Chapter 21: The Story That Came to Life
"Auzzy, can you see anything?" the man asked over his communication device.
"No, Master Geris, at least not from my… wait, I see him." The boy replied, shielding his eyes from the sun to better see.
"Alright, that's good. All we need to do is get behind the beast. The empress said that his weak point was between his shoulders."
"Right, I'm on it. Wait, why did it suddenly get so dark?" the boy asked, looking up at the sky when he heard Geris cry out in pain.
"AHH!"
"Master Geris! Get away from him, you monster!"
"No, Auzzy! Stay back! You must get out before it's closed!"
"But, Master, What about…"
"Take my ring! NOW GO!" Geris tossed the lad the ring as he began running back for the palace, the sky becoming darker and darker.
"No. No! NOOOOOOO!" Cried Auzzy as the darkness closed around him, and all became still.
Lillianne stirred, her vision clearing as she pushed herself off the rough carpet and rubbed her face where a bright red carpet burn stood out, the smell of dust, paper, and ink filling her nose. She tenderly touched the sore and then looked around at where she was. Everywhere she looked were shelves of books with titles like 'Swiss Family of France,' 'The Sun and Moon Siblings,' and 'The Goddess Diaries,' In the middle of the room was one book that stood out from all the rest. It was a giant leather-bound book sitting on a pedestal-like platform. On the cover was an emblem of a maple leaf made of gold, while silver veins spread across its surface, encircled by a gold-leaf seal. Lillianne tried to remember how she came to this strange place, but everything she tried to remember seemed fuzzy. And where were the others?
"Matthew? Jenny? Helen? Olsen? Jack? Alden? Where are you guys?" she called, but no one answered. She turned her attention back to the giant book, feeling it call to her, pulling her towards it as if it were an old part of herself. She took a step when a hand grabbed hers, stopping her.
"Are you sure you want to read that book?" Lillianne turned and reached for her halberd from her back, only to find it missing. She panicked until a thin gentleman with thick glasses and a magnificent white mustache entered the light. He wore brown slacks and slippers with a fine white linen shirt covered by a wine-red vest.
"I'm sorry to have startled you, young miss. But I ask you again, are you sure you want to read that book?" The man asked, pointing to the large book.
"Not really; why do you ask." Lillianne huffed, pulling her hand from his grip, feeling the book's pull. The man shuffled closer as his blue-grey eyes became serious.
"That book is not safe. It is a book created by magic, and only those who are brave enough dare read through its pages." Lillianne became confused and then looked back at the book, walking up to the cover and reading the stamped silver letters: 'The Guards of Ledron.' The title seemed familiar to Lillianne. As if she something knew of something similar but couldn't remember what.
"Go ahead, open me…" someone whispered in her mind. She reached for the smooth cover but was stopped again by the man.
"No, this book isn't safe. The stories you are used to are stories you can read and close when you become scared or tired. This book is not one you can open and close as you please. Once you open these pages, you cannot stop until you have finished, or else things may change that can never be undone may change." Lillianne looked back to the book, wanting so badly to know what secrets, what tales lay dormant between those covers.
"Most people who have read this book find themselves terrified and close it, not knowing what would happen or completing their destiny." Those words made Lillianne want to read the book more than before, pulling free of his grip and reaching for the giant book again.
"Very well, if that is your choice. But, remember, under no circumstance are you to close the book once you have opened it." The man warned, stepping back into the dark, his glasses being the last to disappear. Chills raced up Lillianne's spine as she watched him fade into the shadows. She turned back to the book and laid her hand on the cover: something like an ancient power surged through her arm, almost forcing her to open the cover to the first page, the binding's glue crackling with the movement. Fine calligraphy wound and swooped, revealing the first title: 'Chapter One, The Darkness.' Turning the fine parchment page, she began to read.
"It was a dark day. The clouds hung low over the valley like thick smoke, obscuring everything from view, almost unable to see your hand in front of your face. Something crashed through the trees, breaking them down with its bare hands. Up ahead of this creature, Mano the Ancient Snail and his oldest friend Bob, along with another traveler, Shade of the Flow Clan and his pet Stirge, Kebe heard the rumbling of whatever it was and became nervous until, when the last tree fell, it revealed a Muscle Stone that had been walking through the trees.
"What on earth are you doing?! You nearly squashed my friend and I," called Mano. The Muscle Stone grunted as his heavy footsteps lumbered into the small camp, towering 18 feet above them all.
"Me sorry. Me no try to hurt anybody. Me so hungry, could eat mountain." Muscle Stone looked down at his feet and then sat down as gently as he could, but he still managed to shake the ground as he sat.
"Yum Yum, these stone tasty looking." He said, grabbing a head-sized boulder and biting into it like a piece of fruit.
"Ah, that tasty. Where me come from in north, rocks all gone. Been searching for long time for something to eat. Beautiful lake also be gone around home."
"Did someone just come and take them all?" asked Shade, floating closer to him.
"Muscle Stone no know, but me do know that great darkness is there now. Lake is not there anymore."
"Did this Great Darkness take its place?" Mano asked.
"No. It just gone. Many of Muscle Stone friends went to find lake, but they too gone. In great darkness."
"The same thing is happening in the west where my clan is from! This great darkness is swallowing everything." Shade exclaimed.
"The same is happening in the land of the snails. Large portions of land are disappearing and replaced by this great darkness." Mano replied.
"That's why me chosen to go to Palace in Orbis to see empress. Me people ask if there something she can do."
"I'm on that same journey!" Shade exclaimed, as did Mano.
"We'll go there together! And together, we shall find an answer!" shouted Shade. Muscle Stone nodded and stood again, running off through the trees as Shade and Mano followed him to Orbis and the Palace Tower where she resided." Lillianne left the book momentarily, returned with a comfortable chair, then turned the page: 'Chapter Two, The Empress' Chambers.'
The three new friends crested the hill just outside the Ellinia Forest and revealed to them the grand Palace Tower, shining like a diamond in the setting sun behind it.
"Me never thought Palace look so pretty." Muscle Stone said as he paused briefly and then continued climbing the hundreds of stairs that lead up around the spire and into the throne chamber of the Empress, where hundreds, if not thousands, of others from around Ledron had come, seeking help from the Empress. All of them mulled about in a low buzz until Neinheart, the Empress' most trusted friend and advisor, came forward, taking from his face the monocle with a grave look.
"Great Neinheart, we have come from all over Ledron to seek help from the empress from the Great Darkness that is swallowing up our homes. Is there something the Empress can do to stop this from swallowing the entirety of Ledron?" one of the Masks of the East asked. Sadly, Neinheart shook his head.
"I'm sorry to say that she cannot help any of us. The Great Darkness is somehow linked to the illness the empress has been inflicted with. However, fear not; word has been sent to the Five Great Tribes in the Land who will send their best warriors to help us: Matthew of the Desert, Helen of the Forest Mages, Jennifer of the Plains Archers, Olsen of the Kerning Clan, and Jack of the Nautilus Beach Gunslingers." Mulling in the crowd began to rise when some of the crowd in the back turned to face the five young people who had entered the throne room and approached the stairs.
"Who are you?" Neinheart asked with a coldness hanging on the edge of his words.
"We are the ones you have sent for," Matthew replied, setting his hand on the heavy Justice Mace hanging from his belt, the Gauntlet rattling as he did.
"We didn't send for children! We sent for the strongest warriors of the Five Great Tribes. Who are you?"
"I am Matthew Of the Desert." He announced, the bright red Battle Lord full plate armor shimmering in the light as he bowed.
"I am Helen of the Forest Mages." Helen's Enigma clothes fitted to her body, leaving her waist bare while the slits in the dress came to her hips, the light sparkling from the gold ring hanging from the goat skull of her Kage Staff.
"I am Jennifer of the Archer Plains." Her long sapphire blue coat was fitted to her body, covering the snug black shirt and pants while her red arrows and Black Arund bow slung around her shoulders as she adjusted her Falcon Helmet.
"I am her hunting companion, Alden." The celion said, standing just above Jennifer's knee at his shoulder while his white fur radiated a strange red flame-like aura. Olsen crossed his arms and looked at Neinheart with a cold light in his eyes.
"Olsen of the Kerning Clan." He said shortly, his red shirt somewhat ragged at the shoulders but sturdy-looking with a studded collar around his neck. A red flag with a white skull and crossbones woven into the fabric hung at his waist and embroidered onto the black hat, covering a pure white bandana. The gold that decorated his Black Mamba claw sparkled in the low light.
"Jack here, of the Nautilus Beach Gunslingers," Jack announced proudly, holding up his fist and showing off his Knucklers, the Red Steel, while at the same time flexing for the audience, some of the girls swooning over him. He wore a white shirt and pants with a heavy brown belt around his waist while a bright azure cowl hung over his left arm and shoulder. Neinheart snorted as they introduced themselves.
"You are mere children! We asked for warriors! Not playmates!" he thundered. Helen then curtseyed respectfully.
"Then we shall return from whence we came. Find another to help you." Lillianne felt saddened that Neinheart didn't believe they were the ones whom he had called.
"No! You can't leave! You were the ones called!" she said.
From somewhere in the crowd, Neinheart heard someone calling to the five, making him look around to see who had spoken. Fear gripped his heart that they would be unable to find others to help them.
"Wait. If you are indeed the warriors we sent for, then would you please help us here in Ledron?" the six of them turned back to Neinheart and ascended the stairs again with determination.
"What is it that we must do?" Jennifer asked as she returned.
"You must find a cure for the Empress and find a way to stop this Great Darkness from taking all of Ledron away from us." Jack pounded his fist into his palm and cracked his knuckles.
"Sounds easy enough. All we need to do is crack some heads and beat it outta them."
"No: this mission must be done without weapons or force; otherwise, it could lead to an uprising against our good empress."
"Then what chance do we have of finding this cure for you without our weapons?" Matthew asked.
"You may find your end on this journey, but if you take your weapons, you may find that you will be doing more harm than good." The five looked at each other, then took their weapons from their bodies and sent them down at Neinheart's feet.
"I have sought out the Ancient Voice of Minerva, and she has said that the only help we can give you are these, the Gaia Cloaks. Wear these as a symbol of the authority given to you by the empress, as well as for protection and guidance on your journey." The Five of them took the five different colored cloaks and slung them around their shoulders, securing them with the red maple leaf broach.
"Now go! There isn't much time!" Neinheart urged as the five left the palace and spread out to the four winds, searching everywhere for a cure for the empress, even seeking out the most powerful wizards, mages, and potion makers. But the five of them couldn't find a cure. Just as they began their journey, an ancient evil sensed their embarking: The Dark Dragon. He opened his angry violet eyes, leaving his cave in a hurricane of winds, and began a quest in search of blood. After a week of searching, the five came back together near the Stream of Nathen that descended in a cool brook from the El Nath Mountains.
"We have searched everywhere and yet have no clue as to what we need to find," Alden said as he lay in the grass and began sniffing through Jennifer's bag for something to eat.
"Alden, stop that," Jennifer exclaimed.
"Alden has the right idea, Jennifer. We have traveled long and still have a long way to go. We must eat to keep up our strength." Helen said wisely, pulling a small package of rice balls from her sleeve while the guys did the same. Lillianne also began to feel her hunger pains, searching for something to eat and finding a small plate of bread and cheese beside her. She dove into it with ravenous hunger initially but slowed as she read on.
"We mustn't overeat. Besides, there might not be any later on." Olsen said coldly.
"Very true, Olsen. We still have a long, long way to go." Lillianne stated, putting down the loaf of bread and continuing to read, turning the pages and not even stopping to read the chapter's title.
Still, they searched through the Great Stones of the Mine of the Dead, the calm yet deceiving Black Sand desert, and even the Glass Caves near the dragon's nests. But still, they found no clues as to what could cure the Empress. Their only remaining lead was to find the sage Grendal, the Ancient One, who resided at the Pillar Rock in the center of the Everglades of Despair. Everyone in Ledron had heard tales of these Glades and how to walk through the thick mud and slime, you mustn't give in to despair, or else any injury you receive will never heal. Depending on the wound, you could die, or you would begin to sink into the thick mud. As they walked, however, something ran through the scarce trees surrounding the Glades, watching them with hungry eyes and clicking chirps.
"Stay on your toes, guys; I've heard legends say that the Wyverns are the masters of this swamp," Jack warned, putting up his fists, itching for a fight. From out of the thick fog, a winged creature attacks, making them all turn to defend themselves, trying not to get bitten or scratched since it amplified the effect of the Everglades. It didn't take long for the group to protect themselves against such beasts while Alden jumped from tree to tree, batting the creatures from the air for his companions to eliminate them.
"Is that all, Master?" Alden growled, panting and huffing.
"Yes, I believe so, Alden. Thank you for your help." Jennifer huffed, realizing she smelled blood. Alden nodded and then fell over on his side, revealing a large gash in his side as blood dripped down into the mud and stained his fur.
"ALDEN!" Jennifer shouted, calling for Helen and asking her to use her healing abilities. Quickly, Helen hovered her hands over the wound, which slowly began to close, but something overpowered her spell as the wound started to open again. Helen used even more power, but the wound would only close a little and then open again. Helen looked Jennifer in the face and slowly shook her head.
"Alden, please! You can't give in to despair!" Alden picked his head up and seemed to smile at her.
"Jennifer, what's the use? We've been traveling for over a week and still have not found anything that would lead to a cure." Jennifer's eyes began to mist. As she begged Alden not to give in, he began to sink into the thick mud.
"ALDEN! You're sinking!" Jennifer stood and began to pull his paws out of the mud. Jack and Matthew ran over, trying to lift him from the pungent mud, but no matter what they did, Alden kept sinking further and further.
"ALDEN PLEASE FIGHT IT! YOU STUPID CELION PLEASE!" Jennifer screamed as she, too, began to sink into the mud as despair slowly overtook her. Jack grabbed her and hauled her from the mud, hanging onto a tree with her in his arm, only able to watch as Alden sank from view into the thick mud.
"Jenifer, despair had already overtaken him. It was already too late for him." Olsen called, coming closer to the tree.
"NO! NO! LET ME GO! I CAN STILL SAVE HIM! ALDEN! ALDEEEEN!" But Alden was gone, leaving staring at the watery spot where Alden had sunk into a moment before. Jennifer's sorrow overtook her, making her heaves and cries intensify to where all she could do was ball into Jack's chest, pounding on him in frustrated grief. Jack only closed his eyes as he tried not to let her despair become his, trying to comfort her. Lillianne looked up from the book, her face and eyes drenched in tears: it was almost as if she could feel Jennifer's pain like she was right there with them.
"We need to keep moving. Dusk is coming, and I don't want to be here when night falls." Matthew urged. Jack nodded and jumped down from the tree to set Jennifer down. But the moment her feet touched the ground, she began to sink, not caring what happened to her anymore. Jack shook his head as he picked her up onto his back and began to walk for her. Even though she was in such a stagnant state, he didn't want to leave her behind, not when they had come so far. Slowly yet steadily, they slopped through the Everglades for hours until Helen looked up, and Lillianne's eyes widened.
"I see Pillar Rock ahead. We must be close to Grendal." Helen called. The four of them quickened their pace until they stood near it, searching for something that looked like a house, but no matter where they turned, they couldn't see anything. They began calling Grendal's name when the ground they stood on began to shake a shudder as the Pillar turned to Helen, his long and matted beard crackling from the caked mud, as was his hair and clothes. His face seemed distorted from the caked mud as he opened his glowing blue eyes. The sight was overwhelming for Lillianne. Letting out a shrill scream in terror, she reached under the cover to slam it shut when a voice came to Lillianne.
"No, don't! Please!" All at once, she reached into the book, holding the pages from closing, and looked around to see who had spoken. The sky remained dark, almost as if the Great Darkness had descended, but not completely. Lillianne didn't see anyone and slowly opened the pages to begin again.
The sky brightened as everyone, even Grendal, looked around, trying to figure out where the scream had come from; it sounded like it had come from the sky, but the clouds were so low and thick that they couldn't see anything beyond the tops of the trees. Lillianne backed away from the book, stunned.
"That can't be. There's no way they could have heard me. It's just a story, right?" She asked, but no answer came as she continued reading, eager to know what would happen.
Matthew dismissed the strange phenomena and ran to look Grendal in the eye despite his being nearly 20 feet tall.
"Are you Grendal the Ancient One?" Matthew called. Grendal growled in his throat as his deep voice resounded and echoed all around them.
"Why do you pesky children disturb my slumber?" he asked, reaching his arm out and supporting his weight with a giant staff, more caked mud falling from his dirty sleeve.
"We are on a quest to find a cure for the lovely Empress. Do you know of such a cure?"
"Why should I tell you; what would you do for me if I told you?" Grendal yawned and closed his eyes, slowly falling back asleep.
"LISTEN UP YOU OLD MEAT BAG!" Jack hollered, punching him in the shin, waking him from this sleep, and pulling his cloak around to show him as did the others.
"Oh, The Gaia Cloaks. I haven't seen those in a long time. But I think I should be given some sort of compensation for telling you lot." He replied, slowly leaning against his staff and falling back asleep.
"A Great Darkness is swallowing up the world, and you'll die if you don't answer. You want to live on, don't you?" Helen asked. Grendal's eyes lit up as he pondered her question, rubbing his chin and looking from here to there.
"That is a good point. But what will I get in return?" Jack lost his patience and jumped up to his neck, grabbing a hold of his shirt and drawing back his fist.
"How about I break out all your teeth?" Grendal became defensive, trying to 'avoid' being hit by Jack, who seemed to have a red aura crawling up his body.
"Alright, calm down. I don't know of anything that will help the Empress. However, Carta of the South may know." Hope sprang into their hearts as they heard this newest lead.
"That's great, how do we get there?" Matthew asked. Grendal leaned down to them as his face became serious.
"Are you able? It is over a year's journey away, due south." Everyone's shoulders dropped as their hopes were crushed. Lillianne dropped her head to the book in frustration.
"We don't have that kind of time!" Jack spat, punching the ground and making the mud spread away.
"That's why I asked if you are able." Matthew looked back to Grendal with angry eyes and began walking south, followed by the others at the fastest pace they could muster through the thick mud. Lillianne looked outside at the night sky, almost feeling an urgency that she needed to keep reading. Dread built in her mind, telling her that time was running out for these five.
For what seemed like days, the five of them pushed through the mud, but with each passing minute, they began to lose hope; it was so very far to the end of the Everglade. But the Everglade was only one part, and far beyond that lay unknown obstacles to find Carta, making it even more difficult to lift their heavy mud-laden legs further in the slop. They had no idea of the terror closing in behind them: The Dark Dragon. He ran efficiently through the Everglades, churning the mud into a frenzy with his sharp claws and throwing the water to the side.
The five's pace became slower and slower as they began to sink, succumbing to the despair that hung thick in the humid air around them. Closer and closer, the Dark Dragon sped, hurtling through the mud like a spear as the five sank: first to their knees, then their waist, and finally their chest, reaching for something to pull them from the pits of despair while the Dragon closed in faster and faster. Matthew reached back and managed to grab hold of a tree branch, hauling himself out of the thick mud, then grabbing Helen and pulling her to the branch.
Jack and Olsen did what they could to pull Jennifer from the slop, but they were still being drug down by her when a ray of light broke through the clouds. Helen looked up to it but was too weak to call her companions and tell them that she could see something flying down to them. Jack was the first to slip and fall into the thick mud, sinking to his chin as Olsen did his best to hold Jennifer's head out of the mud. Matthew, too, was having trouble as he was dragged down, able to hear the thrumming of the Dark Dragon's feet hurling after them through the mud. Just as Jack's hand was about to vanish from sight, something reached out, grabbing them with immense strength and hands, pulling them from the mud and flying back into the air just as the Dark Dragon came lunging at them. From far below, Jennifer could hear a creature howling in anger as she soared into the skies. Lillianne slumped back in her chair and breathed a sigh of relief, feeling as if the dreaded Dark Dragon had almost overtaken her.
"Thank Minerva!" she said aloud, stretching and then returning to the book, turning the page over when a voice whispered in her head.
"Thank you for reading through. I've been stuck here for a while." Lillianne looked around but still couldn't see anyone who would have given in to what that voice was from. She passed it off as something from reading such a good book, taking another bite of the bread and pulling a chunk of cheese off as she began reading again, finding the heroes fast asleep.
Days passed before the Five finally awoke from their slumber. Jack was the first to awaken, finding himself in a strange place where the light was obscured slightly by the thin, high clouds. Looking around, he saw he was under a giant dragon's wing; his body and clothes were clean, and he felt better than he had in the preceding weeks. Quietly, he went to the others and gently shook them awake, telling them they had to leave. Carefully and quietly, they left when a soothing female voice came to them.
"Are you well?" The Five of them froze, turning back to see who had spoken to them, only seeing the dragon that had rescued them in the Everglades. Her white scales shone with a pale pink hue against the light from the strange moon above, with fur draping over her head as though it were long, pale, blush-colored hair. Some of it draped between her eyes and hung down from the side of her snout. Wise-looking pale lavender eyes gazed at them kindly as she smiled: she had a certain beautiful ferociousness.
"Don't be afraid; I'm not going to eat you," she said with a chuckle as they slowly returned.
"Who are you?" Olsen asked, reaching for his dagger and realizing it wasn't there.
"I am the Nine Spirits Dragon. But you can call me Saia." The Five bowed low to her as Helen began to reply.
"And we are…"
"The Guards of Ledron. Word travels fast about you lot. From what I could glean from you, Helen, you are headed for Carta of the South?" The others looked at her as she shrugged, knowing she hadn't spoken to this dragon. Saia smiled and chuckled softly.
"You talk in your sleep." The group sighed as Helen offered her excuse.
"I'm not sure we'd be able to make it in time. It's just too far away."
"No, you five are almost there. Carta is virtually around the corner."
"Wait, how did we travel so far?" Jack asked, trying to get his head wrapped around the situation.
"I brought you this far while you were unconscious. My kind is facing extinction because of the Great Darkness, and the word of your travels has reached us quickly, so I came to find you and help you. The journey to Carta is only three days from here."
"But, who cleaned us if we were unconscious?" asked Helen. Saia motioned with her head to a boy coming around the corner with a basket of fruits and bread.
"Oh! You're up! Thank Minerva for that! Now I know I'll be able to get out with you, The Guardians of Ossyria, on my side. Matthew, where's Lillianne?" the boy asked, turning his attention to the warrior. Jennifer and Olsen looked at each other for a moment in confusion. Lillianne jerked away from the book, stunned: why was a character in a story asking about her?
"Oh! And Olsen the Guardian Ninja! I've wanted to meet you so badly, but ever since our last partner closed the book on my master and me, I haven't been able to get out. I'm sorry, where are my manners? My name is Auzzy, apprentice Ninja to…" The boy looked down to his finger at the ring on his hand, twirling the silver winged band around his finger and becoming saddened. Olsen looked at the boy in complete confusion.
"Who is Lillianne? And who are these Guardians of Ossyria? Do you have us mistaken for someone else?"
"No, he doesn't." came another voice. Olsen looked up to see a young man with enormous black angel wings while a more petite girl clung to him with small white wings, being covered slightly by the first one's wing.
"Who might you be?" Helen asked as something in her memory felt like it was coming back, but nothing specific.
"I am the Seraphim Acuia, and this is my twin sister, Jaden." Something began to spark in all of their minds, but it was as if it were a dream.
"You have been drawn into a book made of magic; a book that, when it is begun, cannot be closed until it is finished, else the people involved could have negative circumstances befall them. Lillianne, do you understand?" Acuia asked as he looked to the sky. Lillianne jumped away from the book when Acuia looked at her with those calm, dragon-like aqua eyes. There was no way someone in a story could see her, much less look her in the eye. Slowly, she crept back to the book and continued to read.
"Who is this Lillianne that you keep talking about?" Matthew asked. Auzzy looked at him in surprise.
"You don't even know the name of your girlfriend?" He asked as memories flooded Matthew's mind.
"Lillianne! I remember now! Wiz asked us to come to Ludibrium because the temporal Distortion caused one of the stories to come alive and somehow connected to another dimension's existence!" The rest held their heads as their memories returned, each finally becoming aware of their surroundings.
"Now I remember! One book sat on a low pedestal in the center when we came to the library. Wiz told us it was the book we needed to investigate. Then there was this bright flash of light, and everything went dark! Lillianne! Do you remember?" Jenny called to the clouds. Lillianne's memory felt like it sparked and then became complete as she remembered the flash of light, being struck over the head, then coming to and beginning to read the book.
"Yes, Yes I do! Matthew, can you hear me?" She called at the book, but they seemed unaware of her shouting.
"So, Auzzy, can we hear her if she talks?" Jenny asked. Auzzy only shrugged.
"My Master and I came here three months ago under the same request, but when we ran into Acuia, he explained everything. Just before we were to finish our mission, my brother-in-training shut the book and locked us in here." Lillianne shook her head in disappointment but kept reading on.
"So if you guys have been further through the book, you can tell us what we need to do to get out," Jenny said. Jaden shook her head with anxious fear as Auzzy explained.
"That's not quite how it works. I could tell you, but that would warp this world. You must continue while we accompany you." Helen sighed, the hope for a quick end vanishing.
"Alright, so where do we need to go from here?" Matthew asked. Acuia pointed further south to where three giant statues stood in the distance.
"Those are Solomon, Ariel in the middle, and Rex. They will look into your heart and decide whether or not you are worthy to pass on to Carta's home. It is one of two gates that will test you."
"What happens to those that don't pass?" Jack asked worriedly. Acuia pointed to a pile of skeletons and bodies that lay broken and battered around the statues, some covered by a thin blanket of sand.
"Rex and Solomon will crush you, and if they miss, then Ariel's eyes will open and reduce you to bones. You must believe in yourself to the fullest; otherwise, you won't make it." The five of them understood, looking back at the statues between them and their destination.
"Let's go," Olsen commanded, walking the path before them through the harsh sands, wondering if they would be considered worthy of passing through the gate. Auzzy, Acuia, and Jaden quickly pulled ahead and easily passed through the gate. The others, however, had doubts as they walked, then ran for the gate, trying with all they had to believe they would make it through. Slowly, Ariel's eyes began to open as they neared. Sensing the danger, Olsen dove to the left and pushed Jack as a blast from Ariel's eyes turned the sand to glass.
"RUN!" Helen shouted as they dodged Ariel's blasts and the heavy sword-like hammers hitting the ground around them. Time and time again, the ground would shake with their hits as they managed to pass Ariel's line of sight. But just as they were about to get through, Jenny tripped on a leg bone from a past warrior. As she looked up, she could see Rex's heavy hammer coming down on top of her. Jenny flinched in fear when a sound echoed above her, wind hurling sand against her skin. Opening her eyes, she saw that Jack and Matthew held up the heavy stone despite their feet sinking into the sand.
"OLSEN!" Jack called in a strained voice. In a flash, Olsen grabbed Jenny, standing next to Helen, and the others passed the gate.
"Ok, now what?" asked Jack as his arms began to give under the weight. Matthew growled as he began to push the rock up, screaming with a battle cry as he took the weight from Jack. All at once, he picked it up and planted both feet into Jack's chest, sending him flying back to the others just as the hammer came crashing back down on top of him.
"MATTHEW!" Lillianne screamed, her hand bumping into the page as she tried to reach into the book and get to him, but only met with the page, feeling helpless.
Olsen was about to go back for Matthew when Jenny reached out and stopped him. Olsen shouted Matthew's name repeatedly, trying to escape Jenny's grasp.
"Olsen! He's gone!"
"No! We have to help him! He could still be alive! Matthew!" Helen shut her eyes and looked away, trying not to let her tears fall, approaching Olsen and putting her arms around him, holding him steady until his screams subsided. Lillianne wiped her eyes, feeling the loss more deeply than the others. Sure, things had been different between them since the incident with Aufheben, but they were still very close. Wiping her eyes again, she continued to read despite her blurred vision.
"He would have wanted us to go on," Jenny murmured. Angrily, Olsen broke free of Helen's embrace, pushing past Jenny and Jack, and began walking through the sands, continuing south. The desert slowly turned into an icy blast of snow all around them the further they went.
"Carta's house is just up ahead!" Acuia shouted as they approached what appeared to be a wall made of highly polished steel or ice.
"Is that it?" Jack asked, trying to keep warm in the arctic cold.
"This is the Mirror of Souls. It reflects what you see yourself as! Many have come to this point and turned away because they did not want to believe what the mirror showed them!" Acuia shouted above the howling winds and blinding snow. Jack turned back to the mirror as his clothes began to frost on the edges while the others were starting to feel numb in their extremities.
"Helen! Can you give us some heat?!" Jack called over the wind. Helen thought, trying to clear the mental fog that was slowly setting in. Her mana flowed with a monumental throw of her arms as gears formed in the air and flames burst around them. Instantly, the majority of the cold disappeared, and the wind calmed to a breeze.
"I can not maintain this indefinitely, especially with this cold. S-so whatever we're going to do, do it quickly." She said. Jenny was the first to approach the mirror and waited for whatever it would show her. At first, there was nothing, but then a blurry image of something came into view. It was her, but before she was the Guardian Archer, curled up in a corner and shaking in fear. Jenny gritted her teeth and turned away from the mirror, confused: why would she be afraid? The others took their turn looking into the mirror, either confused or angry with their results, which varied from a coward who left a friend to die in the middle of a battle to a traitor who sold them out to the Black Mage. Acuia, Jaden, and Auzzy already knew what the mirror showed them but looked into it anyway.
"You can't let the mirror define who you are. If you do, you will never realize your potential." For a bit, the group talked amongst themselves, picking each other up from the loss of Matthew and the images shown to them in the mirror. Lillianne thought she could see this mirror too and, for some odd reason, turned her gaze away from the book to the air before her. She saw herself with Matthew lying in her lap. Blood soaked her armor, his sword in her hand dripping with his blood while a wound in his chest bled profusely.
"NO!" She screamed, reaching her hand under the book's cover and beginning to slam it closed. Something furry shot into the book's pages, yelping a bit as the covers hit. Lillianne looked up to see Alden on his haunches, putting his paw into the book with a sad look in his eyes.
"Alden! You're alive, but…" Alden looked back at the book and lifted it open again, jumping down and licking his paw to try to stop the pain pulsing through it.
"Remember, you can't close the book. The others will be trapped in there if you do." Matthew's familiar voice said as he walked up to her in the dark, his Blood Lord armor seeming to glow in the low light. Lillianne slowly turned to him and then jumped up, wrapping her strong arms around him before kissing his lips firmly.
"I thought you were dead!" Lillianne cried, hugging him all the tighter.
"There's no time to explain right now; you must keep reading."
"But why me? Why couldn't you read it?" Lillianne asked, pulling away from him, making sure it was indeed him standing there.
"Because once a person begins to read this tale, only that person can read it until the end. Otherwise, some terrible things might happen." Lillianne nodded, wiping her eyes, taking a breath, and sitting back down at the book when a cold wind blew out the candles providing reading light. Matthew grabbed his mace and ignited the mana he forced through it, relighting the candles with it.
With newfound confidence in their hearts, the group passed through the mirror at Acuia's instruction, coming to a world that was initially dark, then brightened by an eerie blue light from deeper in a cave.
"Come closer." An alluring female voice called. Almost as if being pulled in, they approached a pot of boiling blue potion. A beautiful woman stood behind it, dumping small pinches of herbs and other ingredients into the pot. The woman turned to them after grabbing a bottle of a strange-looking herb. Her minimal clothes seemed to amplify her figure, framed by her long violet hair. Some dragged on the ground, held in place with a sizeable black shell, holding her luscious hair over one of her dark eyes.
"Ah, what can I do for you?" she asked, putting the bottle back and strolling over to them, brushing the longest part of her hair away from her ear.
"We've come to ask if you know of a cure for the Empress. She's dying, and the destruction of Ledron is connected to her illness somehow. Can you help us?" Carta smiled as she walked over to Jack and placed her hands on his shoulders, sensually looking over him and taking in his scent when she doubled over as if someone hit her. Jenny looked at Jack, but Jack shook his head as if to say it wasn't his doing.
"Yes, there is a cure, but it requires you to be the strongest you can. A dark force has invaded Ledron, slowly taking over it by erasing everything here. You must take this and mix it with three drops of that creature's blood. That creature is known as the Dark Dragon, the polar opposite of Saia. Kill him, and you have a chance of saving Ledron. He should be residing in the mountains north of the palace." Painfully, she handed Olsen a bottle of a black potion and then collapsed. Acuia ran to her, catching her before she hit the ground as her hat fell away from her head. She stayed panting in Acuia's arms for a moment before she opened her eyes again and looked around.
"So many young men here; If only once, one would stay for me. Now hurry! The lack of magic from the Empress is being replaced by my own, but I don't know how much longer I can resist the Great Darkness before my Magic runs dry. Hurry!" She panted as Acuia set her down, and the seven began running back, Olsen calling at the top of his lungs for Saia.
It wasn't long before Saia found them, letting five of them on her back as she began flying as fast as she could to the Great Hills beyond the palace. Just as they were about to pass the Palace, Acuia called out to them.
"We need to stop at the Palace and let the Empress know we've found said cure!" Jack nodded as he patted Saia's neck and quickly landed. Jack jumped off and ran for the Empress's chambers, where he met Neinheart.
"Jack! Have you…"
"There's no time, take me to the Empress." Quickly, Neinheart led him through the halls and presented the empress, a young woman with flowing red curls and blazing red eyes, dressed in a breezy light pink dress.
"Empress, we have found a cure. We are on our way to get the final ingredient for you; we just thought we'd stop and tell you the news since it is on our way." The empress's eyes became hopeful as she turned to Jack and placed her slender, tiny hand on his.
"You must have the Dark Dragon's blood, do you not?" Jack was surprised; how did she know what they were after?
"How did you…"
"Time after time, people have come to me saying that this is the cure, but they have never returned. For some unknown reason, my empire of Ledron and my health have been linked to a book, but there is one who has yet to finish the book since something always stops them. You are the fabled Guardians of Ossyria; I have faith that you will finish! The Dark Dragon's weak spot is between his shoulders. Now go! My strength is nearing its limit. When you meet him, distract him by speaking of the edge of magic, it will offer you a better explanation of what is happening and a chance to get into position."
Jack flew out of the building and back to Saia, who took off with a new urgency for the Great Hills. But alas, just as they were nearing the noble mountains, they found that they were no more. Instead, the Great Darkness replaced them, where winds, clouds, and lightning ruled with a terrible vengeance, buffeting at the eight of them with a fury. The five riding on Saia did their best to hold on but were torn from her back and hurled into the dark clouds that waited below.
"Jack! Helen! Olsen! Auzzy! Jenny!" Saia called, but if they did answer, Saia couldn't hear them. Something brushed against Lillianne's leg, making her look away from the book and down at the creature that had crawled up beside her, making her scream. Matthew came over and grabbed hold of the little beast: it looked like someone had smashed a scorpion and a rat together with poor stitches and left alone to rot or heal. He hurled it into the dark as he reached back, drawing the Azure Banshee sword with a satisfying ring, and met the shadows. But the shadows answered with innumerable eyes.
"Alden! We need to keep these things away from Lillianne, got it?" Alden jumped up and growled, the horn on his head lighting up as fire flared around his feet.
"Just keep reading, Lilli; we've got this!" With a grunt, the two launched into the creatures and began tearing them to shreds while Lillianne did her best to keep reading above the noise.
Helen picked herself up from the cold ground and rolled her neck. She listened to it cracking, then healed a sore spot where her neck had bruised. She looked around and then noticed that her cloak was missing. She looked for it where she had landed but found nothing except the drab and grey beach. She felt lost.
"Saia!" Helen called, but no answer came. Helen lost everything she had been fighting for here in Ledron. She had failed to find the Dark Dragon so the potion would work. But now, everything and everyone in Ledron would be lost. She leaned against a rock, grabbing her elbow in disappointment when the rock twitched. Helen backed away and then came around the front of the rock, seeing that it was Muscle Stone, whom she and her friends had passed at the beginning of her journey.
"These hands, look strong. But no could keep friends safe. Me fail."
"No, it wasn't you who failed. I failed: I couldn't get to the Great Hills."
"I try to keep hold of Mano and Shade, but Great Darkness tear them from hands. Me could no keep them safe. Since me fail, me wait here for Great Darkness to take me."
"But, you'll die that way!" Helen exclaimed. Muscle Stone shook his head.
"Only thing left for Muscle Stone since me fail." Slowly, he picked up his head and hands, looking over them.
"These hands, seem strong." Helen realized nothing she said would reach him any longer and wandered through the wastelands. She came to a place that seemed to be the ruins of an ancient city as the land cracked and heaved while the Great Darkness slowly crept in. Her wanderings brought her to a building where a sheet of moss obscured a mural. With a wave of her hand, she burned it away and revealed a mural of the five of them when they first began their journey, receiving orders from Neinheart.
She moved to the next wall portion, depicting them losing Alden and then talking with Grendal. The following mural was of them talking to the Seraphim and Auzzy, each section depicting another leg of their journey until Helen came to a dark picture hidden by the shadows of the stone overhead. She held her hand out with a flame sitting in it and fell back as the picture revealed a black dragon with mouth agape, leaping at her, fangs dripping with saliva. She stopped when she heard a hissing growl, turning around and meeting the muzzle of the beast depicted, barring his fangs and rising as if he were a serpent ready to strike.
"Come any closer, and I'll kill you," he growled in a low voice, his forked tongue sweeping from side to side as he barred his fangs even more. Helen backed away when she saw something flitting into her view: Olsen, with a rock for a dagger, and Auzzy, with another one leaning against the other wall beside him.
"Who are you?" Helen asked, trying to buy time for her friends to get into position.
"I am the Dark Dragon, and you have the pleasure of being my last meal before this world is torn apart." Helen braced herself, concentrating her mana as a frosty light shone between her hands.
"Then try it!" she challenged. The dragon's eyes lit up momentarily as more of his body coiled up behind him.
"Those are brave words for a single girl. If you are feeling so strong, then stop the Darkness."
"I can't, not before I get to the Edge of Magic." Helen shot back, seeing Jack creep up on top of his lair.
"There is no such thing as the Edge of Magic."
"If that rings true, then why is Ledron falling apart?" Helen asked, looking around for something to act as a staff and seeing Jenny aim far away.
"This land of Ledron was made through magic and lives because of magic. Magic creates endless possibilities; therefore, the illusion that magic has an end is a hindrance, a check if you will." The Dragon's eyes flitted here and there as though becoming agitated about something.
"So why is Ledron disappearing?" Helen called to bring his attention back to her.
"Ledron is a place that exists because people believe in magic. The belief in magic is not limited to this world: all worlds and dimensions affect Ledron. People begin to stop believing in magic as they age, thus making the Darkness all the stronger."
"Then what is the Great Darkness?" Helen asked, feeling the presence of Acuia and Jaden behind her.
"The Great Darkness is the emptiness that remains from the disbelief in all magic." Helen was confused as she shifted her mana into lightning.
"What do you mean by 'all'?"
"Magic is not limited to the kind that requires a spell: love, new life being born, even a sunrise is all magic. And I will make sure that the Great Darkness swallows all."
"But why would you want to destroy that magic?"
"Because people who have no belief are easy to control. And whoever has that control has all of the power!" The ground under Helen's feet seemed to shudder as the dragon rose even more, and a black aura seeped from under his scales. Helen lost her concentration as she fell to the ground, making her spell shoot in a random direction. When she regained her footing, the Dark Dragon was just before her, his hot breath blowing her hair back.
"Who are you really?" Jack asked, walking casually out into the open between the dragon and Helen.
"I am the servant to the greater power tearing this world apart. But there is a force that is trying to prevent that from happening. I lost them in the Everglades of Despair. The name of the force is The Guards of Ledron!" Jack pushed Helen back slightly as the dragon recoiled slowly, all the muscles in his neck, shoulders, and back tensing, making his scales part from their size.
"If we're going to die, then we will die fighting! WE ARE THE GUARDS OF LEDRON!" Jack shouted. The dragon's eyes became wild as his target became available before his very eyes and claws! With a roar, the dragon charged. Olsen and Auzzy leaped from their hiding spots, pinning his forefeet to the ground while Jack slammed his fist into the dragon's snout, making its bones break with a sickening crunch. Helen teleported Jenny above the dragon, allowing her to shoot an arrow into its back. It roared in pain as he tried to squirm free. But Jack held his snout shut as the lashings became less and less until he stopped moving.
Matthew struggled to keep the hoard of creatures at bay with his Gaia Shield when all at once, the creatures disappeared, and he fell forward to the ground.
"What happened? Did they win?" he panted, getting back to his feet.
"Not yet; they still have a little way to go," Lillianne replied, returning to the book.
"Wow, I didn't even have to use my weapon," Acuia joked as Helen retrieved the three drops of the Dragon's blood, closed the bottle, and shook it up, making it a beautiful golden color. No sooner had the Dark Dragon been slain than the Great Darkness was upon them, tearing the world apart and threatening to pull them into the void. Each of them hung on to something, trying to keep from being pulled in, when Saia appeared, grabbing each of them and escaping the void. Nothing remained despite their efforts to keep Ledron from being torn apart. Only large chunks of land remained of the once great nation.
"Saia, do you see anything?" Jenny asked. Sadly, Saia shook her head as she looked around, opening her mouth where their Gaia Cloaks hung from her teeth, flying back to them and allowing them to put them back on.
"I found those while looking for you," she said as they flew aimlessly through space. Everyone felt the loss of Ledron as if it were their land when Olsen had an idea.
"Maybe the Gaias can lead us back to the Palace if it still stands!" Olsen reached back for his Gaia and held it out before him.
"Gaia of red, please, show us the way back to the palace if it is still there." For a while, Nothing happened until the Gaia leaped out of his hands, transforming into a fiery bird that flew on before them.
"After it, Saia!" Olsen called as they dove and weaved between rocks and land masses, following the bird until they came to the Palace that shone like the brightest of stars against the blackness all around them.
"There it is! Saia, hurry!" the cloak lost its form and landed in Olsen's lap while they hurriedly went to the palace and skidded to a stop. Saia's claws sparked off the marble floor while the entire group leaped off her back and ran inside the palace to the waiting Neinheart.
"Did you…"
"No time! The Empress, now!" Olsen commanded. Again, Neinheart led them through the hallways, but time was not on their side as portions of the palace's landmass began to crumble, making it shake and jar.
"We need to hurry! The Empress is losing her strength!" Neinheart called as Olsen took the potion and sprinted through the halls, almost instinctively knowing where he needed to go. He burst through the doors of her chamber where she lay; her breathing was labored as she tried to hang on to the last strain of life in her. Olsen landed by her bed, popped the cap off, and poured the potion into the Empress's mouth. Just as the others caught up, the Empress fell silent, leaving them stunned as the palace began to shake more violently.
"We were so close, and yet…" But Auzzy didn't want to finish the sentence, while they all bowed their heads as the palace walls groaned and cracked. Without warning, the Empress's eyes flew open. She rose to her feet and held her arms wide. A powerful wave of magic ripped through the emptiness and, in a matter of moments, restored Ledron to its former glory, perhaps even beyond what it was before. The Empress seemed to have new life breathed into her as she floated down, power overflowing from her skin and radiating from her as a golden light.
"Thank you for helping me. Even though some people are losing their belief in magic, the potion you gave helps to amplify the feelings of those who still do and gives me that power to keep Ledron alive." She stepped off the bed with Olsen's help and walked over to the rest of them, placing her hands on Jenny's and Helen's shoulders, looking around at them and smiling brightly.
"Your work is done, and the book's spell connected to my world is broken. But before this story ends, Lillianne, thank you for persevering through the tears and the pain and finishing the tale. I will send you all back to the world you call home." Helen hugged her tightly, feeling like she had known the Empress for longer than a few hours.
"Will we ever see you again?" Jenny asked. The Empress shrugged and smiled.
"I don't know. But if you ever find the means, please visit us in Ledron." They all began to glow as the Empress's spell wove over them, sending them back to Ossyria.
"Wait! What's your name!?" Olsen called just as he was disappearing.
"Elglain, Empress Elglain of Ledron." And with that, the group disappeared. For centuries after, the people of Ledron told the tale of the Guards of Ledron many times, passed on from empress to emperor through the ages. Many more adventures awaited the people of Ledron, but those are for another time. Lillianne sighed as she sat up and closed the book while Matthew set his gauntlet on her shoulder.
"Wow, you are one tough girl. Thanks for reading it all." He said with a sigh. Lillianne was about to respond when a light shone in the room, and the others appeared. Jenny ran for Alden with tears of thankfulness as everyone introduced each other to Auzzy, Acuia, and Jaden.
"How are you guys alive? We saw you guys die!" Jenny said as she held Alden close, looking up at Matthew.
"Well, in the story, you might die, but that is your way out if you don't finish the story yourself as a character." Matthew laughed.
"How'd you find that out?" Helen asked, trying to figure it out as her staff appeared in her hand.
"I don't know; some voice came to me as I returned here." Matthew laughed.
"Guys, look!" Lillianne called, pointing to the book as it slowly disappeared in a cloud of golden dust. None of them could find out why the book and Ledron were connected, but they talked about their adventure for hours. They boarded the ship where their friends, the Tickets, waited for them and took off back to Herb Town. There, they relived their adventure for the young ones who always crowded around them, begging for tales of their adventures.
"Very good, Wiz, Thank you for your cooperation," Eleanor said as The Mage's crystal ball went dark.
"It was my pleasure: Anything to right the library's books. Those books are my life." Wiz smiled as he pushed his glasses up and held out his hands. The Black Mage gave him a book made from the Guardians' little adventure in his hands. Wiz greedily looked over it as he walked out of the room while Eleanor picked her weight off the wall and walked over to the Mage with a heavy hip-swinging gate.
"And what exactly was the purpose of that? If you had wanted to, you could have destroyed Ledron." Eleanor asked as the Black Mage sat down, only to be met with whispers of indifference.
"The distortion in Ludibrium? Why would that affect the Oblivion Gauntlet?" Eleanor asked but received no answer as The Mage stared into the distance.
"Do the Seraphim pose any threat to you? And what of the Nine Spirits Dragon? Even if you were the one that sent them to Ledron in the first place, they have now returned and will no doubt become allies to The Guardians." The Mage narrowed his eyes to Eleanor's comment, breathing a whisper deep in his throat. Eleanor stood beside the window overlooking Edelstein when she felt The Mage's hands around her waist. This time, it didn't have the same effect as it used to. No longer did she subconsciously move and allow the Mage access to her neck as he would gently kiss it, nor did she get chills when he touched her arm. She couldn't figure out why the things he did no longer had any effect on her. Just outside the room, Dragon sat listening to their conversation, deep in thought.
"So they do still live. I need to talk to them and find out if she is still alive." He thought, turning around and heading back to his quarters, taking the heavy sword from his shoulders and relaxing on his bed, only to fall asleep and dream.
For the astute, yes, this is a Never Ending Story parody