They rode for some time into the borderlands forest and came up to an old castle ruins. Albion got off her horse.
"Bring your bags along… If any." Alby said, with a smile, and they followed her into a dark passage, which led them into the Castle.
Mantis staff provided light for them. The only sound they heard was a heartbeat, beating so hard
"Whose heartbeat is that?" Mantis inquired, looking at Allen. Allen shrugged and walked even more faster, to avoid embarrassment probably.
They reached inside the castle's main chamber, it was a very large one, with a big enough opening on the roof. Four large pillars which were situated in the middle supported the building.
Alby was dumbfounded and confused.
"Okay, I would love to say Wow first." Allen said, making an expression, he dropped his sword and bag.
"Wow...Okay, done. So, we are here, so what's next? Aren't we supposed to be seeing some kind of Umm gateway mmm?" Said Allen looking at Alby who dropped in tears. Mantis looked at Allen like he was the one who caused it
"Oh, no I didn't do that." Said Allen who went to sit down in a corner.
"And I wonder why they always look at me like that." Allen muttered to himself. While Cassey and Orlswen were busy checking out the Chamber. But Cassey had seen that something wasn't right, Alby was really grieving. He went to her
"I'm sorry Albion isnt their another way?"
"No. No, this isn't happening.." Alby said with tears roaming around her face. Cassey held her hand, and looked into her eyes.
"Yes it is. Now is the time to decide, what are we going to do now?"
Albion was quiet for sometime, she looked around… and
"We wait." Decided that they wait
"What?" Asked Cassey, who didn't see the point of waiting, or better still, why.
"Cassey you have to believe me, if it isn't here, there won't be any other place. There's no way, prophecy would be lying, or me being wrong"
"Oh hey! That's a nice idea, I agree. Here's a great sanctuary, plus, I got a nice place to get some good sleep you know. And beside, we don't have anywhere else to go. Allen interrupted, he only cared about the comfort the castle provided, although ruined.
So Everyone found a place to rest. To wait for a miracle.
They stayed their from the day till the night. They were all asleep except Orlswen who was sharpening his sword. Anyway, wolves don't sleep at night!
The Moonlight shined all over the chamber from the roof opening. And it was the night's moon that brought the miracle... the long awaited one.
Orlswen dropped his sword, ready to take a nap when Suddenly, light sparkled and creaked in the middle of the four pillars.
He quickly got up and and took his sword, and went to wake Allen
"Hey" he tapped Allen softly, Allen quickly raised the alarm, prompting everyone to wake up!
"Guys… You need to see this" said Allen. And as they got up, they backed away from the pillars...all ready for another encounter
The light got stronger and heavier, forming a type of portal like a fireball, looming in blue and Casey and his companions were taken aback. Suddenly, the building shake, for about what lasts for a moment… Fear and panic took a grip on them. They haven't witnessed this kind, and they were unsure of what it was this time.
"Let's get out of here! Come on!" Allen suggested, But alby wasn't going anywhere, instead she got happy
"No! Wait…"
They looked at each other…
"What? Are you crazy?" First time Allen stepped up to Alby, but he quickly adjusted
"Look" Alby pointed at the pillars. There were blue writings on the four pillars like ancient symbols, and they were attaching to the portal that was being formed. They watched in great anticipation.
It gathered a lot of energy, building up so heavily and strong as if it was going to explode… and yes… It exploded!
But surprisingly, there was Nothing, but the cool moonlight again. Alby was puzzled, her mood changed. Allen did a check up on his chest. Orlswen was concerned. So he asked
"What are you doing?"
"Checking if my heart is still with me or has exploded too…" Allen replied, exhaling so much.
Alby weeped, tears ran down her face. And Cassey tried to comfort her again. It seemed that she was the only one who needed to enter Castron And The Albions. It affected her so much, because her people needed her, and she had been out for long
"That was supposed to be the last gateway, is gone." Alby sobbed.
Mantis knew what this meant. He was in pain too. It hit all of them hard. All hope was lost. Cassey was Devastated
"So, that was supposed to be our one and only shot.
Then,
...Something formed behind them, but no one was noticing, the Shadow went down…
… Orlswen noticed something, so he slid out his sword slowly, like a wolf preparing for an attack
"Guys, is it only me or is there really something behind…" Before Allen could finish his statement, Orlswen pushed him away! To avoid getting him harmed and pointed his sword at the figure.
"Show yourself!" They drew their weapons. The sword became heavy for Orlswen and his sword's blade screeched
"Huh" two deep scary,but beautiful blue eyes, emerged from the darkness, as If they were particles of the portal.
They fell back! The figure had been bowing its head…
"Stay there! Don't come any further!" Orlswen commanded, getting his sword knocked off from his hand! Alby charged up blue! ...but the figure stepped into the light.
It was Hornduras, a powerful creature from the Albions. It had Sharp nails, it was tall, and had a floating ponytail, with a furry tail.
The creatures of Albion were furry, having both human and glorious heavenly animal characteristics.
"I'm hornduras, a high priestess of the albions"
They were speechless. She looked at Alby and… Bowed to her!
"Thank you for freeing me, Queen Albyon."
They were even more surprised. Except Alby, who worried, knowing what it meant- war.
Some moments later, everyone was uneasy, while Hornduras tried to explain something to them.
"The Dark Lord has too many allies, I doubt there are many of us remaining."
"And you? How did you… Survive and Umm get through The gateway?" Alby asked
"The war was getting too much, our own turned against us, winning was far from reality, we gathered together, all the high priestesses and sorcerers to find a way out. The gateway was the only option, but no, no one would dare. They all ran away. I stayed."
"Why?"
"Albion needs a survivor. Luckily, I found a way to open the gateway, but that was the first and last. I'm sorry Albyon, that was the first and last."
"What? No, you're not making sense." Alby said worriedly
"I was trapped inside, because i knew you will journey to this way"
She looked at cassey
"Not even the legendary white-winged stallion horseman can free me. I was waiting for you, for your presence and light to free me, but we can't tamper with the gateway again."
"What? You mean,we can't open the gateway again? The last gateway is lost forever? " Alby got frustrated
Hornduras smiled. And went closer to Cassey.
"Yes, We can't…. But He can"
Alby, Mantis and Cassey were surprised!
"Me? I thought, this gateway of a thing has nothing to do with me?"
"How true is this? And how do you know this?" Alby asked, leaning forward. If it was true, then there was hope
"I'm a high priestess, remember? But, he got only one chance, and it is a rare one, he has to really be the legendary white-winged stallion horseman, for that to happen, and on a limited time, it won't stay open for long, so he must not relent."
Alby, who became partly relieved, had to go hold Cassey. This was their last chance, so he had to be ready.
"Please cassey, don't relent…. Yes, you can"
"So, what's it with this dark lord? And what does he want?" Cassey asked, determined to fight This Dark Lord
"The dark lord, I believe , is your uncle… He killed your father, the king of castron. And I'm afraid so, he is here, in the form of a sorcerer, with his hordes of soldiers and Knights. Apparently, he seeks to take over this world too, Albyon poses a threat."
"This is insane, does he know about me?... But, my uncle, as I remember,is the only one who loved me so much, how could he?" Because he had touched the Trident which belonged to him, he could easily tap into his past memory lane, but it wasn't clear enough. He was getting better and stronger
"The dark lord doesn't know that his nephew is the horseman, and he shouldn't worry about albyon, but you."
For a moment, they were quiet. At this time, it was war, so it quickly rang to Cassey that they needed Allies. They were too small for the Dark Lord hordes of soldiers and his knights that were almost indestructible, having the power of thousands of great soldiers and warriors.
"And yes, we are going to make friends." Cassey said, looking at them, determinedly, they had no option but to agree. He was right after all.