"Seven!" I call out, looking back into the forest. He should be here by now.

            I glance back at my other three brothers, who are hovering around the gaping mouth of the cave that opens before us. Of course, as always Yurix is throwing rocks – this time into the cave.

            "Yurix!" I cry. He stops and looks at me innocently. "Stop! We're about to break the curse, not make it worse."

            Yurix, the brother just after me in age, chuckles. "You rhyme, Zil."

            I’m about to retort when Seven bursts through the trees at top speed, screaming. I know he's fine; we hear this scream a lot in our family and Seven calls it his "battle cry”. He slows and walks up to me, bare-chested, with mud markings on his face.

            I frown. "Where's your shirt this time, Seven?" I ask. There's really no need to ask. No doubt he used it to tie up the gate guard or something.

            "I used it to tie up the gate guard, Zillia," Seven answers, then asks, "Why?"

            "No reason," I say, rolling my eyes. At least it's almost summer and not the middle of winter.

            "Let's just go, guys," Flain, our oldest brother, grumbles, kicking up a stick and catching it in his hand. He grabs his baseball cap from his head and flips it backwards. He's ready.

            "Yeah, let's GO!" Yurix yells into the cave. His voice echoes back, getting quieter each time. He smiles and bends down to pick up several rocks.

            "Hey, that's cool!" Seven says, stepping forth. He sucks in a large breath and starts screaming again, like Tarzan in the jungle. His battle cry echoes back, until finally he stops – probably out of breath.

            "Boys!" I cry. As their only sister I consider it my duty to keep them in line. It doesn't work; not like it ever does.

            Flain, who should be more responsible, saunters over to the cave to have a go. He yells, "SUP MR. CURSE? WE'RE ABOUT TO BREAK YOU!" His echo fades into silence and then he smiles and turns to me. "Well, Well, Zillia, looks as if he's not home."

            Yurix begins laughing into the cave. A loud Bwa-ha-ha laugh that echoes back to our ears.

            "Really boys. Stop!" I cry over the noise.

            "TAKE A CHILL PILL, ZIL!" Flain yells into the cave.

            His voice echoes back once again and I sigh. I give up. My brothers continue to make strange noises into the cave.

            Finally, with an idea, I walk up to the cave. At the edge, I glance back at our youngest brother, Zinner, who’s staring at me all wide-eyed and gaping mouthed. I think he knows what I'm about to do.

            "QUIET DOWN!" I yell into the cave, my voice resounding from the cave's depths.

            Everyone stares at me.

            "You know what I think?" Flain finally says after a long minute of silence. "I think Zil's outa whack!"

            "Me too!" Yurix laughs.

            I look down at Zinner, now standing beside me by the cave's entrance.

            "Should we go?” he asks in a squeaky voice, pushing up his glasses onto his face.

            "Yup, we should get going, Zin-Zin," Flain says before I can answer.

            I'm the first one to take action and step into the cave. Though, as soon as I see the blackness ahead, I remember something. I groan. "Don't tell me we forgot the lantern?"

            "If I remember correctly, that was your job, Zil," Yurix says with a laugh. "Am I right?" He looks around at our brothers for confirmation.

            Everyone nods; Seven does so especially fast.

            I sink to the ground and lean against the cave wall. How could I have forgotten? "Ugh!" I groan.

            Suddenly I see an idea spark in Flain's eyes. He kicks up a stick and catches it. "We just need a match!" Flain says. "And there we have it – a torch!" He waves the wood in front of my face.

            "I get it. I get it, Flain," I say, scooting away as far as the cave wall allows me. "You don't have to smother wood in my face to make your point." I stand up.

            "I'll make the fire!" Yurix cries. He begins vigorously striking two rocks together. Nothing happens. "Or not," he says, tossing the rocks over his shoulder.

            "I bet I could make fire!" Seven says. "Well… if I had a match."

            Flain, who seems to somehow always have a solution to our troubles, reaches into his cargo shorts and pulls out a box of matches. He grins proudly.

            "Oh! Oh! Oh! Let me do it!" Seven bursts out, attempting to jump up and take the matches from Flain.

            Flain holds them high above his head. Seven jumps but his hand falls several inches short of reaching the box. "I'll do it," Flain says in a I’m-your-older-bother-and-I’m-not-messing-around voice.

            Soon enough, Flain has the stick-torch lit and we’re entering the cave. As soon as we all step over the threshold, though, an echoing clang resounds from inside.

            "What was that?" I whisper, my voice tinged with fear.

            Flain turns towards me, his eyes wide. "Zillia, I – I think it's..." his voice shakes in an exaggerated way. He grins. "Mr. Curse."

            I think for a second, and then sigh. “I bet Yurix threw another rock." I glare at Yurix who bursts into laughter. "I told you not to throw any more rocks!"

            "Gotcha!" Yurix exclaims, throwing back his head, his curly hair, as red as the fire on our torch, bounces wildly in the dim light.

            "No, you didn't. I wasn't scared."

            Yurix's laughter rings through the cave as we continue forward, Flain leading the way. Flain holds the torch high and our shadows dance across the walls.

            Zinner shrinks back. “Our… our shadows look creepy.”

            “I think it depends on how you look at them,” I shrug, smiling at Zinner. “They look cool to me.”

            “Well, they look like monsters to me!” Seven yells with excitement, jumping forward.

            Yurix grabs a couple rocks from the cave's floor and steps forth with Seven. “Yeah, like something out of a horror movie.”

            “Aw, don’t listen to them, Zinner. Don’t you think they look magical?” I ask. “Isn’t it cool that they dance?”

            Zinner exhales and shrugs, tilting his head and examining our shadows once again. “I guess so.”

            Once we get far enough that I can look back and barely see the light of day, I hear Seven mutter to himself, "good spot," or something like that. All of the sudden he starts to scream. His battle cry fades into, "WOAH! IT SOUNDS EVEN BETTER INSIDE THIS THING."

            Flain shakes his head, Zinner and I cover our ears, and Yurix starts laughing. Again.

            Once all is quiet, it doesn't stay that way. Now a low moaning sound travels from the depths of the cave into our ears.

            I glance at Yurix, who drops a rock, holds up his hands, and says, "That wasn't me!" Then he mutters, "though I've gotta admit, I was about to throw that rock."

            "If it wasn't Yurix, then what was it?” little Zinner asks nervously, hiding behind me.

            "Probably nothing, Zin-Zin," Flain reassures him, moving the torch this way and that. "That's what it's supposed to sound like underground."

            I roll my eyes. Very reassuring, Flain.

            All of the sudden Seven starts his battle cry again, and before we can stop him, he’s running at full speed into the cave's depths.

            "Seven!" I call after him. We were supposed to stay together, but he's already gone.

            "And I'm off!" Yurix exclaims, tossing a rock up and down in his hand. Then he races after Seven.

            Flain shakes his head, muttering, "little brothers." He holds the torch high, glances back at me mischievously, and then takes off after them, leaving Zinner and me alone.

            "Come on, Zinner," I huff, wanting to sprint after Flain.

            The light from the torch fades as Flain gets farther and farther ahead.

            No matter how fast I go, I can't reach him. Especially with Zinner, who keeps stumbling and can't run that fast in the first place. I cling to his hand and run on, my legs burning.

            Suddenly, I trip on a rock and sprawl to the ground. My right hand scrapes on a sharp rock. Pain shoots through my hand and up my arm. “Ow!”

            "Zillia!" Zinner cries, kneeling beside me.

            "I'm fine," I say, standing up and brushing myself off. I can't see anything in the darkness of the cave, but I feel blood oozing from the fresh cut in my hand.

            A motionless light ahead tells me that the boys have finally stopped – or at least Flain has. I lead Zinner in the direction of the light, slower now.

            When we're close enough to see Flain's silhouette, Zinner calls dramatically, "Zillia's been wounded!"

            Flain turns to face us. "Are you alright, Zil?"

            "I'm fine." We approach Flain and I have a look at my hand in the light. “Just a scrape.”

            In front of Flain, Seven and Yurix stand staring intently at something. That's when I see it: the casket.

            Flain is trying to take a closer look at my cut, but I pull my hand away and walk up to my younger brothers who are entranced by the sight before them.

            "The king's casket," I whisper in amazement as I stand there admiring the stone masterpiece.

            "Not just any king, Zil.” Seven says. “King Azakbah!"

            "So, what do we do now?" Yurix asks, tossing a rock up and down in his hand. Finally, when nobody answers, he rears his hand back and aims for the casket.

            Flain advances to grab his arm, but Yurix releases the rock at full speed before Flain can get ahold of him. The rock hits the casket with a hollow thunk! We all freeze.

            A moaning sound comes from the casket and the cave rumbles.

            "Sorry," Yurix whispers nervously.

            In a matter of seconds, the lid of the casket begins to move, scraping stone on stone. It abruptly stops midway so that only the bottom half of the lid is still on the casket. Something, or rather, someone sits up in the coffin. A presumably dead someone.

            In the torchlight we can just barely make out a face through the wrapped cloths. He pulls them off to reveal a living corpse.

            "You have stolen the jewels of King Azakbah!” the corpse says in a rumbling voice.

            "Mistake… we have actually come to return them!" Yurix declares bravely, but fear edges his voice.

            "Don't provoke him," I whisper, elbowing Yurix in the ribs.

            "Ow!" He cries.

            Seven pipes up. "They're right here!" he says, gesturing towards me. "She has them." Then he backs up, looking ready to run.

            "No I don’t, you fool!" I whisper harshly to Seven.

            "Then what do we do now?" He whispers back. "What about the rocks – I mean jewels – I have at home?"

            "That's at home!" I retort, keeping my voice quiet.

            The dead king points a bony finger. "You don't have them!” he booms.

            "Yes! We do," Yurix chimes in, pulling some shiny rocks from the pouch at his waist.

            Seven throws his hands in the air dramatically and cries, “Why didn’t you say so before?”

            Yurix slowly walks forth and hands the shiny rocks to King Azakbah.

            "Good child," the king grunts, patting Yurix on the head. He then lays back down in his casket and closes his eyes, clinging tightly to his precious jewels.

            "Rest in pieces, King Azakbah," Flain says. He, Yurix, and Seven push the casket lid back over the king. Scrrraaaaape.

            Then all is silent.

            After a few moments, we make our way back out of the cave, this time slower than before. We emerge into the fresh air and stand in the fading sunlight for some time, each pondering our epic adventure.

            "Mr. Curse has been broken!" Flain finally breaks the silence. He turns his baseball cap back around the right way, then shrugs and smiles at me.

            "We should play that again sometime,” Seven remarks.

            "You made the king’s voice scary," Zinner says to Flain in a sheepish voice.

            “I’m Sorry, Zin-Zin,” Flain says, ruffling his little brother's hair. “It was just for fun.”

            “I thought it was an excellent impersonation of King Azakbah,” Yurix says, trying to sound older and wiser than he really is. He tosses a rock and laughs.

            “If he was even real.” It’s my turn to chuckle.

            “Oh, don’t spoil it, Zil! Of course he’s real.” Seven smirks at me.

            "Well, guys, that was fun," Yurix says. “Thanks for playing.”

            I give a satisfactory sigh. "Yes, it was. But, every adventure must come to a close; home is calling, like it always does at a quest's end. Should we answer that call, boys?"

            Everyone nods, and we set off into the forest toward the setting sun.

            I take Zinner's hand. Flain kicks up a stick, catches it, and swings it around like a sword. Yurix absentmindedly juggles a handful of rocks. And Seven lets out one last victorious battle cry as we walk away from our adventure.

The End