All right, here's my newest chapter. It continues on with Elsa, Daniel and the others trying to find the spell book of an evil sorceress. As to why I call this chapter "Corrupted"? I won't say why I call it that, but it'll involve a serious situation. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you're about to find out. Let's continue.
In the area where Daniel intended to send them, his silver glowing portal opened up, and the group all stepped out, in front of the area where the moonlight mirrors pointed them towards.
"It actually worked," Anna said surprised at what just happened.
"Well, of course it worked," Daniel said as he was the last to come out of his portal and then it disappeared behind him. "You walked through one to get up to the top of the mountain." And then he collapsed to his knees, groaning in exhaustion.
"Are you okay?" Elsa asked the swordsman.
"I guess there's one thing I forgot to mention about these portals. Using them, costs you some of your energy; The farther the distance you open a portal to, the more of your energy it takes up."
"Maybe you should rest, Daniel," King Adgar came and kneeled down to him. "You've done so much already. Why don't you let us take it from here?"
"I can't. I wish I could rest now but I can't. Not yet. There's no telling what else lies in front of us, trying to find that book. I really do appreciate your concern, King Adgar. But I will not rest until I have that book."
"So, then what is it you're here for?" Queen Idun asked.
"We're here because we did as that riddle stated, and used the moonlight to point us here," Daniel explained to her.
"And where's here? In case you haven't noticed, we're right in the middle of the forest, with no other clues in sight. Where exactly do you expect to look?"
Daniel got back up on his feet and walked towards the wall the moonlight pointed to. "The light from those mirrors was pointing right here. On this wall."
Queen Idun sighed and walked to him. "And what exactly do you hope to find on a wall?"
"Things can sometimes be more than they seem," Daniel replied without looking to her. And then he began to trace his finger over the wall, looking for something out of the ordinary. "Bingo!"
"You see something?" Elsa asked from behind.
"I think so. There's linings all across this wall. Meaning that this wall isn't completely intact. It's an opening blocked by a wall of stone."
Daniel stepped back a few inches and then rolled up his sleeves and put both his hands on the wall then began to push.
He was groaning and straining as the wall began to cave in, and a massive boulder fell through the opening, and that opened the entryway to a dark cave.
"Well now we're really getting somewhere," Daniel said staring into the darkness of the cave.
"How do you plan on finding something when it's pitch black in there?" Queen Idun asked looking into the cave.
"Like this," Daniel replied and snapped his fingers, lighting up his right thumb in a spark of fire. "Anyone wishing to join, feel free to come with." He said without lookin back and walking into the cave.
"I'm not just gonna let you go in there alone," Elsa said as she followed him in.
"Wait for me," King Adgar said as he followed close behind as well.
"I think I'll just wait out here," Anna said. "I'm not entirely comfortable with dark caves."
"Never been real comfortable with them either," said Kristoff. "I think I'll also stay behind."
"Be careful in there," Queen Idun said to her husband and daughter.
"We will," Elsa replied.
The king, the snow queen and the swordsman all followed the pathway through the dark cave, and the only light they had was the spark of fire on Daniel's thumb.
The cave seemed to go on for miles, but it had no separate pathways or far down ledges, or even any traps that they could see, so it made it easy for the trio to make their way through, and the only sounds that could be hurt was water dripping from certain areas of the ceiling.
After going on for a few more minutes, they turned a corner and saw another light a distance away.
The trio looked to see the moonlight peering down through a hole in the ceiling of the cave.
"I'm getting the feeling we're almost there," King Adgar said.
"Sometimes I like to thing even the smallest glimmer of light is a good sign," Daniel said. "Light can often show you the right pathways more times than one."
"Then let's keep going," Elsa said.
They each continued to walk through the cave, but after a few seconds Daniel stopped them again.
"Whoa," He said looking to an old rickety bridge dangling above a very high cliff right in front of them that was missing planks in multiple areas. "That bridge doesn't look very stable. It's gotta be hundreds of years old. We'll have to take it one at a time, otherwise it might not stand all our weight combined. I'll go first."
Daniel extinguished the flame on his thumb then set his right foot on the bridge and then with his left he took a step forward. "Okay. Easy now. Baby steps," He said to himself walking slowly across the bridge, holding onto the ropes for support.
Everything seemed to be going fine, until he was about halfway across and the bridge snapped of the ropes from the side Elsa and King Adgar were on and the bridge began to collapse.
"Daniel!" Elsa and her father yelled as Daniel nearly went down with it.
Before he fell off the deep edge to his death, the swordsman grabbed hold of one of the ropes, then using it for support, he ran right up the wall and made it to the other side just before the remains of the bridge finally fell off the wooden supporters.
"That was too close," he said looking to Elsa and King Adgar on the other side. "Well with that bridge out I don't know how you two are gonna get across.
Elsa smiled slightly and stepped forwards a few feet. "That won't be a problem." The snow queen then twirled her hands in front of her, and shot her icy magic out, making a new bridge out of snow across the two sides of the cliff.
She then took a step onto her snow bridge, and no sooner after she stepped foot onto it, the bridge materialized into ice, and she ran across it, making the rest materialize in the process, until she was on the other side as well.
"I kind of forgot you could do that," Daniel smirked rubbing his head. "If I hadn't forgotten that, I'd have probably ripped off that bridge myself and just let you make a new one."
"Anything my daughter can make with her ice powers are certainly more stable than that old bridge," King Adgar said walking across his daughter's bridge and to the other side as well.
"Well, come on. We're very close. I know it," Daniel said and the trio continued to follow the trail.
After only a couple more minutes of walking without running into anymore problems, they'd seen that straight ahead, the moonlight that peered through the hole in the cavern ceiling was beaming down on something.
Straight in front of them about 50 feet ahead, the moonlight shined on a dark brown chest sitting on a flat piece of the cavern wall.
"Think that's it?" Elsa turned to Daniel.
"I'm 99% sure that's what we're after," the swordsman responded and rushed to it, with Elsa and her father following close behind.
There were no traps as the trio made their way to the end of the cavern, and Daniel stopped for nothing until he finally reached the chest.
He picked up the chest in his hands and undid the latch on it. "Please don't let all this work be for nothing." He said to himself.
He opened up the chest and stared closely at what was inside and he sighed in relief. "This is it. This is what I was after he said turning to face Elsa and the king with a smile of relief.
Daniel then pulled from the chest a black book with a white skull on the front cover, and coming out of that skull's eyes was a green snake, that was wrapping itself around the entire cranium.
"Now I really understand why you had no intentions to use that book," King Adgar said looking at the book's cover. "It looks evil enough to belong to a group of witches.
"Well, all that matters is we finally have it. Let's get out of here," Daniel said and the trio began to leave.
But little did any of them know, hidden all around the cavern was sticks of dynamite, which instantly began to all explode and the entire cavern started to crumble.
The trio jumped at the sound of the explosions, and saw them occurring all around the cave.
"Looks to me like the people who hid this book really were doing whatever it takes to make sure no one found this book," Elsa said.
"Run!" Daniel yelled to them and they each took off running to get out of the cave before it caved in on their heads.
Rocks began falling from the ceiling, but Daniel had used his reflexes and senses to keep Elsa and King Adgar from getting hit in the head.
They ran across Elsa's icy bridge, which started to shatter to pieces from the rumbling behind them as they ran.
The trio had barely made it across to the other side of it just before the bridge and part of the cliff began to crumble and fall.
Outside the cave, Anna, Kristoff and Queen Idun had heard the sounds of the cave crumbling coming from inside.
"What's going on in there?" Anna asked looking inside the cave.
"Sounds like the cavern is about to cave in," Kristoff said.
"It what?!" Queen Idun exclaimed.
"From the sound of it, the entire cave is collapsing from the inside out," Kristoff said peering into the cave as well.
"Oh, Elsa, Father, please hurry," Anna said worriedly.
Still going through the cave, the trio ran nonstop as fast as each of their legs could carry them.
"We're almost there!" Daniel yelled. "Just keep running!"
A good distance in front of them, a massive piece of the ceiling broke off, and blocked their way.
"We're trapped!" King Adgar exclaimed.
"No we're not!" Daniel said giving him the book then grabbed him and Elsa and started jumping on pieces of the debris, and he jumped right over the big rock and he kept running while still carrying the king and Elsa.
After a few more moments of running through the collapsing cave, they'd seen the exit straight ahead.
"Yes! We're gonna make it!" Daniel said with a little relief in his voice.
But as they were only about 6 feet from making it out, another big piece of the ceiling broke off the top, which Daniel saw and then he threw Elsa and King Adgar through the exit, and then threw his hands up into the air.
On the outside, Elsa and King Adgar landed on the ground, as more pieces of ceiling blocked the entrance.
"Oh, you made it!" Queen Idun said as she instantly rushed over to her husband and her daughter and hugged them both.
"Elsa!" Anna ran over to her sister squeezing her in a tight hug. "I thought you were a goner."
"What happened in there, Adgar?" the queen asked.
"The people who hid this book set traps throughout that cave. After Daniel took the book, explosions started to break out through the cave. Wait, where is Daniel?"
"Only you two made it out," Kristoff said to them.
"Then he's still in there!" Elsa exclaimed in fear. "We have to get him out."
"Elsa, he's gone," Queen Idun said.
"No. He can't be! He can't be gone!" She said going over to the now blocked up cave entrance. "He has to still be in there." She tried to push in the wall of rocks to get back into the cave.
Anna walked over to her sister and put her hand on her shoulder. "Elsa. There's nothing left we can do. He's gone."
"No. No, he can't be gone," Elsa choked out as her eyes started to swell up with tears as she continued to try and push in the rock wall. "Not after everything we just went through. He can't be dead!" The snow queen said dropping to her knees.
The two sisters then hugged as Elsa broke down crying.
King Adgar got to his knees and picked up the book. "He risked everything to find this book." He slammed his hand on the ground. "He gave his life to save mine and Elsa's."
Queen Idun looked to her saddened husband and daughter, and had a look of guilt across her face. "Adgar, I..." she was about to say, but then heard the sound of rocks crumbling.
Elsa stopped crying and looked up to the wall of rocks, which were starting to collapse on the outside.
In just seconds, the wall of rocks was broken through, and Daniel stood there, covered in soot and dust, blood on the right side of his head, and he was panting in exhaustion.
"Daniel!" Elsa exclaimed in happiness and ran towards him, then threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly.
"Are you okay?" King Adgar asked getting back to his feet.
Daniel nodded and rubbed his head with his right hand and then looked to his hand to see blood on it.
"Oh, don't ever scare me like that again!" Elsa said as she let him go.
"Sorry about that. I didn't mean to terrify you. It was all I could think of."
"You're bleeding," Anna said to him.
"Yeah. A big rock hitting you will do that. Do you have the book still?" He turned to King Adgar.
The king nodded and held up the book for him.
Daniel walked towards him and took it. "Finally. The spell book of Glynda Warton is in safe hands."
"Come on, Daniel. Let's go home. You've had a long day," the king said putting his hand on Daniel's shoulder.
"Sounds good. I really need to rest."
Back at the castle, they all gathered in the library once again.
Daniel sat in his usual seat by the fireplace as a couple of maids cleaned his wound and placed a bandage on the side of his head to stop the bleeding.
"All this trouble for a book, that's hundreds of years old," Anna said looking to the spell book on the table.
"When we'd seen in, we instantly got why he didn't want to use it," King Adgar said taking a seat at the table. "You'd never mistake this kind of book for something evil."
Anna picked up the book. "Even if it is evil, I'm curious as to what the spells in it do." She said and unbuckled the strap.
"Don't!" Daniel yelled.
Anna flinched after he yelled.
"Do not open that book. I wish I could explain, but just trust me when I say that there's no telling the dangers that await should anyone look inside of it."
"Okay," Anna said buckling the strap back on. "So what are you gonna do with it."
"Due to Glynda Warton's last trick, she put a protection spell over her book, so it's safe from all harm. But tomorrow I'm taking it to the Kings' Grave so I can undo the spell, then destroy it once and for all. For now, I'm going to bed."
Daniel got up from his chair and began to walk out of the library. But then he turned back to the others. "Remember. Under no circumstances is anyone to open that book."
"I'll make sure nobody opens it, Daniel," King Adgar said. "Trust me. After everything we've been through, there's no reason not to trust you."
"Thank you. Good night," he replied and left the library.
Later that night, when it was half past midnight, the queen had been walking through the hallway and went back into the library.
Inside she found the fireplace was still lit, and her husband was sitting at the table, with his hands placed underneath his chin and he looked up to his wife.
"What are you doing awake?" Queen Idun asked.
"I could ask you the same," King Adgar responded.
"Couldn't sleep, could you?"
"No. Not with all that's been going on. Now I know how Daniel feels."
"I woke up and noticed you weren't in bed, I had a feeling you'd be in here."
"I'm worried about him, Idun. He's pushing himself too far with these things."
"What do you mean?"
"He's scared, Idun, I know he is. I just don't think he yet understands that he's not alone. I think he's been trying to do most of this because he's been fighting off those goblins and all sorts of dangerous things for the past 6 years, with no one to help him."
"Well, I still think that he's keeping something from us. He's got more on his mind that he's letting on."
"Assuming you're right, I believe that's why he hasn't told us anything, because he's scared."
"Scared of what? What does he have to be scared of?"
"Who are whatever is sending all those goblins and monsters after him, and what else is to come. I get the feeling that everything that's come so far is only just the beginning. I believe that there's a coming storm, and that's why I want to help, Daniel before things get any worse than they already are."
The queen walked over to the table and took a seat at the end, where Daniel set the spell book.
She picked it up in her hands. "Everything he went through today; All those dangerous stunts was for this. It's certainly creepy, I'll give him that." She then unbuckled the book strap.
"Idun, what are you doing?" King Adgar tried to stop her. "You heard what Daniel said."
"It's a book, Adgar," Queen Idun scoffed.
"It's not just a book. You heard him tell us that story. That book belonged to an evil sorceress, who used it for nefarious purposes. Idun, Daniel went through a lot of trouble today to keep that book from falling into the wrong hands. Please, just for once do as he says."
"Even if this is a book on dark magic, what harm could come of looking inside? He was just panicking because of all the pressure he put on himself to find it," Queen Idun said and then opened up the book.
"Idun, no!" King Adgar arose from his seat and lunged towards her.
But when the queen opened the book, it started to glow purple and a force of magic pushed the king back, and knocked him onto his back on the floor.
"What's going on?!" Queen Idun exclaimed as black and purple shrouds covered the book.
"Idun, let go of the book!" King Adgar yelled.
"I can't. It's like my hands are glued to it or something. I can't let go of it!"
The black and purple shrouds then began to cover her body, as the queen screamed.
The fire in the fireplace instantly went out, leaving the whole library dark, and then a voice spoke.
"Excellent. My final curse worked. I have a new host," A female voice echoed through the library and cackled wickedly.
"Who-Who's there?" King Adgar asked.
"Your wife is now mine to control!" The voice yelled again.
Then King Adgar looked to his wife, and saw her dress turn pitch black, her skin had gone white like a ghost, her hair turned silver and finally she looked towards her husband with her now glowing green eyes.
"Idun?" King Adgar said petrified with fear.
"No, pathetic human. It is I, the sorceress, Glynda Warton. And finally after three hundred years, I have returned to finish what I started so long ago!" She cackled wickedly again, then her entire body turned into a massive black and purple cloud of shadows, then it flew out the window, shattering it and leaving a massive hole in the wall.
"Just when you thought this part of that mayhem was over," King Adgar said to himself.
The entrance doors to the library bust open and inside walked a group of guards, along with Elsa and Anna.
"Father, what happened?" Elsa asked as she went over and helped her father up.
"I now know why, Daniel didn't want us to open that book. The spirit of the evil sorceress Daniel told us about inhabited that book, and now your mother's been corrupted by her."
"She what?!" Anna exclaimed.
"What do we do?" Elsa asked worriedly.
"We need a miracle to save her," the king replied.
All right there you have it. The Queen's been corrupted by the evil sorceress Glynda Warton. Now I was gonna put this mayhem into one chapter, but I decided against it. Thought you'll see what happens next chapter for sure. I won't spoil anything, but it'll be one sorcerer against another, if you know what I mean. Anyhow I hope you enjoyed this one. I'll have the next chapter up really soon. Until then, please read, review and enjoy.