But first I have to find her...
The trail of footprints kept following the brook, and Jared in turn followed the footprints.
In the distance, he heard the musical tinkle of falling water. The closer he came, the louder it got, until it turned into the roar of a waterfall.
And when he at last made his way around an outcrop of stone, he suddenly found himself face to face with it.
At his feet, a pond spread, the water clear and blue. It was this pond that fed the small brook—and the pond in turn was fed by an impressive waterfall.
Water came tumbling from far above, rushing past rocks. A faint rainbow glistened above him, the tiny droplets of water in the air reflecting the sunlight.
The sight was beautiful—but Jared felt nothing but dread. Once more the path had come to an end, and Chiara was nowhere to be seen.
Where did they go?
The urge forward was even stronger now. But there was nowhere to go—unless he shifted and flew upward, toward the source of the waterfall.
He climbed the rocks that surrounded the pond. A cool mist of water hung in the air. He’d almost decided to shift and explore the rocks above when he saw another telltale gleam on the rocks to his right, leading straight towards the waterfall.
When he made his way over there, he found a small bracelet nestled between the rocks. It was one of the bracelets Chiara had worn—a simple band of leather with a good luck charm strung on it.
Or, knowing Chiara, probably a charm against abduction by aliens.
Jared smiled helplessly as he lifted it up to his eyes, then slipped it onto his own arm.
Should have bought a charm against shadow dragons...
Only he didn’t think that something like that existed. Their enemy was a lot stronger, and a lot more complicated, than whatever human conspiracy theories had been able to come up with.
Still, the charm had worked, in a way. Chiara’d been able to leave him a message.
Only I have no idea what it means...
He studied the rocks before him. He’d originally assumed that the men who’d abducted her would have flown up towards the waterfall... But in that case, there would have been no need for Chiara to balance on these rocks.
The large stones surrounded the pool, overgrown with moss. Now that he took a closer look at them, he could see that feet had passed this way.
Instead of flying up, they’d walked across the rocky rim of the pond—which led straight to where the waterfall came rushing down.
With new determination, Jared made his way along the same slippery path. The roar of the water soon became so loud that he could hear nothing else.
Once or twice, he nearly slipped. There was so much water in the air that it was difficult to balance on the stone, and he could still not see where this path was leading.
Only when he’d taken one final jump towards a ledge right by the side of the waterfall did he see just where their footprints had led him.
There was a narrow path behind the waterfall. It was invisible from the outside—but now that he stood right next to it, he could see that the ledge led behind the veil of water.
Jared took a deep breath, holding on to the string of light inside his heart that told him Chiara was still alive. Then he made his way inside.
Chapter Seven: Chiara
Chiara was gasping for breath when they finally allowed her to rest.
She didn’t know for how long they’d walked. They’d made it to the waterfall noted on her map—and then they’d found the cave hidden behind, just like the map had promised.
And now they were somewhere underground. They couldn’t be far from the maze now.
She felt tears well up in her eyes. She was so close.