Chapter 11: The Rainbow Faces Return
Sitting by a small campfire back in the Great Valley, Chomper, Fireclaw and Littlefoot sat around discussing things that had happened earlier that day. Chomper had ditched the semi truck miles from where they picked it up once Allo was able to zero in on their location and evacuate them from the area.
"So what did you feel when you went... well crazy?" Chomper asked.
"Rage. Uncontrollable rage. A kind of fury that honestly doesn't seem natural, and probably wasn't." Fireclaw replied.
"That sounds scary. Is that how you got so powerful suddenly?" Littlefoot asked.
"Pretty much. It happened before as well, the day your grandmother was nearly executed. That's probably what triggered it honestly." Fireclaw replied.
As they sat talking something caught Littlefoot's eye. A blue speck of light streaked across the sky and landed just over the great wall. The exact wall where Ozzy and Strut were chased out of.
"Hey guys! Look!" Littlefoot said as he pointed out the light.
"That's awesome!" Chomper shouted.
"Uh oh." Fireclaw said with a hint of concern.
"Is that another stone of coldfire? I thought it was rare that they even landed." Fireclaw said to himself under his breath.
"I'll be right back." He said as he got up and walked towards the field they were sitting in.
"What's wrong with him?" Littlefoot said.
"I think I know. One second." Chomper replied.
Fireclaw was jogging over to the wall when Chomper up to him.
"Fire, what's up? You seem worried." Chomper asked.
"Chomper if that's another stone of cold fire that could mean something bad. Just look what it does to me!" Fireclaw replied.
"Wait, do you mean that it could..."
"Yes Chomper that's exactly what I mean!"
"How would someone even activate the stone's power? It didn't for Pterano at all, why would it suddenly work for someone else?"
"Because he didn't burn the stone."
"Burn the stone? what?"
"The way to activate the stone's power is to temper it with heat! It's called 'cold' fire for a reason." Fireclaw said with a matter of fact tone.
"Is that why it's called that?" Chomper asked curiously.
"Hell I don't really know." Fireclaw replied.
"Well it's what you did right? You have a powerful sword, and you forged it yourself. Something happened." Chomper said.
"I know that." Fireclaw said.
Chomper and Fireclaw were stopped in their tracks by someone running towards them.
"What the? Where'd he come from?" Chomper asked.
A visibly battered and bruised egg stealer collapsed before they could ask who he was.
"What the?" Fireclaw said.
"He looks familiar." Chomper said.
"Wait what?" Fireclaw asked.
"STRUUUUUT!" A deep voice boomed out over the trees.
"Oh... shit..." Fireclaw said to himself.
"Uhh Fire, I think we know who this is." Chomper said.
"Chomper quick grab a shoulder, we need to get him out of here. Whoever that was is probably hot on his ass right now!" Fireclaw barked out.
Chomper and Fireclaw dragged Strut back towards the woods as fast as they could go. Two beams of light came down in front of them in the treeline.
"Damn, not another stone!" Fireclaw shouted.
"We'll figure it out later, just keep running!" Chomper shouted back.
The bushes mysteriously parted for them as they drew closer. They dropped Strut in a small clearing in the shrubbery and fell down themselves. Fireclaw turned onto his back and was met by two fast runners. They looked back at him with a sort of all-knowing gaze. The rainbows on their faces were something Fireclaw hadn't seen before.
"What the? Who are you?" Fireclaw asked.
"Who we are isn't important. What is important is what found the stone that just fell." The first rainbow face said.
"Wait, what? Who are these two?" Chomper asked.
"Again, our identities are of no importance. A stone fell that we weren't expecting to fall, and it could mean a great danger is approaching." The other rainbow face said.
"So another stone did fall. Littlefoot was right." Fireclaw said.
Littlefoot as if on cue burst through the bushes full speed. He was panting hard himself.
"There's someone, or something in the valley! It just jumped over the great wall!" Littlefoot exclaimed just short of panic.
"Wow, today just isn't getting easier is it." Fireclaw said.
"That stone created it. Fireclaw, you have a sword made of the stone, correct?" One rainbow face asked.
"Yea, wait, how'd you know?" Fireclaw replied.
"We are the stone's keepers. One fell one time before and almost meant the end of Littlefoot here and his friends. A foolish flyer thought he could harness its power." The other rainbow face said.
"You mean Pterano." Fireclaw replied.
"You know that name." The second rainbow face said.
"That bastard nearly murdered Littlefoot's grandmother. Yes I know that miscreant's name." Fireclaw replied coldly.
"Hm, interesting. Something else we hadn't expected." The second rainbow face replied.
"Fireclaw, what's going on?" Chomper asked.
"I thought you'd have known, sharptooth. You've seen the power of the stone unveil itself twice. I'm sure you understand fully what's happening." The first rainbow face replied.
Chomper remained silent.
Fireclaw unsheathed his sword and sat up in a crouched position. He thrust the blade into the ground.
"There's something out there. My sword is drawing power from another source. Whatever it is must be really powerful." Fireclaw said.
"Exactly. That stone that fell could have been mistaken for an egg. This one was unusual. It was a smooth, egg-like stone. We hadn't expected it to fall, yet now our search must begin to find it." The second rainbow face said.
"He could have it with him." Fireclaw replied.
"One doesn't need to possess the stone to retain it's powers. If one is susceptible enough to becoming corrupt, he could retain the power without even needing to have the stone in his possession in the first place." The second rainbow face replied.
Fireclaw looked through the bushes to see a dark mass materializing in front of him. Dark columns swirled and twisted around it as it began to take form. It was definitely the same form as strut, only darker and it's claws were almost three times as long as Fireclaw's.
"Holy shit. What is that?" Fireclaw asked. For once in his life he felt intimidated.
"That's what found the stone. We must not let it retain that power!" The rainbow faces both said in unison.
They raised opposite hands and began to create a ball of light in their palms. The figure noticed this and disappeared in a haze of black smoke that faded as quickly as it formed.
"This will be interesting." Fireclaw said as he walked out of the bushes.
Fireclaw looked around nervously as he anticipated an attack. Whatever this was could be anywhere, and Fireclaw wasn't chancing anything. He held his sword in his hand firmly in case it tried to disarm him when he wasn't looking. The rainbow faces walked out as well and faced back to back, searching for this mysterious form.
"Fireclaw look out!" Littlefoot shouted.
Fireclaw was blindsided by a dark haze. A thick smoke swooped down from the sky and hit him with enough force to roll him almost twenty feet. His sword stuck into the ground where he was standing before the cloud hit him. The figure took form close to him. Fireclaw rolled away from it but was thrown into the air by a black tendril that forced its way up from the ground beneath him.
"Hang on Fire!" Chomper shouted.
Chomper sprinted towards Fireclaw. He grabbed his sword out of the earth and charged on. Chomper immediately felt a tingling sensation grow up his arm as he brandished the weapon. His arm began to shoot streaks of glowing red energy in the shapes of lightning bolts. His arm turned pitch black and began to feel cold.
Chomper swung the sword and sliced the tendril that was about to catch Fireclaw as he came down.
"SHIT!" Fireclaw screamed before he hit the ground.
Chomper pointed the sword toward the figure. It took up a fighting stance that resembled something a martial arts master would do. Chomper went in with a downwards slice but was swept over when the egg stealer performed a swift takedown. Chomper recoiled and clipped the egg stealer's leg. The egg stealer raised its hand and summoned a tendril to throw Chomper. Chomper rolled and sliced it off at the base. The egg stealer recoiled in pain, Chomper found it's weakness.
"OZZY STOP!" Strut screamed from a distance.
"There you are!" The egg stealer replied in a demonic voice.
He tried to fire a tendril, but Chomper cut it in half and cut the egg stealer's face with a well timed back swing.
"So, you're Ozzy huh?" Chomper said.
"Ozzy is no longer!" The egg stealer replied.
Chomper's arm was grabbed by a tendril and was forced to the ground. Just as Ozzy went to take Fireclaw's sword Fireclaw intercepted with a flying punch to his face. Black blood spurted shot out as his fist made contact and sent Ozzy flying backwards. Fireclaw picked up his sword and thrust it skyward. Dark tendrils formed from the hilt and spiraled into the sky. Dark clouds formed around his blade as it formed itself into the claymore that it formed the previous two fights.
Ozzy fired two tendrils to try to grab Fireclaw, but Fireclaw backflipped over them and sliced them in half. They dissipated in mid air when his blade went through.
"You fight well, Fireclaw. Have your preparations been made?" Ozzy asked.
"Preparations? What?" Fireclaw replied.
Ozzy levitated up from the ground and stayed for a brief moment. He threw his head back and spread his arms and legs. He let out a bloodcurdling scream that shook the ground and knocked treestars from their branches. An explosion of dark clouds and black orbs erupted as Ozzy was thrown forward from where he was floating. He rolled and hit a tree. A dark form that resembled Ozzy stayed in the same position as before. Tendrils rose from the ground and grabbed the form's arms and legs, pulling it into the earth. Dark clouds and bubbles formed from the earth like boiling water as the form was pulled into the ground, then disappeared once the figure's head was below the surface. Nothing remained of the black figure.
"Fireclaw, you alright?" Chomper asked.
Fireclaw noticed Chomper's arm hadn't changed back after letting go of the sword.
"Oh don't worry about it. I'm sure it will go away." Chomper said.
"You fight well for an untrained sharptooth, Chomper." One rainbow face said.
"You got lucky now, but that form is the stone of coldfire's power with it's own body. It can take many forms, possess many individuals, and ultimately, if given enough power destroy the world." The other rainbow face said.
"How do we even beat that? He was raising shit out of the ground!" Fireclaw shouted.
"Your sword, Fireclaw." The first rainbow face said as he held his hand out.
Fireclaw handed him the sword. Both rainbow faces looked at each other and held their hands out in front of them. The sword began to levitate from their grasp. The sword enveloped itself in a bright light. Fireclaw could see it's shape changing from the simple broadsword to something more elegant and beautiful. The sword let off a shockwave of light that vibrated the ground. Floating point down was a sword more beautiful than Fireclaw had ever seen. The handle and hilt were a solid gold. The blade itself was a shiny silver that reflected Fireclaw's face like a mirror. A ruby, an emerald and a sapphire adorned the center of the blade.
"We come from a hallowed land. Our way of life is much different than yours. We devote ourselves to guarding the stones of cold fire. Their power is too great to lose, and if one is lost, the power could be misused and ultimately become a weapon." The first rainbow face said.
"The only weapon to defeat the power that the stones behold is a weapon so sacred, only few are ever able to use it. To prove their worth, the stone itself must be altered in some way. You, Fireclaw, have unlocked the magic of the blaze stone. Not all stones, as you've said, are activated by fire. You got lucky in finding the one that was, but the other stones, such as the Aerostone, the Hydrostone, the Spirit stone, and the Earth stone are activated in different ways." The second rainbow face said.
Fireclaw held the blade in his hands. It was twice as long as his sword he'd forged before.
"With the Blade of banishment, you now control the power of the spirits of dark and light. You, Fireclaw, can end what is beginning! You can stop the world from being devoured by the flames of wrath!" The first rainbow face said.
"There is a war going on in your world, is there not?" The second rainbow face said.
"How did you... yes." Fireclaw replied.
"The one who seeks to start this war has become the target for the stone's power. We can feel the stone's form as it lives on." The first rainbow face said.
"Fireclaw, that means-"
"Chomper, the stone is heading straight for Ghenghis Rex."