Chapters In the early morning, a pig-tailed girl navigates through the trees in Greenwood Village. Camouflaged by her emerald-colored outfit, the girl jumps nimbly from branch to branch. She carefully watches for predators lurking in the shadows as she darts stealthily through the foliage. Her bright green clothing helps her blend in with the foliage and hide from potential threats. Stopping at the last limb, the girl removes her bow from her shoulder to focus on the approaching target. A confident volley of arrows speeds toward the waiting bull's eye. Her arrows hit their mark with precision and poise, giving her deep satisfaction. After several rounds, the target's middle circle demonstrates the girl's accuracy. As soon as all the arrows are exhausted, she stops. With a sense of accomplishment, she stands tall among lush greenery waving in the breeze, satisfied that her work has paid off.
Another girl, dressed in blue, observes archery from a safe distance. She is standing at the edge of the field, far enough away to see but not in the arrow line of fire. The girl is mesmerized by the archers' skill and precision and admires her friend's talent. She jogs up to the target at the end of the obstacle course to judge the results. "Nice shooting as always, Anna," she cheers. Putting a stray lock of brown hair behind her ear, Molly throws a water bottle at her friend sitting in the tree. Anna smiles, pointing to the tightly grouped arrows near the bullseye. "Thanks Molly!" she says cheerfully. Molly nods in approval as she never gets tired of watching Anna shoot. She loves how Anna controls the bow as if it were part of her body. It's no surprise that Anna always hits her mark.
"Thanks again for covering me, Molly! I need to work hard to hone my skills and build my strength," Says Anna determinedly as she jumps from the tree to drink the cool water. "So I can become a ranger." The green-haired girl is convinced that by improving her physical and mental capabilities, she can achieve her dream.
Molly smiles as she pokes Anna with her staff. "Nah, you don't have to become a ranger; you must become yourself. Although you may be bored watching the sacred forest jewel, you must take your duty seriously." The blue-haired girl pointed to the target for emphasis, not noticing the arrows still stuck to the target quiver.
Anna grumbles at Molly's words but takes them to heart. "I understand," she says glancing around nervously. "I'll take my responsibility seriously."
Molly pulls another arrow from the target, adding, "Speaking of responsibility, you should return to the holy shrine before they catch you again." She smiles encouragingly at her friend. "Remember the last time the guards noticed your absence?" Anna nodded resolutely, not wanting to face the same consequences as before. With a quick wave, she heads into the woods.
A breeze blows stray blue hair into Molly's face as she works on the target. The guards had noticed Anne's absence before, and if they were to notice it again, the consequences would be serious. Molly, on the other hand, is focused on the task at hand and showed no signs of being deterred by the situation. "Anna would be an outstanding ranger if she could overcome that weakness…"
Heeding her friend's words, Anna jogs faster along the path. She definitely did not want to get caught again. However, the concealed area is quite far away, so she must return quickly to avoid this happening.
"Ah, Molly, she always cheers me up." Reminisces Anna as she returns to her post at the holy site. The archer knows that if she wants to get the recognition she deserves, she must prove her worth through her skill and bravery. "But becoming a ranger is the only way to get promoted from *sigh* guard. Arg! Shrine Guardian. What kind of boring job is that? Nothing can get near the hidden area defense spells. Additionally, it is protected by attack idols, runes and the strongest barrier in the world."
The winding trails pass many trees and bushes to confuse any could-be thieves. However, as Anna approaches the final hill to her destination, she notices something is wrong. Instinctively, the archer stops on the path. Anna nervously grips her bow to mentally combat the strange silence. There is no forest noise from nether birds or animals. Only the sound of leaves crunching under her boots.
A large rock serves as a cover for the archer as she peers cautiously over the last ridge. Despite her stealth training, Anna gasps as she surveys the destruction scene. The beautiful structure orbited by holy circles with carved offering poles and family shrines has disappeared. An acidic odor has replaced fragrant wildflowers. The calm she has known since childhood has disappeared, and Anna's eyes fill with tears at the devastation she witnesses. Anna feels helpless and overwhelmed.
Whole trees have been uprooted and thrown around like twigs. The outermost protection pillars are knocked over, while the rest are shattered. There was a deep crater where the consecrated building used to be. However, most striking of all is the great altar, carved from a massive rock, is cracked in half.
With speed matching one of her arrows, Anna swoops down the slope. Panic and shock override any mental warnings of lingering danger. She navigates the bleak landscape in a stupor. Anna stares at the broken high altar for several minutes before realizing the holy forest jewel is missing! With a sharp intake of breath, Anna realizes the gravity of the situation – the sacred relic she was charged with protecting is stolen.
After searching for what feels like an eternity, Anne finally lies on a fallen tree, exhausted from all her effort. Anne has frantically dug through leaves, turned rocks over, and checked holes. Her throat is raw, and her voice is barely a whisper from all the screaming. An old Greenwood legend that foresaw a tragedy if the holy forest crystal of trust fell into evil hands echoes in her guilt-ridden mind. This desecration is all her fault... With a heavy heart, Anne realizes she must take it upon herself to restore the sacred crystal and pay for her mistake.
After a fruitless search around the shrine, Anne forces her body to move. The archer subconsciously rubs a scar on her arm to calm her down. This catastrophe has a silver lining: no other guards were in the shrine during the attack. Rotations are one at a time. However, during her turn to guard the sacred gem, it was taken from its hiding place. The brazen theft of Greenwood’s most prized possession is a wound to her pride that cannot be ignored. To redeem herself before the villagers, Anna must retrieve the sacred jewel herself. With intense determination, Anna vows to find the holy treasure or never return to her village.
Reluctantly, the archer returned home to prepare for the journey. She knew it would be difficult and dangerous, but it was the only way to search for the missing stone. She is determined to succeed, no matter the cost. But first, she needs to face her family. Previously Anna had been annoyed that the residence was so far from the center of town. However, now she counts her blessings that she could enter the house unnoticed. The rustic house seems like an oasis in the desert. After stumbling through the back garden gate facing the forest, her mother confronts her.
Before Anna can react, her mother rushes to her side and hugs her tightly. Her warm and comforting embrace lets Anna know she is loved no matter what. Noise from inside the house announces her father's arrival, who joins in the embrace. Anna stands wordlessly at the welcome and does not resist when her mother guides her to a nearby bench. Only after Anna sat down did she see the smoke pillar in the distance.
Eventually, a noise breaks Anna's stupor. It's unclear how long the archer sat on the bench, but another object appears nearby. It is a small tub filled with hot water. Suddenly Anna is filled with anger. What was she doing? She is doing nothing! Why is she sitting around when there is a thief to catch and a gem to locate? Cursing herself for the delay, Anna bolts into her room. Not knowing what to expect, she grabs her map collection, and stuffs some clothes into her dimensional pouch. Despite her plans for an immediate departure, her parents block her way.
Her mother calmly gestures to a mirror. Anna's frustration at her delay dies when she sees her reflection. The archer's green suit is torn, twigs stick out of her hair, and she is covered in mud. As a result of rubbing her scar again, her arm is now red and raw.
Anna remembers the smoke and feels embarrassed. She expected her mother to be angry and her father to criticize her, but they looked understanding. Her parents knew they could not stop their daughter from embarking on this journey; however, they could prepare her for the challenge.
Her mom helps Anna wash off and change while her father repacks her haphazard bags. However, Anna insists on leaving and argues for her now-disgraced position even as her father applies healing salve to her wound. Her parents look at each other and sigh. Anne has never been so determined. But to catch the thieves, she must pursue them while the trail is still hot. Preparations are soon complete. Anna's pack now contains more practical items along with her maps and checklists. Hugging her parents, the young archer begins her adventure.
Anna's parents watched their only child disappear down the path. They tried to persuade her not to leave as she is still young and has little experience outside the village. However, Anna had decided and was determined to explore the world beyond.
"Honey, I know our little girl is an adult now, but..." says Anna's mom quietly.
"Yes, I understand, dear," replied Anna's father. "But this is the first time Anna has wanted to leave the area since... the incident."
"Yes, but…"
"Anna needs to learn about life. This may not be ideal, but it may be the most effective way in the long run. After all, she can't hide from her problems forever."
"Yes, but the outer forest is so dangerous…"
"While Anna is a highly talented scout, she still needs experience. This may not be the ideal way, but it may be the most effective in the long run. After all, she can't hide from her fears forever." The father gently places his hand on his wife's shoulder before walking a few paces in the same direction as Anna. Suddenly, he stops to touch his chin. ‘Maybe...’ the man ponders as he walks to the door with his coat in hand.
"Honey? Where are you going?"
"To see an old winged friend."
Despite feeling overwhelmed and scared about the future, Anna maintained a cheerful and optimistic demeanor for her family. To give them hope and assurance during a difficult time. Although she has her favorite map with the detailed ground elevations, she is unsure where to travel beyond the familiar area. "At least whoever stole the jewel left a trail." Ponders the archer while studying the line of freshly broken tree limbs. "Hmm, west, towards Ashwood Forest." Unfortunately, she is so focused on the map that she narrowly avoids a forest monster attack. Despite the creature looking like a jagged log, Anna's training advises her not to fight frontally.
Dodging another attack, Anna remembers from experience that this bouncing monster is called a 'wooden idol.' They can be challenging despite their willowy appearance, as they possess no internal organs and a tough protective bark. Utilizing her skills, Anne hits the idol with several fire arrows to scare away the animated wood. With a crash, a second wooden idol attempts to ambush her but meets the same fate as the first. Afterward, Anne jumps into a tree to recover. "That was odd. These monsters do not normally attack people… perhaps the jewel's absence affects them?"
For one person, the Ashwood Forest is becoming increasingly discouraging. After traveling west, Anna is dumbfounded when the trail abruptly stops. The would-be ranger almost screams in frustration. She searches the surrounding area several times, but the track has vanished. After so much work and bravado, Anna has reached a dead end. But when the exhausted girl is ready to give up, she hears the sound of rustling leaves. The archer chugs an energy potion as she zeros in on the sound.
Upon pinpointing the noise's source, Anna sees an unusual sight—a golden-haired man struggling with a large bag. In additional to the sack, he also processes an assortment of dimensional pouches, cooking pans, and something the looks like a flag. Since the mystery man acts suspiciously, she carefully follows him as her only lead to the criminal. It is not difficult to track this person as he is dressed entirely in black, from his boots to his coat, complete with a pirate hat. He is also whistling a cheery tune. There is something oddly fascinating about this strangely dressed person strolling through a dangerous area. Despite his casual appearance, the man emits a powerful aura. Anna decides to keep a safe distance and observe his actions to see if he is connected to the thief she is looking for.
After a while, Anna observes the man dropping his heavy burden next to some rocks. Then he emptied the bag's shining contents on top of them, including something green. Bending slightly backward, the man stretches and cracks his head to recover. Anna moves closer and overhears him talking to himself. "Man, I found a lot of great treasures. It looks like I can make one of everybody now." The man remarks aloud as he rubs his sore back, but then his proud expression changes to worry. "Geez, too bad Natalie got lost wandering through this forest. Hope she is alright."
Anna attempts to get a better glimpse while the man rummages through his other bags. As she moves closer, she notices the man's expression change to worry. This is in stark contrast to his mood only moments ago. This suggests that the man is genuinely concerned about another person named Natalie, who he mentioned got lost in the forest. Listening, however, makes Anna careless, and she accidentally steps on a twig. With surprising speed, the mysterious man draws out a large sword. Anna quickly realizes that this man is more than he appears and may be dangerous, causing her to retreat.
Suddenly the spot where the archer had previously stood explodes. Anna is shocked by the man's accuracy. Not even her old friends could match her speed. She jumps into another tree to avoid a second bolt from the stranger's sword. Anna becomes even more determined when a sunbeam reflects a flash of green from the pile of objects on top of the rocks. With the element of surprise no longer present, the archer grabs several arrows to prepare to take on the mysterious person.
Anna suspects this may be the man who stole the holy Greenwood jewel. Burning with anger, she aims an arrow at the unknown man. However, when she turns her full attention back to her target, the archer sees an unexpected sight. Instead of taking cover, the man casually stands out in the open with his sword resting over his shoulder. This scene stops Anna. In the meantime, the man reacts to the silence with a bored look and kicks a small stone around.
A twitch from the cramp in her arm breaks Anna of her astonishment. She internally cursed herself for holding the bow taunt for too long. Such an amateur mistake! The archer finally launches an arrow at the man. It narrowly misses his hand, resulting in him instantly breaking out of his daydream. Anna moves behind the cover of the tree trunk but the branch behind her foot has vanished! Fortunately Anna’s training kicks in just in time to allow her in land safely on the ground, however the disturbance alerts the man of her location.
Despite her village’s extensive archery use, Anna recognizes the static sound of a weapon charging. Knowing her speed is still greater than her opponent's; the archer quickly devises a strategy to face him directly. She jumps dramatically out of the undergrowth, holding a trio of stinger arrows at the ready.
Jumping back, the darkly dressed fellow looks surprised when a scowling green-robed girl jumps out with a bow and arrow aimed at him. The pair stand motionless briefly, sizing each other up before the man mutters. “Um, I missed…?”
"Y-you there... Did you steal our jewel?" snaps Anna, more aggravated than angry that the man ignored her. “You will pay for that.”
"Eh... how about that..." the man murmurs as he looks at the unknown girl. Outwardly he seems unfazed by her ambush, although he never takes his eyes off her weapon. He processes the situation, surprised that he could not land a shot from so close up. He realizes he admires her skill not only because of her precise shooting, but because his sixth sense tells him something. The man grips the sword tighter. He can't pinpoint it but senses she is entangled in something important. It is a feeling he has not had for many years.
"Eh... how about that..." the man murmurs as he looks at the unknown girl. Her hair is full of leaves and branches. Outwardly he seems unfazed by her ambush, although he never takes his eyes off her weapon. He processes the situation, surprised that he could not land a shot from so close up. He realizes he admires her skill because of her precise shooting and because his sixth sense tells him something. His grip on the sword tightens. He can't pinpoint it but senses she is entangled in something serious. It is a feeling he has not had for many years.
The mysterious man relies on his sixth sense. Having his old team suddenly rejoin is no coincidence. Something significant is about to happen and relates to this disheveled girl. This may have have been a more dangerous if my opponent wasn’t coated in tree sap.
The man smiles as he recalls this person's careening introduction. So focused on her big entrance that she almost trips over her untied bootlaces. As the man watches the girl, he can feel a silent energy that has been dormant for years. He can sense a powerful force that will soon be unleashed and another lost, significantly impacting many lives. His team's reunion is a harbinger of something world-shaking, and this girl is at its center.
Determined to make this girl his ally, the man attempts a heroic pose. However, the stand-off is unexpectedly interrupted by noise from behind them. The bag holding the man’s loot suddenly tips over, spilling items all over the ground. Focusing on protecting the bag, he turns to catch the valuable contents before they get damaged. This results in him tumbling over a hidden root in the leaves.
Seizing her chance, Anna hit the man's sword arm with several non-lethal stinger arrows. This caused the man to drop his sword and allowed Anna to disarm him without lethal force. She did not question why the strange man suddenly fell flat on his face, but she was in a hurry. Having paralyzed the man's sword arm, Anna leaps towards the bag. A smile spreads across her face until she grasps its shining contents.
“What?”
"Ouch, ouch, OK, stop! I don't want to be a pin cushion," his voice cries out. “Oh no! My hat!”
Anna looks at the man in disbelief. "What?" The girl attempts to hold up her bow as the man stands up, but she holds up one of the bag's items instead. She had already immobilized the man's arm, and his sword lay on the ground, so Anna was not worried. She ignored the other spilled items as she rushed to grab the bag, which likely held something of value. It takes a few seconds for her to process this situation as she has a better look at this man's hoard. WHAT?
A look of surprise crosses the archer's face as he looks back at the stranger. The man picks up his hat casually in another corner of the clearing instead of getting upset about Anna shooting him. He then places some rocks in a small mound and carefully sets the pirate hat on the pinnacle.
Anna is dumbfounded. She shot this strange man walking in the woods carrying a mysterious item. However, he acts as if nothing is wrong and ignores her. Anna can't understand what is happening; the man acts like the strange encounter never occurred. The archer does not know how to respond when the man is more concerned about his stuff. Although she thought he would be mad, he concentrates on his dusty hat instead. "H-hey, did you steal our village's jewels?"
Uncertain how to respond to the irate mystery girl, the man carefully responded, Jewelry? Sorry, I don't do green; it clashes... Oh. Just look at my hat!" Stinger arrows were nonlethal but still painful. Shuttering at the thought of another arrow jab, the man studied the girl carefully. “...I’ve acquired a lot of things, okay?” As he had 'liberated' some goods from a village, she was likely from the owner's family to revenge them. It is not going to be easy to sway her to join the team.
Meanwhile, Anna took several deep breaths to calm herself down. After rethinking the situation with a clearer mind and growing embarrassment, she contemplates telling the truth. With newfound resolve, Anna decided to take responsibility for her misjudgment and apologize. "Well..." Anna taps her chin." And you really haven't seen it?"
“My 34th favorite hat is all dirty now.”
“Hello…?”
The man stays silent for a while before responding, "Eh no, I didn't steal your acorn."
“Maple leaf.”
“Do you think if I scrub it, I can get this spot out...”
“Ahhhhhhhh!”
Anna dishearteningly adjusts the bow over her shoulder and sighs, “Sorry for disturbing you.” She drops the bag on top of one of the rock piles and prepares to leave, angry at her failure—the lopsided bag tips over and spills its contents onto a nearby bush. Suddenly a tiny animal shuffles out of the underbrush. Anna turns her head, eyes widening with surprise, as the little creature peers up at her. Its prickly fur is black with a long white stripe. A shiver runs up the archer's spine when she spots several other pairs of curious eyes peeking out of the bush. "Oh no…"
While the archer could jump into the trees' safety, she could not help but worry about the other person. He is still focused on his hat. She quickly weighed her options: help the stranger or flee the scene?
Her decision-making is interrupted by porcupettes sniffing the air and shuffling toward her. At first, Anna thinks the pups are headed toward her, but they are interested in something behind her. She has no choice but to run. In an impulsive decision, the archer grabs the stranger's hand, desperately hoping to save them both. "Come on we have to leave."
"What?" The man is suddenly pulled away from the damaged hat's shine. The now-annoyed man shouts, "Hey! You damaged my hat! Plus shot and robbed me. Now you want me to leave my treasures behind? Sorry, but you are alone, Miss Bossy." The man reaches for his pirate hat and turns away from the girl.
"But we are both in danger! Those are porcupettes." Anna's anxious plea for help is further emphasized by the approaching animals.
The man looks critically at the animals and then at Anna, but moves away from the area anyway. "In danger...from those things?" he asks skeptically.
"What? No, those guys are harmless."
"If those small things are harmless, why are we running?" As if to answer the man's question, a quill shoots past the duo and explodes into a stinky cloud. This is followed by several threatening noises.
The porcupettes' loud squeals echo through the clearing, further enhancing their sense of urgency. "Oh no! That did it for certain. "Come on! We have to climb the rocks to escape."
"What?"
The man did not want to pursue the girl blindly, but looking at her pale face changed his mind. He headed towards the rocks, following her lead. When the porcupettes could not follow over this new terrain, the girl looked relieved.
As the man prepares to ask why they fled, a quill strikes the ground nearby. Eventually, the brownish spike turns red and explodes into a putrid cloud. His heart races as he realizes what is happening. They both rush over the rocks to escape the deadly quill rain. A choking smell invades the area as additional quills burst apart.
In a size able burst of toxic gas, a much more malevolent animal crashes through the shrubs. It is covered in sharp spikes with razor-sharp tusks. The monster continued to shoot exploding stink quills. Anna and the mysterious person were too busy climbing to notice the monster's grand entrance. It snarled ferociously, its eyes alight with the promise of imminent violence.
"Those porcupettes are harmless, but ma-ma porcuskunk...not so much." gasps Anna. "She's not something you want to mess with." The archer is relieved her father thought to pack a mask with the supplies. To her surprise, the eccentric man quickly located a mask despite his disorganization. “So he has some skills after all. He kept up with me going over the rocks.” Although Anna and the swordsman are safely on top of a large rock, a litter of baby monsters surround them.
Upon flopping down on the rock, the man finally catches his breath. He takes out a canteen to offer Anna as a sign of thanks for her quick thinking. The archer declines the water but accepts his gratitude.
The man looks around the area for a way to escape, but it appears the best strategy is to wait. "Well...This real estate has some lovely views; however, I don't like the neighbors."
“You’re right, we cannot stay up here forever. But why are those baby porcuskunks so interested in us? Those animals normally stay away from people.”
“Well, Natalie is always says I’m good with kids or is it that I act one... In fact, the reason I am here is because of her. She said she’s worried about some strange occurrences at a shrine.” The man puts his hat down to start rummaging through is other dimensional pouches.
The hat looks different in the sun. This change interests Anna as she studies the article more closely. There is yellowish powder all over it. As the archer surveys the area, she locates the source, a small grove of flowering trees. She theorizes that this is why the porcupettes chase them or, more precisely, they follow the stranger. A while later, the mother porcuskunk calls her offspring back. The pair is happy to see the herd scamper back into the woods.
The hat looks different in the sun. This change interests Anna as she studies the article more closely. There is yellowish powder all over it. As the archer surveys the area, she locates the source, a small grove of flowering trees. She theorizes that this is why the porcupettes chase them or, more precisely, they follow the stranger. A while later, the mother porcuskunk calls her offspring back. The pair is happy to see the herd scamper back into the woods.
The swordsman is lost in thought as they carefully climb down in the opposite direction of the porcuskunks. He considers himself lucky that his previous attack had missed this girl. She wears the uniform of the most experienced archers in Midearth- the Greenwood Rangers. Despite her long sleeves and overcoat, he could see battle marks on her body. The hurried journey over the rocks revealed a particularly severe scar on her arm. His sixth sense buzzes again after seeing her wounds. He and this girl need to reunite with rest of the as soon as possible.
Anna is happy the danger past. She is not surprised to see the stranger looking over his smashed goods. It appears the man's valuable "treasure" has been destroyed by the monsters. Anna apologizes to the man for what happened but the items are not salvageable. Condolences are extended to him regarding the loss of his property. She was uncertain about this eccentric stranger before. However, he gives off the same feeling of protection as the village's veteran combat teachers. Furthermore, he carries a high-level clay-more, which requires years of training. Her theory was confirmed when she grabbed his hand. The only person she ever met with such callused hands is her fathers friend Eld, who is rumored to be a war hero.
Having found an undamaged item, the man is pleased. Holding the object high, he shows it to Anna. He smiles in satisfaction, proud of his find. "See, today is not a total loss. By the way, where are you doing in such a hurry?"
"Unfortunately, I have no clear route forward anymore. The thieves' trail I was following suddenly stopped. So um... sorry..."
"Fortunately, you found me!" he said, his face lighting up with a mischievous grin. "I'm looking for something too, well someone...but it's pretty much the same thing."
“Um.”
"Matt."
"Matt?"
"Yes. I'm Matt the swordsman." replies the black-coated man with a cocky grin.
“Matt the swordsman?” Anna says questionably as she looks at Matt more carefully, “Wow, you named yourself after one of the living legends?” The girl turns to continue her journey, missing Matt’s worried expression. “Well, I guess that makes your name easy to remember. Oh boy. I’ve really picked someone with a big ego if they name themselves after such a famous hero.”
“Oh...Anna. I’m an archer from Greenwood.” She replies embarrassed to have forgot to introduce herself earlier.
A low rumble breaks the uncomfortable moment. Anna’s face flushes again when she remembers she has not eaten. A second rumble confirms Matt is also hungry. Then she remembers the flowering trees nearby.
“Say, um, Matt. Are you hungry? There is a pawpaw stand nearby. Now that the coast is clear, it should be safe if we hurry.” Inquires Anna as she points to some trees. She has so many questions to ask this person. Like why he is traveling though the woods with a bag of glass bottles. Once her curiosity is peaked, it isn't easy to sate. But for now, Anna decides to focus on getting to the next safe zone. “This crazy guy is so lucky he ran into me.”
“You know what?" said Matt casually, “this looks like a nice day for a walk.” He carefully places his recovered loot into a side pouch. Since the man had heard how dangerous the Ashwood forest could be, he decided to follow the green archer. The man was traveling these woods in search for his missing friend, Natalie but protecting this novice young traveler is more important for the moment. “Um… my sixth sense tells me is she already traveling with someone else. This naive girl is so lucky she ran into me.”
The pawpaw grove is in full bloom. It surprises Matt to discover that the flowers and fruits are edible. He informs the archer he had gone though some similar trees earlier. Anna smiles at Matt's inexperience with forest plants. Fresh pawpaw flowers are one of her favorite treats. She enjoys plucking the flowers and savoring their sweet, creamy flavor, a delightful surprise to the tongue.
Anna takes out her map. It is the one with the green rim and the 10-point scale. She needs to get her bearings. She points to a spot on the map and tells Matt they should head in that direction. He uses his handkerchief to carry some blossoms. Matt nods in agreement, and they start walking, Anna happily munching on the pawpaw flowers as they move. Then they both hear a dreadful but familiar sound.
The newly introduced travelers both cringe as the porcupettes return. It would have been adorable if the squealing of the cute creatures hadn't heralded the appearance of something far more ominous.
Anna and Matt glance at each other and run with the porcupettes in pursuit.
"Why are they following us?" shouts Matt.
"I don't know..."
As they dash through the underbrush, trying to evade their pursuers. Anna suddenly realizes something. “The flowers! Your hat! Quick, give it to them.”
“What?” Matt pants. “No! Not the hat."
"Sorry, but it's either the hat or us!" Cries Anna as she grabs Matt's hat and scarf. With a quick reflex, the archer rams the articles with an arrow and shoots them into a nearby tree. In a flash, the babies dive onto the scented cloth articles and tear them to pieces. The pair leave the area quickly. Once they depart, the porcupettes are showered with pawpaw flowers. In no time at all, the babies forget about their chasing game with the funny creatures and start chewing. A single feather floats unnoticed.
After running for several minutes, the travelers stop on a ridge to rest. They are both relieved to have left the last threat behind. As Matt surveys the landscape before them, he points out the tree line edge and the possible safety of the area. However, Anna realizes she dropped her map in confusion and panics. They may have escaped the encounter with local wildlife but are now lost.
Looking to the horizon, Matt takes a deep breath and says, "We'll be okay. We just have to focus on the next step and keep moving." To Anna's surprise, the swordsman takes out a second pirate hat identical to the first one. "This is only my 15th favorite hat, but it'll do." He turns slightly so Anna cannot see him fidgeting.
"Well, I guess that is the most suitable option," says Anna as she stops to face her newly acquired traveling companion. She tries to put on a brave face but she absolutely hated being lost. Wherever she traveled, even in familiar territory, she needed to know exactly where she was. However Matt’s actions stopped her from worrying about this. “Ok, Anna, you can do this… It's only a map. Remember what Molly said? It's only a map.” The archer reluctantly pulls another map. It is not her preferred one, but she does not want to look weak. They both head towards the tree break.
The duo doesn’t say anything as they travel through the forest. Suddenly, Matt kicks Anna causing her to stumble behind a tree. Anna was about to yell at her new acquaintance when a large fluffy bat zips by, barely missing her neck. Anna is surprised to see Matt spring into action. With practiced ease, the man removes a white claymore with a red gemstone from his dimensional storage. Startled by the sudden flash of light from the sword, the bat flies away. Matt sheathes the sword and turns to Anna, a sheepish smile on his face. "Sorry about that," he says. "That was a close one."
"Aw, that bat was cute," says Anna, her eyes shining. With a sigh, Matt taps her over the head with his hand, earning a glare from Anna.
Matt simply says "Hey, don't do that again. You and I just met. Remember what YOU said, Ashwood forest is not known for its friendly inhabitants. And she was scolding me about the porcupettes…"
Anna rolls her eyes as she stares at the map. It is pointless as they are lost but it still comforts her. Anna notices movement near the top of a tree as a result of rustling noises in some branches. “Oh,” she thinks to herself, “I wonder if it’s that bat again.” When Matt shouts for her to hurry up, a loud screech sounds through the forest before a large shape flies from the treetop. Anne sighs because her new traveling companion scared the animal away again. “At least there does not appear to be any more danger...”
In the evening, Anne and Matt stand beside a rock outcrop surrounded by mean-looking forest dogs. The pair ambles due to another heavy loot bag Matt somehow acquired from a hole. Anna tries to determine how the swordsman found these items when they are ambushed by a feral dog. Fortunately, Matt kept his sword out to defend himself against the charging animal. This gave Anna enough time to pull out her bow and arrows. After shooting at the first dog, it is clear the dogs are part of a pack. Matt throws his hat onto a branch while Anna shoots arrows to distract the other canines. Another dog shifts into fire-hound form as the swordsman strikes more charging animals. Lunging toward Matt’s sword, the attacking canine’s flames heat up the metal handle. Soon the blade becomes too hot to manage. Despite the pain, Matt holds onto the sword and swings it against the fire-hound, sending it tumbling backward.
Meanwhile, another forest dog moves towards Anna, who has stumbled and is on her side. Matt tries to swing his weapon when he sees Anna in danger but is thrown back by a sudden wind gust. The bat has returned. Using its wings, a gale forms around Matt, causing him to drop his weapon. As the dog approaches Anna, the archer shoots the animal through the heart from her awkward position. However, she also cuts her hand in the process.
As the bat smells blood, it decides to attack Anna instead of Matt. But the resilient archer recovers. Seeing Anna will not be an easy meal; the bat turns back to the unarmed Matt, who immediately punches it. The swordsman cannot help feeling amused watching the bat sail backward several feet before slamming into a tree with a satisfying splat. Anna's resilience is a testament to her archery skills, and Matt's quick thinking ensured the bat's defeat. His quick reflexes and strength defeat the creature. Witnessing the leader's defeat, the dog pack retreats. Matt sighs with relief as he walks back… his 15th favorite hat is safe.
“Lesson learned,” thinks Anna as she watches the menace disappear, “no more cute fluffy bats.” Taking several deep breaths, the girl suddenly realizes this is the first time she had to kill anything. Before this adventure, she trained with targets. "This is not a comfortable feeling," Anna reflects. Despite her years of training, Anna still felt uneasy about taking another creature's life. Now, she had to face the difficult consequences of her actions. Lost in thought she almost failed to notice Matt’s departure. "Hey! Where are you going? Hey, get back here!" she yelled.
As the day progressed, the duo saw many other bush monsters. Some try to attack them, but Matt expertly repels them with his blade while Anna becomes more confident around live targets. Late evening approached, so they started looking for a place to spend the night and discovered a small abandoned house. Anna cautiously looks through the window when she hears a loud crack. Matt kicked the door in. The annoyed girl aims an arrow at the reckless swordsman, but he ignores her. There is little inside the house except for dust. It appears the dwelling has not been lived in for a long time. After a quick search, Matt discovers a chest with a red bow and quivers inside. He smirks as he tosses them to Anna.
Anna glares at Matt, "These are stolen so I won't use them." She explains as she weighs the bow in her hand, "Besides, this bow is heavier than mine, so it cannot be as accurate."
Matt’s response to Anna’s rant is an even wider smirk. “Oh, I see, Miss Morality, and what will you do if your bow breaks? Go to the deep woods supply store?” He walks to the middle of the room and shouts, “Hello! Anyone home? We need to borrow some things. Any objections… no? Great! See, Anna, this bow no longer has an owner, so this is not stealing, right?"
Anna grumbles, “Fine,” as she puts the items into her dimension pocket. “Maybe I will use it...”
“Great! Now you’re thinking,” Matt retorts, “it is good to use all available resources.” The swordsman turns to face Anna, “Speaking of resources… despite your map, we are not making much progress searching for that shiny thing, so maybe we should look for my friend.”
Anna sighs as she walks out of the dilapidated structure. The girl’s traveling companion suggests stopping her quest for the sacred jewel to find this lost friend. Aggravated by the swordsman’s childish behavior, she decides to get some fresh air. The sounds of rustling leaves calmed her, so she closes her eyes to take deep, cleansing breaths. She then releases an enormous scream.
Sword in hand, Matt runs outside to see Anna inches away from a giant wasp. She screams again when the insect moves. “Don’t just stand there!” she shrieks. “Do something! I hate wasps!”
“Well,” says Matt, “of all the useful things I’ve used my sword for, I’ve never considered fly swatter...But it does seem like a pretty effective one,” he chuckles.
“Watch it,” hisses Anna. “Remember, I still have stinger arrows.” Anne glares at Matt threateningly but suddenly looks around at the tree shadows. “Don’t make me use them,” she warns, her gaze still darting in the growing darkness. “Matt, do you hear that?”
“No, I don’t hear anything,” replies Matt.
“Exactly, something is wrong. The forest is too quiet.” Anna scans the surrounding area again before pointing to a small patch of vegetation next to some odd-colored water. “That grass is the wrong color… which means…” Anna quietly slips the bow from her shoulder and fires an arrow into the shiny puddle. The puddle makes a slurping noise before moving away. “Oh no, we have chameleon slime.”
Matt stood still for a moment in surprise. The swordsman is not easily impressed. Camouflaged slimes were almost impossible to spot or hit in shaded areas. Anna had done both with a single arrow. Matt’s jaw dropped in awe – Anna’s skill with the bow was remarkable, especially when considering her target's difficulty.
Anna points out several other puddles to the swordsman. Matt nodded in understanding; he had a new appreciation for Anna's bow mastery. He watched as she readied her arrow and fired again, hitting the target in a single shot. He knew he underestimated her skills.
“Matt,” she says nervously, “I think… we’re surrounded.” She hits several more slime, but they just become more numerous. "It's like slime comes from everywhere.
With the element of surprise lost, the remaining hidden slimes merge, resulting in a giant disgusting monster. With a guttural roar, the beast throws slime balls at the duo. They dodge and weave, evading the barrage of slime balls, but the monster pursues them relentlessly.
Anna tries to evade the monster but gets hit by its attack. The green archer is now covered in goo. “Look out, Matt!” Yells Anne. Matt dives out of the way just in time, narrowly avoiding the same fate as Anna.
With the weapon drawn, Matt yells, “Don’t worry, I’ve got this!” Swiftly he taps the sword’s red gem wrapping the blade in the fire. Matt jumps and slams the sword on the ground. A red wave slashes through the giant slime. The monster splits in half and rolls over... onto the house. Sparks of fire fly in all directions, engulfing the area in an eerie light and highlighting the devastation caused by Matt’s actions. With the pair’s shelter destroyed, they must find another one. Fortunately, the house is marked on Anna's map, and an encampment is nearby.
On the way to the safe zone, Anna insists on stopping at a small waterfall to rinse off. As she exchanges her ruined clothes for fresh ones, she becomes curious about Matt’s missing friend. He mentions she is connected to a shrine which piques Anna’s interest. As far as the archer knows, there are only three shrines, so seeing what Natalie knows may be beneficial. She took an oath of secrecy when she become shrine guardian, however is it still necessary now that it has been destroyed?
Fortunately, the spot is easy to locate. Anna is happy that it is also secure after so much trouble. A lava river encircles the area, and the middle is only accessible by a metal bridge. Rune covered spears keep the heat away from the travelers.
Anna is surprised and relieved that the site is a popular campground. Many others use the area. Walking over the bridge, Matt points to a burned tree and remarks, “Now we know why they call this Ashwood forest.” However, Anne notices he acts nervously as they are walk through the check point to register for a spot. The campground is completely full, fortunately there is a last minute cancellation.
By this time, the sun has set; however, this is not an issue, thanks to the glowing lava. A camp is quickly set up with tents and a campfire. Anna is ready for answers. She glances at Matt and asks, "So… is your other friend a th- I mean, a collector too?"
Matt sits on a fallen tree to explain, "Natalie? Na. She's a mage. Our team has been separated for several years now. Anyway, Nats and I were traveling companions. But she wanted to go off on her own after our last big adventure. Always bugging me because she says I carry too much stuff." Matt looks at the forest in the distance, "I have to admit that this forest is turning out to be more challenging than I thought. My collections really took a hit."
Anna smirks, "So this is your first time in this forest?" Matt shakes his head as Anna smiles, "And you teased me about my map. Collection? Your last find was some broken pottery that you insisted on bringing with us."
Matt grins, "It seemed like the natural thing to do."
Anna realized she had discovered why Natalie needed a sabbatical. The archer is determined to gain clarity by talking to this mage face-to-face. Anna set the alarm spell to wake her up if anyone opens the tent while she is asleep. The girl is exhausted but still concerned about her safety, especially with someone she has just met.
Matt watches all the people camping but is worried. The last time his sixth sense bugged him so much, his team needed to fight a demon. "Ok, you got me," Matt whispers with unusual seriousness near Anna's tent. "Anyway, that jewel you were talking about before, is it significant or not?" He gets no answer. Looking through the tent's vent, Anna is fast asleep.
With a yawn, Matt pulls his blanket around him for some much-needed sleep. The swordsman was glad no one recognized him. It would have attracted too much attention. He traveled to this forest secretly, as Natalie was last seen in the area. Strange things are happening so he needs to find her quickly. Matt’s thoughts drifted to earlier conversations with Anna about her missing gem. This green jewel must be much more than the young girl lets on. Otherwise, why would she search in such a dangerous area?
The pair cross the lava in the morning to return to the forest. Matt managed to secure another dimensional pouch so they could travel more freely. Anna suggests they walk across the ridge to the trail’s edge for a better view of the area. The rustling leaves warn them of several black idols. As Matt punches one of the idols, Anna shouts a warning to stop, but it is too late. One of the idols breaks in half with a loud crack, sending rock shards flying through the air. It is too late for Anna to warn Matt since the idol has already been punched. Shards of rock fly from his punch, breaking the idol.
With an explosion of splinters and a pained yell, Matt holds his burned hand. His attack shattered the monster, but this idol’s defense is an outer acid coating. In a desperate attempt to protect himself, Matt had to endure the searing pain of the acid as it burned his skin. Taking out the other dark idols quickly, the archer focused on the injury suffered by her companion. With the help of a water bottle, she cleans the acid off of his hand before applying a bandage. They are about to continue when they hear the sound of rustling leaves again. They quickly turn to face the new foe only to see a woman with long blonde hair holding a staff. Besides her is a cat wearing a sword.
After a long awkward pause, Matt gasps, “Natalie?”
Standing before them was an elegant woman with orange skin wearing a red dress. She has an air of confidence and sophistication that inspires respect. The woman and Matt stare at each other for a minute before wrapping themselves in a hug. They embrace each other with warmth and familiarity, a testament to their long-standing friendship. Matt finally let go and smiled. “It’s been a long time,” he said. “It’s good to see you.”
The woman smiled back and said, “It’s good to see you too.” She added, “It’s been so long since we’ve been together.”
“Oh, Natalie,” says Matt joyfully, “I’m so glad you’re alive! You wandered off on a quest, and I never heard from you.” Matt had worried about Natalie’s well-being since she embarked on her quest and was relieved to see her alive and unharmed. He had heard she was somewhere in the Ashwood forest and was happy to have her back safe and sound.
“I was looking for you too, Matt,” replied Natalie. “You disappeared after reporting you were helping some threatened villagers. They said you lost your favorite cloak to a monster, but I see your hat is OK." Matt looked at her, his eyes glinting with amusement. "Yes, I did lose my cloak, but I got away with my hat. I think I'm getting better at this monster-fighting business."
Matt touches the new arrival’s shoulder and walks over to Anna. “Anne,” he says, “This is my old friend Natalie. Not only is she a sharp dresser, but she is also a fantastic mage.” Natalie smiles at Matt's introduction. "It's nice to meet you, Anna," she says. "I'm sure we'll have lots to talk about." Natalie's enthusiasm is evident as she happily greets Anna, conveying her intelligence and magical abilities all in one sentence.
Matt gives Natalie a knowing look, "Nats, this is our brand-new team member, Anna from Greenwood. She is on a critical quest." The mage knows her friend's sixth sense is accurate. Natalie told Matt about some ominous things happening near the sacred stone. Then he appears with this young girl who he insists join our team, something he has never done before. This can only mean this person is part of something important.
Matt continues, "There is no one better to help you on your mission than Anna." "Anna is a powerful mage with many years of experience in the arcane arts," Matt says to Natalie, emphasizing the importance of Anna's assistance on the quest.
Anna looks at Natalie, “So you are the famous missing friend?” She then steps back to rub her head and looks at Natalie again. “You must be a powerful mage if Matt is such a talented swordsman. It’ll make traveling smoother with you. I was right to follow my instinct; her jewelry is only worn by priestesses. She is someone I need to speak to. Wow, and she’s pretty too.”
Natalie stares at Matt's heavy bag and back at him with narrowed eyes. “Well, some things never change,” she snarks. “You overextended your dimensional pack again… didn’t you?”
The small blue cat on Natalie's shoulder 'meows' during the commotion. "It's like this every time," Natalie sighs, shaking her head in exasperation as the cat chirps. This startles Anna. When she tries to pet the cat, it jumps over her head and onto Matt's shoulder.
"Careful, Anna; Nolegs is not only another friend but also a member of our old team." Says Matt as he lifts Nolegs and pats the cat’s head, "Right, Nolegs." The cat 'meows' in agreement. "We can always count on Nolegs for support," Matt smiles at the feline. "That's why he's part of the team! Oh, I missed you too!”
Natalie looks skeptically at Matt.
"Come on, Nats..." Waned Matt. "I promised Anna I would find her missing grapefruit."
"Maple leaf!" groans Anna.
Natalie freezes in place as everything clicks into place. This person is from Greenwood Village and is looking for a valuable item. There is only one thing that is so critical that a young girl would risk her safety. The green forest stone is one of the three jewels that maintain world balance. Natalie is part of the High Guild, so she knows the sacred stone's location and function. If this is what was stolen, it needs to be recovered fast. They will have to move quickly in order to have a chance of success.
"Five members total, it's me, Natalie, Sunset, Lance, and Nolegs." Matt proudly takes out his sword and points it at the sky. “Our team helps all sorts of people.” Everyone rolls their eyes at the swordsman's antics.
Anna replies, "So you named your team after the living legends?" Nolegs deadpans. Natalie starts to say something but Matt gestures for her to stop. Nolegs' response makes it clear that he understands the importance of the mission they are on – to help anyone in need.
Matt motions for Natalie and Nolegs to follow the impulsive young archer. They all nod at each other as if they have never been separated, ready for another adventure. “More people will make for safer journeys. Thank you for being so helpful,” says Anna.
"Speaking of safety, Anna…" says Natalie as she spins her staff. "Has Matt tried to cook yet?”
“No, we have been too busy running from baby monsters.”
“Then it is a lucky thing you ran into me.”
The Oak and Team United...
Once again Anna wakes up to the smell of roasting meat. Not yet fully awake, she rubs her eyes and yawns before greeting Matt and Natalie. They start eating breakfast together while Nolegs makes himself comfortable on Anna’s lap. The group goes over a plan to defeat the guardian.
"Ready, girls?" Matt asks the group as he reaches down to pat Nolegs head. The feline 'meows' in response. “Sure, you are always ready." Laughs the swordsman as he takes out his claymore and shield.
With staff firmly in hand, Natalie replies, "Ready, Matt" She glances at Anna looking nervously at the wooden giant and gripping her bow tightly.
Anna notices Natalie looking at her and stands up quickly, "Don't look at me like that I am ready." Together the four adventures walk to the guardian’s clearing where Mighty Oak resides. The giant’s body creaks as it turns to face the team.
Mighty Oak begins the battle by charging at the foursome. Matt takes the first position closest to the giant to give Natalie time to chant a spell. Oak uses the shield to slam Matt back. Anna jumps into a tree to attack from a second direction. The nervous archer tries to fire an arrow but her hands are shaking so much she cannot.
Knowing the mage still needs more time, Matt converts the sword to slice mode. Anne can only watch in awe at the swordsman’s skill. In his hands, the red glowing sword is furiously slashing at the wooden behemoth, causing deep gashes.
Despite the swordsman’s diversionary tactics, Oak spots the mage prepping for a spell. Its left arm rockets outwards like a rubber band catching Natalie by surprise. However, as she flies backward she continues to chant. Oak charges towards the fallen mage but Nolegs jumps on the wooden giant's head with his flaming sword.
More annoyed than hurt, the Oak tries to shake his head to remove the determined feline. A stray smack of one of the giant's legs knocks Anna out of the tree and back to her senses. She grabs her arrows to aid Nolegs who has jumped on Oak’s Arm.
In an effect to shake off the stinging sword cat, the giant jumps up high and tries to slam his arm into the ground. This succeeds in dislodging Nolegs. Fortunately, Anna sees the flying cat and intersects him before he hits a nearby rock. Her movement catches Oak's attention, so he jumps again to eliminate the annoying pair.
Anna feels a shadow cover her spot. She looks up and sees the monster is going to slam its body into her and Nolegs. However, Matt throws his sword at Anna, making her fly out of the way seconds before the Oak slams into the spot. The ground shakes around the guardian’s landing area with the sound of snapping branches.
Anna, who still has an unconscious cat in her arms, shakes her head to focus on the battle. She may have dodged the Oak’s attack, but was still hit by flying debris. Shockwaves had sent a rock into the side of the archer's head leaving her stunned. Before the Oak could attack again, a large fireball strikes directly to the guardian’s head.
Defiantly, Natalie stands with her staff pointed to the ground in front of the giant. A large spinning magic circle appears under the Oak that morphs into a large fire tornado. Shaking her head to focus her thoughts, Anna backs away due to the heat of the mage’s attack.
As Anna runs she wraps her feline teammate in her cloak and ties the cat onto her back. Looking back at the fire, Anna is now quite grateful their group has gained such an effective mage. Suddenly a grinding noise catches Anna’s attention, turning around she gasped at the sight before her.
Mighty Oak is still standing there after the fiery tornado attack. The giant roars angrily and charges at Natalie. Seeing her friend in danger Anna reaches into her dimensional pouch and charges ahead. Natalie prepares another spell only for the giant to suddenly halt his attack. One of the Oak’s legs is pinned to the ground. Then the other leg follows suit as Anna’s red arrows find their marks from her new vantage point in the nearby trees.
Matt sees an opportunity now that the giant is immobilized. The Oak shoots the left sword arm at the swordsman but he dodges it. Red blurs continue to rain down from above pinning the giant's arm long enough for Matt to activate his fire sword and slice off the arm. But the giant is not finished yet!
Oak swings the massive shield around and knocks the sword away from Matt. However, Matt quickly runs to the other side of the giant. Sliding across the ground to avoid the shield the swordsman removes another claymore from his dimension pocket. With a powerful slash damaging the right arm, Oak drops the shield. Matt raises his claymore, "It is done now," he says as he stabs the left eye.
The rest of the group slowly approaches the Oak to check if the giant is still active. Matt sighs in relief when there is no movement. Leaning on his claymore the swordsman and his fellow victorious adventures cheer.
"Wow, I’ve never jumped so much in my life." Anna closes her eyes still trying to catch her breath, "I hope we don't encounter anything like this in the future."
Matt shakes his head, "Sorry, but this is what you have to..." The swordsman stops when he hears a creaking behind him. Matt looks up in awe as Mighty Oak wounds heal and the giant casually walks up to his shield. The disconnected sword arm re-attaches to the main body as he stands up. Matt reaches for his sword but Anne stops him. The giant then calmly proceeds in removing Matt’s sword out of his body and throws it at the astonished swordsman. Then Oak steps aside to allow the group to pass. Matt instinctively reached for his sword and slowly turns to Anne, "Okay... what happened?"
"Mighty Oak is respecting you," Anna smiles and continues, "Now he won't bother you anymore."
"Ah…That's cool," Responds Matt. Meantime Natalie just stands there with her mouth open, "I guess… Wait, where is Nolegs?”
Anna chuckles as she turns around to expose her impromptu backpack. Matt looks puzzled at the hidden bundle but Natalie quietly opens her smaller dimensional pouch to remove an object. Holding her hand slightly above the bundle suddenly a blue blur seizes the offering. Movement in the sea of green reveals contented feline chewing on a dried fish.
"Right," laughs Anna as she takes out the map, "Looks like the best way to Whitefall Town is through the Crystal Caverns. As Matt and Natalie start walking down the path Anna turns timidly towards Mighty Oak once more. Now that her adrenaline has worn off Anna wonders if it was another person who had fought the giant. It was so different from the previous time. Anna remembers how terrifying the trial was with her peers yelling different orders only for her to get hit with the Oaks massive shield.
The pain from her injures was almost as bad as their taunts. It was not her fault she froze up! Gripping her bow the archer does the double-take, did the guardian just nod his head at her? “Nah,” she thinks “The Mighty Oak never does that.” Looking back again Anna sees the Ashwood Groves guardian standing motionless again so moves down the path to rejoin her group.
Natalie and Matt are sitting on some rocks on the trailhead waiting for the other 2 members. “Ok Sword-man spill it.” Questioned the mage pointing her staff at the swordsman “Where did you find this girl? You just said follow her to our next adventure. Well, we have and almost got killed due to her lack of experience. Look at her staring at that wooden giant.”
“Just call it a hunch,” Replied Matt adjusting his hat. The approaching sound of crunching leaves stops the duo’s conversation as the other 2 group members arrive. Map in hand, Anna looks sheepishly at the pair and walks quickly down the path to the Crystal Cavern. Matt, on the other hand, breaks out into a wide grin as he follows the archer. “See Nads, I was right.” He whispers.
Walking around some greenery, Anna suddenly stops to point an arrow at a rustling bush. Emerging from the scrub was a red-haired man wearing a black commander suit. Before Anna could react she heard a loud cry from her two companions who rushed past her towards the imposing figure.
Anna freezes in surprise as she watches the scene, even when the mystery man addresses her. "Hey, easy lass. I mean no harm." Stunned, she slowly lowers her bow and tries to process the scene before her. Her traveling companions Natalie and Matt had tackled the tall muscular red-haired individual in an emotional hug. A sword poke belonging to a certain feline gets Anna out of her stupor. Her passenger pokes his furry blue head over her shoulder. Grabbing the feline, Anna slowly walks over to the newest reunited member of the team.
"Lance! Long time no see buddy," Matt exclaims as he releases the hug, "We missed you so much. It’s just you? Where’s Sunset?"
“Matt! Natalie!” enthusiastically cries Lance “When I got the team meetup message I couldn’t believe it. It’s been so long! Oh, got tired of waiting for that scaly girl to return. So I grabbed my gear and decided to meet you at the Crystal Caverns.” An exultant meow got the man’s attention. “Nolegs!”
“Ouch” yelps Anna as the over-excited cat jumps onto the stranger. Both share an exultant hug before Nolegs snuggles into the man’s arms. Laughing, the man turns to the last member of the group. Still surprised Anna strains her neck to stare at the person towering before her.
“So,” reports Lance, “who be this wee lass?” The armored man looks the green girl over while the feline in his arms purs in gratitude for the ear scratches. Lance formally walks around Anna with interest. However, Matt spots the archer's trembling white-knuckled grip on her bow.
Matt moves behind Lance and jokes l, “Cut it out Lance, you're scaring our newbie.”
“Anna…” replies the archer quietly, “My name is Anna. Lance the gunner I assume? Wait…? Newbie?" Retorts Anna as she turns to Matt, "We just won a battle with the Mighty Oak."
"Actually," Matt rubs his chin and chuckled, "There are some problems with your fighting style. Anyway, we’ll discuss this later after we camp." The others nod as they start going to the jungle to collect wood. “Oh, and by the way Anna you can stand at ease now...”
Anna gasped. She was standing at full attention just like for inspection in Greenwood. Lance reminded her so much of her old teacher she just fell back into formation by habit.
Matt finds a ring of rocks, the ideal spot to set a campfire. After Anna clears the area of some brush for tents, the others return with food and wood. Natalie pulls a piece of flat stone next to her for Anna so she can relax while the food cooks in a medium pot with some meat sticks on the side.
Natalie quietly asks, "Now Anna, this is your first adventure right?" Anna nods as Natalie sighs, "I see, this is your first time away from home too from what I gathered. You have to learn more about adventuring and working as a team." Natalie looks up at the sky, "Lucky for you, you met us. There may have been trustworthy people in your home village but maybe not outside of it.”
“Not that you haven’t improved,” adds Matt. “Your skills as an advanced scout are rather good, but you can’t keep losing focus if the rest of the team are depending on you.” The Swordsman proceeds to several rocks out of his dimensional pouch to shore up the sides of the fire.
“Rocks?” says the bewildered Anna. “Wait, are these volcanic rocks from the lava rivers rest area? Is there anything you will not steal?” The mage and the gunner both shake their heads.
“You never know what may be useful.” Says Matt “These are the perfect cooking stones.”
“Says the person who maxes out their dimensional storage pouches.” Retorts Anna. “When we met you were dragging along a heavy bag of miscellaneous stuff.”
“We all have our strengths and weaknesses. When our team works together we can overcome each other’s shortcomings. Anna, don’t think Matt and I didn’t notice you freezing up during the battle with Mighty Oak.” Says Natalie. “Your maps are very useful but you also need to pay attention to what’s happening around you.”
“Ok you two, that’s enough.” Pipes up Lance. “From what I’ve heard it is clear that this lass overcame a great fear to help you with that giant. It’s tough when you’re not used to it. But from I gather you pulled yourself together in the end with an unfamiliar bow and were victorious.”
“Thank you,” replies the archer, “But they are right I may have been scared… a little.”
“It’s ok to be afraid sometimes, keeps ye on alert.” Says Lance supportively.
“Well Mr. Lance, I’m a little too alert. You were nearly hit with an arrow.” Says Anna. The gunner reacts with peals of laughter. Anna sit astonished while Lance chuckles and gave her a knowing look.
The young archer shamefully turned away but the gunner quickly seizes her hand. Anna looked at the group with tears in her eyes. “Now, now none of that,” Lance speaks softly. “Experience teaches ye many things. To your credit, you held the bow expertly but I could tell thanks to my training that it couldn’t be used.”
The swordsman pipes in, “Don’t underestimate our team, Anna. We have been traveling, exploring, and adventuring together so I believe we have gotten to know each other a little. So don’t be surprised when we noticed your fight style change during the last fight.” says Matt. “Lance is right, you have improved and learned to improvise since we first meet. It was only after the battle with the wooden giant that I saw how much.”
“Yes, you are correct, my bow is broken” Anne admits dejectedly, “During the fight with the forest guardian I fell from the tree and it got cracked. I believed if I carried it with my hand over the fracture line no one would notice. But how did you know about the bow?”
Matt smirks and points at Anna’s cloak. With the green garment folded up over her shoulders, it revealed a distinct red bow in the shoulder holder. Anna’s embarrassed face turned almost the same color as the bow.
With a sympathetic look on her face, Natalie places her hand on Anna’s shoulder. “Anna, I owe you an apology.” The archer gives the mage a puzzled look. “Hold on, hear me out,” Continues the mage with a sigh. “I’m sorry I did not consider your feelings, Anna. Lance is right, you must have been terrified to face the same giant wood creature that had wounded you previously. I yelled at Matt earlier for bringing you along but I was worried you would be hurt due to your inexperience. But I guess I was mad at myself too. We could have avoided the giant if we had listened to you. Also, after I heard Matt had given you those red arrows and bow it became clear how hard it was for you to use them. Anna, you are a very honest girl so it would have been difficult for you to use the bow Matt “borrowed” from that abandoned house. It worked out in the end as we all helped each other.”
With nothing more than a meow as a warning, a blue figure sails back onto Anna’s shoulder. The three of them enjoyed an emotional hug before the cat settled down into his previous place in the folds of Anna’s modified cloak.
“Great to hear you two talking things out.” Says a voice above them. The girls look up to see Matt holding some meat sticks. “Just in time for dinner! So here you go!” Natalie and Anna ate in silence. They would never admit it, but the roasted crow did not taste too bad.
Early the next morning, Anna hears a noise outside her tent so peeks out to investigate. Stumbling out of the cloth structure, the archer let out a long yawn. She had a lot to think about last night so had problems falling asleep. Since it is still not yet light out Anna moves over to the fire tended by Lance.
“Morning Anna,” greets Lance. “Hope I didn’t wake ye.”
“No, thank you for asking Mr. Lance.” Replies Anna groggily looking around the camp.
“Ah, we are all friends now so ye can just call me Lance," says the Gunner. “Oh, and if ye are looking for the others they went to meet the other mage. She just arrived.” The gunner pointa to a nearby patch of bushes.
Anna excitedly jogged over to the auburn greeneries. She had been hearing so much about this second mage and now was finally getting to meet her! Still half-awake, Anna pushes through the brush only to trip on a tree root. Pushing herself up the archer looks disapprovingly down at the obstacle. Getting a better look at the problem, Anna notices that it looks less like a tree root and more like a foot, a scaly foot with claws. Slowly her eyes travel up the foot to perceive a large creature camouflaged in the orange foliage and morning shadows. Anna closes her eyes and screams for the second time in so many days.
The archer fell backward into her two companions as she backed away from the terrifying form. However, any fear was quickly dissipated by the sight of them roaring with laughter. Matt is rolling on the ground laughing so hard that tears were falling from his eyes. Meanwhile, Natalie is holding her sides while snickering. Anna turns around and sees an orange dragon with red horns reveal herself. A realization slowly comes to the archer.
“Ha-ha, come on Anna don’t give me that look.” Snickers Matt as he puts his arm around the embarrassed archer’s shoulder to guide her through the bushes. “Your face is going to stay that fetching shade of red permanently if you don’t calm down.” camaraderie
Natalie and the dragon are already sitting by the campsite with Lance and Nolegs when the last two members arrive.
“Hello, Lance you probably heard that Anna has met our last team member.” Reports Matt. Lance rolls his eyes at the swordsman and motions for them to sit by the fire.
He then turns to the dragon. “Since there was not a proper introduction before. This is our new teammate Anna. Her skills are archery and navigation.”
The dragon looks at her for a while then glances at Matt, "Hello Anna. So you are the newbie I been hearing about.”
"Hey," Anna pips at the dragon, "This is the second time I have been called a newbie."
"Alright, I was just teasing," replies the dragon, "My name is Sunset, Sunset Shimmer. As you probably heard from Matt and the others our team does quite a bit of adventuring. I hope we can work well together."
“Now that we are all together, we can finally officially welcome Anna to our team of adventures!” Exclaims Matt.
Sunset turns herself to others and says, "Hey, speaking of adventures, how about we break camp and go inside this cavern. Now that our team is assembled, I'm sure it will be exciting."
Soon the team is walking into the Crystal Cavern so Anna pulls out her cave map. The entrance is a small gloomy space that makes Natalie nervous. She stays very close to Matt as they navigate the darkness. Unexpectedly, Natalie trips on a crack and lands backward in Matt’s arms. Close behind them, the rest of the team snickers at the pair. Noting the cave is causing trouble, Sunset creates two fireballs that orbit around her for more light. Soon they find a torch in the wall and utilize it too.
"... That's cool." Anna marvels, "I didn’t know you could do that."
Sunset shakes her head and continues to go deeper into the cavern. The team soon finds other torches. The illuminated cave reveals three fur ball bats. Their sudden appearance startles Anna who fumbles with her bow and misses the furry targets. Lance shoots the first attacking bat while Sunset teleports behind the second one. The second bat attempts a sonic attack but is quickly dispatched by a swipe of the dragon's claws. With its two companions defeated the third bat retreats.
"Meh... now my claws are dirty," Sunset shakes her claw, "I hope we won't meet any more bats."
Anna stares in amazement at Sunset's claws. She knows dragons have sharp talons but they have sliced their opponent into pieces. Sunset spots Anna watching her and sighs. The archer quickly focuses back on the map and takes the lead towards the best exit passage.
Moving to the next room Anna is impressed by the beauty of it. The walls are covered with glittering ice. She slows her walk to admire the massive cavern and sees an unusual sight. A person is camping in the ice cavern.
Lance greeted the man to ask the way out of the cave. The person confirmed they were on the right passage for the exit but the way was blocked by a powerful golem. The monster had two blades and floated on air. The person was an explorer, but the creature had made it too dangerous outside. The team thanks to the person and decides to defeat the golem. Then cave would be safe again.
Anna is once again thinking about the aggressive animals the team was encountering. These attacks were not a conscience. The archer is increasingly worried that this is the result of the missing Greenwood Jewel. As a former guard for the jewel’s shine, she has taken an oath to protect the secret location, unfortunately, this is now a bit pointless. Walking towards the monster with a group she now trusted and admired, Anna’s mind wandered a bit. Should she tell them everything about the sacred jewel?
Anna, Nolegs, and Lance continue to walk ahead of the rest of the team in the ice caverns. Since Natalie, Sunset and Matt were still discussing the plan for the dangerous golem described by the explorer, so the rest of the team elected to scout ahead. Images reflected off the ice made the correct path tricky, but Lance was pleasantly surprised at the accuracy of Anna’s cave map. A sudden cracking noise caught the attention of the gunner.
Lance aims his weapon at the shifting ice. Suddenly an ice blade shoots out at Anna who instantly reacts by blocking the attack with her bow. A strange cry echoes through the chamber when a shiny ice monster reveals itself. Anna attempts to shoot the creature but is repelled by light reflecting off its body. Undeterred by the light attack, Nolegs jumps from Anna’s back onto the monster's head to distract it. Anna jumps in front of the monster to shoot more arrows, but the arrows bounce off its thick covering. Sunset nods to Lance and together they spring into action. While the dragon immobilizes the monster with some fire chains, the gunner fires onto the monster's body, shattering it.
Watching from the sidelines Natalie and Matt nod approvingly at the successful fight. "Nice one." Matt announces happily, "The path is clear again." The others collectively groan.
Moving out of range from the latest bad pun barrage, Anna fails to watch where she is going and slips on the ice. The others laugh until they also start to slide around. Matt takes a good look at the slippery floor and concludes there is water running under the ice.
"Oh no! How are we going to get through this part of the cave?" Natalie complains, "Nobody in our team can ice skate." The mage looks over her shoulder to witness Anna and Nolegs, happily skating on the slippery floor. “Umm… Never mind."
“Wait, maybe there is a better way over this mess without falling on our faces.” Says Matt to Sunset with a devilish look on his face.
Confused, Sunset looks across the frozen room for a minute before the full meaning of Matt’s suggestion occurs to her. The dragon glances back to see her team teammates have disappeared at the same time. A new weight has appeared on her back.
Sunset glances at them with slight annoyance and sighs, "Fine, I will take all of you. Just hold tight," She opens her wings and glides over the area. Anna feels a bit jealous watching them enjoying a dragon ride. Gripping Nolegs securely, she faces the ice floor so no one can see her sad face.
The team travels until it reaches a thick ice wall that seems like a good spot for camping. Sunset starts a campfire. Meanwhile, Lance guards the perimeter as Natalie casts a protection spell. Anna sat down in front of the fire to check the supplies. Sunset has placed a pot on the fire and sat down on the other side of Anna.
With the flame behind her serving as a backdrop, the orange dragon turns to Anna. “Well Anna, we have not had time to talk.” Sunset glances over to the corner at the other members talking and back at Anna. “Don’t worry about them, they can’t hear us... muffling spell.”
Anna looks down and gives the dragon a sad look. Sunset continues, “Come on, I understand what you are going through more than you think. You are trying hard to be part of this team and I appreciate your efforts. However, you are trying a little too hard. Putting yourself in harm's ways such as in the last monster fight is not necessary to earn our respect.” Sunset and Anna glance over to the corner again. Lance is looking back with a worried look. “Well, it looks like there is hope for that lot yet.” Growls Sunset who looks back at Anna with a sympathetic look. “Sorry Anna, I’m not mad at you. I am upset with them. However, Lance looks like he feels guilty and he should for leaving you on the ice.”
“Sorry I-” whispered Anna.
“You, stop that right now.” Retorts Sunset, “When I was the newbie, I acted the same way; overcompensating to prove myself. The truth was I was trapped in a terrifying new place with some rather eccentric people. All I wanted was to go back home and well… I’ll tell you about it sometime.”
“Wow,” replies Anna looking stunned. “I would never imagine any mage as strong as you to be afraid of anything. Sunset, you are right. Every time our team runs into a monster, I am afraid I’ll freeze up and get slammed again like with Mighty Oak.”
“Now lass,” piped up a voice behind the pair. “That is not going to happen. Why do ya think I was so close behind you? To watch ya back of course! Ya just need a bit more experience working in a team to get used to it. Which brings me to my next offer, to train ye properly once we reach Whitefall town.”
“Are you sure you want to train me Mr. - I mean Lance? You hardly know me.” Says Anna.
“It may come as a surprise to ye but Matt is a very good judge of character. Adventures just seem to seek him out. He will never admit it but we would be lost in this case maze if not for your navigation skills” Replies Lance as he pointed behind the archer. “Also another member has absolute faith in ye.”
Anna looked back in surprise at the blue cat sitting comfortably in her cloak. Nolegs had made himself at home and the archer was so comfortable being around her feline friend, she had not noticed him. Anna couldn’t help smiling. Looking at her wonderful friends she felt loved. Lance looked like he wanted to say something to Anna but stopped when saw the last two teammates return.
After a quick demonstration by Sunset about how sharp her claws were, the team minus Anna and Nolegs fully agreed to be more considerate about future dragon rides. Anna reports the team should be near the cave exit after they cross the next bridge. The archer can’t help wondering if the adventures she has teamed up with are the real living legends she heard stories about back at her village. Anna stays silent about the subject, after all, she could be wrong.
A vibration on the floor wakes up Anna. Rolling out of her bedroll the archer sees Natalie, Matt, and Lance drinking hot beverages by the fire. Natalie motions for Anna to join them. Despite the shaking, the teams’ serene expressions convey the message everything was under control.
Lance hands Anna a hot drink while she makes herself comfortable. An occasional ping is heard from flying rocks hitting Natalie’s camp protection barrier. Lance is cheerfully explaining battle strategies. By now the archer is getting used to her teammates' antics. The noise from the next room got louder until a loud crash revealed the source of the commotion. A grey golem welding crystal blades crashes through the wall followed by a now-familiar orange dragon.
Crystal blades swing wildly against the dragon, but Sunset nimbly avoids them. Rolling out of danger the dragon counter attacks with a blast of fire followed by a "Wyvern Slash" to its leg. The golem falls on one knee but does not stop. The creature summons a ball of earth and hurls it at its opponent. The ball explodes sending sharp crystal shards everywhere, but Sunset had a shield spell ready. Quickly creating a magic circle, she chants a new spell just as the golem charges. Flames light up the chamber as a dragon flies out the circle right through the middle of the monster, shattering it to pieces.
"Nice job, Sunset," Matt calls while handing the dragon a cup of brown liquid, "Warm-up yet?"
"Yeah," Sunset sits down with the team, and she looks at Anna, "Looks like someone wants to become a sleeping beauty, but you needed it. Plus you didn’t miss the show." Anna blushes as she rubs her head, Sunset continues, "Maybe should have called it the going to get some water and running into a crystal monster show."
Matt replies “Nope! It will be called the 'do not mess with Sunset the dragon before her morning coffee' show.”
Anna chuckles, “Wow, this is quite the adventure! I wish my friends could see me now, slipping through an ice cave, exploring new areas, and fighting monsters with a team with the same name as the living legends who saved the world.”
This declaration resulted in a mixed group reaction.
"The Living legends?" Matt smirks, "Hum, nice title we have there."
"Nope, don’t like it. Too fancy pansy..." Sunset waves the soup ladle around while others laugh.
"What? Why are you laughing?" calls Anna feeling confused, "Don't you care about them."
Natalie shakes her head, "No, that, is not it. We just don’t consider ourselves legendary heroes." Natalie pats Anna's back, "We're just ourselves." Anna shakes her head and continues eating the soup.
As predicted, the team came to several wooden bridges still under construction, however, the structure was complete enough to carefully cross the chasm. Matt drops a rock over the edge to gauge the depth. The deep pit reminds him of the time when Sunset fell into such a hole. Matt reminisces a bit about her transformation from a pony to a dragon. The swordsman misses the Sunset’s old pony form as her new dragon form could be quite intimidating. However, Sunset kept saying she was fine being a dragon, and adventuring with the team, however, Matt noticed her eyes were sad. Matt has a feeling Sunset misses her old home but there is not anything he can do about it. The swordsman shakes his head and jogs to catch up with the rest of his friends.
Spotting damage from rock eaters, Lance signals the team to be on the alert. Two turtles with rock shells and scorpion tails are blocking the path. The creatures make themselves known by trying to push the adventures off of the edge of the gorge. Matt blocks the first one with his claymore while the others dodge the second turtle. The second turtle tries to hit Natalie, but she quickly leaps back resulting in the beast running straight into the bridge. However, the partially finished bridge surface was too weak to support the heavy creature and it fell through the unsecured boards into the pit. Distracted by the disappearance of its companion the first turtle stretched its neck around while still running after Matt. The swordsman calmly side-stepped out of the turtle’s way and the team watched as it ran itself over the cliff.
"Nah ah," Matt cheers, "I thought these were stone eaters, not lemmings."
Crossing the last bridge, the team encounters a guard wearing steel armor. The sentry proceeds to advise the team about a dangerous area ahead. After Matt explains the team was there to take care of the golem, the guard agrees to allow them to continue. Soon the team is camped close to a continent of other guards not far from the exit. They sit together and start talking happily about their seven years experiment of being apart. This causes Anna to feel a little left out.
After a rest and more information from the guards, the team finally makes their way out of the cave. Everyone is very happy to be out in the sunshine and fresh air again. Suddenly, a large stone crashes in front of Matt and blocks his way. Many other stones shift and merge to create a bulky golem monster. Lifting a sharp-looking crystal blade, it growls at the team as they prepare to fight.
Small stone balls covered in ice fire out of the monster’s leg as it stomps towards the group. Red arrows flash in response. The volley intersects the dangerous projectiles, resulting in several explosions. The stone bombs add the hazard of slippery frozen earth to the battle.
When the golem sees Anna shooting shots unimpeded by the ice, the monster raises its sword to attack the archer. Meantime Matt is having issues traversing the ice so switches to distance attacks. An earthquake gets the golem’s attention as Matt’s sword is slammed into the ground. Light from the sun is suddenly eclipsed by a giant earth sword that smashes against the monster. With the ground cleared of ice, the rest of the team rushes at the golem to cover Natalie’s chanting.
Matt reaches the golem just as it has dug itself out of the earth. The golem swings its crystal sword at the swordsman, but he blocks it easily. Bouncing off of the rocks Nolegs jumps on the monster's crystal sword with his water sword and slashes at it. When that fails the cat jumps onto the monster's head. But the golem pays no attention to the feline’s distractions and continues attacking the other team members.
Sunset flies up the golem and barely avoids another exploding stone bomb attack. Unable to reach the dragon the monster forms a canon out of his hand to shoot her out of the air. Fortunately, Lance's big gun destroys the arm canon. The dust in the air makes Anna sneeze. Seeing her previous attack was unsuccessful, Anna pulls out her old green bow and bends it until it breaks completely. Then with her red bow, the remains of old bow are embedded into the golem’s leg. A green magic circle appears on the ground under the monster. Out of the circle, a torrent of thorny vines covers the golem, pining the monster to the spot.
With the golem temporally immobile, Natalie cast a magic circle, making it appear on the golem's head while Sunset maneuvers for an aerial attack. Fires crackle over the dragon’s body as she dives at the golem struggling in the vines. Staff in hand, Sunset hits the monster with a direct "Wyvern Slash" attack to heat its body, leaving a gaping hole. With the magic circle now complete Anna catches Nolegs as he jumps down. They sprint for cover as a giant iceberg drops into the burning golem, making it shatter into pieces.
"Wow! That was the biggest golem I have ever seen! Well, I hope that was the golem the man is talking about." Matt wonders, "Is it me, or are we running into a lot of monsters lately."
"Ye always run to a lot of monsters… speaking of which our little archer still has a few surprises. That was a neat little trick. Do ye always need to sneeze for it to work?" Lance looks at Anna banteringly, "Right?"
"Come on! I finally got that one spell right," Anna starts to say something else but decides against it. She just huffs and starts moving around the fallen rocks. The Team is almost clear when the air in front of them shimmers. Suddenly, a portal opens with such energy it throws the team back. From the gateway emerges a floating white cat shining with a blue radiance.
Matt exclaims in surprise, "A flying, glowing …cat?!”
A simple wave of a paw from the mystery feline creates a powerful ground attack. Rays of light shoot out of the earth towards the team who quickly scatter to dodge it. Sunset teleports behind the cat but the feline pushes her back with such force the dragon slams against a rock. The cat slowly looks over the team and says, "Ah, so you are the ones who destroyed Arkon seven years ago. Little human things are not so tough." Anna gasps at the revelation as she clutches her cloak protectively. The levitating cat continued, "No matter, the end of your rule is near, human-kind. Cat-kind shall rule the earth once more."
Flames burst out of Sunset’s staff as a dragon wing attack flies towards the enigmatic cat, but it is countered by a burst from the feline. Turning towards the dragon with an unreadable expression, the feline rockets towards Sunset. Sensing danger, Sunset quickly swings her staff at the cat, but the cat catches the staff and levitates the dragon. Lance and Anna fire to stop the cat from draining Sunset’s power, however, the cat’s aura stops the arrows and bullets mid-air. Turning to face the team, the white feline gestures with its paws to the projectiles. Bathed in blue radiance, the fired mortars rain down on the team only to be blocked by Matt’s sword.
The cat smirks as she appears to be preparing a new attack. Unexpectedly the feline stops and looks back at Sunset. The dragon now has a wide grin on her snout as she manipulates a new magic circle. “What’s wrong?” taunts Sunset. “Don’t like your spells reversed.” Grumbling, the cat pushes the dragon onto the rocks.
"Looks like there are some smart creatures here after all," States the cat pointing her paw at Sunset, "Who are you, dragon thing?"
"My name is Sunset," Replies the dragon as she carefully stands up. She feels hurt but tries not to show it, "And who are you?"
"My name is Amelia, one of the god-cats." States the feline smugly. A black hole appears behinds Amelia but her claws slice it apart. Natalie is amazed when her spell evaporates. The mage quickly spins her staff to counter Amelia's paws. The cat smugly reaches out to block the staff but she receives a slash from Matt. Amelia looks surprised at the wound and watches it rapidly heal. “How about that…” She remarks aloud. “This is the first time I have been hit in three hundred years. The last time was from that annoying white dragon."
The revelation about the white dragon surprises Sunset. Before the team can respond, Amelia taps a paw on the ground. A four-legged golem rises from the ground. Amelia looks at the team and declares, "I’m bored now. Goodbye humans things, we will meet again, soon." as she disappears. The team has no choice but to prepare to fight the new golem.
A roar echoes through the small valley outside a cave. The scattered rocks shake with every step taken by the monstrous golem. Feeling movement in her cloak Anna tightly clutches her red bow and defensively moves behind the team. Shock waves from the monster had knocked some of the team down. The archer tries to concentrate but she is still weak from her recent spell. Another poke to her back from an awaking cat, makes Anna shake her head to counter her blurred vision. Unfortunately, her boot slips on a loose rock causing the archer to fall backward.
“Floating…” ponders Anna, “Didn’t I fall?” The disoriented archer watches the ground get further away. One hand is holding to the furry blue passenger in the cloak while the other was touching something smooth and scaly. “Scaly… wait.” Recalls Anna. Reality comes rushing back as an invigorating breeze goes through her hair. She was flying. The archer was on her teammate’s Sunset’s back headed for a tall rock. Carefully the dragon put Anna down.
Sunset glances worriedly at Anna, "It’s ok to take a rest," Advises Sunset, "Spells take a lot of mana, so you will need to train so you don’t overdo it." Sunset looks back at the team and the golem. The monster was banging against an ice wall the orange dragon had made earlier. Sunset observes, “Looks like I’m still needed in this fight.” Ignoring her body's growing aches, the dragon opens her wings to dive back into the fray.
Crystals shoot from the golem's mouth against the icy barricade. Cracks appear in the wall but the structure has given the team enough time to prepare for the monster's attack. Natalie has created a shield to block the incoming crystal and ice shards. Meanwhile, Matt and Lance have charged their weapons to the maximum. As the last piece of ice falls, they mutually fire at the monster.
A large explosion pushes the golem back. As the monster opens its mouth for another crystal attack, Lance uses his big gun to shoot an explosive charge right down its throat. Fissures form on the monster’s body. It thrashes around the area, knocking Matt against rock and sending Lance dashing for cover. Confidently, the duel chanting mages Natalie and Sunset raise their staffs. Magic circles form on either side of the golem. Then a fire dragon and an ice phoenix burst from the rings to shatter the golem into pieces.
Sunset flies back up to retrieve Anna and the now awake Nolegs. The team regroups to survey the damage. Their fight with Amelia and the golems has destroyed the surrounding area. Tragically, the entrance to the caves is now completely blocked with a large number of boulders. The team fears for the people now trapped in the freezing cavern. Anna starts crying and cradles Nolegs in her arms.
Frustrate, Matt charges up his sword and hits the largest stone in an attempt to break it up, but fails. A few more rocks are pushed out of the way by Sunset and Natalie until Lance calls out for them to stop. The gunner has heard a familiar sound coming towards them. Loud growls erupt from the avalanche of debris. Earthquakes start rumbling around the rockfall, which gradually gets louder. Boulders from the cave-in start to crack, roll aside, or are thrust outwards. Scrambling on top of the larger stones, the team witnesses several rock eaters emerging from the landslide. To everyone's surprise, the creatures completely ignore them and continue to run through the valley. A rumble from the far wall broadcasts the rock eaters' departure.
Sliding down the rock to the ground, Anna looks at the settling cloud of dust over the reopened cave entrance and then at the team. “You know what?” she states, “I’m not going to question this.” Filled with despair the others simply nod and follow a sign that points to Whitefall town.
Whitefall town is constantly covered in snow because the villagers enjoy the wintertime. Ice spells ensure the town has perpetual snow. Most of the buildings are built from ice instead of wood or stone. Keeping with the village theme, the taverns and shops are decorated with frost and icicles. After such a battle the team members agree they should rest in town and buy more supplies.
Map in hand, Anna tries not to look worried in front of the others. The archer appeared to be looking for something but is still followed the rest of the weary group. Following behind the dust-covered team is an equally tired dragon trying hard not to appear to be in discomfort. Ever since the fight with Amelia Sunset has been feeling worse.
Whitefall town was on the other side of a small stream. The team waves to some friendly-looking people sitting by the water. A girl runs up and welcomes them, "Have you just come out of the Crystal Caverns? We have not been able to use the cave passage since this trouble started, but since you came from there, the guards must take care of things." Matt adjusts his hat and nods as the girl continues, "Welcome to Whitefall town then! All of you look exhausted."
"Thanks," Natalie replies while getting a drink of water and trying to remove a large spot on her sleave, "So... can you please tell us where the inn is?"
"Just go forward until the end of the road then turn left. Then you will see the best lodge in town." Replies the girl. “The Crystal Inn has nice tavern fare, plus it is next to the supply stores.”
After thanking the helpful girl, the team notices they are one member short. They quickly spot her running down the road towards an uncharacteristically gloomy section of town. As the team gets closer, they notice the area has been destroyed. Fallen trees and pits mar the site. Charred sections of what appear to have once been impressive wooden buildings are scattered around.
Standing in front of the ruined structure, Anna turns sadly to the team "Oh no! We were too slow! The second jewel has already been taken!"
Natalie gasps at the ruined shrine. “This is awful! Who would destroy the sacred sanctuary of the blue jewel? It was a shrine to peace.” A sudden realization comes to the mage as turns to Anna. “Oh… of course. The emerald jewel of trust was supposed to be in a secret area. Anna, is that the jewel you are looking for?”
Lance gaits up to the two girls and glances at Matt. “Well, what did tell yea, Matt can pick them. Ok, yea thinks ve all need to sit down and talk. This adventure is getting bigger every minute.”
Initially, Natalie, Lance, and Anna wanted to check the ruined site for clues, while the rest of the group wanted to find the inn. The team dug through the grimy remains for a bit. Matt eventually broke the stalemate by mentioning the lodge would have hot baths. With a sudden flash of light, all three girls vanished into thin air leaving the rest of the team behind.
Sometime later, Matt, Lance, and Nolegs arrive wearily at the inn across town. Perched on Matt’s shoulder, Nolegs gave a confused look at the scene before him. Matt and Lance look rather annoyed. Chatting contently at a table in front of the Crystal Inn’s main building, was a golden-haired mage and a green-haired archer. Leaning up against a tree is an orange dragon munching on a roasted chicken. Natalie and Anna raised their glasses to the remainder of the team as they trudged towards them. A quick conversation reveal the girls had already checked into several rooms, reserved a slot at the hot spring, and ordered dinner.
“Ok girls,” exclaims Matt, “I thought you said earlier finding that jewel was our highest importance.”
“Well…” replies Natalie “Since you were kind enough to point out we needed to reconsider our priorities so... we did.” Both she and Anna have combed their hair and were dressed in fresh clothes. The table was ladened with several plates of fruit, drinks, and pies. Meanwhile, Sunset stretched before she surrenders her comfortable position under the tree. Casually, the dragon ambles over to the table with an additional plate of food.
Matt pushes his hat sideways looked at Sunset sternly. “The world is in danger again and you use valuable mana to teleport to this inn for a spa day..? Come on guys back me up.”
Casually, the dragon’s clawed hand revealed a plate of small carp fish. A moment later, the stacked fish were crowned by a very happy blue cat who moved so fast from the swordsman's shoulder it appeared to be the second teleportation.
“Too bad that we have to leave so soon. It would be a shame for all this meal to go to waste, after all, they just opened a new barrel.” Natalie muses. The mage holds up a large tankard of amber liquid in front of the gunner.
Grabbing the tankard, Lance throws his arm around Matt. “Comin – It's time for some fellow-feeling!”
Matt looks at Lance and Nolegs, “Nice backup you guys…”
Taking a drink of mead, Lance looks at Matt. “No problem! As yer good friends ve will personally taste all of the dishes here to ensure they are up to standard. So ye will not have to!” The gunner takes another swig of his drink. “Hum. Goin to have to research this more…”
Sitting down at the table, Matt concedes to his friends.
After everyone has eaten and rested the group moved to the courtyard behind the Inn. It was a small area but provided some privacy. Natalie created a silence dome so they could not be overheard.
Anna stands to address the team. “What Natalie said earlier was correct. The jewels are very important. Before I started on this journey, I was a watcher at the secret shrine of the green jewel. The influence of the icon protected the village and the surrounding forest from danger. Just like the blue jewel shrine, the Greenwood temple was destroyed despite it being protected by our strongest spells. However, the old tales tell of terrible things occurring if the jewels are used for evil.”
Lance chimes in, “Ye wer right to be cautious. But now ve need to be more active. Nat girl, you mentioned the destroyed complex on the other side of town was the shrine to peace.”
“Yes,” rejoins the mage. “There are three jewels total that maintain balance in the world. The green jewel of trust, the blue jewel of peace, and the red jewel of light.”
“This explains the increased monster attacks and why the animals seem to be on edge” notes Sunset. “Their peace and trust have been shaken.” The others nod.
“Wait,” asks Matt, “Then where is the third jewel?”
“It is believed to be by the ruins of the ancient city of cats.” Replies Anna.
“WHAT!” shouts Matt “Oh no! No more cats! Look at the trouble earlier.” Dramatically, the swordsman stands with his weapon to make a point only to fall over backward.
The team leans curiously over the grounded swordsman only to notice his tumble was due to a well-thrown fish to the head. Holding his head the embarrassed and now crestfallen man holds his hands up the blue feline in apology.
“If the legends are true then ve have a lot to be worried about.” Notes Lance.
“So what are the tales about these jewels?” questions Sunset. “Their absence is already causing chaos.”
Anna sighs, "Unfortunately, you are correct. Alright then, but some of this stuff is hard to believe. Our legends go like this..."
In the beginning, there was a single, divine being. Her name was Godcat. But Godcat was lonely, so she created the heavens and the earth, and all creatures who inhabit it. She then created cats in her image and gave them dominion over the land, and all the other creatures.
Godcat is said to have created all the cats. For thousands of years, cats ruled the planet. They built great civilizations and had advanced technology. But they eventually become too friendly with humans. Godcat was jealous of this new alliance, of cats and humans. So she destroyed everything that the cats had built. Godcat's greatest creation was no longer worthy of her image, so they took away their legs, and that's how they have remained to this day.
Her vengeance sated, Godcat then departed to this world, leaving behind three jewels. For generations, the humans have protected the jewels and kept them apart from each other, as they feared that the Godcat would return if the jewels were brought together again.
Silence reigns over the team for a few mins as they thought about the tale. Until Sunset speaks up. "The cat named Amelia we were fighting earlier was a very powerful being." Sunset was continuing to feel pain but tried to not show it. "And I suppose that she is not only one," replies Sunset, "I bet there is at least one more,"
Matt feels terrified of this, "So... eh we have to stop this Godcat from being revived then since she'll probably destroy the world again!!?"
Natalie pipes in. "Oh yes, that's right! We visited some really old ruins in the desert full of cat statues. That could be it," Then the mage shutters when she remembers. "It was when we nearly died fighting against that world-destroyer demon."
Anna tilts her head, "Demon? You don’t mean Arkon the destroyer?" The team nods, making Anna jump up with astonishment. “But if that cat was right about you fighting the demon…”
Sunset chuckles, "Well, sure I guess." Sunset looks at others and they nod in agreement. Then she starts telling Anna about her team's previous adventures defeating the one-eyed demon. The dragon also describes how she used to be a pony. After listening about their escapades, Anna's mouth hangs open. Sunset tilts her head and pokes at Anna a few times, but there is no response. The dragon chuckles, "Hmm… I think we broke her."
After a while, Anna is finally snapping out of her though, then stares at the team, "You...You guys are...", Suddenly the green-haired girl's eyes open wide in realization. “Oh no! I’ve been bossing around our n-national heroes! Our king is going to put me in the dungeon! My family is going to be dishonored. The village…”
The archer abruptly stops panicking long enough to glare at a now grinning swordsman. Natalie calmly hands Anna a towel and joins forces with the archer to give Matt a disapproving look.
“Hey,” Yells Anna at Matt, “What gives?”
With a large grin, Matt shouts triumphantly, “There’s the return of that fire that I saw when we first met!” Looking back at the rest of the team, the swordsman looks puzzled. “What?”
A shadow moves over Matt as an annoyed dragon moves behind him, “Matt, you are a great friend who will live a long life as long you NEVER pour water on a girl's head again.”
“Gezz, you girls were going to the hot springs anyway. It's all just water.” States Matt reaching up to move his hat, but it is gone. The swordsman looks around for his missing hat under the table and by his travel packs. Then he hears a whistle from one of his fellow adventures. Turning around, Matt sees his beloved pirate hat getting ceremoniously positioned on the table.
Sunset made a mock bugle noise before announcing, “Dear friends, you may fire when ready.”
With a loud splash, the hat gets soaked with the group’s collective water glasses. Matt looks at the scene in horror.
“No! My hat!” Yells the horrified swordsman.
“It's all just water!” proclaims the rest of the team.
Steam escapes from the ground around the area’s hot springs. Nearby are 3 girls who are soaking in the skin-nourishing, stress-melting bliss of the mineral-rich waters. With a blissful sigh, Sunset stretches in the warm sulfur water, allowing its healing properties to work into her aching joints. The dragon feels refreshed but still feels something isn’t right and has a feeling she knows what the problem is.
“Ah,” sighs Natalie, “This feels like heaven. We sure were lucky to get a spot. Those guys are missing out.” Her two companions nod in agreement. “Now Anna, what is bothering you? You have been quiet for a while. Our team doesn’t call ourselves 'The Living Legends' or any other overly fancy names. Is that so difficult to comprehend?”
“No, I’m done beating myself up over that.” Answers Anna. “It was what Sunset said about the effect of the missing jewels. That 'peace and trust have been shaken.' Even when I was traveling with Matt, I felt something was wrong. Normally unobtrusive animals and monsters were not only attacking us but lots of others as well. When staying at the lava campground, I listened to the other travelers. They were not talking about pleasances such as the weather, but about the unusual monster attacks. This situation just has me worried about how much this is affecting everyone. When I started on this adventure it was to find a missing jewel not save the world.”
“Don’t feel bad Anna, none of us noticed it either.” Replies Natalie. “Thinking back we were attacked more often than usual, even with Matt around. However, because of them, you have gotten a lot of experience.”
Natalie moves to face her other friend. “Sunset, you have been pretty quiet, are you alright?”
“Just tired Nat.” replies Sunset.
The trio returns to the Crystal Inn to rejoin the others. Many of the occupants has checked out when word got out the tunnel was safe again so the team could purchase several rooms. Natalie and Anna laugh at the speed at which the news had traveled. As they approach their rooms Natalie joked if they can harness the power of gossip they will rule the world.
The team meets briefly before going to their rooms. Sunset persuades Anna to take a separate room so the dragon could stretch out on a separate bed. Sunset breathes a sigh of relief after the door closes. “Finally some quiet time.” She contemplates as the dragon carefully moves to the center of the bed. As she starts meditating, Sunset senses another mana in her body that is fighting with her mana. “Looks like the reserve trap I created is working too well”' thinks the dragon as she tries to control the new mana with no success. “Well I have two choices, one is to live with the pain until I get a handle on this and the other may be just as difficult to live with. Ok… here goes nothing.” Sunset takes a deep breath as she starts accepting the strange mana and letting it flow over her body. Soon her body is covered in a soft, white aura.
Meanwhile, in the old cat city, Amelia is thinking about her last battle. "That dragon..." Amelia mutters as she punches at a ruined tower. It shatters with the blow. "How dare she take my power?" Breathing heavily the cat looks up at the sky. She takes a deep breath and looks down at the ground. "That orange dragon thing... tricked me... but why was she so like... that white dragon thing."
Amelia places the two jewels on the pole and starts moving around the ruin. It used to be a huge city built on a cloud. Amelia reminisces about her people’s once beautiful home and her missing siblings. The white cat sits on the remains of the metropolis’s town hall that once stood proudly before she and her sister Diana destroyed it. Amelia closes her eyes as she waits for her big sister to arrive.
Back at the inn, the team is waking up from a much-needed rest. Anna wakes up and walks down the hall to the floor’s bathroom. Lance was already inside, so Natalie and Matt are already qued up to use it next. Nolegs watched from the window.
"Good morning," Anna waves a hand at them, "We are just having breakfast downstairs right?"
"Yep," Matt thumps up, "We usually wake up early, not like that scaly lizard... Speaking of scaly lizard, where is she? I thought she would be wake already,"
"Or she overslept, again," Natalie retorts. "Didn't you know that she is usually oversleeping?"
Matt rubs his head. "My bad," Then he clasps his hands. "Anyway, let's wake her up."
Anna, Nolegs, and Natalie follow Matt to Sunset's room. Natalie starts knocking on the doors but there is no response. She shakes her head and knocks again but still no response. "Looks like we’ll have to do the hard way." Natalie turns the knob and found it not locked, she rubs her head and turns her head to Matt as he nods. Everyone peaks inside to find Sunset covered by a bedsheet.
Matt throws out her cover and shouts, "Wake up, Sunset. It's time to go," When the bedsheet is thrown out, he finds that Sunset's wings are changed into yellow flames wings instead of her usual orange scaly ones. Matt shakes his head and sighs. Nothing Sunset does surprises him anymore, however the same cannot be said for Anna who stares in amazement.
“She’s ok, Anna,” says Matt. “Our friend is just a heavy sleeper.” With a flourish, the swordsman jumps on the bed and pushes Sunset over the edge.
Sunset grunts in pain and glares at Matt, then she rubs the spot where he just kicked her, "Why are you waking me up so brutally today?" Matt points at her back, and she looks at them. The dragon grasps. "What? Ok, my wings are... fire… weird." Sunset tries to turn her wings back to normal. After 30 minutes, she manages to change the wings back.
Sunset looks in her friend's rooms and finds them empty. "Hey," mutters the dragon as she quickly rushes downstairs. “Darn it! They left me behind…” she grumbles. However, Sunset was in for a happy surprise. Her friends had set a place for the dragon at the table complete with hot coffee and a nice breakfast. Sunset happily starts eating as the others continue to chat about what to do later.
The team leaves the inn to look for some fresh supplies. Walking by several shops, they watch the stream of travelers moving across the bridge towards the cave out of the valley. Some of the travelers look familiar. It was the guards from the Crystal cave.
Matt and Lance wave to incoming guards and one of them walks over the team. Sunset looks the guard over and was surprised at his appearance. The dim lighting inside the cave and the armor had obscured the guard’s age. The guards protecting the cave were much older than she had realized.
Lance motions for the guard to sit down and offered him a drink from a pouch. The man accepts gratefully and soon they were all chatting about the town's recent events. The older man explains that after the sacred shrine was destroyed, the king for some reason had ordered the town garrison to the capital. The sentry was retired but due to the younger guards being away was one of few experienced people left to protect the travelers.
“We are all quite grateful to you for helping clear the cave of dangers by destroying that monster golem.” Said the old man. “Thought was going to be spending the rest of our lives stuck underground. Been so busy we haven't been able to pick up the area around the shrine.”
“Don’t blame you for wanting to clean that up.” Notes Matt “No offense but it kind of smells.”
“That smell is not from the damaged shrine. It is from the waste disposal factory.” Replies the guard.
“The waste disposal factory?” questions Matt.
“Ever since that plant is built, the west of the Whitefall Town is very foul-smelling.” Says the old guard with a sigh, “The townspeople have tried to send letters to the king, but he didn't respond, so I don't know what to do now."
“Now that ye have pointed it out,” pipes in Lance standing on top of a stairway, “Ve can see it.” Lance looks at the plant and realizes something, "The building for the waste disposal plant doesn’t look right, this design is at least fifty years old. But due to this feller said, this plant is not that old." Lance turns to the old man and asks, "How long this factory was built?"
"Only three years ago," The old man answers, "But since that plant was built, that whole area has been so foul-smelling and smoky that no one wants to be near it. It is not even functioning as a waste plant so it needs to be shut down before it can use any more problems. The fumes have clogged the air and polluted the stream."
Matt rubs his chin and turns to the team, "Well, we helped before. Why don’t we help again?" The others are surprised and try to retort but he continues. "Anna the best way to train you better for the upcoming crisis is to keep going on adventures. Plus the town of Whitefall needs help with this out-of-control factory problem. So it’s a win-win." Looking around the other nod in agreement.
"The town would be so grateful if that plant could be stopped." Replies the guard, "Please halt the plant’s activity so we can get the area cleaned up."
After saying goodbye to the guard, the team turns towards the Waste Disposal Plant. Lance notices Anna lagging so walks beside her.
“What’s wrong, Lass?” inquires Lance to the nervous archer.
“It’s just you shouldn’t take time out to train me when we could be using this time to think of a plan to save the world from Godcat.”
“Lass, don’t worry about that.” Replies the gunner, “A wise man once said, “To achieve great things you need a plan and not quite enough time.”
The Waste Disposal Plant...
After a good walk, the team arrives at a grey concrete structure on the west side of Whitehall town. Matt locates a metal door that appears to be the entrance. Hoping to gain entry, the swordsman kicks the metal door but immediately hops back in pain. Anna and Nolegs look for windows, while Sunset and Natalie plan to use a spell to break down the door if they cannot enter any other way. Lance studies the door and discovers a cluster of wires running into the ground. While the gunner traces the connections to find the access control, he locates a large battery. Lance expertly connects the battery to the entry mechanism and the door creaks open.
"Nice work, Lance," Natalie cheers, "Your knowledge of AI technology will help all of us a lot."
"Yeah," Lance whines and sighs, "Ve all better hope ye can remember the machinery concepts after so many years. Let's go."
“Hold it.” Calls Sunset to the team. “We better do something first.” The dragon points to the open entrance and takes out her staff. The team falls back as a putrid cloud of dust emanates from the plant. Sunset casts a protection spell on the team. “There, now we can breathe.”
“Good idea, Sunset.” Said Lance. “Ve don’t know what know kinds of chemicals are in thar.”
The Team enters the plant to look for the controls the old guard told them about. Seeing the main room has so many doors and walkways, Matt sits down on the floor to think. Sunset is going to step forward to investigate the next room but stops when she hears the sound of muffled scraping. Anna follows the sound to a small metal wardrobe. The team readies themselves as Matt quietly tiptoes up the storage door and swiftly opens it. A short brown haired girl wearing an astronaut suit falls out. Seeing the group, she panics and waves her arms furiously yelling, "Please don't hurt me."
Matt tries to comfort the girl. "Now, now. We are here to shut down and destroy this factory. Not to hurt anyone."
Sighing in relief at her rescuers, the girl replies, "Thank goodness! Nowhere is safe in this building anymore." She looks at each team member to thank them before the girl notices Sunset behind her. Falling backward, the girl renews her screams as she makes a mad dash back to the wardrobe. Sunset's face claws while the others laugh at her.
Matt knocks on the metal storage door, "It's ok. Please, that dragon is part of our team and our good friend. There is no need to panic." Nervously, the girl walks out of the wardrobe and apologizes to the now annoyed Sunset. Matt asks, "So what is your name, and why are you hiding?"
The girl replies, "My name is April. I used to be an employee in this plant. You see one day this mysterious man appeared claiming to be a maintenance worker. When the man disappeared, the rest of the employees thought he had just left. But later it was discovered he was hiding in the main control room. Soon the man took over the factory. He is controlling most of the worker robots and causing them to attack the employees. He also locks most of the doors, but luckily there are emergency switches that only the employees can activate."
Anna asks April, "So we can still get around the factory then? As long as we activate the switches?"
April nods, "Yes, pretty much. Please help rescue all of the people that trapped here. They have nothing to do with a factory that is spewing out that toxic cloud. We cannot stop the malfunctioning machines without getting into the control room. Once inside the machines can be set to overload and it will destroy this factory."
Matt rubs his chin as he is thinking about something, "Hey April," April turns to Matt, he asks her, “Can you help us out? We may need a guide around this building since we have no idea about its layout. Don't worry, we will protect you."
April is silent for a while, then she gives Matt a condition, "All right, I agree with that. But you have to rescue all of the people first." The team all nods in agreement.
April leads the team through the factory’s various rooms. There are also many pipes, electric gadgets, and some flying robots. Fortunately, the robots ignore the team. Lance analyzes several machines to better understand the site’s level of technology. Eventually, April leads them to an imposing-looking bolted gate.
"Well, this is it. The entrance to the central control room is behind this blast door." April announces, "However you have to collect three large batteries to open the door." She first points at the big plug sticking out of the ground, then she points at three other rooms. "They are located in those rooms."
The team starts discussing a plan to acquire the three batteries. April describes the inside of different areas. Also, the battery parts are guarded. After a brief deliberation, the team decided to split up to tackle the rooms. Matt and Natalie go to the first room. Anna and Nolegs go to the second room. Sunset requests to go to the last room alone. Lance volunteers to stay behind and watch April.
Lance asks April, "So ve are just plugging three batteries in to open that door right?"
April agrees, "Yes, we need all three batteries to have enough energy to power the door mechanism. Otherwise it would be impossible to open a multi-ton door." then she points at the computer, "When the door opening device is activated, I can access the locks and open the door."
Lance nods, "I see. So ve have to wait here for the others. Well, no need to be idle..." April watches in confusion as Lance sets up his camping tools and makes a fire. She decides to help prepare the area for the rest of the team's return.
Natalie and Matt walk into the first room, however, the room appears to be empty except for a checkered floor. Cautiously, they continue to look around for clues. Matt feels something is off when one of his feet shift slightly. Looking down, he sees a square on the floor move. Noticing a shadow suddenly above him, the swordsman instinctively jumps back to barely avoid a giant steel sphere. Matt and Natalie both gasp in surprise at the object’s abrupt appearance. Undeterred, Natalie looks around to see if there is anything useful for navigating the chamber. Then she sees a small object in the corner. Walking over, the mage spots a small chessboard.
"Hey, look, Matt," As Natalie holds up the chessboard, "This is our guide. Now we can move safely to the other side of the room."
Matt takes the chessboard. After looking for a while, he rubs his head, "eh... this is... like a chessboard you know." He holds the chessboard out and continues, "…except for this dot."
Natalie exclaims, "You are so thick-headed! This board may show the location of the traps." She takes the chessboard from Matt and walks over the edge of the squares, "Now I will go with 1A, the one that doesn't have any dot". Natalie puts her feet on the 1A square to active the tile, then she quickly jumps back as many knives drop from the roof.
Matt takes the chessboard and crosses the 1A squares with his pen. He cheers Natalie, "Well, look like someone has triggered a trap for me," Natalie is going to slap Matt but he raises his hand then points at the big battery on the other side of the room, "Before you slap me, let's pass-through this room first and get the battery."
Natalie rolls her eyes as she has to agree with him. Now, they have to follow the chessboard to see if it is right or wrong. This will be a long day.
Using all of her skills in stealth, Anna slips noiselessly into the second room to scout out the situation. Sitting on Anna’s shoulders, Nolegs carefully watches the archer’s back. Inside the space, they spot the battery on the far side of the room, next to an odd metal bridge. Studying the strangely plus sign-shaped bridge carefully, Anna feels there is more to the structure. The archer gulps when she spots a large lava pit under the bridge.
Nolegs pats her head to calm her down. Anna chuckles and pats the cat's head back. But when she steps forward to the battery but some kunai are flying toward in front of her, which makes her jump back. She looks up and sees two ninjas hanging themselves on the ceiling.
Anna asks them, "Who are you?"
The ninjas say nothing as they throw shuriken at her but Nolegs blocks it with his shield. The female ninja seems impressed by the cat and chuckles. "Looks like you got a good fighting cat."
The male ninja continues her words, "We are maybe ninjas but we don't like to fight against nameless opponents." He raises his sword and points at Anna, "Tell me who are you?"
"Anna... My name is Anna," Anna raises her bow at the ninjas, "And you are?"
The male ninja introduces himself, "My name is Jack, and this is my little sister Drill." His sister kneels to remove a sword. Then she charges at Anna at such a high-speed Anna can't see her. When the ninja is going to slash the archer, the attack is blocked by Nolegs. Drill is surprised at the cat’s skills. Nolegs quickly counterattacks by jumping on the sword and slashes at Drill. The ninja evades the attack. She attempts to kick the cat but it gets blocked by his shield. As the ninja plans her next attack, she feels her leg getting cold. Nolegs had used an ice spell on his attacker. Sensing danger, Drill quickly shakes the cat off and jumps back to her brother.
Drill glances at Jack as she is using a fire spell to melt her frozen legs, "looks like we have an annoying opponent."
Jack nods, "Yeah, looks like that cat can match our speed."
In the meantime, Anna doesn't know what to do. Her hand aches as she attempts to aim her bow at the rapidly moving ninjas. This is going to be a bad battle for her.
Sunset is going inside the third room. As she walks into the room, she sees many strings hanging all over the room. The dragon pokes the string if something happens, but nothing happens. Sunset breathes fire at the strange strings but they do not burn. Sunset admires these strings but that is not enough to stop her. Sunset takes a deep breath and is going to breathe fire again but an arrow is shooting at her as Sunset catches the arrow in the air. She glances back and sees an archer sticking to the pole.
"Who the hell are you?" Sunset breaks the arrow. "Some kind of spider archer?"
"That is an insult for me, lizard." The archer goes down and faces the dragon, "Nobody called me like a spider archer as you did." Sunset points at the strings as the archer sighs, "That is my favorite texture. Don't mind it,"
"You seem more polite than any opponent I ever faced," Sunset turns her body at him, "My Name is Sunset, and you?"
"Karel," the archer raises a black bow at Sunset, "Karel, the archer."
Sunset covers her staff with a blue fire aura as she stands in the defense position. The duo prepares to battle.
"Hey, you shouldn't step forward like that," Matt yells at Natalie as he is standing on 6E while Natalie is standing on 4D. Matt continues, "Now, please walk to the left one step then forward one step." Natalie follows his direction, and now she is standing on 5E, near Matt.
" I wonder who made this room?" Natalie asks as she looks around the room, "I bet the owner of this room likes to play chess."
"It's me," A voice comes from the battery spot as the duo looks at it. A man wearing a chess costume is turning at them. He is currently sitting on a chair and stares at the duo, "I am.... the Chess Master," fireworks fire behind him to decorate his seat, "I love playing chess. And you two have to follow my rules." After being silent for a while, the duo laughs out loud at the chess master. The chess master confuses about this, "Hey, what are you laughing at?"
"That is the silliest name I have ever heard," Matt is trying to answer because he has to hold his laugh, "And that silly costume..."
"Yeah... " Natalie agrees with Matt, "I like guy’s silly name. It makes me laugh."
The Chess Master slams at his chair and many knight armors are slowly rising on the ground. Now the duo is surrounded by armors as they are confused about these armors. The Chess Master claps his hand and some of the armors raise their swords and try to slash them. Matt raises his sword and spins himself with it while Natalie ducks to dodge and starts chanting the spell. All of the armor is shattered into pieces as Matt stops. He tries to balance due to dizziness after spinning himself.
The Chess Master claps his hand and another wave of armor is charging at them. Natalie slams the staff on the round and many fireballs rise from the ground and float in the air. Natalie claps her hands together and the fireballs explode, making the wave is down.
The Chess Master laughs at them, "Congratulations, you are stronger than I thought,"
Matt shakes his head to make himself conscious. He looks at the Chess Master and taunts, "Maybe you are just good at sitting on the chair and eating like a rat"
The Chess Master hears that and he stands up, stomps his feet. The bigger armors with claymore stand before the duo. Matt smirks as this is a good warmup for him.
Sharp metallic noises ring out as armored knights shaped like chess pieces attack Natalie and Matt. The heroes are becoming quite tired due to the number of opponents. Sensing his enemies weakening the Chess Master grins. Arrogantly he takes out a cane and knocks it on the checkered floor. The armors respond by moving back into the corners of the board.
The Chess Master stood up from his throne and claps his hands, "Since you both fight so well, I have an offer for you." The man slowly walks up to the chessboard and continues. "You can become my knights and join my glorious chess army. In return, I will take good care of you both. Especially you, my dear. Imagine yourself as my new queen…" Ending his speech, the man dramatically turned to face the pair, but a fireball sailed by his face, burning his cheek. Angrily, the Chess Master glares at them and adds, "ah, if you insist." Slamming the cane on the ground, his soldiers resume the attack on the duo.
However, Matt has taken advantage of the Chess Master’s rant to recharge his claymore. The swordsman strikes several knights down before he notices Natalie is just standing still. It is her signal to him that she needs some time to build up strength for a powerful spell. Matt glances at his long-time teammate, trying his best not to smirk as he feels the mana building up. The swordsman does his best to defend Natalie so she can finish her spell. A sudden wind whips around the room as a blue aura surrounds the mage. Sensing danger, the Chess Master commands his armored soldiers to attack Natalie, but it’s too late.
Natalie glares intensely at the Chess Master, her neutral expression slowly changes to an ominous grin. Intimated by the mage’s stance the checkered man slowly retreats to his chair. The mage drops her staff and puts her palms on the ground. Instantly, a magic circle illuminates the room. A large ray of light is shot from the magic circle and breaks through the roof.
Meanwhile, the old guard, who had asked the Team to destroy the factory, is eating at the Chrystal tavern. He worries about the group’s safety inside the complex. There have been rumors about dangerous guardians inside the structures. Unexpectedly, the guard notices his glasses and tableware shaking. Several persons are screaming outside, so the old man runs out to investigate. The villagers look in amazement as a ray of light is shooting into the sky.
"What?" The old man looks at the ray. After a while, he realizes what is looking at, "I...I never thought that I would see this spell again."
One of the villagers asks him, "You mean this is the spell that you saw thirty years ago?" the old man nods, "Aw man, I thought you were crazy."
The man nods again while his lips curve into a small smile, "It's okay because it's hard to imagine. Now the town has hope once again that the factory can be destroyed."
After the spell dies down, all of the knights are shattered into pieces. The once overconfident Chess Master steps away from Natalie holding his cane in his trembling hand in a vain defense. "How... how can you know this spell?" He asks her astonishingly.
Ignoring the defeated foe, Natalie calmly walks to the battery to claim it.
"Hey, that’s mine.” Whines the Chess Master as he tries to block the mage with his cane. However, Natalie turns around and punches him in the face. The woeful man’s head falls back against one of the fallen knights and is promptly knocked unconscious.
Triumphantly, Natalie picks up the battery and strides towards the exit. The mage gives the swordsman a knowing look as she leaves the room.
Slowly the man formerly known as the Chess Master begins to wake up. The man moans softly as he holds his head and attempts to sit up. His eyes suddenly fall on the now-empty holder for the battery and moan for the second time.
Feeling amused, the swordsman watches his foe slide down the side of his chair into an overwhelmed heap. Matt casually walks over to the checkered-dressed man slumped on the floor. “Ok, buddy, let’s go!” pips Matt as he gestures to the former baddy. When the man would not move, the swordsman attempts to drag him out. It does not take long for Matt to get frustrated with the uncooperative costumed man.
Finally, the swordsman’s patience runs out. “Come on you Harlequin wannabe, we promised to rescue everyone in here. Do you want to stick around when this place goes sky high?”
“Oh no,” moans the costumed man, “the boss is going to kill me…”
Matt rolls his eyes at the sulking figure before whispering to him “you know… my friend is in the next room and is still kind of… irate. Would you rather she use that aggression on your boss or… come back in here for you?”
The man’s only answer was a nearly inaudible squeak.
Watching the short pudgy man scamper out the room, Matt can’t help but smirk in amusement. As the swordsman exits the room he thinks to himself “Lesson learned. NEVER get Natalie mad…”
The plus-shaped bridge shook as the four combatants continued to fight. Sweat runs down Drill’s face as the ninja struggles against Nolegs. Drill has underestimated the feline’s swiftness. The female ninja tries to slash him with high speed but the acrobatic cat dodges all of her attacks. In the meantime, Anna, using the rubber bridge pads as stabilizers, attacks the other ninja, Jack.
Showers of various arrows rain around Jack from the relentless Anna. The ninja attempts to reach the archer but is impeded when she creates an ice wall. Jack huffs in frustration as the spell surrounding the girl makes his superior speed useless. Concentrating on a fire spell on his palm, Jack slams his palm on the ice to melt it. Gripping his sword in the other hand the ninja moves to strike the archer. However, he sees an arrow pointed at him and quickly ducks. But it was a trap. The arrow was a distraction by the clever girl. As soon as the ninja leaned forward, it provided Anna a chance to kick Jack squarely in the chin. The opponent hit the bridge wall hard, followed closely by a new slew of arrows. One arrow hits his palm, pinning it to the structure.
Drill witnesses her brother’s trouble with the archer but is blocked by Noleg’s sword before she can help. Frustrated, the ninja glares at the taunting cat and grips her sword tighter. Drill enchants her sword to become longer and covers her body with a blue aura. Despite the spell further increasing her speed, the feline continues to evade and taunt her attacks. With the ninja now boiling mad, Nolegs enchants his sword with electricity and hops on the end of Drill’s now extra-long weapon. She futilely attempts to shake off the cat, but the weight of his body makes the sword too heavy to hold up. The female ninja has no choice but to drop the sword.
However, to Drill’s astonishment, the cat jumps back into an insulated box instead of continuing the attack. Cheerfully, Nolegs holds his lighting sword over his head and ‘meows’ at the confused ninja. The sword sparks brightly before striking the metal bridge. “Huh?” ponders Drill, “Did that cat just say good… night?”
With his opponent unconscious from the electric shock, Nolegs holds up his blade and 'meows' in victory. Afterward, the cat quickly hops up to where his teammate is fighting the other opponent and plugs his sword into that side of the structure.
Jack feels the bridge shudder but pays it no heed. All of his focus is on the green girl before him. Growling with anger and pain from the wound, the ninja unplugs the arrow from his hand. Sword in hand, Jack charges at the nimble archer who has reactivated her ice wall. In response, Anna stomps her foot to thicken her ice defenses. Undeterred, the ninja enchants his sword to dissolve ice and thrust his blade into the frozen barrier.
Steam comes off of the weapon as Jack removes the blade from the ice wall, however, there is no blood on the sword. Two other attacks yield identical results. Flabbergasted, the ninja takes out a talisman and attracts it on the Kunai. As he is preparing to throw the charm Jack spots movement from the corner of his eye.
Suddenly an arrow whizzes past Jack’s cheek. Looking up, numerous arrows are plummeting towards his spot. The ninja’s swordsmanship deflects the attack but damages part of his protective padding. Perceiving his foe’s ice wall was damaged in his last attack, Jack charges forward in a zig-zag pattern towards his objective. A seemingly stray arrow catches on the loose part of the ninja’s uniform, pinning it into the bridge, but Jack just slips out of the damaged material. Anna fires another arrow but the ninja's weapon is ready. Crackling magic is flowing over the sword as it easily slices the arrow. The arrow promptly… detonates.
Reacting to the ninja’s magic, the arrow produced a powerful gust of wind that blows Jack onto the metal portion of the bridge. Without his protective gear, Jack becomes the second ninja casualty of the electrified metal assembly. Anne calmly watches her opponent promptly faint and tumble over the side of the bridge. There was an audible smack as Jack lands on top of his poor unconscious sister.
Hopping down from the trestle, the tired archer reunites with her feline teammate. Anna kneels to allow her friend to hop onto her shoulder. The cat 'meows' happily accepting some fresh ear scratches.
“We make a great team, don’t we?” remarks Anna. Nolegs 'meows', in response and motions to a stand at the end of the room, "Oh right, shall we take the battery?" Nolegs nods in agreement.
Hanging from a string-covered ceiling, another archer is experiencing concerns battling a powerful foe. Karel the archer attempts to hit what appears to be a well-built robot dragon.
“This is not right,” muses Karel as he repeatedly attempts to shoot down the orange dragon. However, Sunset simply waves her claw and burns the arrows. Moving through her shifting ceiling filaments, Karel tries to figure out his adversary’s ability, it is not as easy as the archer thinks. The dragon continues to counteract all of the archer’s attacks. When the arrows fail, Karel attempts to use her offensive cards. Using an arrow as a distraction, the archer follows up with the card. The result is a frustrating failure as Sunset only needs to move her head aside to dodge the attack.
Karel thinks, “This is not a simple robot. I should negate her power source.” He shoots an arrow on the roof that has a rope on it and swings to a lever. He turns to the dragon and says, "Looks like we have to end here. You fight well but I have to shut you down."
Sunset just stands there and replies, "Ah… I’m not a..."
Karel grins as he pulls down the lever and watches the summoned drones tumble from the ceiling. The swarm of beeping orbs floats around Sunset. Karel chuckles to himself, while Sunset holds back a grin, "These machines absorb electricity. They will shut you down in minutes!" The archer dramatically aims his bow at Sunset, "Soon, you will be my newest trophy!"
Silence permeates the room for a moment before a new sound is heard. Karel can only observe the scene in confusion. Sunset could not control herself any longer. The last incidence was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Emanating a noise louder than the floating orbs, the not deactivated dragon is rolling on the floor… laughing.
When Sunset stops laughing, she shakes her head and conveys the last chuckle to Karol, "Have you ever considered I’m not mech…”
Suddenly, a group of electrified orbs hurled towards Sunset. She evades the attacking drones but they pass close enough to burn one of her legs. The dragon is not pleased. “You know what, forget it." she snorts.
Fire erupts into the chamber from the now irritated Sunset Shimmer. Her transformed golden wings blind her opponent. A second burst from the dragon’s fire burns up the remaining strings, forcing Karel to retreat. Once floating orbs start to drop from the air, exploding upon impact to the floor. Fiery spheres rain down on the archer as he scrambles for safety.
"Enough robot!” Shouts Karel. “Time to finish you off." The archer shakes slightly as he claps his hands to summon another wave of mechanical minions. "These machines will absorb all of your battery power and you will finally break down."
A low groan emanates from the now annoyed dragon as yet another wave of orbs approaches her. These machines appear to be connected by electrical arcs, but Sunset is no longer interested in how they function. Instead, she teleports behind the multi-legged source of her growing frustration. The dragon appears behind Karol, but he is aware of her sudden appearance. Karol uses his bow to block the dragon’s claws, however, the blow is too strong and he is sent crashing into the wall.
“Stupid robot.” Coughs the now bleeding archer - spider, “You will pay for that.” Grabbing his bow, Karel shoots several more arrows at Sunset, but the dragon steps aside to dodge them. Unexpectedly, the arrows boomerang around Sunset before they shatter into a thick rope.
"Well, at least I can immobilize you." Karel retorts still wiping his bloody cheek. "What an unusual model you are, I can’t wait to start disassembly. I wonder what polyurethane blend the outside is made of? Huh, where is your serial number?"
“Not a... Hello? Are you listening to me at all?” grumbles Sunset to the rambling archer. Rolling her eyes in annoyance, the dragon whistles loudly. “Yoohoo? Are we forgetting about something?”
Karel turns to find the dragon missing. He quickly reaches for his bow, but Sunset is faster and the archer ends up pinned against the wall by her scaly tail. Snatching up the archer’s bow in her claws, Sunset breaks the item before turning her full attention to her foe.
Her patience spend, Sunset pushed her snout right into the archer's face. Karel’s eyes go wide when smoke comes out of her nostrils. “Ok wise guy, look I understand you have been in this room a while with not a lot of opportunities for social interaction. But let's get one thing straight, there is nothing mechanical about me, understand? I am not a machine. I am not a rob...”
The monolog abruptly stopped when Sunset observed the archer had not moved. Perplexed by the odd reaction, she was further baffled when her adversary started changing colors. Sunset watched her foe’s face slowly turn green and was concerned she may have hit him too hard. The dragon loosened her grip to allow Karel to slide down the wall.
“Not a robot…” Groans the archer before turning white and keeling over.
Sunset quickly checked the archer for injuries. Thankfully there were none. The archer had just fainted. “Well,” she thinks, “that’s one way to end a fight.” Sunset ties Karel up with the leftover rope before flying up to claim the battery.
A wonderful smell is slowly filling up the main room. Oddly out of place in the otherwise stark metal chamber are 2 persons sitting casually around a campfire. One of the people is stirring a metal pot suspended over the fire. The wonderful aroma of spiced stew is slowly winning the fight over the factory’s old smell of motor oil and grease.
Smiling triumphantly at his latest cooking creation, Lance looks over at his companion, April. The girl looks much more relaxed since they first met, however she still appeared on guard.
Sensing his comrade is uncomfortable, Lance stretches out on a floor pad. The gunner then proceeds to remove two books from his travel pack. After placing one book down, he offers the second book to April, who declines.
April looks at Lance and wonders why he set up a campsite in the middle of a waste processing plant. “This is one of the most thing surreal things I have seen.” She observes. “But why are you doing this now instead of helping your teammates?”
Lance replies, "Lass am helping ‘hem out by doing this. Ya believe that they’ll successfully return from their quests and then will complain to ye they are hungry. Ye don't know ya teammates, well as ya do. Mark ye words, ye am saving your life."
April tries to retort, "Ok, but what if-" but stops when the first door opens.
Natalie triumphantly enters the room carrying the battery. The mage then walks over to the large door to plug in the unit.
Then a stocky man in a ragged-looking costume and a black eye comes running out. He stops a few feet from the door to catch his breath. Matt follows behind him. Despite gasping for air, the out-of-shape villain appears to be considering an escape. But Matt just whistles and points to Natalie.
The man yelps before jogging over the campsite. When the mage returns to join the others, the checkered man ducks behind April to hide.
April looks slightly annoyed at the cowering figure. Then she turns around to get a better look at the man. April’s expression changes when she recognizes the person.
“Eustace? Is that you?” inquired April. “What on earth are you wearing?”
“The Chess Masters real name is Eustace?” questions Natalie pointing to the man.
“We used to be such great co-workers and friends. You have to save me Susan!” cries Eustace. April rolled her eyes in response. “What? I ah I mean Kathy… Come on give me a hint.”
Matt, who was sitting next to Lance, just shake his head and whispers“poor guy, Chess Master sounds like an improvement.”
“Ye assume this guy made Natalie mad,” Lance asks Matt.
“Yep,” Matt replies quietly. “It was almost as bad as the time that miner called her ‘sweet-cheeks’. Poor guy didn’t have a chance.” Lance pats Matt on the back.
A short time later, the other two doors open to reveal the rest of the team. Anne is dragging the two ninjas, while Nolegs balances the battery on his head. Sunset has a tied-up archer hanging off the end of her tail whereas she carries her claimed battery in her claws. Matt cheers at them, "Hey, good job all around!" Nolegs jumps on Matt's head immediately and 'meows'.
Sunset places the archer
down next to the disabled ninjas and goes to the large door to plug in her battery contribution. Lance signals her to discreetly pick up a small bag next to the door.
Anna reports to Matt, "You are right about the extra training. Nolegs and I make a great team."
“Great timing everyone!” announces Lance. “The stew is ready!”
“Ah, Lance. Why did you make food when I brought stuffed buns?” Asked Matt.
“Matt, that be exactly why ya needed to cook.” Replied Lance. “It was an emergency for ‘ur health and general good.”
“Nothing is wrong with my buns.” Retorts Matt. “After all Sunset ate some.” The swordsman pulls a bag from his pouch to show the group.
“Sunset,” replies Lance “is a dragon and a very tough lass.”
The team looks at the buns. The color is fine but the smell is off. They look at each other with apprehension.
Finally, Nadalie picks up a bun and smells it. She takes cautiously takes a minuscule bite before dropping the item. The mage starts coughing and grabs her water pouch for some relief.
Anne grabs another bun and breaks it open to find an off-white paste inside. The smell also becomes more pungent so the archer plugs her nose. Turning to Matt she inquires “what is in these?”
Proudly pulling out a bottle Matt shows the team his secret ingredient. April takes it from him and reads the back of the label.
Matt explains he found this miracle ingredient in the market. The vendor promised it can increase antioxidant enzymes in humans, reduce stress, and it was an immune booster when eaten raw. So he had purchased several bulbs and an extract as the ultimate health food.
April speaks up. “According to the bottle’s instructions, this is a concentrated formula so you only need a few drops. So how much did you use?”
“What do you mean how much? Hey, if some are good and healthy more is better right?” Replied Matt. “These are very healthy rolls with freshly crushed garlic inside. Plus I flavored them with the extra garlic extract.”
The rest of the team looked at each other and had their bowls out in front of Vance’s pot almost instantly. April was the first to praise his cooking skills. “Thank you, Lance! You were right. This was an emergency and it did save our lives (or at least our taste buds).”
“Yes, I agree Lance is a hero.” Sunset followed up. The dragon had been very grateful for the small bottle of mint extract Vance had left for her. When the rest of the group was distracted. Sunset was quietly removing a certain side effect from Matt’s rolls of awesomeness. “Well, I really should have learned my lesson about Matt’s cooking experiments when he tried to make slime dumplings.”
By this time, Matt had discided to try one of his ‘healthy’ buns. It did not end well for him and the poor swordsman ended up with a bad stomachache.
While waiting for Matt to recover, April volunteered to take the factory scoundrels back to town. Sunset and Natalie placed a shrinking spell on the villains, then secured them in a metal box with a handle for easy carrying, with Eustace complaining the entire time.
“Thank you all again for everything!” says April joyfully. Holding up the box she laughs. “It's true what my grandma said after all. A man wraps up in himself makes a very small package.”
Sunset watches April make sure she left the compound safely and returns to see if she could help Vance to open the door. The batteries were all plugged in but Lance still needed to unlock the door.
Lance opens the door’s control computer and analyzes its system. It just had a code with no other programs, not even a folder. Lance starts to check deeper in the computer and discovers a map. The gunner starts typing into the computer very quickly, then he turns to the Team to announce the results. "This may take a while so please wait. Ya have to break ‘his security to open the door." The Team nods. As they start chatting happily, they are also mentally preparing for the next big fight.
Author's Note
The quote “A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small package.” comes from writer
John Ruskin, quoted in TheBrowser.com
vapid definition
Slacker Tense
“We are who we pretend to be and so we must be careful what we pretend to be” Kurt Vonnegut
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Just another fight and resting for a while ...
A lone figure is running up a hill at the edge of Whitefall town. Her goal is the waste treatment plant buildings at the edge of the settlement. The air is still heavy and putrid around the complex but to former employee April, the feeling of hope prevails over the environment of decay. Despite being fatigued and dirty from her excursion, April has a continuous smile on her face. Before going back inside she looks up at the blue sky one more time. After being a prisoner for so long April is ready to leave this industrial dungeon behind forever, however, before the former employee can so that she has a final task to do.
Walking inside the main building, April is greeted by Natalie and Matt. The lackluster room has not changed since she had left for the town but the atmosphere has significantly lightened. Lance has set the front gates to remain open so a light breeze is now able to travel through the area. A short time ago April never would have believed she would be enjoying the luxury of fresh air and sunshine again. The former employee is excited about the prospect of freeing her co-workers and shutting the factory down for good.
“Welcome back!” greets Natalie, “Wow, you were only gone a short time! I’m glad it did not take long to go into town. Thank you again. Any issues dropping off our ‘little friends’ to the town authorities?”
“None at all! It was a real treat to play courier after all the trouble they caused.” replies April smugly “In fact, the guards were wondering if they could have a copy of the shrinking spell for some of their repeat offenders.” The girls share a laugh before walking over to Matt.
The swordsman is sitting on some supply boxes prepping his weapons for the upcoming fight. He holds a finger up to his lip to shush the amused girls, then points to the corner where 3 team members (Anna, Nolegs, and Sunset) are napping.
The former captive let out a sigh before continuing in a softer tone, “They deserve it. This must have been a hard battle.”
“Agreed,” whispered Natalie, “Anna and Nolegs make a great team. It was especially good practice for Anna. She has a lot of potential and a bright future. Sunset looked a little green earlier so I suspect she is a victim of Matt’s cooking.”
The conversation ends with a whistle from Lance working at the computer consul. Matt calls out to April and Natalie, “hey, looks like we’re in. Go wake up our slumbering trio; dozing furry, napping arrows, and sleeping scaly.”
April and Natalie walk unhurriedly over to the snuggling teammates.
“They look so comfortable, I’m tempted to join them,” says Natalie wistfully, “But duty calls…”
Sunset moans and opens an annoying eye at the two persons shaking her awake. As the dragon yawns and stretches her body, a thud is heard. Laying on the floor are two other teammates who had slipped off her back. April is grouchy and rubbing her back, while Nolegs simply yawns.
“Ah, you could have woken us up a little more gently,” Mutters Anna, still sitting on the ground.
Nolegs just ‘meows’ and stretches.
“Well of course you feel fine.” Anne retorts to the feline. “I landed on the cold, hard, concrete floor and you… landed on top of me.”
After arming themselves, the group walks over to Lance for an update about the entrance to the control room. The gunner informs the team the building’s security was now disabled so the entry was ready to open.
Holding his hands up Matt addresses the group. The swordsman turns to April and states “Before we go after the big boss and rescue the hostages, please tell us about the control room.”
“Well,” reports April, “That chamber is largest and most fortified due to its potentially dangerous machinery. When the factory was built, the town was worried about explosions in case the generator went bad. However, it should make it easier for the team to fight as there are no obstructions. There is a small room on the right side that is probably where the rest of the captive staff are.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad.” Says Lance.
April nods and recalls, "Unfortunately, in addition to the drones under his control, the madman also has a powerful robot too."
Matt responds, "Thanks for the heads-up, April! Can you help us out again? We need you to stay here to watch the door. Some of the hostages may need help after being held prisoner for so long. In the meanwhile, we will..." He points at the door with his sword, "Take down this mad fella and bring him to justice."
April agrees, "Yes, with pleasure! Good luck and kick his ass for every person he has made miserable."
A few keystrokes by Lance finally break the last of the security and the vault lock slowly releases. Walking inside on high alert, the team readies their weapons. There is an audible click behind them as the oversized blast door swings closed behind them. Inside the chamber, the bulky room is exactly as April described. On the far wall, a large high back chair is surrounded by security videos. The chair swivels around slowly to allow the occupant to face the incoming squad.
Silence echoes between the team and the mysterious figure in the chair. The only sound in the room is the hum of machinery mixed with the clank of robot workers. Surrounded by the factory's processors and dashboards the man finally stands to address the team. He is dressed in an oversized test center uniform with a pair of black thick-heeled boots. A pair of mismatched goggles crown his messy blue hair.
Against a backdrop of blinking apparatus lights, the man started to pace in front of the team and gesture wildly. “So, this is the pathetic team who defeated my loyal guards.” He announces pretentiously. “However, you have no chance against this stronghold’s most superior mastermind.”
The response from the team is nearly a full minute of silence before it is broken by an unimpressed dragon. Sunset glances at the team before she drives her staff into the floor only to casually lean upon it.
“Look everyone, we’re in luck. There is an entry-level trainee here,” taunts Sunset, “Oh, and hello there! Our team is looking for an evil genius scientist. Have you seen such a person?”
“Trainee?” rebukes the mad man. “How dare you! Can’t you see I am the greatest prodigy of our time?”
“No. I see you are a costumed man-child with delusions of adequacy,” counters Sunset coolly with a wide grin and a gesture from her claws.
With a snarl, the man answers angrily, “Ah! I’ll show you! I’ve already revealed to the cowards here in this facility of my brilliance, now I’ll show the world my superior I.Q. The world will tremble before the glorious might of… The Thinker!”
“Eh? De Stinker?” Questions Lance as he looks over at Matt.
“Na,” replies Matt. “How about the Broken Beginner?”
“Ye Bawling Besserwisser?” responds Lance.
Matt retorts. “What? No, no, no the Besserwisser Blowhard.”
“Na, na, na, Da Bellowing Besserwisser.” Responds Lance.
“The Novice know-it-all,” Suggests Matt. “Or how about Ham-fisted Smarty-pants?”
“THAT’S ENOUGH!” screams the Thinker now red with rage. “No one insults my great intellect! I have the most paramount mind of all. I will have revenge against all those who doubted my forward-thinking abilities. They rejected my superior plans and ideas. Those idiots tried to stand in my way and were defeated with our scientific might. No one can stand a chance against us.”
“Us?” questions Sunset as she picked up her staff to rest it against her shoulder, “Oh great, now Mr. Somewhat Scientific speaking in third person…”
“Yes! Us dragon!” shouts the mad man gleefully, “My power is greater than yours. Our might is stronger than all of you.” With a great flourish, The Thinker takes a remote out of his lab coat to push a blue button. The sound of moving machinery fills the chamber as a large black armored robot rises from a pit in the floor. "Behold,” cries the man triumphantly, “My greatest creation, the Praetorian."
“Praetorian activate!” orders the Thinker jubilantly, “Go to my robotic perfection, destroy all my enemies!” The sound of grinding metal emanates from the mechanical form as it turns towards the team. As it moves towards the team, the robot starts to glow red.
“Heads up everyone!” shouts Matt.
The team jumps out of the way just in time to avoid an enormous katana wielded by the Praetorian. Sunset flies over the opponent and breathes a fireball at it. Unfortunately, as a result of the fire attack, the robot activates its jetpack to pursue its target in the air. With their dragon friend distracting the robot, the rest of the team scatters to start a counterattack against the foe.
Matt is running around the room when he spots the Thinker at the control panel. The floors shake as two large turrets rise from the floor. The turret’s guns aim for the team. Thinking quickly, the swordsman bangs his claymore against some wooden boxes. The sawdust and flying boards confuse the gun's auto-firing mechanisms so the shots miss. Matt grins as he charges his sword and attacks the flying red robot. A split-second glance between the former unicorn and the swordsman is all the two teammates need to switch targets.
Once Matt charges at Praetorian, the robot responds towards him in turn. Claymore meets katana as the determined swordsman duels the automaton. All the while, guns are firing volleys at the rest of the team. Sunset swoops around the room to draw the shots into other areas. This aids the rest of the team in preparing their attacks. Natalie chants a spell, while Anna and Lance aim their weapons. At the critical moment, the Praetorian is the target of a combined attack. Lance’s pulse rifle disrupts its circuits and Anna’s well-placed glue arrows in the robot's joints interfere with the giant’s movements.
Sunset continues to distract the turret’s attack. The first turret has failed to hit the nimble dragon at all so the mad man is getting frustrated. Turning the control panel once again the Thinker summons a swarm of fish robots and drill-bots to join in the battle. Seeing the new enemies, Sunset takes out her sword and defects the turret shots at the flying drill-bots. This destruction irritates the mad scientist even more and changes the turret to fire a laser at Sunset. However, the dragon appears to effortlessly slide under the laser ray and slices the gun in half with “Wyvern Slash.”
Even with the first turret destroyed, the second one is still firing. Sunset teleports around the second turret to overload the gun's aiming system. The Thinker changes the turret again to target heat signatures but the clever dragon creates multiple fireballs to orbit in empty areas.
In the meantime, despite moving more erratically due to the team's prior attack the Praetorian continues its main assault on Matt. Unfortunately, the robot manages to hit the swordsman’s armor causing him to slam against the wall. Another blast from Lance’s pulse weapon gets the Praetorian’s attention away from the stunned swordsman. As it appears the robot can only focus on one target at a time, the archer and the gunner attempt to lure Praetorian to the middle of the room. As the Praetorian’s giant katana swings at the pair, they move in opposite directions.
Praetorian’s momentary confusion is enough for Anna to plug several more sticky arrows into its joints. Slowed down further by the obstructions in its joints, Lance takes the opportunity to shoot out its rocket pack then runs across the room to join Matt who is recovered. Since the pair make a seemingly good target the now grounded robot creaks sluggishly forward to attack.
Suddenly a magic circle appears under the robot. Within a few seconds, the Praetorian is locked in indestructible ice. Seeing the target now in position, Sunset slams her body against the second turret’s barrel to change the trajectory of the shots. The Praetorian has just enough time to turn its head towards the new source of movement before it is hit point-blank by the turret fire. Sparks begin to erupt from the robot and after several jerky movements, the head explodes into pieces.
Overhead the fish robots and drill bots seem to be randomly exploding. Seeing his creations failing all around him, the scientist retreats to the master control panel. Burning fragments are now raining down on the beleaguered bad guy. Looking up he sees a strange blur that seems to follow the airborne drones. Whenever a fish robot attempts to shoot missiles it is slashed by a quick blue cat. The drill-bots also attempt to shoot at the elusive feline but he dodges them all.
After seeing this cat easily destroy the droids, the scientist is now more terrified of the mysterious feline than the rest of the team. Especially when Nolegs slashes a deluxe model automaton right in front of him. Hopping up and down on one of the defeated robot carcasses, Nolegs speed allows him to materialize in front of the mad man as suddenly as if he could teleport. He ‘meows’ and raises his sword at the now terrified Thinker. The scientist pushes a red button and covers himself with an electric shield.
A second blast of icy wind from the Mage locks up the rest of the floating drones. They tumble from the air like hail. The room is filled with the garbled sound of whirs, beeps, and grinding gears as the rest of the electric army malfunctions. Falling debris lands on the evil scientist’s shield causing showers of sparks. Soon the room falls strangely silent.
With the automation army defeated, the team observed a strange sight. The mad man, surrounded by the electric buffer, is trying to avoid proximity to a certain bouncing blue cat. Noleg tauntingly shadows the trapped man's every move. After watching the scene of a small feline menacing the larger individual for a short time, the team decides to come to the ‘rescue’.
“Ok Nolegs, time for The Thinker to go to the clinker,” declares Matt as he walks over to the defeated scientist. The rest of the team audibly groans. “Oh come on guys,” continues the swordsman. “I know I don’t have to be sarcastic anymore, but this guy has given me so much great material I’d hate to waste it.”
“Matt…” warns Natalie as she points her staff at the swordsman. “Don’t say it…”
“But, but,” sputters Matt pointing his sword at the scene. “He... bad dude… in bubble…”
“Ok, that’s enough,” says Natalie raising her staff in the air, “I hereby declare this epic pun battle over, or do we want a repeat of what happened with Eustace the chess master?” Matt stays wisely silent.
Sunset walks to the self-proclaimed genius, “Now, you have to pay what you have done to the factory employees and the people of Whitefall Town," she reprimands, “Your actions have endangered the plant’s workers, wrecked property, and polluted the nearby town.”
Despite shaking as he looks up at the dragon, the scientist remains stubborn, “No! You can't take me to jail because I still have this shield."
“Oh really?” Answers Sunset with a toothy grin. Thick claws ripple over the shield and the dragon feels the electricity go through her body. With a mighty swing of her talons, the shield wall starts to tear. Soon it completely collapses.
Sunset laughs at the exposed scientist and announces, "Next time get a real shield rather than this paper one."
Now desperate, the scientist grits his teeth and lunges a yellow button. “All units manual override Delta RR2DD,” he screams. From all corners of the factory, worker robots march into the room, welding torches, hammers, and other industrial tools. “Attack the intruders! Go my great and powerful allies!” orders the maniacal laughing mad man.
Grabbing their weapons the team prepares for another fight, however, all the approaching robots unexpectedly stop moving. To everyone’s amazement, the machines either lock up or fall over motionless. The video screens around the room go blank as the main control panel loses power. No one understands what is happening until a shrill whistle rings out from a nearby metal ramp.
On a small balcony the newest team member standing next to a large damaged electrical fuse box with several dangling cables. Anne waves and holds up an object. “Sorry, Mr. So-So Scientist but your great and powerful army is no match for the humble but reliable wire cutters!”
“Great job lass,” calls Lance, “But how did ye know which wires to cut?”
“I have them to thank for that!” announces Anne cheerfully gesturing behind her. Several people came up from behind her from a small room behind the battered-looking terrace.
“The missing employees! You found them!” cheers Sunset. “Great job Anne! Great job everyone!” From the terrace, the former captives let out a loud victorious shout.
The victory celebration is cut short by a loud creak from the fallen Praetorian. Sparks shoot from the fallen robot as one of its arms which are still raised in the air starts to topple over with catastrophic results. Suddenly a hidden missile shoots out of the collapsed arm due to its sudden impact and smashes into the balcony.
Plunging towards the sound of the trapped employees' screams the courageous team dashes through the choking smoke. The missile has destroyed the balcony and the adjoining room is full of smoking rubble. The metal balcony has collapsed on one side with hanging fittings blocking the back room’s entrance. Several small fires litter the area. As the only fireproof member Sunset quickly flies up to peek inside.
Choking on the smoke, Anna emerges dirty but unharmed from the debris. “Sunset! (cough, cough)” Anna calls out as she waves to her friend. The archer gestures that the hostages have retreated into the room for safety.
“Got it!” Sunset answers back. “Nat! I need some help! Can you please make a water spell to put out the fires and I will use my wings to blow out the smoke.”
The mage chants a rolling water spell on the upper chamber which not only puts out the fires but also reduces the choking dust. Meanwhile, Sunset flaps her wings to remove the smoke. Completely unnoticed, the main vault door opens. Soon the moving air aids in clearing the room of the noxious odors.
As the smoke fades Anne emerges again at the edge of the broken balcony. The former employees carefully move through the rubble and are soon ready to evacuate the room. Sunset carefully flies the workers down to safety where the rest of the team checks them for injuries.
“Ok,” asks Sunset “Is this everyone?”
“Oh no! Not quite, we are missing someone,” exclaims Anna.
Everyone in the room suddenly remembers the identity of the missing person. In a unified gesture, the group turns to confirm the vault door is indeed open.
“Ah! This is terrible. After all that hard work the bad guy got away!” Cries Anna.
Sunset gently placed her claws on Anna’s back. “Rescuing the trapped people was more important than catching the bad guy. Wouldn’t you say?”
“You’re right, Sunset. I’m sorry. Everybody’s safety is a lot more important,” admits Anna, “Come on everyone! Let’s all get out of this room.”
Walking into the main room the rescued employees are surprised to see a campsite set up on the concrete factory floors. Lance starts directing people to the seats around the center stones holding a pile of charcoal embers. The former workers gratefully accept the team's water canteens.
Looking around the room, Anne exclaims. “Where’s April?”
“April!” shout several people worriedly.
“Help! Over here!” cries a muffled voice emanating from a pile of boxes.
Despite the group’s tiredness, everyone rushes over to the source of the distress call. In the corner of the room were several fallen boxes and containers. After several minutes of moving and restacking the debris is cleared. Buried under the pile of objects was April.
“Thank you for helping me out,” exclamations of the now liberated April. Turning to her co-workers she adds. “Well this is embarrassing, I was trying to bring help to rescue everyone and ended up needing all of you to save me.”
“What happn’ lass?” inquiresLance.
“I’m so sorry! This is all my fault… I’m sorry the mad man got away,” April blubbers with tears in her eyes, “It’s just he… he…”
Pulling out a handkerchief, Lance hands it to April. “Now lass ye safety is more important than catching that superfluous smart-aleck.” Everyone nodded in agreement.
“This may be a good time for all of us to take a much-needed break. After all, we have a lot to discuss the limited future of this building,” suggests Sunset, “I believe there are some showers in the other room along with some mats.” Everyone replied by vigorously nodding in agreement.
Several wonderfully cleansing hot showers later, the group has been transformed from a grimy assembly of prior detainees and fatigued heroes to a gathering of new friends.
Lance re-stoked the fire and with the help of several former workers is cooking a delicious smelling soup. A few mats relocated from another room serve as individual beds. April and Matt treat some of the worker's injuries, while Natalie casts a cleaning spell on the smoky clothing. Even Nolegs is helping out as an emotional support feline by generously providing the opportunity for ear scratches.
“Yum! This soup is so good, Lance, you are an outstanding cook,” comments Natalie, “Sunset, you were right. We all did need a break before continuing on our quest.”
“All right everyone! Ya want ye all to have at least 2 bowls of my special medical soup,” broadcasts Lance, “Ther’ may have been some ‘asty chemicals in all of that smoke.” He scoops out another bowlful of the steaming liquid before handing it to April. She is sitting by the fire and in a much better mood.
The factory manager unobtrusively walks over to April and sits down beside her. April looks down in shame, but the administrator places a comforting arm around her shoulder. The sound of footsteps causes April to turn around to see the rest of her co-workers behind her. With a plethora of understanding expressions, the employees sit around the fire. The team follows suit and soon everyone is sitting comfortably.
“Well, shall I start?” states the manager as he looks around at the assembled group. After a long pause, the administrator takes a deep breath and slowly exhales before continuing. Turning to the team he begins his address, “Well, we said it before and we will say it again. Thank you very much for rescuing everyone from that crazy man and his robot.” The grateful group breaks out in applause.
After the applause dies down, the manager continues, “April, when you managed to escape, all of us here were very worried about your well-being. But you went above and beyond for every person here. April, thank you for finding these heroes that freed us.” April starts crying again so the administrator pauses again to allow her to calm down.
“Also don’t worry about that guy getting away. I had to fire him a while ago due to his lackluster performance. In my report, it was recommended he should go far… as soon as possible. Thanks to you and these outstanding champions that fellow has finally followed directions.” The manager adds.
“Thank you very much, sir,” replies April, “After the team defeated that weird man’s bodyguards and they were sent to the little big house, I guess I became overconfident. The team thought it would be best to keep me out here in this room in case any of you were able to escape but needed aid during the battle. Unfortunately, instead of people, a thick, black smoke came out of the vault.”
"Sorry about that," pipes up Sunset as she rubs her head, "We should have been more careful around that dangerous robot. "
“But it wasn’t your fault that machine was so unpredictable,” replies April, “Guess I’m just sorry that mad man could not be brought to justice. You see despite the smoke, I saw him leave the room, that ridiculous lab coat stands out. He ducked behind some boxes so I yelled for him to stop. However, he pushed the containers on top of me and escaped out the open side door with a brown sack.”
“Wait,” Matt interrupted, “He took a brown bag? Did it have a patch on one side?”
“Yes,” confirms April.
“What!” cries Matt emotionally, “Oh, no!” The swordsman ran over to the team's supplies to double-check the inventory, but the sack had indeed been stolen.
“What’s wrong?” Asks Natalie.
“That horrible despicable villain!” cries Matt holding his hands on his head, “he stole our specially made food!”
“Wait a minute, you don’t mean?” Inquires Natalie.
“Yes!” shouts the exacerbated swordsman with an exaggerated hand gesture, “that dude stole all my healthy buns!”
“Well, it appears justice was served after all,” concludes Natalie, “…Possibly with a side of antacid tablets.”
After the previous emotional day, the group decided to wait until the next morning to return to the vault room. Sunset and Anna walk into the main control room early to check for additional damages. Nolegs is sitting comfortably on Anna’s shoulder. They were surprised to find most of the factory employees hard at work.
“Over here,” calls April from a small platform next to the now deactivated pumping station. “Glad to see you’re already awake. Sorry if our group was too loud, but we were so excited it was hard to sleep.”
Taking out a clipboard, April shows the trio their plan, “Mr. Lance and our boss have been working on this strategy. This faculty is already in bad need of an upgrade, but after the Inker or Sinker, or whatever his name was, repurposed the building it just made a lot of things worse. Originally our technicians thought the issues with the machines polluting the area could be corrected but the apparatuses are irreparable. So the engineers are routing the power to the internal shield with the remaining sectional plumbing and are going to cause a buildup in the fuel stores to spontaneously combust.
“So you’re going to blow the factory up,” states Sunset.
“That’s what I said,” replies April.
“Oh, ok,” Agrees Anna, “But I thought the factory had a switch to do just that?”
“We do,” Explains April pointing to a crude sign with an arrow that read ‘DO NOT TOUCH’, “However the factory is partially connected to the Crystal Caverns. If we make it explode that way, the caves will be very negatively affected."
“Oh,” April replies, “That's why you need the shield, so the blast will only demolish the plant, not the surrounding area.”
“Yes, that is correct,” Says April. All of us talked it over last night and it was agreed this was the best way. This factory was originally built to help the people of Whitefall not make it unlivable. This way not only can all of us former prisoners truly get on with their lives but we can also apologize to the town for all of the trouble.
Thanks to the group’s effort, it take one day to prepare the site. With the preparations complete, the team joins the former personnel joyfully parading out of the factory. Sunset and Natalie make a transport circle for any items of value still inside the complex. A remote detonator is made by Lance so the employees could destroy their cursed prison from a safe distance.
It was now evening. The group had moved the camp from inside the lackluster factory to the spacious meadow outside of town. After the entire group had moved a good distance away from the complex, the former-plant manager ceremoniously pulled out the detonator device in front of a cheering crowd.
Word had traveled fast from the villains' defeat and the factory workers' rescue. The meadow is filled with townspeople in a festive mood. Food vendors set up stalls, banners stretched over several groups of tents while a band played dance music. After a bit of discussion, the former hostages agree that the old guard who directed the team to the complex in the first place should have the honor of pressing the demolition button.
The band plays celebration music while the old guard walked to a designated spot. Once there the plant manager overseen by the town’s mayor handed him the detonator. The smile never left the guard’s face as he pressed the button that sealed the cursed factory’s fate. The ground rumbled as the stockpiled fuel and incineration spells ignited behind the protective shield. The townspeople cheered as a column of light disintegrated the plant that had troubled the Whitefall town for so long.
“Are you sure you want us to leave now?” asks Anna to the rest of the team. They were watching the light show from the rocks near the Crystal Caverns, “The town has set up quite a party, plus I think the mayor was looking to give everyone a metal.”
“Ha, ha! Listen to her. A few days ago our young archer didn’t want to stop for anything.”
“Ok, Ok. Sorry, lesson learned about stopping to smell the roses,” replies Anna.
“Great to hear young lady! We did this for you,” perks Matt. Lance nods in agreement.
“Ouch! Hey!” The two cry out in pain after getting smacked by Sunset’s tail.
“That’s enough for you two,” says the dragon sternly, “So…” continues Sunset as she turns to face Anna with a hopeful look. Natalie also gives her a kind smile. “Where to next?”
Anna gives a blank stare for a few seconds before fumbling to take out her cave and eastern forest maps. "Well, the third jewel should be near the Goldenbrick Resort," The archer stutters slightly when speaking, “It is quite a distance from here but we can cut through the Ashwood forest to save time. Also, it may be a good place to stock up on supplies before traversing the Lankyroot Jungle.” Anne holds up the map to show the team the various routes. “Finally we need to pass through a lava cave before we reach the resort.”
After a quick discussion, the team agrees Anna’s suggested route is the best one to take. Matt and Lance walk ahead into the Crystal Cavern to check for perils such as rock eaters since there was only a single tunnel available.
As Anna carefully climbs down the rocks she checks on Nolegs napping on her back. Sunset has checked ahead inside the dark tunnel for obstacles before waving her claw for the rest of the team to follow. Floating fireballs once again light the way through the cave for the team.
The team continues walking through the ice caves. This time the journey is much smoother as other travelers have cleared any obstacles. Soon they are on the other side facing a vast forest.
“Sunset and Lance were not with us before we journeyed through Ashwood forest, but they have been filled in about some of our earlier adventures. Anna, are you worried about going back to your village?” asks Natalie.
“Yes, I am very worried about what the elders and my friends are going to say about me. After all, I ran right after the forest gem was stolen without telling anyone but my immediate family. One of the reasons I went home first was for supplies. Did I make it obvious that I didn’t want to go back yet?” asks Anna timidly.
“Well, pointing out all of the features on the map except your home village, which is right on the main trail, is a bit suspicious,” says Natalie.
“Trust me when I say you can’t run away from your problems,” Adds Sunset, “But, don’t feel as if you have failed since the jewel is still missing,” Nolegs ‘mewed’ and jumped into the archer's arms, “Besides, we are not finished yet!”
“Thank you for everything you all have done for me. Sorry I am being ungrateful,” says Anna nodding her head to Matt and Lance.
“Nah, Lass. We may have been rushing things a bit,” adds Lance.
“You were chosen to join our team for a reason. So don’t ever think you are a failure because you don’t accomplish a goal quickly,” says Matt encouragingly, “Besides you have the ultimate weapon against those naysayers.”
“US!” shouts the team at Anna. The archer tears up as she understands how much she is loved.
Not long after entering the Ashwood forest, the team hears a commotion coming from a small clearing. Expecting danger, they hurry to the site to find several men in uniforms fighting several bouncing idols. Matt charges up his sword to aid in their defense but stops to look questionably at Anna first.
“It’s not the acid type this time so you can go to town sword-guy.” The archer reported with a wide grin.
Matt calls out to the besieged group and they happily accept his aid. Thanks to the swordsman’s skills, soon the monsters are either defeated or running away.
One of the men walks over to the team to inquire where they are going. Anna gets a better look at the uniforms and gets excited as they are rangers who were guards from the Greenwood Village. The team has deviated from the main path to investigate the fight, however, Anna confirms their location with the ranger’s help.
Anna was happy her teammates didn’t have to lose time by looping all of the ways back. According to the guard, they could go in a straight line through the clearing to get to the village.
Running to rejoin his squad the ranger looked back to watch the team move away. He is glad one member could help dispatch that idol, but it was too bad the swordsman could not join them on their quest to reach Whitefall town. The team is nearly out of sight when the ranger spotted another group of monsters in the clearing. Unfortunately, they are too far away from them to hear his shouts but then something unexpected happened. Mighty Oak emerged from the forest and clapped his hands. Incredibly all of the monsters immediately leave the area.
“It is such a nice day,” exclaims Anna as she walks through the meadow.
A rustle in the trees makes Sunset jump in front of everyone. Emerging from the timbers is a gigantic wooden robot. Sunset and Lance quickly take their weapons out for a fight.
“Stop!” yells Anna, “That’s Mighty Oak, not an enemy.”
“Wow!” Sunset exclaims.
“Hey big guy!” Shouts Matt. “Don’t worry. They’re with us!”
Mighty Oak nods. The team responds by bowing in respect to the forest guardian with their weapons lying horizontally across their hands. Anna waves as the giant turns around to return to the forest. Meanwhile, a completely stunned ranger is watching this exchange. “Who are these guys?” he wonders.
After traveling through Ashwood woods, the team arrives at Greenwood Village. Anna points out the supply stores to everyone before arriving at her family home. Her parents are overjoyed to see her and hug her tightly.
The archer excitedly introduces the team she regards as good friends to her family. Not wanting to miss stories about their daughter’s adventures, Anna’s parents invite the team inside the house.
"Aww, looks like our little girl made some new friends," teases Anna’s mom. Turning to the others, she adds, "She can be headstrong when she wants to be."
"Mom," Anna whines. "You’re embarrassing me."
“Honey, I’m your mother, it's my sacred duty to embarrass you,” replies her mom jokingly. The rest of the team laughed.
Anna's father looks at Sunset, then lightly punches at the archer, “Look at this. Our little leaf even makes friends with mythical creatures."
“Dad… I’m sorry I could not return with the sacred forest jewel,” says Anna quietly.
“Ah little leaf, you have a hard time which is why you’ve grown up so much. Seeing you back safe and sound is our real reward, not success in your quest.” Replies her father. “Besides, remember what your uncle John Foster Dulles said, The measure of success is not whether you have a tough problem to deal with, but whether it’s the same problem you had last year. ”
“Wait Dad, the quest is not over yet,” says Anna, “The truth is the Team and I are going to find the third jewel in Goldenbrick Resort. Also, we need to leave tomorrow. The fate of the world could depend on it.”
“What? But honey, the Lankyroot Jungle is dangerous. Why don’t you stay here?” says Anna’s mother worriedly.
“Are you really sure you want to travel through such a hazardous area?” asked Anna’s father.
“Yes, Dad. I’m very sure,” Replies Anna without hesitation.
Turning to Anna’s mother, her father announces, “Well you are now grown up and able to make your way. However, I would like you and all of your teammates to spend the night here. In the morning we can all go to my brother’s shop for some supplies. I insist on buying supplies for all of you.”
“Wow! Thanks so much, dad!” explains Anna hugging him. Her mom also joins in the embrace.
Anna tries to sleep, but she can't because she worries about the future. The archer did not tell her parents these were the real legendary heroes. After tossing on her bed for a bit, Anna decides to get some fresh air. She is surprised to see Sunset standing on the balcony playing with one of her elemental dragons. Anna stands behind the windows and stares at the elemental dragon. She has always been amazed at her dragon friend's magic. “I wonder if she could teach me that spell,” Anna daydreams.
“You know you can always come and talk to me, Anna.” States Sunset looking at the stars. The dragon turns her head to the windows, "You shouldn't hind like a thief and stalking like a paparazzi"
"Hey," Anna rushes out the door and glares at Sunset, "I am not a thief or a paparazzi," then she takes a deep breath to calm her down and sighs, "Sorry about that."
“No yelling? You have matured,” Says Sunset calmly, “Also no need to apologize, taming a wild temper is hard trust me. I guess you’re outside because you can’t sleep?”
Anna answers, "Yeah, I am worried about our future adventure. What if..." Sunset puts her claw on Anna's mouth, making her stop talking. Anna pushes her claw away and frowns at Sunset, "Hey, don't cut someone's sentence like that"
Sunset smugly says, "I am not going to apologize about that," Anna's face feels like boiling but takes a deep breath instead. Seeing that the dragon smiles and continues, "Stop worrying about future adventures, because it is unpredictable. The more you worry about something bad happening in the present, the greater chance may come true in the future."
Anna feels weird about this dragon, "Okay... thanks I guess. I should stop worrying about our adventure." Then the archer smiles and starts looking at the sky, "The stars are beautiful, do you mind me joining you stargazing for a bit?"
Sunset turns her head to Anna, "All right, how about we stargazing here for a while then we sleep. We have a long adventure to go."
Anna nods. She and the dragon stargaze for a while to relieve their uncertainties. Their destiny adventure awaits them.
Too many familiars face ...
Anna felt happier this morning than the previous evening. It was a little strange to wake up in her soft bed after camping and sleeping in the rough for the last few weeks. The archer smiles as she reminisces about talking and stargazing with her friend Sunset last night. Thanks to her friend, Anna has overcome her anxiety. She walks downstairs to join the rest of the team for breakfast.
Anna's mother teases her, "Aw... Looks like our Leafy is still a late riser."
"Mom..." Anna whines as the others giggle so she glares at them." Please don't embarrass me in front of my team."
"Just messing with you sweetie.” Anna's mother laughs and waves her hand, “Come on, eat up, you still have some big adventures ahead." A plate with Anna’s favorite breakfast is placed in front of her.
Anna moans in annoyance but continues to interact with her family and teammates. The archer watches the happy scene with her family and friends. Her father entertains the team during the meal with tales about a pumpkin robot and other area beasts. Both of her parents are proud of Anna for defeating Mighty Oak and passing the coming of age test. Privately, Anna feels both happy and sad because she needs to leave her home again.
After breakfast, everyone prepares to journey into town. However, there is an extra bag among Anna’s things. Anna immediately recognizes the marking with delight. Squealing in excitement, she turns to the team with a large grin holding the bag embroidered with her initials on full display.
“Thank you Mom!” cries Anna and happily hugged her. “In all the rush the first time I left, this special bag was completely forgotten!” The rest of the team experiences a feeling of dread seeing the archer so excited about this pouch, but they decide to stay silent.
Soon the team arrives at Greenwood’s supply shop which is owned by Anna’s uncle. Anna’s father had gone on ahead to the store to make sure not only that it was open, but that his brother had a heads up about the group. By the time the team get into town, the two siblings are waiting by the door.
“Uncle Simon!” cries Anna, when she arrives at the store with Nolegs on her back. The girl hops over to give him a big hug while the rest of the team looks around inside. Sunset looks around in amazement as the dragon is not expecting such a variety of items. The owner must have seen her staring longingly at an extra-large set of beautifully embroidered lightweight hammer-space bags, just dragon size because he stealthily appears behind her.
“You’ll never know if they will fit you unless you don’t try them on.” Says Simon calmly.
“What?” responds Sunset, coming out of her stupor.
A predatory grin spreads across Simon’s face as he removes the gear from its display. Before the dragon could object, she had the transportable bags slung over her shoulder. Sunset was astonished. They are the most exquisite packs she had ever seen and so comfortable! The inside double shoulder straps are padded at just the right places with smaller pouches running down the length of the sides at the perfect angle. There is even an adjustable top sheath for her sword. Every piece was flawless and the material fit her dragon form like a second skin. Sunset stands wordlessly in front of the mirror as stunned as if she had been hit with a freeze spell.
“Wow, that gear is outstanding!” says a voice behind Sunset. Turning around, the dragon noticed her friend, Natalie, wearing a beautiful cloak. “Sorry if interrupted you. I’ve never seen you in the fashion zone before, Sun. Your taste is always so practical.”
“Oh? Look who’s talking!” replies the dragon gesturing to the mage’s new covering.
“Indeed.” Chimes in a third voice. Lance walks up to the two girls sporting an impressively reinforced backpack. Behind him, Matt strolls over to show off a striking sword belt that matches his pirate hat. The group finds themselves drawn to the store’s large mirror to admire the wares.
“Well, this is a first.” Perceives Natalie. “Matt hasn’t said anything snarky for a while.” Turning to her friends, the mage holds out her cloak. “Seriously everyone, perhaps we should stick to the basics. Our team is going to be fighting to save the world again, not go to a fancy party.” The team nods in agreement.
Several hours later… “Ok… what just happened?” questions a still-dazed dragon as she realizes how late in the day it was. “We did walk into town early in the morning, right?” The team has just left the shop.
Standing in the afternoon sun, the team looks at each other in stunned disbelief. All of the members have new tents in addition to extra hammer-space pouches on their belts bursting with a variety of foodstuffs. Natalie has not only gotten the beautiful cloak but new boots, an upgraded early protection talisman, and an enchanted rune bracelet. In addition to the embroidered bags, Sunset is now carrying a stack of new spell-books with a floating stand and wearing poison detecting jewelry.
Matt and Lance look at each other’s new gear. They both have form-fitting protective under armor with fireproof padding, better weapon belts, and a neck charm that can turn into an eye shield. Matt has gauntlets that amplify his sword attacks. Lance has not only acquired the fortified backpack but also a portable cannon and a target guide.
Sunset feels slightly embarrassed about her over-indulgence as she glances timidly back at the supply store. She could also feel the eyes of other villagers on her from the surrounding windows. Ever since her transformation from a pony into a dragon, Sunset has been feeling more self-conscious about her appearance. Sunset sighed and concluded the others were just used to it. “Another small town where the strangers are a source of entertainment.”
The main square is much more crowded than earlier in the day so the team moves to a less congested area. The dragon spots her young archer friend with Nolegs still on her shoulder. Anna is still standing in the store’s doorway so Sunset waves to alert her of the team’s location. Then she refocuses her attention back on her friends.
“What’s that paper you’re holding, Matt?” Asks Sunset curiously.
“Well… It’s... Umm…” replies Matt nervously.
Covertly, Lance looks over his friend’s shoulder at the document. “Ahh!” he exclamations “Heaven protect ye all! Tis a sign of the apocalypse!”
“What?” Responds Natalie questionably. Swiftly the mage grabs the paper while the rest of the team gazes in amazement over her shoulder at the document's contents.
“A STORAGE UNIT?” exclaims the team in disbelief.
“So that’s where your bag and the other overextended packs went.” Says Natalie. “Well, it will be easier to move without them.”
“Err… It was a package deal?” replied the swordsman nervously.
“Looks like Uncle Simon strikes again.” Pipped up Anna who appeared behind everyone with Nolegs still on her back. The archer and her family laugh before continuing. “Everyone always jokes he can sell rocks to rock eaters. Now that I think about it, uncle must have gotten a big shipment in, because I’ve never seen his store so over-stocked...”
Simon stands in the shop doorway waving some papers. “Wait! I haven’t told your team about our offer for 30% off adventuring insurance...”
“A-a-actually, w-we should head out now as our destination is rather far.” Interrupts Matt with fear in his eyes. “Right everyone?” The swordsman turns to tip his hat to Anna’s parents before quickly pushing Anna towards the edge of town. “So thanks again, er... bye!”
Anna’s dad calls out. “Come back soon. The ranger exams start in a few months.”
"Please don't cause trouble with your teammates, leafy!” Says Anna’s Mom.
"I won’t, Mom!" Anna responds, “Bye!” Her mom gives Nolegs a quick ear scratch. The archer hugs her parents once more before running after the rest of the retreating team. The family waves at the group until they are out of sight.
As Anna’s parents and Simon watches their daughter leave Greenwood village, they are joined by several additional persons. Once the team was out of sight, the others removed their disguises. The clamor inside the main square quiets down as the crowd focuses on the small group that has just sent the team off.
“That was close.” Says a white-haired man. “I thought they may have recognized us.”
Anna’s mom blows her nose and looks nervously at her husband and his brother. They both look very pleased with their accomplishments.
“Don’t worry too much about Anna.” says the white-haired man standing behind her in a comforting voice. “Trust me when I say she is traveling with the best adventure team there is.”
“Thank you Captain Eldaro.” Says Anna’s mother.
"Former Captain please.” Responds the white-haired man. “I’m retired.”
Another villager walks up to one of them and asks in a half-whisper. “Are those people the legendary heroes?”
In response, the person pulls back their hood to reveal a blue-haired woman. Turning to the villager she replies. “Yes, they are.” “I knew we would meet again the Black Mage.”
“Indeed Krystal, I never thought we would see them again.” adds ex-captain Eldaro. “Retired to this small town for some peace, but I keep running into Sunset Shimmer where ever I go.”
“It’s been several years but it seems like yesterday when they defeated that problematic orange robot.” Says one of the villagers.
“Or that terrible demon Arkon.” Says another.
“And that giant squid in Glacier valley.” Adds someone else.
Eldero stands up on a wooden crate to address the crowd. “Alright everyone, first of all, good job! I know a lot of you worked all night to get Simon’s store supplied. Thank you for all your cooperation and for keeping this a secret. To answer your questions yes those adventures are the legendary heroes.” The crowd starts to murmur amongst themselves so he waves for silence.
“Yes, the legendary heroes have done so much without asking for anything in return.” Says Eldero. “But now they finally are getting some of what they deserve. Thank you again for all of the help. It is because our village worked together to pool our resources those heroes have what they need to fight this newest threat to our world.” In response, the gathering starts to cheer.
After the cheering dies down, Eldero continues. “It is for the best our village rangers have left Greenwood Village for Snowfall Town to investigate the stolen jewel incident. If that group was here I fear they would want to join the heroes to save the world. Unfortunately, it would most likely end badly for our local guard. Many of you who live in this village are retired soldiers of the Earth(en) army and have witnessed the terrible destructive power of the wicked demon Arkon firsthand.” Several villagers nodded their heads at this statement.
“Unfortunately, a new foe has come to destroy all we hold dear. The loss of our sacred forest jewel and destruction of our temple is a heavy one. This was complicated further by news from one of our citizens, young Anna, that the second sacred jewel was similarly stolen from Snowfall Town. However, as devastating as the news our archer brought back to the village, she also brought our salvation in the form of the legendary heroes. We stand here together to wish our champions good luck and a safe journey.”
Unexpectedly, one of the villagers shouted out. “Three cheers for the brave heroes!” This is followed by more shouting and cheering from the crowd. Anna’s family glances once more to the vacant area where the team once stood and then back at one another with hope in their eyes.
After running for several minutes, Anna finally catches up with the team just outside of town. Matt and Lance are resting by a bench near a stream. “Hey, wait up!” calls out Anna. “What happened to conserve our energy for the journey ahead?”
“That is only after we are out of imminent danger…” replies Matt.
“Ugg!” mutters Lance. “Time fer another long walk…”
The team’s archer bursts out laughing. Turning to her friends, she leads the group to a large rune circle. Inside the circle is a decorated pole connected to a large black crystal. The entire team looks at each other with grateful smiles.
“Hoo ya!” Shouts Matt. “It’s a teleport crystal!”
“Yep!” Replies Anna happily. “We don’t have to walk the entire way to Lankyroot Jungle with this shortcut.” The archer takes out a small crystal and touches it to the larger one to charge it up. Holding up the crystal she says,“ Just in case. We may need this.”
Lance nods and charges up a crystal as well to complement his assortment.
A bright flash appears at the edge of the Lankyroot Jungle. The team looks around and sees a lot of trees. Some have spiky vines and sharp thorns. Bush monsters peak out from the foliage but don't attack the group. Matt feels annoyed at the claustrophobic setting and starts chopping at a nearby tree.
Anna yells at him, "Hey, what are you doing?"
Matt answers in frustration, "This place is nothing but trees in any direction. There is no way of telling which way to go. It's all looks the same,"
Anna giggles and tries to calm him down. Then the archer takes out a map from the special pouch her mother has given her. "There's a river through this jungle to reach the edge of the next village. It is next to the lava cave. From the outer edge northeast map, it appears we should follow the river until it leads us to the north ocean. The last town is close by."
Peculiarly Natalie feels a premonition of danger but is unsure about the source. However, she only says, "Hmmm... Good plan." She spots a red flower with a big spike in the middle. Natalie feels creepy about this blossom. "Anna, what kind of flower is this?"
Anna smiles nervously, "I don't know... this forest is a dangerous one so not many tourists or adventurers come through here."
The seemingly innocent red flower turns towards the sudden movement in the jungle, then it raises its spike to the sky and releases a cloud of spores. As they fell onto the ground, numerous other colored flowers began to spout. Soon the team was surrounded by blue, yellow, and white blooms.
A nearby blue flower begins the attack by making it rain on the battlefield with the others joining in. Sunset quickly climbs up a tree while Matt charges at the flower and Natalie forms a magic circle. Anna, Nolegs, and Lance aim at the flowers, but the white flowers blind them with a cloud of stinging pollen.
In the meantime, Sunset has flown above the blue raincloud for an aerial view. The dragon perceives the yellow flowers beginning to spin, turning the rain cloud above the team into a thunderstorm. Flying higher to avoid the lightning, Sunset flaps one of her wings hard and begins to spin. She dives at the main yellow flower to stop the attack. Additional red flowers pop up from the ground attempt to block the counterattack, but Sunset’s whirlwind power-dive slices right through them. With the main flower slain, the rest of the yellow flowers die. The dragon lands between the main white and blue flowers and uses "Wyvern Slash" before they can react.
Sunset sighs of relief. "Amazing! Even the flowers can be monsters." Then Sunset looks back to the Team and finds that they are all shaking on the damp ground due to the electrocution from the lighting attack. The dragon teases them, "Wow! You all look like a fish flopping on the ground,"
Anna retorts. "That’s not helping… stupid lizard."
After a healing spell and some dry clothes, the Team finally continues the journey. Soon they find the river. Unfortunately, the waterway is much larger than they anticipate.
Matt takes some vines, ties them to his sword, and then slowly puts them down into the river to see how deep the water is. After the sword touches bottom, Matt gradually pulls it up and tells the team it's too deep to wade across. Since the river is too deep to cross safely, the team looks for other options.
Matt asks Anna, "How can we cross this river? Paddle walking?"
Anna is searching her dimension pocket and pulls out a pair of wide green wader boots. After putting on the enchanted items, she begins to float on top of the water. Brandishing a grin, the archer calls out playfully "Like this… See you on the other side." Anna starts across the river but suddenly feels heavy as Matt and Lance have hopped on her back. After five seconds, all of them fall into the river and need to swim back to shore. Anna glares at them, "Hey why did you do that?"
Matt retorts, "Why did you only prepare one pair of boots for yourself?"
"Because these boots are expensive," Anna answers angrily, "You can ride on the dragon, right?" Anna turns around to point to Sunset and does a double-take. Sunset is leisurely walking on the water with Nolegs on her back. Mesmerized, the team watches Sunset teasingly wave her claws from the other side.
Natalie whines, "Why didn't that dragon teach me that cool spell? I want to walk on water."
"Then ask her," replies Matt pointing at the Dragon Mage, "You can ask her nicely and maybe she will show you."
Natalie then retorts, "No, I will figure it out by myself."
Lance smirks at the other two. "Good luck ‘ith those abnormal spells. Dis is the same teammate that can bath in lava." All of the friends nod as they understand how abnormal their dragon teammate is.
With a sigh, Anna removes one of her boots. The archer speaks up. "Okay, we can all cross this river with these special floating boots, I will use a spell to throw the boots back one at a time at you from the other side."
“I don’t know about having boots flying at my head.” Notes Matt.
"No need." Says Natalie abruptly as her hands begin to glow.
“Ah!” Cries Matt “I’m covering up my head.”
The mage grabs all of her present teammates in a hug and they disappear. Sunset is impressed Natalie can teleport with three passengers. However, after her teammates land, the dragon and her feline companion suddenly have a hard time keeping themselves from bursting into laughter.
The team rematerializes safely on the other side of the river. Unfortunately, it all went downhill from there. Anna appears first about three feet above a large sludge puddle. A split second later a very muddy archer is lying flat on her back in the wallow. A loud crash heralds the arrival of the others. Sunset looks up and sees Lance and Matt tangled in some vines while Natalie is hanging on a branch. The dragon shakes her head and carefully removes a now incapacitated cat from her back. While Nolegs continues to roll on the ground laughing hysterically. Sunset flies up to rescue her friends.
"Good job, Natalie. You have learned teleportation spells." Praises the still grinning dragon as she rubs the sick mage’s back. Lance and Matt are still a healthy shade of green and sitting under a tree. Meanwhile, Anna, after she has recovered from the fall, immediately runs behind a nearby bush and vomits.
Natalie rubs her head, "Thanks Sun, I still can't teleport myself exactly as you do."
"Practice makes perfect, but also never forget about spell side effects." Replies Sunset. “The teleport crystals are grounded while free teleports are not. These spells result in very rapid relocations …but if you are not used to the turbulence...”
“Lesson learned.” Groans Matt, “Next time I’m taking a boot to the head.”
After 30 minutes of recovery, the team is now back to normal. Anna takes out another map to check for the best route to the lava cave.
Matt looks at Anna’s map and notes, “Isn’t this the same as your other map?”
“Oh no.” Says Anna removing several more maps from her special pouch to show the swordsman. “You see this is the outer edge northeast map which is different from the outer edge southeast map and this map is the inner edge south by the north map that shows the lava vents…”
“Are there any lighting flowers left?” Matt moans internally.
The path up to the lava cave was a wide meadow full of short vegetation. However, the entrance was blocked by a familiar pumpkin-headed robot. Orange metal gleamed ominously as the monster moved forward to face the team. It has two large empty holes in its head to mimic eyes and a bulky metallic body that boasted several weapons.
Matt sighs, "Oh, no! I thought we got rid of this thing seven years ago." He then turns to Anna to continue. “Remember that troublesome Jack-o-lantern robot your father talked about …well this is it.”
“Our Team has beaten this robot before and we can do it again!” says Sunset confidently.
"Oh, so it was you that destroyed this awesome robot?" Says a familiar voice. A short man with messy hair and a dirty lab coat appears from behind the machine. "I found this robot in the jungle.” Continues the delusional mad scientist. “So I fixed and upgraded it to get my revenge."
Sunset deadpans. "Oh no! Look, Mr. Stinker, you have already reached rock bottom in this hole you have made for yourself, but you just keep on digging…”
“THINKER!” screams the irate mad man. “I'M THE THINKER! No one insults this genius scientist." Then he points at the Team to command the robot, "Get them, Jack. Show them no mercy."
The sensor eye on top of the pumpkin robot head flashes as it charges at Anna and throws a punch at her. Matt quickly stands in front of Anna to block the punch. Anna leaps back and shoots three fire arrows into one of the robot’s hollow eyes. Unfortunately, the robot seems to be immune to heat and it continues its assault on the swordsman. Its eyes glow and a pair of machine guns project out of its eye to fire upon the team. The team scatters to avoid the projectiles.
Matt is still fighting the machine's punches however Anna has used a nearby rock to lob several sticky arrows at the robot's sensor eye. The swordsman uses this distraction to damage one of its legs. A beeping sound emanates from the robot before a rocket launcher emerges from its back.
Grabbing his big gun, Lance moves to intercept the attack, but the robot shoots the mini-guns from his arms, forcing a retreat. The gunner grabs a grenade while running for cover. Once under a protected rock he primes the explosive and holds it out so the team can see it.
Several rockets blast into the sky from the robot. Sunset perceives the team as the missile's target. Quickly signaling to the archer, the dragon takes a deep breath before placing her clawed palms on the ground. Anna charges another arrow. Sunset’s spell causes the surrounding ground to shake. Rocks and earth rise like tidal waves to all the Team's protected spots. The earth covers each of the members with a protective barrier just as the rockets rain down.
Explosions devastate the area hit by the missiles. A large cloud of smoke covers the battleground, but the dragon is nowhere in sight. Slightly further away from the cave, Sunset has teleported to retrieve a grenade from Lance. Despite the smoke, the dragon can still see the pumpkin robot. She takes out her staff to get its attention…
The dragon smiles as the robot attempt to punch her. “Just as expected… ok come to momma, you oversized Nightmare night accessory.” Sunset’s staff blocks the machine’s attack and gives her the chance to throw the grenade into the eye hole. Cleverly, a light spell has been added to the grenade. Sunset then casts an ice spell to freeze its remaining good leg and teleports away.
Nervously peering through the smoke, Anna attempts to hold her fully charged arrow steady. These shell arrows are strong but take a long time to set up. When she sees the light in the smoke, she immediately shoots the arrow at it.
A huge explosion rocks the area after the arrow finds its target inside the robot's head. After the dust settles, the pumpkin robot is still standing but has a large hole in its body. Sunset grins as she cancels the ice spell and flaps her wings to make the smoke fade. Without the ice for support, the robot falls to the ground with a loud crash.
Staring in disbelief at the robot’s defeat, the mad scientist stands for a while as stunned as the machine. However, he quickly regains his wits and tries to run away. The Thinker is a short way down the path when he spots a blue obstacle in his way. It is a small armored cat. Foolishly thinking this was not a threat, the now twice disgraced scientist tries to kick the little cat away. It was a very, very big mistake.
Watching the scene below in amusement, Sunset flies down to join her feline comrade. The thinker is rolling on the ground in pain. Nolegs has slashed both of the mad man’s legs and is watching him from on top of a rock. Sunset waves the rest of the group over to the fallen scientist.
Natalie arrives first, followed by the others. After looking at the man rolling on the ground, she walks casually up to Sunset and asks. “He tried to kick Nolegs?”
“Yep.” Replies the dragon coolly.
“Wow, congratulations! You have officially done something none of us would ever dare try.” Says Natalie to the mad man who was still holding his leg. “You really are an ignoramus.” Nolegs waves his sword and ‘Meows’.
“But…but… but…” stutters the Thinker.
The dragon kneels and grins at him, "No you are a gross ignoramus – 144 times worse than a regular ignoramus..." Sunset boops his nose, which makes him angrier about her.
“What should we do with him?” asks Anna
“W-wait a minute.” The Villain retorts, "Y-you can’t do anything to me! This is a jungle that is far away from any civilization."
“Ya know what? Ye actually have a point.” Says Lance. “But don’t worry about making a long trek anywhere. Ye thinks me friends have their little side project done by now so goodbye…” Taking a small black crystal out of his pouch he throws it at the mad scientist. In the flash of light, the man is teleported away.
"Hey, what are you doing? Why did you let him go like that?" Anna shouts at the gunner.
Lance pats the archer's head and explains, "Did ya ever say that ya would let ‘im go?"
Anna asks him," Then why did you give him the teleportation crystal?"
Lance simply answers, "Well... ye will explain on the way." Anna grumbled but continues to lead the Team to the lava cave.
“You know.” Added Matt. “If we ever do see the Stinker again, perhaps we should help him out instead.”
“What do mean?” Asked Natalie.
Matt replied. “Well, somewhere out there is a village that is missing its idiot.”
It is a beautiful sunny day so many people are outside. Nearby, a new enchanted rune circle has been installed by the cave entrance. This will function as a secondary travel route in case there are any future issues with the cave systems.
Former employee April is cleaning the mess brought about by a previously out-of-control waste processing factory. The people in Whitefall Town are grateful for all of the help from the former plant hostages. With a lot of hard work, most of the garbage is in a tall smelly pile ready to be incinerated.
Several people, along with April, are taking a break to admire their work. There is a lot still to clean up. Suddenly a bright flash appears nearby, followed by the sound of screaming. The town guards and a group of townspeople took up just in time to see a man fall headfirst into the rubbish pile. Everyone is shocked when a man squirms from the revolting mound of filth.
Suddenly April shouts, "Hey everyone, it’s the crazy scientist who caused us all to suffer!”
A group of people grabs some rope and yells “Let’s get him!”
The scientist tries to run but due to the injured leg doesn’t get far before he is captured by angry townspeople and ex-employees.
“Pew! This guy sure smells.” Remarks one of the townspeople.
“You’re right.” Replies April with a grin. “He really is the stinker now.”
The team continues their journey to the Lava Cave. Anne looks around the cavern entrance before going inside. Steam is coming out of the opening. Suddenly a large red flower appears and blocks the entrance to the cave. Anna cautiously pokes at the plant but nothing happens. Then she turns to the team and is going to asks someone to use a fire spell to remove it. Abruptly, Nolegs pops up from Sunset’s back and hisses at the flower. Shaking its leaves, the plant opens its eyes and attempts to eat the archer. Lance shoots a "Flame shot" at the monster making it jerk back. The now maddened plant roars at the team.
“Look out! It’s a Rafflesia!” Cries Natalie.
Tentacles emerge from the plant as it rises from the ground. The Rafflesia opens its large fang-filled mouth for another roar before beginning its attack. An earthquake puts the team on alert and they jump back. Cracks appear in the ground as spikes rapidly emerge from the earth. Numerous thorn-headed plants shoot up to threaten the team but Sunset breathes fire at them and they burn off. Nolegs attack the smaller creeper vines. Reacting to the assaults, the plant monster shakes itself to release its leaves. After the fire attack dies down, Rafflesia flings the sharp-edged foliage at the team. Natalie quickly creates a barrier wall to stop the "Leaf Razor" attack.
Matt charges at the plant but the monster hastily creates a vine wall to stop him. The swordsman quickly covers his sword with a fire aura to slash the plants. Rafflesia turns its crimson top to bloom at the attacker. Stinging pollen shoots from the flower into Matt’s eyes. Matt cries out in pain and covers his eyes. Lance and Anna grab the incapacitated Matt. Meanwhile, Natalie and Sunset create a combined attack. Vivid molten fireballs shaped like a dragon and a phoenix hurl toward the monster. Rafflesia uses "Leaf Shield" to block them but the duo’s flame attack pierces through the shield and strikes directly at the monster.
Rafflesia howls in pain at the fire attack but is still active. The monster plant opens its large fanged jaws menacingly at the team. Acidic saliva drips from its mouth as the monster lunges toward the archer and the gunner. A streak of color moved across the cave’s entrance. Suddenly an obstacle appears in the Rafflesia’s mouth. After another blue blur travels across the monster’s mouth it could no longer close its jaws. Two branches inside Rafflesia’s jaws now kept it wedged open. Expertly, Anna and Lance lob explosive charges down the monster's exposed throat.
With a loud wail, Rafflesia tilts its head back as flames shoot out of its mouth. The monster plant stops moving and smoke comes out of its mouth. Lance takes this opportunity to charge at the plant and shoot several more rounds into it. Rafflesia is now on fire. Sunset slams her staff to the ground and a large magic circle illuminates at the monster's spot, the fire pillar rises from the magic circle and destroys the monster completely.
Natalie sighs in relief as she is walking toward Matt, who keeps rubbing his eyes furiously. Natalie casts a water spell to wash Matt's eyes. Matt stops rolling and stands up; he rubs his head and feels embarrassed.
Matt points at the cave entrance, "Let’s get moving. After this adventure, it’s going to be a while before I want a salad again."
Many lava rivers are flowing inside the cave. Matt throws a stick to check if it is fake lava or not. The stick immediately catches on fire and sinks into the lava. The mage casts a protection spell on the rest of the team.
Matt asks Anna, "Now what will we do? We can't pass these lava rivers by ourselves." When he turns to look at the archer she is standing in the corner waving the team over. Anna takes out a rope and everyone helps pull the object out of the wall. It was a chest. Matt rubs his head but he decides to open the chest. Many pairs of red boots with fire symbols are inside. Matt continues to ask Anna, "Okay, what are these boots for?"
Anna answers cheerfully, "We can pass through the lava with these boots. It allows the wearer to walk on the lava but... "Anna points to the embroidered symbol, "They are not very insulated, so.... you have to pass it quickly as fast as possible."
Natalie nods, "Sounds like a good artifact. But we can ride our dragon right? Speaking of the dragon...." Natalie turns her head to see Sunset but she is not there anymore. Looking around, she sees Sunset happily swimming in the lava. Anna's mouth hangs there while Natalie yells at Sunset, "Hey, get back here."
Sunset yells back, "No. I won't let you ride me again. This is the best hot bath I’ve had in a while."
The others sigh and they start wearing the boots. The humans look at each other as they take a deep breath. When Matt counts to three, the humans run to Sunset's spot while they are yelling because of the heat of the lava. When humans manage to arrive where Sunset was, they glare at the smug dragon. But Sunset just ignores their dirty looks and she casually walks out of the cave. The others sigh in defeat as they follow the dragon to the exit.
Suddenly, the ground shakes. The team attempts to keep their balance. A dark cat with a red aura emerges from the ground and stares at the team. Due to the experience from the last Godcat, the team is not scared at all. The feline waves its hand and all of them are teleported outside. Matt and his team are preparing to fight against the Godcat.
The black cat waves its paw and many dark balls appear in the sky, "Wretched human-lings. Your determination to live is pitiful." The black orbs fly toward the team. Matt slams the sword to raise the earth while Sunset changes into her new form and deflects all of the dark balls at the cat, but her claws are hurt after deflecting the dark balls. The black cat looks at the dragon and yells at her angrily, "You-ling... how do you have Amelia's power?"
"None in your business," Sunset waves her staff and three big circles appear in front of her. The dragon spins her staff and the magic rings whirl as they bombard light arrows at the Godcat. The cat raises its paw to deflect the numerous light arrows. However, the strain is too much for the dark cat so she changes tactics and charges at Sunset. After much difficulty dodging the dragon's light arrows, the dark cat succeeds in getting close to the dragon. Godcat quickly uses a levitation spell on her foe. Trapped by the spell, Sunset throws the staff at the cat, but it has no effect.
“Now Dragon-ling, I will return the power you stole from Amelia.” Godcat starts draining the dragon's power as the team tries to shoot at the cat. "You human-lings think you can stop me. I am Diana! The great Godcat of Death!” Raising her paws again, a vortex appears about the team, freezing them in place. Diana smirks as she watches the team struggle. Suddenly the Godcat feels different and turns around to face the dragon. Sunset’s body is still illuminated by a magic circle however the dragon is draining power from her! “Ah! Stupid Dragon-Ling.” With a howl of frustration, Diana throws the dragon at the team.
Despite being under the vortex’s influence, Matt manages to catch the dragon as Diana flies off in a huff. As the Godcat flies away she is confronted by the sudden appearance of Nolegs. Diana is shocked when the blue cat angrily meows and hisses at her. Reaching up to her cheek, the Godcat feels strange wetness. Nolegs has slashed Diana’s face. The dark cat is trying to fly away but Nolegs appears near her, making her surprised, then she receives a slash into the cheek. Diana looks at Nolegs as she is very angry and wants to destroy this betrayal cat but Amelia calls her by a community spell so she has to go away from the Team. She thinks, ’Next time, they won't escape,' and teleports away. The vortex is gone as all members of the Team are lying to each other.
Matt gets up and rubs his head, "Ouch, this is harder than I thought." then he looks around and sees the familiar place, "Hey, this is Ashwood Forest,"
Anna gets up immediately, "What? We got teleported way out there?"
In the meanwhile, Sunset is in pain but she tries to ignore it so as not to worry her friends. "This is the second time I got drained. Do the Godcats like to aim at me or something?"
Natalie looks concerned as her dragon friend is sweating. She asks Sunset, "Sun are you ok? You don’t look so good since that catfight."
"I'm fine. Just...." Sunset lies, rubbing her head, "We have to go back to the Lankywood Forest." Turning to Natalie she adds, "Oh and her name is Diana by the way."
"No problem!" Announces Lance as he takes out a gemstone, "This crystal will teleport us back to the Lankyrood Forest. Ye set another crystal before ya got teleported."
Anna hugs Lance, "Thank you! Let's go."
Lance's face reddens as he activates the crystal. A flash of light heralds the team's return to the Lankywood Forest River. Since it is now evening, the Team decides to set up camp near the river.
"Welcome back big sis!" Cheers, Amelia joyfully. The blue cat and her sibling Diana share an embrace. Then Amelia notices that her sister has a wound on her cheek. "You got slashed by some-ling?" She remarks in astonishment. The wound is healing rapidly, however, the blue feline is amazed anything got close enough to attack her invincible older sister.
"Not something, it was some …cat." Replies Diana rubbing her cheek, "One of our fellow cat-things yelled and attacked me… I was very surprised. Even more so when he struck me"
"Was that cat part of a group of humans-things and a dragon-thing?" Asked Amelia curiously.
"Yeah, that one," Diana looks at her little sister, "Wait, don't tell me you got drained by that dragon- thing too. When fighting those things I saw your power inside of the orange lizard-thing."
Amelia sighs, "Yes. When I tried to drain the power of the dragon-thing, I ended up the one with my power stolen. It appears she is a preparation dragon-thing.” Looking at her big sister she adds, "And that kind of snare-trap did not even exist in our era."
Diana nods in agreement, "That trap looks like a reserve spell. But the dragon-thing did not activate it when she got attacked so..." Diana rubs her chin, "Also this group battled me, a great Godcat, without any fear.”
Amelia retorts, "That's because they have encountered me before you did." Amelia hugs her sister, "Hey big sis, those machines are nearly complete. We can destroy the planet without our interference."
Diana nods, "I see." The dark feline looks at the apparatuses, "These artifacts must have been completed 200 years ago. But..." Diana punches at the ruined pole, "That white dragon ruins everything."
Amelia tries to comfort her sister by placing a paw on her shoulder, "I know." Then she glances up at the sky. "Soon our loyal subjects will bring the third crystal here. Then we can recover our full power."
Diana hugs her sister again as she gazes up to the heavens. Amelia closes her eyes and falls asleep in her sister's embrace. The blue cat remembers the last battle against a white dragon.
Explosions rock the local countryside as powerful creatures fight for the world’s future. An intricate gold machine and a large monster skeleton battle against an elusive white dragon. The skeleton monster unsuccessfully attempts to bite the dragon with its massive fanged jaws while the golden drone fires lasers. Looping around a rock to confuse the machine, the dragon cast a whirlwind spell on the drone to launch it at the skeleton. With the monster distracted, the white dragon takes out an impressive silver sword and thrusts through the skeleton. With both aggressors defeated, the dragon turns his attention to the leader.
"You can't win this fight, Whitty” yells Diana angrily. “The God Cat will destroy the world with all of the ugly-things on it. To save the realm, you will need to destroy me and you can never do that.”
Whitty points his sword at Diana, "Who says I need destroy you to save the world?" The dragon waves his weapon around to distract his former friend while he takes out an iridescent red jewel. Suddenly Diana attacks the white dragon but Whitty is ready.
As the red feline flies towards the white dragon, the jewel activates and begins to drink up her power. All of Diana’s attacks are absorbed into Whitty’s stone and soon so is the Godcat herself. Diana struggles against the spell but is soon sealed into the jewel.
"Sister!" Amelia cries out in alarm. She commands her machine to shoot rockets at the white dragon, then dashes to attack her foe. Whitty tries to keep ahold of the red jewel but he is hit by a rocket. "Release her now or you will die." Hisses the blue cat as she lunges at the dragon. Amelia uses her void spell to squeeze and compact his body.
Grunting as he is beginning to be crushed by the spell, Whitty uses his tail to get out a red jewel. When Amelia flies closer to the dragon, he slings the stone at Amelia. The glowing blue jewel adheres itself to the feline body. Activated by proximity to the Godcats power, the sapphire charm begins to absorb Amelia’s power. Soon the void spell weakens to the point Whitty can break free. Despite being injured due to the attack, the dragon manages to shoot a fireball at the weakened cat, pounding her into the ground.
Amelia stagers up onto her paws and looks on in horror as her sister Diana is completely swallowed up into the red jewel.
"NOoooo..." Screams Amelia as she glares furiously at Whitty. With renewed rage, the Godcat slams the white dragon to a pole. The blue cat shrieks again before continuing her tirade. "Why? Why are you on their side and not mine? Those humans-things are nothing but worms, fit only to be stamped out."
"Then... I will be one of those worms." Says Whitty sadly. The dragon picks up the red jewel and slowly takes out a green crystal to show Amelia. “I’m sorry. This is the end as there cannot be another way.”
Amelia gasps when she sees the green jewel. It means she is the last Godcat. Despite her struggles, the blue jewel has sealed almost all of her strength and power. Amelia lies helpless on the ground as Whitty completes the spell. The cat gasps “Why?”
Whitty kneels down in front of his former friend. Tears fall from his eyes as he softly speaks. "Because I love this world, and all of the life upon it." Whitty takes the red jewel and grabs the green jewel in front of Amelia, "I don't know why... Even if I seal you to save everything, no one will remember me. No one will ever know and I will be all alone." Whitty begins to sob in earnest. "What a foolish dragon I am!”
Amelia tries to say something to him but it's too late. Whitty puts the two crystals on Amelia's chest as she faded. After successfully sealing the Godcat, Whitty hides the jewels in different spots so they would not escape to threaten the world again. Then the dragon finally goes into hiding to heal his injuries after the long battle. He sadly brings out a pendant and looks at the sky, his mission is completed but his heart is forever broken.
Author's Note
All right, I just tried a new thing so... Tell me if it is annoying or not so I will fix it. Don't worry I won't use it repeatedly.
P/S: It's just work for ...computer reading
The Goldenbrick Resort...
It is a peaceful scene at the encampment by the Lankywood Forest River. Due to a confined dry space caused by the river's tidal movements, the team has only enough room for three tents plus a fire in a long oblong-shaped space. This is not an issue as the team is used to sharing tents. Despite feeling exhausted after the last battle, Sunset volunteered to be the first guard so the rest of the team can sleep. Watching a few birds fly over the water, the dragon carefully sits down by the fire to think about recent events.
Sunset stares at the flames to focus her thoughts. “Ouch, my whole body aches.” She reminisces. “Those cats are very powerful. They are going to be difficult to defeat.” Taking a deep breath, the dragon closes her eyes and begins to meditate. As Sunset suspects another energy is orbiting her heart. Addressing the magic ball, she mockingly states “Looks like it’s going to be just you and me. But that’s ok I have all night.” The dragon starts to let the energy flow into her body, this instance feels like a burning sensation compared to the previous cat’s energy, but she patiently contains it.
The sound of a twig snapping abruptly brings Sunset out of her trance. Sunset turns around and sees Natalie sitting on a nearby stump throwing wood on the fire.
"Need help?" Inquires the mage while holding out her hand. “No offense but you look wiped out.”
The dragon tries to object by standing up but wobbles on her feet. Natalie was instantly beside her unsteady friend. The mage helps Sunset sit back down on the …cushion? The two girls looked confused until they saw Matt.
“Nat is right Sun-girl.” Replies the swordsman. “It’s almost time for the next shift so don’t worry cus we’ve got your back,” Matt smirks as he pushes another log towards the fire to sit on. “What? You said you liked those cushions back at the inn.”
Sunset opens her mouth but says nothing as she realizes her friends will not be satisfied until she gets some rest. The very tired orange dragon trudges inside her tent but is careful not to wake her tent mate Anne. Finally, Sunset surrenders to her need to get some sleep.
It is a pleasant early morning as Lance cooks some mixed potato hash for breakfast. Nolegs is sitting beside him supervising the preparation of some freshly caught fish. Matt has set up some boards as a make-shift table which the gunner has taken advantage of to set out some supplies. Laying back on some nice cushions, the gunner grins as he admires the serene setting. Lance would never admit it but sometimes Matt’s “borrowed” items came in handy.
Suddenly a scream breaks the serene morning atmosphere. Lance grabs his gun as he moves towards the commotion. Similarly, Nolegs turns around and jumps onto Lance’s shoulder.
Assorted noises continue to originate from a nearby tent. Suddenly a panicking Anna stumbles out of the tent. Anna is relieved to see her friend but before the archer can say anything, she slips. Lance tries to catch the falling girl, however, the ground is very slick so he ends up tumbling as well. The commotion awakens the rest of the team. Natalie and Matt emerge groggily from the other tent to witness two embarrassed humans and a surprised cat covered in river mud.
Natalie and Matt snicker as they help their friends out of the mud.
“Ah, it’s too early for this.” Moans Anna.
Nolegs ‘meows’ in agreement as he tries valiantly to clean the sticky mud off his fur.
“This is becoming a habit.” Chuckles Matt. “Anna, we need to talk about your unhealthy mud obsession.”
Anna opens her mouth to respond but lets out a surprised gasp instead. The archer stares at the movement from the structure on another side of the camp. The sun was high enough to cast a shadow over an imposing figure emerging from the tent.
A black-clawed arm materializes from the tent. It was a large red creature with black horns, fangs, and hooked wings that exited the shelter. Since the sun was directly behind the figure it has the appearance of a distressing black silhouette. The being made odd sounds while it reared its head backward.
Following the archer's gaze, the rest of the group turns around just in time to witness a huge shadow stretch across the camp. Natalie, who was the closest to the figure but still half asleep, erroneously decides to take a step back and trips over a tent rope. Due to the confined space and the fact the mage’s teammates were directly behind her, the entire group fell backward into the mud.
Natalie groans as she recovers from the fall. Realizing the shadow is moving closer, the mage tries to get to her feet. Slowly the red creature bends down and offers Natalie her claw.
“Oh!” exclaimed Matt after getting a better look at the figure. “Wow! Looks like you did it again Sun-girl.”
Sunset helps her friends out of the mud but also ends up getting dirty herself. Seeing everyone so muddy, the dragon says she will get some towels. “Hold on, everyone,” Sunset states after another long yawn, “I have an extra blanket that can be cut up as washcloths.”
“Wait!” pips up Nadine who had just come from her tent. “Please don’t waste your blankets. There is a better way to get clean.” The mage had her staff in her hand.
“Stop!” yelled Matt. But before anyone could react, the mage used an aquatic spell on the team. A large wave from the river suddenly splashes over the camp and drenches everything.
Several minutes later, since the campfire was extinguished, the team has changed into dry clothes after getting soaked and is enjoying a meal of cold dry foods from their pouches. Silence prevailed since no one wanted to say anything following the morning’s events. Sunset is studying her new black claws with apprehension but has decided not to say anything yet. Anna looks down and is trying not to look at Sunset. Nadine’s face is still red with embarrassment after her disastrous spell. The mage has a large bump on her head so Lance is applying a cold patch.
“All done. That ‘ill take down the swelling.” Says Lance.
“Thank you, Lance. Sorry everyone for the cold showers. I guess when things happen to my friends like what happened with Sunset, I try to overcompensate to cope.” Declares a tired-looking Natalie apologetically. “But Nolegs didn’t have to hit me with a frying pan.”
“Maybe he did! Not only did you get him wet, but also ruined his breakfast!” Matt laughs.
Moving a bit away from the camp, Sunset continues to quietly watch her friend’s playful jabs while trying not to think about the new changes to her body. Hearing the rustle of a hammer-space clasp, the dragon is surprised to see a large mirror being offered to her. Sunset is even more surprised to see the mirror’s owner.
“What? Ye likes to stay well-groomed.” Says Lance honestly. He holds up the mirror higher so his dragon friend can see herself better.
Despite her best efforts, Sunset gasps at her altered reflection. The dragon looks completely different and starts to tug on her large black horns in disbelief. Then looking at her new razor-sharp claws Sunset pokes at her crimson body and starts to shake as she is attempting to accept her new appearance. Noticing her distress, Lance throws his arm around Sunset.
Pointing to Sunset's heart Lance whispers sympathetically, “Hey, remember it’s what inside that counts.” Then he opens his shirt to reveal a large scar on his arm. “Truthfully, ye all have something but ‘member no matter what, real friends accept each for who they are on the inside. Even if they get spooked by a sleepy dragon and splashed with cold water.”
Tears fall from Sunset's eyes. “Thank you,” she replies gratefully “It was funny that my yawn scared the whole team.” The pair share a long hug before returning to the others. Sunset attempts to flap her heftier wings and unexpectedly fell on her face. “Ulf, well it looks like this form still has some surprises, but at least my new travel bags still fit.”
Back at camp, Matt is attempting to organize the team and pack up the camp. The rest of the team has gathered most of the equipment but most of it was still wet. Fortunately, the tents dry off quickly in the sun. “Come on everyone. The walk will do us some good. Let's get out of this... creepy jungle before anything else happens."
Anna complains, "Hey, what do you mean "creepy"? I like this jungle."
Natalie retorts, "That's because you were born between two jungles while we were born in the city."
“Just remember even if you are just waking up,” Says Matt gesturing to Sunset. “This is our extraordinary teammate Sun-girl whoooo …likes to bathe in lava! So changing colors is not that out of the ordinary for her.”
Anna huffs, "Ah! Fair enough. Anyway, it's time to leave for the next point. We have no business here anymore." Anna takes out the map while Nolegs jumps into her backpack pouch. "Oh, by the way, the lava cave that we just came into is just a part of this jungle." The others glare at her as she smiles sheepishly, she tries to say, "Well... the good thing is that we know the way, right?"
Natalie whines, "Right... Oh, I hope we will not encounter another Godcat."
Anna waves her hand. "No worries …there are only two in the legend, not three. Come on, we have to go faster before the third crystal is stolen. Also, there is a different story…" Unaware rest of the ream was falling behind her, the archer continues to talk and gesture profligately about the folklores. Completely indifferent to her rambling tales, her feline passenger falls asleep. Discreetly, Nadine and Matt trail behind a few feet away, followed by Sunset and Lance. No one wanted to want to disturb the ranting archer.
The last two team members chuckle at Anna’s antics. Sunset feels a lot better after speaking to Lance and is enjoying watching the group’s antics.
Moving her clawed hand over her mouth to muffle her giggles, Sunset says softly “You’re right Lance, everyone has something. But we all have each other and our wonderful friendship.”
“True and truer.” Replies Lance with a grin.
An assortment of hazards and monsters challenge the team’s progress to the Goldenbridge Resort. Despite having to fight a lot of beasts, the team forges ahead to their destination due to their past experiences. After several hours of walking, they have finally reached the ocean. The day is quite warm so the team enjoys the cool breeze from the ocean. Everyone cheers at the sight of the beach. Upon finally reaching the sand, the group looks out at the beautiful blue water as well as the enchanting vista off in the distance.
Matt takes a deep breath of ocean air and sighs contently, "What a pleasant change of scenery."
"Wow, this is huge! I've never seen this much water before." Exclaims Anna as she looks at the ocean. “And the smell is so invigorating.” Then she turns around, “Hey, we've almost at the resort. I think I see it over there, along the beach."
"Glad we’re so close," Matt points at Natalie, who is lying on the ground due to her tiredness, "We got a mage down."
"Don't tease me like that," Natalie gets up and tries to catch her breath, “Plus our friend has not changed back yet."
Sunset rolls her eyes, "Not helping… Besides, I heard from Matt you have been awake for 2 days trying to figure out why that teleportation spell failed. Come on, we got priorities. There is another jewel to claim before we can relax at the resort."
"Right!" exclaimed Anna. The rest of the team nods and they rush to find the jewel.
Using her heightened agility, the archer jumps through several obstacles towards the shrine of the third jewel. The area of the sacred reliquary is part of a vast desert. The sand made walking difficult so Anne used the rocks to navigate. Near the water, there was a cool breeze however that comfort disappeared in this harsh new environment. Unfortunately, the jewel has already been stolen from its sanctuary. By the time the rest of the team arrived, Anna is franticly looking under rocks and in holes for the missing stone.
“Ahhh! Oh No! It’s too late! The last jewel is gonnne!” Anna is running hysterically in a circle. “We're doooomed!"
Matt tries to calm her down, "Relax Arrow-girl! Nothing happened here so far. The sky hasn't turned dark yet and stormy or anything like that"
Lance spots something moving in the distance. He immediately equips his scanner and sees a strange multi-legged creature. “Hey, look over there!” the gunner points. “At that weird moving dust cloud.” He quickly brings up the image enlargement feature.
“What is that?” asks Anna squinting into the distance.
Natalie quickly projects the image outwards in a larger window to better analyze it.
“Are those …cats? It is a big bunch of cats. It looks like they are carrying something …the jewels! Oh no! They have the jewels!” Remarks Anna excitedly.
“They are headed towards those distant ruins.” Adds Natalie.
Anna takes her bow and cries "Time to teach them a lesson!" The rest of the team takes out their weapons and charge after the cats.
A barrage of arrows rains on the felines from the resolute archer. As currently the nimblest team member, she has reached the cats first by jumping over several obstacles. However, the attack is dispelled as several of the cats have shields. The arrow deflects off the feline’s barrier, much to Anna's frustration. Riding on Anna’s back, Nolegs also attacks, however, one of the cats surprises him with a weighted net and he is immobilized.
Sunset, who is still having problems adjusting to her new wings, ops to teleport to the location. She soon discovers although her new form is not as agile as before, it is a lot tougher. The red dragon finds she is also a lot stronger so teleports right over the cat’s shield defense. A single swing of her tail shatters that protection and breaks the cat’s formation.
The dragon is going to breathe fire at them but one of the foes summons a Trojan horse. It slams directly into Sunset at top speed, making her spin backward. An explosive barrel launches out of the Trojan horse at the unbalanced dragon. However, a well-placed cannon shot fired by Lance destroys the barrel before it can hit Sunset. The cat controlling the Trojan horse hisses at the arriving team and launches the rest of the barrels into the sand. Explosions beneath the ground create a blinding sand cloud. When the dust sets, the cats are gone.
Anna stomps her feet in frustration, "Damn it. Lucky for those cats I'm exhausted." The archer runs over Nolegs to free him from the net. Anna takes a deep breath and continues to lecture the other team members who were having difficulty navigating through the shifting sand. "Anyway, we might have missed our last chance to get the jewels back. Now they are going to summon Godcat."
"You know, the Godcat is already summoned." Sunset retorts. She looks up to the sky-piercing ruin with uncertainty. Until she can fly properly in her heavier crimson form, Sunset knows the cats will just shoot her down again. "We can't run faster than those cats. Those tall ruins look difficult to reach without a good strategy."
Anna says in an angry tone, "So what will we do? Stay here and see the world die?"
Sunset calmly answers, "No, but we are all quite tired. I believe we need to take a rest." She looks around and notes the rest of the team nodding in agreement.
"Good idea (yawn), my legs are shaking from jumping on all those rocks and wading through that blasted hot sand." Gripes Natalie. Both the mage and the swordsman have sat down on a large rock to remove the gravel from their shoes.
“Since our tents are still a wee damaged the resort is the closest shelter available.” Added Lance. Natalie blushes at his comment.
The team leaves the ruins at a much slower pace. Soon the group is back on the beach, enjoying a much cooler spot under a shade tree. Natalie catches a quick nap. While Matt and Lance have taken out their water bottles, Anna is examining her red skin. Looking at her black claws, Sunset is regretting not getting another hat and cloak disguise.
After a rest, Matt leads the way to a very inviting garden area at the edge of the Goldenbridge complex. The region has a wide variety of trees much to the delight of the forest-dwelling archer. “Well, this is something.” Says Matt looking at the well-maintained flower beds.
“Um, there may be a small issue.” Whispers Anna to Matt. The archer looks embarrassed and is fidgeting with her bow so as not to scratch her sunburn. “Okay, I didn’t bring a lot of money. How was I to know we would end up in an ultra-luxury resort? This place probably cost several fortunes.”
“That’s ok, I hardly have any money either.” Replied Matt casually. “Actually, don’t think any of us have a lot since that shopping spree…” The swordsman takes out his money pouch and looks around at the others. All of them look guiltily down at the ground.
Anna is surprised, "How can you be too calm? We need to find a place to sleep tonight."
Matt puts his pouch away with a smile. “This is not a problem, some of the time we find a treasure or that other thing happens.”
Just then a new voice speaks from a corner archway. “Well, well, well, look what we have here, Sabrina.” A woman and a man start to walk toward the team.
“…And that other thing has happened again.” Says Matt to Anna with a smirk.
“Well I’ll be,” says Lance. “It’s Captain Eldaro!”
“Ha-ha. We keep running into each other.” Says Eldaro. “And it’s former Captain as I’m now retired.”
“Oh, so it is retired now? Are you sure it’s not semi-retired or part-time?” Chimes in the dignified-looking woman standing behind Eldaro. “It is good to see all of you again.”
“You know they are?” gasped Anne.
“Yes I do,” Sabrina replied. “It has been almost ten years but one still does not forget the living legends who saved us from that world-destroying demon.”
Sunset tried to stand behind the others to be less noticeable by Eldaro but this did not deter the Captain. Eldaro looked a little confused as he looks the red dragon up and down. However, he suddenly gets a look of recognition on his face and walked back smiling to the woman’s side.
Sabrina looks amused by Eldaro but turns to speak to the team again. Her voice changes to a stern tone as she continues. “Strange rumors have been circulating lately and now this. It is no coincidence that the living legends are once again united. Something tells me you are not here on vacation.”
“No your Majesty, our team is here on some very important business.” Says Matt.
“In that case, we had all better go inside to discuss things.” Said the Queen motioning to Anna’s sunburn. Everyone walks inside the resort's main area. However, Queen Sabrina leads the group to a smaller but still luxurious structure on the grounds. Several guards salute her as she enters a protected area. “This is my private quarters so should be the best place for a secure conversation.” She adds.
Elaborate carvings and clay sculptures of cats lined the inside of the building. Sunset felt a little self-conscious walking on the luxurious carpet and looking at the expensive furniture. The inside reminded the dragon of her old home in Equestria. Sunset following the Queen reminded the dragon of her time in Cantorlot castle when she would follow Princess Celestia during ceremonial events. Despite her best efforts to focus, Sunset began to daydream. She dreamed she was back at Celestia’s side watching her raise the sun and lower the moon. Celestia looked lovingly at her and was about to speak…
Once inside the room, the other attendants return with trays of food and drink. Eldaro motions for the team to have some refreshments first. There is a large round glided table in the center of the room.
"There are even cat decorations in this room. Cats seem to be very popular here. Just look at all those clay sculptures." Natalie says to Matt.
"Well, many cultures used to worship cats. This town has kept that tradition." Explains Eldaro
“That explains all of the clay statues.” Says Lance.
Matt looks around the room and remarks “Anna you have been awfully quiet.” The swordsman does a double-take when he spots the archer.
Poor Anna’s eyes are glazed over and her mouth is flapping like a freshly caught fish. As the archer is in no condition to do anything, so Sunset is pushing her from behind. The dragon steers her friend to the chair at the center table, then picks up Nolegs from Anna’s back pouch so he can also pick out some snacks.
Sabrina, Eldaro, and the rest of the team sit around the table. The attendants bow again as they exit the room and close the doors.
A small moan comes from a green-haired girl that has been sitting quietly till then. Anna’s eyes started to blink as she processed everything going on. Suddenly the archer stood up and stared at the Queen in terror. “Ah!” cried the panicking girl. “The Queen! You’re the Queen. You’re Queen Sabrina! Ah …and I did not bow! Please do not put me in the dungeon, your Majesty.”
“Do not despair, all is well.” Replied the Queen. “However this group and now you are allowed to call me just Sabrina.”
“Ooh, I’m sorry Qu- Sabrina ma’am.” Stuttered Anna. “Sorry for yelling too.” Nolegs pushes a drink towards the archer that she graciously accepts.
“Let’s start the meeting with some good news. This room has soundproof walls and doors so we can speak (or yell) freely in here. No one can even slip a paper under the door to distract us.” Says Eldaro.
Sabrina starts "Since you said earlier your team is not here for leisure, I can only assume the worst. Is there another potential disaster that can destroy the world?"
“Well... yes. But it's a bit of a long story.” Says Matt in an uncharacteristically serious tone. “It all started when I met Anna here. So Anna if you wouldn’t mind starting us all off with everything that’s happened.”
Anna answers nervously, "You’re Majesty, I mean ma’am. This all started when the sacred green jewel of trust was taken from Greenwood forest." Anna starts to tell about a legend of Godcat and how the Team first battled Amelia.
Natalie told the story of the second stolen jewel of peace from Whitefall town. Also about the fight with the second Godcat Diana. The queen was astonished but asked the team to continue their story.
Sunset told Sabrina and Eldaro about the third jewel of light that was recently stolen by a group of cats. The dragon shows regret that the cats could not be stopped in time.
“Don’t be sorry now about those rogue felines, your safety is more important. It’s the Godcats named Amelia and Diana that need to be stopped Sunset Shimmer.” Says Sabrina.
“Your right …what?” cries the surprised dragon.
“Got you! Come on. After all the time we spent together you didn’t think that I could not see your mannerisms or recognize the sound of your voice.” Says Sabrina as she walks over to a nearby cabinet to pull out a wooden staff. “So why did you change your appearance? After all, we are friends and will accept you in any form.”
“About that.” Asked Endaro. “Why did you change again? You were an orange dragon before, not a red one.”
Sunset sighs, “It’s because of the Godcats. When I fought them I somehow absorbed some of their power. Please don’t ask how, I’m not sure myself except somehow I am now booby-trapped. When some creature tries to take my magic, the trap activates and steals theirs.”
“But last time, when we fought a Godcat, the only thing that happened is your wings changed to fire for about half an hour.” Questions Matt.
“What can say except the Godcats Amelia and Diana are 2 different well… cats.” Retorts Sunset. "I am trying my best to control this new power. Geez, I hate this form because it is so edgy." The dragon flops down on a nearby oversized sofa with her face in her claws.
A blue blur zips across the table and lands on Sunset's shoulder. The dragon is surprised to see it is Nolegs, rubbing his head against her. A warm feeling spreads across Sunset's other arm. It is Anna hugging her friend. Quickly the others follow suit and the dragon is surrounded by a wonderful string of embraces from everyone.
“Maybe we all should have said this before instead of beating around the bush… but well no excuses.” Announces Natalie. “Sunset our wonderful friend, we all honor and respect you no matter what shape or form you take.”
“We love you Sunset!” Shouts the team plus Sabrina and Eldaro. On cue, everyone redoubles their efforts on the dragon cuddle pile.
Tears fell from the once overly proud dragon’s eyes. “Oh thank you! Thank you, everyone. I was so absorbed in what I had lost that I almost overlooked what I had gained.” Soon everyone was crying and hugging one another in a much-needed emotional release.
After a short time, there was an unwelcome knock on the door.
Sabrina groans. “Oh, that’s right I requested any new information about the strange lights in the abandoned mountain citadel to be relayed to me without delay.” Reluctantly, the queen gets up from the couch and holds up the wooden staff. “Sunset, things sure were simpler when all we worried about was that small-town project.” The dragon nodded in agreement. Anna listens to the conversation with confusion.
“Hold on, Sab. Before you open that door you may want to look in that mirror first.” Called out Sunset.
By now some of the team members had stood up to stretch. There were several gasps when they looked at their reflections. Clothing was wrinkled, hair was messy and everyone had puffy red eyes.
Sunset stood up and worked over to the Queen. “Sorry, but we can’t let you answer the door looking upset and disheveled. It would start some unsavory gossip.”
“You’re right, Sun. I keep forgetting you lived in another castle so understand politics and rumors,” says Sabrina. “But I cannot wait too long or it may start other gossips.”
“Wait a minute, I have an idea.” Said Sunset turning to the mage. “Nad, did you bring your staff?”
“Yes.” Replied the mage removing the item from storage.
“Great!” countered Sunset as she takes out a spell book from her hammerspace. “Anna while we find the spell can you please get all the water together in one container?”
Nadine looks over Sunset's shoulder at the proposed spell and gasps in surprise.
“This spell? Are you sure? But… I botched it up so badly…” says the mage sadly.
“Nad, please listen to me. You were tired and distracted when you tried that water spell before. But now you have had a nap plus I will be helping you this time.” Declares Sunset assuredly.
Natalie nods nervously as Anna comes over with the water. After the archer places the container by the two mages, they prepare to reflect each other. The rest of the group watches apprehensively as the water levitates from the bowl in one large bubble before shooting out in a circle.
A few seconds later the spell is complete. Everyone gasps in delight at their reflections. The previous mud residue has been washed away, the wrinkles are gone from their clothing and everybody feels refreshed!
A soft feeling brushes against Natalie’s shoulder. It’s Nolegs! The cat ‘meows’ joyfully as he nuzzles the triumphant mage’s shoulder. Natalie is overjoyed to see her friend’s fur now bright and clean. The two share a hug as they reconcile.
Sabrina practically skips in delight as she goes to open the door.
After the meeting and the ‘after’ meeting Eldaro suggests the team rest overnight at the resort before they travel to the Godcat’s fortress. Everyone agrees that would be best and happily follows the attendants to their rooms, courtesy of the Queen. As they are walking, Sunset mentions to Anna that she had seen her confused look earlier and would tell the archer about how that staff helped them bond as friends.
Eldaro returns to the Queen after arranging some rooms for the team. He finds Sabrina sitting down looking at the new report with a concerned look on her face. Sabrina motions Eldaro over and shows him the updated information.
“Our legendary heroes are correct about the Godcats being on top of the high mountain ruins,” Sabrina states with an outbreath. “This report confirms a marked increase in activity at the location. The problem is not that we don’t know where the enemy is…”
“But how do we help the team and our troops get to that location.” Adds Eldaro.
Sabrina turns her head around, "Luckily there is a solution. The sky fortress could most likely scale that height. Surprised, Eldaro turns his head towards the Queen, “Eh?” He replied. “I thought that project was canceled.”
"Oh, don't stare at me like that. The sky fortress was developed for this type of situation. We have our dragon friend to thank with help on this project, otherwise, it may not have been possible.”
Eldaro rubs his chin, “How long will it take for the ship to arrive here?"
"Two days at max speed." Sabrina claps her hand, "Anyway, welcome back, captain."
"Just this time for this latest crisis, Sabrina... But don't expect that I will come back to your army. Replies the once again Captain Eldaro.
Later that evening, Sabrina is enjoying a peaceful walk on the beach. A short distance from the resort, she sees Eldaro sitting on a blanket watching the waves and drinking wine. She walks up to the Captain and asks if she could join him. Eldaro was happy to see Sabrina finally have a chance to relax away from public scrutiny.
"Looks like someone else enjoys watching the moon rise." Says Eldaro offering her a glass, "Ah... So good. A peaceful night with some good wine is always a good one."
"Thank you, it is nice to relax even for a little while. Those few months I could interact with other people were some of the happiest in recent memory. Also, there is some good news for you," Sabrina sits next to Eldaro, "The flying fortress will come here in one day because... Your old student Silver is testing the fortress."
"Wow really?" Eldaro puts down the cup, "Is that bird not doing anything wrong?"
"No." Sabrina shakes her head, "but starting an expense prototype fortress without my permission? She got into some big trouble. But I wanted you to know about the ship as soon as possible. I understand you are worried about that team. They are determined to go on this dangerous mission before we can get back some proper backup."
“I was surprised when you contacted me after that long tirade about retirement a few years ago. You requested I meet you as quickly as possible at the resort near the ancient shine to peace.” She continued. “It was quite a story, even for you, Eldaro. Increasingly aggressive monsters, missing jewels, and another world crisis are all caused by a pair of overpowered felines. But it must have been important if you used 15 of your best mages to teleport you here.”
Eldaro smirks, "Well, I will help you in this mission one more time. But please promise me that you won't try to persuade me again because I do want to retire permanently this time."
Sabrina nods, "I see. But currently, no one in my army has your leadership skill or farsightedness. The demon cases seven years ago prove that." Sabrina pats the old man's shoulder, "A talent like you have to go retire is a big loss for us, but that is your choice. We can't force you."
Eldaro nods and closes his eyes. He and Sabrina enjoy relaxing.
"Well, this is unexpected," Anna grumbles. "This is the direction the Queen suggested we take to get to the Temple of the Godcats. How can there be quicksand pits at the exit of a luxury resort?"
Using a harness Natalie creates, Sunset hovers over the area and successfully pulls Anna out of the quicksand. Gratitude fills the girl's heart as she thanks her red friend for saving her. The tired archer is helped onto a towel and given a second cloth so she can wipe herself off. Afterward, Sunset decides to give her teammate Anna a few minutes to recover. She uses that time to practice flying with her heavier wings.
“To answer ye question candidly… perhaps our queen prefers a variety of terrains.” Replies Lance sarcastically. “Her Majesty did advise us to watch out fir trouble and ye honestly walked into it.”
“Honestly, that is not helping.” Anna grumpily quirks as she continues to breathe heavily after her encounter with the quicksand. Looking at the map she wonders. “Jez, how are we supposed to find anything with only one map and it doesn’t even have an elevation diagram? ”
In order not to delay the team any further, the archer gets up to clean off the gooey sand. Anna is ready to continue after a quick rinse with water arrows. As she turns to return the towels to Matt, she discovers they are monogrammed with the letters GR, Goldenbrick resort!
Anna is angry with Matt for once again pilfering random items. Turning around, she attempts to speak with the kleptomaniac swordsman but stops. He is spotted near a quicksand pool. With the help of Nolegs, Matt is sticking poles around the quicksand. Being so light, Nolegs can move closer so Matt can mark the boundaries of the hazards by outlining the edges. Anna recalls the same red-tipped warning sticks were placed around a bridge that was under construction.
The archer is surprised the swordsman would take the time in the middle of a vital quest to warn fellow travelers of the danger. She quietly tucks the towel into her storage. Using all of her stealth the green-haired girl rejoins the other team members.
A short journey takes the team back into the ruins of the once-great cat city. Suddenly the sand shifts to reveal a giant camouflaged slime with two cacti on its head. Immediately, the team prepares their weapons for battle.
Before the team can react, the slime smashes its body into the ground and expels a foul-smelling cloud from itself. The stirred-up debris combines with the slime mist to create a sandstorm. Matt quickly attempts signals a pre-prepared plan to the rest of the crew, but the sandstorm makes it difficult to see.
Natalie’s staff spins a wind spell to blow away the sand. This unfortunately mades the sandstorm debris heavier. Matt glares at Natalie for deteriorating the situation. Natalie’s sheepish expression is stopped when she sees the hissing feline. Jumping onto the mage’s shoulder, Nolegs ‘mews’ at the left side area. Suddenly, numerous sharp-needled cacti appear from the ground. As a result of Nolegs’s warning, the team can avoid them. A glow from Matt’s sword signals the team to prepare for the next wave.
High above the sandstorm, the dragon is carefully gauging the battle. Sunset has flown over the sandstorm to find the hidden monster. The sand-colored slime is well camouflaged but its green head cacti are not. When Sunset sees two green shapes traveling in the storm, she dives down to attack.
Sensing danger from above, the slime shoots cactus spikes at its assailant. However, the crimson dragon dodges the assault. Sunset uses her momentum to slash at the monster with her claws, but the large slime is surprisingly agile and jumps out of the way. Several more cactus needle bombardments are evaded by the dragon before the slime is maneuvered into a better offensive position.
Seizing her chance, Sunset flies lower to the ground and waits for the slime to jump again. She did not have to wait long before it attempts to crush her. Once again, the monster launches into the air, but the clever dragon has learned its movements. Judging where the slime will land, Sunset hurriedly moves aside to reveal a previously hidden ice spike. A loud splat confirms the monster crashed into the trap at high speed. Carefully, the dragon approaches the defeated foe. Upon being surprised by the spike, the slime was unable to dodge it and was immediately dispatched. Breathing a sigh of relief, Sunset watches the storm calm down and the rest of the encircling cacti wither.
Following the sound of coughing, the dragon finds her teammates covered in sand. Sunset helps the team walk over to a fallen stone slab to recover. Then cast a healing spell to help them clear out their dust-filled lungs.
Matt shakes the dust out of his boots and goggles when he notices Sunset. “Hurray!” Cheers the swordsman while hopping on one foot and waving his other boot. “Sunny-gal! You changed back!”
Sunset looks down at herself and is happy to see her old dragon form. However, something is still bothering her, but she decides not to mention it.
"Thanks," Sunset rubs her head and looks around, "Anyway, shall we continue through the ruins? I hope no more monsters stand in our way. What’s wrong with me? I’m not normally so emotional."
Matt is sitting on a statue base adjusting his travel packs, "Nah if our team encounters some dangerous beasts, we will slay them all." The others roll their eyes as they continue to travel together.
Her friend Anna suspected something was troubling Sunset. “You know we like all of your forms.” Adds Natalie. The archer hugs Sunset. “After all, as the saying goes… beauty begins when you decide to be yourself.”
Footsteps echo through the ruins for the first time in many years. Higher up the hill the abandoned structures are better preserved. The team is happy to be able to walk on a paved stone road compared to the previous sandy trail. Rounding a corner, they see the Temple of the Godcats on top of a cliff in the distance.
An irregular distant movement makes Anna stop checking the map. A low flapping sound is heard by the archer’s sharp hearing. She holds up her hand to alert the team. This noise also awakens Nolegs resting in Anna’s back pouch. Nolegs's ears go back. Jumping onto a broken pedestal, Anna gestures toward the approaching danger to the team.
There is no wind, however, two pieces of dusty fabric are floating through the ruins. When the group comes in to view, the textiles slink in their direction. Suddenly, they accelerate. Throughout their experience, the team has learned to always be prepared to defend themselves against monsters when they attack.
Numerous light projectiles are fired from the fabrics toward the team, but they are halted by a shield created by Natalie. Sunset prepares to teleport behind the textile monsters, however, Anna begins an arrow assault first. An arrow plugs into the first fabric with no visible damage. Lance stops Anna from firing another arrow and gestures to the attacking monsters. To the archer’s surprise, the first fabric absorbs the arrow. A torrent of copied arrows bombards the team. Strange sounds ring through the deserted streets again as arrows bounce off Natalie’s buffer.
Fluffing itself up the other cloth randomly changes sparkling colors. Sunset quickly covers Anna’s eyes. “Don’t look at it! It will hypnotize you.”
As Lance is setting up his big gun, he signals Sunset for a specific spell. A large fireball bursts from the dragon. The sparking sphere arcs past the fabric monsters before halting in the sky just above them. Lance’s cannon is now charged. He takes a deep breath, pulls the trigger, and fires an explosive shot between the troublesome fabrics. The resulting explosion makes the cloth monsters fly backward towards the fireball and are instantly incinerated.
Natalie cheers, "That was a perfect shot, Lance!"
Lance rubs his head, "Oh, no need to do that." Then he turns his head to the embarrassed archer, "Now ye knows you shouldn't shoot a physical arrow at a flicker creature."
Anna starts breathing quickly, "I-it was my mistake, but what can I do? I-I never learned how to do ghost enchantments..."
Natalie walks up behind the hyperventilating Anna to calm her. Together they take a deep cleansing breath of air and exhale it while placing their hands over their chests.
Patting the archer's back, "Don't worry, I can give you a quick lesson.” Natalie counsels. “Plus this may be a good time to think about a strategy for getting up to the top of that cliff." Anna smiles and does her best to understand her friend’s charm arrow explanation.
Continuing towards the temple, the team has no alternative but to pass through a circular stone gate. There are two poles on either side of the locked entry. Charmed runes prevent circumventing the structure. The team looks for another way through without success. Sunset is especially irked as she cannot fly or teleport around it. She is preparing to hit the gate with a fireball when Matt stops her.
Wearing a wide smirk, Matt removes a small metal box hidden by some rocks. Inside are two red orbs. He plugs them into the holes on either side of the gate’s poles. Electric sparks arc from the orbs and the rocky gateway grinds open. “Lady’s first.” Announces the swordsman as he proudly saunters over to the open gate and gives an exaggerated bow.
Anna and Natalie walk carefully through the gate first. The space on the other side of the gate ends with a hairpin turn lined with a stone wall. While Natalie watches for trouble from the other side, Anna quietly looks around the corner, and the signs are all clear. The rest of the group quickly follow. As the gate is on a timer, it closes behind them.
Natalie motions for the rest of the team to crouch down and stay silent. A strange and unfamiliar sound is emanating from the top of the mountain. Soon the archer returns with a report.
“Over here!” gestures Anna breathlessly before leading everyone to a hidden vantage point. Beyond the stone wall of the gate is a large flat field. The sounds become louder and more rhythmic. Peering out from their hiding place, the team is amazed at the source of the commotion.
“Cats?” questioned Matt.
Natalie quickly covers the swordsman’s mouth with her hand. “Shush, they’ll hear us.”
Anna checks her map carefully for a way around the numerous felines, however, the area is surrounded by tall sharp rocks and steep ravines. A readout from Lance’s scanner confirms their fears.
“Ok, so the only way to the temple is through that long open area, which is full of boogying cats.” Whispered Matt frustrated. He looked back at the multitude of felines in disbelief. The cats were drinking, shaking maracas, and dancing around a large statue “This is unbelievable, it’s some kind of a cat cult.”
Anna whimpers, "Are we too late? Has the Godcat already been summoned?"
“We had enough trouble with the last two fur balls.” Moans Matt.
“This way of thinking is not likely to help us find a solution,” Sunset says. “Come on now. We have faced tough adversaries before and defeated them all together.”
Nolegs boldly jumps onto Sunset's back and ‘mews.’
“You’re right Nolegs you did land a hit on one of the cats so they are not invincible.” Replies Sunset to the proud blue feline.
“Indeed,” added Lance. “Everything has a weakness, even those two evil kitties.”
“Their names are Diana and Amelia...” Says Sunset but no one heard her.
“You’re right if we can hit those fur balls, then we can beat them.” Says Matt.
“Ye may be able to sneak around the cat cult with a bit of stealth." Suggests Lance. "First, we'll have to get into that area.”
Matt smirks, "All right, we can just walk around..." He then notices another gateway, "Eh? Who built this thing? There was only supposed to be one stone gate, not two.”
“Oh well,” whispers Matt excitedly to himself. He pokes around the dirt with his sword until the blade hits something metal. The swordsman digs up another metal box with two more red orbs inside. Then, he turns around to face the team. “What? I’ve stashed red linker orbs all over the countryside in case of portal emergencies.”
Stepping through the second portal before it closes, the team is, fortunately, able to slip in unnoticed by jumping into a trench in front of a pile of rubble. The layout on the other side is similar to the 1st stone gate with the acceptance of two statues blocking the exit. Each figure is shaped like a cat with two thick arms covered in sharp spikes.
Matt kicks the statue in frustration and asks, "Lance, do you have some bomb to destroy this thing? These ‘ancient cat things’ are starting to get to me."
A mewl comes from Nolegs and the blue feline points his sword at Matt.
“Eh, sorry Nolegs buddy.” Responds Matt sheepishly. “Present company excluded.”
Lance opens his dimension pocket and starts searching, "Well, let’s..." Suddenly the statue's eyes flash and one of them slams its arms into the distracted Matt, causing him to crash into Natalie. Scraping and grinding noises from the other statue announce it’s also active. Both statues move stiffly from the wall at first, revealing more of their spike-covered bodies.
A yellow beam shoots from a statue towards the team who dodges the attack. Sunset quickly casts an earth protection spell on Matt and Natalie who are still stunned by the surprise attack. Fortunately, they recover quickly and get ready for combat.
"They’re some kind of guardian monoliths." Sunset speculates with Lance. Looking around the ditch she adds. “Great and we’re stuck in this gully like fish in a barrel.”
"Agreed." Says Lance. The gunner passes Nolegs a grenade. “Here ye is, this will do more damage than yer sword.” The cat smiles.
“Oh well. So much for stealth.” Says Matt. He and Sunset nod before charging at the stone sentinels.
Some electric "birds" are created by one of the monoliths glowing yellow. The glowing flock rockets towards their objectives. Disruptor arrows shoot down many of the objects before they reach their targets. Natalie chants a spell as Matt and Lance move in front of her to destroy the rest of them.
Sunset teleports in front of the first monolith and attempts to use the "Wyvern Slash" attack but the monster counterattacks with a mortar shot from its mouth. It is swiftly dodged by the nimble dragon.
The second sentinel’s arm glows as it is trying to attack but Lance shoots an explosive projectile to prevent it. Behind the gunner, the air crackles as Natalie’s spell is complete.
Sunset and Matt are fighting the first monolith when some of its spikes morph into red crystals. These crystals burst into flames. Matt is surprised when a fire dragon flies toward them but Sunset is quite annoyed. She slams the staff into the monolith's eye. It roars in pain but stops moving long enough for Sunset to breathe fire onto it. Matt charges his sword and valiantly dashes toward the overheated statue. A blue mist emanates from the swordsman’s blade. Reaching the sentinels, Matt jumps into Sunset's claws and is spring boarded over the blazing statue. Upon contact with the ice sword, the flame monolith shatters into pieces.
When it realizes its fellow has been destroyed, the other monolith glows white as if to prepare for another attack. Appropriately, the sentinel is unable to move thanks to Nadine’s power drain spell. Nolegs lobs the grenade inside the paralyzed monolith’s mouth. This is followed by several of Anna’s gummy arrows. After the grenade explodes inside the monster, it falls apart.
Lance congratulates Anna, "Nice job." He then notices that she's aiming for something. An arrow flies close to Matt’s head. When he turns to look at the ground, he notices a camouflaged construct that looks like a white bird now has an arrow piercing it.
“Everyone freeze!” cries out Nadine. Holding out her staff she expands the still active draining hex. The ditch walls glow and then seem to sputter out. Everyone gasps as hundreds of previously invisible energy “birds” fall lifeless to the ground.
“Amazing Nat!” praises Sunset. “I assumed that the magic I felt was only residual from the monoliths!
Matt immediately jumps back, "Whoa, invisible foes. Now that is difficult to handle."
Anna sighs in relief, "I still can't make ghost arrows yet. It’s a lucky thing Natalie made some for me to try!" Nolegs meows from on top of her shoulder. “Thanks! Good job to you too Nolegs.”
While watching Anna scratch Nolegs’s ears the team suddenly froze in realization. “Oh no… the cult cats!” they all cried in unison.
“Um. I think everyone should see this." Natalie replies seriously. The mage had climbed out of the ditch and was standing on the rim. Anna hurriedly scaled the walls with Nolegs.
Fearing the outcome, Sunset grabs the remaining team members and flew out of the trench. The whole team stares out at the exposed landscape in disbelief.
“Ah! It’s gone!” cries Matt. The swordsman franticly checks his other storage bags for the missing “culinary delicacy” planned for dinner, oblivious to the poorly hidden smirks from the rest of the team. “Where is it? I found the cacti but where is the rest of that monster?”
“Um... we could eat something else. After all, we have defeated other monsters.” Suggests Anna.
“Don’t be silly. We can’t eat rocks.” Replied Matt with a straight face.
***Later tales about the legendary heroes would whisper about the subsequent eye roll that was believed to be of truly epic proportions.***
A barbecued cactus along with other provisions is enjoyed by the team (except for Matt, who is still pouting). Anna has now had time to reflect on the day's events after sitting down in front of the campfire. After viewing the open area at the top of the trench, the archer is very glad to break camp for the night.
“So… that ditch was a trap.” States Anna quietly.
“Yea, and a very clever one at that." Says Lance. He puts down his plate and reaches over to check the map again.
“Where do you think the cats disappeared to?" asks Anna. “That whole area is empty.”
Sunset sighs. Looking over the wide empty field again, she states. “I don’t know Anna. But one thing is for certain, the godcats now know we are coming.”
“Um… Sunset do you know how to do ghost enchantments?” asked Anna embarrassingly “I’m trying hard to understand the instructions Natalie gave me for those charm arrows but I just can’t get it.”
“Anna, while I know about those spells, my strength is elemental enchantment." Sunset admits. The dragon had seen her friend Nadine out of the corner of her eye and didn’t want to hurt her feelings. “Natalie is the most suitable person to teach you charms. You saw how she sensed that invisible trap.”
After looking around, the dragon spots Natalie ‘innocently’ standing by the fire. Sunset calls out to Natalie as she walks over to her spot. “Can you do me a favor?”
Natalie and Sunset give each other a knowing look. Sunset leaned over closer to her friend to whisper. “Nat, I meant every word. We may both be mages but have different strengths. Plus our friend needs help…”
“Agreed.” Whispers Natalie. “Well, shall we teach our friend together?”
“Yes, together.” Responds Sunset happily. The pair walked over to the archer to offer a dual lesson.
Anna happily accepted the offer. Her bright smile hid her true intentions. “Ha, it worked! So glad those two are no longer jealous of each other’s abilities and trying to outdo one another.”
Lessons continued after dark. Since Natalie and Anne were still talking, Sunset asked to be excused to get some rest. As she walked to her tent, the dragon suddenly realized what had been bothering her. Searching through her packs, Sunset locates the object of contention.
Sunset lay down in her tent, looking at an item she had not seen in years. All of the recent fights with the godcats had made the dragon remember some painful memories. She looked at the spinning pendant in her claws—a yin-yang circle. A single tear fell from the dragon’s eye as she reminisced about someone she truly cherished, her teacher the white dragon. “Whitty .”
Several leagues away, a massive sky fortress approaches the ancient city of cats. Along with tanks and planes, it is armed with many heavy weapons. As he walks its halls, Eldaro, now Captain Eldaro, attempts to remain stoic. However, he is as happy as a kid in a candy store on the inside. Despite enjoying the massive citadel, he needs to remain professional to protect the troops now under his command.
Five crystals and seven mages are required to teleport Queen Sabrina and Caption Eldaro to the newly completed fortress due to distance. When it comes to security matters, the Queen completely trusts her old friend. Messages from him about a threat to the world were taken seriously by the ruler. Sabrina smiles warmly. She is glad she was able to convince a man with such experience as Eldaro to lead her soldiers against this new threat.
All of the soldiers have gathered in the large holding area awaiting the announcement of their chosen leader. After some fanfare, Queen Sabrina walks stately onto the balcony overlooking the main hanger. The ruler tries not to appear nervous as she recites a small speech before presenting Captain Eldaro. Most of the defense forces recruited for this mission are younger so they may not trust someone who has recently returned from retirement.
When the Queen sees the inspired faces of her army, her diplomatic face prevents her from revealing how relieved she is. A cheer erupts from several soldiers when they learn that Eldaro is returning as their captain. Since he is well-known for being an experienced strategist who respects others, the soldiers fully support his decision.
Queen Sabrina is delighted to see Captain Eldaro back in action. Eldaro’s inspirational speech stirs up honor, and courage in the troops. Following the assembly, the captain starts a training schedule to prepare the troops for a special simulation.
After the day’s simulation is complete, Sabrina is full of questions about its subject. Eldaro’s training simulates various monsters' attacking troops and locations directly. The queen is more than surprised that her old friend is training for such an event.
Eldaro sensed his friend’s confusion. However he waited until after the training was done before he allowed Sabrina to ask questions. Eldaro knows the queen’s intentions, so he delays their meeting till after the simulation.
Later the pair sit down at a table to relax. By this time Sabrina is bursting with curiosity. "It has been a few years since you have led troops into battle Eldaro. But why instead of training our army to attack and neutralize this threat, you are preparing the troops to be attacked? The hypothetical situations you are proposing are causing a lot of confusion."
Before speaking, Eldaro takes out a wine bottle and two glasses. The man grins as he knows Sabrina can be impatient. Only after leisurely pouring wine for them both of them does he answer, "Our opponents are not normal monsters Sabrina, they are powerful Godcats, so it is wise to prepare for as many possibilities as imaginable. Remember the demon invasion? Many more people would have been killed or injured if we didn’t plan for such incidents."
Sabrina waves her hand, saying, "How can those cats attack this sky fortress? We are 800 leagues away! Your plan involves using highly skilled soldiers to support the legendary heroes from a great distance."
The captain sips his wine before continuing. “I’m confident our forces can successfully support the heroes with the new updated ‘sniper tank.’ Eldaro puts his cup down, "as I said, we have to protect ourselves first before we can help them. If this fortress is down, our heroes will have a hard time without our support." Eldaro looks out the window at the sky, "My gut tells me those powerful felines will not just wait around for our champions to defeat them. So we can’t let our guard down."
Sabrina giggles, "I trust your judgment. Your instinct has a way of coming true."
“Not to worry,” continues Eldaro, “This plan is not all based on instinct. My cousin has a communicator and can provide more of the short-range details.”
The queen nods, "I see. Well, I certainly hope we are all just being overcautious.”
“Speaking of being cautious, is that bird around? I have a special job for her.
A short time later, Silver, a creature with beautiful shiny wings comes into Eldaro’s room. Silver and Eldaro have not seen each other in a while and greet one another like old friends. When Silver spots Eldaro she wastes no time in giving him a wing hug.
“I heard you are now a Captain as well, so congratulations are in order, Captain Silver.” Says Eldaro.
She waves her wings to retort, "I feel like I'm still not as good as you. To me, you remain my savior who has taught me so much."
Eldaro sighs, "All right, no need to praise me like that, I hate praising. Anyway, I have a job that only you can accomplish, can you do it?"
"Please continue," says Silver.
"You, Silver, must fly high in order to spot any advanced threats to this fortress. I also need you to send two soldiers to a high location to aid in scouting the area."
"Why is that?" Silver rubs her head by her wing, "Do you think something is about to happen?”
"That's right, you guessed it." Silver blushes in response to Eldaro's praise, but he tells her, "But anyway, to teleport something over 800 leagues distance is not easy, especially in an army."
"Yes sir," Silver replies as she flies away. Eldaro sips his wine and does his best to not worry. “Sunset Shimmer. Things always seem to happen when you’re involved.”
As Natalie draws an arrow with some wind element symbol around the ground, she asks, "Are you clear about the enchanting arrow?" She carries on, "You have to decide which element you want to use, which target you want to shoot, and how much mana you want to add to the arrow. If you use too much, Sunset and I will need to take a long time to heal you."
Having been exhausted after the lessons, Anna is lying on the ground. “Me and my big mouth… (Groan)” Despite being exhausted, the archer rubs her head to alleviate her headache.
"Wait... is it already morning?" Anne stares at the rising sun. "Oh, I wanted to ask you about that cool draining spell..."
A nearby tent flap opens to reveal Sunset. After a morning yawn and a few stretches, the dragon picks up two bottles in her claws. She gives Anna one of the mana potions and explains to her, "Well, the cursing spell is simple. It is the opposite of the blessing spell. Since it is getting late or should I say early, maybe we can have that lesson another time."
Feeling rejuvenated after drinking the mana potion, Anna perks up. "Sorry, I don't completely understand how these spells work yet, but thank you both for your lessons."
Sunset spots Anna’s other teacher and hands her the second brew. Natalie was grateful for the energy drink after a long night of teaching enchantments.
“Thanks! Guess I got a little carried away,” replies Natalie tiredly. “Wow! These are great!” She added after drinking Sunset's tonic. “With your potion-making skills, you can start your own business. Believe me, I have tasted some bad-tasting concoctions. If you can make these regenerating potions taste delicious too it’s a win-win.”
“In addition to some clover honey and spices, I followed the basic recipe.” Responds Sunset. “Maybe my taste buds changed when I transformed into a dragon. ”
“At least we are safe from another questionable meal.” Answers Natalie sarcastically. “By the way, how did you make that slime disappear? I’ve tried to ditch some of Matt’s dubious ingredients for years but always got caught.”
“I thought that incident was you. Guess it is a mystery for another time,” Sunset answers.
The pair stopped talking after hearing rustling from inside the other tents. They nodded before walking over to the fire pit. As Natalie wiped off the dew from the makeshift seats, the sunset rekindled the fire for the morning coffee.
After their normal routine of breaking camp, the team gathers at the edge of the open field. Several of the ruined walls are broken down enough for the team to observe how high they have gotten. While Sunset carefully flies around the area, looking for trouble, Lance scans as wide as his device can run.
No enemies are spotted so the team regrouped at the entrance to the field. Anna holds the map out like a shield in front of her. The archer seemed focused on two pillars off into the distance.
“What’s wrong Anna?” asks Natalie. “You’re shivering. I have a warmer cloak.”
“I’m not cold. It’s just there are no trees or shrubs around for cover. There is so much open space,” The archer replies. She rubs her hands on her arms for comfort.
"Don't worry, Anna," Matt says as he stepped over some abandoned musical instruments. “If anything tries to attack us, we will see it from a long distance away.”
“It’s just a bit spooky out here. Yesterday this whole space was full of cats playing instruments, but now it is just abandoned and full of discarded items. It’s like we are the last creatures on earth(en).” Says Anna nervously. “What monstrous thing could have scared all the cult cats away?”
The journey across the open area was uneventful. Several hours later, the team navigated along the ancient ruins with only the wind to accompany them. Their path eventually leads to a small platform capped by two pillars. An icicle covered entrance to a cavern is barely visible through the degraded structure.
“Not another ice cave..." sighs Matt. The swordsman stands dispassionately at the entrance of the new obstacle. "I hope this cave is not as cold as the one near Whitefall Village."
Lance pats his back, "Just go inside already, ye are our leader, right?"
"Right." Matt starts to walk over the raised area towards the cave entrance but immediately jumps back. He gasps as many arrows now cover his previous spot.
A squishing noise emanating from the platform interrupts the previously eerie silence. Arcs of electricity dance off of the ruined posts. In the first pillar, a bow and two inhuman limbs emerge. As the two pillars glow in different colors, they morph into clay golems. An electric spear is formed by the yellow golem while the green golem shoots multiple arrows.
Sunset spins around to knock the spear away from the yellow golem with her tail. Meanwhile, Matt uses earth magic to create dirt walls to block the arrows. The green clay aims for the team’s mage but Nolegs distracts the monster while Matt slams his sword into the ground. He creates an earthen wave that knocks the golem over. A glowing arrow plunges into the fallen green clay. The immobile monster cannot remove the projectile before it is penetrated by a second arrow. Upon contact with the first arrow, the second arrow rapidly sparks and ignites. The catalyst reaction spreads until the whole monster is covered in flames.
Despite the yellow clay's ability to create spears, Lance's shots destroy them. Shooting off the monster's arm causes it to grow a brand-new one. With its spears failing, the golem charges at the gunner but it splats into an ice wall. A magic circle appears above its head and ice spikes rain from the ring. Before the spikes can hit the clay, it hurdles itself over the barrier and flattens its legs. The monster attempts to reform its legs but is not fast enough to avoid the swordsman's trap. A binding earth spell tethers the monster to the spot. Overhead Sunset has shifted to her more hefty red form. Dropping her full weight on the yellow golem, it bursts apart with a loud splat.
As Sunset is cleaning her feet, she glances back at the green clay. She is amazed to see the other monster is now reduced to a pile of ashes. Sunset and Natalie look at each other after witnessing the green golem’s fiery demise. “We’ve created a monster…”
Matt is leaning on his sword, breathing hard. “Next time you are going first." Matt pants at the gunner.
Sunset rolls her eyes as she continues to venture inside the cave with the Team without knowing what kind of dangers they have to face inside.
It is completely dark inside the ice cave. Sunset and Natalie create some circling fireballs to illuminate the narrow tunnel path. Nolegs is on Sunset’s back using his night vision to spot trouble. The team is surprised to see a row of torches on the wall. Following the torches, they come up to some carvings depicting cats lining the walls. Further down the tunnel, the bas-reliefs become more elaborate. Multi-colored crystals and gem-covered stalactites cover the ceiling.
"Wow! The cat temple extends down here.” Anna remarks as she pokes at one of the columns. “This part of the temple is completely carved from ice. Why hasn't it melted after all these years?"
Natalie explains, “These Mountains must have some strange magical properties. It's really warm outside, yet there's ice in here."
Lance complains, "Ye are still finding it extremely difficult to believe that those small fur-bags built all of this …OUCH! Ah! Nolegs?"
“Ha-ha! Good job Nolegs.” Chuckles Sunset. “He needs to respect the achievements of hardworking cats.” The dragon is so impressed by the details of the carvings she casts a copy- image spell to enjoy them later.
Nolegs hops back onto Sunset's back. His shield is still out after its creative use on the gunner.
In response to Lance's head rub, the other team members laugh.
Sunset notes, "This building complex is pretty impressive. Despite what we've heard and determined about the Godcats, it doesn't seem unreasonable to believe that this complex was built by cats. After all, I originally came from a world of intelligent ponies..."
Sunset’s speech is interrupted by heavy stomps coming from down the tunnel. Turning around, the team sees a giant ice golem carrying a spiked club and shield walking toward them.
“Oh no! Not another golem…” sighs Matt. “Come on Dragon Shimmer… This is the third one in a row already!”
“Eh? What are you doing Matt?” inquired Sunset.
“Oh, I’m trying to jazz up this filler chapter.” Replies Matt cheerfully.
Before Sunset could process this latest Matt moment, the ice golem swings its barbed weapon at the team. She immediately uses "Dragon Fire" to attack the monster. The golem raises its ice shield but it is quickly melted. In order to distract the golem, Nolegs hops on its head while the dragon shoots a fireball at it.
The narrow tunnel walls make limited room for the battle. Matt slides under the golem and slashes its leg with his blade but the ice feels abnormally dense. Looking at the golem's leg, the swordsman realizes it is made of stone covered in ice. Matt yells this news to the rest of the group.
The Golem is angry at the swordsman for his injury and tried to stomp on him. However, Lance shoots at the monster's exposed stone injury while Nolegs dumps sticky paint onto its eyes. Losing its purchase, the ice monster falls over. The spiked club impacts an adjacent wall and showers the team with ice and rock debris. However, Natalie’s shield spell protects everyone.
Anna shoots several arrows at the golem. In the process of raining down arrows on the monster, a magic circle under the monster is charged. Several large explosions hit the Golem's body as the last volley of arrows hit it, and it is shattered into pieces.
“Oh no Anna!” shouts Sunset as the cave shakes from the detonations. The dragon pushes the archer towards Natalie’s buffer. Then Sunset frantically adds power to the mage’s shield spell.
Anna steps back nervously, "Eh... somethings wrong?"
“Yes we’re in a cave!” shouts Sunset pointing up to the ceiling.
Anna's eyes reluctantly follow Sunset’s claws up towards the embedded crystal and stalactite arrangement. The previous rumbling noise of the ice monster is slowly changing to a high ringing sound. The archer’s eyes widen when she realizes the sound is the crystals vibrating against each other. A loud crack snaps the archer’s mind back into reality.
“RUN!” shouts Lance. The team slide, stumble and jump over the remains of the ice monster in a mad dash down the tunnel. Overhead, the over-vibrated crystals start to crack. The sparkling minerals shatter resulting in a deadly rain of sharp crystals. Without the surrounding gems, the stalactites also drop to the floor as icy daggers which explode into a cloud of choking dust.
The team collapses to the floor after escaping from the cave-in. Anna looks away from her teammates as she attempts to catch her breath. Lance looks back at the previous chamber and shakes his head.
“Ok, looks like the only way out is forward.” Says Natalie.
“New rule, Arrow-girl." Matt gasps, still out of breath. “No more throwing things into caverns that make loud booms while any of us are still inside.”
“Eh …oops.” Anna looks very embarrassed and is trying to make herself small. Nolegs hops on the archer's shoulder to comfort her. Then the cat ‘mews’ and points his sword at a corner.
“Isn’t that light over there?” asks Natalie.
A shaft of golden light is seen the distance. The team thankfully moves towards the light, which appears to be the exit. After spending so much time in the darkness sunlight feels wonderful.
Noticing some of the sun’s rays seem to shift colors. Lance grabs his scanner and announces there is an unknown life form approaching. A single rhombus-shaped ruby crystal casualty rolls through the sky. Sunlight passing through the red crystal seems to distort. In a flash of scarlet light, the rectangle becomes two crystals, then four, then eight. Sunlight starts to reflect off the rhombus-shaped gems on the team. As the light passes through the crystals, it transforms into deadly laser bursts.
Lance and Matt try to hit the crystals but the glare from their reflective surfaces blinds everyone. Attempting to seek cover, Sunset forms an impromptu ice shield. In order to avoid the crystals, Sunset throws a small chunk of ice at the rhombus crystals. Projectiles are blocked by the crystal shield formed by the crystals.
Anne is having issues with the crystal monster's glare attack. Any attempt to use her bow fails until Sunset throws ice pieces into the air. Since the ice reduces the glare, the archer notices something odd about one of the rhombus crystals. After taking a deep breath, Anna aims an arrow at one crystal in particular. Her shot shatters it into pieces. After the crystal is destroyed, the rest of the hovering gems break apart and fall from the sky.
The team cheers Anna for her quick thinking and accuracy. High on a ridge, the temple of the cats looms closer.
Many leagues away, Captain Eldaro is inspecting the army’s newest weapons. The first weapon was a long-distance missile launcher. Eldaro wanted several guns ready in case the soldiers needed to directly attack the Temple of the Cats. Despite the weapon’s novel status, the captain made sure all of the soldiers were trained to use it.
The engineer is explaining the features of another armament, a sniper tank. Eldaro admires the design of the unit and even climbs inside to sit in the seat as the designer is speaking. It is much larger than the army’s standard tank with an extended barrel and advanced scanners. Despite his high status, Eldaro cannot help but grin as he moves around in the tank’s cockpit.
"Enjoying the toys?" Queen Sabrina asks jokingly, "I hope there are not any issues."
“Not so far." Eldaro answers, the captain takes out a pen and notepad and begins checking a list. Turning to the engineer he enquires "I was curious about how many days can the ship stay aloft?"
The engineer answers, "About a month. Even if that fuel suddenly becomes depleted, we'll still be able to float like this for another week on reserve battery."
Eldaro ticks his pen in satisfaction, "Good we don't have anything to worry about there.”
“Do you know there are any updates or new reports on the heroes' progress?" he asks the Queen.
Sabrina smirks, "Why don’t you see for yourself. This sky fortress is designed for long-range battles. Come! I'll accompany you to the main scanners. With this new technology, we can spy on them in total safely." She leads the old captain into the bridge.
An elegant white cat floating in a blue aura looks out at the landscape from her private balcony. It has been a long time since the godcat Amelia was in the sacred temple. She secretly misses the picturesque view. The serenity of the moment is broken when her all-seeing orb begins to flash, indicating that something is watching her. With a swipe of her paw, the feline observes the scene.
“What is troubling you sister?” inquires Diana. Another godcat enters the room with a red aura covering her black fur.
“Those human-things on that floating metal box think they can spy on us.” Replies Amelia crossly. “But we will defeat them all no matter where they are.”
“The other human-lings are still walking up our sacred mountain.” Says Diana. “Be pleased sister, as I have stolen all of the fresh meat from when they slew our sandstorm monster. So now they aren't much of a threat. Those human-lings will get sluggish without proper food.”
“Well done, indeed.” replies Amelia. “It is a pity we could not use our followers against them.”
“It couldn’t be helped, sister.” Replied Diana. “After all, our followers assumed the loud rumbling noises created by those human-lings was an approaching rainstorm. No cat wants to get wet.”
Amelia turns back to her all seeing orb. The humans are in the lower slope of the great sanctuary looking for way around a riven.
“I don’t like those human-lings getting so close.” Observes Diana.
“They are just some stupid human-things.” Says Amelia.
“Yes, but human-lings with a cat and a dragon.” Replies Diana. “I was attacked by the traitor cat. A white dragon-thing defeated us before and that other dragon-thing stole our power.”
“That traitor cat hit you. I cannot forgive that.” Adds Amelia angrily.
Diana replies. “That cat took me by surprise but it won’t happen again. It would also be foolish to underestimate the dragon-ling. That is why the machine needs to be repaired as soon as possible.”
Amelia huffs, "Don't be like that. They can't beat our power."
Diana retorts, "We will still need our own machine. Remember that cats possess more power than humans-things, not intelligence. That flying metal ship is much more advanced than the balloons they used before."
“Look at this sister.” Calls Amelia as she points to the orb. “The human-lings at the bottom of the temple have given up.” They both watch some of the team scratch their heads and others start setting up tents. “The silly human-lings appear to be stuck.”
The orb flashes again indicating another potential threat. Amelia turns to her little sister, "Looks like more humans-things want to interfere with us. Come and watch." The sphere viewing shifts to the sky fortress.
It is a busy scene in the main scoping room of the floating battleship. While some technicians and soldiers check the equipment, others are preparing data sheets. Screens of every type fill the chamber with images from around the ship and its surroundings. As one of the soldiers tries to stifle his yawn, he fails.
“Double shifts again.” Mutters another soldier sipping some coffee. “What’s up with this high alert status? We’re a million leagues away from those fur balls.”
One of the officers hastily stands up to announce Queen Sabrina and Captain Eldaro’s arrival. The rest of the crew immediately jump to attention as the pair enter the room.
“At ease everyone.” Prompts Eldaro. “We are not here to assign any more tasks at this moment. Now, who has a copy of the last location of the heroes?”
“It’s here Sir.” Announces one of the other officers as he hands the captain a small folder.
Eldaro turns to Sabrina while opening the folder. “There seems to have been some obstacles in the way of the heroes and only now have they reached the edge of the main building. They may not reach the inner sanctuary for a few more days at the current rate.”
“You see.” Adds the Queen proudly. “The heroes have not even gotten into a position where we can aid them yet. This crew and this advanced battle craft are completely safe from harm. All of this fuss for two little cats that cannot do anything to us. If anything happens the ship’s scanners will warn us in plenty of time.”
Diana and Amelia watch this conversation in shock.
“Those arrogant human-things! How dare they think we can be mocked without consequence.” Cries Amelia angrily. “Sister! We need to take revenge for being so insulted!”
Diana agrees. The dark cat creates a portal and gestures to the older sister when it is complete. Amelia has already created some monsters to send though the gateway.
Eldaro stretches in his chair. Having completed the ship's inspection, he and Sabrina retire to his quarters to relax. The queen ordered the captain to rest after he started to yawn while on the bridge.
“Dang-it Sabrina! I’m not senile yet.” Gripes Eldaro. “Those tanks… (Yawn)”
"Those tanks can be brought outside to support the heroes tomorrow. Now stop worrying!" replies Sabrina. The queen hands the captain a glass of juice.
High on a hill, a huge tank with a very long scope is getting a tune-up. Despite their thick coats, the technicians shiver in the cold wind. They stop working when they hear a strange noise.
Eldaro’s involuntary relaxation is cut short by a loud buzzer. The captain’s door is thrown open by a distraught officer.
“Silver!” Yells Eldaro over the blaring alarm, "What’s going on?"
"Sir, we have a report from the sniper tank’s maintenance crew of a large portal. It’s ejecting numerous black slimes, strangle vines, and other dangerous monsters. Our soldiers are out fighting now." Silver answers anxiously pointing to a nearby monitor.
“Why aren’t the lighter tanks and infantry backing the troops up?” Asks Eldaro.
“Sorry Sir. One of the attacking monsters damaged the hatch. It’s being repaired, however, we can’t launch the other support vehicles,” Replies Silver. “However the monster’s targeted goal appears to be the sniper tank.”
Eldaro slams his hands on the table and stands up, "Command the troops to protect that tank with everything they got. Without it, we cannot assist our heroes. Lead the way, Captain Silver! Let’s back up the defense force."
"Yes, sir." Silver flies down the hallway, followed by Eldaro and Sabrina.
Soldiers are trying to shoot a huge golem, but it is much too strong for their weapons. In addition, the spikey slimes are causing problems. Many troops are injured by the monsters barbs when they explode. Malevolently, the golem advances on the sniper tank. However, before it can reach the tank, Sabrina attacks. The queen throws her boomerang and cuts off one of the golem's arms.
The enraged monster turns its attention away from the tank and onto the attacker. The boomerang returns to the queen's waiting hands. When the bladed object is thrown back at the golem, it starts to glow. Sabrina snaps her fingers and the boomerang responds by multiplying itself. Numerous boomerangs then slash the golem to pieces until it falls in defeat.
Sabrina is now breathing hard due to the expended mana. Eldaro suddenly pushes her behind the tank as another slime explodes. The captain shoots at some of the monsters with rockets forcing them to fall backwards off the cliff.
"Please don't use the spell like that in this situation," Eldaro says to Sabrina while running around the side of the tank. Spikes from the exploding slimes are unsuccessfully hitting the metal side. "It takes a long time to use that incantation and it uses a lot of energy right?"
"Got it," Sabrina responds, still trying to catch her breath. She and Eldaro quickly climb aboard the tank. Three members of the crew are already inside. After a quick introduction, the captain orders the machine to be warmed up and armed. Eldaro sees the monsters outside are increasing in numbers so he quickly scans the area for their source.
Captain Eldaro grins when he spots the large anomaly before turning to the queen. “Sorry your majesty, but we need you to be our point of contact since the entire crew isn't on board. Those monsters are have too much of an advantage. But first, we need to get the troops under cover so we can start using this baby.”
Sabrina quickly relays the captain’s orders to the ground troops through the communications relay. The soldiers dive for protection when they see the huge gun barrel aimed at the swarm of monsters. Some of the troops as with previous practice drills have run to either side of the monsters with their detonation packs.
"All right, team, turn the muzzle to 5 degrees to the right. And wait for my command. Let’s give the ground troops some relief!” orders Captain Eldaro. “And… FIRE!”
"Yes, sir!" replies the tank's gunner enthusiastically. A thunderous roar shoots out from the barrel as it fires a round into the attacking monsters. After a few more shells are lobbed, the numbers of monsters has diminished but there are still many advancing. Eldaro is still waiting for the right moment to spring the trap. He corrals the monsters close to the north edge of the hill.
"Ready Sabrina?" Asked Eldaro. The queen grins and nods as she adjusts the head phones. "Then let them have it!"
On either side of the monsters, soldiers hidden in trenches are ordered to throw explosives over the ridge. The detonations trigger a rockslide, sending most of the monsters tumbling down the steep hill. The sudden shift in the ground causes the black spiked slimes to explode around some unlucky monsters.
The queen watches in pride as the troops cheer their victory. Sabrina receives the news everyone has been waiting for, the hatch has been repaired. She quickly signals Eldaro before ordering the other armored vehicles to deploy.
“We’re not out of the woods yet!” Barks Eldaro to the tank’s crew. “Turn the muzzle 15 degrees to the left, up 23 degrees and reload FASTER. Now that the way is clear. Let’s show these cats we mean business and shut this portal down!”
Amelia laughs evilly as she keeps creating monsters to go through the portal. "Witness your punishment foolish human-things! We will destroy your useless metal craft. The white godcat creates a heavy stone golem with spiked clubs for arms as she gloats, “Here’s another one for you sister!”
“Why thank you, little sis!” replies Diana haughtily. The dark cat enlarges the portal she is currently maintaining to accommodate the brand-new monster. “Ha-ha. Take this arrogant Human-ling."
Both cats gleefully watch the lumbering golem pass through the gate towards its target. However, they are unaware of the weapon loaded with its most powerful shell on the other side. The monster emerges at point blank range.
“That monster will destroy those small metal toys!" shouts Diana. Strangely, the gateway of the feline godcat starts crackling with energy. “Eh? What’s wrong with the portal?” Suddenly, Amelia’s newly made titan catapults through the gate. The force of the rock golem careens over the other monsters and demolishes the area.
Amelia moans as she slowly frees herself from the bottom of a pile of slimes. The white godcat hisses as she sees her greasy and unkempt condition. Nearby, a black godcat pushes the last of the boulders off of her body.
“Oh no!” cries Amelia when she sees the state of her sister. Diana waves her paw at her old sister to show the injuries were not serious. The black godcat’s red aura levitated her off the ground and started to heal the wounds.
“Well, the portal is closed," says Diana irritably. “How can they attack the gate when there were so many monsters attacking them?"
"I... I don't know. They have a competent leader?" asks Amelia.
Angrily, Diana stomps her feet, since this is her second failure. A dragon had drained the black cat's power, and now this defeat has done the same to her. As her sister heads for the baths, she reluctantly joins her. Victory will be theirs tomorrow.
After the attack, Eldaro sits down outside the tank and tries to catch his breath. Captain Silver hands him a troop injury and damage report before flying off to check the perimeter again. Eldaro is surprised that despite all of the injuries there were no fatalities. He is determined to visit the hospital as soon as possible. However, he, is too tired to move. Soon, Queen Sabrina jogs over to confirm the injured men were in good spirits and healing well. While she sits next to him, Eldaro notices Sabrina doesn't seem to be tired at all.
Eldaro fells slightly annoyed, "That was an intense battle, so why aren't you more tired?"
“Oh… In all of the excitement, I forgot about my special potion.” Replies Sabrina looking slightly embarrassed. “It is a mana regenerating tonic.”
Eldaro tilts his head, "Who could make such a potion?" Sabrina turns away and whistles. "Seriously, do you not have anyone else to ask except that dragon?" Eldaro asks.
Sabrina rubs her head, "Keep your voice down. She doesn’t want anyone to identify her brews. We know that she will research anything related to magic, right? Additionally, the ingredients in these potions cost a lot. But the results taste delicious and they don’t have any side effects."
Eldaro rolls his eyes at Sabrina’s cheerful mood. Getting up, he walks around the fortress to motivate the crew that is still recovering from the cat’s sneak attack.
Despite their efforts, the team is still stuck at the bottom of the temple, unable to cross a treacherous windy ravine, covered in clouds. As the spell on the grounds prevents teleportation or flying over the obstacle, Sunset was especially mad.
Matt’s earth magic was no good in this situation as he needed to touch the ground to manipulate it. Natalie theorizes the bottom part of the temple belonged to the common cat because there were so many alter-shaped rocks there, while only the high priests and godcats themselves occupied the top.
At a loss on how to cross this latest obstacle, the group decides to discuss some possible solutions. When they cannot come up with a good idea, the topic shifts to Sunset’s homesickness.
After being banished from her home world, the team has always understood the dragon's quiet sadness. Natalie tells Anna how she scanned the capital libraries for magic scrolls with no luck before returning Sunset to her world. Lance and Matt follow up with several tales about raiding dungeons for mystical artifacts.
“That’s enough searching everyone,” Sunset replies gratefully. “It would be nay impossible to find the correct world even if there was such an artifact that could bridge realms.”
“Neigh looking for you former pony world. Ha-ha. Good one Sunset.” Chuckles Matt. The rest of the team groans.
To change the subject, Lance asks the dragon, "So, I hear you graduated from a sniper class, right? Why didn't you attend the magic classes instead?"
Sunset answers, "Well, I found a long-range spell that can shoot a fireball like a sniper rifle. So I enrolled in the course to master the spell. Well... it turned out not to be as simple as I thought."
"HEY, LIZARD! Can you stop choosing the spot that is easy to see?" A blue-haired girl shouts at Sunset as she has been found again, "Are you fighting against a blind rabbit? Sunset tries to retort, but the teacher punches the wall, leaving a hole in it, forcing Sunset to be silent. "Remember, don't reply to anything until I ask you to." the teacher instructs. “Now try to hit me again."
Sunset chooses another spot to practice her skills. Then she pulls out the sniper rifle to aim at the teacher, but the instructor gets the dragon first. During the fifteen minutes the paralyzing shot wears off, the teacher sits on Sunset's belly to torture the dragon for failing.
"Right. It's about time for the stun shot to wear off so you can talk now, lizard." says the instructor sliding off Sunset's belly. "So why are you so terrible at camouflage?"
Sunset explains, "My bright coloring makes it difficult for me to hide, Professor Ocean." However, I have heard that you are a top sniper instructor. Plus you are famous for your ability to shoot distances accurately without a scope. But what kind of a sniper can do that?"
Ocean smirks and holds up a bullet, "That's just because I just want to shoot the highest-quality shots as possible without a crutch. About scoping lizard, yes I have scoped before but you can't always see the target. Well, enough chit-chat, it's time to get back to work. Heh. At least one of us will have a comfortable spot to sit."
"Garr, somehow I’ll get you." Sunset thought angrily.
Ocean giggles, "Nice spirit, lizard. Now you should get up and prepare to be my pillow."
After three months of being 'pillowed', Sunset finally passes the first lesson. When Ocean introduces the third lesson by revealing a secret trap. The dragon tries to evade the approaching trap but gets tangled in the electric ropes. "Hey" she yells as Ocean once again sits on her back. Sunset continues, "The third lesson? What happened to the second one?"
"Because you already passed the second lesson, Lizard. The role of a sniper is simply to support combatants and missions. Ocean slaps the dragon's horns on its head. "They are not the attackers as many people believe. This next lesson is simple. You have to stay in one spot for two or three days."
Six months of hell pass before Sunset finally completes the test. Sunset sighs in relief when Ocean finally claps her hands to congratulate her. But there was one more test, winning a duel against her highly trained teacher.
When a bullet flies near Sunset's face, she says, "It's not fair, why should..."
Sunset picks up her weapon and starts the match after Ocean replies, "Shut up and fight!"
"Wow, not only did you survive a class with Professor Ocean, but you passed!" Analyzes Lance, "Ya heard that teacher is brilliant, but a bit of a control freak."
"The instructor only gave me three basic lessons because she knew I wouldn't be a pure sniper. But it wasn't all wasted as I gained valuable experience and knowledge. In addition, being forced to stay motionless for long periods indirectly helped me to deal with my temper." Sunset takes out a sniper rifle from her pack with pride. "After suffering through Tartarus, I feel honored to receive such a gift."
"There's nothing like sitting for hours on end to help ye reflect on things. That’s a nice rifle but the scope looks a bit different." Lance examines the modified part with interest.
Sunset explained that the scope was modified to detect magic. There was a yawn from the dragon after that. Lance and she agreed that it was time to go to bed.
As Lance stares at the dark clouds in the sky, he yawns as well. "Why does yawning have to be so contagious? He wonders. “Let's hope ye can figure out a solution in the morning.” Since everyone else is already in bed, the gunner checks his communicator devise from uncle Eldaro for any updates. “Nothing but status reports for the past two days...” He notes. “Hope that's a good thing...”
The dream Sunset is having about being back in Equestria with Whitty is wonderful. The pair of happy dragons are flying through the evening sky when they stop on a large cloud. White dragon Whitty bows to his companion and offers his claw for an impromptu dance. After reluctantly accepting his claw, they dance around the cloud dancefloor. A few minutes later, they are gazing at each other as the sky changes. Whitty leans over to whisper something “Sunset…” but Sunset cannot understand him. When the dragon tries to speak again, no sound can be heard. Abruptly, the sky distorts and the cloud begins to shake...
“Ya said wake up ye silly beast!” shouts Lance. The gunner is shaking the dragon vigorously.
Sunset groans as she sluggishly rolls over to face the gunner. “Lance... It is a very fortunate thing that we are friends,” she states nonchalantly.
“Good news! Ye thinks we can get across that ravine.” Pips Lance excitedly.
Sunset sleepily follows Lance out to the edge of the chasm. As a result of the high altitude, clouds are forming, making it difficult to determine distances. Lance shows the dragon a space with 2 rocky outcroppings that appeared to have once been part of an overpass structure. It is suggested that Sunset could fire several shots from her specialized sniper rifle with an attached rope into the rock on the other side, to enable the team to cross.
In the midst of Sunset getting her firearm, other members of the team wake up. While Natalie and Matt poke at the fire, Anna walks around the foggy area with Nolegs on her back.
The sound of shots rebounding off loose stones entices a curious archer with her feline companion over to the cliff-side. Both the dragon and the gunner are becoming increasingly frustrated with the gusty wind and crumbly poor-quality rock on the other side of the ravine. In addition, wind erosion has created piles of loose sediment. There is no solid rock to secure an anchor. Anna also attempts to lob an arrow into the slope, but the gravel is too unstable.
The promise of hot coffee lures the rest of the disappointed team back to the camp. There, they are amazed at the lack of morning mist, but not at the absence of morning arguments. A sycophantic shadow moves quickly out of Anna's peripheral vision, but she dismisses it.
Matt is frantically gesturing and pacing in a circle. “It’s gonnnnnnnnnne! My super special high-energy emergency supply ingredient.”
“For the last time,” cries Natalie annoyingly. “I didn’t take your freeze-dried slime.”
“But it’s disappeared! In fact, it was even barbecue-flavored for special occasions.” Matt moans dramatically. Any sense of hunger suddenly dissipates among the rest of the team.
An irritated Natalie uses her water spell to grab a bunch of clouds. When she has shaped them into a ball, she throws them at the overly melodramatic swordsman. Getting hit with several slightly wet cloud spheres effectively stops Matt’s rant.
“That’s it!” Shouts Sunset. “Nat, you’re a genius!”
A strange look is given to the dragon by the other team members.
“Clouds! That’s the way over that stupid enchanted chasm.” Cried Sunset elatedly.
“Sun-girl, you’re scary before coffee.” Says Matt apprehensively.
As soon as we eat and pack up, I will show you what I mean,” replies Sunset.
After a hearty breakfast without mystery ingredients (and ensuring their dragon friend drinks three cups of coffee), the team travels to the gorge. This time Lance leads the way through the morning fog to the cliff's edge. The dragon explains her theory to the group on their journey. Sunset’s plan raises more than a few eyebrows, but the team decides to forge ahead and try it.
Natalie starts chanting a water spell first. Since the spell required a foundation, Sunset, Lance, and Anna team up to create one. First Lance fired lead bullets into the loose stones on the other side. Then, Sunset prepares several fireballs while the archer readies several accompanying arrows. Despite the gusty winds, the dragon uses her sniper skills to shoot the fireballs accurately. Anna's elemental arrows were protected from missing their targets by the fireballs. The arrows chase the fireballs to the same location on the other side of the gorge. Through the combination of the two spells, enough heat is generated to melt the lead bullets and bind the loose rock together. Anna quickly follows up with a pair of rope arrows before the rock cools.
“Hit it Nat! It’s all you now.” Calls Sunset.
Everyone watches in amazement as the nearby clouds gather and condense on the rope lines, creating a cloud bridge. The tired mage rests down on a nearby rock. Sunset offers another mana potion but she declines to explain they need to save it for the upcoming battle.
Matt throws a rock on the structure to determine if it is walkable or not. The rock passes through the cloud, making a soft thud several seconds later.
Lance announces, "Okay, Ye agrees this looks like a bridge…"
“Hold on, you forgot the last part.” Says Sunset. A mana film covers the legs of the team as a yellow glow emanates from the dragon's claws.
“Is this really going to work? One of us without wings could get hurt.” Asks Matt as he nervously looks over the edge.
“Well, one of us used to have to visit pegasi in their cloud dwellings," Sunset replies as she grabs Matt’s hand. “So, let’s move, O fearless leader.” The dragon confidently marched over to the bridge with the reluctant swordsman in tow.
When Matt stops moving forward he lets out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. As he looks back at the rest of the team, the swordsman blinks a few times. He was standing on a cloud! Matt releases his death grip on the smirking dragon to take a look around. A confident swordsman stands in the middle of the cloud bridge gazing down over the deep fissure. This spell mesmerizes the team. Finally, the rest of the group follows the pair across the bridge and everyone is safely on the other side.
Anna’s boots make crunching noises despite her attempt to be quiet as she steps over loose gravel. Lance chose this route because it was the most suitable route up the mountain. However, the previous landslides made it difficult to traverse the narrow path that curves up to the topmost region. The archer pays close attention to both her feet and the space ahead of her. As they climb single file, the team is using the mountain fog to obscure their progress. The path’s formerly well-carved stairs are now degraded and covered in unstable debris that forced the team to hug the walls for support. The sound of Nolegs hissing from the archer’s pouch instantly brings the whole team to high alert.
Sunset and Matt lead the party up the narrow stairs. To gather more information about the latest threat, the team pauses. As the sound of movement travels closer, they decide they no longer have to remain stealthy. Sunset breathes fire to dissolve the fog and broaden their view ahead.
Without warning, a previous camouflaged white-horned bear charges out of the fog. Matt instinctively dodges, while Sunset happily discovers they are far enough away from the magic dampening field that her wings work again.
Matt happily points at the bear. “This is so awesome! Bear steaks, bear stir fry, bear…” Anna hits him on the head with her bow to bring him back to reality.
The bear roars at the team after missing its initial target. A pair of wings is now visible on its back. The team prepares for the monster's sudden advantage. Additionally, strange lights can be seen behind the bear. An odd collection of light spheres floats wonkily down the ruined steps. Some of the balls have eyes and hands.
There is no time for them to ponder over the oddity of the beasts attacking them because a magic circle appears over them. Sunset quickly overwrites some of the disc’s characters and reflects it at the bear. Jumping back, the monster avoids getting hit by its bolts. This offense gets a reaction from the strange light balls as they brighten up before moving towards the team. Most of the oddballs head down the stairs while the rest start shooting at Sunset.
In mid-attack, the light spheres on the stairs halt and suddenly break apart. Nolegs then appears behind the oddballs waving his sword. The blue cat then meows and taunts the bear. Angry, the bear charges at the offending cat with its large horns tilted downward. Unfortunately, the monster was no match for Nolegs’s hyper-speed and slams into the side of a cliff. Upon impact, nearby rocks crack.
Failing to gore the cat with its horns the bear next attempts to slash its opponent with its razor-sharp claws. This results in consequences for the rest of the party. Shards of rock from the side of the cliff fly haphazardly in all directions. Chunks of rock bounce down the cliff-side structure as a result of the bear's attacks. In response to the fight between the Nolegs and the bear monster, the group has to retreat down the narrow stairs.
In the meanwhile, Nolegs starts jumping up and down on the snow bear's head. It tries to fly, but Nolegs slashes its wings. As the cat jumps off the monster's head, it 'meows' before sliding down its back. By chasing the cat up the worn stairs, the bear makes a grave mistake.
Matt seizes his chance to attack the distracted bear while its back is turned. Claymore in hand, the swordsman rushes past the broken oddball pieces and moves up the stairs. As he rounds a corner, the seemingly inert fragments start to glow.
Following the swordsman, the remaining team members scrambled up the stairs but were stopped by the floating pieces. As the fragments of the oddball reassemble themselves into spheres, they begin to attack the team.
It doesn't seem to matter how Anna and Lance shoot at the attackers, the light ball pieces return to fire more light spears. A stray oddball is hit by Natalie's staff. The mage's face suddenly brightens with an idea as she begins to chant with an enchantment. Soon a spell is prepared and on hold in Natalie's staff stone.
As the gunner shatters another ball, the fragments continue to move. "How can ye destroy these freaking orbs? They just keep ‘generating." Lance says annoyingly,
Just as the light orbs threaten to overwhelm the three defending team members, several oddballs break apart and turn into dust. In her red dragon form, Sunset appears to Anna, Natalie, and Lance. Using her claws, the dragon crushes another ball and motions for the team to move up the stairs. Anna and Lance incapacitate the remaining oddballs so Sunset can dispatch them. As the pieces of the orb break, they do not reassemble. A final oddball is struck into Sunset's waiting claws by the Mage’s staff.
The second half of the team quickly moves up the stairs towards the sounds of battle. Even from below, the team can feel the cliffside shaking. Sunset flies behind the team as a lookout for possible stray attackers.
Although the nimble swordsman has cut off the bear's horn, the fight is far from over as the creature still has its sharp claws. As Matt slashes at the bear's paw, it jumps up and tries to slam its body into the swordsman. Slamming the sword into the ground, Matt defends himself. A pair of earth swords rise from the ground, slicing through the bear. It dies immediately.
The rest of the team reunites with the swordsman on the stairs. A fatigued Matt leans against his sword and waves to his friends. A fissure appeared on the cliff side suddenly, emitting a loud cracking sound. As a result, steep rock walls were no longer able to handle the post-battle strain, triggering an avalanche.
Meanwhile, Sunset lets out a startled cry. She was fighting a stray oddball when the stairway her friends were on unexpectedly buckled and collapses. The dragon managed to fly away from the sudden rock slide but the whole area is covered in a large grey veil of blinding dirt. Flying around in dread, she hears a strange noise coming from the dusty haze. Despite still coughing due to the choking dust, Sunset follows the sounds.
Following the sound, Sunset flapped her wings to dispel the dirty airborne debris. The air cleared to reveal a miracle. It was a new set of cloud stairs!
As the scene unfolded in front of her, the dragon's face changed from one of concern to one of amusement. Anna and Lance are sneezing loudly because of the rock dust while trying to lift Matt back up from the stairs upside down. Sunset could hear the swordsman lamenting about the loss of the main ingredient for bear stir-fry. Meanwhile, Nadine stood proudly in the background with her staff stone lit up with new enchantments. After a quick wave to her grinning mage friend Sunset flies up to a rock outcropping to pick up Nolegs.
After picking up the stranded feline, Sunset flies beside the team as they climb to the top of the cliff. She knows she can’t take them all to the top. It is impossible to choose who to take first. The dragon carefully watched the group while they traversed the stairs, minding the gusty winds so no one falls.
Sunset felt a sense of pride for her friend Natalie. This was the mage's victory, not hers. Natalie made a significant contribution to the world by creating new magic. It made the dragon feel happy to watch her ascend the stairs, holding her staff high in her hands.
“Congratulations on your new cloud manipulation spell!" Exclaims Sunset as the mage steps onto the solid ground at the top of the cliff. Natalie breathes a sigh of relief as the spell ends. The dragon helps her on to a nearby group of rocks to rest with the rest of the team.
"Thank you Sunset," replied Natalie. She sits down on a rock to rest after such an excursion and says, "The basic idea was yours. I wasn't sure if it would work."
"I disagree Nat. With the spell I used, living creatures can walk on clouds only by enchanting their limbs. "Your spell is amazing! It creates a form that can be used by any creature!" replies Sunset excitedly.
"Why is it so difficult to (gasp) breathe? I was only fighting for a short time." Moaned Anna as she climbs up the cloud stairs.
Sunset explains, "That's because of the elevation. The air becomes thinner the higher we climb."
"It doesn’t seem to affect you," responds Anna.
Sunset rubs her head, "Well, maybe because I got used to it. I fly at this height like every day to enjoy the silent night." Sunset takes a deep breath, "You don't know how relaxing it was."
Anna grumbles, "Ok, now I am jealous."
The group looked up at the impressive main temple building. It was a dangerous journey up the mountain, but they succeeded. The temple was the final barrier to the godcats. Lance stood apart from the others while he spoke to the communicator. Lance returned a short time later to report that his uncle was ready to assist them.
Despite the surprise attack by the godcats, the crew of the county's most advanced battleship is recovering quickly. Eldaro does not have much to offer the team until they reach the summit of the mountain despite the ship's advanced technology. This is due to the area's terrain. He is relieved to hear that the heroes are safe,. Although Captain Eldaro is exhausted, he still feels guilty sitting down. The after-battle system check depleted the captain's energy, so he snuck back into the sniper tank for some privacy.
The captain’s secret nap location is interrupted by a series of knocks on the wall. Sabrina's entrance into the tank surprises Eldaro.
“How can you be so perky after such a long and arduous day?” groans Eldaro.
Sabrina smirks as she holds up a yellow potion. Eldaro stares at it suspiciously.
Sabrina shakes her head, "Just drink it. It's one of her potions."
"Well..." replies Eldaro skeptically looking at the unknown concoction but he is too tired to argue. Soon after drinking the mixture, the caption is amazed when his former tiredness seems to dissolve away. "Wow! This is amazing."
"Glad to hear it!" Says Sabrina. "We both need to be on our toes. After all the wise cleric A Mandic once said
“It is extremely easy
Upon viewing the magnificent mountaintop shrine, the adventurers are mesmerized. Detailed frescoes and elaborate carvings decorate the building's exterior. Though they try hard to stay focused on their task, the team can't resist looking around. Natalie and Anna scan the route for traps while Lance sends Captain Eldaro a progress report. With the help of his red sword, Matt sends out pulses of earth magic into the path ahead to clear any booby traps. Overhead, Sunset circles the towers with Nolegs checking for any hidden monsters. Despite the danger, they playfully fly under the series of elegant archways before rejoining their friends. Finally, everyone ascends the last flight of stairs together and passes under a grand portico into an enormous entrance hall. Anna is especially delighted gazing at the beautiful artwork while pretending to scout for danger.
Almost all of the interior sanctuary is composed of one long straight hallway. As Matt approaches the top of the stairs, he takes a moment to admire the view. Snow-capped mountains are adorned with wispy clouds punctuated by jagged pieces of dark gray rock. When the swordsman whistles, he notices that it takes a lot more effort than usual. Matt moves his hand over his heart and notices he is breathing hard for traveling such a short distance. Turning around he observes the rest of the team except for Sunset having similar issues.
In Matt's estimation, this hall will lead to the godcats, but first, everyone must take time to rest. The swordsman likes to joke around but his observation is sharper than his weapons. The others are suffering in the thinner atmosphere at the top of the peak. In spite of the others' attempts to seem fine, Matt noticed they were also holding their chests in discomfort.
Sunset is slightly ahead of the others running some diagnosis spells. Fighting to hide their fatigue, Anna and Matt walk up casually to their friend. The dragon acknowledges them with a nod.
“The godcats must truly love this place.” There is a lot of time and energy invested into these preservation spells." Sunset remarks with discreet reverence as she gently touches the hall, "Good news and bad news though…"
“Oh boy…” sighs Matt. “I really don’t like it when you say that.”
As the archer uses her carving knife to loosen a strap on her shoe, she leans up against a pedestal. “We could use some good news,” Anna says. “Besides at least we are all finally out of that chilly wind. This hall does a great job of protecting us against the elements. Those tents are comfortable, but the biting air just seeps into everything after a while.”
“Well….” Sunset replies as she scratches the back of her head. “That is part of the problem.”
Sunset turns towards her companions and gestures at the elaborate interior. Anna and Matt look around for answers.
“What do you mean? This building is perfectly unspoiled… It’s like the cats left it only yesterday. There are no cracks or deterioration even after hundreds of years," Anna states. Turning to an artwork featuring a school of blue fish. “Look, the paint is not even faded.” The archer accentuated her point by pointing to the creation with her knife. Although the green-haired girl is somewhat animated in her gesture, she stumbles forward. Anna cries out as her blade hits the decorated wall…
“This is an amazing spell! Looks like a hybrid protection barrier combined with a defense spell." Natalie noted once the undamaged surface is examined.
“So that's why my knife bounced off the painting without leaving a mark?” asked the still-amazed Anna.
Natalie responds, "Yes."
“Ok, so is there a magic shield around this entire hall?” asks Lance. “Ah, this is going to be a bigger problem than the trench fight with ye golems. Also the Valkyrie tank team wouldn’t be able to back ya up in case o trouble.”
“What! So we’re TRAPPED? Oh, no! What are we planning to do? What if the cats attack while we're asleep? What if we cannot escape? What if…” Anna’s rant was suddenly stopped by Natalie’s and Nolegs's comforting hugs.
Sunset adds. “Well I guess you could punch a hole in the shield, but it would take a lot of magic and effort. But we would still have nowhere to go but down as this site is on a cliff…”
Matt tells the dragon, "Except you Sunset, you have wings while the rest of us don't."
Sunset teases him, "Jealous~, I hope that you like the extra weights on your back."
Taking a look down the gallery, Matt rolls his eyes. “Fine… I get it. Well, (sigh) I guess this means our team is not about to get lost.” Says Matt. “Well under the circumstances, there is only one clear task ahead of us.”
“Eh, Matt?” asks Anna nervously. “Why am I holding this?” The archer looked as perplexed as the rest of the team relaxing around the fire. She appreciates the team stopping after such a challenging journey. It still smells of the meal they just ate. No one said much about Matt's antics as everyone is just too tired to question the sudden introduction of these items. As Anna looks around she reminisces about all of the different places the team had camped. “This place is without a doubt the strangest of all the places we've been to so far, including the jungle, ice caves, lava plains, and a waste treatment plant.”
After a brief glance at her friends, Sunset walks over to Matt with a slight hint of concern in her eyes. In search of additional items, the swordsman rummages through his hammer-space bags. There is only an occasional random item that he throws out that seems to capture his attention.
“Matt what are you doing? Don’t tell me you are still mad about Lance and Nolegs jumping you while preparing dinner earlier?”
“Yes, I’m still mad they stole my supply of super vitality supplements. If we are going to be fighting the godcats then our team is going to need all the power we can get. But this," said Matt, gesturing to the group, "is a much more important recharge… for our spirits!”
“After knowing you for this long Matt, I am not even able to question why you have an entire barrel of concentrated garlic in your pack or have brought a variety of musical instruments on a quest to save the world.” Replied Sunset in astonishment. “But... this may not be a good time for a sing-along.”
“What do you mean, Sun-girl?” Matt asks, spinning around in an excited manner. “This IS the time when music is needed most!”
“I don’t know about this…” Mutters Sunset uncomfortably. The dragon steps back with a pose generally reserved for monster skirmishes as Matt jumps in front of her with a massive grin. “Besides I don’t have an instrument like everyone else.”
“Of course not, you don’t silly! You’re not playing an instrument, you are going to sing.” Announces the overly enthusiastic teammate.
“Eh… Ssssi… WHAT?” Cries the astonished dragon. The rest of the team duck for cover behind the cooking pot as fire leaks from the sides of the dragon's mouth.
“That’s right!” the oblivious swordsman exclaims as he shoves a piece of music into her claws before distributing the rest.
The rest of the team looks down at items currently in their possession. Anna has a guitar, Lance has a drum, Natalie has a flute, and Nolegs has a tambourine wrapped around his head. In the meantime, Matt has taken out a baton. At this point, no one wanted to question where the conductor's uniform had come from.
Anna and Lance are about to say a few words to Matt, however, Natalie stops them. They notice Sunset staring intently at her music sheet. Several minutes pass without any sound from the dragon.
Finally, Sunset snaps out of her stupor just enough to turn her teary eyes toward her friend. After an impressive effort, the dragon manages to gasp. “How?”
Matt’s jubilant face becomes more serious. “Sunset, I always hear you mumbling in your sleep about home. When you first appeared in our world you were singing this tune when you thought no one was around… so I wrote it down. It's probably not the best copy and a few parts are guesswork. But I think it’s about time you performed the song properly and aloud.”
No words were exchanged as Sunset and Matt wrapped each other in a hug. For the first time in centuries, a joyous melody reverberated inside the ornate hall alongside a song from another world.
Music. Diana loved it. It is the ultimate expression of emotion. When listening to music her once bland lonely existence transforms into a beautiful landscape of color and movement. Wrapped in her dream world the snowy cat allows the soothing melody to carry her senses away. Diana purrs contently as she floats back and forth in the gentle tune’s wave. Another creature is also in her dream, but the figure is blurry. As the second being approaches, it extends a loving paw toward her. An invitation to dance. Diana shyly extends her paw toward her partner. Suddenly the cat pulls back. Scales cover the once furry paw. Claws break out of the ivory appendage as it slowly approaches closer and closer…
A loud cry breaks the peace in Diana’s room. It is a splendid chamber decorated with the finest cat-made furnishings. A luxurious woven quilt decorated with silken embroidery and an elaborate fringe lay crumpled on the floor. This fabric once covered an iconic feline, but its task is now much more difficult due to its current state. Ripped apart by a sharp set of claws and thrown haphazardly about the room. The figure beneath the remnants slowly awakens. After removing her shredded bedspread, Diana gets up slowly. A soft chuckle escapes her as the cat realizes she has fallen out of bed.
“Well, I am awake now.” Sighs Diana as she stretches. “At least Amelia didn’t see me destroying things in my sleep again. I haven’t done this kind of thing since I was a kitten. Oh, I would never have heard the end of it. Plus that was my favorite cover.” The cream-colored feline levitated herself into the other room in search of another warm quilt. The room is dark except for the all-seeing orb.
The soft light of the sphere seems to pulse in time to the moving melody emulating from it. Diana is surprised as she did not remember leaving it set to active. Despite her tiredness, the music piqued her curiosity. While swiping over the sphere to enlarge the scene, her paw trembles slightly. Undoubtedly an extraordinary cat must be singing such a tender melody.
The cat was stunned by the revelation. It was …the dragon-thing! How? How could that creature have such a soothing voice? Diana slowly spun in a circle trying to comprehend this new issue. "Another dragon, why are my foes always dragons?" she thinks. "It started this way the other time too..." Suddenly her concentration is broken by a loud noise followed by a quick tempo jig. Immediately, the godcat set the orb to mute in order to keep her sister from being disturbed.
Just to make sure, the god cat slips into her sister Amelia’s room. A soft smile graced Diana’s face at the sight. The godcat, clutching the instruments for the upcoming machine and several empty bags of catnip energy snacks, is asleep on her desk. Gently, Diana levitates her sister onto the bed and tucks her in. Her happy sister's purring fills Diana with affection, but she knows her dream will soon come to an end. Soon the challengers would arrive. Just like before.
Many leagues away is an equally tired Captain Eldaro. After the last surprise attack, he ordered the scout drones to the maximum altitude for added safety. However this does not lessen the crew’s anxiety. Eldaro shifts in his chair while contemplating how to effectively balance the latest report in one hand and an extra-large mug of coffee in the other.
A creak from the door snaps Eldaro out of his deep thoughts as a familiar person enters. "Hello." Says Sabrina with a slightly fatigued smile. “Just checking to see how you were doing. Did you need any more coffee?”
“Ugg! No more coffee, please…” replies the slightly uneasy Captain. “Any more and I will be able to fill the bathtub.”
“Good news. No issues are reported by the ground crew and the repairs are almost complete. Also, the crew reloaded the sniper tank in record time and are on high alert,” replied Sabrina in a slightly uncomfortable tone. “But everyone seems to be on edge.”
“Of course, they are on edge. Where do you think this tidal wave of coffee came from? Says Eldaro holding his cup up with a sigh. “Before you arrived, I think every officer on board came to my office bearing papers, apology faces, and pots of slow-roasted beans.” The captain leans back in his chair to reveal a small hill of stacked cups.
“Is the pressure always like this?” Sabrina asks. The queen seemed nervous. “The uncertainly after a difficult fight?”
“Yes. The waiting is the most difficult part.” Responded Eldaro. His head slightly bent downwards before he continued. “I forgot how frustrating it was to wait. Those younger pups that thought we were being too cautious before hopefully now understand the importance of never underestimating the enemy. This may have been their first real battle. Now they… no not them... all of us... have to learn patience or in some cases relearn it. However in the end it will benefit us all.”
“True. Some of us who were lax before are now finally understanding how serious this is.” Sabrina raised her beverage mug to Eldaro’s.
"Yes, time to deal with the pause and the tension, just like everyone else." Eldaro places his paper down on the table as if the surface were made of glass.
“Oh Eldaro, I may not be an expert about tanks, demons, and battling godcats but I do understand how you feel." Declares Sabrina confidently. Gliding over to the table, she sits down on the opposite chair as if it were a gilded throne. The Queen starts to pick up the partially empty cups on Eldaro’s side and move them closer to herself. "To have people constantly watching your every move, but criticizing every one you make. Random strangers with overly high expectations waiting with bated breath for your every word who expect you to have the right answers to all the world’s problems. Leaders are expected to be infallible but we are only mortals."
The Captain and the Queen exchange understanding expressions.
“Point taken.” Sighs Eldaro. “Sometimes I feel the troops can observe me even through the walls. It’s even more frustrating now that I have proved my suspicions to be right.”
“It’s like being empowered and helpless at the same time?” Added Sabrina. Eldaro nodded so she continued. “When I first took the throne, you were always telling me about the importance of not only radiating inspiration and confidence but also having a neat outer appearance. Well, it’s about time you took your own advice.”
“So… I need a shower?” replied Eldaro.
“Yes, with water, and I would advise some sleep too. It will help relieve those puffy red eyes. When people see our leader resting, they may understand it is ok for them to relax too during their down periods.” Suggested Sabrina. The queen turned her head to the sea of coffee cups.
Eldaro slowly looked at the dark liquid-ringed papers that filled his already cluttered table. “Nap in the tank?”
“Deal!”
“Wow! Thank you again Sunset!” Remarked Anna. “That song was so beautiful.”
"No, thank you so much!" replied Sunset joyfully. Harmonious melodious is my favorite song. It means a lot to me that everyone has listened to my mediocre singing. It took me a long time to realize how much I needed to release those bottled up emotions. My apologies for being so moody."
“We all needed to let off some steam. All right Matt, you were right about us needing a break,” Natalie added. Nolegs hopped up and down. Anna and Lance nodded in agreement.
Anna shivered nervously as she observed the hall's statues. “No offence to the artisan cats, but this place is a bit creepy after dark.”
“Well then let's do something about that!” Says Sunset. They shout together as they raise their instruments.
Strange shadows move across the large hall originating from a fire and several floating fireballs. They are the only lights now that illuminate an extraordinary scene. Joyful music emanates from a guitar and flute duet. A blue cat somehow keeps time to the music while simultaneously playing a tambourine and dancing with a dragon. A pair of normally muscular and imposing figures is sitting on either side of the players, clapping to the music.
"That was so fun" Anna laughs, "It’s been a long time since we have all just relaxed. I've been so focused on the mission that I forgot we're on an adventure."
The first watch is taken by Sunset so the team can rest. Even though she feels better than she has in years, she is a bit envious of her friends who are napping peacefully nearby. To counter the high altitude, Natalie cast a custom healing spell, but it took some time to fully work. A chuckle escaped the dragon's lips as she saw Lance asleep hugging his technology pack. His walkie-talkie crowned the stack. When Sunset turned to walk the perimeter of the camp, she did not notice the unit was on. Thousands of leagues away, a figure in a tank smiles.
The rest of the night passes without incident. As she is still trying to process the cat's power, Sunset is more than happy to take the watch. “Anna is right,” the dragon ponders, “this place is creepy at night. It must be affecting me more than I thought. My exile hasn’t bothered me in years.” Sunset tries to calm the energies swimming inside her by looking at the artwork. She shutters involuntarily watching the moving shadows with her improved night vision. Although Sunset studied as a mage, the now dragon secretly dreams of being a painter. Her footsteps echo across the empty hall. Many of the newer-looking paintings subjects show playful kittens but are overshadowed by the heavily carved gothic arches with figures that look more like gargoyles.
Lance is the first to be alerted by the perimeter alarm. With his prepared pack in hand, the experienced gunner rolls over to awaken everyone. He is surprised to see them already stirring. There is a glowing figure flying toward the group, but after a moment of tension, it is revealed to be Sunset in her fire form. The only signal the team needs is her worried face. Nolegs hisses and tries to pull Anna down the corridor.
Suddenly portals appear over their heads, causing them to scurry down the hall. Anna glances back to see their former campsite covered in boulders. Team members dodge spikes and meteors rained down by additional gateways. As a result, the archer becomes distracted enough to land beneath a spike. Just in time, Sunset pushes her friend out of the way. Anna screams when she sees Sunset get hit.
Soon part of the team is resting behind a large pedestal, guarded by Lance. Seeing her friend get hit gives Anna a panic attack. To aid in recovery, Natalie is rubbing Anna’s back. The pair is dwarfed by the gunner in his full combat gear. His experience allows him to remain calm. After the stones stop falling, there is an eerie combination of sounds emanating from the settling stones, rubbing plates in Lance’s armor and static from the walkie-talkie.
“That’s it Anna. Take deep breaths.” Says Natalie.
Lance involuntarily smirks watching his two friends Sunset and Matt fighting against a mini tornado. Nolegs is behind them chasing a large moth. The battle ends with Sunset slicing the storm in two with "Wyvern Slash" in annoyance. “Only with this group is this a normal occurrence…”
The team has regrouped further down the gallery. Anna is looking apologetically at Sunset who responds with a warm smile. Nolegs is back in his pouch on her back with a large smile and a full belly after successfully dispatching his winged foe.
“Pretty clever of those godcats. The stones were real but the spikes were illusions.” Says Matt.
Anna blurted out, "They seemed real to me." Her face turned bright red as she quickly covered her mouth. Anna abruptly stops and Nolegs pops his head. She quickly puts her finger to her lip and carefully looks around the area.
"Oh, I know that look." Matt grabs his sword. “Heads up everyone.”
An odd noise is emanating from down the hall. Nothing appears even as the noise gets closer. Sunset closes her eyes to cast a second-sight spell. It reveals a strange cloud that is two mana rivers combined. Natalie is quickly signaled for a spell by the dragon. Clouds appear as the mage creates a soft rain to fall, exposing a bird-shaped outline. Anna and Nolegs quickly attack the figure, revealing an odd white bird wearing a hat. As the uncloaked creature hits the floor, it suddenly shatters into numerous smaller birds. Lance quickly dispatches many of the fowls but some of the monsters scatter and camouflage themselves. A better plan is hatched by Natalie, who funnels the birds into a small ball by using her cloud-shaping spell. The mage pushes the flock towards her awaiting teammate. A short burst of dragon fire eliminates the threat.
“Roasted chameleon birds!” exclaims Matt excitedly. “Yum. Yum.”
“This will taste delicious with the leftover cactus.” Adds Anna in anticipation.
Matt nodded, "we just need some slime." He slid behind Lance and reached into his pouch. "...and some special energy enhancement."
An instant later, Lance turns to Matt and gives him a warning look. A guilty expression appears on the swordsman's face.
Anna's face turns green when she imagines eating slime, then she glares at Matt, "Suddenly I’m not so hungry anymore."
"Bah! You guys have no appreciation for fine food...” responds Matt.
Sunset recruits Matt and Lance to help her place the statues back on the pedestals under the excuse that they are checking for stray birds. The others secretly admire the surrounding statues. Some pieces of art are not protected by the same spell that protects the building. As a result of the recent battle, artwork has been knocked over and damaged. As the rest of the team picks up the birds, they discreetly tidy up the hall.
As their stomachs settle, the group travels deeper into the realm of the god-cats. Despite walking for a while, they don't encounter any monsters. However, the hall is very quiet. Sunset feels herself becoming nervous again. With only her thoughts and footsteps echoing in her ears, she finds it increasingly difficult to dismiss her feelings. In order not to think of the endless statues watching her, the dragon pinches herself.
As the team reaches the top of some stairs, the hall changes into an expansive open courtyard decorated with a mosaic floor. After spending so much time inside, the bright sun is dazzling. Despite Matt's leadership, the swordsman fails to notice a switch on the floor due to the sudden change in light.
There is no time to react, as the illusion on the floor dissipates to reveal a magic circle in its place. Magic walls rise up to form a square-shaped cage complete with a roof. Several team members try to break the cube's barriers but with no success. Above the trap, another magic circle appears and begins to drop knives. Suddenly the walls begin to grow spikes and the entire energy prison begins to shrink. Natalie and Sunset put up a circular protective shield that disintegrates incoming projectiles.
Projectiles continue to strike despite the combined barrier. “Gunner 1, Gunner 1. This is Valkyrie C. Do you copy?” Among the din of the continued attacks, Lance hears a new voice on his walkie-talkie. “Our scanners are registering a large energy source in your vicinity. Please move south to avoid.”
“Ah!” Groans Lance. Using his hand, the gunner mutes the unit’s crackling speakers. He gives the other adventurers a stern look. “Not a peep out of any of ye… (Throat clearing) Valkyrie C please stand by.”
“It's really dangerous out here, so we have to get out of this trap. This spell is not indefinite.” Says Sunset.
“You’re right Sunset. Anna, do you have any more blank enchanted arrows?” Natalie asked.
“Yes. Why?” asked Anna
“We should be able to break the barrier with an arrow charged with earth magic as it has been arranged in a loop. This should overload the barrier and cause it to break apart.” Says Natalie.
“Wow! Let’s do it!” responds Anna.
Matt is given a reinforced arrow by the archer in order to cast the earth's magic incantation. A rock-smasher-infused arrow is difficult for Anna to control. Despite her best efforts, the archer cannot keep her hands from shaking. It is fortunate that Nolegs assists in steadying her arm so that the shot flies exactly where it should.
It turns out that the trap spell has more power than the two mages anticipated, so they must reinforce the dome-shaped shield in order to safeguard everyone. Upon collapsing, the enchantment sends shockwaves that knock nearby pillars over, causing dirt clouds and piles of debris to fall. The only thing left standing after the dust settles is the team.
"Great job everyone!" Announces Matt. "Now let's move before anything else happens. You two can drop the spell now."
"But we've already canceled it," Natalie replied.
"Um, is the shield supposed to be solid like this?" asked Anna timidly. Taps from the players reverberate out on the compacted shield.
“Gunner 1, Gunner 1. This is Valkyrie C. We heard some commotion. Do you need some assistance?” Crackled Vince’s walkie-talkie. The gunner's groan was joined by the rest of the adventurers.
"Well... now we know what it feels like to be a hamster, “Matt huffs,” Looks like we have to move this... sphere around."
“The shockwave must have combined the spells. We will just need to wait for the magic to dissipate.” Says Sunset.
"And how can we move?" Anna asks as Lance and Matt step forward, making the ball move a bit. Anna glares when she trips over her teammates' feet. "Hey, at least you should give me a warning."
The team attempts to stand but slip frequently on the sphere's steep sides. Anna senses another attack approaching so encourages urgently on getting to safety. Finally, a coordinated strategy is developed to move the ball. Not a moment too soon as a pair of giant red golems appear halfway across the courtyard. They are accompanied by a cloud of chameleon birds. The golems soon spot the trapped group. The ground begins to tremble as they move towards them. Raising a spiked club high, the first monster charges at the sphere. The team tries desperately to evade, but they are too slow.
After a squishy thud, the team finds themselves surrounded by red clay pieces. As a result of the monster's attack rebounding off the shield, the club is now embedded in the golem's head. The powerful beast disintegrates into a mound of clay. After its companion is defeated, the second monster attacks undeterred.
The second golem pulses with light and transforms into a tank. Several cannons are fired at the team, but they cannot penetrate the overcharged shield. Detonations cause the team to be jostled around inside due to the attack. Seeing no results from its first assault, the cannon monster rhythmically continues firing. As the ball is jerked around the team is repeatedly piled together.
Despite their best efforts, the team cannot stay out of each other's way.
“Ah, you’re heavy!”
“Get your leg out of my face."
“Meow!”
“Ow! That’s my tail.”
“Gunner 1, Gunner 1…”
“AH! THAT’S IT!” screams Natalie. He grabs the walkie-talkie and yells, "FIRE!"
Several high-pitched whistles announce the incoming explosions that rock the area. Soon the courtyard is pocked with craters. The monster itself takes a direct hit and is scattered all over the area. As the fragments fall, they decimate the flock of birds. A few golem pieces also land on the shield but they have no effect on its inhabitants. The remaining birds that dive at the team are disintegrated.
Things slowly calm down. Lance manages to pull back the walkie-talkie to order a cease-fire from the remote tank crew. Shortly thereafter, the spell mercifully stops. Flopping on the ruined ground, the exhausted group of teammates sigh in relief. From a cramped and hot environment, the cool mountain air is a welcome relief. Everyone is so grateful no one says a word for a long time.
“You know what?” Says Matt “I’ve learned something very important today…”
“Oh?” Asks Sunset who is still short of breath.
“We need a bath.” Replied Matt.
Sunset groans as she slowly rolls over to her feet. After escaping the sphere, the dragon is still slightly out of breath but forces herself to move. Nearby, Nolegs is hissing, and that can only mean trouble. Sunset is amazed at the destruction caused by the last battle. Her teammates are still recovering, so the dragon places her mana renewal potion bag in Natalie’s hands. Together with Nolegs, they move to intercept the threat.
There is a lot of red-colored debris in the courtyard, so Sunset flaps her wings to clear the air. As a result, this worsens things, so she stops. A toxic mixture of powdery dust from crushed marble decorations and high-altitude fog makes the adventurer’s eyes water. Sunset’s bag contains eyewash but is currently in Natalie’s hands. “I think my friends need medicine more right now,” muses the dragon. Sunset’s eyes sting despite her protective goggles as she checks on Nolegs. To better scan for danger, Nolegs positions himself between Sunset’s horns. Sunset can feel the cat’s anxiety but steps calmly through the debris to avoid aggravating him. All seems strangely quiet.
A squishing sound catches their attention. The two grip their weapons as they move cautiously forward. An odd noise emanates from one of the larger pieces of the defeated golem. However, the noise stops abruptly before the crooked block of clay flops over with a lethargic splat. After a moment of eerie silence, another strange noise emanates from a different location. This time a small lump of clay starts to glow red before sluggishly floating upwards. It also occurs on several other chunks nearby.
Suddenly, one of the floating pieces hurtles through the air before colliding with a wall. Sunset, with Nolegs in tow, jumps to evade the projectile. Other pieces follow the first. However, they aim not at the heroes but at another part of the fallen golem. The lumps stick to the wall like unwelcome pimples before sliding down to create a growing puddle. Soon more clay lumps start to migrate into the area. The pair quickly realize what is happening and move away.
Nolegs jumps from Sunset’s head and attacks one of the larger monster pieces. The dragon does the same to a second piece to keep them from merging. A combination of ‘Wyvern Slashes’ and a ‘Cat’s Finale’ attack causes the larger chunks to explode. The feline quickly travels back to his dragon friend’s back before they both escape the blast. Using a delicate motion, Sunset glides over some debris and into another corner of the enormous courtyard.
Both of them congratulate one another for preventing the monster from reforming. The result of their attacks destroys the larger clay pieces. Nolegs meows in triumph from atop Sunset’s head. However, their victory was short-lived. A breeze starts to move across a section of the otherwise quiet area. Nolegs looks confused and glances around.
Several of the crimson clay pieces start levitating again. Sadly, the explosions only made the fragments smaller and more numerous. The elements begin to twirl in the air with increasing momentum. Other parts of the fallen golem also start to glow. Sunset and Nolegs look up in alarm at a growing column of noxious fog and other loose debris. Soon, a tsunami is roaring across the area.
Sunset does her best to dodge the debris lodged in the storm’s high winds. Nolegs hold onto her horns as they avoid the sharp projectiles that were once elegant artworks. Additionally, the current produces a haze of choking marble dust that thwarts any magic chants. Sunset and Nolegs struggle with the fine powder choking their throats and eyes. The feline ‘meows’ as he narrowly avoids a flying spear. A metal shaft brushes against his ear before burying itself in a nearby wall. After several minutes of close calls, the pair are tired. As a result of flying shrapnel and low visibility, Sunset cannot see where she can teleport or fly safely.
Sunset searches desperately for shelter in the whiteout. She crawls on the ground to avoid being blown away by the wind. Flying is out of the question as her last few attempts to open her wings result in painful collisions with pieces of the random bombardment encircling them. The dragon keeps her head down as much as possible to protect Nolegs. They both prepare for the unthinkable when the ground beneath them shakes.
Massive chunks of rock emerged from the ground in front of the trapped adventurers. The stones grow until they reach several meters in height. In addition to blocking projectiles, the impromptu wall protects the pair from severe wind gusts. A light grey figure stumbles out of the storm into the shelter. The man shakes some of the dust before kneeling next to the duo.
“Lance!” Beams Sunset before starting to cough again.
“Special delivery!” shouts the gunner over the din as he holds up a familiar pouch.
Sunset gratefully accepts her medicine bag and quickly locates a tonic for her beleaguered passenger. While Nolegs is drinking the potion, Sunset notices the stone barrier is getting cooler. Lance looks at both of them and grins.
As it gets colder, the wind dies down. Sunset soon figures out what is happening. Nolegs moves back on top of her horns and tries to get comfortable as the temperature around them drops. As the ice starts covering everything, he looks at the team questioningly.
Lance’s scanner beeps all clear, so the three of them leave the rocky enclave. Sunset smirks when she sees several other rocky outcroppings have appeared. The area has changed from a disorganized mess of rubble to a complete disaster. Several sharp-looking objects are now tacked to the wall by gummy arrows. Without the wind, the abrasive dust settles into piles. Lance moves around to stabilize the mounds with his ice gun after Anna hits them with water arrows.
A tall frozen tower of ice dominates the area. Sunset waves at the source of the winter wonderland. Natalie waves back. The mage’s staff is still casting enchantments. Standing behind her is the last member of the team, who waves enthusiastically despite also gripping an embedded sword.
“Hey, Sun-girl!” Calls Matt gleefully. “You didn’t invite us to the party, but that’s OK. We forgive you!”
A loud noise awoke Amelia. She grumbled, despite being awakened from her comfortable bed. Her absence from the desk made her unhappy. Separating her from her essential plans irritates the cat. Projects she had been working on for several days. She scratched her ears in annoyance at the interruption. Why did her sister have to treat her like such a kitten? After rolling out of bed, Amelia searches for the source of the interruption.
A soft glow comes from the room next door. Amelia carefully peeks around the corner and observes her sibling Diana in front of the all-seeing globe. Worried about getting caught spying, the black cat waits impatiently for the snowy cat to depart. Finally, her sister yawns and retires to her room. Observing Diana wrap a blanket around herself and climb back into bed, Amelia uses the opportunity to slip into the room.
Amelia is usually uninterested in the events playing out in the orb; however, her curiosity gets the better of her. Something had captured her sister’s attention—a rare thing. After first checking if her sister is asleep, the black cat carefully casts a silent spell before gliding to the sphere.
Only to perceive the human-lings, the traitor cat-ling, and the dragon-ling engaged in some musical activity. "Such frivolities are a waste of time," murmurs the black cat. “Soon, they are going to perish.” Amelia quietly checks if her sister is still asleep and gingerly closes the door to the room. “Better check on the invaders again just to be safe.” She reasons. The uncertainty in her eyes contrasts with the cat’s stoic face.
With flickering light and colors reflecting on her black velvet fur, Ameila returns to her observations. The trespassers into her domain are still singing, except that now the dragon-ling and the traitor cat-ling are dancing together. Their expressions of joy radiate a warmth that overcomes the chilly night air. In the midst of this happy scene, Ameila feels a stabbing sensation in her chest and cannot stop watching it. Despite the orb only projecting images, the feline can feel the melody, the enjoyment and the warm friendships. She doesn't realize she's back in her bedroom for a few minutes. She rubs her head in confusion, but stops when she sees an unfamiliar substance on her paws.
“HOW DARE THEY!” screams the black cat.
Before flopping back on her bed to pout, the enraged cat vaporizes an elegantly carved shelf stacked with trinkets and several wall hangings. She wipes away the remainder of her tears. After a while, she reaches under her bed for another catnip energy drink. Her sister always harps on her about drinking too many of them, but that is nonsense.
Amelia doesn’t bother to levitate herself and stomps on an empty can. It is comforting to feel the cool floor on her paws. Yet, the light from the nearby room beckons her with a call that she cannot ignore. When she leaves the room, she kicks the now-discarded item. It slides along the tiled floor to join the others hidden under the bed.
Onyx cat is taunted by the flickering light emanating from the orb as she approaches. This powerful charm can reveal any event. Images of migrating birds, a vast plain filled with beautiful flowers, and schools of colored fish fill the room. However, Amelia can only think of one occasion she wants to witness. The cat ignores the trembling in her paws. In an instant, a scene filled with eccentric musicians appears. Despite the orb’s fullness of exultant creatures, the black cat could see only two. Her anger grew at the sight of their happiness. They are dancing; how dare they? Her rage grows as Amelia watches the dragon-ling and the traitor cat-ling blissfully twirling in the majestic hall. Her silent wish is for them to stop.
Only when she sees her sister’s door does she calm down a bit. However, an unnoticed shadow slithers along the floor. It moves out of the room, down the hallway, and finally out of the tower. Unaffected by the bitter cold, the shadow merges with other shadows to carry out its mission and stop the dragon’s joy.
A fire warms the shivering team members. They have moved to a more sheltered area to escape the ice. Unfortunately, no one noticed a black form escaping from the ice tower. Nolegs is contently wrapped in Anna’s cloak. While others focus on making a hot drink, Sunset rummages through her potion inventory. Many of her healing tonics have been used, and her energy mixtures are running low. The dragon is feeling weary as the only one without a good night's rest. “I can wait a little longer to drink one...” Consider Sunset.
The friends' blissful break with a hot drink that is miraculously undoctored by Matt is cut short by the sound of tumbling rocks. All else is forgotten except the approaching danger.
The sound of heavy footsteps approaches the team. With each step, the ground shakes more violently. Weapons are hurriedly gathered in anticipation of the upcoming fight behind a large divider. Abruptly, the shaking stops, and there is a long silent pause. Suddenly, a pair of stone hands burst through the barrier, and a monstrous blood red golem with glowing eyes sticks its head through the crack.
“Ah! What gives?” Yells Anna. “We already fought this guy.”
“You’re right! Plus, it’s powered up!” Replies Natalie.
Projectiles fly haphazardly from the monster’s huge fists as it slams into the floor. Matt and Sunset hastily erect an earthen barrier to block the attacks. In response, the golem picks up a fallen metal statue and melts the materal in it’s hands. The golem roars at the team before charging at the shelter with a fire hammer. The make-shift shelter holds up long enough for the remaining team members to ready themselves.
As the earthen fortress falls, the golem is attacked with missles and a water cannon. The enraged monster blocks the attack with it’s weapon. Stream blasts from the fire hammer, filling the chamber with fog as it breaks apart. The red golem picks up the metal pieces to heat them up in his hands once more. After the metal is heated up again the monster steps backwards and throws the shards into the air.
“INCOMING!” shouts Lance.
Fiery metal shafts rain down on the team, causing them to scatter. Anna and Nolegs are the first to retaliate. The archer quickly shoots at the remaining metal pieces. Glue arrows make them stick to the floor, so the monster has trouble picking them up to use. Nolegs runs up the golem's arm to distract it, but the cat's sword does not affect the monster's rocky hide. The monster completely ignores the cats antics and rummages for the rest of the team.
Another rocket shot from Lance and a blast from Matt get the golem’s attention. While they continue to fire and dash to the next cover, Natalie is given a chance to create a new spell. The attacks are only minor damage, so Sunset teleports to its head to implement “Wyvern Slash.” Noticing the dragon, the overpowered golem’s eyes suddenly flash red. Before Sunset’s sword can reach the monster’s neck, the red golem changes into brown and blocks the attack with its arm. With its faster speed, the brown golem tries to punch the dragon. Sunset quickly swings her sword to counterattack, but the enchanted blade gets stuck in the monster’s arm. Though it has an edge embedded in its arm, the mud-like monster turns its other arm into a cannon.
Sticky balls of mud shoot out of the golem’s gun. The area is now covered with indiscriminate piles of debris that hinder the team’s movements. Nolegs gets stuck in the tacky mud, but Anna quickly pulls him out. Matt covers Lance after several of his weapons are plugged up. Taking out her staff, Sunset flies to the side of the golem pinned down by her sword and plugs it into the monster’s shoulder. She quickly chants an attraction spell that adheres onto the beast.
The crackle of power signals the team that Natalie has completed the spell. A phoenix springs out of the ground in the wake of her staff. The bird is directed to the monster by a second thump of the mage’s wand and Sunset’s attraction enchantment. Once again the golem’s eyes flash before it changes color. This time from mud brown to blue.
With its free limb, the blue golem slaps the Phoenix away. Its brown form was equipped with a cannon, but it changed into an arm when it took on its new form. Overhead the energy bird has exploded; however, Sunset is ready for this. The spell on the monster’s shoulder is quickly strengthened. Any magic discharged by the mage is now redirected. Showers of bolts turn themselves to strike the golem. In spite of its other arm being damaged by the hovering dragon, the monster remains focused.
Sunset wastes no time teleporting to the golem’s second arm and planting a second magic circle. This circle prevents the monster’s arm from regenerating. Anna supports her by plugging her bow into the ground. Numerous vines surge toward the golem, which returns to its red form.
Flames burn away the archer’s plant attack, but she summons another to replace it. Heat eminating from the golem to repels the plants and keeps most the team from getting very close. Also despite the damage to the monster’s arm, it can still shoot fireballs. Matt creates another earthen wall to protect everyone from the heat.
Sunset flies closer to the dangerous creature to distract it. Scorching bolts repeatedly hit the dragon as she orbits the golem. Her smile seems to irritate the monster further. The red golem is so focused on shooting down the dragon that it does not notice the additional layers of magic circles appearing underneath.
The dual mages silently signal each other before activating their perspective spells. Natalie’s enchantment begins on the ground and merges with the vines entangling the monster. As soon as the spell is cast, the fortified plants spring up and crush the beast's legs. Simultaneously Sunset’s embedded runes pull the top part of the golem apart. By this twisting action, the foe is reduced to a pile of rocks. The largest piece topples over and strikes the back wall. Then all becomes silent.
A triumphant cheer erupts from the team. In an auspicious move, Matt pulls his sword from the ground and collapses the temporary shelter. With his blade on his shoulders, the swordsman confidently struts through the crumbling wall. The rest of the team gathers together to celebrate their victory.
“Wow, Sunset! Great job." Calls out Anna. Nolegs ‘Mews’ from her shoulder.
“This was certainly a team effort!” Sunset motioned to Natalie as she embraced Anna and Nolegs.
“This was certainly a team effort!” Sunset remarks. She motions to Natalie as she embraces Anna and Nolegs.
“Yes, but let's stay alert!" said Natalie. The others nodded in agreement.
Lance is upset that his favorite gun is clogged with mud. His friend Matt tries to console him by showing him his 17th favorite pirate hat that is now covered in grime. The gunner is used to his friend's antics and seems slightly amused as he replaces the weapon with a backup from storage.
Matt waves his hand at the rest of the group, “Meh, see everyone! This was too easy! We can handle anything those cats throw at us!” The defiant swordsman cries. His voice echoes around the area until it is interrupted by a sound from a nearby wall. It is the same wall the last defeated golem crashed into. The crack in the wall suddenly widens, revealing two more monsters on either side -- one brown golem and one blue golem.
Just then, a group of shadows emerges from the fallen red golem. Other shades emerged from other locations carrying rocks and smashed artworks. The shadows merged into a single central form – an enormous blood-red golem. The trio of monsters bellows threateningly at the team.
“Oops.” Retorts Matt sheepishly. Natalie hits him over the head with her staff.
Darkness in the shadow...
A trio of massive golems lumber toward the adventurers. Fortunately, the Team had advanced past the courtyard into a newly discovered area—a group of chambers connected to the base of the godcats’ stronghold. The adventurers use their newfound area to their advantage, using the chambers to find cover and create a plan of attack to fend off the golems. This allowed them to devise a strategy to defeat the golems without confronting them head-on. Lance blasts a hole in one of the walls using a rocket launcher. Natalie and Lance quickly scan the series of rooms. They are directly connected to the keep and so magically strengthened. These chambers afford a much narrower area where all three giants cannot attack at once. After a brief meeting, the team spread out around the rooms, taking advantage of the fallen debris. Upon observing their prey change directions, the monsters follow suit.
The crimson-red monster holding a fiery hammer is the first to be attacked. Matt smirks as he leads the beast to its doom. The confident swordsman grips his claymore tightly in preparation for the upcoming fight. Matt swings his sword with precision, aiming to land the decisive blow to put an end to the monster's reign of terror. The plodding sound of Matt’s boots suddenly ceases as he slides to a stop and turns to face his opponent. He had chosen this location carefully due to its proximity to the central tower. “Now is as good a time as ever to test Natalie’s theory.”
While Matt distracts the first golem, the rest of the team divides the remaining two. By having Matt distract the first golem, the rest of the team can focus on the other two golems, allowing them to take them down one at a time. This strategy gives the team an advantage over the golems, as it reduces the risk of them being overwhelmed. A hyperactive cat repeatedly hits one monster while exploding arrows hit the other. The ploy works. Soon a frustrated brown sword-wielding golem is fruitlessly chasing the blue feline in the opposite direction of its fellow monster. Meanwhile, the agitated yellow archer golem pursues Anna, its sprite counterpart.
Running at full speed while returning fire, the archer does her part to intercept her monstrous counterpart’s arrows. The yellow golem moves slower than Anna and Lance but also has a stronger bow. With each shot, the archer uses her agility and skill to dodge the incoming arrows and shoot at her target with accuracy, all while keeping up a constant pace. She relies on her reflexes and knowledge of the terrain to gain the upper hand. An electric shot flies over Anna’s head. As she navigates the environment, she measures her opponent's speed and reaction time and adjusts her strategy to outmaneuver the attacks. She also takes advantage of her strength in maneuverability, using her agility and quickness to outrun the golem and gain an advantage. By leaping from rock to rock, Anna continues to hold the yellow golem’s attention until Lance and Natalie are ready.
A highly exasperated brown golem crashes through the remains of a wall in a vain attempt to capture a small furry animal. Sunset tries to hold back her laughter as she watches Nolegs buzz around the monster's feet. She watches in awe and amusement as the golem stumbles, flailing its arms and legs, trying to catch the elusive creature. The stings from the blue cat’s sword make things difficult for the earthen monster. It holds a sword and a bulky shield, but they are a hindrance in these circumstances. Nolegs is too quick for the golem and can dodge its clumsy movements. It's nearly impossible for the golem to keep up with the fast and agile movements of Nolegs, especially with its bulky arms and legs. The blue cat's sword is a further impediment, as the golem cannot block the stings and darts that come its way. Sunset drinks in the amusing scene for a moment before beginning her attack. The beast’s comical hopping nullifies any semblance of a fearsome opponent. The dragon signals the Team to begin the counter-offensive with the last creature in place.
In an attempt to cast a surprise ‘Wyvern Slash’ attack on the golem, the dragon teleports, but the golem’s powerful shield blocks it. The dragon had hoped that by teleporting to a position behind the golem, it would be able to take advantage of the golem’s blind spot and deliver the strike. However, the golem’s powerful buffer prevents the dragon from getting close enough to strike. Upon spotting the dragon, the golem completely ignores Nolegs and focuses all of its energy on Sunset. Dodging all of the earthen monster’s attacks is complicated by the room’s small dimensions. However, Sunset cleverly uses the tower’s fortified outer wall to her advantage. Many of the golem’s sword attacks strike the back wall instead of the dragon mage’s shield. After several passes, the monster’s earthen weapon becomes duller and less effective. Sunset takes a chance to strike back by creating a water dragon to circumvent the earth’s shield. After the water dragon soaks the monster in liquid, dragon fire thrashes the muddy golem. With a weakened golem, Sunset takes the opportunity to launch a two-pronged attack, combining her magic with that of her water dragon to defeat the monster finally. Steam pours out of the creature, causing it to dry up and become rigid like a statue. After being disabled, the dragon punches the golem, shattering it. Sunset is pleased with the results when cracks appear throughout the room.
Nolegs is back on Sunset’s shoulder, “meowing” to celebrate their win. They had worked together as a team, determined to defy the odds and succeed, and now their diligent work had paid off. They were relieved to learn that the monster would not reform after a quick diagnostic spell. Their victory was even sweeter knowing that their efforts had been successful and the beast would not return again.
The dragon feels vibrations through the floor emanating from other chambers. A sign her friends are still fighting.
“All right, let's go,” Sunset declares to her blue friend. “The others may need some help. Or, in Matt’s case, an audience.”
Nolegs nods, and the pair move to rejoin the others. After they exit the room, an inky shadow leaches out of the golem’s remnants. Curious, Nolegs pauses and looks back. He can feel something strange emanating from the golem's remains, but he resists the urge to investigate, choosing instead to help his friends.
Anna dodges another lightning bolt thanks to her outstanding evasion skills. Her diversionary attacks keep the monster occupied while her mage partner sneaks out of the room. Anna's lightning-fast reflexes give her an edge in battle. Her ability to anticipate the enemy's movements allows her to dodge each strike. At the same time, her diversionary attacks keep the monster distracted long enough for her mage partner to make their escape. The previous battle had left piles of debris everywhere. One particular metallic pile was of interest to Natalie. With her new cloud-weaving spell, the mage pushes the bits and pieces into a pile. Then she starts a fresh enchantment.
“Wow, this is similar to the trials with Mighty Oak, the forest guardian but faster.” Anna muses. The trials she had been through for Mighty Oak took months, but the current process she was putting herself through took much less time. She was pleasantly surprised at how quickly she could get things done. The yellow monster’s power was electricity, but fortunately for her, it took time to charge up in-between assaults so the archer could predict and escape them. Two short beeps from a communicator signal Anna that phase one of their plan is complete. It is not too soon for the tired girl. As she starts phase two, the green-haired archer is glad of Sunset’s protection spell. So far, the yellow golem has been attempting to hit her with its bow after unsuccessfully using it more conventionally. Now Anna is slowing down just enough so the monster can use its weapon.
One more round of ammunition hits the fire golem with barely any physical effect. This does not seem to bother Lance as he reloads while Matt takes over. This is because the fire golem is composed of a supernatural flame, making it immune to physical damage from bullets. The bullets, however, serve another purpose than to distract. The golem's temperature increases to compensate for the pair's constant attacks. Most of the fire attacks did not directly affect the armored gunner. However, the heat radiating from the monster creates water vapor that quickly turns the room into a sauna.
Matt wipes sweat from his brow. This monster is proving to be tricky. In order to limit the much larger creature's weapons, the swordsman intended to use the reduced space. The limited space meant that the golem could not use its full range of weapons and abilities, putting Matt in an advantageous position. However, the golem was able to overcome this obstacle by knocking down a wall and creating more space. Also, after every use, the club got hotter and hotter. It was now white hot. The heat emanating from the club is unbearable, so Matt has to resort to attacking from a distance.
Matt is in a positive mood despite the high temperature. In attempting to strike Lance and himself, the monster hit the main tower several times at full power. Matt's grin widens as he takes a step back, realizing he managed to dodge the intense heat and take advantage of the situation. Now cracks are forming in the stone.
“Hey!” yelled the overheated gunner, “That shillelagh is giving this beasty too much of an edge.”
“Agreed!” shouts Matt.
A notification alert from their communication devices caused the swordsman and gunner to pause. The two teammates look at each other and grin. This is the moment they have been waiting for. They both knew this was their chance and they were ready to take on the challenge.
Being the fastest, Matt charges first. A quick scrape of the swordsman's foot makes the monster turn away from the gunner. Even though the monster's wound heals almost immediately, Lance can swap out his weapon for a long-range grenade launcher during this pause. Matt skillfully activates a unique enchantment on his boots. The “fly-paper” spell allows the swordsman to run up walls.
“Woo-hoo! Fire party!” Yells Matt as he sprints up the wall and across the ceiling. With a flourish, Matt leaps off the wall and lands on the other side, laughing in delight at the success of his spell.
The swordsman’s antics are not amusing to the monster. Teammates can feel the energy emanating from the golem as he charges up the fire club. Matt retreats behind a fallen wall to escape the high temperatures. The swordsman’s earth magic is at its limit, but he is determined to take down this foe.
Matt can barely call out, “Hey, Spark-head!” without gasping. The golem’s energy is so powerful that it can be felt in the air. Matt can feel the heat radiating from the golem, and it’s so intense that it’s almost impossible for him to speak. The sheer force of the energy makes him sweat profusely. Even the enchanted sword handle is becoming slippery.
Returning to face the intense heat of the golem, Matt focuses all his remaining strength on moving as quickly as he can. Running up the walls for a second time is exhausting, but the effect is soon rewarded. The fire golem attempts to strike him with its club but smashes the ceiling instead. The blow is too great for even the enchanted structure and it falls on top of the monster.
Returning to face the intense heat of the golem, Matt focuses all his remaining strength on moving as quickly as he can. Running up the walls for a second time is exhausting, but the effect is soon rewarded. Fire golem attempts to strike him with its club, but instead smashes the ceiling. Even the enchanted structure cannot withstand the blow, and it collapses on top of the monster.
A sigh of relief escapes the duo at the sight of the pile of boulders and chunks of ice blanketing their fiery opponent. Due to the large hole in the roof, the overheated air has been able to escape, making the room much cooler. In the midst of the monster's imprisonment under several tons of rocks, Lance uses a nitrogen ball to neutralize the troublesome club.
Still too tired to move, Matt lies on Lance's inflatable crash pad. The air escaping through the hole in the roof helps to create a vacuum effect, drawing in cooler air from outside. This helps to reduce the temperature in the room and makes it more comfortable. Despite his tiredness, the swordsman forces himself to drink a mana recovery potion mixed with water. Lance updates the rest of the team on their progress.
Despite his tiredness, the swordsman forces himself to drink a mana recovery potion mixed with water. Raising the cup to his lips, Matt takes a sip of the cool mana potion. With the restorative effects of the potion beginning to take hold, he starts to feel more alert and refreshed. Replenished with energy, Matt rises to his feet and focuses his energy on the task ahead.
Matt recovers not a moment too soon. The rocks on top of the golem are starting to steam. Matt is determined to take on the challenge and uses his newly found energy to do it. He knows he must act quickly, as the golem is about to break free. Concentrating on his holy blade, a large magic circle appears over the trapped monster.
It doesn't take long for a fiery arm to tear through the pile. Clawing its way out of the debris, the red golem is trying to escape. An enflamed head roars at the adventurers before noticing a bright flash overhead. For the second time, piles of debris overwhelm the creature. This time countless pieces of metal statues rain down to meet the fiery creature. The monster's heat soon melts the objects into one solid mass, effectively sealing the threat. The adventurers watch in awe as the fiery creature is consumed by molten metal, its roar of defiance fading away.
The adventurers have no time to celebrate and quickly escape the room. Taking one last look, they make a dash for the exit, knowing they were lucky to survive this day. Lance ducks through a hole in the adjoining room into the relative safety of a courtyard. Matt follows closely behind but is having trouble running. The gunner turns to help his friend only to be grabbed by a pair of red claws.
Cracks are appearing in the room and Anna can feel everything around her shaking. She realizes how critical her role is to the team's plans to defeat these monsters. Anna is determined to stop the lightning golem. Using her woodland instincts, the green-haired girl has been running the yellow monster in circles. When she perceives the fissures in the floor filling up with a thick liquid, she carefully maneuvers the golem to that area. It is finally time to act.
As the giant takes the bait from the team's well-planned deception, her emotions are a mix of relief and terror. A back-flip helps the archer avoid the latest arrow attack. Then on the far wall, a magic circle appears. Anna is surprised the wall is still standing but attributes it to the building's powerful protection spell.
A flash bolt fired into the monster's eyes ensures the creature will follow her. Anna glances back to make sure the golem charges the arrow to full power before attempting to hit her. The target wall is already bulging out due to the weight from the opposite side so scaling it to reach the circle is an easy matter. She knows that the golem is capable of charging the arrow with enough force to shatter the wall, allowing access to the other side. She trusts the golem to fulfill its purpose and jumps into the circle.
A teleportation circle drops the last member into a makeshift foxhole to rejoin the others. Recognizing the potential danger of the situation, Anna instinctively acts to protect herself. From previous experiences, Anna needs to move quickly to avoid unforeseen repercussions. In preparation, the archer squatted down.
Inside the shelter, two mages are busy casting a barrier spell. Sunset has changed into her other form. They acknowledge Anna with a nod. Upon looking nearby, the archer confirms that the rest of the team is safe. She feels a weight on her back, indicating her feline friend is returning to the pouch. She scratches Nolegs' ears. An argument between two people in the corner upends the seriousness of the situation. Anna mentally takes a step back and surveys the scene before her - mages chanting, her friend returning to her side, and a heated disagreement in the corner. She takes a deep breath, ready to face the challenge ahead.
Before Anna can process the scene, a loud explosion violently shakes the area. As the team waits impatiently for the dust to settle, the archer mulls over the plan in her head. With her heart pounding and adrenaline rushing, Anna knew this was the moment of truth - the moment when she would find out if this idea would succeed. The archer prepared her bow while bracing herself for the unexpected. However, the chaos had already allowed two shadows to move away.
The team had split up the three golems in order to use their power against the godcats’ formidable protection-shield spell. As Natalie had hypothesized the strongest spells resided in the stronghold. As an alternative to using all their power against the stronghold's defenses, the three golems could be broken up and their power directed against it. Sunset and Nolegs used the earth golem to weaken the ground underneath one side of the stronghold, while the other two monsters were pitted against each other.
A group of diagnoses spells in the form of spheres left the trench ahead of the team. After the spells reported the monsters were destroyed, the friends let out a collective sigh of relief - the monsters could no longer regenerate.
With the golems neutralized, Natalie, Sunset, Nolegs and Anna are now free to leave the safety of the trench and assess the damage. A commotion, however, causes them to stop at the edge of the shelter. As they approach, they notice that Lance and Matt are fighting over a ripped-up crash pad. Lance wants to throw away the item, while Matt prefers to keep it.
Anna places her hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle. Only Matt would want to keep such an item for his “things that help out in fights, disputes, and cooking” collection. The swordsman is undoubtedly eccentric, hyperactive, and sometimes downright silly, but his plans are genius. He has this knack for coming up with creative solutions to any problem, and his courage and determination always see him through. He is the type of person who, no matter the situation, can make the best of it and have a good time.
“Like turning a fire monster into a lightning rod by dumping metal over it in order to destroy another golem with its own electricity.” Anna mused. "It was a perilous solution, but it worked."
The argument ended when Sunset, still in her red form, picked them both up in her claws and threatened to teleport them somewhere unpleasant. Natalie backed her friend up and cast a shrinking spell on the ripped fabric. With a firm look in her eyes, Natalie declared that the argument was now over. She crossed her arms and waited for her friend's response, expecting compliance.
Matt picks up the shrunken cloth and gives everyone a pouted look. Matt seemed to understand the finality of Natalie's gesture. He knew that if he argued any further, it would be futile. Thus, he reluctantly accepted the outcome and moved to put the shrunken cloth away without further ado. However it missed his pocket and dropped to the ground.
It is quickly picked up by Lance. "There's ye yanky..." The gunner throws his arm around his friend's shoulder. With a nod, Lance smiles and assures him, "Don't worry, ye'll make sure to get some more." Matt grins. The two fist pump and become friends again.
A series of explosions severely damaged the outer buildings, so the team cautiously moved. Black soot covers the ground, and a long crack runs up the central tower's side. The team is aware of the danger of the unstable structure and the risk of further explosions. As a result, they move cautiously and try to avoid sudden movements that could cause parts of the tower to collapse. They are also conscious of the structural integrity of the building and therefore try to avoid any sudden, jerky movements that could cause the already weakened structure to collapse.
Carefully hovering over a large crater that marks the spot of the exploding golems, Sunset scouts the ruins for danger. Taking her time, Sunset carefully surveys the area, looking for any possible signs of trouble or instability. Finding nothing, she returns to the others.
Anna greets Sunset with a puzzled look. The dragon is just as perplexed as she is. After so much destruction, there is no sign of the godcats. Anna and the dragon, exhausted from the fight and wary of the cat’s still-unknown fate, make their way to a damaged but stable building for shelter as the sun set and the air grew colder. They looked around once more before heading inside for protection.
Inside the building, the two girls see hot food has already been prepared. Nolegs has found some firestone among the rubble that can easily kindle a flame. Lance motions them to sit on a long piece of stone with a familiar cloth over it. As it turns out, it is the torn crash pad Matt was obsessed with before. Upon sitting down, Anna realizes this waterproof material is ideal for covering the cold rock. Likewise, her companion, who was not expecting this to happen, is equally surprised now that these stones are now comfortable seats thanks to the semi-inflated pad. Enjoying the newfound comfort, both girls look up to Matt in gratitude, appreciating his thoughtfulness in providing them with a cushion.
Natalie walks over to the fire looking tired after casting several early warning and protection spells. She knew that while the spells might not be enough, it was all she could do for now. She handed Sunset her mana restoration pouch back once she had sat down. The mage sighed with relief, knowing that she had done all she could to prepare for the coming danger.
Sunset nods in reply. While the dragon is replacing the pouch back on her belt, Anna notices a metallic amulet slip out of it. With swift movement, Sunset picks up the charm and quickly slips it back into her pouch. Her expression indicates that there is more to this object than meets the eye. Just before the archer can inquire about the mystery item, a plate of food is waved under her nose. Though Sunset's actions indicated that the amulet was of importance, Anna chose to set it aside and focus on the more pressing matter of satisfying her hunger.
After her meal, the archer notices Lance gazing at the reports coming from his communicator. She walks over for a situation update. The gunner senses Anna next question.
“So?” asks Anna reservedly.
“Sorry, still the same.” Replies Lance with regret.
“That sniper tank has been offline for a while. So does that mean no help at all from Queen Sabrina and Captain Eldaro?” says Anna. “It would have been helpful against those monsters.”
“Don’t ye worry…?” Adds the gunner confidently. “You be sure this problem is getting worked on. Such a powerful tank would not fail without a reason.”
Anna nods in agreement.
Several leagues away, an advanced ship and its crew are going through drills. Queen Sabrina and Captain Eldaro have been in non-stop conferences since the incident with their most advanced tank. Several nervous engineers are also in attendance.
“Eldaro,” protests Sabrina. “I still feel the heroes should have been told the truth about why the tank is offline.”
“Are we going through this again?” replies the Captain with annoyance. “They need all the assistance and hope they can get on that mountain. It cannot seem like we are abandoning then when they need support the most.”
“But…” Protests the Queen.
“Sabrina…” Continues Eldaro. “Right now those brave adventures are risking their lives to save us all. Do you REALLY want then to know why one of our most advanced long range weapons is out of commission?” The captain gives the present engineers a hard look.
“But. Ssssir. The RS52B tank is the vvvvery latest in cutting edge design at a cost of 5 billion gold. It was custom equipped to handle multiple terrains, conditions, and a variety of external assaults. We designed it to be resilience to wide range of problems. It’s truly unique...” Stutters one of engineers.
Eldaro slams his fist on to the table “UNIQUE!!! Oh, it’s unique all right… That useless pile of bolts soooo unique… we don’t have any spare parts.”
“Bbbbut… How were we supposed to anticipate this… problem…?” Replied the engineer.
Captain Eldaro placed his hand over head in an attempt to ward off his headache. He slowly sat back in his chair to contemplate the next best move. They had one of the most advanced, powerful, overly expensive units in existence sitting idle due to an overly excited clerk dumping a whole pot of coffee on the main control panel.
There are many advantages to being a godcat, however tonight Diana is quietly cursing having so many powers. One of them is enhanced senses. Her overly sensitive hearing makes it hard to sleep when the human-lings are now so close. After listening to such wonderful music before, the cat could not relax. The godcat rolled over in her bed, trying to resist the urge to dance along to the melody.
Finally, the white cat drifted off to sleep. However, she was soon awaken due to the rising humidity in her chamber. Ameila groaned at the inconvenience and moved towards the nearby window for some relief.
A shrill scream violently shoves the other cat sister Diana out of her dreams. The black feline tumbles on to the floor for a few moments before remembering she could levitate. She swiftly flies to her sibling’s room only see black smoke coming out of it.
“SISTER!” cries Amelia in panic. “Where are you?”
The answer comes rushing out of the smoke filled room in the form of a soot covered cat.
“Are you all right sister?” asks Amelia.
“No I’m not alright!” Screams the other cat with such force it shakes the tower. “I’M… ALL DIRTY!!” The pair of cats is instantly teleported to the stronghold’s bath. While Amelia swiftly fills the tub, Diana is running maniacally around the chamber grabbing paw-fuls of scented cleansers.
“Eh, Sister? What about that smoke and those expositions?” Inquires Amelia.
“Not now. Less talking more filling. More hot water, it’s so cold in here."
“Cold?”
A light snow was falling around the base of the tower. With the unexpected lull, the team is catching some much needed rest. They are all exhausted, however Anna and Nolegs find just enough strength to venture out for some additional firewood. Despite her warm coat the archer suddenly feels cold. An icy wind is starting to blow across the area. Suddenly Nolegs hissing a warning. A sudden terror grips the archer and with all of her speed she runs back to the shelter.
Snow is falling around the tower's base. With the unexpected lull, the team can get some much-needed rest. They are all exhausted; however, Anna and Nolegs find enough strength to venture out for some additional firewood. Despite her warm clothing, the archer is feeling cold. An icy wind is starting to blow across the area. Suddenly Nolegs hisses a warning. The archer quickly feels terror grip her, and she runs back to the shelter with all her strength. Her voice barely louder than a whisper, she manages to get out.
“There’s something out there.”
Thought Sunset could be suffering from solastalgia instead of nostalgia.
Meeting The Mage Again ...
The four adventures continue their journey to the Ashwood forest trail head. Anna leads the way around a lava river. While she is studying the map, Natalie and Matt take the opportunity to catch up on the events in each other’s lives. Nolegs decides to ride on Matt's back. Halfway up the hill, the group’s progress is blocked by a recent landslide. Anne apologizes for making them walk around the other way, but they respond it was out of her control. Rounding the side of the hill, Natalie points out the probable cause of the landslide, a small black volcano.
As the group prepares to walk around the impediment, Nolegs suddenly jumps off of Matt’s back and starts to hiss at the black rock. The ground starts shaking as the volcano reveals the hiding place of a lava turtle. The turtle roars at the invaders to its territory and begins to spit fireballs.
Anna and Matt rush to cover Natalie as she starts to chant a spell. Matt slashes the nearby fireballs, which explode harmlessly around the others. Dodging the falling cinders, Anna attempts to shoot an arrow at the turtle, but it seems to stop in mid-air. As more sparks rain down, Anna notices they are bouncing off of a shape. Switching to her smaller stinger arrows, the archer fires a volley at the invisible form, successfully revealing a second creature. Enraged, a horned rag monster reveals itself. Its magic had formed a protective circle around its ally.
With Anna and Matt distracting the monsters, Natalie completes her spell. Pounding the ground with her staff, numerous liquid balls surround the monsters, just before engaging in an all-out watery strike. Having no space to dodge, both monsters roar in pain. The water weakens the protective barrier, allowing Anna to successfully shoot the rag monster. However, the lava turtle was still active. Rising on its back legs, the monster uses its massive body to start an earthquake. The resulting rockslide knocks Anna and Natalie over. Once again the turtle’s fireballs threaten the group.
Fortunately, Matt has dodged the falling rocks. Seeing his friends now defenseless in the rubble, Matt points his sword at the threat. The red jewel of his white claymore flashes with light as it reaches maximum charge. A blinding counterattack destroys the Turtle’s fiery assault. Matt proceeds to slam his sword into the ground to create a shockwave that piles a wave of dirt and debris over the aggressor. With the turtle pinned under the torrent, Matt uses the opportunity to cut off the stunned monster’s head.
The threat neutralized, the other 3 adventurers dig themselves out and go to rest in a small clearing. Natalie creates a defense shield around the campsite before helping Anna unpack some food while Matt goes to chop wood. Nolegs decides to jump on a rock to sunbathe. After a while, Matt returns with the wood and has also found some mushrooms. However, some of the mushrooms don’t look right to Anna, so she looks them over while Natalie sets up the fire. After analyzing the mushrooms, she reveals to Natalie that some of them are poisonous.
"Here you are Natalie," Says Anna as she hands her the eatable mushrooms, "About half of them were poisoned. But with fungus one needs to be careful."
"Why am I not surprised?" Natalie glances at Matt, "He used to force us to eat slimes." Matt turns his head away at the mention of slime.
"Really?" Anna smiles, but then remembers her earlier encounter with them.
"Before you ask… slime tastes horrible." Said Natalie as she pokes a stick at the campfire.
“I can only imagine, plus, it is impossible to get out of your clothes.” Responded Anna with a side glance at Matt. Natalie spots the look and casts a knowing grin at the now embarrassed Matt.
"Anyway,” announces Natalie loudly, “A spell message was sent to the other teammates with our location, so they will be here soon."
"... I wonder what the other two will be like." Wonders Anna aloud as she turns the cooking mushrooms over.
"Just another mage and a gunner," Natalie replies, "they are a human and a dragon."
"A dragon?" Anna tilts her head, “Wow!"
“Yes”, Matt states proudly, “Sunset has been with us on all sorts of adventures. Our team would not be the same without her.”
“Still”, remarks Anna, “They are rather rare, it is not as if one is going to drop from the sky right in front of you.”
“You’re right. Our group seems to have better luck with talking unicorns doing that.” Matt responds with a straight face. Natalie coughs to remind Matt that his teammate Sunset preferred her privacy.
Anna groans at the perceived bad dragon joke and heads back to her tent to sleep. Natalie and Matt see each other and sigh.
That same day, elsewhere on Earth(en), an orange dragon named Sunset is conversing with an old man and his overexcited granddaughter.
"Thank you for saving us from that golem," says the man gratefully while shaking the orange dragon’s claw. “I don't know what to say. The woods have been so strange lately."
Rubbing her head in slight embarrassment, the dragon replies, "Well... glad I could help you both.”
Meantime the little girl has temporarily stopped running in circles around the pair to hug the dragon, "Thank you so much, Mrs. Dragon!", she squealed. Then she remembers something "Maybe you can pull out the cave sword."
"Oh, what kind of sword is that?" The dragon asks curiously.
The old man says, "Please let me show you, it is the least I can do."
Following the man, the dragon’s steps bounce a little while giving the little girl a dragon back ride. After walking a while, they reach a cave. Inside is a white sword plunged into a stone.
"This is the sword." Announces shows the man hopefully as the dragon nods in agreement. The man proudly continues his tale, "Legend says whoever can pull out the sword, will be a destiny hero."
Sunset shakes her head in slight annoyance at the flashy title. The dragon carefully slid the little girl off her back and walked up to the embedded object. Taking a deep breath Sunset tries to pull out the sword but it doesn’t flinch. She tries it again but it will not move. The dragon falls on the ground and sighs, "Well, look like the sword didn't choose me."
"Aww...” pouted the little girl. “I wanted you to pull out the mystery sword and become a destiny hero,"
The dragon turns affectionately to the disappointed girl and remarks, "You don't need to pull out a sword to be a hero." Sunset stands up and pokes her finger at the girl's heart, "A hero needs a heart, not fame." This immediately cheers up the girl who hugs the dragon once more. Turning to her grandfather, the little girl lets out a wide yawn. The dragon and the man nod to each other. After carefully placing the girl on her back, they all walk back to the man’s house.
Back at the campsite, Anna wakes up to the smell of cooking. She observes Matt and Natalie are roasting strips of meat over the campfire with Nolegs watching impatiently. The archer is confused because she was taught only bats and dogs live in this area. Then Anna spotted a brown furry mound by the fire. She did a double-take to make sure she was not seeing things. It was a bear.
The archer was surprised. Had her companions gone hunting without her? It was still early morning but somehow there was a fresh game.
“Ah,” groaned Anne, “Matt, I cannot believe you and Natalie went out hunting without waking me! Why a bear, when there are easier animals to hunt?”
“Hunt it?” replies Matt “No, I didn’t hunt it. The bear just showed up when I was out for more firewood.” He looked at the bear and pointed to a fallen tree a short distance away. “Was walking right over there, when this bear charged at me as if I was giant honeycomb.” The swordsman sighed and pointed at the animal “This guy really did not give me any choice but to defend myself. But… at least we have some meat. So no problems. We are all old pros at adventuring.”
“Please don’t be upset with Matt, Anna.” Spoke Natalie as she moved over to fire, “I was the one who put a noise deafening spell around the camp. Matt is not the quietest sleeper so wanted to make sure you got enough sleep.” At the sound of his name, Nolegs perks up and grabs a roasting meat stick. The group laughs at his antics and decided breakfast was ready.
Anna's initial hesitation to eat bear meat disappears after her stomach growls. This earns her another round of laughter from the others. After breakfast, they stand up and continue the journey. However, the archer can’t seem to get the bear attack out of her mind, something felt off about it.
The group is almost out of Ashwood Forest. Walking a little behind her traveling companions, Anna notices how well Matt and Natalie get along despite having been apart for several years. The bear is forgotten as the archer ponders their relationship.
"So…” Anna inquires, “You both seem pretty close. Are you just friends or are you...?"
Matt cheers, "We're way more than just friends."
His answer stuns Natalie. She blushes deep crimson while trying to speak, "We're just ... W-what? We are?!"
Matt continues, "Yeah, we're a team! Nolegs is in the team too." He looks at the blue cat, "Right, Nolegs?" The cat 'meows' happily and returns to his spot on Matt's back.
Natalie sighs in anger, “So that's all I am to you, after all this time?” ‘Yep same old Matt… clueless to other peoples feeling as always.’ She thinks, now slightly miffed.
Anna continues to walk and says cluelessly, "That all then? How boring!" The archer turns her attention back to the maps.
The Team continues to go out of the forest. Natalie is still annoyed that Anne brought up her personal life so casually, so the mage starts to walk faster. Nolegs still hanging on Matt’s neck while he starts to jog to keep up with Natalie. Looking ahead, Anne spots a dangerous crystal growing on the path in front of them.
The crystal is attracted to movement so Anna yells to make them aware of the danger. But her companions, Matt and Natalie, seemed to be distracted. Anne is terrified when the crystal explodes and runs to the pair in the smoke cloud. Luckily Natalie used "Shield" before it exploded so the trio was unharmed. As the smoke clears Anna sees Natalie strutting out the debris glaring at an oblivious Matt. Anna is worried about future dangers so she jogs ahead a bit to find the end of the path.
"Look, we're almost the end of the forest trail," Anna doesn't hear any response, she looks back and sees that the trio is not there. Checking the trail she sees a strange black cloud and hears an unusual amount of cawing. Running down towards the scene, Anne sees the rest of the group battling a flock of black crows. An unusually large black crow tries to attack Matt but Nolegs jumps on its back with his claws.
The bird struggles unsuccessfully to shake the cat off before getting stuck by the feline's sword. Excitedly Nolegs jumps off of the first crow and leaps again to repeat the attack on a second bird. While the feline is preoccupied with his target, another crow tries to sneak up on the cat but is shot down by an arrow. Several more crows get cut up by Matt while Natalie chants a new spell. With a whirl of her staff, Natalie creates an ice storm that freezes the rest of the birds.
Matt cheers, "Nice job!" He raises his arm and adjusts his hat to make himself look cool but Anna bonks him on the head with her bow. “Ow!” Matt replies “Watch the hat! …What? We got this.”
Anna yells at him, "WHY DID YOU START BATTLING WITHOUT ME LIKE THAT?"
Matt and Natalie cover their ears to wait for Anna finishes yelling. When the yelling died down, Natalie manages to say, "Well, it just was some crows right? We can handle it.” Bending down the mage picks up the cat and starts patting his head “Right Nolegs?" Purring loudly, Nolegs curls himself comfortably into Natalie’s arms and goes to sleep.
Flabbergasted at the rest of the group's laid-back attitude, Anna goes silent for a bit trying to process it. The archer is Anna looks at Nolegs and then looks back to the duo, "And who teaches a cat how to fight?" Matt raises his hand, Anna tilts her head, "Isn’t it strange to teach a cat?"
Matt shakes his head and says, "Nah, we have a freaking dragon who can cast spells and teleport."
Anna's eyes widen, "Really?" Anna glees at Matt, "I would love to see this dragon."
"You will meet her soon," Matt spins his sword, "Along with our gunner."
Anna takes out the map and looks at it, "Well... talk later, maybe we should leave the forest first?" The duo nods and Anna leads the way to the final stretch before the end of the trail.
In the last area out of the forest, there were many dying trees and unusual greeneries. Anna looks around for the cause and sighs quietly. It has been a while since she was here last but she and her companions will need to face him before they can depart the woods. After the noise of the crows, this area seems unusually quiet. After walking for a while, Matt and Natalie see something that looks like a robot but is made of wood. It also has a metal mouth and has a wood-metal shield at the right arm and a metal left arm.
The duo quickly turns to Anna and asks, "Okay... what the hell is that?"
Anna sees the robot and notices. "Oh, that is Mighty Oak." Anna explains."Thanks to him, this part of the Ashwood Forest is still green."
Matt replies angrily, "Isn't that just another monster? It's huge! Is it even safe to go near it?"
Anna answers, "Mighty Oak is the forest guardian. Unless he respects us, our group will not be allowed to leave. We're going to have to defeat him in a battle to earn his respect, then he will let us pass." The archer slips the bow from her shoulder, "I remember my fight with him as part of our village’s rite of passage.” Anna almost whispers.
“Wow, so you defeated him, Anna?' Asks Matt.
“Not quite.” replies Anna. “I ended up in the hospital and had to wear a cast for several months." After a few moments of silence, Natalie and Matt start laughing while Anna glares at them, "Hey, that's not funny."
Natalie stops laughing."All right, all right. However it is getting late, we will battle with the forest guardian tomorrow.
The group sets the camp near the Mighty Oak’s area. Matt starts cooking the bear and crow meat while Natalie looks at the Oak to analyze it. After finishing her reconnaissance, the mage returns to the camp just as the meat finishes cooking.
While Nolegs is chewing on a fatty bone. Matt notices the girls are only eating bread and bear meat. “Is that all you two are going to eat?” asks Matt.
Natalie replies, “I’m not very hungry.”
“Well more roast crow for me,” announces Matt, “I’m going to eat a lot.” Natalie and Anna look at each other and grin.
"So, you got two mages in one team?" Anna asks to change the subject, "Don't you have a supporter? Like a priest?"
"Well, honestly just one mage. The mage dragon... eh, I don't know if she considered herself a mage or not." Says Matt between chews, "Well, Natalie can do more powerful spells, but Sunset has much more agility."
Anna gulps as she envisions such a creature, "Is she using her spells to boost the speed? I have seen many mages do that." Anna takes out the bottle of water, "All of the mages seem to have the same disadvantage of low speed plus need time to cast the spell, right? So I could fight her before she could attack."
Natalie stares at her, "Sound theory if you were fighting a regular mage. However, the normal rules don’t apply to the dragon mage."
"I see." Anna pokes the stick to the campfire, "you both have made me even more curious about this."
Matt replies, "Before you can do that we will need to defeat Mighty Oak. Now we should all get a good night's sleep." Matt points at the Guardian. "We will need battle with this guy tomorrow to leave the forest." The girls smile seeing Nolegs curled up comfortably on the sleeping bags. The girls also go to sleep while Matt guards them. Tomorrow will be a good day to battle
