closely.
"I do wish we knew the story that's behind all this," said Digory. "Let's go back and look at that table sort of thing in the middle of the room."
In the middle of the large room stood a pillar about four feet in height, with a golden arch that held up a little golden bell with a little golden hammer lying beside it. The pillar read:
Make your choice, adventurous Stranger;
Strike the bell and bide the danger,
Or wonder, till it drives you mad,
What would have followed if you had
This certainly sparked some interest in Digory's eye.
"No fear!" Polly exclaimed, turning to Digory. "We don't want any danger." She looked around quickly. She had the feeling someone was watching them, and yet that that someone was not there.
… … … …
Have you ever had the feeling that you're asleep, and yet not asleep? That is what it was like for the frozen form of Alta; asleep yet awake. The Queen had underestimated her Magic abilities (and so had Alta, come to think of it), so she could hear everything that was going on in this room. Which, up until recently, was dreadfully boring.
"Don't be silly!" the high pitched voice of a female said.
For the past few minutes, Alta had been intently listening in on the two new arrivals' conversation. They were arguing at this moment, about the curse upon the bell and all those sitting in the room.
Ring it, oh please ring it! Alta thought, desperately wishing to send the message to either the male or female voice. (She did not yet know they were human, you see, for it is rather hard for one to see through one's own arm.)
After several minutes of annoying, yet thrilling, argument, the male voice (as far as she could tell from the scuffling) held the female back and finally gave the little gold bell a small tap.
Alta could feel the spell on her begin to lift off almost immediately, as the sweet note given off by the bell reached her.
Then, instead of dying out, the note proceeded to grow louder, and louder. Soon the stone beneath her feet begin to tremble. Alta began to move her fingers, and the golden bowl dropped from her small, very pale hands for the first time in what had seemed to be longer that a hundred centuries. (But it was impossible for one to tell when one is frozen/asleep for the whole time.)
A loud sound ––rather like a falling tree–– reached her pointed ears as she began to move her whole hand. Then, with a final sudden rush and thunder (and a shake that caused Alta to fall onto her side), nearly a quarter of the roof at one end of the vast room fell and the walls rocked. Soon the cloud of dust cleared away and everything became quiet once more.
The spell was broken on the last Queen of Charn, but more importantly (in another's point of view), Alta was at last free… for now.
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Sorry it took so long. Exams, school, projects... I have more excuses, but I don't feel like listing them. Thank you to all reviewers, your comments are very helpful. Thank you especially to quinthefikoso, who was kind enough to help me out with a title. Now, if you would be so kind as to review once more. Questions, or comments very muchly appreciated! REVIEW!
∆Eye of Horus∆