Chains of Fate by Lee Tat Wei

* Yo u n g A u t h o r C l u b * Yo u n g A u t h o r C l u b *

Chains of Fate

Lee Tat Wei

Magic & Fantasy

Chains of Fate

Written and illustrated by Lee Tat Wei

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I would like to dedicate this story to my family for their never-ending support, Ms Catherine Khoo and Ms Aileen Kong for their great guidance and finally all readers who like magic and fantasy.

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Prologue Magic. It is a word when spoken, thought to be related to illusions, tricks, and bluffs. But the word ‘magic’ is much deeper than that. Yes, in the years before 2235, magicians used magic to gain money. Most of them were bluffs and optical illusions. This led to the universal thinking that magic is a trick, an illusion, a bluff, and a scam. But one would never have thought that because of this lust for money, a new era would be written in history textbooks all over the world. The era of magic.

In the year 2235, a new type of magic was born. And it was born in a very unexpected place, a rundown district in North America. It was like every other day, a magician, or what others may call a trickster, named Fred was getting ready for the final part of his 3rd street performance. He wore a purple silk top hat with a white feather attached to it, and a purple cape. He held a rough piece of stone with engravings on it. There was a circle, and vertical lines surrounded it. On one of the lines, there was an arrow pointing outwards. Now, Fred would have never known that what he was holding would be the very first rune uncovered and used. Runes were magical stones with peculiar engravings on them. If used correctly, they can many magical effects.

Large gatherings of people thronged the area around him and he got ready.

He looked around him to make sure that the props were in place. There was a wooden table in front of him, with the front and sides covered with wood. He quickly moved his eyes down to see his partner below the table, but he was unable to be seen by the audience. Then, Fred placed the stone on the table.

“Now, audience, I am going to make this magic stone disappear with this cloth!” Fred said and many intrigued eyes looked at the stone. With one hand holding on to the stone and on hand holding on to a small piece of black cloth, he recalled the plan for this last trick. He would hold the cloth so that it covered the stone, and his partner would, from underneath the table, take down the precarved piece of the table that was supporting the stone and lower it. He would then take the stone and put the piece of the table back in place.

“Now, I call you all to come and see my fourth trick. The stone will disappear with the power of my magic! Allow me to make the Sunday today more exciting!”

Fred said. Suddenly the engravings on the stone he was holding glowed a bright red. The light was so bright it blinded all of them for a few seconds, after which screams could be heard. For what Fred had said had awakened the power of the rune and now, his hands were burning with a strong flame, and the engraving on the stone was gone. This was because, it so happened the arrow on the stone was pointing towards the sun and amongst the words he had just spoken was the 3

phrase, “I call forth the power of the sun!”

People were hysterical and Fred’s partner ran away with fright. Fred opened his eyes in horror as he looked at his hands. The peculiar thing was this; Fred’s hands were burning with the flame, but his skin was not burnt at all; it was not black from touching the flame. Fred raised his hand towards his face, and he realized another thing - he felt no pain from his burning hand. Relieved that there was not pain, but hysterical because of that phenomenon, he screamed and tried to put out the fire by whacking it on the wall, people tried to help him.

They brought a pail of water and he dunked his hands inside. What happened almost made him faint. The flames were burning INSIDE the water. He could see the light of the fire inside the clear water.

“Ahh!!!! Go away fire!” Fred screamed.

Suddenly, the flames went out. For the next half of his life, he could summon and dismiss flames anytime he wanted, and he would not feel pain if flames hit him. Fred, the street performer, had become a Pyromancer, a flame mage. He helped the fire fighters rescue people and soon, the world knew of the true meaning of magic. They searched far and wide for runes, but, not all runes teach magic.

The one Fred found gives one extremely powerful fire magic. Scrolls were then found, and once deciphered, one can use magic sealed in the scroll.

Thus, the era of magic was born.

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Chapter 1 The Magic Trio The main story unfolds in the year 2568, in a country called Xennos, a renamed country of America when it was hit by a disastrous earthquake that divided it into ten continents, in a town called Starlight Town. Earth was not much different from the early 2000s. People pictured the future to include flying cars, robots, and laser guns. But, never would have people thought that Earth in the future did have flying cars and so on, but in a very different way. For people could levitate their cars to get from place to place, and robots were instead replaced with golems summoned and made from mud and stone, and laser guns were changed to lightning shooting out from someone’s fingertips.

He ran. He ran as fast as he could, but no matter what, it kept coming closer.

Suddenly he felt a force push him aside.

“No! Mum! Dad!” he shouted as he saw his parents turning around towards the shadow, and suddenly, a humanoid wolf lunged at his parents.

“Zack! No, run!” his parents shouted as the lycans bit them on their necks.

The boy screamed as he saw his own parents being murdered.

“No!!!!”

Zack sat up from his bed, beads of sweat trickling down his forehead, and he was panting. Slowly, he calmed down.

“It’s just a nightmare. It’s just a nightmare. Don’t need to be scared, Zack,” he told himself silently. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Zack stood up and walked towards the door. He was sleeping in a small room with only four things, a single bed that had white bed sheets and blankets, a table to the right of the room with books and papers placed in a very untidy fashion, and a small cabinet for him to store his clothes where he also placed a container of water some milk cartons, and a container of cookies in case he would be hungry at night and a toilet. Zack opened the door, “Hey, Zack. You alright?” came a soft voice.

“Oh, it’s you, Terra. I’m fine. Come in,” he offered. The teal-haired girl nodded and walked in towards his room and sat on his bed. Zack closed the door and poured her a cup of water, in which she politely took, and then he took a chair and sat across from her.

“The same nightmare again?” Terra asked. Zack nodded.

“How’d you know? Oh, wait. My screaming, isn’t it?” Zack asked. Terra nodded.

“I know it’s hard for you. But, it’s already been 5 years since your town was destroyed. You just have to leave it behind you. Lead a new life,” Terra said as she 5

sipped the water and twirled her long hair in which she tied into two ponytails.

“How’d you expect me to forget it? I’m the cause for my town’s devastation!” Zack cried, “If…..If.... If only I hadn’t wandered into the forest. If only I heeded my parents’ advice. Then the monsters in the forest wouldn’t have chased me into my town, and the town won’t be destroyed. A…And my parents wouldn’t have –” Terra tried to calm him down. She knew what had happened. Zack belonged to a rich family in a town. When his town was attacked by the monsters, a mage saved him. The mage adopted him and brought him to a school of magic in which he was the headmaster. There, Zack also met two of his adoptive father’s foster children, Terra and Drake.

The adoptive siblings studied magic and had been the best of friends. Drake studied ice magic, Terra studied the art of summoning whilst Zack, because he joined the school much later, was still studying the basics. Although adoptive siblings, the three of them were much different. Alike to what he studies, Drake is cold on the outside, but he treasures the friendship they have. But once he gets emotional, the temperature around him drops drastically. Terra was more of the joyful type, but once she gets angry, her magic power increases a lot. Zack is more of the friendly type, but he keeps his unhappiness to himself.

“I…I’m sorry. It’s just that –” Zack started and Terra nodded. The three of them knew each other inside out, and now, Zack needed some time alone. She was sure that he would be different the next day. Terra bade Zack goodbye and left the room for her own room besides Zack’s. Zack turned around and went to bed. “Hey, sleepyhead! You’re late!” came a loud voice from outside the room.

Zack sat up, realizing it was Terra, quickly checked his clock.

“Oh my god, it’s eleven! I’m late!” Zack cried as he stumbled to his cabinet, almost falling, and quickly searched for some clothes. He went into the toilet and quickly washed up and changed and went out of the room, taking his bag along with him. Terra stood outside and a boy with onyx black hair and bluish grey eyes leaned on a wall. As usual his black hair was styled in such a way that it covered his right eye.

“Hey Drake, hey, Terra,” Zack smiled. There was a silent pause.

“WELL, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? Stop staring at me and quickly get moving!” Terra shouted as she pushed Zack. Drake carried his sling bag and walked behind both of them. The trio split up and went to the respective classes. Zack rushed into his class and was stopped by his history teacher, Mr. Henkins.

“Zack! Why are you here so late?” he asked.

“Well… I’m sorry, sir, I overslept,” Zack replied as the class laughed at 6

the state of Zack’s blonde hair.

“Well, I shall give you a chance. Now, quickly get to your seat,” the teacher said. Zack nodded and went to his seat at the side of the classroom. There, on his desk, was a note.

“The incarnate of the iron giant shall be the saviour of Earth, For he was destined to this path since the very day of birth.

These chains of fate that pull him down, Locked onto this path, he shall frown, But this is his destiny, his fate and life, In which he cannot defy, and must strive through.

First the Circle, and then the beast, Countless adventures of pain and sorrow he shall go, But finally, a quest to find death that he deserves.

For the incarnate is no ordinary being, no, He is doomed to live and to see his loved ones die, For he knows no time, and he knows no death, Because the incarnate is doomed to live forever, never knowing the pleasures of death.”

Zack glanced at this note and thought it was some kind of prank, and he scoffed and crumpled the piece of paper, stuffing it in his pocket.

“Now, class, as I was saying, you all know about the first ever real magic to be discovered 333 years ago, right? I just taught you all that yesterday. Today, we would be learning about runes and scrolls. There are millions of runes out there in this world. Runes are basically something that strengthens the user if used in the correct way. For example, Fred Hoddericks, the discoverer of magic, coincidentally pointed the arrow on the stone to the sun and said the phrase, “I call forth the power of the sun!” Runes operate in this way. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to activate runes, because finding out how to activate it is very hard, but the reward is worth it. Class, you have to note that there are natural and man-made runes. Natural runes have more powerful magic stored within them, and powerful mages can extract the power within an artificial rune without first activating it.

“Scrolls are a way of teaching magic. Some mages teach magic using this method when they want to teach large masses of people. It works in this way; mages who know inscription will inscribe various types of magic onto a scroll.

The receiver would then have to decipher the ancient language inscribed onto the scroll. Once done, the instructions on how to learn the magic would be revealed 7

and, with the proper training, one can learn the magic sealed within the scroll. This is also used for more powerful magic. When you graduate and choose the path of magic you want to master, class, you would have to use scrolls very often.

“Okay, class. I’m giving you each a rune and a scroll to decipher. This is your homework,” Mr. Henkins said as the class complained about how it would be very hard.

“Calm down. The runes would be quite straightforward to activate because it is man-made by the school for your level. The scrolls should be quite easy if you have paid attention to Mrs. Jane’s Language class. Besides, it’s the weekends tomorrow, you’ll have ample to to do your work. Everyone would have different runes and scrolls, so you cannot copy each other,” Mr. Henkins said as he gave out the runes and scrolls.

“Okay, class dismissed. You may go for lunch now,” he announced as the class ran towards the canteen.

Zack walked towards the canteen, fiddling with the scroll. He thought of completing the easy job first, before moving on to the runes. He had been paying attention in Language class, so he knew the ancient language quite well. The tricky thing was, every element of magic had its own language, so he had to figure out which element the scroll was first.

“Hey, Zack,” came a voice from behind him.

“Oh, hi Drake,” Zack replied. Drake walked beside Zack, cleaning some dirt off his sleeveless shirt.

“Why do you always wear sleeveless shirts, Drake? Don’t you feel cold, it’s fall now, you know,” Zack asked.

“Hmph. Don’t tell me you forgot I CONTROL the cold,” he said as he went to buy lunch and walked to a table with Zack. Suddenly, a boy pushed Drake, and his tray of food fell on the floor.

“Hey! What’s your big problem?” Drake shouted at the boy.

“This is for kicking my bag!” he shouted back.

“I already told you – it was an accident!” Drake raised his voice.

“Do I look like I care?” the boy said as he kicked Zack and his tray fell on the floor too.

“Why you….” Drake started.

“Why? No more words from your pea brain? Hahaha!” he laughed. Zack shuddered. It was not because of that boy’s horrible laughter, but, the temperature around him was falling drastically. He turned and saw Drake, with a blue aura around him and his hands clenched into fists, and his hair covered both of his eyes.

“Drake, Drake, it’s okay. Chill, Drake, wait, what am I saying? Don’t chill.

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No I mean- ugh, don’t let your emotions control you! The room’s getting really cold now, you know?” Zack clamed Drake down.

“Oh no,” the boy said as Drake punched him in the face.

Zack looked at Drake’s fist and saw did his fist was frozen with ice. Then, the ice shattered, and Drake’s fist as back to normal, but the room just got colder and colder.

“Mess with me and Zack again, and you can bet that you will end up like this!” Drake said as he made a block of ice appear on the ground and crushed it with his foot. The boy got up, with a blue-black and some small pieces of ice on his left cheek, and ran away. Soon, the temperature of the room was back to normal.

“Drake you okay?” Zack asked as he realized a large gathering of students were around them. Drake walked away.

“Hey, Drake! Wait up!” Zack shouted as he took his scroll along with him.

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Chapter 2 Headmaster Gandeth “So let me get this straight – you, while rushing to class in the early afternoon, accidentally kicked Mike’s bag. Feeling angry, during lunch, Mike pushed you and your tray fell. Then he kicked Zack and HIS tray fell. And then, you, letting your emotions control you – again – punched him,” Terra stood up and asked Drake, who was sitting on a chair in Zack’s room. It was after school and Terra was asking Drake about what had happened during lunch because she had stayed back in class completing a project and heard the news of him punching Mike.

“Pretty much,” Drake nodded.

“What?” Terra cried, “You punched him because of that?”

“It’s ‘cause he gets someone innocent into our fight. And you know, don’t you, that if an innocent person gets hurt because of something they didn’t do, the culpri gets a taste of my Frozen Fist magic,” Drake said as he glanced at Zack, who, being too engrossed in trying to decipher the scroll he got in class, did not hear them talking. Terra sighed and rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, yeah. Brotherly love. But come on, Zack’s already 15. You’re the same age as him too, you know,” Terra said, “Hey Zack, you need help there?

Zack, hello? Zack!” “it’s not brotherly love! I’d d it even if it wasn’t Zack,” Drake said.

“Hold on a minute. Wait, I think I got it. I think this is supposed to be a fire magic scroll. Draga means dragon in the fire language, so Et Draga Exco no Tante Jaguumba Exco means ‘The Dragon’s fire is an eternally flaming fire”. I got it! The whole scroll says, “Fire is a vicious element. Restless and destructive are flames. The dragon’s fire is and eternally flaming fire, and the way to awaken it is to concentrate and put in all your emotions to say this words, “I call forth the phantom dragon!’” Yes! I got it” Zack exclaimed.

“Yay! I knew you had a gift for magic, Zack!” Terra stated. Drake let out a small ‘hmph’ of agreement. There was a knock on the door and Zack went to get it.

“Hey, Dad! I finally deciphered my first scroll!” Zack exclaimed.

“Oh, hi Dad!” Terra said.

“Hi kids! So, how’s your day!” a tall man smiled and exclaimed. This is the trio’s father - he is a kind, 50 year-old bachelor who is sometimes too jovial for his own good – who is also the headmaster of the school. The staff of the school call him Headmaster Gandeth.

“We’re not kids now, old man,” Drake said as he crossed his arms and 10

stood up and leaned against the wall.

“Hey, is this how you greet your father?” he asked with a fake pout, “and I heard that you got angry and punched Mike this afternoon.”

“Well, he deserved it,” Drake said.

“I know, I scolded him already! But, you know Drake, you made me very mad,” their father said in a happy tone, but changed his voice when he said that he was mad.

“Let me guess, his parents complained to you, right?” Drake said.

“They did. But I was not made because of that. I was mad because I had to pay the cleaners overtime for cleaning up the water that was caused by the melting ice from you being angry,” their father said in a cheery tone.

“Oh, right. When Drake got angry, I saw that all the chair and table got covered in ice,” Zack said. Drake rolled his eyes.

“So kids, where do you all want to go over the weekend?” their father asked.

“Let’s go to the Fairy Dust Canyon! I always wanted to see the beautiful fairies and flowers there!” Terra said.

“Then it’s settled! We’ll go camping at Fairy Dust Canyon for one night!” he said happily.

“Seriously, you’re too quick to make decisions, old man,” Drake said, but nevertheless, he too, wanted to see the flowers. Not because he liked them, but because he heard that if one mashes the flower and drinks the juice, their magic power would increase.

“Umm… But Dad, I still have to find out how to activate a rune,” Zack said.

“Well, bring the rune and your scroll along! But remember, no casting magic!” their father said.

“Why the scroll?” Zack asked.

“Umm….. I want to read it too!” he said.

“Hey, Zack! You’ve got to go for your math tuition classes!” Terra said as Zack immediately started packing his books. He checked the clock. It was 4.58 p.m. already. School was from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., so the schedule he had was pretty tight. Zack rushed out of the room after saying goodbye to his family. He had two minutes to get to class, so he had no choice but to use magic – he had already been late many times, so he did not want to be late again. It was quite risky because it was forbidden to use magic in school, unless instructed by the teacher.

“Levitation!” Zack said as raised his hand and he began to float unsteadily, then, he levitated himself towards a tower, pretending to be superman by stretching one arm in front of him and then placing the other close to his body. Zack flew 11

up to the railings of the fifth storey and was about to land when suddenly, he lost control of his magic and he flew towards the railing, head-first.

“Ouch!” he said as he fell towards the first storey.

“Ice Crafting; Snow Eagle!” a voice shouted from below as Zack felt himself being flown by a very cold creature.

“Thanks, Drake!” Zack shouted.

“I knew you’d lose control of your magic,” Drake said as he walked back to the dormitory. Zack landed on the fifth floor as he saw the eagle shatter into ice pieces that dropped down onto the first floor. Drake’s magic was cool, in terms of temperature and power; he could craft anything he wanted with ice and it could act as a living being, but only for awhile.

Zack quickly rushed to class.

“Good evening, Mrs. Yen, I’m not late, am I?” Zack asked.

“Okay, class. As you know, mages use mana to fuel their magic, and mana is present in the mage’s body. But if mana is used up, once can use mana from the atmosphere. And overtime, mana is replenished in the body as long as it is exposed to mana in the atmosphere. And if we say the name of our magic it will become stronger, but it will also take up more mana. For example; if I use levitation to lift up this table,” Mrs. Yen pointed to a large table and lifted it with levitation, “I will have to use a lot of my strength, because levitation requires one to use their magical AND physical strength. But, if I use this method - Levitation! – I can lift it very easily.

“Okay, so, class, if Joe can cast thunder at a target 20 times before he runs out of inner mana, and every thunder magic requires him to absorb 5 secs of mana in the atmosphere, how many times can he cast thunder within 60 secs if he cannot use mana in the atmosphere to cast thunder and it takes 1 second to cast thunder and he cannot charge mana when he is casting?”Mrs. Yen asked.

Zack immediately raised his hand.

“Zack,” Mrs. Yen chose.

“26 times,” Zack said and Mrs. Yen gave him the thumbs-up.

“Okay, collect these worksheets and complete them by next Friday. Class dismissed,” she said as Zack went to collect his worksheet and walked back to the dormitory.

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Chapter 3 Fairy Dust Canyon “Zack! You done packing?” Terra asked from outside the door. Zack stood up from his bag and opened the door.

“Yeah. Hey, Terra, can you help me with my homework?” Zack asked.

“Alright, what is it? Problem with Science? Math?” Terra asked. Zack showed her the rune he got in history class.

“Aw… I’m bad at runes too. Okay, I’ll try to help anyways. Let’s see. The engraving on the runes is in orange and it is of a clock. With the hour and minute hand at the 12 sign. Well, it’s easy! You just have to use a fire spell, because of the orange engraving, at noon! Or midnight, I’m not too sure. Well, you can try both! Hey, I’m gonna call Drake now,” Terra said as she ran to Drake’s room.

Even though Terra had already told Zack what to do, he was still in need of help, because, he had no learnt any fire magic yet.

“Drake! Hey! Drake!” Terra called. The door opened and she saw Drake wearing a black cloth so that it covered his mouth. He tied it into a triangular shape, and because of his clothing and appearance, he looked like a typical ninja.

“Hah hah HAHAHAHAHAHA,” Terra fell to her knees, laughing.

“You…HAHAHA….Look like you’re…..HAHAHAHA….. Going for a…….HAHAHAHA……Halloween Party…..HAHAHAHAHAHA!” Terra laughed.

“Argh… You know that Fairy Dust Canyon has Magma nectar, right? Well, I’m allergic to it, remember?” Drake said as he held a bag and placed his right hand on his right shoulder for support.

“Let’s go,” he said as Terra walked out of the room and he walked out and locked the door. Zack was out too, with their Dad. “Okay, kids! Let’s go! I booked a ticket with the Dragon International Airlines and the dragon is outside waiting for us already!” he said as they quickly went outside. The dragon was a bright green with a friendly look. It was just a young dragon, because Gandeth booked a dragon for 4 people.

“C’mon! Let’s go!” he said as they got onto the dragon. Zack sat in front, followed by Terra, then Gandeth, and lastly Drake, who ironically hated to fly on dragons, even if his name was ‘Drake’.

“We’re going on a journey! We’re going on a trip! We’re going to explore the forests, and also the sea! C’mon, sing with me!” Gandeth sang. Zack and Terra were too engrossed looking at the sights below them, and Drake was starting to get airsick.

“Old man, I’m going off this dragon, otherwise, I’m gonna puke,” Drake 13

said as he jumped down from the dragon.

Zack looked down as he saw Drake falling and heard Drake shout, “Ice Crafting: Frozen Wings!”

Suddenly, blue-coloured wings grew from Drake’s back.

“That’s the Drake I know, always doing things his way!” Gandeth said happily. Soon, they landed at Fairy Dust Canyon.

“Well, it would take Drake at least an hour more before he gets here,” Terra said, “so why don’t we set up the campsite first?”

“Great idea!” Zack said as they started to pitch their tents. Soon, Drake arrived, panting.

“Okay, I would NEVER fly on my own again. Even if I were to puke, I would NEVER EVER want to encounter those eagles again,” Drake said.

“Oh, so they found you?” Terra asked.

“Yeah, I had to materialise my glaives in order to scare them away,” Drake said.

“Materialise your glaives?” Zack asked. Drake nodded and placed both of his hands out. Both hands were wearing black fingerless gloves.

“Materialise: Twin Glaives!” Drake said as two large glaives half his height materialised out of nowhere and he held them by the centre.

“It’s a portable way of storing stuff. You can dematerialise things and materialise it again another time. But, there is a limit to what you can dematerialise – for me it’s 5 kilograms of things,” Drake explained and Zack nodded.

“Let’s go see the fairies!” Terra pulled Zack’s and Gandeth’s hand as Drake dematerialized his glaives and ran with them.

“Here, wear this capes,” Gandeth said.

“Why?” Zack asked.

“They look cool!” Terra said.

“If you don’t the fairies would run away when you get close to them – this is a mark of peace,” he explained.

The four of them went to see the fairies, they were small petit beings. They were very beautiful, with different coloured clothes. Drake found some flowers and dematerialised them.

“Hey, I’ll be going there for awhile, you guys stay here, okay? I have a good friend who lives here!” Gandeth said as he walked away. Terra continued to play with the fairies and she saw something sparkling on the ground.

“OH MY GOSH! It’s a key!” Terra said as she picked up a red key.

“Yeah, so?” Zack asked. Terra was about to reply when a sound interrupted her.

“Grrrrr……..”

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“What’s that?” Zack asked.

“Monsters,” Drake replied.

“Get ready,” “Materialise: Twin Glaives!” Drake said as the two glaives appeared.

“Oh yeah, Zack. You haven’t really seen me summon before, right? Well here’s your chance!” Terra said.

“Summon?” Zack asked. Terra nodded.

“Summoners use keys and locks. Keys are basically the monsters, or Arconsa spirits, and the locks are the portals in which they come through.

Summoners use keys to summon the Arconsas. I’ll use this key then, I bought this at a sale 2 days ago,” Terra said.

“I am the bridge between the Arconsa Spirit World and this realm. I call forth the power to summon the portal to this realm! The rock golem, Feridos, heed my call!” Terra said as she inserted a brown key into a lock and turned it, then, a magical portal appeared in front all of them as a large golem walked through.

Three wolves charged at them.

“Feridos, show them what you’ve got!” Terra shouted as the large golem punched one of the wolves.

“Ice Crafting: Snow Pheonix!” Drake shouted as a large blue bird lunged at one wolf. Suddenly, three ogres came out. Drake spun his glaives and threw them at two of the ogres, but they merely screamed.

“Zack, run!” Terra shouted as she pushed him away. A wolf launched itself at her. Suddenly, Zack was reminded about what had happened to his town. His parents. The wolves. His hate grew.

“NO! I WON’T RUN!” Zack screamed. He hated himself for doing that to his town, all the innocent people died. His parents, his friends. All because of disobedience. But this time, he had to disobey, or he will never forgive himself.

He remembered. He DID learn a fire spell.

“I call forth the phantom dragon!” Zack shouted and raised his right arm.

Suddenly, his body started to glow with an orange aura. A beam of fire shot out from his right hand, and then formed into a dragon.

“It’s exactly like my Ice Crafting magic….” Drake said as he dodged an attack from one of the ogres.

He spun one glaive and cold air surrounded it.

“Magic Imbue: Ice!” Drake shouted and threw the glaive. It hit the ogre’s face and came back, but without the cold air surrounding it. Instead, the cold air had surrounded the ogre’s head and then the whole head froze, along with its brain, and slowly, the cold air travelled down towards its body and with every inch the cold air touched, it froze. Soon, the whole ogre was frozen, and Drake 15

threw a glaive and shattered it.

“Feridos, crush them!” Terra commanded as she ran towards Zack. The dragon that was formed with fire launched itself at the ogres and turned them to ash immediately.

“What? How can such a powerful spell be imbued inside a man-made rune that is used for homework?” Terra asked herself as she saw Zack fall to the ground.

“Zack!” Terra shouted.

“He used up all his energy to cast that spell,” Drake explained as Feridos crushed a wolf.

“Hmph…….. Not bad,” said a voice and Drake turned around and saw a tall man walking towards them. He wore shoulderguards that had skulls on it, skull earrings, black pants, and ablack shirt with a white vest.

“Who are you?” Terra asked, tending to Zack.

“Does it matter? All that matters is that you give me the scroll and the rune,” he said.

“What scroll? What rune?” Terra asked.

“Oh, please. Don’t be so ignorant. That boy,” the man said as he pointed to Zack, “The spell he just used. Give me the scroll and the rune now.”

“Ice Crafting: Ice Tower!” Drake said as he raised his right arm. Ice rose from the ground and surrounded the man.

“Get Zack away from here and tell the old man to keep the rune and scroll,” he said as he raised his glaives and spun it.

“No! Feridos, crush that man!” Terra commanded. Suddenly, she saw ice on Feridos’ shoulder. She turned to Drake to find him surrounded by a blue aura.

“Get away from here. Ice Crafting: Snow Pride!” Drake said as lions made of ice charged at Zack and Terra and Feridos. They carried Zack and Terra on their shoulders and ran away and Feridos returned to Terra in its key form.

The ice on the tower shattered as the man walked out.

“Hmph…. Good ice magic you got there, Prince Edge.”

16

Chapter 4 Edge, Prince of the Underworld “No! Let us go you lions!” Terra screamed. Suddenly, she felt water on her arm. She looked down and saw that the lions were leaping from a cliff to another far away cliff.

“No! I don’t mean melt now!” Terra screamed as the lions melted into water.

“Ahh! I am the bridge between the Arconsa Spirit World and this realm!

I call forth the power to summon a portal to this realm! The lion, Leo, heed my call!” Terra shouted as she inserted a golden key into her lock and beautiful golden lion leaped out and carried both Terra and Zack on its shoulder and landed safely on the ground. Terra panted as she tended to Zack.

“I’ve never really tried this before,, but I guess I’ve got to summon two spirits at once. I am the bridge between the Arconsa spirit world and this realm!

I call the power to summon a portal to this realm! The lyre player, Lyra, heed my call!” she said and inserted a silver key into her lock. A portal appeared and a beautiful lady holding a lyre walked out.

“Play a song to awaken Zack. Leo, go smell if there are any monsters around here,” she commanded.

“Where’s Dad when we need him?” she cried.

“You WHAT?” a lady shouted.

“Calm down, Linda. I know, but I had no choice. They knew that I had it.

I had to give it to Zack. I know I’m selfish, by changing their path from here on out. But if I don’t, Abzul would get the rune and scroll. And if that happens, you know the rest.” Gandeth said.

“Sigh…. You’d better go get your children,” she said.

“Oh yes, I will. Goodbye Linda,” Gandeth said as he exited the dusty house.

“Goodbye Gandeth,” Linda replied.

“Why’d you come?” Drake shouted.

“Didn’t I say already? I came for the rune and scroll,” the man said.

“Ice Crafting: Ice Block!” Drake said as a huge ice block appeared over the man’s head and dropped down. But the man merely lifted his arm and touched the ice with his index finger, and it shattered.

“Prince Edge, ya magic is still undeveloped,” the man said.

“Shut up, Magic Imbue: Ice!” Drake spun his glaive and threw it. The man caught with his arm and shattered the glaive.

“Shadow Crafting: Prison!” said the man as something dark appeared 17

over Drake’s head and formed into a large prison and dropped, caging Drake inside it.

“Andreas. Let me out. Now,” Drake commanded.

“Oh, I’m sorry Ya Highness, but I can’t follow ya orders. The King of the Underworld has ordered me to bring the scroll and rune back,” Andreas said.

“A Necromancer, huh? Well, I believe that you should just run,” a voice said.

“Argh… Old man….”

“I’m sorry, buti need to bring the scroll, rune and boy back,” Andreas said.

“Flame Swirl!” Gandeth shouted as pillars of flame shot up from the ground and surrounded Andreas, swirling around him.

“Dispel!” Gandeth shouted, and the Shadow Prison that Andreas formed broke and Drake walked out.

“Drake, run,” Gandeth commanded.

“You don’t know me, do you? Ice Crafting: Ice –” Drake started as he fell to the ground.

“So, Prince Edward has used up all his energy huh?” Andreas said.

“Necromancer, please, go away, or I will have to be rough,” Gandeth said.

“Hahahaha. You think that ya can stand up against me? Materialise: Potion!”

Andreas said as he materialised a potion and shook it. Then, he threw it at the fire. The glass shattered and the contents spilled on the ground, and smoke rose from the liquid.

“An art of Necromancery: Poison,” Andreas said as he raised his arm to his right and the smoke gathered at his hand. Then he ushed his arm in front of him and a ball of poison lunged towards Gandeth.

“Water Shield,” Gandeth chanted as water appeared out of nowhere and formed into a large shield that intercepted the poison ball and then dispersed into tiny water droplets.

“Lightning Arc,” Gandeth said as lightning struck Andreas.

“Nice magic you’ve got there, but, ya can’t match me! Shadow Crafting: Swords!” Andreas shouted as tens of sword formed around Gandeth and started to launch themselves at him.

“Hahaha! Patheitic old man aren’t ya?” Andreas snickered.

“Andreas, wasn’t it?” came a voice amongst the dust that had gathered when the Shadow Swords attacked Gandeth.

“Well, either your mother didn’t teach you, or you’re just ignorant. You know that it isn’t very polite to insult your opponents with this level of magic 18

don’t you?” Gandeth said as he stood up, with all of the Shadow Swords stabbing the ground around him, but none touched him.

“What? It didn’t get ya? Hmph…. I guess ya aren’t that bad after all. Well, try this poison then, Acid Spray!” Andreas said as green gas started to spray at Gandeth.

“I thought the only way of using poison is through potions!” Gandeth said.

“Well, when ya water shield blocked my poison, it just dispersed but I can gather it back again. Go! Acid Spray! Full Force!” Andreas shouted and let out an evil laugh.

“Argh… Earthen Tower!” Gandeth said, but nothing happened.

“Hahahaha! Haven’t ya heard? High exposure to Shadow Magic can make one unable to cast spells for awhile,” Andreas said.

“What, wait a second…..” Andreas said as he saw a rock on the ground, with ice on top. Slowly, his arm felt cold.

“What is this?” Andreas shouted.

“Shut up….. Butler…,” Drake said as he stood up. Andreas glared angrily at him.

“Drake, run, now!” Gandeth shouted.

“Shut up, old man,” he said, “I’ve never use this for a long time, but I guess I’ve got to.”

“Ya Highness, ya’re not gonna use that, are ya?” Andreas asked.

“Well, I have no choice,” Drake said.

“Stop that!” a voice shouted.

“Zack!” Gandeth said as the poison acid lurched at him.

“Go, Leo!” Terra shouted as Zack ran towards his father.

“Ion Shell!” he screamed as a magical barrier surrounded Gandeth, preventing the poison to reach him.

“Hahaha! A family reunion ain’t it? Well, I’m sorry I have to break this happy occasion, but,” Andreas said as he took out a talisman.

“Have ya ever seen dead man walking? Hahahaha!” he screamed as he raised his talisman, and the ground started shaking.

“Andreas, leave them out of this……” Drake said as he raised his right arm and a whirlwind released from his hand and shot towards Andreas.

“Leo, Lyra! Go!” Terra shouted.

“Zack! Where did you learn that spell?” Gandeth asked.

“No time,” Zack said as a hand shot out from the ground. As Drake’s whirlwind was about to hit Andreas, a zombie shot out from the ground and intercepted the attack.

19

“I am a Necromancer. Master of the Undead,” Andreas said.

“Leo, golden flame!” Terra said as the golden lion started to burn with a bright flame and charged through 3 zombies and they turned into ashes.

“Lyra, play a song of joy!” Terra commanded. The lady played the lyre, but none of the skeletons were affected. Instead they attacked Lyra, and she fell, and turned back into a key.

“None of this would affect me! Ya Highness, stop this, or I would have to be rough,” Andreas said.

“Never! Frozen Fury!” Drake said as the whole area around them started to freeze.

“No! Ya Highness!” Andreas said.

“I learnt ice magic from a powerful mage. I can freeze anything. Be it rocks, water, air, fire and time………” Drake said as everyone stopped moving.

Leo was in mid air, behind Andreas. Zack ‘s hand had a green light. Gandeth was placing his hand on Zack’s shoulder and Terra was bending down to pick up Lyra’s key.

“Ice Crafting: Frozen Lance,” Drake said as a gigantic lance stabbed through Andreas, and Drake fell to the ground. Time continued.

“Ya Highness don’t……. No! This ice lance. No –” Andreas said as he disintegrated. A green beam shot out from Zack’s hand, and hit Leo, who was behind Andreas’ ashes. He fell to the ground and became a key too. Terra picked up her key.

“Necromancers control the dead and use shadow magic. Having too much exposure makes them an undead themselves,” Gandeth explained.

“Drake!” Zack shouted when he saw his friend on the ground. They tended to Drake and they returned to camp and placed him in the tent.

“I…..I’m sorry. It’s my fault. I ran away from home – the Underworld.

My parents didn’t really care, until they realised a few weeks ago that I learnt a powerful magic – freezing time. It was then that they wanted to bring me back and fight against another kingdom in the underworld. At least that’s what I think.”

Drake said.

“It’s not all your fault, Drake,” Gandeth started.

“Hmph…. I didn’t mean to keep it from you guys, but being here beats being in the underworld a lot more. I mean, having vampires patrolling outside your door and hearing the howls of lycans at midnight? It was hell – literally,” Drake said.

“Wait…. You mean that you are the Prince of a kingdom in the underworld?”

Zack asked. Drake nodded.

“Oh well, I already knew it the first thing I saw you, Drake. Or Edge 20

– which do you want us to call you?” Gandeth asked.

“Drake – I guess,” Drake replied.

“Why’d you call yourself Drake anyways?” Zack asked.

“Well, I always hated myself for being of Underworld blood and being seen as evil, and I also hated dragons, so I called myself Drake – the creature I hated the most,” Drake said.

“Zack, where did you learn those spells you used just now?” Gandeth asked.

“Oh, there was this lady, Linda, I think, she gave me two runes and told me how to activate it, so I got the spells from there,” Zack said.

“I kinda guessed. Okay, let’s go sleep now, it’s been a long day,” Gandeth said. That night, none of them slept.

21

Chapter 5 The Truth “Kids, come, I have something to tell you,” Gandeth said happily.

“For the last time, old man, we are NOT kids,” Drake replied.

“About the rune and scroll?” Zack asked. Gandeth nodded.

“You can call me selfish, evil, or anything you want –” Gandeth started in a serious tone.

“I’ve been doing that for 7 years now, old man,” Drake snickered.

“Keep quiet Drake!” Terra shouted. She knew that bad news were going to be told – if Gandeth was serious, than he meant business.

“I’m sorry, the three of you. But arranging for Mr. Henkins to give Zack the scroll and rune, I have chained your lives from this day onwards, to be full of fighting, running. Drake, it’s not entirely your fault that Andreas came. He came looking for the scroll and rune. The one Zack has. I’m sorry, but listen to this first.

“Earth was not a natural planet. It was made by mages of another planet.

Many of them. These elite mages used all their power to create a peaceful and prosperous planet. But soon, a group of rebels amongst the mages created the dark forces in hopes of conquering the planet and making it their own. The good mages, in order to seal the powerful monsters, had no choice but to use a forbidden magic. Soon after, the rebels in and monsters were sealed in the underworld.

“The mages than agreed to make a new race – humans. Soon, they divided themselves into two groups to ensure the balance. One created a kingdom in heaven to watch over the kind souls and reincarnate them. Some of these mages came to Earth to tell the evil to repent. People then called these powerful mages angels. The other group was in charge of the underworld – making sure that the rebels and the monsters were always sealed away.

“Now, not long after the first primate was born, Titanius, the iron giant, brought to Earth from another planet by an evil mage, attacked the Underworld.

The Underworld was caught unprepared, and the evil mage and Titanius were able to free some of the rebels and monsters. Since then, they formed the Circle of Chaos. They hid away in an unknown place, plotting their comeback.

“Fearing another attack, the Underworld made a new type of magic to vanquish all that is living – the phantom dragon. The Circle of Chaos wanted to obtain the scroll to vanquish the heaven and the underworld. The Underworld and the Heaven then made another attempt to seal the magic, because if they had destroyed that magic, and the Circle was to attack them, they stood no chance. The Circle was too strong. So, they used an artificial rune and imbued magic into it.

22

Because so many mages helped to imbue the spell within the rune, no mage could extract the magic without first activating it. The rune contained 90% of Phantom Dragon’s power. The scroll contained the other 10%,” Gandeth said.

“But why did you give this scroll and rune to us?” Zack asked.

“Drake, Terra, both of you belong to Magic Nobility. Drake, or Prince Edge, is the Prince of the main kingdom of the Underworld. Terra, I don’t know if you know this, but, you are the princess of one of the Kingdoms in heaven,” Gandeth said.

“What? I am the princess of the heavens?” Terra said, extremely confused.

“You see, it was prophesised that the nobles of the two worlds would come together to stop the evil. Your parents have put me in charge of the scroll, rune and all of you. Terra, they entrusted you to me when you were only a few months old. Drake, your parents knew that they couldn’t directly entrust you to me, so they did things to make you angry, knowing that you would run away from home,” Gandeth said.

“Hmph…. I would’ve run way even if they didn’t do things to make me angry, considering how pathetic they are,” Drake said.

“How can you say that, Drake! They’re your parents!” Terra cried.

“Calm down, Terra. In the Underworld, it is normal for them to show their love this way,” Gandeth smiled.

“What? NO! I’M NOT SHOWING ANY LOVE!!!” Drake said, with a mix of an angry expression on his face.

“We get it, Drake. We know. Different people have different ways of showing love –” Gandeth said, holding both his hands up to calm him down.

“I ALREADY SAID, OLD MAN! I AM NOT SHOWING ANY LOVE!” Drake interrupted. Gandeth let out a small laugh.

“Then what about me? What nobility did I come from? My parents were rich, but they weren’t of any nobility,” Zack said.

“Well, I’m not so sure, but –” Gandeth started.

“Tell me, Dad!” Zack cried.

“Zack I –” Gandeth wanted to say.

“Dad! Please!” Zack said excitedly.

“Y….You’re the Incarnation of Titanius,” Gandeth replied looking at the floor.

“Wha –” Zack said, wide-eyed.

“I’m sorry, Zack. Titanius was defeated with the Phantom Dragon Spell 17 years ago when they tried to attack the Underworld again. 2 years later, a Necromancer tried to revive Titanius, but could only incarnate him. Since then, 23

they have been looking for the incarnation, in order to awaken his soul and make him TItanius the Iron Giant once more. They seem to have found you, Zack,” Gandeth said.

“N…..No! This can’t be happening!” Zack said, and ran away. Terra tried to go after him.

“No, Terra. He needs some time alone,” Gandeth said.

“Old man, does that mean Andreas wasn’t actually looking for me, but he was looking for Zack?” Drake said, lying on the sleeping bag, still injured.

Gandeth nodded.

“But why was Andreas looking for Zack? He’s my butler, you know. So, does that mean my old man and woman belong to the Circle?” Drake asked, for the first time, showing a hint of vulnerability at the thought of his parents being with the Circle.

“No, Drake, I think Andreas is one of the Circle’s pawns. Let’s just hope the Circle won’t be able to get him. I’ve put a barrier around this area, already, so no monster or member of the Circle would be able to enter – he’s safe for now,” Gandeth said.

“So many things are happening….. I just…….I can’t take it,” Terra said.

Gandeth sat beside her and stroked her teal hair.

“I’m sorry all of you. But we need all three of your help, or Earth would be in danger,” Gandeth said.

“Princess Terra, Lady of Hope. Prince Edge, Hero of Justice. I bid you come out,” came a voice outside the large tent they were in. Gandeth went out first, followed by Terra, who was supporting Drake. There was a beautiful lady outside, with a gold aura around her, and she was wearing a pretty yellow dress, and had a yellow mask. She had a pair of pure, white wings.

“Who are you?” Drake scoffed. He was still quite annoyed that he had been manipulated by his parents.

“Drake! I’m sorry, forgive my brother for his impulsiveness,” Terra cried.

It didn’t need a genius to know that the lady was of great importance.

“I am the messenger of the Holy King of Heaven,” the lady said, “Princess Terra,” “Yes?” Terra said.

“Your Father, the King of Heaven wishes to see you,” the lady said as Terra let a look of surprise. She had never seen her father before.

“B…But…..Now?” Terra responded, shaky with the thought that she would be meeting one of the most important mages in the world.

“Yes. Prince Edge of the Underworld. Your parents also wish to see you.

Sir Gandeth, the 980th member of the Magic Council, would you please escort 24

him down and I would take care of Princess Terra,” the lady said. Gandeth nodded and held Drake by the arm.

“H….Hey! I didn’t agree to go down old man! And you, messenger!”

Drake said.

“Keep quiet, Drake!” Terra said. Drake, shocked from the sudden outburst of his sister, allowed himself to be taken by Gandeth.

“Dig!” Gandeth shouted as the area in front of him cracked and smashed into pieces. Then, he jumped in.

“Princess Terra, come. Light Crafting: Wings!” the lady said as suddenly, Terra felt something grow from her back.

“I can feel something behind me! I can control it like my arms!” Terra said. The lady nodded and beckoned her to fly with her. Terra ran and jumped, flapping her wings unsteadily and she tilted to one side in the air.

“Princess Terra, you have to get used to the wings. You’re going to have to use it to go up to heaven frequently,” smiled the lady. Terra, after getting her balance, smiled back. She did want her normal life of studying in school, making her friends, doing projects, scolding Drake for letting his emotions control him, helping Zack study – speaking of Zack, where was he?

“Umm…. What should I address you as?” Terra asked.

“Just call me Jen,” replied the lady.

“Jen, can I go look for Zack?” Terra asked.

“Who is Zack?” Jen replied.

“He’s my adoptive brother. He’s very sad now because he realised his true self,” Terra said, worried about Zack.

“I don’t know what true self you are talking about Princess,” Jen replied, “but I believe that your friend needs some time alone.”

“Perhaps you’re right – AHH!!!!!” Terra said suddenly losing her balance as she fell to her right.

“Princess!”

25

Chapter 6 The Heavens and the Underworld Why? Why was the situation like this? No, it was too much for him. First, it had been the destruction of his town, and now his realisation that he had caused thousands of deaths when he was Titanius. How could this be?

“Why? Why? WHY?!?!!?!?!?!” Zack screamed into the air. He was seating near a small cliff, placing his knees at his chest and wrapping his arms around his leg and holding both of his hands. Tears trickled down his sad face as he tried to calm himself down. But how could he? After the destruction of his town, he thought that he found his place in the magic school with Drake, Terra, and Gandeth. But now? He found out that he is THE destruction. The cause of the war within Earth in the first place.

“NOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Zack screamed. Suddenly, he felt the vibrations of his shout as he looked below the cliff. The earth was cracking. Was it because of his scream?

“Oh no! This earthquake, it’s caused by my shout? Argh…… Titanius’ – no – MY power caused this….. The creatures are going to get affected,” Zack said to himself. Suddenly, the earthquake stopped.

“Zack, don’t worry. I dispelled the earthquake,” came a voice behind him.

Zack turned around, relieved that the earthquake was dispelled. He saw a tall lady about his age and height, with red hair and wearing bronze armour. It was a full body armour, with a neckguard, shoulderguards and armguards and leg armour.

“Who are you? How did you know me? Wait. I’m Titanius. Who wouldn’t know me?” Zack said as he stood up.

“Hi, I’m Selene of the Fargrove. Our people heard about you,” the redhead said.

“Fargrove forest, you’re and elf?” Zack asked.

“No, I’m a ranger there,” she replied.

“I just can’t believe it…..Selene, go away, please. I’m a jinx. A killing machine,” Zack said.

“No you’re not, Zack. You WERE worried about the creature when you accidentally created the earthquake, didn’t you?” Selene asked. Zack nodded.

“But that doesn’t change the fact that I killed thousands of people and released the rebels,” Zack cried, turning away from Selene to hide his tears.

“Zack. You’re a man! Get a hold of yourself already!” Selene shouted.

Zack turned to face her.

“I just met you, Selene. Why are you consoling me?” Zack asked.

26

“Zack, I’m your sister.”

“ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OLD MAN!!!!!!!!!!!! WHY ARE WE FALLING FOR 3 MINUTES?!?!?!” Drake shouted, falling down a pitch black hole with Gandeth right beside him.

“Hey, the Underworld is pretty deep, you know. We’ve to fall for ‘bout an hour more,” Gandeth laughed.

“WHAT?!?!?!?! CAN’’T WE FALL ANY FASTER?” Drake shouted.

Gandeth shrugged his shoulders.

“How DID you run away from the Underworld anyway? Through a portal?”

Gandeth asked happily.

“No, I climbed into a canon and it blasted me into a hole in the ceiling and I came to the surface. OF COURSE I USED A PORTAL!” Drake said, crossing his arms. The two of them were silent for awhile.

“Hey, old man, the scroll and rune – Terra and I are supposed to protect it?” Drake asked. Gandeth nodded.

“Then, why did you give it to Zack?” Drake asked.

“Zack is the Incarnation of Titanius, destined to be the destroyer of Earth.

But now, I see him as Zack. The boy whom I have been caring for since he was 10. But the Magic Council – in which I am a member – are discussing to kill him. So I HAVE to prove to them that Zack means no harm – it was Titanius, his previous self that caused the destruction. So, by giving him the scroll and rune to protect with you and Terra’s help, I hope that the Order will realise Zack means no harm,” Gandeth said.

“Those idiotic members of the Magic Council…… I swear – I’ll turn them to ice if they dare lay a finger on Zack,” Drake said, “old man, can we fall faster?”

“I don’t know…. Anyway Drake, why’d you hate the Underworld so much?” Gandeth asked, but Drake paid no attention, trying to find a way to drop faster.

“Weight Increase!” Drake shouted and snapped his fingers.

“Noo!!!!!” Gandeth shouted as a green aura surrounded both of them and they fell extremely fast.

“Ahh!!!!!” Drake screamed. Suddenly, they felt warmer.

“The Underworld! Float!” Gandeth said as they became very light and landed on a vast wasteland. It was very warm, with many geysers. There were lots of lava around there too.

“Phew….. Old man, why’d you want me to not cast that spell? It helped us get here so fast!” Drake said.

“Well…… I just wanted us to spend more quality time together –” Gandeth 27

tried to say.

“QUALITY TIME?!?!?!?!?!” Drake shouted.

“Prince Edge!”a voice came from behind them, and they saw a lady wearing a black dress and she had had small red wings, horns on her forehead, and a long, red tail.

“Oh, hi servant – Ah!!!!!!” Drake said as the lady hugged him tightly.

“Prince Edge! It’s been so long since we saw you!” the lady said.

“Aww……Drake, so you did have a girlfriend –” Gandeth said.

“NO…….. I……… DON’T! SHE’S……… MY…….. SERVANT!” Drake shouted, suffocating from the tight hug the lady gave him. After awhile, she released him, and Drake was panting.

“Don’t….you…..ever…..do…..that….again…..servant….” Drake panted.

“Hey! All of you! Prince Edge has returned!” the lady cupped her mouth with both hands and shouted. Soon, a whole group of people were rushing at Drake.

“Prince Edge! Prince Edge! How have you been! We missed you!” the crowd said. Drakes face blushed a deep red.

“Shut up,” Drake said, “AH!!!!!!!!!”

The people in the crowd hugged Drake till he couldn’t breathe.

“Old…….Argh……man……….Can’t…….Breathe…….Help…..” Drake said amongst the hugs that his servants gave him.

“Aww….. Drake, you have so many girl-” Gandeth said.

“I…..Dont….Have….ANY…GIRLFRIENDS!!!” Drake shouted.

“You, old man, shall call him Your Highness Prince Edge, not some lousy name as Drake!” a lady shouted at Gandeth. Soon, the crowd subsided.

“Prince Edge, Overlord Meldrak would like to see you,” a man in purple robes and a hood said. Drake nodded. He beckoned Gandeth as he walked with his servants. They walked for about 4 minutes and found a door. They entered it and Gandeth was shocked to see that outside was a garden of flowers and grass and the scene was very beautiful.

“Hmph…..That shows that you really are an idiot. The Underworld is not always associated with fire and lava and destruction you know,” Drake said to Gandeth. The soft breeze, for some reason, made Drake feel at home, even though he had run away from this place. The view was spectacular, the lakes were beautiful, with creatures Gandeth had never seen before all over the place. The air in the garden was fresh and filled with the beautiful smell of roses. The air was not polluted, unlike the surface area due to the amount of machinery used in the early 2000s.

28

“W….Wait. Drake,” Gandeth said as the lady stared at him, “No, I mean prince Edge, why do I see a blue sky when we are underground?”

“After entering that door, we get transported to another dimension. This is the real Underworld,” Drake explained. Soon, they come in view of a large and beautiful castle. It was navy blue and had many dragons encircling the place.

Soon, they heard howls.

“Lycans,” Drake said as he walked on. They approached the gates of the castle and a figure rushed at them.

“This is the Necropolis, Castle of the Overlord,” introduced a lycan. He was standing on two legs and holding a sword, a shield, and wearing armour. Three other lycans then guided the two inside the castle whilst the servants went on to doing their work. The castle was a vast and majestic place, the term Necropolis fitted the castle, but it had no feeling of evil whatsoever. It was decorated with skulls and fire, but it was beautiful in a way no one can ever imagine the Underworld could be.

Jewels and gems lined the black walls and skull lamps and chandeliers hung over the walkway. The place, though painted black, lit up and unusual brightness.

The silk carpet that lined the floor was decorated with birds and dragons. Lycan guards roamed the area, and bats flew around the ceiling. It felt very beautiful, though very dark. One must go to the Underworld to know the true meaning of beauty. Years it had been thought of as an evil place, but it, like every other place, is beautiful in its own way.

Skeletons with swords and shields and armour approached Drake, then knelt before him.

“Your Highness,” the skeleton said together.

“Argh….That’s what I hate about being a prince. It’s so annoying for people to keep greeting you everywhere you go. Rise already,” Drake said. The skeletons rose and walked away. Soon they entered the throne room. It was extremely beautiful, and a man and woman sat beside each other. The lycan guards exited the room after greeting the Overlord and his wife.

“Greetings to your Excellency,” Gandeth knelt down. He turned to give Drake a glare, but Drake merely stood and crossed his arms.

“Rise, Sir Gandeth of the Magic Council,” the Overlord said.

“Son….” the Queen said.

“Shut up….” Drake said.

“Drake! Greet your parents!” Gandeth said.

“Argh….. Mum, Dad……” Drake scoffed. The Overlord and the Queen smiled.

“Princess!” Jen shouted as she saw Terra lose balance and fall from the 29

sky.

“I am the bridge between the Arconsa Spirit World and this realm! I call forth power to open a portal to this realm! The bull, Tauros, heed my call!” Terra chanted as she inserted a golden key inside her lock. A portal opened and a brown bull came charging out and Terra got placed on its horns.

“Princess, the bull can’t fly!” Jen shouted as she flew down towards them. Terra took out her red key and held it in front of the bull. It suddenly got surrounded by a red aura and charged at the key. She lifted the key higher so that Tauros charged upwards.

“Once Tauros sees anything red, it charges at it, using its mana to make it float. Now, Jen, let’s go meet my Mum and Dad!” Terra said and Jen nodded, and the three of them flew towards the clouds. Soon, they came to see a large gate.

“Princess,” Jen said as she shot a ball of light at the centre of the gate and it opened.

“You first,” Jen said, beckoning Terra to enter. Terra dismissed Tauros and walked into the gate. Jen followed.

The first thing they saw was the beautiful buildings in the place. They were standing on lime green grass, right in front of a large town.

“Heaven is like the human world, there are buildings all over the place and clouds and sky, because we are in another dimension,” Jen explained. Terra nodded. They walked through many streets and Jen found out that the residents were not all human. Some of them had weird faces, she thought it must be because all of the mages that crafted Earth were from other planets, so their family must have moved here too.

“Come, Terra. Your parents wish to see you,” Jen said and ked Terra to a large, white castle. They saw two guards standing outside the gate. One had blue skin and had tentacles instead of arms and he was wearing armour and a spear and shield. The other had wings and its face looked like a bird of prey. It had feathers instead of hair and it held a spear and shield too.

“Guards, this is Princess Terra,” Jen announced. The guards quickly knelt before her.

“Your Highness,” they said together. Terra didn’t know what to do.

“Tell them to rise,” whispered Jen. Terra nodded.

“Rise,” Terra said softly. The guards rose and opened the gate for her. They entered the gate and into the castle. It was beyond Terra’s wildest imagination.

The walls were beach and had a shining feeling to it. Light rushed in from the windows, making the castle bright and it had an angelic feeling to Terra. Soon, they came to the throne room. Two guards greeted Terra before opening the door.

Terra and Jen entered.

30

“My King and Queen, this is your daughter, Princess Terra,” Jen knelt before them. Jen beckoned Terra to do the same.

“Ummm….. Your Excellency –” Terra started.

“No need to be so formal. Rise,” the King said. Both rose.

“I shall take my leave,” Jen said as she exited the room. Terra stared at her father and mother.

“Oh, this…. This is Terra….. Child…..” the Queen said as she approached her daughter.

“M….Mum,” Terra said. The Queen cried as the King approached Terra.

“Dad,” Terra addressed. The King nodded.

“My daughter…..” the Queen cried.

“Okay, Sylvia. We’ve no time to cry. Terra, Sir Gandeth has told you of the rune and scroll, I guess?” the King said. Terra nodded.

“We have asked you to come here to also give you something. A war between the Circle is inevitable. Terra, come with me,” the King said. Terra followed him to a golden door. They entered the room and Terra could never be as amazed.

In the room, there were hundreds of keys hung on hooks around the room. The King took seven keys from a hook.

“These are the Zodiac Keys, much alike to the keys you have – Tauros and Leo,” the King said as he handed the keys to Terra.

“Thanks, Dad!” She smiled.

“We are going to war, daughter. We must train hard. Now, go back to the human world, for there are things that you need to do there,” the King told Terra.

She nodded and walked out of the room.

“Daughter, take this with you,” the Queen said as she handed Terra a scroll.

“Thanks Mum, thanks Dad,” Terra said as she left the room.

“Princess, let us go,” Jen said.

“Umm…. Let me make an agreement with my spirits first,” Terra said.

“Agreement?” Jen asked.

“It is a way of knowing your spirit and allowing you to summon them,” Terra said.

“I am the bridge between the Arconsa Spirit World and this Realm. I call forth the power to summon a portal to this realm. Open the portal!” Terra shouted as she inserted the red key she found at Fairy Dust Canyon into the lock. A portal appeared and a creature burning with flames flew out.

“I am the flaming bird, Phoenix, at your service.”

31

Chapter 7 Siblings in Sorrow “You are WHAT?!?!” Zack screamed, and staggered back and hit a tree.

“Zack…. I’m your sister. Before you were born, mum and dad gave birth to me. But, one day, I got caught by bandits and they brought me to another place in this land,” Selene said.

“T…..This is just too much to take. First I realise I’m Titanius incarnate, and now a red hair girl wearing armour as my sister?!?!?!” Zack said. Selene walked towards her younger brother, her long red hair being blown by the breeze.

“Zack…..I know this is just too much for you…… But an ancient war is going on and you have to help,” Selene said.

“I started this war! If it wasn’t for me….” Zack said.

“Zack! You and Titanius are two different people! I know that because I’ve been spying on you for quite some time now! Zack you are you and Titanius is Titanius!” Selene said.

“SHUT THE HELL UP!!!!!!” Zack screamed. A black aura was surrounding him, and his eye glowed a bright red.

“Z…..Zack….” Selene said, horrified, as she saw her younger brother’s clothes tear as he grew. He grew and soon, he skin turned grey, then into steel.

He grew till he was twice his natural height.

“ARGH!!!!! GO AWAY!!!!!!!!!!” the monstrous being shouted.

“Zack….No Titanius is already taking control of Zack…… NO! Vines of the Earth, come out and aid me!” Selene shouted as vines sprouted from the earth and entangled the monstrous being of Zack in it.

“Zack!!! Get a hold of yourself!!!!” Selene shouted.

“I am not Zack!!! I’m Titanius the Iron Giant!!!!” the steel monster shouted, “Argh….This guy’s powers aren’t developed yet – I can’t grow to my true size.

But this should be enough to destroy you, Fargrovian Ranger Cap’n.”

“Hmph…..So you’ve figured it out…” Selene said, “Materialise: Broadsword!”

“Hahaha. I’ve been livin’ within this weak guy’s body since I was reincarnated. What he sees, I see. What he hears, I hear. Everything he does, I know. I’ve been here on Earth 17 years ago, how could I forget that mark of the Ranger? Your previous Cap’n is one of the people who killed me anyways,” Titanius said as he pointed to a tattoo of an eagle on the back of Selene’s hand.

Selene smirked.

“Titanius….. I’ve never heard of you having so much crap talk….. Earth Blessing, Vitality!” Selene shouted as her body glowed and she charged at Titanius 32

with her broadsword. It had many weird engravings on it.

“You think THAT pathetic blade can cut me, the Iron Giant?” Titanius laughed as he punched Selene. But, instead of Selene flying away like he planned, strangely, he felt pain.

“This is not a normal broadsword, Titanius. It’s name is……. Titanslayer.

Perfect name for a blade that’ll slay you, ain’t it?” Selene said. Titanius put more force in his punch and both of them got pushed back a few inches due to the impact. A blue aura gathered around Titanius as he raised his hand. The aura gathered at his palm and turned into a beam that shot at Selene.

“Boulder!” Selene shouted as a roundish piece of the ground rose in front of her and intercepted the attack. She rushed at the steel monster and swung her blade, with the engravings glowing in red. Titanius’ iron eyes widened, for due to reflex, he punched with his right fist at Selene, and her blade hit his hand.

“H….Hot! HOT HOT HOT HOT!!!!!!!!!” Titanius screamed and held his arm with his other hand.

“Introducing my forte, spell infusion. I’m sure you’ve felt the Lava Blade infusion before 17 years ago, didn’t you?” Selene smiled.

“YOU IDIOT!” Titanius used his left fist to punch Selene, who was caught off guard. She was punched a few metres away.

“Hmph…… You won’t get away with this……. I took quite a long while to clean this bronze armour, you know? Now you’ve dirtied it!!” Selene shouted as she rushed at him again, with the blade glowing red. Titanius let out a small laugh and raised his right arm. A blue beam shot out. Selene’s blade released a red beam and the two beams clashed. The giant and the ranger concentrated their beams for dominance.

“Ranger…… I could keep this up forever you know, can you?” Titanius grinned as the blue beam got bigger. Soon, Selene’s red beam got devoured by Titanius’ blue beam and Selene got hit by Titanius’ attack.

“Argh…… Zack!” Selene shouted.

“Your dear brother can’t hear you. He is within another world. Get ready to die!” Titanius said, “This is your punishment for standing up against me!”

Titanius lifted a foot and smashed the lady in bronze armour.

“Now…. Where is Abzul?” Titanius turned and looked into the vast land around him.

“Could he be at – OWW!!!!!!!!! HOT!! SUPER HOT!!!!” Titanius screamed He lifted his foot, only to find that Selene had used her broadsword to block the stomp from Titanius.

“And that’s why having iron skin is not good – you can’t feel things you touched, and once fire touches you, your whole body gets hurt. Feel the true power 33

of the Captain of the Fargrovian Rangers, the Huntress!” Selene shouted as she slashed her blade at Titanius, and soon, his skin started to glow red.

“HHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!” Titanius screamed as his whoe bbody became as red as the sun, and suddenly, Selene saw silver liquid dripping from Titanius’ body. Titanius started to shrink and soon, his silver skin turned to peach coloured skin. Selene panted as s he saw Titanius turn back into her younger brother.

“Zack!” Selene screamed as her younger brother fell face flat on the ground.

Selene helped Zack up and supported him and walked towards a large forest.

“Magnidos! Frank! Help him to HQ!” Selene commanded as two figures leapt out from thethat lock him trees and one of them carried Zack on their back and rushed deeper inside the forest. The other supported Selene, whom was also injured.

“I can sense it….. The Circle is rising….. We must not allow them to get hold of Zack……… Zack, he’s going through something so scary…… Just like how I did……. These chains of fate that pull him down onto this path…. The path of darkness and sadness….. Zack…… You have to pull through,” Selene said to herself. Soon, they approached gathering of gigantic trees. There were houses and stairs built onto the strong branches of the trees, and Selene and her fellow ranger approached the largest of the tree and entered the house.

“Thanks, you may leave,” Selene said when the green hooded and cloaked ranger helped her to Zack’s bedside.

“Oh, Zack….”

The next day, Zack awoke to find himself in tattered clothes on a bed in a house.

“W….Where am I?” he asked himself.

“Zack! You’re awake?” a voice came from beside his bed. He saw a lady sitting on a chair.

“Who – wait. You’re Selene, right? My sister. Argh…. Too much things to take in. Where am I?” Zack asked.

“It’s alright, Zack. Take your time. You’re currently in the Fargrovian Ranger Headquarters,” Selene said. Zack tried to stand up, and Selene helped him. They walked towards the window in the wooden house.

“We’re on a tree?” Zack asked. Selene smiled and nodded.

“Sele – Sis, why are my clothes tattered?” Zack asked. Selene looked away from Zack, but he placed his hands on her face and turned it back towards him.

“Sis! Please! Tell me! It has something to do with Titanius right? Please, tell me!” Zack shouted. Selene looked away and walked towards the bed. Zack staggered towards his sister.

34

“Selene! Please! Tell me!” Zack asked, on the verge of tears.

“Y….Yes. Titanius took control of your body and he became the smaller version of the iron giant,” Selenen said.

“I…..I turned into Titanius?” Zack asked unsteadily, staggering back.

“No! You didn’t! Titanius took control of your body! You two are different!”

Selene said.

“It doesn’t matter! I AM Titanius. I….I can endanger many lives,” Zack cried.

“Sis… I’ve got to end Titanius’ reign,” Zack said.

“What’re you gonna do?” Selene asked, worried, as she stood up from the bed.

“Materialise: Dagger!” Zack said as a dagger appeared in his hand. He raised it near his chest, with the blade pointed to himself.

“ZACK!!! DON’T DO IT!!!!!!!!!” Selene shouted. Zack cried.

“NO SIS!!! My survival endangers the whole world! If I die, Titanius cannot be called upon again! This way, the Circle can’t win the war!” Zack cried, bringing the dagger closer to him.

“NOO!!!! Zack!! You don’t have to use your powers for evil!!! You can use it for good!!!!!” Selene shouted. Zack shook his head.

“No!!! It’s no use!!!! I have to end my life AND end the war!” Zack said.

“PLEASE ZACK!!!!!! DON’T DO IT!!! Please….. Don’t…..,” Selene cried, tears in her eyes, “You’re my very last kin….. Please…..Don’t….”

“S….Sis?” Zack asked lowering his dagger.

“W….When I got caught by the bandits, I was tortured….Those times….

I….I hated it……I know how you feel Zack…The feeling of constant fear…….

But please…Don’t leave me…..Mum and Dad died….Please, not you too…”

Selene cried.

“B…..But….. I CAUSED MUM AND DAD’S DEATH!!!” Zack cried too…

“No Zack……. I did it…… I was the one who caused their deaths…… ..”Selene said.

“B….But I went into the forest and accidentally lured the monsters out…..

That’s why they came and ravaged the town…..,” Zack said.

“No, Zack. Mum and Dad… They were mages too….. Even if the Lycan bit them, their healing abilities were more than enough to help them back to normal…… It was me. I had escaped from the clutches of the banditswho had sold me to another family as a slave, and I ran back to the town. But, a monster was catching me; Mum saw me and took the bite from the Lycan for me. She was 35

bitten in the head. Dad, he carried me out of the town but was killed by an evil mage by doing so. It was me Zack…… I’m the Jinx…….” Selene cried.

“Sis…..” Zack dropped his dagger and hugged his sister.

“I’m sorry, sis.”

36

Chapter 8 Fargrove Forest “So what you are trying to tell me is that the Circle is going to launch an all out attack within 1 month, and Zack and the rune and scrolls are their trump cards?” Drake asked, sitting on a chair, with his parents and Gandeth beside him.

The Overlord nodded.

“So our top priority now is to kill the incarnate, so that the Circle does not have a chance to use him to regain the power of Titanius,” the Overlord said.

“IF YOU DARE LAY A HAND ON ZACK, YOU CAN GURANTEE THAT THAT OLD BEARD OF YOURS WILL BE FROZEN LIKE AN ICICLE!!!!!!!!” Drake shouted as he stamped his foot on the table. The whole area grew cold and the fire on the torches around the room were out. Immediately, ice formed around lamps and Gandeth’s the Queen’s and the Overlord’s hands were numb with cold.

“Drake! Calm down!” Gandeth said. But, no matter what, the whole area just became colder and colder.

“Edge! Control yourself!” the Overlord shouted. The Queen shuddered, her lips were turning blue and her face pale.

“Argh… Ice Crafting: Frozen Wings!” Drake shouted as blue wings formed on his back, and he flew through and broke a glass window, flying outside. Soon, the cold subsided.

“Drake’s very matured – he knows if his emotions get a hold of him, he has to run away, so that innocent people don’t get hurt. He’s well-bred, Overlord,” Gandeth said.

Drake flew in the sky, tears forming in his eyes. He hated that whenever he’s upset, the temperature would drop. So that no innocent people get affected by the ice, he has to run away. A constant run. It was raining in the Underworld, and when Drake got close to a cloud, instead of rain, hail would come out.

“IT’S A HAILSTORM!!!!!”

Drake could hear these cries below him. He was the bringer of despair, along with him come cold, depression, sadness, that was the Just Desserts for doing the forbidden. He had learnt the forbidden magic, the power to freeze time, the ultimate forbidden. He raised his hands and looked at it. He scoffed. He wasn’t some Hero of Justice. He was a bringer of despair. He landed on a mountain and his wings shattered, and all the plants there withered with the cold he brought, even the waterfall froze. He cried, but as quickly as his tear appeared, it froze.

“Stupid cold,” Drake said as he cleared the ice that formed near his eyes.

Ice formed on the rocks, and Drake stood up ready to leave the plants so that it 37

can continue living. He was the bringer of despair and death. In his life, he could never be too happy, or too sad, or innocent people will get killed. That’s why he was always so quiet and doesn’t show his emotions, because if he does, people will get frozen.

“Hah! I knew it was you! Only one guy can make a whole mountaintop cover with snow!” a voice came from behind Drake.

“Hey, Jake. It’s been a long time,” Drake, for the first time in a while, smiled. Jake had combed his orange hair neatly and he wore a red shirt and black jeans.

“How’s my good friend doing –” Jake said.

“DON’T COME NEAR ME!” Drake shouted. Jake stopped in his tracks.

“My aura will freeze you!” Drake shouted.

“Hey, hey. Don’t get so worked up, dude,” Jake said.

“Ice Crafting: Frozen Wings!” Drake shouted and jumped from the cliff, and then he flew towards a volcano.

“Wait, he can’t be doing THAT. Oh what the heck,” Jake said as he rushed towards the cliff edge. He jumped down and floated towards the volcano, soon, he caught up with Drake.

“Hmph…. Just what I’d expect from an Aquamancer. Using water vapour to help them stay afloat. But my aura will freeze the water,” Drake said as Jake slowly fell.

“Then I’ll just unfreeze it, Novamancer,” Jake said as he floated besides Drake.

“You can’t be doing THAT, can you? I know about everything, the war, you being the hero. But you can’t do THAT! It’s as good as suicide!” Jake said.

“Just go away. Ice and Water don’t mix. You use water, I freeze it, I use ice you unfreeze it. Please, just leave me alone,” Drake said as he flew into the volcano.

“Even IF his aura can freeze things, can he really survive the lava and make it out alive?” Jake asked himself as he followed his winged friend.

They entered through the opening of the volcano. Any normal person would die with the heat, but Drake’s aura of ice protected him from the heat. But soon, he was sweating.

“Jake, you there?” Drake called.

“Yeah,” Jake said from the opening. If he had entered the volcano, he would have been incinerated.

“Make me angry or somethin’. Make my emotions get a control over me, so that my ice aura can get colder and I won’t incinerate!” Drake shouted.

38

“All right! You’re a stupid, idiotic guy whose father is a brainless scum!”

Jake shouted.

“What kind of insult is that? My old man IS an idiotic brainless scum!”

Drake shouted back.

“Umm…. Let’s see….. The colour of your poop is the colour of mud in which my pet pig rolls in and is eaten by worms when he dies and the worms gets experimented by a scientist and turned into a potion in which you drink and become a pig!” Jake shouted.

“THAT DOESN’T EVEN MAKE ANY SENSE!!!” Drake shouted back.

“Oh…. I got an idea! You’re the smartest guy in the world!” Jake shouted.

“Anything else nastier than that?” Drake said sarcastically.

“You LOVE your parents!” Jake shouted. He felt the area growing a bit colder.

“Your mum is a stupid person!” Jake said.

“She IS!!!” Drake shouted back.

“Okay… All I need to do is get Edge pissed with my lousy insults and he’ll get angry……,” Jake thought to himself.

“You’re a scum!!!” Jake shouted.

“You got anything better than that? I’m sweating more now!” Drake shouted back.

“You’re a poopeatingfairythatgoteatenupbyalycan!” Jake shouted.

“I’m a poop – what?!?! What does THAT mean? You’re speaking too fast!

You’re getting on my nerves with your lousy insults, you….,” Drake shouted as the air grew extremely cold.

“Mission accomplished.”

Drake rushed into the lava of the volcano. Jake looked from up above, hoping that he won’t get incinerated by the lava. Drake was swimming inside the lava, but it was extremely hot.

“Water Swirl!” Jake shouted as he raised his right hand and a whirlwind of water hit the lava and cooled it down abit. After awhile, Drake rushed up.

“I’ve got it! I’ve got the Rune of Lava!” Drake shouted, the area getting colder at his presence.

“Dude, don’t be too happy, or the coldness will kill me!” Jake shouted as they laughed.

“If I activate this rune, I should be able to vanquish most of the Circle’s army, and Zack can be saved!”Drake said. The two good friends flew towards the Necropolis. They landed at the gates.

“Open, please,” Drake said. The lycan guards opened the gates.

39

“Your Highness, the Overlord has requested to see you at the gate portal,” the lycan said. Drake nodded and flew to the place where Gandeth and he had first entered the Underworld.

“Hey Edge, I’m coming too!” Jake said as he flew besides Drake. His cold aura was gone, and they flew to the gate portal peacefully.

“Princess, there is the place, Fargrove Forest, where Druids and Rangers of the forest rest,” Jen said to Terra as both of them flew near the vast forest. They landed somewhere beside the forest, Jen walked up to Terra.

“Princess, this is for you. I have found this scroll and kept it for a long time – I don’t know many ancient languages, so I believe it will be more useful given to you,” Jen said as s he handed Terra a scroll.

“Thanks!” Terra said.

“I will be taking my leave now, Princess,” Jen said as she flew away.

Terra held the scroll and walked into the forest. It was dark, and she was scared.

Suddenly, she saw a figure running towards her. She got ready her key and lock and dematerialised the scroll.

“Hello? Is that you, Terra?” came the voice. She turned around and saw a tall lady whom was Linda.

“Oh, Linda! I thought you were some monster or something!” Terra said, relieved.

“I realise that you are all meeting at the Fargrove Forest, could you lead me there? I would like to give something to Zack,” Linda said as Terra nodded.

“I’m not THAT sure, though, but I believe it is this way,” Terra said as both of them entered the forest, looking for the houses. Now, if Terra took the time to look behind her, she would have found out something important. But it so happened that she didn’t. After awhile, they came towards many large trees with houses on them. They walked towards large trees with houses on them. Then, a man in a cloak and hood approached them.

“What can I do for you, miss?” came the man.

“I am Princess Terra, and I am here to see my friend, Zack,” Terra said.

The man nodded and lead them to the largest tree and they walked up the stairs and knocked on the first house they saw. A lady with red, silky hair answered the door.

“May I help you? Wait, you’re Zack’s friend, aren’t you? Come in,” Selene allowed Terra and Linda to come in.

“I’m Selene, Zack’s sister. I’ve been spying on him, so I know who you are,” Selene explained to a very confused Terra. Nevertheless, they approached Zack, who was sitting on his bed.

“Zack!” Terra cried as she hugged him. She was very worried about him.

40

Linda approached Zack with a cynical smile on her face. Selene grew suspicious as she walked towards them.

“Oh, Zack, I’ve missed you!” Linda cried. Selene got ready her fist.

“Terra! She’s gonna dematerialise Zack!” Selene cried as Zack simply vanished.

“Hahaha! Very good, but you were a second too late.” Linda said.

“You Witch! Release him! Materialise: Broawsword!” Selene cried as a large sword appeared and she swung it at Linda, but she vanished.

“Quick, downstairs – she couldn’t have teleported far! If living beings are being dematerialised, they could die! But since Titanius isn’t a normal living thing, Zack will de, but Titanius, won’t!” Selene cried. Both girls went down, but halfway, Terra stopped.

“I am the bridge between The Arconsa Spirit World and this Realm! I call forth the power to summon a portal to this realm! The Centaur Archer, Sagittarius, heed my call!” Terra cried as a Centaur holding a bow and arrows appeared.

“Selene, get on him!” Terra cried as both girls climbed upon the Centaur’s strong body.

“Sagittarius, give chase!” Terra shouted. The centaur galloped at the speed of light, and soon, they could see the witch, whom didn’t know she was almost being caught.

“Boulder!” Selene shouted as a large boulder formed above Linda’s head and dropped. It crashed on to Linda. When the two approached the boulder, she was nowhere to be found. Then, she suddenly, appeared above the boulder.

“Ya rally tink that this li’l boulda of yours can kill moi?” Linda asked, then laughed evilly.

“I shall turn you all into frogs!” she raised her hand, but suddenly, it got frozen.

“Drake….” Terra smiled. Drake and another boy followed him.

“Yo, pretty ladies! The name’s Jake, what’s –” Jake started.

“THIS IS NO TIME FOR INTRODUCTIONS!” Drake shouted. Jake rolled his eyeballs. Drake froze Linda’s legs, and Jake’s lunged at her. She vanished, only leaving the ice that formed on her leg behind.

“Oh, I hate that teleporting spell,” Jake complained.

“You guys are Nova and Aquamancers, aren’t you? Isn’t that kind of a bad combo?” Selene, asked, riding Sagittarius while they flew.

“Nah, it’s all good if we can control our powers. You’re a Bouldermancer, aren’t you? User of the Earth,” Jake asked. Selene nodded.

“Teleportation only works if you can see the area you want too teleport to, and I believe her maximum range should be about 10 meters, judging from her 41

power,” Drake said to himself. Jake flew above the forest.

“I see her!” Jake said, “First thing to do is to blind her. Water Lash!”

Linda was running when suddenly, a stream of water shot at her eyes.

“Argh!!!!! Can’t see!” Linda cried. Soon, the whole group approached.

“Ya!!!!!” Selene shouted and slashed the witch, her blade glowing yellow.

“Argh!!!!! Thunder!!!!!!!! I hate thunder!!!!!” Linda shouted as she disintegrated, and Zack appeared, along with many scrolls, runes, cauldrons, and a broom.

“When a person dies, his or her dematerialised items become materialised again,” Selene explained to Terra. They brought Zack back and introduced themselves.

42

Chapter 9 Yakuum Mountain “The rune of Lava! The exact rune Fred Hoddericks activated! How did you get it?” Selene asked.

“From the Underworld. Now,” Drake said as he positioned his rune, such that the arrow was pointing to the sun.

“I call forth the power of the sun!” Drake shouted as the rune glowed and his hands burned with a flame. Drake smiled and dismissed the flame.

“Great, now we have a powerful mage with us! Wait, where’s Dad anyways, Drake?” Terra said.

“Everyone, duck!” Jake shouted as Drake grew blue wings on his back and snatched the rune and scroll of the phantom dragon and flew away.

“Drake!!!!” Selene shouted.

“W….Where is he going?” Terra asked.

“To the Circle,” Jake explained.

“What? And how do YOU know?” Terra asked.

“I was with him in the Underworld. His father asked to see us in the gate portal. When we approached the area, we saw that your adoptive father had been killed. He had been murdered trying to defend the Overlord by attacking the Necromancer, with a dagger in his chest and his face disfigured by fire magic,” Jake explained. Terra covered her mouth with both hands in horror.

“The Overlord was being taken as hostage by a rebel necromancer who belonged to the Circle. It was the rune and scroll for his father’s life,” Jake explained, sighing.

“B…But…What is he going to do after he hands over the scroll and rune?”

Terra asked.

“I get it now. Drake knows that the Circle would not keep to their promise, so he’s planning to use the forbidden magic of freezing time and his fire magic to stop them and run away,” Selene said. Jake nodded.

“Why aren’t YOU going with him?” Terra asked, crying already at Gandeth’s death.

“I didn’t because he told me to take care of you guys,” Jake said.

“That idiot…..” came Zack’s voice.

“Zack! You’re all right!” Selene said as she hugged him.

“That damnable idiot – he should’ve waited for me to wake up,” Zack said as he got out of bed.

“Zack you still can’t –” Selene tried to say.

“I’m gonna save my friend,” Zack said.

43

“Well, Zack –” Selene started.

“Don’t try to stop me sis. My mind’s made up,” Zack said.

“But Zack -” Selene said.

“Sis. Please stop –” Zack said.

“I was trying to tell you that I’m coming WITH you!” Selene said.

“You’re coming with –” Zack tried to say when Terra and Jake interrupted.

“Me too!” they said together. Zack smiled.

Preparations were made and they deciphered some of Linda’s scrolls for more spells and they were ready to go.

“Why couldn’t we just fly, Sis?” Zack asked.

“Drake said he’s gonna drop by a few places to learn some magic first.

The deadline for the interswap would be a week from now, so we can afford to go slowly,” Jake said and they nodded.

“In order to get there and not waste our energy, this is our route. We have to cross the Yakuum Mountains, pass the Icy Valley, then take a ship to Millenia Isles, and finally, open a portal to the Circle there,” Selene said. Suddenly something shot out from the ground. All of them got into a fighting stance. It was a man with a very badly done hairstyle, a blue pants, and red t-shirt.

“Hi, I’m Sam, a Nether Tamer sent here by the Underworld to assist you,” Same introduced himself.

“Sam! You’re coming too?” Jake smiled. Sam nodded.

“I’m a Nether Tamer, master of the beasts of the Underworld. Lycans, Vampires, and a few weeks ago, the Overlord entrusted me with the ultimate beast – Cerberus. I can transform into a lycan, boosting my strength and endurance, and a vampire, boosting my speed and giving me the ability to drain life and mana,” Sam said.

“Hey! Cap’n! Kanen wants to see you!” a voice called as a man rushed towards them.

“I’m coming with you guys. I’m a druid, master of nature and animals.

Personally, I am more powerful with shapeshifting,” Kanen said. Selene nodded.

This is how our heroes came together to venture across lands to save Drake, and later the world. Selene, Zack, Terra, Jake, Sam and Kanen, this six of them rode out of the vast forest and came to a desert.

“The mountain is just ahead, I think,” Selene said. The galloped on the horses they got, except for Kanen, who turned into a cheetah and Sam, who was riding on a lycan.

“A Nether Tamer summons creatures of the Underworld, so we’re pretty 44

alike, except for the fact that if the creatures die, they are gone forever,” Same said while riding besides Terra.

“Hey, I see horses coming this way,” Jake said, pointing to a group of cavalry charging at them.

“Do not move! Hand over the boy,” cried the leader of the horsemen, pointing to Zack.

“Why?” Sam asked.

“We are the Dragoons from the Magic Council, we have come here to arrest Zack Flamesworn for using the Forbidden Magic: Phantom Dragon,” the man shouted.

“So they’ve found out,” Terra whispered to herself.

“Sorry, but we can’t oblige right now,” Selene said, “Run!” All of them galloped and ran as fast as they could, but the Dragoons were too fast.

“Boulder!” Selene shouted and the area below the leader’s horse shot up into a boulder, throwing the Dragoon and hitting another, and it was like dominoes as all the Dragoons, got hit. The group of them was very close to the mountain already, and they could see it quite clearly.

“Yakuum Mountain, home of the dwarves,” Kanen said as he transformed back to human. Soon, they heard the sound of horns as many dwarves came out of a cave, armed with axes and shields.

“We come in peace. We just want to pass through!” Zack shouted. The dwarves walked towards them and had to raise their heads so that it was almost vertical to their body in order to see them. They got off their horses and walked towards the short dwarves.

“We just want to pass through,” Zack explained. The leader of the dwarves, who was distinguished by his different armour and axe and shield, shook his head.

He had a long, brown beard.

“We cannot allow that,” the dwarf said.

“Why not?” Terra asked.

“Orders,” the dwarf said.

“By whom?” Selene asked.

“Our king. He said that no one is allowed to pass, for there’s a lion at other end of the mountain, and going there’s the same as suicide,” the dwarf explained.

“We’ll kill it easily,” Zack said.

“No, I’m afraid it is not that simple. The lion has been granted special abilities – if it dies, an explosion will occur,” the dwarf said.

“W…What?” Terra stammered.

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said.

“Well….. If we can lure the lion away, we can still pass, Beardy!” Kenan

“Very good idea Kenan…..” Selene placed her right hand on her chin and rubbed it with her index finger, thinking hard.

“All right,” the dwarf said, “I shall talk to my king.”

The short creature walked into the cave, and after awhile, came out.

“You may enter,” the dwarf said. The group of them walked into the cave, and was amazed at what they saw. Dwarves were master craftsman, but never did the group imagine that the areas the dwarves live in were made of rock. They crafted the inside of the mountain in such a way that there were many houses inside the place.

“Please, come and meet my king,” the dwarf said and led them up many flights of rock stairs and then to a large castle made out of rock. They entered, and the inside of the castle was beautiful. It was nothing like how the rock castle looked from the outside. They entered the throne room and saw a small man and woman sitting beside each other.

“My respects to the Mountain King,’ the dwarf said as the rest of the group followed suit.

“Rise. I’ve heard that you want to try and lure the lion away,” the king said. Selene nodded.

“Well, they said that they’ve got a plan. But they didn’t tell me yet,” Kenan said.

“Okay, no matter. Use anything to get that stupid lion away,” the king said.

They nodded.

“Garfon, lead them to the lion,” the king said as the dwarf who had let them to the castle nodded. The group of them left the rocky castle and walked towards an exit. Along the way, many of the dwarf civilians stared at the group. It was rare to see people so tall enter their territory. The exit was as big as the entrance, and rays of light shined into the mountain city. They walked out of the exit a few steps, and saw a lion as big as an elephant sleeping on the sand.

“Okay, what’s the plan?” Kenan asked.

“You WHAT?!?! You want me to turn into a lioness and lure that lion away?!” Kenan shouted, and was quickly hushed by the group.

“Come on, Kenan. You’re the only one in the group who can transform into a lioness!” Selene said.

“Why don’t you ask Terra to summon Leo?” Kenan asked.

“Leo’s not a female!” Terra laughed. Slowly, Kenan began to agree.

“Fine,” Kenan said. Garfon got ready his shield and hammer.

“I’m gonna help yer people,” Garfon said. The group nodded.

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“So, Kenan. You’ll lure the lion away, and then we’ll knock it out. Then we’ll teleport it someplace else,” Jake said. Kenan nodded, then transformed into a lioness. He - or she - walked slowly towards the elephant-sized lion. Kenan nudged the sleeping lion while the group hid being some rocks. The large lion woke up, and roared. But, when he saw the lioness, he quieted down. Kenan ran from the lion and it followed him.

“Let’s go,” Selene said. They ran silently towards the lion. Kenan stopped, and Selene materialised Titanslayer. The giant lion talked to Kenan, who, because of his transformation, understood and talked to the lion too. Then, Garfon hit the lion’s head with his hammer, knocking him out.

“Okay, time to teleport him –” Jake said as the lion rose.

“ROAR!!!”

“The lion –” Terra said. The lion roared again and lurched at Terra. Selene blocked the attack with the flat side of her sword.

“Spell Infusion : Ice Bolt!” Selene shouted as her blade glowed blue and she slashed the lion. It roared.

“Lightning Arc!” Zack yelled and lightning struck from the sky at the lion. The lion roared and clawed Zack. Selene was not quick enough to block the attack and Zack fell to the ground. The lion lunged at Zack again, but Kenan transformed into an elephant and kicked the lion away.

“Zack!” Selene shouted, tending to Zack. Terra chanted her summoning words.

“The crab, Cancer, heed my call!” Terra shouted as she inserted a pink key into a lock, and a portal appeared, and a gigantic red crab crawled out.

“Cancer, hold his front legs so he can’t attack or move!” Terra commanded as the Cancer held the lion’s front legs with its pincers. Zack tried to stand up again.

“Ion Shell!” Zack screamed as a reflective magical barrier surrounded Zack and he rushed at the lion.

“Die, you scum!” Zack shouted and launched a fireball at it.

“What’s gotten into him?” Kanen shouted.

“Oh no. Titanius….” Selene said. Zack’s eyes started to turn red and a black aura surrounded him. His skin turned silver and he began to grow bigger, his clothes tore.

“This aura…. It makes me feel so weak….” Terra said. Selene got ready her blade to slash Titanius.

“Titanius, you’re bigger than the last time,” Selene remarked.

“The more powerful this pathetic guy becomes, the more of my power is released,” Titanius said as he punched the lion, and it got buried into the sand.

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Then, he turned towards Terra.

“No!” Sam shouted as a lycan lurched at TItanius and pushed him down.

“Pathetic,” Titanius said as he punched the lycan a few meters away.

“Stop controlling Zack!” Selene shouted as she rushed at Titanius. Kenan transformed into a bull and charged at Titanius.

“Cancer! Pin him down!” Terra commanded as Cancer held Titanius’ arms with its pincers. Selene slashed Titanius with her red glowing blade. Jake “Hah! Cap’n, did you really think that this fire would hurt me now that I’m stronger?” Titanius laughed as he irritatingly shove Cancer away and Cancer turned into a key. Then, he punched Terra, but she blocked it with her sword. But, the punch was too great and she flew back and hit a rock. She stood up unsteadily.

Garfon tried to hammer Titanius, but was pushed away. Jake launched a stream of pressurised water at Titanius, but it had no effect.

“Hahaha!” Titanius laughed as he jumped and was about to land where Sam was. Sam quickly transformed into a bat and flew away, and Titanius smashed into the sand.

“This is our chance!” Kenan shouted as he charged at Titanius, still in his bull form. Titanius was only pushed a few centimeters away.

“You’re really pathetic, aren’t yer?” Garfon shouted as he charged at Titanius from the back, slamming his hammer on Titanius’ iron cheek. Titanius turn back towards them, his iron cheek dented by Garfon’s slam.

“Oh you little pests!” Titanius screamed as his black aura grew more powerful and engulfed Garfon.

“Th…This aura……I feel weaker…”Garfon said.

“Beardy!” Kenan shouted as he transformed into rhinocerosand charged at Titanius, his horn denting Titanius’ left arm.

“Oh you little…” Titanius said. Terra summoned Phoenix.

“Phoenix, burn him to ashes!” Terra commanded. Selene walked next to Terra whilst Sam transformed into a vampire. Sam ran towards Titanius’ back and placed his hand in front of him. Red aura surrounded Titanius and drifted into Sam’s hand, and into his body.

“Why do I feel so weak? A vampire?” Titanius turned back and said.

“A vampire doesn’t need to bite to drain energy,” Sam smiled as he turned into a bat and flew, whilst Titanius tried to punch him.

“Argh!!!” Titanius screamed as a blacker aura surrounded him. Selene walked to where the lion was and she raised her blade.

“Everyone, cast a magic barrier on yourselves!” she shouted.

“Water Barrier!” Jake shouted as water formed around everyone. Selene slashed the lion one last time, and there was a large explosion. A blinding fire 48

stretched across the sands.

“ARGH!!!! H…..HOT!!!!!!!” Titanius screamed as silver liquid dripped on the sand, staining it grey.

“Y….You idiot…..You’ll get it the next time…..” Titanius screamed as he slowly grew smaller and his skin turn peach, and his eyes turned blue.

“Zack!” the group shouted. Suddenly, they heard galloping.

“In the name of the magic council, don’t move!” shouted a man on a horse.

“The Dragoons!” Terra shouted, horrified.

“You! The redhead! Go run with the boy. Leave this to me!” Garfon shouted.

The group nodded and got on their horses.

“Don’t think that you’re so good, Beardy! I’m staying too! Go!” Kanen said as he transformed into a cobra and stared at the Dragoon’s horses. The horses stood on their hind legs in fright, throwing their riders off.

“Argh…. Use your crests!” commanded the leader. The Dragoons took out badges and placed them at the slot at their chests.

“We Dragoons use Crests to power up our attacks. I got this as an award for catching a wanted criminal!” the leader shouted as a tornado formed at his feet.

“Tornado Impale!” he shouted as he shot into the sky, the tornado at his feet, then arched at Garfon, and dropped at him, spear-first.

“I know no magic, but, don’t take me lightly!” Garfon shouted as he raised his shield, and the spear drilled into it, then Garfon smashed the side of the Dragoon’s head with his hammer.

“Hey, no need to be that gory, Beardy. They ARE innocent. They just followed orders,” Kanen said as he transformed into a wolf and lurched at a Dragoon.

“There’s no innocent or guilty in war, lad. It’s either they die, or yer die!”

Garfon said as he dodged a flaming javelin and threw his own hammer at the Dragoon, and he fell to the ground. The dwarf and Druid took out most of the Dragoons, but three of them rode on their horses, trying to chase Zack.

“Oh no you don’t!” Garfon shouted as he leapt into the air.

“YARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” he shouted, waving his limbs in the air, and when he was just beside a Dragoon raised his hammer and smashed him, and smashed the ground with his feet. A hole as big as a crater appeared with the impact of the jump. The Dragoons were hurt.

“My king said that I am to go with you if your mission is successful and help you on your bigger mission,” Garfon said.

“Hey, Beardy. Let’s go then!” Kenan shouted and transformed into a horse.

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“Get on!” Kenan said and Garfon tried to get up.

“Hey, lad! Your back’s too high!” the short dwarf shouted. Kenan let out a small laugh, then transformed into a ram.

“This better?” Kenan said. Garfon nodded and got on his back, and they rode towards the group.

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Chapter 10 Sacrifices Selene was riding her horse, with Zack in front of her.

“Hey, Selene, there’s a Dragoon riding a dragon in the air!” Terra said.

Selene scowled.

“My summoning abilities are stronger now – I don’t have to chant anymore!

It must be the scroll mum gave me!” Terra said feeling a sudden surge of power within her. They stopped riding.

“The Twins, Gemini, heed my call!” Terra said and inserted a silver key in her lock, and a portal appeared, and two young, blonde boys walked out.

“Wassup!” said a boy.

“Get that Dragoon!” Terra commanded and the boy on the left nodded.

“How are they gonna do that?” Jake asked. The twins held both hands together. Then, the one on the left began to spin the other boy around.

“Watch,” Terra smiled as the boy spun a lot, and then he released his grip on his other twin, and he flew towards the Dragoon and hit him down. Suddenly the other twin who was thrown appeared in front of them.

“When the twins are separated, one of them can teleport to the other,” Terra said. The dragon in the air went wild and flew away. Soon, Garfon and Kenan caught up, and they laughed at what Garfon was riding on.

“Shut up! We need to get Zack to a town!” Selene cried and they grew silent. They rode on quickly, and they soon saw a church. They rode towards it and requested some help.

“This boy…. He is severely injured. No matter, I shall do my best,” a middle-aged man said as she took out a book.

“What’s that?” Jake asked.

“I’m a priest, and we use Librams, holy books, to heal,” the man said as he read the holy language in the book, and Zack glowed with a bright light, and soon, his wounds sealed and he woke up.

“What happened?” Zack asked as he looked as his clothes, “Titanius… It was him – no – me, right? I became berserk….”

“Zack! How many times must I say? You and Titanius are TWO DIFFERENT PEOPLE!” Selene cried, tears in her eyes. Zack walked up to his sister.

“I’m sorry sis,” he said.

“Wait, did you just say Titanius? You are the incarnate?” the man asked.

The group nodded and told the man what they were doing.

“It is too dangerous. I shall come with you all. My ability to heal is very useful,” the man said. The group nodded.

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“My name is Ryan,” the man said and they nodded.

“The next place that we have to go is the Icy Valley,” Selene said.

“We’ll have to stay the night first,” Jake said and they nodded.

The next day, they all got on their horses; Ryan sat in front of Terra, and Garfon sat on Kenan, who was a ram.

“Let’s go!” Zack shouted, in new clothes. They rode through the desert, and after awhile, saw something blue.

“The Icy Valley!”

He held the scroll and rune and flew through the morning sky. He had taken a rest at the inn, and secretly escaped, because he had no money to pay for the room. He knew that he had hurt Terra, hurt Zack, but he had to. He had to save Zack, make sure he doesn’t die. It was not Zack’s fault for being incarnated into Titanius. He wanted to destroy the Circle. He admitted to himself, he DID love his parents, but his reason for going to the Circle now wasn’t because of that.

“Zack…..You’re innocent,” he told himself. He dematerialised the scroll and rune and landed on a cliff to rest. He materialised another scroll and read it.

“Another forbidden spell – Spell Binding,” Drake told himself.

“I am going to end this war!” Drake vowed. He ice crafted a pair of wings and took off.

It was a peaceful fly. He was losing energy already, so he stopped at a city.

He entered a bar.

“Haha! Take all the rum in this bar!” called a voice. Drake turned and saw that it was a pirate. He walked towards him and held the pirates collar with his hand and pushed him to a wall.

“Get your men to stop – now,” Drake commanded. The pirate smiled.

“So this li’l boy thinks that he can defeat me?” the pirate laughed.

“Bring it on,” Drake said releasing the man and walked a few meters away, then turning back to his opponent. A large gathering of people came, most came to see the defeat of Drake, but none of them knew his true identity.

“What’s your name, boy?” came the pirate.

“None of your business, you stinking pirate,” Drake commented.

“Why you…..” the pirate said as he suddenly lunged at Drake. Drake easily dodged the attack and raised his fist.

“Frozen Fist!” Drake shouted as his fist became covered with ice and he punched the pirates face. The pirate took out his cutlass and slashed Drake.

The pirate smiled at this and held Drake by the shoulder and tried to stab him, but missed; only slashing Drake’s arm. The people cheered at how Drake could dodge the pirate’s attack.

“Not enough, eh? Well, Fireball!” the pirate shouted and held Drake’s 52

face with his left hand, releasing a point blank shot. A huge explosion occurred as Drake fell on the floor.

“HAH! Pathetic,” the pirate scowled. He and his man walked out of the door.

“Hey! You!” Drake shouted, standing up unsteadily. The pirates turned back.

“You! Don’t fight anymore! It’s all right! You’ll get my shop messy!” the barkeeper said.

“All right, I’ll go out!” Drake shouted and walked out, “Our fight isn’t over yet!”

“All right, then. I shall finish you off!” the pirate took out his cutlass and charged at Drake. Drake, because he was already shot, was weak.

“Ice Crafting: Pillar!” Drake said as a pillar appeared, and the pirate smashed into it, with his cutlass buried inside the pillar. Drake walked beside the pirate and raised his fist.

“Ice Blast,” Drake said as a blast of ice shot at the pirate, and he fell to the floor, defeated, but not dead.

“Hey, you scum! Quick, put back the rum! You little idiot, you watch out!” the pirate shouted as he ran towards his ship.

“Go, and don’t ever come back!” Drake called, then, fell on the floor. A girl rushed through the crowd.

“Prince Edge, you’ve changed so much…..” the girl said as she brought him into her house.

Drake awoke, with a girl looking at him.

“Edge! You’re okay!” the girl cried. Drake sat up.

“Do I know you?” he asked.

“I’m Angela, your childhood friend, remember?” she cried. Drake shook his head.

“Nope,” he said.

“Well, do you remember this?” she shouted as she pushed his head to one side.

“What was that for – wait. I think I remembered. Angela the Tyrant. Yep, I remembered,” Drake smiled. Angela’s eyes flared. She was wearing a pink dress.

“What are you doing here?” they both asked at the same time.

“Hmph….. When my parents died due to illness, I ran to the surface world, in hopes of searching for my aunt. But, when I came here, I heard that she had died.

But I loved it here, so I stayed here. Now, what about you?” Angela asked.

“None of your business,” he said as he stood up, then almost fell.

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bed.

“Hey, you’re too weak to walk!” Angela said as she helped him back to

“Hmph… You’ve changed a lot,” Drake said, “From a bossy girl to a - I dunno – a girly girl?”

“Why, thank you, Drake,” she said sarcastically, “You’ve changed too.

You were very spoilt in the past. But last night, you were fighting the pirate not for yourself, but for others.”

“Hah…. Hey, could I have a drink?” Drake asked. Angela nodded and turned and walked towards a table. She poured a cup of water.

“You know, it’s been so long….. How’s your parents?” she asked as she turned around, and there was no one on the bed. She looked at the open window.

“Typical….” She growled.

Drake soared through the sky – he had no time to lose. Any longer and Zack would have probably been turned into Titanius by the Circle. He found a ship which just started sailing.

“Mission accomplished,” he said to himself as he silently flew down to the ship, and landed. Then he cast an invisibility spell on himself.

“Oh, it’s awfully cold in here,” Terra commented as the group galloped along the Icy Valley. Mountains with snow were all over the place and it was freezing.

“I know! The flaming bird, Phoenix, heed my call!” Terra inserted a red key into her lock and the bird flew over her, providing the group warmth.

“Great idea,” Jake commented. They galloped for a while more, before hearing growls.

“Monsters,” Zack said as he rode his horse to the source of the sound. The group saw many polar bears attacking a man who had no top, only long, orange pants decorated with various designs. He blocked the claws from the bears with his bare arms and kicked them so powerfully, they fell back. His hand-to-hand combat was superb as he took down three of the polar bears single-handedly.

“We’ve to help him!” Zack cried as the group rode to the man’s side.

They fought five polar bears, and Kenan turned into a cobra and strangled one, whilst Garfon hit that bear with his hammer. Selene infused a fire spell into her materialised broadsword and slashed another polar bear. Zack used a fire spell to hit one while the man kicked the polar bear to its death. Soon, the battle ended.

“Thank you for your help,” the man said, “my name is Long, and I’m a monk. I was sent here by my monastery to help a group of heroes heading towards the Millenia Isles.”

“That would be us, Long,” Jake said. Long, surprised, nodded.

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“Your hand-to-hand combat is welcomed here,” Zack said as Ryan healed Long of his injuries.

“Wait a second, this aura…” Selene said as a lady walked towards them.

“Very good aura-sensing skills,” the lady said. Selene got ready to fight.

“Materialise: Wild Leather!” Selene shouted as her armour changed into bits of animal skin and she wore a head of a saber-tooth tiger on her head. There was no lower jaw, so the fangs extended across Selene’s cheeks.

“She materialised armour over her own….” Kenan said, “That’s our Captain!”

Selene raised her sword and said, “She is a sorceress, a master of destruction.”

“Very good. My chaotic aura must have given me away. No matter, I shall destroy all of you – bears, come!” she shouted as she raised her scepter.

“That armour, the Wild Leather armour boosts one’s speed and attack,” Jake said. They got ready and fought the bears whilst Selene took on the sorceress.

“Your master killed my parents!” Selene shouted.

“That’s because you escaped – so he gave you a little something to remember,” the sorceress said. Selene rushed at the sorceress at high speed and slashed her, but was blocked by a bear. She blocked the claw with the flat side of her sword and used earth magic to send boulders tumbling down from a nearby mountain.

“Pyroblast!” the sorceress shouted and swung her scepter at the boulder and destroyed it. Selene killed the bear and lunged for the sorceress.

Zack dodged a claw from a bear and shouted, “Wind Cutter!”

Blades made of wind stabbed through the bear and suddenly, another bear attacked him from the back, and Zack fell to the cold ground.

“S…SIS! Titanius….. H….He’s gaining control of me! Everyone, get away!” Zack said as he screamed, and his eyes turn crimson red and his skin turned to silver and he started to grow bigger. Ryan chanted a prayer so that Zack would return to normal.

“Long time no see –FRIENDS,” Titanius laughed and kicked a few polar bears away. Selene turned to see Titanius in horror, but the sorceress used this chance to backstab her.

“Aquasurge!” she shouted and swung her scepter, and a tornado of water unleashed from the sorceress hit Selene and she fell. Sam transformed into a lycan and pinned the sorceress down.

“Go, all of you! Get Zack out of here! Otherwise, the sorcerer will teleport Titanius to the Circle!” Kenan shouted as he transformed into a mammoth and 55

kicked some bears away.

“We can’t leave you here!” Terra shouted.

“You must! Terra, I’ll entrust Cerberus to you!” Sam shouted as a flaming hound appeared and followed the group.

“What are you doing?” Titanius screamed when Garfon smashed his face.

“The lyre player, Lyra, heed my call!” Terra shouted and commanded Lyra to play a tune of sleepiness. Soon, because of Titanius’ inability to use all of his power, he succumbed to the tune and slept. The group carried Titanius away. Sam suddenly grew vampiric wings and his fur turned black.

“Sam! No! How can you cross-shift? It’ll –” Jake said.

“Run!” Sam shouted as he clawed the sorceress. Kanen transformed into an eagle just when a bear was about to get him and he transformed into a gorilla and held a polar bear by its hind legs and spun it around, then releasing it, hitting another bear.

“Kanen, promise me something,” Sam said.

“What?” Kanen asked.

“If I go berserk, kill me,” Sam said as Kanen arched his eyebrows.

“RARGH!!!!!” Sam screamed as the sorceress died. Then he flew in the sky and landed. He screamed again.

“Great job, Sam –ARGH!!!!!” Kanen shouted as the lycan cum vampire bit him on the arm.

“What the hell are you doing?” he screamed. Kanen transformed into an eagle and flew to a mountain.

“I guess… I have to kill you, Sam…” Kanen said to himself as the werepyre flew after him. They landed on a cliff, and Kanen turned into a gorilla, picked Sam up and smashed him into the ground. Then, he turned into an eagle and flew up into the sky, then turned into an elephant dropping down.

“The only way to kill you is to crush you,” Kanen thought. The werepyre, at the last second got up and pushed Kanen out of the mountain, and he was heading for the icy floor.

“Oh damn it,” he said to himself as he tried to shapeshift, but he couldn’t.

“No inner mana left….. Goodbye everyone. Captain, safe journey……” that was Kanen’s last words as he smashed into the icy floor, and into the cold water beneath, turning into ice. The werepyre on the cliff howled, and then took off, flying.

“Kanen’s dead…” Jake said. The group turned towards him.

“Why?” Zack asked.

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“Sam cannot cross-shift…. He’s abilities aren’t that strong yet that he can become a lycan and vampire at the same time. IF he does that, he will kill the closest living thing,” Jake said, “his power is extremely powerful in this form.”

“No….. Kanen…….” Zack said, “I….It’s all my fault…..If only I’d killed –” Zack tried to say, crying.

“Zack!!!!!!!! In a war, sacrifices are needed to be made! And stop sobbing over your comrades death, but rather promise them that you’ll continue this journey and achieve your goal, otherwise, they’ve died for nothing!” Selene cried. Long was riding on Jake’s horse, and Garfon, with the lifting of Long, sat in front of Selene on the horse. Cerberus ran besides them refusing to take anyone’s orders.

Soon, the group came to a long, narrow passage way. They entered in a single file and walked past. Suddenly, the walls started to come closer.

“It’s a trap!” Terra shouted.

“Hahahaha!” came an evil voice. Jake tried to unfreeze the ice walls.

“I can’t unfreeze it –it’s magic ice. Guys, go! I’ll try to keep it at bay!

Water Surge!” Jake shouted as raised his two hands at either side and two blasts of water unleashed from his hands at the walls.

“But you won’t be able to escape!” Terra shouted.

“JUST GO! Zack, tell Edge to tell my family love them!” Jake shouted as Zack nodded. They rushed through the narrowing passageway. When they finally made it out to a green field, they turned back and saw that the walls were closed in on each other.

“J…..Jake…..” Zack said.

“He was a great man,” Long said.

“Cerberus, come on!” Terra shouted at the three-headed flaming hound that was standing near the icy walls.

“He’s mourning over Jake’s death,” Selene said. After a few minute, Cerberus came to join them.

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Chapter 11 The Ship to Millenia They rode across the grass. Soon, they came in sight of a town.

“There’s a dock there! P’haps we can get a ship there!” Garfon shouted.

Everyone was gloomy.

“Sigh…. Lads, you all got a lot to learn about war. If everyone were to feel this sad ‘bout every single person who died in a war - then people would’ve died of depression b’fore they’ve even they could even stand a chance of winnin’! Take the spirits and memories of your fallen comrades with yer, and use this spirit to fight on! Now, don’t act so gloomy!” Garfon said.

“A war is full of bloodshed…..That’s why I hate war,” Ryan said. They went into the town and went walked to an inn.

“We’ll spend the night here,” Selene said. They went to their own rooms, but everyone, except for Garfon who had 5 bottles of rum, could not sleep. Cerberus was chained to the building and was placed outside. Selene materialised her pajamas and leaned against the windowsill, looking at the night sky. It seemed so comforting, the peacefulness, but, the darkness scared her.

She remembered. The times where the bandits sold her to a man as a slave; she had to, with all the other slaves, build a house. But when she just stopped for a minute to rest, she would be whipped. She remembered, the fear, the constant fear that they would whip her. She pulled a sleeve to reveal a scar. They had slashed her arm with a sword when she secretly took a 2 minute rest.

Terra was also staring out the window, when suddenly, she saw. With the lamps along the town, that the wood of the bar was black with the burning of fire.

The whole bar looked a mess, so, Terra decided to go down there. She walked out of her room and silently crept to the bar. There she saw that there was evidence of an explosion. She crept inside the bar, and saw some pirates.

“Oh, YOU’RE a pretty girl,” a pirate said. He held a shoulder and Terra tried to run.

“Oh no, you don’t!” he said as he ran in front of Terra.

“Please, let me pass,” Terra said. The pirate smiled, revealing his decayed teeth.

“Come and have a drink with me!” the pirate laughed.

“You want a drink? Okay! The Water Bearer, Aquarius, heed my call!”

Terra shouted and inserted a blue key into her lock. Then, a mermaid like creature came out, holding a beautiful engraved jar. Then, the mermaid held the jar and unleashed a surge of water from the jar at the man. The man flew from the impact and landed outside the bar.

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“Hey, girl! Stop wetting my bar! I had to clean up the ice a mage like you uded a few days ago, okay? Stop dirtying the bar!” the barkeeper said.

“An ice mage?!?! Does he have black hair? And does it cover his right eye? Tell me!” Terra said as Aquarius returned to her key form.

“How could I forget that idiot boy’s face? Yes, he’s exactly like you described. You know him? If you do, ask him to come back, I wanna thank him for getting the pirates away, but I also want to tell him NOT to ever use ice magic in my bar again,” the barkeeper said.

“Do you know where he went?” Terra asked.

“Nope, but a girl brought him somewhere when he got knocked out. I think she’s livin’ in that house in front of the inn,” the barkeeper said.

Terra ran from the bar to the house. There, she frantically rang the doorbell.

After a few minutes, someone answered the door.

“Yes?” came a sleepy voice.

“I’m sorry for waking you up at this hour, but I have to ask you. Do you know anyone by the name of Drake? The barkeeper said that you helped an ice mage a few days ago!” Terra cried. The lady shushed her and asked her to come in.

“My name’s Angela, and I don’t know no Drake, but I did help an ice mage here,” Angela said.

“Wait, since you don’t know Drake, which means you must be from the Underworld!” Terra said.

“Wait, how’d you know?” Angela asked.

“When he ran away from the Underworld, he renamed himself Drake,” Terra said, then continued to explain their situation.

“Edge…….He’s always taking things into his own hands…….Sorry, but he disappeared within 5 minutes when he awoke in my house. But, I want to come with you, I want to help you guys find Edge,” Angela said.

“Well, I’ve got to ask the group first,” Terra said. She returned to the inn and slept.

The next day, Terra awoke and told the group the news.

“So, we’ve got a new member?” Garfon asked. They went across to Angela’s house and she was already dressed up. The group then went over to the docks.

“Hey, lass. Any idea where we can get a ship to sail?” Garlon asked.

“Umm….The only ships here are pirate ships,” Angela said.

“PIRATE SHIPS!” Terra screamed. Selene hushed her.

“That seems like the only option now, isn’t it?” Selene said. They nodded.

“So we’re gonna fight for a pirate ship?” Zack asked.

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“No, lad. You’d think that we can stand up against those pirates? Yer get chopped up to pieces first,” Garfon laughed. Cerberus growled silently.

“The Shorty’s right. Most of the pirates are -” Angela said.

“I AM NO SHORTY!!!! I prefer the word ‘Dwarf’,” Garfon said. The group laughed.

“We need to be careful, for if we sneak onto the ship, the pirates might find us,” Ryan said.

“Well, for a priest, you seriously have a lot of knowledge ‘bout war, don’t yer?” Garfon said. Angela pointed to a ship.

“That ship looks good. We need to get on the ship and then take over the captain,” Angela said and they nodded. They silently crept to the dock.

“Hey lass, how many times have yer stole a ride from a pirate?” Garfon joked.

“Garfon!” Zack scowled.

“Umm… About 11 times?” Angela said. They laughed.

“No, I’m serious….” Angela said. The whole group looked at her.

“Hey, c’mon! Let’ go!” a pirate captain said and walked on board the ship.

Angela signaled for the group to follow after the last of the pirates got on the ship.

Cerberus reluctantly followed. Ryan casted an invisibility spell on everyone and they crept onto the ship. The captain was at the wheel, he had yellow teeth and a parrot on his shoulder. Crewmen were all over the ship, doing their duties.

A pirate walked past them and then turned around, and walked towards the captain. He whispered something into his ear, then walked away.

“Hey, so when do we strike?” Zack asked.

“At night,” Garfon said. They nodded. After what seemed like eternity, the sky got darker, and the ship stopped at a dock.

“Wow, we’re in luck, we can get the ship without fighting,” Angela said.

The pirates piled out of the ship to the bar for rum. The group of them went to the wheel.

“I wanna steer the ship,” Garfon said.

“I’m sorry Shorty, but I doubt you can reach highest point of the wheel,” Angela said and the group laughed.

“Okay, we’ll take the oars,” Selene offered and they turned, only to see the whole crew of pirates.

“W….What?” Terra said, terrified.

“Hah! Think you could take our ship away? We’ve sensed you a long time ago!” the captain shouted.

“W…What do you want to do?” Selene asked as a few pirates walked towards them.

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“Well, you tried to steal our ship, what DO you think we want to do?” the captain laughed.

“STOP IT!” Zack cried, “Don’t hurt them!”

“Hah, a little boy wants to protect his friends, huh?” the captain laughed.

“Zack! Don’t be rash, if not, Titanius will gain control again!” Selene shouted. The captain arched he eyebrows.

“Did you say Titanius?” the captain turned his voice into a serious tone.

“Yeah? What about it?” Garfon said.

“You’re going to Millenia Isles, aren’t ya? Crew, get ready, we’re gonna sail towards the forbidden coasts!” the captain shouted. The group was confused.

“You –” Angela said. The captain stopped her.

“Hey, we pirates know history and justice too, okay? So just enjoy your two day ride,” the captain said, “Oh, and call me Captain Jacobs, and this is the Retribution.”

The ship sailed towards the isles and the group found their rooms there.

Selene, Terra and Angela shared one room and Ryan, Long, and Garfon and Zack shared another.

The next day, the group went to see the captain.

“So, Captain Jacobs, what are we gonna do now?” Zack asked.

“Just admire the sea, and-” Captain Jacobs started.

“Cap’n! The ship’s under attack!” a crewman shouted, “It’s the Red Shark!”

“Get ready the canons!” Captain Jacobs shouted. The crewmen got to their positions as the enemy ship approached.

“Fire!” came the captain of the other ship as the two ships exchanged blasts.

Selene materialised her broadsword.

“Let’s destroy them with some magic power,” Selene said. They nodded.

“Materialise: Winged Armour!” Selene said as she wore an armour with two large wings. The pirates from the ship swung into the enemy ship. Selene flew to the other ship whilst Garfon leaped into the other ship, causing a crater so big he fell inside the ship along with many other pirates. Long stayed back and fought the enemy pirates in the Retribution. Cerberus stayed on the Retribution and breathed flame on many pirates.

Terra went onto the other ship and Angela stayed behind. Ryan stayed behind to heal the injured and Zack went onto the other ship. Selene expertly slashed many of the enemy pirates and Zack used various spells he learnt from Linda’s scrolls and killed many pirates. Angela materialised a bow and some arrows.

“I am a Tornadomancer, user of the wind, my arrows never miss!” Angela shouted as she shot five arrows at once at five pirates’ hearts.

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“The Scorpion, Scorpio, heed my call!” Terra shouted and inserted a purple key into her lock and a gigantic scorpion walked out of a portal. It stung many pirates with its poisoned tail. Long kicked a pirate in the face and punched another.

Captain Jacobs raised his pistol and shot five pirates as Ryan healed three ally pirates. Soon, the battle was over, and because of the group’s help, there weren’t many casualties. Captain Jacobs walked towards the captain of the other ship.

“Argh….. What bad luck we’ve got. First it’s an ice mage who forced us to take him to Millenia Isles and now? Our ship gets conquered,” the captain complained.

“An ice mage?” Zack cried.

“Teenage boy, black hair and he held a single glaive,” the captain described.

Zack opened his eyes.

“It’s got to be Drake,” Zack said.

“Let’s go! There’s no time!” Selene shouted. Captain Jacobs walked towards the other captain.

“You’re lucky. We’ve got business to tend to,” Captain Jacobs said as he went back to his own ship and set sail for Millenia Isles. The rest of the day, the group chatted with some pirates, and then they return to their rooms to sleep.

The next day, the group awoke to the sounds of lightning. They quickly walked out and saw the storm that was before them.

“So you awake?” Captain Jacobs asked. They nodded.

“Haha! Don’t worry, it’s just a storm, here, have some rum!” the captain said as he pointed to a barrel.

“Hah! I like your style,” Garfon laughed as he went t the barrel, jumped and took out a bottle of rum and drank half of it in a gulp.

“Pathetic,” came a voice behind Garfon.

“What’s yer problem, lad?” the dwarf asked a pirate.

“Drinking half of a bottle in one gulp? I drink one in one gulp!” the pirate laughed.

“So? You wanna challenge, lad?” the dwarf asked. The pirate nodded.

Soon, pirates gathered as the dwarf and pirate got ready. Cerberus was chained onto a wall.

“Let the drinking contest begin!” a pirate shouted as the dwarf and pirate gulped down bottle after bottle of rum.

“Get ready a bed for that dwarf, he’s gonna lose,” a pirate said to Selene.

“Why?” Selene asked.

“That pirate’s name is Gash. He’s the best drinker around here; 60% of our rum goes to him,” the pirate said. Soon, Garfon fell from the high seat, drunk and sick. He was taken to his room.

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“Hahaha! I win, you dwarf!” Gash laughed.

“Cap’n, we’re being attacked by nagas!” a crewma said.

“Nagas?” Zack asked.

“Half-snake-men creatures of the sea. We regularly encounter them,” Captain Jacobs said. Suddenly, a claw grabbed the edge of the ship and a naga slithered up. The pirates hacked and slashed. Gash walked out, holding a bottle of rum in hand.

“Let me handle this!” he shouted.

“Hey, shouldn’t we bring him back to bed?” Ryan asked. Captain Jacobs merely laughed and shook his head.

“Gash fights best when he is drunk. He’s the Drunken Brawler, the more rum he drinks, the more powerful he becomes,” Captain Jacobs said as Gash took out his cutlass and rushed at the nagas. Gash swayed from one side to another.

Then, a naga punched Gash, but he swayed to one side and dodged the attack, and he swung his cutlass, slaying the naga. His drunkenness allowed him to dodge and made his strength double as he slashed the creatures.

All the creatures were killed, but suddenly, the whole ship almost capsized as a large wave hit them.

“Argh!!” shouted the pirates as many of them fell from the ship. Ryan and Garfon, who had suddenly walked out, fell from the ship.

“NO!!!” Zack screamed as he jumped into the sea.

“ZACK!!!” Selene cried. A black aura surrounded the water. Garfon was thrown up on board from the water.

“Zack!!!” Long cried as they saw a glimpse of silver in the sea.

“The Fishes, Pisces, heed my call!” Terra said and inserted a light blue key into her lock.

“Throw Zack and Ryan up on board!” Terra shouted. Suddenly, a silver object was flung onboard.

“Titanius…..” Selene said. She materialised her broadsword.

“Yo,” the silver creature said as he punched Selene and she fell overboard, and then he released a blue beam at Captain Jacobs.

“Pisces, throw Selene on board too!” Terra shouted, and the redhead was thrown onboard the Retribution.

“Ion Shell!” Captain Jacobs shouted as the beam deflected off him. Long kicked Titanius and Angela tried to shoot a few arrows, but all that happened was Long injuring his foot and Angela’s arrows being dented.

“The Lyre Player, Lyra, heed my call!” Terra said as she inserted a key into her lock. A portal appeared and Lyra walked out.

“Lyra, play a song of –” Terra tried to say as Titanius punched Lyra and 63

her.

“I won’t fall for the same trick twice,” Titanius laughed. Captain Jacob scowled. He raised his cutlass, ready to slash Titanius.

“Can’t you see that you can’t defeat me?” Titanius laughed.

“I call forth the phantom dragon!” the captain shouted as a flame rushed at Titanius.

“No!!!” Titanius screamed and he felt the fire on his body.

“You’ll kill Zack!” Terra shouted. The captain shook his head.

“Nope…..I can’t…..Firstly, that spell was 10% of its strength…..Secondly, Titanius’ already at 70% power…….. And we can’t hurt him like before so that he’ll come back to normal, he’s already fully merged with Zack.”

The black haired boy walked into a jungle. He explored the area, eating some wild berries because of his hungry stomach. Suddenly, he saw some people clothed in purple robes.

“Are you Acolytes of the Exiled?” Drake asked.

“And you are?” the person asked.

“Prince Edge of the Underworld. Open a portal to the Circle’s territory – now,” Drake commanded.

“What are you? Nuts? It requires five lives in order to use that forbidden magic!” the person shouted. Drake materialised his glaive and raised it to the person’s neck.

“I can’t hear you,” Drake said.

“O…Okay,” came the person as he quickly led him to an encampment. It had many tents of other people. A gathering of people were there, with a mage in robes and five children behind him. He chanted some prayers, then slit the throats of the five children.

“Open up, portal to the Circle’s Territory!” the man shouted as a portal appeared and Drake walked through. He came to a rocky place, with lava here and there.

“It’s just like the Underworld,” Drake said to himself. He walked for quite awhile, before coming to a floating fortress.

“Ah, Prince Edge, I knew you’d come!” came a man in black robes, with bony fingers.

“Shut up, Abzul… Where’s my old man?” Drake asked. The man in black robes snapped his fingers and two skeletons armed with swords, shields, and armours walked towards him, holding on to the Overlord.

“Edge! Don’t do it! Let me die! Let me die for Earth! Don’t give them the scroll and rune!” he cried, only to be punched by the skeleton. Drake glared at Abzul.

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“My father first,” Drake said and Abzul nodded. The skeletons approached Drake and threw his father at him, then Abzul walked towards Drake.

“Frozen Fury!” Drake shouted and time stopped. Abzul was placing his left foot on the ground. Drake snickered.

“It seems that I’ve out smartened you, Abzul,” Drake laughed.

“Probably,” came Abzul’s voice. Drake opened his eyes in shock.

“I knew you’d use that spell, Prince Edge. But I’ve casted and anti-magic shield on myself, so now, you’ve nowhere to go. Dispel!” Abzul said as he walked towards Drake and time continued, “Skeletons, get him.”

Titanius shouted in pain as the fire burned him. The pirates chained him to the ground.

“Set sail for the forbidden coasts – full power!” Captain Jacobs shouted as the whole grouped calmed down.

“But we can’t find Ryan!” Terra shouted.

“Let him rest in peace, then,” Gash said, drink rum. The group looked down in mourning.

“Where did you learn that spell?” Long asked Captain Jacobs.

“I had it in my possession a while back, and I learnt that spell,” Captain Jacobs said.

“We must let the acolytes of the Exiled take care of Zack,” Captain Jacobs said.

“Acolytes?” Terra asked, mourning for the death of yet another comrade.

“They were assistant mages whom looked through the forbidden magic of their masters, and they used them. They were banished by the magic council and they gathered to form the Exiled, ex-acolytes, but acolytes nonetheless,” Long said. Cerberus growled, and sniffed at something, then stopped.

The ship took no time at all to come towards the island, by that time Titanius had already cooled down, but was very weak. They chained him and anchored at a beautiful island. They brought Titanius towards a jungle and the group, along with Cerberus walked along.

“So yer telling me, that when I was drunk and sleepin’, that I got thrown in sea, and thrown on board again, and Ryan died?” Garfon asked, holding a sack. The group nodded.

“AND I JUST SLEPT THROUGH IT ALL?” he shouted. Selene smiled a bit at her small and humourous friend.

“What’s that sack for?” Terra asked.

“Oh, nothing, just seemed attractive,” Garfon said. They approached an encampment, and a person in blue robes walked towards them.

“We have nothing for you to plunder – wait. Is that….” the man said.

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“You have to save my friend! He’s the incarnate of Titanius, and he’s fully merged with him now!” Terra shouted. The people of the encampment froze then let him to an empty area.

“We have to help this boy tame his power, so he can use it for good,” the man said and the group nodded.

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Chapter 12 The Taming and The Meeting “Using this spell, Titanius would slowly grow into his true form, but Zack must use his willpower to fight it, or else, if Titanius reached his true form, he’ll be revived,” the man said.

“We gotta have faith in the, lad!” Garfon shouted as Selene nodded. Angela readied her bow and arrows. The man started chanting some spell and Titanius, who was free of his chain by the pirates, who had sailed away, grew stronger.

The black aura darkened around them.

“Hey, Drunky, got some rum?” came a voice behind them. It was Gash.

“W…What are you doing here?” Selene asked.

“The ship’s outta rum…. And I saw Drunky took a few bottles of it,” Gash said as he pointed to Garfon.

“I AM NOT DRUNKY!” the dwarf said as he handed the pirate some bottles of rum that he had kept within the sack. Gash smiled.

“Let’s go,” Gash said as he took a drink of rum and his cutlass out.

“You’re helping us?” Long asked.

“Well, consider it an exchange for the rum,” Gash said.

“Let’s start,” Angela said as Titanius lunged at them.

“Ahhh, this power!” Titanius said as he punched Selene, but Long kicked it out of the way.

“I shall have to use my true strength now,” Long said as he ran towards the iron giant and kicked him down and spun into the air.

“Buddha’s Palm!” Long shouted and his palm glowed as he smashed Titanius with it. Angela infused wind spells within her arrows and launched it at Titanius. Titanius just smirked and grew stronger.

“Materialise: Golem Armour!” Selene shouted as her armour turned rockish.

“Golem armour improves my defense and strength,” Selene said as she pushed Titanius. Garfon scowled at the fact that Titanius was too huge and he could not reach his face, unable to smash it, so he threw his hammer and it hit Titanius’ face, but he showed no signs of pain as a black aura surrounded them and pushed everyone down.

“Die!” Titanius shouted. Selene blocked the punch, but Titanius grew stronger and kicked her, sending her flying. Angela summoned a twister to try and make Titanius float. Gash ran towards Titanius and dodged a punch, and slashed him.

“The Water Bearer, Aquarius, heed my call!” Terra shouted and inserted the 67

key into her lock, and Aquarius appeared and threw a surge of water at Titanius.

Long kicked the iron creature and Garfon leapt at it, landing on the head of the iron monster, smiling at the fact his jump had make Titanius smash against the ground. Selene walked forward to try and hit him, but Titanius flung Garfon away and kicked Selene. Suddenly, it stopped moving.

“Argh……..Sis……..Argh……Stop trying to take control of this body you pest, I AM in control…………….No, Titanius……Get out of my body!”

Titanius cried, with his and Zack’s voice mixed. A shining light appeared, but then, it disappeared.

“Hah! He thought he could take control of my body,” Titanius said as he grew bigger again. Gash threw away his third bottle of rum and started drinking another, then he lunged at Titanius and slashed him, making him bleed silver blood. Angela shot some arrows and Terra summoned Tauros. Aquarius and Tauros attacked Titanius and Garfon threw his hammer at him. Selene’s blade grew red and she rushed at the giant. She managed a slash on him and suddenly, he screamed.

“Get out of my body!!!!!!!!!!!! Argh!!!” Titanius screamed with pain, but suddenly, he stomped on Long, and Selene opened her eyes in shock.

“No, Long!” Terra screamed. Titanius lifted his foot, and on the ground, was the bloody mess of what Long once was.

“Hahahaha – ARGH!!!!!!!! No!!!! Stop gaining control over me!!!!’ Titanius shouted as he skin cracked, and a part of him chipped off, followed by many other chipping offs of his silver skin, and he grew smaller. Suddenly, he changed into Zack. But he was still conscious. He looked at what once was Long, and covered his face with his hands.

“N….No! So many people died because of me!” Zack cried.

“Lad, they died to help you advance on your journey. Sacrifices need to be made to move farther,” Garfon said, injured. The people of the Exiled allowed them to stay for the night, and healed them. Zack was in his room, looking out the window. He was thinking very hard. There was a knock on the door and Zack went to answer it. It was a girl dressed in robes.

“The Incarnate, allow me to join you. My name is Alisha and I know of many powerful spells, in order to save your friend, you WILL need my help,” the acolyte said. Zack nodded. He needed all the help that he could get.

The next day, the group introduced themselves to Alisha. Then they inquired about how to get to the Circle’s Territory, and when they told him that an ice mage also tried to go into there a few days ago they quickly asked them to open a portal.

“Sorry, we cannot, because in order to do that, we need 5 living sacrifices,” 68

the acolyte said. Suddenly, they could hear gallops.

“Dragoons….” Selene said.

“Wow, we ask for 5 lives and it comes knocking at our door!” Gash said, drinking a bottle of rum – he received a few from the people of the Exiled.

“We are here to arrest Zack Flamesworn, Selene Flamesworn, Garfon Silverbeard, Jake Crippleson, Terra Lightblaze, Kenan Surewing, Sam Netherfang for killing Dragoons of the Magic Council, and Zack Flamesworn and Edge Underblade for using the forbidden spells Phantom Dragon and Frozen Fury respectively,” the leader said as the Dragoons all raised their crests.

“Leave it to me, Zack. Shadow Flame!” Alisha shouted and raised her right hand, and a swirl of dark flames devoured the Dragoons and within no time, they had the five Dragoons tied up and the man was ready to start the ritual. He chanted something and then slit the throats of the five men, opening a portal towards the Circle’s territory.

The group was about to enter, when Cerberus growled and sniffed at something. Suddenly, flying towards them, was a lycan with wings.

“Is that……….. Sam?” Terra asked. Selene nodded.

“It seems to be,” she said as the creature landed, with a black aura around it. Suddenly, it flew into the portal. The rest of the group followed suit.

They stepped out into a rocky terrain. They walked onwards, unsure of where their destination was. There were pools of lava here and there, and the group trudged along the ground, finally seeing a floating fortress. It had many designs engraved onto it.

“Zack, be careful,” Selene said.

“Drake! Where are you?” Zack and Terra shouted.

“Edge! Hey Edge! You there?” Angela cried. Suddenly, a whole army of zombies and skeletons rose from the ground and walked towards the group.

“Oh no!” Selene shouted. Suddenly a man in black robes and a hood, like how Alisha was, walked towards them.

“Ahh… Welcome to my humble abode, friends,” the man said, “Allow me to introduce myself - I am Abzul.

“Abzul…..” Zack said.

“And I believe that this is the incarnate? Very generous of you to bring him here for me,” laughed Abzul. Zack scowled. Everyone got ready to fight.

“Well, I’m afraid that you stand no chance against my army,” Abzul remarked, when suddenly a lycan lunged from the air and killed many of them with one swing of the arm.

“Sam!” Terra shouted.

“He can’t hear you now,” Selene said. Abzul arched his eyebrows in 69

disapproval. He raised his arm and Zack walked forward towards Abzul.

“Zack, what’re doing?” Terra shouted.

“I can’t control my body!” Zack shouted back.

“Dispel,” Alisha said as Zack regained control of his body. The werepyre that was Sam killed a few more zombies, and Cerberus joined him.

“Well…. Come out,” Abzul said as a boy walked out.

“Drake!” Terra cried.

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Chapter 13 The War “Drake, what are you doing with him? Where’s your father?” Zack asked.

Drake merely grinned.

“I killed him,” Drake said as the group opened their eyes in shock.

“But –” Zack tried to say.

“I killed him because he was in my way,” Drake said.

“D…Drake? You must be under a spell or something!” Zack cried.

“No Zack, I cannot sense any spell being put on Drake. He is doing this of his own free will,” Alisha explained.

“Abzul gave me this incredible power. This power can stand up against you!” Drake shouted as he grew horns that curved back on his forehead, and he also grew wings. Slowly, his skin turned purple and his eyes flashed yellow. He held a long blade. Zack had no choice but to battle his friend, he slowly grew larger, and his skin turned silver as his eyes shone red.

“I am Idrical the Destroyer!” the purple demon shouted as it clashed with the silver giant. Selene materialised her broadsword and her Wild Leather armour over her own armour. Then, she lunged at Abzul, only to be intercepted by a zombie who she easily slain. Angela released five arrows, killing five of the creatures and Cerberus release a jet of fire, reducing the zombies to ashes.

“The Ram, Aries, heed my call!” Terra shouted and inserted a white key into her lock, and a humanoid lady walked out, with wool as her clothes and having horns on her head, resembling a ram. She kicked many of the skeletons and Gash drank some rum and slashed many of the zombies. Garfon ran and jumped and swung his hammer, knocking the skulls off many of the skeletons.

The two large giants were battling with everything they got – punches, beams, kicks. Soon, Zack proved to be more powerful and punched Drake. He was about to punch him for the finishing move, but he couldn’t bear to kill his friend, but, Drake kicked him and clawed him.

“Show no weakness, lad!” Garfon shouted.

“Why did you join the Circle?” Zack asked.

“They gave me extremely powerful abilities in exchanged for the rune and scroll. So, I thought, since they were about to conquer the world, why not join the winning team? After that, I can still plot to overthrow them and conquer the world!” Drake said.

“Now, where did all this rule-the-world crap come from?” Zack asked.

Drake shook his head and laughed and punched Zack down.

“You don’t realise, do you? If I conquer the world, I can make it prosperous!

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I need to join the Circle in order to double-cross them and conquer the world and make it balanced again! If only you’d didn’t come for me, Zack! If you didn’t, I could’ve not kill you, and persuade them that my power was enough to conquer the world,” Drake said, and obviously, Abzul couldn’t hear them. Abzul snapped his fingers and the living army appeared, with necromancers, knights and so on.

“We won’t be able to hold out, this way!” Alisha said as she unleashed a wave of fire that burned some people to death.

“All our hope lies in Sam,” Selene said as she slashed two knights. The werepyre howled and lunged at some of the sorcerers. He turned to Cerberus, and suddenly, both of them lit up in blue and they fused together to reveal a three-headed flaming lycan with wings. This new form easily vanquished many necromancers and knights at once.

“No….Could this be the true power of the Underworld?” Abzul asked. He called forth a large golem.

“The Circle of Chaos has almost unlimited amount of creatures, even at this rate, we can’t win!” Alisha said. Selene shook her head.

“Have faith, in Zack, all of you,” Selene said.

“Yep, that lad’s got some power packed in his small body,” Garfon said.

“Shut up, Drunky. You’re talking like you’re so big – you’re still half his size mind you!” Gash said as he dodged two arrows and slashed the archers.

Angela whipped some tornadoes to clear some of the enemy creatures.

“Drake….You shouldn’t have done it this way……” Zack said.

“Sigh……..I’m too greedy, Zack……….. I want to end the war…You’ve probably never seen this side of me before - you probably never seen many side of me before because of my problem of letting my emotions take control of me….. You’ve never really seen my excited side, my happy side…. But there are two ways to end the war, yours, or mine. Let’s see who’s we’ll use,” Drake said as the room turned cold.

“Drake……” Terra said as her arms grew cold.

“Drake…..I shall end the war with my life!” Zack shouted and a black aura surrounded him. The two giants battled it out, with Titanius still winning, no matter what.

“I call forth the phantom dragon!” Zack shouted as he raised his fist and a dragon made of fire lunged at Drake and engulfed him, then Zack punched him.

Drake fell on the floor, defeated.

“Hahaha! Now, you have played your role, now die!” Abzul shouted and shot a blue blast at Drake and he slowly disintegrated.

“W….What’s happening?” Zack asked.

“I used Drake to weaken you so I could revive Titanius. Titanius, come 72

to –” Abzul said.

“You what?! You USED my friend and chucked him away? Why you scum……” Zack shouted as his black aura surrounded the floating castle. The flaming werepyre killed many of the necromancers and people.

“You want to use Titanius…… Well, it’s time I took responsibility for carrying Titanius’ spirit…” Zack said.

“NO! Zack!” Selene cried.

“I will end Titanius’ life and end this war! Terra, Selene, all of you, goodbye!” Zack shouted as he raised his hand, with the palm facing himself.

“I call forth the phantom dragon!” Zack shouted as the flaming dragon devoured him and he started to burn.

“The rest is up to you guys……” Zack said as he burned and silver liquid dripper from his body. Suddenly, he saw a note flying around him, and it flew near to his face and he saw the note from before.

“The incarnate of the iron giant shall be the saviour of Earth, For he was destined to this path since the very day of birth.

These chains of fate that pull him down, Locked onto this path, he shall frown, But this is his destiny, his fate and life, In which he cannot defy, and must strive through.

First the Circle, and then the beast, Countless adventures of pain and sorrow he shall go, But finally, a quest to find death that he deserves.

For the incarnate is no ordinary being, no, He is doomed to live and to see his loved ones die, For he knows no time, and he knows no death, Because the incarnate is doomed to live forever, never knowing the pleasures of death.”

Zack smirked to himself as the note got burned into ask with the fire, with the iron giant himself, too.

“ZACK!!!!!!!!!” Selene shouted. The flaming werepyre that was Sam lunged at Abzul, who was speechless. It devoured the mage, whom stood no chance against another creature with the power alike to Titanius.

“The Manhunter……Earth would know another fear from now on………It is you, the flaming werepyre,” Abzul said as he died. Rubble dropped and crushed Sam and the entire Circle within.

“Please, escape…” Alisha said as she chanted some spells and set a seal 73

on the portal, in case any of the Circle were to be alive. The group walked out, horrified, and shocked. The world was saved, yes, but at the lost of two of Terra’s closest kin. Selene mourned for her brother. When they walked to the shores, though, they saw the Retribution, they walked on the ship and told them the story.

“You don’t have to worry about Zack, girl,” Captain Jacobs said.

“You don’t have to comfort me,” Selene said.

“No, I’m not. Those who learnt the Phantom Dragon Spell are doomed to live forever. If they die, they would be resurrected three years later,” the captain said, “I know, for I have been alive since 2313…”

And so, Terra went on to live in heaven with her family, and sad news went to the Underworld that they’ve lost their Overlord and Prince. Since then, the Queen has been too sad, and they appointed a new Overlord and Queen. Garfon went back to Yakuum Mountain a proud and merry dwarf, and Gash still made the Retribution go bonkers because of his love for rum.

Angela went back to the Underworld to be with Drake’s mum and Selene returned to Fargrove Forest, protecting nature, and waiting for the day in which her brother would be ressurected. The school of magic in Starlight Town also received sad news that their principal had been caught in a car accident because of a levitating car accidentally ramming on him.

But this period of happiness did not last long, because the Magic Council sent a group of Dragoons to arrest Terra, Selene, Garfon, Angela, Long and Alisha.

They explained to them the situation they were in – they had to save the world.

The Magic Council then decided to lessen the group’s punishment, and the group was then locked up in prison for three months before being released.

Deep within the sealed portal of the Circle’s territory, the three-headed flaming lycan howled.

“Me….Want……More…..Blood…..”

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The first of its kind in Singapore, the Young Author Scheme was started in 2003 when an innovative-thinking English Head of Department from Anderson Primary School approached Catherine Khoo, veteran author and editor, with a novel idea to motivate his students: write a book! But it was to be no ordinary book: it had to be good enough to be published. Could she help these students develop their potential?

Never one to refuse a challenge, she dived into it and stolidly hand-held them to penning their ver y own creation: a well-crafted story of at least 3,000 words.

Children have a wealth of emotions. How do you draw them out? At the same time, how can they learn as they are sharing? Storytelling is at once therapeutic and fulfilling. The chance to create opens a whole new world to them. Putting them into words allows them to draw on their imagination, learn new words and enjoy the process of writing.

28 February 2004... * First Young Author Awards held. * Special Achievement Award to

Aditi from Naval Base Primar y School who penned a 21,000-word fantasy, The Chain of Tears.

22 July 2005... * Launch of The Young Author Club, a series of excellent works from the Young Author

Scheme. The series comprises four titles: Tales of Magic & Fantasy, Tales of Ghosts and Ghouls, Tales of Aliens and Angels and Tales To Warm Your Heart. Held at the Library@ Orchard, the event had an over-capacity audience of 200 young authors, parents, teachers and principals.

10 September 2005... * First Young Author Club event held at Popular Books, United Square. It was hosted

by Catherine Khoo, Creator of the Young Author Scheme, with guest appearances by three young authors, Thia Shan Zhi, 13, Norman Aziz, 13, and Jennifer Yip, 12, who gamely signed autographs and awarded specially crafted bookmarks. All four titles were sold out within an hour.

28 November 2005... * The Advanced Young Author Scheme had its first intake of Sec 1 to Sec 3 boys from Catholic

High School. The boys had to write a 10,000 word nouvella. They exceeded expectations, with Song Dilong, 13, penning a 62,000-word sci-fi thriller, EAGP and Chean Yufei, 15, with his 40,000word fantasy, Eclipse of the Rising Sun.

17 June 2007... * The inaugural Maybank Young Author Awards 2007 was held to honour young writing

talent. The top three winners were Charlene Loh, 13, of Nanyang Girls’ High, with Christine & Santa; Kenrick Lam, 12, of Temasek Primary, with Storyland Adventure; and Kristoffer Jacek Soh, 10, of Edgefield Primary, with Love: Bad Report. A Special Merit Prize was awarded to Jennifer Yip for her engrossing 68,000-word novel, Above Ground, Under Ground.

29 February 2008...

Welcome to the first and only e-portal of books written by 8 to 18 year-olds, with original cover illustrations by the author. ook Genre Categ orie the B s...

It’s very simple to purchase an e-book!

Aliens and Angels

Ghosts Heart Adventure Animal Magic and and Warmers and Fantasy Ghouls Tales Mystery

Asian Tales

A child’s imagination knows no boundaries. Clamber aboard and be thrilled by tales of aliens and sci-fi, magic & fantasy, ghosts & ghouls. Be touched by heartwarming tales. Or allow yourself to understand the lessons taught in animal tales. It’s very simple to purchase an e-book. Just click on any of the genres, or search for your favourite story by author’s name, age or book title. If you like the preview and wish to purchase the e-book, click buy now!

Intr igued? Log into www.catherinekhoo.sg/e portal.php now!

And celebrate each young author’s dream: to have his very own book published!

To find out more about the Young Author Scheme, please contact Catherine at Experiences & Experiments Tel 6336-8985 Fax 6348-8375, or visit www.catherinekhoo.sg

Magic. It is a word thought to be related to tricks, illusions, bluffs and scams. But never would have people thought that the future did not hold any high-tech machines, but rather, the world was ruled by magic. Join the teenagers, Zack, Drake and Terra as they find out their true purpose in life – to get rid of a dark order called the “Circle of Chaos”.

Lee Tat Wei was born in Singapore on the 13th of February 1998.

He is a cheerful boy but to strangers he is sometimes shy and quiet. he likes reading, multimedia, watching Japanese anime and reading Japanese manga. He often daydreams at home about stories, twisting the plot of books he read. Because of this, he has great stories ready to be written out.

An Experiences & Experiments Books Pte Ltd Imprint ISBN No. 978-981-4320-32-0

Tel 6336-8985 / Fax 6348-8375 www.catherinekhoo.sg