The Evening Key
23min -
Betta, Giulia, Riccardo and Matteo go into the woods surrounding Castelcorvo on the way to the Evening Key, that - together with the Morning Key - will allow them to reach the Elsewhere and save Betta's brother, a prisoner by the treacherous Stria. How many further threats are about to come? What are they looking for? The new riddle, promptly solved by Matteo, suggests it. The kids go further and further along a path in the forest, becoming even thicker through the darkness, as the sun is about to set. A road that Betta knows well, from past times of looking for mushrooms with her father, all of a sudden weirdly ends in a clearing where a strange building stands: a small Gothic temple she has never seen before. A "phantom" building, yet another oddity of Castelcorvo, it is full of all kind of eggs. Amid these eggs, Betta and Giulia find a plaster egg with something clinking in it –maybe the Magic Key? Matteo is in a hurry and smashes the chalk egg on the ground; inside, however, there is nothing but a small parchment held by a brass ring. The parchments is an invitation to Matteo: he has to go even further into the woods and find the Evening Key on his own. The little boy, the most spooked of them all, goes into the thick of the forest. He is afraid and all of a sudden he hears an inhuman and profound voice calling out: it is that of a scaring tree with the features of a manlike bull. Matteo wants to run off, but some roots are holding his ankles. The tree tells him the key will be delivered in exchange for his greatest secret. If not, he will be turned into a tree and trapped there forever! It's tough to shout to the leaves that he has always been in love with Betta, though this confession saves him and discloses the Evening Key! Proudly back with the Knights, he is warmly welcomed, but he refuses to share the fact since he is ashamed facing Betta. The four friends rush home: now they have both keys, they can open the Shade Gate that very evening. On the way back, Giulia meets Zeno and stops to talk to him: the Stria's son tries to hypnotize her, though something blocks him – he doesn't know it, but he is falling in love with her and this cancels out magical powers. Giulia runs home in tears, let down that the boy she thought was fond of her just sought the keys. At midnight, the Knights all gather in the garret facing the Shade Gate and open it, cross the threshold, and enter the Elsewhere. What’s waiting for them?
6.2
