30
Legend of Lord Vectron II
Legend of Lord Vectron II
Vortex's Demise*
By Ryan Dosch
Narrated by Lord Vectron II
The Chapter Fall of Vortex will be narrated by Prince Joseph
Characters
Lord Vectron II- King of Ardania and Ruler of Vectronia
Queen Amber- Queen of Ardania; Wife of Lord Vectron II
Captain V- Clone of Lord Vectron II; Captain of the Vectronian Royal Guard
Prince Joseph- Son of Lord Vectron II and Queen Amber
Princess Isabella- Daughter of Lord Vectron II and Queen Amber; Sister of Prince Joseph
Vendral- Two-headed dragon
Vortex- Ardanian God of Evil
Dauros- Ardanian God of Law
Agrela- Ardanian Goddess of Life
Krypta- Ardanian Goddess of Death
Vagneon X, Master of the Unknowable- Once an evil wizard, but now a trusted ally of Lord Vectron II
*This text still has yet to be proven, but for all I know, the following is 100% true
Prologue
I should've known not to get so comfy when I eventually got Vagneon off my back. What am I talking about? Sorry. I'm getting ahead of myself. In case you've never met me, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Lord Vectron II. I'm the King of the great nation of Ardania and her capital city of Vectronia. I guess I should start off when a couple of Ardanian gods busted into my family's Palace…
Chapter I: Some Unexpected Visitors
I was busy giving my son, Prince Joseph, some tips on how to deal with the latest bout with King Perseus of Argos when, quite suddenly, the throne room started to shake violently.
"What was that?" Joseph asked.
"I have no idea," I replied. Before I could get up to investigate, the west wall exploded. When the dust cleared away, I saw two figures, a male and a female, standing where the wall had been.
"Sorry about the intrusion, Your Majesty," the male said, "but we need to talk."
I was livid. "Who do you think you are, just busting into my family's Palace like that?" I asked them.
"I thought the great-great-great grandson of the First King would recognize a couple of fellow immortals," the man said. "I am Dauros, the god of law."
I was dumbfounded. How could this be? I thought the Ardanian gods were myths! Apparently I had a living myth in front of me at that moment.
"Please, sit, my lord," the female said with a sweet and caring voice. "There's no need to fear Dauros or I, for I am the Good Mother."
"You-you're Agrela?" I asked. This was too much to process. I flat out fainted. When I came to, I was sitting in my throne. "Man, I had a crazy dream that Ardanian gods infiltrated the Palace," I said.
"That was no dream, Lord Vectron," Dauros said. "Now that you're awake, we need to talk."
"What do you want, Dauros?"
"You're a mythologist, correct?" Agrela asked me.
"Yes, I am. I majored in History and Mythology with a Doctorate Degree from Vectronia State University," I said proudly.
"Have you ever heard the story of Vortex?" Dauros asked.
I racked my brain for a memory, but none came. "I don't think so."
Dauros waved his hand and one of my Ardanian Mythology books appeared in my lap. "Turn to page forty-seven, please."
I turned to page forty-seven and found the word Vortex at the beginning. I've read this Mythology book several times. How could I have missed it?
"Please read it, my lord," Agrela said.
This is what I read:
A long time ago, when the land now called Ardania was formed and the creatures were roaming the land, an evil god sprung from the shadows of the Mountains of Doom and began to terrorize the good creatures of the land. This evil god was called Vortex. When Man first roamed Ardania, they described Vortex as a blood-thirsty demon who feasted on the fear he struck into their hearts. He was finally sealed away into the Realm of Darkness by the other gods, but before he was sealed away, he declared 'Time is just a door. Before you know it, I will return and plunge this pitiful land into the darkness that gave me life!' Even though he hasn't returned yet, priests foretell that he will fulfill his promise within the 21st Century A.D.
My blood turned to ice as I read the last sentence. "Why are you showing me this?" I asked Dauros.
"The day has come. As we speak, Vortex breaks his seal."
"And what do you want me to do? I'm a mortal! Surely you can't expect me to fight a god."
"We've determined that only one blade is strong enough to defeat Vortex and seal him away for good," Agrela said.
"What blade?"
Dauros pointed at the mosaic of Lord Vectron I.
"Nightmare's the blade?" I asked.
"Not your Nightmare that was made for you by the Greek and Roman gods. The original Nightmare is the blade. Vortex's weakness is Black Ardanian Gold."
I looked at my Nightmare. I kept thinking this was the original blade. I was carrying a replica this whole time?
"Where do I find the original blade then?" I asked.
"Ask your great-great grandfather. He was the one who hid the sword in the first place," Dauros replied. With that, the two gods disappeared and the wall repaired itself.
How do I contact Grandpa Jedidiah? I asked myself. I've never done it before.
That night, as I drifted to sleep, I heard a different voice call to me. Normally, I'd hear the voice of my ancestor, Vectron the First, but this wasn't him. I looked around my room and saw a ghostly figure sitting at the foot of the bed.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"Surely you should recognize a member of your own family, Vectron," the ghost said. The ghost took a human figure and I started to see a resemblance between him and my son, Joseph.
"Prince Jedidiah," I said.
My great-great grandfather smiled. "You called for me?" he asked.
"I'm looking for the original Nightmare. Dauros told me you hid it somewhere."
"I did hide it. It's been so long that I've completely forgotten where I hid it. Luckily, I mapped the way to it. Be warned, though, grandson, for the forces of Vortex found the place long ago and they're guarding it to keep their master safe." He gave me a piece of parchment and disappeared.
Chapter II: The Legend Begins
The next morning, my wife, Amber, was no longer by my side in the bed, which I found weird. She was a really heavy sleeper. She normally slept until almost noon. I got out of bed, took a shower, and went downstairs.
I figured that Joseph and Isabella were already downstairs, waiting for me to get down there for breakfast, but when I got down there, they were nowhere to be found.
Where's my family? I asked myself.
I went to the security room and found my clone, Captain V, staring in shock at a security monitor.
"What's wrong, Captain?" I asked my clone.
"Someone, or something, breached the Palace defenses last night, sir," he replied.
I looked at the monitor and saw a dark figure with what looked like twisted devil horns prowling through the halls of the Palace.
"What is that thing," I asked.
"I have no idea, but look."
I watched as the figure walked into Isabella's room and came out with her in his arms. He spoke a chant and Isabella disappeared. I watched in horror as he did the same to Joseph and Amber.
"What the heck?" I asked.
I waved my hand and my Ardanian Mythology book appeared in my hand. I turned to page forty-seven and looked at the picture of Vortex. My heart started to beat faster when I saw that the figure in the footage had the same build and same horns as Vortex.
"My family was kidnapped by the god of evil," I said.
I ran out of the security room, grabbed Nightmare, the keys to my Corvette, and headed out into the garage. I was keenly aware that my clone was following me.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
"I'm going to go get my family," I replied.
"Let me come with. You need all the help you can get. Plus, seeing as I'm your clone, I technically count as family."
"Can't really argue with that, can I? Get in."
We got into the Corvette and I started the engine. I looked at the map Jedidiah gave me and saw it was just a map of Ardania with the spot marked on it. First, I tried locating Montana de Muerto, which is Spanish for Death Mountain, but I couldn't find it on the map. Then I remembered the myths surrounding it. Death Mountain was in the one place a Christian would never want to go: Hades.
Luckily, I knew a passageway to Hades. Unfortunately, it was on King Perseus' territory.
"This is going to be a fun trip," I said.
"Just like old times. You and I going off to who knows where trying to save the world," Captain V said.
I smiled. "Yeah, just like old times. Only those times, my wife and kids weren't kidnapped."
"Good point."
I revved the engine and we took off through Vectronia's streets. I handed the map to Captain V.
"What's this?" he asked.
"It's the map to my grandfather's sword," I replied.
"But you have it right now."
"This is Stygian Iron. The original Nightmare is made of Black Ardanian Gold."
He looked at the map and his face went slack. "Uh, Vectron?" he said.
"What?"
"The original sword is deep in the Mountains of Doom."
I slammed on the brakes and looked at him. "Are you serious?"
He handed me the map. "Great. How neat is that?" I asked.
"That's not very neat, my lord," he replied. "For all we know, Vendral could be guarding the sword for Vortex."
I shivered at the thought of facing Vendral, the two headed dragon, again. That dragon nearly killed me and destroyed my city five years back.
I sighed. "Mountains of Doom, here we come," I said.
The mountains were on the northeast corner of the island. When Vendral had first awoken, several ships and planes were destroyed, killing hundreds and injuring thousands. It took a whole day of driving to reach the range. When we finally arrived, the setting sun gave the sky the color of fresh blood, which did not improve my mood.
"Let's leave the car here," I said. "If Vendral is either sleeping or guarding the sword, we don't want to alert him to our presence."
"Good idea," Captain V replied.
We got out of the Corvette. I strapped my Nightmare to my back. What was I going to do when I found the original? Keep that and give my version to Joseph? Only time would tell.
As silently as we could, Captain V and I walked through the mountains. When we reached the peak of one of the taller mountains, the dark night started to obscure our vision. When I was about to suggest we stopped for the night, I ran into something made of stone. I brought out a flashlight and looked at what I ran into. It was a statue of Lord Vectron I. As the light expanded around the statue, I made out the entrance to a cave and another statue of Vectron I on the other side.
"It's as easy as that?" Captain V asked.
"I don't know," I said. "Something doesn't feel right."
When I took a step forward, a trapdoor opened below me and I plummeted into the darkness.
Chapter III: Caverns of Lord Vectron the First
When I had finally stopped falling, I was in a very dark chamber. I tried turning on my flashlight, but the batteries had been drained.
"These were brand new!" I complained. With no other option for light, I lit a fire in my palm. I looked up and saw that the trapdoor that brought me down here had been magically sealed shut. I could faintly hear Captain V calling to me from above. We'd been separated.
With no way going back up, I had to press forward.
"Captain," I called to him.
"Vectron, are you ok?" his muffled voice asked.
"I'm fine. The trapdoor has been magically sealed. There's a tunnel system down here. Maybe that cave is an entrance. Press forward and see if we meet up."
"Yes, sir," he replied.
I pressed on through the cavern I was in. I could tell that the cavern was a couple hundred years old. I wasn't sure if the pillars holding up the ceiling would hold. When I reached the end of the cavern, there was a tunnel in front of me. My great-great grandfather must've taken some serious precautions to hide the original Nightmare. As I walked through the tunnel, I saw skeletons of creatures I'd never seen before. They were probably part Vortex's forces that fell in here and died while trying to find my grandfather's sword.
As I pressed onward, I nearly fell into the first trap. It was a gap that was too wide for me to jump across and the only way across it was by using monkey bars. The thing that sucks: I'm scared of heights. Not like on roller coaster. I'm talking heights where I could freefall to my death. I know you may be thinking But you're immortal. You can't die. Well, I was scared of heights before I became immortal.
Nervously, I jumped and grabbed the first rung. As I went across, I tried not to think about the super long drop below me. I was relieved when I was safely across. I also impressed myself by doing that without a light. I had to extinguish the flame in order to cross. I lit a new flame in my hand and continued onward.
Ever since I passed those skeletons, I was getting a strange feeling that I was being followed. When I reached another chamber, they finally caught up with me.
I heard the chatter of sketal teeth behind me. I grabbed my sword and spun around to come face-to-face with a skeleton army.
From the look of their empty eye sockets, they definitely weren't friendly.
"What do you want?" I asked.
The leading skeleton's teeth chattered. If they were working for Vortex, it probably said: We want to kill you, of course!
Just my luck, they started advancing on me. I swung my sword and cut the first skeleton in half. Again, just my luck: the thing put itself back together. That ain't right!
My sword lit green with Greek fire, but that didn't faze the skeletons. Only one thought flashed through my mind: I'm dead.
Then, an idea sprung in my mind. I pointed at the skeletons and spoke: "Danemay (dah-nem-a)!" The Ardanian word for 'destroy' appeared above the skeletons and they all exploded. As they started to reform, I turned and bolted through the chamber, trying to put as much distance between me and them as possible.
I had no idea what was going to happen next until I ran into Captain V.
"What the heck, man?" he asked.
"Sorry," I apologized. I helped him up.
"Where's the fire?"
"I was trying to escape from these skeletons that were hunting me since I passed the first chamber."
"You're being hunted, too?"
"What's following you?"
"Skeletons," he replied.
"Great."
We continued through the passageways until we finally reached another chamber that was filled with traps.
"The more traps there are, the closer we get," I said.
We managed to get through the traps, but when we reached the other side, the skeletons started coming out of the tunnel we came from.
"Aw, man," Captain V said.
I brought out my sword to get ready to fight, when I saw that it was starting to faintly glow. To see if it was just the lighting, I pulled out my back-up sword, Lightning, but it wasn't glowing like Nightmare.
I handed Lightning to Captain V. "Keep those skeletons back, Captain. I think this Nightmare will lead us to the original Nightmare."
"Yes, sir," he replied.
I walked through the tunnel with Nightmare leading. With each step, the glow became brighter. When we came to an intersection with two ways, I turned the blade to the right and saw the light dim. Then I turned it to the left and saw it brighten. "This way," I said to Captain V.
"The skeletons are getting closer, Vectron," he replied.
We continued on. After a little while of walking, we came into a huge, lit chamber. It was filled with all of these live creatures with the same complexions as the skeletons. Now that I had the living thing in front of me, the creatures looked like a cross between a possum and a raccoon. I racked my brain for what the creatures were, and it finally clicked.
"Those are Ardanian Vortexi (plural for Vortexus)," I said. "They're the sacred animal of Vortex. Vectron the First told me he encountered the creatures before and that they're formidable combatants."
"If this is the chamber where they're guarding the sword, then the sword's probably through that door," Captain V said.
"Then we're going to have to find a way to get past all of these Vortexi without being seen."
Captain V nodded. "Maybe if we stick to the shadows, we could slip by without being detected."
"Not if Nightmare's glowing like this. They'll easily see it."
"What if you store it in your magic pack? They won't see it then."
I took my bag off of my back and unzipped it. "That just might work, Captain," I said.
I slipped the sword into my bag and we slipped into the shadows just as the skeleton Vortexi came into the chamber.
"I hope those things don't have night vision," I whispered.
The sketal Vortexi looked around the room. Not finding us, they left the chamber.
I breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank the Lord."
We continued sneaking through the room. When we reached the other side of the room, however, we saw the biggest Vortexus of them all.
"How do you suppose we get past him?" Captain V asked.
I picked up a rock. "Maybe I could throw this rock at something on the other side of the room to distract him."
"That could work."
I looked at the other side of the room and saw an old bell in the far corner. Can I hit that? I chucked the stone as hard as I could and it struck the center of the bell, sounding the chime.
"What was that?" the Vortexus guard asked. He ran off to investigate.
"Now, Captain," I said.
We dashed for the door, opened it up, and got inside just as the guard was coming back.
"What was that, William?" another Vortexus asked.
"Eh, a rock fell from the ceiling and hit that bell over there," William the Vortexus said.
"Sucker," I whispered to Captain V.
"Let's get that sword," he replied.
I turned around and saw the worst thing to find at the end of a treasure hunt: an empty room.
"Th-this doesn't make any sense," I said.
"Maybe the Vortexi took it away," Captain V suggested.
"No. They're evil creatures. They can't touch a holy blade like Nightmare. There's got to be a secret switch or something in here." I took out my version of Nightmare. The blade was glowing very brightly. I walked to the center of the room and lowered my sword. Suddenly, the glow was brighter than ever.
"There's a chamber underneath our feet. How do we get to it, though?" Captain V said.
I looked around and finally saw a lever on the far side of the room. "Captain, try pulling that lever over there," I said.
He saw what I was looking at and pulled the lever. Suddenly, the room started to shake as the symbol of Vectron carved itself into the stone. Then the symbol rotated and a staircase spiraled down into another chamber.
"Going down?" I asked Captain V.
He nodded and we headed down the steps. Before my head was completely down, the doors opened and Vortexi flooded into the room.
"There!" one of them yelled and pointed at me.
"Go, Captain!" I yelled. I ran down the steps. I saw torches on the walls. Using a fire spell, I lit up all of the torches. The chamber was enormous! In the center of the room, there was a stone with Nightmare impaled hilt deep within it.
I ran up to it and grabbed the hilt. "This sword is my birthright," I said. "I am Lord Vectron II, the true heir of Lord Vectron I. I am the Ruler of Vectronia. I am the husband of Queen Amber II. I am the father of Prince Joseph and Princess Isabella. I am the Master of the Wizards. I am the King of Ardania."
I pulled the sword from the stone and I instantly felt stronger.
Right as I pulled the sword out, the first Vortexi appeared.
Chapter IV: Brawl in Nightmare's Chamber
"Get the intruders!" one of the Vortexi screamed.
I turned. "You're quite right, dear Vortexus," I said, my voice changing to a deeper, stronger tone. "I think the intruders must be killed."
"Who are you?" the Vortexus asked.
"I am Lord Vectron II, Ruler of Vectronia and King of Ardania, and you're trespassing on my land."
I raised Nightmare and the blade caught fire.
The Vortexi backed up in surprise.
Then the Vortexus, William, came forward with a sword drawn.
"So you're first, William?" I asked. "I accept your challenge." I took out my wizard staff and slammed it on the ground. A ring of fire surrounded me and the Vortexus.
The Vortexus charged at me. If there were two things I knew about Vortexi, it was that they are fast and strong. I'd have to outwit this big brute in order to beat him. When he brought his sword down in an overhead slash, I sidestepped and stabbed him in the side. He yowled in pain and turned to face me. He swung his sword, but I parried and stabbed him right in the chest.
The Vortexus crumpled to the ground and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. I disbanded the ring of fire and turned to face the other Vortexi.
"Who's next?" I asked.
They all started to back up.
"I see how it is." I charged at the Vortexi and began cutting them down as easily as butter.
When I cut all of the small Vortexi down, there was a huge thud above us in the empty chamber. I ran up the stairs and saw a huge Vortexus waiting for me.
The huge Vortexus let out a loud roar that shook the chamber and rocks began to fall from the ceiling.
"What are you doing?" I yelled at the Vortexus. "The caverns will crush us!"
"Good! Trespassers die!" the Vortexus bellowed.
I charged at the Vortexus. I leaped into the air, but the massive creature swatted me aside. Brute force wasn't going to work, so I needed to be quick and agile. This time, I advanced more cautiously. When the big brute tried to smash me, I sidestepped and jumped on its arm. I ran up the arm and stabbed the creature in the eye, driving the sword hilt deep into its cornea. The Vortexus began to fall and I jumped onto the ground. The brute fell in front of me and disappeared into smoke.
I couldn't believe it. I'd battled an army of Vortex's strongest monsters and won, single-handed.
Then Captain V came up the stairs. "I'm not sure if you haven't noticed," he said, "but the caverns are collapsing. We need to get out of here."
We ran out of the chamber and back into the tunnels.
As we ran through the tunnels, I kept trying to see which ways would've led to the surface, but we became lost. Then, Captain V began to recognize where we were from when he came inside alone.
"This way!" he said.
I let him lead the way and we soon came to an exit. When we got outside, I stumbled to a halt. We'd found a way out all right, but this was inside Vendral's lair. The tunnel collapsed behind us with a loud boom. Unfortunately, that was enough to wake the sleeping dragon. The dragon's two heads lifted up and saw me and Captain V against the wall.
"Vectron," he said, "we meet again. What are you doing inside my home? Speak, or I will burn you both to a crisp!"
"We were inside these caverns within the mountains and an exit happened to lead out here," I explained. "Please, let us go, mighty dragon."
The dragon's eyes narrowed. Then, his heads tilted, as if listening to another voice.
"Sorry, Vectron, but I can't let you go." He shot flames at me and Captain V. Before they hit, I knocked them aside with a swipe from Nightmare's Black Ardanian Gold blade.
"Captain, run," I said. "I'll hold him off so you can escape."
"Either we both go, or neither of us goes. I'm not leaving your side, Your Majesty."
"Then get ready to run on my command."
I waited until Vendral went to shoot another column of flames.
"Go, Captain!" We ran as soon as Vendral let loose the volley of flames. As soon as we reached a path up to the top of the volcano, the dragon turned towards us.
"Very clever, Lord Vectron," the dragon said, "but you will not leave the mountains alive!"
We ran up the path and reached the summit. Vendral outstretched his wings and got ready to fly. As soon as he began to take off, I got a crazy idea. I gave a mighty leap and landed on Vendral's back.
"What?" One of Vendral's heads turned and saw me hanging onto his back. "Foolish mortal, prepare to die!"
"Vectron, what the heck are you doing?" Captain V asked me.
I began to climb up the dragon's back, using the spikes on his back as a ladder. Soon enough, I reached his necks. I grabbed a spike on each neck so I could connect to his two brains.
Vendral, you will work for me, I said.
Never, both heads said.
You will work for me!
Never! I'd rather die than work for you!
This time, I put all of my power into my command. You will work for me, Vendral.
"I will work for you, Lord Vectron II," both of his heads said in perfect unison.
"Good," I said. "Now, go land on the summit of your old lair."
Vendral did as I commanded.
Captain V was staring at me in disbelief.
"What do you think of my new pet?" I asked.
"Y-you took control of Vendral?" he asked.
"Yes. Get on, Captain."
Captain V got on Vendral's back.
"Do you want me to torch the man, master?" Vendral asked me.
"No, Vendral," I replied. "He's the captain of my Royal Guard."
"Your wish is my command, master."
"Take us down to the bottom of the mountains and land next to my Corvette," I ordered.
Vendral flew down the mountain and landed where I parked the Corvette, where some thieves were trying to steal it.
The thieves screamed in horror as Vendral landed next to them.
"Think you can steal my Corvette and get away with it, eh?" I asked. "Vendral, get these crooks," I commanded.
"Yes, Master Vectron," Vendral said. He grabbed the thieves in his claws. "Do you want me to kill them?"
"No." I tossed the keys to Captain V. "Captain, take the Corvette back to the Palace while I deal with the thieves."
"Yes, Your Majesty," Captain V said. He slid off of Vendral's back and started up the Corvette.
I had Vendral fly to the nearest prison and dropped them in the courtyard. Afterwards, we flew to Vectronia and landed in the Palace Gardens.
As soon as we landed, the Palace Guards came out of the Palace and into the garden.
"Easy, Vendral," I said.
"They have weapons, master. I must defend you," Vendral said.
"I'm flattered, but they're my Palace Guards. Let me talk to them."
I slid off of his back and walked towards my lieutenant, Lt. Kane.
"Like my new pet, Lieutenant?" I asked him.
"You tamed Vendral? That's quite a feat, my lord," he replied.
"Men, stand down and lower your weapons!" I ordered. "He's harmless to Vectronia now."
The Palace Guards lowered their weapons and Vendral relaxed. I walked up to the dragon and began to stroke his left head.
"Welcome to your new home, Vendral," I said. I looked at one of the guards. "Get Thomas Van Buren in here. I have a job for him."
"Yes, Your Majesty," the guard replied. After a few minutes, my construction foreman came into the garden. He saw Vendral and began to freak out.
"Calm down, Mr. Van Buren. He's tamed now," I said.
He shook his head. "What do you need, Majesty?" he asked.
"I want you to build a keep for Vendral to stay in. He's definitely not going to fit in the Palace."
"Yes, Majesty," he replied.
I waited in the garden until Captain V returned.
"Where do we go next, Majesty?" he asked.
"Next, we need to pay a visit to Perseus," I replied.
"Why?"
"Death Mountain is in the Ardanian Underworld. The only way a living person could slip down there is through the Passage of Krypta. Unfortunately, Perseus's palace is built above the Passage."
"Ooh. That's no bueno."
"No, it's not, my friend."
"How will we get there and not be attacked?"
I looked at Vendral. "Have the Argosians ever had any trouble with you in the past?"
Vendral's eyes narrowed as he went to remember. "No. I only ended the Thallian Tribe and almost yours, Master Vectron," he replied.
"Have you ever been in Western Ardania?"
He shook his heads.
"So if the Argosians have never seen Vendral, we could ride on him to the peak of Mt. Hades."
"What about any other dragons?" Captain V asked.
"My western brothers know better than to go near the Cursed Mountain. In dragon lore, the infamous Byran the Dragonsmiter killed Plagus the Wise. Since that day, any dragon of that region died if they landed on Cursed Mountain."
"Well, you're not from the region. You should be fine there," I said. "Just come back to the Palace after you drop us off. I'm sure Mr. Van Buren should be done with your keep by then."
"Why will you want me to return without you, master?"
"I don't want the Argosians capturing you."
"Well said, Master Vectron," Vendral replied.
I got some saddles from the stables and approached Vendral cautiously.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"I'm going to put these on your necks. I don't like sitting on your scales," I replied.
"Well, why not?" he asked.
"It's uncomfortable."
I put the saddles around the necks.
"Get on, Captain," I said.
Captain V got on Vendral's left neck while I got on the right.
"Off to Mt. Hades!" I said.
Vendral took off from the garden grounds. We were soaring high above the clouds. Riding on Vendral, it made me feel all-powerful. I felt like a god.
I wanted to talk to Captain V, but I didn't want to swallow a bug. So we flew along in silence. As dawn started to break, Vendral started to descend.
"We have reached Cursed Mountain, master," he said.
"Good," I said. We touched down on the ground outside of Argos' Northern Wall. Seeing as dawn was just breaking, no one was awake, so the alarm wasn't sounded. "Go, before the guards wake up," I said to Vendral.
Vendral flew off back towards Vectronia.
I looked at the gate.
"How do we get in there?" Captain V asked.
"I don't know." I looked around and saw a porthole leading into the sewers. "Let's take the sewers," I said. I opened the porthole and jumped down. Captain V followed and closed the hole.
I looked around and saw that the sewer was nicely kept. I knew that the Argosians were neat freaks, but they keep their sewers neat and orderly, too? That's pretty weird.
We continued until we reached another sewer entrance. I climbed up the ladder and opened it. We were in the city, but nowhere near the Palace.
I climbed back down. "We need to keep moving. We're not close to the Palace yet."
Captain V and I kept walking. I finally stopped when I saw a tunnel where a larger amount of water was coming from.
"Could this be the tunnel to his moat?" Captain V asked.
"There's only one way to find out," I replied.
Chapter IV: Passage of Krypta
We walked down the tunnel which we thought led to the moat of Perseus' palace. When we reached the grate, that's exactly where we were.
"So how do we get out of here?" Captain V asked.
I unsheathed my Nightmare and cut the grate into pieces. "Does that answer your question?" I asked.
Captain V nodded. We walked out onto the side of the moat.
"How do we get in?" Captain V asked.
I pulled out my grappling hook and shot it at the turrets on the castle wall. "Hang on," I said.
We shot up onto the wall. I still wasn't very comfortable about this. I'd been enemies with Perseus for years. If I was seen by one of his guards, they'd think I was spying on them.
I jumped down from the wall and landed on my feet.
"Come on, Captain," I called up to him.
He dropped down and landed beside me.
We walked across the courtyard and walked into the castle.
"According to the myths, the entrance to the Passage of Krypta is in the basement of the castle," I said.
"Then we'll need to find a way down there," Captain V said.
We prowled around the halls of the castle but found nothing. When I heard voices coming towards where we were, I pushed Captain V into a closet, but he went tumbling down a hidden staircase.
Clever work, Perseus, I thought. That really fooled me.
I ran down the stairs and found Captain V sprawled on the floor. I lightly kicked him in the side. "Get up," I said.
He slowly got up. "Next time, tell me when there're voices approaching," he said.
"Sorry," I replied.
I looked around the room. We were in the basement, alright, but there was no sign of the Passage.
"This can't be right," I said. "It should be here."
"Maybe it really is a myth," Captain V replied.
"No. Lord Vectron proved it when he was on the search for the City of Gold. That place was thought of as a myth, but we found it." I walked up to the wall and pounded on it. Then, I heard an echo on the other side. "Hold it, Captain."
I unsheathed Nightmare and began chiseling out the bricks. As I took out the bricks, from the ceiling down, the entrance to the Passage started to come into my vision.
I brought it down to a height low enough for me and Captain V to simply step over it.
When I stepped over the wall, Captain V stayed over the other side.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Something tells me that I should go back to Vectronia, my lord."
"What? Why?" I asked, completely bewildered.
"I don't know, Majesty. It's just this feeling. I'm sorry if I disappointed you, Vectron."
I placed my hand on his shoulder. "You've never disappointed me, Captain. I'll see you in Vectronia, friend."
He nodded and turned back towards the staircase.
I turned away and started off down the passage. Vortex, here I come, I thought.
Chapter V: Montana de Muerto
As I continued along the pass, I felt the ground start to slope down. When I couldn't see an inch in front of me, I lit a fire in my palm. The pass was a huge downhill slope which got smaller as I went deeper. Before I was forced to crawl, the pass opened up into a large cavern. When I mean large, I mean enormous! I looked around and saw the Palace of Krypta in the distance to my left with the Fields of the Lost before it. To the far left, there was a prison-like structure: The Grounds of the Damned. To my closest left was the Isle of the Blest.
I looked to my right and saw a dark mountain looming close to my position. I guessed that was Death Mountain. As I began to walk towards the mountain, a sudden blast of flames erupted around me. From the inferno, stepped a woman wearing flowing, red and black robes with a staff with a skull on it.
"What are you doing in my realm, mortal?" the woman asked.
"Krypta," I said, "I am Lord Vectron II. My family has been kidnapped by Vortex and he's holding them on Montana de Muerto. I have come to get them back."
Krypta took a step forward. I did my best not to flinch.
"Be warned, Good King. Vortex does not give up without a fight."
She disappeared in a column of flames. I continued towards the River of Darkness, determined to save my family from Vortex. When I reached the bank, another god came into my path.
"Who goes there?" the god asked.
"I am Lord Vectron II. I'm the King of Ardania, and I wish to cross the river."
The god looked down at me. "If you wish to cross, you must say my name," he said.
I remembered his name. He was Aquarius, the river god. But he wanted his real name. The name Creation gave him. I thought hard about his name. According to the legends about him, he is the blood of the rivers of the world. What else is there about him? I kept thinking. He was the son of…Krypta.
"Ok, then," I said. "I name you, Aquarius, Blood of Rivers, Son of Krypta, and Spirit of the River of Darkness."
Aquarius tilted his head in amazement. "How did you know?" he asked.
"Easy," I replied. "I got my Doctorate Degree in History and Mythology from Vectronia State."
"Impressive, my lord. You may cross."
I took a step forward and my foot stayed on the water. Good thing, too. I can't swim.
I walked across the river and reached the other side.
"Good luck, Majesty," Aquarius said.
"Thank you, Aquarius," I replied.
He sunk back below the waves of the river.
I turned and faced the mountain. "Vortex, ready or not, here I come." I unsheathed the original Nightmare and started to scale the mountain. Within an hour, I was at the summit.
"Greetings, Lord Vectron II," a voice said behind me. "I take it you're here to dispatch me into the Realm of Darkness."
I turned around and saw the man who kidnapped my family a few days ago.
"Vortex," I said. "We meet at last."
The god of evil looked me over with his blood red eyes. "I see you've found Vectron the First's sword. Let's see how well you can use it." He unsheathed a sword made of complete darkness, hilt and all.
I got into my fighting stance. "Bring it on, Beet Face."
Vortex charged at me. I started my mental clock to when to dodge, but he teleported right in front of me and nailed me with the hilt of his sword, sending me sprawling back. Vortex approached slowly.
I went limp to throw him off guard. It worked.
"This is the mighty Lord Vectron II? He can't even take a hit!" Vortex laughed.
Instantly, I kicked him into the air, teleported above him, and slammed him to the ground.
"How do you like that?" I asked. "Where's my family?"
"Oh, I have them in a special place for later," Vortex said.
I leveled my sword at his throat. "What're you planning?"
He disappeared and reappeared hovering five feet above me.
"In order to reestablish my power, I need the power of people from a long line of wizards."
I leaped up and slammed him back down. I couldn't dispatch him, because I had no idea where my family was being held.
I started to approach him. Suddenly, he opened a book and a wormhole opened up within it.
I started to feel it tugging at me. I was then swept off of my feet and sucked into the wormhole.
When I got up, I was in a strange room. In the corner, I saw my family and Vagneon huddling.
"Lord Vectron, is that you?" Vagneon asked.
"Vagneon, what are you doing here?" I asked him.
"Like I said, Vectron, I need people from a long line of wizards," Vortex said. "Now that you're in the mix, my power will increase tenfold!"
"Why don't you just fight me, you coward?"
"You insolent mortal! Now, I want you to face your biggest adversary, yourself!" Then a bunch of duplicates of me appeared with their own twisted version of Nightmare.
I stepped in front of my family and ally.
Then, the duplicates charged forward. I instantly sprang into action, parrying, slashing, and stabbing each duplicate, but they kept coming in greater numbers. Just when I was about to be overwhelmed, Vagneon stepped in and started casting magic lightning and fire at my twisted duplicates.
We finally managed to dispatch all of my evil doppelgangers.
"Well, that finally takes out all of my feelings of hatred towards you, Vectron," Vagneon said.
"Thanks. Can you help me break the void?"
"Of course I can, Vectron."
We started the chant and the room began to fade. We were all on Death Mountain with Vortex staring at us with absolute shock. "How is this possible?"
"Easy, Vortex," I replied. "Put two of the most powerful wizards in all of Ardania in the same place and they'll be able to break free."
Vortex unsheathed Darkness. "I've had enough of you, Vectron. Come and face me!"
I unsheathed Nightmare and charged him.
Chapter VI: Fall of Vortex
I must say, my dad has a lot of courage. Not even I could muster enough to take on a god in hand-to-hand combat, but my dad was powerful. I watched as he charged at Vortex with Nightmare's blade gleaming in the artificial light of the Isle of the Blest.
The heat of battle was unbearably hot. Vortex kept slashing at my dad, who kept parrying each one. Every time Dad tried to get close, Vortex disappeared and reappeared somewhere else on the summit.
"Catch me if you can, Vectron!" Vortex jeered.
"I would if you weren't such a big chicken, Vortex!" Dad retorted.
"A chicken, am I?"
"A huge one, at that," Dad replied.
Vortex's eyes turned to slits.
"You shall pay dearly for your insults!" Vortex said. "Prepare to die!" He slammed his sword on the ground, causing a huge tremor to pass through the ground toward my dad.
Dad jumped out of the way as a stalagmite jutted out of the ground where he'd just been standing.
"You'll have to do better than that, Vortex," Dad jeered. He charged at Vortex and closed his eyes when the god teleported again. Just before he reappeared, Dad threw his sword to his left, right where Vortex reappeared.
As Nightmare spun silently toward Vortex, the god was trying to regain his balance. He looked up just as the sword impaled his chest.
"AAAAAAAAGHHHH!" Vortex screamed in agony.
Dad approached him and put his hand on his sword's hilt.
"You've caused us enough trouble for one eternity, Vortex. I name you, Vortex, the Bane of Light, Son of Darkness, and the Evil Dawn, and I, Lord Vectron II, King of Ardania and Ruler of Vectronia, hereby banish you to the Realm of Darkness to rot for all of Eternity."
"NO!" Vortex screamed as his body dissolved into a cloud of smoke.
A hole opened up above the cloud and sucked it up. However, when the smoke cleared, all that was left was my dad's sword and his crown.
"Dad, where are you?" I called. But not a single voice responded to my call. My blood started to turn to ice. "Where are you, Dad?"
"Where are you, Daddy?" Isabella called.
My mom sat down, put her head in her palms, and started to sob.
"Mom, it'll be ok," I said.
"No, it won't!" she protested. "Your father's gone, and now I need to take full control of Ardania! I'm a housewife. I'm not a politician, Joseph."
I finally managed to get Mom to stand and we walked back down the mountain to the River of Darkness. We got past Aquarius and headed back up to the mortal world.
The days turned into weeks, and sadly into months and there was still no sign of my dad. I knew he was out there. He'd have to come back soon. Ardania needs her King, and I need my dad. In order to have someone help my mom, Vagneon, my dad's former rival, stepped in and helped around the Palace while my sister and I conducted our search for Dad.
He will come back. My dad always comes back. I hope it's soon, but for now, we can only look. This is Prince Joseph signing off. Good bye.
Coming Soon:
Return of Lord Vectron II
End of the Civil War
Five years have passed since the fall of Vortex, and now, King Perseus is launching a full-scale war on Vectronia. What events will happen to announce the Return of the King?
As I had said before the story began, the text still has yet to be proven. I trust the words of Lord Vectron and his son, Prince Joseph, but I'm not sure if these events actually occurred. So far, every part, until otherwise proven false, is 100% accurate.
-R. Dosch
Bonus: The Gods, Goddesses, and Religion of Ardania
God- God of the Universe
Main Religion- Christianity
Dauros- Ardanian God of Law
Agrela- Goddess of Life
Fervus- God of Chaos
Krypta- Goddess of Death
Aquarius- God of Rivers
Vortex- God of Evil
Krolm- God of the Wild
Lunord- God of the Moon
Helia- Goddess of the Sun
Dormius- God of Dreams
Chronus- God of Time
Ventus- God of the Wind
Nathana- Goddess of the Night
Festus- God of the Forge
Suana- Goddess of Relaxation
Spartu- God of Heroes
Aristo- Goddess of Discord
Lucificus- God of War
Musia- Goddess of the Arts
Demorus- God of Magic; Twin Brother of Demora; Father of Queen Amber
Demora- Goddess of Magic; Twin Sister of Demorus; Wife of Lord Vectron the First
Salona- Goddess of Love and Beauty; Matron of Queen Amber
Vortex's Demise