Key of Shadows pt2
The Storm Hawks had been walking for what felt like hours. In the dark of the night on Terra Basker the thick fog and moon light was making things hard for the sky knights. The strange wolf creature was clearly leading them somewhere, but keeping up with it was hard enough without mentioning that it could almost camouflage with the environment.
"Is this wolf even sure of where it is going?" asked Finn
"Well, we haven't fallen into any traps so far so yeah. I think it does." replied Piper
"Stick together." said Aerrow
Soon enough the wolf creature stopped and stared back to the Storm Hawks, still sending chills down the spines of the young adults. Then it looked forward, signaling them to look ahead. In front of them there was a large dark cave where there was no light, and there was only fog coming out of it. Suddenly and without warning, the wolf creature sprinted forward into the cave leaving the Storm Hawks to wonder what to do.
"Well, so much for our guide." said Finn
"We need to go in, don't we?" asked Junko
"Yeah, we do." said Aerrow
"We don't have much of a choice." said Lark
"Oh, is anyone else getting goosebumps?" asked Stork getting only a whimper from Radarr.
The Storm Hawks began stepping into the cave and immediately the fog started to circle around them, as if it were looking at them with curiosity. The squadron kept walking into the cave, until they found themselves in complete darkness. They got their lanterns out hoping to illuminate the cave, however as soon as they lit up there was a strong gust of wind blowing behind them. This seemingly made the lights were absorbed out of the lanterns. The orbs of light then culminated into a large orb of light that hovered on top of the Storm Hawks.
"Freak out now?" asked Finn
"No, stay calm everyone." responded Aerrow
Then the orb of light began to talk in a strange language.
This left the Storm Hawks looking between themselves hoping someone had an idea of what it was saying.
"Um, could you please repeat that? We didn't understood you quite well." said Aerrow
Then the orb of light spoke in a normal tongue.
"Who are you?" asked the orb of light in an ominous tone.
The Storm Hawks looked amongst themselves curious as to how to answer the orb of light. If this was part of the test then the wrong answer could lead them to certain death. This was a gamble that the Storm Hawks had to win.
"We are the Storm Hawks." said Aerrow stepping forth
"What do you seek here?" asked the orb of light
"We seek the Key of Shadows." responded Lark
"It could be the only thing that can help us save Atmos from Dak and his legions." added Piper
"What makes you think that the key lies here?" asked the Orb
"Because we followed the Big Bad Wolf here, so are you going to test us or not?" asked Finn getting tired of the Orb's questions.
The rest of the Storm Hawks shot a glare towards Finn. However this lash out of Finn did not anger or annoyed the Orb of light.
"Very well, as you all know the key will only be attained when you find yourself in tune with the power of this place. This can only be attained by following the passage left by the family of guardians left you." explained the orb
"You mean 'where darkness and light collide, where the stars and the moon become one in the sky'?" asked Aerrow
"Yes, continue on this path and you shall find the land you seek." finished the orb before dissipating
"Well, he left us with little more than a couple of hints and no death warnings. I think we got this in the bag." said Finn
The Storm Hawks began to walk deeper into the cave now turned dark tunnel. With every step they took they could feel the air getting colder and the only constant they had to continue onward was the word of a floating orb of light.
The sky knight squadron kept walking for what felt like hours, but they just were unable to make any remarkable progress. Eventually little by little they all stopped to rest.
"Is it just me, or have we been walking down this tunnel for what feels like a life time?" asked Junko
"No man, its just you." said Finn sarcastically.
"Alright guys, let's take a breath and then move forward." said Aerrow
The Storm Hawks were only able to get one or two breaths when they noticed a dark green gas creeping up behind them. They slowly walked away from it believing that it was most likely harmless, but then Stork accidentally dropped one of his bug sprays. As soon as the can was enveloped by the green gas, it began to rust and eventually to disintegrate leaving only a dark spot where the can once was. Thus this event gave the Storm Hawks brand new energies to continue onwards.
The team ran for their life as fast as they could. Some of them were screaming believing that it would help them run faster. And those special members were Finn, Junko, and Stork.
"What is that thing?!" screamed Finn
"Deadly poisonous gas! Are you blind?!" responded Lark
As they ran faster and faster they all could feel a strong powerful beating inside their skulls. This unknown pain was either a side effect of the constant running and jump scares the Squadron had been having or maybe it was the gas getting to them. Regardless of the reason the Storm Hawks kept running faster and faster until they came face to face with a large closed door. The Storm Hawks tried to open it up but it seemed to be completely shut.
Just as everything seemed lost, Radarr noticed some strange symbols and figures the door. He quickly pointed them out to the rest of the Storm Hawks and it hit both Lark and Piper. These symbols were just like the ones that were in the journal, they only needed to find the right one to open the door and hopefully save their lives.
First they tried the family crest of the Lunaris, that did absolutely nothing. Next they tried to push on the one that looked like the rock formations, but they received the same result. Finally they tried the one that had the man holding up the moon and the stars as soon as that one was touched the door opened up and the Storm Hawks busted inside. Just as the whole squadron was inside Aerrow, Junko, and Finn pushed the door back to close it and cut off the gas before it could kill them.
They turned around to see just where they had entered and found themselves in a big round room. There was almost nothing in the room, except for a large stalagmite right in the center dripping water down to the floor.
"Yeah, we are all going to die here." said Stork in his usual dark tone
The Storm Hawks began to search the room for another exit, but they did not find any. All they found was the stalagmite with the dripping water.
"There has to be a way out of this place." said Aerrow
"The orb did say that the only way to get the key is to find the place where light and darkness collide and where the stars and the moon become one in the sky. However since we are inside a cave, looking up to the sky is not an option." said Piper
"The part he mentioned about being in tune could be a clue as to how we can find the place. But what does it need to be in tune?" wondered Lark
"Maybe it wanted us to sing a song? I mean that is the only form a tune makes sense to me." said Junko
"What did you just say?" asked Lark
"What?" asked Junko
"You said 'a tune' maybe it could be that." wondered Lark
"What is it Lark?" asked Piper
"I think I have an idea as to what we are supposed to do. There is this old legend called the Bonding. This refers to the ancient Crystal Mages transferring the power of a crystal into another person." explained Lark
"That sounds cool." said Finn
"However, there is something called 'Perfect Atunement' in which both people can pass on the power of the crystal from one to the other. Maybe the orb was referring to that." said Lark
"Well let's give it a shot. I want to fly up in the sky." said Finn making a pose
"You did hear the legend part, right?" asked Piper
"We don't have much to go on with. We could give it a shot." said Aerrow
The two crystal experts stood in front of Aerrow, and Finn who had decided to be the guinea pigs for this experiment. The two girls grabbed their respective crystals and held them in their hands.
"Alright, we'll try to focus the power of the crystals into your bodies. Take into consideration that you may feel weird or pain through the experience." explained Piper
"If you can't take then yell 'stop'. We will find another way to get the key." said Lark
"Let it rip girls." said Finn
"We're ready." said Aerrow with a nod.
Both Lark and Piper began to channel their energy into their respective crystals and then slowly they fired streaks of light into the two Storm Hawks. The feeling of receiving a few small constant shocks of static electricity was being felt by both Finn and Aerrow.
"You two doing fine?" asked Junko
"Like a dream, OUCH! All...cool." said Finn
"I...Ouch...don't exactly feel that much different." said Aerrow
The two girls then proceded to increase the flow of energy into the two Storm Hawks. The bodies of both Aerrow and Finn began to glow with energy from the crystals, the zapping feeling was beginning to dissipate. The room then began to shine, small dots of light began to bring in light from the ceiling.
"I think I got it!" said Finn as he began to float
"Careful Finn. We are still testing this, remember?" reminded Piper
"I. Feel. Amazing!" screamed Finn before being blasted to the wall and being stuck on it.
"I'm okay." said Finn before falling down
Aerrow was beginning to float as well, but instead of blasting off there was a burst of energy that left him with a glowing blue aura that resembled the break of dawn.
"Aerrow, how are you feeling?" asked Lark as she had just stopped her transfer of energy.
"I feel, weird. But like I could punch through a wall." said Aerrow
Suddenly the beams of light coming from the ceiling began to focus on the stalagmite turning it into a glowing peak. Aerrow then placed his hand on the stalagmite and lightly pressed on it. This sent a pulse of energy that began to shatter the rock formation. This not only took out the rocks but it also left Aerrow without his bright blue sky aura.
As the stalagmite disappeared it left a strange key-shaped crystal. IT looked like a large old style key with three large teeth and a double sided handle. It was colored purple and neon green, and it appeared to have the representation of a skull at the connection of the crystal and the handle.
"Wow." said the Storm Hawks as the orb of light reappeared in front of them.
"This hear is the Key of Shadows, if you are worthy it shall go with you." explained the Orb
"Cool dude, we'll just take it and be on our way to save Atmos." said Finn he reached for the key but the orb interrupted him.
"However, if you hold it and you are worthy you will forever be bonded to the key until your demise. No one else will be able to wield it." said the orb
This of course stopped Finn in his tracks.
"So as soon as someone grabs this thing, they will have a bullseye on their back?" asked Finn answered only by silence.
"Alright then, we need to do this." said Aerrow
"We are with you buddy." said Junko
Aerrow then grabbed the key and pulled it off the rest of the rock. The Storm Hawks were then greeted with a blinding light coming from the key. Once the light subsided they all found themselves on the outskirts of terra Basker. The Condor lied only a few feet away from them. Having recovered what they came for the team turned and walked back to the Condor.
"One down, one to go." said Aerrow