Author's Note

This chapter gets a little spooky. Those of you who hate spooky, be warned.

The Crown of King Ventaius

Morning came agonizingly quick for Joey.

He had been having a strange dream before he awoke. It was a classic save-the-damsel-in-distress situation, except the gender roles were reversed - Joey was being saved from a tower by his knight in shining armor, Jo-Ann, right after she had slain a dragon that had Lord Valkaris's face.

Then his eyeball got sniped by a sunbeam.

He grimaced and flopped over in bed, mashing his face into the thatch bedding. "What the hell, Celestia..."

"What?" said a voice that came from his left. He looked up to see Naiose looking straight up at him from the floor with an inquiring expression.

"I said, 'Celestia, what the hell," Joey grunted, sitting up straight.

Naiose chuckled, obviously a little loopy from tiredness. "Oh, yeah. 'Cause she raises the sun and shit. Do you know what time we went to bed last night?"

"Late, that's all I know," Joey replied, rubbing his eyes furiously to rid them of their tired itchiness. He scowled at the window next to his bed, which had no curtains to block the morning sunlight. "Why do these stupid kirin have to neglect curtains? They're essential to getting the perfect amount of sleep."

"It's because we kirin wake up with the sun!" said a cheery voice just outside the front door, making Joey and Naiose jump.

The door flew open with a BANG as Autumn Blaze bounded into the room, landing right on top of a sleeping Capper's stomach. He yowled in shock as he woke up, sending Autumn to the floor with an amusing thud. Capper groaned and slowly sat up.

"Do you bloody kirin have to do that every time I'm here?" he said groggily, managing to glare at Autumn through his unfocused eyes.

"It's not my fault you sleep close to the door," Autumn retorted with an exasperated huff.

"I do it to get away from those miserable beams of sunlight," Capper said morosely, pointing a thumb at the evil window that had woken Joey up.

"Now I see why you called dibs on that bed," Joey said grumpily. "No fair."

Autumn made a tutting noise and got to her hooves. "Well, hurry up you guys - breakfast is about to start. Capper, Rain Shine has saved a seat for you - just giving you a heads up."

Capper groaned and dragged a hand down his face in an irritated manner. "What? I don't even get a say in this?" Autumn didn't hear him, though; she was already out the door. Muttering profusely and savagely, Capper got to his feet and threw his black cloak over his shoulders. Trudging out the doors, Joey could of sworn he heard the words 'Shine' and 'psychopath'.

He and Naiose only took a minute longer than Capper, but only because Naiose had somehow lost a sock (Joey could remember saying, "Seriously, Naiose, you were literally wearing that frickin' sock when you went to bed!")

When they had finally left the house, two kirin immediately flanked them and escorted them to a long wooden table that sat right next to the fountain with brilliant blue water. Jo-Ann waved at the two of them from one end of the table, gesturing to the two open seats to her left. At her right, seating at the head of the table, was Rain Shine.

Joey took his seat directly next to Jo-Ann; Naiose sat to his left in the last open seat. Joey looked over at Capper, who looked extremely grumpy as Rain Shine kept trying to grab his attention. Their eyes met, and Capper scowled even deeper.

"Not. A. Word," he growled, baring his teeth. Joey just laughed and shrugged while feeling Jo-Ann's hand slip into his under the table.

They were immediately served with some sort of vegetable omelette, which turned out to be amazing. Rain Shine gave Joey, Naiose, and Jo-Ann a simple interrogation. They told her all they could without revealing her plan. When Capper had butted in and told Rain Shine that Jo-Ann had saved his life, she beamed at her.

After witnessing this, Joey felt a slight hollow feeling in his stomach that he couldn't explain. Naiose seemed to notice this and put a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"You alright?" he asked in a low voice.

"Wha -? Oh, yeah," Joey replied hurriedly, quickly taking an enormous bite of omelette so as to avoid further conversation. Jo-Ann noticed none of this; she was laughing at a joke that Rain Shine had just told her.

Naiose gave his friend a disbelieving look, but did not push the topic. Instead, he turned his attention back to his own omelette. "So when are we going to Griffonstone?"

"Tonight," Joey answered automatically. "Better to do it under the cover of darkness."

"Figured you say that," Naiose replied thickly through a mouthful of omelette. He swallowed, then asked, "So do you know the whole plan?"

"No, I figured that we'd just polish it before we go," Joey replied, poking the remnants of his omelette with a wooden fork. "You know - have it fresh in our minds."

"Yeah - good idea," Naiose said brightly, eating the last bite of his omelette.

Once he had finished his last bite, he looked over at Joey. "Why aren't you eating, Joey?"

Joey shrugged. "I dont feel very hungry - probably from all of the excitement." Half of this was true; we wasn't that hungry. As to why, he didn't actually know. He just seemed to get this strange, hollow feeling whenever he looked at Jo-Ann and thought about everything she had done so far. She had saved his rear twice, and on top of that she had managed to apparate to somewhere she had only seen in a picture.

Was it jealousy that was haunting his thoughts? Hopefully not... and if that was what these feelings were, he'd have to suck it up and move on - or at least try to.

Although as Jo-Ann turned in her seat to beam at him, it made the gnawing feeling inside of him swell into a down spiral. But he would fight this; if the world depended upon him, he had to.

CANTERLOT

Cadance had been pacing the hallway just outside of the royal kitchens at Canterlot Castle, for they had the best views of the city below. It was mid morning, the time of day when she would simply pace back and forth through the hallway. With each step came a new thought or worry, though one in particular dominated her mind - Joey.

Was he okay? Where was he now? Was his mission going well? Would - would she ever see him again?

She shook her head to rid herself of that nasty thought. No, that was ridiculous - Joey was strong. He looked like he knew what he was doing; if not, he was smart enough to figure it out.

Along with these worries came another - they were about her Flurry Heart. Fortunately, the fact that she existed was not entirely known among the Maulers, although she wasn't sure whether the Dark Lord was aware of her daughter, either. If he was, he was keeping unusually quiet.

She paused to stare out a window, looking at the sky as she continued to drown in her own thoughts. The Dark Lord had indeed kept unusually quiet. Now that Cadance thought about it, the last time she had seen the dark wizard was when he had triumphantly marched into Canterlot and seized control. Luckily for them, there had been no bloodshed, due mostly to the fact that Princess Celestia had ordered all guards to step aside and let the Dark Lord take control. She remembered that day as if it were yesterday; you could have heard a pin drop during his march into the city as all of the citizens watched in a terrified silence.

Cadance looked at the ground and fought back tears. She hoped dearly, with every cell in her body, that things would get better. That everyone could get out of this terrible situation safely...

That she would get to spend her days with her surrogate son in peace.

The door at the end of the corridor flew open, making Cadance flinch. She turned to see Tempest standing there in the doorway, looking very regretful.

"Scallius wants you in the throne room," she said, her voice shaking slightly.

Cadance felt her heart shatter as she watched Tempest. Though the Captain hid it well, Cadance could tell that she was forced into following the orders from Scallius. She approached Tempest and brought her into a gentle hug.

"I'm sorry," Cadance whispered, then let the Captain go. Tempest took a deep breath and stiffened her already stony expression, determined not to show weakness. She turned and walked out the door, and Cadance instantly knew that she was meant to follow her.

As the pair walked down the corridor beyond, Cadance asked, "What does Scallius want this time?"

Tempest shrugged as they turned a corner.

Cadance curled her tongue in disgust as she continued to follow Tempest. Saying Scallius's name always put a sour, unpleasant taste into her mouth - it would of for anyone.

Gavin Scallius was a big, brutish Mauler built like a troll. While he looked like he had the intelligence of your average boulder, he was actually very cunning and intelligent. He verbally tortured the sovereigns that had been relocated to Canterlot and got loads of pleasure out of it. He would order them to do things that they otherwise wouldn't, and if they refused he would simply call for his master, who assured them all that he would sort things out himself if worst came to worst. That effectively dampened the rebellious spirits of every single creature in the castle - besides Scallius, obviously.

As they approached the throne room doors, Cadance felt her heart slow down. Just beyond those doors was Scallius - no doubt to force her into doing something horrible again.

Tempest shakily pushed open the throne room doors, then made a slight bow to Cadance as she walked past. Once Cadance was inside, the doors closed with a low, ominous boom.

"Ah! Princess Cadance," said a sly, low pitched voice. "I was beginning to get concerned."

She looked up to see the brawny figure of Scallius striding down the steps that led up to thrones of Celestia and Luna. He wore a mean smirk upon his face, and was clearly in a great mood. Also in the room were all the sovereigns - including Celestia, Luna, and Twilight.

Scallius leered at Cadance before saying, "So... the Dark Lord has made a comment to me about the cooperation of the Canterlot community. What do you think he said?"

"I... I cannot tell you that," Cadance said with an edge to her voice. "I do not talk to the Dark Lord."

Scallius cackled. "Don't get wise with me, princess. "You know very well what I mean."

"There is nothing wrong with the community's attitude!" Luna snapped, stomping a hoof. She glared at Scallius with so much ferocity that it made Cadance half-surprised that he wasn't a pile of ashes. Then again, she knew that her aunt was aware that Scallius had enough skill to duel her one-on-one. The only reason everyone didn't attack him at once was because they knew that at that point Lord Valkaris would deal with them himself. Just the thought of that sent a shiver down Cadance's spine.

Scallius made a soft tutting noise as he smirked at Luna in a gloating fashion. "Manners, Lulu," he said as his eyes glinted maliciously. "You could be heading up a certain creek without a paddle."

Luna paled slightly, but continued to glare murderously at Scallius as he cackled. He walked up to Princess Celestia, who had been muttering to Luna, and flicked his wand at her. There was a sharp crack, and Celestia jumped away from Luna with a yelp of pain. There was a mutinous outbreak of shouting as everyone began to verbally abuse Scallius. Fortunately for them, all their voices mixed together into a din that the brutish Mauler could not understand.

"SILENCE!" he shrieked, bringing his wand down. The whole room went deathly quiet as Scallius put a silencing spell on everyone in the room. He was no longer smiling; he scowled at everyone in the room. "It appears that you all are not quite tame with the fact that you are no longer in power," he said in a low, dangerous tone. "Perhaps we need more convincing...?" He raised a finger to an odd mark on his neck.

"NO!" King Gaius cried, stumbling over his own feet.

Scallius laughed softly and slowly lowered his hand. "Wise choice, Gaius. Anyone else?" He looked around at their nervous looks, and smirked. "Good."

He walked back up to the platform upon which the thrones sat, and sat down criss-crossed on Celestia's seat. Luna shook with rage, but Celestia put a hoof on her withers to calm her.

"As I was saying earlier - the cooperation of the local community does not meet the Dark Lord's standards," Scallius said lazily, flicking away a speck that sat on an armrest. "Therefore, action shall be taken so that his standards are met. Suggestions?"

"We will speak to the ponies, if that is what you desire" Celestia said calmly, frowning at Scallius.

Scallius cackled. "Bo-ring. Is that all you have?"

"Yes. Yes it is," Celestia said sharply.

"Hmm," Scallius hummed while feigning a thinking expression. "I don't like that. I feel as if we'll need more convincing."

"Don't you dare," Cadance, Luna, and Twilight growled as one. Celestia looked as if she was going to be sick.

"Do not torture my subjects," Celestia said weakly.

"I was under the impression that it was me giving the orders nowadays," Scallius said nastily. "So you will shut up, or face the consequences."

Luna, enraged, opened her mouth to speak, but Celestia gave her sister a warning look. Luna shut her mouth and continued to glare.

Scallius eyed the exchange with an amused expression, and looked slightly disappointed when Celestia calmed her sister down. Looking over everyone in the room, he leered. "I feel that you should be the ones to give the order to have your subjects tortured into cooperation. Even better - your subjects should hear you give it. Oh, that would be hilarious!" He cackled.

The sovereigns in the room gazed at one another, horrified. They knew they had no choice, and if they refused, their subjects would be killed. The injustice of it made Cadance want to scream - she felt a burning sensation behind her eyes as she fought back tears. The other princesses seemed to be feeling the same way.

As the guards ushered them out of the throne room, Twilight let out a horrified sob. Cadance brought her sister in law into a tight hug, then looked at the ceiling.

Joey, she thought miserably. Wherever you are, and whatever you're doing, please hurry.

Griffonstone had been exactly like Capper had explained it; the whole city (more like a town - it was fairly small) was dominated by a large tree that looked as if it were dead. Joey couldn't tell if it was or not, though, because it supported a variety of homes as well as a large, white tower.

The homes were fairly shabby, although they were much better than many of the structures he had come across in Kludgetown. Their roofs were made of a crude style of thatch, and they had pale stucco walls that were supported by wood at the edges.

The streets were simple dirt roads, winding through the city in a spontaneous fashion. There was no pattern in how the streets were organized, but it was still less confusing than Kludgetown had been.

Joey, Naiose, and Jo-Ann had traveled here from their new secret refuge in the kirin village. After promising that they would return, they had made to leave. Capper attempted to come, too, but Rain Shine would not let him out of her clutches. Not wanting to be delayed, the three friends had disapparated using Jo-Ann's ability to do so with places she's only pictured.

After running over the plan a couple more times, the three of them gazed over the town warily. from behind a large rock.

Next to a forest.

At the bottom of the hill. You can't be too careful.

Joey inhaled deeply, trying to ignore the butterflies in his stomach. This was it... if they were lucky, there would be something in that town that could tell them where the Horcrux was. If they were really lucky, the Horcrux would be here...

Joey shook his head. The chances of that had to be nil. There was no way that an ancient artifact like that would be here, of all places. Right?

"You good?" asked Naiose, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah," Joey grunted, taking another deep breath. "Just nervous."

"Me, too," Jo-Ann said breathlessly. Casting another anxious glance at the city, she asked, "Do you really think we'll pass as Maulers? Griffons aren't stupid."

"Well, for me to walk out in the open like that is the last thing they'd expect," Joey replied. "Besides, from what I've heard, everyone's terrified of the Maulers these days. They'd scamper before they had a good look."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Jo-Ann replied, looking slightly more sure of herself. "D'you think we should split up?"

"Definitely," Naiose said quickly, looking her straight in the eye, then did the same with Joey. "Maulers usually don't hang around in groups larger than two for long, remember? We realized that in Kludgetown."

"Yeah, he's right," Joey agreed. "We should apparate into different parts of the city."

"You think we can do it from here?" Naiose asked nervously. "Well - I mean, we know that Jo-Ann can do it, it's just a question of us. Will we be able to do it?"

"Remember the theory for apparition that my dad taught us," Joey reminded him. "Your desire and determination to get there has to be strong enough. So long as you do that, you can't get lost in the travelling void."

"That last part did not help," Naiose said, looking pale.

Joey shrugged. "If you're not comfortable, just come with me. We'd have to go our separate ways soon."

"Yeah, that sounds loads better," Naiose said, looking and sounding relieved.

"Well, hurry," Jo-Ann said. "We need to hurry. "We're meeting up at the base of the tree, right?"

"Correct," Joey and Naiose said at the same time.

Naiose turned away and walked away from the rock they were taking temporary refuge behind. Joey made to leave with him, but Jo-Ann pulled him aside.

"Are you doing alright?" she asked, looking concerned.

Joey returned fire with a hard expression. "Look, don't worry about it. Now's not the time."

Jo-Ann hesitated, then pulled him into a kiss. When she released him, she said, "Please be careful. Okay?"

Joey nodded. Then an extremely important afterthought hit him. Looking at Jo-Ann, he said, "And don't forget - this is a capital city, so there will be reapers."

She nodded at him with a sad smile, then turned on the spot and vanished. Joey then turned and hurried after Naiose. Once he caught up with him, he held out his arm. "Ready?"

Naiose looked at his arm for a moment, then clutched to it tightly. "Y-Yeah. Yeah, I'm ready."

Joey took a deep breath and looked at the end of one of the tree's branches. He pictured what it would look like up there, what it would feel like. He filled himself with determination to get there and worked up a desire - then turned on the spot and forced his way into a familiar suffocating darkness. As always, it pressed in on him from all sides, squeezing the air out of his lungs...

Then fresh air again.

Taking a deep breath, Joey looked around and felt an immense wave of relief wash over him as he found himself standing on the very branch he had pictured. He'd have to thank Jo-Ann later - although he wasn't sure he'd be able to do it again.

He felt a sudden warmth in his arm as Naiose relieved his grip upon it, allowing blood to flow back into it. Joey rolled his shoulders, then sighed determinedly.

"Here goes nothing," he murmured to Naiose, who nodded nervously back.

The moonlit streets (or would it be branches?) of the upper levels of Griffonstone were silent, though Joey could feel a cold, awful feeling seep into his lungs.

"Naiose," he said in a deadly urgent voice, "We need to move."

Naiose gave his friend an inquiring look. "What? Why?" He then shuddered, and his expression quickly turned into an alarmed one.

"Reapers," Joey whispered. "They'll sense our emotions - they can't see, but they'll know we aren't Maulers. We need to leave now."

The two set off at a brisk pace, although careful not to go too fast as to not attract attention of any kind. As quick as they could without being detected, they carefully descended down the different city levels that the tree provided. Once or twice they encountered a griffon walking on one side of the street in the darkness. Once it noticed the two friends, it shot them a terrified glance and hurried out of sight. It turned out that he was right; the griffons simply thought they were Maulers and didn't even bother to come any closer.

Once at the bottom of the tree, Joey noticed a large problem - the base of the tree was so wide that it would probably take at least five minutes to walk around.

"Should we stay put?" Naiose asked at a whisper, looking around. "I feel like if we went looking for Jo, we'd be harder to find."

"Yeah," Joey agreed. "Let's at least hide in the shadows; these Mauler ruses we're using can only help us so much. If she doesn't show up after fifteen minutes, we go looking for her."

Naiose nodded in reply, and the two made for a dark, overshadowed corner right next to the massive tree. There, they made themselves as flat as they could against the trunk, so as to not stick out. There they waited.

The minutes passed like hours, and Joey started to become worried. Had something gone wrong? Was Jo okay? Maybe it was a bad idea to split up...

The approaching sound of crunching gravel gave the two friends a start. They were definitely made by a human - the cadence of the footsteps was that of a human's. Naiose and Joey watched with bated breath as the footsteps rounded a nearby corner.

A hooded figure stepped out into the moonlight, and looked around. Joey felt his stomach clench tightly until he saw a flash of a golden blonde from under the hood.

"Psst!" Joey hissed, and the figure jumped. Joey stepped forward and motioned for the figure to approach him. She agreed, although very hesitantly.

"Jo-Ann? Is that you?" Joey asked.

"Joey?" said Jo-Ann, instantly relaxing. "Oh, thank God." She gave Joey a brief hug, then did the same to Naiose. She glanced over her shoulder to check if anyone was there, then leaned in and whispered, "Did you find anything?"

"No," Joey replied. "We had to move before any reapers could find us."

Jo-Ann nodded. "Okay, just checking," she said, a hint of excitement in her voice. "I ask because I already found a library."

Joey took a step back, feeling thrown off. "Really!?"

"Yep!" Jo-Ann whispered triumphantly. "It's not far from here, either - just on the other side of this tree."

Joey and Naiose exchanged excited looks. It seemed that their streak of good fortune would continue; now they would have to see if it would continue through the entire operation.

"Well c'mon - no use in waiting while we still have the cover of darkness," Joey said in a hushed tone. "Let's see if there's a book that can tell us where the Crown of King Ventaius is."

The three friends slowly made their way to the opposite side of the tree, staying concealed in the shadows as much as possible. When they had reached the other side of the tree, the library was instantly noticeable - it was a tall, wide building, and it was built exactly like a chalet you'd find in Switzerland back on Earth. A large wooden sign hung over the door that was inscribed with poor spelling:

Inturnashunal Griffon Libraree

"I have no idea if it's reliable," Jo-Ann said, grinning slightly. "It's better than nothing, though."

"Yeah," Joey replied, fighting back a laugh that was itching to get out. "I guess it is... that name, though."

"What about it?" Naiose whispered, feigning dumbness in his voice.

"Naiose, shut the fuck up."

They hurried across the street to the library and peeked in through a window. The tall shelves inside stood close to one another, and the librarian's desk was, surprisingly, made from polished wood. Torches on wall mounts stuck out at an angle at equal intervals around the place. The entire place was dark, and not a single creature was in sight.

"Awesome," Joey whispered, turning to his friends. "No one's there."

Joey walked up to the door and jiggled the handle slightly. "Locked," he muttered, pulling out his wand. He tapped the doorknob with it and said, "Alohomora." There was a soft click, and the door swung open without a noise. Motioning for the other two to follow, he stepped inside, holding the door open to let his friends in. Checking the empty street beyond one last time, he closed the door as quietly as possible. He then re-locked the door with another tap on the doorknob.

While he did this, Naiose and Jo-Ann went to work, perusing the shelves. Joey joined them, and they all looked silently for any kind of book that would tell them about the crown. Occasionally one of them would see a book and grab it excitedly, but then returned it soberly as soon as they found nothing of importance.

The sky outside gradually became brighter, and Joey felt himself grow very sleepy as he checked shelf after shelf, but each one was to no avail. The fruitless search was soon broken by the soft sound of trudging feet outside.

"Early risers," Jo-Ann said anxiously. "We need to go - it's only a matter of time before one of them comes to the library."

Joey sighed, and leaned back on the wall farthest from the door. "You're right - nothing here was worth the effort, anyway."

"You're telling me," Naiose said grumpily, rubbing his eyes furiously to rid himself of tiredness. "We spent the entire night slinking around this library for nothing."

"We know, Naiose," Jo-Ann said bracingly. "We'll leave and go back to the kirin village - we can get some sleep there."

"Sounds like a plan," Joey yawned. He grabbed a torch to his left to push himself off of the wall, but something wasn't right. The torch gave - but not in a broken way; it slowly moved parallel to the wall as the sounds of mechanical noises resounded from behind it, coming from the wall itself. Naiose and Jo-Ann froze, staring at the torch Joey had just pressed up against the wall.

"Was... that a lever?" Jo-Ann asked, confused. The floor then barely jerked, but it was hardly noticeable. At that moment, it all dawned on Joey. He looked up at his two friends with an alarmed expression.

"Oh fuck," he said weakly. Then the floor opened up.

They fell into darkness with shouts of surprise. Joey pointed his wand directly down and yelled, "Molliare!!"

His fall then seemed to become weightless. While they continued to fall, it seemed like a lifetime - with a horrified pang, Joey realized that the pit could be bottomless for all he knew. He then felt a hard surface meet his face - no doubt the bottom of the pit they had fallen into - but felt no pain, and realized with relief that his Cushioning Charm had indeed worked. Looking up, he could see no light - the library floor had trapped them.

"Lux," Joey muttered, raising his wand. The light cast from it glinted off the rock walls around them. How far underground had they fallen? How would they get back up?

Joey had never felt so stupid and foolish in his entire life. He had thrown his friends into a trap unwittingly - he should of watched where he placed his hand. Now they were all going to get caught, and it was all his fault...

Unless...

He turned around and gaped as a large opening led farther into a cave. He took a tentative step forward, trying to shine as much light as he could into the cave. Jo-Ann and Naiose seemed to follow his gaze, and also found themselves transfixed with what they saw.

"What d'you think?" Naiose asked at a whisper. "Should we go in?"

"We don't have anywhere else to go," Joey replied, "So might as well. Coming, Jo?"

Jo-Ann shook her head. "Y-yeah. Let's just get this over with."

Joey looked at her incredulously. "You good?"

"Not a fan of caves," Jo-Ann replied bluntly. "Or anything underground, for that matter."

"Are you okay with this?" Joey asked, grabbing her shoulders gently.

"I'll manage," she said weakly.

Joey looked at her hesitantly for a moment, then turned to Naiose. "Can you be the caboose as we go in?"

Naiose blinked. "The caboose?"

"Just watch our backs," Joey explained. He turned to his girlfriend. "Can you watch the sides? I'm not going to trust anything that promises safety in there." Jo-Ann nodded weakly. "Alright, then... here we go - don't forget to light up your wands."

He walked forward, holding his wand high above his head so as to cast light over more surfaces in their surroundings. He heard his friends mutter "Lux" behind him, and the cave became considerably brighter.

They had not even walked ten paces into the cave when he heard a scuttling noise. Naiose and Jo-Ann had heard it too, for they all froze at the exact same time. Joey pointed his wand in the direction from which the noise came, and the light fell on a large stalagmite.

"Oh, I hate this," Naiose moaned. "I hate this, hate this, hate this..."

"Shh!" Joey hissed, then turned around and walked forward slowly and carefully. His eyes scanned any surface that emerged from the darkness, jumping slightly whenever there were more scuttling noises. Joey had the dreadful feeling of being watched; with the mysterious noises resounding with every five feet of ground covered, he was sure of it.

The eeriness of the cave pressed in on them from all sides, suffocating all thoughts and redirecting them to the horrifying darkness. Still, they pressed on. Soon the cave took a sharp turn to the right, and Joey edged around the corner. He nearly lost his lunch at what glinted in the light.

A large spider web spanned the entire cavern, which was about fifteen feet wall to wall, and probably ten feet floor to ceiling. There was an array of bones scattered intermittently across it; most of them had fallen to the floor.

Jo-Ann made a retching noise somewhere behind him, and the sound of sick spattering over stone followed. The smell of it reached his nostrils, making his eyes water in disgust.

"Relashio!" he sputtered, slicing the web apart with an invisible force from his wand. He then pushed forward, dragging his two friends along. He pulled Jo-Ann into a one arm hug, giving her a reassuring squeeze.

"Just don't think about it," she muttered over and over again, "Just don't think about it..."

"Joey!" Naiose yelped pointing his wand at a large stone. "Something moved! Just over there!"

Joey squinted at the rock, but it remained still. He pointed his wand at it and said shakily, "Reducto."

The rock blasted apart, and there was a flash of movement as an eight legged creature scuttled up the walls and disappeared through a crevice.

"Oh d-dear God," Joey stuttered weakly, looking at the place where the creature disappeared. "Th-That was the biggest spider I've seen in m-my entire life."

"Well, they seem to hate the light," Naiose said at a brave attempt at sounding unafraid. "We should be fine as long as we stay in the light."

Jo-Ann grabbed Joey's hand and squeezed it extremely tightly. It provided slight comfort to Joey, however, and he returned with another squeeze. He started forward again, this time at a faster pace. The tunnel seemed to curve upward, giving Joey a small glimmer of hope. Was this the way out?

Soon, they came to a large chamber that split into two passages on the other side. The roof of the chamber rose into the darkness; for all they knew, there could be hundreds of those gigantic spiders up there, just waiting to claim new flesh.

The three friends approached the passages and scrutinized them. The one on the left continued to rise, but the one on the right sank slightly.

"We need to go left," Naiose said immediately, and took a step forward.

Joey nodded and turned left. As he did, a glint of gold caught his eye down the right passageway.

"Wait - hold on..." he murmured, stopping and holding his wand a little higher. Was it a trick of his eyes, or did he really see -?

Another glint of gold.

"Guys! come back!" Joey called, and he heard Naiose groan in frustration as the two returned to him.

"What is it??" Naiose snapped. "I hate this place - and so does Jo. Let get out of here, for fuck's sake!"

"No - there's something here," Joey said calmly, approaching the right passageway. He held up his wand a little higher, and saw the light wash over something wooden - something old, with fading paint -

"It's a door!" Joey said in surprise. "There aren't any webs down this way, either!"

"A door?" Jo-Ann replied hesitantly. "Are you sure?"

"Dead sure," Joey replied, walking down the passage to the the door. There was something inscribed on the door, but it was covered in grime and dust. He pointed his wand at it and said, "Tergeo."

Most of the grime and dust was wiped off, and now he could make out most of the image that had been painted there.

A large, black griffon dominated the picture, surrounded by many joyous looking griffons. The black griffon wore a tall, magnificent crown that was adorned with almost every kind of jewel imaginable.

"Is that -? No," Naiose said from somewhere behind Joey.

"King Ventaius - I swear it is," Joey said quietly. He stepped even closer to the door and stretched out a hand. When he did, the skittering and clicking noises returned, though this time were much louder and closer.

"Jo - get behind me!" Joey said, whipping around. "See if you can open the door! Naiose, with me!"

The two friends raised their wands, scattering light into the dark chamber that they had just passed through. What they saw sent a bucket of icy fear cascading into Joey's stomach, drowning out his other emotions.

The chamber's walls were alive with huge, milky pale spiders, all skittering down the wall in massive droves. Joey's feet froze to the ground in fear; he couldn't move, he was stuck, it was all over -

A spider landed in front of Joey, snapping him out of his terrified trance. It came up to his hip and was the size of a large dog. It reared up on its hind legs and squealed at Joey, revealing its disgusting, wrinkly underside. Its mandibles - which had to be at least six inches long - clicked together hungrily as it fell forward again and charged. Joey yelped and blasted it out of the way, leaving it twitching upon the ground.

"Jo-Ann!" he roared over his shoulder, sending another Stunning Spell into the crowd. "Can you hurry it up?"

"It - won't - BUDGE!!" Jo-Ann grunted back.

"Naiose, help her!" Joey shouted. "I'll buy you time!"

"No way! Are you MAD???" his friend shrieked. "They'll tear you apart!"

"Not if you can get that door open!!" Joey shouted back. He kicked out at another spider, and his foot connected with its face. As the spider toppled backward, his foot erupted in excruciating pain. He growled, furious, and thrust his wand back at the oncoming horde of spiders.

"Mordo!!"

An evil sensation ran down every single nerve in his wand arm, coursing all the way to his fingers, then into his wand. A powerful, indestructible beam of pale green light flashed through the chamber and blasted a hole in the floor, sending many of the putrid arachnids, most of which were now dead, flying through the air.

Behind him, there was a loud groan of hinges.

"Joey! Come on!" screamed Jo-Ann's voice, and he felt himself get pulled backward.

His foot screamed in protest as he hobbled through the large door, which was now ajar. Jo-Ann helped him through the last couple of feet to get safely on the other side, then began frantic attempts to push the door closed.

"Naiose!" she shrieked desperately However, she didn't need to, for he was already at her side. Slowly but surely, the door inched forward.

"Faster!" Naiose bellowed, but the fist spider began to squeeze its way through the door. Joey limped towards the door, ignoring the roaring protests of his foot, and joined his friends in their struggle. With the combined force of the three of them, the door swung completely closed with a grotesque crunch.

"Crunch?" Naiose asked, looking over at the door at its closing point. He then quickly turned away, looking very sick. He hunched over a rock and murmured queasily, "That spider is dead for sure."

Joey hardly heard him. The pain in his leg was so great that he crumpled to the floor.

"Joey!" cried Jo-Ann's voice, and he felt himself lifted to his feet. She supported him over to a large rock and sat him down. She removed his shoes, which had a tear in it that oozed some sort of black secretion. As she peeled away his sock, she gasped.

"Oh my God," she said weakly. Joey looked down, and when he did, he thought he would pass out. His foot was a very dark purple and swollen. The dark purple color was slowly creeping up his leg - wherever the color was, there was pain.

He forced himself to look away, trying to ignore the impulse to throw up. His heart beat furiously against his ribcage, roaring in dread. His foot throbbed horribly, as if trying to convince him into looking down at it again. Then, for the second time that day, a glint of gold caught his eye.

Then he saw it again, on the other side of the chamber they had entered - a long, golden something.

"What are you looking at?" Naiose asked, approaching Joey and Jo-Ann. He followed Joey's gaze, then froze. "No. Fricken. Way."

It was separated from them by a large chasm, bridged by a flimsy looking ancient rope bridge. No cobwebs were anywhere to be seen. The cavern reeked of age; the smell of countless years seemed to seep into every nook and cranny of the cave. Yet, there it sat, untainted, glowing in the darkness, seemingly untouched by age.

The Crown of King Ventaius.