"Your service to our temple is appreciated. I now lay upon you a blessing that will allow you to pass through the magic fog." Brother Xian Bhi said. Making some gestures with his hands, our bodies were then covered with a golden glow that soon died out, though I didn't feel any different.

"The Temple of the North Wind was beset by the Amber Horde, protected only by a lone champion... the one called... Pigsy. The fog rose over their battle, and we have heard nothing from him since. There is no telling what you will find on the other side!"

Monkey King then spoke up. "Pigsy! I'm sure he's got them all sorted out! No worries... from here on out, it's all Turtle Balls!"

We thanked Brother Xian Bhi before returning to the fog, where I led the others in passing through the fog. We emerged unharmed onto the temple grounds, where a large staircase led up to a pavilion with a large, metal turtle statue sitting in the middle of a lotus-filled pond.

Walking up the stairs, we found a black-furred Pig smiling as he swept the floor of the pavilion, calmly stepping over the unconscious bodies of Amber Horde barbarians. He had a white fu manchu mustache and a goatee, and he wore a bamboo hat, blue robes, and a yellow scarf around his neck.

The Pig that could only be Pigsy bowed low to us as we stopped. "Greetings, strangers! You keep interesting company. With Monkey King in tow, I suspect you can only be after my Turtle Ball."

"So do you have it with you?" I asked, and Pigsy shook his head sadly as he brought an orb of jade. "Would that I could give it to you! When I heard the Amber Horde was coming, I sent it away... But my courier was captured. If you wish to recover my Turtle Ball, seek it in the ruined village. I am sure the Amber Horde has it in one of their halls."

"Ah, thank you, Pigsy-san... Hey, wait a minute!" I said, and everyone started laughing at my failure to realize that the orb of jade was the Turtle Ball. Turning red, I tried to block out their laughter as I accepted the Turtle Ball from Pigsy.

Nikolai put a hand on the Turtle Ball, and said, "The Turtle Balls get more powerful as you reunite them. They'll pack quite a punch once all of them are together. In fact, I could use them as magical amplifiers."

"You seem to know a lot about this stuff. We'll keep them in your care." I said as I handed over the Turtle Ball, and as he handed over his, Monkey King said, "Gotta collect 'em all!"

Monkey King then turned a bit more serious. "I swore to Shunzang I would help you get the rest, and the next one is with Friar Sand in the Temple of the East Wind."

"So that's where we're going." Emma said, but Monkey King shook his head. "No. Not yet. We need to go to Raven Island. I need to see a bird about a pearl."

"What's this, some kind of trick?" I asked suspiciously, keeping a hand on the hilt of my sword, and Monkey King turned to face me. "You want the Turtle Ball, right? Trust me."

I kept to myself the thought that trust was a bit wasted on Monkey King, who turned to Pigsy. "Pigsy! Come with us! Let's set the skies on fire!"

Pigsy shook his head as he returned to sweeping the pavilion. "Would that I could, my friend. I have sworn an oath to protect the Temple of the North Wind. The old days are over - my place is here."

If anything, Monkey King looked a bit disappointed, but he didn't protest his old friend's decision, and we returned to the Santo Oro to set sail. Raven Island was a snowy place to the south of the skyway, and we bundled up as we stepped off the gangplank.

Monkey King led us to the door of the single house on the island, where he opened the door for us to see a Raven crone look up at us from stirring the brew inside her cauldron. "Monkey King! And I suppose you're after my pearl. Well, you can forget bargaining for it, you swindler!"

"Why doesn't anyone ever want to make another deal with me?" Monkey King wondered aloud, and everyone, including the Raven crone, glared at him. "Right then... Attack Karasu!"

Karasu grabbed a bottle from a shelf behind her, and she smashed it onto the floor, covering the room in black smoke. When it faded, Tengu goblins appeared all around us, as well as ninja Pigs, and Karasu's hands glowed green with sorcery.

Drawing our weapons, we began to fight Karasu and her followers. Emma blasted a ninja as it leapt for her with a ninjato blade, and Monkey King batted away a Tengu goblin. A Ninja Pig blocked my sword strike, only to be stunned by my pistol, and Temeraire, who had been perched on my shoulder, started strangling a goblin with his long, snakelike body.

Karasu fired a blast of glowing green energy at Nikolai, who ducked as he hastily reached into his ditty bag. He brought out a crystal vial, and he scooped up some of the potion inside the cauldron to take a whiff of it. "Hmm... I see you're making a Everwinter Elixir. I presume you use it to provide a constant source for your ice magic?"

Karasu actually stopped to nod at Nikolai amidst all the fighting, and though I was kind of busy trying not to get my head lopped off, I could hear what Nikolai said next, "If you're skilled enough to make an Everwinter Elixir, then I assume you know what fire herbs, nitroshrooms, and scatterfish make."

"Black Powder Potion, of course." Karasu said triumphantly, and then her dark eyes widened in realization. "No, no, no, no! If you put those ingredients inside, the conflicting magical energies will make it-!"

"Explode? Yes, they will." Nikolai said as he brought out the ingredients with the most evil grin I've ever seen on a thirteen-year old. He dumped them all into the cauldron, and then it was his turn for his smile to fade as the brew glowed dangerously.

One moment, I was fighting a Ninja Pig and Tengu goblin at the same time, the next, I was being hurled back by an explosion into a large pile of snow, and not a second later, Emma crashed into me, with both of us in a daze.

"Ugh... Now that I think about it, that wasn't the smartest idea I've ever had." Nikolai said, coughing as he emerged from the snow, his face covered in soot, and everyone still conscious shouted, "GEE, YOU THINK?!"

Monkey King brushed the snow off of him, and he hurried to the unconscious Karasu, where after a few seconds of searching, he brought out a large pearl the size of a stone.

Emma rolled off of me, and I walked to Monkey King's side. "You have your pearl. Now we have to get to Friar Sand."

Monkey King nodded as he stood up, putting the pearl into a pouch on his belt. "The only way is through a charming place known only as the Corrupted Shrine. I know, right?"