Superhero Epic Ch. 8

Chapter 8: Gods and Greatness

Artillery and his team continued to await Tech in the Mess Hall. He finally exited his room and came out with several small earpieces, and handed them, one by one, to each other member of the team. "These are the devices. They will allow you to understand any language that is spoken to you. Simple enough. Now, I have programmed my teleporter to the location of the Vermillion Archipelago, so all you have to do is synch your teleporters to mine, and we will be able to get out of here."
"Sounds like a plan," Artillery said. "Let's go." Pixie looked at Artillery with a confused expression. "Wait a minute, how exactly are they supposed to understand us?" Tech began fumbling around with a bag he had at his side. "I almost forgot, these are your headsets. I would've fixed them in with the earpieces, but I needed them to work separately in order for there to be no interference." He handed one to each of them, and each one of them affixed it to his or her head. Artillery smiled, knowing what was about to happen. "Is everyone ready?" Knightbeast gave a little frown. "We're all ready; I just hope you know what you're doing." With that, they all synchronized their teleporters to Tech's, and disappeared from sight.
Mindbender sat comfortably in the bucket of Elemage's airship as the sun was now sinking below the horizon. He looked at the now-asleep Shadowcaster, and Dracosaur, who was falling asleep. This was fine with him, because that meant that he and Elemage could have a one on one discussion. Elemage, who was looking out the window, suddenly turned and faced Mindbender, who smiled at him. Elemage took a breath in and a very large breath out. "So, you can read people's minds. What else can you do?" Mindbender laughed at Elemage's boldness. "My, my, aren't you the eager beaver? Very well. Yes, I can read minds. However, that is just the bare minimum of what I can do. I can control people with my telepathy, not just read minds. On top of that, my telekinetic abilities are quite vast." Elemage gave Mindbender a "prove it" look, and Mindbender responded. Elemage was still wearing his fez-style hat, and he felt it lift off of his head. "Really? That's vast? Show me what else you got," Elemage said with a smirk. "You wish to challenge me? Very well." The hat then broke into millions of small, dust-sized particles and then re-formed into what appeared to be a small, cloth dragon. "I trust you are satisfied now?" Elemage looked in shock at his former hat. "You didn't have to ruin it! Jeez! But, yes I'm satisfied now." Mindbender smirked at him. "Good. Now, I have a faint idea what you can do because of the story you told me and my friends. But I would like to know exactly what it is you can do." Elemage took a breath in, and gave Mindbender a little smile. "Well, as my newly given name suggests, I have control over the elements. By 'elements', of course, I mean Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire. The house fire that killed my father, the whirlpool that killed my oldest brother, and the avalanche that killed my older brother, were all due to my control over the forces of nature." Mindbender gave a smug smile. "Excellent! Your powers could come in very useful later." He looked out the window of the bucket, and noticed the fact that they were over the beautiful waves of the ocean. "It won't be long now. Soon we will find another soldier for our army of superiority!"
"I think you need to calm down on the whole 'army of superiority' thing. Makes you seem like you're talking out your ass," Elemage said with a slight frown. Mindbender smirked, although slightly irritated at Elemage's statement. "Maybe it does sound like that, but why not declare our army superior?" Elemage looked at him, anxious about what he had done in joining him. "Well, we can, just tone it down a notch, it creeps me out." Mindbender smiled once again. "Very well, I'll, as you said, 'tone it down a notch.'" Mindbender walked up to the pilot's cabin and opened the door. "When will we be in Kilgari? I am getting impatient." The pilot clutched his chest due to him being startled, and waited for his breathing to normalize. "We should arrive in Killark in about two more hours." Mindbender gasped at him. "Killark? That is the newly established Metahuman colony!" The pilot shrugged. "I wouldn't know, I keep my nose outta their business, and hope they do the same for me." Mindbender smiled, walked from the pilot's cabin, and closed the door. He sat down next to Elemage and smiled. "My plan is coming together perfectly. Even I had no clue we were going to Killark."
"Exactly what does Killark have to do with your plan?" Elemage said confusedly. Mindbender frowned because he was sick of explaining things. "Killark is the newly established Metahuman colony. They overthrew the city's government, and made negotiations with the President of Kilgari to make themselves a separate colony." Elemage frowned irritably. "Do you have a point?" Mindbender rolled his eyes and frowned. "My point is that they will sympathize with our cause far greater than anyone else would. No one can understand our quest for greatness like those who have already established theirs. It will only make our task simpler." Elemage gave a yawn, and closed his eyes, but still spoke. "That's nice, but I'm going to sleep. Wake me when we get there." Mindbender gave a little chuckle, and rolled his eyes. "Very well, have it your way." He sat there in his chair as Elemage drifted off to sleep, and the airship continued to fly toward its destination.
The sky was cloudy over the jungles of the Vermillion Archipelago, as Artillery and his crew walked around for a moment to remedy the disorientation of teleporting such a far distance. Artillery stopped for a moment to view his surroundings. All around him were huge trees, filled with all sorts of creatures. The calls of birds, primates, and other jungle creatures echoed throughout the dense forest. Shrubbery littered the forest floor, and insects buzzed all around. Knightbeast took a breath in, and seemed almost at home.
"This place is amazing! It's like the land itself is feral!" he said, his excitement clearly obvious. Twilight smiled at him. "That must be why you like it here so much. You say the land is wild, so why not have a wild thing like you like it?" He gave a laugh, and Knightbeast charged at him. He pinned Twilight to the ground, and snorted. "You're not funny, you know that?" Even with Knightbeast on top of him, Twilight still managed to chuckle. "I thought it was funny."
"Will you two cut it out? We've got business to get to," Artillery said, wanting to get his mission of discovery underway. Pixie looked at Artillery, and frowned slightly. "What's your hurry, hun? We should relax, after all we've been through, we sure could use it." Tech made a small sound of irritation. "As much as I would love to relax, I believe Artillery is correct. We must press on, not only to further the mission, but to assure we don't get attacked by the beasts on this island." Pixie looked shocked. "What beasts?" Tech simply smiled at her. "The Vermillion Archipelago is said to be home to creatures that can be found nowhere else in all of Hortath. As such, we may encounter some fearsome beast that even we can't handle."
"Not possible," Knightbeast said with a smirk. "Let's go. Lead the way, Artillery." Artillery said nothing; he only walked forward through the trees, and over roots and such. He could feel the scepter guiding him, leading him to his destination, though he didn't know what that was yet. He led them for a little while longer, when a rustling to the side of him made him stop in his tracks. Once he stopped, the rustling did as well.
"What's wrong?" Pixie said with a tiny bit of fear in her voice. Artillery looked back at her, stony-faced. "It was nothing, let's just keep going." They continued on, and out of the corner of his eye, Artillery saw someone charge at him, as others did the same for the other members of Artillery's team. Artillery kicked the person off of him, and pulled out his scepter, which he instantly turned to a sword. As the other members of the team struggled to break free of the ambushers, the leader of the gang of ambushers gave a look of intimidation.
"If you want your friends to live, you will lower your weapon and follow us." The leader looked at the group of heroes, who were struggling to break free, but the tan, barely dressed thugs kept them fiercely stable. Even Knightbeast, who was usually much stronger than his opponents, could do nothing but allow the thug to keep hold of him. Artillery looked back at the lead thug with ill contempt. "What if we don't comply?" the words Artillery spoke sounded nothing like the language he was used to speaking. He assumed that was Tech's mouthpiece doing its job. The thug smirked. "You know my language? That is quite impressive for an outsider. Either comply with my orders, or you will be destroyed. Outsiders are not allowed on this island." Artillery let out a sigh of frustration and his sword reverted back to a scepter. The lead thug smiled and turned, and the entire group of thugs, and heroes followed the lead thug. They kept walking through the trees and all the shrubbery, and the leader stopped. He waved his hands twice, and a village appeared in front of them, full of villagers, apparently shocked by the arrival of these outsiders.
"Where are you taking us?!" Artillery shouted. The thug grunted and pulled Artillery forward. "The Council will know what to do with you five." Artillery gave a look of anger and confusion. "What Council?!" The thug made a fist and bonked Artillery on the neck with the end of it. "Shut up and follow me!" The thug began walking through the village, followed by Artillery and the other thugs, guarding Artillery's team. They walked up to a huge series of tents, with a circus sized tent in the middle. They followed the thug into the circus-sized tent, and waiting for them there were a group of elderly people sitting behind a desk. The one in the middle looked at the large crowd now walking in the tent, and addressed who Artillery assumed to be the lead thug.
"Leicion, who have you brought before us?" The thug who was apparently known as Leicion bowed. "Elder Kahran, these are trespassers to our island, I have brought them to you to determine what their fate shall be." Elder Kahran looked at Leicion with a scowl. "The penalty for all outsiders is death; you are a mighty warrior, why must you bring them to me?" Leicion smiled politely, and gave another bow. "Surely you can see? They are the gods, returned to fulfill the prophecy." At this, Elder Kahran laughed. "You honestly believed in that pathetic old fairy-tale? The so-called 'gods' were nothing more than a tool to be used to revive our faith all those years ago. If the gods really did exist, then they would have appeared at a time when we needed them, not when we are flourishing. Ha! Gods? These are nothing more than intruders, who must be destroyed!" Leicion became very irritated. "I am not questioning your judgment, Elder Kahran, but before you go killing them, you could at least put their leader to the test. If he fails, then they are not the gods I believed them to be. However, if he succeeds, then the first part of the prophecy will be fulfilled."
"If you wish to drag out their deaths, very well. If he passes the test, he and his friends may live, though he will not," Kahran said smugly. Artillery stepped forward and held up a hand, wanting to get a better understanding of what was going on. Kahran frowned at Artillery. "Ah, the outsider wishes to speak, does he? Very well, intruder, speak, but with caution, you are speaking to an Elder." Artillery bowed just as Leicion did when addressing elder Kahran. "Elder Kahran, I have come seeking the secrets of this scepter. It has led me here. I could feel it guide me. I do not know about this 'god' stuff, but I will do whatever I have to do to prove my worth. What is this task?" Kahran looked at him with pure disgust. "You will be told of your task when you are at the very place that it must happen. Before you leave, I am going to be a little kind and tell you the orders you are to follow while on this mission, firstly, and most importantly, you will be facing the challenge alone. Your friends may not come with you, and will be detained here until you return, if you even manage to return at all. Leicion here will be your guide. He will inform you of the challenge when you arrive at your destination. You will be placed on a time restriction. If you have not returned after twelve hours, you and your friends will be destroyed. After all, you are outsiders, and the penalty for being such is death. Go now, your presence here is annoying me. Guards, put the others in their cells for now, until the outsider returns." Artillery scowled, and Leicion took him out of the tent. They kept walking, no words between either of them until they left the village. Artillery gave Leicion a confused look.
"I have a question." Leicion smiled, and gave him a nod. "Very well outsider, ask your question." At Leicion's smile, Artillery became even more confused. He shook his head, and looked back at Leicion. "You ambushed me and my friends when you saw us. If you really did think we were gods, why continue with the attack?" Leicion gave a chuckle. "Isn't it obvious, outsider? I didn't think you would follow me otherwise. I realize you probably don't trust me after that, but I hope I can gain it back." The two of them continued on through the thick jungle, and creatures called all around them. "Why did you even believe my friends and I were gods? For all you know, we could have been intruders trying to kill your people." The creatures calling around the two of them temporarily interrupted the two of them. A large flock of colorful birds flew over their heads. Leicion smiled once again. "I highly doubt that. No outsider even knows of our tribe. There are smaller, less significant tribes, all discovered by outsiders, but our tribe is secret, and has been so for two thousand years. I cannot yet tell you why I believe you and your companions to be gods, but I can tell you that your instincts about your scepter are correct."
"So, what you're saying is that my scepter has some kind of connection to the past, just like I thought?" Leicion shifted his eyes at Artillery's comment. "I'm sorry, I cannot reveal any more. We will camp here temporarily. The journey ahead is long, and we must rest." Artillery didn't question him; he merely nodded his head and sat down.
Hundreds of miles away, in the Metahuman colony of Killark, Mindbender and his companions were being flagged down from their airship, and Mindbender smiled at the Metahumans flagging them down.
"I have never seen such a wondrous sight! Nothing but Metahumans, as far as the eye can see!" Mindbender let out a chuckle. Elemage looked at Mindbender, rubbing his eyes from being woken up by Mindbender's voice, and frowned slightly. "What makes you sure they're all Metahumans?" Mindbender's smile continued to pan across his face. "Aside from the fact that we are in a Metahuman colony, I can sense them all around. With so many Metahumans in one place, they create a kind of collective consciousness. It allows me to sense all of them at once, instead of having to search for them like I had to in Draco City." The airship landed, and Mindbender awoke Dracosaur and Shadowcaster. "We have arrived, my friends." The two of them stirred for a moment, and stood up. Dracosaur yawned, and a tiny puff of smoke issued from his mouth. "Well, now that we are here, what do we do?" Mindbender gave a little smirk. "Dracosaur, dear boy, we step out of the airship." They all did as he said, Mindbender left first, followed by Elemage, Dracosaur, and then Shadowcaster. The moment they got off the ship, a figure walked up, presumably to greet them. He was incredibly tall, towering over everyone there.
"Greetings, fellow Metahumans. Welcome to Killark. Is this a visit, or are you planning on staying permanently?" The man said warmly. Mindbender gave him a polite smile, but quickly wiped it away to make the man know that he was here for business. "Just a visit for now, my friends and I would like to see what all the hubbub is about." The giant laughed at Mindbender. "Hubbub, huh? Well, trust me, you're in for a bit of fun. Now if you will follow me, we can get on with your visit." The giant turned around, as Mindbender and company followed. Mindbender gave a slight cough and tapped the giant on the back. The giant turned his head as continued to walk forward, letting Mindbender know he was listening. "Where exactly are we going?" Mindbender asked, curious about what was going to happen next. "To the customs office. There you can get everything you'll need for your stay, and get your powers evaluated, to determine the best temporary housing environment for you." Mindbender looked confusedly at him, but shook it off. "What is this 'power evaluation' you speak of?" The giant looked at him and smiled. "It will be fine, I can assure you. It is just an evaluation of the strength of your powers to determine where you should live. You're probably wondering why. Well, to avoid complications, we try to avoid placing people whose abilities are advanced with those whose aren't. It keeps the stronger ones from getting any ideas."
"So you got a name, or should we just call you 'Tiny'?" Dracosaur said with a smile. The giant looked at him, rolling his eyes. "You're so funny, you know that? My name is Gorgon. Anyway, this is the place." Gorgon opened the door to the stone building in front of him and ducked so he could fit inside. Mindbender and the others followed him inside as people at desks looked up at them. Gorgon looked at Mindbender, Dracosaur, Shadowcaster and Elemage, and held out a hand toward the desk. "Complete the registration, and then I can take you to the evaluation area." Mindbender gave a nod as he and his three friends walked up to the desk. The people behind the desk gave them papers and instructed them to fill them out, and they would be analyzed, and be given visitors' passes. All four of them had filled out their forms, and handed them back to the people behind the desk. Mindbender just now noticed that the people behind the desk were identical quadruplets. He saw their eyes quickly scanning the paperwork, and after a moment, all four of them stamped the papers, and pulled out cards. They all wrote little bits of information on the back, and handed them to Mindbender, Shadowcaster, Dracosaur, and Elemage respectively. They all spoke, in unison, the combination of their voices sounding quite eerie.
"Those are your visitors' passes. Please see Gorgon outside for your housing placement." Mindbender bowed at them, and he and his friends left the building. Gorgon was waiting outside for them, and waved a massive hand to greet them. Mindbender smiled and walked up to him, of course, followed by his companions.
"Hello again. Did everything go well in there?" Gorgon said, politely smiling. Mindbender returned Gorgon's polite smile. "Fairly. Those quadruplets are sure efficient. They worked more quickly than even I could have predicted." Gorgon laughed at him. "Quadruplets? You mean Shikara? My dear boy, the virus infects her in a strange way. She can make copies of herself, as many as need be, until she becomes too weak to make any more. There is a drawback, however. Whenever she makes a movement, her clones do as well. Also, if one of her clones is injured, she feels it as well. She is learning to control it, which is why all of your names are actually inscribed on the back of the cards she gave you, instead of all of them saying the same name." Mindbender's eye twinkled with interest. "My visit is going to be a bit shorter than I thought. There is no need for the power analysis, all I need is to talk to this 'Shikara' woman." Gorgon gave a confused look. "Why would you need to talk to her? She is just a secretary." Elemage, Dracosaur and Shadowcaster all smirked as Mindbender looked intently at Gorgon. "Let's just say she's more than just a secretary to me, and leave it at that." Mindbender turned back around toward the customs office, and just as he began walking again, he heard Gorgon's deep, gravelly voice. "You are not going in there without me, I am unsure of your intentions, but I assure you, if you have anything sinister on your mind, you will not succeed."
"Of course, I would not want you to avert you from any duties you may have. By all means, accompany us in there, my goal will be accomplished either way," Mindbender said with a sick smirk. He began walking toward the customs office again, and his friends, and now Gorgon followed him. Once he made it in, the former "quadruplets" were now one being, presumably this "Shikara" character. He walked up to the desk, and smiled at her. He just now noticed how nice-looking she was. She had her crimson hair tied back in a long braid, and the glasses she wore couldn't hide her intense, deep green eyes. She looked up at him confusedly.
"Can I help you?" she said, frowning slightly. Mindbender smiled. "Actually, you can, my dear. I believe I am correct in assuming that you are unhappy with your current career path?" She continued to wear her frown, and gave a small sigh. "A job is a job. I cannot help it that I may not like it, I was chosen for this job, and I will continue it until it is no longer needed. Gorgon convinced me of that." Mindbender smiled. "Ah, I might have known. He has you brainwashed. I was suspicious of him the moment he began spewing out his power evaluation rhetoric." Gorgon growled, he could almost feel the evil within Mindbender, who shot his gaze at him. "You are the being responsible for creating this colony aren't you?" Gorgon looked at Mindbender, the anger clear in his eyes. "Yes I am, and I am here to protect my colony from people like you!"
"You mean brainwash them!" Dracosaur interrupted. That's what the power analysis is for isn't it? To keep those of us who are strong from fighting against the evil that men do!" Mindbender smiled at Dracosaur. "Well said, Dracosaur. People like us are held back from greatness, while cretins like you abuse what little power you have until you are so blind, you," Mindbender directed his gaze back at Gorgon, "can't even see who you are affecting anymore." Gorgon's demeanor became much more fearsome now, and filled with rage. You people are nothing but terrorists!" Elemage looked at him with a fury that rivaled Gorgon's. "How dare you?! I have spent the past year protecting people from terrorists, and you have the gall to call me and my companions such? You are nothing more than a coward, using your Metahuman brothers to protect you from the others who would harm you! You may be a giant in stature, but you are miniscule in spirit." Gorgon gave out a yell, and Shadowcaster let out a yell of her own. "Shut up! I'm not listening to your garbage anymore. We have a job to do and we're not leaving here until we finish it." Gorgon let out a final roar and threw his fists in the air, nearly hitting the roof of the high building. "Not if I have anything to say about it!" lowered his arms down with a tremendous force, which would have crushed him if it weren't for Shikara. She created over two dozen clones and used them to create a wall. Impressively, the clones managed to stop him, and were still holding up his arms.
"They are right!" Shikara and the clones said in unison. "If you truly wanted peace, you would have helped us to gain it! Instead, you stayed behind while we did all of your work toppling governments for you! At least these people have the courage to stand up for what they believe in. Perhaps my destiny lies with them. I will not allow you to brainwash them as you did me!" Gorgon looked down at Shikara and her clones with a heartbroken tone in his face. "So is this what you want? To go with them? Do you want to betray me, and all of your brethren?" Shikara and the clones laughed at him. "Brethren? These are my brothers now. They appear to actually have faith that I can be something other than just some measly secretary." Gorgon lifted his arms, and let out a sigh. "Very well, I cannot stop you from leaving. Just make sure it is the proper decision." Mindbender smiled at Gorgon. "You see, Gorgon? My friends and I actually believe in her. We can push her to use her true potential, something you never wanted to do, due to your fear of being overthrown. Now, if you don't mind, I would like to take leave of this place. You three, stay behind with Gorgon for a few moments, you four could use a nice chat. Shikara, would you mind following me?"
"Not at all," Shikara said with a smile. The two of them walked out of the door, past Gorgon, and continued on toward the landing pad, and Elemage's airship. When they left, a smile spread across Shadowcaster, Dracosaur, and Elemage's faces. Gorgon suddenly got the feeling that no "talking" would be going on. A second later, Elemage had flames circling his hands, Shadowcaster's body was encompassed by shadow, and Dracosaur was flapping his wings fiercely. Gorgon shouted, and threw his hands down at the three of them. Shadowcaster protected them with a semi-solid shadow-shield, after which, the shield disappeared, and Dracosaur shot a jet of fire at Gorgon, and Elemage threw out his hands and made the flames encircle the giant.
"Try that again, and you'll get burned to a crisp!" Elemage said, laughing. The flames continued to move around Gorgon as he shouted once again. Shadowcaster created a shadow that turned itself into a spear, and she threw it into Gorgon's chest. He let out a howl of pain and fell to the floor. Dracosaur smiled and let out a little chuckle. "Looks like our work here is done, huh?" Elemage looked at him, also smiling. "It seems to be that way. Let's go." They began walking toward the landing pad, and the airship, which Mindbender and Shikara already had been for a moment. The two of them were now deeply engaged in conversation.
"So, my dear, why exactly have you joined us?" Mindbender asked politely. Shikara looked at Mindbender with a small smile, and she pulled her glasses down to the end of her nose and smiled. "As I am sure you realize, I was far too timid before. I came to the conclusion that the time had come to break myself of that cycle. If that meant leaving that freeloader, then so be it. As much as I dislike bullies, your assertiveness is just what I needed to get myself out of the rut I was in." Mindbender looked at her, and raised an eyebrow. "So you're just using us to get out of here?" Shikara made a noise as though she had been shocked. "I must admit, at first, that was my intention, but you intrigue me. I am sure we can develop a most interesting friendship." Suddenly, the door to the airship opened, and Elemage, Shadowcaster, and Dracosaur walked inside. Mindbender immediately stopped even trying to speak.
"Whoa, what were you two talking about?" Shadowcaster said, smiling slightly. Mindbender looked at her, his face reddening a bit. "Um… nothing, just forget it. Elemage, instruct your pilot to return us to your home, we have work to do." Elemage bowed to him. "Very well." He walked toward the pilot's cabin and opened the door. "Pilot, take us home." The pilot turned his head, and looked annoyed. "Already? You don't want to stay here a little longer?" Elemage looked back at the pilot irritably. "We got done what we needed to get done, so just take us back home, and try not to complain." Elemage closed the door, and sat down. "All right people, we're out of here." The airship began to take off, and the whole five-some sat back, as the airship flew off into the early night sky.
The same sky shone its orange glow on the forests of the island of the Vermillion Archipelago that Artillery and his team landed on. Artillery was leaning against a tree as Leicion tapped him on the shoulder. "We have been resting for over three hours, why did you let me sleep so long?" Artillery got up off the tree, and smiled slightly. "You looked so peaceful, and I didn't want to bother you." Leicion scoffed. "What utter nonsense. Now we must move quickly if we are going to make it back in time. You have yet to even complete your task. We must make it to the cave quickly, come, follow me!" Leicion began running through the trees, and Artillery followed him. "Jeez, do you have to run so fast?" Artillery suddenly got a surge in his stomach, and he doubled over. Leicion heard him fall, and ran over to him. "What happened?" he said anxiously. Artillery began holding his head and rolling around in pain. Suddenly, the pain stopped as quickly as it came. "I don't know what happened," Artillery said. "One second, I was doing fine, the next second, I was doubled over from a pain in my stomach and my head. It's like I passed something that made me sick." Leicion looked at him nervously. "But you are fine now, correct?" Artillery got to his feet and dusted himself off. "Yeah, let's go, I'm sure I'm fine." Leicion gave him a nod, and began running again. Artillery followed him, running quickly behind. Leicion stopped suddenly, and Artillery nearly ran into him.
"Why'd you stop?" Artillery said breathing heavily. Leicion smiled. "We have arrived, and as alder Kahran said, I must inform you of your task." Artillery smiled at the excitement of finally facing this challenge. "What is it?" Leicion did not return Artillery's smile. He kept a rather stony look on his face. "A dragon lurks beneath us, the last of its kind. Your task is to navigate the labyrinth in which it resides, and release it, at which time, it can return to its true home. As proof of the completion of your task, you must retrieve a fresh scale from the dragon, and return it to Elder Kahran before the time limit is up, and just so you know, you have used up four hours thanks to that long nap I took." Artillery got an incredible chill down his spine. He shivered, and stood more upright. "I have one question. How am I supposed to get down to this labyrinth?" Leicion frowned, and put his hands on his hips. "I am afraid that is part of the challenge you must figure out for yourself." Artillery sat down, and put his chin on top of his fist. He closed his eyes, and he saw something. He saw the forest exactly as it was, only a stone revealed itself, and his scepter began glowing. A soft voice then echoed throughout his head.
"A dragon lurks beneath your feet, and against this beast you must compete. To find the beast and all his flame, hold out your staff and call its name." Artillery stood up and opened his eyes. He didn't even know how he was going to find out the name of that dragon, but the scepter hadn't steered him wrong yet. He let the scepter guide him, and he suddenly shouted the words: "Dragon Staff!" his scepter transformed into a long, ornate staff, with small, wooden dragon wings at the top. The staff glowed, and a large stone dragon head appeared from seemingly out of nowhere. It was so realistic, it was as though an actual dragon's head rose up from the ground. He needed to figure out the name of that dragon to open that stone dragon head's mouth, he was sure that would lead him to the legendary beast. Artillery closed his eyes, and saw the name as clear as day. He took a breath in, and spun his staff. "Dragorum!" he shouted fiercely. The stone dragon head suddenly came to life, opening its jaws, and its eyes engulfed in flames. Artillery smiled and looked at Leicion, who had a combined look of shock and excitement on his face. "Leicion, hopefully I won't be gone too long, but wait for me a while, will you?" He walked into the dragon's mouth and followed a staircase downward, lit by several torches. He finally reached the bottom of the staircase, and found a circular room with several hallways, each one leading in a different direction. He picked the one on the far left, and it led to another circular room with the same number of hallways.
He continued to go down hallways and find himself in circular rooms, until he found what he assumed to be a dead end, until he found a pair of stone dragons, facing each other, creating an arch. Artillery still had his staff, which began glowing, as did the arch created by the two stone dragons. The arch disappeared into nothingness and gave way to a hallway, incredibly dark, and mysterious. He went down it, though he was unsure where this tunnel was heading, and he could see nothing in front of him. He kept going and suddenly a light appeared at the end of the hallway. He began running, wary of the time he had already spent in here, he was sure that he had been in here for at least an hour already, from the labyrinth of hallways. Once he got to the end of the tunnel, he saw an enormous room, comparable to the opera house in Draco City. And there, in the far corner of the room, was the dragon. He was huge. He was covered in deep green scales, with his belly covered in orange scales. The dragon raised his head, and turned it towards Artillery. The dragon let out a roar and began walking toward him. Artillery held out his staff, and the dragon stopped, with an almost perplexed look at it. The dragon growled in a strange manner, almost as if he was talking. Artillery looked at the dragon confusedly. "What?" he said, hoping the dragon wouldn't attack. The dragon let out what sounded like a sigh, and began its strange growling again, which this time around, Artillery understood perfectly.
"I said, 'how did you get down here? Did Draguardium send you?'" Artillery looked at the dragon quizzically, and took a breath in. "You know about Draguardium?" The dragon raised his brow, looking slightly confused. "Of course! It is because of him that I am down here in the first place! Now answer my question. Did Draguardium send you or not?" Artillery hesitated for a moment. He didn't exactly know how to answer that question. He supposed it was partly true, considering the fact that the scepter he was holding was once his, so he figured he'd tell him what he believed to be the truth. "Well, in a manner of speaking, I was." He changed the staff back into the scepter, and the dragon looked startled. "I know for a fact that this once belonged to him. I don't know what my connection to it is, but I am trying to figure it out, and I get closer every day." The dragon smiled at him. "So you're the one his scepter chose? Interesting." Artillery continued to grow more and more confused at every turn of the conversation. "What do you mean that I'm the one the scepter chose?" At this, the dragon laughed.
"You ask far too many questions young one. I can tell you about my past, and maybe that will help clear things up, but there are a few conditions. Firstly, you may not interrupt me, under any circumstances. Secondly, you must help me get rid of this aching scale that has been bothering me for nearly a year now. Finally, help me to exit this horrid place. Sound fair?" Artillery smiled. "All right, tell me all about your past." The dragon smiled and nodded. "Very well. My name is Dragorum. I have been alive since before the first war of ages. Three thousand years doesn't exactly treat the body kindly, but I would love to stretch my wings and fly one last time. Ah, I digress. I first encountered Dragorum during the fifth and final War of Ages, when he was still gathering troops for his army. He convinced me to join him, and to use my magic as a dragon to make children." At the last sentence, Artillery looked confusedly at Dragorum. Dragorum then looked back at him, and frowned slightly. "Before you interrupt, I can see you are confused, so allow me to explain. We dragons are magical creatures, and as such, we do not breed. We simply use our abilities to create more children. Anyway, Draguardium told me that there would be a time when the dragons would be needed again, and if I created them, I would help to ensure that the future would be safe. So I created them, and scattered the eggs, as he asked me to, and they have never hatched. There was a specific magic to make them hatch, and only Draguardium knew it. He cast some sort of spell some time after I scattered them. About the same time he created this labyrinth, actually. He created this place for me, to protect me from future evil, and he said that when I was needed again, a chosen warrior would be able to set me free. After that, I never heard from him again." Artillery looked shocked. "So you have been down here for two thousand years?" Dragorum sighed. "Yes, now, I do think you owe me two things." Artillery saw that Dragorum didn't want to talk about the time he'd spent down here, and he chose to respect that. "All right then, first things first. Where is this scale that's been bugging you?" Dragorum sighed, and let out a low growl. "It is in between my wings, and it is very painful. It's bigger than the rest or and has been making my skin swollen, I have no idea why it is causing me such a great amount of pain." Artillery climbed up on Dragorum's back, and saw what scale he was talking about. It was much larger than the surrounding ones, so Artillery could see why it was paining him so. He transformed his scepter into a dagger and cringed. "This may hurt a bit." Dragorum growled at him. "Just get it over with, will you?" Artillery cringed at it again, and dug the dagger into the scale, and cut it off. Dragorum roared at the pain it caused him, which made artillery jump off his back.
"Are you okay?" Artillery said, a little frightened. "Yes, I'm just glad that thing is finally gone. Anyway, we still have the matter of providing me an escape from this prison." "Well," Artillery began. "I don't exactly know how, I've kinda been playing this thing by ear." Dragorum growled at his last comment. "Well you better figure it out, I refuse to allow you to just find out all about me, and then just leave me here." Artillery looked at him with a slight sadness. "I wouldn't do that to you. I'll set you free, mark my words." The dagger Artillery was holding suddenly changed back into the scepter again, and quickly changed into the staff he had held a few minutes before. The staff began leading him around the large room, and he stopped in front of a worn symbol on the wall. "Dragorum, what can you tell me about this?" He said, pointing at the symbol on the wall. Dragorum looked at it, and shook his head. "I have no clue what that is. Draguardium made a lot of symbols and things, each with a different meaning. I remember that one being important, but I can't remember why." Artillery frowned. He had no clue what to do, but suddenly, his scepter began glowing. It shot a beam at the symbol on the wall, and the symbol also began glowing. It rapidly spun around and around. A very thick beam of light then shot out of it, at a diagonal, into the floor. The ground began to quake and the dragon moved to the side of the room that Artillery was on. A huge ramp began coming out of the floor, and went all the way up to the ceiling, which slid open, to make a huge hole for the dragon to escape through. "Would you look at that? I can finally get out of here!" Dragorum ran up the ramp, and made his way into the forest. Artillery went up the ramp as well, and he saw four beams of light coming up from the ground, and all going off in different directions. He shouted out Leicion's name, and Leicion jumped out of a tree, and landed at Artillery's side. "You have released the beast! I did not think anyone could accomplish that task! Do you have the scale?" Artillery said nothing in reply, he merely held up the scale he had cut from Dragorum's back. "Excellent!" Leicion said. "Let us go! We only have an hour left; you spent quite some time down there! Leicion began running, and Artillery smiled. "Wait! I have a better way!" Artillery smiled, and his eyes twinkled. "Dragorum!" He shouted, and a roar filled the air. Trees began snapping around them, and Dragorum appeared.
"Yes?" He said, slightly irritated. Artillery smiled as Leicion looked on in shock. "Well, I heard you mention you'd love to stretch your wings again, and I kind of need a ride, so if you wouldn't mind, I kinda need a ride back to the village." Dragorum flapped his wings in excitement. "You set me free from that place! I would like for nothing more than to give you a ride!" Artillery smiled at him, and bowed a bit. "If it's not too much trouble, I'd like for my friend Leicion to ride with me." Dragorum thought it over for a moment, and nodded. "Very well. Any friend of yours is a friend of mine." Artillery turned to Leicion, and gave him a wink. "Leicion, Dragorum says he'll give you a ride back to the village." Leicion walked a bit closer, and nearly fainted. "You mean you can talk to this creature?" "Of course," Artillery replied. "Can't you?" "I don't know anyone who claims to know the language of those beasts! Perhaps you are the one of the gods!" Artillery looked at him irritably. "Do you want a ride or not?" Leicion thought about it for a moment, and smiled. "I won't pass up this chance! I would love to for a ride on a dragon!" "Then let's go!" Artillery replied. Dragorum lowered his neck, and Artillery and Leicion climbed on. Dragorum looked up to the sky, and began flapping his wings. Artillery and Leicion braced themselves, as Dragorum shot off into the air. Higher and higher he went, soaring into the clouds. Though the village was shrouded in a magical cloak, Dragorum could still see it, sitting a few miles from where they currently were. He flapped his wings, and rocketed toward the village. When they made it almost directly above the village, Dragorum lowered himself down to land in a bare strip of dirt. The villagers all crowded around the beast, and Dragorum growled. They all backed off, and Artillery and Leicion jumped off the creature's neck. Artillery ignored the villagers and began walking to Elder Kahran's tent.
"Wait!" Dragorum shouted. Artillery turned to face him "Before I leave, I wanted to let you know that if you ever need me, use that staff to call me." Artillery smiled. "I will!" he shouted as Dragorum flew away. Artillery then turned tail and began walking toward Elder Kahran's tent. He finally made it in, and Kahran looked shocked.
"You have returned?! And with nearly an hour left. Impressive. That is, of course, if you managed to retrieve the scale. If not, you and your friends shall die." Artillery pulled out the scale he had been keeping in the arrow pouch that Tech made for him. "You mean this scale?" he said, a smirk painting his face. Elder Kahran looked at the scale, and gasped. "Impossible! No outsider could've gotten that scale!" Artillery frowned at him indignantly. "Well this one did, so let my friends go!" Elder Kahran gave an irritated sigh. "Very well, allow me to take you to them." Kahran began walking toward a tent that was further away from the other tents surrounding Kahran's. "You truly are a special individual. Perhaps you are even a reincarnation of the leader of the gods, as Leicion believes." They walked inside the tent, and Knightbeast immediately grabbed his cage at Artillery's arrival.
"You're back! Please tell me we can get the hell out of here!" Artillery smiled at Knightbeast and sighed. "Yes guys, Kahran is going to set you free. But, before he does, I want to let you know, that we're going to stay here a while. Don't do anything stupid to jeopardize that." Twilight gave a snarl. "You expect us to just sit here and do nothing after being locked in cages for eleven hours?!" Pixie also gave a little grunt of dissatisfaction. "Can't we just get out of here? We've spent too much time here as it is, only to be kidnapped and forced in cages, which were like magically sealed or something. Tech scoffed at her. "Humph! Magic! There is no such thing! They must have some sort of technology that even I can't understand." Artillery smirked at Tech, and then directed his gaze back at Kahran. "Could you let my friends go please?" Kahran gave a grunt and smiled.
"Of course. You have more than proved yourself worthy." Kahran waved his hand, after which, the cages began glowing, and they opened. The foursome of Tech, Pixie, Knightbeast, and Twilight all jumped from their cages, and stretched a bit. Kahran put a hand on Artillery's shoulder, and smiled. "You have come here to discover more about yourself, and the scepter you carry, correct?" Artillery nodded, and Kahran kept wearing his smile. "Very well. I was hesitant to reveal anything to you, because I was skeptical that you were indeed the reincarnation of Draguardium. However, considering the fact that you retrieved Dragorum's scale, there is no further doubt in my mind." Knightbeast looked at Kahran, and then Artillery, and turned his head slightly sideways. "What's he talking about, Artillery?" Artillery smiled. "I'll explain later. Anyway, what's next, Kahran?" Kahran turned his back to the group of them, and frowned. "You must go on a journey to the place that scepter was created, to discover its true purpose." Artillery looked confusedly at Kahran. "How am I supposed to make it to this place? I have no clue where it is!" Kahran frowned, though Artillery couldn't see; Kahran's back was still turned to him. "Your scepter will guide you, young one. Normally this would be a journey you would have to undertake alone, but, considering the way I treated your friends, I think it's only fair that they be allowed to accompany you." Knightbeast growled at Kahran. "Damn right we get to go with him! No one is gonna tell me any different!" Kahran turned back to face Artillery and the others. "You may go anytime you wish," he began, ignoring Knightbeast's comment. "But I would suggest that you rest before you go on such an arduous journey. There are bedrolls in my hut if you wish to do so." Artillery nodded to him, and instructed his team to follow him. They did as he said and followed him to Kahran's hut. They went deep inside the hut, and found a series of bedrolls, just as Kahran said. Artillery lay down, as his friends did the same, and they all slowly drifted off to sleep. Artillery however, lay awake for a while longer, his head finally hitting the pillow, swimming with thoughts of the upcoming journey, and the discovery of his role in all this.