Cave of Wonders

 

            Reveille seemed to come extra early that morning. Daniel rubbed his eyes, then bolted out of bed when he realized what was happening today. Rafe let out an angry “meow” as he fell to the floor in Daniel’s hurry to get out of bed.

            “Sorry, Rafe, but we need to go. I don’t want to miss anything.” Daniel threw on some clothes and grabbed his pack. It didn’t take much to get ready when you were at summer camp. Just before he walked away from his bunk, Rafe jumped at Daniel, transforming smoothly from a cat to a gecko. He crawled straight into the backpack where Daniel knew he would immediately fall asleep.

            Grinning, Daniel walked outside with the other boys in his cabin as they headed to the trailhead next to the archery fields. He pretended he was just like everyone else at the camp and laughed and joked with the others.

            But he wasn’t like them. Rafe was his best friend and partner in the wizards’ bond. Daniel couldn’t do much magic yet, but he and Rafe were always together.

            Today’s hike ended in a waterfall, but it was eleven miles away. After the boys each packed their food for the day, they started off. Daniel loved hiking. It was the main reason that he’d wanted to come to camp so badly.

            It wasn’t until they stopped an hour later that Rafe emerged from Daniel’s backpack. He crawled out to accept the food that his friend had saved for him. When he finished, he transformed into a small sparrow and flew to the trees.

            Nice to see you awake, Daniel teased.

            A harsh chirp sounded from the tree and Daniel heard, It’s not natural to be awake before the sun comes up.

            Come on, you know you’re just as excited as I am. We’re finally going to the waterfall today!

            Rafe didn’t answer, but Daniel felt his excitement. This waterfall was supposed to be filled with ancient magic, and they were both hopeful that it would help them. There was something hidden there that contained an ancient spell. If the legend was true, then Daniel would learn more magic today.

            The hike was amazing. Daniel marveled at the greenery around them as they trudged through fields and across streams. Rafe had fun changing his form into different kinds of birds so it wouldn’t look too suspicious having the same bird following them. He was currently in the form of an eagle as he soared high above them.

            Around lunchtime, the trail turned rocky, and they started hiking along the base of a cliff. Shouts of delight announced that the boys in front had found something interesting. When Daniel saw what they had found, he understood their excitement. A great cave mouth yawned wide beside them.

            As he stood next to their guide, Jake, he was surprised by the confusion on his face. He kept shaking his head. “What’s the matter?” Daniel asked.

            Jake nodded to the cave. “I’ve done this hike every summer for the last five years, and I’ve never seen this cave before.”

            Rafe! Get down here! If this was the first time the cave had been seen, it was possible that it had something to do with magic.

            Everyone wanted to check out the cave. Jake reluctantly gave them a few minutes to explore, but told them to hurry up so they could reach the waterfall in time. Daniel filed in with everyone else and saw Rafe out of the corner of his eye as he flew in as a little black bird.

            Even though the mouth of the cave was wide and should have allowed for plenty of sunshine, it was dark inside. Daniel had to dig out the flashlight from his pack and click it on. He was startled to discover that he was the only one inside. “Hello?” Where had everyone else gone? A slight weight on his shoulders let him know that Rafe had joined him. Where is everyone?

            Beats me, but this is obviously a magical place. Let’s see what we can find. Rafe flapped down to the cave floor where he transformed into a great hulking wolf. Glad for some physical protection, Daniel led the way deeper into the cave.

            Before they had gone very far, a menacing growl came from behind them. Whipping his flashlight around, Daniel saw a great beast bounding straight for them. Purple scales covered its massive hide and its eyes glowed like fire as it brandished its talons and opened its mouth full of sharp teeth.

            A smaller beast, this one green, streaked past Daniel to meet the bigger one. With a rush of relief, Daniel knew that the smaller one was Rafe. His long, serpentine body met the ferocious attack of the great purple monster. Roars from both creatures echoed loudly throughout the cave as they struggled with teeth and claws.

            Daniel’s relief turned into fear as he realized that Rafe was no match for the bigger animal. Focusing his mind, Daniel gathered his magic to form a ball of fire in his fist. He let it grow bigger and bigger until it lit up the whole cave around them. After sending a silent message to Rafe, he hurled the great fireball straight at the massive creature where it exploded and was completely encompassed in flames.

            When the fire dissipated, Daniel saw that the creature was injured but not dead. It took four more fireballs before the flames finally took down the beast.

            Rafe turned back into a wolf as he limped slightly beside Daniel. Are you all right? Daniel tried not to let his worry come through to Rafe.

            I’ll be fine, just give me a few days.

            I didn’t know you could turn into mythological creatures. A smile broke out on Daniel’s face.

            Why not? There’s just not much opportunity to use them. Rafe leaned down to sniff the purple beast’s body. There’s something here.

            Daniel was immediately at his side, studying the charred remains. A faint glowing green light emanated from the ashes. Reaching out, he picked it up, studying the most brilliant emerald he had ever seen. The glow grew brighter, and he felt a change come over him. He felt more… powerful.

            Whoa. Hold on to that, Daniel. This could be the magical object we’ve been looking for.

            What does it do? Daniel turned over the stone in his hands. The light slowly faded until it looked like an ordinary green gem.

            We’ll have to do some research, I think. Rafe looked toward the cave’s entrance. We’d better get out of here and get back to the group. Who knows what’s happening right now. He turned back into a bird as the two of them left the cave together.

            Daniel was greeted with concerned faces from the boys. “Where have you been, Daniel? We thought you were lost.”

            “Yeah, we need to hurry so we can get to the waterfall.”

            Jake walked up to Daniel. “I thought I said only a few minutes.”

            “Sorry, Jake,” Daniel said. “I lost track of time.”

            Seeming to accept this excuse, Jake nodded. “All right, let’s get going!”

            The hike to the waterfall was easy after that. Daniel was glad that no one had seen what had happened in the cave. He could still pretend he was a normal kid.