A/N: So this chapter is late... again... hehe... sorry about that...

Well, at least it wasn't as big a wait as last time. I'm trying to get chapters out as fast as I can now, because after this chapter, things will start to get very good.

Thank you SportzDawg and fanficreader137!


The Necromancer's Matter Part 8: Sophia's Shard (Part 2)

A thautamerge strolled down Ravenwood, returning home from his Ice lesson. Then he spotted two boys looking suspisious. One appeared to be a diviner in purple and white Mooshu clothing, with short brown hair. The thautamerge couldn't see his eyes. To the diviner's left was a conjurer in Dragonspyre robes with long yellow hair.

"What do you think of the deal?" A voice said. It seemed to be coming from the conjurer.

"I like the fact that he's gonna give us 10,000 gold each month!" The diviner said. As he said it, something seemed to drop from his pouch. The duo didn't seem to notice that it had dropped.

"Still," The conjurer said. "I can't believe that Noah passed Vladimir up! I had always known that he was an idiot, but not that idiotic!"

"He didn't really pass him up," The diviner corrected. "He just said he needed to speak with the Order of the Spiral whatchamacallit."

"Which is kind of passing him up," The conjurer supported.

"Actually Adam," The diviner said. "I do kind of have a bad feeling. But I don't care, the gold is worth it!"

They seemed to be walking away now, considering the fact that they were now harder to hear. The thautamerge rushed to the item they dropped. He observed it carefully. It was a tiny thing- like a shard to something. It was around two inches long but not very wide. It was purple and seemed to be charging with energy, and the energy appeared to be lightning. The thautamerge yelled after them, "Hey! You dropped this!"

But the duo didn't seem to hear. They were either too far away to hear or too absorbed in their conversation.

I guess I'll keep it, Chris Mythflame thought.


After Noah teleported away from her, Sophia thought long and hard about the affairs Destiny was having with her shard. Still in the arena, she looked at it again, it was two inches tall in length and another inch in width. It was an ice blue color and there seemed to be little snow falling. She was caught up in observing it until Sophia noticed that someone had teleported to her.

It was Destiny.

She was about to say something until she noticed the shard Sophia had. Then Destiny said, "Yes! You have it!"

"You want this, don't you?" Sophia challenged.

"Not just want it," Destiny corrected. "I need it! You don't know what's at stake!"

"Give me one good reason why I should give this to you," Sophia said.

"It's a long story," Destiny defended.

Sophia was getting ticked off. For the past month or two, Destiny had been hiding something from her, something big. She had to find that out now! "I'm sorry Destiny, but the only way your getting this is if you explain everything to me! And I mean everything!"

Destiny opened her mouth to protest, but then closed it again. Then Sophia saw that she had given in. "Fine, I guess its time you know anyways."

"Um, yeah, it is," Sophia agreeed.

But before Destiny could begin, someone else had teleported to Sophia. He appeared to be a pyromancer, in his late adept. He had blonde hair and blue eyes. "What's up?" Noah asked Sophia.

"One of my other friends is explaining something to me, so I guess you should get out, sorry." Sophia said. Then she leaned her body to face Destiny. "Wait, is it okay if he sticks around?"

"Probably not," Destiny admitted.

"Oh well," Sophia gave in. But before Noah could teleport away, Sophia said, "Wait, Noah, I'd like you to meet one of my friends. Destiny, this is Noah Firewielder. Noah, this is Destiny Seagem."

Noah seemed to freeze. He slowly turned around and gaped at Destiny in awe. "You... you're... you're one of them!" He stammered.

"One of what?" Destiny seemed confused.

"You know what I'm talking about!" Noah persisted. "You fit Vladimir's description! You're a part of the Order of the Spiral!"

"You KNOW?" Sophia yelled at Noah. "Both of you seem to know what's going on, know its time I'm a part of that! You tell me now or else-"

"Honestly, Sophia," Noah interupted. "I don't know either." Noah turned to Destiny. "That's why I was trying to find you guys, the members of the Order of the Spiral thing that Vladimir talked about. I had a feeling that he wasn't telling me everything, even though he gave clear discriptions of you guys. I have a feeling that you guys will explain."

"Explaining sounds good," Sophia pointed out.

Destiny sighed. Now it was double the excitement. But she still didn't know whether to tell them- if she did, it'd possibly put Sophia in danger, and she didn't want that for her best friend. And this Noah person- well, by meeting Vladimir the twelve year old was already endangered. The pressure of to tell or to not to tell was agonizing, as if the Spiral itself would be angry at her no matter what she did or how she reacted.

Her feet shuffled nervously on the tan Mooshu Arena floor as she asked herself- would it?

Well, if it was going to be mad at her no matter if she told or didn't, Destiny may as well. Relieve the pressure- or would it just add more to her if she told? Because again, Sophia's life just might be risked if Destiny did. Noah's already was and Destiny had put her life at stake many times...

But than she remembered- all the times she fought Vladimir, there was something about him- as if his heart wasn't really put into it. Even when he held the knife to Alexis's throat back at Thorn Manor, there was just something in his dark yet bright blue eyes-

Pain? Worry? Unsurity? Unstableness?

Could Vladimir actually have a... a motivation? As if he was doing this only to do something else, like a personal goal?

Well, if Vladimir didn't want to do this... maybe it was okay if she told Sophia. Destiny had too, it was her only choice. Destiny should have known that this was coming sooner or later. She had done her best to push it till later, and she just might have been successful by doing so, but until after the whole brew-ha-ha was over would have been best.

But no turning back. Sophia was demanding an answer- it was written all over her face.

Finally, she said to Sophia, "Do you remember the incident on the day of our orientation? When the necromancer gave the wedgie to the diviner? And I pushed the necromancer down?"

Sophia nodded. "Yeah." Then she put something together. "Wait... Oh yeah! That's the Vladimir guy you're talking of, isn't it?"

Destiny nodded. "Well, it has something to do with him..."


Adam Soulcrafter and Jose Breeze finally returned to Thorn Manor. It had been a nice walk down Ravenwood, but they were both now anxious to see if Vladimir would now explain things to them as promised. They both had wondered what the little purple piece that Vladimir had given them was. He had left them to guard it, but he didn't tell them what it was.

"What do you suppose it is?" Adam asked.

Jose shrugged. "I don't know. Here, let me get it out..." He looked through his pouch. After five minutes of looking, he said, "Uh-oh."

Adam tilted his head in curiosity. "What's wrong?" Adam asked.

"I can't find the dang thing!" Jose said.

"What're you going to tell Vladimir?" Adam asked, hoping he didn't sound like he was worrying. Worrying was for weaklings, he had always said. Adam had to remain true to his quote.

"Well, he is paying us for our alligences," Jose reasoned. "I guess its best to tell him."

Adam nodded. "You're right." He said. "I bet he'll forgive us."

It was anything but.

"HOW'D YOU LOOSE IT?" Vladimir screamed.

"We don't know!" Jose defended. "We just strolled down Ravenwood and all of a sudden its gone! I'm sorry!"

"No time for sorry!" Vladimir snapped. "Go back to Ravenwood, see if it's there!"

"Actually," Adam stepped in. "I remember overhearing a boy yelling, 'Is this yours?' We thought it was someone elses."

The necromancer didn't seemed too satisfied by Adam's answer, and Vladimir was just about to explode when another person stepped into the scene. "Vladimir, it's not like you go get overworked like this."

Vladimir quickly turned around, prepared to yell his heart out at the person who had just arrived- until he saw that it was Neela.

"Relax," She continued. "Hey, they're rookies. Cut them some slack. That and we have a lot of high-leveled wizards on our side, so even though we have lost it, we'll still be able to beat him or her no sweat." Neela chuckled at her last remark.

Vladimir seemed to cool down a little. A little- Adam noted that Vladimir seemed to have some sort of soft spot for Neela. "Who'd you loose the piece to?" He questioned.

"It looked like an adept thautamerge," Adam said. "But it wasn't this Esmee you spoke of. It was a male." Then he grinned smugly. "And, I remember someone teleporting to him. I think he's called Chris Mythflame."

Vladimir nodded. Then he thought something over. "Wait... why does the name sound familier?"

Then he remembered his first duel with Destiny, he was against her, Natalie, and another thautamerge...

Named Chris.

"Oh no," Vladimir muttered. "Congradulations, thanks to your foolhardyness, we've lost the Storm Shard to the Order of the Spiral!" Then he realized the mistake he made.

"Storm Shard?" Jose asked.

"It's nothing," Vladimir said.

"If its nothing," Jose countered. "Then why are you so upset about it?"

"Based on the performance you just gave," Vladimir said. "It doesn't seem like you or Adam deserve an explaination. The best thing you guys can do is get Anthony and Antonio."

"Why?" Adam asked.

"I need a small, elite team now to track Chris down and steal the shard back. I need those two to prove their worth and loyalty. You've already given a good demonsration."


It had taken at least a full hour of explaination, telling the story of the First Wizards, the past events, the Blade of Seven story, the questions, it had been hard for Destiny to explain. Finally, all she could say was, "See now why I need that sliver so much?"

Sophia nodded. She held the Ice Shard to Destiny. "Here you go."

Destiny accepted, slipping the shard into her pouch. "Thank you."

"Hey, I have to do it if the chance of the spiral being led by that mad necromancer is weighing down on it." Sophia pointed out.

Destiny smiled. Then she turned to Noah. "Now is the time you need to confirm your side," She pressed onto Noah.

"I think the Order of the Spiral," Noah said. "Mainly because you explained almost everything to me and Vladimir didn't."

Destiny nodded. "Thanks." She now looked back and forth from Sophia to Noah. "So, the time has come for me to ask the both of you, will you become members of the Order of the Spiral?"

Sophia shook her head. "I believe you and all of that, and I know for sure that what you're doing is better then Vladimir, but, I don't want to be caught up in this. I just want to go to school, quest, rise up ranks, just lead a normal life. If you're in a troubling situation, you can definitely call me for backup, and I'm on your side. But I want to be a normal person."

Destiny nodded. "I understand. And you're lucky you had a choice to become involved! Natalie, Ryan, Jason and Chris didn't really give me that option, honestly. Well, I guess they did, but it seemed like I was already in it." Destiny turned back to Noah. "Now, what about you? Are you going to try to lead a normal life like Sophia or are you going to join us?"

Before Noah could respond, Destiny sensed that someone teleported to her. She spun around to see who it was.

It was Chris Mythflame.


Destiny smiled. "Hey!" She greeted. "Haven't seen you in a while!"

"Nevermind that," Chris said. "There are these three people who're after me!"

"What three people?" Destiny asked.

"A pyromancer, a theurgist and the necromancer we fought!" Chris said. "They're after this!" He pulled out a sleek purple piece that seemed to be trying to contain lightning in it. Then Destiny heard a faint humming noise coming from two different sources; the Ice Shard and what Chris now held in his hand.

Destiny gasped at what Chris held up; she could tell at once that it was the Storm Shard.

"Oh, gosh Chris, I need that!" Destiny begged.

"Oh, helephant!" Chris said. "Why is everyone after it?"

Sophia gasped. "Is that the Storm Shard?"

Destiny nodded. "Indeed."

"Okay, what's the big deal with these Shards?" Chris questioned.

Before Destiny could explain, Vladimir and two other boys she couldn't recongnize arrived. One of the boys had green eyes, long brown hair and tan skin, wearing green robes. He also appeared to have a black eye. The other had long red hair and amber eyes, with pale skin in red Mooshu robes.

Vladimir looked from Chris, to Noah, to Destiny. "Well well," He said. "I see you've met Destiny, Noah." He said.

Noah nodded. "Have you chosen sides yet?" Vladimir questioned.

Noah didn't say anything.

"Do I take that as a yes or a no?" Vladimir asked.

"Take that as 'I'm still thinking over it.'" Noah responded.

Vladimir nodded. He turned to Sophia. "Who do we have here?" He asked, guestering to Sophia.

"No one," Destiny said. "She's no threat."

But before Destiny could finish, Vladimir said, "Ah, I remember you." He grinned. "You're Destiny's friend."

Sophia nodded. "You're the guy who bullied the diviner."

"Hey, he was annoying me." Vladimir defended.

"More like you were annoying him," Sophia countered.

"He was rebelling," Vladimir pointed out.

"Exactly!" Sophia practically shouted.

"Guys, guys, you're both beautiful," Destiny replied sarcastically. "You seem pretty peaceful right now, Vladimir. What's the catch?"

Vladimir grinned. "I need to talk to Chris," He said.

"He knows," Destiny said. "Like you're going to get it from him!"

Vladimir ignored Destiny and turned to Chris. "I need the thing you picked up," He explained.

"Oh, so NOW you're handleing this peacefully?" Chris questioned. "You could have done that long ago before you started attacking me for it!"

"Well, I guess if you're not going to give it to me voluntarily," Vladimir began. "I guess I need to take it from you forcefully."

With that, Vladimir casted a scarecrow at Destiny, Sophia and Chris. Chris and Sophia both countered with Ice Wyvern while Destiny attempted a vampire. Unfortunately, the vampire fizzled. The redhead Destiny didn't recognize casted a phoenix at Sophia, whereas the theurgist with the black eye summoned a minion, then seraph at Destiny. Destiny used a Fire Dragon treaure card, having a pretty good effect on the trio, except the pyromancer, who had a heavy resistance. Sophia made up for that using seraph, and Chris used Sandstorm. Either it was a treasure card, or his secondary was Balance. Then Destiny noticed that Noah was just standing by watching, apparently not knowing who to side with. She could see the sweat heating up on his forehead through the decision. Vladimir used a skeletal pirate on Sophia.

She was out.

Chris rummaged through Life treasure cards, then found a fairy, healing her a little bit. Sophia immediately used Evil Snowman on Vladimir.

Destiny sighed. They weren't getting anywhere with this. They needed the same tactics as she and Esmee had used in Grizzleheim; flee. The Order of the Spiral needed the Storm Shard, she could't risk Vladimir taking it back. She gestured to Chris, Sophia and Noah to flee. They all did, leaving Vladimir, the theurgist, the pyromancer and the Krokotopian Arena behind.

Breathless, Destiny guestered to Chris for the Storm Shard. He hurridly gave it to her. "I don't know what's happening, but you having it seems better then Vladimir," Chris said. He looked around anxiously. "I need to go, I just don't want those three finding me again!" Chris teleported somewhere.

"Well," Sophia said. "He kinda rushed through it, you know what I mean?"

Destiny nodded. "I guess I see his point."

Sophia shrugged. Then she turned to Noah. "Why didn't you help us?" Sophia questioned.

"I was stuck!" Noah defended.

"Wait," Destiny started. "What do you mean, stuck? Did you know the pyromancer and the theurgist?"

Noah nodded. "The theurgist is my cousin, Antonio Lifespear. The pyromancer is his friend, Anthony Spiritwalker."

"But didn't they bully you?" Sophia questioned.

"The offer to join them is still up in the air," Noah said. "They need a confirmation soon."

Then Destiny got an idea. "Hey!" She said. "I know what you should do?"

Right after that, Destiny pulled out her Communication Stone. You got any more of the stones? She wrote.

Yeah, why? Jason wrote.

I have an idea, Destiny began. But for it I need another one.

Sure, I'll get one over to you. Jason immediately teleported. He handed a stone and stick to Destiny. "Why do you need it?" He asked.

"I'm getting to that," Destiny said. She handed the stone and stick to Noah. "Accept Vladimir's offer," Destiny said. "You're going to spy on them, like Neela did with us!"

"How do I contact you?" Noah asked. "I'll get busted for sure!"

"Not with this," Destiny replied. "Use the stick to write on the stone whatever you need to report, and it'll get to me and Jason. The signal that you get the message is if its burning hot."

Noah nodded. "I understand." He started to teleport away before Sophia stopped him. "Wait, just out of curiosity," Sophia began. "You said you inhereted your fire powers from a many-greats-uncle. Do you know who he was?"

Noah nodded again. "Yeah, dad told me." He said. "I think his name was Marcus Dawngem."