I'm very sorry about the interruptions. Back to the story!!! Chapter 10 We arrived at the city, this one was weirder than the one I left. The were all faries, I swear I've even seen some of them before...in my dreams!! Sarah left her group and led us up to the castle, the...floating castle. It was at least 15 feet of the ground, Sarah was going to have to fly us up there. We left our horses tied up and two other faries carried us up to the castle. When we walked in, I saw someone very familiar, it was the girl that I saw with the package. The girl who's name I didn't know. "I'm Lauren." the girl said, "And you are...?" "Alex. This is John and Utho." I said introducing everyone, "Would u like to explain what happened when we were separated?" "Well, I remember feeling so much power flowing through me before that...tornado thingy sucked me into complete blackness. "Then I woke up in a strange forest. It was really hilly so I decided to head down the hill, hoping I would find help by a stream. "I ran into the boy, he was being taken away by some person named Grandalf. He said he was taking him to Aberon, in hopes of catching the two of us." Lauren told us, "They saw me and I ran as fast as I could. I managed to escape and end up here." Utho was scared and suddenly knew what was going on. John and Sarah knew it too. They were whispering among themselves. "I have decided to accompany you four on ur journey. I know where to go from here and am a good fighter." Sarah announced, "It's time to give Arn a visit." The faries helped us back down to our supplies. We grabbed some more due to our extra companions and slept in one of their inns. That morning Lauren and I were talking about where we were. "Do you know where we are?" I asked her. "No, do you?" she asked back. "We aren't on Earth anymore, I know that much." I replied.
Chapter 11 "Not on Earth?!?! Where could we be?" Lauren asked, astonished. "Utho said something about a dream world." I said pondering the pieces of information I knew, "Maybe we are in the place where dreams go. That would explain the dreamy atmosphere, the familiar parts...it would explain everything!!!" Elly walked in and put her dagger to my throat. It looked like she wanted me killed, didn't everyone. "Walk or you die." she said metallically. "Lauren..." I pled. Lauen grabbed my bow and a poison arrow and shot her in the leg, releasing her grip on my throat. Sarah was the first to reach us. Utho and John stumbled behind her. "Is she dead!?!?" John exclaimed reaching to aid her, "Alex! Is that your arrow!?! Why'd u shoot her!?!" I suddenly found myself pinned against the wall, again. I was getting tired of being threatened. "Get off her, John. Sarah told me what happened. Elly was a mercenary, she was assigned to kill Alex. She was working for Matt." Utho explained, "They need to know who we really are and where they are. Or they could turn against us!!!" John, looking guilty, let go of me. I fell to the ground and gasped for air. Elly, used her last breath to deliver a message. "Long live Matt, ruler of all evil." Elly gasped her last breath, and died on the floor of the inn. "Alex already knows where she is. It's time to explain everything." Sarah said kicking the dead body aside.
Chapter 12 "Finally!" Lauren and I said together. "I'll start." Utho suggested, "When humans started inhabiting Earth many years ago, this place was created that same night. Why? Because this place is The Land of Fantisies or The Land of Dreams" "Earth and us are parallel worlds." John continued, "This place will always be green, because it is guarded by the magic in human childrens dreams. We are not really alive, we are someones fantasy." "Because the worlds are parallel, they are connected. Meaning, that humans can come here and we can leave to Earth." Sarah explained, "Some of us are evil, nightmares, you would call them. Wanting to control humans and make them their slaves." "A dwarf named Arn, was afraid of that happening. He crafted some stones and a package with the help of their king, Mithlander. They went through the portal and dropped the package there and enchanted it to act as the portal, it was also enchanted never to leave Earth." Utho continued, "A man saw Arn and Mithlander return here and immdeatly swore he'd never go back there again. This man is Alex's great-grandfather." "The package could only be used by three people with totally different personalities, unless u use magic." John continued, "The personalities represent three elements, water, earth, and fire. The forth element, air, is represented by Arn himself." "The only way out is by the three humans learning the ways of Arn and the stones." Sarah continued, "Only possible if done together. If tried seperated, the result is death for the three humans. The only problem, is that Arn went missing a long time ago. He is claimed dead, assuming that the package has part of him in it, we thought that the package was unusable. The fact that your here, means that he is alive somewhere." The facts were sinking in as I realized that we had to save the boy to go home. If one of us died, our way home would be lost forever.
Ignore it again *sigh* On with the story Chapter 13 "Are you...real then? If you are a fantasy, doesn't that mean you'd disappear?" Laughter filled the room, Lauren and I were taking this seriously. Stupid creatures, never understand anything. "No, we are real. We are solid." Sarah said trying not to laugh, "This is an extraordinary place, that's the best I can explain it." "Let's go get the boy." I said exasperated. We left the in and I was about to saddle my horse to leave. "Alex, we need to be sneaky. We are going to walk there, John and Sarah will have to get used to your slow pace." Utho explained nervously. Great. We had to walk there too, I was extremely committed, that was the only way I'd make it. We walked through the forest silently. I really wanted to know about everyone and learn about them, Utho looked like he had some background. "Hey, Utho, can I ask u something?" "Sure what did you want to know?" "Where'd you get that scar on your forehead?" "That's a long story, I'd be glad to share it, though."
Chapter 14 "I'm sorry, I'm sure it must be hard to share." I said regretting the question "No no no, I should tell it, not the best story but it's good to passthe time." Utho started, "I should start at when I got here, to this strange place. "I entered this place and found myself at the end of a long line. I just came from a dream, I was fighting a boy, 14 he was. He and I were practicing, he always beat me. He owns me, in his mind. I'll always have the same dreams as him. "Anyway, the line moved quickly along. I was handed a booklet and was left on my own. The booklet contained the rules of living here. The evil throw the handbook away, the good follow the rules and are punished when they don't. "I walked into a random town and was welcomed there. Because of my swordmanship, I was recruited as a guard. I loved dueling the other guards, off shift of course. We would fight to the death, I was too good for them, never received a scratch. For killing the guards, I was exiled from the kingdom. This happened eleven times. On the eleventh time, in the city that Sarah lives in, I got a deadly punishment, I was beaten raw. After that, I was cut, on my forehead to show my punishment to everyone I meet. "I hanged out at the outskirts of the kingdoms for awhile, afraid to enter a kingdom. Then I was caught by King Mort's spies. I was supposed to be executed. John saved me and I was forced to travel with you and protect you at all costs." Utho finished. "You would risk your life to save me?" I asked astonished at the thought of killing Utho because of my stupidity. "In a heartbeat. So, if I do this, my punishments will be lifted, simple." Utho answered. We walked in silence after that. John said that we should split up to infiltrate Aberon. John went with Lauren while Utho and Sarah was left to protect me. We walked toward the back of the fences. The were protected by an electerical field. Sarah flew over and disabled the power. She then set the fence on fire to make a small hole in the fence. I had to think John for dressing me in dark clothes. We were in and Utho refused to let go of me. We met up with John and Lauren near the jail cells. "We have to breck the boy out, you two will have to spot him, we will follow and kill anyone we need to get him out." John whispered quickly, barely audible. We headed into the jail, it felt more like a graveyard than a jail. Too spooky for me...any other way and I wouldn't have come here.
Chapter 15 "So, what's the plan?" I whispered. "Avoid Matt, M.A.P., and Grandalf at all costs. We'll first see if he's in an outside cell. Sarah with Alex and Utho and I will take Lauren." John warned. Sarah and I walked around the place silently. I was armed and ready with my arrows. We found the boy but wished we hadn't. "GET THEM!!!!" one of the guards yelled. I shot my bomb arrows at the mobs of guards. Sarah grabbed on to me and hovered just out of their reach. They just kept coming. Then I saw John, Utho, and Lauren. They were trying to break the boy out. With pin-point accuracy, I shot a fire arrow next to Lauren. She got the message and set the bars on fire. They quickly melted and released the boy. As soon as he stepped out the four of them were captured. "Their fighting Grandalf!" Sarah screamed, "We need to..." "Sarah!!!" I yelled. We were falling into the pit of guards. Sarah had an arrow in her gut and was uncontious.
Chapter 15 After I started falling, it felt like someone hit the slow-mo button on everything. I shot arrows as fast as I could, but I wasn't fast enough. The guards just watched me fall to the ground. I tried to land feet first, so I could at least stay conscious. I ended up on my stomach, surrounded by guards, no way out. "Alex!" "Alex, help! "Alex! Help us!" I heard my friends scream. They were tied up tight. Then they came into view. John had small bloody cuts all over him, Utho had the cut on his forehead reopened, Lauren had deep cuts on her arms, and the boy had bloody fingers. We were doomed. I must have looked horrible 'cause they were staring at me in horror. I found that I couldn't get up, my bow was broken in pieces, and my arrows were scattered around me. Then the elf named Grandalf walked toward me. "Well, well. Who do we have here? This girl is human, right?" he snickered picking me up by the arm. "Let go of me, Grandalf!" I demanded struggling against his grip. "It's Ginger thank you very much." he corrected, "Tie her up. I want her to be presentable to Matt in 5 minutes. The others are already set." Ginger demanded throwing me to the ground and kicking my rib cage. I was tied up and taken into the castle. It was all black and was surrounded by skulls and other body parts. It had a rotting dead smell to it. The inside wasn't any better. It was dark and scary. I was lead into a torture room. They blindfolded me and hit me with whips and stabbed me a few times in my arms and legs. I was whipped raw, I was so exhausted. I drooped over and fainted. I was doomed and hoped that it wasn't as bad as it felt.
Chapter 16 I woke up to someone yelling at me. I couldn't understand what they were saying. My senses were blurred. I remembered the whipping though, I could still remember the pain. I came around and found myself tied in a chair next to a throne. The room was horrible looking. There were skeletons hung on the walls, dead people everywhere. "How are you feeling Alex?" said a voice next to me. I felt like I had pins all over me, like I was dying. Though I didn't want to show any weakness. "I'm fine, thank you." I said in a crackled voice. "Ginger, you did a great job on her." the thing congratulated, "Why don't u bring the others in so we can show them?" "Of course, my king, Matt." Ginger replied. We were in Matt's castle? They were still here too? What would they think of me now? They were brought in by three guards. Ginger followed behind looking very proud of himself. "What did you do to her?!?" the boy demanded. I was so afraid to look at myself. I got the courage and looked down to see my normal ragged clothes on and my skin bright red with dried blood in a few places. "Kyle, calm down. She will be fine. I've made her my new pet." Matt cooed. "She won't let you! She's stronger than you think!" Lauren yelled. "Let's see about that." Matt smirked as he untied me. I wanted to hit him so hard. When the ropes were untied. He looked satisfied. "Hit me." Matt said. I tried to obey, but I was so weak, I couldn't move. He laughed as he walked away. Everyone was horrified. I couldn't even slap him, I was a weakling. I tried to get up and walk to my friends. When I got up I collapsed on the ground after five seconds. Every movement hurt. "You are next." Matt told my friends, "We shall leave you all alone for a moment." Everyone was let go. I groaned at the pain, fire was burning my whole body. "What happened?" Sarah asked, at least she was conscious. "They beat me." I whimpered. "Let me help you." she said, picking me up and tying me stomach to the chair to support myself. "How do we escape this place?" I asked. "I know." a deep said behind us.
Chapter 17 "Who's there?!?" Utho yelled, it was the first time I heard him speak since we split up. "Put your weapons away." the deep voice said, "I am willing to help you." The man walked out of the shadows, revealing himself. He was tall enough to be an adult. His face concealed behind the hood of his dark cloak. "Oh my gosh." Sarah whispered, "He's human." "I may be human, though that makes me a servant of Matt's, you fear me still." the man said. "M.A.P? Is that you?!?" John gasped, "It's been forever..." M.A.P. smiled dully, "I've missed seeing you in my dreams, young assassin." Our mouth fell open, that was a hard fact to swallow. "I may be human, but I can pass as a spy. It pays off, too." he said revealing a small vile, "This is a rare medicine that will heal you instantly. We must hurry if we are going to escape." He opened the vile and slowly drained it into my mouth. It tasted like poison, though I immediately felt stronger. "Follow me." M.A.P. mouthed silently. I quickly untied myself as we creeped into the darkest corner. He signaled us to wait. "How was your little..." Matt said as he barged in. "The prisoners have escaped!" Matt yelled, "FIND THEM!" Everyone scurried out the door. We slipped out the door behind the unseen. We followed him down a dark hallway. It was unlit, our footsteps didn't make any noise at all. We came to a flight of stairs heading down into pitch blackness. "This leads to the cellar. This was used as a secret escape route hundreds of years ago and still is today." he whispered the plan, "Only those worthy can make it through! Good luck!" He ran off towards the guards, distracting them from us and leading them the wrong way. "Let's go before someone finds us." I whispered as I walked into the unknown. Sarah lit the way using her magic fire, it danced across the blackened stone walls and floors. We knew it wouldn't be an easy journey, even from the beginning I knew that. We kept walking behind Sarah until she disappeared out of sight. We had reached a cliff. I heard a splash down below. "It's alright! I'm fine, you need to come down here!" Sarah shouted. It was a long way down, too. It added to all the excitement I felt about it, just as excited as I was to get beaten half-way to death. "Here I come Sarah!" I shouted back. I took a deep breath and took a leap of faith into what I hoped to be, dark water below. The sensation of the falling made my adrenaline pump through my veins. It seemed like forever went by. Then I hit the water. It was ice cold and I started shivering like crazy. "Hurry up, you guys!" I yelled at my friends above, "Before I black out of hypothermia, preferably!" I heard my laughter and then some talking. The I heard four splashes around me. "Oh my gosh it's freezing." Lauren complained. "Relax," Sarah said lighting a small fire in the palm of her hand. "could be worse." Then we heard a loud growl behind us. "SWIM!!!" John bellowed.
Chapter 18 I was already ahead of the others because I could hear them splashing behind me. Lauren managed to catch up and pass me by. Sarah's fire dulled and left the creature splashing like crazy trying to find us. Then it stopped. Our distinctive splashes echoing off the cave walls were leading the creature right to us. Then a roar pierced through the air. A scream made my blood turn cold. Utho was caught by the creature, he was in danger of dying. "Hang on! I'm coming Utho!!" Lauren yelled racing toward him. All we could do was watch as Lauren zoomed through the darkness and grab onto the monster. Then the weirdest thing happened, the monster screeched in agony at her touch. We heard someone call "Concentrate inward, Lauren!! Feel the raw power!!" I think it was John, though it was hard to hear him over the commotion. Suddenly, the creature stopped screeching. We saw a strange blue light appear near the creature. It was Lauren, the light was coming from her hand, the creature started talking to us at that point. "You have been deemed worthy to continue your journey. Well done." with that, the water drained down an invisible drain, the monster disappearing with it. Torches were lit across the cavern and a shiney plauge
placke was bolted on the stone wall. It read 'Welcome to the second part of your journey. Only if there is someone worthy in your group may you continue onward on The Journey.' "Let's go!" I shouted to the others. I entered into a large room with the others trailing behind. A cube sat before us, holding our next challenge.