by Nicol Terra
"You will use the 'usual' method, right?"
"R-Right." She stammered as he left the room, quiet and sturdy as he held in his left pocket, a small, red crystal that held firmly onto. He held it close and tightly. It gave off dark red energy, intense fire that he grasped in his hand. The Holosphere flew in front of his face again, another notification formed into an image.
"Duran, I need you to report to the war-room by tomorrow," Eraz said. Eraz said, the message said. He felt that message burn inside him as he slid the notification to the right again with his canteen still in his hand. He quickly typed a message and a map to Ariana and D.J as he headed quickly outside to the Airship docks.
Duran continued outside north to a snowy airfield complete with tens of airships flying away as D.J and Ariana greeted him. A small smile greeted him.
“Is everyone already on a ship?” He asked. D.J nodded.
“Yup. Ready for War it seems.” D.J said, only to scratch his chin. “Strange though, we are committing less forces then we normally would for conquest.”
“Just about where are going again?” Ariel asked.
“Sosrow.” Duran said.
“Cool… where is that?” D.J asked. Ariel shook her head and crossed her hands together.
“Really?” Ariel said.
“What?” D.J face stretched as the two shot eachother down.
“No fighting you two.”
The Airsail had perhaps seven rooms and had a flag, with a coat of arms on it. Weird, the ship seemed older than he expected. He walked near the dock as an automatic staircase popped out from the ship itself as he climbed onto it. A green Holosphere that flew out of the front deck then greeted him. The ship beeped; “Ready to fly?”. The computer asked. Duran shrugged as he clicked yes as a countdown timer greeted him. The ship was state-of-the-art, but the sail was traditionally used for older vessels, He thought it was weird, but he didn't question it. He figured that something this new didn’t have to be perfect to him.
“Yo, which room am I in?” D.J asked.
“Pick any of them. I am not picky. Just make sure the marijuana farm is nearest my room.” He said. Ariana gave him a quick giggle as he shot her a small, smiling glare.
“What? I will need my pot for this journey.” Duran admitted.
“Well, you haven’t told us what we are looking on Sosrow. What is it?” D.J asked.
“A Portal to a Moon.” He said, hopping on the ship as D.J shot his hands up in the air. Ariel raised a brow in skepticism.
“Road trip to a moon! I always wanted to go up there!” He said. Ariel raised a brow.
“How likely does this portal lead to the moon?” Ariel asked.
“About ninety percent sure, and it is in an ancient city, so I guess we can have a good time too.” He winked. Ariel blushed, shaking her head and walking away. Duran slipped on
The two darted into their rooms as the ships flew up in the air, slowly floating from the blizzard covered ground. A bubble of light wrapped around it as it flew out from the field into the sky. Next stop for Duran, Sosrow, The Forgotten Continent.
Next stop for the world, the Battle of Agall.
Rachel laid her head on a mossy piece of grass, snoring and tossing around on the soft dirt. A loud, crackling sound emanated throughout the forest. Rachel opened her eyes, bloodshot and exhausted.
“I swear to god if I can’t get a good nights sleep on this island.” She said, smacking her lips. She looked up, a small sliver of light stabbing through the sequoia trees. Rachel grumbled to herself, cursing once and lazily standing up. Rachel snapped her side together, stretching and spewing herself a spark of electricity to energize herself awake.
The forest was less pine and more sequoia. Shrouding the sun with shade, encroaching the entire location with darkness. The mossy green ferns and spores covered the ground. The touch of the trees was rough, rigid and yet fluid the touch. She ran her fingers across the bark, running her fingers across soft bark. She pulled her hand back, a few pricks of bark rammed into her fingers. She sighed and looked at the tree.
“Mean Tree.” She cooed, her hand turning water as the pieces bark fell to the ground below. She reformed her hand back into her flesh, completely healed in moments.. “Next time one ya trees hurt me, I will light this forest ablaze.” She said, her crystal gave her the ability to regenerate minor wounds, something she wished she had more time to practice, but it did the job of restoring minor flinches of pain.
She walked down the dirt-bound path. The single dirt path splitting the forest in half, tossing and turning across the trees and wrapping around hundreds of trees with ease. The dirt path, made by nature herself was covered with moss and vines. Fallen pieces of bark, decomposing to the surrounding environment covered the forest floor. The moss felt soft as Rachel rubbed her fingers across it out of curiosity. The soft, gentle feeling was almost therapeutic to her.
Rachel then felt water seeping in her legs as she lifted her foot up, a small puddle of water marred the ground. The environment felt like there was nothing living nearby, but Rachel knew better.
She felt no ambient water in the air; she felt no water nearby, no river system for a few miles. Her crystal gave off a shine to her will as she felt the Water. She felt nothing; she felt Elementals on the island, clocking in the hundreds or thousands. She couldn’t sense far, maybe a radius of five kilometers, but it was enough to get a feel of everything. She always remembered her father say to her “Crystals were once living creatures too, they power your body with different Elements. It is possible to sense species around you." She grumbled and then Rachel sighed. “Elementals.” She said. “Mookaite, fair me well here.” She said, swinging and twirling her knife around at the ready.
Webs of Water and Wind blocked paths of the forest, stretching between two trees a few times larger than herself. Rachel sparked her dagger and sliced through these webs as she continued to hike, inching further and further upland. This island felt both isolated and yet flourishing. It was a miracle in her eyes.
Rachel was cautious as she carefully marked the location of her surroundings in her head. The trees faded from Sequoia to a distinct, blue leaf tree. The blue trees giving off crystal blue drops of sticky liquid. The liquid smelt like honey and coconuts. She wiped the blue liquid from her forehead, slapping it aside on the ground below. She smiled and then gave a small grumble to herself. “Blue Saplings.” She said to herself.
The trees continue to drop it mysterious liquid, the tree-line becoming less and less twisted, however more ominously orderly. The trees stopped appearing chaotically, growing next to each other and wrapping around themselves, and now lining up in rows. These trees had different colors of leaves, from blue to purple to violet to dark green. These trees shook with the spine chilling wind brushing past them. Rachel shivered- Not sure what is worse, the trees or the windchill brushing past me. Normally, these trees were used for Airsail building, due to their strength. They are also incredibly rare, and it looked like someone introduced them here, for whatever reason.
She twirled her dagger around, her eyes sharp. She walked forward on the muddy path. A Sound of Thunder, then a drop of rain rushed down. She looked up to see a few dozen drops cover her. Rachel created a sphere of wind around her to protect herself from the rain.
“I hate getting wet.” She thought to herself. Then she stopped, she looked down below. She was on top of a waterfall, a fifty-foot drop into a river. The river carved around the cliffs like a snake. “Well, I could jump.”
Rachel darted her eyes only to see a small cliff half a mile away that she could float over too.
“Well, better than jumping in a river.” She said. She then felt a gust of wind lift her slowly up. Her feet floated from the ground, her legs flowing with the waves of wind. She felt light, her yellow crystal giving off a green shine. She smirked, rising a few dozen feet in the air. She kicked the air behind her, bolting her forward to the stony cliffside marred with sharp spires that protruded outw
ard, ready to impale or pierce anyone unlucky enough to hit them head-on. She then took three deep breaths. The first breath, she felt her body become weightless. The second breath, she felt her body become hollow and without mass. The third, she was wind itself. She flew forward past the cliff side, crossing the entire rocky range in a few seconds. She felt her body materialize again, as she created a platform of air beneath her feet, bolting her upward to land on soft soil. She felt her heart rush for a second as she swung behind her. She smirked with confidence, her crystal stopped glowing as she sunk her feet on the plateau. She crossed a few miles of cliffside with ease, her eyes locked to the south-east, her former position.- She didn’t even need to swim to get here. Almost with pride, she looked down to the river and turned swiftly around.
“Better luck next time, Nature.” She said.
She continued straight, a large, frozen mountain greeting her in the distance. It was a few dozen miles away from her, a day or two journey if she rushed it. She felt a little tired, but she didn’t want to rest. The tree line faded completely, an open plain of blue and purple flowers greeted her. She bent over to take a sniff, a sweet cherry smell. The plain was vast and inviting, with dozens of flowers whistling in the wind. The soil was unusually dry in some areas, and wet in other areas. The wetter the field, the fewer flowers were nearby. She waltzed over through the meadow, looking up in the sky, the sun dipping just a tad. There were only a few hours of sunlight left. She sighed, she could make camp here if she wanted. She swung her head from the left and then the right. There were trees and wood a few miles away, she could chop a few trees down to make a small hut for herself. She grumbled and cursed. Too much work. She continued to walk around the meadow aimlessly. She felt a warm atmosphere, yet a chilly breeze brushed past her back.
The meadow stretched for a few miles; the flowers brushing past her legs with a faint tickle. The flowers became wilder. The willowy blue and violet multiplied into different colors. Shades of cyan, scarlet, sapphire, moss green and violet marked the entire landscape. The flowers suddenly became more and darker, the clouds darkened above her; the rain stopped. The meadow was damp, yet the flowers grew in groups, similar to a mob. Small patches of just soil and sometimes puddles of water were more frequent. She looked in front of her, tens of pools of water greeted her. These puddles felt like water, yet had a faint dark color to them. She should make camp as quickly as possible
She then scratched her chin, sitting on a small rock. She felt her face turned ghost white, getting up on an instant. A rock? She bent over to the ground, her fingers running across the white rock. The rock felt brittle to the touch, warm and yet she felt a faint flush of water run through her fingers. She then heard a loud thunder in the distance. She took a breath, freezing in a visible vapor. She felt her body flush cold suddenly. Something was not right here, nothing can turn this cold in a few seconds. She reached for her knife and flipped around, her face turning ghost white.
She saw a large mass of pure water in the shape of a human clobber the ground beneath him. He was over a hundred feet tall, with a small blue light in the center of his chest. He was much, much taller than any Elemental she saw in a long time.
“Fucking hell.” She said. The Golem disappeared and reappeared in front of her in an instant. She jumped back, as the golem slashed at her, freezing the ground below. She then flew upward with a burst of wind, throwing her at the creature with electricity, a small string now looped around her finger as she looped it around its head. She sliced it clean off and fell to the ground below. She turned to see the monster regrow his head in a few seconds. She staggered her face ghost white. This one was much tougher than other ones. She took a jump backward, creating a mile distance from her and the beast.
She shook her head, her face regaining her color as she steadied her breathing. The monster grabbed his two blobs of hands together to create a sphere of water, over ten times his length, wrapping around his body to form a shell of water. He then froze in a few seconds and hurled it at Rachel. In a millisecond, she darted to the right, her dagger spinning around her hand as it gave off a large current of electricity. The sphere of ice fell to the ground as she bolted through the golem with a full body tackle. She lunged through it, the body now sporting a hole in his chest. The monster reformed it in a few seconds. She didn’t have time to play around. She looked around her.
She then remembered the puddles of water. She smirked, strolling to the pools of water. The monster slowly followed, copying her movements. That is right, follow me you mindless beast. She took a step in a puddle, then she felt a distinct ringing her head as she was suddenly in the air. She looked at the ground below, the pools of water sprouted into elemental golems. She cursed, great, more of them. These were much smaller, perhaps only a few dozen feet tall. She spat, the big one was their pack leader. She jumped backward with a somersault, landing behind the hundreds of now new elementals. She felt a discharge of electricity flush through her body as the hundreds of elementals rushed towards her, the biggest one following behind.
In a few seconds, Rachel created a ball of electricity and threw it at the center of them all. An explosion of electricity, over three miles long vaporized them in a straight blast that bolted outward and into the sky, vaporizing the ground with hot steam. All of them were vaporized in an instant. She felt a distinct pain in her shoulder; she released a great deal of energy just to create that explosion. She smiled to herself, create a blast of electricity and let them incinerate themselves. She was a mad genius. She walked over to the now steaming sphere. The sphere was just under a mile deep, rock and water were vaporized in an instant, feeling hot and tender to the touch. Look’s like it was safe to make camp.
Rachel waltzed back to the forest as she saw more puddles of water around her as she grumbled to herself, hundreds more Golems appearing before her. One of them threw a large log at her. Rachel threw the logs aside, only for a sharp pain to flood up her shoulder. She looked around, golems of water surrounded her as she saw no path out.
“Will I die today?” She thought to herself. She flashed her body with electricity, shooting it outward as she held her knife close to her gaze. She darted upward, flipping a few hundred feet as she slid from side to side, dodging arms of water from hitting her. She pushed her dagger down one as it exploded into hot steam. She saw dozens more, however, lined up and ready to kill her. She coated her knife with electricity, then her body as she supercharged herself. She saw them move sluggishly compared to her speed, but she saw no way out. Her perception was quick as a bolt of lightning as she saw only one option; fight her way out.
“Well, I always did wanted to get that work out against an army of a bloodthirsty statues of water.” She thought to herself.
On a relatively small island surrounded by seven other islands of varying sizes, there laid a few small mountains. Three large mountains engulfed by a singular forest and that the stench of magic was strong with the faint smell of chilling winter cold. Illevetar winced, the Winter Cold didn’t have any bent properties, otherwise she likely would be dead or worse.
The thick fog of the forest wrapped around the islands as clouds brewed above.
The mist was intoxicating as the magic formed small balls of light of green, blue and black variety, thick as she felt it influenced the surrounding nature. She felt life was active as the Sky and Rivers of Blessed Water make the land flourish with Elementals. The snow peaked mountains, and the sound of dragons shattering the air with their screeches was prominent. This island felt like it hid power far beyond her comprehension, something that briefly terrified her. The balls of light faded from her vision, Magic Light was not the kind to stay in the land for long, it was real fragile unless someone was purposefully bending or warping it.
On the south coast laid a forest that edged behind. On this coast, laid an Airsail with a cloaked elf on board. She laid her black hood down as Princess Illevetar looked from side to side. Illevetar heard a twig snap as she swung her head ar
ound, seeing nothing. Illevetar took a deep breath “Stop trying to scare yourself.” She said. Her heart was racing, and her palms were sweaty. Her Airsail was coated with fine metals and wood, and it was fitting a princess; and a thief. She instinctively held her sword on the right side of the cloak, her mind on high alert as she looked for any signs of life. Illevetar nodded to herself, affirming that she was safe as she slid her hand down to her cloak pocket to press the top button of her Holosphere as she ‘pressed’ a small hologram on the screen. The Airsail cloaked itself from light as it turned invisible, hidden from the outside world. She had another one in her other pocket, just in case she lost hers.
She started her hike throughout the forest. The forest was massive and engulfing, swallowing the entire environment whole: the two suns, the red sun, and the blue sunlit the path for Illevetar. Magic was thick, the scent of the misty dew pines was sweet to Illevetar. Despite the smell of water in the air, she felt no Bending or Warping in the environment. The temperature was, however, a little chilly. She appreciated the untouched, unmarred land. Vines snapped from each footstep.
Not only was the forest engulfing, but it was also a rare example of nature taking over civilization. The seven islands of Idera were once ruled by a corrupt king long ago, but Kragg slowly encroached on their territory, invading island after island, vaporizing forests with cannon fire as people retreated either through portals, or ships. Those unfortunate to unable cannot escape were said to haunt the island to this day, but Illevetar could not confirm that for herself nor did she care. Civilization is dead; nature was taking back what was once hers. At least, that was what she was taught. She then let out a sigh, her mother skimped on a lot of details it seemed. “Hey Illevetar, for that God Making Stone to work, I think we need another one!” She said to her daughter. Illevetar felt a sense of sadness flush inside. She left because of that, and also to explore this strange world, leave her comfort zone. Even as Illevetar walked, a stone pillar collapsed at the weight of vines. Illevetar jumped, but sighed and continued to walk.
