Chapter 17. It's getting a lot easier to write the chapters now, adding more personality makes it more fun for me and my readers, hopefully. R&R.

Curio started to fiddle with some test tubes, bringing the proper medicine to each human, and the cough medicine Jyan had requested. Jay took the odd, glowing potion Curio handed him, swished it around, and then scowled at it. Anna, Correre's book owner, nudged him. "He may be heartless, but he is a doctor. Try it. It doesn't taste good, but it'll bring back your strength." She said, downing the drink in one gulp. She coughed, and then stood up, going back to her Mamodo. Jay looked at her leaving, and then back at the drink. He shrugged.

"Bottoms up, I guess." He pinched his nose and swallowed it whole. He spat what he could out immediately.

"What is this stuff?" He asked. It tasted like rotten eggs and gym socks. He made a face, and laid the tube on the ground.

"Huh?" He blurted, feeling strange. The brown book was glowing madly. He felt powerful and strong. He stood up without a problem.

"I told you." Anna smiled, winking at him. Jay walked over to Dr. Curio.

"Having a nice summer, young man?" He asked without turning around.

"Sure. I just wanted to…" Jay was cut short.

"I know you have a strong bond with your Mamodo. I wish I could have the same impartial outlook as you." Curio pondered, staring back at Sosa the worm Mamodo's vital signs.

"Well, then, why don't you?" Jay asked, confused.

"Because this battle is foolish and the Mamodo are generally evil creatures." Curio retorted, still keeping his eyes on his experiments.

"Anna was right. You don't have respect for anyone. You don't even care enough to look at me!" Jay whined.

"You're a very opinionated young boy, aren't you? Just relax, you'll get to where you're going without me." Curio replied nonchalantly. Jay slinked off, a little disappointed.

Meanwhile…

"Simon, give me a spell. I want to destroy them immediately." Terra commanded, smiling.

"Okay. Seismos!" Simon cast, as Terra hopped up and slammed back into the ground, causing an earthquake. The violent shaking wisped Hawke and Prima off their feet.

"Uh! Prima, get… me… off… the… ground…." Hawke asked, as he was thrown up and down by Terra's spell.

"Icardom!" Prima yelled shakily, as she too was thrown around. Terra laughed.

"Bye, bye, birdie!" She laughed again. She gulped when Hawke blasted through her, his wings allowing him to fly above the earthquake. He drifted to the ground, the earthquake spell no longer active. Prima stood up, only bruised a little. The cracks on the floor were everywhere.

"So, you control the earth, right?" Hawke asked, as Terra struggled to hop up off the ground. Her book owner picked her up.

"Thank you, Simon. Now, for a more powerful spell." She ignored Hawke's question as she gained a smug look.

"Jugaru Seismos!" Simon cast, as Terra hopped and smashed into the ground again.

"I'm not falling for that again!" Hawke shouted back, flying high up to the ceiling of the rectangular room. He was surprised when he turned back and three huge boulders were flying up at him.

"Ahh!" He gasped, as the heavy boulders brought him back to the ground, smashing him.

"That was quicker than I expected. You, book keeper, give me your spell book." Terra commanded Prima, hopping over to her. Prima stepped back, worried. Terra hopped closer, and Prima gripped the book tighter with each step she took. Then they heard the boulder shift.

"Huh?" Terra gasped, as the huge boulder went flying at her, smashing her against the wall. Prima looked back to see Hawke, battered and bruised, wiping some blood from his lip.

"Prima, save your energy. We're still tired from that battle with Luna. Just let me handle it." Hawke turned away from her, and clawed away the boulder to get to Terra. He grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up.

"Get lost." He growled at her. Terra smiled.

"You first. Simon! The fourth spell!" Terra yelled. Hawke jumped back, letting her go, but Simon cast the spell quickly.

"Orshir Seismos!" He yelled, as Terra opened her mouth, a tornado appearing out of it.

"I thought her power was earth!" Prima yelled back. She was about to get her answer. Boulders arose out of the earth and clung to the tornado, as it fired itself at Hawke. It absorbed him, barraging him with boulders. When the spell finally ended, it threw him into the wall, and he slunk back down to the ground, badly wounded.

"You should be a nice little book keeper and hand over the book." Terra smiled, again hopping toward Prima.

"What kind of book owner would I be…" She asked, struggling to keep her knees straight.

"If I just let my Mamodo be defeated! Bekaradoma!" She cast, as Hawke slowly arose out of his corner. He began to spin and launched at Terra, knocking her out of the way. She flew into the wall, but came out nearly untouched. However, she was very angry.

"Why don't you just stay down, you little fly! I'll swat you like the insect you are! Simon, use our ultimate spell!" Terra shouted back at her bookkeeper, who gulped at her anger.

"OK… OK… Dioga Oru Seismosa!" He cast reluctantly, as a huge shadow appeared over Prima. She looked up.

A huge boulder was above her, waiting to drop from the ceiling. She cringed, and fell backwards. It started to fall at an amazing speed. "Swoododom!" She cast in an effort to save herself. Hawke flew in and grabbed her, just in time as the boulder crushed the ground that was beneath her.

"Didn't I tell you to stay still?" She asked angrily, as she looked back at Simon with the 'evil eye'. He cringed, and quickly opened the book again.

"Jugaru Seismosa!" He yelled out in reply, as Terra jumped and smashed back into the ground again, sending three boulders up at them. Hawke flew out of the way of each one, his speed greater then that of her spells. Prima smiled, and then looked down at Hawke for assurance. He was breathing heavily, but looked determined. They slowly drifted back to the ground, and Hawke struggled to stay on his feet.

"You're looking tired. Why don't we put this battle to bed, then? Simon!" She called back to her book owner. He looked at the book, a little winded.

"Wavaru Seismos!" He cast quietly, as Terra smashed into the ground again. A huge wave of rocks erupted in the shockwave, forcing its way over to Hawke and Prima.

"Get behind me." Hawke told his book owner, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Prima looked up, surprised.

"I said, get behind me!" He commanded, she did as she was told, a little scared. The wave of rocks came closer and closer, until it smashed full force into Hawke. He took it well, as the part of the wave that hit him broke off, and the rest of it traveled behind him until it smashed into the back wall. He shrugged the stone of the front of his body, and scoffed.

"Hawke…" Prima raised her hand to help him. He looked back with a coy smile.

"That spell was weaker. I think that book keeper of hers is running out of heart energy." Hawke replied, looking forward again. Prima smiled back, and then walked up beside him. He looked down at her.

"Good. 'Cause I have a plan." She said, looking back up at him. Prima cast 'Icardom' again, and they flew high into the air until they were near the ceiling. She pointed out an opening, which Terra and Simon had got there through, and they pretended to fly toward it. The short Mamodo growled.

"Are you trying to escape? I don't think so! Simon, shoot them out of the sky with 'Jugaru Seismosa'!" Terra commanded her book owner.

"Jugaru Seismosa! Jugaru Seismosa! Jugaru Seismosa!" Simon yelled over and over again, Hawke weaving in and out, as the boulders crashed and cracked the ceiling above them. Hawke and Prima dodged all nine boulders with little difficulty.

"Use 'Dioga Oru Seismosa'! With them so close to the ceiling, it'll be unavoidable!" Terra commanded.

"Um, Terra… I… Can't…" Simon blurted weakly, as Terra turned.

"What?" She gasped, finding him lying on his back against the wall, out of breath and out of heart energy. She turned back angrily to Hawke and Prima.

"Impossible! I… I can beat you without spells! I'm Terra, nothing you can do can defeat me!" She yelled at them defiantly.

"I don't have to do anything." Hawke smiled at her. She raised a brow, as Prima aimed up. She looked, to find a crumbling ceiling just an attack away from falling down.

"Heheh." Hawke laughed, knocking on the ceiling. The rocks in the ceiling shifted, then shattered, crushing Terra under the rocks. Muffled cries erupted from the pile of rock, but they were faint and indistinguishable.

"Seismos! Seismos! Why won't anything work!" Simon yelled into his book, pounding it.

"I think you're through." Hawke smiled, walking toward the book owner. He took one look at Hawke and fled as quickly as he could, crying along the way. Hawke grabbed the ochre book of Terra's and threw it high into the air.

"Bekaradoma!" Prima yelled, destroying the ochre book. A wisp of air arose out of the pile of rocks, as they shifted. Something clinked, rolling out of the rock pile to Hawke's feet. He picked it up.

"It's an emerald ring." He stated, a strange green light fading from it.

Meanwhile…

"Don't take it personally, kid, he's just that way to everybody." Anna consoled Jay, hopping on Correre.

"I want you to get everybody together. We can't stay in one place for too long." She said, bringing out the bright yellow book.

"Says you." Multos barged in, his tall hair reaching Anna's gaze before his face.

"The next Mamodo we face should be in the sewers. We'll be completely safe here," Multos said confidently.

"Right, Dun?" He asked his book owner for assurance.

"I… I don't think so!" He called back, scared.

"Ah, Multos. It's been a while." Ramon said, stepping out of a door and unto a tiny cliff above them.

"I think Anna is right. This would be the perfect time to move along, and face my dragon brigade in the sewers. Demetra!" He yelled, so that the attention of all the Mamodo belonged to him.

"Royaruk!" A female voice rang out, as the royally dressed Mamodo fired an emerald at the floor.

"It's huge!" Shu added, grabbing Alex and pushing him out of the way.

"All the Mamodo! Carry your human partners! Sosa, Curio, I can take you on Correre! Hurry!" Anna yelled back, letting the rest of the teams run ahead as Sosa and Curio hopped on Correre.

"Ikaterr!" Anna yelled, as an aura surrounded Correre. They charged out, the huge emerald drilling behind them.

"Alan! Move faster!" Jay yelled, looking back at the emerald.

"I'm going as fast as I can!" He yelled back, dashing ahead of Shu and Alex, and then Multos and Dun.

"Hey! There's an entrance up ahead!" Anna yelled back to the other teams, who followed her closely. Ramon followed the spectacle until they were out of sight.

"Heheh. All according to plan." Ramon laughed, traveling through the door, closing it behind him.

…

"Phew." Jyan wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead.

"Glad that's over."

"It's not over yet." Multos replied, to the surprise of the Mamodo.

"We still gotta get through the sewers."

"Hey, where's Jhouru?" Alan asked, looking around.

"Over here." Chikushou called lifelessly. They scrambled over.

"I'm sure he'll be okay." Curio assured, not exactly caring, but stating facts.

"I'm not worried about that." Chikushou said, rising from his kneeling position over an unconscious Jhouru.

"What I am worried about is when he'll wake up. The book might get burned while this kid is sleeping." Chikushou replied nonchalantly, shrugging.

"We'll trek ahead while Jhouru heals, okay?" Jay said.

"K." He replied simply, sitting down, a little tired himself. The group went on ahead, Jay and Alan looking back at them.

"We have to send someone back for them." Alan said, worried.

"Don't worry, Hawke will probably reach them before we get back." Jay smiled weakly. The smile was fake, but he knew he was telling the truth.

…

"Rin Infemor!"

"Merva!"

"Jay, look out!" Alan yelled pushing Jay out of the way. The others jumped away from the two spells. A blast of water and rings of acid were dodged.

"Igor, you're really going to start out with a weak spell like that?" A woman asked.

"I… want to see how powerful they are?" Igor said hopefully.

"Just attack!" Another voice rang out, followed by a hiss.

"Who are they, Multos?" Jay asked.

"Probably Serpent and Pong. I know those spells too well." Multos said in disgust.

"Who cares who they are, just attack while we can!" Jyan yelled.

"Chikelga!"

"Giga Azurio!" The two blasts fired into the darkness.

"Those weak spells are insulting." A voice rang out, closer than before. From the darkness, two slithering snake-like beings emerged. One was a basilisk, and the other a blue dragon-like, spiked and horned Mamodo.

"Give me a challenge!" The blue dragon yelled, launching himself at them.

Meanwhile…

A huge earthquake erupted from beneath Lorelei's feet. Mortisimor fell back at the violent shaking. "Why do we have to fight…" Lorelei whispered, a tear rolling down her cheek.

(End of Chapter 17: 85 Mamodo left)

There's chapter 17… excited that another book was finally burned? Continue reading, more chapters will be here soon. And thanks for the reviews, keep 'em coming!