. Daniel and Jacob wandered the Commons. After the Fall of Krokotopia as it was being called, everything felt grey. They were almost relieved when a scroll popped out of the air, with a message that read, "Get to Ambrose's house.- Sarah". When they went in the door, Sarah was there, as well as a dozen other students. They recognized some from the Krokotopian mission, but most were unfamiliar. The Professors were at the back of the room. Daniel and Jacob stood next to Sarah, just as Merle Ambrose came in.
"I hate to bring you all together in a time like this. We have lost many students over the past few days, and I am not eager to repeat that in the coming ones. We must put a stop to these non stop assaults and begin to reclaim the land that has been overrun. That's why you have been summoned here. You wizards and witches are the best in your fields, and that's just what we need to crack this thing. I will divide you all into teams of three. You must go to each of the worlds and with you we will send the gear necessary to complete your objective. Now hurry! Time is of the essence!" Daniel and Jacob checked the list. Almost not surprisingly, Sarah was their third. She came over.
"And it looks like we've been assigned to... Grizzleheim." She cursed. "Why do we draw Grizzleheim?" she said. Grizzleheim had been the sight of a massacre of students on a trade voyage with Baldur Goldpaws. Daniel shrugged.
"We just have to get on with it." he said. They gathered up their gear, filled their potions, and prepared to leave. They were at the Spiral door when someone shouted,
"Wait!" They turned. A wizard ran towards them. "Hi," she said, "I'm Cheryl Stormshield. I was sent by Professor Balestrom to help." The three looked at one another then at her. She had gear that was way below safety standards for what they were about to undergo. On her back was a sack full of equipment of some sort.
"I don't know about this. Are you sure you can fight with all that stuff?" Daniel said. She ignored him and handed a scroll to Sarah. Sarah read it, then crumpled it up.
"She comes with us. Both of you, protect her no matter the cost, even if that cost if your lives." Sarah turned and opened the Spiral door. She stepped through and came out in Grizzleheim. "Damn you Ambrose." she muttered as the others came through the door after her.
"Sarah, what was that back there?" Daniel asked. Sarah gave him a glare that quickly silenced him.
"Alright. We need to get to Savarstaad Pass. We'll set up camp there." Jacob pointed down into the town.
"We've got company!" he shouted. Several bears had spotted them and had readied spells.
The three wizards formed an arrowhead around Cheryl. They moved forward, each beginning to cast a spell. The bears roared and charged the wizards. Daniel snapped his wand up, and sent an Earthquake coursing towards them, sending them flying. As the bears began to cast spells of their own, Sarah sent Meteors down on their line. The bears howled in pain as they tried to bat the flames around them. They sprinted through the broken line, racing towards Savarstaad Pass. Sarah yelled to the two others, "Cover four and eight! I've got our twelve!" Daniel and Jacob rotated to watch Cheryl's back, while Sarah led them on.
At last, they reached the Pass. "Alright," Sarah said, "Jacob, get shields prepped. Daniel, I want you and a Minion to patrol the perimeter. Cheryl, get on with what you need to do." Sarah herself went into the hollow tree and pulled out some maps. Daniel and Jacob shared a look. Jacob shrugged and began to put up Tower and Legion Shields. Daniel sighed. He summoned a Minotaur and the two began to walk the perimeter of the camp. As they walked, Daniel heard a low growl. A squad of wolves popped out of the bushes and surrounded them. Daniel felt his wand heat up as he prepared a Minotaur. Behind him, his Minion struck, sending a Troll hurtling into one of the wolves. They fired back, sending Meteors and Storm Sharks their way. Daniel felt himself growing weaker, but fought on. Behind him, his Minotaur fell under the furious assault. At last, he fell to one knee. Just as they seemed to be prepared to finish him off, Daniel felt an intense heat as a Helephant lumbered into the fray, flinging wolves everywhere before combusting.
"Get over here Daniel!" Sarah yelled. He stumbled in her direction, barely able to stand. She grabbed him, and started pulling him towards the camp. Daniel had no clue how long it took to get there, and barely felt it when she threw him down.
"GET OVER HERE!" she shouted.
"What happened?" he asked. Daniel was bleeding heavily, and seemed to be having trouble breathing.
"Wolves, friendly fire, I don't know!" she yelled. Jacob was shocked. He had never seen Sarah get like this. He went over to Daniel and started taking off his armor. Under it were several deep gashes and bruises covered his chest. Jacob looked down, then back at Sarah.
"We need a skilled healer. I don't have the spells to fix this." She ran over to them.
"Then put a shield up or use a Treasure card, just do something!" She was on the verge of tears. Jacob put his hand on her shoulder. He felt like crying too. Daniel was his best friend, and he wasn't sure how long he could fight this war without him.
"I'm sorry." he said gently as he could. Cheryl kneeled next to them.
"I can help." She pulled out a Satyr Treasure card and used it. A satyr popped into existence, and began to play his pipes. As they watched, Daniel's skin came together into long scars, and the bruises vanished. The Satyr vanished, and Jacob leaned in close to Daniel.
"He's breathing normally. It's okay. He's okay." They all let out a sigh of relief, and went back to what they had been doing. That night, after Jacob and Cheryl had gone to sleep, Sarah walked over to where Daniel was laying. Jacob was probably suspicious that she felt something more than normal towards Daniel, it wasn't like that. Daniel was the only person she had ever trusted fully. They were as close a married couple, but to be honest, she thought it would be weird to got out with him. Daniel rolled over and opened his eyes.
"Hey," he said with a yawn. "What're you doing up?" She smiled.
"Just checking in on you." she had a sudden thought. "You remember when we met?" Daniel laughed.
"How could I forget! I was just grabbing a bite to eat during the time that the Gobblers tried to escape Colossus Boulevard. It was a lovely meal until you show up and start screaming at me."
"We were under siege, remember?" she said. Daniel shrugged.
"Well, I didn't know when or if I would be able to eat again so I grabbed some bread. And I had already blown up a fair few of those Gobblers." Sarah punched him on the shoulder. "Ouch! Hey, I'm still a little sore."
"Oh, I'm so sorry, are you okay?" she said. Daniel smiled.
"Gotcha." he said softly. "But either way, we won the battle, and somehow, I ended up under your command. And now, three worlds and dozens of battles later, here we are." He sat up. "I want to show you something. Sarah watched as he pulled out an amulet. He held it in his hands, and gave it to Sarah. "Open it." She did so, and pictures flew out, surrounding her like a galaxy. She looked at the pictures. There was one of her and Daniel from the ceremony where she was accepted into the Order of Bartleby. Another was Jacob and Daniel standing on top of the Pyramid of the Sun. As she looked around, she saw pictures of times she had forgotten about. Her friend Isabella's wedding. The time she and Daniel cooked dinner for the whole camp. A picture of her with Diego. She felt tears beginning to well up in her eyes. She looked down at Daniel, who was smiling.
"I don't know what to say." she said. Daniel closed the amulet, and curled her hand around it.
"You don't have to." he said. Sarah smiled, then returned to her bed inside the tree.
In the morning the four sat around the fire, cooking some oats. Jacob turned to Cheryl.
"Okay. You owe us an explanation. What the hell are we doing out here, surrounded by enemies, and trying to protect you with our lives?" he said. Cheryl sighed.
"You guys wouldn't believe me if I told you." She said.
"Try us." Daniel said. She shrugged.
"Okay. You guys know of the time portal in the Grand Chasm? Well we managed to… reverse it." Daniel dropped his stein.
"WHAT?" he said.
Cheryl nodded. "Some storm engineers managed to divert the polarity of the crystal, and did some other complicated science things that I don't want to explain, and in doing so, made the portal go into the future instead of the past. We went through, and it's not pretty. Our foes overwhelmed all of the worlds, including most of Wizard City. We were basically down to the Commons. However, new weapons had been invented, and so, they gave the tech to us. We brought the gear back, and are have been using it to turn the tide. That's why we're here. This stuff can emit what is essentially a constant Beguile. Any enemies within the range will be affected and turn on those who are not. We're deploying these across the Spiral as we speak. In fact, I've finished fine tuning it. We need to get it set up. Now." They scrambled up. "This is going to draw them all in from miles, so I'll need about five minutes." The wizards formed a semicircle, setting up shields, traps, blades, and charging up pips. Slowly, the thumping of feet grew louder and louder, until the world seemed to rumble. The three looked at one another and nodded.
The wolves burst around the corner, triggering the traps. The wizards began to fire spells, blasting at the oncoming horde.
"Hydra Blast!" Daniel yelled. Daniel, Sarah, and Jacob fired as one, sending an Earthquake, Meteor Strike, and Blizzard plummeting into the enemy ranks, smashing dozens of them. But still they came. Spells began to fly back, breaking their shields and wounding them. Behind them, Cheryl was working furiously. Daniel threw up an Ether shield just in time to mostly block a charging Cyclops. It hit the shield, and slowed enough that he used a fire blast to dispel it. At last, the enemy halted and stared across the forest floor at them.
"Why'd they stop?" Jacob said. The wizards prepared themselves. And then they saw it. A Frost Giant lumbered towards the battlefield.
"SHIT! How did they let a Frost Giant loose?" Sarah yelled. The enemy scattered, giving the giant a clear path to the four. They frantically prepared spells, though they knew the real danger was that it would charge and not even bother using magic to destroy them. Cheryl stood up behind them.
"Got it!" She flipped a switch, and the machine sputtered to life, emitting a global spell around them, protecting the path to Northguard.
"Will it work on a Giant?" Daniel asked. Cheryl gave him a look that said, 'We'll see'. The giant was picking up speed, bowling over trees as it charged. At last, it hit the edge of the field. The wizards held their breath. The Giant stopped, and seemed confused as to why he was there. Then however, he started to lumber forward again. He was almost moving in slow motion through the spell as he slammed his hammer into the ground. A massive avalanche flowed from where it struck, and the wizards braced to be swept away.
Suddenly, Spirit Armors sprung up, protecting them from the oncoming rush. They turned to see Life wizards concentrating on holding the shields, as Pyromancers flew by on brooms and Pegasi. Professor Falmea herself was there, and she came over to the dumbstruck four.
"You have done an excellent job young wizards. We can take it from here." She turned and fired black sparks into the air. At once, the flying Fire wizards went into spiralling dives, loosing spell after spell into the giant. It roared and tried to send Ice magic back, but the Life wizards had abandoned the shields and grown vines and trees over his hammer, trapping it. At last, Falmea struck a critical blow, sending the burning giant toppling over. The battle over, the Fire wizards cheered, and landed. That night, they had a great bonfire, and danced all night. When morning came, Daniel, Sarah, Jacob, and Cheryl went to the Spiral door. Professor Falmea came with them to see them off.
"I must say, you four have accomplished something remarkable here. Word has spread throughout the Spiral of your victory and the fall of the Frost Giant. You should be proud." she said.
"Well we would have been dead for sure if you hadn't gotten there with the relief force Professor." Daniel said. She waved a hand.
"Trivial. Frankly, I almost thought you could handle it on your own. But, you are welcome." The wizards said farewell and stepped through the door.
ONE YEAR LATER
Daniel shelved the last of the books and sighed. It had been one year since they had set up the Beguile fields in Grizzleheim. He and the rest had been given two years leave for their courageous actions. He had also received a commendation for injuries sustained in the line of duty. Daniel had found a job as an assistant librarian in the Wizard City Library. It was a good job, but all the same, Daniel missed the feel of his armor and the spell of the battlefield. Robes were fine, but he almost found them to be suffocating at times. His work done, he headed downstairs. Boris Tallstaff was at the door and curiously, wearing dress robes.
"Hey Daniel, do you mind covering the rest of the shift? I've got a... an appointment in Mooshu that I need to get to." Daniel nodded. So Boris was going out on a date. That explained the robes.
"Sure. Have fun man."
"Thanks. I'll see you tomorrow." Boris shut the door behind him and Daniel thumped his head on the desk. He looked at the clock. Another four hours till the Library closed for the night. He cleared the desk, got some ink in his quill and began to copy a charred book into a fresh one. The time went quickly, as students came in looking for both treasure cards and for books for homework. He finished checking his ledger to make sure that he was up to date, when someone cleared their throat. He looked up, and his jaw nearly dropped. Before him was a witch who was one of the most beautiful he had ever seen. She had shoulder length brown hair that was tied in a neat braid. Judging by her robes, she seemed like she had some experience, but he couldn't place the world they came from.
"Can I help you find something?" he said, a little unsure of his voice. She smiled.
"Well, I'm actually looking for Daniel Dragonblade. Professor Drake sent me with this letter for him."
"That's me." She handed him the letter and he opened it. It read, 'Daniel, I need you to help this student along. Her parents have been lobbying the school for her to get essentially a bodyguard and baby sitter rolled into one, someone that can keep her safe and on task. She's your responsibility now, and yes, I've already informed Ambrose so you can't back out. I trust your natural aptitude for Myth and years of frontline experience can aid in this. Try NOT to botch this up. Cyrus.' Daniel sighed. The letter was clearly written with a heaping helping of sarcasm and disdain, even more than was to be expected from the Professor. 'That cannot be good' he thought as he crumpled the letter up. He looked up at the girl.
"Well, it looks like I'm to help you along in your studies and keep you out of trouble. So what's your name?" She smiled and said,
"Kelly Titanbreaker." With those words, Daniel's blood ran cold. The Titanbreakers were notorious in Wizard City. They owned prime real estate on every major street. In fact, they were one of the top beneficiaries for the Ravenwood Academy of Magic. When they wanted something done, it happened. And now he had to care for their daughter? What had Cyrus gotten him into?