Thank You To all the people who reviewed.and thanks to Rayfan and
Dawnspirit for checking through this chapter *bows down to them*
Anyways, this chapter is probably going to be a lot longer, and perhaps have more action than all the others BE WARNED!
Chapter 4 - Journey of Power
-_~*~_-
'So Ly, where does this old teensie live?' Globox asked. He had been asking this for the past fifteen minutes. Ly sighed. Well at least he didn't ask-
'And are we there yet?' -That.GOD! He was annoying. He was fun most of the time though. Globox looked at Ly. 'Just kidding! The teensie lives in the village, and we'll be about 5 minute's right?' He laughed. Ly looked at him. She understood the joke, but it didn't amuse her. She laughed anyway. She looked at Rayman. He had seemed quite and forlorn for a lot of the journey. She worried about him. She still considered him a relation, though perhaps not a brother.
She had only seen him something like this once before
-_~*~_-
Ly knocked on the door and waited. She looked around the wood, again happy to be there. The wood seemed to be alive with chatter: the trees talking to one-another, the birds in the sky tweeting to their friends on the ground, those under the ground rustling to each other, and moving through the undergrowth. It wasn't noisy though; it was comforting, knowing that she wasn't alone. She never was; her hearing could pick up a mouse scurrying 50 metres below the ground, and the flapping of a bird alighting on the highest branches of the trees. She wondered what it would be like to be alone: to be truly alone. She shuddered at the thought. The door opened.
'Oh, hello Ly,' Rayman smiled at her. 'Come in!' he offered. She greatly stepped into the room. It was still clean, after Rayman had been here for a month, yet she had never seen him clean up. Rayman had managed to brighten the place up even more, with pots and plants scattered here and there never looking untidy, and a palm tree-like tree in the corner. She knew she was indoors, but it seemed to have merged into outdoors. It had all the best parts of both: the beauty of nature, and the comfort of inside. She sat on a sofa. Rayman stayed standing. He seemed hesitant somehow. She realised that neither he nor her had spoken since he had opened the door. She wanted to break the silence, but she didn't seem to know how.
'Um.' She began. She didn't continue. She hesitated. She had been about to ask how he was settling, but he spoke first.
'How is it at home...Um.Your home?' he asked. He looked at her curiously.
'Yeah, its fine, but I really miss you Rayman.' She sighed 'its boring at home without you.but how are you? You are the one that moved and all' she smiled at him.
'Yeah, I'm ok too. It's boring here without you to play with.' He realised that he hadn't done much since he had moved. He sighed. Ly spoke
'Hey! You wanna go play?' she asked. Rayman brightened up. It was an excellent idea! And maybe he would be able to tell Ly what he had been dying to tell her for a long long time.
'Sure!' He said. They walked out of the room. Suddenly Rayman froze. 'Ly, stay still!' he hissed. She looked at him inquisitively, but he shook his head. She stopped. She thought that she would have been able to hear what Rayman heard, but she couldn't. Presently, a sound came from behind the bushes, and looked around the clearing. Ly almost jumped in surprise. She hadn't heard it, but she knew it was behind her. How could Rayman defeat whatever it was? He had his back to it. He seemed confident. Whatever he did he did it quickly.
Rayman jumped into the air. A bullet hit a tree behind him. The tree was unaffected, but was shocked. A trail of bullets followed Rayman. Ly watched in fascination and horror as Rayman twisted in mid-air. When he had twisted, he did a forward summersault and landed running. He wasn't running straight at the thing, but at an angle so that the bullets wouldn't hit him. He jumped again, but this time he jumped forward, toward the creature. Ly almost screamed. He was going to be hit. But NO.he twirled his hair, making is flash in super fast speeds, and broke it! Ly was amazed. She had never seen his 'helicopter hair' before. As Rayman alighted next to the metallic thing, he finished it off with a killing blow from his hands. He turned to Ly, grinning sheepishly.
'WOW Rayman! That was excellent! What was that thing?' She exclaimed. Rayman thought for a moment.
'Well.I think that some of Mr. Darks' robots are still alive. Weird.anyway, I found out a way to destroy them all. It should be coming online in.about now!' As Rayman finished his sentence, a shockwave erupted from Rayman's tree. It wasn't strong enough to sweep them off their feet, but it was enough to make them stagger. As they wave passed them, Rayman looked again at Ly. Ly could see that there was something that Rayman wanted to tell her.
'Rayman.what do you want to tell me?' she asked, politely. Rayman's neck twisted so fast to look at her, that his 'neck' seemed to crick. But he didn't have a neck.
'I don't know what you mean,' He said. Ly knew he was lying, but she didn't think it was important. If she had known of the internal struggle within Rayman, she would have pressed him; and in doing so he would have told her everything.
-_~*~_-
'Rayman,' she began 'what it is? You seem to be lonely on the inside.You don't seem like yourself.what's the matter?' She asked him. Rayman looked at her. He tried to look innocent, but his eyes betrayed him. She gazed into them again, finding the knowledge, and wisdom that Rayman had gained on his adventures. She sighed, knowing that Rayman wasn't going to tell her. Presently she became aware of Globox chattering next to her. She averted her gaze from Rayman's eyes and looked at him.
'Hello? The world could be in danger and all you can do is look at each other? Sheesh! C'mon, we got a teensie to find!' And with that, he walked off, muttering. Rayman managed a small grin.
'Better follow him eh?' He said. Ly smiled at him.
'Yeah, let's hope that he doesn't trip over a log' she laughed. Rayman laughed too, and she was sure that Rayman had also remembered the old days, but he was not as happy to remember them as she. She turned to look at him, and realised that he had been looking side-long at her.
'Are you alright?' he asked her. She smiled. She was becoming lost in her own thoughts often now.perhaps to often.
'Yeah, I'm fine.' Came the reply. Rayman didn't believe her, but he didn't press. As they walked, Rayman ran his hand over the passing barks, feeling the smooth or rough wood, and smiling, as though he knew a secret. He wanted peace, yet he had a heavy burden upon his chest. Globox stopped.
'Hey Ly, is that the village?' He asked. Ho looked closer 'Yeah, I think it is.'
Ly followed his gaze and saw the single hut of the gate-watch. She nodded
'Yes,' She replied. She walked to the hut and knocked three times. A large teensie walked out, and upon seeing Ly waved them on. They followed Ly, often changing direction because of the deep twisted allies of the village, and often having to turn back after a dead-end, however, they were always heading toward the centre. When they finally reached it, they saw three huge buildings: A Castle, a Library, and a Cathedral. She sighed, and entered the library. As they entered, they saw what seemed like miles upon miles of shelves, crammed with books, new and old, small and large. Ly seemed to know where she was going however, and she stopped at a shelf. She picked up a book and pocketed it. She walked then at an angle, always heading to the right. Eventually, after what seemed like a year- even Globox had shut up- they reached a desk. Sitting behind it was a teensie, that somehow looked remarkably like Art Rytus. He looked up at them.
'Hum. I haff been expecting you.' He spoke. Rayman was amazed. Could this creature read minds? He quickly tried to close his mind. There were some things in there that he didn't want revealing.
'How did you know?' he asked, curious, yet wondering if this teensie already knew the question.
'The guard at the post told me,' he replied. 'I have invented a network called 'telephoning' and it seems to work very vell. I vill not go into details.' He finished rather abruptly. His accent seemed to be a mixture of Kal Oray, and Art Rytus. He had a fast, jumpy way of talking.
'Ok' Said Rayman. 'Do you know why we are here?' The librarian looked at him curiously. 'To borrow a book?' Rayman stared at him disbelief. Then he shook his head. 'Then no, I don't know,' he stated.
'Well, I'm here to gain power. My friend' he pointed at Ly 'Suggested that I come to you.' He paused unsure of how to continue. Ly took over.
'Well, he needs power. You see, Polokus seems to have been captured, and if someone was powerful enough to defeat him.' She stopped shooting a dark look around the room. 'Well, you know that Rayman here wouldn't be able to defeat them,' She looked at the librarian. 'I knew that you would need the book. Here. I brought it.'
And so she gave him the book that she had picked up earlier. It was old and tattered. It had a large spine, with its brown cover; it looked as though it had once had gold makings on it. The spine itself looked like it had once been silver. It was very dusty, and looked like it had not been picked up in many years, which was in fact true. The teensie looked at it and shook his head sadly. He opened it, and read some out aloud.
'Ah! Here ve go! Eet says here that there are 3 main types of power. It goes through them. Vant to here them?' He asked. Rayman nodded, expecting some ancient lore, that would be hard to understand and in riddles. But he was surprised:
'Strength, the founder, the mover of rocks
Speed, the giver, the climber of mountains
Wisdom, the arsenal, power eternal.'
The old teensie looked weary, as he closed the heavy tome. He sighed. He looked at Ly and Globox.
'I must ask you to go outside. The following information is meant for Rayman's ears only.'
Ly nodded, and led Globox to the door. Globox looked back, unwilling to leave his friend, but Rayman nodded. He sighed.
'You vant power, no? Strength, speed and wisdom; you have them all. Yet, you shall need more in quantity to defeat the likes of Polokus!' And upon saying this, he seemed to rise, and grow larger. 'Wisdom I have and much of it. But it is the hardest of all powers to gain. Alas! Upon gaining wisdom, I lost both strength and speed. I grew old!' He gazed at Rayman and upon doing so his accent seemed to change. 'We shall all grow old one day, yet many of us shall waste our young-hood. I wish that I hadn't wasted mine. But you! You are different. You are using your youth to help. And I have no doubt you will use your age also.' He paused, and sat again. 'You must go on a journey, to gain your powers. The three that this old book mentions' he nudged the book. 'They are but the basic three. Many come after. You must search for your powers, for none come without strive, and hard work. I can only point you in the right direction.'
He grasped a staff that lay on the wall next to him. He stood, and raised his staff. As he did so, his desk moved aside, and the roof opened to the heavens. He raised his head, gazing at the stars above. He raised his staff until it was over his head. It began to glow bright silver. It began to sway, and whilst it did, it turned a brilliant shade of gold. It was so bright that Rayman wanted to look away. But he didn't, he gazed at the glowing staff. The teensie yelled and smacked the staff on the floor. He closed his eyes firmly. To Rayman the glow began to become unbearable, but he still looked at it. Suddenly, the very stars zoomed down into the staff. Rayman gasped. He saw faces! The beckoned him come nearer. He did so, and walked into the glow.
It was all white. Bright whiteness, that made Rayman's eyes ache in agony. It was broken only by the faces, so Rayman concentrated on them. The faces, which had previously been unbodied, now gained bodies. The looked at Rayman with satisfaction. They didn't speak, but Rayman heard them.
Rayman. Yes.Rayman is your name. You seek power? Many who have it do not deserve it, and many who deserve it do not have it.
Rayman was about to speak, but the voices seemed to know what he was thinking.
You deserve it. Yet we cannot give it to you: you must earn it.
'How?' thought Rayman 'How shall I find it?'
Your friends shall help you. We can tell you only you journey to the caves of jades. There you shall be given trial, and the next part of the quest be revealed to you. You must go into the cave alone. There is a secret entrance. You must find it. What you must do next shall become apparent when you enter.
'Thank you,' Thought Rayman. This seemed to amuse the voices, as they began to smile.
You are welcome. So courteous? We wish you good luck, and fare well. And upon saying this, the voices all raised they hands in unison. Remember! The cave of jades! Your friends shall help you.you are vital to the survival of this world.the voices grew fainter and fainter, and he seemed to be going further and further away from them. He raised his hand in farewell and stepped out of the light.
The teensie collapsed. Rayman helped him up. The teensie called Ly and Globox back. He looked pretty shaken. He looked at Rayman.
'You know where you need to go?' he asked, brushing himself up. Rayman nodded.
'Yeah. D'you know where I could find the cave of jades?' He asked. There was a sudden hush. Rayman looked around. 'What? What did I do?' He asked. He did not like the look of this.
'Rayman, that is a dangerous place.its guarded by the evil creatures, and many have died trying to get its precious jades,' Ly replied. 'I don't know how we should be any different,' she didn't look afraid though. Neither did Globox, for a change. 'We'll follow you, Rayman. You are our leader!' Rayman shook his head.
'No. Not a leader, a friend.' He said. Ly smiled and nodded.
'It's a deal.' She looked at the teensie, who hadn't spoken since he had asked Rayman where he needed to go. He looked beat. Ly looked at him anxiously. 'I know that you are exhausted after your summoning, but can you tell me where I can find an atlas please?' she asked him. He nodded and pointed down an alley. Apparently, he was too tired to speak. Ly thanked him and turned to Rayman and Globox. 'You two wait here, ill be right back.' She went through the shelves and came back a small while later. By then, the librarian seemed to have recovered a little, and he managed to stamp out the two books for Ly: the old tome, and the atlas.
'So Rayman, what happened?' Globox asked curiously. 'Why did we have to go out?' Rayman was about to answer that he didn't know, when Ly answered Globox question.
'We had to go out because the magical surge that occurs when summoning creatures as powerful as the seers can be enough to kill people, if they are not meant to be there. Usually this means that there can be only two people: the summoner and the receiver. Sometimes the summoner is the receiver so it doesn't matter.' She told him. He gaped at her.
'Cool! So Rayman got a message from these seers?' He looked at Rayman 'What was it?' He asked. Rayman was about to answer when Ly interrupted.
'DON'T SAY IT!' She almost yelled. 'It's dangerous if you do. The magic's that grants the seers the power of immortality,' she paused. 'They have been alive for many thousands of years. They immortality was granted to them by forces unknown. It is best not to provoke ancient dangers by asking these questions.' Rayman thought to himself. Why were people so worried about these so called 'seers'? He decided not to ask Ly in case it really was dangerous. Globox, however, seemed satisfied by the answer.
'Ly, how are we going.wherever we're going?' He asked her.
'Well it's not really far from here, but if we want to take a direct shortcut, I doubt we'll ever make it alive, even with your help. We should go the other way, longer but safer.' She replied.
'And.if you don't mind me asking.why is it so dangerous to talk about the seers?' He asked her. His tone was neutral, but to Ly he sounded almost criticizing. She looked at him.
'I don't know.' She answered straight away. 'It's weird, but they are so powerful, that sometimes even talking about them can cause earthquakes, and cause the whole world to erupt.' she stopped, seemingly thinking.
'But Ly, if they are that powerful, why can't we just ask them to help us?' He wondered out aloud. Ly paused.
'I was thinking the same thing.' She bit her lip. 'I think that they exist only in essence, but they aren't truly here. They had to be summoned right? But where from? I think they came from a different reality. Of course I could be wrong.' she stopped again, and sighed. 'Anyway, they aren't going to help us, so we might as well get going huh?' And with that she began to walk again.
-_~*~_-
It was a little while later. Ly and Globox were both asleep. It was somewhere in the middle of the night. Rayman usually found it easy to sleep out in the open, especially when there were a lot of trees about. But he couldn't sleep. He couldn't shake of the feeling that he was being watched.
He shivered. It was cold, on the rock he was sitting on. He went back to where he had been sleeping, next to Globox, and picked up his cover. He draped it about himself, and instantly felt warm again. The magic blankets that Ly had made out of nowhere were somehow warmer than normal blankets. He sat down on his rock again. As he wasn't going to sleep, he may as well stand guard.
CLUNK!
A sudden sound! Rayman was instantly awake. He threw the blanket down, and charged up a fist. Suddenly, out of the trees to his right, a small metallic creature appeared out of no where! Rayman instinctively punched it. It collapsed. But there were more.
Three appeared out of the rocks behind Rayman, and four more out of the trees above. There were too much! Rayman charged punch after punch. He managed to dispatch of three without getting hurt to bad. The others charged, he couldn't attack all of them at once! There was a sudden flash of light, and a small explosion.
Ly was standing slightly to the side, firing small silver lums at the creatures. It wasn't very effective, but it served as a diversion. There was a crash of thunder, and some rain came falling down. Globox was doing the rain dance! Rayman smiled at them both.
The three companions managed to destroy all but one of the hideous metal monsters. The last one was firing metallic bullets at Rayman. Ly was not in the position to attack him, and Globox's rain couldn't reach him because he was under the treetops. It was up to Rayman.
He jumped into the air. A bullet hit a tree behind him. A trail of bullets followed Rayman. He twisted in mid-air. Whilst he had twisted, he did a forward summersault and landed running. He wasn't running straight at the thing, but at an angle so that the bullets wouldn't hit him. He jumped again, but this time he jumped forward, toward the creature. Rayman was going to be hit! But NO.he twirled his hair, making is flash in super fast speeds, and broke it! As Rayman alighted next to the metallic thing, he finished it off with a killing blow from his hands. He turned to Ly, grinning sheepishly.
'Just like old times eh?' He grinned at her. And she realised to, he had used the same trick as he had all those years ago, when the robot of Mister Dark had attacked them. Rayman turned to the only robot remaining. It seemed to have been caught up in some vines, and was struggling to escape.
He was a small creature. He was clad almost entirely in metal, though it appeared that he was uncomfortable in it. He had large, reproachful eyes, with almost no white. His pupil was black, and he looked almost cute. He had a small brown face, which was turning an unhealthy green. He looked starved. He gazed at Rayman, afraid that this was the end of his life.
'Allow me!' Globox volunteered, stepping forward. But Rayman put out a hand to stop him.
'No. We might be able to find out about its masters.' He turned to the creature, and kindly asked it what, and who it was, what it was doing, and who its masters were. The creature was surprised, for its masters had told it that Rayman was evil, and he burned his prisoners alive.
The startled creature began to speak. It said that its name was No'think Ignatz. He told them that he was a slave, and that he had been captured along with the rest of his species. He said that they were being forced. He began to weep. He was about to tell them who this 'kidnapper' was, but he never got that far.
There was a sudden sizzling sound. It was a while before anyone heard it. When No'think heard it he began to wail.
'My friends, my dear friends! I fear that my time is up! Please!' and here he took Rayman's hand 'Please, I beg you. I sense great power in you. Please, free my kin, and my family from the clutches of the evil.' He took a long shuddering breath. It was his last breath.
'I promise. My friend,' Rayman told him. It was the last think No'think heard. Rayman closed No'thinks eyes with his hands. Globox was crying, and even Ly had tears in her eyes. Rayman finished closing No'think's large eyes, and he let out a small sob. He swore under his breath that he would avenge his friend. He swore that he would free his people. He swore on his own life. By now the sizzling became apparent. Rayman wondered out aloud.
'What's that sizzling sound?' He asked. No sooner had he asked the question, did he find out. No'think's dead body began to quiver, and shake; especially his head. Suddenly, his head popped open, and his brain oozed out. It had melted. The reason why also came apparent a second later. There was a metal transmitter inside his brain. It was hot. It had melted No'think's brain. There were two letters carved into it.
E.I..
Rayman felt angered. Whoever 'E.I.' was would suffer his anger.
There was a sudden whistling sound that was rapidly rising in pitch. It hurt Rayman's head. He put a hand to his head. He looked up, and gasped. There was an enormous creature above him. It flew back and forth. Suddenly its sound stopped. It was still flying to and fro, spying on the land below. Rayman realised that it was looking for them.
'Quick! Under here!' He yelled, beckoning them to a hole in the ground. They lay there silent, until the almost-silent hum of the aerial creature went away. Rayman told Ly and Globox to stay there, as he sneaked out. He saw that the huge machine had indeed gone. He looked around, and concluded that it was safe for his friends to come out.
-_~*~_-
They had slept uneasily in the night, and had been ambushed once. Yet they had to go on. Wearily, and tiredly, they walked onwards into the day. As they walked they talked to try to ease away the weariness. It did, but only slowly.
Suddenly Globox - who had been counting the trees idly - shouted
'AMBUSH!' And indeed, they were ambushed. More of the small creatures had come, yet they were greater in number, and larger in size than before. Rayman, remembering No'think tried not to hurt them. Instead he thought of a better way to free them.
Globox used his magical rain dance to help vines grow in the direction of the creatures. The vines bound them firmly, yet not to make them hurt. This gave Rayman an idea. He pulled at the vines, and used them for ropes to rope up the creatures. The creatures were fearful, expecting Rayman to be an evil monster. Rayman also helped Ly, who was summoning what looked like a purple version of her silver lums. They bound and weakened the creatures. When at last the creatures had been rounded up Rayman spoke to them.
'Creatures of the wild! You have been enslaved by a person that calls himself 'E.I.'. I have come to set you free! I am sure that you have been told that I was an evil freak of nature.' He grinned. 'But I definitely am not evil! You are free!' He let them go. 'But before you go, I ask you. Have any of you had metal chips installed into your heads? If so, come here, and Ly will help you take them out.' They all left, but for three. One of them seemed to be very old, and was leaning on a staff. The second was a stout man, who looked curiously at the friends before leaving. The remaining creature seemed to be a child. He spoke to them.
'Hello! I don't need to have a chip removed, I don't have one.' He took a breath 'I have been told that your name is Rayman. I didn't believe the lies about you,' he paused. He had a strange way of talking, like a child but with the wisdom of ages. This made Rayman curious. How old was this child, really? 'I was wondering if I could come with you.' He continued. 'I want my revenge on the enslaver; he killed my family, and my friends!' His eyes shone with a fierce determination. 'And if you don't let me, I'm going to follow you anyway!'
Rayman looked at him for a few seconds, studying him. He was small in stature, yet his muscles bulged at his arms, which, although short, where also muscled. His face was that of wisdom, and not of childness. His short neck was thin, and not as fat as it should have been. His stomach was also shrivelled, and he looked as though he had not eaten for days. He wore little more than rags. He had a bare chest, and no shoes. He had only some short pants, which were brown; filthy from trekking in the forest. He had a small spear in his hand and a sword on his belt. He held the spear in his left hand and his right hand was ever next to his sword. His large, Elvin ears where pointed, and quivered at the smallest sound. His small nose looked as though it had been squashed onto his face and at the same time as though it was meant to be like that. Rayman considered. He did not know his way around this land, and a live guide would be better than an atlas. He smiled at the creature.
'Sure you can!' He told it. 'But what's your name?' he asked. The creature bowed. Rayman bowed back.
'My name is Min'Lithui Ignatz' he told them. Ly gasped.
'Ignatz?' She asked. 'Are you related to No'think Ignatz?' She asked. The creature gaped at her.
'No'think? Do you know him? Is he ok?' He asked. 'He is my brother. I feared him to be dead!' He shook his head. Ly looked at him sadly.
'We saw him. We saved him. But we could not keep him alive. He was killed. There was a chip inside his-' Min'Lithui interrupted her.
'The chip?' He laughed. 'Of course! The chip! He is not dead! Come, take me to where you last saw him!' Rayman looked at the childling in new wonder. He began to sprint back to where No'think had been laid. He called out to Globox and Ly not to follow. Min'Lithui seemed to be able to keep up with Rayman's pace.
'Rayman,' Min'Lithui began. 'Don't call me Min'Lithui. Call me Furio.' He said.
'Why?' Rayman asked him.
'It is what all my friends call me,' He answered. 'Are we nearly there?' they had reached the clearing in which Rayman, Ly and Globox had laid No'think to rest. Furio looked around the clearing. 'An appropriate place to lay a Nu'thiank to rest,' smiled Furio. 'We are creatures of the desert, and as a mark of respect, we lay our people in the forests.' Furio saw his brother's dead body and winced. 'It will be hard to revive him.'
Furio turned to Rayman. He spoke. 'I need to revive him, using magic. Any creature that walks this earth can cast spells, they just need to unlock they ability.' He told Rayman. 'If you want to help, you can. You just need to chant these words
Eith-Ulian-Nabak-Subie-Narak-Sarak-Burian-Crafian-Shanthian-Prothian-Nonton
And you have to wave your hands like this.' He was whispering now. He twirled his hand, moving each finger, and the wrist. Rayman imitated him. They began to chant.
A golden light came from the heavens. Three stars fell from it, and floated gently to the ground. One was gold, the second was silver, and the third was a mixture of all colours. The gold one entered No'think's feet, whilst the silver one mended the broken tissue. The multi-coloured one mended the soggy brain, and placed inside No'think's head. The silver ball of light mended the tissue, now aided by the colourful one. The golden ball had now exited No'think's body, and was hovering slightly above his chest. Suddenly, the three balls merged themselves with No'think's body, and it gave a terrific jolt. No'think awoke.
'Aw my poor aching head!' was the first thing he said. Rayman laughed and hugged him. 'Hey! I remember you.' He spoke, drowsily. 'You're the guy who promised to save us. Furio! What are you doing here?' He asked pretty much awake now.
'I'm the one who cast rejuvenation over you. I brought you back to life Furion!' He spoke.
'Wait.Furion?' asked Rayman. Furio grinned.
'Yeah,' He laughed. 'My brother and I both have our nicknames. We named each other, so that we could call each other without anybody realising who we are.' He explained. The previously dead Furion nodded in agreement.
'And one more thing,' Rayman said. 'How did you make him come back to life? If you had magic as powerful as that, you should have been able escape yourselves!' He exclaimed.
'Yes,' Furion told him, 'Yes, we should. But this doesn't count. You see, we found out about these chips. They explode if you try to touch them. Inside your head.that would be enough to kill you, I'm sure. So you cannot remove them. We found out that they melted your brains.' he paused, a sick wave of nausea coming over him. He ventured to continue. 'We found out that they melted your brain if you tried to escape.' He made a face. Seeing that he didn't want to go on, Furio took over.
'Yes, so we used a little of our magic. Not much mind, just enough to find out what was going on. We never found out who out kidnapper was.' He took a deep breath. 'But Furion got caught. Not all of us had chips inside of us, just those that the kidnapper thought would cause trouble. He put a chip inside Furion. I used a small amount of my magic to create a spell, usable only by me and Furion, and only on me and Furion. They had magical sensors everywhere, and I barely managed it. But it worked, and that's why Furion is standing here now. We had better get back to your friends now shouldn't we?' he finished. Rayman nodded.
They walked back toward Ly and Globox. Rayman questioned them about they race. It turned out that they were a warrior race, trained in the many arts of combat when they were but three years old. Furio was what the equivalent was of a teenager, just leaving teen. Furion had just left his teens, and was a young adult. They then questioned Rayman. Rayman told them about the cave of jades. At the mention of this, there was a sudden hush.
'What,' Asked Rayman. 'What did I say?' they looked at each other and nodded.
'We know of two things. First, there is a shortcut to it. It's dangerous, but we managed to clear out the worst. Loud noises can go a long way!' he laughed 'But the second is more important it seems. The evil one is planning an excavation. He plans to destroy the cave of jades! We must hurry if we are to get there before that!' now they reached where they had left Globox and Ly. They were under attack!
'Help us Rayman!' Ly yelled. 'There are too many of them!' Rayman leapt into action, Furion and Furio alongside him. They threw they spears, and stabbed with they swords, although they never killed. Then they fell back, and used they magic to create bindings to bind they weakened kin. After this, they let all the Nu'thiank go. As soon as this was over Rayman turned to the brothers.
'Now look you two. I've got a few things to say to you. One,' He lifted a finger. 'Isn't there a short way to call your race something?' he joked. 'I mean, you have short names for everything else!' he laughed. 'Two,' Here his face turned serious. 'Can you lead us to this short-cut of yours?' He paused now. 'And three,' he looked at them, now more serious than ever. 'Who is our enemy?' The brothers looked delighted to answer these questions.
'One,' Said Furio. 'There is! We call ourselves 'the muddies!' because we live in the sand.' He laughed.
'Two' Furion started. 'We would be happy to do so.'
'And three' Said Furio again. 'We do not know. We were left blindfolded in front of him. All that I can say is that there was a chill wind whenever I heard his voice. There was a waterfall, I remember that.'
'And there was some earth. Unnatural earth, I remember that. It felt purer than any other underneath my feet. And the wind, though chilly, was fresh. I have never breathed a cleaner air.' They finished.
'That sounds like a good place,' Rayman pondered. 'I would very much like to go there for myself.'
'Come then! This way, to the cave of jades we go!' And they began a walking song. As they walked of into the distance, an old, bent figure leaned heavily on a staff. He smiled to himself. Things were as perfect as they could have been, maybe even more so! Rayman was walking to his doom. He spread out his arms, and disappeared.
Anyways, this chapter is probably going to be a lot longer, and perhaps have more action than all the others BE WARNED!
Chapter 4 - Journey of Power
-_~*~_-
'So Ly, where does this old teensie live?' Globox asked. He had been asking this for the past fifteen minutes. Ly sighed. Well at least he didn't ask-
'And are we there yet?' -That.GOD! He was annoying. He was fun most of the time though. Globox looked at Ly. 'Just kidding! The teensie lives in the village, and we'll be about 5 minute's right?' He laughed. Ly looked at him. She understood the joke, but it didn't amuse her. She laughed anyway. She looked at Rayman. He had seemed quite and forlorn for a lot of the journey. She worried about him. She still considered him a relation, though perhaps not a brother.
She had only seen him something like this once before
-_~*~_-
Ly knocked on the door and waited. She looked around the wood, again happy to be there. The wood seemed to be alive with chatter: the trees talking to one-another, the birds in the sky tweeting to their friends on the ground, those under the ground rustling to each other, and moving through the undergrowth. It wasn't noisy though; it was comforting, knowing that she wasn't alone. She never was; her hearing could pick up a mouse scurrying 50 metres below the ground, and the flapping of a bird alighting on the highest branches of the trees. She wondered what it would be like to be alone: to be truly alone. She shuddered at the thought. The door opened.
'Oh, hello Ly,' Rayman smiled at her. 'Come in!' he offered. She greatly stepped into the room. It was still clean, after Rayman had been here for a month, yet she had never seen him clean up. Rayman had managed to brighten the place up even more, with pots and plants scattered here and there never looking untidy, and a palm tree-like tree in the corner. She knew she was indoors, but it seemed to have merged into outdoors. It had all the best parts of both: the beauty of nature, and the comfort of inside. She sat on a sofa. Rayman stayed standing. He seemed hesitant somehow. She realised that neither he nor her had spoken since he had opened the door. She wanted to break the silence, but she didn't seem to know how.
'Um.' She began. She didn't continue. She hesitated. She had been about to ask how he was settling, but he spoke first.
'How is it at home...Um.Your home?' he asked. He looked at her curiously.
'Yeah, its fine, but I really miss you Rayman.' She sighed 'its boring at home without you.but how are you? You are the one that moved and all' she smiled at him.
'Yeah, I'm ok too. It's boring here without you to play with.' He realised that he hadn't done much since he had moved. He sighed. Ly spoke
'Hey! You wanna go play?' she asked. Rayman brightened up. It was an excellent idea! And maybe he would be able to tell Ly what he had been dying to tell her for a long long time.
'Sure!' He said. They walked out of the room. Suddenly Rayman froze. 'Ly, stay still!' he hissed. She looked at him inquisitively, but he shook his head. She stopped. She thought that she would have been able to hear what Rayman heard, but she couldn't. Presently, a sound came from behind the bushes, and looked around the clearing. Ly almost jumped in surprise. She hadn't heard it, but she knew it was behind her. How could Rayman defeat whatever it was? He had his back to it. He seemed confident. Whatever he did he did it quickly.
Rayman jumped into the air. A bullet hit a tree behind him. The tree was unaffected, but was shocked. A trail of bullets followed Rayman. Ly watched in fascination and horror as Rayman twisted in mid-air. When he had twisted, he did a forward summersault and landed running. He wasn't running straight at the thing, but at an angle so that the bullets wouldn't hit him. He jumped again, but this time he jumped forward, toward the creature. Ly almost screamed. He was going to be hit. But NO.he twirled his hair, making is flash in super fast speeds, and broke it! Ly was amazed. She had never seen his 'helicopter hair' before. As Rayman alighted next to the metallic thing, he finished it off with a killing blow from his hands. He turned to Ly, grinning sheepishly.
'WOW Rayman! That was excellent! What was that thing?' She exclaimed. Rayman thought for a moment.
'Well.I think that some of Mr. Darks' robots are still alive. Weird.anyway, I found out a way to destroy them all. It should be coming online in.about now!' As Rayman finished his sentence, a shockwave erupted from Rayman's tree. It wasn't strong enough to sweep them off their feet, but it was enough to make them stagger. As they wave passed them, Rayman looked again at Ly. Ly could see that there was something that Rayman wanted to tell her.
'Rayman.what do you want to tell me?' she asked, politely. Rayman's neck twisted so fast to look at her, that his 'neck' seemed to crick. But he didn't have a neck.
'I don't know what you mean,' He said. Ly knew he was lying, but she didn't think it was important. If she had known of the internal struggle within Rayman, she would have pressed him; and in doing so he would have told her everything.
-_~*~_-
'Rayman,' she began 'what it is? You seem to be lonely on the inside.You don't seem like yourself.what's the matter?' She asked him. Rayman looked at her. He tried to look innocent, but his eyes betrayed him. She gazed into them again, finding the knowledge, and wisdom that Rayman had gained on his adventures. She sighed, knowing that Rayman wasn't going to tell her. Presently she became aware of Globox chattering next to her. She averted her gaze from Rayman's eyes and looked at him.
'Hello? The world could be in danger and all you can do is look at each other? Sheesh! C'mon, we got a teensie to find!' And with that, he walked off, muttering. Rayman managed a small grin.
'Better follow him eh?' He said. Ly smiled at him.
'Yeah, let's hope that he doesn't trip over a log' she laughed. Rayman laughed too, and she was sure that Rayman had also remembered the old days, but he was not as happy to remember them as she. She turned to look at him, and realised that he had been looking side-long at her.
'Are you alright?' he asked her. She smiled. She was becoming lost in her own thoughts often now.perhaps to often.
'Yeah, I'm fine.' Came the reply. Rayman didn't believe her, but he didn't press. As they walked, Rayman ran his hand over the passing barks, feeling the smooth or rough wood, and smiling, as though he knew a secret. He wanted peace, yet he had a heavy burden upon his chest. Globox stopped.
'Hey Ly, is that the village?' He asked. Ho looked closer 'Yeah, I think it is.'
Ly followed his gaze and saw the single hut of the gate-watch. She nodded
'Yes,' She replied. She walked to the hut and knocked three times. A large teensie walked out, and upon seeing Ly waved them on. They followed Ly, often changing direction because of the deep twisted allies of the village, and often having to turn back after a dead-end, however, they were always heading toward the centre. When they finally reached it, they saw three huge buildings: A Castle, a Library, and a Cathedral. She sighed, and entered the library. As they entered, they saw what seemed like miles upon miles of shelves, crammed with books, new and old, small and large. Ly seemed to know where she was going however, and she stopped at a shelf. She picked up a book and pocketed it. She walked then at an angle, always heading to the right. Eventually, after what seemed like a year- even Globox had shut up- they reached a desk. Sitting behind it was a teensie, that somehow looked remarkably like Art Rytus. He looked up at them.
'Hum. I haff been expecting you.' He spoke. Rayman was amazed. Could this creature read minds? He quickly tried to close his mind. There were some things in there that he didn't want revealing.
'How did you know?' he asked, curious, yet wondering if this teensie already knew the question.
'The guard at the post told me,' he replied. 'I have invented a network called 'telephoning' and it seems to work very vell. I vill not go into details.' He finished rather abruptly. His accent seemed to be a mixture of Kal Oray, and Art Rytus. He had a fast, jumpy way of talking.
'Ok' Said Rayman. 'Do you know why we are here?' The librarian looked at him curiously. 'To borrow a book?' Rayman stared at him disbelief. Then he shook his head. 'Then no, I don't know,' he stated.
'Well, I'm here to gain power. My friend' he pointed at Ly 'Suggested that I come to you.' He paused unsure of how to continue. Ly took over.
'Well, he needs power. You see, Polokus seems to have been captured, and if someone was powerful enough to defeat him.' She stopped shooting a dark look around the room. 'Well, you know that Rayman here wouldn't be able to defeat them,' She looked at the librarian. 'I knew that you would need the book. Here. I brought it.'
And so she gave him the book that she had picked up earlier. It was old and tattered. It had a large spine, with its brown cover; it looked as though it had once had gold makings on it. The spine itself looked like it had once been silver. It was very dusty, and looked like it had not been picked up in many years, which was in fact true. The teensie looked at it and shook his head sadly. He opened it, and read some out aloud.
'Ah! Here ve go! Eet says here that there are 3 main types of power. It goes through them. Vant to here them?' He asked. Rayman nodded, expecting some ancient lore, that would be hard to understand and in riddles. But he was surprised:
'Strength, the founder, the mover of rocks
Speed, the giver, the climber of mountains
Wisdom, the arsenal, power eternal.'
The old teensie looked weary, as he closed the heavy tome. He sighed. He looked at Ly and Globox.
'I must ask you to go outside. The following information is meant for Rayman's ears only.'
Ly nodded, and led Globox to the door. Globox looked back, unwilling to leave his friend, but Rayman nodded. He sighed.
'You vant power, no? Strength, speed and wisdom; you have them all. Yet, you shall need more in quantity to defeat the likes of Polokus!' And upon saying this, he seemed to rise, and grow larger. 'Wisdom I have and much of it. But it is the hardest of all powers to gain. Alas! Upon gaining wisdom, I lost both strength and speed. I grew old!' He gazed at Rayman and upon doing so his accent seemed to change. 'We shall all grow old one day, yet many of us shall waste our young-hood. I wish that I hadn't wasted mine. But you! You are different. You are using your youth to help. And I have no doubt you will use your age also.' He paused, and sat again. 'You must go on a journey, to gain your powers. The three that this old book mentions' he nudged the book. 'They are but the basic three. Many come after. You must search for your powers, for none come without strive, and hard work. I can only point you in the right direction.'
He grasped a staff that lay on the wall next to him. He stood, and raised his staff. As he did so, his desk moved aside, and the roof opened to the heavens. He raised his head, gazing at the stars above. He raised his staff until it was over his head. It began to glow bright silver. It began to sway, and whilst it did, it turned a brilliant shade of gold. It was so bright that Rayman wanted to look away. But he didn't, he gazed at the glowing staff. The teensie yelled and smacked the staff on the floor. He closed his eyes firmly. To Rayman the glow began to become unbearable, but he still looked at it. Suddenly, the very stars zoomed down into the staff. Rayman gasped. He saw faces! The beckoned him come nearer. He did so, and walked into the glow.
It was all white. Bright whiteness, that made Rayman's eyes ache in agony. It was broken only by the faces, so Rayman concentrated on them. The faces, which had previously been unbodied, now gained bodies. The looked at Rayman with satisfaction. They didn't speak, but Rayman heard them.
Rayman. Yes.Rayman is your name. You seek power? Many who have it do not deserve it, and many who deserve it do not have it.
Rayman was about to speak, but the voices seemed to know what he was thinking.
You deserve it. Yet we cannot give it to you: you must earn it.
'How?' thought Rayman 'How shall I find it?'
Your friends shall help you. We can tell you only you journey to the caves of jades. There you shall be given trial, and the next part of the quest be revealed to you. You must go into the cave alone. There is a secret entrance. You must find it. What you must do next shall become apparent when you enter.
'Thank you,' Thought Rayman. This seemed to amuse the voices, as they began to smile.
You are welcome. So courteous? We wish you good luck, and fare well. And upon saying this, the voices all raised they hands in unison. Remember! The cave of jades! Your friends shall help you.you are vital to the survival of this world.the voices grew fainter and fainter, and he seemed to be going further and further away from them. He raised his hand in farewell and stepped out of the light.
The teensie collapsed. Rayman helped him up. The teensie called Ly and Globox back. He looked pretty shaken. He looked at Rayman.
'You know where you need to go?' he asked, brushing himself up. Rayman nodded.
'Yeah. D'you know where I could find the cave of jades?' He asked. There was a sudden hush. Rayman looked around. 'What? What did I do?' He asked. He did not like the look of this.
'Rayman, that is a dangerous place.its guarded by the evil creatures, and many have died trying to get its precious jades,' Ly replied. 'I don't know how we should be any different,' she didn't look afraid though. Neither did Globox, for a change. 'We'll follow you, Rayman. You are our leader!' Rayman shook his head.
'No. Not a leader, a friend.' He said. Ly smiled and nodded.
'It's a deal.' She looked at the teensie, who hadn't spoken since he had asked Rayman where he needed to go. He looked beat. Ly looked at him anxiously. 'I know that you are exhausted after your summoning, but can you tell me where I can find an atlas please?' she asked him. He nodded and pointed down an alley. Apparently, he was too tired to speak. Ly thanked him and turned to Rayman and Globox. 'You two wait here, ill be right back.' She went through the shelves and came back a small while later. By then, the librarian seemed to have recovered a little, and he managed to stamp out the two books for Ly: the old tome, and the atlas.
'So Rayman, what happened?' Globox asked curiously. 'Why did we have to go out?' Rayman was about to answer that he didn't know, when Ly answered Globox question.
'We had to go out because the magical surge that occurs when summoning creatures as powerful as the seers can be enough to kill people, if they are not meant to be there. Usually this means that there can be only two people: the summoner and the receiver. Sometimes the summoner is the receiver so it doesn't matter.' She told him. He gaped at her.
'Cool! So Rayman got a message from these seers?' He looked at Rayman 'What was it?' He asked. Rayman was about to answer when Ly interrupted.
'DON'T SAY IT!' She almost yelled. 'It's dangerous if you do. The magic's that grants the seers the power of immortality,' she paused. 'They have been alive for many thousands of years. They immortality was granted to them by forces unknown. It is best not to provoke ancient dangers by asking these questions.' Rayman thought to himself. Why were people so worried about these so called 'seers'? He decided not to ask Ly in case it really was dangerous. Globox, however, seemed satisfied by the answer.
'Ly, how are we going.wherever we're going?' He asked her.
'Well it's not really far from here, but if we want to take a direct shortcut, I doubt we'll ever make it alive, even with your help. We should go the other way, longer but safer.' She replied.
'And.if you don't mind me asking.why is it so dangerous to talk about the seers?' He asked her. His tone was neutral, but to Ly he sounded almost criticizing. She looked at him.
'I don't know.' She answered straight away. 'It's weird, but they are so powerful, that sometimes even talking about them can cause earthquakes, and cause the whole world to erupt.' she stopped, seemingly thinking.
'But Ly, if they are that powerful, why can't we just ask them to help us?' He wondered out aloud. Ly paused.
'I was thinking the same thing.' She bit her lip. 'I think that they exist only in essence, but they aren't truly here. They had to be summoned right? But where from? I think they came from a different reality. Of course I could be wrong.' she stopped again, and sighed. 'Anyway, they aren't going to help us, so we might as well get going huh?' And with that she began to walk again.
-_~*~_-
It was a little while later. Ly and Globox were both asleep. It was somewhere in the middle of the night. Rayman usually found it easy to sleep out in the open, especially when there were a lot of trees about. But he couldn't sleep. He couldn't shake of the feeling that he was being watched.
He shivered. It was cold, on the rock he was sitting on. He went back to where he had been sleeping, next to Globox, and picked up his cover. He draped it about himself, and instantly felt warm again. The magic blankets that Ly had made out of nowhere were somehow warmer than normal blankets. He sat down on his rock again. As he wasn't going to sleep, he may as well stand guard.
CLUNK!
A sudden sound! Rayman was instantly awake. He threw the blanket down, and charged up a fist. Suddenly, out of the trees to his right, a small metallic creature appeared out of no where! Rayman instinctively punched it. It collapsed. But there were more.
Three appeared out of the rocks behind Rayman, and four more out of the trees above. There were too much! Rayman charged punch after punch. He managed to dispatch of three without getting hurt to bad. The others charged, he couldn't attack all of them at once! There was a sudden flash of light, and a small explosion.
Ly was standing slightly to the side, firing small silver lums at the creatures. It wasn't very effective, but it served as a diversion. There was a crash of thunder, and some rain came falling down. Globox was doing the rain dance! Rayman smiled at them both.
The three companions managed to destroy all but one of the hideous metal monsters. The last one was firing metallic bullets at Rayman. Ly was not in the position to attack him, and Globox's rain couldn't reach him because he was under the treetops. It was up to Rayman.
He jumped into the air. A bullet hit a tree behind him. A trail of bullets followed Rayman. He twisted in mid-air. Whilst he had twisted, he did a forward summersault and landed running. He wasn't running straight at the thing, but at an angle so that the bullets wouldn't hit him. He jumped again, but this time he jumped forward, toward the creature. Rayman was going to be hit! But NO.he twirled his hair, making is flash in super fast speeds, and broke it! As Rayman alighted next to the metallic thing, he finished it off with a killing blow from his hands. He turned to Ly, grinning sheepishly.
'Just like old times eh?' He grinned at her. And she realised to, he had used the same trick as he had all those years ago, when the robot of Mister Dark had attacked them. Rayman turned to the only robot remaining. It seemed to have been caught up in some vines, and was struggling to escape.
He was a small creature. He was clad almost entirely in metal, though it appeared that he was uncomfortable in it. He had large, reproachful eyes, with almost no white. His pupil was black, and he looked almost cute. He had a small brown face, which was turning an unhealthy green. He looked starved. He gazed at Rayman, afraid that this was the end of his life.
'Allow me!' Globox volunteered, stepping forward. But Rayman put out a hand to stop him.
'No. We might be able to find out about its masters.' He turned to the creature, and kindly asked it what, and who it was, what it was doing, and who its masters were. The creature was surprised, for its masters had told it that Rayman was evil, and he burned his prisoners alive.
The startled creature began to speak. It said that its name was No'think Ignatz. He told them that he was a slave, and that he had been captured along with the rest of his species. He said that they were being forced. He began to weep. He was about to tell them who this 'kidnapper' was, but he never got that far.
There was a sudden sizzling sound. It was a while before anyone heard it. When No'think heard it he began to wail.
'My friends, my dear friends! I fear that my time is up! Please!' and here he took Rayman's hand 'Please, I beg you. I sense great power in you. Please, free my kin, and my family from the clutches of the evil.' He took a long shuddering breath. It was his last breath.
'I promise. My friend,' Rayman told him. It was the last think No'think heard. Rayman closed No'thinks eyes with his hands. Globox was crying, and even Ly had tears in her eyes. Rayman finished closing No'think's large eyes, and he let out a small sob. He swore under his breath that he would avenge his friend. He swore that he would free his people. He swore on his own life. By now the sizzling became apparent. Rayman wondered out aloud.
'What's that sizzling sound?' He asked. No sooner had he asked the question, did he find out. No'think's dead body began to quiver, and shake; especially his head. Suddenly, his head popped open, and his brain oozed out. It had melted. The reason why also came apparent a second later. There was a metal transmitter inside his brain. It was hot. It had melted No'think's brain. There were two letters carved into it.
E.I..
Rayman felt angered. Whoever 'E.I.' was would suffer his anger.
There was a sudden whistling sound that was rapidly rising in pitch. It hurt Rayman's head. He put a hand to his head. He looked up, and gasped. There was an enormous creature above him. It flew back and forth. Suddenly its sound stopped. It was still flying to and fro, spying on the land below. Rayman realised that it was looking for them.
'Quick! Under here!' He yelled, beckoning them to a hole in the ground. They lay there silent, until the almost-silent hum of the aerial creature went away. Rayman told Ly and Globox to stay there, as he sneaked out. He saw that the huge machine had indeed gone. He looked around, and concluded that it was safe for his friends to come out.
-_~*~_-
They had slept uneasily in the night, and had been ambushed once. Yet they had to go on. Wearily, and tiredly, they walked onwards into the day. As they walked they talked to try to ease away the weariness. It did, but only slowly.
Suddenly Globox - who had been counting the trees idly - shouted
'AMBUSH!' And indeed, they were ambushed. More of the small creatures had come, yet they were greater in number, and larger in size than before. Rayman, remembering No'think tried not to hurt them. Instead he thought of a better way to free them.
Globox used his magical rain dance to help vines grow in the direction of the creatures. The vines bound them firmly, yet not to make them hurt. This gave Rayman an idea. He pulled at the vines, and used them for ropes to rope up the creatures. The creatures were fearful, expecting Rayman to be an evil monster. Rayman also helped Ly, who was summoning what looked like a purple version of her silver lums. They bound and weakened the creatures. When at last the creatures had been rounded up Rayman spoke to them.
'Creatures of the wild! You have been enslaved by a person that calls himself 'E.I.'. I have come to set you free! I am sure that you have been told that I was an evil freak of nature.' He grinned. 'But I definitely am not evil! You are free!' He let them go. 'But before you go, I ask you. Have any of you had metal chips installed into your heads? If so, come here, and Ly will help you take them out.' They all left, but for three. One of them seemed to be very old, and was leaning on a staff. The second was a stout man, who looked curiously at the friends before leaving. The remaining creature seemed to be a child. He spoke to them.
'Hello! I don't need to have a chip removed, I don't have one.' He took a breath 'I have been told that your name is Rayman. I didn't believe the lies about you,' he paused. He had a strange way of talking, like a child but with the wisdom of ages. This made Rayman curious. How old was this child, really? 'I was wondering if I could come with you.' He continued. 'I want my revenge on the enslaver; he killed my family, and my friends!' His eyes shone with a fierce determination. 'And if you don't let me, I'm going to follow you anyway!'
Rayman looked at him for a few seconds, studying him. He was small in stature, yet his muscles bulged at his arms, which, although short, where also muscled. His face was that of wisdom, and not of childness. His short neck was thin, and not as fat as it should have been. His stomach was also shrivelled, and he looked as though he had not eaten for days. He wore little more than rags. He had a bare chest, and no shoes. He had only some short pants, which were brown; filthy from trekking in the forest. He had a small spear in his hand and a sword on his belt. He held the spear in his left hand and his right hand was ever next to his sword. His large, Elvin ears where pointed, and quivered at the smallest sound. His small nose looked as though it had been squashed onto his face and at the same time as though it was meant to be like that. Rayman considered. He did not know his way around this land, and a live guide would be better than an atlas. He smiled at the creature.
'Sure you can!' He told it. 'But what's your name?' he asked. The creature bowed. Rayman bowed back.
'My name is Min'Lithui Ignatz' he told them. Ly gasped.
'Ignatz?' She asked. 'Are you related to No'think Ignatz?' She asked. The creature gaped at her.
'No'think? Do you know him? Is he ok?' He asked. 'He is my brother. I feared him to be dead!' He shook his head. Ly looked at him sadly.
'We saw him. We saved him. But we could not keep him alive. He was killed. There was a chip inside his-' Min'Lithui interrupted her.
'The chip?' He laughed. 'Of course! The chip! He is not dead! Come, take me to where you last saw him!' Rayman looked at the childling in new wonder. He began to sprint back to where No'think had been laid. He called out to Globox and Ly not to follow. Min'Lithui seemed to be able to keep up with Rayman's pace.
'Rayman,' Min'Lithui began. 'Don't call me Min'Lithui. Call me Furio.' He said.
'Why?' Rayman asked him.
'It is what all my friends call me,' He answered. 'Are we nearly there?' they had reached the clearing in which Rayman, Ly and Globox had laid No'think to rest. Furio looked around the clearing. 'An appropriate place to lay a Nu'thiank to rest,' smiled Furio. 'We are creatures of the desert, and as a mark of respect, we lay our people in the forests.' Furio saw his brother's dead body and winced. 'It will be hard to revive him.'
Furio turned to Rayman. He spoke. 'I need to revive him, using magic. Any creature that walks this earth can cast spells, they just need to unlock they ability.' He told Rayman. 'If you want to help, you can. You just need to chant these words
Eith-Ulian-Nabak-Subie-Narak-Sarak-Burian-Crafian-Shanthian-Prothian-Nonton
And you have to wave your hands like this.' He was whispering now. He twirled his hand, moving each finger, and the wrist. Rayman imitated him. They began to chant.
A golden light came from the heavens. Three stars fell from it, and floated gently to the ground. One was gold, the second was silver, and the third was a mixture of all colours. The gold one entered No'think's feet, whilst the silver one mended the broken tissue. The multi-coloured one mended the soggy brain, and placed inside No'think's head. The silver ball of light mended the tissue, now aided by the colourful one. The golden ball had now exited No'think's body, and was hovering slightly above his chest. Suddenly, the three balls merged themselves with No'think's body, and it gave a terrific jolt. No'think awoke.
'Aw my poor aching head!' was the first thing he said. Rayman laughed and hugged him. 'Hey! I remember you.' He spoke, drowsily. 'You're the guy who promised to save us. Furio! What are you doing here?' He asked pretty much awake now.
'I'm the one who cast rejuvenation over you. I brought you back to life Furion!' He spoke.
'Wait.Furion?' asked Rayman. Furio grinned.
'Yeah,' He laughed. 'My brother and I both have our nicknames. We named each other, so that we could call each other without anybody realising who we are.' He explained. The previously dead Furion nodded in agreement.
'And one more thing,' Rayman said. 'How did you make him come back to life? If you had magic as powerful as that, you should have been able escape yourselves!' He exclaimed.
'Yes,' Furion told him, 'Yes, we should. But this doesn't count. You see, we found out about these chips. They explode if you try to touch them. Inside your head.that would be enough to kill you, I'm sure. So you cannot remove them. We found out that they melted your brains.' he paused, a sick wave of nausea coming over him. He ventured to continue. 'We found out that they melted your brain if you tried to escape.' He made a face. Seeing that he didn't want to go on, Furio took over.
'Yes, so we used a little of our magic. Not much mind, just enough to find out what was going on. We never found out who out kidnapper was.' He took a deep breath. 'But Furion got caught. Not all of us had chips inside of us, just those that the kidnapper thought would cause trouble. He put a chip inside Furion. I used a small amount of my magic to create a spell, usable only by me and Furion, and only on me and Furion. They had magical sensors everywhere, and I barely managed it. But it worked, and that's why Furion is standing here now. We had better get back to your friends now shouldn't we?' he finished. Rayman nodded.
They walked back toward Ly and Globox. Rayman questioned them about they race. It turned out that they were a warrior race, trained in the many arts of combat when they were but three years old. Furio was what the equivalent was of a teenager, just leaving teen. Furion had just left his teens, and was a young adult. They then questioned Rayman. Rayman told them about the cave of jades. At the mention of this, there was a sudden hush.
'What,' Asked Rayman. 'What did I say?' they looked at each other and nodded.
'We know of two things. First, there is a shortcut to it. It's dangerous, but we managed to clear out the worst. Loud noises can go a long way!' he laughed 'But the second is more important it seems. The evil one is planning an excavation. He plans to destroy the cave of jades! We must hurry if we are to get there before that!' now they reached where they had left Globox and Ly. They were under attack!
'Help us Rayman!' Ly yelled. 'There are too many of them!' Rayman leapt into action, Furion and Furio alongside him. They threw they spears, and stabbed with they swords, although they never killed. Then they fell back, and used they magic to create bindings to bind they weakened kin. After this, they let all the Nu'thiank go. As soon as this was over Rayman turned to the brothers.
'Now look you two. I've got a few things to say to you. One,' He lifted a finger. 'Isn't there a short way to call your race something?' he joked. 'I mean, you have short names for everything else!' he laughed. 'Two,' Here his face turned serious. 'Can you lead us to this short-cut of yours?' He paused now. 'And three,' he looked at them, now more serious than ever. 'Who is our enemy?' The brothers looked delighted to answer these questions.
'One,' Said Furio. 'There is! We call ourselves 'the muddies!' because we live in the sand.' He laughed.
'Two' Furion started. 'We would be happy to do so.'
'And three' Said Furio again. 'We do not know. We were left blindfolded in front of him. All that I can say is that there was a chill wind whenever I heard his voice. There was a waterfall, I remember that.'
'And there was some earth. Unnatural earth, I remember that. It felt purer than any other underneath my feet. And the wind, though chilly, was fresh. I have never breathed a cleaner air.' They finished.
'That sounds like a good place,' Rayman pondered. 'I would very much like to go there for myself.'
'Come then! This way, to the cave of jades we go!' And they began a walking song. As they walked of into the distance, an old, bent figure leaned heavily on a staff. He smiled to himself. Things were as perfect as they could have been, maybe even more so! Rayman was walking to his doom. He spread out his arms, and disappeared.