Forever Destined To The Silver Shadow

Celestia's POV: 

I injected myself with a few drops of unicorn blood from the vial that Darius gave me. Since I am on a mission to retrieve the crown, my psychic shield must be strong enough so that I don't get caught by the Siren girls. 

Darius and I got into the basement region of the palace. It was not very hard for us to get past the palace guards as they were all high on the firewater. Probably they are all celebrating the feast day! 

I had no idea where the rest of the Fathomless Fae warriors were in the palace. I hope they do not get caught! Since the feast is still going on in the banquet hall, we all have an advantage. 

"We should find the crown within tonight," I said to Darius, who was walking beside me. "All of them are so distracted tonight, and I don't think that we might get an opportunity like this tomorrow."

Darius nodded and agreed with me. We both then climbed down the steps that would lead us to the underground vault. I assumed that we would get there once we climbed down a certain number of stairs, but the staircase was never-ending. 

I looked down the railing, and all I saw were just stairs. I began to doubt if we would be able to make it downstairs within the night. 

"When will we be able to reach the edge of the staircase?" I asked Darius. 

"Let us keep going on without stopping. We will get there eventually," he said.

I guess there is nothing much we could do about it except going down the stairs. Why would Lord Magnus build an underworld cavern? 

The Southern Mage Lord is an architectural freak, and even he doesn't have any secret underground caverns like this. Something doesn't feel right here! 

I began to get exhausted after climbing down the stairs for fifteen minutes continuously without taking a break. I wish that we could open a portal to get to the cavern. 

But the treasure rooms in all the regions are always sealed by the anti-enchantment spell, so it is impossible to create a portal directly there. We both had no other choice except to walk! 

I was delighted when the edge of the stairs became visible. Darius breathed out in relief and mumbled to himself, "I was scared that this staircase would never end!"

"I thought that too," I agreed with him. 

It was so good to step on the ground, but my feet began to hurt like hell. It was freezing cold there as we were so deep below the land. 

I should not have worn a strapless gown! Or at least I should have brought my silk blanket. But I never expected all of this to happen. 

Darius and I stood at the entrance of the cavern. Surprisingly, the cavern was open. "Why hasn't he sealed this shut?" I asked Darius. Immediately my voice began to echo multiple times throughout the place. 

"Celestia," Darius called out. When my name echoed, I felt like a giant beast was calling out my name multiple times. "I don't think that Silver Shadow has hidden the stolen artifacts here."

"What?" I shouted. "How do you say that? We came here through many difficulties, and all of this is for nothing?"

Darius was about to say something, but he stopped when he heard an echo that did not belong to either one of us. "Someone else is here," I whispered to him. 

He nodded, and he stepped into the cavern. Why is he going in there now? Someone is in there, and we might get caught! But I didn't argue with him because if I say anything out loud, they might hear us too. 

After we reached deep into the cavern, we were able to see large green rocks like crystals on the surface. I realized that this is actually an Emerald mine. 

This cavern is built to extract the Emerald crystal from the underground. So the Mage Lord Magnus gets his emerald by digging this deep down the lands! 

We both hid behind a huge rock when we noticed that two silhouettes were appearing closer to us. One of them was Theo, and another one was Lord Magnus. 

My heart sank when I saw the trickster. He is going to catch me now. He always senses my presence even when I have my psychic shield up. While we both were in the waterfalls, he was able to find me even though my mental shield was strong at that time. 

Everything is over now! He is going to reprimand me for scheming against him, and Darius will probably be thrown in the palace dungeon. 

I should not have gone along with this whole thing! But I only carried out this mission as I thought that everyone was celebrating in the banquet hall. Why are they two here now? 

At first, their voices were muffled, and I couldn't hear anything clearly they spoke. But as they moved closer to our hiding place, I was able to listen to them merely. 

"Your Highness, I don't think that we could make a hundred emerald goblets within a week. It takes a lot of time for my men to extract the crystal from the surface," Lord Magnus said. 

I wondered why Theo needed one hundred Emerald goblets.

"The Vampire King Ambrogio has not given me that much time, Magnus," Theo's words echoed out through the cave. "He has instructed me to give him the goblets within a week."

"I can't promise anything, but we will do our best," Magnus replied. 

They both crossed us and went out of the cavern after that. Still, Darius and I were hiding behind the rock. It felt strange that Theo didn't sense my presence. 

Or maybe he did sense my presence, and he is acting as if he didn't. Perhaps he noticed Darius too, and he is coming up with a strategy to capture us both together. 

I will not let that happen! I glanced at Darius and said," I will distract him and take him back to the palace. You get the other Fathomless warriors and leave this palace before he finds anyone of you."

"No, Celestia! Please don't go to him. He might be on to you," Darius warned me. 

But I did not listen to him.. "Just do what I said. Runaway from here!"