Wizarding Times

Read the first part here.

Many people would be scared to start the journey Veronica started, but she felt like she had no choice. She couldn't go back home as her house was probably just ashes by now, and the fact that she might discover that something bad happened to her mother frightened her, so she decided she would keep walking and try to find the place the scientist told her about in the letter he had left. It wasn't an easy mission though, the map was too confusing, and the guide was rather complicated; plus, on top of that, she had no idea where she was — she thought the map had a mark showing the place where she found the treasure chest so she would know where she was and where she needed to go, but there was nothing like that on the map though so she just decided to follow her instincts.

Soon she saw that a lot of things had changed since the scientist left the chest there, since many things written in the guide and on the map were different; she even had to cross a huge river to continue her path even though there was nothing mentioned about a river in the guide or on the map. Step by step, and minute by minute she was making her way to her target, very slowly, but she promised herself that she wouldn't give up and she gave her best to keep the promise and continue her quest until she found the wonderful place the scientist wrote about.

But faith and hope cannot feed hunger, and soon Veronica felt powerless, drained. She was too tired and hungry and she wouldn't be able to walk much more, plus it was getting late and dark, so she decided to find a nice place where she could stay overnight and get something to eat. After a short examination of the map, she decided to head toward a nearby pond. It took her nearly an hour to get there although it looked really close on the map. All the thornbushes and other plants made the path very painful to follow and the walking much slower.

But once she arrived there, she was very relieved. She managed to clean herself and wash her face with the pond's water, gather some fruits to eat, and she even lit a fire. She sat down near the fire and decided to read the letter from the scientist again, as she had nothing else to do. But this time she actually looked at the letter better, and she found out she had missed something written on the back of the letter. It said, in rather small letters: "Beware of the things that dwell in the forest during the night...." Was this a serious note from the scientist? What could be out there more dangerous than all the the thorns and rocks she passed through?

She could not walk during the night anyway, so she decided to just forget about the note and get a good sleep; after all, she had a long journey to continue tomorrow and she needed some rest. When she woke up she saw that everything was the same as the last time she looked around before going to bed, there were no traces of someone or something that could have been around during the night. She thought about a saying her mother once told her "If you don't bother other people and animals, they won't bother you." So she decided that if she just avoided walking through the night, she wouldn'tencounter any problems. Veronica kept making her way through the harsh forest, eating fruits she found on her way and hoping it wouldn't take her too long before she reached her destination.

It was getting late and dark again, but this time the weather seemed more cold and cruel, and Veronica couldn't find any good place to stay over the night. She felt tired, stressed, and ready to give up. The only thing that gave her power to keep moving was the promise she had made herself — it was hard, but she knew she had no choice and had to keep going.

As she kept going she noticed some mysterious figure, a shadow, ahead of her. She froze, standing where she was and not even moving, only breathing and waiting for the figure to make the first step. The figure didn't move though, but it started losing the dark shadow around it and soon it was shining in a glittery green color. Then it turned around and Veronica was able to see it was a human being, or at least a creature with the form of a human being, wearing a huge dark cloak with a shining green ball in front of it. It was magic — Veronica has seen her dad use such tricks and spells that could both harm or heal humans, depending how they were used. Then the figure spoke — "I'm impressed you've made it so far. But you can no longer continue your journey. You will either give me the letter, the map, and the guide, or I'm afraid you will have to leave this world." It spoke with a bossy and angry voice and it seemed that it was stressing to Veronica that she had to make her choice now, and make it a wise one, otherwise nothing good would happen to her.

However, no matter how much the person scared her, she couldn't go back now. She cleared her throat and spoke — "I am honestly sorry, but I am not giving these scrolls away; they're my last and only possessions, and they have a special meaning for me. I've had a horrible journey, and I basically witnessed my house burn down with my mother inside it. Whatever you're capable of doing won't be much more painful than that." Somehow, but she didn't know why, Veronica felt more confident after that reply and she wasn't afraid at all. The person's reaction was rather disturbing though. First the green ball of light disappeared, then the person took off the cloak and the mask and — Veronica gasped — she saw her father!

The last part will be published in the next issue of the Wizarding Times.