by Mike Ezekiel
As the party got underway, all the elves came out to bid them safe passage and a safe return. Even Erlina was there waving her goodbyes to them. Kerwyn even thought that she had blown him a kiss and gave him a special smile that said to be careful and that she loved him. Glancing over he noticed that Korowai was watching him very intently and he wondered if maybe she was thinking the same thing about how they were going to make this love triangle work.
Kerwyn was confused as to how these two women planned on sharing him. It was a bit of a mystery to him. After all, he was only one man. But again Kerwyn still had a lot to learn, especially when it came to women and their feelings towards men. Privately he made a mental note to one day find out how a woman’s mind works. But that was going to be a long time way from now so he put it out of his mind.
Looking ahead, Kerwyn saw the barrier come into view and he almost regretted having to leave so soon. He knew that this was one of the safest spots left in the forest and now they were heading into great danger by seeking out a grumpy old dragon. Kerwyn didn’t think that they would have any problems with the dragon, as he didn’t think anyone in their party would be silly enough to try and steal anything from its stash.
Looking around at the rest of the party, the only one that he thought could be tempted was Durin as it was he who had been working as a thief the first time they met when he had been running from the Cyclopes. He would keep a close eye on him just to make sure that he didn’t do anything silly, like steal from a dragon.
“Ok everyone, we have a three day hike from here so make sure you have everything that you will require because once we pass through the barrier, we are on our way,” Master Sernett advised.
Everyone did a quick mental count of everything they were carrying and all said that they were good to go.
Master Sernett walked up to the barrier asked in a quiet voice if the barrier would allow them to pass. They could hear the barrier respond that it would and it wished them a safe trip as well. Kerwyn still found it strange that his magic had the effect of bringing things to sentient life. Who would have ever thought that the Elvin domain would be protected by one of his magical mistakes?
Walking through the barrier was like walking through a light waterfall but you didn’t get wet. It had an electrifying feeling to it and the hair on the back of their necks stood up and tingled as they passed through it. As each member passed through, they waited on the other side for the rest. Once everyone had reached the other side, they thanked the barrier for letting them pass. The barrier flashed a shade of red at the thanks.
“Ok, so let’s get going,” Master Sernett took up his usual spot in the front and led the party on. Korowai came and took her spot beside Kerwyn; she hadn’t said much to him today since the kiss, but she was there beside him. Kerwyn was glad for that as hated the feeling of having upset her. Byamee took his spot beside Master Sernett and Celie was up there with them as well. Durin and Elden took up the rear spots.
Following Master Sernett, the party began to notice that even for the few days that they had spent in the Elvin domain, the evil had spread further and faster then they could have ever guessed.
“Master Sernett, look at the trees in this part of the forest. They are all twisted and the brambles and thorn bushes are taking over. The poor tree sprites have to stay hidden in the uppermost reaches of their trees to stay safe. Oh, my heart goes out to them. Trees sprites are the most peaceful of creatures and the evil attacks them with hatred!” Korowai exclaimed with tears in her eyes.
“There, there, Korowai,” said Master Sernett slowing down enough to pat her on the arm. “Once we see the dragon and figure out what must be done we will stop this evil from violating the land any further.”
“I know, Master Sernett, but it is hard for me to look upon my tree sisters and turn a blind eye to them when they need me the most. The trees are my family and there is nothing that I can do to stop this evil from hurting them. Unless you or Kerwyn has the power to protect them?” Korowai said with a hopeful smile.
“Korowai, the forest is a big place. Neither Kerwyn nor I have the power required to protect all the trees in the forest. No, our best way for us to help is to rid the world of the Dark Master and let the world return to normal,” Master Sernett, said.
About an hour and half into their journy, the ground began to tremble around them. Opening up in front of them was a huge sinkhole about fourteen feet across and now blocked their way. Trees and huge amounts of dirt fell down the hole. A roar rose from the hole that didn’t come from any normal creature.
Lava spewed out, setting the forest on fire. Master Sernett yelled at the party to take a defensive position and to get their weapons ready for battle.
Up from the hole, a giant lava worm lifted its body about twenty five feet out above ground. Turning its head towards Kerwyn, it set its sights on him. The worm’s eye glowed with a bright red glow, telling the party that this creature was sent by the Dark Master to kill everyone that it could in this little party.
Opening its mouth, it revealed the hundreds or rows of teeth all mashing together, showing the party a most painful way to die.
Master Sernett yelled, “Do not let it eat you! If those teeth do not tear you to shreds first, the stomach juices will slowly digest you and don’t think that it will be a quick death either. Its juices have a healing property that keeps its victims alive until such time that it is hungry and ready to digest you the rest of the way. Oh, and watch out for it’s-.” Just then last the worm inhaled and blew out a stream of lava aimed at Kerwyn. It caught Kerwyn unaware and knocked him to the ground coated in the super hot liquid.
The rest of the party just stood there dumbstruck. Kerwyn and the Tree of Life acorn had just gone down under the super hot molten rock. All that remained of Kerwyn was a big pile of Lava rock as it solidified into one massive clump where Kerwyn had been standing just a moment before.
The creature let out a triumphant roar and turned its attention back to the rest of the party. Knowing that it had done the Dark Master’s bidding by killing the boy first, the creature now knew it could eat the rest of these small creatures that its master hated so much at its leisure.
The party felt the loss of Kerwyn and, not believing that he was gone, attacked the giant worm with as much tenacity as they could muster. Durin swung his hammer over and over crashing it into the lava worm sending chunks of lava rocks flying off of it. Hearing the creature scream in pain Durin knew that he was hurting it. All three Cyclopes were attacking the worm with their swords and spear. They tore into the rocks and finally into the fleshy parts of the worm. Korowai enraged to the point of berserker after witnessing Kerwyn go down, attacked the worm with her sword, tearing chunk after chunk of the worm’s hide away. She was moving so fast that she was just a blur. Master Sernett was beside himself and couldn’t believe that he had just witnessed Kerwyn, his son, fall beneath the worm’s lava spray.
Seeing Kerwyn go down angered Master Sernett more then he had ever been in his life. Turning towards the lava worm, Master Sernett pointed his staff of power towards the worm’s head and called out “Putus Niveus Navitas Telum!” It was the most powerful spell he knew: The Pure White Energy Bolt. He didn’t care for the safety of his own life knowing that this spell had killed more than just a few wizards and had left even more completely void of magic for the rest of their lives.
The spell blasted a bolt of pure white light straight into the lava worm’s head that was also amplified by the power of the staff. The bolt hit dead on and the lava worm’s head exploded, spilling brains and internal parts all over the party attacking it below. Drained from casting the most powerful spell, Master Sernett had ever cast, he collapsed to the ground thinking of how could he have failed his son so badly? Passing out Master Sernett knew no more.
The party standing around the dead lava worm couldn’t believe their eyes. Never before had they felt or seen that amount of power being cast. All living creatures could feel that amou
nt of draw on the One Power. It had a way of taking the energy from any living thing around it and using it up to cast the spell. The spell was so powerful that it would have even made some of the lesser creatures collapse, exhausted from just being too close to the caster. Looking around the clearing there were birds and other animals wriggling on the ground as if they had being tossed into a whirlwind and collapsed to the ground drained of all energy. Even the party could feel that a lot of there own energy had been drawn into the spell and they were feeling weaker since its casting.
Celie looked over to where Kerwyn had been standing and saw that the lava rock was beginning to expand. They could hear a voice call out a spell from underneath but it was muffled by the lava rock. When the expansion became too much, the rock exploded and there was Kerwyn kneeling on the ground glowing with a bright red radiance about him and a ring on his finger was shining like a noon day’s sun. Standing up he saw the lava worm and his Master both on the ground. One was dead with its brains blown apart and the other’s condition was yet to be determined.
Running to his master’s side he felt for a pulse and, finding one, he knew that his master still lived but he had cast a spell that was so powerful it would take days for his master to regain his full strength. Even Kerwyn could feel the drain on his energy and the flows of the One Power.
“Kerwyn! We thought that you had died when the worm sprayed lava at you!” cried Celie.
“If it wasn’t for this magic ring of fire protection that Master Faunus had given me I would have been killed. Even with the ring it was really hot and hard to breath under all that lava rock,” said Kerwyn making a mental note to thank Master Faunus for the gift that had just saved his life.
Korowai ran over to Kerwyn wrapping her arms around him so fast that he didn’t have time to react. She buried her head into his chest and was weeping so hard that he thought she was going to collapse.
“I thought that you were dead. If you had died, how could I have ever lived with myself? I didn’t try to get you out of the way before you were splashed with lava from that worm. I didn’t even know what we were facing until it was too late. We don’t have those creatures where I come from.
Erlina would have been so mad with me that I couldn’t have ever faced her again. You need to take more precautions to keep yourself safe. I thought that I would be more than powerful enough to keep you safe from most harm. But I am wrong; I have overestimated myself. You have the capability, where I don’t, to keep yourself alive. I have failed you and have shamed myself. I should leave your side and never return as I am not worthy of you.”
Lifting her head from his chest Kerwyn said to her, “Don’t be silly. How were you to know that it spits lava? I am an apprentice wizard and I didn’t know that. I have read stories about these lava worms but nobody that I have ever read of has ever survived the experience. All of the stories were from people that had either seen the attack from afar or from people who have come upon the aftermath of a great lava worm attack. It is through no fault of yours that you didn’t know what to do against the giant lava worm.”
Before their conversation could progress further, Byamee came up to Kerwyn and said, “With Master Sernett down I think we should set up a defensive camp a bit further down the trail as I’m sure the smell from this dead creature’s body will bring all kinds of things that we will not want any part of. I will pick up and carry Master Sernett. Kerwyn are you ok to travel or do you need one of us to carry you?”
“I should be ok to walk and I agree we need to get out of here. Even now the smell is turning my stomach and it will only get much worse the longer we wait,” Kerwyn said.
Gathering up their things that they had dropped to make ready for battle in a hurry, the party set off down the trail.
About an hour’s walk from where the lava worm attacked them, the party stopped to set up their campsite for the night. It was still only early afternoon but they needed to give Master Sernett time to rest and regain his strength. Byamee set Master Sernett down onto his bedroll as soon as it was laid out, but he did not so much as flinch, and he was still unconscious. Kerwyn was getting worried about his master because he told him that so many wizards had died while trying to cast the spell of Pure White Energy Bolt.
Kerwyn went over to his master and placed his hands on either side of his head and, while drawing on the One Power, Kerwyn tried to heal his master. Gathering the One Power, Kerwyn started to channel it into his Master Sernett very slowly. He could see that the energy was being accepted by his master and was being absorbed but he was still deeply locked within his own mind, and not ready to awaken yet.
Giving more of the One Power to his master, Kerwyn hoped that it would act like a beacon and draw the wizard’s mind back to his body. He said a small prayer to Mother Nature for help and felt her respond. A small green light started to glow from Master Sernett as Mother Nature gave a small piece of herself to help him find his way back. Releasing his master’s head, Kerwyn knew that he had done everything that he could to help his Master Sernett’s mind find its way back to his body.
He looked up into Korowai’s eyes since she now stood very close to Kerwyn everywhere he went. Her guilt at not being the one to save him during the lava worm’s attack had really affected her. She was now compelled to stand watch over him. She had gone from just a woman who was infatuated with him into a woman that would give her life for him. She had the speed and power to keep him safe in almost any situation and she was determined to do just that.
“Korowai, we should gather some wood so that we can get a fire going to keep Master Sernett warm and be able to have a warm tea if he wakes up. I want to make sure he is as comfortable as possible. I know that he would do the same for any one of us,” Kerwyn said.
Under his breath Kerwyn whispered, “Come on, Master Sernett; find your way back soon. I can’t do this without you.”
He looked at his master for just a few more seconds before turning his back to go and look for some firewood. Had he continued looking at Master Sernett for just one minuter, he would have seen Master Sernett’s eyes twitch open for just a flicker of an instant. But that would have been enough time to see that his master’s mind was trying to come back.
Kerwyn and Korowai returned and got a nice little fire going. Kerwyn pulled out the pot to boil some water and to make some tea for his master.
While they were heating up some water, they also took the time to heat up some food and eat. Their little fire could not be seen from the trail as they were in far enough; that they couldn’t be seen from the road. The smoke was only a little trickle going up into the sky and unless you could fly above the thick canopy of the tees and you had a very sensitive nose, you would not have been able to detect it.
Everyone was a bit edgy not having Master Sernett up and around giving orders. He was after all the leader of this whole adventure. Also everyone looked up to him as the most experienced person who should be looking after the planning and direction the party took. Presently, everyone was missing Master Sernett’s wisdom and guidance.
All of a sudden there was a noise from high above the trees' canopy and it was a roar unlike any they had heard before. It was very deep pitched and the sound travelled for miles. Leaves started to fall from whatever was up there shaking the trees trying to get through. The party began to get worried after hearing snap after snap as the branches started to break and parts of the trees were falling to the ground around them. The sounds did not last long as the trees seemed to be stronger than the creature that was trying to break through. After a while all the noise coming from the upper canopy stopped and stillness returned to the forest.
“What was that?” asked Kerwyn out loud, hoping someone had an answer.
“I have no idea; I have never heard of a sound like that before. Whatever it was, it must be big,” Korowai said.
“Aye, I never heard anything like that before either!” exclaimed Durin.
Looking over at the Cyclopes he sa
w that all were shaking their heads with a very concerned look on their faces. Kerwyn realized that no one knew what that creature was. He also knew that this spot wasn’t going to be the best place to stay for much longer, especially with something that big and scary chasing them.
“Ok everyone, we need to get moving. If whatever that was comes back, who knows if the trees will protect us? Let’s take some firewood just in case we find a good spot to stop later on. We should try and get some distance between us and that thing,” Kerwyn said to the party.
Everyone gathered up their belongings and put the campfire out.
Byamee picked up Master Sernett and cradled him in his arms. With that everyone started to follow Kerwyn down the path in the direction they hoped was to the dragon’s lair and, after what seemed like a very long walk, they finally came into a clearing just off the path.
Byamee setting Master Sernett back down onto his bedroll just looked at him and thought how frail this old man really was. He knew that Master Sernett had amazing magic powers but he just looked like a frail old man right now. Byamee was amazed at such a small person being so powerful and this frail human had been given the Sanctus Abbas title along with Kerwyn – the most holy of Fathers of the entire Cyclops' people and the ultimate ruler of all the clans. He shook his head and hoped that Master Sernett woke up soon. They needed him far more then he would have ever admitted. But this small human was not only powerful and smart; he was one of his best friends. Master Sernett had spent a lot of time with Byamee and Celie learning about their culture and beliefs. His respect for this human was the highest he could give any mortal creature and how he missed his advice and guidance right now.
Glancing over at the rest of the group, Byamee saw each one of these creatures was as much a part of him now as his own family was. At first glance you would think that they all would be mortal enemies. But upon closer inspection the respect that each had for the other was amazing.
