Sorry that the main characters aren't getting names in this chapter, believe me they were supposed to, then chapter 1 dragged on for too long and I had to split it in two and push the original chapter 2 back one. Again, I'm sorry.

The Malefor Chronicles Book 1: The Return of Malefor

Chapter 2: The Plan Fails Miserably

After 20 minutes of walking through the hole, which was now clearly a sewer, the boy was waist deep in foul smelling water. In the distance, a prison guard could be heard.

"Pipe down, or it's another round o' punishment for all o' yall."

A few whimpers of fear were heard, but after that the only thing that could be heard was the dripping of water farther in the sewer.

"How are we going to get them out without getting caught?" asked the gem.

"Well, the guard sounds pretty temperamental so he probably can't put up with much for long." answered the boy, "If he gets angry enough, he'll walk out to let off some steam, and that's when we'll strike."

"Alright, wise guy, just remember, no casualties and- "said the gem.

"And don't get caught, yeah I know." the boy interrupted.

At that moment, a door slammed shut farther in the tunnel system in the direction they heard the guard.

"I think he left." stated the gem.

"Or someone else just came down here." replied the boy.

"Wow, thanks for the morale boost, Captain Brightside." said the gem with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"Don't mention it." the boy responded, not noticing the sarcasm.

Down a side tunnel, going in the direction that the guard and door were heard, a faint light was streaming down from the roof of the tunnel. The boy approached the source of the light, which was a rusted metal grate looking up at the sky through what remains of a roof. The boy unclipped the grapple from his belt and looped the hook through the rusted bars.

"What are you doing?" asked the gem.

"The grates old and weak, so if I pull with enough force I should be able to bust it open." answered the boy as he pressed a button on the grapple then walked as far as the it's chain would allow then started to retract the hook.

After a couple of seconds, the grate gave way and fell into the water. The boy climbed up into what remained of a house. Inside the house were a few chairs, although most of them were broken, and a table with a cage on top, which looked like it had a purple blanket locked inside. The blanket started to whimper and the boy went over to take a closer look. Instead of a blanket, there were half a dozen purple creatures.

"Any idea what these things are?" asked the boy.

"No, I don't have any information on them." answered the gem.

"Alright, we'll worry about that later then," said the boy, "for now, let's just get these things out of here before the guard retur- "

"INTRUDER!"

The boy whipped around and saw a creature whom he assumed was the guard back from whatever break he was on. The creature was orange with brown spots and hooped ears. The boy slammed his hand on the ground and a wall of earth erupted between him and the creature, turned around, grabbed the cage and climbed onto what remained of the roof.

"Greebles," complained the boy, "why did it have to be greebles?"

Down below another greeble yelled for the guards and to lock the gates. Trolls started streaming out of other houses, taking aim with their spears as best they could. The boy kept running as he activated the 9-mm wrist cannon and returned fire. Overhead, a troll warship flew past, dropping trolls onto the roof in front of the boy. He activated his sword and sliced through them, the ones who he defeated turned into multi-colored orbs while those who weren't ran off the roof onto the ground below.

"Whatever happened to no casualties" asked the gem.

"I believe that all went out the window when the guard saw us." responded the boy.

"Fair point." agreed the gem, "But how are we going to get out of here now that the gates are locked?"

"Why, that's elementary my dear Watson." said the boy.

"My name's not Watson." the gem snapped back.

"I know, now let me have my moment." responded the boy.

"It's always your moment." said the gem

"Exactly, now as I was saying, we can get out by blasting a hole in the wall because I can't fight or grapple up the wall with these things." said the boy as he slightly raised the cage, "And we don't have enough time or energy to use any magic, so I've decided to use the light cannon."

"Are you crazy?" asked the gem, alarmed that the boy is considering going through with his plan, "Because if so, it would confirm my suspicions."

"That's one reason I want to use it, not because I'm crazy, but because I want to test the probably dangerous, unstable weapon strapped to my left arm every day." responded the boy.

He activated the cannon, aimed it at the wall, then fired, leaving a gaping hole in the wall. The boy ran to the edge of the roof and jumped through the hole onto the air dock 2 feet from the hot air balloon. The gates behind him opened, letting through an army of trolls. The boy ignored them and ran to the balloon, cut the rope holding down as he ran past, then jumped inside. He started to steer it out of the range of the troll's weapons. Once he got 10 meters from the edge of the dock, a computerized voice said, "SIMULATION COMPLETE. RESETING ISLANDS."

The boy looked down at the collection of islands and saw the entire fort disappear as well as the cage on the floor of the balloon's basket.

"So, what do you say to returning to the Academy?" the boy asked.

"We don't have anything else to do, so why not?" the gem asked back.

"I hate it when you answer my questions with a question." the boy responded.

"I know, that's why I do it." the gem said, as the balloon made its way back to the Academy.

I hoped you liked this chapter even though the back half was made up on the spot and the characters still don't have names. Chapter 3 will take a while to write but I should have a lot of time over the Mardi Gras break (go Louisiana), so it should be up next week, maybe, it depends on what comes up. Anyway, check back next week for chapter 3!