Rowan entered the laboratory and the professor handed him a linking book. He opened it and the next thing he knew was that he was in a mystical world. Suddenly bars sprung up from underneath him and had surrounded him. A man dressed in ragged clothes walked past the caged Rowan, he spotted the linking book on Rowan’s belt and snatched it from him. The man was gloating in front of Rowan but, he clutched his neck and fell to the floor with a big, heavy THUMPH! Even though the man looked like he was dead, he got dragged away. The linking book was just out of reach, but then a mysterious figure jumped in front of Rowan and picked up the book. The bars shot down and he made his way to the path on the right. Rowan came across a lever and with further examination he found a dagger wedged into one of the many parts of the lever. He walked towards a gigantic version of the dagger; it gleamed like a thousand suns burning through the atmosphere. Next to it was a huge version of an Arabic helm. Eventually, he made his way up a flight of stairs next to the cliffside.

When Rowan made his way to the top, he spotted a cavern. He walked closer and closer and saw that there was a five pointed star in the centre of the room. It was inside a pentagon which was surrounded by a circle. Each point of the star was pointing to a column. He entered the room and noticed that there was hieroglyphics on the wall. They were written in a language he had never come across before and were written in blood! On each column there was a scarab made out of solid gold. Rowan went closer to it and pulled a string which was hanging out of its rear end. The wings lifted up to reveal a drawing of a tyrannical ruler and a man falling into a fissure. He pulled another one and it revealed the same ruler but people were begging to him. He pulled another; it revealed a picture of a book being burnt. He pulled the last one and it revealed a picture of five priests standing still and facing sideways. He then left the room. There was a long, wooden bridge towering above the sea, Rowan decided to cross it.

At the end of the bridge was a huge crack in the wall. As Rowan was making his way through the cave he noticed a big, rusty door. Rowan pushed the door open and sat in the blue, silky chair. On one of the arms was a lever, he decided to pull it. Suddenly bars shot down from the ceiling and surrounded him! Luckily, when he pulled the lever again they retracted. He stood up and curiously lurched closer and closer to one of the mirrors placed in either corner of the room. He peered into one and could see a treasure room. He exited out through the rusty door.

Once he had reached the end of the cave, there was a door which Rowan pushed open. As he entered the sight of a giant star caught his attention. It was like a blazing sun burning up the atmosphere. In front of that was a cage of some sort designed to hold something really big. Either side of that was a statue of a fish with fruit in front of them.

He spotted another door and pushed it open. In front of him were many levers and buttons and two wires which seemed to stretch all the way across Riven. Rowan pulled a lever and in five seconds flat a cable car whizzed to him. He stepped inside and pushed one of the many buttons. The door closed and the cable car at lightning fast speed reached another stop! Rowan stepped out, riding in that cable car made him fell disorientated and left Rowan feeling sick!

He crossed a dark gap in between the mountains and reached a polished gate. He opened the gate and saw Flora and Fauna dancing gracefully in one of Mother Nature’s paradises. Rowan could hear the birds singing like they were in a choir. There were thousands of tiny insects buzzing past him; they were multicolored, fat and thin, short and tall and BIG and small. He reached the end of the path and was terrified as there was a giant boar’s head lumbering over him. ‘Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah’ screamed Rowan reluctantly.

As Rowan drew closer he discovered it wasn’t alive and that it was made entirely out of wood apart from the crystals in its eyes. Knowing this, Rowan made his way back through the undergrowth and headed along yet another flight of stairs.

In front of Rowan was a massive tower with four support beams. Suddenly a siren went off which alerted others of his presence there. He ran across the walkway to the right. A woman rushed to a baby which was sitting on the walkway and ran away without hesitation. He stood on a jetty and beamed at the clear, crystal blue water. Rowan climbed up a sturdy ladder and saw a great many ball shaped objects. He made his way over to a platform. A large, rusty submarine grabbed Rowan’s interest. He pulled the lever the next to it and slunk down to a platform underneath. As there was no way to that platform Rowan returned to the jetty.

On the jetty, Rowan was sitting at the edge of it, waving his feet in the water, when suddenly he noticed that all the fish were swimming into a deep crevice in the wall. He looked closer and could see train tracks leading to it. He dived into the water and followed the train tracks the other way and reached the submarine that he lowered down earlier. He climbed into, pressed the big red button and he was lowered into the water and the submarine started to move on the tracks. He could see many, many species of fish, all beautifully coloured. They were like a beautiful nebula in space.

Eventually, the submarine stopped and he climbed out, just in time too, as a huge angler fish approached the docks. In front of him was a jet black tower. There were statues either side of the door way, the one on the right was a sculpture of a man, swords on his belt and a scepter in his hand. The one on the left was a picture of man and a woman entering some sort of portal. He pushed open the reinforced doors and made his way up the tower. As he had climbed up a few steps there was a large platform separating the stairs from one another. He looked on the wall and there was a message engraved in it, it read ‘thou must have courage to overcome thy fear’. Puzzled by the message Rowan carried on walking but out of nowhere a flock of bats surrounded him, biting him, piercing his skin until Rowan swatted them all out of the way. He then collapsed on the steps. There was another message on the wall, it read ‘well done you have overcome thy fear’. He carried on up the stairs and there was yet another platform. The floor started to shake, the ceiling started to rumble and the platform collapsed revealing searing hot lava! Luckily Rowan was not standing on the platform and he was safe. A mysterious voice boomed

‘Across the lava is where you are safe but the rope is broken so you must take the leap of faith! One must have courage in thy self, only then will you make the jump.’ Rowan closed his eyes and sought out the courage which had been hidden since his birth. He reached into the darkest corners of his mind and found something. Like a lightning bolt out of the sky Rowan leaped and made it to the other side. He was at another platform, but this time there was a table with some cups on it, a frail old man with a walking stick next to it and a giant, steel door. ‘To pass you must you must choose the Holy Grail out of all these cups’ he grumbled. ‘Hmm this is a tricky one’ replied Rowan. All of them were encrusted with sparkling jewels except for one of them which was covered in dust, had rusted and was absolutely ruined. He chose the ruined one, took a sip of the water inside and the old man said bitterly ‘Well done you have accomplished the three tasks proceed through the doors and face the master’.

The double doors swung open and inside there was a man, the assassin and a dark portal. ‘Ahhhhh, Rowan we’ve been expecting you,’ said the man strangely. ‘I know that voice you’re the Professor!’ exclaimed Rowan.

‘Yes it is me, but Rowan we need your help. Riven is a dying world, this portal in front of you is the only thing that can save the world’ replied the Professor. ‘Take heed to my words Rowan, you could either save this world or walk away, the fate of this universe truly is in your hands’ said the Professor grimly. ‘Yes Rowan please do it for me’ said the assassin who then pulled down the veil that was shrouding their face – The assassin was then revealed. ‘Catherine, I thought you were dead’ exclaimed Rowan. ‘Yes Rowan I know you did’ she replied. ‘Rowan we have no time hurry up and decide’ shouted the Professor. An uneasy silence fell on the three and Rowan decided to walk forward and enter the portal. ‘Father Rowan did it!’ said Catherine happily. ‘Yes he did, that is why the people of Riven shall be forever in his debt’.

By Bradley