CHAPTER 5

Inside was a room that was only about 10 stretches wide and long. It was completely white. In the middle of the room was a big orange blob with a red substance that looked eerily like blood trickling down its back.

Tal quickly took out the Dark Book of Ice and asked, "What is this blob?"

The book flicked open and on the page it landed on there was a description of the creature.

"It says it's called the Puppet Master, and that it has many surprises, how is that helpful!" Milla exclaimed.

The blob jiggled a bit and great big, black eyes popped out of its head. Then bits of its jelly like substance broke off and floated about a stretch off the ground. Then they all joined together and started to rise and take shape.

After a few seconds there was a big beast made of the substance floating limp in the air. Then it started to change colour to a dark brown. It looked just like a puppet. Then several more joined it, all different shapes but all dark brown.

Then they lightly touched the ground and their eyes flashed yellow.

The biggest one roared and ran right into Tal! Tal was propelled into the wall.

Milla was about to leap at the beast but two others grabbed her and shoved her into the other wall.

The big beast picked up the wounded Tal and punched him right in the stomach with rib shattering force.

Milla struggled and managed to get out her Merwin Horn Sword and sliced at one of her captors.

But this had no effect, it just sliced through it and it rejoined its two halves right away. Milla used all her strength and shoved away the two captors. She then ran at the other beast and sliced it in half, but it had the same effect as last time.

Tal pointed his sunstone at the beast and fired an indigo light at it, and it disintegrated.

Milla saw this and pointed her own sunstone at the others, disintegrating them. This angered the blob and it started to fling itself in globs at them. Milla got covered in it and Tal only had his arm unaffected by the globs of blob jelly.

Milla started to attack the blob but froze, she couldn't move, the blob jelly had frozen her. There was no way to get away from the blob.

Tal saw that Milla couldn't move and tried, he couldn't move either, but then he noticed his free arm, and he could move it! And what was better it was the arm with his sunstone!

The blob started to advance on Milla, what it was going to do neither of them knew.

Tal raised his sunstone and fired a Red Ray of Destruction at the creature, it sank in but part of it was deflected. The deflected light hit Millas hand and the jelly broke off!

"Light destroys the jelly!" Tal called to Milla, and she focused on her Talons of Danir, and they sprung out through the jelly.

Milla scraped the substance off while the blob continued to advance.

Milla let out her war cry and sprung at the blob swinging the talons. The blob tried to turn around but Milla was too fast, she sliced into the beast, leaving long, glowing white marks.

Tal shot another red ray and this time it cut through where its heart should have been. Tal and Milla continued attacking until the blob melted into a pool of white light, then disappeared.

In its place was a mirror, a plain old mirror.

"How could this help?" Milla asked as Tal shot off the last bits of jelly from his body.

"Careful, it could have light magic of some sort!" Tal warned and motioned for her to pass it to him.

Milla obliged and Tal stared into it. Inside was not only his reflection, but a mass of swirling colours that made Tal dizzy.

"How do we get out of this room?" Milla asked.

Tal stared around the room and noticed that there were no doors; even the one he had come through had disappeared.

There was no way out, they were stuck in this bright white room, that somehow had no blob jelly left on its walls even though it had been covered in it before.

Tal stared at the floor to see if there was something there while he tucked the mirror into his pocket in his sleeve that had had many important things kept safe in there.

"There" Milla exclaimed and pointed at the roof.

There in the white roof was a hatch that was also white, so it took Tal a moment to notice it.

That was there way out, but there problems were just starting.

"It's welded shut!" Milla said while pulling and twisting on the hatch as hard as she could, but it wouldn't budge.

"Here, I'll fix it" Tal said directing a cool yellow light at the hatches side. It started to un-weld the hatch, but then Tal felt a cold splash against his ankles. Milla looked down and saw the room was being flooded by water.

"Hurry!" Milla urged as Tal strengthened the beam of light.

The water was up to their waists now and Tal was only half finished.

When the water reached Millas neck Tal finally managed to break the hatch off. It landed in the water with a splash as Milla and Tal wriggled through the hatch.

Tal shut it behind him and took a look around.

They were back on the ice.

But the ice wasn't the only thing around them, there was also the snake shadow, staring at them from 6 stretches away.

"Tal, Milla, welcome back to the ice, but you're a bit late" It said in a low and long hiss.

Tal stared up at the Castle a few hundred stretches away, and saw what the snake shadow meant. The castle was surrounded by a swirl of shadows, flying around in a circle like the Old Khamsoul.

And the Ruin Ship had shadows surrounding it as well, and there seemed to be no way out to fight.

The shadows were back, and they were angry.

Suddenly a gigantic roar of victorious laughter rang through the Dark World.

On top of the Mountain of Light flying toward the Castle was an old enemy, Sharrakor was back.

And now he had all the shadows with him, and he was about two times as big as when he fell off the Old Khamsoul with Crow on his back shouting "Freeeedom, free…"

But how had he survived, he had Caveroach Poison poured all over him, a deadly poison.

But he was there, and Tal and Milla had to stop him, again, but this time Tal would personally make sure Sharrakor didn't make it back.

So Tal and Milla started to run back up to the Mountain of Light and the swirling mass of shadows when the snake shadow slithered in their way.

"Stop, there is no chance you will make it into the Castle without a guide, a helper, and I am offering my service. Unless you want thousands of shadows ripping you apart." The snake Shadow said in a sly voice.