The Fantastic Adventures of Erica Moonsword
I stared at the Ice Giant before me.
“There are seven of The Protectors of the Keep.” The Ice Giant boomed, his loud voice knocking me off my feet. I stared. I didn’t understand. “You Erica, are the Ice protector. Find the others. One you’ve known, one you’ve met, and those are the first two. They are the Myth Protector, and the Life Protector. The other four will come in time.” Then, the Ice giant hit the ground with his fist, the ground crumbled beneath me. I couldn’t will myself to scream. I fell, a horrible sight flashing before me…
I woke up with a startle. I was breathing hard, clutching my heart. I looked around my dorm room. It was nothing. Nothing but a dream. A dream that’s been repeating for the past month. Tears were dripping down my cheeks. I wiped sweat from my brow. I don’t know why I’m so afraid by something I’ve seen all before. It was morning in Ravenwood Academy, and my younger brother, Kyle Breeze, a Myth wizard, and I have been here for what feels like centuries, but it’s only been a month. Kyle was already level 20, with a fancy castle. While I was level 12. Kyle was more of a fighter. I was not. But level only mattered for training, not age, so I wasn’t embarrassed, but I was glad I kept to myself, and schoolwork. I crept out of bed, and got dressed for thaumaturgy class. I crept out the door, rubbing sleep out of my eyes. And ran into someone.
“Oof!” The two of us said, I realized I ran into a life wizard. Not just any plain old Life wizard, but my best friend, Chelsea Skytalon.
“Hi Chelsea!” I said happily. Chelsea frowned.
“Erica! Hi! Um.. Is.. Is that a sand tube?” She asked, her eyes widening. Before I could turn to see what she meant, we were swirled into the sand tube. It all happened so fast. It was like, attack of the sandstorm. I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face. I was scared. When the sand cleared, we were in a white room with silver torches and seven statues. It was elegant, entrancing, and familiar…
“This place is like my dream!” Kyle exclaimed. Whoa. I have no idea how Kyle got here.
“Mine too!” Chelsea said. Now I remembered. This was the place where the Ice giant told me about the Protectors of the Keep-over and over again. But it looked more beautiful now than ever before. Because it was real, like in the beginning of the month.
We were all blinded by a bright light. Three of the statues lit up brilliantly- Ice Giant, Cyclops, and Unicorn.
Then the words hit me like a rock. One you’ve known, one you’ve met .A Myth protector, and a Life Protector. My own brother and my best friend were the others? What does the prophecy even mean? I was too smart to jump to conclusions. Maybe Headmaster Ambrose set this up to test us. Another light shined, and the three statues spoke. Yes, they spoke real words. That’s when I started thinking differently.
“Who dares disturb the wrath of the Giants?” The ice giant said.
“Oh shut up, brother! They’re only children! Protectors at that!” the unicorn said.
The two argued for quite some time, Only the Cyclops kept quite. I stared at him. He was… different. He was shy, like…me. I stared at him for a long time. Then he noticed.
“Yes, little Ice wizard?” the Cyclops said. I nudged to the other two, and then the Cyclopes nodded and separated the two. They kept silent. The room went quiet. Then they spoke again.
“Anyway,” the three statues said together, “Next is the death wizard. His name is Andrew.”
Andrew wasn’t very helpful information.
“What’s his last name?” I asked.
“It would be best if you don’t know. We don’t wish to worry you.” The unicorn said. Then, the three statues froze again, leaving Chelsea, Kyle, and I the only living things in the large room. Was that all they tell us? Who the next protector was? There was an eerie silence.
“Let’s leave!” Kyle said, noticing the silence.
“Right ahead of you!” Chelsea said, getting ready to teleport.
“Uh… Me too guys! Wait up!” I said, after seeing them both teleport. I teleported. And I was free falling about 2,000 feet in the air, down to Wizard City. I screamed. And landed on a building. Sliding down to a horrible doom. I rolled over, waving my wand so I can teleport. Fizzle. I had about 20 seconds before I reached the bottom. Fizzle. 15 seconds….Fizzle. 8 seconds. Fizzle. Oh no. I concentrated hard. 3 seconds….2…1.
I teleported in time.
And landed on top of Chelsea, who groaned when I was fully teleported. She was in her dorm. Oops. Bad timing. I stepped off her back, and sat on her bed.
“Why me? Why not Kyle?” Chelsea asked, staring at me.
“It was on the brink of life and death.” I said.
“I could’ve healed you.”
“Okay. When?”
“When did you plan to fall?”
“About a minute ago.”
“Okay. Let’s go back in time, then you fall, then I save you.”
“Ha-ha. Very funny, Chelsea.”
Chelsea smiled at me, and then she perked up, and smiled bigger.
“Guess what Erica?” she said, smiling from ear to ear.
“What?” I asked her.
“I found the most gorgeous ring! Look at it! There was something about the protectors in it too. And- Hey! You got a pretty ring too! Mine is the Jade of Bravery. That means yours is the Sapphire of Hope. Right? Oh yeah, I found this about a week ago, don’t worry.” She said, smiling even bigger, which I think is impossible, since that was the biggest smile I’ve ever seen. She held out her hand, and I saw a pretty little Jade ring.
“That means Kyle must have the Peridot of Power by now!” I exclaimed. Before Chelsea could say anything else, I teleported to Kyle. I still have no idea why I was excited about this. I was frightened still, but not as much now as before.
I landed on him with a loud thump.
“Hey watch it sis!” He said.
“I’m sorry, okay? But who cares?! Did you get The Peridot of Power?” I asked him.
Kyle nodded and showed me the ring. It was really pretty. Except it was kind of dull, since it was covered with dirt. I said goodbye to him, but I automatically felt hungry. I asked my three best friends, Chelsea Skytalon, a level 11 life wizard, and Kayla Dawnshade, a level 37 death wizard if they wanted to get lunch. I know they are all opposites from each other, but still, best friends. I smiled, knowing we’ll meet in front of the waterfall, which concealed the death school from the world. We sat down, and started eating. Then, out of nowhere, we teleported into Mooshu.
“How did we get here?” I asked out loud.
“I don’t know, but, being on Mooshu and all, I have never seen this part of it before.” Kayla replied, cautiously. We look around. We were in a bamboo forest, and what I knew about Mooshu, there wasn’t a bamboo forest we can actually get stuck in.
“Well, were here now, let’s just make the most of it. Let’s teleport to Jade Palace.” Chelsea said, trying to teleport. We tried, but nothing happened.
“Well, Chelsea, your secondary school is storm, so, can you try to blow the bamboo away, so we can at least move two feet?” I asked, looking at Chelsea. Chelsea tried, and thankfully it made enough room for us to sit. We sat, not sure what to do.
“So, now I can never level and get to Dragonspyre! And now Erica can’t even make it to Krokotopia! We’ll be stuck in this forest forever! Then we’ll die out and never live a normal, happy, wizard life!” Kayla cried. I stared blankly at her.
“Shush! I hear something!” Chelsea said, lifting up her head. I strained to hear, and eventually I heard whispering. I picked up bits and pieces.
“Malistaire…Protectors…storm…Andrew…” voices were saying. I pushed away some bamboo and I saw two draconian. What were they doing in Mooshu? And how can they talk? They said something about the protectors…and Andrew. They also said storm. Andrew isn’t the storm protector. Then, again, we’ve never met Andrew, so I can’t be sure. But the statues said he was death. But, for some reason, I think there is a connection between Malistaire and Andrew. But what was the connection? I strained to hear more. Nothing. Then, the draconian teleported away.
“What were they? Wizards? Samoori? Headmaster?” Chelsea asked, hopefully.
“If they were, Erica would have asked to get us out of here, Chelsea.” Kayla said. I shook my head.
“No, they…they…were…um…” I stuttered.
“Come on Erica! Say it!” Kayla said.
“Draconian.” I was able to manage. It didn’t surprise me when they gasped.
“Erica? ERICA?!? Please come out! This isn’t funny!” A familiar voice said. It was Kyle! But there was urgency in his voice. He sounded… scared.
“Kyle! We’re over here! Kyle!” I yelped. I would be so happy to see him! The bamboo was separated, and what I saw wasn’t just Kyle… Malistaire was holding him by his arm.
I stood up bravely.
“Let him go.” I said, my voice quavering a bit. Malistaire snickered. Then, we were flooded in a black light. I can’t describe it any other way. It was, indeed, a pitch, black light. I fell backwards, stunned by the change in events. Then, Kayla, Chelsea, and I were in the commons again. I fell to my knees, crying. Kyle, my little brother, was gone. Gone forever.
|
Late For Ravenwood (part 4)
I was about to cast my centaur but right when it got to our turn, the salamander cast a new spell that I had never seen before. It was a giant fire ball! It kept hitting all the enemy’s. Pretty soon, they were all dead. “Whoa, how did you do that? I thought that you could only supply pips” I said stunned that the salamander was smarter then me. “You have freed me and I have a wife and kids. I would have never seen them, but thanks to you I can go back to my home land.” The salamander said giving me a very deep bow. “Your welcome, but that still doesn’t explain how you did that spell” I asked wondering how such a weak creature could cast such a powerful spell. “I learned it from The Teacher, he can teach you to if you want, he is right out side this sphinx” the salamander said. “That would be great!” I said. “Wait young Cody, you wanted my help and now you shall get it, what is it you seek?” the old krok asked. “I need your help to hide from Drake” I said, now remembering that I had to hide. “Drake? As in old Cyrus Drake?” the krok asked. “Yes, that’s the one, he is a grouch now, and I need to hide from him because he is trying to defeat me!” I said hurriedly, it looked like the salamander was getting fidgety. “I know just the place, this loyal salamander will take you to it” the old krok said, pointing to the salamander. “Me sir!?” the salamander asked. “Yes, take him to The Teacher first though; if he is going to go to MB he needs to be a lot stronger” the krok said waving farewell as the salamander took my arm and pulled me out of the sphinx. The sun was bearing down upon my head. “Boy, is it always so hot?” I asked trying to pull my hat up more for shade. “Yessss, but you get used to it after a while” the salamander replied. “So where is this teacher?” I questioned looking around. “Down here” the salamander said pointing to a ladder. I climbed down entering what looked like a school. But instead of desks there were floor mats and small tables. “Ahh and who is this?” asked an even older krok. “Are you related to the krok inside the sphinx?” I asked, he certainly looked like him. “Yes, we are brothers, although we went our separate ways when I decided to teach balance” the krok replied. “You’re the balance teacher? So this must be the balance school!” I exclaimed. “Yes, so what have you come for? I haven’t seen any students but my own come here in a long time” the krok said sadly. “I actually have no idea why I am here, all I know is that you taught this salamander a great spell and I want to learn it” I said pointing to the salamander. “I am very sorry but I don’t teach any students but my own, unless you have training points” the krok said. “But your brother told me that I had to come to you to learn new and powerful spells, so I can go to MB, wherever that is..” I explained. “Oh, my brother sent you? Well that changes everything” the krok said. The krok then proceeded to go up to his desk and take out what looked like a very old book. “This is the book of balance spells, it is very very very old. I will teach you three of these spells. One will be very easy, one will have a level of difficulty, and the third one will be the hardest of them all” the krok explained. “When do we begin?” I asked, eager to start.
|
Trouble in Marleybone
Walking in Marleybone was not a peaceful stroll; but Jacob Ghostwhisper didn't know that yet. Jacob was exploring the worlds of the Spiral and Marleybone was his favourite so he wanted to go back. He also wanted to level up; but to do that you need XP. Just before he went into a battle to get XP, he realised one thing: he had no mana! Without mana you can't cast any good spells! Soon after that he went out looking for mana whisps. But as he looked he couldn't find any whisps. He wandered around until he came across a dark, mysterious alley. He went inside to look for some whisps, but before he knew it, he was hit unconscious and bundled out somewhere far away.
A few hours later when he regained consciousness, he couldn’t figure out where he was; it was too dark to see. When his eyes adjusted, he knew where he was: the rat and cat thugs had teamed-up and were capturing innocent wizards and other people and shoving them into small, crowded cells! He felt for his wand to try and cast a spell to break the bars, but his wand was gone! He found out that the guards had stolen their wands and locked them away. So, he was trapped in a cell with no wand.
Day after day, Jacob Ghostwhisper got thinner and thinner until finally he was able to slip through the bars. But, there were cat thug guards and he wouldn’t get far. He then saw that each guard had a shift that lasted one-minute so the prisoners were left alone for a minute but a minute only. So when the guard left, Jacob Ghostwhisper slipped through the bars and went in search of the confiscated items. About five minutes later, he found it. It was a big closet. He opened it and straight away he saw it, the wand with strange markings on it. He also found his spell deck, which he had forgotten about. And so life went on with Jacob Ghostwhisper and he did indeed get the level and was able to add a new spell to his spell deck “phoenix”. But it was not over yet.
About two weeks after Jacob was kidnapped, he felt a sickening feeling in his stomach. He felt sorry for all the other prisoners and decided to go back for them. He went to Marleybone with his wand and spell deck but realised one thing. He didn’t know where the secret hold was! He searched for hours and hours until finally he found it! It was a big centre hidden beneath the shadows. He went inside and saw about ten cat thugs and rat thugs. With his new spell he manged to defeat every single one of them. He then used his “phoenix” spell to bun the bars. When all the prisoners were out, he led them to the closet and retrieved their wands and decks for them. The prisoners thanked him greatly and ran off away from Marleybone for good.
And so Jacob Ghostwhisper became famous and got into the newspaper and everyone knew his name.
|
Malistaire's Full Moon Art
Wizard City was in a state of pure happiness and joy, the sun's rays were darting straight at almost all realms, and nobody could seem to wipe the smile off their joyful face. As for me, Valdus Mythheart, I was naturally buried in a few necronomicons in my dorm Malistaire gave me before he raised the death school up from Bartelby's roots.
Basically, I wasn't one of those wizards with that "Sun Smile" resting on my face, instead it was mostly a frown, I wasn't depressed, but I certainly wasn't happy. My joker like hat was died completely black, so were my robes and boots. I always had an evil look wrapped around on my face, getting that from my grandfather, who gave my little brother, Tyler Misthunter, his old dorm because my parents said "I could afford paying 62 gold peices a month". Tyler was more of the one who was mostly out and about slinking all over Wizard City, buying a troll disguise so he could call his fire teacher, "Professer Fall for Mea". Me, I would go right to a skeletal warrior to spook my friends at night. Wizard City wasn't too new to me, I've been going to the school of death for three years and the myth school for four. I was sixteen, and Tyler was thirteen, Wizard City was as old as a house built in 1909 to him too. Here's how an entire story of how Malistaire finally had the full moon on his side as a powerful weapon...
I was in my dorm, dying for my bed as I couldn't reach it being forced to study my myth books for an assignment in two days. I thought of my books as a large metal ball on a chain tied to me. All the sudden Tyler popped my door open like a bubble. "Valdus, you better check this out..." I could see the look in his green eyes something really creeped him out. That's what told me I should think this is more bad than good, an excuse of something mysterious is sometimes pretty bad. I went outside my dorm and looked past the sleeping Bartelby to see another death wizard, just standing there glancing at the full moon, nothing could break his gaze. I slowly crepped over and once I was atleast two feet away he still didn't swap his glance from the moon to me. I even shook him once or twice, said hello, waved my hand in front of his face. Still he was keeping his eyes placed on the moon, and he was sure guarding them well. Finally, a dark cloud soared in front of the moon and he slowly slumped over on the ground! I didn't know what this was, but somehow I knew it wasn't any joke. The sound of a small fire barged in all this commotion. Whatever was making that sound, it was large and seemingly struggling to rise up and tower over us. I knew by heart it was the Iron Golem, a furnace monster coming to life once and a while, only it's fire was completely blue. Tyler and I stood ready for battle, but as the wizard who was gazing at the moon woke up, so was he... but he wasn't facing at the Iron Golem, he was facing us...
|
Deathwhisper Chronicles (part 2)
Woosh! A wind-like sound is heard as a large, green and purple swirly thing opens inside my bedroom. I back away, certain that any minute a wizard or something would come tumbling out. But it doesn’t. Instead, a scrap of parchment flutters through on paper wings and lands at my feet. Creepy.
I pick up the paper and read it aloud. “‘Step through the portal to enter Wizard City.’ Sounds easy enough, I guess.” Crumpling the paper, I toss it aside. It’s time for me to begin a new journey. It’s September 24th, the last day I can possibly go to Ravenwood School for the Magical Arts. I must admit, I’m kind of scared, but this is for my dad. If I can find someone who used to know him, I’ll probably be able to find him. And hey, maybe it’ll be cool! Clutching the few items I had brought with me, I cautiously step through the green and purple swirl of magical energy.
Stepping through the portal was like stepping through to another world. Which it was. I glance around at the city around me and I’m instantly amazed. A swath of new students surrounds me, each looking very different from the others. A couple wear the seemingly traditional robes of a wizard, some wear clothing like mine, and others wear clothing that I have never imagined before, let alone actually seen. Some have some wacky hair, while others have hair similar to mine. It’s all so diverse! Right behind me is a gigantic tree the size of Mt. Everest, or maybe even larger, with a face. One eye is missing, but the other one is as big as a beach ball. A delicate lantern with an intricate design stands in front of the tree. I’ve never seen anything like this! Somehow it seems familiar, though. I can’t put my finger on it.
“New students! Right over here new students!” shouts a voice. Shrugging that weird feeling off, I gaze around until my eyes land on the old man a ways away from me. His tall, pointed blue hat with a golden star pattern is slightly crooked, as is his nose, and his blue, star patterned robe is slightly wrinkly. A snow-white owl wearing what looks like a graduation cap upon his head sits on a low branch by the old man.
“Is this everyone?” he asks. “Gamma, an attendance check, please.”
He must be speaking to the owl, who, shockingly, replies with many elongated vowels, “Certainly, Merle. Miraaanda Ashflame!” A Here! comes from somewhere in the crowd. “Luke Bluuuehaven!” Another. “Shanna Crooowpetal!” Once more. A few more pass before Gamma the owl calls, “Alexandria Deathwhisper!”
“Here!” I call, raising my hand. A startled face turns my way, and I glance at it to see that it’s my best friend, Emalia Legendspear.
“Alex?” she asks quietly, here voice barely audible among the conversations of the new students and the attendance-checking of Gamma the owl, making her way through the crowd to stand before me. “I—”
“Emma, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have said those things,” I blurt before I really know what I’m going to say. “I guess...I guess you were right.” She gives me a nod.
“I forgive you, of course. Why shouldn’t I? But I wonder...why did you come?”
“Well, there must be someone here who knew my dad before he went to Earth, for whatever reason,” I explain in reply. “Since he’s missing, I figure that I’ll probably have to tell someone here in order to get help. Someone has to have an idea as to where he might be.”
“I hope you find him.” At that moment, the attendance check was finished and the old man spoke up.
“Hello, new students, and welcome, to Ravenwood School for the Magical Arts!” he exclaims. “I am Headmaster Merle Ambrose, but you may merely call me Professor Ambrose. I hope you enjoy your stay at Ravenwood, and have plenty of fun learning new spells, making new friends, and dueling many creatures. Please follow Gamma, my owl, to the dormitories, where you will each be assigned a dormitory. You will each find a set of robes, a wand, a spell book, and a spell deck for your school in your personal bank. Once you have settled, please meet me here, by the Great Tree, Bartleby, and we will begin the tour!”
Curious about these dorms, I follow the other female students into the Girls Dormitories and check the sign that tells each of us which dorm we have. Then I make my way through the swarm of wizard girls toward the stairway spiraling upward into the circular building.
I find a set of black and white robes, a grey wand, a large book, and a set of cards that I assume must be my spell deck, whatever that is. Apparently, I am a ...necromancer, but I can’t afford to dwell on that. I have to figure out who I can talk to in order to help me find my dad, and to do so, I suppose I’ll have to become a student at this Ravenwood School. Besides, it might be ...fun.
After shedding my Earth clothes and slipping into my wizard gear, I begin to wonder how I’ll possibly be able to keep my spell book, the large, red tome reading Wizards ’ Spell Book: Everything a Wizard Needs except a Wand and Actual Spells, with me? I’ll obviously need it sometimes, and I won’t have time to run here, pick up my spell book, and then put it back every time I need it. It’s not as if I can just carry it everywhere, all the time! Look at that thing! It’s bigger than my head!
Hey, what is that? There’s a button on the side. “Shrink,” it says. I press my thumb to the button, and instantly the heavy book minimizes itself, becoming little enough to fit into the pocket of my robes! Cool!
Soon, I’ve returned to the great tree, Bartleby, to stand once more in the throng of new students.
“Is everyone here?” Professor Ambrose asks once more. “Good, good! Follow me, students, and I shall give you a tour of Ravenwood.” As the new students crowded around Ambrose, he explained, “This here is Bartleby, the Grandfather Tree. Without Bartleby, the entire Spiral would crumble.” Wait, what the heck is ‘the Spiral?’ But I don’t have time to ask, as Ambrose then continues, “Bartleby’s magic is the only thing holding the worlds of the Spiral together. And this here, directly in front of Bartleby, is Sestiva’s Lantern. Sestiva was the wizards’ goddess of Light. Without Sestiva’s Lantern, Wizard City and the rest of the Spiral would be plunged into eternal darkness. Evil would triumph over everything. Luckily, there is nothing in the whole of the Spiral that can extinguish the light of Sestiva’s Lantern. Moving on, over here is the School of Life…” I’m not bothering to listen anymore, because I know I’ve seen this Sestiva’s Lantern somewhere! I’m not sure where, but I remember seeing it.
I then resume listening to Professor Ambrose’s tour of Ravenwood, figuring that it will probably come in handy later, when I’ve got my classes.
“This, students, is where the School of Death used to be,” Ambrose enlightens us. Gasps of surprise and awe erupt from the crowd of new students, for, standing where the School of Death is supposed to be, is...nothing. Chunks of earth float lazily in the expanse of air, but the School of death, the Death Tree, and the Death Tower are nowhere to be seen. Then Gamma takes over the commentary. “Years agooo, your heeaadmaster here, Merle Ambrose, asked the Life professooor, Sylvia Draaake, to journey tooo the land of Moooooo Shuuu. There was a creature there whooo was stirring up trouble, planning to come to Wizard City to steeeal a valuable item. Ambrose asked Syylviaaa to joourneey to Moo Shu to stop him. But the creeatuure killed Syylviaaa on sight.
“When the Death Professooor, Malistaire Draaaake, learned of his wife, Sylvia’s, unfortunate demise, he went into a terrible raaage. He nearly killed aaall his Adept students—as he learned of her death during claaass—and his anger was sooo great, that the entire Death School, along with the Deaath Tree and Towerr, collapsed from his powerr and fell froom Wizard City. To this day, no one but Malistaire knooows where the Death schooool went.
“Malistaire then blamed Professoor Ambrose, and swore he woould get his reveeenge. Malistaire has become a very eeeevil necromancer, and has conquered many lands and maaany creatures are on his side,” Gamma finishes. All those drawn out vowels are starting to give me a headache, but I ignore it. Because if the Death school is gone, how will I learn magic like I’m supposed to?
“There is still a Death student who spends his time here,” Professor Ambrose adds. “Malorn Ashthorn. He enjoys teaching other students the Death spells he knows. It is not the best education a necromancer can get, but it is all we have to offer until a new Death school can be built, but of course, we would need the land to do so,” Ambrose says with a sad expression. Oh. Well, at least I’ll be able to learn some spells while I’m here, right?
~*~ One Day Later ~*~
Oh-no! It’s almost nine. I’ll be late for my first Novice Necromancy class if I don’t hurry up!
It’s been an entire two days since I discovered my wizardly heritage. I’ve asked around, hoping to find someone who knew my father, Daniel Iceshade, but so far, I’ve gotten nothing. So now I’m heading out to the class Malorn Ashthorn has been teaching since Malistaire destroyed the Death school a few years ago. I met Ashthorn yesterday, after the tour, and he doesn’t exactly seem too bad. I suppose I’m just lucky he’s bothering to help us, since he’s the most advanced Necromancer in Ravenwood right now. Of course, there is the fact that he’s decided to hold the class on one of the large chunks of rock floating above the pit where the Death school was destroyed. I think it’s pretty dangerous, but Ashthorn seems to like scaring the Novices with it.
Grabbing my shiny grey wand and making sure I have my spell deck (and I still don’t have any idea what the spell cards are for), I race out the door of my dorm room and stumble down the spiral staircase. My black-and-white pointed hat nearly falls as I trip on the last step, but I slap a hand to it and and continue my frantic sprint out the front door of the Girls Dormitory building and toward the pit that used to hold the Death school.
I make it just in time to leap onto the large floating piece of earth as Ashthorn’s magic is causing it to drift toward the middle of the gap. Ashthorn shoots me a glance that says quite obviously, “If you’re late again, we are so not waiting for you,” but I just ignore it and take a seat in one of the many chairs assembled on the large rock like the rest of the Novices.
“Today, class,” Ashthorn begins with a professional, teacher-y tone, "you’ll be learning the Death symbol.” He then demonstrates by drawing a Death symbol with his wand, and we Novices all watch as the black magical mist spills from the tip of his wand, forming the intricate Death symbol. "You must concentrate very hard,” Ashthorn then adds. “Your wand is like a conductor. It directs the magic as it flows from you out into the air. All you must do is provide the magic and the spell card. Without a wand, it would be almost impossible to release your magic into the air. A wand also helps you to control the creature you summon. If not for your wand, the creature would be as wild as you would find in nature. Any questions?” A young boy raises his hand, and Ashthorn immediately calls upon him.
“What are the spell cards for?” A dumber question Ashthorn probably doesn’t think exists, but he tries to answer as best as he can. I’m actually quite relieved that question was asked, because I certainly don’t have the nerve to ask it myself.
“Er...well, spell cards sort of provide a way for the energy to become what you want it to. It’s also like a calling card for the creature you wish to summon. If you didn’t have a spell card, the monster could not be summoned. Any more questions?” Ashthorn asks, though he clearly hopes that there aren’t any. Unfortunately for Ashthorn, another hand shoots into the air.
“What powers the spell cards?”
It continues like this for a few minutes, until finally, no more questions are asked. Ashthorn is visibly relieved when no hands are in the air, and then says, “Alright everyone, now we’ll try drawing the Death symbol. Does everyone remember what it looked like? Good. Let’s begin.”
Standing, I raise my grey wand, wondering how the heck I could do this. I concentrate, like we’d been told, and try to transfer my magic into my wand. But how? I don’t know what my magic feels like, or how to move it. What do I do?!
I take a deep breath, closing my dark grey eyes. Concentrate, idiot. Calm down, and concentrate! I imagine sparkly black dust shoving its way through some special veins in my body that I had no idea how I’d come up with (I think I’ll call them my magic veins) and flowing into my wand. Gradually, a tingly feeling shivers down my arm, flowing through my hand, past my fingers, and down into the magical stick I’m clutching in my right hand. With a jolt, I realize what’s about to occur and move my hand to draw the Death symbol in front of me, my eyes still closed.
My eyes flutter open to reveal a shimmering Death symbol before me...and everyone’s eyes glued to it, wide open in shock.
“What?” I ask, uncomfortable with all the attention I’m getting. Even Ashthorn is gaping at me.
“That’s the fastest I’ve ever seen a new student draw the Death symbol!” Ashthorn exclaims, and the rest of the class seems just as impressed. “How did you do it?”
“I—I just imagined the magic flowing through me...,” I mutter, cheeks red with embarrassment.
“But I tried that,” someone cried. “It didn’t work!” Unsure, I just give a tentative shrug. Suddenly, Ashthorn realizes that he’s holding up the class and tells us all to continue practicing the Death symbol, and that if we got it, just keep working on it even more.
About forty-five minutes later, Ashthorn calls, “Alright, class dismissed.” I haven’t yet chosen a secondary school, which is just a second type of magic that you learn, so I don’t have another class until my second Death class around five. I think I’ll take the time I’ve got right now to head for the Wizard City Library. Perhaps I’ll be able to find a lead on Daniel Iceshade there.
The walk to the library is somewhat short; it’s only a little ways past the boundaries of the Ravenwood campus, in an area called the Commons. Hoping desperately that I’ll find something about my dad, I step into the large library and am instantly amazed. Books are flying off the shelves, stacking themselves, slipping into empty spaces upon the ledges built into the walls of the building.
“Um, excuse me,” I say as I face the man—or, I should say, dog, since he’s got the upright body of a human, but the head, paws, and fur of a dog—at the counter, “but do you have any records of the past students of Ravenwood School?” The eyes behind the dog’s spectacles rise to meet mine, and he places the book he’d been reading upon the counter he stands at.
“One minute, miss. I’ll check,” the dog replies, and then waves his wand. A few large books come soaring off the nearest shelf speedily, almost slamming right into the dog. He places them down before me and says, “Here you are, miss. Don’t forget to return them to me before you leave.” I give a sharp nod, grab the heavy tomes, and find an empty table to sit down at.
With a heavy sigh, I remind myself that it’s necessary if I want to figure out where my dad is, so I open the first of the books, but instantly turn to the back, because the first page holds students names that date back to the early sixteenth century! There, on the last page, is a list of students from the year 1987, the year my dad said he had finished school. You know, I never really noticed before, but my dad never had a diploma or anything like that. That’s why he didn’t have that good of a job. I now realize that it was because he went to Ravenwood.
I quickly scan the page for Dad’s name, and finally, in Professor Snowbreeze’s Ice class of 1987. Perhaps I should ask Professor Snowbreeze, then. Or maybe I just should have gone to the headmaster. Well...no, I don’t want to talk to the headmaster. I don’t know why...maybe I just feel like if I do, and they don’t find my dad, they’ll put me in an orphanage once the school term is over. So no, talking to the headmaster is a bad idea. But maybe I can ask the Professor Snowbreeze about my dad, like, inconspicuously. Yeah. I’ll try that.
Slamming the book closed, excited to finally have a lead, I jump up. Of course, the noise I had just created drew a bunch of annoyed glances out of the few people in the library, and I just blush embarrassedly and set the heavy books upon the counter where the dog was reading his book, and then speedily hurry out the door.
Back on Ravenwood’s campus, I head for the Ice school. There, I open the large door and enter the Ice school. I’d been in the library for a while, so it’s now around eleven o’ clock, apparently the Ice professor’s lunch period.
“Oh, come in, dearie,” says a kind, old womanly voice. The professor is sitting on her desk—since she’s a small, plump, blue fairy—eating something that looks like tiny cookies with toffee chunks in them, her fingers working deftly at her knitting. “May I help you?”
“I’m here to see Professor Snowbreeze,” I reply. The fairy looks up from her knitting.
“I’m sorry, dear. Professor Snowbreeze died a few years ago,” the fairy says, frowning. “That’s when I got the job. My name is Professor Lydia Greyrose.” I want to say something, but my lips won’t move. Just great. If I can’t go to my dad’s old professor, where will I go? I don’t even know if my dad had any friends at Ravenwood. “But his sister lives on Colossus Boulevard,” Professor Greyrose adds, “if you wish to speak with her.” I heave a sigh and shake my head.
“Thanks for your time, Professor,” I mumble before giving the door a shove and walking out. But not before crashing into a kid with light blue wizard robes, likely an Ice wizard, nearly knocking his hat off his head.
“Sorry,” I say, helping him up. He dusts off his robes and picks his wand up off the ground, then turns to face me, eyes narrowing. For a moment, I think he might actually cast a spell at me!
“Watch where you’re going,” he growls, striding past me and into the School of Ice with a cold, angry demeanor. I wonder who made him so mad. From what I knew about Ice wizards (since my dad was one), they’re mostly pretty patient. Suddenly, I notice the door to the Myth school open and a bunch of Myth Novices flood out and I forget all about the strange Ice wizard.
"Hey. How was your first class?” I ask as Emma rushes over to me.
“Terrific! Well, the teacher wasn’t exactly nice or anything, but I did really well! We learned the Myth symbol,” Emma explains excitedly, tracing the intricate symbol in the air with her left hand. “Wait, why are you over here by the Ice school, Alex?”
“I got out a while ago. I checked the library and figured out who might know my dad,” I reply dully. “A guy named Snowbreeze. He used to be the Ice professor.”
“That’s awesome! Maybe he’ll know where—wait. You said he ‘used to be.’ What happened to him?” Emma questions. I lean against the wall of the School of Ice, savoring its cool temperature as Emma looks on expectantly.
“He’s dead.” Emma’s eyes fall. It’s kind of funny. Emma seems to miss my dad just as much as I do. I wish I could find him.
“Maybe we could ask the headma—”
“No!” I yelp before Emma can finish. I let out a deep breath and close my eyes for a moment, frustrated. “I—I didn’t mean to snap at you. But we can’t tell Professor Ambrose. If you’re really my friend, you won’t ask why not. We just can’t.” Emma gives me a small nod.
"Alright. Do you want to go back to the dorm building?” she asks. “I hear the cafeteria food is pretty good. You haven’t had lunch yet, right?”
“Sure, I guess we can go get something to eat,” I reply, and Emma and I begin making our way toward the Girl’s Dormitory building.
~*~Nighttime~*~
“Alex?” That voice. It’s so familiar. Can it be...? I whirl around, hoping to face whomever is calling my name, but no one is there. All I can see are trees looming above my head in the darkness of the night. “Alex? Is that you?” It comes again. This time I’m sure of it. It’s him.
“Dad!” I exclaim. It’s him! I’ve found him!
“Alex! Turn back!” he yells in reply. “It’s not safe for you here. Turn back!” What?! But I’ve finally found him! How could he want me to go away? Unless...unless he didn’t want me there. Maybe he wasn’t kidnapped. Maybe he left me, and made it look like he’d been kidnapped so I wouldn’t feel as bad. Maybe our argument finally made him wish I wasn’t always around to hold him down like that.
I couldn’t help it. I started to cry.
“What? So now you don’t want me anymore? Is that why you left?” I ask, meaning for the words to sound angry. They didn’t. They sound like they are coming from a kindergartener who had just lost her favorite doll.
“Alex, no! There’s something lurking here, guarding me. It’s dangerous! Alex, turn back!” I tell myself to stop sniveling and listen to him. After all, he’s my dad. He wouldn’t abandon me like that. I know him. Dad wouldn’t do that. I’m just jumping to conclusions...right?
“Where are you? Where am I?” I plead, pushing my earlier thought aside.
“Alex...,” he begins from somewhere nearby, but then he pauses, listening. I hear him gasp loudly, and he screams, “Run! It’s here!” The bushes near me crackle as if something large is brushing past them, and the sound is accented by a shrill hiss. Now I know what Dad was talking about.
Eight red eyes, each about as big as my clenched fist, emerge from the bushes. Think, Alex, think! What animal has about eight eyes? ...A spider. And this one must be huge.
Uh-oh.
The hissing noise the spider made as it was nearing me is only getting louder and more excited. The spider is obviously anticipating its next meal, which just so happens to be me. I’ll say it again: uh-oh!
As I slowly back away, reaching blindly behind me into the darkness to feel my way through the trees, the spider seems to know what I’m doing. It reaches one of its hairy legs above me, placing it down just behind my back, blocking my path.
With a quick decision, I dive to my left, the direction the spider isn’t blocking me from going, but instantly another spider, the same size as the first, steps out from the brush. My breath is coming in ragged, fearful gasps now as I wonder which one I’ll fall prey to.
Then I wonder if I can cast a spell to get rid of them. Wait, no. I don’t know how to cast them yet.
The hissing grows even louder, even more animated; now it’s blocking all other sounds. The spiders slowly make their way toward me, their ruby red eyes glinting in the soft starlight, the hair on their bodies shivering with anticipation.
With yet another snap decision, I feint going one way and then dart the next. My ploy works—the spiders, thinking that I’m going to my right, head that way, but I’m now running in the direction that was my left. Abruptly, though, another spider leaps from the brush, this one bigger than the first two combined. I’m dead meat.
The spider dives towards me and I let out a terrified shriek.
“Alex!” a voice yells. It’s going to eat me! I have to get away before it attacks, I have to—wait. I’m...I’m back in my bed. It was just a dream. I stop thrashing about in my bed and open my eyes to see Emma holding me down, trying to stop my screams. Luckily, she doesn't seem to have been kicked or punched by me when I was having my nightmare.
“Sorry,” I apologize, sitting up in my bed. Then I ask, “How’d you get in here?” I quickly glance at the clock on the wall. It’s morning, about eight o’ clock.
"You forgot to lock your door. I’m only across the hall from you, so I heard your screaming, as everyone else on this floor probably did.”
“Sorry,” I say again.
“It’s fine,” she replies. "You should get ready. You’ve got class in an hour. Bye, Alex.”
“Yeah. See you later, Em,” I say as Emma exits my room. I quickly write the dream in my journal and get ready for the day.
~*~Later That Day~*~
Today Ashthorn taught us how to teleport. It wasn’t easy, but eventually (after several unexpected trips to Unicorn Way) I got the hang of it. Now, I’m leaning against the wall of the Myth school, waiting for Emma.
“Hi, Alex,” Emma greets me as she exits the Myth school with all the other Myth Novices.
"Hey.” We begin to head toward the cafeteria for lunch.
“So...did you find anything else out about your dad?” Emma asks as we walk slowly in the direction of the dorm building.
“No. I didn’t bother today,” I sigh in response. “I had a bit of homework that I wanted to get done.” Suddenly, Emma brightened up as if she had an idea.
"Hey, isn’t your mom a wizard, too?” she asks. I pause, unsure. Was she? I wasn’t sure. Then abruptly, I remembered a time that I had desperately tried to forget.
“I’m tired of this, Daniel!” Mom shouted to dad. I was cowering in the doorway, watching their argument. The year was 2006. I was thirteen.
“What do you mean?” Dad asked, his voice much softer than Mom’s. Mom looks at him as if she can’t believe what he just asked.
“What do I mean?” she echoed angrily. Then her voice quieted to a whisper, and she looked down sadly. Her words were still harsh and annoyed, but now there was longing behind them. “I’m tired of hiding like this. Why can’t we go back? I miss my friends. I miss the professors. I miss magic!”
“As do I. But we can’t go back. He’ll find Alex. He’ll kill her.” Mom glared at Dad fiercely, and the wistfulness in her eyes and words vanished, leaving only anger and annoyance.
“Fine, then! I’ll go back alone,” she yelled. “Don’t expect me to visit.” And at that, there was a flurry of sparks, and Mom was gone.
Emma looks at me expectantly, waiting for an answer as we walked, and I return to the present, pushing the sad memory away.
“Yeah, maybe. But even if she is, I don’t know her wizard name or even if she’s in Wizard City. She could be anywhere in the Spiral,” I complete, using one of the new words I’d learned in this wizard world. The Spiral is like what humans call a galaxy, except rather than stars connecting the galaxy, magical tree sap from Bartleby connects each world. It is because of this magical tree sap that people can use Bartleby to travel between worlds, or just teleport if they’ve been there before.
Just then, before Emma could reply, an Ice wizard sprinted out of the Life school, slamming into me and throwing both Emma and me to the ground.
“Ow!” I yelped as the kid landed upon me and I landed upon Emma. The kid heaved himself off of me, muttered a quick apology, and ran off once more. I noticed that he was the same person I’d run into the day before when I was coming out of the Ice school.
“That was rude,” Emma commented dryly, brushing the dirt off her yellow and blue Novice Myth robes. “And I thought Thaumaturges were supposed to be patient!”
"Come on, let’s hurry up, or all the tables will be gone.” Our recent conversation is forgotten, and so Emma and I continue into the large dining hall of the Girl’s Dorm building.
~*~
A week later, I fall asleep in bed only to have another nightmare.
“Mom! Where are you, Mom?” I yell. A single column of light falls upon an area about a meter or two from very side of me, but I can see no further than it. Luckily, there doesn’t seem to be any spiders around. But rather than searching for Dad at the moment, I’m trying to find Mom. “We have to find Dad!”
“Why must we find Daniel? What has he done for us?” a voice that seems like my mother’s replies.
“Pardon?” I say. “He’s my dad. He takes care of me. I love him.”
“Daniel made you move so often,” Mom reasoned. “Just when you thought you’d found a nice place to live and you have good friends, he only made you move again. What kind of a father is that?”
“He was doing his best to protect me,” I reply, but now I’m unsure of myself.
“From what?” Mom questions in reply. I hesitate for a second, uncertain.
“I...I don’t know. But it must be important.” Now my voice sounds desperate, and I think I’m trying to prove it to myself rather than just Mom. And then she voiced the question that I had been putting off since the night before.
“How do you even know he was really kidnapped? Daniel could easily have staged the entire thing,” she sneered.
“N-no! He wouldn’t do that!” But the words sound false and forced.
“Besides,” Mom begins to say, “why should you give up a perfect, magical life to go find someone who will only make you move back to Earth? Daniel doesn’t want you to learn magic.” No. It can’t be true! My dad wouldn’t do that kind of stuff to me!
"W-why doesn’t he?” I stammer. Mom emits a cold, humorless laugh that sounds nothing like the mom I used to know. The mom I used to know was kind and loving. She had a terrible temper when it was unleashed, but she was a good person.
“Oh dear, you’re in denial,” she chuckles.
“Who are you?” I ask abruptly. The malevolent laughter fades immediately.
“Why, dear, I’m your mother, of course.” Lies! This isn’t the mother I used to know!
“No, you’re not,” I state. A few seconds pass before the vice responds.
"You’re a very bright child,” the voice-that-sounds-like-my-mother’s-but-isn’t observes. "You are entirely correct. I am not your mother.” The voice becomes far different than what it was just moments ago, turning into a deep, malicious rasp.
The creature steps into the area of light to reveal itself as...a wraith! The wraith then morphs into my mother, exactly the way she’d been the last time I saw her three or four years ago.
“Hello, my dear Alexandria,” the wraith says mockingly in my mother’s voice.
“Where are my parents?” I demand. The wraith returns to its original form, and if wraiths can smirk, then a ghostly smirk was definitely playing across this wraith’s face right now.
“Master has them. Master wants you. If Master doesn’t get what Master wants...,” the wraith paused for what it probably thought was dramatic effect, but it only made me even more furious, “bye-bye Mommy and Daddy!”
Uh-oh.
|
The New Wizard
Ravenwood. She looked up at the big sign in front of the entrance. The Ravenwood School taught The magic of Fire, Ice, Storm, Life, Myth, Balance, and Death. She was Ice. She loved ice. Amber is only a level 1 at this point in time. The magic of Fire, Ice, Storm, Life, Myth, Balance, and Death. She walked up to the headmaster Merle Ambrose. He said, “Go look around Amber!” Which she does.
Merle wasn’t just the headmaster of the school but he was also a protector of Wizard City. If I have not mentioned that but this is Wizard City and Amber is a Wizard. But just a beginner. Amber walked to the World Tree called Bartlebee and it smiled at her! She jumped. The Tree made a big heavy laugh.
“Scared you didn’t I?” It asked. “Sorry.” It said. “It’s okay. I am new if you haven’t noticed.” Amber said. “Well I am Bartlebee. I am the giver of life and guardian of the worlds along the Spiral.” It said. “Spiral?” Amber asked. “You have a lot to learn. The Spiral is the world on which we live in.” It said smiling. “I have a door right here.” It said looking down. “It leads to the different worlds that make up the spiral.” It said. “Then you must be very important.” Amber said. A tall skinny man named Mr. Lincoln walked up to Amber and told her that Merle wanted to see her. She walked to him. “Your dorm room is right across the path. Your classes are listed on a schedule. Make sure you go to ice first though since you are ice.” He said. Amber walked to the ice class and met Lydia Greyrose. Her teacher! She was kind of plump and joyous. She said, “Hello new student! I will see you at your first class tomorrow! The Ice School will train its student wizards to take high amounts of damage and survive. Ice Wizards have the highest natural health points and defenses which enable them to take large amounts of damage without dying. It is very hard to defeat them. A lot of their functional spells have to do with increasing their defenses and absorbing damage. They also have the ability to taunt enemies, which forces the enemy to focus attacks on them. This can come in handy when playing in a group.
” Amber then started to explore. Merle showed her all the worlds. There was:
Wizard City
Krokotopia
Marleybone
Moo Shu
Dragonspyre
Grizzleheim
Amber was fascinated by each world. She loved a Wizard’s life already! She decided to start on her own. “Hi! You must be new! Nice to meet you! I am Claira Fae.” The girl with black hair said. Amber ran her fingers through her strawberry blond hair and smiled. Her green eyes sparkled. “I am Amber.” Amber replied. “Want to hang out?” Amber asked; hopeful to find a friend. “Sure! Wow. Your health and mana are down a lot! I can tell by your eyes that you need some mana! Lets go find some!” Claira said. “Mana?” Amber asked. “Mana is your magic. See. Your wand is very dim.” She said and Amber nodded. “Your mana decreases with each rank 1 and up spell that you cast. If a spell costs 3 pips in a duel, then you use 3 mana. Rank 0 spells don't cost any mana. If you fizzle a spell you still lose mana. If you flee from a duel, your mana also goes down to zero. When your mana goes down to zero, it is very difficult to cast spells and thus hard to win duels, therefore you need to get it recharged.” Claira said trying to explain. Amber listened and actually understood! She guessed that duels were when you fight with another wizard. She saw a little blue fuzzy thing floating around. “That’s a wisp of mana.” Claira said. She pushed Amber through it and Amber felt recharged and her wand shone bright. There was a red wisp too for health. Claira started talking again, “You will find little potions. These potions can carry around extra mana and health for you when you run around. Think of them as your back up health and mana supply. To fill up these flasks, you have to play mini-games when your mana globe is full or you can purchase them from Hilda Brewer in the Wizard City Fairegrounds.” Claira smiled. “Too fast?” Claira asked. “Nope.” Amber said. “Items you receive from quests and duels automatically go in to your Backpack. That’s that sack your wearing around your shoulders by the way. If you receive an item as a reward, and your backpack is full, the item will be put into your Bank. Some items can only be used when you’re a certain level though, Amber. Your Backpack also contains a section for all your Housing Items. Look for these icons at the top of your Backpack to switch between your regular items and your housing items. And don’t ask me how big stuff fits in but it fits from magic. Housing Islands do not fill up your backpack. If you buy an island the number of items in your backpack does not increase. Housing items are stored in your attic. Your Spell Deck is where all your Spell Cards are held. Spell cards are magic creatures that you use when dueling! That’s pretty much what everything is for. Spell cards can be bought or you can get them at school. Now I will tell you about dueling. To engage in a duel with a creature of the Spiral; simply walk in front of it. The duel circle will appear and you will be assigned to the first position, assuming you are alone. In most of Wizard City, the first world, there will be as many creatures in the fight as there are players. In Colossus Boulevard and all the other worlds after Wizard City, the number of creatures in each duel is equal to the number of players plus one. However, the maximum number of creatures is four. Minions do not count as players and will not affect the number of creatures. Diego the unicorn is the gatekeeper to the Player Versus Player. Wizard Arena in Unicorn Way. Players can challenge each other in either Practice or Ranked duels, with up to four Wizards per team. Un-Ranked practice duels, free for all Wizards, allow players to jump into an automatically formed duel or set up their own team and choose opponents. But this might sound like fun and games but its not! In Ranked duels, a robust matchmaking service matches players with similarly ranked Wizards, and the winners of each duel are awarded Arena Tickets, redeemable for unique loot. Ranked duels are free to Subscribers. Crowns players can also participate in Ranked duels for Crowns. At the end of each quarterly Wizard Arena season, a top Duel Master will be named. Dueling Sigils are the rings that every player stands inside in the dueling circle. Each sigil has a unique color. These colors are used to show who is targeting who. Players receive a PIP each turn of the duel. PIPs are represented by small white dots along the front inside arc of the sigil that the player is standing in. If the PIP is a Power PIP, it should be glowing brighter and yellow.
Power PIPs count as TWO PIPS towards spells in your main school of focus. Players are eligible to receive Power PIPs after level 10. You can increase your chance of receiving Power PIPS with certain clothing and jewelry. Some spells have a PIP requirement that is represented by an X. This means that the spell will be more powerful of you have more PIPs when you cast it. Also when you want to get around you can go ask Zeke and he can get you mounts like unicorns and stuff for rent or keep.” Claira finished off. “Thanks so much Claira! You’re a really big help! I would have never gotten along without you! Well I will see you later. Meet me here in five minutes while I go get a mount from that Zeke guy.” Amber said. “Just teleport. Use your wand and you can teleport to me from where ever I am! Make sure your in the same realm though! A realm is an identical or different world.” Claira said and Amber nodded as she left to get a mount. Then she saw Merle run up to her. “Amber, I saw Claira explain everything but directions. Your Compass will show you important landmarks in your area. Markers can be placed that will allow you to recall back to a marked location. The buttons for this are located around your Compass. Placing a mark will cost you a small amount of mana. Your Map is very important, and will show you where characters, creatures and important locations are in the area that you're currently located. You can also zoom out your map by pressing the little magnifying glass on the bottom left corner with your wand. This will show you an overview map of the entire world of the Spiral that you're currently located.” He said as he walked away. Amber rolled her eyes and walked up to Zeke. He seemed worried. “My mount just ran away! Will you go find him? Go on a quest for me!” He said. “A quest is just when Many citizens of the different worlds of the spiral need your help. So as you progress on your journey, make sure you interact with as many individuals as possible. They will offer you quests – sometimes complex and often dangerous tasks. But you will get an award. I will give you 56 coins.” He said. “How will I know where he is?” Amber asked. “Well I have an answer, and it's called Quest Tracker. To enable your Quest Tracker, simply open your Quest panel when you're not in a duel by pressing the Q key on your wand. Click on the Quest you'd like to work on and you will see it highlight yellow and an arrow will appear on the panel to indicate that you've marked that as your 'active' quest. In Grizzleheim, Marleybone and MooShu you will encounter Teleport devices. These devices, when used, transfer players from point to point on the map, but you must first discover both points before you can teleport between them.” He finished. Amber ran to look for the mount. After a while she found him and brought him back and got her award. She didn’t want a mount anymore so she went to her school. She needed to know more about cards. Lydia told her, “A spell card has many different pieces of information. The picture below shows some of the things you can understand about a spell just by looking at the card. In order to effectively duel opponents, you need to configure your deck. You can do this on the Spell Deck screen which is accessible by pushing ‘P’ on your wand. On the spell deck screen, you will find a list of all the cards that you own on the right, and a list of the cards that are in your deck on the left. The cards on the bottom left of the screen are cards that are put inside your deck based on your equipment. Your wand automatically places a number of minor bolt spells in your deck, and amulets will often times put a random spell card in your deck. If you have more than one deck, you can scroll through them by clicking the arrows around the deck title. To put a card inside your deck, simply click on it on the right side of the screen and it will show up in your deck contents. The red circles next to the card shows the max number of copies you can put inside the current deck. The yellow circles show the number of that card that you have already put into your deck. Make sure to include a lot of 0 pip cost spells in your deck, a variety of ranked damage spells, and always put in a healing spell if you have one. When you enter into a duel with another player or with a monster, your card deck will appear in the middle of the room. Treasure Cards are single-use spell cards which can be used to make you a much stronger wizard! In order to start using treasure cards in duels, you have to put them in your deck. To do this, open your Spell Deck screen by pushing ‘P’ on your wand. Once there, click the golden button with cards on it on the top right of the room. You can now scroll through your treasure cards and place them in your deck by simply clicking on them with your wand. Once clicked, they will appear on the left side of the room. Types of spell cards are damage, healing, health drain, sheilds, charms, global, manipulation, and enchantment cards. Now here, this is your school clothes. Go change and put your old clothes into you backpack in the ’Clothing Section’. You will meet people who sell clothes and equipment. You will have athames, rings, amulets, wands, pets, mounts, and decks in this section. Hope you understand. Now remember Amber, Level 1-5 is Novice ,Level 6-10 is Apprentice, Level 10-15 is Initiate, Level 15-20 is Journeyman, Level 20-30 is Adept. Level 30-40 is Magus, Level 40-49 is Master, Level 50 is Grandmaster. Here at school you are known as Thaumaturge which means ice. You also get badges for things you do. Make sure you get a lot of friends to hang out with! Get furniture for your dorm room plenty of times to make it feel comfortable, go shopping a lot and trade with friends, learn to craft, get a pet, and play mini-games. But when you get a higher level you get crowns which some stuff you have to buy with crowns! Okay? Now go have some fun! No more learning!” She said. Amber laughed. She was kind of tired of learning! She walked outside and screamed when she saw a tree covered in ice. “So you have met one of the trees.” Said Claira as she slowly appeared from teleporting. This is one of the trees. The Ice tree. It is a baby of Bartlebee. Cute huh?” Claira asked smiling. “Yah! I guess they are!” Amber said smiling sweetly. She had finally learned most of all that she need to know! Now for some adventure!
|
The Best Things of All (part 3)
Then Lauren went up to bed. She was not always happy about going to bed because she had to sleep on the floor. So did Hunter. Her parents got to sleep on the bed though. Christmas was only a week away. Lauren woke the next morning with a start. She did not dream last night. Her back was sore. She was not used to sleeping on the floor. Last summer for Lauren's birthday she had gotten a bed. She got to sleep on it till school started. This is her first year at Ravenwood. Her bed was brought to her dorm room at Ravenwood. She had a room all to herself. She made it a nice little home there. She could not bring her bed back with her so she had to sleep on the floor. She got up. It was 9:00. Everyone else was already awake. She went downstairs to see what everyone was up to. No one was there. She went outside. Sabrina was watering the flowers, Kenneth was swimming in the river, and Hunter was jumping off the waterfall. This seemed weird. It was in the middle of winter and the grass was green, the flowers where blooming, and people where swimming. Where was the snow? It was there last year. So Lauren went over to her mom and asked "What's going on? Summer in the Winter?" "No we just cast a spell that makes it always warm in our house grounds" said Sabrina. "Well in that case I'm going swimming" said Lauren.
A week passed and it was Christmas morning and Lauren woke up, sore again. No one was up yet. It was 5:00 in the morning. She went over and woke her mom, dad, and brother up. They went downstairs to see what was there. There was one big present labeled to Hunter. So Hunter went over and opened it. It was a new royal bed. "Is there anything for me?" asked Lauren. "Try outside" said Kenneth. So they went outside and there was a white horse standing right there. "Thank you Mom and Dad!" said Lauren. So she hoped on the horse and went faster than she ever had. She finally came back into the house and there was Sabrina, Kenneth, and Hunter waiting there. "Lauren" said Sabrina, "We have something to discuss with you. We are planning on selling this house, and getting a new and bigger one so we can each have our own room. We will have three houses when we get them all. First house we are getting for sure is the Royal Playhouse. We can put on plays there and make money off of that. Then we will get two of the school houses. Thats where we need your help. I want the Balance House while Kenneth wants the Ice House and Hunter wants the Fire House and Death House because when he went to Ravenwood his secondary school was Death. What one do you want?" "I can see we are not going to agree on the same house" said Lauren. "I have toured them all. Ok then" said Lauren, The Ice House is eliminated because it is too cold for some of us. The Balance House is eliminated because it is too dry for some of us. The Fire house is eliminated because it is too warm for some of us. The Death House is eliminated because it is too spooky for somee of us. The Storm house none of us really like so that leaves the Myth and Life Houses" said Lauren. "Well when you put it that way it seems like those are the only two choices. So thats what we are saving up for" said Mrs. Storydreamer. "There is bad news to this though" said Mr. Storydreamer. "We will have to sell this house to get some more money. I will sell it now." And with that Mr.Storydreamer teleported away. Within a minute the house was desolveing before there eyes and they turned up in the commons. "Where are we going to live now?" asked Hunter. "In Lauren's Dorm Room" said Mrs.Storydreamer.
They got to the dorm room and shoved there stuff in there. There was three beds and as much other stuff as possible. Thhe worst thing was that everyone snored exept Lauren. Mr.Storydreamer was the loudest, then Mrs.Storydreamer, then Hunter. It was very crowded and stuffey in there. No more friends coming over, Lauren couldn't message a friend without someon pookeing into her businees. She could barly do her homework because it was so loud in there. The one good thing about it was Jenna invited her to her dorm room a lot so she could do her homework in peace. More of the story will be in part four.
|
The Day Tavia Drake Turned Good
“Can I Please… go to Dragonspyre Academy?” I asked my father Malistare.
“I told you, you are going to Ravenwood, and Dragonspyre! You can’t go to Dragonspyre full time because there is too little space and your only a novice!” He replied harshly.
“Fine.” I walked upstairs to my small room on the 67th floor, it was a tiny 15 foot bedroom that I shared with my sister Victoria. I wished we could have a bedroom half the size of Lindsey, Rowan, or Andrews’ bedroom, they took up a whole floor. I was never a favorite, but then again maybe we could have Andrew’s bedroom, Andrew was now Malistare’s least favorite child now that he turned good, but Vicky and I came In close second.
I walked down the concrete steps just in time to see my Father yelling at Rowan : “How Dare you Disobey me!” He yelled “Thinking about going good! You should have listened to Lindsey when she told you not to!” He waved his hand carelessly slamming her into the stone wall“ That’ll teach you…” He walked out and I made sure he was at least a floor down before I rushed to Rowan’s side.
“Are you okay?” I asked her.
“Tavia?” She said squinting at me.
“Yes”
“Would you mind helping me to my feet?” She asked weakly.
“Sure” I lifted her up and she walked off with a limp.
“Thanks.” She said.
“Any Time.” I walked up to my room. (It took about 25 minutes) I found my sister sitting on the top bunk of the bunk bed. Our room had gray, stone walls lined with all kinds of papers, reports, pictures, drawings, ect. There wasn’t a single bright color anywhere, the wooden desk being the most interesting thing in the room. The desk was covered in books and reports we had done, we had been home schooled up until now.
I had been 12 when my mother died, and Victoria was 14, our Father had loved Sylvia dearly and it was triadic when she died. On the day of her death our father would barely speak, except for the occasional outrage of fury. Victoria had asked him what was wrong, and he had hit her with his rod. Victoria still had a scar from that.
Victoria was now 16 and I was 14.
“Vicky,” I said “You should start packing.”
“I know, I know. It’s just that, well, I don’t really want to go to both of them…”
“Both of what?”
“Both schools!” She yelled. She was oldest but sometime she could be so immature. “Both schools!”
“Gosh,” I said “Well come on Miss ‘I-don’t-wanna-go-to-both-schools’! We have to get going! We leave tomorrow!”
“Fine”
The next thing I knew we were teleporting off to Ravenwood to begin our first day there.
|
The Fantastic Adventures of Erica Moonsword
I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock.
It was Saturday, and I relaxed a bit, knowing that no one at school can bug me and my brother about our “special powers”. I sat up in bed, used to the chilly feeling in the air. It was June, and the warm, summery days beginning. And soon, not soon enough, my second favorite season, winter, will come. I walked into the hall, hungry.
“Mommy! Erica froze the pool again!” Kyle yelled. I looked out the window to our backyard. Sure enough, the pool was frozen. I sighed. This wasn’t the first time I froze the pool. Then again, everything involving ice always happens to me. But I wasn’t as dangerous as Kyle. Sometimes. Yesterday at school, there was a blizzard in the classroom. I don’t know how it happened, but everyone’s conclusions pointed to me. I was blamed for everything that happened in class. Blizzards, hypothermia, the temperature dropping. All me. And the same words repeated themselves, day after day, after day. Freak. Geek. Kyle was different, one time in his class, a Cyclops appeared, destroying everything in sight, except Kyle. All the same for the two of us. Both of us being geeks. Both of us being freaks. I sighed as I stepped into our backyard, eating an apple, Kyle tagging along.
That’s when it all happened.
A rumble made me jump. I thought it was a tiny earthquake, so I shook it off. I felt the rumble again. My vision fogged. But this time, it knocked us off our feet. I practically choked on my apple. Kyle landed on top of me. I screamed. I felt a metallic taste in my mouth. We were soon engulfed in a blue light. I shut my eyes.
“Look, Gamma! We found them!” An elderly voice said.
“Whoooooo?”An owl-like voice asked.
“Two young, brave wizards.” The voice replied.
Wait. He said wizards. Like in Harry Potter? Wizards. I repeated the word in my head. I knew it was a dream.
The two voices continued talking.
“Open your eyes, now, Erica.” The elderly voice said. I was in a small room. Items were rearranging themselves everywhere. Books flying off shelves and all that mumbo jumbo. It was…I can’t describe it any other way, Magical. There was an elderly man wearing robes. There was an owl with…. Glasses. An owl with glasses. This was a dream. No doubt. An amazing dream.
The man handed me a book.
“Hello, I am Merle Ambrose. But you may call me your Headmaster at the Ravenwood School of Magical Arts. You and your brother came at a very good, but also very bad time. By Bartleby, please answer the questions Miss Erica. When your brother awakes he will answer the questions. Please do so, we have very little time for you to prepare.” The man said, quite at haste.
I picked up the book, piercing coldness running up my arms. Book of Secrets. Catchy. I opened the book and answered the questions. I turned the page and a blue light burst from the book. I sat there, staring in utter amazement.
ICE
“Ice.” I breathed. Wow. I thought about it, and of course! It was a no-brainer. Kyle woke up, and Headmaster Ambrose told him the same thing he just told me. Kyle picked up the book and automatically dropped it.
Merle Ambrose chuckled. Kyle answered the questions. A darker blue burst from the book. One word appeared.
MYTH
“Myth? COOL!!!” Kyle said. I could tell he was excited. I had no idea what it had to do with his powers, but okay. Then again, Cyclops was part of Greek Mythology…
“And your sister is Ice.” Merle Ambrose said. Okay. This was weird. He then told us our real last names. At least, they were supposed to be real. This was only a dream. I was Erica Moonsword. Kyle was Kyle Breeze. I thought what my parents would say to this.
“Oh! And your father, a death wizard, his name is Nathan Soulwraith. Your mother, a balance wizard, her name is Mariah Starsong.” Merle Ambrose said, practically reading my mind.
We went through errands for the rest of the day- including our enrollment. When I got to my dorm, I immediately laid down on my bed. I sighed. It was a long day. I wondered if our parents know we are wizards… I wonder if this was the best dream I’ve ever had. I don’t want it to end. I thought of other great things, before, sadly, I drifted off to sleep.
I watched as Malistaire broke the pit into seven parts. The part Shelby and I were on turned into a winter wonderland. I turned toward the other Protectors and Handlers. This was scary. But it was also real.
Way too real.
I gasped. I was awake, wrapped up in blankets. I looked around, half expecting to be in my room at home again. Nope. This was definitely not a dream. Good. Because that was too fun to be a dream, anyway. I sighed with relief, knowing I was in a place called Wizard City, where everyone is just like me. Here in Wizard City, we were known as equals.
It felt good.
A loud voice boomed in my dorm.
“ATTENTION NEW STUDENTS! CLASSES BEGIN SOON! PLEASE CHOOSE A SECONDARY SCHOOL FOR YOU TO USE. IF YOU ONLY KNOW YOUR SCHOOL, HERE ARE THE OTHERS FOR YOU TO CHOOSE. STORM, FIRE, ICE, MYTH, BALANCE, LIFE AND DEATH. THANK YOU STUDENTS. YOUR WAND AND SPELL DECK WILL ARRIVE TO YOU SHORTLY.”
Wow. That was really loud. I thought about it, then chose Life. I’m very helpful, but nobody at home wanted help from me, sadly. I’m also very big on saving the earth. That means I go to the Ice school first then Life. Two periods. Not like school back on earth. I opened up my dorm door and there was a tiny brown package in front. What was in it? Higher level girls were telling us what they were. When word got to me, I lifted the package, and removed the wrapping carefully.
I took a peek. There was a beautiful wand with a snowflake on top, and a pack of cards. Everyone giggled and played with their new wands happily. There was an uneasy feeling in the air. I knew what they felt. They were as new as me.
“Stupid twig! How are you supposed to work!” A life wizard grumbled. I looked at her. She had brown hair, and light blue eyes like mine. I stared sheepishly at my own purple hair. It was strange, in a magical sort of way. I was amazed how icy blue her eyes were like mine. I sighed. I did quick thinking, and then remembered a book I read about wands. I opened my mouth, ready to speak.
“It’s called a wand, you know.” I said, not sure how this would go, but I decided to imitate what I knew from things involving magic- which is basically what I get from fantasy books and manga.
The girl looked up, holding up the wand.
“It looks like a twig.” She said, her free hand on her hip.
“ It’s a wand. Um, just do a spell. Relax. It’ll be easy.” I said, crossing my fingers. The girl was reluctant, but she looked through her cards and finally chose one. She waved her wand over the card, which, in the instructions I was now reading said was how you activate the spell, but the spell relies on you to draw the signal and make the spell perfect. I hoped she did this right or she’ll be really mad at me. She drew the life signal in the air and an imp appeared, probably the funniest thing I’ve seen since being here. I giggled. A wide grin spread across her face.
“I did it! Thanks…what’s your name anyway?” She said, looking at me. Err, she had a good point.
“Erica Moonsword. What’s yours?”
“Chelsea Skytalon.”
She smiled at me.
“Hiya. I’m Shelby, and I’m kinda new. Shelby Seablossom.” A girl said behind me. We turned to a girl our age with black hair and blue eyes like us. She was Ice.
“Sweet! Another Ice wizard! High five!” I said, raising my arm. She slapped it excitedly, then we went chatting away. I knew then this was the start of a great friendship.
After all of our classes, I was so tired. I know there were only two, but they were pretty tough. I waited by the storm school with Shelby for Kyle and Chelsea to come out. They both chose storm as their secondary schools. The door swung open, and everyone piled out the door, and Halston Balestrom was shouting their homework assignments. When Chelsea and Kyle walked out, we greeted them with warm smiles and hugs.
Then we went to the library, because Kyle and Chelsea had to write a report on different types of storms. Well, Shelby ran off to the Arena, to get in some extra fight-time. We sat down at a table and we started reading. Well, they started reading. I sat and thought how I should control the ice beetle. Because twice already the beetle shook with fear in class. I grabbed a book about Ice Beetles, hoping it will give me a shred of light in how to control it. Since I was tired, I eventually fell asleep.
I have no idea when I woke up.
The whole library was empty, and that’s when I realized I was asleep all day long. I looked out the window, and realized it was dawn. I am grateful that it was an hour until school starts, so I shouldn’t worry much. Something in the library caught my eye. It was a little sapphire ring. It was so pretty, and it looked delicate, like a snowflake. I picked it up, and the ring shined. A blast of light erupted from the ring. And the ice symbol and some words were hanging above me.
ERICA MOONSWORD
PROTECTOR OF THE KEEP
ICE
I stared at the words.
Protector of Keep? What’s that even suppose to mean? It said my name, and what wizard I was. I was frightened. I stood my ground, trying to be brave as possible. And eventually I touched the words. A loud voice made me jump.
“PROTECTOR ERICA MOONSWORD! WELCOME TO THE KEEP!”
The background changed, and I was in a white room with seven statues. I was too stunned to speak or scream or run. The voice spoke again.
“ICE IS THE SAPPHIRE OF HOPE, MYTH IS THE PERIDOT OF POWER, LIFE IS THE JADE OF BRAVERY, DEATH IS THE ONYX OF PURITY, BALANCE IS THE CITRINE OF DREAMS, STORM IS THE AMYTHYST OF TRUST, AND FIRE IS THE RUBY OF SACRIFICE! FULFILL YOUR DESTINY, ICE PROTECTOR! FIND THE OTHERS. THEY WILL COME IN THE ORDER OF SACRED FAITH! AND SOON, YOUR HANDLERS WILL AID!”
Okay. Loud and creepy voice. The background changed, and I was in the commons again. Sacred Faith? Others? Handlers? This was weirder than coming to Wizard City. I put on the ring, shining it in the light. It was so awesome. I guess I should fulfill my destiny, it might be worth it. But what are we suppose to do? I’m not a hero. This ring should be called The Sapphire of Cowards. I sighed. I teleported to Chelsea. This was going to be long. And hopeless.
|
The Ultimate Challenge
Me and my friends have always been close together, we are practicly a family. But, I never thought our friendship would be tested like it was five weeks ago. Hi, I`m Luke Redhunter and my friends are, Garret Nightfinder, Kimberly Dreamthief, and Christina Angelblossom. I was excited as we opened the doors to our secret meeting with headmaster Ambrose and every teacher. " We have found that Malistare`s secret generals have been found in Krokotopia." Announced Merle Ambrose, "We are going to send you and your friends Luke." After the discussion on how we get there headmaster Ambrose warned us that the generals might trick us and will have no mercy. When we finally got to the Oasis, Christina talked to Manders to find out where the generals are in Krokotopia. " One said that he saw dark figures going into the Krokosphinx, do you think that was them?" Said Christina. " Lets go check it out." replied Garret before anybody else had a chance to answer. We finally got there and found the generals waiting for us! "We knew Ambrose would send people after us, so we trained with our decks until we could destroy anything! Oh, and tell Ambrose we had fun practicing on his father, Merlin Ambrosia." yelled out the smallest general. "Lets make a deal, because you trapped us and, well we can destroy you easily," Said the largest," Lets have a deal that if you beat us in a duel we will give up our decks and turn ourselves in, but if one of you get defeated you go into our prison forever." " We can take all four of you on!" yelled out Kimberly. As soon as she said that a humungous arena apeared. The battle was on! I went first. I wanted to save my pips so I could use Helephant so I used fire blade. Garret was next and passed along with Christina doing the same thing. Kimberly used a death trap on the tall general, named Slatious. All of the generals passed. for the first few turns all anybody did was use traps, shields, and blades until I finally had six pips. I summoned a Helephant. A large elephant with armor and antlers came out of the earth and did one thousand three hundred with all the power-ups on the small general named cooja. Next Garret used Centaur and Christina used Kraken and everyone else passed. The battle went on until Cooja used Ice Giant. I was only at three hundred health! The next turn Kimberly did something risky, she used sacrifice. Although I was at one thousand health, she was at twenty. The next turn Slatious used Triton on Kimberly. " Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!" Said me and Garret simultaneously. Suddenly the ground broke beneath her feet and she went screaming down the dark, long hole into the prison. The next turn was the same results for Christina. " Thats two down." Said another general, Bogop. " Theres no chance we can win Luke," Yelled Garret," We have to flee!" " Fine, meet me at the bazzar!" I replied. When we got back I broke the news to Headmaster Ambrose. " A great loss we have made today," He said," You two must train more and try again later." We havent tried again yet but I know we will eventually win.
|
Late for Ravenwood (part 3)
I had no idea what to do. "Um excuse me. Where is a good place to hide?" I asked, just in case Professor Drake found out where I was. "You might want to try over there, there are tents there some of the kroks like to hide in, so be careful. Cheerio!" the man said. I ran over to the tents, they looked small but I guess they would have to do. I ran in to one, making sure there was no kroks. I entered the tent, and sat down on a small bench. They were pretty nice tents considering I could see right into the Krokotopia library. I decided to take a closer look; after all it wasn't like I had anything else to do. I leaned in closer and looked through the window. "Just give me the stupid cards, I don't have enough time, I need to defeat these students so hurry Harold!"
"You know for once you could be nice to me".
"Yeah but I'm a teacher and your a librarian, so I prefer not to"
Cyrus turned around with some new treasure cards in his deck book. I tried turning but Cyrus had spotted me too soon. "You, I thought you had detention!" Cyrus said rushing to the door of the library. I prayed that something would save me. Sure enough, just when Cyrus got to the door, a huge sand storm came by, the tent swung up in the clutch of the sand storm. "COME BACK HERE!" Cyrus screamed over the sand storm. Well at least I'm away from him, I thought to myself. Then I remembered I was in a sand storm!!!! I went sailing all over Krokotopia then got flung out. I was glad that I was in the tent, because the landing was already bumpy enough as it was. Once I landed I got out of the tent. Wow! I said looking up in front of me was a huge lion person. I had no idea what it was but I knew that the only way to find out was to see what was inside. I went into the cave that was underneath it and entered into a hall. "What do you need young Cody?" said an old wrinkly Krok. "How did you know my name? and who are you?" I asked. "I am the Krok that runs this place, I know your name because I see all" he said. "Ok well can you help?" I asked. "Why sure, but you must pay for my help" He said waving his hand toward the arena in the middle of the entrance. "Ok, so what is the price?" The krok didn't reply but just walked slowly around the arena stopping at something very small every time. A second later and a Minotaur and two kroks showed up in the arena! "How am I supposed to defeat them?" I asked amazed at the challenge and how hard it was. "That is the price" He said. I thought and thought; I opened my deck and picked out my spells, making sure a lot of them were healing spells. I even put a few centaurs in my deck. I thought I was ready, but I knew I was going to need back-up. I called my friend hoping for him to come. His reply came back in 4 words: “I have no crowns” I knew I was going to need some help so I went into a chamber to the right of me. “Oooo a wizard, and what may I owe this honor o mighty wizard?” said a salamander who was jumping up and down. “Um, can you help me?” I asked as fast as I could. “Why yesssss, but only if you free meeeee” the salamander said even more excited. “Great, come with me” I said pulling the salamander by his webbed hand. When the salamander saw the kroks, he tried pulling away. “You don’t need to help me attack, I need you to help give me pips and to heal me” I said, patting his shoulders trying to reassure him. “Ok, but only because I owe you for freeing meeee” it said, bowing its head deeply.. “Alright then, let’s go” I said, walking closer to the arena. I put my left foot in and was immediately sucked into the fight, along with the salamander. I picked a blade to put on me so I could boost up my centaur, the salamander put a feint on the strongest boss. “Thanks” I said, I needed the feint if I was going to kill the big boss. “No problem masssster” the salamander said, bowing deeply, yet again. “No need to bow to me, I am not royalty” I said hoisting the salamander back up so he was no longer bowing. “But massster it shows a sign of gratitude” the salamander said. A fire elf started to dance around me in circles; I felt my temperature start to burn up. “I never liked the fire school, they are to snobby for me, they think they are hot!” I said. “But massster, they are” the salamander said, clapping and jumping up and down. I had lost a lot of life, and was starting to rethink this whole thing, but I knew I had to keep going. After all I had done Cyrus was going to make sure that I had serious heck to pay!
|
The Tale of Emily WillowSong (part 2)Part One can be found in the July 2009 Creative Writing section
Emily listened to Professor Falmea talk about the powers of the Phoenix as she clutched her stone. Alex Starhunter, who sat two rows ahead of Emily, texted her friend. A silent speck of silver flashed and the message sent itself. Alex smiled and concentrated on texting. Her broom leaned against her desk. Suddenly, Emily heard a tap two rows ahead.
" Alex," Prof. Falmea said, " Why is your Text-Chat out?" Alex gasped and shoved it into her pocket as Emily watched. Alex looked at her with begging eyes and then glanced up at the tall, fiery figure looming over her desk. She grinned sheepishly. " Heh, it isn't?" Alex gulped. Emily took out her wand quietly and waved it through the air. A flash of gold quivered in the air, and vanished before anyone could notice it. Alex's Text-Chatter was now floating up against the ceiling. It quickly rested on a wooden support beam and Professor Falmea's gold-polished fingers tapped loudly against the top of the desk. " Empty your pockets." Her fingers rat-a-tatted on the desk more loudly than before, and her eyebrow slowly raised in suspiciousness. Alex dug a lollipop, her wand, and her best deck of cards out onto the desk. More things poured out and onto the desk, and, after ten minutes, Alex's pockets and backpack were empty. " No Text-Chatter," she said, grinning.
Professor Falmea looked at Alex. Her eyes narrowed, and little sparks danced in her hair.
"Very well. Moving along, class." Alex smiled over at Emily. " I'll get it back to you after class," Emily whispered, and, sliding her wand back into her pocket, she directed her attention toward the professor once more.
Emily and Alex had been best friends for a long time. Both pyromancers, and both unbelievably alike, the two were a perfect match. After school, Emily silently mouthed a spell as she leaned against the back wall of the outside of the fire school. All her classmates had gone, and the whole of Ravenwood was practically empty. In her hand appeared a brightly-colored Text-Chatter, and she tucked it in her pocket to give to Alex later. The wintry air blew around her. She looked up the wall at the top of the school. A bird twittered for a moment, and suddenly flew away, alarmed. Emily's eyes widened. In her experience, only the most terrified of birds flew like that. She edged along the wall until she got to a place where she could look around the corner. Her gold-flecked eyes searched for a sign of danger, and she fell silent. One hand went into her pocket and grabbed her wand, and her other hand reached in and fished for her lucky stone. The stone felt cool and calmed her as she clutched it. She was feeling okay, except for the fact it was 35 degrees outside and that something was breathing down her neck.
She stopped.
Breathing down her neck?!
She turned to face a giant, furry Meowodon gazing at her. Its crystalline eyes shimmered and flashed with excitement. A sapphire set in silver dangled from its neck. Emily backed up against a tree and shivered. The meowodon leaned in, so close she could smell its breath, and its upper lip curled into a growl. Emily winced and closed her eyes as it came centimeters away from her.
Then it licked her.
A wet tongue came up over her face, and she smiled. "You aren't dangerous at all, huh?" It hunched to the groud before leaping up and growling in happiness. It crouched low and turned its head a bit to look at her. The meowodon's eyes searched for an answer in Emily, and she reached out and stroked it. The black stripes on its white coat shimmered as it purred and rubbed up against her. She slowly got on its back. The meowodon gently and softly meowed at her, and Emily smiled. She reached forward and lifted up the big cat's sapphire pendant. The inscription read:
SAPPHIRE CHARITY SILVERMOON
BELONGING TO THE WIZARD LISE SILVERMOON
IF LOST CONTACT MERLE AMBROSE
Emily sighed. Someone named Lise Silvermoon was probably missing this big, furry ball of love, and so she patted the side of the cat and it lumbered quickly out of Ravenwood and into the Commons.
Emily sat Sapphire down in an empty space beside Ambrose's house and tied her by her sapphire pendant to a lamp-post. "Stay here, Sapphire, I'll be right back." Emily walked inside.
Sitting at his desk and mulling over some papers, Ambrose stroked his beard before looking up at her. " Emily Willowsong," he exclaimed, getting up and coming over to look at her. "I haven't seen you since you became a journeyman pyromancer! How are things?"
Emily looked at her feet. " I found a meowodon in Ravenwood, one that belongs to a ... Lise Silvermoon? Yeah, that's it." She looked back up.
The old wizard's mouth opened slightly, and he put one hand on her shoulder.
"Emily...," he said,"Lise Silvermoon hasn't been seen since she left for Malistaire's lair over four centuries ago."
Emily looked into his eyes, and she saw fear in them. An old and almost-forgotten fear.
"Then why would that meowodon out there still be alive?" She looked out the window. Sapphire's front paws were pressed up against the windowpane, and she breathed fog onto the glass. Her nose smushed up against it.
"Her meowodon, Sapphire, was taken into a cave in Dragonspyre, and blessed with immortality by Fira, the Fire Queen, just before she went to defeat Malistaire. Sapphire was left outside." Emily listened, and when the wizard finished, she stared down at her feet.
"Can I at least keep her? She's so sweet."
"She's all yours, as long as you never let her wear her sapphire pendant on a night with a full moon." The old wizard smiled.
"Thank you!" She grinned a goodbye and ran out the door. Merle scratched his head and looked over at Gamma, who had been sitting on the back of the velvet chair behind the desk the whole time. " This is not good. This young and unaware wizard is about to meddle in affairs long past, affairs she need not worry about! At least she has the Stone to help her. At least she has some courage..."
|
A Savior in the Spiral (part 3)
It was Professor Drake’s turn to fight me. I had fought Professor Falmea, GreyRose, Wu, and I had a couple to go, though I had lost all of them.
The Professor stepped into the fighting circle and sadly, the battle began. Professor Drake got a boost of power pips (which I thought was completely unfair!) and his first spell were the meteors on me. Half my health was gone already so I didn’t have much of a chance. My first spell was the snowman (after putting many shields of myth around me) but barely any damage had been done. He had 7,564 health and I had 1,155 health.
He then attacked me with a troll and I healed that round. Then he attacked with trolls again and again that finally his health was in half after like pf, I don’t know, half an hour or so, but what was in the back of my mind was David. David StarCaster. How had he gotten here before the place was even announced to students? It was a new world, and a safer one too without all the creatures.
“Concentrate Tabitha!” I said to myself angrily. What the heck was wrong with me!
“Come on dummy! Get on with it!” I heard Professor Drake say.
“Hey! Watch it Drake!” I said in furry.
“Make me,” he replied scornfully.
“Enough!” Headmaster Ambrose said muttering something under his breath and the lights around the fighting circle turned off and I was able to stand in my normal position.
“Tabitha, I think you have fought enough today but you,” Headmaster Ambrose said looking at Professor Drake, “shall stop immediately criticizing her!”
“But Headmaster-”
“I said enough, so enough!” Ambrose said to him hotly. “Fine,” Professor Drake said making a ‘humph!’ after the Headmaster turned around and walked away.
“Good job Tabitha. You did well today. I couldn’t have done any better you know,” Professor Lydia said to me.
“Thank you!” I said with a smile on my face; she winked and teleported to the commons.
I then teleported to the commons and felt the rush of a billion miles per hour hitting my face. I looked up and saw stars shining over me. I could see the whole Spiral while I was floating up. It was an incredible sight. I could see the big world of DragonSpyre, GrizzlieHelm, and even Krokotopia. I stood straight and landed softly and quietly on my feet. The sound rushed to my ears and the world felt alive again. It was getting so close to night. I had to go talk to David StarCaster. What had HE been doing there! He couldn’t of possibly teleported to me! No one was aloud to yet!
I went to the boy’s dormitory and rang the button on the side of the door that said 58, his room number. I then heard his voice say, “Who is it?”
“Open the door. It’s me, Tabitha,” I said suspecting he would say ‘no’ but surprisingly, he said, “Come on in!” and the conversation was over. The boy’s dormitory door opened quickly and I walked right in. I found myself in a surprisingly long hall around fifty feet long. I then started to count the number doors. “One, Three, Five…” it felt like infinity time when finally I came to the number 50. “Fifty, fifty-three, fifty-five, fifty-seven, fifty- eight!” I said and knocked on the door that had in a wizardly font ‘Room Fifty-Eight.’
The door opened and there stood David StarCaster in some simple night robes all decorated in leaves. “Come on in,” he said opening the door more widely.
I walked in without saying a word and sat on the bed that was on the far corner. He sat down next to me and I felt embarrassed for a moment. There was a long silence between us. “So…” he said looking at me.
“Yea… um… David?” I asked nervously.
“What is it?” he asked.
“How did you…” I started to say but stopped.
“How did I what?” he asked.
“How did you come to the place where I was training to defeat Malistaire?” I said standing up looking away embarrassed.
“What are you talking about?” he asked standing up and looking at me curiously.
“You know what I mean!” I said sternly at him. He just sighed and looked at his feet.
“Fine I’ll tell you,” he said. “How?” I asked.
“I teleported to you,” he said. I knew he was lying.
“David! Say the truth!” I said hotly.
“Well that is the truth!” he said with pain and rejection in his eyes. I knew that he was trying to hide something and he did too.
“Liar!” I said. I walked to the door and without looking back said, “Say what you like!” and slammed the door behind me.
I sighed as I sat in my room. A letter had been put on my desk. I walked over to it and tore it apart madly. I took the card itself out and I read:
A ball will take place today nighttime at midnight celebrating the 300th anniversary of Ravenwood. There will be cakes, free robes, dancing, expensive foods (which don’t worry you won’t have to pay!) and confetti. Wear your most elegant clothes and if you can, try to find a partner. We don’t want you feeling left out! Have fun!
Ravenwood School of Arts Headmaster
Who would I dance with? I don’t know. For sure not David StarCaster! I guess there were more things to do in the party than dance. I mean, it’s a ball; it’s a party, in fact the party of the 300th anniversary year of Ravenwood!
I hurried to my wardrobe but found nothing that would exactly be as elegant for a ball. There was only one thing to do. I sat down on the chair behind the cloth-making table and started to weave my robe, shoes, and pin for my hair. It took about three hours to finish completely. I looked at my robe to study it. The colors were in pink and light blue. The dress reached to my feet. On my chest was the symbol of a star, and the blue was attached around it. I put my shoes on which were high heals. They were pink in the outside. Plain, but at least elegant. Finally, my pin had jewels that made the shape of a flower that shined brightly.
I went to where the restroom was in my dorm and took out some light dark pink lipstick. I painted my nails pink also and I curled my hair in a salon fashion. I then put my wand away in the bank chest and walked out of the girl’s dorm building. Outside, it seemed like the whole world was out there! It was completely crowded. The good part was that the ball was taking place in Ravenwood, Shopping District and the Commons. Though it would be pretty crowded, at least it was going to be alright. In front of Bartleby’s trunk was a pretty long table containing the main course. Behind that table was the dessert. Some of the cakes reached up to be about five feet tall! At least it maintained its balance! The dancing floor was right in front and tables to dine in eat surrounded the stage. It was pretty well organized. I was going to have some fun at least. Though I didn’t have a partner I jumped into the dancing crowd and started to dance.
It took a while to realize that the Headmaster was standing on a small but rather tall stage right in the entrance of the Ravenwood tunnel. Finally all wizards stopped dancing and dining and turned to him to listen.
“Wizards of Wizard City welcome to the 300th anniversary ball!” he said loud and clear. All the wizards cheered after the sentence but I kept quite. Finally when everyone quieted down, Headmaster Ambrose said, “I have a very important announcement to make. I want to congratulate Tabitha IceRider for her courage on her way to defeat Malistaire. She is trying to do her best, so please do not push her too much. As I say again, she is trying to do her best. Thank you,” Headmaster Ambrose said. After he finished his speech everyone turned around to me and cheered, “Tabitha! Tabitha! Tabitha!” I couldn’t help but smiling. It took a pretty long time for the cheering to go down. Then out of the blue Ronan Stalker, my first friend when I was found, came up to me and said, “W-wow! You look… incredible!” he said studying me from head to toe. “Did you make it?” he asked. I noticed that he was wearing a tuxedo with a black tie with his golden hair combed to the back of his head. His shoes were quite shined and new.
“I certainly did, and so do you!” I said with a proud gleam in my tone. “Thanks!” he said proudly. Then from behind me I heard someone say, “Tabitha! Hey, Tabitha!” I bent my eyebrows in anger and frowned. I turned around and saw David StarCaster looking at me. “What are you doing here?” I said. “I don’t want to speak to you!” I said stepping back and grabbing Ronan Stalker’s arm and taking him deeper into the crowd. “Tabitha! Hold on! I-I have something for you!” he said taking something out of his pocket. “I don’t care!” I yelled to him without looking back. “Tabitha wait!” I didn’t pay attention to him. I just walked deeper into the dancing crowd with Ronan behind me.
“Who is that guy?” he asked.
“A horrible friend, don’t bother with him. Trust me, don’t. He is the most… the most… the most selfish lying person in the Spiral!” I said angrily.
“What happened between you and him?” he asked.
I then realized that I had raised my tone to much and said softly, “I don’t want to talk about it ok? It’s something… something personal.” That was the only excuse I could come up with to change the conversation.
“Well then,” Ronan said taking his hand out. “Shall we?” he asked. I looked at him kindly and smiled. I took his hand and we started to dance when a new song was put in. It was a slow beat song that was almost like a Waltz. He danced very well and smoothly with me. He was careful in where to step though sometimes we messed our steps up. After what seemed half an hour we got a bit tired and went under the bark of Bartleby. I grabbed a plate and got a small piece of the chocolate cake that hadn’t been started yet. “Oh come on! Take a bigger piece than that! It’s a party!” he said taking a knife and slicing a bigger piece and putting it on my plate. I laughed and accepted the slice happily.
Then again I heard someone behind me say, “Tabitha! Tabitha please listen! I want to talk to you!” and of course you would suspect by now that it was David. I turned around angrily and said, “Come here for a moment will you?” and I grabbed David’s arm. Before I walked away, I said to Ronan, “Can you hold on for a moment?” Ronan just blinked and cut his cake. He sat down at a table and motioned with his hands that after I spoke with David, I should come sit with him. I nodded and walked to the back bark of Bartleby with David still gripped under my hand.
I turned around and then said, “WHAT?!” angrily.
“Will you be my partner?” he asked.
“Can’t you SEE that I already HAVE one?” I said angrily.
“Well yea but… just PLEASE be my partner!” he asked.
“NO! I already have one David! And anyways, why would I dance with someone who LIES to me? The answer is no David, whether you like it or not!” I said hotly, spun around and walked to where Ronan sat. The music playing drowned out David’s yells at me to come back. Finally, I sat down at Ronan’s table.
“I’m sorry ‘bout that,” I said as Ronan put my slices of cake where I sat.
“It’s ok. What were you talking about anyways?” he asked as he took a flower and put it on my hair. “You would get mad,” I said cutting a piece of cake and eating it.
“No, seriously, what happened?” he asked. I sighed and said, “He wanted me to be his partner.”
“Oh. I see. Are you guys close with each other or something?” he asked calmly.
“NO!” suddenly the group of people behind me turned around and looked at me. “Sorry, I mean no,” I said embarrassed.
“Oh well you didn’t have to scream THAT loud to say that!” he said jokingly. I laughed and he did too.
Indeed, I had fun the rest of the night with Ronan. He seemed to understand me when I told him about all our problems. We danced sometimes and, well… we had fun! So much fun that we stayed until the end of the party. The best part was that I didn’t think about David much that night. I was glad he left me alone. No more business was to be done with him anymore.
Finally, when the party ended, I said to Ronan, “Well, I had a great time tonight. I had an extremely amount of fun. Thank you Ronan,” I said.
“I had fun too Tab.’ If you need any help, just give me a ‘ring!’” he said showing his ring. I laughed and he did too. “Well thanks again Ronan,” I said as I waved goodbye and went inside my dorm. I took my shoes off (which was such a relief!), put on my wizard pajamas, washed my teeth, combed my hair, put some lotion on and lay down on my bed. I went under the covers and slept with happiness surging inside of me. Ronan was such a great person. Who was better than him? David certainly not. Though as I thought our argument over I realized I had been very mean to him. I started to worry. Did David hate me now?
|
The Fall of Wizard City
It was just another day in Wizard City for Hunter WildThorn. Like usual, he was in the back of the library watching the novices run around. Then it happened. A novice myth wizard run into the library and screamed “MALISTAIRE IS IN THE COMMONS!”
And because of course all the novices were now screaming and panicking nobody noticed that Hunter had disappeared.
Then finally Headmaster Ambrose came outside and saw what was going on. Ambrose summoned all student wizards, from novice to Grandmaster. All but one wizard had shown up, a grandmaster was missing. Then Ambrose called out “Where is Hunter WildThorn?” Then Ambrose went after Malistaire, thinking that he had kidnapped Hunter, but he was wrong.
There Hunter was helping Malistaire cause mayhem in Wizard City! Ambrose then called every wizard and Professor to the commons. It was an incredible site. Malistaire, Hunter, Ambrose and all the professors and student wizards were there.
Ambrose and the professors went after Malistaire while the students went for Hunter. Ambrose and the professors were handling Malistaire well, but you couldn’t say that for the students. Every other round it seemed there would be a new wizard being defeated. Then Malistaire cast a spell on Ambrose and the professors that defeated all of them and quickly joined Hunter’s battle to defeat the rest of the students. After a few rounds all the students had been defeated.
Then Malistaire took the unconscious Ambrose and locked him away in a tower of an unknown world of the spiral along with his pet owl, Gamma. Malistaire now ruled Wizard City and was the new Headmaster. All the schools were replaced with death schools and the professors were replaced by death instructors, one of them being Hunter.
And from then on any student wizard from the Ravenwood School of Magical Arts, or as I should say, Ravenwood School of The Dark Arts, was a wizard of death.
|
A Savior in the Spiral (part 2)
I tossed and turned in my bed. Tomorrow I was going to start my training to defeat Malistaire in two day time even though I was only level nine. He had threatened Headmaster Ambrose saying that if I didn’t fight the evil M (Malistaire) he would take Wizard City once and for all for his “revenge.” I starred hard to the ceiling. I could tell it was around midnight. Almost all the lights in the streets would be turned off by this time. I sighed. I sat up, put my slippers on, and put on my cloak that Headmaster Ambrose had given me as a gift when I had fainted into Malistaire’s dream.
I walked over to where my bank was and opened the chest. I whispered silently, “Wand” and a wand appeared at the bottom of the chest. I took hold of it, closed the bank chest and ran outside to the live free air of Ravenwood.
It was a little chilly outside but not too cold to turn around and go back to my dorm. There were still some wizards in the streets entering their dorm rooms ready for bed. I had just an hour until any wizard that had been out really late would be teleported to his dorm.
I went under the bark of Bartleby and sat down lightly. I felt so much pressure being put on to me. Already more than 50% of Wizard City knew about my fight with Malistaire. I started to sob silently in sadness. What if I failed? What if I failed and all my friends would hate me? I was probably Wizard City’s last chance. So much pressure is horrible. I lay my head on my knees and closed my eyes for a moment. I felt a tear run down my cheek. I didn’t even mind wiping it off. I was too depressed to do anything right now.
Suddenly a voice behind me said, “Are you alright?” I heard the sound of a thousand twigs snapping behind me. I felt the trunk moving behind my back. I looked above and found the sky a little bit more clear. I turned around and saw Bartleby looking down on me curiously.
I sighed and said, “No. I feel like… I don’t know… the whole world is putting pressure on me. Like if everyone is depending on me. I mean, what happens if I am not able to defeat Malistaire? Everyone would hate me then! Wouldn’t you think so?” I asked standing up and looking at him.
“Well I can only give you this advice. Do what you think is best, not what any other person thinks it is,” he said looking up and closing his only eye. He had lost his other eye one night when Malistaire took it off. His lost eye was the eye of history, but the one he had left was the eye of the future. I sighed again. It was time for me to go back to my dorm. All I had to do was relax and if I did that, then maybe I would learn to be calm and not hipper when everything comes along. Then and idea struck to me.
“Bartleby! Your eye, your future eye! You can predict anything that happens in the future am I correct?” I asked looking up at him.
He half opened his only eye and said, “That is correct.”
“Predict if I will save Wizard City! Or even the Spiral! Or if I am going to be able to defeat Malistaire!” I said.
“I cannot predict prophecies, young one. I only predict what will come from the minimum of one month, not two days time. I am sorry Tabitha. If I could, I would tell you all I knew, but I can’t. You see, the eye of the past connected with the eye of the future lets me see any time, but since Malistaire took my eye of the past, it only lets me see of a minimum of a month and beyond,” said Bartleby sadly.
I sighed. “Thank you anyways Bartleby.” I smiled to show him my meaning.
Bartleby just smiled and closed his one eye. “It’s time for you to go to your dorm Tabitha. Good night.”
“Good night,” I said bowing. I turned around and headed for my dorm. I heard nothing on the way. Everything was so… quiet and blank. I could hear no stirring of anything, no twigs snapping, no yawns of any wizard inside the dorms. I couldn’t even hear a bird chipping.
As I reached the door the door actually opened itself and in front of me stood David StarCaster.
“David?” I asked amazed. What was he doing in the girls’ dormitory?!
“Oh! There you are Tabitha!” he said with a smile on his face. I could tell he wasn’t getting much sleep lately.
“Um, what are you doing in the girls’ dormitory?” I asked.
“Oh. Yea, hmm, ‘bout that… I received a letter from Headmaster Ambrose this morning. I teleported to your dorm but you weren’t there. Here,” he handed me the letter and I took it and ripped it apart slowly. It said:
Hello Tabitha,
I consider for you to wake up at six o’clock this morning to start your battling training. If this isn’t an adequate time for you, please let me know. Until then, wizard Good-byes!
Headmaster Ambrose
I then noticed that David StarCaster was eyeing at me suspiciously which I thought was kind of weird. He had a smile on his face that I couldn’t quite predict what it meant, but I knew something was behind his head.
“Uh, David?” I asked looking up at him.
He cleared his throat and said, “Sorry bout that. It’s just I’m surprised that… never mind. Forget about it.”
“O…k?” I said doubtful that he was telling the truth. “I think you can go back to your house now. It’s getting pretty late…”
“Oh yea! Well, see you tomorrow and good training!” he said walking away and teleporting to his house.
“Ugh! Come on! I hate this pressure!” I said to myself as I entered my dormitory. I set my wand on the desk, put on my wizard pajamas and slipped under the covers. I turned off the light that was on the cupboard next to me and closed my eyes to get some rest. I still couldn’t sleep though. Why had David eyed me… curiously? I felt the same way when I first was found in the Spiral. Everyone was amazed at my name and I didn’t know at the time why. Now it was the same kind of feeling only different problem.
I blinked, tossed, turned, closed my eyes, sat up and drank water, practiced spells and thought in my room just because I couldn’t sleep. Finally, the sun started to rise and I knew it was around six. I hadn’t gotten any rest, but at least I had practiced some of my spells as my warm up. I then put on my robe, shoes, hat, grabbed my wand, and walked out in the hot morning air. There in front of me stood Headmaster Ambrose waiting calmly for me to come out.
“Perfect timing. Six o’clock sharp,” the Headmaster said looking at his small but rather cool watch.
“Thanks,” I said smiling.
“Is there something bugging you?” Headmaster said as if he were reading my thoughts.
“No. Nothing…” I stopped when I realized that the Headmaster gave me a questioning look.
“Yes there is. I just feel so much pressure on me! Everyone is saying like ‘good training’ or ‘good luck,’ ‘fight hard’ and even ‘may the wizard luck go with you!’” I said looking down embarrassed and nervous.
“I know how that feels Tabitha. One time, before I became Headmaster, I had to fight the dragon of DragonSpyre. I felt so pressured that I said ‘shut it’ many times. Of course I was so young I lost my temper many times, though your fight is a lot bigger than mine was Tabitha. I know many wizards and they would have lost their temper completely if they acted the same way they are acting with you. You are keeping up well with all this trouble and I wish I had been you at the time I had to fight the dragon,” the headmaster said smiling.
“Really?” I said feeling like if I had a gleam in my eye.
“Certainly Tabitha, but I think we should stop talking about this in public. Many wizards are eyeing us suspiciously right now,” the headmaster said looking at all the wizards that were looking at us.
“Ok but where are we going to fight?” I said.
“You haven’t been there before. In fact, we created the land just for you to come and practice. Teleport when I say so,” the Headmaster said as he disappeared in thin air.
I felt my ring tremble and I then teleported to Headmaster Ambrose. I found myself in a rather big open ground area. In the middle of the field there was a big circle. In fact, the fighting circle. I saw the professors waiting for me at the other end of the field. The place was amazing though. There were so many trees around the area that it looked like a forest! I stood in the middle of the street that led to the circle. This place was amazing!
It took a while to get to the other end. Once I reached there, Professor Drake said, “Wasting our time with level nine.”
I took a stern look at him. He gave a snare back.
“Enough. We are going to teach all the spells that all of you know. No questions. We have to take this seriously. She is our only hope and we have been waiting for her for over ninety years. Do you all understand me?” Headmaster Ambrose said speaking to all the professors.
“I certainly do,” said my professor, Lydia GreyRose. “Don’t dare leave me out!” Professor Falmea said next. “I’ll try my best,” said professor Wu. After most of the professors agreed, only one was left out and not surprisingly, it was Professor Drake.
“Drake, do you want our troubles to end?” professor Falmea said.
“Yes. I do,” he said with a cold tone.
“Well if you like it or not, Professor Drake, you are going to teach her,” Headmaster Ambrose said boldly.
“Fine,” the professor said in the most selfish manner. “That will do then,” Headmaster Ambrose said. “Are you ready Tabitha?” he asked turning around with a smile to me.
“Completely,” I said and my heart started pumping. I had been waiting for this moment for so long. I was going to start my training. It seemed so unreal, but it was true! I was going to learn every spell that I could before time would run out.
This was the moment I had been waiting for…
Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, there was a dark figure. A figure I had seen in many of my dreams, but not one of those bad dreams, but one of those friendly-type dreams.
I took a look at the figure and saw who it was.
I gasped.
David StarCaster was here?
|
Haunt
Prologue
Malistaire Drake rushed down the street to the death school. He was panicking, slowly dying. When he got to the death school he slammed the door shut and locked it. He closed all the windows, making sure no one could see. Malistaire tore off his glove and looked at his hand. The curse was spreading. His whole hand was almost black. How was he going to teach lessons today? An idea popped into his head. He would call Dworgyn, and go back and look for help. There had to be a witch that could help him with this curse. Or he could tell Merle Ambrose, but that might risk losing his job.
He teleported to Nightside and asked Dworgyn if he could substitute for today because he was feeling ill. The hunched-backed man agreed to teach today’s lessons and Malistaire teleported back to Ravenwood. He went inside Bartleby and went to another world that no one has dared to enter. This world was known as the Dark Abyss.
The streets were empty and destroyed. You might see an evil creature or a witch every now and then, but you didn’t want to. That almost guarantees death. Malistaire Drake made a bad decision by coming back here. His life was about to change forever.
Malistaire knocked on an old hut. A witch known as Muriel opened the door. She smiled a crooked smile at Malistaire. “How may I help you, Mr. Drake?” she whispered excitedly.
“Good afternoon Muriel. Sorry but I’m in a bit of a rush,” began Malistaire. “You see, I’m cursed. An evil creature known as the Haunt put a deadly curse on me and I cannot get rid of it. Is there any way you can help me?” pleaded Malistaire.
“Let me see your hand.” He pulled his glove off and showed her his hand. Her eyes widened. “Get out! Get out of my house!” she shrieked.
“No please! Let me stay, I’ll put on my glove back on. Please help me, what am I to do?” Malistaire cried.
“There is only one way to get rid of that curse,” she was shaking. “You must summon the Dragon Titan. Only he can get rid of a curse that powerful."
Chapter One
Malorn Ashthorn entered the death school and sat down in his seat. He noticed that Malistaire was absent from the classroom. Dworgyn was there taking his place, which was unusual. Dworgyn announced to that class that Malistaire was ill and would be gone for a few days. Strange, Malorn thought.
The class went outside to practice casting the banshee spell. Everybody had trouble with that spell except Malorn. He was probably the most advanced student in the class. Dworgyn was noticing his lack of trouble and taught him how to cast vampire. He didn’t have any trouble with that spell either.
The class was dismissed earlier than usual. As Malorn was walking back to his home on Unicorn Way, he felt the earth tremble. He looked back at the death school and it was sinking. Merle Ambrose, the headmaster, and Cyrus Drake, the myth teacher, was running towards the scene. “What is happening!” exclaimed Ambrose.
The death school was now out of sight. All of the teachers except Malistaire and Sylvia Drake were present.
“You do remember what you need to summon the Dragon Titan?” Muriel said.
Malistaire nodded silently. You only needed two things to summon the Dragon Titan. The blood of a loved one, and ancient words from the Krokonomicon. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t kill his beloved Sylvia. And stealing, that would be the other bad part. He couldn’t steal the Krokonomicon.
He thought about it for a few minutes. He would have to, if he didn’t he would die. “How much time do I have?” asked Malistaire.
“Less than a week.” murmured Muriel. Malistaire nodded and started walking toward the door. He had made up his mind.
Chapter Two
Malistaire left the Dark Abyss and was now back in Ravenwood. He walked to the life school, dreading on what he was about to do. As he entered the school, a tear slid down his cheek.
Sylvia Drake was alone in the life classroom. She greeted him happily. “What’s wrong, dear?” she asked. Malistaire looked up and stared at her in the eyes for a few seconds.
“I love you.” Malistaire brought out his wand and waved it at Syliva. She feel down to the floor, dead. He just stared at Sylvia, going through shock. He just killed his own wife. One last tear slid down his cheek and he ran out of the classroom, angry with himself. Malistaire ran past the myth school, back to the death school. He noticed all the kids leaving from today’s lesson. He was angry he ever went to the Dark Abyss. If he didn’t go he would be teaching kids right now and his wife would still be alive.
With all of his strength, Malistaire forced the death school into the ground. It sunk down to Nightside. Malistaire went down to his knees crying. He was exhausted from using such heavy magic, but he was still angry. Malistaire teleported to the Haunted Cave. He told Lord Nightshade to guard his house, make sure nobody takes anything.
Bartleby let Malistaire inside him, and he went to Krokotopia to find the Krokonomicon.
“Where is Malistaire and Sylvia?” questioned Ambrose. Professor Greyrose volunteered to go search for them. She looked inside the life school where she found Sylvia’s body. Greyrose brought the body back to the teachers. “What happened to Sylvia?” asked Ambrose.
“She told me she wasn’t feeling too well yesterday,” began Greyrose, “maybe she died of sickness.”
“Where is Malistaire? And how did the death school disappear? There is no way a student could make it disappear, how could they learn such advanced magic!”
“It could have been Malistaire who sunk the school.” suggested Professor Greyrose.
“No.” Cyrus said. “My brother wouldn’t do such a thing.” Silence filled all of Ravenwood. Off in the distance, a few crows cawed.
Chapter Three
Ravenwood had been different since Malistaire left and the death school disappeared. The new life teacher was a cow from MooShu, her was is Moolinda Wu. The death teacher was Malorn AshThorn until they could find a better instructor. Everything in Wizard City was a lot more quieter.
Merle Ambrose called Scot DeathStrider down to his office. He gave Scot a very important task, he would have to look inside Malistaire’s house for any clues. Scot took on this quest.
He past some Field Guards in the Haunted Cave and got to Malistaire’s house. Inside there was an unpleasant surprise. Scot discovered Lord Nightshade and defeated him. In the house he found a skeletal key, and a beaten up diary. He returned these items to Merle Ambrose.
“Very, very interesting.” observed Ambrose. “The death school fell down into Nightside, and Malistaire is off looking for the Krokonomicon. This is bad news indeed. Young wizard, would you mind doing me another favor? I want you to go to Krokotopia and get the Krokonomicon before Malistaire does.”
Scot DeathStrider agreed to go look for the Krokonomicon. He has no idea what he is about to get himself into.
Malistaire entered Krokotopia. Where would he look first? He could either look in the Pyramid of Suns, Krokosphinx, or the Well of Spirits. He thought he would look in Krokosphinx first, maybe the Order of the Fang would have an idea where it is.
|
The Betrayer’s Last Efforts
My life, and Wizard City was back to as normal. Six months have passed by sense the 7 week long war. Not long after the war ended, a new kid had came to the life school. His name is Kyle LifeSong, he was already level 50 or so he clams to be, but he only knew a healing pixie spell which is kind of odd. The weirdest thing about this kid was that he just came out of nowhere, he has no history, no home , no date of birth, nothing. Well right now it’s summer vacation and classes are optional but who would go in this blistering heat, and this kid only goes to classes that deal with healing. I know this because I help Ms. Wu teach her summer classes from time to time. Little did I know that this kid would change my life(once again).
I was standing out side the pet store waiting for the rest of my friends because we were going to Moo Shu to hang out, when I notice a small black dragon in the window. It reminded me of my lost black and blue dragon named Trixie, my green and black dragon named Hailey, and my red and yellow dragon named Duncan. They were my first friends, my father gave them to me when I was only four, we were inseparable. The last time I’d ever saw them was when I allowed them to travel to GrizzelHelm with my older sister, like my sister requested. What most people don’t know, was that there was three Drake sisters. I was the middle sister, age 15. Katherine is the youngest, age 13. And if she was alive today, the oldest, Scarlet, age 19. My older sister was very kind hearted like mom, but she had a temper like dad, so it was best not to get on her bad side but she would only react if you weren’t part of the family. But she had a dark secret, a secret that would cause her death. I snapped back to reality, and started to walk down the shopping district, then a group of 20 to 30 ice wizards approached me. “Hey, life wizard! What’s your kind doing in Blizzard’s territory!” yelled the one in front wearing the Moo Shu style hat and boots with a GrizzelHelm robe on. “Who’s Blizzard?” I replied. “Who’s Blizzard!? What disrespect, Blizzard is the most powerful wizard ever and he is the leader of the Ice Birds!” and each one of them took the pose of a bird. “Ok, first of what you guys just did was ridiculous, and two I’d never heard of your leader before.” “How dare you life wizard! Ok boys, lets show this life wizard what were made of!” the rest of the wizards behind him had took a battle stance and the other wizards on the street ran and hide behind bushes and trees. “By the way, my name is Ice Pillar, I’m second in command and don’t you forget it!” Knowing that I was out numbered, I ran. “Get her!” I looked back and they got closer and closer, so I called for my newest companion, “Leona!” and a few seconds later my lioness jumps from behind the group. As she came up to me I quickly jumped onto her back and ride like the wind. I looked back again and some of the Ice Birds had summoned their horses and dragons… just my luck. I ride Leona to Cyclops Lane to go to Dark Cave when at the entrance…. Crash! “Amy! Watch where you’re going!” “ Hey that no way to talk to your girlfriend. Sorry Joe I would talk more, but I gotta run I’m being chased but the Ice Birds and…” “Wait you’re being chased by them too? I’m being chased by them just because I’m dating you. I don’t know why but they really hate life wizards, but their leader is a life wizard.” “Joe we gotta go.” “O, right.” Joe takes his lion named Lyons and we both ride towards the Fairgrounds when from the entrance of Dark Cave, entrance of Ol Dale Town and from down the lane the Ice birds came bursting in. “There they are!” yelled the guy in third in command. Me and Joe follow the river near the fair grounds and ended up at the edge of a cliff(this is getting ridiculous). As the Ice Birds charged towards us, the earth beneath us crumbled away. We’d screamed as we fell because for some reason we couldn’t teleport. After about 15 to 20 of falling a black hole appeared and swallow us whole.
I fell face first into a small white room with no windows, just a dragon and a wild claw fighting someone caved onto the wall and a door. “Well, well Amy. I see that you still have one of the three scares my heckhound gave you.” I turned around and it was no other than Austin WildHeart. “Austin! How do you keep finding me? And where are we?” “We are in the Dark Abyss, the only place that mirrors our world but can only enter by mind or spirit.” “Um, ok all I ask was where we were not for the history of the place.” “ I heard from Malistare before he died that your sister, Scarlet, her spirit roams this land.” I was completely shocked and scared that he new that. The whole family agreed to not say that to anyone, if my dad really did tell him who knows what else he told him. “Sense you’re not going to say anything, then farewell Amy.” He disappear without a single trace on where he was going. Then the walls turn black and spikes aroused from the walls and the walls started to close in. I ran for the door but the door vanished and the lights went out, leaving me in total darkness.
Then I felt a cool breeze and soft grass, then cold water being splashed on my face. “I’m up! I’m up! I’m!” “Finally you’re awake, you’ve been unconces for an hour already.” I looked around and we were in meadow that looks like it has been untouched by time “Joe where is Leona and Lyons?” “I don’t know, I think they ran off.” As me and Joe stood up, our lions came out of nowhere and roared. “Hey Leona where have you been?” Leona ran up to me and with her paw, she drew a arrow pointing southwest. “So we’re going this way?” Leona had nodded and I hopped on to Leona’s back and Joe had hopped on to Lyons and we let the lions lead the way. As we traveled I notice the grass slowly convert to sand and the heat continue to rise. We soon stop at the place where the lions wanted to take us. A long forgotten pyramid. “Wait I thought pyramids were only builded in Krokotopia. But even if they were built anywhere else I don’t recognize this writing.” “It’s called hyroplificts, it’s what mortals used to use on their pyramids.” “Um Amy, how do you know that?” “My older sister told me all about them when she went to the mortal world.” “You have an older sister?” “Well used to.” “How come you never anything about her before?” “I’ll tell you a secret about her and you’ll understand why.”
A few years ago there was a wizard that was assassin ready for hire. This wizard was all over the news, each headline said beware of Mooshu ninja dresses in all black with balance sword(I was 8 at the time). So one day my sister was grounded and was confounded to her room once again. So I was bringing lunch to her room just trying to be a good sister, and when I walked into the room I saw the assassin. I dropped the tray of food and casted a dark fairy but the assassin just grabbed the fairy and tossed it aside. I was completely petrified, but as soon as I calmed down a little, I ran out the door crying for mom and dad. When I found them I dragged them to my sister’s room. As we walked in, mom had used centaur on the assassin and knocked the mask off. When the assassin stood up the face behind the mask was revealed, and that face was my sister’s, she was the assassin. She said she only did what she did so she can get money for the family. She was grounded for a year. But after her punishment had past, she asked me if my pet dragons could come with her to GrizzelHelm for a quest. I’d allowed it because my dragons need the exercise and I didn’t have time to help them. But the next day I found mom, dad, and Katie crying in the living room. When I asked was wrong, they said that Scarlet had died and that her spirit couldn’t be traced. Soon after a long time of morning, we agreed to never speak of this event to anyone who isn’t part of the family.
“Yikes Amy. You’ve been through a lot.” “Tell me about it.” when I finished talking, the door of the pyramid slowly opened. Something was calling for me inside, so I walk into the corridors, not knowing of the dangers that may lay head. Joe and our lions had followed. We gotten to the center of the entrance hall when a voice yelled out, “ Who dares enter the pyramid of Scarlet Drake!” another voice had came and said “ Leave now of forever be cursed!” and two more voices said “Turn back!” Thesis voices were too familiar. “Trixie, Hailey, Duncan stop fooling around! It’s your owner Amy.” The my long lost pets aroused from the shadows and dog piled on me. “Amy! Long time no see!” “I know Trixie but can you guys get off!” “Sorry Amy.” Then Scarlet’s pet, Sparky(a savage wildclaw) comes from the shadow along with Katie’s pet Bentley(a storm salamander) “Sorry about that Amy you know how your pets can be. I’m glad that I’m just a wildclaw and not their owners.” Before we could have a chance to hang up like old times, footsteps echoed through the hallway. My pets pushed me, Joe, Leona, and Lyons into a corner of the room where there was barely any lighting. A figure appeared whereing a purple, hooded colored robe “Welcome back sir. Where’s your master?” “I’m no longer his apprentice, he passed away. Now get out of my way.” “As you wish.” The figure had removed his hood and revealed his identity, it was Austin, what is he doing here? He cheeped to the middle of the room and placed a small black box on the ground. He took a few steps back and casted a storm snake and the box expanded into three spheres. The structure glowed with electricity, it lit up the room and revealed our hiding spot. “Stop right the Austin.” As he turned around he said “Why hello Amy and Joe. Long time no see.” “Skip the small talk. Why are you here and what is the thing?” “You’ll see in due time, or not.” Now Joe steps from the corner, now only two feet away. “Jugging by the looks of it you and Amy are together. Am I right Joe? Because I’m quite surprised.” “Why is everyone surprised that me and Amy are together?! Wait we are getting off topic. Austin you’re going back to Headmaster Ambrose with us to serve your punishment for betraying wizard city. One way or another.” Both me and Joe took a battle stance knowing Austin isn’t going to come quietly, Joe then whispered to me “Careful Amy, something different about him.” Joe was right, not only was he wearing black armor, he’s energy levels were completely different from before. “You think you can defeat me now? You cant defeat the leader of the Dark Crusaders!” “Da-Dark Crusader!” “Why so surprised? You knew your father would make me one sooner or later. Anyways…. let the battle begin!” Without moving a muscle, Austin summoned a small fairy, and it giggled. “You’re joking right? You think this will stop me and Amy?” Austin just gave a smirk look on his face and snapped his fingers. We looked back at the fairy and a red aura surrounding it and transformed it in to a sunbird, staying it’s fairy size. It flew towards as fast as what mortals call a speeding bullet. I raised my long black sword into it’s path but as it hit my sword pushing me back, it broke right through and ripped right through my chest. I fell to my knees and as I looked down, all I saw that I saw was the pool of blood that started to form. My vision became blurred all I could hear was Austin saying “Dang, I missed.” and Joe yelling “You monster!”. All I could see were figures, no details what so ever. First I could see the figures of mine and my sis’s pets and lions join the fight, then two more figures ran past me and join in. Before I could see or hear anything else, I’d blacked out.
As I regain conciseness, I heard group of people talking among each other. “Is she going to be ok?” someone said. Another voice said “Don’t tell me I’m going to lose my sis again.” Then a warm hand held mine and someone said “Amy, please wake up.” I opened my eyes and sat up as fast as I could to find myself, my friends, my sis, and the family’s pets in my room at my house.(I finally got a house btw). “Amy you’re finally awake!” the person who said that and was holding my had was Joe and he hugged me. “See I told you I could heal her.” said a girl about three years younger that me dressed in dark green and gold GrizzleHelm clothing. “Um, who’s this?” “Where are my manners, my name is Hannah StarBlossom, I’m one of your students Ms. Hawkmender. I usually sit in the back of the class and I started the same day as Kyle.” “O yea, now I remember, by the way outside of the class room you can call me Amy.” then Joe interrupts “Well Amy, I’ll be right back I’ve got to go as Ms. Wu to ask her something.” As Joe stands from the chair next to my bed, he groans and I notice the full existent of his injuries. Before all I notice was the broken armor and the cut on his face, but the rest of his injuries were scratches, burses, and a gaping wound on his right leg “Hey why didn’t you heal him?!” I waved my hands to summons some pixies but nothing happened. I tried again, but still nothing. “Um Amy first off I couldn’t heal Joe because I used all my mana on the pets, the lions and you. And, um … how do I say this without you freaking out?” Then another wizard walks dressed in green and purple Dragon Spyre armor. “You cant you magic anymore Hawkmender.” “Please telling me you guys are just pulling my leg!” “Sorry Hawkmender but it’s true, ask Ms. Wu and she’ll explain why.” I had so many question, who was this guy? Is he a friend of one of my friends? “Hey what’s…” then the wizard cuts my off “I know what you’re going to ask. The name’s Wolf StormHammer, I’m a level 50 storm grand. I’m also a archeologist of the temple that you were in. You’re lucky that me and my assistant was there or you would be dead right now. Now I must go. See ya around Hawkmender.” and he teleports to who knows where. Soon after that me and Joe went to Ms. Wu to get fully healed and for me to ask why I cant use magic. “Ahh… it’s been a while since this happened Ms. Hawkmender. You see the source power is by invisible chain call the mana chain, it’s attach to our souls. Very few items in the spiral can even see the chain let alone break it. The one thing that can break it that is very common is the mortal version of the bow and arrow.” “Ms. Wu, is there any way to fix the chain?” She looked way, as if she wished that I hadn’t asked that. “There is one way, but it is very risky.” “What’s the way? Just tell me please.” “You have to bombarded by spells. The amount of mana around should repair the broken or missing part of you mana chain. But if it fails, it might be the end of you.” “I’ll take my chances Ms. Wu. See ya.” as I walked out of the life school I called for my pets to take me to Sunset Meadow. As I arrived I notice that my sis and the rest of my friends were there. “Hey Amy, ready for a duel?” “Joseph! How could you challenge her when you know very well that she has no powers!” yelled Brittany and Rachel. “Calm down you too! I was only joking! At least Joe didn’t freak out.” “Dude! You are so lucky that I’m still weak from that battle with Austin or I would punch you so hard for yelling at them.” and of course I have to step in. “Will you two stop fighting! You two are like two male ash spiders fighting over a female.” Ever sense I started dating Joe, Joseph is always picking at Joe for a fight. “Well, Joseph started it.” “I did not!” and as usual I had to slap some since into them… literally. “Owww. Amy do you have to hit so hard?” “Sorry Joe but it’s the only way to keep you two in order.” After the little incident we spend a few hours training with each other but we had a little problem, or should I say big problem. “Hi everyone! Hi Professor Hawkmender!” “What do you want LifeSong?” said Hannah and Wolf “You shouldn’t be mean to me Wolf and Hannah. I can really pack a punch. And why don’t cha call me by my other name.” “So what are these other names?” “Well cutie pie Brittany, you can call me Blizzard or… Austin WildHeart!” He waves his staff and reveals he’s true identity. “You guys have few choices. You can hand over Amy, you can die by my hands, or Brittany can become my queen of the new era.” “In your dreams Austin, what makes you think that I would marry you?!” “Come beautiful, don’t be like that. Don’t you want to be all powerful and be legendary?” “Yea I do but I wont turn against my friends to become that like you did.” “Very well, have it your way.” Austin’s staff had turned back into his Avalanche sword and casted the Super Nova spell and knocked everyone out… except for me. The magic from my friends had flowed into Austin’s sword and a orb came out of my sister’s hand and landed in Austin’s. “The balance oracle, one down, two to go.” Before I could make an escape and get help, Austin incased my feet in ice. He walked towards me and held the blade close to my neck. “And where do you thing you’re going? Now I’ll give you a choice. Join my army and spare your life, or die. Think carefully now.” “You know what, I rather die then ever betray the spiral.” “Foolish Amy. You’ve sealed your fate!” As Austin was about to strike, a minotaur came running up and knock the sword out of Austin’s hand. Austin quickly recover his sword and fled. The ice melted away and the minotaur disappeared leaving me and it’s caster, uncle Cyrus(A.K.A. Professor Drake of the myth school). “Thanks for the save uncle Cyrus.” “Cut the chi-chat, we’ve got to get your comrades to the medical wing.” I will never understand why he is always grumpy or why he says things in a grumpy way but he was right. He summoned a few trolls to carry them and we rushed to the newly build hospital. “Hey uncle Cyrus, what were you doing here in the first place?” “Quiet studies, the usual.” Shortly after arriving at the hospital, I found Dr. MoonSpirit after she treated my friends and I asked about their conditions. “Ms. Drake, your friends are going to be just fine…well except for one thing.” “First off can you please call me Ms. HawkMender and what’s the exception?” “I really don’t know how but, their magic chain have been damage and now they are in the same condition as you Ms. HawkMender.” “May I see my friends? “Heavens no! They’re still being treated. You should just run along.” And on that note the Doctor just walked way. Ths was the last straw. There was no way that I would let Austin hurt my friends and get way with it. I knew that the only person who could give me advice on how to defeat a wizard without magic was Scarlet. I went home and meditated. One I cleared my mind I entered the Dark Abyss.
I landed feet first (unlike the last time) into a blue and silver version of Unicorn Way. I saw Austin walking up the street so I hid at the top of a tree. As he walked past me, I saw him carrying a black orb in his hand and mumbling “The death oracle. Two down, one left.” Then Scarlet’s spirit comes running from the same direction. “Hey give that back! Or I’ll…” “Or you’ll what? Since I have your oracle, you’re under my control!” “Why do you want with the oracles?” “Do you have any idea how much power my army would have if they had the powers of the friends of your little sisters and have the Drake family’s magic? Now…. Be gone!” Then right before my eyes, Austin had focus magic into the orb and sucked my sister’s spirit into the orb. With no reason to stay any longer I retuned to the normal world.
When I returned a yellow short sword laid in my lap with a note attached. The note said:
“Dear Amy, I am completely sorry for what I’ve done, to you, your sisters, and to the spiral. Take this sword as a token of my gratitude for ending the terror I was about to bring upon the spiral and for your hour of need. I’m not asking for forgiveness, or for you to love me again but please… keep the spiral safe. I’ll help and guild you in anyway I can.
With Love,
Your father, Malistare”
I knew what had to be done. The final showdown. One on one. Life vs. Storm. Me vs. Austin. I left the house in a quiet manner to make sure I didn’t wake up my pets and I raced towards the cliff me and Joe had fallen off of before and jumped off knowing… that this might be, my final hour. I’d fallen through the black whole and appeared at the base of the tomb. The machine still stood in the same spot but with greater power. The three cambers that were empty, now filled with magic and with different items. The camber on the right had my father’s staff. On the left was my mother’s crescent moon amulet. And in the middle was my sister’s favorite Mu Shu outfit. But this time there was another box in front of the machine with three indents, two of the indents had hold the two orbs that I saw before. “You just have to be the hero, don’t you Amy?” The voice had came from Austin and he walk out from behind the machine. “You know, you’re just making your end much faster then it needs to be Amy.” “I might being doing just that but if it’s the only way to save the spiral, then so be it.” “Well in that case…” With a wave of his hand a large barrier appears around us, with no way of escape. “You know, I have the powers of your friends so lets well you’ll fair against them.” Austin summoned at least one of each of the most powerful spells from every element. They all charged, and me only with a sword(fair odds? NOT!). I deflected every attack that came my way but I couldn’t get close to Austin to make and attack. After I defeated his minions, he actually congratulated me on a job well done, but he lifted me into air and his sword became a bow and arrow. “Just one shot is all I need.” Then…
“Amy!” Looks like we arrived too late. “Guys get out of here!” Amy had yelled but then of couce Joe has to say something heroic. “We wont leave you Amy, not again.” Then that traidor inter ups. “Hahahaha! Don’t you see how pathetic you guys are around Amy?! Now time for the new era!” Austin aim his arrow very carefully and fired going right through her. Me and the rest of our friends just saw a friend die right in front of us.(I think Joe took the hardest hit because I think I saw a tear come from his eye but if I say a thing he’ll be like Joseph! And I know that that’ll be the end of me). As Amy fell to the ground, a light green orb came out of her wound. “Finally, the life oracle.” Then he returned us our powers. He walked to that... that thing and placed the orb in between the other two orbs and power started to rage thought the air. Rage had engulfed Joe’s face and he started slashing the barrier, and we did the same. “Ha! Save your energy, Amy is doomed and so is the spiral!” But we feel another presence, the area around Amy had swirled with magic, she arose from the ground and her sword change formed into a curved green blade while her old black sword reformed in her other hand. “How!? How could you be alive?! I just killed you a second ago!” “There’s one thing you don’t know, when a life wizard is crowded, it’s boundaries are endless.” “And what is that suppose to mean!?” “I means that with my friends around, my powers are endless.” The now Amy charged and a sword fight erupt. Both fought well, Amy had practice sword fighting before but this time the way she attacked, was with the intent to kill. When Austin was thrown back due to the power of the surging though Amy‘s swords, Lighting had engulfed the room. All three cambers glowed and shapes started to form. Then Stepped out Malistare, Sylvia, and some other girl step out of that thing. “Now witness you’re demised!” But I think things are not going to go the way Austin had planed. Malistare used the top of his staff to hold Austin high in the air. “How dare you touch me slave! I demand you put me down at once!” “I’m no one’s slave! I’m Malistare Drake and no one commands me! And leave me dauters alone!” Then he through Austin towards Sylvia and that other girl and both of them summoned a hydra and that had shocked, frizzed, and fired him and tossed him aside. Then he lands in front of Amy’s swords, with his hands tied behind his back due to a spell that Malistare had used. “Go ahead Amy, you have the chance, kill me… you know you want to.” Amy just sired at him, and lowered her blade “You’ve harmed me, my friends, my boyfriend, and my family. You deserve to have the worst punishment the world has to offer.” “Then what you are waiting for!?” “Death wouldn’t be punishment for you, that would be setting you free. So you’re punishment is to be remove of your powers and to be kept alive.” “What! No… anything but that!” Amy had kneeled down and put the palm of her hand onto Austin’s forehead and created a storm orb in her other hand out of Austin’s magic chain. She placed the storm orb onto the ground and used the hilt of her sword to smash it into dust. “Nooooo!… My powers….” “Are no more.”
( A few weeks later) After putting Austin behind bars, the death school was rebuilt and my father began his teachings once again. My mother is now the head-doctor in the hospital. Scarlet is on one of her crazy and adventuress quests again and is now teaching all the schools about the mortal world called earth. Katie finally graduated three days go and she just has to brag about it. Well as for me, nothing has really change. My family move into my house in wizard city(not fair, I might add) and the day that Austin had planed as his day of what he calls “royalty” is now the day when the Drake family reunited. And when the golden age, known as the LeagonMender Era began
|
The Verge of Victory
Since the day I returned, I’ve gain the trust back from all of me comrades. It’s been about 3 weeks since my last encounter with my father. But here goes another day, another quest, another battle and so on and so forth. My current quest is to go and investigate a explosion in the shopping area of Dragon Spyre with Joseph and Joe. In 7 weeks, I will be Christmas, so why have there been so many incidents across the spiral? Anyways, when we got to the sight of the event, the whole place was deserted and in ruins(more that usual). “What is the spiral happened here? It looks like a war broke out.” I said. I told Joe and Joseph to spread out and see if we could find anything that could lead us to the mastermind of this. But before the could even take a step, the mastermind found us. “You shouldn’t have come, you might have lived longer.” the mastermind said. “Who said that?!” Joseph said while taking a step back and shaking like a dog(he’s a strong fire wizard but sometimes he is such a chicken). “Wait a minute, I know that voice… Guys! Prepare your self! It‘s Malistare!” I said. Then Malistare fizzles into view. “And again, Amy is right. Ever since I put that spell on her she has had acute senses of hearing.” “What is he talking about Amy?” Joseph said in confusion. Of course Joe know, because he’s the only one who’s seen what Malistare’s talking about but I haven’t had the chance to tell the rest of my friends. “It’s nothing Joseph. But Malistare why have you attacked our home?” “I’ll tell you soon… when you’re in spirit form!” Then Malistare casted a super nova spell, that barely missed us. All three of us ran to the spiral door, and Joseph kept asking why are we running? Why don’t we fight? Once we got to the door, Malistare was right behind us. “You think you can just run away? There’s no place for you to hide or run. So why don’t you surrender now?” “We’ll never surrender to the likes of you Malistare!” I yelled and casted a smoke screen spell. “You little brats! Now it is time to meet your demised! Victoria! Get out here!” Before any thing could happen me and Joe pushes Joseph through the spiral door and break the knob off(me and Joe had plain this while we were running, just incase it had come to this and there was only time of one of us to escape). Then a girl that looks around the age of 16, with blue hair and green eyes appears in a GrizzleHelm outfit. “Yes Malistare?” said the girl. “You wanted to see you mother again, right Victoria? Well, here she is.” And Malistare points at me. “Why are pointing at me?!”
“Headmaster Ambrose! Come quickly and bring the Life Squad!”(the Life Squad are a group of elite life wizards. FYI) “What is this about Mr. Fire?” “There is no time to explain just get the Dragon Spyre key and follow me!” As we race toward the door, all I could think about was if Amy and Joe were alright fighting Malistare. When we got to the door, the Headmaster used the spiral key, then the Life Squad appeared and when the door opened, smoke filled the room. Even with all the smoke, the Headmaster and the life wizards went running through the door, and I followed after them. Once through the door, the Headmaster used his Forever Wind spell to sweep the smoke and what we saw was horrifying. What stood before us was the result of a clash of wizards, Amy, Joe, and some other girl was lying on the ground unconscious and in serious condition. Their weapons/ armor were crushed and their treasure cards(A.K.A. One time use spells) ripped into pieces. “Get them to the hospital tower as fast as you can!” The Headmaster had yelled. The life squad summoned stretchers and put Amy, Joe, and the other girl on them, but before the life wizards rushed them to the hospital tower, Amy became conscious and grabbed the Headmaster’s staff. “Head… Headmaster, go back…*chough chough* the war has begun, the Dragon Titan will rise soon.” As I got closer to Amy, I saw what terrible condition she was in. Her long brown hair was now gray and her jade-colored eyes that sparkled like diamonds, are now red as the pit’s of lava pools. Then before she could say anything more, she fell unconscious again.
(A few hours later) “Ugh, where am I?” I looked around and I was in what looks like a hospital room. When I sat up, Brittany came into the room. “Oh, Amy you’re awake.” “Brittany? What are you doing here?” “Oh, did I forget to tell you that I’ve become a nurse in training?” “Wait! Where is that girl and where’s Joe!?” “Well the other girl is being treated, but um… how do I say this without you getting upsetting?” “Brittany just spit it out.” “Fine. Amy… Joe is… dead.” “What! You’re lying! You have to be!” “Sorry Amy, but it’s the truth.” My eyes started to flow with water like a overflowed dam waiting for the walls to crack. “And Amy, I think you should look in a mirror.” I didnt understand why she said that until she gave me a mirror. “AHHHHH! Why now!? Why did it had to come back now!?” Brittany looked completely puzzled and said “What in the world are you talking about? This happened before?” I no longer looked human. I had black scales, green scales on the tip of my tail, white claws, green horns and black as midnight wings.(I would change back to human form but for some reason I couldn’t). “Did the Strikers did this to you?” “No Brittany, it was my father who did this, but for you to understand, you’re going to have to know the whole story on how this all began.”
A year had gone by after my mother’s death, my father had asked me to see him in his studies. When I went he discussed with me that there was a way to bring Silvia back. “But there is one problem.” “What’s the problem daddy?”(mind you that I was 11 at the time) “Well I have to take 8 souls to reawaken the Dragon Titian.” “You cant do that dad! Do you have any idea what that would do to the natural order of things!” “Silence! You know I wouldn’t have to do this if you did made you mother ill! And now for your punishment!” And he said some ancient words and the curse spell was casted. At this time I had red scales and blue claws. Then my sis walks in “A drake! I’ll help you defeat it daddy!” my sis said without knowing that the drake was me. So for me to escape death, I ran way with only the clothes on my back and my mother’s necklace.
When I finished, I notice that Brittany had a horrified look on her face. “Um, I’ll be right back.” And she leaves. But shortly after she leaves, I sneak out of my room looked through each room to find that girl. The final door in the hallway, was the only one with spikes and with a lock. I picked the lock and entered carefully and, she was there. “What the heck hound! Who let a drake in here!” the girl said. “Will you be quiet! Now tell me! Who are you and why are you working for Malistare!” “Now look who’s being loud!” “Shush. Just keep it low and just tell me what I asked for.” “Fine. My name is Victoria and I never wanted to for Malistare but, it’s the only way to keep my brother safe.” “Ok, don’t you have a last name? And where are you from?” “This might sound crazy but, I’m from the Wizard City 26 years in the future. So I cant tell you what my last name is, it might alter the future.” “Ok, now I know you’re lying. Even in a place of magic, there is no such thing as time travel.” “You know I can prove it to you.” The reaches into her backpack, and I readied my self for anything she could pull. But when her hand came out of the backpack, she pulled out the Forever Ice amulet. A extremely rare amulet (because there is only one in existence) that is rumored to be made out of a colossus and double the wearer‘s power . “How? How do you have that?! I was going to give that to Joe on Christmas Eve!” “My mom gave this to me when I started my first day of RavenWood.” “Ok now I believe you, but I still don’t understand why you have to work for Malistare?” “I told you before, it’s to keep my brother safe. Malistare has my brother and if I don’t do what he says, well I don’t know what he’ll do.” Then she stares at my mother’s amulet. “That moon and star amulet. Is your name Amy HawkMender?” “Yea it is. Why you ask?” The then raise her arm and her arm grew blue scales and green claws with fins in between her fingers. “I cant believe it. You‘re my mother in the future!” “What! Ok now things are just getting too weird! Even for me!” I completely panic(as you can see). “Wait, how do I know that you’re telling the truth Victoria.” “Your real name is Amy Drake, you have to other sisters, and the one person that you loved, he was your best friend. And you felt very alone when he was gone” I was completely stunned. She knew more secrets of mine than anyone else. “Ok, only people in my family would now that, so you are telling the truth.” Can this day get any worse or weird? “Ms. HawkMender! What are you doing out of bed!” I turned around and there at the door was the Headmaster and Brittany, and they look pretty angry(just my luck) “Headmaster Ambrose! Um, I was looking for you and I stumbled upon this room and-” “Save your breath Amy. We are going to have to confound you to the room until we can figure out how to reverse that spell and control your temper.” Brittany said. Then the Headmaster waves his wand and lifts me into the air. “Hey! Put my mom down!” Brittany and Headmaster Ambrose were both puzzled until me and Victoria explain where she came form and everything else. “That would explain the DNA.” Brittany said. Both me and Victoria said at the same time “Huh?” “Well, when you two were being treated, the structures of your DNA codes were similar. Like you two were related. By the way, what happened with the encounter of Malistare?” “Well you see…Me and Joe knew that Joseph would charge into battle without giving it a single thought(as usual) and get himself hurt, so we sent him back to Wizard City. After Malistare had summoned Victoria, it was another show down. In the middle of the battle, Victoria had joined our side. Then Malistare had try to blast Victoria with the same spell that blasted me when I started being a life wizard but Joe blocked the blast, taking serious damage. I wanted to heal him but he said to forget about healing him and attack instead. But when I attacked, some how Malistare had used every level 48 attack spell, and that’s all I remember.” The Headmaster face had no emotion “So Malistare has gained even more power. Well, we should let the other at Wizard City about the war and that you guys are ok.” “Wait Headmaster Amborse, if word gets out that me and Victoria are still alive, Malistare will surely increase his forces. So lets not tell anyone for now.” “Very well, but what would you do then?” Then Victoria blurts out. “How about I go to Wizard City as Emerald SkyBlood and Amy can go as Jasmine JadeBlade.” “Ok Jasmine and Emerald. Your first day of school will start in a few weeks.” After a few weeks of recovering, me and Victoria go to Wizard City, to find it changed. When I took Emerald to the shopping district to get some new clothing, I saw something that I never expected anyone to do. Out by Elk’s Ledge, was a statue of me and Joe in heroic poses, with an engraved message at the bottom and multiple bunches of flowers around it.(looks like someone did this without the Headmaster‘s approval). The engrave message said, “To honor the ones who tried to prevent the Titian War. The heroes of the spiral, Amy HawkMender and Joseph LegendBlade. Let their legend live on.”
So after giving Victoria a tour of the city, we started our first day of school(well her first days of school). But the war was taking it’s toll the city. Less and less kid show up to class because… well they meet the same end as Joe. After about a week of living our new lives I decided to go and save Victoria’s brother named Trevor. Victoria said that he should be in a cage in my room. In 2 weeks it will be Christmas Day, and the war would be still going on if anything wasn’t done soon. So today I sneaked out of class and returned to my home. When I had gotten there, I had used the secret entrance that lead straight to my room. When I entered my room, there Trevor was, in a small cage little room to move and wearing rip clothing. I went up to the cage and started to pick the lock with my claws. ”Who-, who are you?” he asked me “Don’t worry about my name for now.” I replied. Just before I was about to open the lock, a Wild Bolt came right towards me, and hit my tail and causing dust to fly. “Owww! That hurt!” Then a voice came through the dust. “If you’re the guard, than this will be easy.” I flapped my wings to clear the dust away and the thing that the wild bolt came from was my sister. “Katie! It’s me, Amy!” “Ha! Don’t make me laugh! My sister wasn’t a dragon!” “But I am Amy! You’ve got to believe me!” Then Victoria appears but she waits in the shadows. “If you’re really Amy, that only you can answer this. Who was my first crush in the Dragon Spyre Academy?” (This was an easy one). “Your best friend, a balance wizard named Steven NightHunter.” “O my god! You are Amy!” “See I told you!” Then out of nowhere, Katie uses Judgment on Victoria but I blocked the spell with centaur. “Katie, she’s on our side, and that’s her brother in that cage.” “Really? You know, they look a lot like you Amy.” “I’ll explain why they look like me later, we just have to get out of here. Oh and for now call me Jasmine.” As we got Trevor out of the cage I felt a dark presence. “Well, well, well. Looks like we have new heroes of the Bartalbe Army.” “When I looked behind me, it was Malistare who was talking. “Malistare! How did you find us!” “It’s non of your concern dragon. Judging by the way you look, is seems that you are the strongest of the group.” Then without saying another word Malistare had casted a fire ball at me, but I deflect it with my wings. “Jasmine run! I’ll take care of my father.” I don’t know why but I ran(I would have stayed and fight). When I looked back to see if anyone was following me, Malistare summoned a heck hound that attacked me with it’s claw. It got me right above my left eye, breaking right through the scales. I tossed the heck hound away and covered my eye with my claws to stop the bleeding. When I got out of my house I used my life radar spell but only Malistare’s life had shown. When I took a closer look at the spell, I saw Katie, Victoria, and Trevor laying on the ground… dead. As I raced towards the spiral door, I used my wings to blow the blood trail that I was leaving behind in different direction so Malistare couldn’t follow me. When I went through the spiral door to get to Wizard City, everyone in RavenWood were horrified at what they saw, and then I collapse out of exhaustion.
When I had awakened, I found myself in the Headmaster’s spiral map room. I stood up and I went to find the Headmaster but, when I was going to the other room, I passed by a mirror and nearly scared myself to death. I looked in the mirror and I had a broken fang, three scared over my eye, and the eye itself was now gray instead of red or green. Then the Headmaster walks in. “I see that you’re finally awake.” “Headmaster Ambrose, Um I…” “Save your breath. I know why you went to Dragon Spyre and what happened to your sister. I’m truly sorry.” I couldn’t believe it, my own father would take the life of his own flesh and blood. He would stop at nothing to bring mom back, even if it means to kill everyone he once cared about. I knew what I had to do. After giving it some thought, I asked “Headmaster Ambrose, is the position of general still available?” After talking it over with the Headmaster, I became the new general of the Bartalbe Army. But after every battle we had, someone that was closet to me, had met the same end as the others by Malistare’s hands. Most of us started to lose hope after Gamma and Headmaster had fallen and there wasn’t a thing I could do about it. After 2 weeks of being a general, it was finally Christmas Day. I went to Dragon Spyre to lay flowers where Joe had died. As I stood up after a hour stay of respect, I sensed Malistare behind me so I grabbed my sword and swung it around and Malistare jumped back. I knew I got him because at the tip of my blade, was a small drop of blood but when I notice the drop my hand was in absolute pain. “I see that you’re in pain Amy. Your pain is coming from your own beliefs. Since you swear to never harm anyone for self gain when you were little, I placed a spell to ensure that before you ran away.” All I thought about was how did he know that I was still alive. Wait, he was probably listening to our conversation when I went to rescue Trevor. “You know Amy, if you kill me, you’ll wind up killing your self as well.” “If it’s the only way to end this war, then so be it Malistare!” As Malistare raised his staff, I raised my sword and before I could make a move, Malistare casted a Super Nova spell. I knew that with no time to react, I had to with stood it.
BOOM!…… “Muhahaha! Amy is final dead! Silvia can now return and the spiral is mine!” I raised my staff towards the Dragon Titian and raised it from it’s ancient slumber through the floating dust from my spell.. It roared with vengeance and blew fire to show the other drakes who’s in control. “Not so fast Malistare!” I turned around and when the dusk cleared, Amy was still standing and changed! Her face returned to human with a faint scare over eye, her wings were now made of ice, a movable tail made of harden sand, a green shield with the life symbol on it, and a second sword that was engulf in fire. “Witness my final form Malistare! Instead of fighting me, you’re fighting me, my friends, and even mom!” Then she charged at me, this wasn’t going to be easy.
---Battle---
A long and a battle that seemed endless had occurred and the world was finally rid of Malistare. I flew high to the sky and confronted the Dragon Titian and I said the spell that had originally incased him in stone. “King of drakes is what you may be. You may control the skies and seas. So one with power must be controlled and tamed. So return to stone is what I say!” The Dragon Titian roared with rage as it started to turn back to stone. Before it’s mouth was frozen, it yelled in “dragon” language “I will rise once again and every this that isn’t drake shall be my slave!” Then once it was completely turned back to stone, I flew back to the ground and the power that I had gained from my friends started to melt away. As my body had turned back to it’s original dragon for, it started to go into shock, just like Malistare said(by electricity going through my by not the other one that some of you are thinking of) and I fell to my knees. Then out of the corner of my eye, I saw a blast of magic coming towards me, I couldn’t move so I had to let it hit me, but when it did, it actually relieved me of my pain. I stood up and looked in the direction where the spell had come from, I saw Headmaster Ambrose, Gamma, Katie, Trevor, Victoria, Rachel, Brittany, Joseph, and Joe!
The moment Ms. Hawkmender and Mr. LegendBlade saw each other, they both hugged and laugh like they haven’t seen each other in years. As I talked to my pet, Gamma complained that Malistare’s body had disappeared and only pieces of parchment were in his place. I picked up the pieces of parchment and I notice that one of them had a time travel spell on it. Then Ms. DeathBlood yelled out “Finally those two are together!” I turned around and Ms. HawkMender and Mr. LegendBlade were kissing, such young love. It’s bound to happen when your best friend is the opposite gender. And then the weirdest thing in Dragon Spyre history, it started to snow. Was it because of those two are is it magic? “Now that the war is over and Malistare is gone, how are me and my brother supposed to get home?” “Don’t worry, I’ll take you home.” I chanted the word that are on the parchment and slam my staff to the ground and a portal appeared leading to Wizard City… 26 years into the future. Both Victoria and Trevor step into the portal and before the portal had closed Victoria had snapped her fingers. “Now that’s taken care of, why don’t we go to the Dragon Spyre stable and borrow some of their mounts?” Ms. HawkMender said. “Great idea Amy!”
We soon charge through the spiral door. Brittany and Katie riding on storm brooms, Joseph and Rachel on blue dragons, me and Joe on lions, and Headmaster Ambrose on a centaur. As we entered RavenWood, we saw others who had lost their lives during the had return(don’t know how but as long they are here to stay, who really cares how) and everyone were surprised to us alive. “Students and teachers of RavenWood! I, Merlem Ambrose, you headmaster, is proud to announce that the war is over!” Everyone cheered and danced like there was no tomorrow after the news was given, through out the whole city, everyone was a party. I went back to my dorm soon after counting all those had return and there was a letter on my bed. I pick it up and it was from Victoria.
“Dear Amy,
Or should I say mom? O never mind that. I never told you my last name because I feared it would interfere with the time line. But since the danger has past and after talking it over with Merlem I can finally tell you. My last name is… LegendBlade. Since you’re my mom, you can figure out the rest.
PS: This letter was placed here right after I entered the portal, so this will probably disintegrate once you read it.
Signed,
Victoria”
And then it disintegrated once I finished reading. And of course all I could think about was spending Christmas alone once again. The a knock on my door. “Come in, it’s open.” and Joe walks in. “Hey Amy.” “Oh hi Joe.” “I cant stay long because I got to go home but I got but there something I want to give you.” “Something for me?” “Yea but close your eyes until I say when. K?” “Um, ok.” I closed my eyes for just a second and then he said to open my eyes and look in the mirror. When I looked in the mirror, I was so excited at what I saw. What Joe gave me was the Nature’s Protection necklace but this one was in the shape of a dragon. There are only two of this necklaces in the spiral, and just like the Forever Ice amulet it increases the wearer’s power times two. “O my god! Thanks so much Joe!” “You’re welcome Amy. Sorry but go to go now.” “Wait a second Joe, I got you something too.” I went to my desk and pulled out a small blue present. When Joe opened it he said, “No way! It’s the forever ice amulet! Thank you so much!” “You’re welcome.” and before he left, he said “Merry Christmas Amy.” “Merry Christmas Joe.
(Somewhere in the spiral) “I have failed to protect you Malistare. I’ll bring you back with your wife one day. But that one day, you shall serve me and the spiral shall be mine. And your daughter shall see her final days of life.”
|
Late for Ravenwood (part 2)
I walked to the right. It was the longest way around, but it gave me time to collect my thoughts up. I walked past the storm tower. "Oh why did everybody go again, i hate being out here all alone" , said the storm tree. I didn't know his name because i tried ignoring him most of the time. He always brought everybody down. Next came the Ice tower, "Brr, is it just me or is it cold out here, my roots are frozen solid! Can you unfreeze me?" the ice tree asked. "Sorry, im already late i need to go to the myth tower, but if you need help un freezing, the fire school is right next to you" , i said pointing to the fire tree. "th t th tt thank you" the ice tree shivered. I kept on thinking, how was i going to defeat Professor Drake. He was a professor! he had graduated from DC (Dragonspyre College) the toughest School ever. I had no idea how i was going to beat him. I kept on thinking, fully focused on my plan. "Whoa there! look out, you almost walked off the edge, better be more careful" said Blake. He was a death student that made sure people didn't fall off the edge. he did a pretty good job until one day when he "acidently" forgot to tell Professor Drake. After that little incedint he had been number one prey on Drake's list. "So what you thinking bout?" he asked. "How im going to defeat Professer Drake" i said looking ahead. The myth tower was straight ahead of me and boy was I scared stiff. I felt like the ice tree. "Oh let me guess, you were late? I have been late a ton of times so I have figured out a way to ditch dueling" he said quietly looking to the right and left of him. "tell me, i need to know" i said urgently. "Ok so heres what you do", he said leaning in closer to me. "You have to jump off the edge! but not this side of the edge, the side that is next to the Myth room is the side you need to jump from" he said pointing. "Why would i do something as stupid as that!?" i asked, "I thought you made sure nobody jumped off the edge" "It is my job, they dont want kids going off the edge so they wont know that when they jump off they go into krokotopia, without paying crowns. You see when the death school was lifted up, some of the magic stayed. Nobody knew about it until one kid fell in and came back a couple days later saying he had gone to Krokotopia. Well of course they didnt want anybody to know so they hushed it all up. They didnt want any body else going over the edge, so they hired me for the job of keeping kids off the edge" Blake said pointing to himself proudly. "Ok I believe you but what if I get caught?" i asked shivering at the thought of douple dueling with Cyrus. "Oh you'll be fine, go ahead" he said pushing me foward. I decided it was better then dueling a GMG (Grand Master Graduate) so I gave it go. I ran past the myth tower and jumped. There was a whoshing sensation and I felt like a blood bat. ~Thump~ I had landed, hard, and it hurt. I had gotten sand in my mouth and it tasted, of course, horrible. I got up, dusting the sand from my robes. "Hello there chap welcome to Krokotopia, would you care for a tour?" asked a dog obviously from Marleybone. It worked, it actually worked!
|
The Best THings of All (part 2)
Lauren had ran home to her dorm room, got some more protective clothes on, and ran out to meet her best friend Jenna. They where going to meet in front of the Duel Arena, but when Lauren got there no one was there exept a boy whom she didn't know. "Hey! Are you Lauren Storydreamer?" said the boy. "Yeah" said Lauren. "I'm Jenna's cousin, Luke Icegem" said Luke. " Jenna wanted me to tell you that she couldn't come today." "Why not?" said Lauren. "Because of important family business" said Luke. "She told me to duel you instead." Okay" said Lauren. As Lauren was waiting for him to create the match, she was wondering what important family business she could have. Jenna never told her anything about her family. For all she knew Jenna didn't have a family at all. The match was ready. Lauren realized that Luke was only level 3. She was going to win for once.
After the match (Lauren did win) she went home. She looked at her friends list and tried teleporting to Jenna it first said location Malitania. Then it said you are not able to teleport there. Lauren was not allowed out of Wizard City by her mother Sabrina Storydreamer and her father Kenneth Storydreamer. At least her older brother Hunter Storydreamer was not allowed out either. She had a friend though that cold and he told he all about the other places on the spiral. His favorite place to go was Krokotopia. So Lauren teleported to him. "Hey Lauren. What's up?" said Jacob Lifegem. Jacob was a Life Wizard. All his family before him where Death Wizards. It was odd. The complete opposite schools. "Jacob, is there any place called Malitania?" asked Lauren. "Not that I know of" said Jacob. "Weird" said Lauren. So she teleported back to her dorm room.
She got back and started thinking about Jacob. He had been the only Life Wizard surrounded by Death. Then she thought of her family. Her mother is a Balance Wizard. Her father was an Ice Wizard. Her brother was also a Fire Wizard. Another weird thing was that Lauren was a higher level than her brother but he was 13 and she was 11. He never went to school anymore. The Storydreamers lived in a small cottage. They all had to sleep in the same room unless you want to sleep downstairs or outside. Lauren's favorite place at home was the pond. She loved to go swimming in the summer and dive off the waterfall. In the summer she never got to see Jenna. She didn't know where Jenna lived and Jenna never came to visit exept on her birthday.
The next morning she went off to her classes as usual. She waited until class was over to see if Jenna was in there secret meeting place for in between classes. She was not there. She went on to where the Death School used to be. There was not really a class anymore so she got it easy. Instead of a class, she teleported to the commons and ran to the library. She went and checked out Death, The History and The History of Krokotopia. Then she teleported back to her dorm room to study. She sent Jenna a note saying "Where are you?" Another quick note replied saying "I'm in Malitania." "Where is that?" Lauren wrote back. "I can't tell you" said Jenna. "Will you be back to school soon?" Lauren wrote. "Yes, tomorrow" replied Jenna.
Sure enough the next day Jenna was back. She didn't look her usual self though. She was wide eyed and jumpy instead of tired and contently happy.
The months have passed from September to December with no other odd things. Soon it was time to go home for the holidays. "Hey Jenna!" said Lauren before Jenna teleported to wherever she was going for the holidays. "Yes?" said Jenna. "Where are you going for the holidays?" asked Lauren. "Oh just back to Malitania" said Jenna. "Maybe you could come to my place for the holidays" said Lauren. "No, I can't" said Jenna. "My father wants me home." "Oh"said Lauren. "Oh well. Well I got to go home now" said Lauren. "Bye." So Lauren teleported home. Lauren went inside and no one was home exept Hunter. "Hey Hunter" said Lauren. "Aww. Your home" said Hunter. " I was having a great time without you." "Yeah doing what?" said Lauren. "One no little sister and two no school." said Hunter. "Yeah because you did so bad you flunked out of school" said Lauren. "You know what mom said you can go out of Wizard City when you do good at school" said Lauren. "Well maybe I don't want to go out of Wizard City" said Hunter. "I'm going to study Krokotopia so maybe for Christmas mom will let me go there" said Lauren. "Good luck with that" said Hunter and he disapeared upstairs. For now this story will be contiued in The Best Things of All (Part 3)
|
Wizardly Misadventures (part 2)
September 4, 2004
4:25 PM
“Dang it!”
Within the spacious, deserted, and extremely red Mooshu arena, Alexandra Soulsinger was quietly growling in annoyance. Her yellow cat-like eyes were furiously glaring at the golden cobra head of her wand, while her hand was gripping the handle of it to the point that her knuckles were turning white.
“Come on, Sunbird! You were really nice to me yesterday. What is wrong with you,” she yelled.
Alexandra breathed, loosened her grip on the handle, and roughly combed her purple hair with her fingers in frustration. After stroking her hair to put down any loose strands, she took another deep breath, raised her arm, and concentrated some of her Magical Energy to the golden wand. Some of the energy left the tip of it, and a Fire symbol was being traced in front of her, a few sparks flying out of it. When the symbol was completed, it glowed a bright, fiery red. The girl could feel the heat of the symbol on her bare hand.
“Sunbird.”
She quickly flicked her wand and pointed it towards the ground.
Fizzle!
The Fire symbol turned black and disintegrated into small flakes of ash in front of Alexandra’s feet. Her eye twitched as she glared at her wand again. From the glint of rage in her eyes, it seemed as if she was trying to melt it with her stare.
“What. Is. Wrong with you!?”
Immediately, Alexandra began to smack the cobra-headed wand with her left hand. She kept doing that until she accidently hit the sleeve of her white and purple school robes, which got singed by the wand’s contact, and hissed again.
“Do you hate me or something,” Alexandra growled.
The cobra head stayed motionless.
“Don’t mess with me! I know you got a mind of your own, so answer!”
“Talking to your wands again?”
Alexandra tore her eyes away from the wand in her hand. Slightly shocked and confused, she looked around herself, but didn’t see anyone.
“Alex, I’m up here.”
Following the sound of the voice, Alexandra slowly looked up to the stands, where people occasionally came to witness any battle that was going on. Up there, leaning on the red wooden railings that separated the arena and the stands above, she saw a boy who seemed to be a few years younger than her. He had short, sky blue hair, pale skin, and innocent-looking dark blue eyes. His uniform was bright blue with a small amount of black on the sleeves and pointed hat.
“Ah! Hey Nicolas,” she said, waving at him.
“Hi,” he answered cheerfully with a big smile. “So what’s the problem for you now?”
Alexandra sighed.
“My Sunbird spell. It keeps fizzling.”
“Ah,” he said.
A glint of annoyance appeared in her eyes. She snorted at him.
“Ah? Is that all you can say? Ah!? You have any idea how long I’ve been here, trying to summon it!?”
Nicolas blinked, but his expression stayed the same.
“Okay, let’s just calm down,” he said serenely.
Nicolas raised his right hand and his fingers began to sparkle with emerald green light. As this happened, a sparkling, bright green circle began to form around Alexandra’s feet. The green light began to swiftly travel up and around her body, and her feet began to float in mid air. As the spell traveled higher and higher, taking her body with it, her feelings of frustration began to slowly melt away, being replaced by pure calmness, the kind she only felt when she was peacefully asleep.
The spell only lasted for two seconds, but it felt much longer for Alexandra. When it slowly faded, she landed softly on the ground and sighed.
“You couldn’t make it last a little longer?” she asked hopefully, looking up at him.
Nicolas shrugged his shoulders.
“Sorry Alex. Minor Blessing isn’t supposed to do much to begin with, especially with someone your level. For someone like you, it’s usually only enough to relieve stress and heal tiny scratches,” he responded.
Alexandra pinched her lips together, as though she had just tasted something sour.
“Oh… Right.”
Nicolas laughed softly. Blushing slightly, she began to turn away from him.
Wait a sec, she thought to herself as she stopped in her tracks.
“Hold on!”
Alexandra spun around and pointed an accusing finger at the boy.
“I thought you were only ten years old! You’re not supposed to be at the school!” she suddenly yelled at him.
The blue-haired boy jumped out of surprise. When he blinked, his body became less tense.
“Um, yeah,” he said calmly. “But Professor Sylvia Drake gives me private Life lessons to help control my abilities.”
Her mouth began to hang open as her eyes showed the surprised feeling that she had inside her mind. Nicolas seemed to notice the small change in her expression, since his blue eyes began to show worry.
“Um… Is there a problem..?”
When he asked her, his face showed her how bothered he was. Instantly noticing why he said that, Alexandra immediately snapped her mouth shut.
“Sorry,” she responded.
“You seemed worried for a moment? What’s wrong?”
Feeling her face turn red again, Alexandra glanced at the ground in front of her.
How do I explain this?, she thought.
“It’s just… I mean…
“Do you know of any wizard who’s had to take early Life lessons?”
As she gave her attention to Nicolas again, his expression showed nervousness.
“Why? Is private lessons a bad thing to happen,” he asked her timidly.
Alexandra squeaked.
“That’s not what I mean! I’m sorry,” she blurted out.
She was sure that right now her face was as red as a tomato. To try to calm down, she cleared her throat for a moment.
“Well, you know who Dmitri Jenson is, right,” Alexandra asked Nicolas.
Immediately after she asked him, his eyes lit up with joy.
“Who doesn’t?” Nicolas said confidently. “Famous pop singer, generous Earth humanitarian, and a pretty powerful Theurgist.”
Alexandra chuckled.
“I guess you’re a fan,” she jokingly said.
Nicolas only nodded happily.
“But I think saying powerful is a major understatement. In fact, I think many actually consider him to be one of the greatest healers of our time. Some of my Life friends even think that he is more powerful than Sylvia Drake.”
Nicolas nodded again in agreement.
“I think that if Professor Drake wanted to quit, they’d ask Dmitri to take over as head of the Theurgist Department at school,” he stated.
Then Nicolas paused and gave Alexandra a look of confusion again.
“But what does this have to do with my lessons?” he finally asked her.
For a moment, Alexandra stayed silent.
“Don’t you think that someone as powerful as Dmitri would be a weakling as a child?”
Nicolas place a hand on his chin as he thought. Slowly, he shook his head.
“I would think that he’d have a lot of Mana when he was younger, or he could’ve been lucky and just happened to become what he is today.”
“Well, do you think that he would be able to control that power without learning how to manage it?”
At first, it didn’t seem as though Nicolas comprehended what she said. But after a few short moments, his dark sapphire eyes grew wide as it showed his realization.
“A-are you trying to say that I might—?”
Poof!
A cloud of light blue and white light popped out of nowhere next to Nicolas. When it quickly faded, a girl appeared and took its place. The new girl seemed to be older and slightly taller than Nicolas. Her white hair and outfit seemed a little messy and had some black smudges, and her stunning emerald-green eyes were the only signs that showed how exhausted she was. But Alexandra felt scared, even though the girl was not looking at her. They felt too... Menacing.
“Phew,” she exclaimed as she leaned against the wooden railings.
“Hey Victoria,” Nicolas said, smiling.
Alexandra placed a hand softly on her mouth to suppress a gasp.
W-w-what? Victoria..? Surely not Victoria Darktalon… Or is it? Because she's definitely scary enough.
Victoria looked at Nicolas. The look of exhaustion left her face and she became blank as she ruffled his blue hair.
“Hey little bro,” she said affectionately.
An awkward silence filled the arena. (At least, that's what Alexandra felt it was). But after what felt like an eternity, their mouths began to twitch slowly into smiles. Then they both laughed. The chilling look in Victoria's eyes instantly went away, and they suddenly sparkled with happiness. The look completely allured Alexandra as her fear subsided.
She should look happy all the time. It makes her even more beautiful.
“What are you doing here though? I thought you were studying for the finals. You usually take longer.”
Victoria stopped laughing as her smile slowly fell, until a small frown formed on her lips.
“Well,” she told Nicolas, visibly uncomfortable, “Um... Let’s just say that Tyler is probably gonna hate me for a while.”
Nicolas started to frown like Victoria, as if what she said had put him on edge. But unlike Victoria, he seemed to be scared of something unknown.
“Um, you don’t mean like… Before..? Do you?” he whispered.
Alexandra could see Victoria’s eyes blink and her body stiffen out of surprise.
“Oh no, definitely not,” she answered exasperatedly while waving her hands in front of herself, as though to emphasize her answer.
Nicolas sighed and they both began to relax.
“Yeah, if that was the case, he would’ve been dead by now,” she continued to say.
She playfully nudged his arm with her elbow as her smile appeared again, although it now looked as though it was forced.
“That’s good," Nicolas sighed. "I mean, you remember how upset Stephen was back then, though? He looked as though he wanted to blow Tyler up to—”
Stephen? Stephen Darktalon? Then that means…
“You are Victoria Darktalon!”
Both Victoria and Nicolas jumped and turned their heads towards Alexandra.
“Um, yes? And you’re Alexandra Soulsinger, my brother’s Fire friend,” Victoria stated, looking back and forth between Alexandra and Nicolas.
The purple-haired girl gasped.
“You know my name?”
Victoria nodded cautiously. Alexandra didn’t seem to notice it, but Nicolas’ expression hinted at the panic that was starting to build up inside of him.
“Uh, Alex—”
“Oh my gosh! She knows my name! Yay!”
As she said that, Alexandra began to move her feet. She then started to skip around the arena, yelling out of joy. It didn’t take her a long time before she started to dance and sing wildly. But as she was celebrating, Victoria and Nicolas were looking at each other, mystified.
“Um, I guess she’s a fan of yours,” Nicolas stated.
“Uh, yeah,” Victoria nodded, raising an eyebrow to show how strange the thought was to her. “But I have to admit that you’ve made a strange friend.”
Nicolas didn’t reply. After a few minutes of giving each other confused looks, they turned their attention back to Alexandra, who happened to still be reveling in the arena. After a few seconds of observing the Fire girl, Victoria pointed her head towards her brother.
“Seriously though, what’s with her? It’s kinda weird to see a Pyromancer get so excited to see an Ice—”
But Victoria was unable to finish her thought before Nicolas abruptly placed his hands on top of her shoulders and shoved her below the wooden railings next to them. Less than a second later, she felt an unbearable heat wave fly above her head, barely missing her white hair. When it disappeared, she noticed that a few of the seats behind the railing had caught in fire. She then looked down to the arena to see that the tip of Alexandra’s golden wand was in flames.
"Drat."
“What’s happening,” Nicolas asked as Alexandra’s wand began to fire flames towards every direction.
Victoria sighed.
“Well, from what I can tell, she isn’t really paying too much attention to her emotions right now,” she explained in a monotonous tone, as though this was a boring lecture she was reciting. “Extreme emotions—you know, ones like rage, agony, or even excitement—can cause an inexperienced wizard to lose control of their powers. This usually only happens when magic is showing signs of its presence in young kids. It’s how nearly everyone finds out if they could have the possibility of becoming a wizard. But right now, it’s just a nuisance.”
“First of all, why did you recite that like it was a speech? And second, 'just a nuisance?' She’s burning a quarter of the Mooshu arena!”
“It’s a habit, and it could be worse, kid.”
Crackle!
"See? It just got a little worse."
They both looked up to see that part of the red railing above them had caught on fire. When Nicolas saw how nonchalant Victoria was about the situation, he got a little upset.
“How can you act so calm if we might die from an out of control Pyromancer? Don't you want to stop this before she kills us,” he said, with fear perceptible in his voice.
Out of the blue, Victoria swiftly turned her head to her brother. Her eyes seemed to glow with a very clear, threatening message that only he could see.
“You think I’m just gonna let us die from this..? What is wrong with that head of yours!? Has Life messed up your mind? Have you forgotten our past also? Because here's some news: Unlike you, I haven't gotten that weak, Nicolas!" she yelled as hostility was dripping from every word.
Nicolas gulped. Victoria was usually much kinder to him than to others, including Stephen. She rarely snapped at him like that, if at all. But he couldn’t deny the fact that he had probably crossed the line with what he said.
“…No. Sorry.”
Nicolas sniffed to try to keep his tears from even forming. Victoria seemed to notice his attempts because her hostile expression melted away as she realized what she had done.
“No Nick. I should be apologizing,” she said. “Sorry I snapped at you like that. I’ve just been a little stressful lately.”
Before she could say more, she looked away from him as a jet of fire came flying in between them. She seemed unfazed by it, but Nicolas moved his arms in front of him and jumped away.
“Seriously though! I just got away from a Cyclops a few minutes ago! Now I gotta deal with a Fire girl that doesn’t realize that she’s gonna burn down the arena,” Victoria yelled to herself.
They both stood up from their hiding spot when Alexandra had her back towards them. Her wand was still shooting fire in random directions while she was completely oblivious to what was happening. As she was doing this, Victoria held her right hand out in front of her while her fingers began to sparkle with light blue and white light, aiming them in Alexandra’s direction. She then swiftly made a flicking motion with her fingers and the sparkles vanished.
Clink!
An invisible force mysteriously hit Alexandra from behind and she immediately toppled to the ground. The fire from the wand’s tip immediately died when the wand fell from her hand. But after a moment, Alexandra didn’t get up. Instead, her body stayed eerily limp, showing no signs of life.
“Victoria!! Did you just kill her!?” Nicolas screamed.
Victoria didn’t look at him as she sighed and rolled her eyes.
“Gosh, kid, it’s only a Freeze spell. She’s just Stunned. The spell will wear off on its own—”
“AHH!!”
Victoria glanced towards her brother. She tried not to roll her eyes again when she saw that half of one of his blue sleeves had caught on fire, probably from the jet of fire that had nearly hit them earlier. He was crying while violently shaking the burning sleeve in a feeble attempt to put the fire out.
“Get it off! Get it off!” he sobbed, tears falling from his closed eyes.
As he kept weeping, Victoria just stared at him, feeling completely awkward about the moment. Not upset or concerned, just—awkward.
This is officially the weirdest day I’ve ever had.
With another soft clink, a silver wand appeared in Victoria’s hand. She then walked up Nicolas with a bored countenance and sighed irritably.
“Okay kid; hold still if you don’t want to lose a finger from frostbite.”
|
A Savior in the Spiral
I sat back groaning. My head throbbed so badly it felt like someone banging my head. Everything seemed like a blur. I heard voices, but voices I had never heard. It was like... a human and a... owl? "Gosh! This headache is making me hear things that aren't true!" I said to myself.
I felt a warm breeze chilling me. I could smell plant life all around me. I felt like I had a dress or a robe with some spiky hat over me. I felt shoes with fur in them that kept me warm. I was outside, but where exactly? I don’t know.
I had just been made in the Spiral. Of course I didn't know yet. I had short blonde hair and sparkled brown eyes. My skin very pale, but not as pale as a vampire! I was thin but tall reaching up to four feet ten inch. I then heard the voices again, but this time, a little bit more clearly.
"We have found one at last!" one voice said.
"Whooooooo?" answered the owl-type voice.
"A powerful wizard! Maybe enough to save Wizard City!" the voice said. "Open your eyes Tabitha IceRider. It's ok. Your eyes will only hurt for a moment." Then I obeyed. Everything suddenly became clear. In front of me stood and old man probably around its... I don't know. He seemed different ages at the same time. He had glasses at the point of his nose. His beard was long and white that reached to his knees. He wore a hat that had stars moving around it. I mean actually moving around it. Next to him, yep, there was an owl sitting on a stick made out of oak. It had glasses, too, with a hat. The same type of hat the man had. Its feathers were pure pearl white. It was beautiful, the color of snow. Its eyes were huge!
"Now that you can see us, let me introduce myself. I am Professor Ambrose, Headmaster of Wizard City. This is Gamma the Owl. She has been with me ever since I was a young lad. A bit older than you though," Headmaster Ambrose said.
"Wait, Wizard City? What do you mean?" I asked confused.
"Why, you are standing in the land of Wizard City yourself! You are a powerful Wizard. You will learn spells and cast them, using them to defeat Rotting Fodders, Kroks, Scarlet Screamers, Fire Elves, etc." the Headmaster said.
“How does it work? I mean, what-what am I doing here? Where did I come from? What happened-”
“A lot of questions this young girl has!” Gamma the Owl said stretching her wing.
“Quite right, quite right. But certainly less questions than most of the wizards have asked before!” Headmaster Ambrose said.
Suddenly, the ground started to shake. I then realized what was around me. Behind Headmaster Ambrose was a tower, big and tall. It had a window on the top and a street surrounded the tower. Trees lined before the street. I looked at the window on the very top and saw a shape moving around the inside building.
“How unusual! Tabitha, go with Gamma the Owl. You will be safe with her,” Headmaster Ambrose said looking up to the tower himself.
“No. I am coming with you. I want to see dangerous things! I want to go, please!” I begged.
“A strong lad this one is too!” Headmaster said turning around facing me.
“Let her go Ambrose. She wants to see the world herself!” Gamma said.
He sighed. “Ok. Come along wizard. We have unfinished business around us. Come along now,” he said turning around and heading for the door. I followed and pushed it open. There inside of the tower stood a tall man with a snarl on his face. I knew right away this was a dangerous person. This was in fact more dangerous than I thought it would be.
“Malistaire! You are no longer welcome here. Why have you returned?” Headmaster Ambrose said raising and eyebrow up.
“I see you have brought a young wizard, perhaps not even enrolled yet, to the tower! Come here wizard! Face me on your own!” Malistaire said and suddenly two creatures appeared right in front of my eyes. They were orange with rings and they wore clothes that were whitish grey. They had long claws and beaks that were as sharp as a bee-stinger. I felt a force pushing me towards Malistaire that I tried to stop and the force was suddenly gone.
Malistaire gasped.
“What? I am confused now. Come here you pathetic wizard!” he said using the force again. This time I could feel it stronger. I then felt this time like I couldn’t stop it. I was put inside a ring with the two henchmen. I was swirling with confusion. What was happening?
“Confront them! Be brave Tabitha! I will guide you!” Headmaster Ambrose said at the edge of the large ring separating him from me.
In front of my eyes stood two cards floating. One said “Troll” and the other said “Fire Cat.” I touched one, which was the fire cat and the battle began.
The two henchmen went first and I couldn’t recall what the cards were named. I felt a little weak but then continued on. It was my turn and I somehow was able to do a fire sign in front of me. I didn’t know how I knew what to do, but I just… knew.
I had chosen the henchman directly in front of me to fight. I saw a cat made out of fire drop to the ground and lunge towards the first henchman. This was fun! But I still knew I was in grave danger.
Then I used the troll and felt the same things happen. The troll wasn’t as big as I expected but it was still awesome. It jumped to the first henchman and hit him flat on the head. I laughed. These guys were easy!
“Tabitha! Use the unicorn! It gives you health! Use it before you are defeated!” Head-master Ambrose said. I then saw a unicorn card in front of me and I cast it. At that moment I felt strong and healthy again. I liked this and felt in less danger than before. I then heard the Headmaster say, “Use the boost shield! Cast it on one!” I then obeyed and used it on my first target. Then I cast my last and awesome spell. They were meteors and they crashed hard on the henchmen and they died by falling to the ground and coughing. I smiled. My first enemies defeated!
“Ambrose! Look at what you have done!” Malistaire said with a cold gleam in his eyes.
“Don’t worry Tabitha. I’ll show him why he is not welcome here this wicked wizard!” the Headmaster said walking towards the fighting circle. I stepped back to get out.
“I do not have any more business here old man. Anyways, I got what I came here for,” he said and disappeared through the mist. I mean he just… disappeared.
“I’ll show him one day!” Headmaster said angrily. He then cast a spell on me and I healed completely. “Follow along now, I wish to speak to you,” Headmaster Ambrose said walking through the door. I followed him out.
I then found myself in the same place before with Gamma the Owl standing on Ambrose’s shoulder.
“Tabitha, you have showed much discipline and I wish you good luck,” Headmaster Ambrose said with gladness gleaming in his eyes.
“Thanks! But what do I do now?" I asked both Ambrose and Gamma.
"You will work on quests. People with exclamation marks above their heads have a quest for you, and people with a yellow question mark means they want to speak to you because you have finished a part of the quest. Last, a question mark with grey colored in means you are working on a quest they gave you and you haven't finished it yet."
"So... should I go now?" I asked him suddenly excited.
"Certainly! Let me just tell you this. For your first quest, by me, I want you to go to Ravenwood and meet all the teachers from the different schools. Your teacher will be Professor Lydia Greyrose. She is the Ice teacher. It is past the gate and to your left. It is a tunnel and the name is carved right above it. The school will be two blocks down to your right after you enter, do you understand?" he asked.
"Yes Headmaster Ambrose. I will finish the quest as you please," I said. I waved goodbye and walked away, but on my way I suddenly felt like I had disappeared and appeared in Headmaster Ambrose’s study. I turned around and walked through the door that was behind me. Then suddenly, everything changed. It was all hectic, even in the territory inside the gate. It took me a while to get past all the wizards that were blocking the way. Finally, I was able to pass the door.
To my amazement, the place was beautiful. In the middle of the field there was a pond with a statue that was transparent at the far side. There were side-walks surrounding it with lined houses facing towards the pond. There were small bridges, one to the right street and one on the very far side of the pond where it was barely visible. Everywhere there were wizards. Some even hit me and I lost some balance, but I got used to it. I looked to my right and saw a tunnel with a sign above saying "Shopping District." Then to my left there was another tunnel. Above there was a sign saying "Ravenwood." That's where I should go," I murmured under my breath excitedly. I ran towards it, but on my way, I bumped into a Wizard way ahead of my rank. He was dressed in Hunter Green with a mask, suit and shoes that looked like a thief’s.
"Sorry!" I said shrinking back ashamed of myself. This might be the first enemy I ever had. Right after I had been found!
The wizard frowned. He turned away and walked off. "Feisty!" I thought inside my head. I then continued on. Finally, I reached the tunnel. When I was about three wand-lenghts away, everything suddenly disappeared. The noise flowed away like someone turning down the volume. I then felt like I was being forced a million miles up per hour. Stars were above me, then suddenly there was a big THUMP and I fell to the ground flat on my face. A big pain burst inside my stomach. The noise then came quickly again. I could feel my face red with embarrassment. I looked up and saw a wizard taking out a hand. I took it without thinking and got up. That was when I then came face-to-face with a young boy about my age. He was new like me, but a little bit more advanced. That I could tell.
"It always happens the first time. Just keep straight and you will land perfectly on your feet next time!" he said.
He wore a Yellow and Blue hat that had four pointed sides. His robe was yellow and Blue too. He wore boots that were so high they reached to his knees. He chuckled and I joined in. After the laughter went down, he said, "Ronan Stalker." He took his hand out for a shake. I shook his hand and said, "Tabitha IceRider. I am an Ice Student of Professor Rosalyn Greyrose. I have just been found in the Spi-"
"Did you just say IceRider?" he asked interrupting with surprise in his eyes.
"Yes. Is there a problem?" I asked unaware of what was coming up.
"No it's just you’re the girl from the prophecy, the idol everyone has been waiting… never mind. Why don't you add me as your friend? You can teleport to me whenever you want."
I looked at him curiously and then asked, "How exactly?"
"Just touch my ring. You have one too," he pointed to my hand and he was right. There was a ring with shiny blue diamonds all around it. Flowing above them was a shining light forming letters that spelled out "Friendship." I then touched his and I felt a burst in my ring. "That was cool!" I said amazed.
He laughed again.
"Well, I should get going on my quest..." I said said.
"Sure! No prob! I'll see you later. I have to go to Triton Avenue; I heard it is FULL of Rotting Fodders and Scarlet Screamers."
"Triton Avenue? Where is that?" I asked interested.
"Don't worry. It will come in one of your quests. There will be an arrow in front of you that no one will be able to see. You have your own," he then laughed.
“We have arrows? I don’t see mine-” I then saw my arrow through all the wizards. “Oh…” I began to say. I giggled surprised of this.
"Ok. Whisper to me when you need help!" and he then walked away. As he was walking, he turned his head and waved goodbye and disappeared through the tunnel. Awesome! A friend already! At that moment I was able to see a better view of where I was at. A huge tree sat in front of me. I mean huge! All its leaves was covering the sky, almost forming a ceiling. A face was carved in and floating in front of it was a word saying Bartleby. I thought it must be the name. Of course, everything here was magic so everything was possible! I smiled.
Suddenly, something hit my back and I fell forward, flat on my face, again. I turned around and saw the same green high rank wizard as before on the ground too.
“We have got to stop doing that!” he said seriously.
“It was you this time! Don’t blame me!” I said. “You’re the one who is being weird and mean all the time David StarCaster!” I said. I suddenly gasped. How did I know his name? It just came out suddenly. He gasped too.
“How-how-how did you know my name?” he asked standing up.
“Um…uh… I don’t know. It just came out…” I started to say. I stood up too and swiped my blue and white novice’s robe.
“That… That was amazing! Is by any chance your name Tabitha- oh what is it! Um, Ice-Ice-IceFather, or IceMother? Ice – Oh! IceRider! Is it Tabitha IceRider?” he asked making movements with his hands.
“How did you know my name?” I asked.
“Lot’s of studying. Being studying prophecies since I was a young lad of course!” he said and then took a step back. He was looking around whistling like he hadn’t said anything.
“Prophecy? Prophecy? What prophecy?
“Never mind,” he said then went to the left where a building with plants covering it was. I guess I had some sort of weird history… already? No! Impossible! Just been found of course! It was unlikely we were going to meet again though. I shrugged.
I then took the opposite way where Headmaster Ambrose told me to go. I passed a building with thunder decorated around the rooftop. I saw a young wizard come out and run towards the tunnel happily. I wish I were as happy as him! I thought. I wanted to find out what was wrong with my name. Every time I told my name, they gasped in disbelief. I was stilled confused about the name part. I continued on. I then came across another building with snow flakes in the rooftop like the other one. This must be it! I thought to myself. I then went through the door and a sensation of cold breeze and ice chilled my skin.
There, in front of me, stood my teacher Rosalyn Greyrose. She was beautiful. She was a fairy instead of a human wizard. She wore a silky blue robe with a wand that had a blue star at the end of it. Her hair was icy blue and laid back into a bun. Her eyes were sparkly brown, like mine, and she was reading a book, or as I should say… magazine. It said something like… Icy Spirits.
She then looked away from the magazine and looked at me. “Ah! A new student in my class! Very charming! Do come in,” she took off her reading glasses and set her magazine on the desk behind her.
The room was very small. There were three rows of seats and desks. The walls were decorated in snow flakes. There were windows at every end of a row. It looked home- coming. At the front row in the right was a blue gas that must be… magic snow or something. I then walked towards her which only took three or four steps.
“Your name is?” she asked in a friendly tone looking down on me for there were steps right before her.
“I… I am Tabitha IceRider, your new student. I have come here to”-
“IceRider you say? IceRider, really?” she asked wide eyed. I felt a pang in my stomach again. What was wrong with my name?
“Uh… yeah. I have come here to accomplish a quest that the Headmast-“
“Oh, pray the Lord! Thank you so much for bringing her in our greatest time of need! Thank you! Oh thank you!” the Professor interrupted clasping her hands together and looking at the ceiling closing her eyes and swaying. She was turning around in circles and I thought it was a little awkward, but I kept quiet for a while. I then asked, “Um, Lydia, is there something really important about me?”
“What is important of you? Why! You are the Savior of Wizard City! In fact, of the whole Spiral! You are the one all the worlds have been waiting for you to come! Krokotopia, DragonSpyre, and GrizzlieHelm!” she said in shock as she starred at me.
“Savior of Wizard City? Professor, what do you mean?” I asked taking my turn in shock.
“I think we should skip that part of your story for now. Let’s get down to your spells. At first you will learn the Ice Beetle. Make sure to use it on easy people in your rank. You don’t want to get defeated many times! It makes me feel sick after being defeated once. A pain in my stomach hits and all,” she said going to the back of the room where many piles of cards were hidden.
I waited for a while sitting down on one of the seats. I was thinking, why is everyone suddenly so surprised of my name? It was getting quite annoying. I now knew about the prophecy, or if there even was a prophecy. I felt my heart thumping loudly. What was happening?
Finally, the Professor came out of the room and had a card of the Ice Beetle in her hand.
“Here you go sweetheart. I think you should go talk to Professor Ambrose for now. I just received a call from him saying he wanted to speak to you. I’ll see you later dear,” she said. Then suddenly, “Oh! Here is your wand. It is a novice’s wand and you can carry it all around. Use it in battles too, if you want,” she handed me a transparent wand that was a little cold, but it was as strong as wood.
“If anyone touches it, they will feel it extremely cold, unless they are ice students of course. Good-bye dear. Have a nice trip!” she said. As I turned around, I felt my professor’s eyes starting hard at me. I gripped my wand real hard. Whatever was wrong with my name, I wanted to find out now. I then eased myself and looked in the bright side. At least I liked my life!
I tried not to laugh of happiness. I wanted to jump around in glee. This was the best thing I could ever think of! I then hurried out of the building and suddenly my ring started to tremble. I touched it and a voice said that only I could hear, if you ever want a need of rest or ease, go to your dorm room by softly rubbing your ring and a table will appear. It will show you the different places you want to go. Then press the Dorm Room picture and your there! After some battles you are going to be able to get objects for you dorm so you can decorate it. Enjoy! And the voice ended.
That was when I realized how tired I was. I followed his or her steps and rubbed the ring. Suddenly there was a table in front of me. It was transparent but you could see what it read. I then pressed the picture that below it said “Dorm Room” to go there and then the voice was right. I felt the same way I felt going through the tunnel. I was going extremely fast. I remembered to stay straight and I landed softly and lightly. At last no noise!
I then looked around. The room was smaller then the classroom at the school. It was a circled room and to my left was my bed, and to my right was a desk. Next to it was a small chest that over it, there was a word floating saying “bank.”
I felt happiness surge through me. I was finally on my own. No noise, no bumping, no walking. It was all peaceful. I took off my shoes and put it next to the bed. I took my ring and put it on the desk. I jumped into bed and went under the covers. Then the second I rested my head on the pillow, I fell fast asleep…
I made my last spell and killed the Scarlet Screamer that I accidentally got in to a fight with. Of course I didn’t mind. There were enough health wisps around the block. I was on my quest to defeat some of the Harvest Lord’s. All the novice wizards said they were really hard, but I thought I could manage it.
I then ran to the sidewalk to be safe of any more battling. I needed all my courage and health in order to defeat the Harvest Lords. I walked across the streets, skipping with happiness. I was glad with my life and I didn’t want anybody to change that.
I then saw in front of my eyes a dark cave made out of light brown rocks. It looked kind of… scary and … I then gasped. I had seen some cold eyes appear from inside. They had stared at me for a moment and disappeared. I was shaking. Suddenly, a light appeared from inside that chilled my bones. It was a death teleportation. I could tell by the sort of light it had shown. Now I knew what they meant. I started to take a step back, but then I stood straight and walked towards it with my chest puffed out and my head held high. I then felt the burst of energy pushing hard on my head. I was going a million, maybe even billion miles up per hour. I kept straight and landed carefully on my feet. Everything seemed very dark. So dark that it took a while for my eyes to adjust. I had to defeat three Field Guards.
I can do this! I can, I can, I can! I yelled/thought to myself. Then I saw everything. I looked up and, well, it was a cave. No sky that I could see. I shivered. It was cold. So cold that I took out of my backpack a jacket that gave me some health. I then felt healthier the moment I put it on, and especially warmer. It had fur inside to keep the warm company with me.
I then ran to the sidewalk on my left and followed my arrow. I came to a turn and shrieked. In front of me was a body with a pumpkin on its head with a dark robe worn on. Its hands were made out of straw, the straw I had to get. I then boldly ran towards it bravely and felt forced suddenly to a circle that lined close to the sidewalk. I was in the fighting circle.
I put shields around me first that protected me from storm attacks. This was the Lords weakness probably, for it was storm. I put some boost shields on the Harvest Lord of ice. I then cast a shield of the Ice Snake, and his health was perfectly in half. I did the same again and defeated him. I smiled and took his straw. I fought two more Harvest Lords and did the same exact moves and was ready to talk to the guy with the mill, which I cannot remember the name of right now. I closed my eyes and teleported.
I was standing in front of the man and he looked at me with proud eyes.
“You have done well Ms. IceRider!” he said with wide eyes. “That was a short amount of time!
“It was nothing. In fact, they were easy! I barely got hurt when I fought them!” I said.
“You show much promise Tabitha! Much promise to come!” he then took the straw from my hand putting it in a bag that lay next to him and he said, “I have been having much problems lately with the mill and I wondered if you could fix it…” he began to say.
“Certainly!” I said proud to have accomplished a quest and to be on with another one.
“I want you to defeat the Kraken through the portal right over there,” he said pointing behind to his left.
“I’ll do it!” I said and ran towards it. I heard him say, “Wait!” but too late. I had already disappeared into nothingness. It was dark, but there was a different feeling. It was a feeling… like… something was… watching me, like before at the entrance of the cave. I of course was floating but I tried forcing myself around, but there was nothing. I looked above and didn’t see the stars as usual. Weird… I thought. I then suddenly felt myself forced to flip many, many, many times in a fantastically fast speed. I started to panic when I hit hard ground on my stomach, even though I tried to stand straight.
There was an extremely strong light coming from above even though there seemed like there was no ceiling. The ground below me was a mirror for it reflected my gaze. I then really started to panic.
Suddenly, I heard a cold laugh and it seemed like it came from… everywhere. It was an echo that went on and on and on.
“Whose there!” I said turning around watching closely into the darkness.
"You may have your leader, your spells, your training. You may have the strength of millions, but do you have what it takes to defeat me?"
I then knew where I was.
I was in the dark chamber of Malistaire…
“Malistaire, what do you want? What is your wish to do to Wizard City? You idiot! Do you really think that you can take on Wizard City with your henchmen? Or are you to afraid to even fight yourself!” I yelled kicking the ground burning with rage. He had fought with me only with his henchmen and never against me. It had not been fair and I had known it from the beginning of my life-time.
I wasn’t afraid anymore. I knew who he was and I heard that many people had tried to fight them but gotten defeated. I didn’t care. I didn’t enjoy this guy as much to meet him! No one in the whole Spiral did!
"I want much more then what you’ll ever say wizard. I want to rule all the worlds! You can’t stop me from that can you? Or are you the one who is brave and loyal. Do you only want to do defeat me because Headmaster Ambrose wants you to? Or are you just doing this so you can save yourself and your pathetic friends? I’ll tell you this coward! You’ll never defeat me and that is that!"
Suddenly the cold laugh came ringing through my ears. Now I was really burning with rage. He was the coward and like he had said, that was that! Ugh! How much I wanted to kill him at this second! At that same moment I felt forced upward awkwardly. My left foot was in the air and my right felt limp. My right hand was reaching up and my left hand hanging below me. Last, my head was hanging low, so I saw the ground above me.
Suddenly I saw a face in front of me. It had a long face with black hair. His eyes were cold blue and he had a sneer on his face. I knew this was the guy I had seen in many of my nightmares. This was the person who wanted to destroy the Spiral. He was in front of me, and I didn’t realize the danger I was in.
“Go worthless wizard! Go and keep fighting to learn spells for no reason for you will never defeat me! Go!” he yelled. I then noticed while he was talking that he was holding one arm up with the hand open. He was controlling me and I didn’t like it. Surprisingly, everything then disappeared and I couldn’t feel my body. I then heard a couple of voices like if they were far in the distance. Then they came closer, closer, and closer until…
“Tabitha! Tabitha! Are you ok? Tabitha!” I heard Headmaster Ambrose say. I then felt like if I were lying down on a sofa with ice on my forehead. All the teachers were around me, including Professor Drake, which surprised me.
I felt like my body was numb. I groaned because whole body was in pain. I started to stand up but I felt my teacher push me back on the sofa.
“Tabitha, are you alright? You have been out for hours!” Professor Greyrose exclaimed standing back.
“I-I guess so. I had the strangest dream-”
“Dream? You have been fainted for at least a whole day! Tabitha, what happened?” my teacher said panicking.
“I don’t really know. I was walking towards the portal to go to fight the Kraken when everything went dark. I felt like I was floating and-and-and…” I gulped. Should I tell them about Malistaire?
“And?” Headmaster Ambrose asked.
“I… well… I um… met Malistaire in my dream…” I said closing my eyes. Everything then went quiet. It was a long silence. My heart was pounding so loudly I thought that all the professors would hear. Professor Drake then broke it by saying, “So you mean that you met my brother in your dream?” he asked with wide eyes.
“Yes. He said that he wanted to take Wizard City and the Spiral for revenge. That was what he was trying to tell me in many different words. I don’t know what his revenge is but,” I then felt a sharp pain in my head as I groaned. I heard Malistaire’s voice saying, you are so worthless. You have the strength of millions but not to defeat me! You coward! I then groaned again and felt darkness of sleep drift over me…
I opened my eyes to find myself in my dorm. I could hear some girls giggling on the floor above. They were playing around, jumping, and talking so loudly that I could almost hear their conversation.
I sighed and got out of bed. I felt very weak and had to use the cup-board for support. Then out of the corner of my eye I saw the most beautiful cloak I had ever seen sitting on top of my studying desk. I limped towards it quickly and picked it up. It was colored in light blue and white. Below all of the clothing was a note saying
Get well soon! I gave you this powerful cloak which gives you more health than usual. 100 max health and 10 mana. I have just made it as a new cloak named “The Cloak of the Goddess” and you are the first one to wear it. Enjoy!
Headmaster Ambrose
I smiled. I changed into the robes and felt health and mana surge through me. I was going to go to Headmaster Ambrose’s tower right now to thank him. This was completely awesome and I didn’t want to take the cloak for granted. I rubbed my wring, chose the commons and teleported.
As I appeared in the heart of the Spiral I noticed again eyes looking at me. “Malistaire?” I asked wording. I then noticed I was getting to the end of my voyage, stood straight and landed softly on hard ground. Noise appeared and everything was then full of light. It wasn’t as hectic as it was the first day I was found, but it still was… crowded. I then ran towards Headmaster Ambrose’s tower when on the way I crashed into a wizard. I looked up and the wizard said, “Impossible!” I gasped. The other wizard said the same.
This was in fact David StarCaster.
“How come we keep on crashing and finding each other?” I asked.
“I-I don’t know! It’s like… hmm. I don’t know! Every now and then we do! It’s like coincidence or something.”
“Let’s just add each other and get over with all the crashing,” I said urging to go.
We added each other, said our goodbyes and I set out again for Headmaster Ambrose’s castle. As I got to the door I noticed something wasn’t right. I had a sensation inside of me like something bad had happened. I ran inside the castle quickly and found Headmaster Ambrose his desk working on the far left corner, starring at a sheet of paper that was coal black.
“Headmaster Ambrose?” I asked as I quietly closed the door and walked over to him.
“Oh, hi Tabitha. Did you get your rest?” he asked with a smile, but not one of those smiles that were comforting, but one of those he tried to force.
“Headmaster, what happened?” I asked as I was then able to see the room about me. It was all a mess. Chairs (I could tell) had been flung down in rage, some of the pictures had nail marks on them, and even some parts of the walls had been torn down.
“Just a mess Ms. IceRider,” Headmaster Ambrose said.
“Headmaster, I know you are lying. What happened?” I asked.
Headmaster Ambrose sighed and looked straight into my eyes, “Malistaire has threatened me that in three days time you shall fight him alone with no help at all. He knows you are a beginner so it will be harder for you to advance in such short notice.”
“What?” I asked sitting down on the only chair that hadn’t been flung down which was right in front of the Headmaster’s desk.
“Have you ever read this book?” he asked getting a rather small but old book from underneath many sheets of paper. He handed it to me calmly.
There was a whole lot amount of dust on top that I had to swipe my hand across the cover to read the title. Surprisingly, there was no title at all. No author, no… anything. I then opened it to the first page and saw a picture of Malistaire on top of a rock over the valley of where DragonSpyre was. I flipped to the next and this time, a young girl appeared. She had short blonde hair and brown eyes, thin but a little tall, and a pet named…
Sparky! The name of my own pet, the ice pet!
“Are you saying that this person is…” I started to say looking up to him.
He nodded and motioned for me to go on. I then flipped the page again and saw myself battling a Scarlet Screamer (probably the one I accidentally got into fight with). On the next page was a picture of me fighting the Kraken. I kept on flipping through the book showing me going through a higher level every time until… I gulped… until I was in fact battling Malistaire. On the bottom corner of the page was a date of when it was going to take place. It said, ‘December 21st, 5000.’
The date was in fact three days ahead of today, December 18th, year 5000.
|
Wizard Orphans
Hi I'm Kiley Daisy and i live in Moo shu the year 1887 on September i have a ma and pa and 2 sisters and we were bored so we went for a walk after breakfast this new earth food called weatabix from zeke and we ran all the to unicorn way park and decided to duel for a bit so we did my and destiny against Jessica so we started and Jessica saved up her power point for the first couple of rounds and cast scarecrow but we had shielded then Dest cast a unicorn a healed us both then Jessica smiled and saved up some pips and finally cast a stormzilla from her second school and killed Dest so it was up to me but she cast 4 dark sprites and i died so sadly we lost but o well. then we went for a walk around and Jessica helped me with so ghouls from unicorn way then we went a brought so ice cream form zeke and Jessica paid 500 gold just to watch a program form earth she like called waterloo road!! Then we put on our mounts (Bengal tiger, Proud Lioness, and Chestnut Mare) and rode back to our Balance house.
We were outside chatting kind of well actually more like fighting because Jessica ( 15 grandmaster death) and Destiny (my twin 13 lv 19 life) were arguing as normal and me (13 lv 3 storm) well I was trying to stop them and for my trouble got hit up the nose by Jessica’s armored hand when our mum called us in for lunch well we went in a sat down when suddenly Jessica noticed her friend Amy Pixieflame at the window she was a fire wizard but they had been in a fight so she stormed out with her fav sword and deck and burst out “WHAT You want” she screamed as Amy drew a fire symbol and then touched her wand to the house Jessica gasped and said “Mum Dad Kiley Destiny” me and Dest ran out but our parents were slower and that’s how we lost them they fried to a crisp Jessica tried to reverse the death and Dest tried to bring then back and we couldn’t take them to hospital it costs to much and it 1897 and we were very poor. Headmaster Merle who is about 20 buried them then gave us over too a Marylebone dog and into a cab we went Jessica seemed to know where we were going and looked even paler than usual I tried asking her but she just shook her head. Eventually we pulled up along side a big bleak building in Marylebone surrounded by a big metal gate……..
|
The Average Life of the Chosen One
It was dark. I didn't know where I was. What was going on? “The time is near,” a dark voice said. “I know,” a very, familiar voice said, “I”m ready.” What the? Who was Lucas talking to? “Are you sure?” the other voice asked, “You sure seem to like her...” “I said I'm ready,” Lucas' voice said. I was scared. Who was he talking to? Then, the scene ended.
I sat up in bed, not screaming like last time. What was up with all these scary dreams? I squinted. The sun wasn't normally this bright in the early morning. What time was it, anyway? I looked at my clock. 9:45 was the time. I gasped. I only had two hours and fifteen minutes to get ready!
I jumped up and got into my Marleybone clothes. Soon, I would have Mooshu ones! I ate breakfast in my dorm room, which was a couple pancakes that I had enough time to make. As I headed off for the shops, I checked the time again. It was 10:20. Okay, so I still had an hour and forty minutes. No problem.
When I began to go, someone teleported to me. I was worried that it was Lucas, but there were no certain sparks at all. It was Merle Ambrose! “Hello, young wizard,” he said, “Getting ready?” “Yes, Professor,” I said, “I just have to find the right robes...” “I believe I can help,” Merle said, “There is a special shop for certain young wizards, in a special place. Let me show you.” We left my dorm room, and instead of going to the Commons, Merle brought me to Barteleby. “In another world?” I asked. Merle laughed. “It seems like it, doesn't it? But, no.” He stepped behind Barteleby, and led me to one of his roots. “It's just a-” I began, but Merle chanted some words, and the root opened. He gestured to the opening. “Here is some gold,” he said, handing me at least twenty thousand! “Buy whatever you like.” With that, he teleported back to his office. I closed my eyes, and jumped.
I landed in a mystical place. There was cool water running around me, and lightning bolts were flashing from the ceiling. Why was everything storm related? I noticed a shopkeeper in the distance. As I neared it, I gasped. It was a frog, like my teacher, Halestrom Balestrom, but it was a girl instead. “Hello, young storm wizard!” she said, “Care for some new robes and accessories?” I picked out the most wonderful things there. I chose a beautiful purple and yellow robe. It looked more like a dress. It was long and flowing, and I looked absolutely beautiful in it. The middle part, around my waist, was yellow, and the top and skirt part were bright purple. The sleeves were light purple. The parts on my shoulders had yellow streaks, as did most of the skirt. “It's perfect,” I whispered. “You can have it for free, young wizard,” the frog said, “You seem to be a powerful one, filled with magic and delight. I seldom meet those like you anymore.” “I'll have to bring my best friend Lucas here sometime,” I told her, “Then you won't be so lonely.” The frog smiled. “By the way, my name is Delia Leapfrog,” the frog continued, “And would you like some shoes and a hat to go with that gorgeous dress?” I chose perfect high-heeled shoes, which were the same shade of purple as my dress, with yellow heels. Instead of a hat, Delia picked up a Water Lily and put in my hair. “Perfect!” Delia said, “Now you are ready to go to that party.” “What time is it?” I asked. Delia looked at a watch. “It's 11:50! Better go!” she said. I waved goodbye as I climbed the rope ladder (which hadn't been there before. Magic, I suppose?) to the top of the root, and got out. I hurried to the Commons area.
There were thousands, no, millions of wizards there. I searched, but couldn't find Lucas in the crowd. I sighed. How would I find my partner? Then I remembered: Lucas and I were going to meet right by the water. I stood on the bank, where there wasn't very many people at all, and waited.
“Sarah!” a voice called. I had been looking at the ground, and when I looked up I saw Lucas running toward me. He wasn't dressed too formally, but at least he looked nice enough. When he got to me, he looked me up and down and just stared. “..w-w-wow...” he said. I blushed. “Come on, silly,” I said, “We're supposed to be up front.” I took his hand, and, with my heart pounding nervously, hurried to Merle Ambrose's house. Merle was there, greeting guests. “Ah, hello there!” he said when he saw us, “Don't you look lovely, Miss StormDreamer?” He winked at me. “Go stand up at the front of my house. ATTENTION EVERYONE!” All of the wizards turned to him. I nearly jumped when we got there and he made his statement. I didn't know that Merle could even yell that loud. “Welcome to the party!” he said, “Please give a hand to the Chosen One, Sarah StormDreamer, and her best friend Lucas NightBlade!” Everyone clapped and/or cheered. I smiled and looked at Lucas. “Don't let the fame get to your head,” I said. Lucas grinned. “Aww....” he said, laughing. Merle continued, “You may go on and have some fun, but please do not be rude! And do not leave Wizard City either! You may go to Ravenwood, and the Shopping District, but please, no dueling! This is a time of fun and joy!” Merle clapped his hands, and everyone either stayed or went to the Shopping District. Hardly anyone went to Ravenwood, but for some reason, I started leading Lucas there. “Where are we going?” he asked. I brought him behind the storm school, in the water there.
“I wanted to be by water,” I said, “And it was hard to hear myself think in the Commons.” Lucas laughed. “Yeah,” he said, a nervous edge to his voice. He was looking at a couple of groups of wizards. The partners were talking to each other and holding hands.
Lucas took my hand, but I didn't pull away.
I was nervous as he was, but he didn't know it at the time. Neither did I. The joyful music that normally filled Ravenwood changed to a slow, looking-to-the-future song. The group Lucas was watching started to dance together. “So, um... wanna...” he said, his voice shaking. I followed his gaze, and realized what he was asking before he finished. I smiled slightly. “Sure...” I said. We stood up. I stepped into the water, and Lucas followed. I took his hands and we began to dance. Well, okay, I was mostly doing the dancing. Lucas couldn't really dance. Regardless, he spun me around a few times.
When we were both tired, we sat down on the bank of the water. “So.....” I said, trying to start conversation. I failed. What was up? We never had problems talking to each other, even though I do like him. So what was the problem? Lucas sighed, and looked into my eyes like he had so many times before. At the same time, we both leaned in, and...
Lucas backed up. “Lucas?” I asked sadly. He stood up. I was sad. We were so close... I was so close..... Then Lucas grimaced like he was in pain, and fell into the water. I gasped. “Lucas?!” I asked, alarmed. I looked in the water, but I could not see him. “Lucas!” I called. Then, for the first time, water scared me. It splashed up at first, trying to hurt me, and I jumped back. But more waves attacked the first one. It was almost like it was fighting itself. The second waves then formed words. I read: I'm sorry, Sarah. I was confused. “What's wrong? What happened?” More words: I can't say. Don't worry. I'm not dead. Just..... “Lucas, please...” I said, pained. More words: Don't worry, I'll see you tomorrow, before you go to Mooshu. Please don't tell anyone about this, and please don't mention it tomorrow. Before more words could appear, the first wave attacked the words. I gasped. It was a fight between good waves and bad waves, and, finally, everything was still.
I sat back, and almost fainted. I couldn't believe this. Everything was going so well.... but as I walked back to my dorm, I couldn't help but wonder one thing: What was Lucas hiding?
|
Tale from Celestial Bodies (part 8)
As I stepped out of the teleportation ring, I looked around at my surroundings.
Everywhere that I looked I saw only trees. But it wasn't as the Colossuses described. These trees were skinny, with lots of sunlight coming through their branches.
"This place must be a misnomer. It's not treacherous at all!" I remarked.
"Don't be so sure," Sylvia answered back.
"Why is that?"
"Because this is only the beginning of the forest. As the forest progresses, the trees will get thicker, causing less sunlight to escape through their branches and into the forest," Sylvia explained.
"Hmm. That makes sense. I'm sure we will be experiencing many dangers before long," I said.
"That's not all. I've heard rumors that the trees in this forest move and talk," Malistaire stated.
"Move? Talk? That's some pretty deep magic that someone put over this forest," I said.
"It could just be the nature of the forest. Everything in this forest talks - from the trees to the animals, to the ground we are on now. Or at least that's what I've heard," Malistaire told me.
"Well, we will soon put that myth to the test," I said. "Although I'm sure it's true if this place is known as the Treacherous Forest."
We traveled on a little, experiencing no perils.
Yet.
The trees began to get a little bit thicker, but not too much. I tried moving between two trees, but the trees lowered their branches to block my path.
"So the rumor is true!" I exclaimed.
"The great Malistaire never lies!" Malistaire remarked.
"Yes, I'm sure you're the honest Abe of the wizards," I said sarcastically.
"Who is this honest Abe that you speak of?" Malistaire asked.
"Oh forget it. You grew up in Wizard City. I grew up on Earth until I was accepted as a student here," I said. "My concern right now is how to get through the trees."
"Oh well that's simple enough!" Malistaire told me. "Just go through another tree."
I went to the tree next to it, but the trees simply lowered their branches, blocking me from passing between them.
Then an idea sparked in my head, but I did not say it for fear that the trees would hear it and simply block me off again.
I started running, thinking that I would run fast enough and then instantly move between two trees and catch them off guard.
However, everywhere I ran, the trees lowered their branches, like a row of dominoes. There was no place I can go.
I turned around, thinking maybe I can travel by a different route.
But the trees that I came out of had their branches lowered, making me trapped in.
"Oh no! We're trapped!" Sylvia pointed out.
"Well thank you for pointing out the obvious," I sarcastically added. "Now how are we going to get out of here?"
"You must figure out a way, and quickly!" Malistaire exclaimed, due to the new peril that was awaiting us.
The trees started moving in, and coming closer to me. Pretty soon they would crush me.
Then an idea ignited in my mind.
"I've got the perfect solution! I know exactly how to get out of here!" I exclaimed happily.
I stretched out my palms and held them out in front of me.
"Powers of fire, I call upon you in this hour of need. Ignite my palms on fire, so I can set that fire to those leaves," I chanted.
All of a sudden, my palms were on fire! I held up my palms to one tree, and the tree grew scared of the fire that could burn it down.
The tree backed away in fear and raised its branches for me to pass through.
"Genius!" remarked Malistaire.
"Magnificent!" exclaimed Sylvia.
I then turned around and faced all the other trees. They backed away from the fire and held up their branches for me to pass through.
"You may be wondering how I did that. As I'm sure you know, in advanced wizardry class you learn how to make up your own spells," I explained.
"Correct," Malistaire said.
"Well, I simply made up my own spell for that!" I remarked.
"That was an amazing move," Sylvia told me.
As we traveled more in the forest, I kept my hands ablaze, and all the trees backed away in fear and let me pass.
"Haha! This forest isn't so treacherous anymore!" I remarked happily.
I thought that was my only adventure I would face in the forest. But you know my luck better than that.
Eventually, the trees became thicker and thicker, and the air became heavier and heavier, making it harder to breathe.
I needed a place to sit down, rest, and eat. I was exhausted and hungry - not a good combination.
As we traveled on, we saw a nice clearing. A place with no trees - just ground.
"I need to rest and eat for a few minutes. Let's head over to that clearing," I said.
"No problem," Sylvia stated.
We headed towards the clearing, and I sat down for a few minutes and ate. Although it wasn't a full meal, I still felt revived.
When I finished eating, I heard a hissing sound in the distance.
"What was that?" I asked alarmed.
I heard the hissing sound again, and again. Each time it came closer to me.
I realized what it was. It was a snake.
I turned around and found myself face to face with a big, green snake that looked as if it could devour me in one swallow.
"Back off, or I will kill you!" I warned the snake.
"Oh no! Nice wizard like you wouldn't harm Kralutch," the snake named Kralutch hissed at me. "Nice wizard like you have compassion on poor, hungry Kralutch."
"Wait… you talk?" I asked, amazed.
"Of course I talk! Everything in this forest talks!" Kralutch hissed at me.
"That's what I told you," Malistaire stated.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you," I told Kralutch.
"Because Kralutch has valuable information for nice wizard - that is, if nice wizard doesn't hurt Kralutch."
"I won't hurt you. What type of information can you have that I need?"
"I can show you how to get out of this forest," Kralutch said.
This made me extremely happy. I was finally going to escape!
"Do you really trust this snake that he will tell the truth?" Sylvia asked.
"It's the only choice we have," I said. "Kralutch, I won't hurt you. How do we get out of here?"
Kralutch turned his head and pointed east.
"Travel through there, and you will reach the end of the forest."
"Thank you so much," I said. "Now we can finally escape!"
"I can't believe you trust this snake!" Sylvia exclaimed.
"I told you, it's the only choice we have."
Out of all the trees and animals in that forest, the snake was more cunning than any of them. The snake wanted to lead me to my doom, but I did not know of it.
We traveled in the direction the snake told us, and the air got heavier and heavier. I didn't think much of it at first, because I knew it would happen as we got deeper into the forest.
Then the trees started to get thicker and thicker, until we approached a great oak tree.
This oak tree must have had a trunk with a diameter of 50 feet, and its branches were longer and higher than any other tree's branches.
As we approached the oak tree, the air became even heavier.
Then I dropped to the floor, fast asleep.
NOTE: Due to the fact that Andrew Firerider is currently asleep, and his sleep will make a boring tale, I will tell this from a narrator's point of view.
Malistaire and Sylvia rushed over to Andrew's side, distressed at this great loss.
"Andrew! Wake up!" they said, shaking Andrew, but it did not work.
The air that was around this great oak tree was put there by evil magic, and it only affected Andrew. Not ghosts.
"We have to do something! And quickly!" Malistaire exclaimed, pointing to a group of green goblins heading towards them.
The goblins were also unaffected by the strange air around the tree.
"Hide, and we will follow from a distance," Sylvia whispered.
They went off to the side, and saw the goblin's leader step up to Andrew and yell out in the goblin language.
"Lark akdrea daret dafk!"
Translation: Look at this wonderful piece of fresh meat that we have found. Let's take it prisoner, put it to work in our town, and after ten years we will cook it or fry it or mince it or boil it and have it for breakfast or brunch or lunch lupper or supper. What good luck has befallen us that we have found something like this in our path! Rejoice, goblins, for today is a happy day for all of us!
Goblins tend to speak in their own language, although they do know English.
Another goblin stepped forward and put metal chains around Andrew's hands.
Then another goblin stepped forward, and they both dragged Andrew Firerider across the ground as they traveled along with their fellow goblins.
The goblins gave a loud yell of joy, and then continued moving on. Malistaire and Sylvia followed at a distance.
As they moved farther and farther away, Andrew Firerider began to wake up.
NOTE: I will now write from Andrew's perspective.
"Urrrrrrrrrr," I groaned. I was so tired. "Where am I?"
I looked around my surroundings, and quickly realized I fell asleep and I am now a prisoner.
But where were Malistaire and Sylvia?
I could not find them, no matter how hard I looked.
That's because they were following from a distance, but were remaining unseen.
The goblins saw that I woke up, and they decided to sing a song in English to terrify me.
It did its job. Here is a portion of that song, sung in the goblin's horrible, screeching voice:
"Smash! Clash! Make a gash!
Grab! Grip! Pinch and nab!
And down to Goblin town you go
Ha ha, my lad!
Snap! Clap! Crack a back!
Gongs and Tongs! Drills and thongs!
And down to Goblin town you go
Ha ha, my lad!
Swish! Smack! Whip and crack!
Yammer and bleat! Batter and beat!
Work, work! Don't dare to lurk!
While Goblins laugh, you will work,
Round and round, far underground,
Down to Goblin town you go,
Ha ha, my lad!"
And so, the goblins sung and traveled on, but then stopped. A shrill sound was in the air, and from behind the trees came another group of goblins.
But these goblins were different. These were black, with armor on them, and spikes protruding from the armor.
I remembered them from Thaumaturge Island - these were the goblins of the Dark Lord.
Their leader stepped forward and spoke to the leader of the group that held me prisoner.
"Krae!" said the leader of the black goblins.
Translation: That prisoner is ours, as we are sent by the Dark Lord, and we must fulfill his command. Send him over to us, and we won't bother you any more. On the contrary - we will reward you with great riches and prizes.
"Lae!" said the leader of the green goblins that held me prisoner.
Translation: This prisoner is ours, as we have found him first. But please travel along with us for a little while, and when we stop for a break, we will discuss this matter.
And so, the two bands of goblins joined together and traveled through the forest even more.
Eventually, the goblins stopped to rest and discuss what to do with me. They put me on the side, but I was pretty much weak less. I couldn't escape, because my hands were tied together, so that wouldn't help me much, and I was too weak to melt the metal.
Then Malistaire and Sylvia came closer to me, and I was so relieved to see them!
But we were in mourning, because we knew that we were finished, and we did not speak.
The green goblins said I was their prisoner, but the black goblins wanted to take me as their prisoner.
You can imagine what happens when a beastly, monstrous race such as these goblins fight. War breaks out between them.
All the goblins pulled out their swords and attacked the other group. The fighting was so immense, and it came closer to me.
Then, one goblin fell dead right next to me. His sword was on top of him, and I seized this opportunity to escape.
I dragged myself across the ground and onto the dead goblin's body. All the other goblins were too busy fighting to notice me.
I rubbed the handcuffs across the sword of the dead goblin, and the handcuffs started to break.
I rubbed and rubbed, and eventually, the handcuffs came off. I was free!
"Quickly! Let's go now!" I whispered to Malistaire and Sylvia, and we ran away from the battle scene.
Although I was not there to see the conclusion of the battle, I knew that after a few minutes they would realize I was gone, and then regret the fighting. But I would be too far away by then.
"Let's hope that's all the adventure we will face in this forest!" I cheerfully said.
After we traveled through the forest, I decided to stop by a tree and rest a few minutes.
My rest was undisturbed…that is, only for a few minutes.
A howling sound was heard a few yards away.
And then another howling sound in the opposite direction.
Soon my surroundings were filled with many howling sounds.
"Wolves! This must be their meeting spot! Quickly, hide!" Malistaire said.
Malistaire and Sylvia flew up to the treetops (they're ghosts, and they can fly through the air, which is why they tend to hover above ground), but I was left alone on the ground.
I lit my hands on fire again, and showed it to the tree. He got the idea not to mess with me.
I extinguished the fire from my hands, and then started climbing up the tree.
I was pretty high up, and I hid myself between the leaves and the branches, just before the wolves came around my tree.
These wolves spoke in English, so I don't need to translate.
One wolf, the leader, came towards my tree and looked up at where I was.
"I can't see you, but I can smell you. I know you're in that tree. It's better to come down than us having to surround that tree until you come down. We won't give up," howled the leader.
I didn't say anything, because I didn't want them to hear me, but what could they possibly do? I was up in a tree, and they were down on the ground.
Still, I realized that I didn't want to spend the next few hours up in a tree terrified. I needed to conjure up an idea, and fast.
I then realized something. Most of the time, I had been using fire to escape from my adventures. What if I did that this time?
I summoned the fire to my hands, but not before whispering to the tree that I wasn't going to burn it down. The last thing I needed was for a wild tree that can move while I'm in it.
"Hey, wolves! Get some of this!" I shouted at them, throwing down fireballs onto them.
"Awoooooooooo! Get the fire off! Get it off!" shrieked the leader, who was hit smack on the back by my fireball.
I then continued to throw more and more at the other wolves, until they were all howling in pain.
To extinguish the flames, they tried rolling on their backs, but that was all right with me. It kept them distracted, and even if they noticed me descending from the tree, they would still be terrified of me.
And so, I climbed down from the tree, and traveled more through the forest.
That was an "easy peril" compared to the other dangers I faced.
"Let's continue on our journey through this treacherous forest," I said, finally realizing how it got its name.
And so we traveled on and on, until finally I saw a big ring coming out of the ground.
"The teleportation ring!" I exclaimed, so happy that I was finally going to get out of here.
I should have known better that I was still going to have to face another adventure.
In the teleportation ring was a single hole; it was for the golden watch.
Behind the teleportation ring was a huge tree, looking similar to a Dryad, but much more grim and evil looking.
I rushed towards the teleportation ring to put the golden watch inside the hole, but the tree immediately came to life.
"Where do you think you're going?" it said in a singsong voice.
"I think I'm going out of here. Actually, I KNOW I'm going out of here," I answered. "Toodaloo!"
The tree didn't like that. Not one bit.
The tree's branches came swooping down at me with such great speed and threw me a few feet away.
I was badly injured.
Then the tree started to move and approached me.
It raised its branches, and prepared to cast them down on me.
It lowered its branches, and they were about to hit me, but I rolled over to the side.
I ran towards the teleportation ring, and then one of the branches hit my back and sent me falling onto the ground.
The pain was immense.
I continued to run towards the teleportation ring, and I put the golden watch in.
The teleportation ring hummed to life, and the blue substance was forming.
The tree gave one final attack at me.
It reached down and grabbed me in its hand.
That's right - this tree had a hand.
It started to squeeze me, and it was too much. I was in pain, and I knew I wasn't going to make it out alive.
"Hahahaha! You will never escape from here!" the tree laughed at me.
"Oh…Yes…I…Think…I…Will…" I said in between groans.
Then I summoned the remaining energy I had, and sparked a fire on the hand that was holding me.
The tree yelled in pain, and released me from its grasp, and I fell hard to the floor.
"Uch this can't be happening," I said, as my vision started to fade.
I knew what was happening - I was so badly injured, that I was losing consciousness.
The next step would be death.
Weakly, I stepped up to the teleportation ring, with the shouts of the screaming tree. I stepped through the teleportation ring, and found myself in a new terrain.
Malistaire and Sylvia were next to me, and everything was blurry because of my eyesight.
I saw some creatures approaching me, but I could not see what they were. They could have been friendly or hostile, but at that second, I faded into unconsciousness.
|
The Average Life of the Chosen One (part 6)
“Muahahaha!” I heard an evil laugh. Where was I? Wait.. I was.... by Malistaire? How did I get here? “Fool!” the evil man said, reaching out to push me away, “How could you think that my son would even THINK about fighting me? How could you think that he would EVER like you at all? Don't you see? This was my plan! He got to know you, so I would know you, and now, he is gone! How could he ever LIKE you? Muahahaha!” The scene blacked out.
I was screaming, screaming in my sleep. “Sarah, Sarah! Wake up!” Lucas NightBlade was saying. I opened my eyes and stopped screaming, but I was still breathing fast. “Sarah?” Lucas asked. I looked up. His face was, like, five inches away from mine. My stomach felt funny.
“It's okay now, Sarah. It's okay,” he said. I slowly sat up and he stood up. “What was it about?” he asked. I shook my head. It didn't make any sense! It seemed like Malistaire had been talking about... Lucas... but he couldn't be! After all, Lucas wasn't Malistaire's son! He said that his whole family had been myth! And, after all, he didn't even have the same last name! Either way, I didn't want to talk about it. I said this out loud. Lucas shrugged. “Okay, then. So, you talked to Watson last night... right?” I nodded. “Okay, then lets go to Newgate Prison,” he said.
I was surprised. “How did you know?” I asked. “Um...” Lucas said. He sighed and sat down. I was even more surprised by this. He motioned for me to do the same. “I have something to tell you,” he said. “I can.... dream the future...” Well, this kind of made sense to me. After all, he had dreamed that he would be captured, right? So why couldn't he dream that we would go to Newgate prison? “The one exception...” he said, “Is that I only dream bad things.” Uh oh. “What is that supposed to mean?” I asked, “Something bad will happen in Newgate Prison?” Lucas shrugged. “Well, that's the weird thing. I DIDN'T dream about anything bad. To be honest,” he said, “I dreamed about something good. But, well, that was later on. Not in Newgate Prison, but MUCH farther on.” “What was it?” I asked. If I was looking right, which I think I was, I think that Lucas turned a little red. “Um.... nothing. Nothing you need to know now,” he said, which just made me more curious.
Lucas got up. “Let's go,” he said. I also got up and I led the way to Newgate prison. When we got there, I started off into the cells. But when we got there, I stopped in my tracks. “What's the matter?” Lucas asked. I didn't want to admit this, but jail cells scared me a little. I mean, who knows what lurks in them? I was worried that if I said this aloud, Lucas would tease me. I could just picture him saying, “The Chosen One, afraid of JAIL CELLS?!? Gee.... You're not afraid of dangerous bosses and creatures, or even battling them, but you are afraid of harmless JAIL CELLS? Wow....” So, I kept my mouth shut. Well, at least until Lucas persuaded me to open up. “Come on, Sarah! What is the matter?” I sighed. “I'm..... slightly afraid of.....” Lucas followed my gaze. This was it. He would tease me now, and... but what if he didn't? I mean, if he really did like me, he wouldn't tease me to be mean, right?
I was right. “It's okay, Sarah. They're just jail cells, nothing to be afraid of...” Lucas said. Could he read minds, or what? He took my hand (my mind was turning somersaults in my head) and led me to the first one. There were ghosts and ghouls in them. I wasn't afraid of them!
“You aren't afraid of them, Sarah,” Lucas said. (Seriously. Can he read minds?) He led me around them and to the next plank to the next jail cell. “See?” he said. My head was aching. There was so much to think about... “I...” I began. “Oh, no you don't Sarah!” Lucas said, a little alarmed. I had forgotten that below us was a bottomless pit. What a horrible way to die. I didn't want to fall forever, but I was definitely feeling dizzy. I started to fall, and closed my eyes, bracing for nothingness....
I felt a hard tug on my hand as I was jerked back up. Lucas had made sure that it wasn't the end of me. He held me tight, until the dizziness faded. My face felt warm as I pulled away. “I'm okay,” I assured him, “Just.... I don't know what that was.” Lucas grinned. “Well, you are unpredictable,” he said. I couldn't help but laugh.
Lucas led me through the rest of the jail cells, and then we fought enemies. It didn't take us very long to finish anything I had to do; in fact, it was really easy. We completed Newgate Prison even faster than we had Hyde Park, and then Knight's Court too. There was only one thing left to do for Watson; journey into Katzenstein's Lab. “I've heard he is storm,” I said to Lucas, “This'll be HARD for us.” “Not if you call a friend,” Lucas suggested. Well, I suppose it would work. I whispered to Elizabeth GriffonBlood, “Hey, can you help Lucas and I with Katzenstein's Lab?” “Sure,” she replied, and teleported in an instant. Lucas grinned. “I don't believe we've met,” he said to Elizabeth. They shook hands, while I waited impatiently. “Let's go!” I said, and we headed off into the Lab.
It was still quite hard, even with Elizabeth helping us. She kept us alive though, and we advanced quickly. As we were fighting, I received a whisper from none other than Merle Ambrose. “Young wizard, are you busy?” he asked. I whispered back, “Yes, I am, Professor Ambrose. What is it?” “I can't tell you now,” Merle said, “But come to my office when you are finished with whatever you are doing. And bring your friend Lucas, too.” I was curious. What was going on?
When Lucas, Elizabeth, and I arrived at Katzenstein himself, Lucas said, “I'll be right back.” He went off into a corner. “Now that we're alone,” Elizabeth said quietly, “Do you have an answer? He said your name today, right?” “Quite a few times,” I said, “And each time, he said it like you said he would.” Elizabeth grinned. “Well, that's that. He MUST like you then. But, of course, he might be faking.” My face fell. “But I doubt that!” she added, and my smile returned. “For one thing, from what I've noticed from being here, I think he does,” she said. Before I could respond, Lucas returned. “Okay, let's fight!” he said. I grinned. “hiiiiiYa!” I said, and jumped into the battle. Lucas laughed, just like the first time I had done that. “That is still hilarious,” Lucas said, following me, with Elizabeth behind him. “And to think that I made that up in Krokotopia! All the way back then!” I said. Lucas nodded. “We've sure advanced, and grow up too.” “Really? I don't think YOU'VE grown up any!” I said, giggling. Lucas pretended to be surprised. “Hey! I've grown up!” he said. “Yeah, but you don't act like it,” I said, still laughing. Lucas laughed. “Yeah, sure, like you act all mature too!” “Yes, I do!” I said. We were laughing, Elizabeth just watching and shaking her head with a smile on her face. I thought to myself.
Yes, this is where I want to be. Battling enemies, laughing with my friends. Especially Lucas.
When we finished Katzenstein's Lab, I headed off to Watson. After we talked, before going somewhere else, I said, “Lucas, Merle Ambrose wants us.” Lucas just nodded. I teleported to the commons, with Lucas right behind me. Then we went through the Spiral Gate to Wizard City, and went to Ambrose's office.
“Hello, my favorite students!” Merle Ambrose said, “To be honest, you really didn't need to be here, but I wanted to see you.” Lucas and I laughed. “You may as well stay to hear my announcement,” he continued, “It will be broadcasted throughout the whole Spiral, so that every student hears.” He pulled up a special sort of megaphone, and then began to speak. “Attention, all students of Ravenwood! Wherever you are, please listen to this message from me, Merle Ambrose!” The commotion from outside silenced. “There will be a special party,” he continued, “Here in Wizard City! It is to celebrate the success of us all, especially the Chosen One and her close friends! I know that you are thinking that you won't attend, but you must to advance in your studies.” Lucas and I grinned at each other. A special party! To celebrate us all, but especially Lucas and I! Merle wasn't finished yet. “You must come with a partner of different gender,” he continued, “It would be good to have a partner of the same school, but it is not required. The party is tomorrow. Hope to see you all there!” With that, Merle put the megaphone down, and said to us, “Have a nice day, and good luck! Be sure to come!” We thanked him, and started to the Spiral Gate.
Lucas and I, with the help of Elizabeth and my other friend, Benjamin DragonFist, completed Counterweight east, Counterweight west, and finally Big Ben. When we completed this, I was allowed to enter Mooshu!
“I'm so excited!” I said. It was dark now, although you couldn't really tell in the always-dark Marleybone sky, and Lucas and I were sitting on the side of the fountain. “Are we gonna go there?” Lucas asked. I shook my head. “I gotta get ready for the party tomorrow! Well, at least pick out my clothes,” I said. Lucas sighed. “Okay, then...” he started. “See ya,” I said, starting off. “Wait,” Lucas said, making me sit down on the fountain again. He looked at me, and....
…..pushed me into the fountain. I gasped and went up for air. I looked at him, grinning evilly. “You will wish you didn't do that,” I said, and, grabbing his arm, pulled him in too. We were both soaked now, and I was glad I wasn't wearing formal clothes. I giggled, and splashed him. “That all you got?” Lucas asked. He made a wave, and aimed it at me. I dodged it, grinning. “Ha, ha!” I said. I then used a gentle tempest, so it wouldn't hurt him, and charged it. I sat on top of it as it went over him, and I landed in his arms. I blushed and tried to escape, but Lucas held me tight. “No escaping,” he growled playfully. He then went under the water. I did a flip and escaped his grasp. The water was the perfect place for us, and we had a wonderful time playing in it.
When we were both tired, and so soaked that there wasn't such a thing that was wetter than we were, we got out of the fountain. My eyes were shinning. “Well, see ya,” I said. But Lucas wouldn't let me leave just yet. He ran to block my path. “Wait,” he said, and then he looked at his feet. “Merle said that everyone needed a partner for the party....” My heart thumped as I saw what he was getting at. “And....I was wondering...” he continued. I could tell he was nervous from the way he spoke. “....if.....you would go with me?” he asked, seeming relieved to get it over with. I smiled slightly. “Sure, Lucas, as friends, right?” I said, a little reluctant to say that. Friends? Why did I say that? I wanted us to be more.... Obviously, Lucas was hesitant to speak. Finally, he said, “Sure.” “Okay, see you,” I said a little too quickly. I hurried off to my dorm room in Wizard City, thinking the entire way,
“He asked....me! He wanted to go with...me!” My heart pounded and raced as I hurried to my home sweet home, lay down on my bed, and my vision blacked out.
|
Wizardly Misadventures
September 5, 2004
4:14 PM
Everyone was quiet. The only sounds that were heard in the Wizard City Library were the scratching of quills on parchment, book pages being turned, a few books whistling through the air, and the water falling from the ceiling to the ground near the main desk. There were some people looking at the books and scrolls on the shelves, but most were either taking notes from books on the tables or just reading.
This was where Victoria Darktalon—a twelve-year-old Ice wizard with white hair and bright green eyes—was absentmindedly flipping through the large pages of The Spiral and the Words Within. In her left hand, she was twirling a wand that she had bought at the Wizard City Wand Shop. It had a silver handle, but had a blue crystal attached to it. Every once in a while, the crystal emitted a faint blue light and a few white sparks would appear, but Victoria didn't seem to care about this. Instead, she just kept staring at the book with the same blasé-like look in her eyes.
For about two hours, Victoria had been in the library, studying for an upcoming test in Myth class. The people who had been with her had already left to pursue other tasks and she finished her studying less than half an hour after that. She had already finished the tasks that were assigned to her a few days ago by her teachers and nearly everyone else that she knew was still busy. She felt too tired from studying and didn’t want to go outside in the hot weather to find someone to hang out with, so she stayed inside. But she soon discovered that she was not too excited about this plan either: she read all of the interesting-looking books a long time ago (she wasn’t a fan of rereading books) and even if she wanted to talk to someone, nobody in the Library would want to since they were there to study for the final exams that were coming in October and November.
Tap tap.
Victoria did not pause from the noise, but instead let out a soft sigh.
She had a twin brother, Stephen. He was known by many of the students and professors in Ravenwood to be soft spoken, if not completely silent. He didn't even seem to attempt to socialize with any of their peers either, even though it would be easy for him to make friends. But he had his odd quirks: his way of greeting his sister was to try to sneak up on her. Unfortunately for him, this usually failed due to her good sense of hearing.
“Stephen, if you’re gonna sneak up on me, get some new shoes. You’re still too loud,” Victoria said in monotone.
She could hear a soft growl behind her. This made her crack a small smile.
“This is the third time you’ve called me ‘Stephen!’”
Victoria jumped in surprise. The voice sounded nothing like her brother's. She quickly turned around. Sure enough, the person she saw now was not her brother. Instead, it was her friend, Tyler Duskglade. Like Victoria, he had white hair, but his eyes—which were now showing slight annoyance—were an amethyst purple. And unlike Victoria—who had a black wizard uniform with navy blue trims on her sleeves, hat, and shoes—his uniform was white with some purple trims.
“Oh,” she replied, “Hey Tyler.”
Her hand quickly stopped twirling the wand. She gently threw it up into the air. With a soft poof, it vanished. Tyler rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. The Ice girl was grinning in her head. She usually didn’t act so childish, but Tyler was an exception for her.
“Show off,” he whispered.
Victoria teasingly stuck her tongue out at him. Tyler looked at her from the corner of his eyes. His raised his eyebrows slightly.
“And immature.”
This time Victoria’s eyebrow twitched. She then gave him a cold stare with her bright emerald eyes. Tyler looked as though he was trying not to look away and shiver. He was a year older than her but they both knew that the ‘look’ was not good for anyone unfortunate to have it cast upon them. It didn't kill anyone, but it gave the impression that she wanted it to.
“H-hey, come on, calm down. We don’t want to make a scene here, Ed.”
Her cold stare was replaced by slight confusion.
“…Ed? Do I look like a guy to you!?”
Tyler seemed unaware of her newfound annoyance. In fact, it seemed like he was trying to conceal a smirk.
“Well, since you seem to like calling me ‘Stephen,’ I thought that it would be—well, fitting to give you a new name as well. Besides, consider it a compliment,” he said with an extremely cheesy smile on his face.
Victoria's face started to become red.
“You know that’s always an accident!” she argued. She noticed that she spoke louder than she intended and covered her mouth slightly. Some people looked up from their books for a few seconds before they resumed reading. She took a quick breath before she continued.
“Besides, how is that suppose to be a compliment?”
“Come on, you don’t see it? Giving people nicknames is a thing friends do all the time! It’s a tradition to do that.”
Victoria gritted her teeth together.
“And how did you come up with… Ed?” she asked hesitantly.
She knew that either way, the answer to a question like that would be an odd one. Especially if it was an answer from Tyler Duskglade.
“Think of it like this,” he answered cheerfully. “The initials for your name are V and D. Unfortunately, I can’t find a way to pronounced V.D. So I just made the V into E, since it’s the vowel that sounds similar to it. That’s how I came up with ‘Ed.’”
“… Why do I even bother asking sometimes?” Victoria sighed, placing her cold hand on her forehead.
“Hey, look on the bright side: Now you can call me ‘Stephen’ as much as you want!”
She glared at him again.
“I told you that I always do that on accident.”
By now, Victoria was rubbing her eyes in frustration.
“Sure, whatever you say, Ed,” Tyler chuckled.
Victoria rolled her eyes and stroked her hair. But a thought came to her head. She smiled and softly chuckle.
“What?” Tyler asked, his smirk fading from his face.
“You’re a year older than me,” she said, her small chuckle turning into a laugh, “yet you’re the one acting so immature. Heh, talk about the pot calling the kettle black.”
She had a hard time containing her laughter. The fact that she now saw Tyler’s eyebrow twitching did not help matters.
“Why you little--!”
But Victoria did not pay attention to what her friend had to say. At that moment, she suddenly felt her table move underneath her right hand, which was still placed on it. Slightly startled, she quickly turned her head around to see that some of her pieces of parchment had moved a few millimeters from their original positions. Her face looked calm, but in her mind, she had a million thoughts running through it. Most people—probably even wizards—wouldn’t see or feel any significant change, let alone get worried. But past experiences that ended or almost ended in disaster told her that she should be on guard.
“Did you notice that?” she asked Tyler, who was still ranting to her. She quickly looked around to see if she was wrong about nobody noticing the tremors.
“Um, no? Why..?” he asked.
Victoria didn’t look at his face, but from the all too familiar tone in his voice, she could tell that he was in between being confused and annoyed by her interruption. In fact, from what she could guess, he probably thought she was crazy.
“Tyler, I’m serious. Did you—”
Thud!
Victoria’s table jumped again and her papers and books shifted with it. This time, people seemed to notice it also, since not only did the rest of the tables make some kind of perceptible move, but some of the books on the shelves fell to the ground. One extremely thick volume even hit a short girl in the head. She could hear that people nearby either gasped or squealed in surprise. Then everything was still.
Victoria quickly stood up and looked at her friend, who seemed as shocked as everyone else.
“I really doubt that this is an earthquake,” Tyler said to her.
She looked at him with an I-Think-We-Already-Know-That look on her face. She opened her mouth to say something.
“Run!”
“Get out of the way!”
“AH!!”
Everyone, including Tyler and Victoria, turned to the front windows of the building. What they saw were many student wizards and civilians running towards the direction of Unicorn Way. The civilians and some of the wizard were panicking. A few brave wizards were firing attack spells in the opposite direction of where everyone else was running. Victoria thought she even saw a Sunbird carrying a child on its back while swiftly flying in the direction of the throng of people.
Many students in the library were starting to get terrified. They started whispering to each other, trying to figure out what was going on.
THUD!
This time some of the students yelled in shock when they fell onto the ground when the tremor came. Everyone seemed to know that whatever or whoever was causing the chaos was starting to get closer to the Library.
“I can’t take this anymore! I’m outta here!!”
Poof!
They looked to see that one of the wizards had teleported out of the building.
“I agree with her. We should leave!”
“Everyone! GET OUT!!”
Poof!
Poof! Poof! Poof! Poof!
Everyone else did the same until the only ones left were Victoria and Tyler. Victoria turned around to see that Tyler had a completely stunned look on his face.
“Tyler, we need to go,” she softly said.
He didn’t seem to notice his friend’s plea.
“Tyler? Hello? You there?”
THUD!!
More books and scrolls fell off their shelves while some tables jumped and fell violently to their sides. Victoria quickly glanced outside to see the street outside deserted.
"Hey! Come on!"
He still didn’t budge. As she tugged on one of his sleeves to get his attention, her anxiety seemed to grow.
“Tyler, let’s go!” she said while shaking his right arm.
But it was too late. Outside the tall windows of the library, Victoria saw that a giant figure with only one eye was peering into the Library. It wore a leather skirt and large brown sandals.
"Oh no. A Cyclops," Victoria whispered.
The Cyclops picked up a humungous stone hammer. It slowly raised the hammer above it's giant head. Victoria knew that it was about to swing—and that they were in the hammer’s path. Then the Cyclops roared angrily.
Victoria gasped as Tyler immediately pulled her towards him. He then held his left hand above their heads, and an Ice symbol was being traced in the air.
“Ice Armor.”
WHAM!!!
The stone hammer caused the walls in front of the duo to instantly crumble to the ground. Many of the bookcases were crushed by the rubble that fell on them, but it didn't seem to fall anywhere near the two wizards. When the hammer was about to him the two though, it crashed into an invisible barrier about their heads. But for some reason, the shield started to crack and soon it shattered from the blow. The remaining force of the hammer was strong enough to knock them down to the ground. Victoria was able to quickly get back up, but Tyler seemed to have the wind knocked out of him since it took him a second to recover.
The building was a mess. Most of what was in front of them was obscured by a cloud of dust, but they tell that nearly every section of the front of the Library was completely demolished.
"Too bad Ice Armor is only big enough to protect one or two people," Victoria said, trying not to breathe in the dirt.
She could hear Tyler coughing behind her.
“Get out of here. Now,” Tyler told her sternly between coughs.
Victoria turned around looked down on him, as though he said something insulting. Her emerald eyes seemed to shine with newfound anger and confusion.
“Are you crazy!? Not when you're like this,” she responded in an eerily quiet tone.
Victoria couldn't guess what Tyler was thinking since he kept coughing. Her expression softened when she held her hand out in front of him. When he stopped coughing, he grabbed it and was pulled up. When he let go, she held her right palm in the air. With another soft poof, the wand she had earlier instantly appeared in her hand.
"And besides, the Cyclops is over there," she said slowly, as though she was talking to a child.
Tyler glowered slightly at her, but nodded.
“HEY! No! Bad minion!”
They both turned around, surprised. They looked around the dust cloud to see where the voice came from. Victoria’s eyes grew wide when she looked towards the direction of the front of the building.
“Oh man! You gotta be kidding,” she groaned.
At first, the cloud of dust obscured their view. But after a couple of seconds, it finally started to settle. What they then saw in front of them was a Myth wizard, who was kicking the Cyclops’ large feet. The wizard seemed to be the same age as Tyler, but his appearance seemed to completely contrast from the male Thaumaturgist: He had black hair, very dark skin, and dark grey eyes, which now looked extremely furious. He was wearing black and red robes, shoes, and hat that looked like they were from Krokotopia. The wand in his hand had a golden cobra head on it.
Victoria let out a frustrated sigh, but Tyler seemed a little amused.
“Isn’t that your Myth friend, Michael Starstrider?”
She gave a curt nod.
“Why didn’t I guess that this had to do with him?” she whispered to herself.
The Cyclops, who seemed confused, stopped swinging his hammer. Instead, with its one eye, it was staring at Michael. It started scratching its head as though it was trying to figure out what was going on. But Michael seemed unaware of the minion’s pause. He continued to yell orders and kick the Cyclops’ feet.
“I don’t know. Maybe you don’t think too much,” Tyler chuckled.
Victoria’s expression showed nothing, but she quickly jabbed her elbow into his rib cage.
“Ack! Okay, maybe I went a little far with that,” he stated. He started to gingerly rub his ribs to get rid of the pain.
Victoria kept observing Michael, who started to look as though he wanted to tear the hair off of his head.
“Exactly how many times have Myth minions done this kind of damage now?” Victoria asked with slight curiosity.
“Depends. You only talking about the times this year alone?”
Again, Victoria sighed.
“Why do their minions always have to destroy at least one building..? I mean, it seems to happen almost every year here,” she whispered to herself.
What Victoria said was true. During the early months of autumn, when students were learning a new spell from their school of choice, many Conjurers were learning how to summon a new Minion for themselves. Usually, most of the students were able to control them. But some of them—usually the less talented students—would sometimes lose their ability to command them and the Minions would run amok in the city. People usually feared the times when Journeyman ranked Conjurers learned how to summon a Cyclops, since they were big enough to destroy buildings with their large hammers, just like the Cyclops in front of them did with the library.
“I know what you mean,” Tyler responded.
Victoria raised a white eyebrow at him.
“Where is this going?”
She didn’t need to ask the question to know what he was talking about. But it stilled worried her a little.
“Well, it seems that most of the damage done here that is not caused by rogue monsters is either because of Myth people’s minions or a Storm spell gone wrong. Since Starstrider there is obviously not Storm, it’s his minion’s fault.”
Victoria softly gulped.
Please don’t say it Tyler, she thought to herself, wincing.
“In fact, this is why I hate Myth! The teachers—well, mainly Professor Drake—never seem to care if they teach inexperienced students how to summon minions. Especially someone like Michael Starstrider. I mean, come on! We both know that he’s not exactly the brightest torch around here. Actually, now that I think about it, I don’t understand how he even got into Ravenwood—”
As he was speaking, his voice got noticeably louder with each word, which caused Victoria’s eyes to grow wider every second out of utter shock. She soon started glancing back and forth between outside and her friend, who, at this point, was basically yelling his frustration out to himself. Quietly, she started to slowly back away from him while trying not to trip on any rubble that was near her feet. When she felt that she was far enough, she teleported away with a soft poof!
“—even though he can’t even seem to cast a simple Pixie spell properly! What is up with that!? Novices seem to do a better job at it than him! If you ask me, he should’ve been Storm. He’d fit in since he seems to fizzle so much. Not to mention he’s just as…”
Tyler froze in mid sentence when he started to notice how silence it was around him. It soon caught his attention that he was alone when he looked behind himself to see that Victoria had disappeared.
Tap.
“Oh there you are Vi—”
He turned around, but instantly froze again. It wasn’t his friend he saw. Instead, it was Michael. And he didn’t seem too happy.
“Eh, um… Hey, what’s up?” Tyler said faintly and gulped.
Michael stayed silent while giving Tyler a chilling death glare. For a second, Tyler wondered if it was scarier than the one Victoria gave him half the time.
“You know, if you ask me,” Michael whispered in a cold mocking way, “you should be in Storm. You’d fit right in.”
Michael crossed his arms and silently looked at Tyler with the same chilling stare from before. Then Tyler looked behind Michael and noticed that the Cyclops minion was right behind the Myth wizard, staring at him with its one eye. Tyler thought that it seemed as mad as it’s master.
“Um…”
“Minion…”
The Cyclops gave its full attention to its master in front of him now.
“Do what you wish with him,” Michael quietly said.
Yellow and blue light enveloped him as he teleported away. When he was gone, the light quickly faded. Only a few seconds later, the minion picked up the giant stone hammer and prepared to swing again.
“Oh geez.”
|
The Loose Dragon
It all started one time when I was having a strange dream. ”Noooooo… Let the dragon ruin Wizard City!” a strange, but whispery voice said. “Heed my words, Alkon, let it freeeeeeee!”. Then I woke up and I heard my friend, Dakota, say, “Hey, Wolf! Did you have this weird dream about this guy who wanted a dragon free to ruin Wizard City? Don’t tell me you did!”. “Yeah, I sure did! Why, it was only a dream. It can’t be real. I-It’s only a dream.”. “I wonder…” said Dakota. We are both Balance students at Ravenwood Wizardry School. But one thing--our school is in a different world on the Spiral, a world by the name of Krokotopia.
When Dakota and I were over visiting Krokotopia for a lesson, we heard this loud, high-pitch, screeching noise. “Isn’t that the same dragon in the dream!?!” Dakota shouted. “I sure hope not.” said a voice behind us. It was Alhazred, the Balance professor. “That dragon is in many Krokotopian legends. It’s the Hydra, the three-headed dragon. It is a powerful and destructive monster, it is. It’s power is even capable of destroying a whole entire world on the Spiral!”. “So that is what the dragon was in the dream!”, I thought. ”Alhazred, Wolf and I had a weird dream about a guy summoning a dragon supposedly the Hydra. The guy sent it to go and destroy Wizard City. Is that a sign?” Dakota asked. “I do not know, young Dakota, but that might be. I am going to give you two my favorite card, Locust Swarm, just in case the Hydra comes to Wizard City,“ said Alhazred, “and so with that I will go inform the Krokotopians whom guard inside the pyramid, to go with you on your journey to defeat the Hydra.”
“Time to get up, Dakota, Wolf, and Krokotopians. We need to leave fast!” Alhazred said. “Awwwwwwwwww… why right now, I was about to beat the Lava Colossus…” Dakota said sleepily. He was probably having another weird dream about a monster attacking him, like he usually does. I, on the other hand, was ‘up and at em’ for battling the Hydra. We had pancakes for breakfast. During breakfast, a Krokotopian and I had a nice conversation. “What school were you in when you were my age” I said to the Krokotopian. “Well, I was in the Balance school, like my other fellow Krokotopians. What school are you and Dakota in?” he asked. “Well, me and Dakota are both in the Balance school. We really like it. Professor Alhazred is really nice.” I told him. When we were finished eating, Dakota and I were really hoping the Hydra did not already destroy Wizard City. When we got there, someone told me that a three-headed dragon destroyed Triton Avenue, and it was now headed for Colossus Boulevard. “Lets start heading for Colossus Boulevard! Quickly! We have to make it before the Hydra does!” I shouted.
When we got there, we saw a shadowy creature controlling the Hydra. I guess he heard Dakota trip over a rock, since he had turned around right when Dakota fell. “Whaaaaaaaaat do you think you are dooooing!! Hydra! Attack them!” the shadowy figure commanded the three-headed dragon. Right when I thought I was done for, I summoned a monster, not knowing what it was, and with my luck, it was the Locust Swarm. Dakota then used his Locust Swarm, too. “Nooooooooo!! How could you defeat it!?!” said the shadowy figure. “Now, it’s your fault the dragon destroyed Triton Avenue! Go restore it! Now!” said a Krokotopian.
Well after that, we finally found out who that guy was. He was one of the old Death Professor’s, Malistare, servants. Well ever since then, Triton Avenue has been restored and Wizard City, and all of the other worlds on the Spiral are safe.
THE END
|
Krokotrouble
It all started when Fallon DarkFlame was walking through the doors of Krokotopia. She saw that nothing in the world can beat what she saw. She saw birds flying at tall heights and sand covering the ground before her feet. Of course this was the first time she had ever seen this place..... continueing the fact that she hadn't seen ANY world like this. She felt the feeling that she had been being watched over the time. She continued on watching the remarkable stance of a beautiful bird with lightly colored feathers. She continued onward. As if anything COULD have been watching her, she turned around every 5 seconds and checked if anything was there. Behind her was a dark shadow following her as she moved. "Gosh, I like this place but it seems a bit creepy" said Fallon, "Maybe I should turn around...". She listened closely as she walked further for any interuptions. She heard light footsteps walking behind her. She turned around and there it was. A deep, dark, mysterious, sand monster maybe 56 feet in height. She gasped. "Ohhhh my!" she remarked. The giant monster pounded the ground as it walked with a face that seemed to grusome to look at. It moaned so loud that Fallon's ears almost came off. Fallon ran but the monster followed. She wanted the monster not to pursue her but it is made out of sand and sand cannot get tired. She thought as she ran. She thought about what destroys sand. Maybe one of her spells would do the trick but that will take a bit to long.She thought harder. Yes! Water always destroys sand! She remembers from one vacation that she took to the south of krokotopia. She built a sand-castle there once but the next day it got destroyed from the water near the shore. She remembered never to build a sand-castle so close to the water.
She wondered where she could get some water. She saw some at the river near the krokosphinx. She ran as fast as she could to get to the river. The monster pursued her shaking the ground so fierce that it made Fallon jump as she ran. Finally she got to the mouth of the river. She teased the monster so that the monster would get angry and gain at her trail faster. She made sure that the monster would get an angle at the river so that it would come into the river. The monster roared as he came straight up to Fallon. Fallon waved goodbye to the monster as he sunk to the bottom of the river groaning as if it wished this day had never come. Fallon panted so hard that she fell to the ground. She looked at the sky and closed her eyes. Suddenly, 3 seconds later she heard an old voice saying "howdy". Fallon sighed and wondered whats gonna happen next, a giant cow is gonna trample over krokotopia and she is the only person to save the world? She looked up There standing right before her eyes was an old krokodile wearing loose clothing and a crown the size of her head. "Sorry, I couldn't help but notice how you defeated that sand monster all by yourself." said the krokodile. "Oops, my oppologies. I forgot to introduse myself. My name is Vladamire, king of all krokotopia.". Fallon wondered what Vladamire was getting with the conversation. "Hi, my name is Fallon, Fallon darkflame." she said absent-mindedly.
"Here, now that we are all aquianted, lets go to my castle and fix up those wounds you have." said Vladamire.
As they walked into the sphinx, Vladamire pointed out some ancient vases and sculptures. Finally, they got to Vladamire's thrown. Vladamire sat down and clapped and yelled "Get this girl a dinesty chair!!!". Two strong krokodile henchmen carried a lovely anthame studed chair. Fallon said thank you and sat in the chair. "So, what would you like darling? Some herble krokodilian tea?" said Vladamire. Fallon said "Hmmmm... sounds nice. I'll have that!". "Oh and do you guys also have donuts?". "Do-what?" said Vladamire. "Nevermind" said Fallon in shame.
Vladamire yelled "Herble kroko tea for the girl!" and the henchmen carried fine tea served on an aberinthiny cup.
Fallon said thank you and took a drink out of the cup. "As you should know, there are some technical issues facing krokotopia." said Vladamire. "What kind out issues?" asked Fallon. "Well krokodilian issues." said Vladamire. "Some of my henchmen are out of control and are being controled with some kind of spirit. All that are left are Clinka and Shruba, my two best krokodilian henchmen.". "Hmmmm.... I'll be on my gaurd for anything suspicious, your highness." said fallon then winked and walked out of the sphinx with dignity and pride.
When Fallon got out of the door, she could smell salt water and could hear many near by wizards talking of some trouble in the temple. Fallon thought to herself, "Trouble? I wonder what kind of trouble. Maybe I should go check it out. Then again, I just got finished defeating a sand monster. Maybe that's enough for one day" so she went through the spiral into her dorm and slept for the rest of that day.
When Fallon awoke, She started thinking about what could be causing trouble in the temple. She had enough energy now, so she went off into krokotopia and into the temple. As she was walking, she noticed the fine decor and... the giant hole in a wall? She thought, "what could have caused such a thing? Maybe that's where the trouble was coming from." She ventured into to cave and saw wizards fighting off krokodiles. "Those must be the posessed henchmen Vladamire was talking about. But...why are those wizards fighting them? They should be helping them..." but suddenly Fallon came across one of the henchmen. He seemed much taller than those other henchmen. Made him seem more...scarier. The krokodile roared and said "Must stop...curse...must stop......" Then mumbled something else but Fallon couldn't understand what he said.
|
How it All Started
It was another boring day for me.School sucks 'cause everyone,and I mean EVERYONE,think I'm a raving lunatic that can't control things from dying.Some (stupid) boys say it's because I reek,but they should watch who's talking.Same thing for my cuz,although the weird things SHE makes are the opposite of mine.Instead of turning jerks into skeletons(I didn't mean to, but I'm glad I did), one time she turned the teacher's desk into a living,walking,TREE!!!It freaked everybody out, but it just walked outside,dug a hole in the ground,and turned into a normal tree.We are DEFINATLY the least popular kids in the entire school, but the most frequently talked about.When we came home that day my mom said we had mail.Mail?We went and took out what looked like midevilish paper,and read it(to ourselves).
Dear Ms. Lionheart.
We looked through a looking glass and found you and your cousin, Jessica Lionheart.We think you have the makings of great,powerful,witches.We will send three dragons to your house at 12:00 sharp.Five other girls will be there,also going to Wizard City,which,if you accept,you and your cousin will be going to and learning Spells of all kinds at the Ravenwood School of Magical Arts.
--Merle Ambrose,Ravenwood Headmaster.
My hands froze and I nearly dropped the letter.Ravenwood?Witches?Dragons?Spells?I told my mom,and she acted like it was perfectly normal."So are you accepting, Sweetie?" "Mom,dragons!?!?WHAT is this crazy man talking about!?!?" "Why,the the Ravenwood School of Magical arts of course!" She explained that our family has been a huge generation of Wizards and Witches, primarily something she called "Necromancers",and it was about time Jessie and I started learning some spells.
At 11:45, Jessie and I had packed. . . .which wasn't saying much.All we packed were some normal clothes for outside of school,and 100 pieces of gold and 10 crowns(The only currency they accept there)to spend on wands,decks(she didn't explain what the decks were for),pets,and even MORE clothes! Like the letter said,at 12:00 three dragons and five other girls were there. "By sweetie!" yelled mom."Bye!"
A couple hours later,we were in a tower with a man and an owl."Welcome dears!" he said."I am Merle Ambrose,and this is my owl Gamma." "Hullooo!" said the owl,which freaked some of us out."Now I suppose you should make some interductions." "Hi! I'm Jessica Lionheart! You can call me Jessie." "Erm,hi,Jessie,I'm Kelsey Dawnsmith, and this is my--" "I CAN MAKE MY OWN INTERDUCTION THANK YOU VERY MUCH!" interupted a girl with blue hair."Hi. I'm Sydney Dawnsmith." "Oh. . . .kay. . ." said a girl that nobody had noticed.She had blue hair too. "I'm Diana Sungem.Apparently I'm the only one without siblings." "I don't!" said yet another girl with blue hair.is it like the fad here?Well, I'm kinda used to it by now.Jessie's had green hair since I met her."I'm Sarah" "Hey, I'm Brooke Rubyflame." "And last but not least," I said,"I'm Ashley Lionheart.Jessie is my cousin.And so began the journey of seven Witches. . .which continues in The Story of Seven Witches.
|
The Old Souls
No one knew who she was. Her perfect imperfections glistened below a veil of blankness, and her color of honey and milk skin shimmered in the light that seemed to radiate from her very core. Her name she thought to be Ginelle, but she didn’t doubt that she was most likely incorrect. In the pale moonlight, she stood facing out over the wreckage of the used to be battle field. There were others like her, doing the same thing: examining the destruction that spread like wild fire from a central point in a very distant place.
Slowly, she felt herself dimming into a pale shade of green, she felt herself draining, she felt herself dying. All the others, the beautiful girls and hansom boys that glowed pearly white, were experiencing a similar phenomenon, all of them fading. All the rest, though, were turning slightly different colors. One boy dimmed slightly and then started turning grey, another boy started dimming into an icy blue. Yet another started fading into a red-brown color and the one nearest him started shining slightly yellow. Of the girls, there were two others besides Ginelle, one started glowing red and the other purple.
The Old Souls of Magic all looked at each other with a vague gleam of pain in their eyes. They had already seen so much destruction and now they were going to be born again to bare witness to the next major Magical disaster.
Dying, she thought as the color she was turning intensified until she turned into a silhouette of solid green against the dark sky. Each of the others did the same.
The last thing she did was whisper an almost silent goodbye to Noah, the boy that now looked like a black skull against the deepening dark of the midnight sky.
“Farewell, Ginelle,” his soft as feathers voice seemed to float towards her as if on a gentle, uplifting breeze.
“Journey safely, Noah,” the fluidity and musicality of her voice was ruined only by the twinge of absolute sadness, “I will wait for you forev—”
As if blown by the wind a little too hard, all of the Old Souls blew out and died. The last thing to fade was a large symbol from where each of them were standing. A green leaf for Ginelle, a red flame for Ryan, a purple storm cloud for Jasmine, a black and grey skull for Noah, a ice blue snowflake for Kane, a yellow pyramid for Nathan and a red-brown scale for Richard.
The last of the symbols to fade was Ginelle and Noah’s, one symbolized life and the other symbolized death. It was perfect because while the Old Souls would never really die, they would also never really live. At least not until they finally fulfilled their destiny.
|
The Prophecy Of Fire
And Storm
One day in Wizard City Nathan GriffinRider and Blaine ThunderCaster were exploring Wizard City when Merle Ambrose said through their wands “I found something you boys might like to see” so Nathan and Blaine teleported to the commons and entered Merle Ambrose’s house. Nathan and Blaine walked up to Merle and he said “Follow me” the boys were confused but they were also excited about what Merle might want to show them. The boys followed Merle into the Haunted Cave when suddenly the boys asked Merle what they where they were going. The only thing Merle did was put a finger up to his lips. Merle and the two boys followed Merle to Stormdrain tower when Merle said “Okay boys as you both know you Nathan are a master Pyromancer and you Blaine are a master Diviner” the boys said “Yes we know” Merle was about to say something else when Nathan asked “What does that have to do with this?” “Well I’ll show you” and Merle grabbed the boys and jumped off the edge behind Stormdrain tower in Mid-air Merle said “Not to worry boys” and Merle summoned the storm lord to catch them “Thanks” the boys said to Merle and the Storm lord. The storm lord disappeared and Merle and the boys found themselves under Wizard City when the boys saw drawings of themselves on the wall dueling some sort of dark spirit. Merle said “This is the prophecy of Fire and Storm”. Before the boys could say anything Merle said you boys are destined to defeat the dark spirit that posses Malistaire. “You see” said Merle “Millions of years ago our wizarding ancestors battled a dark foe called Milvia and defeated him but alas, or ancestors did not defeat him fully”. “Milvia’s dark spirit roamed the spiral causing plague and fatigue wherever his spirit roamed, but two powerful Fire and Storm wizards named Gilroy GriffinRider and Blake ThunderCaster shut away Milvia’s soul until Malistaire was born”. As soon as Malistaire was born Milvia’s spirit broke free of Gilroy’s and Blake’s magical barriers.” “Milvia’s spirit dropped a little piece of it into Malistaire but the piece of spirit didn’t work until Malistaire was full with rage after his wife Sylvia died” “How I know all this you may wonder well, let’s just say Bartleby knows a lot of things”. “Since you boys are the descendants of the two wizards that trapped Milvia’s spirit you boys are destined to defeat his spirit once and for all”. Merle said “But how are we to find and defeat such a powerful foe?” Blaine asked “Take these spell cards” Merle handed Blaine all the spells in his school including the Triton and storm lord spells and he handed Nathan all the spells in his school including the fire dragon. “Well, be off!” and he teleported the boys to a dark death cloud” Ha ha ha!” exclaimed the dark death cloud. “Milvia!” the boys said. “Yes you fools” said Milvia “Now prepare to be defeated!” said Milvia. “Never!” the boys said while rushing to the dueling circle that magically appeared. First Nathan got a power pip and used a major fireball while Blaine got a power pip and put a storm trap on Milvia. Milvia passed for that turn. For some reason both of the boys got unlimited power pips so puzzled, Nathan use the fire dragon and Blaine used the storm lord. Another strange thing that was happening was that Milvia kept losing all of his pips. Next turn right before Nathan was going to use the Helephant and Blaine was going to use the triton spell Sylvia appeared in spirit form and weakened Milvia so the boys could defeat Milvia which they did. After the duel Malistaire appeared and said “Why, hello there boys thank you for getting Milvia out of me” After Malistaire was done speaking Sylvia explained that she was the one that kept getting rid of Milvia’s pips and that she was the one that kept giving them all the power pips. After all the excitement was finished the boys teleported to the commons to find a party for turning Malistaire good and for defeating Milvia once and for all.
|
The Tale of Alexandra Stormrider
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
My legs swung against the wall. A brick wall, old and mossy and crumbling away, but strong enough for me to sit on it. Me, that is. No one else ever sits on it. I sighed and rolled up the sleeves of my sweater. A habit of mine, you might say.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
I stared over the muddy grass towards the strangely out-of-place concrete area that had seemingly been placed in the middle of a field for no apparent reason. A scrawny kid with dark hair was messing about on a skateboard – my brother, Nathaniel. He swerved and nearly lost his balance, then regained it and rolled back across the concrete.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
I threw my head back and stared at the sky. Maybe it was just me but, for that moment, it seemed to darken and the clouds seemed to get heavier. Odd, really. Then again, odd things in my life are surprisingly normal. Like that time that cloud seemed to follow this one kid in my old school and kept raining and raining and raining... the day after he kicked me. And when I slapped that girl and her hair stood on end. Perhaps the little things – giving people electric shocks whenever they touch me, thunderstorms peculiarly breaking out when I got angry. You could call me weird... Or at least the things that happen to me.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
I ran my hand through my hair. It was getting dark. Nat and I had promised our mom to be back soon. Nat was still swerving from side to side on his skateboard. Other than that, the place was really quiet.
Not so long ago, this place had been the busiest park in town. Families came here every day. Kids ran wild. It was always noisy – everyone came after class – almost every day. People were planning to add a climbing frame and some swings. It was green and the flowers and trees flourished.
Then everything changed. Overnight, almost. A girl went missing here. She was in my class. She was my friend. Everyone’s friend, really. She was popular – really social, and bubbly. Autumn, her name was. It was only a few months ago. It happened one night after school. She was walking home – and that was the last thing she said to anyone. No one saw her after she walked through the gates into this place. She had been kidnapped. At least, that was what everyone thought. And still thinks, I guess. But that’s not really relevant, now.
The flowers wilted and trees hung there, dead. No one came here anymore. Just me and Nat, on occasion. No plans to build swings and climbing frames. No noise. Nothing.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
“Nat!” I yelled. “Time to go, midge.”
He glared at me. “Don’t call me that!” He huffily jumped off his skateboard, picked it up under one arm, and reluctantly strolled over to my spot on the wall.
I jumped off the wall and slung my schoolbag, lying on the floor, over my shoulder. “Got your stuff?”
He nodded and grunted. I’d learnt boy-language. That meant yes.
We started to walk across the field to the gate. Every step we took made an odd squelching sound. It had rained last night. It had rained a lot. There was more forecast for today. I could already see clouds darkening the horizon if I looked up.
“Looks like rain,” I muttered.
Nat looked up and squinted. “I can’t see anything.”
“Go figure.” I elbowed him. “Clouds, Nat. Over there.” I pointed.
“You are so annoying!” he whined. “There’s nothing there.”
I sighed, exasperated. Could he really not see them? He was still staring around.
“An owl!”
“Sure, Nat. Like I’m gonna fall for that.”
“There is!”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah! How many times do I have to tell you?”
He sounded genuine. I looked where he was gesturing wildly.
Sure enough, there was a snowy owl.
Weird.
“Great, Nat.” I said. “An owl. Now let’s go home.”
“I want to go and see it!”
“Mom said we had to get home…”
“Stop treating me like a two-year-old! We will get home on time. We can be quick. Let’s go!” He broke into a run. Sighing, I followed him.
“Hey little owl dude,” Nat soothed.
“Why are you talking to it?” I said, puzzled. “It is an owl. It cannot talk.”
“So? Why can’t I talk to an owl?”
“It can’t answer you!”
“Can we keep it?”
“How is that relevant?” I almost yelled in frustration.
“It’s cool!”
“You don’t just randomly pick up owls from a park and take them home!”
“Yeah you do!”
“Nat! Get real!”
“Excu-u-u-use me!”
We both stopped bickering only to silently turn towards the owl in shock.
“Owls can’t talk…” I said faintly.
Nathaniel gave me a smug smile. Since when did he think owls could talk?
“Now yo-oo-oo -ou have stopped argu-u-uing,” the owl hooted, ruffling its wings haughtily, “I can introdu-u-uce myself. I am Gamma the Owl.”
“Go figure,” I muttered under my breath. Gamma the Owl gave me a stern look.
“I am Headmaster Ambrose’s pet.” Another smug glance from Nat. “I don’t doubt you will want to meet him, now you have been accepted.” This time Nat was looking puzzled. Then again, so was I. Owls do not speak!
“Okay, Nat…” I began. “Let’s go…” I felt a bit uncomfortable and it was getting really dark.
“No way!” he cried. “It’s a talking owl!” He had a point. But surely there was some logical explanation for this…
“Animatronics!” I concluded. “It’s a robot, Nat, with speakers and stuff. It isn’t real.” Nat opened his mouth to say something, but he was interrupted.
“What are these animal-chronics you speak of?”
Huh. It had heard me. Then it hit me – of course it had. There was someone controlling it. I couldn’t believe it had taken me so long to figure out.
“Yeah, what are they?” asked Nat.
“Robots, kind of. Like I said. You get them in theme parks all the time.”
“Yeah right.”
“Look,” I said, exasperated. “I’m going. If you want to stay here and stare at some dumb robot bird, fine. But I’m not.” I began to turn away.
“Hold it, young wizard!” Gamma the Owl again. No… not an owl, a robot. I started to walk away. A robot telling me what to do? Weird. Hold it, young… Wait… Wizard?!
I turned around. “Wizard?” I said. Then I realized I was talking to the owl again – no, a robot – and directed the question to Nat. “Wizard?”
“Wizard, indeed!” huffed Gamma the animatronics owl. “Headmaster Ambrose wishes to meet the two-oo-oo latest enrollments to the Ravenwood School of Magical Arts!”
Headmaster Ambrose? Ravenwood? Magical Arts?
“Whoa,” I said. “Hold it. Say that again.” I’d forgotten it was an owl – an animatronics owl – that I was talking too and was now listening with fascination.
“Honestly, young wizard. Ho-o-o-ow many times do-o-o-o I have to-o-o tell yo-oo-oo-ou?” He sighed.
Strange, really, how I had gone from calling Gamma an ‘it’ to a ‘he’.
“Headmaster Ambrose has accepted yo-oo-oo-ou at Ravenwood School! Are you not proud?”
“Ravenwood? What is Ravenwood?”
“Only the most successful scho-oo-ool of magic in the Spiral! What do they teach yo-oo-oo-ou these days?”
“Math, English, you know. The usual.”
“My my, yo-oo-oo-ou have a lot to learn, wizards! Come! Take my wing and teleport with me.”
Teleporting? Okay, that was too much. There was no way this was gonna happen. It had been a good act up till then but this was ridiculous. Nat, however, took the owl’s wing.
“Nat!” I cried. “What are you doing?”
“I want to go!” he replied.
“You don’t think this is real, do you?”
“Yes! I do!”
I thought it over for a second. Surely, if it were true, it would be fantastic. And if not, well, what harm could come of it? I was already imagining a huge, towering castle of a school – like Hogwarts – and wands, and magic, and spells…
“Quickly, young wizard!” A wind was forming around Gamma and Nat. They seemed to be fading away.
It was now or never.
I grabbed onto Gamma’s outstretched wing.
I felt an incredible rushing sensation like I had stuck my head out of the window of a speeding car. It was absolutely exhilarating. There was a swirling vortex of lights and colors in front of my eyes and I seemed to be seeing several scenes at once, but they were all constantly changing, giving me an overwhelming sense of dizziness.
Then everything went black. I landed unsteadily and fell against a wall. With one hand steadying myself, I tried to stand up straight. I opened my eyes. The room seemed to swim before me, giving the impression that books were flying around the room and rearranging themselves. I blinked. It was still doing it. I blinked once more and rubbed my eyes… And still. Surely this couldn’t be possible!
“That was totally wicked!” someone yelled. I looked in their direction, still dazed. Nat. My little brother. I felt another surge of giddiness.
“Can I do it again?” he asked. “Please? That was so cool!”
“In time, young wizard,” hooted Gamma the real owl. This wasn’t animatronics. It couldn’t be. But it couldn’t be real either. It had to be a dream. I might as well enjoy it.
“So,” I said. “Do we finally get to meet Professor Ambrose now?”
“You certainly do,” said a voice from behind me. I whipped around, and there was an old man in navy robes with golden stars glinting at me. I was stunned.
“Are you a wizard?” Nat exploded. He didn’t bother to wait for an answer. “That’s so cool! Do we get robes like that? They’re wicked. And do we have houses here, like in Hogwarts? Because they have Gryffindor and Slytherin and Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw and they’re all so cool and do we have different lessons? Like potions and stuff? That would be totally great!”
Ambrose stared at him blankly. “Hop warts? Where in the Spiral is that? And what are these ‘houses’? Do you mean student dorms?”
“Ignore him,” I said dismissively. “This is all stuff from a book.”
“Really?” said Ambrose incredulously.
“Yes, funnily enough.”
“Well, well, well. If you like reading, I could show you to the library…”
“Yes please!”
“Well, you will see on your tour of Wizard City. But that will come later. First, we must consult the Book of Secrets.”
The Book of Secrets? Could this really be real? Of course not. A dream, I kept telling myself. It’s a dream. Make the most of it. You’ll wake up soon.
“Wicked!” yelled Nat. I turned to him, eyebrows raised, all ready to try and think of a really sarcastic and witty comment. Then I saw what he was looking at.
With a lazy wave of his wand, Ambrose had sent a book flying across the room to land on his desk with a heavy thud. It was huge, bigger than any book I’d ever seen before – and believe me; I’ve seen a lot of books – yet it seemed to glow, almost with a golden light that seemed to radiate from its pages like a warm fire.
“Nathaniel,” beckoned Ambrose. I’ll never know how he knew Nat’s name, but at the time I was too transfixed by the huge book to think about that. There was something, at the time, I’d thought, magical about it. Looking back, that sounds ridiculous. Something magical, in Wizard City… Don’t laugh.
Nat had followed Ambrose’s direction and was standing in front of the book, gazing at it with the same rapture that I had. Then Ambrose opened the heavy cover of the book. The inside was just as fascinating as the outside. I leant in to make out the words written at the top of the page – “When you…” I squinted. The writing had been hand-written in an elegant and elaborate style, and the words were hard to distinguish.
“What’s this?” said Nat, blinking. “A quiz or something? I thought a ‘Book of Secrets’ would reveal secrets, not ask questions!”
Ambrose and Gamma exchanged a look that clearly showed barely suppressed amusement. Gamma turned to Nat. “Ah, but it indeed does, young wizard.”
“Oh yeah?” I challenged. “Since when did a quiz reveal secrets?”
“You will find out, young wizard.” Ambrose smiled.
“Can you stop saying that ‘young wizard’ thing?”
“Why, yes – once your names are revealed.”
I almost yelled in frustration. They still hadn’t answered my original question.
“Nathaniel, answer the questions.” encouraged Gamma.
“You know our names! You said our names hadn’t been revealed! What are you talking about?”
“That will come later, young wizard.”
I felt like yelling again.
“Err… quick question…” interjected Nat. “How do I answer the questions? Do I just say it?”
“Of course, I forgot to give you a quill!” exclaimed Ambrose. “My apologies.” He handed a quill and a bottle of ink to my younger brother, who spent barely a split second staring at it in shock before unscrewing the lid of the ink bottle and beginning to scribble in the book.
“Aah…” Ambrose said when he had finished. He muttered some indistinguishable words under his breath and waved a hand over the book mysteriously. All the writing on the page dissolved into nothing.
“What happened?” cried Nat, horrified. His expression of confusion was soon replaced by one of pleasant surprise when a few words appeared on the page.
Nathaniel
Ironheart
Enrolled at the
Ravenwood School of Magical Arts on
1st January, 365 WCE
As a student of
Necromancy
or
DEATH
“Wow,” gasped Nathaniel. “That’s totally cool!”
“What does ‘WCE’ mean?” I asked.
“Wizard City Era,” explained Ambrose. “The era began with the creation of the distinguished worlds of the Spiral, referred to as Wizard City Era because that is where it all started, of course.”
Wizard City? The worlds of the Spiral? Most of Ambrose’s speech had gone over my head. As for Nat, it looked like it had gone in one ear and subsequently out of the other.
“Ah, yes,” said Ambrose. He tapped the page and it fell into his hands. He held it out to Nat. “Your certificate of enrollment, Nathaniel… Nathaniel Ironheart.”
I don’t know exactly when I realized this, but by that time I had completely disregarded my former doubts about the unusual scenario. It all seemed so vivid. Dreams weren’t like this. At least, mine weren’t. They were quite depressing actually. None had ever been as pleasant as this.
Was it real?
A small flutter of hope stirred my stomach.
“And now, Alexandra,” Gamma hooted cheerfully. “You must find out your name and school of magic!”
“Hold on,” I said. “Before… Before I take this… quiz thing, tell me exactly what magic schools are. I thought this Ravenwood place was one school, not… how many are there?”
“Seven,” replied Ambrose. “There are seven schools of magic.”
“So… they’re all different?”
“Yes. Each has different skills to teach their students and different traits and talents their pupils must have.”
I thought about that. “Which is why we have to do a quiz,” I concluded.
“Exactly, young wizard. Now, these schools have strengths and weaknesses – some general, some to other schools. The schools of fire and ice have weaknesses in each other, as do storm and myth, and life and death.”
“The school that Nat’s in,” I said, thinking out loud. Then I realized something. “Hold on.”
“What, young wizard?”
“That only makes six. You said there were seven schools. Fire, ice, storm, myth, life, and death… So what’s the other one?”
Ambrose smiled. “You are a quick one. The seventh school is the school of Balance.”
“Right. So, how does this all work? There are seven completely different schools?”
“Not quite. There are two groups – the elemental schools: fire, ice, and storm – and the spiritual schools: life, death, and myth. You will learn more about this when you begin your classes.” Ambrose seemed to be getting impatient.
“You left out balance. Let me guess – spiritual?”
“No. Balance is a – well, a mixture is what I’d suppose you would call it – of the other schools. Now, it is time for us to consult the book of secrets.”
He turned to the book again. The first question had reappeared on the page. Ambrose handed me the quill and I began to write.
I had barely set the quill beside the book, on the desk, when the writing melted away again. Within a split second it had reformed, this time bearing the words:
Alexandra
Stormrider
Enrolled at the
Ravenwood School of Magical Arts on
1st January, 365 WCE
As a student of
Divination
or
STORM
I felt a grin spread slowly across my face. Storm. All the things that had happened to me made perfect sense. It was the most amazing feeling of rightness. If that’s even a word.
Gamma had picked up the certificate with his feet and dropped it into my hands as he flew overhead. I almost laughed. Not so long ago, I had believed he was a robot. It sounded ridiculous.
“So,” said Ambrose. “Now you’re both enrolled, I think you need spell books. Gamma – can you bring two spell books, please.”
“Immediately, Headmaster,” Gamma hooted and flew off. He somehow managed to retrieve two, dusty books from a shelf and fly back across the room with them clutched in his claws.
“Excellent, Gamma.” Ambrose took the books from his pet owl and held them out to us. “Do take these.”
“Thanks,” I hastened to reply.
“You’re welcome, young wizards.”
I briefly thought he had said that once our names had been revealed he’d stopped saying that. But by that time I had forgotten to care about it.
“And you will need backpacks,” Ambrose said – more to himself than anyone else – before seemingly plucking two small backpacks out of mid-air.
“Thanks,” I repeated, though privately I thought they were way too small to fit even the spell books in. As though reading my mind, Ambrose smiled.
“They are enlarged. Magically. Try putting in your spell books.”
Nat and I did so, and the spell books slotted in while we exclaimed in delight and surprise.
“I suppose,” said Ambrose, “we’ll have to get you some robes. If you would wait one moment.” Ambrose closed his eyes as though he was concentrating hard. Then he opened them, looking relieved.
“Mr Darkwood should be arriving shortly.” he said. As if on cue, there was a knock on a door which I was surprised to see I hadn’t noticed before.
“Come in,” commanded Ambrose. A large man walked in with a bundle under his arm.
“I brought the robes,” said the large man.
“Excellent, Victor.” Ambrose turned to Nathaniel and me. “Would you like to try on your new robes?”
Nat jumped at the chance. “Yes yes yes yes yes!”
I grinned and nodded.
“What color, kid?” Victor asked Nat, who looked at Ambrose for help.
Ambrose smiled. “You are a necromancer, Nathaniel, and the death school colors are mainly black and white. Some students prefer to wear red, but of course, it’s up to you. Any color is acceptable.”
“Black and white it is, then.” Victor Darkwood handed Nat a package wrapped in brown paper. Ambrose waved his staff and Nat’s jeans and baggy T-shirt were replaced by a black set of robes, shoes, and hat with a cool white trim.
“Cool!” exclaimed Nat.
“What about the storm school?” I cut in. “What do…” I struggled to recall what the storm students were known as. “…diviners wear?”
“Well,” Ambrose began. “You wear the same type of clothing. These robes act as a type of school uniform. You will wear them during classes you take in Ravenwood. You may collect other types of clothing from all over the Spiral that you may wear doing quests or at your leisure, but whilst you attend lessons this is what you are to wear.”
“Cool. But I meant what colors?”
“For diviners, usually purple and yellow… sometimes green… But as I said, any color is acceptable.”
“Purple? Green?”
“Yes, young wizard. You would like that?”
I was handed a similar package and with another wave of Ambrose’s staff, I was in the clothes I had requested. They felt cool and light and really comfortable, as though they were made for me.
“They’re great!” I cried. I felt like copying my little brother and running and jumping around in small circles, but I wanted to retain my dignity.
“You will wear them whilst you are in classes at Ravenwood. Think of them as a… uniform, of sorts. Only they’re in different colors. And now, time for a tour, perhaps?”
“Yes please!”
“And this is the library,” smiled the small sprite Ambrose had summoned to show us around. She fluttered her wings daintily and whizzing around at head height. I imagined what it would be like to fly.
“Cool,” said Nat, looking slightly bored. “Okay, so we’ve seen the Commons now. What’s through there?” He gestured wildly towards a tunnel with a wooden sign above it, bearing the words ‘Unicorn Way’.
“Unicorn Way, of course!” the sprite giggled.
“Yeah, well, I mean, can we go in there?”
The sprite stopped giggling.
“Normally that would be part of your tour…” I could sense a ‘but’ coming up here. “…but,” – I told you so! “With all the monsters roaming around…”
“Oh…” said Nat sadly. The sprite flitted around, looking guilty.
“But I guess…” she started. “We could just peep in there… Not for long, though. And you guys had better stay on the sidewalks! No monster battles, okay?”
Nathaniel and I swore we’d do as she asked. The sprite flew over to Private Stillson.
“Who goes there?” he demanded. “No access for novices! You need to get your wands first.”
“They’re with me,” shrugged the sprite, looking tinier than she really was compared to the guard’s huge figure.
Private Stillson huffed a bit but grunted his approval and raised the gate. Nat and I exchanged grins of delight.
“Wow,” I said, staring around. The place was green. Flowers bloomed on the green grass by the sidewalks and trees swayed in a light summer breeze. Everything was so… There was no other word for it – just plain pretty.
“Whatever,” grumbled Nat. He didn’t seem to like it that much. He was strolling with his head down, avoiding the odd glances he was getting from a boy dressed completely in green.
“Careful,” said the sprite. “You don’t want to get into a fight before you even have your wands.
“Whatever,” Nat repeated. I glared at him. Why was he in such a bad mood?
“This is Unicorn Park,” the sprite said, ignoring Nat and pointing to a huge statue of a unicorn surrounded by a small river with clear water that seemed to be the most perfect shade of pale blue.
“It’s fantastic!” I exclaimed happily. I love water.
We continued along the sidewalk. There were some ghosts gliding around in the middle of the street. Other wizards – well, I assumed they were wizards, as they were wearing similar clothes to us – were, well, I think fighting them. As in they were making weird animals erupt from the ends of their wands. A wizard in a bright red robe with an orange trim waved his wand and traced an elaborate symbol which reminded me of a flame, and suddenly a cat – glowing orange as though on fire – leapt in front of the wizard and pounced on the ghost, causing it to moan in pain and disappear into the ground.
Nat still seemed uncomfortable but he didn’t grumble like before. The sprite danced onwards, telling us about each house.
“This is Dorothy Gale’s house,” she said. “And over there – that’s Rattlebones’ Keep. I’d stay away from there if I were you – at least until you get the quest.”
"What’s a quest?” I asked.
“Oh!” The sprite giggled. “I’d forgotten you didn’t know much about Wizard City. All wizards in training do quests so that they can gain experience and level up so they can get new spells and see the rest of the Spiral.”
I nodded. We continued down the street in silence until Nat spoke up.
“Why are all the ghosts and stuff here?”
The sprite’s expression grew solemn.
“It’s a long story,” she sighed.
“So tell us!” demanded Nat.
“I suppose you need to know,” she said. “Not so long ago, the death professor, Malistaire Drake, was the most powerful necromancer ever known. You’d think he would go crazy with power, but he only ever used his magic for good. He was married to Sylvia Drake. She taught the Life School. Then she fell ill with flu. Every healer in Wizard City tried to save her, but there was nothing they could do. It was ironic, really, that the best healer ever died from an illness.
“Then Malistaire went crazy. He ripped the death school from Ravenwood. He turned evil. All of the monsters invading Wizard City are something to do with him. Which is why most of them are undead – he used his powers to control them.”
Nat and I were silent. I wished Nat hadn’t asked.
“Wow, that’s bad,” he said.
“Yes,” agreed the sprite sadly. “Even my sisters have been corrupted.” She gestured to the dark fairies fluttering about the street with evil grins on their faces.
“We’ll help,” I said. “We’ll get rid of all of the dark fairies. You can count on us!”
“I’m sure you’ll try, young wizards.”
“Yes,” I said. “We will.”
“So this is Ravenwood,” I said. It had taken a while to actually get here.
Nat grinned. “This place is wicked!”
“Greetings, wizards,” smiled a dog in a suit who was standing next to a tree. “I am Arthur Wethersfield. Do come back here if you wish to take some balance classes.”
“Uh… Thanks,” I said, disconcerted by a talking animal. I grabbed Nat and continued.
“Life school!” I cried. “Over there. The green one. Let’s go.”
Nat groaned but followed me in there. Inside, there was a peaceful atmosphere, smelling of flowers and fields and nature. I inhaled deeply.
“Greetings, new students,” said a soft, mystical voice from the front of the room. It was deserted except for me, Nat, and a large cow dressed in green robes.
“I am Moolinda Wu, life professor. Welcome to the school of life.”
“Cool!” I said. Nat gave a grunt. “Well, we’d better be going…” I added, seeing Nat’s uncomfortable expression.
“Of course. Do come back if you decide to spend your training points here.”
Outside the life school, there was a group of girls giggling together, heading into a tower across the street. Strangely enough, there was one girl – at the back of the group – dressed in light green with an oddly familiar red hairstyle.
“Nat,” I said. “You don’t think that’s…”
“Autumn!” Nat yelled. The redhead turned round to reveal a familiar face – confused at first, then turning into a huge, warm smile.
“Alex!” squealed Autumn. “Nat! I thought I’d never see you guys again! This is so exciting!” She threw her arms around us.
“I thought so too!” I beamed.
“And me!” chipped in Nat.
“It’s so amazing that you guys got accepted too! That is so awesome! What’s your school? Oh, and what’s your name?”
“Storm,” I said. “And Nat’s death. And you know our names.”
Autumn grinned. “I mean your new last names! I’m Autumn Willowbreeze.”
“Nice. It suits you,” I said. I wasn’t lying, it really did. “Nat is Nathaniel Ironheart, and I am Alexandra Stormrider.”
“That figures, diviner!” she giggled. “And let me introduce you to my friends. This is Madison Lifesong, and Amber Jadeleaf.”Amber and Madison smiled.
“Hi,” I said.
“We’re taking the tour,” said Nat, “so we’d better get going.”
“But it was great to see you again!” I called over my shoulder as we headed into the myth school.
“Hi…” I began.
“Oh, more Conjurer-want-to-bes taking the tour. Lovely. Now, run along and play in the street.”
“Yeah, we’re here on the tour,” I said. I was about to continue when I was interrupted once again by Cyrus Drake.
“Lovely. Now, run along and play in the street.”
“Are you Malistaire’s brother?” asked Nat incredulously.
“I am going to pretend you didn’t say that. Lovely. Now, run along and play in the street.”
I dragged Nat out of the classroom.
“Okay, Nat,” I began. “Let’s get this straight. You do not talk to people like that. Do you hear me?”
“Yeah, whatever.”
“I mean it! If you think you can just say any—”
“Watch out!” yelled a voice. We froze and looked up. A boy in black and white – a few years older than me, maybe – was walking towards us.
“You guys nearly fell off the edge!” he continued. I looked around to see what he was talking about, and noticed that he was right. We were balancing on the edge of a bottomless chasm. I felt the color rise in my face.
“Yeah,” I said. “Um… Thanks, I guess.”
“No worries!” he grinned. “I do it all the time. Malorn Ashthorn by the way. Any time you want to learn death spells, I’m right here, got that?”
“Yeah,” I said again. “This is Nat, by the way. Nathaniel… Ironheart. New at the death school.”
“Hi,” said Nat.
“Cool. You just come here for classes every day, okay? Then I can teach you some death spells.”
“Yeah. Cool.” Nat was grinning. “See you then, I guess.”
“Oh!” added Malorn. “I almost forgot.” He gave Nat a huge grin. “Here – your wand. Oh, and no casting inside buildings or during school hours. Got that?”
We walked into the nearest building. The School of Fire. The second I got in there I was sweating.
“Phew,” I said. “Hot in here, huh?”
“Welcome to the school of fire,” said a tall woman with hair that bore more than a passing resemblance to a flame. “If you think you’re up for pyromancy, come back to learn some spells in the novice class tomorrow. All students welcome.”
“Thanks,” I said.
The next building, in comparison, was freezing.
“I’m c-c-c-c-cold,” shivered Nat.
“M-m-me too,” I gasped.
“Welcome to the school of Ice, my little snowflakes!” A fairy came fluttering over to greet us.
“H-h-h-hi…” I began. Then a snowflake landed on my nose. I blinked.
“Do come back – in some warmer clothes, might I add – if you wish to learn some Ice magic!”
Finally, we came to the school of Storm. Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed from inside the windows. Cool.
“Welcome!” bounced an overexcited frog in a purple top hat. “I am Halston Balestrom, Master Inventor – and professor of Storm magic, of course. Aha! A diviner, I see?”
“Yep,” I said.
“Excellent!” the frog boomed with a surprisingly loud voice. “And you, young wizard!” he added, looking at a bewildered Nat. “You must also come learn some divination! So… yes. Here is your wand… You have your spellbook and backpack, good good… So, yes. Classes start tomorrow morning! A good afternoon to you, wizards!”
Nat and I exchanged a grin.
“So…” I said to Nat, who was lying on his bed. “Where are you gonna spend your training points?”
“Well, I was thinking myth…”
“Yeah right! You said yourself that Drake was a prize—”
“No, I’m serious…”
“You can’t! I’ll have to attack you with my cool amazing thunder snake tomorrow!”
“Oh, come on, I was just kidding! You are so easy to wind up…”
“Well, what are you gonna pick?”
“Not sure. What about you?”
“I asked you first!”
“Yeah, and I answered. I said I’m not sure. So – you?”
“What do you think?”
“Death.”
“You would say that.”
“Yeah, it rocks.”
“Okay, so any serious ideas?”
“Death.”
“Oh sh—”
“No, really. You’ll be unbeatable. With the amazing stormy powers and cool death drain spells…”
“Right…”
“Seriously. Tell you what, I’ll go for storm if you go for death. How’s that?”
“Fair enough.”
“Deal!”
“Deal!”
Later on, I lay in my bed. It surprised me that just 24 hours ago I was lying in a different universe altogether. I grinned to myself in the darkness. I was a wizard! Still hard to believe.
Nat was asleep. I could hear him snoring softly. “Summon dark sprite…” he murmured sleepily. “Vampire…”
Guess he was getting used to it quicker than I was. Tomorrow… I had memorized my timetable. Novice Death Studies. Spiral History. Ravenwood Literature. Novice Storm Studies. Quests. I bit my lip in anticipation.
Nat had always talked in his sleep – ever since he was a little kid. With everything being different, it was good to know that one thing, at least, was the same.
I mean, some things never change.
|
The Misguided Heroes
“Amy’s back!” some students yelled as I appeared from the spiral door, but some other kids turned around and mumbled “O great, the traitor is back.” When I arrived, it has been mixed emotion among the students. Right now I’m just wondering if there is anyone that trust me . When I looked around, RavenWood was in ruins, I guess I should help them rebuild(That is, if they would trust me enough). The one thing with the encounter with my father was I couldn’t remember if I defeated him or not. I couldn’t tell by looking for a body because once a wizard dies and their spirit passes on to the after life, their body vanishes. While I was lost in my thoughts, Gamma flies right in front of me and snaps me back to reality when he said. “Welcome back Ms. Drake.” “Gamma can you please call me by Amy or Ms. HawkMender.” “Oh, ok Ms. Dra-, I mean Ms. HawkMender. By the way, I need to talk to you in what’s left of the Headmaster’s tower.” “Ok? Why cant you say it to me now?” “You’ll see why.” Then Gamma flies towards the tower. As I walked to the Headmaster’s tower, everything around here reminded me of how powerful my father was, and the power I could hold inside.
“Mr. LegendBlade may I ask what’s so important that it has to be done in my tower?” “You’ll seen in a few minutes Headmaster Ambrose.” Then without warning, Gamma flies through the window. “Hooo… Mr. LegendBlade, I did what you asked. She’ll be here soon.” “K, thanks Gamma.” “So who’s coming Joe?” “You’ll see in a second Brittany.” Then the door started to open, hopefully it was her because everyone was getting impatient. “Hello? Gamma are you in here?” Everyone’s jaws dropped as they saw you came through the door. “Amy you’re alive!” “Hi guys!” “How did you come back Amy?” Rachel said. “Well…” Amy explained how she came back and how her mother told her how she could go back the living realm. It sounded so cool! So after we all talked for a little while, Amy went back to her dorm.
“Dear Diary,
I’m back in Wizard City, it’s good to see bright and clear skies again. Now I know that my mother was never mad at me for what I did, although she is very mad at what my father, I mean Malistare has done. If Malistare was alive, I know he would try to take his revenge, but the question is how and when. O well so far, for my concern he’s dead. Now I’ve got to go to Mu Shu with Joe to see if we can find my sister(my sister loves that world so she might be there). The Headmaster said that I have to find her, but I doubt that she‘ll come to Wizard City. She likes to go solo. That’s it for now, see you later diary.
Amy out.”
After writing I went to sleep. Soon the next day Joe was waiting for me on the outside of my dorm. “Come on Amy! We don’t have all day!” “Will you hold your centaurs! Do you think it’s easy to get ready and brush you hair in 2 minutes! I think not!” I walk out of my dorm just thinking what is his problem today. “Ok I’m ready lets go.” But going to Mu Shu, would trigger a event would change me. We soon arrived in Mu Shu. We both went to a house that usually had Mossback, Oak heart, and Wave Bringer to ask if they have seen a girl with blue eyes and short blue hair. But when we went in, there was no one there. “That’s weird, they’re not here. They rarely leave this place. Do you think something could have happened Joe?” But when I turn around to see if Joe was still there(because he didn’t answer me). When I faced him, he waved his wand and black vines came rushing out of the floor. The vines came towards me and tied me up. “Joe! What’s the big idea! This isn’t funny!” Then a guy dressed in red and white Mu Shu/ Dragon Spyre armor came from another room. “Good work Joseph, here’s your reward.” This weird guy walks up to Joe and hands him a huge sack of gold. “Who the heck hound are you?” I yelled out of frustration. “I’m Brandon Storm Heart, leader of the clan called the Strikers. And now, I’m also you’re master. You are now a Striker.” “Ok games over, Joe help me out.” Then Joe face filled with anger. “Yea right. Your family has caused nothing but trouble for the spiral. So by order of the Headmaster, the teachers, and the students of Wizard City you are banished. Now you’ll have to obey him or die by his clan’s hand….. Good riddance Amy Drake!” And he turned around and walked out of the door. I cant believe that one thing I trust betrayed me. “You see Amy, you have a very special gift. You can slip through any barrier without even trying and without being detected. You’ll prove invaluable to our cause of bringing chaos to the spiral. You see, the clan is mostly made up of wizards who have been betrayed or banished. No matter what you think, you’ll fight by our side, one way or another.” The he places a small device around my neck. I really don’t know what it’s for but it’s probably for when I try to escape. I was so filled with rage that every decision I made at the time was without a second thought. “Let me go and I’ll join the Strikers without a fight!” “Good. A very good choice.” Then the vines receded. “Here, your Striker uniform.” The hands me a Dragon Spyre armor. “Right now you’re on noob rank but you can raise to higher ranks but doing special missions and the outline of the clothing changes along with the ranks. You first mission shall begins today.
I got to Amy’s dorm but she wasn’t there but the girl from Amy’s house was there. I asked her what she was doing here and she explain to me that she enrolled to RavenWood a few weeks ago. She said that her father let her enrolled so she can be a spy, but since her father was gone, she can go to school just for the teachings. I asked her if she has seen Amy but she said to me that “If I was crazy, she died remember?” I explained everything that happened after she disappeared(by the way her name is Katherine). So after a short chat with Katie(that’s what she likes to be called), I went to the Headmaster to see if he has seen her. When I found the Headmaster I asked him if he’s seen Amy “I though she was with you Mr. LegendBlade.” Before I could ask him where she could be, a huge explosion came from the shopping district. Without saying another word me and the Headmaster race toward the explosion. When we got there, we saw ice wizards trying to put out a fire from the ring shop. Then three people jumped out of the ring shop with their hand full of rings. All three were dressed in silver but two had blue outline while the other one had green outline and each one had a mask on that covered their eyes only. At first I though they were trying to save the rings, but then they started to run away with them so then I knew they were thefts. Me, the Headmaster and a few other wizards chased them to Triton Ave. The Headmaster casted a forever wind spell and knocked the thefts off their feet and knocked their masks off as well. When they got up, everyone was in shock. The two with blue outline were the best death students(at least by grades) in RavenWood and the one with green outline was Amy! “What are you doing Amy!” Me and the Headmaster yelled. “Don’t act so innocent!” She yelled back. Then a black portal appeared behind them and they all ran inside it. Before the portal closed, Amy yelled “Wizard City shall pay for what it has done to me!” Before anyone could reach it, the portal closed.
The three I sent to Wizard City had finally returned and appeared in the my conference room of the clan’s hideout in MarleyBone. “Good work you three. With these rings, taking over the Defender clan’s territory in no time. After they are out of the way there shall be no one to defeat us. Now, you’re all dismissed. Oh and send me Nick StarBlossom.” “Right sir.” Amy said. They all leave and Nick comes in. “Yes Brandon?” “I need you here for the meeting. You are of course second in command.” “Brandon, do you think it’s wise to strike a deal with you know who.” “Nick. Do you want to take revenge on the mortal world for making you an out cast just because you used magic. Or have you forgotten? Have you forgotten that I was the one who took you out of the retched place called earth.” “No I haven’t forgotten. But you know what others say.” “Hush now, he’s about to arrive.” Then a black portal appears in the center of the room and Malistare step out of it. “Have you Strikers crushed my daughter’s spirit yet?” “Yes we have, her spirit was crushed when the closest thing to her betrayed her. What she doesn’t know is that at that time, that was Nick using his clone magic.” “Very good. Let her go through the ranks like everyone else but when she becomes second in command. Let me know so she can see the spiral fall under our control and she‘ll believe that it was all her fault… And, you‘ll get your part of the deal.” “As you wish Malistare.”
I had called for the teachers of Ravenwood, the Headmaster, Gamma, and the rest of my friends for a meeting at the Headmaster’s house. “Ok, as some of you know already, there was a robbery at the ring shop about 2 hours ago. What some of you don’t know that one of the three robbers, was Amy HawkMender and…” “What! Since when has Amy been a robber?! Are you sure it was her!?” Joseph yelled at me. “Joseph don’t interrupt me!” “Sorry Joe.” “But I’m sure it was her I saw her with my own eyes, even the Headmaster saw it. But there is something that was very weird, before Amy went into the black portal she said Wizard City shall pay for what it has done to me. She was also wearing silver armor.” “Wait! Did you say silver armor!?“ “Yes I did Rachel. Why so shocked?” “Because! The Silver armor is the uniform of the Striker clan!” Before I could ask her what in the spiral is the Strikers, the door was being banged on, and then it flew open. A girl about age 14 or 15, with long black hair and brown eyes dressed in silver MarleyBone bandit uniform with gold outline rushed in. “You! How could you do that to that poor Amy!” and that girl pointed to me. “Why are you pointing to me?” “Oh don’t play dumb with me! I saw you betray Amy and handed her over to the Strikers in Mu Shu!” Then everyone looked at me like I was crazy. “What are you talking about? I’ve been here in Wizard City since last night. I haven’t left here.” Then she ran up to me and placed the tips of her fingers on my forehead. Magic started to flow from me and into her arm. The others in the room pulled her away but I felt so weak when her hand was removed, I fell to my keens. “This doesn’t make since, you’re telling the truth.” When I got a little of my energy back I stood up and said “What was that you just did?” “It’s called Soul Reader. Very few life wizards can use it, it’s a spell that can tell the true feelings or the truth of events that someone has gone through… Man, I cant believe that you were her friend, you’re so weak and you have a hard time catching up.”(I’m going to ignore that comment) “Wait, who are you and how do you know what happen to Amy?” “Oh my name is Wilma SwiftDragon. I know what happen happened because I was there when it all happened.” “Do you mind explaining the story and how you were able to talk to her young one?” the Headmaster said. “Look Mr. Ambrose can I call you that? I know that you’re that headmaster of this place but it’s easier for me. Anyway I was able to talk to her because I’m a Striker. And this is what happened, I was in the room when it all happened, our leader…” this girl explained in full detail what had happened. No wonder Amy wants to get revenge. “So tell me Wilma, what are the Strikers planning on doing?” I asked. “Well, we are trying to defeat the rival clan that is good called the Defenders. But there is another goal but only the leader and the guy in second command know…. Man, I really hate being a striker!” “Then why don’t you just quit?” asked Brittany “Are you crazy?!” The rolled up her sleeve and a black ring was on her arm. “You see this? When you become a Striker you have to wear this, so if you try to quit or escape, this thing give and electric shock. In some cases it’s so powerful it can kill the person who’s wearing it. It‘s really annoying.” “Yikes!” yelled Joseph. “So where are you parents? Cant they help you?” Rachel said. “I don’t know if my parents are even alive. They abandon me in MarleyBone. I felt so alone, I joined the Strikers to have a family for once.” Then a beeping came from Wilma. “Sorry that was my pager but I’ve got to go. I’m being sent to raid the weapons factor in MarleyBone with Amy.” “How about if we come with you?” I said “No way! If they find out that I’ve been talking to you, it might be the death of me!… But if you get there before I do they’ll never see it coming. By the way, when you confront Amy, be very careful. Right now, I really don’t know how but, she’s has grown white scaly wings and her power is much stronger then before. Now that she is filled with rage. Oh and one other thing, there are ranks, there is green, silver, gold, orange, yellow, red, and black. But what ever you do, avoid anyone wearing red or black.” And then she teleported somewhere. With every wizard fixing the shopping district, the one ones we could spare, was me Joseph, Brittany, and Rachel. So once we all ready, we were off to the weapons factory. When we teleported there, the raid had already begin. The place was flooded with Strikers. “Ok guys we have to keep quiet.” I whispered. We quietly move on the pipes at the top of the factory trying to look for Wilma and Amy. Soon we spot them loading the stolen weapons onto a cart. Before we could do anything one of the lookout of the Strikers had notice us(just our luck). “Wizard City’s wizards! Abort the mission! I repeat! Abort the mission!” the lookout screamed. Then every Striker dropped what ever they were doing and went to grab the cart. The Amy flew right behind us and used magic we never seen before “Wind punishment!” she yelled and flew us off the pipes. We landed feet first, she had more power then ever before. But now we have a problem, Amy was now wearing silver armor like before but this time, with red outline, who knows what she can do now. “Why have you come! Have you come to banish another wizard to the Strikers!” “You don’t understand that wasn’t Joe, it was someone else.” Brittany said while trying to reason with her. “You’re lying!” She then was about to do another spell, but she screamed in distressed. Then Wilma comes running up to her and tells us, it’s the stupid black rings. Wilma then whispers to us that she’ll act like she hates us. “You’re lucky that we have to go, or you’ll be dead meat.” And both of them teleport out of there.
(back at the hideout)“I cant believe they called us back before I could give them for what they deserve” “Amy do you here your self! You used to care about thesis people, and you had a crush on one of those Joseph.” “Wilma listen to me! I almost died defending them from Malistare and what do I get in return? I get banished from Wizard City! I don’t want to be in this stupid clan but, I want to show wizard city how strong I can be, maybe they thought I was weak.” “Look I didn’t want to tell you this before but they were telling the truth, that Joe that betrayed you was an imposter.” “Now you’re sounding like them! Wait a minute… you’ve been meeting with them haven’t you!” “Now Amy calm down, you know what will happen when you get too angry.” “Grrr… I’ll be in my room, don’t bother me unless it’s about a mission.” As Amy walked away, the scales from her white wing spread to her right arm. Now her arm look like a drake‘s. If this keeps going, even the clan might lose their lives.
(the next day)We missed our first chance to get Amy back, this doesn’t look good. How did she gain so much power? Why were they called back if they are supposed to be stronger than any other wizard? While pacing in my room, a knock on my door came. “Come in.” “Hello Joe.” “Hello Wilma. Is there something you need?” “Actually there is a problem. Last night, the put Amy to fight against a snaglebeast. And she barely survived but she wanted to me to give you this.” The Wilma hands me a letter. At first I don’t understand why that clan put Amy against one of the most deadly beast in the spiral. But when I opened the letter it said:
“Dear Joe,
You and the rest of Wizard City have betrayed me, after I risked my live for you guys. You have no idea what power I hold now that you’ve abandon. I’ve face a creature so powerful that I now control it’s power. Come to the Dragon Spyre arena to settle this madness straight, and come alone.
Signed,
Amy HawkMender”
And with the letter, was a white scale. “What is the white scale for?” “You’ll seen when you get there. Oh and don’t come alone.” And before I could ask anything else, she teleported way. A few hours later Wilma had told Brittany, Joseph and Rachel about the letter. So while I was about to go to the Dragon Spyre arena, I convinced my friends not to come. Now I was that the abandon arena. “Come on out Amy! I know you’re here!” Then the white scale that came with the letter, started to glow. I looked up and coming down was something that looked like a drake, so I quickly got out of the way but what ever that thing was it had cut me on the cheek at the last second. I drew out my sword just waiting for another attack. “Lets end this once and for all.” said the creature that attacked before. It swung it’s hand and the smoke cleared. The creature was actually Amy, with a drake’s arm, claws and wings. “Amy, what have they done to you!” “They’ve done nothing! This is my father’s work. This is what I meant before, when I said that I understood your fish form secret.” Then she rushed toward me with her claw straight out, trying to hurt me. I soon change into my form that give me more speed. Now it was Speed vs. Speed, Creature vs. Creature. -battle- I was defeated, my sword was broken in half, me at the edge of the arena. The weirdest thing was that I only injury that I took was the one on my cheek, I mean there were chances that she could of injured me or worse. Is she holding back? What is she planning? With that claw of her’s she lifts me in the air. “Why? Tell me why I was banished?” “For the last time, you weren’t banished. The Joe that was with you that wasn’t me.” Then Amy did the same Soul Reader spell that Wilma did to me when we meat in the headmaster house. Then when Amy pulled her hand away, she looked completely confused. “Joe, you’re telling the truth.” Then she puts me down but… a blast of fire magic came from the side and hit Amy and knocked her unconscious. Then Joseph from behind a ruin pillar. “My god dude, why didn’t you attack her. She could have killed you. Do you still have feelings for her?” “Joseph, um I think knocking her unconscious was a bit extreme.” “I’ll say it again, she could have killed you!” “Let’s just get her to the life school.”
What’s taking Amy so long? It cant be that hard to defeat the pathetic ice wizard. I mean really, she defeated a sanglebeast. “Brandon there is urgent news!” Nick said while barging through the door. “Well what is it?” “It’s about our latest member. Amy HawkMender has been captured by wizards from Wizard City.” This was impossible! There was no way she could have been captured. “Are you sure it wasn’t someone else!?” “I’m sorry but it has been confirmed.” “Get me every available yellow rank and prepare for a rescue mission.” “Yes sir!” And he leaves in a hurry. Then a black portal came about and again, Malistare steps out of it. “Brandon, is my daughter ready to be taken back to Dragon Spyre?” “I’m sorry Malistare, but she was kidnapped but the wizards of Wizard City.” “What! You lost you’re valued member! You better get her back or I’ll have you head!” And with a slam of his staff, he was gone.
“Ms. Wu, why do we have to keep her in a barrier?” “Because we have no idea what she can do now Mr. LegendBlade.” Before bring Amy back to be healed, she returned to her normal form. Now everyone is taking procaine around her. Knowing that clan, their going to try to get her back so the Headmaster put Brittany, Rachel, and Joseph on guard duty(because they were the only people who weren’t on a quest) outside of the life school.. “She’s finally wake,” Ms. Wu said with regret and then she leaves the room. She probably doesn’t like healing criminals, at least that is what Amy is labeled now. “Ugh, where am I?” “You’re in Wizard City.” Amy looks around and said “Why the heck hound am I in a barrier!?” “Sorry Amy, but until the Headmaster approves, you’re stuck in there.” “It’s just a question but how did I fell unconscious?” “Oh, um Joseph blasted you with a spell.” “Oh ok, remind me to slap him later.” “Now that’s the Amy I remember.” Then a rumble started, the barrier went down without anyone using a spell. “What’s going on?” “I don’t know Amy.” Then the wall of the building came down as someone blasted thought it. Then two people came rushing in. One dressed in silver and black and the other in silver and red. Both of them were so quick that the tied Amy up and ran out the same way they came with her. “Hey! Let me go!” “Not a chance Amy!” both intruders had said. I ran after them, as I hear Amy trying to fight her way free. I looked back and my friends were fighting other kids dressed in silver, looks like I’m on my own. I chased them down to the Dragon Spyre arena, where a black portal was waiting. I casted a colossus right in front of the portal before they could reach it. “Nick, take Amy and get back to Malistare. I‘ll take care of the LegendBlade kid.” said the kid with the black outline to the kid with red outline. Now I know that all of this started because of Malistare, I should have known. That Nick kid took Amy but stood by the portal waiting for the colossus to drop it’s guard. “Well, Mr. LegendBlade, you should know the name of the person who’s going to defeat you. My name is Brandon StormHeart. So how about a one on one?” “You’re on Brandon!”
Then Joe started to fight with Brandon. What is about me that every evil force in the spiral wants me on their side or dead? But I cant believe that this caused by my father(now this was getting ridiculous). The two battled fiercely, swinging their swords and casting their spells so hard at each other that when they collided, sparks flew every where. “Nick let me go. I can end this rein of Malistare over you guys.” “There is no rein, Brandon ask for a share of Malistare’s power for the clan if he had brought you to him.” “I know you don’t like this clan and you can leave any time you want. But why wont you leave Nick?” “Because Brandon was the person who saved me from death back in the mortal world. And I don’t want any other wizard to go through what I went through.” “Hello! You’re putting me through something just as bad as your past by letting me see this world fall to it’s doom.” He looked at me with sadness in his eyes, but the turned his attention back to the duel. I looked back at the fight and Joe was laying on the floor just looking back at Brandon while Brandon was holding his sword . Brandon stood over him and said “ You poor wizard, I’ll let you live if you decide to join my clan.” “I rather be dead!” Joe yelled back. “Ok, have it your way!” Brandon put both his and Joe’s sword in one hand and raise it up high, ready to strike. Joe was too weak to defend himself. I thought I was about to see a friend of mine die but the Nick unhooked the black ring around my neck and the rope around my hand with a quick slash of his sword. “Go Amy. Save your friend.” Nick whispered to me. I was about to reveal my final secret. I had meant to give a huge scream but instead I gave a huge roar! My whole body transformed. It was covered in white scales, my nails were replaced with claw, I grew fangs, horns, a tail and wing, and my face was transformed into what looks like a dragon’s face. The only part of me that stayed the same were my eyes and my spirit. This is my alternate form, the snow white dragon(or at least what I call it)! I ran in front of Joe and said “Don’t you dare!” and knocked the swords out of Brandon’s hands. At first Brandon was shocked but then he looked happy that I knock his weapons into the lava pit that surrounds the arena. “Well Amy! Why didn’t you tell me that you had this kind of power!” He had said with glee. “Finally! Someone who is up to my power level!” He then starts to grow tentacles and natural armor. “Witness Malistare’s power! My sea lord form! Hahaha!” (just my luck) Before any thing could happen, Nick casted a spell that caused black vines to come from the ground and tied up Brandon. “What the! Nick! I order you to release me!” “I’m done taking orders Brandon!” The two kept going back and forth on who’s in charge of who and blah, blah, blah. I looked back at Joe and all he could do was satire at me with disbelief in his eyes. Before I returned to my human form, the one person who I thought was dead had appeared. “What such pathetic displays of emotions for others Amy.” “Dad! You’re alive!?” “You thought you had finished me Amy!? Well I’ll finish you off this time!” I knew I had to fight, this might be my last time to end his terror once and for all.
The clash between Amy and her father. I never knew that she was half dragon, or is she using a spell? But I never seen her act that way to defend anyone. Does she have a crush on me? She knows that I have scales that could have easily blocked the attack. Amy had flown up to where Malistare was floating. The she flew towards Malistare with her claws ready to strike but when she strikes, Malistare blocked it with his hand. He then throws Amy toward the ground and created a huge crater. The sound of the ground breaking had echoed through out the arena. The dust from the crater keeps spreading instead of settling. “Hahaha! You see! I’ve seen and thought every move you know! You just cant win Amy!” Then from the dust cloud, three fire a balls came flying at Malistare. “Ahhh! What the heck hound?!” “There is one this you don’t know dad, when someone I care about is endangered. My power increases 10 fold!” The dust cloud, had disappeared and Amy’s scales had change to black, her claw now white as snow(the reverse of what she was before). “This is you’re final hour of freedom Malistare!” Then Amy’s claws glowed with a spell called Thunder Strike. A very old, very powerful spell that supposedly can K.O. someone with a single touch. Then Amy race towards Malistare with her claw at the ready, but some how Brandon escapes the black vines and said “I’ll defend you Malistare!” And he through himself in front of Malistare. With no time to react, Amy’s claw side swipes Brandon and her father. Then Malitare slams Amy on the head with his staff, pulls Brandon out of Amy’s claw and teleports away. When Amy came back to the ground, she gave a roar of distress and then she kneeled down. Me and that other kid rushed towards her but when we got to her, her face turned back to normal but the rest of her body stayed the same. She way crying like crazy, and she looked back at us and said “Don’t come near me. I’m a monster.” “O come on Amy, no you’re not. You saved my life, no monster would do that.” “I am a monster! Do you not see my claws!” She showed us her claw, all covered in blood. “I almost killed someone! Only a monster would do that!” She just kept crying, so I did what my mother did when I was younger. I sat down next to Amy, put my arms around her and sang the LegendBlade’s traditional song “When I’m alone… and afraid. I am glad that you are always there to light my way. For the strength to be strong, to be strong, for the will to carry on. For everything I do, I turn to you.” After I finished, she stop crying and her drake form, disappeared. “Joe?” “Yea Amy?” “Thanks for never losing faith in me.” “It’s no big deal, I just knew you’ll pull through.” We both got up and agreed to go back to Wizard City to let everyone know that the dark king has retuned. But before we went, “Yo Amy.” “Yes Nick?” “If you ever want to come back to the Strikers, you’re always welcome here. Oh, and if Wizard City ever needs help, the Strikers are there for you guys.” Then the I removed the colossus and he went through the portal.
(Later at Wizard City) The other were glad that Joe was unhurt, but what about me? O never mind that. The rest of our friends weren’t surprised that I returned(looks like I was wrong about other losing faith) and each one of them are out of mana at that time to do a special spell that I “borrowed” from the Striker’s library. “Hey Joe, can you help me out with this spell?” “Sure Amy, what’s the spell?” I pull out the spell, and told him to read it out loud with me. “Now the old world is gone but the spiral has taken it’s place. So we call a pound the forces of nature to bring forth a guardian to draw back the forces of evil.” At first, nothing had happened, but then a colorful light danced across the sky. Then a girl in a white dress, white wings and blond hair came before us. “As you with Legend Menders of the spiral.” The girl said, then she fizzled way and the light disappeared. I’m guessing that was the new guardian. Now Wizard City is safe, at least for now.
(some where in the spiral) “Grrr! What is about that kid that Amy protects so much?! Victoria! Get in here!” Then a girl teleported in. “Yes Malistare?” “Heal this kid now!” “As you wish Malistare.” Then the girl takes Brandon and teleports away. “No more Mr. nice father. I will get Amy so I can bring Silvia back! Muhahahaha!”
|
The Rebirth of Darkness
I sat on the dank, cold floor of the dungeon, with the sound of the rain hammering on the roof of the tower. The sound of quick, pacing footsteps of Chelsea accompanied these sounds. I stood eventually, and wandered over to the window. I looked through the bars at the ocean below, thrashing violently against the rocky shore.
“How’d we get ourselves into this?” I finally said. Chelsea stopped walking, and looked over to me.
“Malistaire’s skeleton warriors… You were knocked out, but they assaulted the school. They’ve never been able to do that.” Said Chelsea.
“I… Oh yeah. What did he do to me? I can’t remember much about yesterday…” I said, fighting through my memories and thoughts.
“Malistaire questioned you last night. They used some sort of spell, which stole your memories. They gave them back to you eventually, but poorly, so your mind is having trouble accessing it.” Said Chelsea.
“Great. So I’ll be of no use. Except when it comes to getting out of here, however.” I said.
“I’ve practiced using plenty strong magic without my wand, so we can bust out of this room, get out wands, and get outta here. I hope.”
I traced the Storm symbol in the air with my finger, and it appeared fluently in front of me. I looked to Chelsea to receive a reassuring glance, and hopped backwards once. I ran forwards, and punched through the symbol, effectively sending blue and yellow bats swarming from tornado appearing from my hand. I held my arm steadily, as they jerked from my arm. The first couple of bats rammed the door, bursting into electrical sparks, bashing the door a bit more each time. Eventually, the last bat flew from the tornado and bashed into the door, sending it blasting out into the hall, as the tornado snaking from my hand blew away into the air. I smiled at Chelsea, and she smiled back.
“Nice work, Blaine.” I nodded. We rushed into the hall, and over the bashed door. As we turned into another dark room, we saw our wands. We ran forward to receive them, and I had mine, and I handed Chelsea hers. We walked back towards the door, as we saw a dark fog darkening the hallway. A sword extended from it, and saw the balance symbol getting drawn in the air. I quickly scribbled the storm symbol in front of me, and as a swarm of locust shot from the mist, I blasted out a large gust of wind from my wand. The wind shot the locust back into the hall. I held my wand firmly ahead of me, clearing the dark fog, to reveal two skeleton warriors pressed against the hallway wall from the wind. The other one, as I was not looking, sent a scorpion from his sword crawling under the ground, under the wind, and towards Chelsea.
The wooden floor splintered upwards from the creature, and I turned my wand towards it. The wind blasted up the wooden panels, tearing away the flooring as I followed behind the scorpion with my wand’s aim. Chelsea then drew the Life symbol quickly into the air, and glowing spirit armor beamed from her wand and grew upon her body. The scorpion slammed against her armor, and burst into yellow sparkling flames in the air. The armor dissipated at contact. The skeleton growled in disappointment, and I took my opportunity. I drew the Storm symbol into the air once more, and then a bolt of blue lightening blasted from it, striking the ground. A snake appeared where the lightning struck, and it slithered along the ground towards Malistaire’s two minions.
It thrust its tail outwards, and it drove into the skeleton’s rib cage. The tail lit up from powerful electricity, and the skeleton’s bones blew into ash. The snake then opened its mouth, and released a powerful lightning wave, sending the other skeleton in a bright flash shooting down the hall, and crashing into the wall at the end. The snake then disappeared.
“Perfect. Let’s get outta here!” I called, running for the doorway. Chelsea followed close behind as we charged down the hall. A door in the hallway burst down, and skeleton guards formed in the hallway. Chelsea drew the life symbol ahead of her, and then a tree burst out of the stone floor, sending bricks smashing against the walls. The tree burst outwards, into the shape of a tree man. The tree charged forwards, and bashed all the skeletons down, into piles of bones and armor scattered along the hallway. The tree man kept charging down the hall, me and Chelsea following close behind. More doors opened, but the tree smashed them back closed.
We all made it to a window, and the tree screeched to a halt. It turned around, nodded to us, and burst into leaves, which floated to the floor.
“Alright, we made it here. Now where are the stairs?” Chelsea began, but then she stopped, as she looked down the hall at the dark, menacing figure of Malistaire.
“Why are you running, children? We still have so much to do.” Malistaire spoke in his cold, taunting voice, and at the end of his sentence, he raised his arms above his head, as a swarm of Wraiths shot down the hall, hovering above the ground towards us. A dark fog lingered in a trail behind them, as they approached, their dark eyes showing a desperately hungry look.
“No time for stairs, Chelsea!” I shouted, and I grabbed her hand, and leapt for the window. I smashed through it, Chelsea not too far behind me, and fell down towards the ocean below me. I fell with the shards of glass, Chelsea, and the rain. I closed my eyes. The feeling of falling was rather… peaceful.
My bliss was interrupted, as I slammed hard against an icy surface below me. Not water. I opened my eyes, and looked up at a kid standing above me, around my age, and I was shocked.
“Tyler Darkdust?” I said aloud. Tyler smiled, and extended his hand outwards. He helped me up, and I struggled to stand without slipping.
“You’re one of my favorite ice wizards! I’m amazed by your work, and the things you do.” I said. He smiled and nodded.
“Thanks, I know. I get that a lot. So much… Ugh… It’s so annoying…” He said.
“Wow, well, sorry…” I said. He smiled at me again.
“I was kidding.” We both laughed at me, and then I turned to Chelsea.
“Will she be okay?” I asked Tyler. He nodded.
“She definitely will. She’s just unconscious from the shock. Those wraiths have that affect on the week. Like girls.” Said Tyler.
“You should be glad she wasn’t awake to hear that.” I said.
“Yeah, well I’m awake.” Said a voice. I looked around Tyler, to see a fire mage, and a life mage. The life mage was dressed in a green outfit with a cape, and a hood almost covering his eyes.
“Sorry… This is my cousin Amanda Fairyfire, and Michael Dreamcrafter.” Said Tyler. I shook Amanda’s hand and Michael’s as well. The two seemed pretty strong, but not nearly as strong as Tyler.
“So you’re a life wizard just like Chelsea?” I asked Michael.
“Yes. I’m life and death. I learned both, so that I do not have a weakness.” Said Michael.
“Smart.” I said simply. “I wanna spend most of my time focusing on the storm class. I can even stop the rain for a bit!” I said. All of their eyes turned to me, and lingered there. I almost opened my mouth to ask ‘what?’ but then I realized. I held my wand above me, and scribbled the storm symbol into the air. I flicked my wand into the symbol, and the rain stopped falling above the group. Michael smiled.
“That’s pretty cool.” He said, and I smiled back at him.
“All right. I’ll create an ice bridge back to land.” Said Tyler. He took out his wand, and drew the ice symbol into the air. Ice sprayed continuously from the wand’s tip, freezing a path in the water.
“Hey, did you make up that spell?” I asked him. “Because I also recently learned how to. You just take it out of another spell, right?”
“Yes. This spell I based off of Blizzard, but in a milder, more concentrated fashion.” Said Tyler. I nodded, again admiring the skill Tyler possessed. In the books, he would be up around a level… thirty, while I’m only around a level three, and so is Chelsea. Michael and Amanda seemed more like level sixes, which all these levels aren’t that high, but compared to me and Chelsea they were. Michael summoned a few imps to support Chelsea’s unconscious body as the group made their way along the ice bridge. Suddenly, the group heard a crackling sound. They turned, to see an Ember Everburn, floating by the jet of flame below it.
Michael ordered the three imps to set Chelsea down, and charge at the Ember Everburn. One got blasted down immediately by a fireball, while another began singing. The notes blasted forwards, and slammed the Everburn in the chest. It roared, and blasted a continuous, blazing flame.
The flame engulfed the two imps, and they released shrill cries before they disappeared in the fire. The flames moved along the ice, melting it away. The Everburn was left on a small ice island. Amanda took this opportunity, and drew the fire symbol in front of her quickly. Then, a fire cat leapt from the symbol, and pounced from ice block to ice block, until it made it close enough to the Ember Everburn. It leapt, and in mid air morphed into a blazing fireball. The fire crashed, and burst against the Everburn, and it stumbled backwards.
It laughed at the attempt, but Amanda seemed sure with herself. Soon, the ice block the Everburn was on tilted, for as he stumbled, he shifted the weight. The Everburn fell into the icy cold water, and his flames were put out, leaving behind floating stone limbs.
“I’m sorry, that was my fault. I should have cut off the bridge so that no one could catch us.” Said Tyler.
“Yeah, you should be sorry, but about the fact that we had to fight that thing. Why didn’t you just take it out in one hit?” I asked. “If it weren’t for the terrain, we would be dead!” I said.
“Yes, but the more you fight, the stronger you get, so think about this. If I defeated it, I would get no experience at all. Since these two did, they’ll become stronger wizards. Get it?” Said Tyler. I nodded in defeat.
“I wonder what an Everburn was doing all the way out here. I guess Malistaire is rounding up his minions. But for what?” I said. Tyler began his ice path spell again.
“Maybe another attack. His last one was a failure.” Said Tyler. I thought about this.
“Shall we keep moving? I’m wasting Ice.” Said Tyler.
“Oh!” I walked over to Chelsea, and tapped her cheek. She stirred.
“Where am I?” Asked Chelsea. I explained what had happened before briefly.
“Wait, Tyler Darkdust?” Asked Chelsea. Tyler smiled.
“You hang out with Michael Dreamcrafter!” Exclaimed Chelsea.
“Yes. Why take an interest in me? I am not a powerful wizard quite yet.” Said Michael.
“Yeah, but you’re the life wizard in this chosen group of yours. Also, the idea of life and death is genius.” Said Chelsea.
“I’m glad someone is actually admiring me.” Said Michael. The rest of the walk along the ice path was rather silent, other than occasional random annotations about our thoughts. Eventually, we looked up and saw the floating Wizard City.
“Oh boy… I’ll freeze the waterfall, and create some hand holds. Alright?” Tyler suggested. I nodded unsurely. He used the spell increasingly strong on the waterfall, freezing the water. We all made our way carefully up the frozen waterfall, helping each other to make sure that all of us kept safe. Finally, we could rest as we had reached land.
“Finally… we made it. You two should report to Headmaster Ambrose that you have returned. We have to deal with a rising issue in Olde Town.” Said Tyler.
“But I- Never mind. Sure. Maybe I’ll see you later, Tyler. You too, Michael, Amanda.” I said. Michael and Amanda said bye, and so did Tyler and we headed our separate ways for now.
I walked with Amanda and Tyler, my green cape flowing behind me. I turned around to look at Blaine and Chelsea as they left towards the headmaster’s house.
“Do you think Malistaire will go after those two again?” I asked Tyler.
“Oh, I know he will. Malistaire doesn’t like to lose, so he won’t rest until he has those two back.” Said Tyler.
“What’s the issue with Olde Town, Tyler?” Asked Amanda, quickening up to Tyler’s side.
“The Haunted Minions in Triton Avenue have been acting up drastically recently, and the soldiers are barely holding them at bay. Not many down there are wizards, so we’ll have to help them out.” Said Tyler. We hastened through the shopping district, looking at all the wizards bustling about to find what they needed. The shops were cluttered all around, the paths packed tight with the wizards and townsfolk. Eventually, we made it through the tunnel to Olde Town.
We walked in, to see many guards knocked out on the floor in front of the transition of Olde Town to Triton Avenue. Haunted minions stood around the bodies, thrashing their staffs about, and fending off the guards’ swords. Dark Sprites swarmed in the skies, blocking all sun.
“This is a mess.” I said.
“We should split up. Michael, why don’t you get somewhere high, and get down as many dark pixies as you can. Tyler and I will go in and clear out the haunted minions.” Amanda said. I nodded, and rushed towards a building. As I climbed to the first level of a building’s roof, a few Dark Sprites noticed me, and dove at me. I held out my wand, and sent a Life Ire blazing towards them. It blew into sparks on one pixie, causing them to spin backwards, and fall out of the sky. The other ones approached quickly, and I then drew the death symbol in the air. A grave appeared on the roof, and a Ghoul hopped out of it. It took a shovel in hand, and swatted the Dark Sprites out of the sky, and they hurled to the ground. The Ghoul then dumped his shovel load of life to me.
I rose slightly above the roof, the life entering through me, into my heart. I felt refreshed as my feet touched the roof again. The Ghoul hopped into his grave again, and the grave sunk into the roof.
I climbed even higher up the roof, and sent Imps blazing from my wand. They swarmed into the mix of Dark Sprites, and sent blasts of their music, knocking them down in clumps. I looked down to Tyler and Amanda. Amanda had a Fire Cat blasting the approaching Haunted Minions with bursts of flames, as Amanda sent small fire shots at the ones her cat missed. Tyler was whirling around with his wand in hand, shooting ice blasts at the minions, freezing them in their place to later be burnt by Amanda’s Fire Cat. Tyler then drew a bright ice symbol in the air, and the ground began to shake. Ice spikes shot out from the ground, and snow fell from the sky throughout all of Olde Town.
The snow built up in a pile by the ice spikes, and created a cave. The breath of something large was visible, coming from the cave. Suddenly, a huge Ice Wyvern shot from the cave. It twirled upwards into the air, and looked down upon the Haunted Minions. The guards ran back to a safe spot, right as the Ice Wyvern opened its mouth, to release a huge burst of freezing air, which overcame almost all of the haunted minions.
The remaining minions fled. Because their masters were frozen, many Dark Sprites burst into dark sparks, and the sparks rained from the air onto the floor. The remaining Sprites were knocked out of the air by my Imps. I called them to me, to lower me to the ground, and then dismissed them.
“Alright. That was pretty easy. You gonna release that Wyvern? It’s kinda… making me uncomfortable.” I said. Tyler looked at me.
“Really? Never mind… I’m going to stay here with my Wyvern to make sure everything is gonna stay okay. You go find those two Blaine and Chelsea. Something about those two is important, and they may be who Malistaire is sending everyone for.” Said Tyler. Amanda released her Fire Cat.
“Are you sure you’ll be fine here?” Asked Amanda. Tyler just gave a brief nod, as he heard moaning and footsteps in the distance.
“Hurry up and go!” Shouted Tyler. As Rotting Fodders charged into Olde town, as well as Scarlet Screamers. I began to run, as Tyler’s Ice Wyvern thrust down at the group, smashing a large bunch of them with his icy head.
I entered the headmaster’s dorm, worried for Amanda, Michael, and Tyler’s safety. As Chelsea and I entered, a greatly relieved look grew across Headmaster Ambrose’s face.
“I am glad to see you two are okay! I have learned something important about you two, that I must tell you about. I was worried that Malistaire would keep hold of your power. Now, I do know that Malistaire asked you some questions. Do you know what they were?” Said Ambrose.
“They didn’t ask me questions, actually. They took my memories, and then threw them back in me after getting what they wanted.” I said. Headmaster Ambrose seemed disturbed by this fact.
“That means that he has unlocked the power…” Said Ambrose. He noticed the confused and worried looks on our faces, and explained. “There is more than one prophecy. Tyler, Michael, and Amanda are the original prophesized ones to defeat Malistaire, but you… you are prophesized to assist in the fall of a completely new evil. A new magic, actually. This magic only few have ever even attempted in the past. It is fueled by an evil demon. The magic of possession, and psychological control.” Headmaster Ambrose gave us a moment to catch up to what he said, but then as we looked up, this cued him to continue.
“This magic can control others to do everything that the caster would like. This also includes control of the mind, and the victim’s thoughts. This magic was completely banned by every last one of the realms, and the leaders of each realm helped to seal this magic where no one could reach it, but it seems as though it is too late. For years, I was worried that Malistaire would unlock this magic, but as the chosen ones arrived, I lost those worries. I felt as though everything that I worried about would be fixed as the chosen ones came… but I was wrong to forget about these.”
“Recently Lady Oriel prophesized of two other chosen ones, and you match the descriptions. If you are wondering about what you need to do, that is to defeat the demon that fuels this magic. Astaroth, the king of Mind Bending magic.” Headmaster Ambrose finished, and I stood in silence, going over all that has been said in my head.
“Where is this Astaroth?” I asked. Ambrose shook his head.
“I do not know.”
|
Deathwhisper Chronicles
“Muahahahaha.....” A chilling laugh interrupts the silence in the area. Clouds loom above the landscape, cloaking the night in a blanket of darkness. The only thing lighting the darkened world is a single golden lamp in the middle of a circle of odd trees and a mixture of buildings, right in front of a gigantic, old tree. Slowly, leisurely, a hooded figure makes his way across the area in a direct path toward the golden lamp, a smile creeping across his pale, scarred face. His eyes cannot be seen beneath the dark shadow of the hood he wears, but the cloaked man’s smirking lips begin to form harsh sounding words in a language known to few others than him, almost as if he were saying a spell.
Strangely, as the cloaked figure nears the golden lamp and stands before it, the shadow cast over his features by the dark hood does not disperse as most others would. Instead, the shadow, almost as if it were alive, begins to grow. It creeps along his skin, a dark cloud of betrayal and deception, and begins to seep towards the golden lantern. Spooky whispers seem to emanate from the blot of what could only be described as pure, undiluted fear in a gaseous form, growing louder and more animated with each passing second.
The chant being sung by the man in the dark hood faded, as his job was done; the shadow would do the rest. “Goodnight, Wizard City,” he says mockingly, and then he grins in a way that many would portray as unreservedly evil and crosses his arms over his chest as the shadow slowly spreads along the surface of the lamp.
Normally, light seems to triumph over darkness, illuminating the night with its comforting glow. But this was no ordinary splotch of blackness. This was pure evil, ready to destroy what the man called “Wizard City.”
As the shadow slithers over the lantern, the city is plunged into darkness, and the scream of an old, and once magical, dying tree rips through the air.
I wake instantly to find myself shrieking with fear, and covered in a layer of shiny sweat. Grimacing at the yucky feel of wetness on my arms, I place a cool hand to my forehead, trying to calm myself down. The nightmares are only getting worse and worse as time passes. Each night, I find myself afraid to crawl into bed and close my eyes, because as soon as I do, the disturbing images return, haunting me.
Oh, wait. I forgot—I’m sixteen-year-old Alexandria Martindale. You can just call me Alex. But before you read, there’s something you ought to know about me. For some reason, strange things have happened around me sometimes...like when I was seven, this kid made me really mad. I wished he’d just die, because he’d pulled a really mean prank on me. And then this ghoul thing appeared and dragged the kid down into the earth. It scared me to death! I never saw that kid again, though. Then there was this time when my mom and dad got in a fight when I was ten. I got so upset about it that the flowers my mom had placed in the kitchen where I was sitting, crying, all wilted and died. Plus, I’d never been able to keep a pet for long, because it usually got scared of me as if I were some sort of plague. Then they ran away. This usually happened with cats, but sometimes dogs and once, a fish. Creepy, right? Eh, it was just an everyday thing for me. Anyway, back to the story.
It’s still early in the morning, about four o’ clock, but I can’t sleep, not if those nightmares will return, so I slide my legs, still trembling from the nightmare, out from under the sheets tangled around my frame and stand shakily. But before I leave my bedroom, I remember something and pull a notebook and a pencil out from the drawer in the small table beside my bed.
Plopping back down on the edge of my bed, I open the plain notepad up to a clean page and scribble the date down on the edge of the paper, the time I woke, and then for some reason, my first and last name—just out of habit, from school, I guess. Then, in my messy, but somewhat readable, handwriting, I scribble down some notes of what the dream had been about. I’m not sure why I bother writing my dreams down like that. My mom had done that, before she’d gotten a divorce with dad. She kinda got me into doing that, too.
After gently tucking the notebook and pencil away in their drawer, I jump up from my bed and then pad down the hallway in my favorite orange socks towards the kitchen, thinking that maybe some coffee would keep me awake. I would have school today, and I didn’t want to fall asleep in class...again. Dad would not be happy if I came home with yet another detention slip.
I begin the process of making some instant coffee by grabbing a glass from the cabinet beside the fridge and running some hot water into it, then I pop it into the microwave for a minute. As I watch the cup spin around and around, the only sounds being the hum of the microwave as it did its work and the buzzing of the refrigerator, all of a sudden a shrill ring cuts through the air.
“Hello?” I say groggily into the mouthpiece of the telephone while grabbing my glass of hot water out from the microwave.
“May I please speak with Daniel Iceshade?” questions a voice that sounded as if it belonged to an old woman. One that was slightly senile and lived with twelve cats. I pour a small amount of Instant Coffee Mix into my cup as I begin to respond.
“You must have the wrong number,” I reply, stirring the drink quickly. “There isn’t any Daniel Iceshade here. Sorry.”
“Er...to whom am I speaking, please?” she asks.
“Alexandria Dea—Martindale.” For a second, I think I was about to say Deathwhisper, though I can’t think of any reason as to why. Weird.
“Oh!” exclaimed the old woman’s voice, “I’m sorry, dear. You call yourselves by that human name, Martindale, correct?” This old lady seems like a whack job. Human name? She speaks as if he isn’t a human. Creepy.
“Um...yeah, I guess,” I respond, unsure. Perhaps I should just hang up.
“Could I please speak with your father?”
“He’s kind of asleep. You do realize it’s four in the morning, right?” I ask rhetorically. I’m growing more and more agitated by the second. Coffee sloshes from the cup, splashing across the surface of the counter as I increase the speed of my stirring. Realizing my mistake, I quickly remove the spoon, tossing it in the sink, and wipe up the mess. Then I sit down at the table and take a sip of my coffee.
“It’s quite urgent, dear.” Yeah. So is the coffee that I would really like to drink sometime soon.
Heaving a sigh, I answer, “Yeah, whatever.” I quietly make my way toward Dad’s room and shake his shoulder. Groggily, he opens his eyes, mumbling a “Whadd’ya want?” and peers at me tiredly. His short dark hair is an unruly mess on his pillow, and his eyes are slightly unfocused, since he’s not wearing his glasses.
“Phone,” I reply shortly, and he pulls his hand out from the swath of blankets that surround him to reach for the telephone in my hand. I place it in his, and then leave the room to go drink my coffee.
Once I’m back in the kitchen, I take a sip of my coffee and close my eyes for a second. Ah, that hits the spot. I like coffee. Then I realize that the canister—which I had forgotten to put away, so it was in front of me at the table—read “Instant Decaf.” Well. I guess I’ll just have to stay up without the help of my coffee. Darn Dad and his sudden health craze. Before I know it, I’ve fallen asleep in my chair.
For once, my slumber is dreamless...but I doubt it’ll last. I wake around seven in the morning and rub my eyes sleepily. Apparently, Dad didn’t bother waking me up to tell me to go to my own bed, but I don’t mind, even though I’ve got a pain in my back now from sitting in that chair all night.
Placing my coffee, now cold and unappealing, in the sink, I head down the hall, still wearing my bright, fuzzy orange socks, and gently push my bedroom door open. Suddenly, my cherry red cell phone, lying atop my dresser, begins to sing my ringtone loudly. I rush to pick it up, wondering who would possibly be calling so early in the morning, and open it to reveal a quick note reading NEW TXT MESSAGE. Curious, I press the ‘OK’ button and begin to read the text message. It’s from my best friend, Emalia Hale.
hey Alex can u come over aftr skool? I need to talk 2 u. ~Emma
Suddenly, I’m worried. Emalia—or Emma as she’s often called—usually just tells me at school, or sometimes even over the phone, when she’s got something on her mind. It usually isn’t even that drastic. Something must be wrong.
y? can’t u just tell me at skool? ~Alex I text in reply. Soon after, Emma sends me another text message.
no. its importnt. i don’t want any1 else 2 hear. can u? ~Emma
My eyebrows pull together as my lips turn down to form a frown. I had no idea what could be wrong, but it really must be important.
sure. c u @ skool, i guess. ~Alex
thx ~Emma
Emma and I had been friends for years, since kindergarten. There was this really mean bully who had been picking on Emma during recess, and then I went up to him and was like, “Leave her alone!” He didn’t leave, of course, and then suddenly a small fissure, about a yard across, opened up and a two-foot tall skeleton climbed out! It chased the bully away, and then Emma, who barely knew me was like, “Oh my gosh, thank you!” It was funny, because she didn’t seem the least bit scared of me. Since then, we’d stuck together throughout everything, and consoled each other when weird stuff happened that we couldn’t really explain, like when this big Cyclops thing appeared and almost destroyed our school, when that kid was dragged by that ghoul thing, whatever it was, and all kinds of stuff. We were best friends.
I flip the phone closed and check the time on my clock. It’s a quarter past seven. I’d better get dressed and grab something to eat.
“Alex?” My dad suddenly appears in the doorway, leaning against its frame. His glasses are reflecting the light from my lamp, so I can’t see his eyes, but he looks as if he’s bothered by something.
“What?” I ask.
“Nothing. I just wanted to make sure you were up. Get ready. I’ll drive you to school,” he replied. Something is wrong. Dad never drives me to school.
“Don’t you have work?” I ask suspiciously. I really hope he hasn’t gotten fired or anything. That would be bad.
“No, I’m...t-taking a day off.” There it is. The stutter. He is most definitely lying.
“You didn’t get fired, did you?” I blurt without really thinking. Dad looks at me, seemingly surprised I’d come to that conclusion.
“No, I didn’t get fired! Gosh, Alex. Why in the world would I have gotten fired?” Before I had time to answer, Dad continues, “Hurry up. I’ll explain on the way there.” And at that note, he leaves the room.
I pull on a plain black t-shirt and a dark blue sweater, a pair of jeans, and then I’m ready to go. After gobbling down a bowl of generic cereal, I yell to Dad, wherever in the house he is, “Okay, I’m done! I’ll meet you in the car!” A few minutes later, I’m sitting in the car as Dad guides the car down the road.
“You know, you’ll be learning to drive soon,” he says conversationally after a while. I nod uncomfortably and then decide to ask what’s been bothering me since about a quarter after seven o’ clock.
“Yeah. So what was it you wanted to talk about?” I query, cutting straight to the point.
“Um...well, I-I know school just started last week...so I figured, ‘H-hey, if we’re going to move, we might as well do it now, right?’” What?! I sit there, dumbstruck. Not again. Please, please, not again! We’ve moved pretty often throughout my life. This time, I thought that maybe, maybe, it would be permanent. That perhaps, if I was lucky, we’d stay here forever. All those hopes were just crushed as dad said going to move. Again.
Gradually, the dazedness wore off. “Dad! You—you—please! Not again!”
“Alex—” Dad begins to scold. I don’t let him finish.
“No! I’m not going!” I exclaim. “I refuse to go!” Dad glances at me with a reproachful look in his eye.
“Now, Alex—” Once more, I interrupt him.
“You can’t make me,” I growl, narrowing my eyes angrily, my eyes blazing with rebellion.
“Alex, please—” Dad begins to say pleadingly.
“No!” I yell. My temper is getting the better of me, and now I’m totally ticked off. I know I’m being kind of unreasonable, but I don’t care. “That’s it. Stop the car.” Of course, he doesn’t listen to me. “Fine, then. I’ll jump. I will!” I know I’m being pretty stupid, but I won’t move away from here. I won’t leave the one friend I have. I may not be much of an extrovert, but me and Ema are like sisters.
“Alexandria Deathwhisper! That’s enough!” Dad shouts, losing his temper, too. I’m about to shoot back a sharp retort when I freeze as I realize what he’d just said: Deathwhisper.
“What?” I say, confused, my voice now barely above a whisper. Dad has obviously realized his mistake, and scrambles to fix it. But it’s too late. I’ve already heard. “What did you just say?”
“Hey, look—there’s the school. I’ll see you later, honey,” he says, obviously trying to change the subject. I refuse to drop the subject and begin to say, “But—”
“You don’t want to be late, do you? Go on,” he urges as the car screeches to a stop. Reluctantly, I open the door, but not before telling him that I’d be going to Ema’s house right after school, and then I step out of the car and head inside the school.
After the final bell, I begin the walk toward Emma’s house. She doesn’t live very far from the school, so it wasn’t that long of a walk. Emma had ridden the school bus home, but I’m not really a school bus kinda person. I hate the big things. They look like gigantic Twinkies™ with windows, plus there are a lot of people on them. I’m more of a solitary person.
Eventually, Emma’s warm yellow house comes into view. I step onto the old covered porch and walk up to the door. Almost instantly after I ring the doorbell, Emma opens it.
“Hey, Alex. Come on up to my room. There’s something I need to show you,” she says without letting me get a word in edgewise. Something is definitely wrong here. Emma looks...frightened, for some reason. She almost looks worse than I do. And I’ve barely gotten a few hours uninterrupted of sleep all week.
Emma leads me up the stairwell and through the thick ebony door to her room, and then gestures for me to sit in one of the plush chairs that reside in the bedroom. She does the same and pulls an old-looking scroll off her desk.
“What’s that?” I question, suddenly curious.
“It’s...a letter. To me. Do you want to know what it says?” I nod. “Okay. It says:
Emalia Legendspear;
You are cordially invited to attend
Ravenwood School for the Magical Arts!
If you are able to enroll,
tell your parent/guardian and
please sign your name at the bottom of this page.
We shall send someone to retrieve you within a day.
Please reply before September 24th
or we shall not be able to accept your enrollment!
Regards,
Headmaster Merle Ambrose
“I know it’s got to be a prank, but...,” Emma trails off, leaving her sentence to be a fragment. I knew what she meant: wouldn’t it be awesome if it were true?
“Legendspear? Isn’t your last name Hale?” I ask.
“Yeah. But still, what if it isn’t a prank?” I’m not sure what to say to that, so I just shrug.
“You should tell your mom and dad that you got this weird letter. They’ll want to know,” I advise, and Emma gives me a nod.
“Yeah.”
“Well, I’d better go. My dad wants me home around five, and if I’m not going to be late, I’ve got a pretty long walk.”
“See ya later, then.”
“Yeah. Bye, Em.”
~*~Later~*~
As soon as I reach the gravel driveway at the front of our property, I halt, confused, worried, and most of all, scared. Dad isn’t stupid enough to leave the front door unclosed like that. And yet, there it is, open for anyone to go inside. What the heck is going on?
I race up to the door, my book bag swinging wildly on my shoulder, and call into the house, “Dad?” No answer. I try again. “Dad!” Silence.
Shakily, I push my hand toward the door and give it a little shove. The door swings open to reveal the kitchen...completely trashed. The chairs are all knocked over, the salt and pepper shakers shattered upon the floor, and all the drawers and cabinets are open. Someone had been here that didn’t belong. I frantically search for Dad, dropping my bag on the kitchen floor, but he’s no where to be found. Luckily, nothing valuable seems to be gone.
But that’s what bothers me. Apparently we aren’t the victims of some random break-in, because I had left my expensive cell phone right on the kitchen table before I left, and it’s still there. No, we were purposely targeted. But by who? And why? What did they want?
And why isn’t Dad here?
I pick up my cell phone and dial the renown numbers 9-1-1 and report the break-in and the fact that I have no idea where my dad is, and then head to my room. The plush hallway carpets l that I love are stained with dirt now, so someone had most definitely been through there. With dirty shoes. I’m not sure why I’m picking up on that, but for some weird reason, I noticed that.
As soon as I enter my room, I know something weird is going on. Not that it isn’t weird already, but it just got even weirder. Because lounging atop the comfy, but quite messy, quilts of my bed is a scroll that looks exactly like the one Emalia had gotten.
A sense of dread and uncertainty fills me and a knot forms in my stomach, but I brush those feelings aside and unfurl the parchment.
Alexandria Deathwhisper;
You are cordially invited to attend
Ravenwood School for the Magical Arts!
If you are able to enroll,
tell your parent/guardian and
please sign your name at the bottom of this page.
We shall send someone to retrieve you within a day.
Please reply before September 24th
or we shall not be able to accept your enrollment!
Regards,
Headmaster Merle Ambrose
“Dad?” I ask again. Not because I’m actually considering this...whatever it is...but because I’m beginning to feel scared. First Emma gets one of these, then I do. And neither of our names are right. Wait a second...didn’t Dad call me Alexandria Deathwhisper in the car this morning? And while I’m thinking of these weird names, didn’t that old lady on the phone last night call my dad, Daniel Martindale, Daniel Iceshade? Something creepy is happening, and I don’t like being alone in this mess.
I pluck my cell phone from the pocket of my jeans that I’d slipped it in after calling the police and dial Emma’s number. I would text her, but I’m so shaky right now that I would just make a mess of the message.
“Emma?” I say warily.
“Yeah, what’s up?” her voice replies from the mobile phone.
“Someone broke into our house. And then I found a letter that’s just like yours...except it says Alexandria Deathwhisper. Something crazy is going on here, Em,” I state.
“Alex, I think I know what’s going on. Well, about the letters, anyway.”
“You do? Tell me!” I exclaim, anticipation building up inside me.
“I took your advice and told my parents,” she began. “They were all happy and excited and stuff. When I asked why, they said, ‘Oh, Emalia, you’re a wizard!’” I stiffened. It was true? Impossible! ...Right? “Then I asked them why they hadn’t told me before, and then they got kinda...Harry Potter-ish and said that they weren’t wizards, but my mom’s mother and father had been. They didn’t want to tell me because they couldn’t be sure if all the weird stuff that happened to me at school was because I was a wizard, or if it was someone else’s doing. I know it’s kinda insane, but...I believe them.”
“Emma, are you feeling—”
“Yeah, I’m fine. But really, it makes sense, Alex! There was the Cyclops, and the troll, and that bat! And then for you—well, if your last name is Deathwhisper, there were the skeletons, and that—”
“Are you saying that I’m some kind of Death wizard?” I ask incredulously.
“Well, I don’t know for sure. I’m pretty sure that if you are, you’d be called a necromancer.” No. I’m not a wizard, and I’m definitely not a necromancer. That would make me evil! I’m not evil!
“And Emma, there’s something else,” I say, changing the subject and pushing my previous thought from my mind. “I can’t find my dad.”
“Oh my gosh, maybe your dad is a wizard, too! Wouldn’t that be so cool?” says Emma excitedly.
“Emma, this is serious! My dad’s missing! Get your head out of the clouds, Emma!” I exclaim angrily. And then I whisper with a sad tone that’s probably too low for Emma to hear, “This is important.”
“You think I’m crazy?” she asks in reply, obviously angry with me. “Fine! Go harass someone else, Alexandria. Don’t come crying to me with your problems.” Emma hangs up, and I can easily imagine her slamming her phone shut and plopping into a chair with a huff. That’s almost exactly the same thing I do.
“Fine!” I yell aloud. But, though I’m still totally livid, I can’t prevent a couple of tears falling from my eyes. Emma was my only friend. The only person who wasn’t afraid of me, because she was just as odd as I am. And then I’m also afraid, obviously.
I think I’m going to do it. I’m going to sign the paper. Because if wizards really are real, then my dad probably is one, judging by his last name. And if Dad’s a wizard, then there must be someone at this Ravenwood School who knows what’s happened to him. After all, if he’s a wizard, how could a normal robber, a human one, possibly abduct him? So it must be something to do with the magical world.
So at that note, I collect the few things I’m going to take with me—my dream notebook, my cell phone, and a pair of comfy pajamas—and then sign in my spidery scrawl;
Alexandria Deathwhisper
|
The Best Things of All
Hi I'm Lauren Storydreamer and this is some of the best things of all I have found in Wizard City. There is a story that goes with it so you will have to wait till the end.
It all started when I was still a level 9 phromancer battleing my best friend Jenna Earthsong a level 12 necromancer. It was a 1 vs 1 duel. She won in the end. I came so close to defeating her but sshe got to go first when we both only had around 15 life left. I was wondering if she would fizzle when all of a sudden a imp was attacking me and I was defeated. I then went out to battle some lost souls. I had just gotten a new award when Jenna came running over to me and said " Lauren you have got to come quick! There is a big duel between my friend Hannah Firesword and our arch enemy Kelly Iceblade." "Okay. I'm coming" I said. So we burst off to the duel arena and watched the duel. There where other peaple there some rooting for Hannah and some rooting for Kelly. The duel was almost over when we got there. Hannah had just casted a Fire Imp on Kelly which left her at 15 life. On Kelly's turn the Fire Imp attacked her again and she lost. We cheered as did everyone else rooting for Hannah.
The next day was back to school. Back to Fire and Death. Back to Fire Cats and Dark Pixies. Back to school. But somehow things just didn't seem right. There was a strange silence in the air. There where no birds singing there happy song. Somthing was happening. Somthing that was not good. No one knew what it was. But the only one who could sense it was Jenna and Lauren.
The next day Lauren got out of bed and got dressed. She ate breakfast and then went out to her first class. She was going to the Fire school when she remebered that they were going on a field trip to Firecat Alley. Lauren had never been there before. Jenna would not go with her because they where not in the same Fire class.
When the class arived at Firecat Alley Professer Falmea said "Be back at the tunnel to Olde Town by 1:00. You must also have a partner to go with you." Lauren paired with her friend Jack Dragonrider. He was in the same classes as Lauren. He was also a Phyromancer with the secondary class of death. He was also level 9. They were exatly the same exept for he was a boy and Lauren was a girl. Lauren and Jack set out to battle some Magma Men and Fire Elfs. They defeated a few and then went serching for some mana and heath. When they where back to full heath, they went out to defeat the Prince of Fire Elfs. Lauren bought a level 20 life henchmen to help them. Lauren and Jack won. By that time it was 12:55. "We better get going," said Jack. So they ran off to the entrance of Olde Town. On the way they saw a lonely Firecat. She looked like she hadn't been fed for weeks. So Lauren brought her back to the tunnal of Olde Town. "What do you have there Lauren?" asked Falmea. "Um...Uh" studdered Lauren. "A old which told her to take care of her" Jack said quickly. "What is her name then Lauren? She must of surtenly told you a name, said Falmea. "Yes... There was a name" said Lauren. "It was Samantha" Jack burst out. Is that right?" asked Falmea. "Yeah that's right." Lauren said slowly. "Well alright then" said Falmea. "Back to the Fire School." Bye the timethey got back, school was over and the rest of the story will be continued in The Best Things of All (Part 2)
|
The Average Life of the Chosen One (part 5)
As I arrived in Marleybone, the first cool breeze I had felt in months blew by. I sighed with relief. What a wonderful feeling! In the enclosed area where the Spiral Gate was, I almost didn't feel it. But with my good sensing, I could.
My best friend, Lucas NightBlade, arrived behind me. His eyes widened. “It's so.....” he started. “...different,” I finished. I grinned. Then I turned around and stared in awe at the stain glass windows behind me. Then I turned back towards the exit. I hurried up to the dog there (I suppose this is where they are from, not Krokotopia). “Hello, Sarah StormDreamer! We are excited that you have arrived in Marleybone! My name is Private Kinchley. If you would, would you please go talk to the mayor in Digmoore Station? I am sure he would like to be informed of your arrival.” I thanked him and walked out of the large doors of the enclosed area.
I gasped when I got outside.
“Do you gasp EVERY time you arrive at a new world?” Lucas asked. I turned around and grinned. “Yep!” I said happily, then turned back to the scene. I was standing on a stone road that advanced out into many sections. There were brown and dark, dark red brick buildings around me. The buildings had many bright lights, just like the cities on Earth. There were also many lit streetlights, and in front of me there was a large fountain.
“Sarah..” Lucas whispered, “Look at the sky...” I did, and gasped once again. It was a beautiful night sky, filled with many white, shining stars of many different sizes. “It's....” I began. “....magnificent....” Lucas finished. I giggled. “Since when have we finished each other's sentences?” I asked. Lucas grinned. “Its just something that awesome people do!” I rolled my eyes. “Come on, let's go find Digmoore Station,” I said.
Mayor Pimsbury was very glad to see me. “It is wonderful that you have arrived!” he said gleefully. He explained to me about evil cats. I was sad. I really liked cats.... “Please, go speak to Sherlock Bones,” he said, “And maybe we can sort this out!” I hurried over to the detective standing nearby. “Ah, young wizard Sarah StormDreamer,” he said, “At last we meet.” He explained the problems that citizens were having. “Ask Tracy Castleton for a ticket to Hyde Park,” he said. I went up to the pretty lady dog and asked for two tickets. She smiled and handed me them. “Have a nice day,” she said. Lucas and I headed off for the Balloon Car. Along the way, Lucas was grumbling. “How come no one recognizes me?” he asked. I giggled. “'Cause you ain't the chosen one, silly.” He nudged me playfully. “Ha, ha. I told you it wasn't easy being pals with the chosen one! I get no respect!” he said. I laughed and nudged him back. “I give you respect, don't I? Besides, you didn't say that!” He looked at me, confused.
“Um, one, okay, yes you do. Two, I did TOO say that!” I laughed, and the confusion from his eyes disappeared. “Okay, one, I told you so. Two, NO you didn't. You said exactly this: It isn't always easy being the chosen one's best friend.” Lucas laughed. “Ha, ha, miss precise,” he said, teasing me. Before he could make another comment, we had arrived at the Balloon Car. Lucas stepped up first, handing the dog pilot his ticket. I handed the dog pilot my ticket, and was about to climb on. But Lucas grabbed my hand and pulled me up instead. I looked at him, questionably. He shrugged. “What? It's not okay for me to do something NICE once in a while?” I returned the shrug. I turned to the pilot. “So, where do we sit?” I asked. The dog laughed. “You don't!” he said, “You can't fall out, no worries. Enjoy the ride!” With that, he went into the driver's section, leaving us outside. The propeller started up, and we took off!
The sights took my breath away. We were high up above the ground, and the view was wonderful. I saw the dark buildings and bright lights of Marleybone (and, unfortunately, the smoke the buildings created as well). When we moved away from the land, I saw sky above and below us. The sky above was the same view as from the island. But below, it was a lighter, prettier blue. The moon stood, gleaming in the distance. I turned to Lucas. “This is... wonderful!” I said happily, my eyes shining. He met my happy gaze with an identical one of his own, and we stood there for a moment, staring at each other's expressions. I felt a certain way, for just a moment.... I shook my head and blushed a dark pink, turning away.
“We're there!” the pilot said, loud enough for us to hear. He landed the Balloon Car on the landing platform. “When you need to get back, just ring this bell here,” he said, motioning to one on the sign overhead. “I'll be back then!” We nodded our thanks, and he flew away. I turned to him. “So, now what?” I asked. Lucas was staring at the area in front of us, where enemies were pacing around. “Um... sidewalks?” he asked. I turned to a dog nearby, who's name was Lady Desane. “Where are the sidewalks?” I asked, as politely as I could. “There aren't any,” she replied quickly. Lucas moaned. I punched my fist into the air. “Yes!” I said. “Why are you so happy?” Lucas asked, “You like having no sidewalks?” “Well... yes and no,” I said, “I like sidewalks, but... finally! A challenge! Once I practice, I'll master the no-sidewalks deal!” Lucas smiled, but then it faded, the only trace of it remaining in his eyes. “Yeah, but think about all the unwanted battles!” “Um, so?” I started, “Wait... I thought you said you were a master about staying out of unwanted battles!” “No, Sarah...” Lucas said, “I said that YOU were a master about staying out of unwanted battles.” “Oh yeah,” I said. “But wait...” Lucas said, “What does that mean that I'M the master of?” I pretended to think for a moment. “Let's see....” I said mockingly, “Oh, I know! You are the master at randomly teleporting to people without telling them, doing a flip in the air and landing in front of them, and turning around, saying hi, and expecting for them to clap for you.” Lucas grinned happily. “YES!” he said, “I ALWAYS wanted to be the master of that category!” I laughed, and we started off.
It turns out that the no-sidewalks thing was easier AND harder than either of us expected. We both mastered it in a short time, though me first. It also turns out that we didn't only fight cats; we also fought rats. “Ha, ha,” Lucas said one time, “They rhyme.” The whole time, I was beginning to LOVE Marleybone. But at the same time, I thought that there was a better world for me out there. Marleybone was great, but... all the smoke polluted places! I knew that it wasn't such a big problem in the Spiral, but I couldn't help it!
Lucas and I were finished with Hyde Park before we knew it. We then moved on to Chelsea Court, and then we were supposed to begin the Ironworks. But by then, Lucas was getting tired. “Sarah... I'm tired...” he moaned. I sighed. “But even I'M not tired yet!” I said. Lucas nodded. “Still...” he said, and nearly collapsed. Okay, well, he would have if I hadn't reached out and held his arm. “Look, I'm gonna find you a place to rest, and then I'll have another friend help me with the Ironworks,” I said. Lucas just nodded. Still holding onto him, I teleported to Regent's Square.
We were in front of the fountain. “If you're not careful,” I said, “If you bug me enough, I might one time put you in the fountain when you are tired like this.” Lucas yawned. “What...ever...” he said, and then he was asleep. I groaned. “Lucas, I DON'T want to carry you ANYWHERE!” But he was in sleep-world. I sighed, but managed to drag him into Wolfminister Abbey (the enclosed area where the Spiral Gate was). I asked Private Kinchley if Lucas could sleep somewhere in here. “Sure!” he replied. I found a far away bench next to some fire, and lay him down there. “'Night, Lucas,” I said. I was tempted to do or say something else, but... I didn't.
“Hey, Sarah, whats up?” Elizabeth GriffonBlood, my older best friend, whispered. “Hey, Elizabeth, can you help me?” I asked. “Sure, where are you?” she asked. “Marleybone,” I answered. “Cool! Count me in!” she said, and immediately teleported. “Hi,” I said. Elizabeth was looking around. “Sweet,” she said. Then she noticed Lucas on the bench. She smiled. “Your other best friend, right?” she asked. I nodded. “Don't be jealous,” I accused. She laughed. “I promise, I won't be,” she said. I teleported to the Ironworks, and she followed.
“Okay, we have to fight some enemies,” I said. We launched into a battle. “So, how's life been going?” I asked her. She shrugged as she casted a Seraph (she is life, by the way). “Well, I got to Krokotopia, and that's about it,” she said, “You?” And I told her about my adventures so far, from where she hadn't heard. Last I had told her, I had met Lucas and we were becoming best friends. I told her about when Lucas was captured, and when I first arrived in Marleybone, and especially the first Balloon Car Ride. “I NEED to make you ride one,” I said, “The view is magnificent!”
We talked some more, and then I turned to an awkward subject for me to talk about. “Um, Elizabeth... are you good with relationship stuff?” I asked, embarrassed with the nervousness in my voice. “Yes, I am, actually,” she said, “Why?” Oh, great. I have to explain. “Well, I keep feeling this feeling...” I said, “And, when Lucas and I were riding on the Balloon Car, and I turned to him and he was looking in my eyes and I was looking in his, I felt something.... the same thing... and, and, I felt it when I was putting Lucas to sleep too...” Elizabeth grinned. “I think you like him,” she said, “As in, LIKE like him.” I sighed. “I know, that's what I thought, but I don't want our friendship to be destroyed.” Elizabeth was thinking intently in the battle while I continued ranting. “And I don't know if he likes me or not, but I think he might because he had the same look on his face that I had on the Balloon Car Ride, and now that I think about it he might because he was nervous about holding my hand one time in Krokotopia, and he didn't let go until I reminded him, but he might not because he teases me a lot and I'm not sure what that means because I tease him a lot too...” “Okay, okay, okay, calm down!” Elizabeth said. I looked at the ground. “Sorry,” I said. “I think,” she said, “I think... I think he likes you too. But,” she added, before I could get too excited, “I can't be sure yet.” We finished our battle, and instead of talking to Watson right away, we sat down on a crate. “I mean, the express gives it away, if nothing else, but teasing is another clue too.” She thought for a moment. “Does he nudge you sometimes, playfully?” I turned red, or at least I felt like I did. “Yeah,” I said. “And think about the last time he said your name. Did it kind of sound like he was caressing it, like it was precious or something like that?” I thought back. The last time he said my name was... when he was tired, and was letting me know. “Actually, he kind of did,” I said, “Even though he was sleepy. It WAS hard to tell.” Elizabeth looked at me. “Tomorrow, he will say your name, I believe. When he does, listen for it. Whisper to me if he does.” “And if he does?” I asked. She looked at me again. “Ta da!” she said, clapping her hands. I giggled.
We continued on the Ironworks, working hard, but at the same time talking about Lucas. When we finished, I was getting tired this time. “Sorry, Elizabeth...” I said, yawning. She giggled. “Can you get back to Wolfminister Abbey on your own?” she asked. I nodded. “See ya,” I said, as she teleported off. I teleported to Regent's Square, and then went to Wolfminister Abbey. I quickly, but quietly, told Private Kinchley that I would be staying too. He just nodded. I found where I had lay Lucas. He was still there, and fast asleep for all I could tell. I smiled. I lay down on the bench next to his, and fell asleep.
|
Lightning Strikes, Thunder Booms (part 2)
3 years after Malistaire Drake captures Sestiva, Merle Ambrose takes a visit to Malistaire’s Lair….
“You must stop this mayhem, Malistaire. All around the Spiral, devastation is burning, and horror we cannot bear. And you’ve been behind this disaster.” Merle Ambrose spoke quietly.
“And why should I listen to you, old man? What have you ever given me, besides 15 year-old wizards and witches that have tried—and failed—to defeat me? Malistaire spat bitterly.
“The question is, what have I not given you?” Ambrose stared over his spectacles, his fingers clasped over his tall staff.
“I will not answer your petty question, Merle.”
“Well what will make you stop this chaos?”
“Nothing.”
Suddenly changing the subject, Ambrose said, “You know, she is much stronger than you think.”
For a moment Malistaire watched the ancient headmaster, confused. Sudden realization washed over him, and he smiled coldly.
“Yes, I have become very fond of her. She reminds me much of Sylvia. Brave, willing, eager, and her magical abilities are amazing.”
“She will realize the truth when the time comes. She will leave you. Then, she will turn against you, and you know it, Malistaire.”
Malistaire stared fixedly out the windor. A second, just a second— for a moment—no, it couldn’t be, could it? Merle Ambrose could have sworn that he had seen fear flicker in Malistaire Drake’s dark, brooding eyes.
“You are afraid her.” Ambrose broke the silence.
“I have no fear, old man, for I am fear.”
“Tsk tsk. You’ve always had a hard spot for those sorts of things.” But before Malistaire could make a retort, Merle Ambrose had stepped through the portal taking him back to Ravenwood.
Outside of Malistaire’s Lair, a red-haired, green-eyed witch of 16 was impatiently poking the back of a dark-eyed wizard of almost the same age.
“I think Ambrose just left.” Sestiva whispered.
“Yes, I think so too—oh there he goes—Malistaire—yelling curses at Ambrose.” Juan said.
“I’m not sure if I should escape yet. Malistaire seems really mad.” Sestiva replied fearfully.
“It’s now or never. Now that he’s had that conversation with Ambrose, he’ll never let you out of his sight if you stay!”
“Okay then. Oh, wait a minute, where’s Jasmine?”
“No idea. She’ll turn up sooner or later.” Juan sounded a bit uncertain. Sestiva muttered an incantation.
“What was that for?” Juan asked.
“A searching spell. I can’t see Jasmine anywhere in the castle. What if she was captu—?”
“There, there she is! Hey, Jasmine, over here. Jasmine!” Juan started waving his arms wildly, trying to catch Jasmine’s attention. She turned, and sprinted in their direction.
“What’s up with you?” She asked Juan curiously, who had just stopped waving his arms.
“Er…” He murmured something about chicken dancing disease.
“He was just trying to get your attention. Now, what next? Where’s the nearest portal to Ravenwood, or anywhere in Wizard City?” Sestiva asked hurriedly.
“Just south. We’ll need to get our mounts though, it’ll be a mile or so.” Jasmine said.
“Okay then. Hurry up people.” Sestiva mounted her chestnut pony. Jasmine swung her leg over her dragon, and Juan jumped on his Bengal tiger.
They tumbled out of the portal, and hopped off their mounts.
“What the. Where are we?” Sestiva looked around. This was not Ravenwood, and most definitely not Wizard City. The sky was dark, and they were on a lonely, floating island.
“It is some sort of spirit realm I think. We just need to find another portal out. This is probably in Mooshu.” Jasmine suggested.
“Okay, I’ll look here, you look over there, and Juan, go over there. Send up sparks if you find anything.” Sestiva ordered, pointing her blade in different directions. She walked off, alone, over to a healthy looking tree, standing, alone on the west side of the island.
“How odd…” She muttered.
What was a tree doing on this island, where there was no source of water nearby? Lost in her thoughts, Sestiva lost track of the time. Then, shaking her back to life was a clear, loud, scream of terror. Ice blue sparks shaped like snowflakes burst through the air on the east side of the island.
“Jasmine!” Sestiva cried out, calling for her horse, and galloping over to the place where Jasmine’s sparks had appeared. When she arrived at the spot, Juan was already there. Jasmine was no where in sight.
“She—she screamed, a-and she just disappeared! I came here as fast as I could. I saw, a-a cloaked thing drag her away.” Juan blustered frantically.
“Oh no.” Sestiva’s hair was crackling and sparking with electricity. She pointed near the center of the island. A dark mass was growing, and out of thin air, a hooded creature in great resemblance to a Wraith appeared.
“You have stayed on the island too long little humans. I gave you enough time to find your way out. Now, you must pay your price.” The Wraith hissed.
“We just need Jasmine back!” Juan shouted.
“Yea, what he said!” Sestiva yelled, her hair rising, now sparking with energy.
“Pay your price… pay… your price… and pay now!” The creature snarled. It dragged Sestiva and Juan into the battle circle.
“What now?” Juan whispered urgently.
“What do you mean? Do you expect me to have some sort of hidden spell that’ll summon flying pigs to save us?” Sestiva snapped.
“Um, well it would’ve helped, I guess.”
“Well all we can do is kill this thing—that will be no problem. But, what if it doesn’t hand back Jasmine? This was the thing that kidnapped Jasmine, right?”
Juan nodded. “Yea, it was.”
“Then it is so goin’ down.” Sestiva cast herself a storm blade and discarded some cards from her spell deck. After twenty minutes of summoning Storm Lord, Triton, Stormzilla, Fire Dragon, Pheonix, and Helephant several times, the Wraith fell to the ground, and disappeared in a cloud of dust. Once the air cleared, Jasmine stood couphing in front of them.
“Well that wasn’t so hard.” Juan muttered, smiling slightly.
“Yea, just the usual day where you got a Wraith to fend off and save one of your best friends from, eh?” Sestiva grinned, hugging Jasmine and said. “So what happened? How did that beast thing creature get you?”
“Well I kinda got carried away, you know, there are a lot of exotic plants on this island, and it went all dark...and cold and the Wraith thing appeared out of no where and I screamed, sent up sparks just in time, and was just taken away through this portal.”
“Where did the portal take you?” Juan questioned.
“I don’t know. It was too dark to see well,” Jasmine shivered. “I could hear scuttling though, like there were rats. Ugh. I just hate rats.”
“Well at least the Wraith didn’t eat your brain or anything.” Sestiva said, relieved.
|
A Tale of Two Witches
I was bored out of my mind and for once happy that Death class was over.You see,my parents don't have enough crowns to send me to Krokotopia or anywhere else in the Spiral,so in some case i'm "maxed" in Death. . . . meaning my best spell is Vampire.I was walking over to blossom 'cause my other class is Life,even though I'm a Necromancer.Some of my friends and I believe it's best to learn the opposite class so you have all the shields(and in my case heals)to protect yourself from opponents of the opposite class.It also helps for the same class as you, so you have spells stronger against them.Anyways,I saw my cousin Jessie come out for Death class."Hey Jess," I said."Yo Ashleh,"she replied,"How's Marlorn or whatever his name is?" "The same as usual.Wu?" "Good I guess.See Ya!"Waving back I murmured"wouldn't wanna be ya."
Aww man,If Life class today wasn't even MORE boring the Death,I don't know what is.I think I ended up falling asleep when she started going on about the difference between pixies, faries and sprites,'cause I woke up at about 7:00pm.Annoyed that I fell asleep AGAIN I went to my dorm.I found Freddy,my ghoul,just finishing tidying up my room."Thanks Fred,"I said.He replied with something like a groan,but I knew he wasn't annoyed.It's Just what corpses do, I guess.
Later the next day I saw bunch of Theurgiests surrounding a girl.And that girl juuust so happened to be Jessica Lionheart. What now? I was walking with Ilean,my banshee. I think she freaked out enough of them to make way through the crowd all the way to Jessie."Great Lord Jessie what happened now!?" I asked impatiently."He. . . he was. . . he was there. . . I, I saw him!"At the moment it sounded like she was possesed.But she continued:"His. . .his onyx. . .r-r-ri-i-ng-g-g. . .and,and. . . .sk-sk-sk-skel-l-let-t-tons. . ." Does she need a psychiatrist?"L-l-l-or-r-rd-d-d Ni-i-i-ghtsh-sh-sh-ad-d-e. . .at. . .at his. . . s-i-i-ide. . ." I froze.Those last words. . . . Lord Nightshade?It couldn't have been a Necromancer tricking her,only masters can summon him.And skeletons?The person she saw in her dorm last night was none other the Malistare Drake.
|
The Most Powerful Spells of All (part 9)
Life was never the same when Ravenwood was recreated.
Gone were the streams behind the Ice and Storm schools, gone were the benches by the Myth and Fire schools, and gone were all the schools themselves.
The Drake Academy of Necromancy was created.
Everyone was a Necromancer. All people who weren't originally Necromancers or didn't train second in Necromancy were instantly Novices. The worst part: former Life students were treated horribly.
In fact, one brave attempt to free yourself (if you were a former Life student) would have you rid of your wand, AND magical abilities.
It was and endless graveyard, with dead trees, skeletons and skulls strewn everywhere, and ghosts roamed without people battling them.
It wasn't just Wizard City enslaved. Manders were spending their days collecting all treasures they could, and giving them to their new master. All Marleybonian dogs were sent home, only to be ridden of their cars, homes, and food. Now living like cats, they roamed rooftops, searching for a hopeful can of discarded tuna at least. MooShu bovines, and goats, all chipped away at mines far in the distance. And Dragonspyre, that was the only place not enslaved. Malistaire's office was there. He could relax without having to see if his slaves were doing as they were told.
And nobody had a house anymore. All families lived in the tiny dorms.
And what were students to do after school and homework? Now not allowed to do street battles, all they could do was duel.
Alia was on of the most saddest people around. With reduced health and mana, and horribly non-Marleybonian clothing, Alia felt horrible.
Alia was lucky to at least have a bed.There was only room for 2 beds in the dorm though, and 1 couch. Once Alia, Sean, and her parents realized the very decreased space, Alia yelled, "I call second bed!"
Sean moaned, and the night wasn't that good. He fell off the couch twice, had a nightmare (a nightmare about a Malistaire zombie eating everyone), and almost wet his pants 5 times. Alia though, slept soundly.
On Friday of that week, Malistaire got up on his black lighting cloud. He announced, "To celebrate the birth of Drake Academy, there will be a short get-together in the Ironworks pavilion. Don't even think about those nasty Street Sweepers, they are now in proper maid dresses. Alia snickered. "Do not worry about them trying to battle you. I promised to kill them if they did." Sabrina sighed. She loved killing them, one reason was that her Diviner spells were boosted.
"The dress code:" Malistaire started, then snapping. A long piece of parchment appeared in his hands. "Males are expected to wear black, ANYTHING black. And girls, you are expected to wear, (he shuddered) GREEN."
Alia's jaw dropped.
"8 o' clock tomorrow. My new slaves," he said, smiling at the word slaves. "Shall be preforming classic Dragonspyre and Necromancy music." He etched the Death symbol in the air, and teleported to his Dragonspyre office.
Alia was scared, suspicious, and yet, TOTALLY EXCITED! She was so happy to have one more day of smiles and GREEN. "Why green?" Sabrina asked Alia. "He could have done purple!" Alia pondered for quite some time, then knew it. "Somewhere," Alia said. "Somewhere deep down in that cold, lifeless heart, Malistaire still cares for Sylvia."
But it was a trap, Malistaire was trying to kill Alia. Yet, he still cared for Sylvia very much.
Running to the dorm, Alia pulled out something light, silk-like, and green from some drawers. It was her dress she had been saving for FOREVER. Surprisingly, it still fit! Grabbing her Marleybone style shoes that had no requirement and her Elegant Hat, Alia was instantly ready to get dressed and enjoy one last night of happiness.
Walking into the crowded, noisy pavilion, Alia heard violins and a piano playing rather spooky music. Alia noticed the people playing the music instantly-former Ravenwood professors. They were all in black rags, and playing sadly. Alia bit her lip as Professor Wu saw her. Alia mouthed, "I'm working on saving us!" and walked to the table with many death related things to eat.
As Alia reached over to a black olive sandwich, someone else was reaching for it at the same time. The person's hand slapped Alia's out of the way, and grabbed the sandwich instead. Seeing the satisfied, munching person who took the sandwich, Alia grew angry. "Mary? You're supposed to be wearing green," Alia said, looking at her teal dress. "Aha. I see you noticed," Mary replied, twirling around. "Teal IS a mix of Green and blue. I am certainly wearing green. Meanwhile, I take pride in my former school of Ice!"
"Now if you will excuse me, I've got to finish my sandwich," Mary said, waving to Professor Greyrose and walking away.
Alia rolled her eyes, and grabbed another sandwich, munching away. Alia liked the sauce on the sandwich. Malistaire, meanwhile, was spying on Alia. he knew something she didn't know, so he was sabotaging her night to decrease her powers. Stress always did that.
He got the attention of one wizard, and motioned for him to step on Alia's dress, henceforth, tearing it.
Alia gasped as she saw what happened, and her angry eyes landed on the guilty wizard. "Oops. Sorry," he said, walking away. Alia sat down to look at her ruined dress. Malistaire was motioning another wizard to- "OW!" Alia said. The other wizard had stepped on her foot.
Malistaire smiled.
This was just coincidental; Mary accidentally spilled her glass of blood red punch all over Alia's not-so-beautiful dress.
Alia now saw everyone staring at her.Not knowing anything else to do, Alia ran to a spot of the pavilion where no one saw her, she sat down, and she cried. Not very hard, just enough for her to be shaking.
Professor Wu saw her, feeling sorry for her. Yet she couldn't do anything but play music. Malistaire was watching her.
Cody, meanwhile, was grabbing some things to eat, when he noticed someone in the far end of the pavilion, who seemed to be crying. He instantly knew it was Alia. Cody sighed, and walked over.
He noticed the large stain on Alia's dress. He also noticed a tear in her dress, and that her shoe was bent. "Hi?" Cody said. Alia looked at him, and said, "Oh. It's you again."
"One thing," Cody said. "Why are you crying?" Alia sniffled, and replied, "I thought this would be my last day of fun. I just want my last days to be good." "Last days? Is this what you meant when Malistaire arrived?" Cody asked.
Alia finally explained everything. "The worst part is," Alia started. "I don't have anymore belief that I can save everyone!"
"You can!" Cody said. "Do you even know what happened to the Secret School?" Alia finally perked up. "What? Do you know? What happened?!" Alia asked eagerly. "I don't know, but what if it's still there?'
Alia smiled. She finally felt a bit of hope. "And who says you won't defeat that Draconian army? Maybe you still have a chance," Cody said.
Malistaire was still spying on Alia, realizing her sudden happiness. Scowling, he whistled loudly, then teleported off, cackling.
Meanwhile, the most recent song playing was over, and now a soft, slow like (yet spooky, very spooky) song was being played. The former teachers still looked miserable, especially Professor Balestrom who didn't seem to be enjoying his huge guitar.
Many wizards were dancing with other wizards. "Um, Alia?" Cody asked. "Would you like to, possibly, da-"
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Alia screamed at the top of her lungs, and pointed to something behind Cody. "DRACONIAN!" Alia yelled. Indeed, a huge Draconian was standing right behind Cody. "You're a Magus! DO SOMETHING!" Alia yelled to Cody. "They're just Draconians, that's normal since Malistaire has ruled, right?" Cody said.
Right that moment, all of the dancing wizards turned into fierce, horrible Draconians. Even the Street Sweepers turned into Draconians.
"And that's normal, right?" Alia said, her arms crossed. Mary was just screaming, running out of the Ironworks. Sabrina just stood there, shaking with fear.
None of them had no idea that when Malistaire whistled, he summoned rather large Draconinans.
Every Draconian cornered them-all in one corner! "DO ANYTHING," Alia whispered to Cody. "I'm TRYING!" Cody yelled. "None of my spells will even be ETCHED! My deck is full, I'm wearing accuracy gear, but nothing is happening!"
All of a sudden, Alia glimpsed down at her spell deck she was clutching. Rapidly searching through it, Alia found something amazing. It was not a Death spell.
Alia had found Big Bang.
The number of copies exceeded the amount allowed in such a tiny, Novice's deck. Smiling, Alia said, "Prepare for your doom."
Scattering spells everywhere, Alia breathed heavily as she wiped out every single creature. But her eyes grew big as she saw Mary standing there, her jaw dropped. Sighing, Alia told Mary to stay there. Teleporting home, Alia knew what she had to do.
Realizing Sabrina and Cody had come along, Alia moaned and ran to her drawer. Cody asked, "Alia, what are you-"
"Destroying an enemy! It's the only thing to do now that Mary's seen a Secret spell."
"MARY? You're kidding me, you've been enemies since-"
"We were 6? Yeah. I think it's a good thing to do. Also, what if she tells Malistaire? If I give her one of these," Alia said, holding up a silver, heart shaped locket with a single Sapphire in the center. "She'll never betray us!"
"Hopefully," Sabrina muttered.
Teleporting back to the Ironworks, Alia walked up to Mary.
"Mary, this has been going on for too long." Alia said. "Let's bury the hatchet, once and for all." "Uh, that means what?" Mary asked confusedly. "I want to make you my friend!" Alia said. Mary stared at Alia, disgusted.
"I need backup to kill Malistaire, AND I want to bury the hatchet. That spell you saw can only be seen by my best friends. So, that's another reason," Alia explained.
Mary stared at the offering for what seemed like hours, deciding what to do.
She grabbed the locket firmly, unclasped it, put it around her neck, and clasped it again all in a Mary-ish way. "If it'll get me infinite fame, of course I'm taking it!" Mary said. "After all, it feels good to lose an enemy. I mean, who DOESN'T like me?" Alia and Mary giggled.
"That would be me," Sabrina muttered quietly to herself.
After Mary said goodbye to everyone and teleported home, and Sabrina yelled, "WHY?" and left, Alia finally realized the Ravenwood teachers were there.
"Uh, did Headmaster Ambrose already tell you?" Alia asked them. Professor Greyrose looked up from polishing her dark, black fiddle. "Yes, he-" she gulped. "Had."
Sighing with relief, Alia said goodbye to every professor as they teleported to the Slave's Headquarters in Dragonspyre. It was now just Alia and Cody.
"Cody, what were you going to ask me before that Draconian appeared?" Cody got very nervous. "It doesn't matter now. BYE!" Cody said, quickly teleporting home.
Alia was thinking about something besides this, and her main thought was the Secret School. But before Alia left to the Commons, she grabbed a delicious sandwich, and drank a sip of punch.
Seeing a pole, Alia smiled. Sliding down the pole wasn't very easy in a dress. A shock was ahead for Alia, though.
Alia screamed at the top of her lungs once more, as she saw the broken pole a yard away from the box, and bent to the right. "This is it! I'm going to die!" Alia said, with the most scared expression ever on her face. Was it the end for her?
|
Late for Ravenwood
"Cody wake up or you'll be late!" , that was how it all began. I jumped out of bed and went to my bank. I opened it up and took out my green life robes. After that I went to the mirror to see what I looked like. Boy did I look terrible, I looked like a death guy from the sunday wizard paper comics. What was it called Abracadoodle or something? Well I don't care, I here that death is the new look. "Cody, come on" my mom yelled up the stairs. "Coming" I yelled back. I leaped down the stairs and into the kitchen. "Eat your bowl of Lucky Charms and drink your Mooshu milk. When you are done with that remember to drink you potion, after all, a potion a day keeps Katzenstein away" my mom said. I sat down and gobbled it up. "You look like a Gobbler!" my sister Chelsea said, coming down the stairs. "I dont care, I need to eat fast if I want to catch The Dragon" I said, gulping down my potion. "What number Dragon do you take. If you take 15, I here they pick you up late" Chelsea said slowly pouring some Mooshu milk into a glass. "I take Dragon 5, and unfortunatly it's the fastest Dragon" I said, walking over to the door. I grabbed my backpack, and 300 gold for lunch, and rushed out the door. My mom ran after me, "Wait honey, you have dueling today, don't forget your Triton hat!" my mom called out. I ran back to her grabbed the hat and kept on running to the Dragon stop. Squish, oh great I stepped in 3B (Blood, Bat, Barf). I tried wiping it off on the lawn near me, but just when I was about to finish, the door swung open. "Oh no you don't. Pick all that up right now" , it was Malistair, an evil old retired man. He made me clean up the whole thing by hand! "Great now I am going to miss the Dragon" I said, giving Malistair a glare. "I don't care about Dragon's or Ravenwood" sneered Malistair, and he walked back inside. There was no way I was going to make the Dragon, so I decided to dash back home and grab my broom. I hopped on and sped off. I had only gotten just past Malistair's lawn and a little farther when I saw a blinding light, then I felt a huge Zap! Everything went blank. When I gained concessness two seconds later a realized that I had been hit by a lighting bat. I wondered who had done it. Luckily I had trained my broom to stay put and not zoom off, so I hopped back on it, and set off again. I had no idea what time it was so I decided to stop by golem tower. When I entered I saw the 2 clock works. "Do you guys know what time it is?" I asked politely. "Time to get a new watch" one of them replied. They both started rolling their heads around laughing. "NO I am serious, What time is it?" I asked again. "It's 7:58, dummy" the other clock work said. "Uh your the dummy not me" I said quickly leaving. I immediatly hopped onto my broom and sped off to the fair grounds to fill up some empty potions. I needed them for two reasons, one: Falling of the broom had hurt. And Two: I was going to be late for school, which meant paying the punishment of dueling Cyrus Drake. Once I had finished dueling Diego for some potions I sped off for the gates of Ravenwood. I might not be late, it's only 7:59, I have two minuntes! I thought to myself. I was almost there, so close, so close, so close. "Wait a second there, do you have any idea how fast you were going chap. I will let you off with a warning for now lad but be careful next time" said the officer. "Now lets have a little chat about speeding" The officer said coming towards my broom. "Look a cat!" I said, dodging out of the way as the police officer ran towards the shopping district. I entered the gates, just as the Barneby annonced: "All students who are not in their classes please report to the Myth tower"
"Come on Barneby, I was so close to my class room can't I be off the hook?" I pleaded. "Sorry Cody, you have to pay the price" He replied. I knew I had to, so I was going to test my luck. As I headed towards the Myth tower I got a chill...........
|
The Quest for Balance
I’ve always known that I was special. Turns out, I was even more special than I thought. I always did well in school, with straight A’s. I’m very artistic, and draw exceptionally well. I have a great sense of taste, and design a lot of clothes. The only catch is that I just want to be normal. I don’t want to go to college at 14, or go to an expensive art lesson every week, or be some celebrity fashion designer. I just want to be plain Erin Nightshade.
I was in sixth grade, and knew just about everyone in my grade, plus some of the seventh graders. My best friend in the entire world had the same schedule as me, and we always sat next to each other. Her name was Victoria SpiritBlossom. Tori for short. No one knew what happened to my parents, and I stayed with Tori at her grandparents’ house. She didn’t know where her parents were either, and her grandparents never cared what we did. We always joked about our names, because they were so weird. I was never a particularly cheery kid, and I was very serious about things, but I was happy plenty of the time. One of the things that I thought about sometimes, was my birthmark. It looked like a skull, and was on the palm of my right hand.
It all started one day when I was in art class. I was getting a little frustrated that I couldn’t paint the image that was in my head perfectly. The colors on the canvas were very bright, but all of a sudden, the paint started to peel and turn grey. It dried up, and cracked right in front of my eyes. I wasn’t sure what had happened, but I knew I shouldn’t tell anyone. Before my classmates noticed my canvas, I switched it for a new one. When I looked over at Tori’s canvas, her colors were more vibrant than anyone else’s. I just thought it was a trick of the light.
A few months later, something else happened. I was doing some community service for extra credit. I was at the local park, planting some rose bushes, and they were wilting faster than normal. One second, they were bright and perky, and the next, they were limp and sagging. I was starting to panic, so I gave them some water and made sure they were in the sunlight. It didn’t help, so I just told myself it was a little cold, because it was spring. It was 87 degrees, and everyone was wearing short sleeves. Tori had been planting baby trees, and I noticed that they were blossoming with pink flowers. I didn’t even know that Oklahoma had cherry blossoms. There was no way that was a trick of the light.
The rest of the year went fine, except for my science fair project, which involved growing bean plants. During summer break, Tori and I were inseparable. We were swimming in our pool, which was colder than it should be, when I saw a reflection of an owl on the water. Before I could say anything, Tori swam right through it. I saw it again, and she noticed as well.
“Look!” She said. “Did you just see that?!”
“Yeah, but I don’t see the owl anywhere except in the reflection…”
A voice hooted out, “Isn’t this Erin Nightshade’s and Victoria SpiritBlossom’s residence?”
Tori and I started freaking out, but the voice told us to calm down. It mentioned something about a looking glass spell, but neither of us understood.
“I guess no one has explained anything yet.” It sighed, and spoke again, “If you would come with me, I can show you everything.”
“No way!” I said, stepping out of the pool. “I’m not going anywhere with a freaky owl who only appears in a reflection. Oh, and not to mention that you can talk!”
“Not to be rude but she’s right” Tori said as she followed me to get her towel.
“I wasn’t going to start out like this, but I will if I must,” sighed the owl.
“What are you talking about-” but before I could finish the sentence, we were surrounded by a swirl of sparks. They were every color of the rainbow, and then there were colors I had never seen before. They didn’t burn, and I heard a light “pop”. When the sparks cleared, Tori and I were in a state of shock.
Right before my eyes there were castles, unbelievably huge trees, people in weird clothes holding sticks, and some of the people were riding on dragons and horses. One of them was even riding a white tiger.
“What did you do?!” I screamed at the owl, who was sitting on a perch nearby. “Where are we? When are we? And how did we even get here?”
“I think I need to explain some things to you two.” This time it wasn’t the owl who spoke. There was an old man in a violet robe, with a pointed hat. His voice was a little rough, like he had been through a lot lately. “My name is Headmaster Ambrose”.
“Listen, Mr. Amber-Rosey, or whoever you are, I need to go home. No offense, but this isn’t exactly something I can take seriously.”
“I completely understand your confusion, but I also think that you should step into my office for a few minutes. If, for nothing else, than to change clothes.”
I hadn’t noticed that we were still in our swimsuits, wrapped up in large towels. Tori hadn’t said a word since arriving, and was still taking in everything around her. Several people had stopped to watch the scene unfold.
“Erin, I think we should listen to him” Tori was wearing a serious face, which she hardly ever used. “He seems to know what he’s talking about, and I’m getting cold.”
Reluctantly, I nodded my head and went inside. The inside of the castle looked like a normal office, except there was no computer, and the room was lit by a few candles. Despite the small amount of candles, the room was surprisingly bright. One side of the room was piled high with books, enough so that the door was blocked. I didn’t know what was behind the door, but I wanted to find out. We sat down in a large chair, and the old man sat at his desk across from us.
“You are different from your friends, and have been since you were born. The world that you have just entered is full of mythological beasts, fairytale creatures, and figments of your imagination. It is full of wizards, witches, and warlocks. There is no power known as electricity here, but instead, things are powered by magic. You will learn to cast spells, battle monsters, and master all of the magical arts.”
“Wait, you still haven’t told us where we are.” I reminded him. “And by the way, who are you?”
“Oh, I’m dreadfully sorry. I am Headmaster Ambrose, and you are in Wizard City. There are many worlds among the spiral, but you’ll start out here. You will learn magic spells from Ravenwood, the main school. There are seven different magics, Balance, Storm, Ice, Fire, Death, Myth, and Life.”
“Okay, but I still don’t get what this has to do with us.”
“Well, we just got over our last crisis about six months ago…”
Ambrose told us about some guy named Malistaire, and how they finally defeated him. Everything had been peaceful for a little while. Gradually, though, Ambrose noticed that the Life students had completely stopped talking to the Death students, and the Fire kids had put up posters against joining the Ice school. The Storm students were even zapping the Myth kids. Things were unraveling, and he was afraid that if it didn’t stop soon, there would be total chaos.
“We need you two to help stop this madness.”
Not much time had passed since we left the swimming pool, but it felt like an eternity.
“Now that you mention it,” I said softly, “I always thought there was something big going on, and I just didn’t know what it was.”
“Can we please have some clothes, now?” asked Tori.
“Of course. I almost forgot. You two need to find out which school you belong to.” He got a large book off the top of a pile by the door. When he opened it, the pages were swirling, and it looked like a rainbow colored spiral, with little bubbles around its edges. Ambrose gave me a quill, and told me to answer the questions. When I looked back down, there was a quiz. I completed it, and the pages sparkled back, Death. That explained a lot about the roses, the painting, and my birthmark. I passed the quill to Tori, whose answer from the book was Life. I got really nervous about what the headmaster had just told us. We had never even had any fights, but now I suspected that we soon would.
He got us some clothes, and they were the weirdest things I had ever seen. Mine were black and white, which I kind of liked, but the hat was a little pointed, and the robe looked medieval. Tori’s outfit was a deep green, with light brown swirls around the edges. We had wands, too. Mine was a polished staff of metal, with a skull on top. I hoped it wasn’t a real skull. Tori’s was exactly the opposite. It was a real branch of a tree, with leaves blossoming all over.
“Now, I suppose you should meet your new teachers.” He said, with a twinkle in his eyes. He gave us each a map, a book telling us everything we needed to know, and sent us off to explore the new world.
When we got outside to what was called The Commons, everyone started talking at once.
“Are you two new here? Let me show you around! What school are you?”
Tori and I just walked right past them, not wanting to get too deep in conversation at that point. We hurried to get to a gate that read, Ravenwood School. When I got inside, it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. In the center of the valley was a 250 foot tall tree, and it had eyes and a mouth! To my right there was a willow tree with a cloud over it, a tree that was covered in snow, and a tree that was on fire. By each tree there was a small building that were decorated in different colors, purple and yellow, blue and white, and red and orange. To my left, there was a cherry blossom tree, just like in the park at home, a tree with one eye, and a tree that looked completely dead. This time the buildings were green and brown, yellow and blue, and black and grey.
“According to my schedule, I’m supposed to go to the Life school.” said Tori, still in awe of the scene around her.
“I’m supposed to go to the Death school, but I don’t think it’ll be hard to find it. The colors make it pretty obvious.”
We both headed off toward the Life school, because I wanted to see it too. The teacher was a cow, and she was really nice. The students inside, not so much. I quickly made my exit, while Tori tried to learn the life symbol. I walked behind the huge tree, whose name was apparently Bartleby, to find the Death classroom. The earth around the school looked rough and jagged, as if it had gone through an earthquake. Inside, it was very gloomy, but it somehow felt like home. Where the teacher should have been, there was a hunchbacked old man, carrying a lantern. He said his name was Dworgyn, and that he used to be the death class assistant. After Malistaire had gone off in a rampage 18 months before, the Death school had fallen below Ravenwood. After the students defeated Malistaire, they had helped to get the classroom back. He taught me the death symbol, which looked like a skull, and helped me draw it in the air. The other students were friendly enough, and they related to me in a lot of ways, but they kept making rude remarks about the Life school. They said that I did much better than any Life student would have, or that I made the right choice. I knew that I shouldn’t let them talk that way, so I paid a visit to the Life school. I found out that I can choose a second magic to study, so I signed up for Life. The classroom was in chaos when they found out. Moolinda Woo and Dworgyn tried to calm them down, but they wouldn’t listen. Tori and I quickly fled the scene, after picking up our deck of spells. When we reached the front of the valley, I noticed that there was no Balance school. I asked a dog who stood like a person about it. He said that he was the Balance professor, and that there had never been a Balance school. There hadn’t been enough money to build it.
“That’s horrible!” Tori exclaimed “That might have something to do with the current issue between the schools.”
“Maybe. But for right now, we need to go talk to someone on Unicorn Lane.” I said as we were waving goodbye to the professor. The rest of that day was the best in my life. Sure, Unicorn Lane was a little too bright and cheery for me, but we both had a lot of fun defeating all the monsters. We even got the whole street completed before dinner.
“Speaking of food and stuff, where do we live?” I asked the headmaster after telling him about our triumph.
“Oh, my goodness! I am so sorry, girls. I forgot to tell you about dorms! Here, take this note to Simeon. He’s just outside of the Storm school. He’ll give you the keys to the dorm rooms.”
We headed off to Ravenwood, and sure enough, there were dorms right by the entrance. Simeon gave us two sets of keys, and we found our rooms. They were on the top floor of the tower, and the view was amazing. Back on Earth, we had always shared a room. We tried to get to sleep in our different rooms, but we wound up moving Tori’s bed into my dorm. One side of the room was decorated with green plants and happy looking pictures, while the other was covered in slightly dreary décor. Tori always kept her things neat and organized, but my things were just left wherever I put them. We got along really well, despite the different schools. By the time a month had passed, we both had the badge Three Streets Savior. The issue between the schools hadn’t gotten any worse, but it hadn’t gotten better, either. I thought that the whole point of having a balance school was to bring the schools together, despite the opposites. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
I had made a lot of new friends, mostly Death, but one of them was from the Balance school. His name was Tony RavenClaw, and he was different from the rest. Most of the Balance kids that I had met hated every other school. The Death kids in my class only disliked Life, and Fire only hated Ice, but Balance topped it all. Tony, on the other hand, enjoyed every magic, and chose spells from each one. The day I met him was one of the weirder ones since coming to Wizard City.
I was relaxing by the Death school, sitting on one of Bartleby’s roots, when Tony went inside. He looked nothing like a Death Student, or even a Myth student. Death and Myth were always closely related, and got along well. When I peeked through the door, Dworgyn wasn’t teaching him anything. Instead, he was rooting around his storage closet, muttering about needing something. Tony gave him something inside a jar that was glowing, and Dworgyn accepted it by giving him a spell I had never seen. It looked like a mix between all of the iconic creatures. I had one eye, like a Cyclops, had a skeletal body, one hand was holding a torch, the other an icicle, sparks were flying from it, and it was wearing a sash of blossoming flowers. It was a Balance spell. I could just see the symbol for the scale before Tony put it away. As he was exiting, he noticed the look on my face.
“Oh, you must have seen the card.” He said as I was trying to control m facial expression. “It’s called an Elemental Spirit. It has the raw power of the elemental magics, but it also has complexity of the secondary magics. It’s the most powerful spell I know of, and it has the power to create peace, or to wage war.”
“I’ve never seen anything like it. How did you get it?”
“Malistaire gave it to Dworgyn just a week before he started causing trouble. There’s only supposed to be one card at a time, but some people think that there’s more.”
“Cool”
We started talking about different spells, and I realized that he was really friendly. He didn’t know why, but he was just different. Tori had been working on a quest for Moolinda Woo, and when she found us, I introduced her. She immediately made friends with anyone who was kind, so they were off to a great start. The next day we figured out that we were working on the exact same quests, and were on the same level. Together, we excelled faster than anyone else in the spiral. If only things had stayed like that.
|
Anywhere and Everywhere
Everything goes by in a blur. Headmaster Ambrose says that Dworgyn still might have a chance and so I sit in the waiting room for hours. Eventually he tells me that he will not know anything until morning; to get some rest. I nod and teleport out of the hospital waiting room. I open my spiral door onto my Royal Estate, and smile just a little bit.
“Ah, home sweet home.” I whisper into the darkness. It feels good to finally be home. It has been so long since I have been in Marleybone. I peer over the edge of my island to the bustling city below. I take a deep breath of the city air and walk inside. It is dark and musty after months of being unused. I wave my hand and the lights flash on, the cobwebs clean themselves, and Midnight, my blue ghost, appears next to me. He looks toward me and cheerfully says,
“Welcome home Master Shade.”
“It’s good to be back.” I answer.
“I expect your trip was pleasant?” He asks, taking my bags.
“Oh, as good as a diplomatic trip to Grizzleheim can be. Some of those creatures are quite hospitable, while others I’m afraid are downright awful. But I guess you could consider my journey a successful one.” I say.
He looks at me with sudden interest and asks,
” I suppose you got them to sign the treaty?” I sigh and nod.
“Mostly, however I am afraid I did not get it signed by a few… tribes I guess you could call them. Also the most curious thing happened to me on my way to report to Ambrose.” I tell Morsivus the whole story trying to make it sound far less odd than it really is. He looks at me with concern on his, well, whatever you might call his face.
“Dear me, that sounds awful. You must sit down. However you seem to be holding up well Master Shade.” I look down and say,
“One of the blessings of being a Necromancer if you could call it that. The power to have no emotion. I mean, of course I cried at first, I was in shock. But this is all too natural. Too ordinary.”
“You mean you are not sad anymore?”
I rise from my chair and walk up to my bedchamber. When I am halfway up the stairs I look down at him and say,
“Of course I am sad. But there is nothing to be done about it. He means much to me, but nevertheless he is just another figure in the never-ending cycle of life and death.” With this I climb the rest of the stairs to my bedchamber. I close and lock the door before sitting on my bed. I sigh, look around the room, and lay down. I shut my bloodshot eyes and dream that tomorrow is better.
I nervously pace the halls of the hospital, any minute now I should hear the news. Headmaster Ambrose has his best Life Wizards work on Dworgyn, but to no avail. He finally emerges from Dworgyn’s hospital room.
“Matthew,” he says,”I am afraid I have very grim news. He simply couldn’t take the blows inflicted upon him. I am very sorry.” I cast a sideways glance at him, and see actual sadness in his eyes, but I am too withdrawn at the moment to care about others.
I rise without a word and teleport back to my house. I slowly walk around my island and sit down on a bench in the greenhouse. I sit there and think, about Dworgyn, about Malistaire, about everything. After a while I make up my mind. I rise and walk across the pathway to my bedroom balcony. I enter, walk to my dresser, and…Poof! A sleek, black suitcase appears on my bed. I open my dresser drawer and my clothes neatly pack themselves into my suitcase. I slowly walk through the house, picking my favorite things to bring with me. I pick a few of my favorite books, The Art of Death, Modern-day Necromancy, and my absolute favorite, The Forgotten Art of Despair. I walk into my study and turn towards the southernmost wall. I pull out a key and stick it at the hard stone wall. My key slices through it like butter and a door opens up around it. I walk through a long, dark corridor that winds deeper, and deeper into the ground. I enter a large cavernous room that is pitch black. Immediately when I enter, torches along the walls light up with black fire, shedding light on the room. I look around and smile, for a Necromancer never feels better than when they are in their Death Shrine. As I pass my Death Altar, I give it a slight nod. One can never be too respectful when dealing with Death magic. I walk again to the southernmost wall and tap it with my key. It opens up to reveal a small space. In the middle of it sits an obsidian chest. So dark it shines, its black spikes glistening in the torch light. I walk over to it snap my fingers and a key of pure darkness materializes in my palm. I stick it into the keyhole and turn it, a loud clunk sounds and the chest slowly opens. At the bottom of the chest in the middle sits a small pocketbook. I pick it up and my mind is filled with all sorts of knowledge of the Death arts. I hold in my hand The Atlas of Forgotten Souls. You may wonder how I came to acquire such a powerful artifact, but that is another story. It has information about everything you could possibly want to know about Death magic. I slip it in my pocket and leave the dungeon. I walk to the spiral door and set down my suitcase. Midnight appears and gives me a curious look.
“Master, what are you doing?” He asks. I turn toward him and answer,
“I don’t know I just need to think.”
“If you are leaving, then I am coming with you.” He says, a catch in his voice daring me to tell him otherwise. I nod and glance down at my watch. “A minute to midnight,” I think, “how fitting.” I open my spiral door with no clear world in mind. I pick up my suitcase and glance at Midnight. He gulps, obviously nervous at the idea. “Poor little guy,” I think, “he must be scared silly. It is brave of him to accompany me. Very, very brave. Or,” I think with a shudder, “Very, very foolish.” Midnight looks at me, hesitates, and then regains his confidence.
“Master, where are we going?” I breathe in and look at him with an amused smile on my face.
“Anywhere and everywhere.” I say, as I step through the Spiral Door.
|
The Alchemist Wizard
A Battle will pursue for the truth and a strange feeling of absent of a history of alchemy. The story of Alchemy and the fallen who tried to destroyed the world. Ambrose was a young wizard when the war pursued a war that was erased from the history of wizard city and throughout the spiral and the lost ones that souls will never rest. After the war the street of the alchemist was blocked off in the cave off of Titian Avenue the some of the old sprits took the form of scarecrows to scare the caves dwellers away from their homes. From then on the cave was called The Haunted Cave. Sylvia, malistaire’s wife, family was once alchemist till the life happen. Her Father past away when she was 6 years old and she and her mother moved out to unicorn way. She felt the lost of her father and she devoted her life to her life studies. She ended up falling in love with a death student and got hitch. She became the life teacher and she found out that she could not give life to her husband and so the there was no piddle paddle on the floor of their house. This was their life but she felt that all her students were her kids and so she taught the life magic for 10 years till that fateful day. She was having tea with the ice and fire teacher when she felt strange and feverish. She collapse on the floor and was bed ridden for till the day she passed away.
Malistaire couldn’t stand the lost of his beloved and found a book that showed a spell and a liquid that can make anybody follow the potion’s master. So now it is the final battle I face off malistaire I looked at him and said “your wife’s death was no accident, she was poisoned by the alchemist community.” Malistaire looked confused almost shocked he shook his head and stared. “I was attacked by an assassin of alchemy and well he wasn’t a match but he dropped a book.” Malistaire with a quizzical look said “but there is no living alchemist the all died in the war.” I smirked looking straight in his eye I told him “I thought so too but the book told me otherwise.” I walked a little and he followed me with his eyes. “It’s true but the book had a self destruct switch and it exploded in my hands,” I said. “Now I have a job on stopping so this is good bye for you.” We battle he tried his best to defeat me but I had the upper hand. Finally I defeated him, now you would think that this is the end of my story but it isn’t. I went to report my success to the headmaster but he looks very grave. “I am glad that you have defeated malistaire, but I have terrible news.”
I looked at him with confused eyes as he picked up a book; I have seen the book before. “This, my young student, was a book of an assassin sent to defeat me.” I smiled but still there was an eerie feel to the room. I said to him, “I had an assassin attack me and dropped a book.” The headmaster was shocked. “Not all of my student will be as lucky as you,” he said. “We can’t let this happen to any other students I have another mission for you Sabrina.” He looked deeply worried and shaken. “Any thing you need me to do I will be on the job,” I said. “Well then I must ask you to part on a journey to the little cavern in the haunted cave,” he said. “When you get there use this key to open the gate.” The headmaster gives me the key it looks different. The key was a mixture of gold, silver, and bronze when I touch my hand I glowed bright and fierce. “I haven’t seen the key do that since the first headmaster had it in his hand,” he said. “Now when you get there lock the gate behind you so that no young wizard can get hurt by the evil spirits that rest on those streets.” I look at him smiled and said “do you wish for me to defeat and put these evil spirits to rest?” He turned to me with a little smirk but shook his head. “That not necessary, your job is to use the time portal that they used to send their assassins to the future and go back in time.” I turned to him shocked but cooled down before I ask, “traveling back in time is impossible and if it is possible will it only be one way?” The headmaster looked down. “I am looking up the spell to do that but time travel is difficult to make,” he said. “By the time your mission is done we will be able transport you back.” But still even as he said that he looked worried. “All right let’s do this and stop the alchemist!” I shouted.
He looked surprise but happy of my willingness to do it. “Now when you get to the portal I want you to put all of your wizard stuff in your backpack and put on these clothing, They where a family member of mine, so they might fit better if you take it to the dye shops.” I looked at the outfit I was a bit ragged and old and smelled funny. “You must have it fitted to your length and but here take this picture and make sure it looks like the old ways,” he said as hands me an old picture. “So let’s let your begin on your adventure but as a reminder you will not be able to access your housing or your crowns stuff you must go anew to the past,” he said. “Oh don’t worry wizard there is more crowns things and house for you to buy.” I look at him kind of sad but still couldn’t stand in one spot. “Now off with you, you can say goodbye to all your friends but not tell them anything about your mission,” he said with a smile. I turn to the door and I heard, “Oh and one more this Sabrina when you get to the past find my family and we will house you graciously,” he said. I turned and took a bow to the headmaster. I had my hand on the door handle and opened it and that is when my adventure started.
|
The Tale of Sarah Spiritheart (part 6)
I was lying down on my back in a field of flowers, the sun shining
gently on my face. I was in my element here; this was where I truly belonged.
Never before had I felt so safe and happy. This was my
haven.
“Beware.”
I looked around, trying to figure
out who had said that.
The voice, seeming to come from the very
heavens themselves, spoke again. “Everything in this world is connected: life,
death, hate, love. While it creates a balance in our world, it also creates an
air of mystery, perfect for concealing deceit and lies. Evil is near. And
betrayal as well.”
I ignored the voice. I was trying to rest, and
it was only an annoyance to me.
The sun seemed to go out as
suddenly as someone switching off a light bulb. At that moment my oasis, my
haven, turned into a living death chamber.
Rotting Fodders,
Skeletal Warriors, Field Guards, and every other type of undead I could imagine
rose up from the ground and walked slow, zombielike, to where I lay. I tried to
get up and run. But as the thought rose up to my mind, thick, long, ropy vines
erupted from the ground, which was now completely devoid of flowers or grass.
They wrapped around my body, pinning my arms to my side and my body to the
ground. I struggled to break free, but it was useless.
An
unnatural hush seemed to come over the undead. Someone was
coming.
In an instant, I knew who it was. Who else would have the
kind of power to make all the creatures part like the Red Sea, bowing as they
shifted off to the side?
He stood before me, his face hidden under
a hood, his staff by his side. I struggled even more, but it seemed that the
more I wriggled, the more determined the vines seemed to hold
me.
Lightning flashed across the sky, and the wizard threw back
his head and laughed. His hood was tossed aside, revealing shoulder-length,
greasy black hair, a stringy goatee, those horrible, sunken
eyes…
He raised his staff. He was going to kill me; I had known it
all along. I closed my eyes, preparing for the
worst…
“AAAAHHH!”
I sat up in bed, gasping for breath. My hand
was clutching my heart, which seemed to be beating at twice its normal
speed.
I checked. No vines, no signs of recent pain, especially no
Malistaire. And I was safe in bed, in my house.
So it was only a dream. I
couldn’t help breathing a sigh of relief.
But it had seemed so real! I
had other dreams like this before, but this was the worst. This time, Malistaire
himself had come to kill me directly.
I could help but wonder if this was
one of those “prophetic” dreams. I had two of those a long time ago, but those
were for silly, pointless cases. What if this, officially my worst nightmare
ever, would come true?
I relaxed after a few moments. I had never been to
that place before in my life, and I hadn’t heard any tales about strange voices
booming down from the sky, even though I’d only been here about two
months
I got out of bed, my legs shaking like crazy. Even though it
was just a dream, I half expected Malistaire to fling himself from behind
the wardrobe. I managed to laugh that crazy thought off, but I couldn’t help
checking, just in case. Nothing.
First checking to see if my bedroom door
was locked so an unwanted sibling wouldn’t come barging in, (Not that they
would; at the moment, we were giving each other the silent treatment.) I changed
in to the lightest ensemble I had, clothes that could only be found in
Krokotopia. Then, after a grabbed my wand and spell cards, I teleported to my
friend Chris.
It was a Sunday, so today, we were going to finish up with
the Temple of Storms. I was excited, for I knew that after you completed this,
you were let into Marleybone, which would be quite an improvement from all this
heat.
At least one good thing had come out of our month in Krokotopia.
After weeks spent in the hot sun, I had acquired a magnificent sun tan, which I
knew would last for days.
I arrived in Bartleby’s Spiral Chamber. It was
crowded with wizards; I must have gotten up later than I thought.
I
immediately spotted Chris, who, to my surprise, looked concerned. “Are you all
right?” he asked. “You’re sweating all over and we’re not even in Krokotopia
yet.”
Oh, that. “Bad dream,” I muttered.
“Oh,” he said. “Well at
least it’s over.”
“That’s true.” I said thoughtfully.
We stepped
through the door and transported to Krokotopia. But when we arrived in the
pyramid, our destination in mind, we were distracted by none other than Tinu
Bhak’Mal.
“Good friends, kind wizards, I would appreciate it if you
helped me,” he called out to us.
“Come on, Sarah, we can help him later,”
said Chris. He apparently, was as eager to get out of Krokotopia as I
was.
But the minute Tinu looked at me with those wide, pleading eyes, my
mind was made up. Man, I was just so soft sometimes.
“Krokopatra
can wait,” I said firmly. “Please, Chris, it’ll only take a
minute!”
“Okay, fine,” he said, with obvious reluctance.
So we
both went to talk with Tinu, who needed some fire crystals from Professor
Falmea. But after going back to Ravenwood to talk to her, we found out that she
had none, but there were plenty in Dragon’s Mouth Cave.
“Excellent, I’ve
always wanted to go there,” said Chris.
I had never been there either, so
I was also pretty excited. I had always wondered what was inside the cave in
Golem Court that stubbornly remained closed to all but those who had a quest
inside.
“Yes!” exclaimed Chris when we saw that the gate had
mysteriously, but not unexpectedly, crashed, leaving a hole for us to get
through. We didn’t even have to crawl to enter the cave.
Taking my first
glimpse of Dragon’s Mouth Cave, I couldn’t help but feel the slightest sense of
anticlimax. There was nothing really special in here, just rocks. Although red,
sparkling crystals adorned the walls and the stone seemed to have a sort of
glow, I had been expecting something a little bit…more.
I climbed up on a
bit of protruding rock and plucked two large fire crystals from their places.
Then I hopped back down on the ground and gave one to Chris, who also looked
disappointed.
“Let’s get out of here,” I said distastefully.
But
Chris was looking at something behind me. I turned to see what he was looking at
just in time to see two fire crystals finish growing in place of the ones I
took.
“Huh,” I said. Maybe this place did have a little magic in it. But
we needed to get going. Maybe if we hurried back to Krokotopia, we could
complete the Temple of Storms before lunchtime.
That’s when I saw it: a
hole in the side of the wall that I could maybe slip through if I were
crouching.
“Look, Chris,” I said, swiveling him around and pointing to
the hole.
“Do you think that’s supposed to be here?” he asked me. “What
do you think is inside?”
“I don’t know, but it has to be more
interesting than this,” I said. And with that, I crouched down on all fours and
wriggled through.
When I got up, I had to blink my eyes several times to
make sure I hadn’t suddenly fallen asleep. I saw nothing but blackness. I had
thought that there would at least be a little light coming in from the hole I
had just come through, but I couldn’t even see that, strangely
enough.
There was a slight movement behind me. Chris had followed me
in.
“Ouch, Chris, that was my foot!”
“Sorry. This is creepy, isn’t
it? Not being able to see each other? I’m going to look around a bit; maybe
there’s a torch or something.”
A couple seconds later there was a small
thud and an “Ow!” Chris had apparently just walked into a
wall.
“Strange,” I mused. “This being a fire wizard place and not having
any light.”
“What is this place?” Chris wondered aloud.
No sooner
than he had spoken, every torch in the room came to life with a loud crackling
sound. A giant, disembodied voice echoed throughout the room, “You are in the
Hall of the Prophecy.”
My eyes widened. We were in an enormous
cavern, which surprised me a bit, because I had been expecting something
smaller. The ceiling seemed to stretch for miles above our heads. But the walls
were what amazed me most; they seemed to be colorful. On closer inspection, I
realized someone had drawn pictures all over the walls. Beautiful pictures that
looped and curled around the walls from top to bottom.
“How come we’ve
never heard of this place before?” Chris asked. “A place this big…someone
would’ve mentioned—”
“The door will only show itself for those for
which a prophecy is made.”
“Hmm…it can’t hurt to have a look around,”
I said, studying a picture of a beautiful woman with blue, flowing
robes.
So we walked along the wall, admiring the beautiful pictures. We
didn’t spot anything familiar until Chris stopped me at a picture of a
staff.
“Hang on,” he said.
“What is it? Come on, Chris, it’s just
a staff.”
“But that’s Malistaire’s staff; I’d recognize it
anywhere.”
Sure enough, it was Malistaire’s staff. The tiny dragon
curling around the tip was a dead giveaway. Beside the staff were these
words:
Forged by masters;
So nears the
hour
For the chosen necromancer
To wield the
staff’s true power.
“Hmm,” I said, contemplating the words. “Maybe…”
I gasped, suddenly realizing the truth. “No way… Malistaire was this
chosen necromancer!”
“Really?” asked Chris.
“Think about it; it
makes sense! We see a picture of his staff on the wall…how many other staffs in
the world are like his? That’s how he’s becoming powerful; he’s been using this
really powerful staff! Of course, he may have been a skilled wizard anyway, but
the staff just made him stronger!” I quivered in excitement. “We should tell
Ambrose right away!”
“He probably already knows; he knew about the
Prophecy of Light” said Chris wisely. He appeared to be looking at something
else. “Uh…Sarah?”
“What?” I asked.
“You’re here too. In a picture.
Your sisters and brother too.”
This was the last thing I’d expected to
hear. “ What?”
My curiosity aroused, I walked over to where Chris
was pointing. Sure enough, there was me in perfect likeness from my head to my
toes. Surrounding me were my siblings, and we all seemed to be glowing. We were
facing Malistaire with looks of sheer determination.
Right next to our
picture was painting of the death skull. Below the skull were more words:
Everything in this world is connected: life, death, hate, love. While it
creates a balance in our world, it also creates an air of mystery, perfect for
concealing deceit and lies. Evil is near. And betrayal as well.
I
frowned. Where had I heard those words before?
“What are you looking at?”
asked Chris curiously.
I inhaled deeply. “I’ve heard these words before,”
I said. “In a dream.”
“Really? Wow.” Chris seemed impressed. “You’re
like, a seer or something.”
“A seer?”
“Yeah, a seer. You know,
someone who can see the future. I think my great, great, great…well, I forget
how many “greats” there were…but one of my great aunts was a seer, anyway.”
“I don’t think so,” I said. “Wouldn’t I have known?”
“You’re
probably right.” He looked around again. “This is so cool. We’ve got a lot to
tell Ambrose when we get back.”
I nodded, trying to hide the new worries
that had erupted in my mind.
The words I had heard in my dream were
written here, in the Hall of the Prophecy. How much more of the dream would come
true? Would Malistaire really try to kill me? Probably yes, because of the
Prophecy of Light. But would he kill me like he had almost killed me
then?
I was still thinking about this as we crawled back into Dragon’s
Mouth Cave. But as we were about to leave, someone teleported behind
me.
“Hey,” said a familiar voice that made me freeze in my
tracks.
Oh no, I thought. Anywhere but here. I gave Nolan a discreet little wave and
tried to push Chris out the door. But it was too late; he had already
noticed.
“Sarah,” he asked, “who is this?” His eyes narrowed when he
caught sight of Nolan’s black ensemble. “Are you a necromancer?” he asked
him.
“Yeah,” said Nolan. “So?”
“So what are you doing
here?”
Nolan returned Chris’s icy stare. “Can’t a guy visit his
friend?”
This is not going to end well, I thought. I looked
from Nolan to Chris, the latter of whom looked surprised, than
skeptical.
“What? No,” said Chris. “I know Sarah. Not only are you guys
certainly total opposites, but Sarah is the most dedicated, hardworking,
loyal…”
“Um, Chris?” I said quietly.
“…intelligent Life Wizard
that I know. She would never, ever, ever, ever…”
“Um, Chris?” I was
feeling guiltier and guiltier by the minute.
“…ever, ever, ever, ever
make friends with a necromancer. That would go against everything we
believe—”
“ Chris!” I yelled in exasperation. “I am his
friend!”
All was silent except for my words echoing around the cave: “
friend…friend…friend…”
“He does seem familiar,” said Chris suddenly.
“Wait a minute, I do remember you. You were at Triton Avenue; you were
being attacked by Scarlet Screamers! Your name…it was something like…Nick
or…”
“Nolan,” Nolan finished. “Nolan Darkwind. And who are you; coming up
to say that I can’t be friends with Sarah? I can if I want. So what if I’m a
death wizard?”
“I’m her best friend,” said Chris. “And if you know
what’s good for you, you’ll leave right away and never see her again.”
My
mouth was hanging open in shock. The angry lecture from Chris I had expected
hadn’t come. Instead, he was blaming our friendship on Nolan. This didn’t
seem very fair, in my opinion.
Nolan had his hands held up, like he would
if he were facing a cop with a gun. “Alright, I will,” he said snidely. “But
first, tell me where you got those robes. Your mom’s closet?”
Chris’s
face glowed a bright red. Then he raised his staff and pointed it directly at
Nolan.
“No, Chris!” I rushed over to stop him only to stop and turn
around because Nolan had gotten out his staff too. “No, don’t do it!”
But
it was too late. Only seconds later, I found myself in the middle of a dueling
circle with both wizards pointing their staffs at each other.
And I, I
realized, would be in the crossfire! I threw myself out of the way just in time.
A giant tree cast by Chris and a vampire cast by Nolan erupted from the stretch
of ground where I had been moments before and started battling each other. Both
dissolved into the air.
“A necromancer.” Chris cast Storm Shark at Nolan,
which surprisingly didn’t fizzle. “I don’t know what Sarah was
thinking…”
Nolan regained some of the health he had lost with another
Vampire. “Funny,” he said coolly. “I was about to say the exact same thing. I
have no idea how she can even get around this place without you following her
around like a little heckhound…”
After another fresh wave of anger from
each, two spells canceled each other out again.
“No! Stop it! Stop
it!” I screamed, reminding myself of a crabby Samuel when he wasn’t getting
his way. They both ignored me, and I felt like I was going to have to resort to
more drastic measures.
“Out of the way, Sarah,” Chris snapped when
I tried to jump right into the middle of the dueling circle.
“Yeah,”
Nolan snarled. “I’m trying to see whether your friend would be any better
looking as a pile of ashes. Probably wouldn’t make much difference
anyway.”
“Yeah, like I should take the word of someone who can’t tell a
regular human being from a pile of ashes.”
Part of me, a totally and
completely insane part, was fighting a sudden urge to laugh. This was turning
out to be the diss-off of the century! I had to memorize some of these; they
would be useful against Savannah…
But then I snapped back into reality.
Right, I had to focus. I had to get Chris and Nolan to stop before they killed
themselves.
“Come on, guys, let’s stop this…”
Nolan, his face
contorted with anger, cast death trap on Chris.
“Chris.” I tried again,
this time trying to tempt him. “Um, the Temple of Storms, remember?” He appeared
not to have heard, casting Spirit Armor on himself so as to counteract Nolan’s
upcoming attack.
That was the last straw. I gathered up every shred of dignity I had and
said, “Fine, I’m leaving. Let me know when you’re done.” Then I promptly marched
out the door.
For a second, I wondered if I was doing the right thing.
Then I decided I couldn’t do anything else. I mean, one of them had to
notice that I was gone…
Then I spotted Catherine waving me over to her.
Relived, I walked up to chat.
“Hi, Sarah! I heard something in Dragon’s
Mouth Cave, like shouting or something. Maybe you can tell me what’s going on in
there.”
I shrugged, trying to act like it wasn’t that big of a deal.
“Some boys are in there fighting.”
Catherine’s eyes grew wide. “Are they
fighting over you?”
I hesitated. “Kind of,” I finally
said
“Wow.” To my surprise, Catherine appeared a little envious. “You are
so lucky. I could never even hope to be that popular. So which boys? Is
it that cute guy in Magus Balance Magic?”
Before I could answer that, no,
it wasn’t that boy and just because he was cute didn’t stop him from getting
five detentions a week, there was a painfully loud explosion and a flash of
light coming from inside the cave. Several apprentices helping Regina Flametalon
with her science project screamed. Catherine and I gave each other startled
looks and hurried inside.
The dueling circle had vanished, and both Chris
and Nolan were lying on the ground, both of them covered in scorch marks. They
were both glaring at each other, giving off identical contemptuous
expressions.
Nolan got up, straightened his hood, and stormed over to me,
his eyes full of hate.
“Is he a necromancer?” Catherine whispered
into my ear.
“I can’t do this anymore,” said Nolan, acting like he didn’t
hear Catherine’s comment. “Not with him hanging around: Mr. I-know-best.
You have to choose: me or him.”
I looked at Chris helplessly. He hadn’t
spoken, but I could tell he meant to say the exact same thing. That I would have
to choose. And right now.
“Well…I…” I looked from Nolan to Chris again,
my mind being clouded with panic. Then I looked at Catherine again, who just
shrugged, unable to do anything.
Then I did something incredibly stupid,
although it would have been what any normal person would have done. I ran. I ran
the heck out of there.
I was hoping that
Chris would forget about the fight the next day, that it wouldn’t affect our
friendship at all. So in life class the next morning, I was immediately
disheartened when he ignored the seat I had saved for him and went to sit next
to one of his other friends instead. And although Catherine did sit next to me,
she didn’t do much to improve my mood.
“I mean,” she said as she cast a
Seraph over her desk, “a death wizard? It’s no wonder he was mad. I know you
probably liked him. But aren’t death wizards supposed to be evil? Everyone
says…”
“I everyone is just being prejudiced,” I said a little too loudly.
Everyone within a three-desk radius swiveled around to look at me. “Just because
Malistaire was in the death school doesn’t mean that the whole school is evil.
It’s probably just a stereotype!”
I became consciously aware that the
whole entire class had fallen silent. Everyone, except Chris, who was
determinedly looking anywhere but me, was staring at me looking scandalized.
Even Professor Wu said, “Please quiet down, Miss Spiritheart,” her gaze
disapproving.
Catherine looked as if she would like nothing more than to
put a paper bag over her head.
Possibly to avoid any further encounter
with me after class, Chris leapt up from his chair as soon as class was over and
was out the door before I had even gathered up all my supplies. I scowled at the
doorway where the hem of his cloak had been seconds before. Then I exited with
the rest of the Adept life students, all of whom were acting like I was carrying
some sort of contagious disease.
To my surprise, Nolan was waiting
outside the Life School. I had expected him to be behaving like Chris, avoiding
me whenever possible.
“Where’s your friend?” he asked as soon as I had
approached him.
I understood where he was going with this right away. So
I merely shrugged. “I don’t know.”
I couldn’t help but notice that Nolan
looked slightly more cheerful. I hastily added, “But it doesn’t mean—”
“I
know, I know,” said Nolan, still grinning. “So what were you planning on doing
today?”
“Just finishing up the Temple of Storms,” I said. “Do you think
you could come with me?” Chris and I had wanted to go to Marleybone together,
but why not?
“Sure, I’ll go!” said Nolan. “I’m ready to go right now, if
you like.”
I was about to say yes when a voice behind me said, “Miss
Spiritheart, a word in my office?” It was Professor Drake.
“What did I
do?” I demanded. I didn’t do anything wrong, did I?
“Come with me and I
shall tell you,” Professor Drake snapped. He turned around and walked brusquely
to the Myth School, and I had no choice but to follow.
“Now, Miss
Spiritheart,” said Professor Drake, sitting down at his desk. “I have a comment
to make.”
“What?” I asked. What had I done that had made Cyrus Drake so
intent upon seeing me in his office?
“You are seeing a lot of Mr.
Darkwind, am I right?”
My jaw dropped. First Chris and now you, I
thought.
“Yeah,” I replied. It took all the self control I had to refrain
from also saying, “So what?”
“Well, don’t,” he said. “The boy is not to
be trusted. And believe me, I have your best interests at hand.”
Best
interests? Since when had Professor Drake had the best interests of
anybody?
“His father and Malistaire were old school friends, and now both
of his parents are Malistaire’s most dedicated servants. There is no reason to
think that he is not also,” Professor Drake continued.
This was news to
me. “ What?”
“You are dismissed,” said Professor Drake as if I had
not spoken. “I had merely wanted to talk to you about this. I hope you will take
my advice into account. Good day, Miss Spiritheart.”
So Nolan’s
parents work for Malistaire, I thought as I walked out the door. I found
that hard to believe, even if he was death. Was Professor Drake, for reasons
best known to himself, lying?
Then again, I thought, seeing Nolan waving
by the Spiral Chamber, Professor Drake was Malistaire’s twin brother. Who
knew if he was trustworthy?
Well, I finally
got my first glimpse of Marleybone. And it was okay. Dark and dreary, sure, but
okay. The air was deliciously cool against my skin, and the Marleybone dogs were
considerably more high-tech than us wizards, with their dirigibles and
automobiles.
I was now at the door to my house, but my mind still on
Marleybone, or the Land of Perpetual Night, as Nolan called it. And thinking
about Nolan, I suddenly remembered that he had invited me to hang out in the
Death Tower that night with some of his friends.
“You should come,” he
had said. “It’s lots of fun. I hear David’s going to set off some fireworks
too.”
“Don’t teachers normally discourage fireworks?” I had asked. At
this, he had shrugged.
At last he had persuaded me to come. And here I
was on the front porch, now wondering what Chris would say if he knew that I was
going out at night with a bunch of necromancers setting off fireworks.
As
it turned out, I didn’t have to wait long to find out. There was a flash of
light before me, and I turned around to see Chris, looking angry but
determined.
“I hear you’re going out with Nolan and a bunch of his
friends tonight.” It wasn’t a question.
“Uh-huh…” I said slowly,
wondering what he was getting at.
“Well, don’t. I’ve heard…” He paused.
“…stuff…about Nolan that…well, just don’t go. You shouldn’t trust him.
I
wondered if Cyrus Drake had put him up to this.
“Please,” he said. “Don’t
go. I’m saying this as your friend.” He paused again. “We are still friends,
right?”
“Of course!” I said. “But…”
“I know. You’re still going.
But please, just promise me you’ll bring a wand, spell cards, something to
protect yourself. You can never tell what’ll happen with a bunch of
necromancers.”
Before I could answer, he disappeared into the
night.
I crept inside and upstairs, careful not to wake any of my
siblings. Then I walked up to my room. There I grabbed a cloak—for some reason
it was cold out tonight. And it was still summer.
As I was about to
leave, I caught sight of my wand and spell cards I had just deposited on top of
my dresser. I hesitated, then I picked up my wand and spell cards again and
pocketed them.
Just in case.
A giant,
silver firework whirled through the air with a loud WHEEE. Then it
exploded, raining silvery sparkles on us all. I held out my hands, trying to
catch them.
Nolan grinned at me. “You have sparkles in your hair.” I
hastily ran my fingers through my hair, trying to brush them out.
We were
on the roof of the death tower. It was kind of creepy at first, but once the
fireworks started, you began to appreciate the beauty of it. Especially with the
full moon and the stars twinkling in the sky.
“Wow,” I breathed as an
orangey-golden firework arced around the tower. It was so beautiful; it looked
like a fiery dragon.
“You liking it?” asked a girl maybe a little older
than I was. When I nodded, she continued, “Yeah, David’s really outdone himself
this time. Must be ‘cause you’re
here.”
“Me?” I was surprised. Wouldn’t I, a life wizard, be considered
inferior, or even the enemy?
The girl laughed, a loud joyful sound that
echoed across the cliffs of Nightside. I vaguely remembered her name being
Sabrina, but I wasn’t sure from where.
“Word gets around fast in
Ravenwood,” she explained. “Of course, we’ve all heard of you. You’re, like, the
only person here who isn’t convinced we’re working for Malistaire. Well, besides
Ambrose.”
I smiled, touched. Then again, she would probably be feeling
the same about now.
“Hey!” Nolan shouted suddenly. But it wasn’t to us;
he was leaning over the edge of the tower which could only make me assume that
he was talking to this David person. “We’ve got company!”
Immediately,
the fireworks ceased.
“What’s going on?” I asked
curiously.
“Dworgyn’s coming,” said Sabrina matter-of-factly. And sure
enough, the door opened and the humpbacked death teacher waddled out. He
scrutinized the sky; had he seen the fireworks there before?
Nolan turned
back around to face me, and to my surprise, he was grinning. “This is my
favorite part,” he said. “Watch.” Then he traced the death symbol in the air. A
dark sprite emerged from his wand and descended, hovering around Dworgyn’s
head.
For a while he just stood there stupidly, watching the fairy fly
around in circles. Then the fairy zoomed away, heading straight for Sunken City.
After a moment’s hesitation, Dworgyn followed.
Despite myself, I found myself grinning.
I looked back to the necromancers, all of whom were shaking with silent
laughter.
“He falls for it every time!” laughed Sabrina, clutching
her side. “It’s just so hilarious!”
“We should be safe for the time
being,” Nolan informed, fighting to keep a straight face. “When he heads off to
Sunken City, he always gets caught in a battle, which lasts probably an hour or
so.”
I felt a stab of pity for Dworgyn. Did this happen to him every time
the necromancers decided to “hang out?”
“Don’t worry about him,” said a
guy who I didn’t know the name of. “He always comes out all right; it just takes
him a while to finish, that’s all. Licorice?” He held out some black, rope-like
candy.
“Yes please,” I said, taking some to be polite. It was extremely
bitter, but I pretended to be enjoying it as another firework, this one green
and gold, exploded directly above our heads.
“That reminds me,” said
Nolan. “David said something about planning a big finale and I’ve got to go down
to make sure he doesn’t go overboard.” He winked at me. Then he opened a
trapdoor and slid through.
“Of course,” Sabrina informed me, “whenever he
says ‘big finale,’ he always means ‘setting off several fireworks at once.’ It’s
a spectacular, really, but it wastes all our firework supply in one
night.”
“How often do you do this?” I asked curiously.
She
shrugged. “Every so often, when we feel like things get too boring. Oh, here it
comes.”
No sooner than she had spoken, fireworks in every color of the
rainbow exploded with the sound and force of a nuclear bomb. Besides the fact
that I had gone temporarily deaf, the effect was wonderful, and I clapped and
cheered along with the others.
Someone on the ground let out a whoop; I
assumed it was David.
Without warning, I let out a yawn. What time was it
anyway?
“Are you all right?” Sabrina asked.
“Yeah,” I assured her.
“I’m just tired. I should probably be heading back to the house. Tell Nolan bye
for me, okay?”
“Okay,” said Sabrina. She didn’t seem to be tired at all.
“See ya!”
“Bye,” I said, and I teleported home.
As soon as I
arrived home, I heard a loud BOOM coming from upstairs. At first, I
thought that I was hearing things from that enormous firework. But then I
reconsidered. Hoping dearly that Savannah and Sadie weren’t fighting again
(I mean, come on, it was after midnight.) I walked upstairs to check it
out.
First I went up to Sadie’s room. She was there, apparently sleeping.
Check.
Then I tiptoed across the hall to Savannah’s room she was lying
with her head on her pillow and her butt sticking straight up into the air like
an inchworm. But, yes, she was still sleeping. Check.
Then I walked over
to Samuel’s room. He was completely under the covers; I couldn’t even see his
face. But he was apparently still asleep.
Wait. Something was wrong here.
What was it?
I pulled back the covers. Where Samuel’s head should’ve been
was the corner of a large, white pillow. That’s what was missing. The
pillows.
I pulled back the covers as far as they would go. Two pillows
side by side, mirroring Samuel’s height exactly. Samuel was gone.
I
stared in horror at those two pillows as my insides turned to
ice.
|
The Average Life of the Chosen One (part 4)
Instead of landing on the ground of my house, I landed in the Oasis, in the water. A few of the dogs and manders stared at me as I appeared. There were even a few wizards chatting in a corner. So there were other wizards!
I looked around franticly, but I didn't know where to go. Biti Nirini surely wouldn't hide out in his normal place, but of course, where would he go? I looked at my quests. I had to defeat Krokopatra soon. Perhaps he was hiding there, along with those five other Kroks. It gave me chills, but I knew I had to do it. I hurried off to Krokosphinx, where I finished my last task with The Order of the Fang.
I was then sent to the Tomb of Storms. I stepped into the giant sphinx's head that popped out of the sand. When I arrived at the Tomb of Storms, I walked inside. Doing the entire Tomb of Storms in a short amount of time would be hard, but I believed I could do it. After all... I was the chosen one!
As I fought many bosses and enemies in the Tomb, I couldn't help but wonder how Lucas was doing. Lucas NightBlade, my best friend... gone forever? I shook that thought out of my mind. Of course not! I could save him... I had to. And with that though stuck in my brain, I defeated my enemies faster than I ever had before.
Before I was even ready, I was sent off to defeat Krokopatra. I didn't know what to expect... what if something went wrong? What if it was a trap?
I muttered to myself. “It doesn't matter if its a trap. It doesn't even matter if I get destroyed or captured. I just want Lucas to be safe.” With that, I hurried off to Krokopatra.
As I neared her chamber, a voice started speaking in my head. Foolish wizard, it said, you are no match for Krokopatra. And even if you do defeat her, you will stand no chance against what she has planned! I fell to the ground in frustration. Everyone, EVERYONE, was always telling me that I couldn't do something. And why? Because I was a storm wizard! They say, no, you don't have nearly enough health to survive this, survive that, BLAH BLAH BLAH! I was tired of it. I had had enough. “Whoever you are,” I mumbled to the voice in my head, “I'm going to prove you wrong.” I got to Krokopatra's chamber, and... nothing. Krokopatra was there, but Biti Nirini and his gang... and Lucas... were nowhere to be seen. Tears came to my eyes, but I still walked right up to Krokopatra.
“Foolish wizard!” she said, grinning.
We began the battle. First, I took out her helper with a storm shark. I remembered the minions being harder.... why was it so easy? Krokopatra smiled. “I don't need my minion to defeat you!” She used a storm shark on me- powerful, but in my case, weak. I found a storm prism, and it circled around her. She growled. “Where are my myth shields when I need them?” she said, grimacing. I smiled this time. I saved up, while using a storm trap and a storm blade, and finally launched a spell on her. Another kraken! With everything I had, it defeated her.. already! I laughed, but it faded quickly. Even with her gone, how would I save Lucas?
It didn't take long for me to figure out how. As Krokopatra crumpled to the ground, six Kroks came up from it. I gasped. It was Biti Nirini and his gang! And... I gasped. There was Lucas, chained to the wall behind them, his wand chained to the ceiling. I met eyes with him. His eyes were white with fear, and he looked tired from struggling. I couldn't defeat them all on my own.
I tried whispering to Elizabeth GriffonBlood. “Elizabeth? Can you hear me?” I asked. What I heard back was this: “Zzzzz...” She was sleeping. I smacked my head in frustration. Of course! It was nighttime in Wizard City now! I sighed. Then, I received a whisper from my friend Blake StormShade. “Hey, chosen one, whats up?” I whispered back, “Can you help me, Blake?” “Well, I'm really busy, but...” “Don't worry, Blake, I just need you to help me take out a few Kroks. If you help me defeat four of them, I surely can take the last two on my own.” I could tell that Blake was pondering this. “Eh, sure, why not?” he whispered, “I'll port ASAP.” I then whispered to my other friend, Nicholas Nightbrand. “Hey, Nick, can you help me?” “Sure, Sarah, but I'm busy, so..” “Its okay, just help me with a few Kroks.” He agreed. In a moment, both Blake and Nicholas teleported behind me.
“Wow,” they said. They had been to Krok before, but obviously not in this area. I made sure that they didn't see Lucas, otherwise they would hurl me with questions. “Okay, lets do this,” Blake said. I stopped him. “Me first,” I said. The first person view would be the only one who could see Lucas. I didn't do my hiiiiiYa thing, because that was for Lucas and me only. I got into the battle, with Blake and Nicholas behind me, and gasped. “How did all SIX of you get into the battle?” I asked, “That's cheating!” “Not for us,” Biti Nirini said.
We began. Blake and I put lots of storm traps on them, and storm blades on each other. Meanwhile, Nicholas kept attacking them with Vampire. It wasn't turning out good for either team. We finally defeated three of the Kroks, but our health was very low. Biti Nirini laughed and casted an ice wyvern on Blake. It defeated him. “No!” I cried. Blake held up his hand. “It's alright, Sarah, I've got to go anyway.” And with that, he was gone. I shrugged to Nicholas. “Well, Nick, at least there is only three left,” I said. He nodded. “Yeah, but I've got to go soon too!” “Well, at least help me defeat the other two. I'll get Biti Nirini.” We continued attacking the other two. I used a kraken on Biti Nirini, just to get him scared. Nicholas killed one with Vampire. Biti Nirini laughed. “Foolish wizard! You cannot defeat us!” he said. Nicholas killed the last one besides Biti with a banshee. “Good luck, Sarah,” he said, and then it was me vs Biti.
Biti Nirini laughed once more. “Prepare to be defeated!” he said. It was then that I noticed all of his pips. My eyes grew wide. Biti traced the fire symbol. There was a rustling movement, and a HUGE fire bird launched out of the ground. I gasped. That would take out my entire health! I closed my eyes, bracing myself...
“Leave... her.. a....LONE!” Lucas cried. I opened my eyes to see that Lucas had broken the chains, grabbed his wand, and a giant, blue wave came out of the ground. He had casted a TEMPEST! It attacked the bird, destroying it easily. Then the giant wave launched itself toward Biti Nirini. “NO!” he yelled. The wave destroyed him. Under Biti, a giant black hole opened up. He started to be sucked into it, but he reached out and grabbed my ankle! “If I have to be banished and killed in nowhere,” he growled, “at least the chosen one goes down with me!” I screamed. I was being sucked into the black hole. I dug my fingers into the ground, but it was no use. I was going to die.
“LUCAS!” I screamed. He was there in an instant. He grabbed my hands and pulled. It seemed like it wouldn't work, and we would both go down. But then, still holding onto me, he casted a kraken. It gripped Lucas and pulled too. The strength of the kraken and Lucas combined forced Biti to let go of my ankle. “AHHHH!” Biti yelled, and he was sucked up into the darkness. The kraken disappeared, and Lucas pulled me up onto solid ground. We were both panting, both scared. We had thought that it was going to be the end of our friendship. The end of the chosen one. But, no. Lucas had been strong and brave, and had saved me twice. Actually, now that I thought about it, three times.
Tears filled my eyes. It wasn't every day that you got a friend like this. Noticing the tears, Lucas pulled me into a hug on the ground. I started to cry. This time, it was Lucas comforting me. “It's okay,” he said, “It's over now. We are safe.” I nodded, and got up. I smiled at him. “Thanks for being my best friend,” I said. Lucas smiled back. “And guess what now?” I asked. “Headmaster was whispering to me. I get to go to Marleybone!” Lucas' eyes widened. “Seriously? But where will you get a new house?” he asked. I shrugged. “I don't know,” I said, “But as long as you are there, who cares?” he grinned. “Yeah,” he said. “But you know what?” “What?” I asked, as I started for the Spiral Gate. Lucas grinned. “It isn't always easy being the Chosen One's best friend,” he said. I laughed. “It isn't always easy being the Chosen One either, but we will manage,” I said. With that, I stepped through the Spiral Gate... into a new world.....
|
The Average Life of the Chosen One (part 3)
When Lucas and I arrived at the portal, Lucas looked at it, confused.
“Um... you live at the secret shop?” he asked. I laughed. “No!” I said, grinning. I started to step onto the portal when I saw that he wasn't following. “Are you coming?” I asked. He looked at me in the eyes and said, “Two people on a portal at one time is dangerous, you know.” I was going to ask why, but all at once, I knew he wasn't lying. “Then how will you get there?” I asked. He looked at the sky, thinking. I was thinking too. Then, I got an idea. “How about this! If I'm holding your hand, you have to go where ever I'm going too, right?” I said. Lucas looked at me and nodded. “I guess that would work, as long as I'm not too close to the portal,” said. I reached out and took his hand. It was warm, and sweaty. Was he nervous? I looked at him, but he was staring at the ground, so I didn't see his expression. “Are you going?” he asked. I shook myself out of my trance and stepped onto the portal.
In an instant, we were back at the house I had received. Lucas looked at it and gasped. “Oh, wow,” he said. I grinned. “Cool, isn't it?”
Lucas only nodded. It was then I realized that he was still holding my hand. “Um... Lucas?” I said. He realized what I was getting at, and blushed. “Sorry,” he said, letting go of my hand. We stood there in silence, Lucas staring at my house, me wondering why he had been so nervous.
“So, are we going inside?” I asked. “Yeah,” Lucas said, stepping forward. I opened the door and Lucas gasped again, staring at everything. It was then that I remembered that I didn't even know what school Lucas was in. He used a lot of different kinds of spells all the time. “Hey, Lucas...” I began. “It's perfect...” he whispered, going up to one of the storm banners. “Lucas...” I said. “Just like...” he whispered, feeling the the banner. “Lucas?” I asked, walking up to him. He quickly turned around, panic on his face. “Where did you get this?” he asked quickly. “Um... I....” I said, unsure how to answer his question. “I... won it? Oh, yeah, I did win it!” He grabbed my shoulders. “From who? From who?” he asked. “Um.. I don't...” “From a Krok boss?” he asked. “Um... yes, actually. Why?” I asked. Lucas sank to the ground, his head on his knees.
“Lucas?” I asked, worried. I knelled down and put my hand on his shoulder. “What's-” “My mom made that banner,” he said quietly, “It was all I had left of my family at all. And the fifth time I was captured, the Krok took everything I had- including that banner. I thought... I thought I would never see it again.” I was shocked.
“You.. can have it back...” I said, starting to pull it off the wall.
Lucas stopped me. “How did you get it?” he asked. “Well, I wanted to get a furniture item, so I battled Biti Nirini until I got one,” I said, “I didn't understand at first, because he doesn't usually have those, but I kept it anyway.” I finished pulling it off the wall and handed it to him. He smiled. “My whole family was myth, and when I turned out to be storm, all of my family but my mom was upset and angry. She made me this banner to let me know that I was special, even though I was different,” he said. I finally knew what school he was.
“So, wanna, um....” I started, but Lucas was already going up the stairs. I followed him, and he stopped in the dinning room. His eyes went wide. “Food...” he moaned. I grinned. “Hungry?” I asked. He nodded slowly. I walked into the room and sat on one of the chairs.
Lucas sat on the one across from me. He reached out to the pile of food and grabbed an apple. I grinned. “Like apples?” I asked. Lucas grinned back. “Just about my favorite food in the world!” he said. “Me too!” I replied, “Except that I absolutely LOVE watermelon! It's delicious!” I took a slice of watermelon that had appeared when I had spoken. We ate for a little while, Lucas cracking jokes and me laughing all the while.
When we were finished, we cleaned up and I started up to my room.
Lucas stopped me. “Sarah..” he started, looking me in the eyes. He hesitated, and then looked at the ground. “Goodnight,” he said quietly. I was confused. Couldn't he have just said that without stopping me? “Goodnight,” I answered, and continued up to my room. I turned around. “You saw the couch, right?” I asked. Lucas nodded.
“Okay,” I said. I got up to my room, and lay down on my bed. I closed my eyes....
BOOM! I jerked up. I heard a moan. I got out of bed and hurried downstairs to the living room. Lucas was on the floor, his eyes open wide. “Lucas?” I asked, hurrying to his side. “Nightmare...” he said, gasping for breath. I ran to the room with food, and got a glass of water. I ran back to him and handed him the glass. He drank it all in about 10 seconds. “What was in your nightmare?” I asked. What he said next came out in short words. “Krok... captured.... lost....
Malistaire...” he said. I put my hand on his shoulder. “It was just a nightmare, just a dream,” I said, “I get them all the time.” He looked me in the eyes like he had before. He opened his mouth, but before he could speak....
BOOM! It was a louder burst than I had heard before, when Lucas had fallen off the couch. It sounded from my room. I took Lucas' hand and hurried up the stairs. When I got up there, I gasped. A hole had been blown through my wall, and the dust was still clearing. I heard a menacing laugh. “Where is she?” a rough voice croaked. When the dust was gone, I saw him... it was Biti Nirini! I almost rolled my eyes.
“You?” I asked. He smiled a crafty smile. “I'm not alone this time,” he said. Five figures stepped forward. They were all Kroks, but not ones I had yet encountered. They looked pretty tough. I gasped. Biti Nirini stepped forward. “Foolish wizard,” he said, obviously not noticing Lucas behind me, “Malistaire's plans will not be failed by you!” He swirled his wand, and an ice spell came from the ground.
Obviously, he had been practicing new spells. I put my wand up in defense, but it was too strong. A creature rose out of the ice. It was HUGE! “Ice wyvern...” I breathed. It lay down to yell at me. “LEAVE SARAH ALONE!” Lucas yelled. He casted a kraken, and it fought the ice wyvern. “Fool!” a Krok from behind Lucas said. He casted a thunder snake; a simple spell that many could easily block. But this was no ordinary thunder snake. It grew, and grew, and wrapped its tail around Lucas! “Lucas!” I yelled. The snake shocked him over and over.
Although Lucas could resist much of this, it still caused immense pain. I looked from the fighting spells, to Lucas being shocked. What to do in this situation? Before I could decide, Biti Nirini cackled.
“It is not enough...” he said, “But perhaps with your friend gone, Malistaire can carry out his plans on you!” And with that, the entire scene vanished... Lucas along with it.'
I screamed in frustration. They had taken Lucas! I had temptation to go back to bed and settle this in the morning, but I.. just couldn't!
This was... my friend! My new best friend, at that! I hadn't seen my old friends in a long time....
“They.... shall... not... keep.... LUCAS!” I yelled. I grabbed my wand, and pulled my new clothes on. I stared at the gaping hole in the wall. My stomach growled, but I ignored it. I picked up the storm banner, which Lucas had left on the ground at my feet. I mumbled to myself, “A rescue mission is in order.” And with that, not looking down and with my eyes clenched, I jumped.
|
The Wonderful Adventures of Chelsea Skytalon
“Chelsea , wake up !” cried my older step-sister walking into my room . “Oh come on . It’s not like I’m telling you to jump off a cliff !” she yelled realizing I wasn’t getting up .
“Yeah . Not a cliff but you are telling me to jump off my bed .” I said reluctantly .
“Come on if you mess around any longer you’ll miss the bus !”
“ Oh My gosh! I’ll miss the bus !” I cried with sarcasm “ And then I won’t be able to go to school where I have no friends ! Oh My gosh!”
“ Very funny , Chelsea .” My step-sister Amy said . “Now get out of bed .”
“ Fine .’’ I said slipping out of the warm covers . Amy left the room . I walked to my closet to choose out my clothes ; A green top with some old jeans .
I walked into the kitchen to eat breakfast . I poured some cereal into a bowl and toped it with some milk . I shoveled cereal into my mouth until the time the bus was supposed to arrive , running to the bus stop .
The kids stayed well away from me whispering things like “ Freak’’ and “ Alien” behind my back . I knew why .
Ever since the day when I accidentally made a tree grow in the middle of the classroom I had been called names . Even if an apple tree grew apples when it hadn’t grown anything in years I was to blame . Sometimes I even blame myself.
The bus came to a halting stop in front of us , the doors sliding open to let us in . I climbed on sitting alone in the third seat . I pulled a small piece of scratch paper out from my heavy backpack . I started to draw slowly taking my time ; the finished product a sign that looked like a leaf .
The bus stopped in front of the school to let everyone out, I was almost the last one off . I stared heavily at the dull walls of the school as I walked up . The school was small with it’s yellow and black tiles- I wondered who had designed it . The walls were painted gray with small papers freckling the smooth surface of them .
A small girl walked past me and laughed . She pointed me out to her friend . I wish I had friends . The girl moved on talking about whatever . The only friend I ever had was myself ,but I don’t count do I ? No , I’m just that freaky girl , the girl that is blamed for every thing . Yeah .
I sighed realizing I didn’t want to be late to class , and started walking .
Miss.Miliant, my homeroom teacher, started off the day as usual : a morning lecture about what we had done yesterday . “You all need to do your homework or else I’ll give you all F’s” She said brutally .
After a long boring day at school I started to walk home . It was scorching hot and the sun beat down harshly on my back . Finally I arrived at my house .
I looked into a tall tree outside my house . There sitting in the top branch was an owl . Not just any owl , an owl with glasses ! “ Hello my name is Gamma’’ The owl said . Yes ! The owl can speak .
“ Well , there is no easy way to say this but , Chelsea , You are a wizard . Now grab my wing and we’ll teleport back to Headmaster Ambrose .” At this I couldn’t help but laugh .
“Okay” I said with sarcasm . I grabbed his wing and suddenly we were flying through thin air .
“Don’t worry , we’ll get to wizard city soon , just takes time .” Said Gamma .
I was to stunned to speak or move , my body a limp piece of putty . I closed my eyes softly , letting them stay closed for just a second . Suddenly I felt my feet land on solid ground . I opened my eyes and saw something I wasn’t expecting . Even if I was to believe the owl I was not expecting this : Books arranged and rearranged themselves, making the room noisy with the constant chatter of pages flapping.
“Hello, I am Headmaster Ambrose and I would like to welcome you to the Ravenwood school of magical arts.” A tall old man with a large beard said to me. He looked, well just like you would think a wizard would look like.
“Um, ok .”I said just a bit confused.
“Well Ms.Skytalon it is just what Gamma told you,” Headmaster said.
“Wait Skytalon? My last. . . name? ’’
“Yes, well you better get started with enrollment” he said changing the subject.
He handed me a large book that nearly knocked me over with it’s weight. The book was brown with a small golden border. “Answer these questions truthfully .” He said opening the book to a page full of questions. I answered the questions. I turned the page and found it to say Life. “ Hmm you seem to be a life wizard, go see Moolinda Wu in Ravenwood.” Headmaster Ambrose said softly.
“Alright.” I said to Headmaster Ambrose. “See ya later!”
“Just the one were looking for…” I heard him mumble.
|
Days of Darkness
I’m Ali (short for Alyssa), a level 37 balance wizard (sorcerer). I became a level 37 pretty quickly, but it wasn’t easy. It took lots of trial and error, plenty of close calls and lastly, friends who are willing to fight and flee with me.
I, like most people, have a place where I can go to think. One day while I’m sitting and writing, Gamma the Owl flew in on me.
“Headmaster Ambrose needs to see you immediately,” Gamma hooted.
“Can it wait, I’m kind of busy right now,” I respond.
“Wizard City is in danger.”
“Wizard City is always in trouble,” I grumbled, but I followed Gamma anyway.
Once we were inside, Headmaster Ambrose looked up. His hair was a mess and he looked as if he hadn’t slept in awhile. “Good now please get the others,” the headmaster said. Gamma left immediately.
“Please have a seat, Miss Stormtamer,” he said calmly, “I assure, this isn’t about the locust swarm.” How had he known what I was thinking about? “I have a very important quest for you. You will be leading a group of powerful students, one from each school.”
As if on cue, Gamma flew in followed by Zack Thunderblood (storm), Ben Frostblade (ice), Savanna Flamerider, Sylvia Lunarwing (life, and by the way what is it with Theurgists named Sylvia), Alex Moongrave (death) and Dianne Earthshaker (myth).
Headmaster Ambrose introduced us all. Then he said, “I have discovered something extremely important. I believe I know where Malistaire is. He seems to have returned home.”
“You mean he is back on Earth?” Alex asked.
“Precisely, Washington to be exact,” he answered calmly, “and you need to stop him.”
“Yes, I’ve always wanted to visit that place and see all of the amazing trees and wildlife,” Sylvia exclaimed.
“How did he get there and how will we?” Dianne asked Headmaster Ambrose.
“I do not know how he arrived there but you will go the same way you came,” he answered her.
“We’re teleporting,” Ben exclaimed, his eyes the size of dinner plates. “That’s so awesome.”
Then Zack asked, “Where will we look?”
“In a graveyard, preferably where he has family buried,” I answered grimly.
We all went to Earth and looked in the graveyard where Malistaire’s parents were buried. Alex found a note on the grave of Malistaire’s mother and immediately went to Headmaster Ambrose with it.
“Interesting, he seems to have left it just for me. It says he is heading to the death school. Get down into Nightside and find out all you can,” Headmaster Ambrose told us.
We decided that not all of us needed to go, so only Alex and I would go. When we stepped through the doorway to Nightside, we found the place looking worse than usual. What had happened here?
|
Tales From Celestial Bodies (part 7)
I was faced with a difficult dilemma. How would I get inside the mountain without the enemy seeing me?
You're probably laughing at me because the answer is so obvious, but when you're on a quest such as this one and your life and everyone else's is at risk, it's hard to think. Nothing seems so simple.
Well, eventually the answer hit me.
"Wait a second… I came out of the mountains from a hole in the side. Not from the top!" I said.
"Aha! I think I catch your drift," said Malistaire.
"What do you think I am going to do?" I asked Malistaire, wanting to know if he actually knew the answer which seemed so difficult to me.
"You're going to go into the hole and then make the mountain erupt!" Malistaire said.
"Um… no. But what is it with you and eruptive mountains?" I asked.
"You mean that wasn't the answer? Well then please tell me the answer Mr. I-can-solve-any-problem-without-making-a-mountain-erupt-because-I'm-so-awesome-and-smart," said Malistaire.
"Well, thank you for that compliment. I'm going to go into the hole in the mountain (known as a vent in science), crawl through the tunnel and into the chamber where the crystal is, and then retrieve the crystal" I said.
"That's a genius plan!" Malistaire said.
Let's face it, Malistaire is really not smart!
It seemed like a simple enough plan. But as I said before, nothing is so simple on an adventure.
I approached the hole and made sure to stay hidden from the trolls and goblins going into the mountain through the top (known as a crater in science).
I ran through the tunnel because I knew that if I was too late, the trolls and goblins would reach the crystal before me. At the time I went into the hole the last of the group entered the mountain.
Time was running out.
I reached the chamber where the crystal was, and saw the brilliant light that was shining from it. There was no one else in the chamber. The crystal was mine!
Ok… that sounded evil.
I approached the crystal but I heard a large, turbulent noise. The whole ground shook and trembled.
You may recall that in the other mountains I climbed down through the top, found a tunnel, found the chamber with the crystal, and then crawled out through another tunnel.
Well, the trolls and goblins came through the first hole I mentioned.
"Garg aah!" said a huge, green, ugly troll that must have been their leader. This troll was a huge, equipped with a large, brown, spiky club. The rest of the trolls were also fearsome.
I never faced a goblin before this, so this was my first encounter with them. They were black, skinny, ugly looking creatures with lots of spiky armor.
I don't know what garg aah meant, but I don't think it meant, "Hello human. We come in peace."
The ruckus that was made was from the stomping of the group's feet as they went through the tunnel. Now I was facing them.
"Dark Lord wants crystal. Dark Lord wants you. Grokalukabok smash you. Grokalukabok deliver you to Dark Lord with crystal," said the leader, who I assumed was called Grokalukabok.
"Oh I don't think so! You will never receive this crystal without a fight! By the way, you may want to see an English teacher to improve your English," I said.
"Garg laa ook ahh!" said Grokalukabok, which was troll for, “I will destroy you and then boil you up with roast chicken and eat you for supper."
Grokalukabok stepped right up to me and we entered the dueling circle.
It was unlucky timing, because at that second there was another loud noise, but this was different. This was coming from the mountain.
I recognized this noise from another place. But from where?
Then I remembered. This was the noise the first mountain made when it erupted. I was fighting in a mountain that was about to erupt.
Grokalukabok also realized this, because he let out a series of shouts and yells.
I was almost done with the duel, I just needed to put some more traps on Grokalukabok and then a helephant would finish him off
But I had to do it before the mountain erupted.
All the trolls and goblins were gathering around this fight, wondering what would happen.
Then a chunk of rock fell off the wall from the eruption. This mountain was about to explode, and things were going to get ugly.
"Say goodbye!" I said.
"If I die in this mountain from the eruption, so will you!" said Grokalukabok.
"I wasn't talking about death from the eruption!" I said.
"So what were you talking about?" asked Grokalukabok.
You probably know already, but trolls are not smart at all.
"I was talking about this!" I said, as I cast the fire symbol to summon helephant.
"Hahahaha! You are defeated!" I said.
Then I fizzled.
"Hahahaha! Your plan backfired!" said Grokalukabok, and then he cast a Minotaur.
It did a lot of damage, but I was still alive.
But I was running out of time.
The next round I summoned helephant, and Grokalukabok was defeated!
"Garg ak laduka nooooooooo!" said Grokalukabok, which is troll for, "Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"
I may have defeated Grokalukabok, but the mountain was about to be destroyed.
Now the trolls and goblins were extremely terrified that their leader was defeated, and they ran away in the first hole.
I knew that's a big mistake, since that's where the eruption was most severe.
If you recall, when the first mountain erupted, I escaped into the hole, but the snow in the mountain flowed through the hole and carried me into the chamber with the crystal.
I knew that any second the snow would come flowing out of the hole, but this time I wasn't scared. I knew it was just snow, and wouldn't harm me that much, even though snow is the opposite of my school.
I started running through the tunnel that I entered the current mountain, and the trembling and shaking was so great. The eruption was taking place right there and then.
As I was running through the tunnel, the snow came.
Huge piles of snow piled on top of each other on layers came rushing towards me. I feared I would be buried inside the snow.
The snow carried me along, but the exit wasn't that far away. If the exit was farther, then maybe the snow would have engulfed me.
When the snow and I came out of the tunnel, the snow went in all different directions, so I was able to move freely and not be carried by snow.
I met up with Malistaire and Sylvia again. If Malistaire says one more thing about me exploding a mountain, I will become so frustrated!
"What happened? This time I am certain that you exploded the mountain!" said Malistaire.
Oh boy! Here we go again.
"Garg ak laduka nooooooooo" I said, imitating Grokalukabok.
"What in the Spiral does that mean?" asked Sylvia.
I explained to them everything that happened, and they were impressed.
"This will definitely go down in the story and history books," Sylvia said.
"Only if the adventure is a success," I said.
"It will be," Sylvia stated.
I sure hoped!
We headed towards the other side of the island where we saw the next teleportation ring.
I put in the golden watch, and three crystals, and I was about to put in the fourth one, when out of the snow came two Colossuses.
"Uch I don't want to fight anymore!" I said.
I guess I sounded a little bit like a baby, but after all I've done, I wasn't in the mood to fight!
"Do not fear! We are not here to hurt you," one of them said.
"We saw you come here the first time, but we did not say anything. We thought you would go away," the other one said.
"And why is that?" I asked.
"Because you didn't have the necessary crystals to go through the teleportation ring," the first one said.
"That's a good reason," I said, not knowing what they were going to say next
"Now that you have the necessary crystals, we must warn you," the second one said.
"Warn me of what?" I asked.
"The danger you will face next," the first one said.
"When I came here, I knew I would face danger. This is no surprise to me," I said.
"The next place you will be going is a place known as the Treacherous Forest," the second one said.
"It's exactly what it sounds like. It's a treacherous forest," the first one said.
"The forest is alive. The trees move, and paths in the forest are constantly changing. The forest is infested with all types of creatures, and you must be careful," the second one said.
"Are you ready to take on what faces you next?" asked the first one.
"Not really, but I must do it for the Spiral," I said.
"Then place the fourth crystal into the teleportation ring, and go to the Treacherous Forest," the second one said.
I put the fourth crystal in, and the blue substance filled up the teleportation ring.
"You are now leaving Thaumaturge Island. Your destination is the Treacherous Forest. Hope you make it alive!" the fire one said.
And with that pleasant and cheery statement, I stepped through the teleportation ring and into the forest.
And the adventure continued…
|
The Secret Chronicles (part 2)
The wind was rushing through my hair. Me,Celia,and Dustin were heading to Krokotopia to pick up Dustins friend. We landed our dragons on the soft sand then grabbed our spelldecks. We headed for the boat to Krokosphinx. Dustin told us that his friend liked to hang out there. We entered the boat and sat down. When we got there Dustin lead us to a little tent. We went inside and there sat a boy."Hi." he said."Hi,it's me Dustin!" Dustin said. The boy looked up. He studied Dustins face then said "Dustin! It is you! I haven't seen you in ages!" Dustin smiled."This is my friend Seth Thunderspear." Seth quickly grabbed his things, his spelldeck and wand,and then got his dragon. We walked briskly toward the boat. We got on just in time. They closed the door right behind us. All of a sudden something shook the boat. We went over to the captain to see if everything was okay. When we got there we saw not the captain driving but one of Malistaires minions. We looked around. The minion was focusing on driving the boat. Celia got something hard then hit the minion on the head. He wasn't dead. He got up then turned around to face us. He sneered and then I was knocked out cold.
I woke up in a strange room. There were weird markings on the wall and even stranger markings on the floor. I then looked around for my friends."Hello?" I called out quietly. No answer, just a rustling noise. I looked around, it was comming from the wall. I looked over the room again and relized I was in a cell! "Hello?" I called out again more loudly."Hello?" I said again. All of a sudden a minion came."Where am I?" I asked him."In a cell!" he answered with a smirk. I thought about asking him where my friends were but a bigger minion came and had my friends with him so I decided not to. The bigger one opened the cell door and threw my friends in. I looked over them. They were in bad shape. Celia had a nasty gashes on her head, arms, and legs. Seth had a really bad leg. It was bleeding all over the floor of the cell. Dustin had a major head injury. I tore of three peices of my robe. I tied one around Seth's leg, one around Dustin's head, and the other one I dipped in a water bottle I had and aplied pressure to Celia's cuts. After an hour of treating my friends. I stopped. I heard that noise again. The one I heard earlier. A rustling noise. It stopped then I grabbed the peices of my robe. My friends started to wake up.
"Yes sir!" a guard said as he left the small space. There wasn't much room but Malistaire had managed to put a desk, chair, a bookshelf, and some trophies of his in the small space he called his office. He looked around. He wanted those wizards. He had sent the guard to gather a force to go to Krokotopia and get them from the jail set up there. He had said to the guard to gather a force because the wizards had been known to put up a fight. He set his feet on his desk then grabbed a small book he was reading. He looked over to the door. Set his book down and got up. A knock came at the door. He opened it welcoming in a guard to his office."Sir!" the guard said saluting."The prisoners here at the castle have escaped!" he said out of breath."WHAT?!" Malistaire yelled. The guard gulped."I will have you executed!" Malistaire yelled."But sir!" the guard said."I wasn't the one guarding the prisoners!"."I don't care!" Malistaire yelled."GUARDS! HAVE HIM EXECUTED!" Malistaires minions came and dragged he guard to the prison.
I sighed. My friends had woken up and were treating there own wounds."Without you Hannah" Dustin started "we wouldn't have known what to do! Thanks!" I smiled."We have to make a plan to get out of here though." I said."Yah." my friends said." "I have a plan." Seth said."Lets hear it!" I said exited about someone having a plan other then me. We leaned into a huddle and Seth started telling us the plan.
"Guards!" I yelled. The guards came fairly slow."Guards,I,we,uh." I stuttered out. Then me and my friends flopped down dead, or at least pretending to be dead. The guards saw us and threw us out the boat into the hot sand. Then they called Malistaire. You could hear Malistaires shouts of joy. We then got up and the guard said something to Malistaire and you could Malistaire saying execution over and over again. We raced for the dragons and headed for the secret shop in Krokotopia. Wen we got there we went behind the store and set up a little camp. I got out some food from the packs on our dragons. Dustin got water bottles. Celia didn't have anything exept a few coats in case we ran into cold weather. I breathed a sigh of reliegh. Everything was okay now. We just had to make it to Malistaires and defeat him I told myself. Hopefully Malistaire will have those minions executed. I looked at the setting sun. I grabbed a blanket from my pack and set it down. I layed there staring at the stars until I finally fell asleep.
In the morning,when we woke up,we realized that someone had gone through our stuff. Our food was missing and the only water bottles we had. I put up my hood and told my friends that the Oaisis will probably have a couple stores that sell food and water. I got on my dragon and I rode off. We landed behind the pyramid. I pulled up my hood and grabbed my spelldeck and wand. I went around the pyramid quickly then went to the stores. Someone saw me and came over."Whats behind the pyramid?" they asked."Oh nothing." I replied quickly."I need some help." I said seeing that he was headed to the pyramid."You need help." he said."Yes." I quickly replied."I need some food and a couple water bottles."."Okay?" he said uncertan. We walked for what seemed like just a couple minutes. He pointed to a store. I went in. He followed. It was a strange store. The shelfs were cluttered with junk items. The counter was filled with smaller items and many sighns saying things like half off and super deals. I thought we had the wrong store when I saw the shelfs behind the counter. The shelfs were filled with snack packages and water bottles. I went up to the counter to ask the shopkeeper about the food and water. When I asked him he put down his book and got up. He was a short man and had very big glasses. He took off his glasses and set them down on his book. He went to the shelf then paused and asked "How many do you want?"."Nine of the water bottles and six snack packages." I said to him."1,000 gold." he said with a grin. I handed him the money, grabbed the items, and left. I ran toward my dragon. I looked back. The wizard was following me. He had sand colored hair and his eyes were a light blue. He looked at me and I just looked away. I couldn't let him know. I got on Prince Maxwell and as I flew toward the secret shop I saw him staring at me and then he ran in the direction I was going. I relized he was going to follow me but I didn't stop or go in another direction. I landed my dragon and yelled to my friends."Someones following me! I can't lose him! Go ahead ill be fine!" I said. I flew off my friends looking at me.
I flew over the Oasis. He was still following me on me foot. I looked down and he wasn't there. I looked over the Oasis scanning it looking for him. He wasn't there so I landed resting. Then he pounced. He grabbed me and I turned around. He didn't look like he did. His eyes were a dark red and his hair was darker. He looked at me and I looked away. He was different. I told myself. He then stopped letting go and fell to the ground. He said run and I didn't move. He then got up and fell again his voice getting lower and darker."Go now or or..". He didn't finish. He then transformed into a dragon. A dark as night dragon with sharp teeth and claws. He then flew off. He had something in his mouth and as he flew off into the night he dropped it. I dogded it. It was a sword. Not just any sword though. Its hilt was shaped like a dragons head and the blade was just so amazing. It didn't look like pure fire or anything like that. It had dragons scales on the blade. A dragon sword. The most powerful sword in fire magic. I looked up. He was a good dragon. The savoir dragon. I got on my dragon and while flying I laughed fort he first time since I started out on ths journey.
|
The Chronicles of Matthew Shade: Whispers from the shadows
“Nothing. All I am, and all I will become, nothing. The moon forever shines on the darkest night, yet is reluctant to forget the sun.”
The quote haunts its way through my mind once again, as I double over in pain. I receive several curious glances from nearby wizards, probably wondering why I am clutching my head in agony on such a nice day in Wizard City. I stagger to the front door of Headmaster Ambrose’s house, and fall heavily against it. The door slowly creaks open and I fall inside. Two gnarled old hands grip my shoulders and I am face-to-face with the headmaster. “Why, Matthew, what in the spiral is wrong?” He asks with concern on his face. I open my mouth to answer, but then the words rush through my mind once again. “Nothing, nothing, nothing…” Ever repeating and strengthening, I just can’t take it out. I let out an ear-splitting scream and a thin veil of darkness envelopes my face. I dream that I am in a forest, trying to decide which path to take. One is full of my friends, and one is full of everything I could ever want. I start to choose when a voice stirs me awake.
“Nothing. All I am, and I will become, nothing. The moon forever shines on the darkest night, yet is reluctant to forget the sun.”
I groan that the words are still there, but then I realize that the words are not in my head, but in the air. I open my eyes and find myself in one of Merle Ambrose’s bedchambers. It is night, and soft delicate moonlight trickles through my window in a thin stream. I follow the voice to the window and open it. I look down at the now empty Commons, but something catches my eye. I look to the pond inn the middle of the square, and I notice the water bubbling in the darkness. “What is going on?” I ask myself, as the water rises and contort into a dark, twisted shape. Fear races through me as I realize that the water is taking on the form of Lord Nightshade. He turns and looks directly at me. I blink, and then suddenly, he is right in front of my window, scythe ready, ready to reap my soul. I open my mouth to scream, but a large flash shoots out of Lord Nightshade’s eyes. When the light dies away, I find myself in the middle of a large circle. Rubbing my eyes, I notice tall, dark shapes slowly circling me. I realize that they are Field Guards and again, fear freezes me. Yet, instead of attacking me, they all look toward me and bow, whispering in unison,
“Let the dark lord arise, let him choose his way, forever the night, and forever the day.”
“I am no lord,” I slowly stutter as the Field Guards repeat their chant. I slowly stand up, and look around. I am right in front of Stormdrain Tower in Haunted Cave. The Field Guards all look at me and without moving their lips say,
“Soon you shall choose, the spiral shall weep, but until the next night, the promise must keep.”
Another flash shoots out of the Field Guards eyes, and I am in the middle of the Commons, but something is odd. I contemplate what to do, and then start walking toward Nightside. I push open the heavy doors, and walk into Nightside. It is then that I figure out what is odd about the Commons. It is darker than it has ever been. I look around Nightside, and my eyes grow wide as I see something I never thought I would. It is day.
|
The Lost Stories: How Headmaster Ambrose met Gamma
One cool November day Malistaire Drake was walking back to his home in Unicorn Park. Malistaire walked toward the Hedge Maze where when he was young a horribly powerful dragon threatened to destroy Wizard City. Malistaire shook the dark thoughts from his mind. Now he was a Professor and he should be concentrating on checking on the pit. All of the Professors were supposed to watch the pit to ensure none of the monsters imprisoned there escaped.
Malistaire continued down the wide path. He soon arrived in front of Lady Oriel the seraph who guarded the closed over entrance to the pit. As he looked up at her he noticed she looked distressed. “Lady Oriel is the entrance to the pit remained closed?” asked Malistaire. “For the most part yes. But something escaped just a few hours ago.” said Lady Oriel with despair in her voice. “It was a lost soul by the name of Madame Horrid. She floated past the boundary of my power and floated down to the end of the street trapping fairies in cages as she went by.” continued Lady Oriel “You should hurry after her before she becomes too powerful.” Malistaire dropped the papers and ran quicker than he ever had before because he knew his wife was in danger.
Malistaire arrived at the end of Unicorn Way just in time to see Madame Horrid entering his house. Malistaire scrambled up the stairs of his house into his bedroom. He opened the door and saw Madame Horrid Standing over his wife sucking her weak life from her. Normally Sylvia would have defeated Madame horrid with a burst of life magic. But Sylvia had a horrible cold and her powers were extremely weak. “No!” shouted Malistaire running to his wife. Sylvia looked at him sadly and then said her final words. “Good-bye.” whispered Sylvia. Sylvia closed her eyes and sighed. Her body shimmered briefly and then turned into green dust that went through Madame Horrid. The dust that had once been Sylvia had stopped Madame Horrid but also killed Sylvia.
Malistaire stared at the place where his wife had been moments before. “She’s gone” whispered Malistaire hoarsely. Great rage overtook Malistaire replacing all other emotions. Malistaire ran forward and jumped out the window. He landed heavily on the street. He raised his hands and chanted. He flew upward. Then the ground beneath him began to boil. People ran from their homes screaming. The ground then disappeared taking all memories of Sylvia and others with it. Malistaire went streaking across the sky. He landed in front of the Death school in Ravenwood. The rage that overtook Malistaire created a chunk of power larger than Malistaire had ever used before.
Malistaire waved his staff angrily in the shape of the Death sign. Six Wraiths of the highest order appeared in a flash of black smoke. “Attack!!!” roared Malistaire. Malistaire turned to Bartleby and thrust his staff at him. A powerful stream of lightning flew from the tip and hit Bartleby in his right eye causing it to pop from the socket and land in Malistaire’s outstretched hand. Looking down on the destruction going on below him Malistaire could feel the power slowly ebbing from him he knew he had to do one last horrible thing before going after what he needed. “Behold the destruction of the Death school!” announced Malistaire. Summoning up his remaining power Malistaire turned to face the Death school. He raised his staff slowly as if lifting a great weight. The Death school began to creak and groan. Dworgyn opened the door and shouted ”What’s going on out there?!” Malistaire waved a hand at him and he went flying back into the school banging his head and going unconscious.
The school was now floating up very slowly. Malistaire jerked his hand and sent the school flying into a chasm over the walls of Ravenwood. “The Death school is gone!” roared Malistaire to the crowd of teachers and students. Malistaire slashed his staff through the air. A portal slowly began to open where he slashed. “Good-bye” hissed Malistaire loudly.
Across all of the worlds catastrophe was brewing. In Krokotopia the Kroks were taking control over and enslaving Manders. In Marylebone the evil O’Leary gang were causing terrible trouble. In MooShoo Demons were running amok. The worst trouble was at Dragonspyre. The military school there was failing to keep away magic hindrances. They also had lost entrance to many places in Dragonspyre and the powerful old monsters were coming back to attack. All knew that Malistaire was behind this. It was true he was but for a particular reason. Malistaire was searching for a way to bring his dead wife Sylvia back from the dead. Malistaire was blinded by madness and rage from the harm he was doing to the world’s he had once loved. He stayed awake for weeks at a time getting thinner and crazier by the day. It is unknown whether he has found a way to bring back his beloved. It is up to the wizards of our worlds to help stop this evilness. Will they? We will have to wait and see.
Now you know the sad tale of how Malistaire went mad. Hopefully this will help young witches and wizards from being tempted by madness. I hope you liked the story. Keep your eyes peeled for more stories about untold and questioned happenings in Wizard City and all the other worlds. Until the next time we meet this is Robert WinterBringer signing off. Good-bye.
|
The Legacy of DeathHunters
Ginelle, that was my name. Ginelle DeathHunter. So very often, I wondered why I was a DeathHunter when I was a Necromancer, the Death of which I spoke and supposedly hunted. I questioned if it was a mistake, me coming from a long line of Theurgists, Life wizards, I probably was. I, however, liked to forget about the fact that my parents abandoned me, and when I wasn’t busy forgetting it, I was telling myself it was because they were jealous of me. Lying to myself often worked since no one wanted to talk to me so no one ever told me otherwise.
“Hello, Ginelle, did you have fun at school today?”
I looked at my teacher, Malorn AshThorn. I wondered to myself if he really cared if I had fun a normal school with normal kids, I wondered if he cared about me. On precedence, I assumed no, but he was a Necromancer, in fact he was a student Necromancer who took over when Malistaire and the Death School disappeared off the face of the earth—well, Wizard City, but really, specifics were lost on me.
“It was terrific,” I said in that endearing way I had.
“That’s…great.”
“After all, I just adore all of the pretending to be normal; it makes my pathetic excuse for a life even more…interesting.”
Malorn, as we new Death wizards had all been instructed to call him on the first day we met him, looked at me like a deer in front of headlights. Apparently he wasn’t used to dealing with insane girls.
“It’s okay, you don’t have to say anything, I am going to go find Ryan, I’ll be back later.”
Malorn just kept looking at me like I was going to explode into a bunch of leaves instead of skulls when I teleported away. Except I didn’t teleport away and I happened to know for a fact that, when my body split to reform somewhere else, skull was going to be what the pieces looked like.
I turned on the heel of my tall gold and black boots and walked away towards the School of Fire.
“I don’t get what you don’t get about this, Kane, I am a higher level than you and therefore know more,” Ryan Rider, Miss Pyromancer herself, was standing outside the Fire tower trying to stare down the boy who was exactly the same height as her.
“I don’t get why you think that one level, where you don’t learn anything, makes you know more than me,” Kane EmeraldFlame was staring Ryan right back.
“What I don’t get is why you guys have this argument every single day,” I said and then I hooked an arm around Ryan and pulled her away.
“So, want to go do something that doesn’t involve talking to anyone who, in anyway, resembles someone older than us?”
“Huh?”
“Let’s go serve up some ectoplasm.”
“Oh…” Ryan paused, “Sure.”
We each made a fist and twisted our arms around each others. Then, on a silent count of four, we half stepped to the right and ran forward six steps. When our feet pounded down for the last time, we were on Unicorn Way and Lost Souls were swarming the streets in front of us.
“Yes!! This is awesome!!” I was pretty sure that both Ryan and I had earned our Undead Stalker badges again after we were finished and sitting on the grassy lawn next to the gazebo near the bridge.
“Hi, Ginelle, Ryan,” Kane flopped down on the grass in between the two of us, “I just leveled up!”
He seemed proud of himself, so I felt compelled to burst his bubble, “I’m still level twelve and Ryan hit level nine an hour ago.”
He narrowed his red-brown eyes at me and then smiled, “Yeah, but I leveled up twice.”
It was Ryan’s turn to be annoyed.
“Congratulations,” I said only half meaning it, I honestly didn’t care that much.
“Don’t congratulate him, he’s the enemy!”
“Who’s taking over my job?”
In unison, the three of us turned our heads. It was Taryn DeathHunter, the most popular Theurgist in all of Wizard City, my step sister and—I know it’s going to sound cheesy—my arch nemesis.
“Come on, Sis, a little P-V-P would be good for you,” Taryn tried coaxing me, but I stayed frozen. I wasn’t going to do it this time, last time she beat me so hard I couldn’t feel my arms from all the spells I was trying—and failing—to throw at her.
“And of course you can bring your friends, 3-V-3 is easy enough to arrange.”
Yeah, because the only thing bigger than your ego is your friends list, I thought.
“I’m up for it,” Kane said trying to seem somehow more masculine than he was.
“I’ll go if you want me to,” Ryan offered.
Why don’t they just join her and get it over with quicker? But, my friends were determined to fight with me, so I shook hands with Taryn and the battle began…
Instead of dragging this out and embarrassing myself more than absolutely necessary, I am just going to say that after I went ten rounds and realized that I was already running low on mana and Ryan was almost defeated and Kane was running on little to no spells, we tried to flee. We then found out that that wasn’t an option when you were battling Taryn, Jasmine—her level nineteen Sorcerer “best friend”—and Amber—her level twenty Diviner “best friend”. Taryn was only a level eleven, a level below me, but when two team mates levels added together are higher than the opponents’ levels combined, you are pretty much guaranteed to win.
“Someday you’ll beat her,” Ryan tried to assure me.
And someday I’ll become President of the United States of America—the country my “home” was in since I only came to Wizard City after school since I lived with my Aunt who thought I was normal.
“Yeah, someday,” I sighed.
We clinked together potion flasks of mana and then drank until we were replenished.
“I just hope that Kane doesn’t hate me for getting him defeated,” I finally sighed.
“Trust me, Kane doesn’t hate you,” Ryan stressed.
Somewhere in the back of my mind I wondered what that meant, but mostly I thanked everything I could think of for giving me a friend as good as Ryan Rider.
|
The Hidden Truth
I appeared in a room that I was very familiar with. It was the spiral map room that belonged to Merlem Ambrose, Headmaster of the Raven School of Magical Arts. This room is the only place in Wizard City that anyone could become a wizard and what type of wizard they are. I took the quiz and my true power was life. I was happy that I had become a life wizard because it would at least make up for what I’ve done. A past that only me and the Headmaster knows. So I grabbed my fairy wand and started my first day of being a life wizard.
As soon as I was enrolled, Headmaster Ambrose had given me a tour of Wizard City. He had shown me the library(F.Y.I. A flying book almost hit me in the head.), Unicorn Way, Fire Cat Ally, Triton Avenue, Cyclops Lane, and every other place in between. The final place we went was Golem Court because Ambrose said it was a great place to train for a wizard like me.. When we arrived at the top floor, the person that I thought would never be here, was rummaging through the books. It was Malistare, I used to know him and heard tales about him, but something wasn’t right. “Malistare! You’re no longer welcome here! Why have you return?!” “It’s none of you concern old man!” Malistare had grabbed his black staff with a red orb and a dragon surrounding it on top, and pointed it towards the Headmaster with a powerful spell on the top of the staff. I ran toward the Headmaster and yelled to Malistare “Hey leave him alone!” and then casted a small spark spell from my wand(what was I thinking!), but it fizzle when it hit him. “Foolish little wizard, you have sealed your fate!” and Ambrose says, “Don’t you dare hurt Amy HawkMender, she has nothing to do with this.” “Are you joking! She’s the reason why all of this started! What she did back then, can never be forgiven!” Then Malistare pointed his staff at me and fired the blast, a blast so powerful that I was thrown near the wall. I don’t know how but I was still standing, in pain but standing. “Grrrrr… Why wont you go down!” said Malistare. A second blast was fired, more powerful then the first one. Headmaster Ambrose had put a shield on me but I was no use it broke right through it. The blast tossed me against the wall, and as I fell I saw Malistare pick up something from the desk and then, I complete blackout.
When I woke up I started to hear voices, at first I thought I was dead but when I opened my eyes, I saw the Headmaster, his pet owl Gamma, Ms. Wu the life teacher, and a few fairies healing me. “Good… she’s awake.” Ms. Wu had said to the Headmaster. “Where am I? And how long have I been out?” I asked. “Oooo… you are in the life school’s basement and you’ve been unconscious for three days.” Said Gamma. I had just stared at gamma for a second and then I said, “Huh!? Since when do owls talk!” Well I should have expected that, it wore glasses and had a hat and that I grew up in a place that is magical and has talking dragons. “Where’s Malistare!” I asked after I remember that encounter. “He had fled Amy.” Said Headmaster Ambrose while looking like he regretted to say it. “I’ve got go find him!” As I was about to get off the bed ever fairy pushed me back on the bed. “Hey what’s the big idea!?” “Sorry Ms. HawkMender but you’re still too injured. I doubt that you can even wave a wand.” “Fine I’ll stay.” Then the Headmaster turn towards Gamma and said “Gamma would you let the others know, ok?” Gamma had nodded and flew out the doors and the doors closed behind him. “Others? What others are you talking about?” “You’ll see soon Amy.” “Um, Headmaster Ambrose, do you know what Malistare came for?” “I really don’t know but I’m guessing that he came for one of his old school notebooks from when he was a kid.” “Why would he need that?” The Headmaster took in a deep breath “Well, long ago when the teachers of RavenWood were kids, the schools had talked about the forbidden spells. We had told every student about the dangers but we had banned these teachings after a student blew up the death school.” While I was thinking of what to ask him next, Gamma came flying in like he was running for his life. “Brace yourself! They are coming in fast!” Then a rumble sound had arise as if a heard of Onis were running for food. And then the doors flew open and every student from RavenWood flooded in. Everyone was mumbling different stuff to each other but the only two comments I could hear was “How could have she survived? Out of all the stories about Malistare, no one has ever faced Malistare in a real duel and lived.” and the other was, “Is she really that powerful? Nah it cant be, she’s only a level one wizard.” Then the Headmaster had made a pathway through the crowd for me. “Ok everyone let Amy pass. She’ll be at her dorm for the rest of the day. If she ask for something bring to her because she is unwell today.” Knowing Headmaster Ambrose would not give me a choice in the matter, so I grabbed my wand so I could leave but my wand started to glow green and transformed into what looks like a unicorn’s horn. Everyone in the room had a shocked look on their face, even the Headmaster. After my wand had changed, I could hear many of the kids say nasty things about me. I couldn’t take it any more, so I left the room and ran to my dorm. When I had gotten there, I laid down in my bed and fell asleep.
That night I had a weird dream. “Amy you cant hide your past forever. Soon you’ll join me one way or another.” “I’ll never join you Malistare! After everything you’ve done to me, you have a better chance to hunt a fire cat with a tooth pick!” “Just you wait I’ll come when you least expect it and then you’ll have to join me! Muhahaha!” I wake up, and I looked at the clock, it was 2:00 am. My heart was racing with fear and I couldn’t go back to sleep.
Even though I had a sleepless night, I got up early to do my first quest, to make a fire-proof hat for the fire teacher(the only thing I could do in my condition). On my way to Alician SwiftArrow for some fire rosin, two fire cats had jumped from a fire bush and attacked me. I knew I was in trouble because I didn’t know any attack spells yet and I was still injured from yesterday. Those fire cats were using level 25 spells. I put up multiple myth and death shields but it was no use all, what they were used were fire and ice spells. Then a voice came from the distance. “I’ll save you Amy!” Without moving from my spot I looked around but I didn’t see anyone. “Who said that?” I ask “Your savor!” Then out of nowhere a kid dressed in Marlybone clothing jumps from behind me and defeats the two fire cats. After we ran to the sidewalk after wards then I said “Thanks for saving me.” “You’re welcome. Wasn’t it weird that those fire cats were using ice moves?” “Yea, it was weird. Oh by the way what’s your name?” “Well my name is…” He took a quick look at his watch and, “O man! I’ve got to finish this quest in a minute! Sorry but I got to go!” and just in a flash, he teleported to somewhere. I wonder who he was? I never seen him before in the commons Later that day I went down to the ring shop to get a ring but they had closed for the day, then I hear a familiar voice. I look towards the left of the ring store and down the road was the kid who saved me earlier talking to a few other kids. I ran up to him to at least find out his name. “Oh hi Amy, how are you?” “I’m fine. Hey you know that you forgot to tell me you’re name.” He and the other kids he was talking to looked at me like I something wasn’t right “Oh sorry about earlier. My name is Joseph LegendBlade but you can call me Joe and I‘m a ice wizard. And thesis are my other friends, Brittany DeathBlood a death wizard…” the girl dressed in black and light blue krokotopia clothing interrupted and said “Hi.” and Joe continues to talk “…Rachel Strong Fist a ice wizard…” “Hiya!” said the other girl dressed in white and light blue Krokotopia outfit. “… Joseph Fire a fire wizard…” “What’s up?” said the guy dressed in red and orange Marlybone pilgrim outfit “… and Austin Wild Heart a storm wizard.” “Why hello there.” said by the kid dressed in gold and purple Dragon Spyre commander’s outfit. They all seem nice but after what happened yesterday, I better keep my guard up. “It’s nice to meat you all.” I said. Then Gamma comes flying by. “Hooo, Ms. Hawkmender sorry to inter up but Ms. Wu needs to see you.” “Tell her I’ll be right there.” I told Joe and his friends I’ll see them around and went to the life school. After seeing Ms. Wu, she gave me an attack spell(finally!). Even though it was a imp spell, at least I can fight back now.
About a month has past by and now I’m level 39 and the rest of my friends are now grandmaster(Level 50). Now Joe is in my class, I wonder why? I thought he was a ice wizard? But anyway, soon I’ll use every spell I know to get the next spell. On my way to class I passed by Joe and he asked me “Hey Amy, want to go to Avalance the colossus for some training?” “Wait, don’t you have school?” “Not today, professor Flamiea and professor Grayrose had a little fight and now the ice school is melted” “Sorry Joe I would like to go but I have a ton of school work to do.” “Ok then, see you later Amy.” “See you later.” After a long day and boring day of school I decide to go home for the day, at least that was what I planed. Right when I was about to enter my dorm, both Rachel and Brittany ran up to me in a state of panic. “Amy!” both had screamed. “What? Where’s the fire you two? You guys are acting like someone is missing.” “Someone is missing!” Brittany. “Then who’s missing Brittany?” I said “It’s Joseph he disappeared!” “Wait which Joseph?” “Both of them, now try to teleport to them cuz, for some reason we cant go to them.” “Rachel why are you looking for them so badly? Maybe they are just on a quest. Do you have special feelings for one of them.” Some times I wish I had kept my mouth shut. “Amy! Stop fooling around or do you want me to bug you about Joe!” Then Brittany has to step in. “Ok, stop it you two. We’ve got work to do. Now teleport to them Amy.” after me and Rachel had set aside the issue “I’ll try to.” Little did they or anyone else knew was that I still haven’t fully recovered from the encounter with Malistare, those spells did more damage then anyone would have expected. So we teleported to Avalanche’s cave but the Joes were nowhere in sight. “Hey Amy, can you use you life sencer thing?” At first I was puzzled because I had no idea on what Brittany was saying. “Huh? What are you talking about?” “We know about it and you don’t? That’s new.” then Rachel but in “It’s a spell that only a true life wizard can know. I think I just tells what’s alive and what’s not.” “Um… I’ll try the spell.” I started to clear my mind for the spell, but if I was not able to do it, would I have to reveal my past? Then I saw two figures they weren’t moving but I couldn’t tell what they were. The spell had worked, I’m in the clear, for now. “I see something but I’m not sure it’s them but…” “Ok then let’s go!” they had said at the same time. After running for what feels like an eternity, we reached the main chamber and what we saw was something we never expected. Both Joes were incased in ice. “Guys we got to work fast they only have an half an hour of air left, and I know because I’m an ice wizard.” (Does Rachel really have to brag about this?) Then Avalance comes from the shadows. “Careless wizards, you fate has now become theirs.” Then he points to me. “Except for you Ms.Drake, your father would be pleased to have you back under his control.” My friends looked puzzled and there was a moment of silence. I soon broke the silence by saying “This is your end Avalance!” and I charged into battle, and my friends followed. -- Battle-- The battle had taken 27 minutes and both Rachel and Brittany had been defeated. My wand started to glow red and out of rage I threw my wand to the ground, making a huge explosion and knocking out all the lights. When the lights came back on, both Brittany and Rachel had been fully healed and Joseph fire was freed from the ice but Joe wasn’t. I looked around and Avalance was defeated. I looked by my feet and my wand had turned into a long staff with a huge ring on top with a red gem in the center. With no time to lose I jumped to the top of Joe’s ice pillar and slammed my staff. The ice had cracked and melted away. Before I could pick up the unconscious Joe to take him back to Wizard City the weirdest thing happened. As the water from the ice touched Joe’s skin, he grew scales, fins, and gills. Even though Rachel and Brittany was petrified, I wasn’t so I continue with our mission.
(about an hour later) “Ugh where am I?” asked both Josephs at the same time. “You’re at the life school.” I said. “Hey Amy can you tell Ms. Wu thanks for healing us.” said Joseph. “Ms. Wu didn’t heal you this time, I did.” both looked stunned “Well thanks Amy, now we‘re even.” “You guys can go now.” I said. Both of them got up and started to leave. Before he got to the door, I gently grabbed Joe’s wrist. “Wait Joe, I need to talk to you about something.” “Um, ok?” We sat down and started to chat. “Joe are you hiding something?” He had a panic look on his face and answered “Me? Hide something! Don’t be ridicules!” “Joe when the water touched you before you grew scales and fins and that’s not normal. Come on, tell me what’s going on. You can trust me.” He looked away and then he said “Look’s like my secret is out. When I was younger, the day I started Ravenwood school, was the day that Malistare betrayed Wizard City. I ran after him suddenly he came to a stop. We started to fight but he surprised me and used a curse spell on me. That spell had turn me into a merman . That spell made sure that any water that I touch, turn me into a freak. You must think I‘m a freak now.” I just looked at him and all I saw was disgrace in his eyes. “Joe, I don’t think you’re a freak, but I understand completely.” “Really? How do you understand?” he asked “Well…” before I could say another word Brittany and Rachel barge in and say “Hey Amy, what did Avalanche meant by your father would be pleased and why do you think he called you Ms. Drake?” “Um, um, um I’ll be right back I’ve talk to the Headmaster.” And I run out of the room. That was a close one, hopefully they wont bring it back up again because I don’t know if I could tell them the truth. I soon arrive at the Headmaster’s house and went inside. “Um Headmaster Ambrose? Are you in here?” Then he comes from another room “Yes I’m here, is there something you need?” “Have you heard about what happened earlier?” “Yes I’ve heard, it’s strange that Avalance had used ice move, instead of his usual life moves.” “Um, Headmaster, I don’t want to alarm you but I think we have a traitor in Wizard City.” The Headmaster had just stood there, thinking of a response. “O really? Why would you think that?” “Well when I was battling I notice someone in the shadows healing Avalance, I didn’t see who it was but all I know that it looked human.” “I’ll look into the matter. In the mean time, you should go home and rest.” “All right.” I responded
(That night) “Soon you’ll join me. Your spirit will break soon. I’ll come for you in two months.” And again I wake up at 2:00am. I’m I just getting paranoid? Or was Malistare really talking to me? For the rest of the night all I could think about, was the event that started it all.
Another 5 weeks have past and I’m level 48 and graduated for RavenWood. I also learned ice magic. One day just as I walked out of my dorm, Austin was there to greet me. “Hi Amy!” “Oh, hi Austin.” “Hey do you want to do some shopping in Dragon Spyre or hang out in in Dragon Spyre or MarleyBone?” “Hmm, how about some shopping first?” “Ok.” So we were off to Dragon Spyre, but I should of stayed in Wizard City. After some shopping, he said he want to introduce me to one of his friends. “Hey where are we Austin? I don’t remember this place?” Then he gave a smirk look and said “Well, I took you here, so you can be defeated and be brought to Malistare!” Then he lunched a wild bolt that hit my right arm(why do dangerous stuff always happen to me?). Since I cant use magic with my arm, I ran. He lunched wild bolt after wild bolt, I keep dogging them, until I came to the edge of a large body of water(I should have look where I was going and I cant swim!) “It’s over Amy. Malistare will be pleased.” He casted another wild bolt. I braced for the attack, but then two storm shields had appeared but I didn’t cast them. I looked behind Austin and there was Joseph Fire. “Austin! You’re the traitor!?” “So what if I am Joseph, if you don’t want to end up like Amy, you better run.” Joseph didn’t response to his suggestion, and he drew out his war oni sword. Then a voice came out of nowhere. “Don’t you dare Austin!” I looked behind me and a whirlpool started to form in the water. Then Joe jumps out of the whirlpool in his “fish form” and uses his tail to hit Austin in his head, knocking him out cold. “Ahhh! Fish monster!” Joseph screamed. “Joseph calm down it’s just Joe!” I said back. “Dude! What happened to you?!” Joe turned his tail back into legs while maintaining his scaly form, tied up Austin and explain the same story. “Wow that’s freaky. Hey by the way Amy are you alright?” I looked at my wound, I still couldn’t use my right arm. Just so they wouldn’t worry I lied. “Oh I’m fine Joseph just a little shaken.” Joe then looked at me with the fin on his back vibrating. “Amy you don’t have to lie, here let me treat that.” Joe took up a small bowl from his backpack and put a few of his scales and some water into it. Then crushed them into a paste. “Here put this on there.” I did as he said but “Oooow! That burns!” Then the paste slid off my skin and I was able to use my arm, and my skin look like it wasn’t even harmed. As soon as Joe return to normal, we took Austin to Headmaster Ambrose. “Austin, I cant believe you. You broke the wizard code by hurting you own comrades on purpose, just for power. You are no longer welcome here in Wizard City.” And with a wave of the Headmaster’s wand, he was gone. “Good work you three.” “Thanks.” we said together. I went back to my dorm and my staff started to glow black. I let go of it and it turned into a big and long black sword. Why does this keep happening, I will never know. Even though it was 8:00pm I went to bed.
(That night) I was floating above Wizard City, and it was in ruins. Then black vines had surrounded my and tied me up. Malistare appeared and said “Remember Amy this shall be the future of your friends in one week if you continue your life here.” And I wake up at midnight on the floor. At that moment, I knew it was time for me to leave.
I went to Amy’s door to see if she was alright from yesterday’s event. When I arrived the door was open, I walked in but there was no one inside. I notice a letter faced down on Amy’s bed. I picked it up and it said:
“To anyone who finds this,
I’d had lots of fun here in the past few months, but I have overstayed my welcome. My presence here has put everyone’s lives in danger, so I’m leaving . And please don’t come looking for me it safer for you guys. Thanks for what you did for me.
Signed,
Amy HawkMender”
I couldn’t believe it, Amy had left us! Why would she leave? Was it because I healed her yesterday? I rushed to my friends and explained the situation. “What should we do?” Brittany had asked. “We’ll spilt up, Brittany you stay here in Wizard City. I’ll go to Krokotopia. Rachel you take MarleyBone. Joseph you take Mushu. If we cant find her in those worlds we’ll meet in Dragon Spyre.” “Alright, lets go!”
Krokotopia, a sandy but quiet place. I wonder if I made the right decision of leaving Wizard City? Is there a place for me to keep the spiral safe? “Amy!” I turned around and Joe was coming from the spiral door. “Joe! What are you doing here?” “I’m here to take you back to Wizard City. Everyone is worried sick.” “Look Joe, I cant go back.” “Sure you can, you haven’t done anything bad.” “I’ll tell you why I cant go back, I’m…” and when I was about to explain why, Brittany, Joseph, and Rachel came rushing through the spiral door. “Guys we have a problem!” Rachel screamed. “What, what is it?” Joe asked. “While I was in Wizard City looking for Amy, Malistare appeared in RavenWood destroying everything!” “Then what are we doing here! Lets go!” (a few minutes later) We arrived at RavenWood, or what’s left of it. “Well, well, well if it isn’t Amy. I’m quite surprised that you were able to escape every trap I’ve set.” Malistare said. Joseph then stands right in front of me and said “Hey Malistare! Since you’ve messed with Amy now you’ve got to deal with us!” Malistare drew out his staff. I secretly told my friends to get behind me, and they did what I said. “You haven’t told them the truth, have you amy?” “What is he talking about amy?” Brittany said in confusion. Looks like my secret can no longer be hidden. “I should have told you guys this a long time ago. But you’re not going to like what you hear.” Every wizard from RavenWood were waiting for me to speak, not knowing of what they would hear. “My name really isn’t Amy HawkMender, it’s Amy Drake. And Malistare is…my… father.” “WHAT! THAT’S IMPOSIBLE!” every wizard had screamed. “And the worse part is… my mother died because of me.” Everyone was puzzled, then Joe took a step forward. “You? Why would she died because of you?” My eyes started to flow with tears as I started to say “Well I was home thought death magic, even though I didn’t want to. One day I was practicing a spell but it went horribly wrong. The spell made my mother ill and that illness made her died.” I looked around and every wizard had a face of disgrace or anger. “Well since now you all know the truth of my daughter, now it’s time for you all to die!” He raised his staff and power began to surge into it. “Wait!… Dad if I go with you back to Dragon Spyre, will you spare Wizard City?” Malistare just looked at me and smiled. “Ok my daughter.” Then Joe interrupts, “Amy what are you doing!” I didn’t answer, I walked towards Malistare and he put his hand on my shoulder. All I could say was, “Fair well everyone.” Then we teleported to our home in Dragon Spyre, it hasn’t changed a bit. I walked into the house and the inside hasn’t changed either. The third door on the left side of the main hall was my room. The door knobs was covered in cobwebs, I brushed them off and went into my room. Two years after my escape, nothing had change. My dragon bed, dragon toys and posters, my gem framed desk remained the way I left them . The one thing that wasn’t the same was the photo of my family on the floor. The glass was shattered, reminding me on how the family was, and will never be again. After cleaning up my room a familiar voice came. “Amy you‘re home!” It was my younger sister Katherine. “Katie how you’ve been.” “I’m fine but where have you been this whole time?” “Um I’ll tell you another day.” “Oh, ok if you need me I’ll be in my room.“ After exploring the house(more like a maze) for about two hours, my father asked me to come to main hall to tell me something. When I went, a death spell was casted on and every thing went black.
I found my self in a black room, and with the thing I never wanted to see… the dark side of my soul. “Well, it about time I saw the good side. Here’s the deal. If I win a duel, I’m in control but if you win you stay in control. Got it?” I knew I had no choice, I had to fight. The battle had felt like an eternity. We both had half health. I casted a centaur while the shadow me casted a wraith, Who’s ever spell was the strongest would win, hopefully it was me.
(back to reality) “I see you’re back from your inner duel. So tell me, what do you think of destroying your friends?” “I think… I think… it’s a great idea father.” “That’s my girl! Muhahaha!”
“Are you crazy Joe! You’re not seriously going to Dragon Spyre! Look Amy is gone, there’s nothing you can do!” yelled Rachel. I was filled with anger I yelled back “Do you hear your self! You’ve given up on someone who needs help! I have to try something or I could never forgive my self if anything bad happened to her!” Rachel’s face of anger melted away and turned to sadness. “I’m sorry Rachel, it’s just she saved me, and no one has ever done that for me. And she’s the only person that I’ve become close with, well besides you guys.” Rachel shook her head in disbelief. “Well since I cant talk you out of going, then I’ll go with you.” “Fine, I’ll need all the help I can get.” Then we meet up with the rest of our friends, and we teleported to Amy. We appeared at a house called the Crown of Fire, and we walked in. We went in room, after room, after room. Until we went to the last door on the right and what we discovered, was terrible. Not only were there plans to destroy Wizard City, there were plans on how to take over the other worlds. Then I felt a dark presence, and a voice came about. “Hello there, intruders!” We turned around and there at the door of this large room was Amy dressed in black and white instead how her usual light blue and gold. “Come on Amy we’ve come to get you out of here.” Joseph said. Amy smirked and casted a fire ball we all jumped out of the way. The fire ball blasted a hole in the wall, reveling a head of a dragon statue. “You silly wizards, the Amy you know is gone, I’m the dark side of her soul. And this place… shall be your gave!” Then in the blink of an eye, a colossus, a centaur, and a wraith appeared. “I hope you enjoy the after life. Ready minions? One… two… three, fi-” Before she could say fire, I yelled across the room. “Amy stop! Do you really want to do this! What happened to the good times you had in Wizard City, the people you’ve meet, the people you’ve helped. Are you going to through all that away, just because you father put you under a spell?!” Amy’s eyes that were filled with hatred, now soften. “Joe, I …I…” But then they refilled with hatred. “What am I thinking! You should die first! Now my minions… Attack Joseph LegendBlade!” The minions charged, but I stood my ground, closed my eyes and braced for the attacks, but they didn’t hit. When I open my eyes dust was in the air, the minions were gone but there weapons were stuck in a huge shield that stood right in front of me. “Thanks for the shield you guys.” “Um Joe, we didn’t use a shield spell but we did defeat the minions.” “Then who casted the spell?”
“I did” “Amy you’re back to normal!” Joseph yelled across the room. The memories that Joe mention had weaken the spell and I had enough power to break it. “I see that my daughter’s good soul is more powerful then I thought it was.” Malistare said as he fizzled into the room. Then the Headmaster and my sis appear. “Dad! What are you doing to big sis and her friends?!” The Headmaster nudges my sis next to him. “It’s non of your concern Katherine.” Then without warning dad launches a fire ball so fast that the Headmaster had no time to react. “Ahhh!” “Headmaster Ambrose!” we all screamed. I knew there was one way out of this mess. “Every one get the Headmaster and your self out of here!” “Amy we cant leave you behind!” Brittany yelled “O yes you can!” I use a levitation spell to lift every one and placed them outside the door and sealed the door. “You’ll pay for disobeying me! Forbidden death spell!: Wolf’s Fury!” “Fine Malistare have it your way. Forbidden life spell!: Angel’s Sacrifice!” Both our wand gave a blast of overwhelming power. This was my final spell.
“Hit the door with every thing you’ve got!” commanded the Headmaster. “It’s no use Mr. Merlem, my sister’s binding spell are too powerful.” I don’t understand, why would Amy face Malistare alone, she barely survived last time. After I found her in Krokotopia, she has more power then ever. Then… BOOM! “What was that! Was that dad?!” Then the seal on the door broke. We pushed the door opened and smoke came out like wildfire. When it cleared, Amy was in the middle of the room. Without turning around Amy said “Goodbye my friends.” then she collapsed, I turn into my other form(gives me more speed) and I caught her, I couldn’t believe what happened. “Joe what’s wrong?” asked Rachel. “Amy’s… dead.”
I rosed to the top of the room, realizing that I was dead. The Headmaster kneeled down besides Joe, with me in Joe’s arms. “She used the forbidden life spell.” “What are you talking about Mr. Merlem?” “Well, it’s a spell that has the power to destroy a world, but it drains the user’s life and soul energy. The user, cant live much longer after the spell.” “So my sister is truly dead? Then there is something I‘ve got to show you all ” I followed my sister like everyone else into my room. Katie opens my desk and takes out my dairy(If I were a alive, she would be in so much trouble!) and reads to everyone my last entry:
Dear Diary.
It had been two years sense the last time I wrote in you. For a quick update, I’ve given up my freedom for the safety of my friends. We’ve had great time, sharing laughs… secrets, at least that what we use to do. I don’t know why, but I feel like this might be the last thing I write. So just in case, thank you for everything my sis and my friends.
Amy Out.
With nothing else to do, I started to leave for the spirit realm but “It’s not your time to go yet sweetheart.” I know who that voice belong to, it was a voice that I haven’t heard in three years. “Mom?” “Yes sweetheart?” “It is my time, I cant go back.” She put her hand on my shoulder, like my father does. “Remember that necklace I gave you when you younger?” “Yea I do. Ever sense you died, I’ve been wearing it every day.” “Well, it’s a door way between the realms.” I was filled with joy I couldn’t believe it. “Thanks mom! Oh and I am so sorry for what I did.” “It’s ok, I know it was an accident.” “Bye mom.” “Bye Amy… HawkMender.”
Of course the Headmaster has to tell me to carry Amy because I have human super strength. Now she had saved me twice, and I can never repay her. Even thought I try to hold them back, I couldn’t stop my self from crying. “Hey why are you so upset?” “Amy you’re alive?!” She gave me a smile and said “You think I could be defeated that easily? Hey where are the others?” “Oh they are went back to Wizard city.” “And Joe?” “Yea?” “You can put me down now.” How could I forget? “Oh right, sorry.” “Race you back to Wizard City?” “Ok Amy, last one there is a rotting fodder!.”
(Somewhere in the spiral) “Grrr! How could have this had happen? How could she break the spell? It’s because of that LeagonBlade kid. Well no matter, soon Amy and her friend will pay. Soon we’ll be together again Sylvia.”
|
The SteelWielder Twins at SkyBlade Academy
Justin and Seth SteelWielder are orphans who seem to be a lot different than any other typical kid. The strangest things happen to them. For instance, there was a time when the mummy at the museum came to life because they had wished for it. Or the time when the kid making fun of them went lost because they did not like him. To start off, have you ever heard of SpiritBlade Academy? …. No? Well, then maybe we should start from the beginning.
One night, Justin and Seth were standing outside of the orphanage a night before their birthday. It was very late at night, and the owners would kill them if they caught them awake this late.
“I have never been awake so late at night before.” said Justin.
“Its, weird” Seth continued “We have been living here for practically our entire lives, and I still have never felt like I was at home.”
“And to top it all off, for the past two days I have been hearing strange noises.” said Justin, the younger twin. Then Seth added
“I know I have been hearing them too. Oh listen, there they again!” Justin and Seth could hear the voice again. It sounded like an old man was speaking. He was saying something like “They might be the ones!” and another voice was saying “Really!? Who?” However, the second voice sounded as though he were an owl, by the way he said who. After the voices were gone, the boys decided to go back to bed.
The next day, the strangest thing yet happened. They were at school and they were in Homeroom. The announcements came on telling that all students attending the dance must submit all their allergies to food to the Nurse after the announcements. Seth and Justin weren’t sure if they were going to go. Most of the dances they went to were good, but they didn’t feel like going to this one. So when the bell rang, the students poured out of their classrooms. The twins were about to leave homeroom, when all of a sudden, The earth was no longer still. The entire school was shaking. The twins felt as if a giant picked up the school and began to shake it like it was toy they would play with when they were a baby. But it wasn’t that.
Justin and Seth knelt to the ground, wind blowing their hair. Now it felt as though they were falling from the sky. Then, there was a bright flash, and everything went still. Justin and Seth felt that their hearts had skipped a beat. When they looked up, they saw an owl before them. It was standing on a branch which was coming from a tree that seemed to have grown in the middle of the classroom. The owl flew down in front of them.
“Hello! My name is Gamma the Owl! You two must come with me!”
Justin and Seth recognized the voice. They had remembered that was the same voice that said “Really!? Who?” So it was an owl that was talking.
“I am Headmaster Ambrose’s pet. Are you two who they call, Justin and Seth SteelWielder?” said the owl.
“Well, yes, but I don’t understand. None of this is possible. There is a tree growing in the middle of the room, you’re a talking owl, and you only got here when a bright flash filled the air.” continued Seth.
“Well, soon you will both understand fairly easy. But, for now, you two need to trust me. Please come with me.” said the owl once more.
Justin and Seth both agreed that this must be a dream. And they were reinforced by that idea by them both having the same dream, because they were twins, meaning they could be having “Ayant le meme reve” Which is when two people have the same dream. It is a common thing with twins. Since they agreed this was a dream, they promised the owl they would go with him, or her, whatever he/she was. The owl said a chant that seemed to not make any words, but it sounded as if it were a spell from Harry Potter or Halloween town. It went something like “Treza Mario!” All of a sudden, their world began to spin. It began spinning so fast, that they could just see a blur. There was a bright flash. The spinning stopped, and they were someplace else, but Justin and Seth felt sick to their stomach because of their dizziness. There was an old man, and once he began speaking, the twins memorized his voice too. It was the old man’s voice. That day, he had told us we were wizards. Yep, this was either a dream, or this man was insane.
“Are you two the sons of Angela and David SteelWielder?” the man asked.
“We are not sure who our parents are. We lived in an orphanage on earth. I didn’t even believe we had parents.” said Justin.
“Oh, well, Let me take you to them, they must be your parents, because about ten years ago, their children accidentally teleported away from here, how old are you two?” wondered the man.
“12” said the twins simultaneously. Then, the man said a spell and all of a sudden, their background warped itself into nothing and they were in small mansion. A girl who appeared to be the age of either eight or nine ran down the stairs and said
“Why hello Headmaster Ambrose, what brings you here, and who are these twin boys?” said the girl
“Sorry to barge in like this unexpectedly, but I need to see your parents immediately.” said the headmaster
“Okay, Mother, Headmaster Ambrose wants to see you!” shouted the little girl. Then, another bright flash occurred, and there was a 40 year old woman standing there.
“Justin, Seth, is that you!?” asked the mother
“Yes, it’s us!” the woman ran up to the kids and hugged them. She told them the whole story about what happened and that their magic was haywire so they teleported out of the spiral. Justin and Seth had a lot of catching up to do with the family. Especially with their two new little sisters, Sierra and Jessica SteelWielder.
That night, the mother had zapped up bedrooms for Justin and Seth so they could live in Wizard City once more.
“Angela, if me and Justin really are wizards, and this isn’t a dream, where are we going to learn?”
“SpiritBlade Academy, of course! That’s where I learned, your dad learned, and your sisters learn there too!” said the mother “And stop calling me Angela, I am your mother.”
Justin and Seth decided that if this was a dream, it was the best one they ever had. The twins woke up the next morning to find themselves still in ‘Wizard City.’ They talked and decided this must not be a dream, because it seemed so real, and no dream would ever last this long. The twins had breakfast, but all of it they were afraid to taste because it wasn’t the same food that there was on Earth.
“So, when exactly do we join SpiritBlade Academy?” wondered Justin.
“Well, you came to Wizard City just in time, because they are having the orientation tonight. So don’t worry, we will take you there and tell you where you need to go.” said the mother.
“Well Ange-I mean Mom, what do we do at the orientation? asked Seth
“Well, you receive the house you go to. For example, there are five different houses, and they each go to different teams. They will tell you more about it at the orientation, but I can only say some.” said the mother
“Well then tell us.” said the twins.
“Well, 100 years ago, Five friends were the founders of SpiritBlade Academy, and they each got their own section of school. The founders named their parts of the school by their last name, so the founders were Rachel Raventalon, Olivia OwlStone, Galen GriffinRider, Heather HawkBlood, and David DragonCrafter. So, at the orientation, they do a ritual, and it looks inside into your traits and abilities, and whichever traits matches a certain school the most, that’s the one you get.” implied the mother.
“Oh I get it, so we receive the section of school we go to?”
“Exactly” said the youngest sister. Justin and Seth couldn’t help but smile.
“And don’t worry, considering you haven’t don’t our kind of magic your entire life, you’ll just be started at a certain level.” Added the second oldest sister.
“Well, there will be people the same age as us in our group right.”
“Yes, because the age of 12 is when they admit kids to the school.” said the mother
“I thought you said the girls were taught at a magic school too?” said Seth. He wondered.
“They do, but they aren’t going to SpiritBlade Academy, right now, they are attending IceCrafter Elementary, where they teach you the simple stuff like turning a bunny rabbit into a brick.” added the mother
“But me and Seth don’t even know how to do that yet!” said Justin frightened.
“Don’t worry, while you guys were sleeping I downloaded all the magical information a boy of your age should know. For example, say 1, 2, 3, Vesculine, and watch how that candle will immediately vanish.” said the mother. Seth stood up. They had both received wands as gift from Headmaster Ambrose, they were called Dragonscale Flamewind Wands. Seth tapped the candle three times while simultaneously saying the words his mother gave him, and the candle vanished. The twins were amazed at what they could do all these years but didn’t know how to. This was one of the greatest two days of their lives.
That night, the twins had a lot to be done. Their mother took them to the academy, where they would finally learn magic for the first time. The orientation began at 7:30pm and they needed to be there by at least 7:00, so at 7:58 the mother casted a spell which magically made the group appear at the academy. At the orientation, the Headmaster of the school, Headmaster Ambrose, made a long announcement which lasted about five minutes. The Headmaster called up students in order from A to Z to find out what school they belonged to. About forty students were called when it was time to find out what school Jessica, their sister, belonged to. They gazed into the Crystal Ball and discovered she was an OwlStone. Then they called up Justin, he was a DragonCrafter, and so was Seth. Then, they called up Sierra, and she turned out to be in OwlStone along with her sister. After you found out what school you belonged to, you would have to go sit at any table marked with your school name on it. They didn’t know hhow many new doors this would open for them, but they didn’t think it would lead to anywhere bad...which was until the next day. Justin and Seth were in Black Magic Resistance class when the teacher was telling them that Malistaire was back. According to what she had heard. Malistaire went to the Wizard City graveyard looking for his wife’s dead body. He found it, and headed to Krokotopia to steal the Krokonomicon. Then, the speaker came on
“Justin and Seth SteelWielder, come to the main office please.” Then, everyone said “Ooooh!” because they thought we were in trouble. Justin and Seth got to the office where Headmaster Ambrose had them do a DNA Test. After it was finished, he looked at the results and said
“Justin and Seth, you two are the Descendants of the Five Founders of the school.” Justin and Seth had no clue what he was talking about. This meant that the twins were related to the creators of SpiritBlade Academy.
“This means it is your destiny to destroy whatever Malistaire is plotting.” Justin and Seth went home that day, and were still puzzled. Justin and Seth had a big journey ahead of them.
The twins went back to their home, where they told their mother, their father, who had returned from his trip to Marleybone, and their two sisters about what future is ahead of them.
The next day the twins had been summoned to Headmaster Ambrose’s office where they would begin their quest. The headmaster had each given them magical items to help them along with their journey. The Headmaster told them that they would have to go to schools in the different worlds they would be traveling to. Seth got all of the mental kind of magical items, while Justin got all of the physical magical items. Seth was given a portal key, with the ability to open portals anywhere. He was also given a special hourglass that could manipulate time. Justin received a necklace that gave him the ability to shapeshift into anything for one hour. He was also given a transporter stone, which had the ability to transport the wielder of the stone to teleport anywhere they want.
"I have a question, where are we going to go while on our quests?" wondered Seth.
"I am one step ahead of you. I have set up different teleporting plagues in the spiral, when you find one, and feel you need to take a break, you can use it, and you will be teleported to your home.
After the ending conversation, the adventure began...
|
|
|
