Chapter 18
The First Battle
The next morning, Traveler continued with his lessons and lined up in the courtyard.
“This morning’s lesson is the Quick Shot,” Aiken said. He pulled out a sand-colored ball and threw it down.
POOF!
The rest of the brigade found themselves on an empty dirt ground. They looked around and found nothing in sight but dry dirt everywhere.
“Magister Aiken, what are we doing here?” Clouden said.
“What is your eagerness doing in my face? I’ll tell you when I am good and ready,” Aiken said.
The trainee backed away and merged into the crowd.
“We are here at the Quick Shot training area,” Aiken said. “Your goal here is to shoot the targets, but you have to watch out for the drop zone. Many spots here act like quicksand. It is your job to concentrate and finish your shots. You have to hit five targets before the quicksand area is cleared.” He grabbed a bunch of glowing light sticks like the kind the neighborhood watch group passes out during Halloween. He tossed it to the different trainees around him. The powerful yellow glow shined through their hands. Aiken told them to clip their light stick to their belts.
“What you have on your belts are Shimmers. They contain your bow and arrows. Now that you have your weapons, I am going to show you a little demo,” Aiken said as he walked in the middle of the dirt field. “First, you need to lock in the ready mode.” He grabbed the glowing light stick or Shimmers hanging from his belt. Aiken yanked up quick as if he was starting a lawn mower. The string that was attached to the Shimmer and his belt glowed brightly. Then in an instant, the glowing light stick turned into a bow that was made of white light. It was amazing how the tiny light stick expanded so much. The Shimmer dropped back down to his side and reeled back to his belt. He switched the bow to his left hand, reached down for the Shimmer and again, grabbed a white light arrow out with another quick yank. Suddenly, Aiken started to sink into the ground.
“Always make each one of your shots count. You don’t have many arrows. If the light goes out on your Shimmers, then you have no more arrows.” Aiken gave out his final advice before he released his first arrow.
As Aiken came down, five different targets popped up from every directions. He hit the first target right dead center, but missed the next target about ten feet to the right of it. Once he missed, he began to descend faster. He managed to recover and hit the second and third target moving side to side behind him. With the two final targets about 100 feet away, Aiken noticed that his body was halfway down. He turned the bow sideways and grabbed two white light arrows. He shot the arrows in the unnatural way, but hit both targets straight center. The group of trainees applauded his effort as he rose back up.
“Thank you, thank you” Aiken said bowing to the crowd. “Well folks, shooting was never my strong point. But, I got the job done. The level was set on expert; but, don’t worry, the field knows what your experience level is and will adjust accordingly. Now everyone, there are five stations here. Pick one and start training.”
Traveler got up to the station and pulled up on this light stick. He was again amazed at how the bow magically appeared. He felt the warm light as he held it. He carefully switched it to his other hand and grabbed an arrow. Traveler never shot a bow and arrow before, but he felt like he knew what to do. With the arrow in hand, he began to feel this sinking feeling. He noticed how the dirt beneath him covered his feet. He looked up and saw five targets about one foot from each other. He brought the bow up and pulled the arrow close to his face. His entire arm shook as it was getting used to the tension of shooting an arrow. Afterwards, he let go and watched as the arrow was flung straight in a hurry. He was excited when the arrow hit the target. He did not care if it did not hit the center. However, he felt the dirt swallowing him a little faster. He realized he needed to finish the rest of the shots. He grabbed another arrow and shot again. He managed to hit the second and third target, but they were off center. Without noticing, he was elbow-deep in the dirt with two shots to go. Griff tried to come over and help, but when he did, it looked like he ran into a glass wall leaving him dazed on the ground.
Traveler reached inside the dirt and grabbed two arrows. He placed one on the ground and shot the other one in a tight archer formation. He managed to nick the fourth target, but found himself down to the shoulder level in the dirt. He freed his arms, grabbed the last arrow, and tried to maneuver around for the final shot. He found he was unable to go for a traditional shot. In his desperate attempt, he used his one hand to stabilize the bow and his teeth to grab the string and arrow together. He held on tight as he extended his arm, then quickly let go. The arrow’s trajectory flight seemed to move in slow motion in Traveler’s mind. However, he gracefully missed the target landing a couple of feet in front. The dirt ground finally engulfed Traveler’s entire body and head.
Everyone in his group gasped at the sightless body. Traveler felt weird in the ground. He thought he would not be able to breathe, but let out a sigh of relief knowing that he was not dying. Aiken walked over with a little smile on his face. He slammed on the invisible protective glass and Traveler rose from the ground.
“Don’t worry Traveler; everyone gets stuck in the ground the first few times. It’s not so bad down there once you get used to breathing in the dirt, the worms, and the nibblers,” Aiken said.
“Okay, who’s next?” Traveler said.
Everyone in the group took a couple of steps backwards.
During lunch, Traveler sat by himself quietly contemplating what his plan was to get home. Griff and a few of the trainees saw Traveler by himself and decided to intervene.
“What you thinkin’ about Traveler?” Griff said.
“Oh nothing,” Traveler answered.
“Did you find what you were looking for?” Griff whispered in Traveler’s ear.
Traveler nodded.
“Yeah man, you look like you’re in some kind of deep thought,” A brownish Terarium said.
“I’m sorry, I don’t believe we have met,” Traveler said.
“I’m sorry, Traveler this is Calene Badek. He is a Terarium from the Terrala territory,” Griff said. “He has been my friend for years.”
“Nice to meet you Calene. I don’t want to be rude, but I need to be by mysel...” Traveler’s sentence was interrupted by a loud waving tone. The castle walls started flashing red. Traveler looked around and saw different people throwing crystal balls and disappearing after the smoke has cleared.
“What is going on? Why are people leaving?” Traveler asked.
“Don’t worry Traveler; us trainees can’t do anything,” Griff said.
“But what is that noise?” Traveler asked again.
Traveler looked at Griff and Calene; he noticed they did not seem worried that people were disappearing all around them.
“Our land is being attacked by the Darthian; everyone is leaving for the rally point to gather their gear to defend the position,” Calene said.
“Why can’t we help?” Traveler said.
“First and second brigades can’t help with the fight because it is against the rules. I think they don’t want us to get hurt or killed,” Griff said.
“Besides, it is time to get back to class,” Calene said.
“What do you mean we can’t help?” Traveler said.
“Once you hear the sirens and see the flashing of the walls, all the doors to the outside are locked. And people that can leave have the Trinkets to reach the rally point. So, if you don’t have one of those, then there is nothing you can do about it,” Calene said.
“I just feel useless right now,” Traveler said.
“Don’t worry. Let’s just go back to class,” Griff said.
Towards the end of the day, he looked out the window and saw a bunch of people staggered back into the castle. Their comrades held some of them up. Traveler wanted to help so much, but he knew he had to wait. After dinner, he mad
e his way to Jelly’s room. He found Jelly playing on his recorder.
“How can I help you my young lad?” Jelly asked.
“Jelly, how do I get back to my world?” Traveler asked.
“You have to wait until the academy training is over.”
“I can’t wait that long. I have something I have to do.”
“Traveler, nobody can leave unless the training year is done. I can get you back there, but I would be in trouble if they found out.”
“Jelly, please it involves my grandfather.”
“Really? Can I help you? What do you have to do?”
“I can’t tell you because of Terrorene’s spies. He said that if anybody finds out, then he would kill my family.”
“Traveler, it is just us two. I have been with the king for over 50 years. I assure you that I am not a spy.”
Traveler found himself confiding in Jelly and told him everything that Terrorene asked him to do.
“And you found the scroll. Traveler you can’t give that to him. If you do everyone will die here,” Jelly said.
“Sorry, I have to.”
“Okay, I’ll send you back, but when you reach Kapricia, I am going to be there.”
“Fine.”
Jelly went over to his closet. There were several bags hung on the door and in the closet. He rifled through his bag, reached in, and pulled out a stick and another recorder.
“Traveler, I want you to have this.” Jelly grabbed Traveler’s small pouch and secured his recorder.
“Why are you giving me this?” Traveler asked.
“You may not understand this now, but it will be of great value later on,” Jelly said as he grabbed the stick from his bed. “Are you sure you know what you are doing?”
“Yes,” Traveler said.
“I want you to know that I am sorry.” Once the words came from his mouth, Jelly stabbed him in the chest with the stick. Traveler did not know what to think. He saw the stick go into his body, but there was no blood. However, he felt an electric shock run up and down his body. He never had been in so much pain. He let out long cries of screams, but no one could hear him. He slowly faded away. Jelly slowly shook his head and in a matter of minutes, his beacon light went off.
Traveler reappeared in Poppy’s mind again. He remembered the same villa when he was there the first time. But, he wondered how he got to Poppy’s mind without the mirror.
Traveler crept to the castle and tried his best to go unnoticed. He wanted to scout the area before he headed to the castle. He saw ravens and large humanlike black birds guarding the surrounding area of the castle. They carried long pikes, which were black with metal tips that waved like a roaring fire. As Traveler got closer, the ravens spotted him and began their raucous cawing as if they were acting like a warning signal. Then, the bird guards stood straight up in attention as Terrorene glided out to the front. Traveler quickly put on his hood and waited for Terrorene.
“Traveler is it is nice to see you again. I see that you lived up to your end of the bargain. Give it to me and I’ll live up to my end,” Yessss, the keys to our freedommmmmmmmm.
“No, I want to see my grandfather first.”
“You are not in a position to ask for any request,” Young foollllllll.
Traveler lifted his arm to summon his sword. The bird guards lowered their pikes and walked towards Traveler with the intention to prevent his attempted forward progress. Terrorene raised his hand ordering his guards to stop. Traveler threw his sword down jamming the handle in the ground, allowing the blade to freely stand up. He yelled out. “Flamma!” His entire sword lit up into a huge blaze. He slowly moved the parchment closer to the flame doing his best to gain the upper hand. Terrorene flinched toward Traveler hoping to save the parchment from turning into a pile of ash.
“You were saying?” Traveler said.
“Traveler, if you burn that, then I will kill your family,” Nooooo, kill him nowwww.
“You are wasting time. I want to see my grandfather.”
“Very well,” Don’ttttt.
Terrorene clapped his hands, and a bulky red dragon came flying in and landed with a loud thud. Traveler looked at his stomach hoping to see his grandfather, but there was just the dragon’s scaly skin. Terrorene took his staff and tapped the dragon’s belly. A section of the dragon’s stomach magically disappeared but was replaced with iron bars revealing Grandpa Sands sitting inside.
“Grandpa!” Traveler yelled as loud as he could.
Grandpa Sands did not realize the dragon had opened his belly. He turned around, looked and saw Traveler standing across from him. He got up and ran towards the bars.
“Traveler, don’t give that to him. It is okay if I die,” Grandpa Sands said.
Traveler had a minor case of an emotional occurrence when a light tear ran down his face. Terrorene flicked his staff. A thin black beam came out and attacked Grandpa Sands knocking him down to the floor.
“Silence,” Quiet you old mannn. He turned towards Traveler. “You have seen your grandfather. Now give me that scroll,” Nowwwwwww.
“Okay.” Traveler threw the scroll. Terrorene eagerly reached up and grabbed the scroll from the sky. In his eagerness, the Smoke Ryder flopped out of Terrorene’s cloak and revealed it was a jewelry accessory around his neck.
“Now throw the Smoke Ryder and release my Grandpa,” Traveler said.
“In due time, Traveler. I need to read what is on here,” Freedommmmm.
Traveler did not seem worried because he had a feeling that Terrorene was going to say that. As Terrorene unrolled the scroll hoping to reveal the keys to his freedom, Traveler summoned his shield and threw it in the direction of Terrorene. It spun towards Terrorene’s necklace and grabbed the Smoke Ryder. Then, it boomeranged back to Traveler’s arm.
Cool. Traveler thought.
Terrorene stopped reading and watched with a dazed look at his missing necklace, but continued to read his scroll.
“What is the meaning of this?” Nooooo.
“I decided to make my own deal,” Traveler said.
Then, four figures jumped in out of air. They were the rest of the active Electus. They ran near Traveler and formed a “V” figure with Traveler in the middle. Terrorene was baffled as he slowly backpedaled. “Guards kill them!” It was a trapppppp.
All the bird guards sprinted towards the rest of the Electus. With the sudden change of events, Terrorene and his dragon tried to hurry back into his castle. However, as they fought each other, a sudden quake rumbled through the villa. From a distance, they heard crunching and crashing and everyone teetering side to side. Suddenly, a gigantic rock monster with a Frankenstein-type head lunged over Terrorene’s castle. It was the size of a five-story building. It strode right onto the battleground, stepping on the bird guards in the process.
“Have fun with my Panic Teck!” Terrorene yelled as he ran into the castle. One of the Electus told Traveler they would take care of the guards and the Teck. He demanded that Traveler go after Terrorene.
Traveler managed to defeat one of the guards on his way to the castle gates and scurried right underneath the Panic Attack Teck. Walking through the main gates, there were three guards in the hallway. Traveler did not know what to do. He could handle one guard, but his training never consisted of several fighters all at one time. Nevertheless, there was no choice. He charged the three bird guards and clashed with the one nearest to him. Surprisingly, he was able to cut the pike in half and sweep the legs, knocking the guard out. The other bird guards managed to surround him and pounced in for the attack. Traveler parried the pike and struck the bird guard, with his sword handle. Then, he turned his attention to the guard behind him only to find the guard thrusting his pike. Traveler tried to avoid the attack and was able to avoid a fatal blow to the chest; he shifted fast enough and got nicked on the side of his stomach. He dropped his sword and grimaced in pain, but managed to grab the pike pulling it away. With the guard unarmed, the bird guard ran aw
ay leaving some feathers behind him. Relieved that he defeated the guards, Traveler bent down to his knees for his sword, but when he did, the other guard went for the execution strike to the neck. As the pike plunged forward, he heard a familiar soft voice.
“Traveler, behind you.”
Traveler turned to find the pike spearhead within inches of his face. In a reflex motion, he rolled forward and stabbed the guard in the stomach. He saw a woman with long dirty blonde hair in a long green gown with gold trimmings. It was Elwyn. She held the end of the pike preventing its deadly momentum.
“Jelly told me you were dead. How is this possible?”
“Traveler, understand that you are never alone,” Elwyn said as she dissipated through the air.
Traveler felt grateful he was still alive. However, he wondered how a ghost could physically hold back a weapon. He shook off the bewildered feeling and ran down the hallway. He finally reached the end of the castle. He found the dragon sitting as if it was waiting for him. The bulky red dragon breathed out a breath of fire. Traveler ducked behind his shield. He tried to crawl closer to the dragon, but the weight of the fire’s force made it challenging. He could see his grandfather from the distance. He was mouthing out some words, but Traveler could not make them out because of the fire surrounding him. When the fire stopped, Traveler did a spin move and yelled out “Retinaculum!” A ball of a light gathered from the base of the sword and blasted out in the direction of the dragon, tying him up with long strings of light.
“Grandpa, I have your Smoke Ryder!” Traveler shouted.
“Traveler, watch out it is a trap!” Grandpa Sands shouted back.
Traveler did not heed the warnings and threw the Smoke Ryder; it felt good coming out of his hand like a basketball player holding his shooting pose after a shot. It was the first time he had ever felt good about throwing anything. The crystal ball had the perfect arc and trajectory, heading for Grandpa Sands’ hands, but the good feeling sunk to the bottom as a different set of hands snatched it from the air.
“Jelly. Give that to my Grandpa,” Traveler said.
“Ah, Young Master. I don’t think I will be doing that,” Jelly said.
Terrorene walked out and patted Jelly on the head. Traveler’s mouth was wide open.
“I trusted you,” Traveler said.
“I am sorry Traveler, but you would not understand. I have to do this,” Jelly said.
Traveler was enraged and sprinted towards them. Terrorene thrust his staff and Traveler flew backwards hitting the wall.
“Do you think you are smarter than me? Now, take one last look at your grandfather because it will be the last time,” Foreverrrrr.
Then, Terrorene’s dragon took a deep breath in and blew out a commanding stream of fire. Traveler ducked behind his shield again. The fire this time proved to be too much. Traveler felt the demanding heat draining his energy. He struggled to advance, but the dragon knew it had the upper hand and walked closer intensifying its position.
Suddenly, the castle shook. Terrorene looked all around the room with bewilderment in his eyes. The bricks of the castle seem to float their way up to the sky. Piece by piece, the roof opened. Traveler looked in relief when he saw the rest of the Electus on the edge of the wall where the rooftop once was. They managed to defeat the rest of the bird guards and the Panic Teck. They knew that once the Teck was defeated from the human mind, anything that was not in the human mind before disappears. In this case, the castle that Terrorene built slowly dissolved upwards to the sky. Traveler watched the other Electus rain down from the open rooftop. They merged into the fiery stream with their armors protecting them. Then, with their collective shield, they were able to help push the dragon’s fire back.
As his castle deteriorated, an infuriated Terrorene waved his staff and summoned a double-door sized mirror. The red dragon withdrew its fire attack and walked through the mirror. Jelly took one last look at Traveler and followed the dragon.
“Traveler you will never see your grandfather again,” With that said, Terrorene waved his staff again and the mirror gradually shrinks. He walked through the mirror just as it folded in and disappeared from everyone’s sight.
Traveler fell down to his knees and cried in his hands.
“I am sorry Grandpa.”
Everyone was lining up on the courtyard as he or she did at the beginning of the training year. However this time, there were a few less than before. The withered field dropped to about 70 trainees. Aiken walked up and down watching them. Mainly, he was thinking of what to say.
“Today is a great day for me. You have all finished your first year training. You have put up with my many obstacles including me, and overcame them. I want everyone to go back home and study your Enchanta spells to learn about the basics of the Caddre trinkets and understand why you are doing this. Next year, the next Magister will be a lot tougher than I was. Now, everyone is dismissed.”
Traveler walked to Griff and shook his hand.
“I wanted to thank you for everything. You know, saving my life twice. But, who’s counting right? Who knows, maybe one day you could be my Calic,” Traveler said.
“Thanks Slayer, it was fun letting me tag along with you,” Griff said.
“Slayer?”
“Yea, that’s what everybody is calling you. Everyone is saying the Slayer has awoken.”
“Hmmm Slayer... I guess I can live with that.”
“Anyways, I’ll train hard to be your Calic.”
“I know you would.”
Traveler smiled and gave him a hug. He went back to his room, passing by Jelly’s room. He saw the empty room much like his empty heart. He could not believe how trusting he was with him.
“Why?” Traveler said shaking his head.
Traveler went back to his room to lay down on the bed. He never knew so many events could happen in just one period. He grabbed his journal and continued to think about the rest of his adventures. After a couple of hours, he glanced up and noticed a large mirror in his sight. There was a note that hung on the frame.
Traveler “Slayer” Sands,
Congratulations, you have completed the first year of your training. You have earned the right to return home. Understand you may not used any of your magical training. We will see you back here when your invitation finds you.
Good Fight and Great Honor.
King Gavel
The mirror rippled showing a reflection of his room in Lake Arrowhead. He was grateful to be back to his family. He walked through and found himself on the other side. He looked at the date. It was the same date when he first left. He was now a year older on the inside, but still thirteen on the outside. He ran downstairs and found his mother in the kitchen. Traveler grabbed her and gave her a squeezable hug.
“What is wrong Traveler?” Mrs. Sands said.
“Nothing Mom, I just miss you.”
Traveler saw his father in the living room reading the paper, ran over, and gave him a hug too.
“What has gotten into you Traveler?”
“I just love you Dad.”
“Aww, I love you too kiddo.”
Traveler unhooked himself and ran outside. He knocked at the next-door neighbor’s door. River’s grandma opened the door.
“Hi Mrs. Robins. Is River home?” Traveler said.
“Do I know you? Yes, you are the little boy who lives next to me,” The grandma said.
“Yes, we met a couple of days ago. Is River here?”
“Who’s River?”
“Your granddaughter.”
“Granddaughter? I wish. My daughter only has boys in her family. You must have the wrong house.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I am sorry. But, I have to close the door now.”
Traveler walked back with a puzzled look. He wanted to ask his dad about River, but the second he walked in, Major Sands asked,
“Are you packed up to go home?”
“No. Don’t we have a
nother month?”
“Yes we do, but we have done all we can here. It is time to spend the rest of the vacation somewhere else. So, hurry up. We have to beat the traffic.”
“But Dad, I have to ask you something.”
“Traveler, go now. You can ask me later.”
Traveler walked back to his room and on the way there, he bumped into Jake.
“Hey doofus, remember when I told you not to go in my room. Well, that means the front of the doorway too.”
“Shut up Jake,” Traveler said as he nudged him out of the way.
“What did you say, bookworm?”
“Did I stutter Jock Head?”
Jake was furious. He reared back, balled his right hand tight, and lunged forward while Traveler’s back was turned. Traveler was just about to be knocked down until he sidestepped and grabbed Jake’s wrist. He was able to flip Jake on to his back. With a shocked look on Jake’s face, Traveler said,
“You have to do better than that.”
It was another long car ride. They did not feel right selling the house because of the great memories they had there, past and present. They were on their way to visit Grandpa Sands again. They reached the front desk with the same nurse, filling out the same forms. They entered the dark, drab room and waited on the same brown couch.
Slowly, Grandpa Sands shuffled his way to the couch and as before, with the same help from the orderly. They talked to Grandpa Sands as they did two months ago. They had new stories to tell, but the outcome was the same. Grandpa Sands just kept staring straight ahead without saying a word.
When Traveler’s family was done with their visit, they gave Grandpa Sands a hug and headed for the car. However, Traveler mentioned that he had forgotten his book on the table and ran back in. He was finally alone with him.
“Grandpa, I am sorry I didn’t save you. I was there and I failed.” Traveler gave him another hug. He tried to hold back his tears, but a few small tears leaked. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out the tooth that was in Jelly’s empty room.
“I made this for you.”
He pinned it behind his shirt making sure it was safe, and then he got up and left.
“Goodbye Grandpa. I will do everything I can to get you back. I won’t rest until you are hugging me again.” Traveler walked towards the door and closed it behind him.
If only Traveler had stayed there a little longer. He would have noticed a single tear running down the right side of Grandpa Sands’ face.
The End
Epilogue
Unknown Location
“This was supposed to be easy,” Failureeee to allll. Terrorene said. “Now go back to my territory and report to Tristan what has happened,” Nowwwww.
Terrorene brought Jelly down from the wall. Jelly hit the ground coughing and rubbing his neck trying to ease the pain. He grabbed a crystal from his black bag and threw it down.
POOF!
Terrorene stared hard at the mirror. He could not believe that a young boy outsmarted him. He conjured a glass ball the size of a beach ball. He grabbed a small black light from his pocket and squished it through the glass. The black light reached the center of the ball and grew bigger and bigger.
Terrorene placed the ball of dark light on the ground and it shined so brightly until it dimmed back down. It turned into a tiny black creature, which then ran out the door. It scurried under the legs of a young girl standing at the doorway. The young blonde girl stepped into the room. She slowly approached Terrorene and when he turned around, she dropped her head down.
“I can’t blame you for this. I know you did your part. Come here so I can take a closer look at you,” Beautiful childddddd. Terrorene said.
Terrorene caressed the young girl’s face and brushed back her hair. He lifted her chin up. “Don’t worry my dear, I have a new plan. Better than before,” The bessttt.
“Yes father, I will do anything you ask me to do.” The young girl said. Her sad face could be seen from the mirror in front of Terrorene. She closed her eyes in shame. She knew she was better than this. When her head rose again, the sad eyes were no longer blue, but her original bright green.
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