Final Quest by B. C. Harris

ever remember seeing a picture or reading a description of a being that looked like this.”
    “Did it communicate with you?” Michael asks.
    “Yes,” Capurni replies. “Somehow he recognized me as being a member of the Cantil tribe, one of the seven original tribes in Drapesia. Then he told me that my tribe no longer exists.”
    Capurni bows his head. He looks like he’s suffering.
    Jamie whispers to Michael to stop the video. I agree with his suggestion. Watching the rest of the video might be too stressful for Capurni.
    After fighting to gain his composure, Capurni continues, “When I asked him how he knew I was from the Cantil tribe, he said something about drawings in a cave.  He used the words ‘walls of history’.”
    “Like cavemen drawings on the walls of caves,” Michael says.
    “What?” Capurni says.
    “Before recorded history in our world,” Michael says, “the most primitive of our people created drawings on the walls of caves that tell us a little about their way of life. Perhaps in Drapesia, some beings kept a record of what was happening by making drawings on the walls of caves.”
    “I need to find these caves,” Capurni says.

- 20 -
    RETURN TO DRAPESIA
     
    Finding ourselves on a white sandy beach that stretches as far as I can see is more like a vacation than another mission.
    “It fabulous,” Jasmin says as she digs her toes into the warm, white sand. A breeze from the ocean blows her long black silky hair.
    I picture her in a bikini, walking along the beach like a model. While Michael’s eyes are glued to her, I notice that Drew isn’t even looking at her.
    Drew is staring at his gun. I can’t believe he brought it with him. I can’t imagine that his gun will be of any value if we’re attacked by the Zelareans.
    “If this is Drapesia, I think I’d like to live here,” Jasmin says, her face radiant in the sun.
    I smile in agreement at her comment. The beach on the island of Elpis is absolutely spectacular.
    Within the past hour, back in my basement, we decided to come to the island of Elpis on the planet Drapesia. I remembered seeing the beach from my earlier visit to the island with Jamie and Capurni. Thinking that the beach would be safer than the tropical jungle, we used my emerald to come here.
    “I think we should get away from the beach as quickly as possible,” Capurni says. “If we have any enemies, it will be too easy for them to spot us if we stay here in the open. Once we get into a location where we can hide, we can use the emerald to see if we can locate any caves.”
    We follow Capurni without questioning his wisdom as he begins towards a wall of vegetation. The beach is so wide that it’s going to take us a few minutes to even reach the jungle. I suspect the jungle will confront us with new dangers.
    The beach looks like it belongs in a travel brochure for an idyllic vacation destination. We take our shoes off to enjoy the warm sand on our bare feet.
    The last few weeks have been filled with such turmoil that I’m beginning to look for danger even when it’s not present. Drew has moved ahead of Capurni and is now leading us towards the jungle, a gun swinging at his side in his hand. I have an uncomfortable feeling. There’s something eerie about the solitude as we continue to walk across the soft sand that is beginning to feel hotter.
    Although there’s no reason for me to be afraid, my knees are trembling. The gorgeous white sand feels uncomfortably warm on my bare feet. I’m beginning to sweat. We’re all overdressed, even though we’re in jeans and T-shirts. We should have worn shorts.
    Jamie and Michael put their shoes back on. I do the same. The sand is getting too hot to walk on it in bare feet.
    Suddenly I hear an unusual noise to my left. It sounds like a muffled vacuum cleaner. As I turn towards it, a hideous shape emerges from the sand.
    I fall backwards trying to get away from it. The moment my body hits the sand, it feels like I have fallen