Discovery- II

Here's the second part. To be honest, this one is my least favorite, but enjoy it anyways.

Part 2- Fire

Eight 

Don’t Get Into Stranger’s Planes

The man met us at the airport. I didn’t know who he was at the time, but he told us that my grandfather sent him. He was African-American and was very tall. He told us that once I had completed enhancing one of the weapons, he would become our private chauffeur. Daniel was excited, since he didn’t have to fly anymore. My pilot friend had worked out a deal with the airport officials to keep his plane at the airport. The African-American man led us to a private jet, and he told us our grandfather’s true name when we asked. He was correct. We decided to trust him and got on the jet. 

Everything was really fancy. They served us apple juice in silver goblets, and I played a PS3 while Misty drew on Ancient Egyptian parchment and Daniel watched a movie that hadn’t come out yet. It was awesome. Then I heard the African-American man whisper, “Have they fell for it?” to the waitress. “All of it. They’ll be there in no time.” I think my danger alarms went off at this. It seemed strange, almost like the man was working with the WPA! So, when my aforementioned danger alarms go off, sometimes I do really stupid things. 

I paused the PS3 and walked back to the man. “Excuse me, we’re going to Indonesia, right?That’s where I asked to go.” He smiled. “Actually, we’ll be making a few stops on the way there. Then he pulled off his face and lunged. I leaped back around three feet and almost screamed! He was a demon! I swung my backpack around to the front of my body and touched the spark I stole from Flameo. The fire-sword appeared in my hands. One appeared in his hands too. A ferocious sword-duel ensued while Misty and Daniel were struggling against burly flight attendants that had appeared from nowhere. I lost in the end, (my sword skills weren’t the best- I was used to a gigantic wave of water backing me up) but the demon ended up with quite a few cuts. Then, an announcement came over the intercom. “Hovering over site, please drop. “ They dragged us to the door, strapped themselves to places around the it, a man with a parachute opened it, and they let go of us. We were sucked out and we fell. My backpack fell off on the way down. As we neared the ground, I squeezed my eyes and waited for death. I could see my tears splatter on the ground below. Then, my body was pulled apart, and I was laying on a cushiony couch. 

 Men dragged me off and strapped me to a table. I looked up. The initials, W, P, and A were glowing on the ceiling. The Warlock Power Association. I should have known. Most of the Twinkly Team was dead or injured. I think the sphere thing somehow escaped. Suddenly, a figure appeared out of the dark. It was wearing a long dark robe and a hood. I caught a glimpse of long, sharp teeth when he talked. He looked terrifying. He prowled around me. “Old man Balthazar’s Grandson. I should have guessed. You are right now the most powerful threat to the safety of the world.” I decided it was time for a witty comeback. “And how’s that, mister mystery?” He growled, and was suddenly right next to me. “Those weapons are dangerous. They can cause mass destruction. I’d think it would be safer if you gave them to me. Now.” I smiled sunnily. “No thanks!” He tapped his wand to my head, and an electric shock jolted through my body. “I think it will work out much better for you if you gave them to me.” I smiled again. “It’s okay. I’ll leave them to you in my will when I die.” He roared with rage and shocked me so hard, it literally singed off my eyebrows. “That may be very soon.” I decided to give up the witty talk. 

“Look, this was literally my grandfather’s last item in his will.” “So what? I’ll give you ten minutes to think. After that?” He trailed off, and then puffed into a cloud of inky black smoke. I wondered about something. Could I try to summon something? Wizards could do it pretty easily. I thought, with all of my concentration, MY FIRE SWORD. Nothing happened, but then I felt a distant tug at the back of my mind, and I concentrated harder. I heard shouts down the hall, and a sword soared through the door. This was very strange, because the door was not open at the time. It flew into my hand, and I used it to break the ropes holding my arms down. I freed my other arm, then my body, then my legs. I jumped off the table as beefy guys with swords stormed into the room. I readied my baseball stance as one lunged toward me. I swung the sword as I would a baseball bat. It connected with one of the swords. I closed my eyes and hoped for the best.

It sliced clean through the other sword. The man shouted, and the other ones drew guns. An intense pain erupted in my thigh, another in my shoulder. Then I smacked the guns from the men’s hands with my sword and they fled. I leaped through the door, and was confronted by a man with dark purple skin. He grabbed my hand, and, poof, suddenly, we were in a desert. He mumbled a few words, and, suddenly, we were in an arena. 

It was like the Coliseum, except it was complete. In puffs of sparks and sounds, people in black robes appeared in the audience. Some of them conversed, while others stayed silent. I heard Spanish, English, and some other languages that I didn’t know. The purple-skinned man grabbed my T-shirt and threw me away from him. My leg and shoulder burned with pain. The purple man pointed at me and whispered rapidly. I felt better. Two bullets were lying on the ground next to me.  The people in robes cheered and booed. I got up, and unsheathed my sword from its other form. I held it in front of me. The crowd erupted with noise again. I charged, and the man extended his hand from his body into the international signal for “stop.” I smashed into a barrier and fell into a heap. The man pulled up the sleeves of his robe and made a sweeping motion with his hand. I was thrown into the wall. He turned to face me and raised both of his hands up over his head. He shot his hands down. I cringed, waiting for me to be finished off. 

Then he flew backward. Men in combat armor had appeared, and they were training guns on the man. One sprinted to me, grabbed my arm, and we were back in the room again. He pointed the gun at me and I held up my hands in defeat. “All right. You got me.” In a raspy voice, he said, “Prisoner X308, you are not to speak.” I ducked my head, and grabbed my sword at the same time. I drew it, and the man leaped forward and pressed the gun to my head while knocking the sword out of my hand. “X308, do not move.” He grabbed a cell phone with the hand that knocked the sword out of my hand. “Prisoner is secure. Threat identified and removed.” The other men materialized, holding the purple-skinned man. He hissed and spat in a foreign language. One man holding him let go. “Do not attempt to harm prisoners. Identify and arrest them. Do not duel them. DO YOU HEAR ME?” The man nodded slowly. The men hauled him away. The two in the room stared at me. “To your cell. Now.” The one who just arrived prodded a gun into my back and I started walking. 

We exited the room and walked into a long hallway of cells. They had actual doors, not barred ones. He reached an empty cell with an open door and tossed me in. I thudded to the ground. He slammed the door and another door, which seemed as thick as a stone wall, slid over it. I sighed. It looked like it would be a long time. I glanced behind me and Daniel was sitting on one of the two beds. “Hey.” I greeted him back and flopped on the bed next to his. “How are we going to break out of this place?” He smashed his face onto the mattress and moaned, “I have no idea.” I smiled. “Well, I have a plan.” 

When a guard opened the door to give us our dinner, Daniel was waiting for him. He grabbed the tray of unappetizing food and set it on the bed. I could tell that the guard was expecting violence. I was waiting next to the entrance. I grabbed one of his pistols from convenient holsters and Daniel grabbed his machine gun so it was facing downward. Danny hit him hard and the guard slumped. We set off down the corridor at a springalicious pace. Daniel was looking in cell windows. His face lit up when he looked in one. Nifty code things were mounted on the walls. I shot it. Once. Twice. Thrice. The doors slid open. A huge green reptile with veined-lined skin, rippling with muscles, was in a huge cage, dead-bolted and padlocked from the outside. We blasted the cage apart and the monster leapt through it. “Get the guards,” I instructed. 

The creature emitted a sound not unlike a scream and burst through the doorway into the hallway. I heard gunshots, shrieks, and growls. We shot the locks on the door that led to Misty’s cell and ran through. Daniel had freed Misty while the creature fought the guards, and we ran through the fortress. In a room, we found my weapons and backpack, along with the book, and we grabbed those and ran. We were running down a hallway when magicians, armored gunmen, and creatures burst through the door on either side. A man stepped to the front of the mob and laughed in a raspy voice. He was wearing a mask that looked kind of like a gas mask. The eyes glowed red and seemed to burn a hole in my face. The men leveled their guns at us, the creatures growled, and magicians raised staffs. Uh-oh. This was going to be nasty. 

Nine

I Avoid Confrontations Whenever Possible

The man smiled and cracked his knuckles. I wished that I could do that. One man cocked his gun with a menacing chk-chk. “Ah, Nathaniel, I was hoping that you could come quietly. Apparently not.” While he was gloating, I saw an opportunity. I very stealthily unzipped my backpack, which was blocked from view by Daniel and Misty. I very quietly drew the sword, but somehow, my stealth skills failed me. The man smiled. “What an obvious ploy.” I chuckled. That wasn’t exactly what I was thinking of. I had something less obvious in mind, but infinitely more flashy. I threw the sword into the air. Daniel grabbed the hammer. We had discussed the plan beforehand, while planning out our escape. The sword flew into the air. The magician’s hands crackled with electricity and the eye holes of . I jumped. One magician fired, but missed, and a bolt of ricocheting energy flew into the other massive group of warriors. Shrieks and screams erupted. Perfect. Now people were distracted. As I jumped, I grabbed the sword in midair. “So that’s your plan, eh?” the man said. “Smote me with a heroic blow? Forget it. You’re not going to make it.” I smiled, pointed the sword at his heart, and cringed as he erected a wall of flames. No matter. I wanted to see him think two steps ahead. I was propelled toward him, as if from a cannon. I shot through the flames and smoke to pierce him straight through the heart. He shrieked in agony and crumbled into dust. I waded through the ranks, slashing and slicing, huge waves following each of my blows. Just as I was about to be overwhelmed, I turned on my heel and ran back to my team. Misty was defending herself with the whip. She smiled as she lashed out. I jumped with joy. This was going well. Then, a humungous boom sounded throughout the hall. Everyone stopped and looked at the door to my left. It burst off of its hinges and went flying straight towards me. I ducked and hit it with the sword. It dropped to the ground. A man walked in and conjured a little ball of flame. He chucked it and I made a huge column of earth with the pike to block it. The flame exploded and fire raged across the floor. I lowered the column back down, jumped on it, grabbed Daniel and Misty, and out the roof we went. The earth wall block had two uses: 1. To block the flame and 2. To make a hole in the roof. I had applied a little more force than I needed to with the catapult rock, and we went flying. Daniel had the foresight to lower us and suddenly, we were standing on a jungle floor. 

I drew the pike and sword, with one in each hand, and we ran. We bounded into a clearing, and suddenly, a helicopter had its sights trained on us. I raised the pike and cringed. As if from a megaphone, a voice suddenly blared, “We have orders to kill.” The guns affixed to the underside of the helicopter started to glow.  A bullet shot toward me, and I raised the sword to wash it away. Daniel swept it away with a wave of the hammer. “Bazdal, hand them over.” I looked behind me. There was nobody there. Then Daniel growled, “NEVER!” I looked at him in shock. “Is that like your last name or something?” “No. It’s my first name.” “But your first name is Daniel!” “No it is not. Watch.” Daniel shrank. A helm sank over his head. He dropped the hammer. An axe appeared on his back. He grew a long beard. He got fatter. I gasped. I had a dwarf standing in front of me. “D-d-daniel!!!” “I’m a dwarf, me lad.” The megaphone chuckled. “Hand him over.” I cringed. “Whoa whoa whoa, what the heck is going on?” The people in the helicopter laughed again. “I’ll let you explain.” A series of images flashed through my mind. “By the way,” the pilot said,“my name is Daniel.” I didn’t even know his name. I was so embarrassed. Daniel, the pilot suddenly burst through the door carrying a large shotgun. I remember that. He barely saved me in time. Then he drew up after he ducked, with a crossbow, and sent an arrow straight through Daniel’s heart. I guess this is where I realized that we were partners, because I was so scared. I was more attached to the guy than normal. But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. He always appeared with a shotgun in battles. That seems like a Dwarvish thing to do. And he never really liked flying, even though he was a pilot. He was also kind of short. But Daniel working for the WPA??? Never. Misty was keeping quiet.. I mean, she didn’t even know the guy that well!

 He sighed. “All right, I am a dwarf, and when I picked you up, I was working for the MPA. But then you showed me that, yeah, you had a good cause. So good I could betray the MPA and start working for you. I think you picked up that I hated flying, even though my cover was as a pilot. So I guess that I was tricking you all along. Now the guy in that helicopter is forcing me to choose a side. Well, I guess that...” He turned and flung his axe at the helicopter. It shattered the windshield and the guy was sucked out of the helicopter. It was like opening an exit on a plane- everything gets sucked into the air. He hit the ground hard. WHAM! I think I heard a few bones snap. I wouldn’t be surprised. I looked around and saw Misty sprinting away from the man and falling helicopter. Oh, did I mention it was falling out of the sky? It was. I screamed and ran. We heard shouting up ahead, but we knew that the bad guys were running behind us. The trees ended up ahead. 

We dove beyond the trees, and suddenly, we were on a dirt road. A car was driving away. Two people were in it and the radio was blaring. We put all of our energy into overtaking that car. It was going pretty slow, like it had stopped and was now just starting. The driver and passenger saw us. They screeched to a halt. They were driving a pickup truck, and we jumped in the back. “Go, quick!” They started the car and we were driving away.

 Far behind us, we watched a horde of creatures and humans burst into the open and dive into the woods on the other side of the road. We had them. I turned to Daniel/Bazdal, who had changed back to human form and said, “I didn’t even know dwarves existed! I never expected that! The dwarf human rolled his eyes. “And you expected this entire thing?” I rolled my eyes back at him. “Of course not.” “And, by the way, I like Daniel better than my real name. Call me that.” I nodded. “Got it, shorty.”

Chapter Ten: How to Get a Complete Stranger to Give Us a Plane Flight

We arrived at a small house. It was a log cabin, and the driver opened the door and got out. He looked at us in the back. “Who the heck are you?” I bowed. “Pleased to meet you. I am Nathaniel.” This isn’t something I normally do, but hey, it pays to be polite! The man looked confused. “You speak english.” He didn’t say it as a compliment or a criticism, just as a statement. “Yep.” He nodded. “I see. And do you want something?” I thought about this for awhile. Best to take the slow and steady approach. Then Misty burst out: “A flight to Indonesia!” Daniel and I shot her evil glares. The man stared. “I think not. I own a plane, but Indonesia is over a thousand miles away! You are in Botswana! Do you have any idea where you are?” “Great job, Misty,” I hissed. Daniel spoke up. “Could you at least fly us to Dakar, Senegal? I have a plane there.” The man stepped forward. “Sir, that is nearly as far! We have to avoid war-torn and jungle countries! The trip... it would take forever!” Daniel sighed. “Well, can we at least spend the night.” The man threw his hands up in the air. “FINE!” We all breathed easy. 

That night, we slept in a dark room in sleeping bags. We had discovered that the man’s name was Ahmed. His wife was nice, and she welcomed us. His two daughters served us their best meal, rice and a special mix of curry and spices which nearly burned Misty’s mouth off. She did not like spicy things. That night, we heard loud slaps and bangs. I raced to the window and looked out. A stand-up punching bag was outside, and Ahmed was hitting it. He had boxing gloves on. He mumbled in a foreign language. I walked outside just as he knocked it down. He did not notice me. “Why the punching bag?” He whipped around and threw a punch at my head. I ducked. He noticed that it was me and sighed in relief. “I am a boxer. I have a fight tomorrow and I must train. He got back to work. I watched with mild interest. My grandfather had taught me how to box before he died. He was great at it. That’s how most of the public thinks he got his mansion. However, he probably got the money to buy it from somewhere else. “I’ll box.” Ahmed tossed me a pair of gloves. I strapped them on and, suddenly, I was down. My stomach ached. I picked myself up. Ahmed was standing with his hands up. Wow, he was fast. I lunged forward and tried to hit him, but he sidestepped and boxed my ear. I fell from the added for of the ear-boxing and momentum of my punch. I growled, jumped up, and sprinted right at him, throwing punches as fast as I could. Some landed, but none were good, clean shots like Ahmed had landed. Ahmed moved away, and I turned to face him. Then he went in for the kill. My chest ached as he landed blow after blow after blow after blow. 

I regained consciousness about ten seconds later. “Ahmed.” He looked ashamed of himself. I took a moment to get my senses, and stood up. I had been lying on the dirt outside of the hut. “You have no need to worry about winning the fight. You could probably beat even the man who taught me.” Ahmed brightened. No doubt he was worrying about what I thought. “So, when is your fight?” Ahmed’s face looked gloomy again. “Tomorrow.” I smiled. “That’s great!” “Not so. I am facing a man called The Bear. He is second to none. He always wins by knockout.” I sighed. “Just do your best. I am sure that it will work out fine.” A walked back into the room we were sleeping in. I worried for Ahmed. Hopefully he would come out alright. 

   

 At the boxing ring the next day, in a nearby town, Ahmed’s family sat next to us. Ahmed walked into the ring. Then his opponent walked into the ring. He must have been seven feet tall and weighed 300 pounds of muscle. I smacked my head into my hands. The fight took about a minute before The Bear managed to touch Ahemed. Then it was over. Ahmed slumped against the ropes of the ring while the referee held up The Bear’s massive paw. “Prize money to whoever can beat The Bear! Two thousand dollars!” Daniel stood up. “I think I might have a go at this.” Misty looked shocked. “Whoa, dwarf man. Siddown and don’t hurt yourself. Daniel walked up to where Ahmed was lying against the ropes. He woke up when Daniel pulled him from the ring. Daniel climbed through the roped. The Bear laughed as he saw his next opponent. Then I had realized that Daniel had shifted into dwarf form and had lost his weapons. I guess I’ll call him by his dwarf name now. Bazdal glared at the massive man and the referee started the match. Bazdal walked calmly toward him as the bear swung a massive hand. Bazdal ducked out of the way as it passed him. The Bear swung again and again, but never touched him. Then, the giant reached a hand above his head and planned to crush my dwarvish friend. He slammed his hand down, and the dwarf dodged. His hand hit the floor and Bazdal raced over to it. He held the hand down with his foot and punched The Bear’s elbow. The sharp crack of his arm breaking echoed throughout the stadium. The fans in the stadium jumped to their feet as The Bear slumped and Bazdal delivered blows to his back. This is how the dwarf defeated the giant. The fans screamed, and the referee handed Bazdal one of those oversized checks for two thousand dollars. He jumped from the ring and handed it to Ahmed. As he walked out with us and Ahmed’s family, I think that only I noticed that he had changed back to human. That was when I knew not to mess with him while he was a dwarf. 

Once inside Ahmed’s house, his two little daughters ran up to Daniel and hugged him. Ahmed’s wife was almost crying. “How can we repay you?” Misty, once again, spoke up, “A flight to Indonesia.” I was starting to hate strongly dislike that girl’s loud mouth. This time, Ahmed was all smiles. “It’s the least we can do, and I will still have a lot of money left over!” I breathed a deep sigh of relief. Misty and I were going to have a long talk later on the art of subtlety. 

The plane flight was very very very long and uneventful. We had to stop once to refuel. Then, we were there. Ahmed said good bye and gave us his phone number in case we needed anything. We breathed deeply. Whew. All was well. Only one thing: where the heck was this temple?

Chapter Eleven: Searching for a Mystical Temple

We landed in Haluoleo Airport, about 33 km from Kendari. Daniel had shifted into his dwarf form, and Ahmed rented us a taxi with some Indonesian money. The taxi driver did not speak English, but he recognized the places we were going, so he drove off. About ten minutes later, we arrived at the outskirts of Kendari. I hopped out of the cab and grabbed my backpack (we had no other luggage), and we set off. While we were walked, I located the book that my dear old Grandpappy had given me. I leafed to the next open page, and words started to form. 

Nathaniel, I suppose that you have arrived in Kendari. Very good job! I do not remember exactly where the temple is, so you’ll have to ask around. I have only been there once. I’m sure the local mystics will be pleased to help you if you show them the weapons. There is a mystic that I have been in correspondence with near the center of town. 

With that, the message ended. “Well”, said Daniel, “I suppose that we should start walking.” We took Daniel’s advice and started walking. Once we got to the exact center of town, we located a psychic shop that advertised with palm reading. “I suppose we might try there,” Misty commented. We walked nervously into the shop. A man wearing a turban rushed up and started greeting is in a babble. I glanced at Daniel and shrugged. “Hey, do you speak English?” I asked. He stopped, and then said, “Yes.Welcome to the shop. Who are you?” I withdrew one of the mythical weapons from my backpack. He nearly died of fright, then he rushed through a door. He walked back out a few seconds later. “The mystic will see you now.” We walked inside, and a bald man wearing robes faced us. We sat down on futons surrounding a table with a crystal ball. “Welcome, travelers. I am glad to see you.”  He spoke in English, which surprised me. “I have heard of why you have come. Nothing escapes my knowledge.” Wow, I was impressed. “Please show us where the temple is.” The man nodded and put both hands on his crystal ball and stared deep into it. Then, he started shaking. Slowly at first, and then rocking back and forth like a man possessed. His eyes gleamed. Then he stopped. “Twenty-second and Bali.” I nodded. Then Daniel said, “Wait, what? The temple’s in the city?” The man smiled. “No, that’s just where my favorite deli is.” Misty slapped her palm to her head. “Come on, your grandad obviously didn’t mean this guy.” We walked out. 

“Hey, look, there’s another shop!” We hurried in. The shop looked trashed and gloomy. It was deserted. “Oh, maybe not this one.” 

We spotted another across the street. “This has got to be it.” We walked inside. A man ran up to us and bowed. Another started chanting in the background. “I sense great power near you,” said the bowing man. “Nice job, you’re right!” He dropped to the floor and kept bowing. “Okay, man, we need info.” He stood up and the chanting guy stopped chanting. “Look, we need some info. Could you help us?” The chanting man nodded. “Kami dapat membantu anda.” “English?” “Nosotros le podemos ayudar.” “Wait, stop!” Misty called. “Repitas, por favor.” “Nosotros le podemos ayudar.” “Muy bien. Donde esta el templo del fuego?” “Que está cerca del bosque, detrás de los pilares de piedra.” Misty nodded. “Gracias.” She walked out, and Daniel and I followed. “Wait, you know Spanish?” She smiled. “Yep.” (I’ll translate the conversation: Man: We can help you. Misty: Very good. Where is the Temple of Fire? Man: Near the forest, behind the pillars of stone. Misty: Thanks.) She translated it for us, and then we flagged down a man walking on the sidewalk. “Hey, where are the pillars of stone?” He pointed, and we ran that way. We ran through a forest, and then we spotted stone pillars. We raced through them, and then stopped dead. There was a curry restaurant behind the pillars called Temple of Fire. Daniel smacked his head into a nearby pillar. “Ugh, what do we do now? We’ll never find this stupid thing! Geez, maybe we should head to Argentina and enhance the next mystical weapon!” Something started rumbling. We looked around. There was nothing. Then we looked at the restaurant. Flames were licking up the sides. We heard a few bangs, and fireworks erupted over the temple. It exploded. “Whoa, what the heck???” A metal trapdoor was the only thing that was where the restaurant had been. I opened it. Stairs descended down into darkness. I stepped onto them. They seemed stable. I started walked, and then my foot hit where a stair was supposed to be. There was nothing. I fell a long way, and landed with a sickening crunch. I struggled to my feet. My arm hurt. It might have been broken. Something rebounded off of my head. I got whacked a few more times. Then I crumpled, and all went black.   

Chapter Twelve: Okay, So We Found It, But What Now?

I awoke in a daze. A man stood over me in a robe. I was expecting him to be more like a warrior. He seemed to be the opposite. Actually, he was kind of... plump. Bald. Short, too. He peered over his reading glasses at me. “Oh, I’m so sorry,” he squeaked. I called up to Daniel and Misty. “I’m okay, you can come on down!” The man set a ladder up against the fake stairs and they climbed down. “Uh,” Misty said, “Who are you?” The man sat down on a rock in the dirt floor. “This might take a while, so sit down.” I tried to push myself up, but my arm was racked with waves of pain. “AAH! I think I broke my arm!” Daniel hauled me up to my feet and sat me down. “Ow, that hurts!” The man looked at his feet. “I’m so sorry!” Misty nodded. “He’ll be fine, but back to your explanation.” The man said. “You may call me Brother Matthew. Our monkhood moved into this underground chamber two or three hundred years ago. We found it deserted. There had been a great battle. We were glad. We are merely monks, not warriors. We put a curry restaurant up as background, a legitimate background. It merely sunk into the ground. What you saw, it burning up, was an illusion. We are well known in town.” Brother Matthew stopped to wipe his head. He was sweating. “We don’t know what this chamber actually is, but one of order has thought that there is something evil lurking behind one of the walls that we constructed. We had best not go down there.” Daniel asked, “How many of you are there?” “Oh, forty or fifty, I suppose. We have a few paid servants around as well. This is just to guard against intruders. We didn’t build it. One of our ancestors, Brother Mark, found that out the hard way, like you. Come, I’ll show you around.” We walked through a door into a spacious, clean chamber that had been tiled and painted. Men that looked kind of like Brother Matthew were walking around, cleaning. “Here’s our entrance hall- the first completed part of our network. We walked through one of the door lining the hall. “This is the assembly hall.” Misty spoke up, “Where’s that weird wall of rocks... thing?” The monk’s smile disappeared from his face. “Follow me.” He walked through a series of doors. Each had signs on them. The last door’s sign said, “Evil awaits.” The monk stopped. “I will go no further.” Indeed, an evil presence seemed to be coming from the door. I sighed, drew one of the weapons (the pike) and pushed open the door. It was an empty room. The wall we were facing was made entirely out of rocks. Big, small, huge, tiny. I stepped forward. A feeling of dread swept over me.

I raised the pike and concentrated on one of the higher rocks. I leveled the pike at it and jabbed. BOOM! It exploded into dust and pebbles. The fragments rained everywhere. I heard a howl. I repeated the process on two more higher rocks, and handed the hammer to Daniel. “Levitate me, if you can.” I shot upwards and banged my head on the roof. “OW!” “Sorry!” I looked through the opening. A man was standing just on the other side of the rocks, smiling creepily up at me. Whoa. I blasted a few rocks at him. He disappeared. Literally. Daniel dropped me down. “We gotta blow this thing up and get in there with the big guns,” I said. I readied the pike. Daniel readied the hammer. We both swept our weapons toward the wall at the same time. It imploded, and barking and howling was heard. Misty grabbed the whip. I peered into the darkness. Then, a wolf lunged out of the gloom and at my face. The whip cracked on the wolf’s hide, and it, flaming, tried to lunge at Daniel, but he blew it back into the gloom. A pack of wolves slinked out of the shadows. A huge wolf, crisscrossed with scars, missing and eye, was ridden by the man I had seen. There were almost twenty. I couldn’t handle all of those alone. No way. We did the only logical thing. We ran. 

We ran through the door and waited for the wolves to burst through. They stayed. Misty kept running. “I’ll tell the monks!” I kicked open the door and, slamming the pike into the ground, created a huge chasm across the front of the room. The wolves bayed and growled. The man dismounted. “So.” His voice was skeletal and raspy, like knives scraping a chalkboard. “You have come to die, no?” Daniel stepped forward. His voice steely, he proclaimed, “Not on my watch.” The man glared at him. “A dwarf. You do not know who you are dealing with.” I spoke up defiantly. “Uh, a creepy guy who hangs out in dark rooms with a pack of wolves for hundreds of years?” He sent me a look of such malice, I would have ran if not for the powerful-ish thing in my hand. “I am the Wolf Man. Freedom has come at last.” As if on cue, all of the wolves howled. I levitated a rock from the chasm and chucked it at him. Quick as lightning, he extended his index finger, and it changed. A wicked claw emerged from his fingernail, while his finger turned furred and long. The rock, in a shower of dust and stone, was no more.” His finger morphed to normal, and he smiled. “Prepare to die.” A wolf leaped across the gorge at me, and I leaped sideways. It, hissing, landed and sprang at me. I braced the pike against the ground. The wolf exploded into dust, and a clang resounded throughout the room. The other wolves, who were preparing to leap, stopped dead. A small knife in a sheath lied on the floor of the room, the words “Minion of the Wolf Man” carved into a sheath. Everyone stared at the knife. The Wolf Man glared daggers at me. “Come and get some!” I yelled. He growled, and, again on cue, the wolves growled with him. The Wolf Man lunged across the pit, changing in mid-leap into a humongous gray wolf, one almost four feet tall and nearly twelve feet long from the tip of its nose to the end of its tail. Oops. Guess that I shouldn’t have made the puppy mad. 

Chapter Thirteen: I Become a Four-Star General.

The Wolf Man stared me down in wolf form, waiting for me to look away. The rest of the world seemed frozen in time. Then, he opened his mouth wide and roared. While his mouth was open, I decided to take a risk that would possibly get me killed. I threw the pike like a javelin, straight into his open mouth. He choked, and I leaped across the chasm into the wolf pack. Daniel followed, and the wolves parted from his hammer. We ran into the darkness, and when I looked back, the Wolf Man had changed. Blood was dripping down his face, and he held up the pike as a sign of victory. “I’ll be waiting, weapon boy!” he called. I turned back and kept on going. 

Complete and utter darkness reigned until Misty drew the whip. Fire lit the way. We walked cautiously into the dark, Daniel watching our backs. There was a hissing noise, and an arrow flew at Misty. She ducked, and it hit the wall with a dull thump. Misty took a step forward. “STOP!” I screamed. There, underneath her left foot, which was hovering in midair, was a tripwire. I snatched the whip and cracked it, lighting the entire hall. Tripwires criss crossed the floor, and I wouldn’t even think about touching the walls. A few were strung in between the walls, but for the most part they were on surfaces. “Whoa,” Daniel breathed. “How are we going to get past those?” Misty exclaimed. Daniel held up the hammer. I slapped my hand onto my forehead. “Then all of them will detonate at once, and some traps are probably head-on.” “Let’s just keep on walking. Carefully.” I stepped forward, but it was only a matter of time before one was set off. Misty’s foot got tangled, and she fell. An axe swung at where her head should have been, a spike shot from between her legs onto the ceiling, and a gigantic circular saw lowered itself and chopped apart where her stomach should have been. She stayed on the ground as three arrows flew above her, and a huge crossbow bolt flew inches above her neck. All the traps seemed to have gone away when she pushed herself up. “I have an idea,” Daniel said.

We stood facing where we came from. “Here, doggie! Come here! Who wants a puppy treat?” A wolf stepped out of the gloom and growled. He leaped at us, and we ran toward the trapped hallway. The wolf closed in on us, and just in time we reached where the traps started. He lunged, and we stepped aside, and he leaped straight into the heart of the traps. It was a little violent, so I’ll describe how it was with sounds.

Trip. FWISH! WOOF! FWANG THWONG ZZZZZ BOOM! Arf arf arf arf. NEEEE BOOOM! CHOP CHOP CHOP. THUD. Grrrrrrrrrrrr.

Most of the traps were set off, but there were a few remaining. We stepped around and over them, and jumped over the remainder of the wolf that had helped us out. We stepped into a huge circular chamber. Lights flashed on, and a single table stood in the middle of the room. Two guys stepped out of a door on the other end of the room. One looked young, a few years older than me, and the other looked like your typical sports announcer. The youngish guy was wearing a suit and was covered with pimples. He looked like your average high school nerd. Then, a huge changing throng wearing black robes burst through the door. They cheered as the nerdy guy stepped up to the table. The sports announcer dude walked to the long side of the table. “MAY THE GAME OF STRATEGY COMMENCE NOW!” Two robed people walked up and took their hoods off. One was a girl with short blond hair. The other was a hulking man in a helmet.They stepped to the head of the table to join the nerdy guy. The sports announcer shouted, “QUIET!” even though no one was talking. He stared at us. “This is a game of strategy. One person will command the army. One will inhabit the warrior. One will control the castle.” I walked to the table. “I’ll control the army.” A crowd of tiny bluish figures materialized on the table. I said, “Retreat,” and they backed up almost to the edge of the table. “I’ll inhabit the warrior,” exclaimed Daniel. He shifted into his dwarf form. A figure about twice the size of the other figures appeared. Bazdal swung his arm, and the warrior swung his arm. “I guess that means that I’ll control the castle.” A huge castle formed on the table. It was about twice the size of a box of tissues. Still small to us. An army like ours, along with a castle formed on the other side of the table. “LET THE GAMES BEGIN!” I told our army to charge. The nerd did likewise. Bazdal’s character charged into battle, violently decapitating tiny figures with a sword. Misty noticed that our castle had catapults and anti-siege elements. “Archers, fire!” she said. A wave of tiny arrows swarmed onto the field, felling tiny soldiers. A catapult fired from the other castle, and it would have hit Bazdal’s warrior had he not dodged. Instead, it crushed a bundle of our warriors. A tiny siege tower wheeled out of the opposite castle. Bazdal strode over to it and hacked at one of the wheels with his sword. For the second time, one of our opponents spoke. The girl with blond hair said, “Fire.” Arrows flew from the tower into Bazdal and he bellowed, just as he hacked one of the wheels off. He went to work on the next on while Misty aimed a trebuchet at it. The battle was going evenly when I had an idea. I communicated it to my warrior telepathically, and they followed my instructions. They encircled the opposing army and at my signal, swept in and crushed them. We almost didn’t notice the opposing warrior until he pounded on the castle doors. Looking alarmed, Misty fired a catapult at it and it dodged, pounding on the doors. We were distracted by a wave of motion on the table as the siege tower fell, nearly crushing Bazdal and some of our warriors. Our castle doors were starting to break down as the warrior pounded on them. Bazdal raced over to confront the opponent. They swiped at each other, not delivering any final blows. Our army had lost about ⅓ of our troops, while the enemy had lost ⅔. Some of our extra troops marched over to help, along with some archers firing at the opponent. Then all of our characters froze. We looked up. The sports announcer dude held up a bag. “In here, I hold a bag of catapult balls. Whoever secures these first will have a huge advantage.” The girl cracked her knuckles and rolled her head from side to side. The man rolled them out and our warriors unfroze. Both armies raced for the catapult balls, but since our army was defending the castle, the opponents got there first. They delievered them to the enemy castle, and that was when our destruction began. The blond girl loaded up the catapults. Our army faced the enemy, about to kill the last warriors when armageddon began. The first to fall was Bazdal. He smashed to the ground after the third direct hit from a catapult. Our army ran all over, trying to avoid the projectiles, but it was no use. Ball after ball after ball smashed into the ground, flattening troops. Our doors broke down at last, even though the giant was injured by all of the arrows sprouting from chinks in his armor. The giant laughed and strolled inside of the castle when he flew backwards. A siege tower emerged, and our castle promptly disabled one of the catapults in the mayhem. The siege tower rolled right over the giant warrior and the last remnants of our army cheered. The siege tower plowed over the rest of the opposing soldiers and rolled up to the castle. Soldiers leaped off of it and into the opposing castle, killing most of the archers inside. They emerged with a flag. Then the table disappeared and the crowd of robed people parted to let us pass. “Well done,” they murmured. Then I opened the door and nearly fell into open space.

Chapter 14: Water Becomes My Greatest Enemy

 

Daniel, who had become human again, and Misty caught me as I fell. There was a huge gap in between the path and the door. Daniel leaped it first, and then I made a running jump and made it across. Misty almost fell, but Daniel and I caught her. We walked down the corridor, which was lit with torches, and then we entered a rectangular chamber. There was a perfect circle of water on the floor in the center. I walked up to it and almost dipped my finger in, when in a flash of movement, the water surged upwards and coalesced into the form of a man with a very big axe. He swung at me, and I ducked just in time. The man leaped past me at Misty, who I had given the sword, and their weapons clanged together. Daniel swiped the hammer at him, and he was almost blown away, except that he melted back into water. I scratched my head. Huh. That was weird. I raised the whip to evaporate it when it changed again, into a giant spider, with a ninth leg on its back that it used as a spear. The leg was rock hard, and I wrapped the whip around it and pulled the spider towards me. The thing melted into a puddle of water, and this time re-formed as a floating woman, who when Misty slashed the sword at her, producing a wave of water, sucked it in with her right hand and spit it toward me. I created a wall of fire to counteract it. I cracked the whip near her face, creating a globule of fire that rapidly expanded, but the woman produced a whip of water and extinguished it. We dueled back and forth, water and fire, while Daniel swung the hammer and Misty stood still. Water had no use against water. The woman flipped backwards to dodge the gust of air, and changed into a puddle of water. Suddenly, I knew how to defeat it. It ran toward me, and I raised the whip. A hand reached out and swung an axe at me, and I dodged and swung the whip. It flowed towards Misty, and Daniel blew it away from her with a hammer. It flew towards the wall, but changed into the woman and backflipped off of the wall. She swung the water whip at Daniel, and it wrapped around the hammer. If only we had the pike, we could have defeated her, but as it was, we were equals. Except for my brilliant plan. Daniel swung the hammer, and it melted into a puddle of water.

Just as I cracked the whip. Steam billowed throughout the room, and then, there were three things standing where it was. The man with the axe. The woman with the whip. And the spider with the spear. Each lunged toward us. The spider went for me, and I rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding its spear. Daniel was fending off the man, and Misty was running from the whip woman. I had a genius idea. I cracked the whip towards the woman, and as she fended it off, the spider lunged. I quickly pulled the whip back and left a burning scar on its side. The spider hissed and tried to circle around me. Then it fell over. A huge gust of wind had pushed it to the side, and I wrapped the whip around its neck. It leaked into a small puddle, which evaporated and vanished. Daniel was trapped it a corner, wildly swinging the hammer and dodging the blows raining down on him. Misty was running, and she ran toward me just as the woman cracked her whip. I ducked and Misty and I traded weapons. I conjured up a huge globe of water, and I sent it toward the woman. She smiled, but as it hit her, Misty swung the whip. She sucked the water in with her hand, just as the whip hit her on the nose. She fell backwards and evaporated. A scream echoed across the hall. Daniel was slumped in the corner, and a huge cut was bleeding on his left leg. The man’s axe was raised for the killing blow. I raised the sword over my head and threw. It went straight through the man’s back and stuck in the wall over the man’s head. I went over to Daniel and helped him up. “It’s going to be okay.” An automated voice echoed through the room. “Please say your name.” In the center of the room, a sphere was hovering over the floor. Hopefully it wasn’t another enemy. “NATHANIEL STONE!” I shouted. “1 Message awaiting- Balthazar Stone.” I gulped. Hopefully, this was what I thought it was. An image shimmered onto the wall, projected by the sphere. It was my grandfather, though looking much younger. “Nathaniel,” it said. “If you are here, I am sorry to have put you through this. You see,” he sighed, “It was my lifelong mission to make sure that these were used for the safety of the world. All that I managed to do in my entire lifetime was gather them from the four corners of the world. It is your destiny to make sure that they are enhanced.” “All right, Pops.” He didn’t hear me. It was a recording. “Hopefully it hasn’t been too hard for you. I left a present for you inside of the sphere. The reason I could come here was because I believed that the weapon might be in the Temple, but apparently not. Enjoy your present, and remember: I’m sorry.” A single tear fell down my cheek and to the floor. The sphere opened up, and a cell phone was lying inside of it. I picked it up, and it was the latest model: iPhone 4S. I shoved it into the pocket of my clothes. The sphere closed, and said, “Please say your name.” “Misty Glade.” I stifled a laugh, despite the heartbreaking message my grandfather left me. “Your name is Misty Glade???” “You got a problem with that?” The sphere said, “No messages await. Would you like to make a call?” “Quick as lightning, she recited, “555-555-5555” The sphere started ringing, and a voice said, “Hello?” 

“Hi, Mom.”

“Oh my gosh, Misty! Those men came and took you! I thought I would never see you again!”

“I escaped.”

“I’m so glad. Look, your father came home, and he was heartbroken when he heard that you were gone.”

“Dad... came home?” 

“Yes, Misty. Do you want to talk to him?” 

“No... not now. Look, I’ll call you from a different number later, okay?”

“No, please don’t hang up.” 

“Mom, I have to go. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

*BEEP*

Misty fell to her knees, sobbing. “I want to use your phone later, Nathaniel.” 

A door slid open in the wall, and we went forward. Then we heard a growl from the darkness. It was the Wolf Man. I drew the whip, but somehow, I felt that it was more powerful. It had been enhanced while we were talking. I could take this stupid guy down. I tossed the whip to Daniel as the Wolf Man emerged and drew the sword. “Bring it.”

The Wolf Man made an inhuman growl and lunged toward me.I ducked instinctively and struck his underbelly with the back end of the sword. He let out a whimper, then tuck and rolled making a landing behind me. He bared his teeth, showing an array of bloody canines. Me and Misty advanced upon the beast. Misty drew the hammer and waved it about him, causing a large tornado to come hurtling toward the beast. The Wolf Man flipped upside down and made a rather remarkable landing on his feet. 

“Time to bring in the big guns” I said advancing with the sword.

“Hey,” Misty remarked, “I did a good enough job.”

I swung at the monster, causing him to retreat. Me and Misty simultaneously swung our weapons at the Wolf Man’s soft underbelly, (or in my case, the exposed neck). The Wolf Man did an exceptional job dodging our blows. He landed a hard kick in Misty’s gut. She fell to the hard floor and gagged. The Wolf Man had remarkable strength which I’m guessing is what kept him alive in this battle. I swung at him with the sword but he parried and I took a hairy elbow to the face. I staggered back, one false step, the Wolf Man was upon me. He tore at my clothes and my face, ripping skin off as he did, I screamed in pain.

Chapter 15: A New Co-Worker Steals My Soul

I was falling through pitch black, nothing else. My previous wounds, I couldn’t feel them, I couldn’t feel anything for that matter. I landed on a pitch black ground with a loud crunch. I managed to get up and I tried to call for help, but I had no voice in this twisted dementia. I saw a figure outlined in silver in the distance. But maybe the figure was right next to me. There was no way of knowing in a jumbled state of mind like mine at the time. Then, just like that, flood lights turned on. The walls changed from black to white and I could see exactly where I was. Nowhere. The figure outlined in silver was about 5 steps away from me. It was wearing a long white robe with a hood over its thin head. That was all cool (or not) but what really caught my eye was the little words floating all across this figure. All the words read L-I-M-B-O, I had a bad feeling in my stomach. 

The face is what really through me off though. It was Daniel’s, (I was wondering why he wasn’t pitching in to save me from the Wolf Man) but then it changed to Misty’s, then to The Wolf Man, Then Grandpa. My eyes began to water and lunged toward the being. I found myself lunging toward thin air as the being appeared behind me with a different face, one I did not know. A girl, a lot older than me, with  with dark brown hair and stormy gray eyes. The face smiled wickedly then changed to its true form (I’m guessing). The face under the hood was pure darkness.

My surroundings turned to T.V. fuzz and I got a little nervous, as if! I should be able to handle something like this. The beast’s face turned into a silver form with glowing red eyes and a pearly white teeth. I liked it better when my friend’s faces were there. Then, my shoulders started shaking uncontrollably. I fell to the floor, and my eyes closed. My forehead smacked against the floor.

When I opened my eyes, I was lying on the stone floor. The Wolf Man was laughing. It sounded like laughing, anyway. It was more of a bark. I stood up, with some difficulty. Something flashed before me. It looked like a robed figure. Was it real? It flashed again, longer this time. I recognized it as the figure that I saw. I held the sword behind me, ready to strike, when the wolves growled. The figure solidified. I almost swung at it, but I figured that it would end up bad for me. What would happen if it was helping us? The Wolf Man had no such reservations. He lunged, and the figure held out a hand. It was covered in writing, all of which spelled LIMBO. The Wolf Man crashed against an invisible wall. He looked very hurt. The thing turned toward me. It was the girl I had seen. “Hello. I am Soul Prophet.” “Why are you here?” Daniel growled. “Why, to read your souls, of course. And, if I don’t like what I see, to eat them.” She smiled. Every tooth in her mouth was pointed. 

The wolf man barked, loudly. Soul Prophet smiled. She turned to me. “Shall we start?” Her face changed, now to the form of my grandfather’s face. His eyes started to glow. Soul Prophet looked me straight in the eyes. It was uncomfortable, so I looked away, but a crushing force made me turn my head to look at her. She smiled, then started to laugh. “I like what I see!” The Wolf Man made an unexpected lunge at her back, but I flung the sword at him. It grazed the top of his fur, slammed water in his face, and made him choke. In an instant, Soul Prophet snapped her fingers and the sword flew back into my hand. “Thanks.” Soul Prophet then turned to the Wolf Man. She stared at him hard and her eyes began to glow. The Wolf Man changed to human form and curled on the floor in the fetal position. “Hungry,” he whispered. “Hungry in the dark.” He collapsed, and no matter how many times the other wolves prodded him after that, he wouldn’t move. Soul Prophet turned to me. “I’ll spare your friends because I like you. Until next time!” She smiled cheerily, and then, when I expected her to disappear, said, “Oh, gosh, I’m not possessed anymore!”

Her body suddenly crumpled on the ground. She then steadily got to her feet and made a surprisingly fast recovery for someone who was apparently possessed a minute ago. The girl was standing before me. “Hey, who are you?” “I’m Nathaniel, and this is Daniel and Misty.” The wolves had slinked off to wherever they had came from. “Oh my gosh, you’re hurt!” I had barely noticed it, but I hurt a lot from the wounds that the Wolf Man had given me. “Don’t mind me.” I said. “Soul Prophet possessed you?” “Yeah, long story. Soul Prophet’s last inhabitant died, so she needed a new one. She kind of works her way into other people’s brains, as well as their souls. She decided that she liked me, so now she possesses me. It kinda stinks.But beside the fact, What are you doing HERE?” I explained my mythical weapons predicament. She seemed to understand, but she started to glow after I explained. “Oh, Soul Prophet needs me for something! I gotta go, but I’ll be back to help you guys out!” She turned away, but I think that only I noticed that she smirked as she turned away from us. I didn’t comment. It probably wasn’t important.

Then I thought closely to my dream when I met the mysterious L-I-M-B-O person, or the Soul Prophet. I had my suspicions about this new member of our group. What if she and the Soul Prophet were the same, all cold and dark at heart. But for now I put those thoughts out of my mind for now, she had just saved  my life from the wolves. 

She suddenly appeared looking rather out of breath. “So, pant pant “glad that wasn’t too long.”We should head to some shelter.” We all looked at her a little strangely. “Whatever you say ‘boss.’” Misty said. I had a feeling Misty was not as comfortable as we were with The Soul Prophet. 

“W-we never learned your name” Daniel stuttered, his eyes staring at the beautiful girl that was possessed by Soul Prophet standing before him. “Oh,” she said and fluttered her eyelashes. Daniel and I both chuckled while Misty groaned. “My real name is- uh...,” there was an awkward silence immediately picked back up with “uh-Kaylee, that’s it Kaylee”!

Misty gave Daniel and I a sort of,  “what are you, stupid?”look which we obviously weren’t fazed by.

“Lets go to the monks for shelter tonight”Misty said angrily. I myself had no idea why she was angry. She couldn’t of been jealous of Kaylee (aside from her looks). 

We went back to the monks after that. They were glad we had survived, so were they cooked a meal of curry for us. It was SPICY! But, unfortunately we couldn’t stay there forever. We had to leave eventually, so Misty, Daniel, and I gathered in an unoccupied room in the monk’s monastery and discussed the plan. 

“Okay, so first of all, why are you all making googly eyes at Kaylee, she is obviously a spy sent to take the weapons.” Misty said. “Hey, I can hear you” said Kaylee from the next room. “Second” she continued. “Daniel, you shouldn’t even be interested in her, she’s like 10 years younger than you.” I nodded at Daniel while he scowled at the floor. “Beside that point” I began when Misty cut me off. “Ohh no you won’t Natty! Kaylee is sent here to kill you and steal the weapons!” Her face turned a shade of maroon as she took a deep breath. “If it’s any consolation, you can handcuff me,” said Kaylee. I chuckled a little while Daniel pondered the fact that he was actually 10 years older than Kaylee. 

“Okay, lets get to the actual meeting part” I said when I actually thought something like this: “Natty, who calls me Natty? Why did she call me Natty instead of my actual name?” “So” Daniel started “where is the next location.” “The temple of water” I said. “In Argentina.” Everybody (even Misty) at least broke out into a smile when we heard the destination. “Whoo” Kaylee said. "We're going to Argentina!" She started to glow. “Oh, Soul Prophet needs me. I think I’ll be gone a while, but I’ll be back when you get to Argentina.” She disappeared, and Misty growled, “I don’t trust her.” I knew that she was a bit jealous, but deep down, I had a weird feeling that she was right.