Rain then stepped over the giant's hand, ignoring the warnings of Sapphire and the rest. Unlike what they expected, the giant gently raised her and began walking in a certain direction. The group stood confused before Sapphire sighed in resignation.
"We have no choice but to follow them now!
Sapphire and the rest followed the cha carrying Rain. It traveled in a different direction, steering off the main paths. The roads cutting through the forest looked like a maze, but the cha walked with purpose.
Minutes turned into hours.
The rest of the sand thieves felt like the cha was leading them aimlessly. Their chatter grew louder as they speculated that this was a trap or a faulty machine wasting their ti. It was at that mont that the cha stopped.
Sapphire halted as well, watching the cha place Rain down. Then, it turned toward a large boulder before them. The boulder was tied with ropes and covered in strange symbols. The cha began pushing against it.
"Can you help it?" asked Rain, turning toward the Witch of Sourna. The latter sighed and raised her hand, generating a field of force that aided the old machinery. The boulder began to move then, inch by inch, until it revealed a door leading underground.
The stone door bore strange engravings, hinting that a past civilization had lived in this place and created this tunnel. The door had no keyhole or handle, but it had the shape of a hand drawn on it.
"Ilow do we open this?" asked one of the sand thieves. Sapphire studied the door with a frown before turning to Rain. The rest of them did the sa, and Rain understood her role.
Rain walked toward the door under the watchful eyes of the sand thieves and the cha, which sat again on the ground. She placed her hand on the door, and it began to glow. A mont later, it opened.
The sand thieves cheered and began preparing to enter. Sapphire, however, approached Rain, who was staring at her hand in confusion. "How did you open it? How co the machine recognized you?" asked the princess.
"I have no idea, Sapphire, admitted Rain, shaking her head. "I feel like everything here is familiar, but I have no mory of it!"
"Valeria is the one who raised you, right?"
"That's true."
"Then she should have all the answers," said Sapphire as she stared at the revealed tunnel. "Let's send these coordinates to Oren and the rest. They can use this tunnel to follow us!"
Rain nodded and did just that. Then, they began entering the tunnel, which was dark and damp. The sand thieves lit torches to reveal the ancient structure. Bricks that had survived the flow of ti lined the interior of the tunnel. Strange words that made no sense were written everywhere.
As they walked through the tunnel, they heard wind blowing from ahead. The torches flickered because of the breeze coming from sowhere. At the sa ti, Rain studied the words on the walls. The handwriting was ssy, as if it belonged to a child.
Light shone from the distant end of the tunnel. The group rushed toward the light, and they began hearing the howling wind and a gushing stream of water. Once they reached the light, their eyes had
to adjust.
"What is this place?" asked Sapphire, confused. The end of the tunnel revealed a large, circular waterfall surrounded by giant boulders and countless stone bridges connected to one another.
Rain stared at the strange architecture before they heard the sound of people talking. Everyone fell silent and hid in the tunnel. The sound of footsteps soon reached their ears, though they were muffled by the raging waterfall.
"You have wasted enough of our ti," said one of the voices. "If we don't find the amplifier inside this place, I'll rip out your heart myself!"
Rain was intrigued and peeked her head out from the opening. She saw three people walking atop one of the bridges-one of them was Valeria. She was cuffed and dragged by a pale man and a bald man. Rain did not recognize them, but she could deduce their identities: Kar and Spade. Seeing Valeria for the first ti in what felt like forever, Rain could not contain her emotions and almost rushed out.
Sapphire held her back and covered her mouth. The two won watched the trio crossing one of the bridges, making their way around the giant waterfall, while listening to their conversation.
"If you don't believe , then ask him," said Valeria, pointing toward Spade with her chin. "He was here at that ti, too. There is no other way to find the amplifier."
"It's true, Master Kar; answered Spade with a nod. "The entire island is built around this waterfall, which is hiding the amplifier inside. It took us several months to find it!
"And what happened then?" asked Kar with a frown.
"If you tell him, I'll never open the waterfall for you two, Valeria warned Spade, who closed his mouth and nodded. The three of them then walked in silence until they reached a different bridge, leading them further behind the waterfall.
Once the three were gone, Sapphire released Rain. The latter seed shaken, but she cald down. Sapphire felt sorry for her friend, but she needed her to be calm in that mont. Then, she turned toward the sand thieves.
"The rest of you need to return and bring Oren and the others here. As long as we have everyone, we might be able to stop Kar from obtaining the amplifier. Go!"
The sand thieves rushed back, leaving Sapphire and Rain behind. Sapphire turned toward Rain, searching for the words to reassure her. "We found Valeria before she was hard. We can save her!"
"It's just that," Rain answered while shaking her head, "the man, Spade, said he was here before with Valeria. I've known her my whole life, and she never ntioned him. She's hiding sothing from -and it must be about my origins."
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