Kingdom Key

Two young cousins go on a treasure hunt in a castle haunted by many beings…

Jose perched on the edge of a rocky outcropping of his favorite hill, swinging his legs and enjoying the crisp taste of an apple. The ruins of Fortis Castle sprawled in the distance, casting irregular gloomy shapes across the opposite mountainside.

Leaves crackled as his younger cousin Pedro settled down next to him with a pear and an ancient leatherbound book. Did Pedro go anywhere without a book in hand? Jose couldn't remember seeing him when he wasn't studying history, particularly that of the tumbledown fortress dominating their view.

“Whatcha reading about now?” he inquired, leaning over to examine the faded, florid script.

“Fortis Castle and the secrets within its walls,” Pedro responded.

He lifted his eyes to stare dreamily out at the ruins. Jose raised an eyebrow.

“Haven't you heard enough about that old place? It's a pile of dirty stones. In ancient times, people were executed there, held prisoner, made to be slaves, vanished without a trace. Nothing good came from it.”

“I know.” Pedro turned a tissue-thin page with reverence. “The local ruler was overthrown, and they tried to make the castle into a monastery. But they were forced to shut it down because of ghosts and evil spirits. It's been unoccupied for seven centuries.”

“Exactly. Why are you so fascinated with it?”

Pedro lowered his eyes to the book in his lap.

“I… I just feel like I should know about it. I see it every day.”

Jose remembered Pedro's missing parents. He thought of his mother, Pedro's aunt, at home spinning thread and weaving it on a loom to try to make ends meet. He stood up, tossing aside his apple core and stretching his arms over his head.

“Let's finish gathering firewood. If we don't hurry it'll start getting dark and Mother will worry.”

Pedro got up with his book under his arm.

“It'll be a full moon in a couple weeks, Jose. They say Fortis glows with a heavenly light under the moon. I wonder what it looks like inside.”

“Heavenly? Ridiculous. What do you think it looks like? Moldy, fossilized, crumbling. Probably packed with skeletons of man and beast. If there was anything of value inside it would have been hauled off long ago by the Visigoths.”

“Not necessarily…”

The way Pedro's voice trailed off made Jose pause to look more closely at him. Was the younger boy considering…?

“Fortis Castle is dangerous. Don't go treasure hunting, ok? You'll get killed poking around in that monstrosity.”

“I'll stay safe.”

Jose shook his head, trying to quell the nagging unease in his heart.

✨🏰✨

The next morning, a letter lay on the doormat, blood red seal staring up at him. He handed it to Mother as she cut vegetables in the kitchen. The knife slipped from her grasp. Her face shifted, jaw trembling.

“What's wrong, auntie?” Pedro asked.

Jose already knew the answer: it was their mortgage holder, demanding payment or foreclosure. He tried to distract his cousin with a plate of pancakes. Pedro nudged them aside, staring wide-eyed at his aunt as she peeled open the letter.

✨🏰✨

Under the threat of eviction within thirty days, Pedro's dreamy quirks amplified to an alarming extent. Jose found him sitting up late at night, using fading firelight to pore through thick, dusty volumes he withdrew from the library. Shadows pooled under his eyes. He barely ate, hoarding his meals in the fridge. One evening, when Mother was working at the hospital, Jose sat down by him at the kitchen table.

“Pedro, you gotta chin up. Mother's worrying about so much right now. She doesn't need you starving yourself and losing sleep.”

“I think I can save us,” the younger boy murmured. His face appeared sunken and haunted in the flickering candlelight. He pulled a wrinkled piece of parchment out of one of his books, spreading it smooth on the table.

“Look, this map shows there's treasure buried under the dungeons of Fortis. We have to find it.”

“Kid, we can't!” Jose's voice sharpened, anguish on his forehead. “I – you – your parents…”

Pedro lifted his head, meeting Jose's eyes with a sudden alertness.

“What about Mama and Papa?”

Jose drew a deep breath. He reached across the table to lay his hands over his cousin's.

“Listen. They were poor, just like we are. They desperately wanted to make a safe future for you. We didn't think you should know yet, but now you're obsessed with Fortis… that's where they were headed when they went missing. They had the maps, the secrets, the rumors. It's been a year, and we haven't heard from them.”

Pedro pulled back against his seat, slipping his hands away from Jose to grab the edges of the table.

“Why didn't you tell me? Why hasn't anyone looked for them?”

“It wasn't something they were supposed to do…” Jose rubbed his neck as a draft whispered by. “Everyone knows Fortis is unsafe.”

“That's crazy!” Pedro bolted upright, glaring at his cousin. “You expect me to know that my parents are lost somewhere in that castle and just sit around doing nothing? You thought that would frighten me into staying here waiting to be kicked into the street?”

“I'm not trying to influence you,” Jose lied. “I just thought you oughta know.”

Pedro shoved back his chair, rolled up the map and headed towards the door.

“Now it's settled. I'm going out to Fortis Castle and you'd better not try to stop me.”

Jose leaped to his feet.

“Wait up! I'm coming with you. We gotta pack some gear and leave a note for Mother.”

✨🏰✨

The full moon shone cold and white, outlining trees and rocks with sharp clarity. Pine needles crunched aromatically underfoot as Jose and Pedro climbed to the top of their favorite outcropping, overlooking the castle. Crickets chirped rhythmic patterns. At the summit, Jose skidded in the gravel as he set eyes on Fortis. Pedro almost bumped into him.

“Oh, man! Look at that!”

The castle shimmered under the moonlight, glowing with iridescent gemstone colors that shifted and fluttered like waves on the sea, ever-changing, melding, pulsing with radiant energy.

“The book was right.” Pedro gazed, slack-jawed. “What possible harm could befall us in such a stunning place?”

“We might never be seen or heard from again,” Jose demurred. “I mean, if it's so safe and wonderful, why isn't it a tourist attraction or something? This full moon phenomenon alone is enough to draw crowds.”

“Let's go. We must find Mama and Papa. And the treasure.”

Down the slope Jose went, leading the way for Pedro. They treaded loose, gravelly paths, further away from home than either of them had ever been. The rainbow glow from Fortis lit up the entire area, reflecting on Pedro's excited face as he stumbled his way down.

At the bottom, they dusted themselves off. It wasn't far now, only a straight run across the valley and up a shorter hillside. The way seemed to get smoother, broader and less treacherous the closer they were, until finally they stood directly in front of a massive stone door hanging ajar.

Jose put his shoulder to the door and, aided by Pedro, shoved it open all the way to reveal a narrow passageway. The glowing gemstone colors flickered across the walls inside, lighting their way. Pedro unrolled the map. They paused to examine it.

“Ok, so the treasure would be buried in the dirt floor of the dungeons, at the lowest point. Down we go, then?”

“Should we look for Mama and Papa first?”

“We'll probably encounter signs of them headed the same way. I suppose they were equipped with a copy of this map.”

Jose didn't want to tell Pedro they would probably only find skeletons. The younger boy really seemed to think his parents were alive somewhere inside the castle. Jose hoped to discover some subtle indicator of their passing, to provide closure. The stench of mold and decay hung heavy in the damp air; even though the walls were painted with shape-shifting multicolored light, it couldn't hide the cobwebs, grungy stains or the sudden movements of rats.

They adjusted the weight of shovels and sacks on their backs and made their way along the hall without using their flashlights, aided by the mysterious glow. A gaping hole in the wall yawned off to one side, revealing stone stairs headed down. Jose took Pedro's hand and began the descent.

Once at the bottom, they found another staircase, and another one. Three levels down, so far underground that the dusty air pressed stiflingly against them, the floor transitioned from pavers to raw dirt. Still the lights followed them. Were the ever-changing colors making it harder to see clearly?

“Where do we dig?” Pedro stared at the map.

“Come this way, sweetie.”

Pedro's head jerked up.

“Mama!”

It was his mother, standing several yards in front of them with a warm smile and open arms, glowing with a heavenly white halo. He rushed towards her. Jose grabbed him by the shirt collar, dragging him back.

“Stop! That can't be real! It's a ghost, an apparition.”

“No, no! It's Mama, can't you see? She was here all along!”

“That doesn't make sense. No one could survive in this place. Where's your papa?”

As if on cue, Papa appeared beside Mama, waving.

“We were waiting for you, boys. Come and see the treasures we've found.”

Pedro struggled against Jose's restraining grasp.

“Must – go – to them! They need me!”

“You've gone crazy. What makes you think they were hanging around here all these months, just living it up with some gold doubloons or whatever while we were waiting for them back home? Only dead people would stay in this dungeon.”

“Maybe they're under a spell, something that needs us to break it and set them free.”

“It's a trap. I'm telling you, this place is evil.”

“Why did you let me come, then?” Pedro yanked away from Jose's grasp, facing him with a furious glare. “Why allow me the torment of seeing them without being able to do anything to help them?”

“I had no idea it would come to this.” Jose backed away. “Please, don't get any closer to those things. They're only spirits.”

“Are you saying we leave with neither treasure nor my parents?”

“I'm saying this whole situation is insanely dangerous. I don't think there's any treasure here at all. We're in a catacombs, where dead bodies are stored. Look!”

He pointed to a fierce bas relief skull embedded in the wall, eye sockets flashing with colors matching the jewel tones of the shimmering light that still hung around them.

“Well, where would you expect treasure to be hidden, in the foyer waiting for us to trip over it? I'm following Mama and Papa!”

“No!”

Jose ran after Pedro as he rushed towards the smiling couple. The figures seemed to move backwards, leading them on, deeper into the crypt. Pedro kept going. Jose kept following. Sounds of water dripping into pools mixed with the hollow echo of clattering pebbles as they proceeded.

Finally, the tunnel opened out into a rounded room, where rows of shelves lined the walls. Each shelf was packed with skeletons. Skulls and bones lay scattered across the floor, rats darting between them. In the middle of it all stood Pedro's mother and father, still smiling, still beckoning.

“Come closer, dear. We will show you the treasure.”

Jose squeezed Pedro's hand. They stared around them. Pedro shouldered his shovel, pulled a sack from his bundle, and approached the couple.

As he drew closer, the gemstone colors lighting their path flickered. The shifting jewel tones burned down to a dull reddish aura. Pedro ran straight to his mother, dropping his shovel to reach for a hug.

A screech of horrible laughter filled the air. Pedro's arms closed around nothing as the figure morphed into a glowering, translucent skeleton. Every last bit of glow disappeared, plunging them into total blackness. A thudding clang reverberated through the ground.

“Jose! Where are you?”

“Right here! Pedro, don't move!”

Jose groped for the flashlight inside his pack. He tripped over something and fell, scraping his knees on shards of goodness knows what. Feeling the reassuring shape of the flashlight, he yanked it out and turned it on. It pierced the blackness with a strobe of yellow light, revealing Pedro huddled on the floor. Jose scrambled to his feet, helped him up, and extracted his flashlight for him. Two beams against the gloom wasn't much, but hopefully enough.

“Come on, let's get outta here. If your parents were ever here, they're gone now.”

“What about the treasure?” Pedro whispered, glancing around, aiming his light at the bones. “I don't wanna go home empty-handed.”

“We may not be able to go home at all. I didn't like that clang when it went black.”

Making their way to the tunnel opening, they found a thick wrought iron portcullis now blocking the exit. A keyhole taunted them with its enormous inscrutable maw. Pedro and Jose went back to the catacomb room and circled it methodically, but there were no other openings to be seen.

“What'll we do? We'll die here!” Pedro sniffled.

Jose patted him on the shoulder and fished in his backpack.

“I'll see if I can pick that lock. In the meantime, we gotta use just one light. They'll last longer.”

Pedro held the light as Jose poked at the keyhole with a wire.

“I really wish I could see Mama and Papa one last time.”

“Hey, if we stay trapped, we will see them – when we're dead.”

Pedro stifled a moan.

“I’m sorry,” Jose murmured, stricken. “I wish I'd made you stay home instead of going along with this.”

“I'm sorry I wanted to come. You were right – Fortis is dangerous.”

“No use holding grudges. We're in this together.”

For a while, the silence was only interrupted by their labored breathing and the scratching of Jose's wire in the lock. Then, a delicate strum of harp strings fluttered across the dank, stagnant air. They jumped. Pedro dropped the flashlight, which promptly shut off.

Instead of smothering darkness, a soft peachy glow enveloped them. Pedro's mother stood there, holding a candle, its flicker catching the gleam of tears in her eyes. She said nothing, only shook her head sorrowfully.

“Mama! Is it really you?” Pedro gulped.

She pointed to one of the shelves on which a skeleton lay. Pedro stepped forward to examine it, followed by Jose with the flashlight. Moldy remnants of what were once garments clung to the bones, but it was impossible to tell if it had been a person of royalty, or a slave, or prisoner, or even Mama herself. Near the right hand, something sparkled. Jose reached out and picked up an oversized key, gleaming gold and embedded with jewels.

He stared at it, then at Pedro. Pedro looked from the key to his mother and back again. She gestured to the portcullis. Jose took the key and fitted it into the keyhole. With a grunt of effort, he turned it, then pried it out and stuffed it in his backpack. Ancient gears groaned as the iron bars slid upwards, creaking and grinding.

Jose darted under as soon as there was enough space. He turned to find Pedro transfixed on the other side, gazing at Mama.

“Come on! We have to escape!”

“But…”

“Look, would you rather live without her or die with her?”

Pedro wiped away tears and slouched under the rising portcullis. Jose put an arm around his shoulders. They looked back to see Mama, waving farewell. Papa joined her, holding another candle, his expression a mix of pride and sadness.

Jose and Pedro waved one last time. They turned towards the beginning of the tunnel and started off. No multicolored glow guided them now, only trembling shadows stirred up by their flashlights. The stone skull embedded in the wall only stared with empty eye sockets. Jose was glad to see it again, as it meant they weren't lost.

The boys emerged into the fresh, cool night air with gasps of relief. Moonlight baptized them, shining on the trails ahead with clear, impassive grace. There was no reason to glance back at the castle which had nearly entombed them.

✨🏰✨

At the grand opening of the history museum a couple months later, Pedro and Jose's discovery of the golden jeweled key took center stage.

“This key is a priceless national treasure,” the governor declared. “These young men went in brave pursuit of truth and, against nearly insurmountable odds, recovered a symbol of our storied past which shall forever…”

In the front row, Jose sat to the right of his mother and Pedro to the left. As the governor droned on, she wrapped her arms around both of them. Jose smiled, thinking of how much the government had paid to add the key to the display on Fortis Castle. Their house was now as secure as if that kingdom key belonged to their own front door. A sunbeam flickered across the floor, landing in a shadowed corner. Was that Pedro's mother and father standing there, smiling?

Words: 2850.
Written for "The Lodestar Contest" 
Prompt: what was always thought to be beckoning people towards it was actually warning people away…
inspiring song ▼