80 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2/2)

Of course, this just earned me a withering glare from the shieldmaiden who'd kicked my butt when I first met her.

I raised both arms in surrender. ”Chill. It's hard to explain but trust me when I say I know where we're going.”

”I know where we're going,” Ashley repeated my words back at me another twnety minutes later. About the time it took for us to get turned around. ”Well, we're lost, Dapper!”

I looked back to the path we'd crossed once already.

”This doesn't make sense...” I reasoned. ”This is around the place were I watched them crash...”

My eyes darted left and then right but there was no indication of anyone other than us passing through this path which looked like the butt crack of two brown hills.

”Crack!” I yelled excitedly. ”That might work.”

”What might work?” Ashley asked.

”You'll see,” I said as I got down from my mount.

I reached into my pack harnessed to the side of my swifthart and pulled out the cracked sword hilt that belonged to Luca. I brought it close to my swifthart's nose, and only then did I think that this might be a really stupid idea.

”I hope this works...” I placed the sword hilt as close to my swifthart's nose without disturbing its personal space. ”Can you sniff out Luca's sweat from this thing, boy?”

”Seriously? Ashley prodded her swifthart closer to me. ”It's not a dog, you know.”

”Oh ye of little faith,” I said while praying to God that Luca's hands were still clammy like when he was a kid. ”Come on, boy. Go find me Luca.”

Thankfully, my swifthart seemed way more intelligent than Qwipps as it caught on quickly to what I wanted. It sniffed at the hilt, eventually grunting excitedly at me as if to say, ”I've got this. Let's go!”

Its obvious excitement infected me with a dose of hope, and I quickly remounted my swifthart in anticipation.

”Ash, get ready,” I said right before I urged my swifthart forward. ”Ride, ride, ride!”

And ride it did. Into the path it went in a speed that would have been normal at an F1 race. The swifthart zigged and zagged along the narrow path without regard for the sharp cliff faces and hanging vines surrounding us on either side.

Inwardly, I thought about how lucky I was Aura recommended we add saddles to the mounts. Otherwise I might have fallen off by now.

Suddenly, the swifhart veered right and I watched as the cliff wall on the right loomed ever closer.

Holy crap! I'm going to die, I thought.

But it wasn't the case. What a fantastic beast the swifthart was to notice the alcove hidden behind a heavy curtain of vines that would have been unnoticable to guys like me.

We crossed into the alcove and into a mud cavern that seemed to be hollowed out of the earth. That's where my mount decided to stop. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

At the far end, close to the back wall, I could hear the sound of running water.

I dismounted my swifthart and then unsheathed my falchion just in case I'd stumbled into someplace nasty.

The shadowblade shot out of the hilt and lent a dim blue light to the creeping darkness around me.

I heard hoof stomps coming from behind, and then the call for light which was quickly followed by the sound of striking matches, and finished with the scent of burning wood.

Warm light filtered into the cave from the torch in Ashley's hand. She nodded to me, and then walked ahead so she could light the way.

I followed cautiously.

The sound of running water got louder the further in we went. Eventually, our boots stepped onto a dark and shallow pool.

”Dean, look over there,” Ashley pointed her light toward the middle of the pool where a small bank of sand rose above the water. Lying on top of it, half covered in mud, where two people whose arms wrapped tightly ahainst each other. Like Katniss and Peeta during their first Hunger Games . And though their eyes were closed their chests rose and fell at regular intervals.

”This is the pool they fell in...” I whispered. ”Ashley, we've found them.”