The Pathway to Freedom
By Chiara Shih
THE GOOD
Xyell: The boy hero of the story, he is brother to Zylia, and despite what people say, his name is pronounced Sy-ll. He is rash, reckless, impatient, and fierce.
Zylia: The girl hero of the story, she is sister to Xyell, and her name is pronounced Zi-lee-yah. She is dreamy, fierce, sometimes sarcastic, and has a crazy imagination.
Freedom Fighters: A group of good wizards who want to defeat the Shadow Fold and make up the rebellion.
THE BAD
Drexilius: Pure evil manipulator. He is tall, old, bony, and his eyes are yellow with evil.
Shadow Fold: A group made up of Drexilius' friends and supporters.
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Foreword
by Zylia Lygrass
I am old and frail as I write these words of the adventures that I once had. Once the hand I held my quill in was strong and firm, but now it is bony and shaky. This is not a fairy story, this is a TRUE story. This happened in the once-in-havoc realm of Forever. This is a tale of what my brother Xyell and I once experienced. This happened in a world of magic, and the dark arts, completely CRAZY ideas and simple inventions. This is a story of good versus evil, so read on, dear reader, f you dare…
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A shadowed figure rode silently on her wolf, her face and body covered by a black cloak. She stopped right by a small lantern, and she met another shadowed figure. She took out her staff, and the other person said, “Zylia, what news do you have for the alliance?”
“Come I’ll tell you, Xyell,” Zylia whispered back. With a swiss of their staff, they uttered “Forever” and a large boulder rolled over, opening the entrance of a small cave. They removed their hoods, and gave each other a high-five. Another mission complete!
Zylia, a girl of 12, had jet black hair which whipped around everywhere, and her neon green eyes were wide and curious. Xyell was also 12. His hair was a longish blond up which he let grow up to his neck, and his ruby red eyes were fierce and brave.
Zylia told the group inside the cave the news. “Drexilious and the Shadow Fold are planning to reawaken the Beast of Bloodshade.”
A gasp of terror went around the room, for the Beast of Bloodshade had destroyed many a realm. Zylia continued. “They are going to use it to wipe out our wizarding tribe.” A gasp went across the room. “I have also found out that they are keeping the plans on the top floor, where the archives are. That’s all I know right now.”
“We are sending you out tomorrow to spy again, and Xyell, you will be her partner,” Svellius, their leader and head of the rebels, commanded.
Zylia and Xyell walked to a small plot of land where their cave was located, their headquarters for sorts. Zylia made herself comfortable on a small rock, waved her staff and muttered tempestas claudicatio, a weather deflection charm so that a small bubble surrounded her. The bubble stopped the rain from touching her. Xyell did the same, and they slept with their wolves. It was a fitful sleep however...
Xyell dreamt of the day his parents were taken. His small arms tried to reach out and touch his parents, but the Shadow Fold had already taken hold of his parents. He tried to grab them, but they were dragged out, the door slamming and leaving him and his sister alone.
When the siblings woke up, they didn't feel rested at all. It was dark, like always. When the Shadow Fold came into the land of Forever, they turned the once bright sky into a shrouded, gloomy land, and the blue lagoons turned to lava. The land's inhabitants were forced into hiding or risked being punished, or worse, losing their lives.
The two put on a fresh pair of robes, and went over to Svellius. "Now to your lesson," Svellius barked. "NOW!"
Xyell and Zylia walked towards a large boulder, and climbed up to the top. One fox sat on top and said wisely, “Now, let’s work on spell fighting.” (Animals could talk back then, probably because they were resurrected humans)
Spell fighting was a fight where you would hurl spells at your opponent, and try to defeat your opponent, while deflecting your opponents spells. It was great fun, and it gave Xyell, Zylia, and all the other younglings a chance to use all the spells they had learned.
That night, they put on dark robes, and rode on their wolves. Xyell rode on Flamefast, his wolf, and Zylia rode on Darkfang. Xyell cast an invisibility spell over them all so that they could blend in, unnoticed. When they got to the edge of the city, they saw an enormous black fort. Black fire steamed off the walls.
They waved their wands and chose to become falcons, so they could soar over the fortress unnoticed. They swooped towards the top of the tower. They landed in a dark room, with evil-looking flames perched on the torches. They waved their staff and turned back into humans.
Xyell handed Zylia his staff, and they searched the different shelves in the Archives room. They found different scrolls and packages. Zylia was slowly scanning the scrolls, but Xyell was ripping them out impatiently. The noise must have alerted the guards, because moments later, guards appeared and grabbed Xyell.
Zylia gasped and quickly turned invisible to avoid being captured. She slowly pulled out a malicious black scroll, and read the contents. This was the right scroll. She quickly stuffed it into a bag, and tried to see where Xyell was. She panicked to see that the guards had caught her brother, giving him a potion of quick sleep. Then they shoved him out the archives, unconscious. A tear welled in Zylia’s eyes and dropped onto the floor at the thought of what they were going to do to him.
She knew couldn't do anything to save Xyell at that point, so she took off on Darkfang, Flamefast following close behind. When she arrived back at the base, she ran in and cried, “Xyell has been captured, we have to do something!” a gasp went around the room, for even though Xyell was a bit hot-headed and stubborn, he was greatly liked by other members of the rebellion. Svellius turned around and boomed “We will rescue him in due time, but for now, Zylia, did you get the plans?” Zylia handed him the malicious scroll, and he turned towards his study.
Xyell, meanwhile, was having the most loathsome time. He was shoved into a dark and damp cell. He sat on one of the prison beds, which he strongly suspected were actual stone tables. He was peeved, but when he was served dinner, he got even more grumpy. The cellmates were given a dollop of what looked like slug snot. Xyell vomited on his plate, and refused to eat anything. The guards gave him an evil stare.
He tried feeling for his staff, but strangely, it wasn't there! “Oh right, he thought, “I handed Zylia my staff, so now she has it.” Xyell flopped into the stone-hard bed, and tossed and turned, because he had the most peculiar feeling, that something, or someone, was watching him.
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The next day, back at headquarters, the wolves were having a conversation:
Flamefast: Woof woof, I am a puppy, look at my little legs run!
Darkfang: No, you are not, Flamefast, you are a wolf, and you were the biggest in our litter.
Flamefast: (Ignoring Darkfang) Look at me fetch! I am a Corgi! Woof woof!
Darkfang put a paw to her head and groaned.
Zylia ignored them and pulled out a brass Nendletron—a complex machine which made potions— some glass phials, and a small list of potion ingredients. She wanted to make the potion of acid. She knew that it would help break Xyell out of his cell, even as she had no idea where he was being kept.
She rested Xyell’s staff on the rock that she was working on, and she opened her Book of Spells. She flipped to the correct page, but frankly since it was an old copy, that page was ruined, so she decided to make her own version of it. She began working and working throughout the week, powdering Astatine, crushing scorpion tail, juicing silver beans, and some other stuff, all the while stirring with her staff. Finally, she created a strange green glowing liquid. She dipped an iron spoon on it, and coated an iron bar with it. “Yes!” she cried, as both fizzled away into nothing. The only thing that works against this is enchanted wood, she thought.
She loaded the potion into her special glasswood vial, pulled out some parchment, and began writing her plans for the escape tonight. She stuffed Xyell’s staff into a sack, and gripped hers tightly. She pulled on her black robes, and her fighter helmet. She was going to need these things.
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Xyell spent each day staring out of his cell bars hoping his cell days would end soon. Waiting made him very, very, grumpy. Grumpiness made him peeved and annoyed. He decided that he would have to eat the seems-to-be-vomit foo eventually, and he was right, it was the worst thing he had ever tasted, it was even worse than vomit, it tasted like dog doo doo, vomit, AND fuzzy mold.
By Friday, he had gotten impatient, and decided to find a way to break out. He tied bedsheets together, and pulled himself up. The ceilings were pretty high, but he managed to swing himself towards large drain pipes attached to ceiling leading to the floors. He was free! Or so he thought. He had burst open a sewer door and crawled in, but then something that felt like an invisible hand pushed him hard, down onto the stone floor.
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Zylia crept through the night on the back of Darkfang, Flamefast sprinting close behind. Zylia had spotted the dreaded prison castle. She knew that Xyell had to be in there, somewhere. As she approached, she quickly turned herself into an owl and soared up, up towards a random barred cell window.
Once inside, she turned back into a human, and being a spy, she knew how to sneak around without noticing, like nobody else in the world. She spotted a cell and peeked inside. The most horrendous sound came out, and a giant snore exploded on her face, morning breath and all. Eeew!
She knew for a fact, that Xyell did not snore (well not like that anyway), so she moved onto a couple more before reaching the highest cell. She quietly scaled onto it, but before she could lean down to check, a blow came to her face. “Ow!” she yelped, a figure in black prepared to give a blow, she took out her staff and yelled quietly, fulgas! Suddenly lightning came out from the green gem perched on top of her yew staff.
The figure was knocked off his feet, and was out cold. Zylia viewed through the bars... just as she thought! Xyell was lying on the floor. She dipped her enchanted wood spoon, and coated the bars in acid. She watched as the bars quickly fizzed away, hopped in, removed her helmet, and muttered surgit, whilst pointing her staff to Xyell.
Immediately, Xyell bounced up, and his eyes popped open. Zylia grinned and coated acid onto his chains. Brother and sister then recounted what happened since they had departed. “I felt like I was being watched,” said Xyell scornfully. “You were being watched?” yelped Zylia. “Yes, so we’ve gotta go, or else we might run into those hooded guards again,” said Xyell.
“Agreed,” replied Zylia. “Oh and, I brought your staff,” tossing the ash staff to Xyell, who picked it up, and swung out the window. He was better at swimming than climbing, so he nearly lost his grip when he was holding onto the edge. Xyell gritted his teeth and climbed back up. Zylia followed, and said repondo so that the bars would come back up.
Xyell and Zylia reached the bottom, and they turned into swifts, soaring through the air. They spotted the glowing wolves, and landed, both nuzzling them with pleasure. The ride back was swift, yet strange. They carried on until they reached the base. A blast of dim light welcomed them, as many members cheered for Zylia and Xyell’s successful rescue. Silence then followed, as Svellious walked into the room. A meeting was about to begin. Everyone took a seat, and Svellious began to talk, his elder staff tucked in a pocket.
“Welcome. Thanks to the plans Zylia found, we have discovered that the Shadow Fold is going to awaken the Beast of Bloodshade. As you all know, the beast is one of the last survivors of the extinct realm of Bloodshade, home of the Llorne. The beasts have hidden a scroll in one of the other realms, and that scroll has the spell that will stop the Beast of Bloodshade. We have tracked the realms to Nexo, Zyger, and Yora. We will be sending small teams to each realm, to try and find the scroll.
Our first team is Hyperion Zeldon and Julian Dernot who will be going to Nexo. Our next team is Xyell and Zylia Lygrass who will be going to Zyger, and the last team is Dyra Green and Sander Cove, who will be going to Yora. Got that?”
“Yes!” chirruped all six of us. Svellious continued, “Each team will be given six hours to prepare for their mission, and I will see each team separately before you leave. A ground crew will be assigned to each of you, so we can keep track of your progress, and we can communicate to each other. A name that means nothing right now, but was found on the plans that the Shadow Fold had is Beyilinor. Try to find out what it means. It might be a clue."
The six of us then walked to Svellious, and he gave each of the teams a roll of parchment. Everyone scurried to their quarters to read their roll:
The teams immediately began packing. Zylia gave Xyell tips on what stealth gear he should bring but lost concentration, and in the end, ended up doing some philosophical thinking instead. Xyell had to poke her hard on her back, before she came back down to earth again. “Is there a realm where two positives equal a negative?” she asked Xyell. Xyell rolled his eyes and commanded, “Get packing,” even though Zylia was the older twin by a few seconds.
Zylia gave her brother tips on what gear to bring on a stealth mission, and Xyell gave advice on what weapons they should bring. Xyell had his special spear, and Zylia had brought her own trusty sword. They sat down on the rocks and sighed. Zylia was quickly flipping through her realm guide book, and started reading the chapter on Zyger.
Xyell was practicing telepathy, and kept accidentally sending Zylia banana toenails because of nerves. Eventually, they agreed to go to bed.
“Pulvinus” they muttered, as the lights went out and they fell into sleep quickly, and easily.
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They had to get up at 4:30am, and they put on their black robes, and utility belts. The ground crew had been up since 2:30am, fiddling with communication devices. Darkfang nuzzled Flamefast's great furry, plasmatic, half glowing head, as she sensed that something was going to happen. Flamefast had temporarily given up acting like a dog, and for once, (and to Darkfang’s relief) had an ounce of sense. The group walked to the spot where the shadow portal was going to open, and waited. Shortly after, Sander and Dyra joined them. They all waited for around five more minutes, and Hyperion and Julian joined up.
Xyell was losing his patience, and burst out saying, “Svellious is our leader, and he can’t even get here on time?!” Right after he said that though, Svellious walked into the square. He gave Xyell a look and coughed. “Ahem, now everyone, we need to send you out to the realms soon. We will cast a tracking charm on you, and we will be using a shadow portal, and not a regular portal, because regular portals are being tracked by the Shadow Fold.
My assistant Myrad will now cast the tracking charm on you,” said Svellious, and he stepped aside and a brown-haired lad stepped up. Sequiter! he said, making a wand movement as the charm struck through the aquamarine gem, and hit each of them squarely on the forehead. “Sweet!” cried Sander excitedly.
Svellious continued his talk. “We will give you these metal tablets, which can be used to enhance telepathy, so you can connect to us. The shadow portal spell is aperi umbra portal, and then you say the name of the realm. I want everyone to load their gear now. Good luck. I hope one of you will find the scrolls.” He saluted, and he walked a little backwards.
Everyone began making double checks, and put their helmets on. Hyperion and Julian stepped up first, and they both waved their staff, and said the words. In a big dark poof, they were gone. Dyra and Sander came next, and they disappeared next. Xyell and Zylia walked up, and held out their staffs. “Aperi umbra portal, Zyger!” they said shakily, and a portal appeared. They both stepped in, the wolves following behind. A sucking sensation came over them, and black and purple light rushed around him.
When they stepped out, they only had enough time for a quick look around when suddenly, a choking sensation came over them. They remembered the oxygen button on their helmets, and clicked it. Normal air came rushing in. The wolves were fine, as they were magical, and had a mystical power of their own.
They were atop a rocky ridge, a stormy, churning sea below them. They carefully walked across the ridge, at times nearly tripping. Together, they reached the mainland, and looked across. There were so many mountains and caves, how would they EVER find the scroll? They ran across the land, until they realised that they did not seem to be getting anywhere. Then Xyell had a bright idea. “Let’s use levitation so we can move faster, and we can spot the scroll more easily,” he said excitedly. “Rebus!” they cried, waving their staff, and took off quickly soaring into the air, the wolves chasing below them, on the ground.
Suddenly, Zylia lost control. She first lost her balance, then began flipping randomly, and then lastly, made mad jerking movements downwards. Xyell watched in horror, as his sister fell down, down, down into a giant, crater deep below. Xyell soared down to follow her. He landed and looked down the pit. It was a long, long, and I mean long way down. He gulped, but stood his ground and racked his brain for a way down. “Magic!” he thought. Meridiem, he whispered softly, but nothing happened. “Darn, a magic deflector pit. How annoying,” he said quietly to himself.
Like everyone in the Lygrass family, Xyell came ready made like his ancestors, with a wide mind, and an encyclopaedic dictionary of knowledge resting in his pink, gooey brain. It wasn’t as good as Zylia's, but it was still just as incredible. He flicked through his memory. Zylia had taught him rope work, and he could enhance the bit of the rope that would be on the outside of the pit. He tied it to a rock, and said obstringere. He lowered himself down the crater until his feet touched the bottom. Zylia was lying on the floor, hurt, but not badly. “Where am I?” asked Zylia, blinking hard a couple of times. “We were flying, then you lost control, and fell down this pit, so I had to clamber down to save you,” explained Xyell.
The wolves' curious heads poked out from the entrance of the pit, and then they heard a loud roar... it was a Cryzer Dragon.
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Meanwhile, back on Forever, inside Drexilious’ castle, there was a peasant, tied up, and chained to the wall. There was a pool of lava mixed with acid right next to him. Drexilious walked into the room, tall, and as evil as ever. His guards flanked him, hooded and dangerous. “Who are the Freedom Fighters?” sneered Drexilious.
“I...I..Don’t know! I am just a farmer! responded the petrified farmer.
“Tell me,” snarled the evil man, breathing into the face of the prisoner menacingly.
“I tell you, I don’t know who, or what they are!” The farmer screamed.
“Tell me, or else. Aduento suorum fulger!” All of a sudden, Drexilious staff burst into a sort of cow rod, and he pointed to the pool of lava. “I promise you, I will let you live free with your wife and children once you answer me.”
“They are a rebel organization who are planning to overthrow the Shadow Fold, and restore peace in the land! Now please, let me free, and I will be your most trusted citizen, PLEASE! LET ME GO FREE!” pleaded the farmer.
Drexilious pretended to think it over. “All right,” he said mockingly, in a way that made you think he was serious, and then said gutta vincula. The farmer dropped onto the floor. Suddenly, Drexilious called, “Guards, pick him up, and drop him into the lava!”
“But, you said I could be free!” cried the farmer in despair. “You know I never keep my word,” said Drexilious hauntingly.
***The rest of this chapter was cut for fear of it being a bit too violent, the author***
Now, back to our heroes...
The twins screamed, their voices echoing across caverns of the pit. Another Cryzer Dragon walked up behind the first one. Xyell and Zylia stared at their smooth and shiny scales. The first one had ruby red scales, and yellow eyes. They one behind numero uno had lime green scales, with the dash of purple tail flashing occasionally. The red one looked as though it was about to let loose a jet of fire. Xyell drew his staff, and closed his eyes. He held out the gem for the red one to see, but the fire never came. The dragon looked curiously.
Xyell tried to reason with it. “Uh, hi! I don’t mean to hurt you and your.... sister, but, me and Zylia have got to get out of this pit. Would you mind…” but before Xyell could finish, the red dragon picked Xyell up and raised him to eye level. Xyell had a little fear of heights, so he was frozen, but the dragon suddenly put him on his back.
Zylia, on the other hand, was unafraid. She had always wanted to ride on a dragon, and hopped on the green one’s back, dragging her hurt foot behind her. They were going to help them!
Xyell had named the red dragon Skystalker, and Zylia’s dragon was called Skyhawk. They held on to their backs, and they took off, leaping through the pit. Zylia quickly healed her foot with an instant healing ointment that she kept with her at all times.
The siblings continued their search for the scroll. They agreed that they would search the three continents: Swersh, Melldin, and Aantag, together.
They were crossing back from Aantag, to Meldin. A couple of days had passed, and they had searched throughout all of the continents. The rough sea swarmed, and churned below them, Skystalker looked down warily, as though looking out towards new Cryzer Dragons who were not as friendly as them, the younglings.
Xyell was also beginning to lightly curse to himself (not real curses, of course, or he would have oozing red and blue pimples, yellow eyeball warts, and an oversized, purple brain) for their lack of success. Then, it began raining. Not just a light drizzle, but a hard, pouring shower. The rain felt like daggers, hammering on our four heroes' backs, and heads. If the landscape wasn’t harsh enough, they were stuck in the middle of an ocean, stuck somewhere between Swersh and Aantag. They tried to persevere, but it was just too harsh. A heavy wave crashed above their head. Suddenly, they saw a flash of land. Xyell whooped in delight, and without thinking, flew towards the land. Zylia and Skyhawk followed, a little behind. Their feet touched the ground, a few minutes later, they had arrived. The land didn’t really look like any of the three continents, like on the map they were given, this ground was more barren, lava pools rested and the mountains more huge. They realised that they were on a completely new continent.
Both their eyes widened. This was frightening, and a bit cool at the same time. Suddenly, a pearly white, and wizened Cryzer Dragon came flying down to the small group of six. He was huge, and wise. It opened its mouth, and spoke in the human tongue. It said in a deep voice, “You have passed my second test, which was to find the hidden continent of Rixer, and I think you are ready for the last 2 trials. The first, is that you have to go through the rocky landscape, without magic, and the second, is that you have to guess my dragon name. Then, I will give you the scroll, that Armediur, the one who made the scroll, entrusted me to give, only to the worthy.” With that, the dragon took off, onto the top of a mountain. Xyell and Zylia were shocked, the scroll was here!
The twins stared at the rocky landscape. They knew that the dragons were magical, and reluctantly left their newfound friends behind. Together, they decided that they had to go in, separately. Xyell hopped onto Flamefast, and took off. A while later, Zylia hopped onto Darkfang, and together they took off into the canyon. Rocks fell everywhere the moment they galloped in. She racked her brain for a way through. Darkfang gave a thoughtful growl, and I will translate, “Why don’t we go through the cave, over there?” Zylia quickly glanced over at the side, Darkfang was right, there was a small tunnel, it was made of grayish blue stone. They leaped in through the hole, and rode through
A couple minutes later, they hopped out, triumphant. They had succeeded! Xyell was sweating, but he had made it to, the hard way. The old dragon flew down, with a sour smile on his old lips. “I see you have made it, one of you had help, and one of you broke through with sweat and bones. You cheat death again, and again. Now, it is time for the last trial. Guess my name,” the dragon said wryly, the milky white crystal on his forehead glistening smugly.
Zylia and Xyell went over a couple meaningless names, such as Mevlen, Saqila, Nymer, Fmetlen, but none of them made any sense, and every time they came up with another name, the dragon just shook his head, and smugly smiled. Then, each of them had a brain strike! Svellious had mentioned that name, hadn’t he? They both shouted at the same time, “BEYILINOR!”. The dragon sighed. “You have gotten there in the end, like I knew you would, like what I foresaw. Here is the scroll.” Beyilinor pulled the scroll from behind a rock, and it floated over to where the twins were standing. They grabbed it gently. The paper glowed, and it was pure and solid gold. There were words on the paper:
“Ut lux mundi luceat in malum,
et obumbratio mundi.
Ego hanc miscet fera tollere de bloodshade”
Somehow, the words filled both of them with power. “Thanks!” they turned to the dragon, but he had disappeared. Some say dragon powers as as mysterious as the mysteries of life itself…
Suddenly, a buzz ran through their earpieces. It was a message from their base. “Lygrass, Lygrass. Have you found the scroll? Over.”
“Yes. We have it safe, over.” responded Zylia quickly.
“Good, because the beast has just arisen, and it has crushed a quarter of Forever. We need that scroll!” Svellious' voice echoed through the headpiece.
“We’re on our way, over!” Xyell said in a flash. A worried look crossed their faces. They whistled to call the Cryzer Dragons, opened the portal, and whizzed everyone back to Forever.
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Back on Forever, they felt the ground rumble around their feet. It was coming. Everyone was crowded around. Zylia stood on a rock. Xyell followed her up. “We need to fight! The time is NOW!” said Zylia.
“Wrong! We need to wait for the right time!” Svellious said suddenly.
Everyone was stunned. “This is the WRONG time, we need to wait more, this is too early!” continued the leader.
“Too early is when Forever was bright, too early was when the beast wasn’t here,” Xyell pleaded.
Svellious did not look convinced.
Outside the cave, the world looked like it was about to fall. “What good is a way out of a problem, when you can’t use it? We have the scroll with us, we have a way out!” cried Zylia, but Svellious sneered. “Really? We need to wait for them to come to us, not us to them!”
“We’d be like sitting ducks waiting for them!” Zylia cried. She had a point. “We have waited for this opportunity for decades! And now we throw away the opportunity to strike? This is the moment for battle! Who is with me?”
A group of wizards cried out loudly in agreement. The teams who went to find the scrolls were all in. A small group of e Freedom Fighters were also in. Xyell smiled. This was enough, but if Svellious had said yes…
The small band of fighters put on their armour, and hopped onto their magical animals, such as lynxes, panthers, wolves, and dragons (actually, that was only the Lygrass on the dragons). Xyell and Zylia smiled at each other. This was the chance that they could have once and for all, to defeat the Shadow Fold! Everyone got ready. They bounded out of the cave entrance. The battle was on.
“Awoooooooooo!” went the wolves, it was a call sign for more wolves to join. People peeked out of the window, and more and more inhabitants of Forever joined. Soon, they were approaching the castle in the middle of the city. Its tall black tips, spindling and spinning as if touching the sky. Suddenly, the Shadow Fold's mercenaries galloped in on their steads. Zylia and Xyell both charged at a different one.
Zylia used all the spells she could ever remember, and swept them through the air. Fulgar! cried Zylia. The soldier easily parried it and took a blow of his own stupefaciunt!
Zylia narrowly avoided the stun spell, and shot another more deadly spell at the soldier. Incendium! The soldier couldn't parry that one, and was singed.
Xyell was busy duelling against another guard. “Iter!” cried Xyell. This guard was a hulk of a man, easily tripped, and was knocked out cold. Xyell searched through the guards robes. He grasped the key!
He slid it through the door hole thing-gummy, and the doors slid open with a slow yonky yonky.
“Zylia! We have access to the way in!” said Xyell with a triumphant punch to the sky. They walked through the doors. They figured that Drexilious would be in the tallest tower. They pointed their staff to their feet. Serpo! Their footsteps immediately became quiet. When they finally arrived at the top of the tower, there was a giant glass window.
Drexilious was looking down onto the battlefield with glee. “Why, hello, my young friends!” he purred.
“Why are you doing this?” said Zylia, with a look of disgust plastered on her face.
“I am glad you asked. It all started when I was living on Bloodshade. You see, I am not human. I’m Llorne. When I was younger, I wanted power, I wanted control. I found a scroll that would destroy realms. Naturally, I destroyed Bloodshade, but that wasn’t enough. So I escaped from my dying realm. I journeyed from realm to realm, gathering followers as I travelled. The most loyal of those, rose up the ranks of the Shadow Fold.
One day, we were raiding, when we found another portal. We were already in control of Uunburg, Jhetha, Myrtell, and Yunvurk. When we strayed onto Forever, we tried to destroy it. But your spirit was too strong, so we kept it, for longer. Much longer, so we could break your strength. We came so close, until your stupid rebellion came along....” Drexilious finished his story, and smiled maliciously. “I guess I am telling you all this, because you are about to die. OCCIDERE!"
Our heroes narrowly avoided it, and they began to fight with Drexilious.
The fight continued for a long time. Xyell and Zylia were really good fighters, and they also used weaponry blows. Finally, the fight reached a peak. Drexilious swiped his staff, and shouted Secare!” Xyell’s leg suddenly got a large gash, and began bleeding.
“THAT’S IT, THIS HAS GOT TO STOP!” yelled Zylia, She charged. “PROBITAS!” Probitas meant light, and goodness, and Drexilious was the opposite of that. He burst into a poof of dust.
Zylia rushed over to her brother, and muttered a quick and simple spell: Sana. His leg was healed.
They raced down the stairs. The battle was still raging, but they were gaining ground. Xyell spotted a flash of shiny white, and rushed towards it. “Svellious is here!" Xyell said quietly. “The old man probably had a change of heart, or something…”
“Yup, that’s right, Lygrass.” said Svellious, glaring at Xyell.
Suddenly, a rumble emerged from the ground. The beast was still here! There was panic and screaming!
Suddenly, Svellious’s voice erupted from the ground: “EVERYONE, THIS BEAST MAY SEEM DANGEROUS, OVERPOWERING, AND DEADLY, BUT TOGETHER, WE CAN STOP IT. THE WORDS FOR THE SPELL ARE,
“Ut lux mundi luceat in malum,
et obumbratio mundi.
Ego hanc miscet fera tollere de bloodshade!”
Everyone, big and small, pointed their staff to the ground, and repeatedly chanted the words.
“Ut lux mundi luceat in malum,
et obumbratio mundi.
Ego hanc miscet fera tollere de bloodshade!”
The Beast seemed overpowered, and it went crazy. The people of Forever felt like their hearts were expanding so big, it felt like it would burst. The Beast’s 16 eyes turned red, blue, green, orange, yellow, white, and finally, dimmed into darkness.
It was gone.
The crowd cheered.
Zylia and Xyell picked up an old flag of Forever and waved it over the body of the Beast, back and forth. The dark clouds split apart in the sky. For the first time in fifty years, light flooded across the saved realm.
Night was gone, and the dawn was here.
