Chapter 6: Unexpected Guest
Phobos was sitting in his throne with his eyes close. Lord Alex, his right hand man, went up to Phobos, cautiously. "King Phobos, the gate is half way dissolved. Do you think we should have an attack?"
"Hmm. No, not an attack, not yet. I want to help the gatekeepers in a misleading way," Alex was confused. "I'll invite a shapeshifter to them with these special items." There was three bracelet rings and two sticks. Each represented a different element power.
"Why would you help them?!" Alex exclaimed.
"I learned that if the gatekeepers did not use both powers before sealing me, then the gate will not be as strong. We can risk it this time for them to seal us again but we will have more chances to escape and finally destroy the world."
"But wouldn't there be more gatekeepers after each time you get sealed. They can all team up against you.
"The council wouldn't allow the former gatekeepers to have the power anymore. Besides, the items will drain their primary powers slowly. Since they don't use them as much as the secondary powers, we'll just take them from them. I mean, able to mind control, use telekinesis, heal ourselves, and the distraction through weather. We can use it against them."
"I see. Well, only the majesty himself knows best." Phobos ordered a shapeshifter the plan and sent her out.
The gatekeepers continued to train in the forest. They were getting really bored since no creatures attacked for two weeks. Even the council decided to look away from the Heart.
"I'm so tired of training everyday. I never thought that I would get tired of my power," said Packard.
"There must be some other things we could know about the history of the gatekeepers," said Jen. Out of nowhere, an old woman came out towards them. The five noticed and looked at her with cautious. "It's just an old lady. No worries," said Nick.
"I didn't mean to frighten you youngsters. My name is Hama, a former guardian. The council has lead me to you to assist."
"Thank you for coming all the way here. Do you have a way to defeat Chaos?" asked Jen. A former guardian, Packard thought. Why does that sound wrong?
Hama took out two sticks and three bracelet rings. "These special items will help defeat the creatures but I am not so sure of Chaos himself."
"Cool, we get gifts!" exclaimed Sam. Hama handed an item to each one. They looked like a kind of glowsticks. Nick got a small, thin white stick. Sam had a long, wider green stick. Will was given a orange ring; Kyle got a blue one; and Jen had a purple one. "I hope these will help," said Jen. They were all amazed at the items and didn't notice that Hama was leaving. "Can you teach us how to use it?" asked Nick. But she was already gone.
"I guess we have to learn these weapons on our own then. It couldn't be that hard. I mean this stick can be like a wand," said Sam. He waved in the air but nothing was working. He tried other waving movements but still nothing. "This must be broken." He threw it on the ground with the end sticking up on the ground. Long streaks of cracks on the ground formed around the stick that was plunged in the earth. "Whoa. I didn't think I threw it that hard."
Jen walked towards it and speculated it. "You didn't. The stick was just that powerful. You can plunge it in the earth and might control the earth through your mind. Put your hand on it again." Sam did what Jen said. He felt the seismic waves through the earth. "I feel it. The ground, the trees, the plants, even you guys!" He wanted try out its power then. At a certain distance away from the group, he made a wall of soil from the ground by using the stick.
"Couldn't you do that even without the stick?" asked Packard.
"Yeah, but this is faster. I'll keep it," said Sam. Packard was still suspicious about Hama and the items.
Hama went back to the portal through the Silent Creek Gate. She shapeshifted back to her original from and went straight to the Phobos, explaining that she completed her mission. "Good work. Now I can start stealing their powers through the items. Maybe an attack could be helpful at the moment." He had five orbs where the energy was being taken. There was a speck of light shining from each orb.
The team were training with their new items. "At least we got something exciting to do, right brother?" asked Sam.
"I still don't trust Hama. Why couldn't we just go to the Dream World and let the council himself give it to us."
"Well, the council isn't talking through the Heart so we can assume that he approves."
"I guess." The team still did not know that the council wasn't watching on them.
Night had fallen. The team went back into the treehouse to get some sleep. Then suddenly, they heard howling noises. Nick went out to take a look and saw a whole bunch of wolves right beneath them. "Uhm, guys? We may have a problem." The rest of the team came out and saw them.
"Phobos must've send them here," said Jen. "We have to get rid of them or they might grow wings somehow, these unpredictable creatures."
"Will, scare them with some fire to give me space on the ground," said Sam. Will held his ring on the side and fire came out through the center. The wolves retreated back a little but it was enough space for Sam. He jumped down and plunged the stick down on the ground. It made the ground roll like a wave. The pack of wolves all fell to their sides but got back up immediately. The rest of the team jumped down and started to attack the pack. Nick held his stick out towards the wolves and spun it. A spiral of air blew towards them and the impact made them unconscious, and they turned to dust. A wolf was about to leap onto Packard. He held his ring and a jet of water squirted onto the wolf while it was in the air. The wolf also turned to dust. Packard was starting to trust the item but still not Hama. Will didn't want to start a wildfire through the use of his ring. So whenever a wolf was close enough to him, he would blast them a fireball and turn them to dust. More packs were coming in. Jen threw her ring in the air as it hovered the wolves, shocking them one by one like the the item was a ring of electricity. That sped things up. Afterwards, all the wolves were vanished.
"That was a lot of work. Let's go back to sleep," said Jen, exhausted like the rest of the team.
The council invited the team back to the Dream World to discuss any news. The team explained how Hama came and gave the items to us, then when the wolf gang attacked. They showed the items to the council.
"Weren't these the items that you wanted to give us?" asked Jen.
The council looked quite worried, "No, not at all. Also, this Hama, I don't know her. She claims that she was a formal guardian but that's impossible. The team, two teams before you, sacrificed their lives to be part of the gate for a hundred years. No one could live before them. Then there was a team before you. None of either teams had a Hama in them. She must've been one of the shapeshifters from Phobos."
"I knew it!" exclaimed Packard. "I never trusted her from the start."
The council continued, "These items too are from him. I can sense a dark energy around them. I think Phobos was stealing your energy from these items."
Sam went back to his memories and noticed that he used a lot of power on his stick.
"So what do you suppose we do with the items, council?" asked Jen.
"I'll disintegrate them. Also, remember don't trust certain people, even an innocent-looking old woman. You should be training both of your powers, primary AND secondary."
Then Jen just noticed something, "Why didn't you say anything when we were using the items?"
"I thought everything was going well. I had been checking up on you guys for a long time. So I decided to do some other work. Looks like I can't take my eyes off you guys."
"Well we should've had the power to contact you directly instead of waiting for your response through the Heart or Dream World!" shouted Jen. She left the office and walked away. Then she something in the far foggy place. It looked like an intact building. She ran towards it but the council had already sent them out of the Dream World.