The Burst Cluster

"Yo, Graham!" A voice shouts. I turn around to see my brother, Deshawn, sprinting towards me. He's wearing a plain white t-shirt, blue jeans, and brown hiking boots. His dark skin stands out against the bright colors of fall in the forest behind our house.

"Yeah. What's up?" I ask.

"Abigail and Mandy want everyone to meet in the Ethereal Plane at the Misty Cemetery. They said that they've found something weird." He replies, stopping next to me.

I smile. "Then let's join our fellow fighters." I turn around and run out of the forest with Deshawn right behind me.

After a few minutes of running, we arrive at the main teleporting building. We walk into the football field-sized, pitch black building. Deshawn approaches a glass cube that's about 7 feet tall. He looks over at me.

"I'll load your character, Roondar. You just get ready." I nod as Deshawn turns to a computer and starts to type."

I strip my black leather jacket off so that I'm in my sleeveless black shirt, black jeans, and black hiking boots. As I step into the cube, my hand goes to the scar that goes from the corner of my right eye to the corner of my mouth. I still remember the fight with the vampire a few days ago when we almost got killed. I also remember that I told myself that I'd forget that battle.

"Are we ready, Deshawn?" I ask.

"Ready when you are." He answers.

"Then let's do this." He smiles as he presses a button.

There's a flash and a pop then I'm on a stone path surrounded by 20 foot tall trees. In the next moment, a human that's about 5 foot 10 inches tall and is wearing black full plate armor that makes him look like a giant demon with spikes all over his body appears. He has a traveling pack on his back and a set of two long swords. One is pitch black that gives off a deathly glow while the other is shining silver and gives off a multicolored glow. I jump at the sight of him.

"Damn! I hate the look of that armor!"

He shrugs then smiles. "At least it comes in handy when we're fighting, Graham."

"Yeah. And remember, I'm Roondar here. Not Graham. Just like you're Eldon." I grasp my amulet in my left hand and place my right hand on Deshawn's/Eldon's shoulder. I then concentrate on the mental image of Misty Cemetery. Its many tombstones, its fog, and its ghosts. The black circular amulet glows brightly as our surroundings begin to change. The blue sky changes to a fog-filled sky; the trees disappear and are replaced by tombstones. Fog carpets the ground as Eldon and I look for everyone. As we round a large angle-shaped tombstone, I glance down to make sure I still have my equipment. My silver chain mail, my golden staff, my bronze staff, and my black and silver boots. My small brown pack is on my back.

"Guys!" A familiar voice shouts. "Over here!"

I look to my left to see Mandy (AKA Anastriana), in her lighting blue breastplate and pants, and Abigail (AKA Felosial), in her shining silver and gold chain mail breastplate and pants. Next to them, there are four people I don't know. A barbarian in silver full plate armor that's the size of a troll, a druid in dark brown full plate armor that has wolfish features, a bard in a simple red cloth robe with eyes all over it and she's only three feet tall, and an avenger in black full plate armor with light blue fish and wave designs all over it. Eldon and I walk over to them.

"Good. You guys made it." Anastriana says with a smile towards me.

"Well. When we heard that you've found something weird, we couldn't help, but come out here and see what it is." I reply, glancing at the other people. "And who are these guys?"

"Oh. These are friends of ours that we've brought just in case something goes wrong." She looks at the others. "Would you like to introduce yourselves?"

The barbarian steps forward. "Here, I'm known as Feng, but in the real world, I'm known as John."

"In here, my name's Veit, but out there, my name's Chance." The druid says in a gruff voice.

"Out there, I'm Danielle. In here, I'm Roywyn." The bard pipes up.

"My name's Seraphina in here, but Misty out there." The avenger says in a high-pitched voice.

"Ok. I'm Eldon AKA Deshawn and this is my brother, Roondar AKA Graham." Eldon replies, gesturing to me. I nod appropriately.

I look towards Felosial. "So where is this weird thing?"

"It's actually in a dangerous place." She tells us. "That's why we need all of you."

"Where is it?" Feng asks.

"Uuuhhh… in the Burst Cluster on the Positive Energy Plane."

"What?" Seraphina exclaims.

I grasp my staves tighter. "But anyone of us could die in a split second."

"I know, but that's where the weird portal is." She explains gently. "Portal?" "Yeah. Most portals are white, but this one is dark blue. Plus I've seen weird soldiers come out of it."

"Soldiers?" Feng straightens up. "Then lets check out this portal and these soldiers."

As I grab my amulet, several figures step out of the shadows. We all grab our weapons and turn to face the figures. Then I realize who the figures are. There are 3 ghosts, 2 Devourers, and 3 Phase Spiders. The ghost in front of me is wearing goggles that cover his eyes and he has dirty blonde hair. He's wearing a flaming red robe and carries a bright blue staff. The other two ghosts are dressed the same. Same bronze full plate armor, same silver long swords, and the same fiery red eyes. The Devourers are tall, skeletal creatures that have mummified flesh hanging from their bones and small, indistinct figures are trapped in their rib cages. The Phase Spiders resemble giant wolf spiders except with larger heads and variegated markings in white, gray, and blue all over their legs and back. Their eight eyes are silver white.

"Eyeless One, Durek of the Scar, and Colonel Harakh." I snarl, raising my staves which glow a fiery red.

The man with the goggles, Eyeless One, smirks. "Well. Well. Well. What do we have here? Roondar and his friends?"

The man with the bronze armor on my right, Durek of the Scar, nods. "Yep. Looks like they won't be leaving like they had planned."

The other man with the bronze full plate armor on my left, Colonel Harakh, laughs. "You got that right!"

I smile. "Lets see you try to stop us."

"Kill them!" Eyeless One bellows, pointing his staff at me. I dive to the left as chaos breaks out. Everyone calls out abilities as they attack the creatures.

"Hurricane of Blades!" Feng roars as he becomes a tempest of steel and attacks one of the Phase Spiders.

"Stormburst!" Veit shouts as a thundercloud appears overhead and lightning crackles down onto the head of a different Phase Spider.

"Form of the Displacer Beast!" Eldon yells as his appearance shimmers and light wraps around him. He then takes on the form of a panther-like creature with six legs and a pair of tentacles sprout from its back.

I don't hear what the others shout because at that moment, I shout, "Twin Bolt!" A fire ball and a lightning bolt streak through the air and strike Eyeless One at the same time. Eyeless One stumbles backwards then straightens up.

He smiles evilly. "Nice shot. Now its my turn." A fire ball shoots from the end of his staff and strikes my chest. I fly backwards 20 feet and land on my back. After a second, I leap to my feet; I immediately begin to cast another spell.

"Lightning Eruption!" I bellow. Lightning strikes Eyeless One then arcs into the air and hit's a Phase Spider which slumps to the ground. Feng nods his thanks. I return his nod then turn back to Eyeless One.

"I… will not… be… defeated." He huffs as he raises his staff. "You… will… die."

"No he won't!" A voice roars. "Mountain Hammer!" A giant war hammer slams into the side of Eyeless One's head with an earth shattering BOOM! Eyeless One drops like a sack of rocks.

"Thanks, Eldon." I say as Eldon steps over Eyeless One's lifeless body.

"No problem." He replies. "All the creatures are dead, but… we've some casualties."

"What happened?" I demand.

"The devourers used their trap essence abilities on Roywyn and Felosial… and they succeeded. They both were killed instantly. Anastriana says that she can bring them back, but only when she's not worn out."

I nod sadly as we walk over to the others. "If you can't bring her back here, then lets teleport to the Burst Cluster."

Everyone nods then place their hands on top of one another's. Seraphina grabs Roywyn's body while Anastriana grabs Felosial's body. I grasp my Amulet of the Planes and imagine the environment of the Burst Cluster. Its bright light, its bursting regions, and its small Ravids. Immediately, our surroundings change. The fog and darkness disappear while bright light and small floating regions hover in emptiness. There's nothing else, but the occasional serpent-like Ravid.

Anastriana takes a deep breath. "Call of the Dead." She whispers, placing her hands on Roywyn's and Felosial's bodies. In the next moment, both Roywyn and Felosial sit up.

"What happened?" They ask at the same time.

"You both were killed by the Devourers," I explain, handing them both a healing potion from my bag. They drain them in one gulp. "but Anastriana brought you back to life." They stand up slowly and look around.

"Are we in the Burst Cluster?" Roywyn inquires.

Seraphina nods. "Yes we are."

"The portal should be over that large region there." Anastriana points straight behind me. I turn around to see a region the size of a large island.

"No problem." I say, grabbing Anastriana's and Felosial's hands. "Sorcerous Wings." Huge purple wings spread out from my back. In two large strokes, I'm flying through the air towards the region. I zip over it easily to see a blue, circular portal big enough for a full grown dragon to walk through. When I land in front of it, I see that the rest of the group is already there.

Eldon smiles as my wings disappear. He holds up his right hand to show me a shining gold ring on his ring finger. "Ring of Teleportation." He explains. "You're not the only one who can travel fast."

I smile. "I know." I then stare at the portal. "This is one huge portal."

"That's an understatement." Veit mumbles. "It's gigantic."

I glance at him then back at the portal. "I wonder what's on the other side of the portal."

"I think we might get to find out." Roywyn replies, staring at something behind us.

"And why's that?" Feng asks, looking down at her.

She points behind us. "Because of that!" We all look behind us to see the large region growing brighter and brighter every second.

"It's going to explode!" Felosial cries. "We'll never get out of range in time!"

I glance at the portal. "Then Roywyn's right. We're going to see what's on the other side. Run through the portal! NOW!" As we all sprint through the portal, the region explodes in a burst of bright light. The explosion knocks us off our feet. My head smacks a large rock; I slip into unconsciousness.