Dreaming Spring: Legend of the Heatherwood Beast

The damp underground air hung thick with the scent of old dust and ancient stone.

" Cedric, Doryu... there's nothing here," Phobos muttered, his voice echoing off the cavern walls. He kicked a cluster of rubble, sending pebbles skittering into the dark. "Did we waste our time? There doesn't seem to be a single remnant left behind. It's all the same—how are we going to find Symphonia Castle? We'll never get back to our own world."

"We're buried here as deep as deep in the earth," Puddleglum said, pulling his soggy cloak tighter around his long, spindly shoulders. His Marsh-wiggle face was a picture of practiced gloom as he turned to Peter Pevensie. "Many have come down, mind you, and few have returned to the sun-lit land. Though I suppose if we're to be swallowed up by dark caverns, this is as good a place as any to freeze."

Peter rested a hand on the hilt of Rhindon, his eyes scanning the gloom. "We aren't lost yet, Puddleglum. But we need to move quickly."

Nearby, Queen Jasmine ran her fingers along a petrified trunk jutting out from the cavern floor, her loyal tiger Rajah letting out a low, uneasy ruff. She turned toward Leif, the King of Deltora. "There's something about the trees here, Leif. I don't know what, but it's almost as if they're dead. Not just withered... drained."

Leif nodded, the Belt of Deltora gleaming faintly against his chest under his cloak. "It's dark magic. The kind that slowly siphons life from the land."

High above on a jagged ledge, a shadow shifted. It was Bathic, one of the palace guards—or at least, he still wore the tarnished blue tunic of one. But his sheath was completely empty. No sword rested at his hip; no shield was strapped to his back.

"Look," Jasmine whispered, catching the movement and pointing upward. "A guard leaving the post without his weapon?"

"It's Bathic," Peter said, his eyes narrowing as he assessed the towering figure struggling to maneuver around a steep rocky outcrop. "He left the castle without his sword and shield. That's no clumsy accident—he's the spy we're seeking."

"He means to warn them," Leif said, stepping forward. "He's heading for the surface."

"Let him try," Phobos scoffed, a cold sneer playing on his lips. "Look at him. He's large and far too slow. It will take him entirely too long to reach the surface, let alone warn my sister, Queen Elyion, the heir to the throne, or my other sister, Will Vandom, the leader of the Guardians. They were both brought to Earth twelve years ago. If Bathic thinks he can outrun us to deliver a message, he's mistaken."

"They won't just listen to anyone who stumbles out of the dark anyway," Peter noted, keeping his voice steady. "They must earn their trust first. Elyion, Will, and Phobos—the three heirs have great power, but power without trust is volatile."

"Then we don't let Bathic out of our sight," Leif said, drawing his sword. The ruby on the Belt of Deltora flared with a faint red warmth, cutting through the underground chill. "He may be slow, but a slow spy still carries dangerous news if he reaches the top. We follow him, find the path to Symphonia Castle, and break this trap before it shuts on us."

Puddleglum sighed, stepping into line behind the young kings and queens. "Well, following a giant spy through a dead underground forest into certain peril... it's bound to end disastrously, but we might as well get on with it."  https://audiomack.com/dj-new-new-dre/song/6a748b35af475