The Dark Forest was growing darker by the second. Destiny felt cold sweat drops cascading down her face. The ambience was so gloomy and chilly that she wanted to turn around and run home. She tightly clutched Cara's hand and felt it shaking. 

“Shush, my dear. It’s okay.” She heard herself whisper to Cara. 

Cara nodded. 

“We’re almost there!” Chris exclaimed. The dagger was still in his grip, shining like anything. 

The darkness slowly started to ebb away and with every step they took, it seemed as they were leaving the gloom behind. The sky opened up before them and Destiny released a breath of relief. Cara couldn’t help but smile at the sight. 

At the end of the forest, there was an open, vast field filled with green grass; dew drops made the grass fresher and greener. The field was surrounded by big trees that filtered the pure sunlight and as Destiny noticed, the light kind of converged at the centre of the field. Chris took them there. 

“This is the point where the nature’s light converges.” He said. 

Destiny was absolutely awed. She had seen nothing like that before. The point where the sunlight converged created a ball of light, illuminating and luminous. The sight made Cara breathless, Destiny could tell. 

“Where the sunlight meets is where nature creates some portals. Portals to transport us to a different realm. To Meyercliffe.” He informed and then did something strange. 

He took out his luminosa and touched it with the ball of light, the glow becoming more powerful. “Do this with your luminosas.” 

Cara took the first initiative. She touched her luminosa with Chris’s and there was a rapid growth in the degree of the light. Destiny felt fear; that type of fear which paralyses you and stunts your movement. Cara tugged at her arm impatiently to make her move. 

Destiny returned to her senses and strode towards that ball of light. She acquired the left side to Chris and connected her luminosa with his. The ball of light began to become bigger. The luminosas began to spark heavy streaks of brilliant white light. The ball started to rotate and become bigger, producing blinding light. While Chris remained unaffected, Destiny and Cara closed their eyes shut, unable to take in so much of luminosity. 

Destiny felt herself light. No, not illumination. Her body wasn’t heavy anymore. She felt as light as cotton. And it seemed as if something was pulling her very subtly. She was going inside something and for a split second, she opened her eyes only to get shell-shocked to see herself going inside that ball of light. 

The light was so fierce that she was coerced to close her eyes again. She was getting sucked into that ball, her whole body filled with light; shaking and trembling. She wasn’t sure if Cara and Chris were beside her or not, but she believed that this experience was individualistic. Maybe they were feeling something different than her. 

Destiny was thrashed to the ground. Shit, it pained like hell. She sensed her body to be on something coarse. Sand? She opened her eyes in a snap and found herself in the midst of a desert. Her entire body ached. 

“Cara?” She called out and stood up with a lot of efforts. 

“Des!” Cara staggered towards her from the opposite direction. There were some wounds on her hands and feet. 

Destiny was relieved. She hugged her sister and patted her hair. “I'm glad you’re okay! Where’s Chris?” 

Cara was at a loss for words. She looked here and there and nodded her head in negative. The land they stood in was vast and covered with golden sands. It seemed almost magical and unearthly. 

“You both okay?” Chris shouted from the other end of the desert. “you both come here!” he cupped his mouth to resonate his voice. 

The girls nodded and started walking towards him. They didn’t know if it was a mirage or not, but Chris seemed to be much farther than he appeared. They kept on walking and every time they thought they'd reached Chris, he appeared to be more distant. 

“What’s happening, Des?” Cara carried herself forward, wearily. 

Destiny felt her limbs shaking. “I think it’s some kind of magic. He’s not that close to us. He’s appearing close.” She suddenly had an idea. 

She made Cara stop. “Show your powers, cousin.” 

Cara was clueless. “Why?” 

“If we’re here because we’re different and we have powers, I think using them to our benefit will help us.” 

Cara gave thought to Destiny’s idea and  did a high-five with her. “Done.” 

With a lot of concentration, Cara tried to see if there was something that could help them, something that wasn’t visible to others. She looked on, concentrated and closed her eyes tightly. When she opened them, they were green again. 

Destiny shivered at first and then smiled at her cousin. “You can do this, Cara. Come on, see.” 

And Cara did see something. When her eyes turned green, she saw something very clearly. There was a path leading exactly towards Chris. And that path was made of energy; a kind of formula that wasn’t yet invented in the human world. The path had that same luminous white glow and it was just a few inches above the sand. 

“There's a path. It’s made of pure energy. I can see it, Des.” Cara chanted, holding her cousin’s hand tightly. “Let me guide you. Just trust me.” 

Destiny nodded and held her breath. Cara progressed further and she followed. Cara was holding her hand and guiding her throughout. Destiny could feel something below her feet as if she was walking on a real path; she looked down to see that she was treading on air. The sight made her head twirl. 

“Cara, there’s a path.” She uttered, more like an assurance to herself. 

Cara nodded her head like a maniac, smiling hard. And to be really honest, that smile meant the world to Destiny. The silence caressed her skin like a cool summer breeze, smoothing her soul, taking away her jagged edges. It’d been one hell of a rough day. They'd been through a lot. 

Destiny knew tensing against the shaking of her limbs was useless but she did it instinctively, trying to suppress for a few more moments what she knew she couldn’t. It was leaping out of her like a lion jumping on his prey. But what could cause that sudden restlessness in her? 

Her body felt hot. She only felt restless when she needed to use her power to prevent a mishap. But now, she felt extreme of that emotion. Previously, she'd known from what thing one needed protection. However, today she had no clue about it. It was as if she didn’t know what was coming and after whom. Her body was reacting as if there was soon going to be an attack. 

The surroundings were painfully silent. She tucked her brown curls below her ear to listen properly. She had an extreme alertness and using it was a wise thing to do, she decided. Though the whole arena was covered with sand and was mischievously silent, she did hear a faint sound. 

It was a voice. A male voice but not Chris’s. Who was he then? Destiny concentrated, her body growing conscious of her surroundings. She was in complete awareness. The whooshing of the sand due to the hot summer breeze, but there was another sound mixed with that. It wasn’t the movement of sand alone. Something else was moving too. 

Destiny leaped forward, shielding Cara and her alert eyes could see a dagger coming towards them, almost slicing the air. She held it, just like that. She held a moving dagger, gripping it tightly in her fist. Her eyes were fierce and her hand was bleeding. She still couldn’t believe that she'd jumped in a fraction of second and caught hold of the attacking object. But whose dagger was it? 

The dagger was glowing but as soon as she touched it, it became black and after a few moments, it crumbled into dust and slipped from her fingers. She looked at a scared Cara and hugged her. 

“Des, are you alright?” 

“I'm fine, sweetie. Don’t be scared.” Destiny held Cara’s hand and they began walking on the path of light which was only visible to Cara’s dangerous green eyes. 

Time passed quickly and they found themselves closer to Chris. As soon as they reached him, they noticed a troupe of people waiting for them. The path ended and Cara guided Destiny till the end. It was when her eyes turned normal again did she notice that Chris was advancing towards them. 

Destiny, on the other hand, focused on the troupe that was scattered around Chris. And as she advanced with her sister, they were all coming together, forming a huge circle in front of a stone fortress. 

She had never seen a fortress so big. She thought they existed only in historical novels. It was a fine castle built with the panorama of the surrounding land. And God forbid, the desert was no longer there. The land surrounding the fortress was perfectly green. The walls of the fortress were strong; she looked carefully and she noticed the stones. It was built of black stones of varying sizes and shapes, each one unique.

“Des, this is—” 

“Magical? Isn’t it?” Chris uttered, coming forward. 

Before Destiny could answer Cara, Chris barged in. Destiny looked shocked. “Yes.” She replied, clutching Cara’s hand tightly. 

“Welcome to Meyercliffe, Destiny Stevens and Caramille Johnson.” A new voice was heard. But it seemed very familiar to Destiny. 

A boy, probably in his late twenties, marched towards them. He had thick blonde hair that was shining back fiercely at the sun. Destiny looked at his blue eyes and she noticed that it changed colour, sometimes changing to greyish blue. 

“My name's Seth Taylor. And I’m the leader of The Sequinned Potential.” He added. 

Cara tugged at Destiny’s hand, unable to digest the new facts. She gently assured her little sister with a smile and looked at Seth again. 

“What is all this? Can you please explain this to us?” 

The look of helplessness in her eyes made Seth very uncomfortable. He wasn’t used to deal with this. He smiled at the girls, “We'll tell you everything. Team, disperse!” He commanded and everyone tapped at their watches simultaneously and vanished. 

They just disappeared into thin air! The sight made Destiny dizzy and Cara just shifted more towards her. Seth and Chris beckoned the newcomers to follow them inside. Past the iron gates that were standing tall, the girls entered inside with beating hearts. 

Almost four hectares of thick spring grass, wet under the early morning dew. The sun there was like a mass of golden straws. Bunch of lavish green trees surrounded the land and at the centre, the fortress was holding its head high. 

Destiny was feeling the nature. The light that painted her skin so warmly made patterns on it more fabulous than any designer possibly could. As they were proceeding towards the fortress, she noticed the nameplate at the front: The Meyercliffe Keep. 

She couldn’t still believe that there was a place called Meyercliffe beyond the human world. All one had to do was to cross the Dark Forest, enter inside a ball of light and whoop, you are there! 

“Both of you, please take out your luminosas.” Seth said in an authoritative tone and yet, it was decent and humble. 

The door of the keep was wooden. But no sooner did Seth and Chris dangled their luminosas in front of it, the wooden door vanished and an advanced A. I. activated metal door slid open automatically. Cara did the same thing and entered. And it was Destiny’s turn. The metal door closed on her face when Cara entered. Destiny stood there for sometime, flipping the luminosa in her hand. 

She dangled the glow-stick in front of the door and it opened like open sesame! Before her, she could see Chris and Cara smiling at her whereas Seth was standing completely aloof. 

“I suggest you guys go to your room and change. Chris, show them their room.” Seth ordered, politely. 

“Yes, sir.” Chris said jokingly, saluting him. 

Destiny stopped following Chris and turned around, “I don’t know what’s happening, but please promise me we'll not get hurt and you won’t harm us.” 

Seth was taken aback. The pain in her eyes glowed like a thatch of lit bulbs. “You'll not get hurt and we’ll definitely not harm you. I promise.” 

Destiny didn’t know why but his words seemed to calm her. She didn’t know him but the way he'd promised her was so warm and kind that it soothed her soul. 

She turned back to Cara to see that she was already gone with Chris. “Where did they go?” she whispered to herself. 

“Take a right and then a left. You'll find them.” Seth smiled. But it was a reserved and guarded smile. 

Destiny said a word of thanks and followed his instructions. It was time for her to go into the room, the room of this fortress that was probably allotted to her and Cara. She felt her body stiffen and then with much needed effort, she made her way towards the room. 

She knew they were meant to do something different. But the thought of Cara getting hurt was the last thing she'd want.