Discovery- IV

I noticed after the book was finished that we decided to put in filler parts that were unnecessary and had no relation to the story . If you've read everything so far, you might have noticed a few. Enjoy.

Part 4- Air

Chapter Twenty-Three: I Visit My Tombstone

It was like we weren’t even there in the first place. It only took a split second for us to travel to wherever we were. I kept thinking about what the man had showed me, how my parents had sacrificed their lives for me. Also how my grandfather would rather die than have the WPA kill me. It was them all along, the WPA. They were the one’s that killed my parents, grandparents, and Ethel. She might have been a total slug, but she was still an important part of my daily life. It was all their fault. 

We teleported to what I called home. The next temple was in Maine, and since I found out that I was (apparently) dead, it would be nice to visit my tombstone. Erie, Pennsylvania, here I come. I stepped back on the front lawn of my grandfather’s mansion. It was cold out for the end of summer, and school would probably be starting soon. That was why I had gotten to so many places without asked questions- summer. Of course. During the school year, so many people would ask questions, especially in the daytime. I walked inside the mansion, and inside the library. It seemed pretty normal, probably because the maid had been cleaning up after Ethel’s mess. The front of the house was wrapped in caution tape. I had a hard time believing what my life had come to. I gestured my friends out of the house, I was getting nostalgic. We walked onto his back lawn, across the yard and through a gate to the small family cemetery. We arrived and I stared at my tombstone. Nathaniel Stone Lived 1997-2012. I frowned, I wasn’t dead. I was missing. Why would they think I was dead? 

“WPA,” Christopher began slowly, “they found your dead body.” 

“How?” I asked. “A look alike. They found a look alike and murdered him. Then they said he was you.” I gasped as we all gathered around Christopher. “They said he was you to get you out of the way. If you were still alive, you could have contacted the government or something. But now since you're dead, the government would shoot you on sight and say its a zombie apocalypse.” I facepalmed and fell on my knees. 

“The next temple is in Maine,” I said, trying to avert from the subject. “Pennsylvania to Maine,” Misty exclaimed. “That isn’t too far.” 

We suddenly heard a rustle in the bushes near the graveyard. I drew the sword from my backpack and sent a wave of water at the bush. A rabbit flew from the leaves and landed into the street on its back. Everybody took a step back  and looked at one another. “To Maine we go” I said through gritted teeth. I then looked up at the clouds and saw a large hurricane coming in on us. “Look at our luck” I said “I bet the airport is going to close now!” Christopher nodded “12 hours by car.” “Wait!” Daniel yelled. “ALL OF THOSE MYSTICAL WEAPONS AND US PACKED IN ONE CAR?” “Yep,” exclaimed Christopher. “Mystical weapons road trip!” He, Misty, and Kaylee were about to skip along to the car when I reminded them that the WPA could take us out quickly. Misty, always the quick thinker, grabbed my phone from my pocket and figured out that it would take way too long to walk. Over 600 hours. I facepalmed, and then remembered something. “Look guys, already four people I know and were close to have DIED. We should be serious, and do this for real. People die. All five of us in a car would make WAY too much magical energy. We would die. Get serious!” Everyone just stared at me, flabbergasted, and I thought, “Oh dang, I shouldn’t have said that.” They kept staring at me. I sighed and walked back across the lawn and into the mansion. I went upstairs to my room and flopped down on my bed. I had really messed it up this time. 

I heard a soft knock on my door and Kaylee pushed it open. “Oh wow, nice room!” I shrugged glumly. “Thanks.” She sat down next to me. “Look... Nathaniel... I know it’s been hard for you. You think you’re not good enough for us. But the thing is, maybe we’re not good enough for you. I don’t know any other 14 year olds who can do this without crying or going crazy. A week or two ago, your grandfather’s will reading was held. Now, you’re back here after having literally traveled the world. It’s amazing what you can do.” I smiled, despite the fact that I was seriously down in the dumps. She gave me a hug, and I hugged her back. With a quick kiss on the forehead, and a wink, she exited the scene. I sat there, dumbfounded. “Wait a minute, what just happened?” I said to myself. I just got a kiss. And from Miss Beautiful herself. I was probably in heaven right there. A broad grin spread across my face. I felt like I could do anything. I walked over to the small intercom in my room. It broadcast to the entire house. “Hey gang, can I get a meeting up in my room? Fourth floor, turn right at the stairs and go straight.”

 A few minutes later, everyone was in my room, including the maid and the cook. I dismissed them and we all sat down on the floor. “Look, guys...” I didn’t really know what all to say to them. What I did was mean. But how did I apologize. “Look, I know I’m not the greatest man alive.” Kaylee smacked me in the shoulder. “But I am pretty cool. I’m getting down in the dumps just because I yelled at you and people that I love died for a cause. That’s pretty unfair for all of you that worked so hard.” I looked at Daniel. “You, when you beat that boxer in Africa to get us where we were going.” He smiled. “That was fun.” I looked at Misty. “When you solved that riddle in the Castle of Earth, one that nobody else knew how to do, with the numbers and letters. That was amazing.” She grinned. Her smile lit up her face. I looked at Kaylee next. “I was overjoyed when you appeared as Soul Prophet and saved us. Since that wasn’t really you, I guess I should give you credit for cheering me up too.” She gave me another wink. “And Christopher...” I looked at the blond man. “I know that I should have trusted you. You killed off all of those wax men. Without you, we would have been nothing. They would have crushed us.” He smiled. “Well, I AM pretty amazing.” Everyone laughed, and I smiled.” I think that I can get some money from my bank account to get a plane flight.” 

Everything was going fine then. We laughed, joked, and it was like our burdens were lifted. Then the storm hit. The house suddenly rocked back and forth and all the power went out. Misty was flown across the room and hit a dresser. Daniel and Kaylee were both slammed into the tv causing it to fall over backwards with a loud crash. Me and Christopher both stood in the center of the room; the storm had no affect on us. A second tv above us switched on and I saw a news reporter standing in the pouring rain.  

She looked all around and then said: “Repeat. Repeat. Nowhere is safe. Nowhere is safe. Go to the nearest shelter and make sure it is sealed. This is the biggest hurricane of our time and our generations time. Repeat. Repeat. Nowhere is safe.”

 At tangle of limbs and objects flew everywhere. “Get up” Christopher instructed to all of us. “Steady yourselves.” Daniel looked at him “But what are we going to do now!?”  Christopher glared at him “We’re going to battle the storm.”

Chapter Twenty-Four: We Fight The Storm

“Nathaniel,” He said. “Do you have a little hide away?” I nodded and showed him over to a bookshelf. I pulled a book out and there was a 10 foot little space that wasn’t affected at all. “Impressive” Misty said. We all rushed inside the room and I pulled a rope inside of the area which shut the bookcase. The storm didn’t even impact us in here. I pulled a little string and a light bulb flickered, then turned on. The room was relatively plain with the exception for a few drawers and a working television in the back. “We have our own electric system in this room.” I said. “Well we're not going to be needing any tv today.” We all sat on the ground while Christopher discussed our battle plan. 

“First, we have to find a way to your Nathaniel’s garage. Then we have to take the car and try to make it to Maine.”  We all stared at him. “This closet has instant access to all over the mansion” I said. “Then lets go” He said. I walked over to a little switch in the wall and pulled the lever. We were all in an instant drop which rapidly turned into a slide. We slid down until we reached a hardwood floor. “What car do you want to drive in?” I smirked. There was dozens of Stone family cars all around us. Christopher walked over to a pink hummer-limo and rested his elbow on it. “This one here.” We all filed in the car. “I should drive,” Daniel said. Christopher shook his head at him. “You're a dwarf. I’d like to see your license.” Daniel frowned and got into passenger while the other three were in the back. Christopher opened a compartment in the side of the car door and found keys. He started the car up and grinned. “This will be fun.” 

We burst through the door of the garage leaving a giant hole where the door was. The maid ran screaming through the garage door and shook her fist at us. Ah, Christopher. The hummer-limo, I’m going to call it Pinky, swerved to avoid a large tornado which almost tore us to pieces. “WOOOOO!” Christopher screamed as we narrowly dodged a large wave of water. “NOW THIS IS BATTLING THE STORM!”  We then saw a large face made out of roaring waves of water coming straight toward us. Misty reached out a long pistol from out of her combat boot. She then leaned out the window and sent a large blast towards the face. Sending it propelling backwards. “Why would a pistol do that much damage?” I asked. “It is loaded with titanium. Water beasts hate titanium.” “And where the heck would you GET that titanium?” I asked. She just smiled shyly at me “I have my ways.” Christopher turned around to look at us, “OR WHAT ABOUT THAT BIG FACE THAT JUST CAME TOWARDS US?! WHAT ABOUT THAT? EH!” We looked at him, a little shocked, he just stared back at us while still driving the car. “That’s not safe” Kaylee speculated to Christopher. 

He let out a deep sigh and turned his eyes back on the road. “This storm is obviously a demon” he said. “And that is not very good. This storm is going to follow us until we reach Maine.” We all looked at the back of his head, all the chaos erupting through the other end of the windshield. “Or!” Misty said hopefully. “Or we destroy it now” Christopher said.  The world seemed to go quiet, even though the car kept swerving and turning to get us away from the storm. 

We then saw something that rattled our bones and made even Christopher gasp in horror. In front of Pinky stood a large tornado made completely out of fire. About a thousand different eyes glared down at me from the depths of the tornado. It  swirled toward us and Christopher swerved to the right, causing the tornado to slam into a skyscraper, knocking it down in an explosion of ashes and office papers. The tornado immediately turned around and came right towards us, we all screamed in terror as the monster swiftly came, bringing our doom. The weapons I left in the trunk, bad move on my part. This was surely it, and then Christopher popped up. “In my bag, the artifact that I stole from Rasputin’s tomb. It can destroy fire monsters.” He scrambled through his old leather bag and found a smooth glowing orb. Christopher unlatched the sun roof and pointed the artifact right at the monster. 

“Geirzba Goona Ubiatrey!” Christopher spoke those words and the monster immediately started turning into steam by the edges, then in one second, there was nothing left of the beast.

Christopher had the pedal pressed down and we were still driving when he got back in the car. “Wooh!” He yelled “I was right, that was fun.” I sighed; “In some points of view it may have actually been.” He chuckled “well at least we fought the storm.” I sarcastically chuckled just like Christopher and told him to hit the gas. He did as I said; we were going to Maine. 

Chapter Twenty-Five: Road Trip Time!

We road in Pinky as we left the storm. The large demon inside of the storm had at least been cast off for a couple of days due to the artifact that Christopher had stolen so many years before. Christopher seemed to know where to drive which threw me off. But when I asked him he had just said: “I’ve been this way before.” Day turned to night and we had to stop at a gas station. It was a good old fashion roadtrip! Throughout the whole thing I couldn’t stop thinking about what the man at the air temple had said. People had sacrificed their lives for me, people I loved and cared for. And what am I doing now? I’m doing a job that specifically benefits myself. I should be helping people. It broke my heart to think about the past events. My heart has been broken nearly 50 times in the past day.

 Daniel nodded off in the front seat of the car. I  Leaned my chair back and grabbed a soda from the refrigerator. We had two refrigerators on either side of Pinky. The front seat had a water cooler and a million other bells and whistles that I wouldn’t care to talk about. 

In the trunk, Christopher had put an enormous trash bag for us to throw our junk into. 

Kaylee started to nod off with her head on my shoulder. I couldn’t really do anything else without waking her so I went off to sleep myself. 

The days in the car were pretty uneventful. Sure, it was fun, Kaylee, Misty and I watching movies and stuff in the backseat, but mythical weapons-wise? Boring. It was better than fighting a demon storm, I guess. We arrived at Rockland, Maine, and we all piled out of the car.We walked into the Cafe Miranda, a nice restaurant in the city. We stepped inside and were amazed at the quality and service.

Forty minutes later, we stepped out and decided to take a walk, leaving our bright pink limousine behind (which by the way, had attracted a few stares). We decided to go into the forest, just to check out the sights. It had been a long time since I had been in a forest without being chased down and almost killed by monsters or warlocks. It was pretty up in Maine, and nearly silent besides the twittering of birds and the sound of nature. Then, I heard a pounding noise, but it was quiet and far off. I moved towards the sound. I know what you’re thinking. In horror movies, everyone’s always like, “Don’t go into the basement!” Yeah, that’s exactly what I did. Stupid and crazy, I know, but I wanted to see what it was. The pounding noise drew ever closer until it was deafening. I was the first to get a glimpse of what it was.  Things in dark armor were marching toward us, and a giant throne was being carried by four of them. Behind the armored things were wax men. I would say that there were about fifty armored ones, and over two hundred total. Upon the throne sat the old wizard who had given me doubt in the Cathedral of Water. I grimaced. I unloaded my ever-present backpack and tossed mythical weapons to Daniel, Kaylee, and Misty, taking the pike for myself. I thumped the ground with it, and a platform shot up underneath us so that we were raised above the ground. Daniel brandished the whip, and Christopher, weaponless, commanded a turquoise, running with electricity, and utterly terrifying set of nunchucks.

The man on the throne stood and his carriers lowered him to the ground. I pointed the pike at him. “WHO ARE YOU?” I screamed. He smiled, and a booming voice answered, “I AM MORDRED, ONLY SON OF MORGANA LE FAY.” The hunchbacked old man smiled devilishly and straightened up, his bad posture disappearing, and grew taller. Swirling black armor fell into place over his rapidly growing body and an axe fell into position in his right hand. A shield formed in his left and he pointed the axe at me. “YOU SHALL DIE, GRANDSON OF BALTHAZAR.” I gulped and jabbed a rock at him. A tendril of darkness extended from his armor and formed into an obsidian wall, which the rock crumbled into dust against. The wall snapped back into his armor. “I have come to besiege the temple, young one.” He pointed the axe at me, and a spear, a great spear, made of earth but shedding ash and soaked with a pale watery substance. 

Then just like that, it all disappeared. Mordred snapped his fingers and all of what was there disappeared into thin air. I was wondering why he would do such a thing, we were his prey. Then I saw a large sword penetrating his middle. Misty had thrown it with deadly accuracy. I started clapping but was cut off as Christopher ran over to Misty. He shook her and she cringed backwards. “Do you have any idea what you did?!” he said sternly to her. Mordred then started to glow with an eerie yellow light that soon filled all of our visions. The light disappeared and Mordred was gone. I then looked down and saw a small boy in his place. He had pale skin with dark hair and a wicked smile. He looked around eleven or twelve years old. He had one blonde eyebrow and one red eye. Christopher started fuming and stomping his feet and cursing. The boy looked a little confused and he stumbled backwards inside of the throne. He put his hand to his head and stood up slowly. “I....” He paused to crack his skinny neck. “I am Mordred.” “What!” I yelled at him. “The boy shook his head quickly like a mental and cracked his neck again. “Regeneration.” He spoke softly. “You murdered my older self, but I regenerated.” Christopher plunked on the ground criss cross. “But he’s just a boy” I said to the rest of the group. Mordred bended over and picked up the mythical sword from on the ground. “I’m so much more!” He said with a wicked smile. 

He flicked his wrist and a line of runes appeared from thin air. He sent the runes up in the air and large figure narrowly came crashing down on me. It was a hippopotamus. Mordred giggled and clapped his hands. He may have possessed unlimited power, but he still was a boy. I yelled (partly from the hippopotamus) and swung the pike at him. He steadied the sword and a spear of water sliced through the avalanche of boulders tumbling toward him. I was breathing hard, but he laughed childishly and flicked his wrist again. A rope of magical runes encircled me, and closed in. I fell to my knees and gasped as they closed in. They drew away into one near the center, floating above my hand. Mordred moved his arm like he was making a slam dunk and it fell into my hand. It burned me, like a branding iron, and I fell to my side in pain. Mordred clapped slowly, laughing. The pain disappeared after about ten seconds. When I looked up, I saw Christopher pounding a wall of runes with magical attacks, but the arcane wall of floating symbols failed to fall. I looked at the back of my hand, and burned into it was delta, the Greek letter. Mathematically, it meant “change”.

I glared up at Mordred, whom I now thought the living embodiment of evil. I picked up the pike. I should be able to do more with it that this. It was enhanced. I couldn’t just throw boulders and make walls. I needed to think outside the box. I jumped over a lashing whip of water, courtesy of Mordred, and lifted my arms and the pike up in the air in a violent motion. Rocks flew up all around him, making a box without a lid. Christopher understood and a crackling barrier of electricity appeared over the box. He quickly struck down the wall with the sword, and then, I was above him. Daniel had propelled me there with the hammer, and I shot a few boulders into the topless box. Mordred gulped and yelled as the boulders crushed him. Then, a yell went up around us. The wax men! I had forgotten about them!

 They rushed us from all directions, trying to free their leader and kill us. Christopher danced among them, maiming and dismembering with swipes of his nunchucks. I ran to the box and made the pile of rocks spit out the sword, which I tossed to Misty. She smiled and crashed a wave of water into the wax men. Kaylee wasn’t doing so well- she didn’t have as much practice with the weapons as the rest of us. I bounded to her help and we easily dispatched the wax men assaulting her. The ones with armor were doing a bit better than the rest. None had died- yet. I conjured a massive boulder (with some effort) and sent it rolling toward them. Most were plowed by it. Seeing that only about twenty remained, they fled, leaving Mordred in his prison of stone. I grinned and we all gave each other high-fives. Christopher had probably killed off the most, followed by me and then Daniel. Not saying that the girls didn’t do anything- just Misty got her weapon late and Kaylee was inexperienced. I gave Kaylee a huge and (surprise!) she hugged me back. Misty interrupted the happiness. “So I guess you guys are dating now or something, huh?” Kaylee didn’t know what to say. I didn’t either. So we both walked into town holding hands. Together.

Chapter Twenty-Six: Gas Station Standoff

Christopher managed to make the box float so we didn’t have to carry it anywhere. Mordred wasn’t making a fuss and I felt compelled to check inside of the box every couple of minutes to make sure he was even there anymore. We got back to Pinky and Mordred wouldn’t fit. We agreed to bind him in handcuffs which Christopher made enhanced security. He sat in the hatchback with Misty’s phone and MP3 player (against all of our better judgment). It was a little hard to believe that the kid back there was one of our worst enemy’s. I looked at him skeptically as he tinkered around with the settings on the phone. We were in Maine, but not in the right city. Christopher had said specifically that the Temple of Air was in Augusta, Maine. We were now on the outskirts. And even if we went to Augusta, that doesn’t mean we would be able to find the temple just like that. The rest of the group stopped at a gas station for snacks, gas, and bathroom breaks. I sat in the car with Mordred as everybody else piled out. As soon as the door closed I looked back at him. “What did all you showed me mean?” I said. “I need answers. I can’t go on thinking like I’m the bad guy!” Mordred yawned and kicked off his left shoe. “So you’re pleading for help, from me?” He asked with a smirk. I sat back and sighed, not answering his question. He leaned over next to me and spoke softly. “In the end, were all bad guys aren’t we?” He said with a wide smile. 

I nodded solemnly and he shrank back. He then suddenly sprung on me. He took Misty’s headphones and shoved them over my ears. I fought back but he pressed a button on the phone and a loud screeching noise sounded in my ears. I tried to take the headphones off but he shoved them over my ears. I yelled loudly but Mordred put a piece of cloth from his pocket over my mouth and I passed out. 

I awoke to a loud car horn going off and the headphones around my neck. Mordred had gotten outside of the car. The shackles in his hands had disappeared, leaving only small red marks. The rest of the gang gathered around him in a circle. I stepped outside and started making my way over to him. We all pointed our weapons at him and he smiled. “What do you think you can have against us?” Misty said. Mordred bent over and picked up a smooth piece of asphalt from off of the ground. He smiled and threw it right at Daniel’s bag. I realized what he was doing too late. A bottle containing purple mist toppled out of his bag and hit the floor with a crash. Soul Prophet rose up out of the ground and leapt at us. Mordred ran away from us, behind a gas pump, and I screamed after him. I could feel cold hands around my throat but I managed to kick her in the gut. She moved back slowly as we all circled around her. She shot a blast of black energy at Christopher and he took it in the face. He slowly cracked his neck and shot a beam of light towards the being. Soul Prophet jumped out of the way and made her way over to the gas station. There were people in there! I rushed after her along with the rest of the group as we followed after her. The doors locked and slammed shut in our faces as Soul Prophet took over the gas station. We tried to open the door and even break them but they were enchanted. The inside of the gas station filled up with purple smoke.We tried to get inside but nothing was working. Christopher took a step back and shot a bolt of blue fire towards the door. We ran inside and looked around. The people inside were gone, it was just us and Soul Prophet.  We tried not to breathe, but eventually, we did, and nothing really happened. A sharp blow from behind hobbled me and I crashed to the ground with a thud. Christopher took a deep breath and inhaled most of the smoke, then broke a window and breathed the smoke outside, where it dissipated. 

. Mordred and Soul Prophet were standing (or in Soul Prophet’s case, floating) in front of the cash register, and the five of us were standing in front of the cash register. I pointed the pike at them and Mordred snapped the shackles in half, slipping out easily. One handcuff grew into an axe, the other a shield. Of course, they were pint-size, but I was careful nonetheless. The African-American lady running the gas station was hiding behind the counter, breathing heavily. Mordred reached behind the counter, grabbed her arm, and threw her through the open doorway. The door had opened as Soul Prophet snapped her fingers. Kid Mordred yelled scarily and chucked a package of gum at us. I was surprised by this, but moved out of the way and saw that it had morphed into a knife. Christopher ripped open a package of almonds, popped one into his mouth (I STILL have no idea why he ate one) and chucked them at Soul Prophet, ducking another knife. A web of electricity weaved itself between the almonds and they made a net. Mordred and Soul Prophet made a few almonds in the center explode, and the net fell apart. I charged forward, jabbing the pike upward as rocks burst through the roof. I swung it downwards, and rocks fell from the sky like meteors, along with rocks bursting from the refrigerators between Misty and Daniel’s heads. Mordred composed himself as the rocks sped toward him. Soul Prophet disappeared. Mordred opened his eye, and his iris’s glowed purple. Before they had been a freaky yellow, but now I could tell something was going to happen.

Soul Prophet had inhabited Mordred.  

The maelstrom of rocks roared toward Mordred, and he slapped his fist into his palm. They exploded. I had a great idea. Almost everyone we met could withstand the might of the mythical weapons. Or at least one at a time. We had hit several people with two mystical weapons, and they had survived. But we had never hit anyone with three weapons at a time, let alone enhanced weapons. I whispered with Misty and Daniel while Christopher dueled with Mordred, and Kaylee joined in. We gave her the hammer, and I rose a spear of earth from the ground. Misty coated it with icy water, and Daniel made it crackle with flames. We poured as much energy as we could into it, and we heard a thump. Glancing up, I saw that Christopher had taken a knife in the side. An eerie combination of Mordred and Soul Prophet echoed from the boy’s mouth. “AND YOU THINK YOU CAN WITHSTAND ME, FOOLS?” Mordred walked forward, and we swung the weapons. Kaylee pushed a blast of wind toward Mordred. The spear rocketed toward him. He put up a hand to block it, but something extraordinary happened.The hand that was making the magical shield broke. No direct contact was made. His eyes widened, partly with pain, partly with shock as the spear flew onwards. It all happened in a matter of seconds. The spear lanced straight through him. He stood there for a second with a gaping hole in him. Cracks in his skin appeared, and light filtered through them, almost like he was being consumed by it. He screamed, and disappeared. 

“Do you think we killed him?” I asked Christopher a few minutes later. “No. No one kills Mordred. He probably regenerated back to the Cathedral of Water to regenerate.” I grimaced. “I’ll run into him again, right?” “Probably. Bet on it, if you get the chance.” We arrived in Augusta, Maine about an hour later. I noticed that the hammer seemed to vibrate, and I pulled it out. Sensing that something was wrong, Christopher pulled over and the hammer rang, like a bell. I got out of the car and another peal sounded. I didn’t see anything around, except a sewer entrance. The thing rang again as I moved it toward the sewer. Swirling air blew clouds in front of my face, and the inscription read, “Welcome to the Stronghold of Air”.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Mystical Weapons in Sewers

We were a bit outside city limits, and it was deserted. Christopher quickly checked the surroundings, and blasted a hole big enough for us to fit through. Chris slipped inside first, followed by Misty and Daniel. Kaylee jumped in, and I went last. It was cold down in the sewers, and the fact that sludge was swirling around our ankles didn’t help. I quickly conjured up a platform of earth for us to walk on, and Misty used the sword to propel us forward. We moved quickly, until the sludge seemed to deepen. We measured the deepness by sticking the pike down inside of it. We came to a point where the pike couldn’t touch the bottom. 

We held a quick vote on whether we should stay or move on- move on won three to two. We kept going, and then bubbles spouted from the murky water. Misty made us go backwards, and a sea serpent thing burst up in front of us. I hit it with a rock, but it bounced off, the water had no effect, and fire just made it mad. We hit it several times, but it didn’t affect it at all. It lunged toward Kaylee, with the hammer. She closed her eyes and swung blindly. It was blown back, and Christopher grabbed the hammer. The monster swung back and snapped its jaws at him. He dodged and rained a series of rapid blows upon it. It roared and sank into the depths.

“I don’t know why, but the hammer seems stronger,” said Christopher. He sent a blast of air into the water, and the water moved away from it. Then he took a deep breath and jumped in. The water seemed to part around him, like he was an air bubble. Then he went under. We gasped as he popped back up. “Hey guys, it’s good! I’m surrounded by an air bubble! Jump in!” I held my breath and jumped in, hoping for the best. I flew threw a thin layer of water and burst into an air bubble. I bounced off the bottom of it and stood up, shaking water from myself. “Wow!” I had noticed that the water-filled part that we had been in on the platform ended about 200 feet ahead, so my only option was to go down. Soon enough, everyone had made the leap of faith into our little bubble, and we all gave each other high fives.

 I made a little ball of earth around the air bubble, and we headed downwards. We didn’t hit any obstacles until we felt the sludge around us lessening, and then we fell through the floor of the bubble, crashing through the ground. We looked up and a roof of sludge met our vision. “AAAH!” screamed Kaylee. It looked like the entire sewerful of water was going to crash down on us, but there was an invisible barrier above us.

 We looked around us.We were in a tunnel, and there was only one way, disappearing into gloom. Christopher gave the hammer to Daniel, who was best with it, and Daniel gave the whip to Kaylee. We proceeded on, carefully. With a thud, the floor fell out from a space a few steps in front of us. We thought it too far to jump, and the hole was too deep to climb out of. Daniel propelled us across the gap one by one. Then a large rock fell from the ceiling and, with fury in his eyes, Christopher blasted it away. Or, at least tried to. The rock refused to budge. He growled and leaped over the rock, a superhuman feat. The rest of us had to go by hammer. We all stood in the tunnel, and then the floor fell out from underneath us.

A large thud sounded and I closed my eyes briefly. I opened them again and saw my friends, but they were muted. I could see a small girl a few yards in front of me, floating in mid air. She was dressed in white robes, with short blond hair falling to her waist. She smiled at me and made a gesture with her finger for me to follow her. My friends were all around me, trying to shake me, but they didn’t do anything. I found myself in a trance and I was floating toward her. Her feet hit the ground and she pranced away, humming a tune. I felt a sudden urge to follow her and ran after. She turned a few bends and then turned to face me, at a dead end, smiling. Then she snapped her fingers, and the floor opened again, taking me even deeper. But this time, I was alone, with just the pike.

I was in a gigantic chamber, bigger than my entire mansion. I felt a... presence with me in the chamber. I pounded the pike against the floor and raised a platform so I could stand tall. Torches dimly lit the chamber, which had pillars interspersed around it. I heard a roar, and a huge beast stomped out of an opening in the wall. 

It looked to be completely made from rocks, but it was a monster that I had never seen before. It was at least fifteen feet tall and had a surly expression on its face. It swung an iron chain that looked deadly and must have weighed over a hundred pounds. I quickly stabbed the pike into the ground and a column of rock thrust between the legs of the monster. It swung its chain, and the column broke and flew everywhere. I growled and made a huge section of the roof collapse on it. It roared, batting away the fragments of rock. Swinging the chain toward me, it stepped forward. I raised a wall of rock to block it, but the chain smashed straight through it. I spun the pike to fling a rock at it, high speed, and it reached up to catch it. It hauled back its arm and chucked it at me. I ran to the side and the impact of the rock hitting launched me. Hitting the ground, I sat up moaning. Bruised and battered, I probably didn’t look too great. The creature swung the chain toward me as I leaped up, and I threw myself to the floor as it went over my head. Then it stopped, and its chain fell to the floor. 

The girl that had led me to the chamber was floating above me. Her smiles and laughter were gone, and I wondered if it was all just an act. “Who are you?” cut a voice through the air, high and sharp. “I don’t know you!” “Um...” I answered, because I thought that she was either a) a challenge of the temple or b) someone that was out to kill me that had entered the temple. Probably b. “No one in a hundred years has dared enter this temple,” she commented. “Well, I’m here now.” The girl smiled softly. “I was the last.” The girl said, and then she glared at me. “And if I can’t do it, nobody can.” She snapped her fingers, and the rock man raised his chain. “Sic him,” she said. I ran, and then somersaulted away from the chain swinging toward me. 

Then the roof above me seemed to shake, and a hole opened, Christopher, Daniel, Misty, and Kaylee falling in. “WOOHOO!” I yelled. “Finally!” They stood up and facing the rock creature facing them. The girl’s face soured. “You shouldn’t be here. Ah well, you’ll die anyways.” She snapped her fingers again, and yelled, “Come, Fido!” 

Then we all gasped as the dog stepped from the shadows and growled.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: We Fight Earth Dog

Huge is the only word to describe that dog. His back was at least six feet taller than my head, and each of his teeth was about as big as my index finger. Oh, and he was entirely made of boulders and rocks. The man with the chain climbed on him, and started riding him like a horse. The girl laughed and clapped her hands. “Oh good, faceoff time!” Daniel swung the hammer at it, but it seemed to have no effect. “Mordred plan!” I yelled, hoping the team would get it. We used the same kind of spear that we used with Mordred, but this time used the supercharged hammer to propel it towards the dog and man. The man raised his hand, and the spear exploded against it, blowing off three of his fingers. It was only his left hand, but it apparently hurt him. Dust poured out of the opening, and I used the pike to slam a rock into his hand.

 The dog was attacking Misty, but she was dousing it with a huge amount of water. Finally, it took off after her, and the man fell off it, crashing to the ground. Christopher raced over to it, and I hurried after him. Misty tried to surf away from the dog on a wave of water that she created. Crazily, it worked and the dog seemed to be slowing down. Christopher stood next to the man, and Daniel handed him the hammer. Then Christopher took it, and leaped way up in the air.

Then he came down and buried the hammer in the earth man’s chest. Nothing seemed to happen for a bit, but then I heard a sound like a bicycle tire popping, and the man blew apart. Everyone managed to defend themselves against flying rocks, except for Kaylee, but she was too far away for rocks to come close. Meanwhile, the dog had closed in on Misty, and she was yelling for help. The girl had a displeased expression on her face, but when I say displeased, I mean “I’m going to kill you now but I can’t” kind of displeased. She screamed, “NO! I WAITED ALL THIS TIME JUST TO KILL SOMEONE SO THEY COULDN’T BE BETTER THAN I WAS!” But then a smile crept over her face and she said, “But if Fido kills you now, then no one will ever know.” She smiled wider, and Fido lunged at Misty. We heard a shout from Kaylee, and suddenly we heard the whip crack and fire surged toward the beast. The dog hesitated, and then turned to face Kaylee. 

I had had no idea that Kaylee could even use the whip too well, let alone hold off a monster earth dog, but that’s what she did. At least until we got there. I tried to raise columns in under the feet of the dog to throw it off balance, but it was almost like it could sense them, and it kept stepping out of the way. Daniel had regained control of the hammer and tried to hit the monster with a gust of wind, but it was too strong. Misty, however, was the one that made a difference in those few frantic seconds, swirling water around the feet of the beast and solidifying it to make an ice coating. The monster roared, and the ice shattered, but only for a few seconds. It kept reforming again and again, making the monster madder and madder each time. 

Christopher had taken the pike from me and had levitated to the top of the room, and he somehow pulled a huge rock from the ceiling. Just as the demon dog broke itself free from a layer of ice, he dropped it on the monster’s neck, and with a large snapping sound, it broke. The dog flopped to the ground, and died.

 At least, that’s what I thought, for a few seconds. We all gave high fives to Christopher for eliminating another monster, and then heard growling behind us. We slowly turned around, and there were dogs that were normal sized facing us, about seven. I pounded the pike against the floor of the chamber to try to launch one, and I succeeded. It flew up into the air and then flopped to the ground, dead. It fell apart, rocks scattering everywhere. That only seemed to make the dogs madder. One lunged toward Kaylee’s throat, but Christopher, with a crackling bolt of magical electricity, dispatched it. It flew to the ground and thudded to the ground, but to my surprise, it got back up, growling.

As I watched it, one lunged at me, and I hit it with a well-placed rock. Suddenly, the entire pack was attacking us. I teamed up with Kaylee, because she was the least experienced. Christopher was probably the strongest of the group, because he had a huge knowledge of magic, was a genie, and had over four hundred years of experience, and he had already killed two, bringing the total down to four. Daniel and I crushed one together, and Misty dispatched one as well. Kaylee brought one down by whipping it hard and burying a shred of fire inside it, effectively consuming it. I felt no sympathy- they were rock wolves. The last wolf whipped its head from side to side, but I sneaked behind it and crushed it under a huge piece of rock. Now we were sure that that would be all that the temple would throw at us, but we were wrong

The girl floated down from where she had been resting, near the top of the chamber. She was softly sobbing. “I... you defeated them!” I nodded. “Yeah, ghost girl.” She sobbed louder. “No one will ever remember me! It was my only hope... to guard the temple forever. So I could be known.” She sat down on the floor and I kneeled down next to her. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure that the world remembers you.” She smiled. “Yes, make sure that the world remembers me. Madison. The Girl of Air.” Then she seemed to fade away. 

“She disappeared,” I stated. “Yes,” said Christopher. “A troubled spirit remains on earth until her problems have vanished. Then, she goes on to the next life.” I nodded. “I need to know all this stuff. I wish I knew magic.” Christopher smiled wickedly. “This can be arranged.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine: I Learn Magic  

Yep, my first ever magic lesson was down in the Stronghold of Air. Christopher explained to me that magic, to produce, needed to draw on energy in the body. To summon that, one first needed to meditate. Meditating was easy, and it got easier to receive energy from within each time, to the point where it only took a few seconds to focus. “Breathe in... out... in... out,” instructed Christopher. Slowly, I felt energy start to build inside me.

 “Do you feel it?” asked Christopher. “I feel something,” I said. The rest of the group was teaching Kaylee how to further use the mythical weapons. After about five minutes, he said, “All right, you should be able to attempt some.” He picked up a rock. “Magic requires movement. So, as I throw this rock at you, extend your hand and try to stop it by willing it. He picked up a rock and threw it at me, hard. Panicking, I raised a hand and tried to make it stop. The rock hovered in midair, for a few seconds, and I felt the energy draining out of me. I tried to stop it, but it was no use. Then I remembered- movement. I dropped my hand and the rock fell to the floor. 

“Nice job!” said Christopher. “Uh... tired!” “Don’t worry- you did a lot more than I expected. Holding it up? Or even catching it? On your first try? Well done! I was looking for more of a bouncing-off sort of thing, but that’s okay.” I sat down. “Okay, better start meditating again.” 

After a few minutes of meditating, I felt ready again. “Okay, what’s next?” He said, “Try to throw a rock,” he gestured at the ones lying on the floor, “at me.” I nodded, and concentrated on the rock. I lifted it up, raising an arm, and then tried to throw it, but I got tired from raising it. Really tired. All I managed was a weak lob, and then I cut off the magic and collapsed to the ground. “Oh, fiddlesticks!” yelled Christopher and ran up to me. “You okay?” I nodded. “Yeah... just... tired,” I panted. Closing my eyes and sighing, I rested for a few moments, meditating as well. It was surprisingly relaxing, but this time, I meditated for longer. When I felt ready, I stood up, and tried to throw the rock again.

I took a deep breath, and the rock rose from the floor. A bead of sweat trickled down my forehead. Another deep breath. Then, I raised my arm and threw. The rock flew toward Christopher, and I gave it a bit of a push to help it along. He, smiling, winked at me and the rock stopped. He reached out an arm, and closed his hand into a fist. The rock smashed to pieces in midair.

Amazed, I gawked at him. “When do I get to know that?” He smiled. “When you go to magic school.” Then I heard a scream from across the room. Kaylee had gotten too reckless with the whip, and it had burned Misty. Christopher streaked over, and I followed after. Christopher looked at Misty, and then groaned. “I need a lot of energy to do this.” I started meditating, building up energy so that I could help. I didn’t know if he needed me, or what. I said to him, “I have some energy, from meditating the past few minutes, and I can lend some, if it’s possible.” He looked at me, kind of shocked, and then nodded. “Let’s do this.”

Christopher placed his hand on Misty’s leg, where she had been burned, and started reciting a spell. Immediately, the energy drained out of me, and Christopher shuddered. His face grew pale, but at the same time, the burn faded away from her leg. She sighed in relief, and once it vanished, Christopher and I collapsed and she stood up. “I feel great!” Christopher nodded. “Yeah...” then he dropped off to sleep. I felt like going to sleep myself, but I decided not too. I shook him and he woke up. “HMMM!!! Oh.” “Come on, what else?” He exclaimed, “Uh, um, uh... let me see... oh yeah!” He smiled.

“Okay, meditate, and then try to produce a temporary piece of earth by changing the molecular science of the atoms in your hand!” I gawked at him. “Okay, okay, I was given that assignment as my final test as an Earth student.” I kept staring at him. “Magic school. Look, kid, we have to get going. Lots to do.” 

As soon as he said that, a door appeared and he stepped through it. We followed him, and I came out of the door holding something that I didn’t know I owned. “What’s this?” I said, standing on a street in Augusta,  and showed it to Daniel. He gasped. “Put it on.” It was a play mask, one of those ones that was either comedy or tragedy. This one was comedy. I stuck it on my face, and said, “What now?” “Say my name!” “Whoa, okay. Geez. Daniel Rolf!” I felt the mask squeeze in on my face, and Kaylee screamed, Misty gasped, Christopher laughed, but only Daniel wore a stony expression. “What happened?” Christopher pulled out a mirror, and I jumped. “Holy cow, it’s Daniel!” “No, it’s you!” 

I smiled, the mask had transformed me into Daniel just at the mention of his name. It was incredible, this weapon could be a game changer for all of us. 

“The next temple is in Moscow, Russia,” Christopher recited carefully. I smiled and winked at him, “Than what are we waiting for!” Everybody approved my swing in attitude and smiled plainly as I explained the plan. “Christopher can open a portal.” I said, Christopher stepped back but I grab his shoulder firmly. “We all know you can, you don’t have to keep it from us.” He shrugged and stepped forward a pace. “It is really dangerous.” He began. “A lot of strange things can happen during teleportation process. I knew a one chap who had his arms replaced with his legs when he came out of the portal. A very messy process getting him back to his normal self.” 

I shrugged, then pointed to Kaylee. “And you, you can teleport too.” She butted in and cleared her throat. “Only with Soul Prophet inside of me. Otherwise I’m not very useful.” “Ooooh!” I breathed. She nodded. “If I still had that ability, I would tell you guys.” 

We came to an agreement to try and rent a cheap enough helicopter. Even with our bad history with traveling by air, we thought that would be best for us to get to Russia. 

It was final, we were going to Russia.