Chapter 8- Reunion

After a few hours of rest, we set off. I began to get nervous as we neared the southern part. We proceeded cautiously, ready for any sudden attacks. On we trekked, Mr. Crepsley in the front, me following behind. The road was rocky and dusty. It reminded me of Green Day's Boulevard of Broken Dreams, and I started singing it softly to myself.

"I walk a lonely road,

The only one that I have ever known;

Don't know where it goes

But it's only me to me and I walk alone…."

Unfortunately, I forgot Mr. Crepsley had better hearing than a normal human did. "What was that song?" he asked curiously. "Oh, it was nothing." I muttered, blushing. Crap! He heard me!

"Go on, I would like to hear the rest of it." Mr. Crepsley broke the silence. "Nah, I shouldn't….." "Come on, it is not often I get to hear singing, unless you mean when the other vampires go and get themselves drunk." He smiled wryly. "In fact, I remember once when Darren got drunk. He was singing all night long. He was so-"Mr. Crepsley was cut short when we heard a rustle in the bushes.

"Quick! Behind me!" Mr. Crepsley said, serious again. I drew out my sword and stood behind him, back to back, waiting for the unexpected. When whatever it was started coming out, Mr. Crepsley shot a knife at him/her/it, just narrowly missing. "Whoa, whoa there!" a voice said, laughing uneasily. It sounded familiar. I peeked out behind Mr. Crepsley. It was Nick! Behind him was another boy, about his age as well, following, ready to back him up if needed. The other boy was slim, but his hair was completely white. Other than that, he looked pretty normal.

Nick came out, grinning when he saw it was us. He dusted himself off. His friend followed, watching us cautiously. Nick laughed, and introduced us. "Max, this is KayLi. KayLi, this is Maximillian Armstrong." His friend groaned. "Max. Just call me Max," he corrected me. "And is this your dad, KayLi?" Nick asked. "Oh, no, he isn't. He's just a friend of my mentor." I said, blushing. What would Mr. Crepsley think? To my surprise, Mr. Crepsley laughed. "No, my name is Larten Crepsley. Pleased to be of assistance. KayLi is not my daughter. She is the protégé of a close friend of mine." He smiled.

Nick was confused. Back in his world, everybody was either wizards or mages. They didn't have special mentors, they just attended a wizarding school. "So, if you're going to Mr. Tiny's "party", you can explain to me on the way," Nick grinned at me. So we continued our journey. I still walked alongside Mr. Crepsley, even if Nick walked on the other side of me. I told him about my life, and how I got turned into a half-vampire. Mr. Crepsley listened intently too. My past was news to him.

As the sun began to set, we began to near the end of the rocky roads. Mr. Crepsley stopped. "This is where we go east," he said, as he jumped up on a tree to scan the horizon. Nick and his friend checked their maps and agreed. They had used magic to add some stuff to the map. For example, it was 3- dimensional. You could also see the weather in every part of the map (even though they were mostly the same).

We trudged on. Nick and his friend Max had brought heavy staffs for their weapon. It would work better magic than a wand, and could be morphed into a weapon if needed. As the sun sank lower, it also began to get hotter as we neared the fire zone. The earth was hot, and without shoes, we were pretty bad. I heard Mr. Crepsley mutter:" This is worse than the Hall of Flames."

We took off our capes. Nick performed a quick spell to minimize our capes. If we folded it four times, it would minimize enough to be fit into our pockets. If we unfolded it, it'd go back to its normal size. "We do that with our bags." Nick grinned. We thanked him and walked on.

A while later, we found ourselves walking past a wall of flames. It was hot, but according to Mr. Crepsley as he looked at it close up, we could go through the wall without much damage, it was what was awaiting us inside. And knowing Mr. Tiny, we would have to go in there sooner or later.

Sorry, I'm breaking off here because I'm beginning to get writer's block, and I have school soon. I won't be able to update much then, maybe once or twice a week. =/

Thanks for all the reviews!

dragon1226 Well, Harkat….hm…..i don't really know. =) And thanks for the advice I'll keep that in mind.

DarkAngel1443 I got the inspiration from Hunger Games, but I completely forgot it was separated like a clock. That part was my idea.