One Wrong Turn

Zol's cave 6:00 A.M Tuesday June 27th

Spike was walking through the peppermint forest, eating an ice cream cone, when his faithful assistant,Peewee the baby pheonix , spotted their destination. Gemtopia. It was the most beautiful thing Sir Spike had ever seen, everything was made of gems, delicious, ripe, gems, and they were all his! The saphire skyscrapers, HIS! The ruby coliseum, HIS! The emerald town,HIS! As Spike was thinking of his gems, they began to fade away. He looked to Peewee with a face of horror." Peewee what's going on?!". The pheonix opened his beak to respond, but only a loud banging came out.

"AHHHH!"

Spike tumbled out of his bed, dragging the sheets with him, and fell flat on his face. He sat up and noticed Master Zol was holding a gong that seemed to still be vibrating from its recent bang. Today he was not wearing the simple grey robe he usually wore, instead he had a black robe with a gilded trim that intertwined with some red. The sleeves reached up to his wrists and on his left sleeve, several small purple scales dangled from many thin strings. In his right claw he held a red staff. It had a red dragon snaking its way to the top of the staff, where it held a red crystal ball in its mouth that seemed to glow lightly. Master Zol had a small scowl on his face and was looking right at Spike.Those scales looked just like his own scales, which had grown back thanks to Master Zol's remedies and magic. He took a mental note to ask him about them later.

"Ladon, rise and meet me in the dining hall in ten minutes." With that he left the room before Spike could ask him anything. Spike grumbled and made his bed, then he went and did his morning rutine. When he was done he walked out of his room and made his way to the dinning hall. Master Zol had given him the grand tour of the place when he was healthy enough to walk. The only place he hadn't shown him was The Pit as he had called it. Apparently he was never to go there, for it was exremely dangerous and he was not yet ready. When Spike saw the dinning hall he gaped. There was a pile of assorted gems in the middle of the table next to where Master Zol was sitting. He drooled as he ran over and jumped towards the pile, only to be caught by Master Zol's staff, which then placed him on the chair across the table from Master Zol.

"Ladon, do not succumb to gluttony, wait for me to explain the meaning of this feast." Master Zol told Spike with a serious face.Spike nodded. "Now that you are here, allow me to explain. Your training begins today, right now. A dragon must now that a gem with flaws is only good for a hoard. It is the perfect ones that you must eat. Todays exercise will be for you to pick gems out of the pile, if they are flawed set them aside, if they are perfect, you may eat them. When we are done, you may keep the flawed ones for your hoard." He said as he grabbed a gem." Now. To see if a gem is flawed, you must look at it very carefully, for you have never done this before I pressume, if you notice a flaw set it aside, if it is perfect, then eat it." He threw the gem into the air and chomped on it."You may begin."

"What?! I thought you were gonna show me how to be a dragon and get stronger and get my flame stronger and-" Spike's complaining ceased when he noticed the glare Master Zol was giving him." This is a skill all dragons must know, if you cannot learn this simple task, then I will not teach you."

Spike gulped and grabbed a saphire."Umm, good?" He opened his mouth and tried to eat the gem, until Master Zol's staff swiftly came down and shattered it."Wrong!" He said."It had a small crack on the bottom. Inspect them next time." Master Zol grabbed a ruby and ate it. Spike grumbled and drabbed another gem. He looked it over and set it aside. He kept sorting the gems until he had a small pile of gems, an empty stomach, and a sore claw.

Master Zol looked at the pile of gems for a second and then back at Spike."How'd I do?" asked Spike.

"Ladon, I believe I instructed you to set aside the bad ones, not the good ones."

"You're kidding." Spike couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had spent all of that time sorting gems and somehow ended up getting the flawed pile filled up with non-flawed gems. Master Zol probably wasn't even gonna let him eat any of the gems and just keep them for himself. He had only lost his memory, not what he knew, and he knew dragons were very greedy.

"Well, you can try again at dinner, until then, are you hungry?" Master Zol asked, as he handed him some gems.

Spike was surprised to see him offer up the gems, but took them gratefully. "Ladon, I am not as greedy as other dragons, you have no need to think about me like that." said Master Zol as Spike finished his meal.

"How did you know what I was thinking?!" said Spike. Could one of his dragon spells be reading minds?

Master Zol gave a light laugh. "Because you just told me!" Spike also joined in the laughter.

Spike then noticed there was an empty plate at the far end of the table , along with a half full (go positive thinking!) glass of water. Why was that there? Could there have been someone else living here? As he was about to ask Master Zol about it, he got up and motioned for him to follow. "Come,Ladon, your next exercise will be through here."

Spike stood up and followed him. They passed through several tunnels until arriving in a large room that looked a like a gym crossed with a combat training ground. There was a rope leading all the way to the cealing, a huge track that seemed like it was made for the one hundred meter dash, weights, training dummies, a shooting range, and what seemed to be hoops suspended on the cealing. Spike gulped. He had an idea of what the next exercise was, asnd he did not like it.

"Your next exercise, my young page, is physical training!" said Master Zol happily as he grabbed a whistle and a coach hat from his robe. Spike groaned. His assumptions were correct, he had to exercise.EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.Until Master Zol said so. He let out a long sigh.

Master Zol noticed this and chuckled." Come now. Is it really that bad?" He asked, knowing full well what the answer would be.

"Yes! It's awful. I get tired real fast, my legs are too short, and umm..." He trailed off, looking around for an excuse. He noticed the rings in the air, and got an idea." And I don't have wings, so I can't take the full course!" He said crossing his arms and smiled smugly, praising himself on his quick thinking.

"Hmm... you are correct young one, very well, to make it even, you shall run all the courses twice." said Master Zol with a sly grin. Spike's jaw dropped." T-t-twice?! But the laps alone are huge! I can't run that much without getting exhausted! I don't have any upper body strenght so I can't pull myself up! My-"

"SILENCE!" Master Zol bellowed as he slamed the end of his staff on the ground, causing Spike to shut up." You will do as I say! No more complaining,whining, or any of the sort! You will run the courses twice, thrice if you continue this immature behavior! Now begin!" As he said the last part, he took out his whistle and blew into it, causing the sound to echo through the caverns.

Spike scurried off and began the courses. Running the one hundred meter dash, lifting small weights, and climbing the rope( and by climbing I mean hanging on for five minutes in a futile effort to get more than one foot off the ground).

Spike was exhausted. All of his limbs were sore and his bones ached, and to top it all off, his face hurt when his legs buckled from the intense training. Master Zol had him run two extra laps, saying he looked kinda chubby and needed to lose a couple pounds. He was too tired at that point to complain, and even if he did, he'd just end up running another lap.

"Rise,Ladon, it is no time for napping. Your next exercise begins now." Spike slowly moved his head and looked at Master Zol in disbelief."More?! But I can't even move!." Spike shut up as soon as he saw the death glare Master Zol was giving him. His gaze then softened and he grabbed a vial out of his robe." Ah, yes, I had nearly forgotten you are but a hatchling. You are not used to such exersion. Here, take this and follow me. It shall help." He handed Spike a vial, which he thankfully grabbed. Spike uncorked it and the stench of fish, burning pinecones, and worms filled his nose. "Yuck! This stuff smells nasty!". It didn't smell good, but if Master Zol said it was ok, then it was ok.He drank it and the sweet taste of cherry and vanilla entered his mouth. The stuff may smell bad but it tasted great! Spike also felt as the aches and sores slowly left his body and he hoped to his feet."Wow! I feel great! Is there more of that stuff Maste Zol?" Spike asked excitedly.

"No Ladon, you cannot drink more than one per day, it is very dangerous. That rejuvinating potion you just drank will give you enough energy for the rest of the day. Now come, so we may continue with today's training."

Spike nodded and followed Master Zol to the training dummies. They were all aranged in a circle, and some were attached to mechanisms to make them move for better combat training. Master Zol led Spike over to some racks filled with dozens of weapons. Ranging from flails to bows to knives to polearms, those things had it all." Pick your primary weapon. you shall train with it, master it, and fight with it. It shall be your closest ally in the battlefield, so choose wisely." said Master Zol as Spike gawked at the many items.

"But, they're all too big for me. They look like they were made fro someone like you." Spike said, dissapointed he couldn't learn to use any of the weapons presented to him.

"Not to worry Ladon. Just select your weapon." Master Zol said, sitting down and waiting.

Spike looked at all the weapons there were and looked them all over. He was having trouble deciding which one to pick. There were so many! He saw some he instantly didn't want and settled on a polearm. He was about to grab it when he saw a glint out of the corner of his eye. He went over and noticed it came from under a pile of daggers, bows, and rusty sword behind a rack laid against the wall. He moved the blades and bows and found a set of weapons where the pile once was.

They were the weirdest weapons Spike had ever seen and it seemed to call out to him. The side of the hilts extended into a crescent moon for slashing enemies that got to close and at the ends of the hilts were sharp dagger like points. The hilt were also wrapped in sturdy purple cloths and the metal of both blades was black. The weirdest part was that the blades were curved into a hook shape at the end. Spike fell in love with them on sight. These were his swords. These were his allies.

Spike eagerly took them over to Master Zol and showed them to him."Ah." He said. "The Hook Blades, a fine choice."

"Tell me Ladon. Why did you pick these blades?" He asked.

Spike thought wether or not he should tell him it was a feeling he had or if he should say something else.Then again, Master Zol seems to know when he's lying."Well" Spike began. "I was looking for a weapon like you said, when I saw a glint, so I went to check it out. I saw a pile of old weapons and moved them to the side and under them were the hook blades. I know this might sound a little stupid, but it felt like they were calling to me. So I took the." As Spike finished his story, Master Zol smiled and nodded.

"Ladon, you should know that some weapons seem to choose their weilders. Some simply do not care about who uses them and some know were to find those who can. I believe that these blades selected you for a reason. though I cannot fathom what this may be, I am certain it is important." He said." or they simply wished to be removed from under that pile." Spike and Master Zol shared a laugh before continuing." Now, show me what you can do with these"

"Umm... Master Zol?"

"Yes?"

"They're too big."

Master Zol looked at the oversized blades in front of him and noticed that they were indeed too big for the small dragon."That they are, that they are. allow me." He said as he grabbed the blades. He closed his eyes and concentrated. A moment later he breathed a bright golden flame on them and when the flames were gone, the hook blades had shrunk! They now fit Spike easily and comfortably.

"That was amazing!" exclaimed Spike. He grabbed the hook blades and held them for a while, balancing them on his hands. He ran to the dummies, ready to practice , and started attacking them. It's safe to say, he was horrible. Each move was sloppy and barily cut the dummies. Spike panted as he kept attacking, but to no avail. Master Zol decided he needed help.

"Ladon, perhaps if you used the sharp edge?" he told him.

Spike looked and noticed he had been hitting the dummy with the blunt hook side and not the other, much sharper side. He smiled sheepishly at Master Zol and turned the blade around. After some slashes, the dummy was slain."Victory!" yelled Spike as he raised a hook blade into the air. He swore he heard chuckling coming from the door, but when he turned, there was no one there.

"Good, you have slain your very first hay practice dummy" Master Zol said chuckling.Spike noticed he was standing on top of the defeated dummy, striking a heroic looking pose. He blushed and stepped down from the 'corpse'.

"Now let's see how you use that against a moving opponent." Master Zol rose from the floor and grabbed a cutlass from a nearby rack.

"Whoa! Master Zol, I can't take you on! I don't even know how to use these things very well!" protested Spike, but Master Zol would have none of it

"Now, now Ladon, you can only learn to properly use those things if you spar with someone, not against a dummy. Now, have at thee!"

Spike didn't have time to respond as Master Zol performed a forward thrust(Not the pedo kind). Spike dodged and parried, only to have master Zol kick him against a dummy."Use the hooks Ladon!" He yelled. Spike got up and ran at Master Zol, who slashed at him. Spike expected this and used one of the hooks to grab Master Zol's leg and topple him. He quickly got up and slashed at Spike, making a small cut on his left cheek. Spike then had an idea. He connected the two blade via their hooks and began spinning them."Impressive" said Master Zol. Spike then stopped spinning and the momentum caused a hook blade  to be sent flying directly at Master Zol who, unfortunately, sidestepped. "That was a very good move Ladon, you almost had me." he said as he approached Spike ready to finish it. Spike smirked."That wasn't my move Master Zol. This is!" Spike leaped at Master Zol and connected the hook blade to his rapier. They were both caught in a battle of strenght as they pushed against each other." This is not a very good move Ladon. I am stronger than you, you canno-" Master Zol suddenly gasped as something sharp stabbed his back. He looked behind himslef and noticed Spike's other hook blade attached to his back. It had somehow flown off and spun around the rod like base of the training dummies until impaling Master Zol. Spike looked confidant, until he felt something near his throat. He looked down and saw Master Zol's tail holding a knife, pointed at his throat." I win" said Master Zol.

Both combatants stepped away from each other and gathered their weapons. Spike placed his in a special rack Master Zol brought out and sat down next to him. "Very impressive Ladon, you almost bested me at my easiest." said Master Zol.

"Well, I woulda won, but I didn't know you had that knife, I didn't even see you take it out!"

"Your enemies might not fight with honor, so I thought I should prepare you for that.It is getting late though, dinner should be finished." Master Zol said as he got up and motioned for Spike to follow.

Spike got up and followed Master Zol. "Who made dinner if you were with me?" He asked.

Master Zol seemed to ignore the question and instead told Spike about tomorrow. "Ladon, tomorrow you shall perform the same exercises, except instead of combat I will teach you to harness your fire and the basics of alchemy. How does that sound?" He asked. Spike looked at him suspiciously before his suspicios gaze turned into one of exitement.." That sounds awesome!". Both dragons sat down in front of the gems that lay on the table and Spike again noticed the empty plates. He gave them a quick glance before begginning to sort gems. This time he got 23 gems for his hoard and 56 for his belly. He gave a content sigh and wished Master Zol a good night as he went to his room.

Spike closed the door and turned the candles on. He walked to the cupboard and grabbed his journal from it's hiding place and began to write.

June 27th

Dear Spark

The last few days have been amazing! Well, except for the recovering and staying in bed part. But anyways, still amazing! Today I trained with Master Zol, although my whole body felt like it was gonna explode or something, I was really tired, but then Master Zol gave me this thingy that made me feel a whole lot better. Then I got my own weapons, the hook blades! I can use them pretty well, and I even have a move down already, I call it the turnabout smack! Pretty neat huh? Well anyways I almost beat Master Zol at his 'easiest' or something,but he pulled out a dagger at my throat and even cut my cheek a little, but i'm alright. I think I should name my weapon or something, I'm not sure what though, although i'm pretty sure i'll think of something. I hope I get to see you again someday.

-Ladon

As Spike finished the entry, the little dragon yawned and placed the journal back in it's hiding spot. He then got on his bed, curled up in his blanket, and fell asleep, snoring peacefully.

Hey guys, chapter 4 is ready as you can see, and I hope you guys can make suggestions towards what could Spike's hook blade's names be. See you all later. By the by, I'm gonna be writing a chess game of the gods story, so updates might be slow. See ya!