Description: Sometimes it's only when you almost lose someone that you realize how much they matter to you.
The gang were sat in the back garden watching Nick practice his speech for an assessment they had later in the week.
As he finished, he looked up expectantly at his friends. "Well, what did you think?"
"Great speech, bro!" Toby praised. "Well, if you were intending to put us to sleep, that is." He added.
"Hey!" Nick protested, looking at his brother. "I've been working on this for a whole week!"
Jessica decided to intervene before things got out of hand. "I think what Toby meant was you need to be a bit more...creative. This is a creative writing assessment after all."
Lucas added, "Yeah, I mean all those facts are useful to know but, if they're the only thing in your speech, nobody is going to remember them."
"I guess you guys are right," Nick sighed. "I suppose I'd better make a start on a new sp-"
Before Nick could finish, the sky began to darken. The four friends all looked up at the sky and saw something falling towards them.
"Um, guys," Toby began nervously. "Is it just me or does that look too big to be rain?"
As the unknown objects hurtled down to earth, Nick yelled, "Stalactites!"
Sure enough, as they all looked up, they realized that Nick was right- at least, partially.
"Don't you mean burning stalactites?" Jessica asked, pointing at the sky.
"Let's get out of here!" Lucas said, getting up from the lounge chair.
The friends all rushed inside just as the stalactites hit the ground. They all breathed sighs of relief.
"Thank goodness I didn't have to go out there to fetch you guys." A familiar voice rang out and they all jumped. "I didn't really fancy becoming a reptilian kebab."
Toby turned around and came face to face with the speaker- their dinosaur friend, Razzle. Startled, they both screamed and fell over backwards.
The small dinosaur picked himself up as Jessica helped Toby to his feet. "Well, kids, you know the drill! There's-"
"Trouble in Gorm!" The four of them said in unison.
"Right!" Razzle said as they all headed towards the pantry. Once they had all slid their hands across the panel and gained access to the Primal Pad, he continued."There is a new lackey of Obscurio's." An image of a Lava Gormiti appeared on the screen. He had spikes on his arms and legs, running down his back to the end of his tail and on the edges of his sharp wings. Each and every spike looked deadly. "Stalagma." Razzle informed them. "He's as ruthless as the rest of them and has been attacking the Earth Nation in order to prove his worth to Obscurio."
"Okay, so that explains the burning stalactites." Lucas said. "What else do we know about Stalagma?"
"Only that if you're hit with one of those burning projectiles of his, they're incredibly difficult to get out. They cause great agony not only to the victim but also to whoever is trying to pull it out." Razzle told them.
"Sounds great." Lucas said sarcastically.
They all gathered around the Gorm Gate and waited for Razzle to tell them who had been chosen as Keeper. "And the Keeper is...Earth!"
Nick walked over to the Keeper's chair and moved up to the control panel. "Let's show this guy who he has to deal with if he causes any trouble." He said as he manipulated the crystals to allow the others through the Gorm Gate and access Gorm.
Jessica, Lucas and Toby all leapt through the portal, transforming into their Lords of Nature forms as they did so.
As his friends landed, Nick consulted the Travel Tome to see where they were. "Okay, you guys are in the Earth Nation capital. Any sign of our new Lava playmate?"
Toby looked around him before shrugging, "Doesn't look like it. Things seem quiet for the moment."
But he had spoken too soon. There suddenly came a loud cry from the Earth Gormiti. "He's back!"
A figure flew down and hovered over them, laughing menacingly as he fired his burning projectiles at the Earth Gormiti who scattered in fright.
"Hey, Stalagma!" Jessica yelled. "Didn't anyone teach you to fight fairly?"
The spiked Gormiti looked at the three of them with disdain. "Ah, I wondered when I would run into you, Lords of Nature." He bowed mockingly. "Pleasure to meet you."
Lucas frowned. "Shame we can't say the same for you." He held out his fist. "Blast of bark!" He shot his fist at Stalagma who waited until the last possible second before flying upwards to dodge it.
The Forest Lord groaned. "Aw, come on, how could I have missed?" He looked to his companions. "Either of you two wanna try taking him on?"
Jessica flew gracefully into the sky and turned so that she was facing Stalagma. Flinging her arm out, she yelled, "Fighting Feathers launch!" and several feather-shaped projectiles shot out of her outstretched hand.
She folded her arms and said, "Looks like you can't dodge out of the way this time!" She turned round and started to descend back to earth.
Behind her, she could hear the sound of evil laughter. Abruptly she spun round and gasped as her feathers impaled themselves on his spikes.
"Okay, Nick, this guy may be a little out of our league. Have you got anything to help us win?" Toby asked his brother hopefully.
Stalagma suddenly said, "Well, that wasn't much of a challenge. But don't worry, I'll be back soon!" He laughed maliciously as he flew away.
Toby repeated his question. "Nick, have you got any info or not?"
Nick projected his image from inside the Primal Pad. "I've checked the tomes but I can't find anything."
"That's a first." Lucas said, sounding surprised. Normally Nick would always be able to find some sort of information in the tomes.
"I didn't even get a chance to attack the guy!" Toby said miserably.
"I don't think you'd have had any more luck than we did, Toby." Jessica told him. "He's a lot tougher than we obviously anticipated."
"So what are we supposed to do? Hang around here until he comes back?"
Nick sighed. "Well, with any luck, he'll be back soon and it'll give me some time to recheck the tomes. I might have missed something." He manipulated the crystals and an image of Stalagma terrorising a village of Forest Gormiti materialised on the screen. "Guys, I'm gating you to the Forest Nation. He's attacking the Forest Gormiti!"
"Not if I can help it!" Lucas said determinedly.
Moving his fingers over the crystals, Nick guided his friends to the exact location of the ambush via teleportation.
The scene before their eyes was the same as the one they had seen in the Earth Gormiti. Stalagma was flying above the defenceless Forest Gormiti firing his burning stalactites at them. Like before, the terrified Forest villagers were fleeing as fast as they could.
"This is terrible!" Lucas cried. "I don't care how but we have to stop this guy!"
Toby placed his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll make sure he gets what he deserves."
"Ah, I wondered when I would have the pleasure of battling you again, Lords of Nature!" They looked up to see Stalagma floating above them.
"We're absolutely thrilled." Toby said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He moved foward quickly, launching his attack. "Aqua Blast!"
However, just as Jessica had predicted, his attack was no more successful than any of the others.
Stalagma let out a laugh and flew higher into the sky. The three of them looked up at him as he launched his burning stalactites directly at them.
Lucas and Toby both dodged out of the way but Jessica froze, knowing that she couldn't move away fast enough and there were so many of them approaching her that flying away simply wasn't an option.
Squeezing her eyes shut, she waited in nervous anticipation but, before the stalactites could hit her, she felt something slam into her, pushing her out of harm's way. She realized that the something was a someone when she heard a loud cry of pain and the sound of triumphant laughter.
Slowly opening her eyes, she picked herself up and looked round. Immediately, though, she wished she hadn't.
Toby was laid on his back, breathing heavily, his face contorted with pain. It was only when Jessica looked closer that she realized why- one of Stalagma's burning stalactites had embedded itself deep into his side. "No," she whispered. "Oh no."
Filled with a sudden fury, she turned toward Stalagma and, summoning all of her power, yelled "Wind Attack!" The blast of wind caught Stalagma off guard and he was thrown away by the wind, crashed heavily into a tree and was rendered unconscious.
Lucas watched his friend breathe deeply, her angry expression being replaced by one of concern, before she turned and ran back towards Toby, Lucas following suit. He was still conscious but even the smallest amount of movement was causing him a great deal of pain.
"Nick?" Lucas asked, as their friend appeared via hologram. "Toby's been hit by one of those burning stalactites. What should we do?"
Nick's expression became one of frantic concern. "Oh no, is he alright?"
Jessica looked up and snapped, "Yeah, he's fine! The stalactite in his side wasn't a big enough clue for you?"
Lucas placed his hands on Jessica's shoulders. "Calm down, Jess," he said in a placating tone. "We need to figure out how to help Toby and you getting angry isn't going to help."
Jessica sighed, knowing that Lucas was right. "I'm sorry." She said in a small voice. "It's all my fault."
Nick looked at her. "Jess, what are you talking about?"
"If I'd just moved out of the way, he wouldn't have had to risk his life for me." She began tearfully. "He's hurt because of me!"
It was then that the situation finally took its toll on her and she broke down in tears, collapsing onto her knees beside Toby.
"Heh...didn't know you...cared."
Jessica looked at him, her eyes widening. "I've always cared!" She sobbed, before adding, "Why? Why did you risk yourself for me?"
It was a while before Toby replied, "It...would have...hurt more if...if it was...you."
Her confusion clearly showing on her face, he continued, "You matter to me, Jess. More than...I thought anyone...ever would."
Jessica couldn't hold herself back. Without warning (and as gently as possible), she hugged him, smiling slightly as he wrapped his arms around her to hold her to him.
"I matter to you?" She whispered, looking at him with unshed tears in her eyes. "Oh, Toby..."
"Shhh," he comforted, continuing to hold her. "You mean a lot to me. I had to do what I could to protect you."
Nick's image suddenly reappeared. Jessica hadn't even realized he had gone. "I'm going to send you guys to Supreme Luminous. I think he's our best chance of helping Toby."
Lucas and Jessica nodded. Nick moved his hand over the golden crystal and it glowed brightly. As they were surrounded by a brilliant light, the last thing Toby heard before he finally lost consciousness was Jessica saying, "You matter to me too."
AN: Well, that's the end of the chapter. It's pretty long (probably to make up for my inactivity *runs away and hides*). Hope you enjoy reading it! :-)