The Tyrant Of Undine - The

Lost Temple
By Aakansha_Ganesh

Written in the
NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program.

PDF created on January 13, 2022.

 Table of Contents

Table of Contents 2
Chapter 1 5
Chapter 2 12
Chapter 3 18
Chapter 4 22
Chapter 5 26
Chapter 6 31
Chapter 7 36
Chapter 8 41
Chapter 9 46
Chapter 10 51
Chapter 11 56
Chapter 12 60
Chapter 13 61
Chapter 14 65
Chapter 15 70
Chapter 16 74
About the Author 82
About the Novel 84

2
3
4
 Chapter 1

I woke up to another desolate gray morning. The clouds

were up and hiding the sun, and a slight drizzle pattered
across my window. My name is Alice, we are not a noble
family at all. In fact, we bought some cheap land and
labored to make our house ourselves, it was quite hard. Now
I will not give you all the details of the story because no one,
at least I don’t think anyone would want to hear it. I was
sitting at the foot of my bed when I heard a knock on the
door. I ran to answer thinking it would be my friend, it could
not be the tax officers again right? They just came 3 days
again! Sure enough, when I opened my door it was my
friend, Hunter, except something was wrong...He had a
troubled look on his face instead of the usual grin. “What’s
the wrong Hunter”

“The Army it’s coming I barely escaped we have to go now!”

I gathered up food and necessary supplies, and a few of my

favorite things. When we went outside the putrid smell of
smoke singed my eyebrows and burned my eyes. Coughing
we ran through the endless smoke not sure how for or how
long it had been.

Several hours later we were far from the smoke. As I set up

camp, Hunter made us food. After we were both finished
eating we went to bed.

We awoke to howl. Animals were closing in.

5
“Hunter why are animals coming here”

I might have forgotten to close the fire or something

properly”

“You are such a pain”

“Yeah, sorry to change the subject, but maybe we should

focus on the impending doom”

“I am not done with you if it comes to it, I will haunt you and
scold you in heaven!”

Before Hunter could say anything else a wolf jumped out of

the bushes, but it was different it had glowing red eyes like
an army tracking wolf. Hunter, we have to kill it and run, it’s
giving the government our location.

I screamed as one made an attempt to pounce on me. I

rolled away and grabbed a tree branch, bonking it in the head
with strength I never knew I had, it exploded into dust
making me cough. Hunter tried to do the same with the wolf
he was battling, but the wolf ate his twig. I jump-slashed the
wolf with my tree branch but got to eat dirt instead. I
managed to whack its paw and get its attention. Hunter then
tried slashing his wolf but the wolf moved to reveal my leg
and Hunter whacked my leg instead. And that is when I
realized why Hunter’s attacks were not hurting the wolf. Note
this is not the time when the character realizes a devious
plan and enacts it. This is the time where the character
realizes how weak her counterpart is. How I know this I
barely felt the tree branch, it felt like a cat with no claws
trying to scratch me, but the paw is wooden.

“Hunter you are such a weakling!”

“Am not !”

“Then why did your tree branch feel like a cat paw”

“I was going easy on the wolf.”

6
“Yeah Sure, very funny”

“Wait till I tell an actual joke, oh wait that’s you!”

“Oh, be quiet”

I whacked the confused wolf on the head it exploded into

dust like the other.

“Is that enough proof that you are weak!”

I said in response to Hunter’s astonished face.

I forgot to mention earlier the history of the Undine's. The

undines are called angels in other parts of the world for our
pure hearts and strive to make others happy, but our good
name was gone when the crown prince was crowned, For, he
was a Shrewd man under disguise. He fed his own father the
former king poison, so his throne could not be taken from
him. Till then he has been robbing the country and razing
villages at a time just because they could not pay his
exuberant fees. For these reasons, he has been named the
“Angel-Slayer”. For 13 years our country has been suffering
under his rule, as no one dared stand up to him.

“Hunter, what if we opposed Angel-Slayer”

“Ha, good one though I could do better”

“No, I am serious we could form a rebel group with the

strongest people we can find they can train us in the art of
weaponry”

“That idea actually isn’t half bad, I’m in!’

“We should probably get going, whoever is tracking us

probably realized that their trackers disappeared”

“I’ll pack the food”

“I’ll get the tents”

7
…

About 20 minutes later we started walking. I froze in fear,

“Hunter do you know where we are”

“Unlike you, I kept track and set our course to Ruhlid to find
the strongest warrior there, is there any way that they could
have sent another tracker after us?”

“You really are a dimwit, trackers can only be sent 48 hours

after they have been destroyed, you should have listened to
Mrs.Melody”

“You see but that is your specialty, I am more of the

outdoorsy, strong type”

“You mean the type that boasts about how great they are,
but when it comes to strength can’t leave a single scratch,
Hunter your expertise that I am aware is only a navigation
device, and a comedian,” I said while stifling a laugh.

“At least my jokes are appreciated” he snapped

“Are they though”

“Just shut up already” he grumbled

I laughed,

“I’m just joking!’

We kept walking towards Ruhlid, for what felt like hours.

finally we saw the lights that signified a village, but
something was off the village, there was no merchants
yelling out to people, in fact the village was completely
deserted.

"Hunter, I came up with a good name for a rebellion group"

"Shush confidential information, someone could hear"

"Hunter there is no one in the village!"

8
"What the, your right"
"Anyways the name I thought of is the Angel-Savers"

"That's actually pretty good"

"I'm excited to do some slish-slashing "

"Man,you are such a weirdo!"

Someone jumped out from the shadows, she was fully

clothed in black so we couldn't tell who she was

"Who are you, state your business, are you from the army,
have you come to kill the innocent lives of the people in
hiding, have you no shame!"

"Actually we are just kids from Centorria, the army came to

our village and started setting everything on fire. We don't
know how many survivors there are, we ran into the woods
and wound up here."

"Oh in that case I am sorry, I thought you were one of those

heartless soldiers"

"It's fine"

"by the way, you have some nice scimitars, we are banding
together a rebel group against Angel-Slayer, would like to
join"

"First, I will have to test your trustworthiness, follow me"

He led us to a hall of red and green with katanas, scimitars,
and spears, and that is only a few of the weapons available.

"Pick out a weapon of your choice you will need it in the

upcoming tests"

I picked up a long katana, Hunter walked over to the ninja

set.

Hunter walked over to me after grabbing it.

9
"You really need to be more careful about who you ask, and
who you tell." Hunter chided while whispering.

"Sorry" I whispered with a meager smile.

"Interesting choices, follow me this way" The person clad in

black interrupted.
"You will need a long range weapon as well so pick one of
these as well"

I grabbed a bow an arrow, Hunter picked up a blow gun

"So cool, he whispered in my ear"

I stifled a laugh

"You are such a dweeb, do you even know how to use

those"

"Yes, I have been training my whole life for an opportunity

like this"

"To whack yourself in the face with a nunchuck" I asked

trying not to laugh

"You are ruining the moment, and you know it, watch the
skills."

He started doing figure 8's with the nunchucks that were

shockingly decent that is until he hit himself in the head
with it. I burst out laughing, the woman clad in black came
over and asked what was funny. I repeated Hunter's actions
through words, but this time the lady was laughing as well.

" I believe I have not introduced myself, I am Sybl of the

sky, an integrity knight. M appointed position is to protect
Ruhlid"

"My name is Alice, Hunter and I are from Centorria"

"While I do find you to quite trustworthy, I will still administer

a test, just as a precaution"

10
"Your tests are as follows take these amulets, there are
three one, the three different amulets are Trust, Resilience,
and I forgot the last one bare with me here. You will be given
3 problems you must pass at least 2 of the given problems.
Should you fail, even though I don't want to, I have to kill
you"

"We can do this,right Alice"

"Yeah, bring it on"
Sybl let us down a couple more hallways until we reached an
open area that looked quite like a forest.

"Your test is to wake all of these amulets blue,when you use

the skills corresponding to the amulet it will turn blue, should
you fail, it will turn black."

"Your first test is honesty, that's what it was." The lady said
here hold these"
she passed us each 1 amulet."

"Let the test begin"

11
 Chapter 2

"Let's do this" I Exclaimed surprisingly cheerful considering I

could die.

"First Question Why when a car makes a delivery it's called

a shipment, and when a ship makes a delivery it's called a
cargo"

"HUH?!"

Sybl burst out laughing, Hunter and I joined her as well.

"It gets them every time" she managed through her

wheezing laughs.

After getting control of herself again she asked the first

question

"Would you every betray our rebellion group if we were to

form one"

"No" Hunter and I said in unison

"If it came to it would you risk it by bluffing if you found a

good one"
"Yes"
"Will you train hard every day and do as your master asks to
master the art of the weapon you picked.

"Yes" we said again in Unison

"If you had to choose to save either me or your friend, who

would you choose"

"I don't know, I don't want either of you to die" I said

12
"I would try to save both of you, there is always a way"
Hunter said

"Show me your amulets"

I showed her mine it was a bright blue, so was Hunter's

Congratulations you have passed the first test.

"The second test is trust, the two of you must follow the
map I give you, several creatures will try to lead you astray,
but you must use will power and stick together."

"Got it" I said

"We can do this, we've been a team since like 1st grade"
Hunter said confidently.

"I have no doubts the two of you will succeed"

"Thankyou" I said

...

Hunter started leading us on our path in the woods, he had

always been better at following and making maps than I had.
As we snaked down in the forest I realized that we had
started going farther and farther away from the path.

"Hunter are you sure we are following the map right, it

seems like we are going away from the path"

"Yes I'm sure, remember it's probably one of the traps to get
us to fight and go our separate ways"

"Yeah probably"
"Are you kind of scared of what the monster is"

"Actually I don't think there is a monster, I think it's just a

maze thing were we had to get out the other end of the
forest"
"Alice look, there's a clearing that goes out of the forest"

13
"Hunter is it the path on the map"

"Lemme check, good call we had to go the other way"

"Let's keep going"

"I feel like something is watching us"

"I feel it too"

"Draw out your scimitar, all get my katana"

Weapons drawn we stood back to back. A horrid monster

jumped from the depths. I should have passed the bravery
test just for running at it with my blade like a mad man. I
drove my blade into it's side, then my blade started to glow
the monster shrieked in pain. Did I do that. Do I have magic
capabilities? I slashed my blade again from the right this
time, My blade shone with light. Again a shriek from the
monster.

"Hunter use you blow dart on it's eye"

"My aim is crap and you know it, I'll end up hitting you
instead."

"I believe in you, you can do it!"

Hunter blew a dart. his aim was true, it hit the monster, it
froze.

"Hunter, I think those are paralyzing darts, really powerful

ones too"

"Dang that's cool"

"Alice, do you mind if I do the honors of killing it, please"

"Be my guest"

Hunter pierced it's heart with his blade. The monster

exploded into dust.

14
"Why dust, can't it be like dragonflies or something"

"I'm not sure, I think it was a high level tracker doll. Only the
high level mages can summon them. I wonder if Sybl sent
them. They are usually made out of mud or clay, so my
guess is that's not dust, but dried mud powder"

"interesting, it felt real like flesh or something, we can ask

sybl to teach us more"

"Yeah, but since when did you want to learn anything that
did not pertain to slish-slashing"

"You see it depends on the topic, this topic is cool"

"If you say so"

"Let's keep going"

We followed the map for a bit longer until we came to the
forest edge.

"Please tell me we leave this time"

"It says that if we go left behind like those trees should be
our spot"
"Then what are we waiting for, let's go"
We picked around the bushed trying to find something that
could lead us to passing the test. There was nothing here
except for some bushes and a tree.

"There is nothing here, Hunter"

"Alice, the tree is glowing you should like probably step

away from there"

"WHAT?!"
I jumped away from the tree katana raised. I had been
practicing unsheathing it along the walk. I felt quite proud
that I did it.

"Nice moves"

15
"Why, thank you. i've been practicing"

"Aww I could have practiced as well"

"Yeah, you'll get it next time"

"Oh yes I will" he said mysteriously.

"Don't do that voice it's ridiculously creepy"

"Fine, take the fun out of it"

"I will" I said mimicking his creepy voice.

"I see your point now, Alice look behind someone coming
out of the tree"

I spun around to the tree katana raised. I was determined,

wind blew behind me and my sword glew blue this time.

"Sorry to startle you, but it's just me. You passed the trust
test. How do we know you are not a dryad. It is in your
nature to trick people"
"How do you know that I am a dryad"

"I don't, but you could be, plus this is a trust test so I would
not be surprised"

"You have a point"

"Tell us something we know, and Sybl knows then"

"Someone in your family is named... Elizabeth, and their
brother is Harry"

"Yeah, no. Way off"

"Dang it that usually works, there are so many Harrys and

Elizabeths"

"Yeah, but not this time"

"I'm leaving, your mean"

"Okay"

16
"Alice, you are seriously just gonna take that"

"Yeah, we don't want to fight do you"

"Not really, no"

"So that's why I took it, if you had said that there would be
an argument"

Just then I felt like the bushes were moving...

17
 Chapter 3

"Hunter did you see that"

"No, what happened, my back was probably turned to it"

"Good point, I thought the bushes rustled"
A rustling noise came from behind them this time.

"Alice turn around now, Katana drawn"

"There is two of them"

Giant spiders emerged from the undergrowth.

"I charge backwards, Hunter and I switched spiders"

"Alice, your eyes"

"What about them, sort of occupied here"

"Your are eyes are yellow and orange with like a tri-blade top
on it"

"Very funny"

"I'm serious"

"Not now, Hunter, am busy"

"I'm not gonna drop it"

"We'll ask Sybl about them ,how about that"

"Agreed"

Having parried it's leg, I took the opportunity,and slashed the

bug, I dodged it leg and slashed it off.Unfortunately, I did not

18
see it's other leg and it punched me, for sure leaving a
bruise. I slid under it from the force, and managed to rake
my blade up it's gut, but his time my blade was pink. Once
again the spider exploded into dust.For some reason every
time I used my blade it started glowing a color.

"Hunter need some help"

"Yes, please"

"Will do, move aside for a second"

As soon as Hunter moved, I charged running to the monster

and swung my blade overhead. My blade shone with a green
light this time and cut through the spider like it was warm
butter.

" Alice How did you do that" Hunter looked at me aghast.

"I don't know I think it's the sword" I admitted

"Dang that katana is epic"

"I guess"

Sybl (hopefully) from the shadows.

"Please tell me you are Sybl"

"This time it is me"

"Tell me something only you and us would know"

"Let's see here" she said. She seemed to be deep in
thought. A couple moments later a grin played across her
face.

"Hunter here, is quite good at hitting himself with a

nunchuck"she managed in between laughs.

"Yup, that's me"

"Hunter, you are quite the character you, you know that"

"Well of course I do, it's me"

19
"So"Sybl interjected "Did I pass the test"

"Yes, definitely"

"When you two were taking the test , I noticed that whenever
Alice swung her Katana it would glow. That is not something
the blade does. I believe you have Goddess blood, while it
could be demon blood as well in you. You have all the signs,
I used to think it was a myth, but not anymore"
"See, I told you Alice. Your eyes turned orange and yellow
with like a 3 point blade!"

"Well that confirms my suspicion. You Alice are a

descendant of the goddesses"
"I always knew there was something special about you,
Alice." Hunter added "I only hang out with special people"

"Why thank you Hunter"

"Not so fast", Sybl interceded once again,"the orange and

yellow are not the colors of the goddess race. I will have to
do some investigating on that. Even more interesting it only
turns that color when you are in combat. My guess is that
your powers are not fully awakened. We will speak more
over dinner"

"Dinner sounds really good right now"

"Alice, you have food you could have ate this entire time"

"Hunter you could have brought that up before, I forgot"

"I guess you have a point"

"Follow me it probably won't be your favorite way, but I will

open a portal just follow me through it."

"Alice, who would have thought that we would get to go

through a portal, this is so cool"
"Surprisingly this time I agree with you"

20
"Alice, Hunter follow me" Sybl called.

21
 Chapter 4

The vortex was yellow, pink, and red with fluffy white clouds.
The vortex swirled, and swirled. giving it a sort of cotton
candy effect. Sybl stepped into the vortex and started to
swirl like cotton candy, until you could see no more of her. I
stepped in next, Hunter close behind. I felt like I had been
nauseated, and my bones had been sucked out of me. I
popped out back in Ruhlid, Hunter close behind.

"Not cool anymore, defe-"

Hunter ran to the bushes and threw up, before he did so I

averted my eyes. It was not something I wanted to see.

"Sybl, what's for dinn-"

Now sadly it was my turn, I joined Hunter near the bushes

and hurled

"Planning on making Ramen, you guys like spicy Ramen"

"that's fine by me" I managed surprisingly.

"My favorite" Hunter said quickly probably figuring a another

wave of nausea was coming.

My luck however was short-lived, as a new wave of nausea

swept over me.

"I'm just gonna stay here for a while"

"Wait there, I'll get something to help with your na-"

"Not you too" Hunter yelled

Then turned back to the bushes to hurl again.

22
"No, I'm playing. I've become immune to portals, just gives
me a tad bit of fatigue"

"Lucky"

Then turned back to hurl

"I'm just going to go hurry and get something to cure the

effects"

A couple minutes later Sybl emerged, and gave me each a

crystal bottle with shiny blue liquid, and Hunter a drink that
looked somewhat like lemonade.

I gulped it down, warmth tingled all of my nerves. I felt better

instantly.

"What is that, it worked instantly it's incredible"

"Why don't I get any of that. Why does Alice get the blue
drink thing that works instantly"

"Hunter it is because your friends here is part goddess so

she can have it. If you were to have it then you would burn
up"

"No burning up please"

"Request accepted"Sybl replied

"Thank you very much" Hunter complied

"Is it possible that Hunter has magic blood in him"

"It is, his magic might have just not awakened"

"If that's the case then how do we wake it up"

"Our first stop after your third test is the Lost City"
"If it's lost then how do we find it" I asked
"I have to figure that part out"

23
"Ok, what do we have to do for our last test"

"You might not have to do it,that is if you have

accomplished courage in the forest"

I checked my amulet it was blue!

"It's blue" I said enthusiastically"I won't die now"

"How about you Hunter"Sybl inquired

"Mine is white" Hunter mumbled miserably.

"Hunter it's okay, you just have to take a test"

"Alice, I literally did nothing. You did all the work"

"Don't Say that, you know it's not true"

"Name one time I did something"

"The only reason I could kill the giant frog was because you
paralyzed it"
"Wait a sec a giant frog,describe it"Sybl interrupted

"It was like orange and brown, with large green eyes"

"Oh no" Sybl's face paled "They've broken free"

"What broke free" Hunter inquired.

"What you saw was a mere henchman"

"The Giga Anura was your foe"

"But Alice and I saw it explode into like shards of mud"

"Sybl, I've been wondering,are there two types of dusts. It

just sort of feels different. The spider and frogs exploded
into dust, but if felt different then the wold dust"

"You see when a mortal being makes a guardian it explodes

into just dust, but when a monster creates a guardian it

24
explodes into something more like mud shards."

"Sybl, you said something about a sky temple, is there

something there that could help defeat Angel-Slayer, and Big
Frog"

"Yes there is, I am hoping for us to gain the edge of duality.

ONe side lethal to mortals with a evil heart, the other for
those who don't have a heart"

"So you are saying that it can't hurt us"

"Precisely"

"This gets cooler and cooler by the second"

"Don't get too ahead of yourself Hunter" I said "We still have
to train for our weapons"

"Can I get a katana like Alice's"

"If you want" Sybl agreed "I'll take you two to the armory and
weaponry room after some Ramen, I'm starving"

As soon as she said it, my stomach started growling it away

at my insides.

"Food sounds amazing right now" HUnter said happily

"With that, I agree"

"I'm going to go make some food. I don't want to sound like

your mom, but I will still say be good, and stay inside. It is
safer inside then outside."

25
 Chapter 5

We walked into the house, and parted with Sybl halfway

through.

The living room was large and spacious. The flooring was a
pretty light shade of brown with oak patterning.The walls
were a mint green, with a icy blue stripe in the middle. There
was one couch and two armchairs. The couch was dark
brown with light up coffee holders, it also reclined. The two
armchairs were purple, with gold swirly designs. There was a
fireplace turned on, and on the mantel above was a large
katana on display. To either side of the fire place was a
bookshelf. I looked through the books pushing them in
different directions as tried to choose a book. White light
glowed through and sucked me in.

"ALICE!" I subconsciously heard, it sounded like Hunter. I

fell through a spiraling hole, with no clue where I was going.
What I did know is that I did not want to be here alone. I felt
myself longing for Hunter's company, and easygoing
personality. Truthfully, I am terrified. I felt like I heard
Hunter's voice, but I was probably imagining it.

"Alice,I'm coming. I will never leave you behind"

"Hunter?" i asked weakly.

"Yes, are you okay, You sound drained." he asked in a

concerned voice.

"Yeah" I said

"Good"he responded.

"Now that you are here"I mumbled under my breath.

26
"Did you say something" Hunter asked

I felt my face go red.

"No nothing"

"If you say so"

We stared at each other in silence for a while.

"Alice look down"

I looked down and stifled a scream in my throat. There was
about a 300 foot drop into a lake. "Alice hold my hand" she
said

I reached reached out and grabbed his hand. His hand was
warm, and gave a warm tingly feeling to my cold palms.

We fell into the lake, and I felt myself slip from

consciousness. Hunter grabbed me and pulled me to the
surface. How he managed to do so. I'm not sure. Hunter
dragged me to the shore,and then I blacked out.

...

I woke up a few hours later. Hunter had set up camp. Our

new home had Maple logs that he managed to cut down with
something, and a stick roof that seemed to be birch. Inside
the house was a log that hunter was carving with a knife. It
was probably from his ninja set.I sat down next to him.

"What are you making Hunter"

"I'm trying to carve out a table"

"Do you mind if I help"

"No ,you can join me I have another blade in my bag"

"Great"
"You were out cold for three days"

"Three days, I thought I was out a couple hours!"

27
"Nope"
"You should probably eat something, I have some fish over
there, that I smoked myself"
"Ooh, sounds good"
"Why, thankyou"
I walked over to the fishm and started eating it. The fish was
juicy and delicious, perfectly cooked.

"Hunter, this is really good, where did you learn to cook"

"My mom taught me, I hope she's okay"
"When we meet Sybl, maybe she can teach us scyring"

"What's scyring,sorry I forgot"

"Scrying is probably what Sybl used to communicate with
you. There are two forms. One is used for spying,and secret
missions. The other can be used for talking to people"

"Thank you for the refresher, Alice"

"You are welcome"

I gobbled up my fish, and walked to Hunter.I started
appreciating his outdoor skills more and more. I grabbed a
knife from his kit and sat next to him.

"So how do I do this"

"You can work on deepening the cuts, you follow the lines
with the knife." Once your done with that I will give you more
table to work with , and you can create your own patterns"

"Sounds fun"

We worked for hours until the sunset. THe table was almost
done, and looked really cool. With have like patterns. We
used my Katana; luckily Hunter brought it with him, to hack
off large areas of wood. the table reminded me in a remote
way of waves.

"The beds are not that bad. I used a knife and sheared a
bunch of goats I found. They are out back. We can get goat
milk, and use it to make butter, and other stuff.

28
"I'm going to go to bed. My nerves feel like they have been
pulling a 110 pounds all day"

"Mine too, can't way for some shuteye"

I layed down on my goat fuzz cot. It was shockingly warm. I
turned to the side and fell asleep almost instantly. That night
I dreamt of my hometown. Running around every shop. It
was the time before the army came, when I was about two.
The days everyone wished would come back. Ever since
Angel-Slayer took rule, Undine has been devastated with
loss. I wish I could grow wings and fly away, escape from all
my problems, but I can't. I have to face them, and I will. I
heard a ringing from above the table. I woke up, and
checked. It was Sybl!

After answering by speaking the magic word,

Acseptio.Sybl's face faded into view.

"Thank goodness, your awake"

"Yeah, Hunter told me I was out for three days"

"I've been worried sick, what did you too do"

"I was browsing books and a portal opened"
"What, how?! It has been said that it opens a portal, but I
thought of every combination"
"Well I guess not"

"What's up with the commotion" Hunter asked drowsily

"Sybl called"

"How's your research on the sky temple going"

"Very good, I figured out how to get there. You two are very
close by to it, so I will come to you, I even found out that
there is supposedly a legendary warrior,who will fight for
greater good"

"So, you are saying he can help us defeat Angel-Slayer, by

joining the Angel-Savers"

"That is exactly what I am saying, I will be coming tomorrow

29
with supplies. Until then you two can just relax. I will see
you soon Bye"
Sybl waved a hand, her image rippled and faded away. I
went back to sleep, and had no more dreams.

30
 Chapter 6

I woke up the next morning. Hunter was as still as a rock,

deciding not to wake him up. I went outside to explore.I went
to the shore and started weaving a large makeshift bag to
put stuff in. I crisscrossed kelp in different directions several
times to make a quite strong bag. I put a bunch of sand in it.
Pleased when it started spilling out. It was perfect for
leaving trails. I started hiking upwards a small hillish
structure to get a better view of the place. Sand spilling I
kept walking.I finally reached the top of the mountain, I
looked around. There was an heart shaped lake. I walked
towards it, thinking of filling my bag with more sand. I
reached the heart lake just as the last of my sand started
spilling out. I put my hand in the lake, it was warm.I stepped
farther into the lake. I sat there for a while, before I decided
to swim around. I swam around the perimeter. The lake had
a pebble bottom, with smooth rocks.I put my head in the
water. Bright colored fish swam around. Wait how can I see
underwater. I realized I could see, but I shouldn't be able to.
A couple seconds later, I realized that I was breathing
underwater as well. I made a mental note to see if I could do
it in other lakes as well, or if this one was magical. I got out
of the lake, intending on bringing Hunter. I put more sand in
my bag and followed my trail back to our home. About a half
and hour later, I reached our home. Hunter was making
breakfast. I sat down at our dining table.

"Hunter, you won't believe what I found."

"What did you find"

"It's a lake shaped like a heart.I'll show you after we eat"

"Sounds fun"

31
Hunter smoked some Salmon over an open fire.

"Hunter, can you teach me how to cook"

"Yeah, sure. Come here"

I got up and stood next to Hunter.

"First you have to clean the fish like this."

He removed the scales and .Then chopped of the head, and

fins.

"Then you cut it in half, like this"

He sliced the fish sideways.

"Then you have to take out it's guts"

He cut out it's guts. Truthfully, I felt kinda bad for the fish.

"Then you have to wash it"

We went outside to the lake. Hunter had a bowl with him. It

had a similar wave pattern to the dining table. I figured he
had carved that out of wood as well. He filled the bowl with
the water then went back inside.

"Now since we don't have a stove, I found this clear rock

that will work. I guess I could have just taken my metal bowl
with me,but oh well"
He emptied the water in the metal bowl, then put it aside.

"Now we take this clear rock and use the sun's light to set
the dried grass and leaves on fire"

He waited a second then first small,growing bigger, an

orange flame danced with heat.

"Once it is on fire, we put something on top of it. I've been

using this blade shuriken from my ninja set. He placed the
shuriken, then the metal bowl. Now we wait for it to boil."
We waited for a bit, then it started to boil.

32
"Great now it's boiled, so we have clean water that we can
use.This half we can use for washing the fish, the other half
for drinking"

He emptied the water back in the wooden bowl.

"You see the salt at the bottom"

I looked at the bottom of the metal bowl. Sure enough there

was whitish liquid.

"If we leave it in the sun for a while, it will take the water,
and might leave the salt I'm not sure, you understand till
here Alice"

"Yes, making sense at least for now"

"Great"

"Next we wash the fish"

He submerged the fish fillet in water, and washed it.

"Now, all we have to do is smoke, and season it"

"What are you going to season it with" I asked.

"For some reason, my ninja kit came with spices. Probably,

for like all night stake outs or something"

"Cool, I should ask Sybl for a ninja kit"

"Yeah, you should, they are quite useful"

"The metal bowl was from it too" I asked

"Yeah, now back to cooking"

"Right"
"Now we cut it and put it on a fish, to make a fish on a stick"
Hunter cut both sides of the large salmon into 16 bit sized
pieces.

"Now we put spices on it, I don't know the names of them,

33
so I call the, by color"
"That's fine"

Hunter put a bit of spice on each of the fish pieces and

rubbed it into the fish.

"Now all we need to do is smoke it"

"Okay"

"To do that we need to put them on two sticks", Hunter

grabbed two sticks, that were near the table Then skewered
the spiced fish pieces.

"Now we need to put a bit of oil on it"

He put a bit of oil on the fish.

"Now we put it over the flame"

Hunter held both the sticks over the flame.

"I now realize I probably should have asked this earlier, but
Alice do you want to hold a fish on a stick"
I laughed.

"Okay"

Hunter passed me a fish on a stick. I put it over the flame. A

couple minutes later Hunter said,

"You see how the fishes are like brownish now, that means
they are ready to eat."

I noticed the scent wafting over from the fish. They smelled
really good. I removed my fish from the flame and held my
stick. Hunter blew out the flame.
"Wait a second, I'll get two plates"

Hunter went back to the corner near the dining table, and
removed to plates, then hurried back.

34
"Put, your stick on the plate"
I placed my stick on the plate. Hunter placed his on the oher
plate.

"That Alice, is how you make a fish on a stick"

"Thank you for the lesson Hunter"

"You are very welcome" he said looking very pleased with

himself.

We sat at the dining table and ate our breakfast in silence.

Hunter jumped up.

"I forgot milk, sorry"

He ran outside with two glasses, and came back in a couple

minutes later.

"Fresh goat milk for you, and me"

"Thank you Hunter" I said while accepting the milk.

We ate the rest of our food in silence.

"Now, I'm going to show you the cool lake that I found, that I
think is magical"
"Okay, let's go!" Hunter exclaimed, excited.

35
 Chapter 7

I pulled Hunter out of our home. We left with his ninja set,
and my katana, just in case.

"Alice, I can walk you know"

"Sorry, I'm just really excited"

"It's fine, let's go then"

We followed the sand trail. for a bit before long, we reached

the top of the mountain. Then started heading downwards. A
couple minutes later we reached the lake.

"Hunter, can you breathe and see underwater? I can!"

"Let me check"
Hunter put his head underwater. Then came back up. A
ridiculous grin played upon his face.

"I can breathe, and see underwater!"

"I knew it the lake is magical, do want to see if there are any
other lake's around"
"Yeah we can swim in them. Maybe they have magical
properties as well!"

"Yeah, that would be cool!"

"Alice" Hunter said, with sudden warning in his voice."Turn

around now"

Hunter drew out his katana

I spun around with mine drawn

"Guess what, my ninja set came with a katana!"

36
"I feel like your kit has everything"

"I know right"

A massive being revealed itself from behind the trees. It was
oddly balloon shaped. When it finally came out from behind
the trees, we realized it was a blimp.

"Maybe it Sybl" Hunter spoke hopefully.

"I hope so" I said.

A figure came from out of the blimp, but stumbled and fell.
She got up and came closer.

"It's me" Sybl called out.

"Thank goodness, we though you blimp was an evil

monster"

Sybl burst out laughing. Then turned around and stopped.

"Oh well, I guess I see it now that you mention it, sorry
about that"
"It's fine, we are glad you are here"

"Did you bring supplies"

"Supplies, of course not, who told you I was going to bring
supplies"
"Hunter, it's not Sybl attack"

Hunter and i charged.Hunter went for a overhead swing. HIs

blade shone a bright blue.

"Well I guess you caught me"

The lady that was said to be Sybl turned into a hideous
yellow beast. Words could not describe how terrifying she
looked, she turned that way before Hunter could even hit
her. Hunter froze in fear, and the beast swatted him
aside.He landed on the grass, and by the sounds of it, he
probably broke a bone.

37
"Well I know I'm getting nightmares from that, how about you
Alice"
"Yeah definitely"

I charged with a diagonal from the right, my blade shone a

crimson red. I slashed into her, but my blade felt like it was
cutting jelly.

"Hunter, it's not working"

"What do you mean, it's not working"\"It's like I'm cutting

jelly, I can't wound her.

"There is a red thing on her forehead, try whacking that with

a shuriken, here"

Hunter gently tossed a ninja star to me. It landed on the

sand, I grabbed it.I chucked it as hard as I could at the red
glint on what seemed like a two story building encased in
slime. I passed through its jelly-like body and fell out the
other side.

"Hunter what if I charge into the thing, but this time I go

inside"

"Are you saying, go inside and try to find an organ or

something to stab"

"Precisely"
"How will you breathe"
"Do you have a fishbowl in your ninja set"

"I have this plastic bowl"

Hunter passed me a large plastic fishbowl, that fit smugly

around my neck.

"Hunter I think your bag generates whatever you need" I said

voice morphed

"Yeah probably"

38
I ran into the lake and filled the fishbowl with water, just like
before I could breath in it. It was perfect. I charged with a
forward thrust.

"HIYAH" I yelled

I went inside the translucent substance, that made up the

entity of the monster.

I swam upward, it was much slower than it would have been

in water. I realized I was holding my breath. I released my
breath and kept swimming upward. Seemingly half an hour
later, I found the red diamond. It was much larger than I
thought. There was a monster that seemed almost like a
midget. The jelly was just a casing, this monster was
controlling it, coming closer to Hunter, he was slowly inching
away. With one final thrust I reached the red platform. I
climbed up as as silently as possible.I crept behind the
chair. The monster spun around.

"So that's where you went, you little maggot"

It flashed claws ten times sharped then a cat, and 5 times
longer. It charged, I ducked and rolled. Thrusting my sword
in it, back. Or so I thought. It came up behind me and
kicked my back. Sprawled on the floor. I remember thinking,
this is the end, as she pounce on my. A sudden rush of
adrenaline hit me, I swung my sword and cut her in half. She
exploded into sand. The jelly started to level, i felt myself
coming back to the sand. A couple minutes later I saw the
sand, it was a jumpable distance. I hopped down, and took
the fish bowl off my head.

"You did it Alice" was the last thing I heard, I guess that
kick took a number on me. So naturally, I passed out again.I
just love passing out, who doesn't.

39
40
 Chapter 8

I woke probably like two weeks later. I sat up, my back and
knees cracked and nausea waved over me. I ran outside our
tiny home,knees popping, and threw up in the sea. I
decided, I wanted to go back up to the spring. I started the
trek up the mountain, to my surprise when I reached, Sybl
and Hunter were drinking something.

I walked over to them, I was still really weak. I tripped over

something and fell face first into the warm water. My
muscles relaxed, and I felt my pain go away. Surprisingly
my strength was back as well.Hunter limped over on his
crutches.

"Hunter, I think the water has healing properties. It could

probably heal your leg"

"I'll try to get in."

Hunter came close to the edge and tossed his crutches

aside. He limped carefully, then lost his footing and fell in
much like I had. Hunter looked up with a happy face.

"The good thing is my foot is not broken, the bad news is I

now know what dirt tastes like"

I laughed

"I mean at least your foot isn't broken"

"It's still a shame I know what sand tastes like"

"But now, you can actually make the reference of comparing

food to sand"

41
"You're right, now I'm actually kind of excited about this"

"By the way how long was I out"

"You were out two weeks"

"And we are sure, this is actually Sybl this time"

"Would you like me to give you the details of the Hunter
intimacy with his pair of nunchucks"

"It's Sybl", Hunter assured me.

Sybl and I shared a glance then burst out laughing.

"Women are weird" Hunter said in a daze.

"I mean he isn't wrong"

"You have a point" I agreed.

Hunter shook is head to sap out of his daze.

"Sybl did you find anything about the sky temple"

"Yes I did, it's actually right above us."

The ground shook and I fell on the ground. Sybl hovered

over the ground.

"What's happening" I screamed

"Alice, I think there is an earthquake" Hunter replied.

"No duh" I shot back.

"This is no regular earthquake, but it can't be the Virdis

Atlantis"

"What is that, and did we fight the jellimus maximus then"

"Actually yes,how did you know"Sybl asked with a raised

brow.

42
"You are kidding me right now"

"Yes, actually I am"

Another massive quake caused all of us to fall even

Sybl.Hunter getting thrown by the fall, was unable to retort.

The ground opened up and swallowed me and Hunter.

"Not again!" Sybl said while sighing.

Hunter and I held hands as we fell down the hole, hoping not
to get seperated.As we fell somewhere that looked like the
underworld. We collapsed on the floor.

"Hunter I don't like this, I don't like this at all"

"Neither do I, Alice"

We trudged on the dreary and bleak landscape of the

underworld, at least I think it's the underworld.We kept
walking in the desolate biome. I froze in fear, weird orb
things were cracking. I dragged HUnter behind a pillar that I
spotted.

"What are those" I whispered.

"I don't know, and I don't want to know"HUnter replied.

A scorpion-like tail broke through the shell, and shredded the

rest of the shell. The scorpion rose from the remains of it's
shell I stifled a scream.

"That is something nightmare worthy, don't you think Alice."

"No argument here"I said freaked out.

"Let's sneak around, I don't want to fight that"

We traipsed around the scorpions, surprisingly stealthily. It
was going great until, Hunter stepped on something. THe
scorpions heads snapped towards us.

43
"Sorry" he mouthed.

"RUN IF YOU DON"T WANT TO BE SCORPION FOOD!" I

yelled at the top of my lungs, if they were not on to us then,
they were now.

We dashed through the now sludgy biome, dodging random

structures on the way. Just when I thought I was safe, I lost
my footing and fell. I was stuck on the ground, the scorpions
closed in and picked me up.

"HUNTER GO"
"NO I TOLD I'M NOT LEAVING YOU"
"GO IF YOU WANT TO LIVE"
"I DON"T CARE, I"M COMING"
He charged forward while throwing shurikens with shocking
accuracy, the scorpion stabbed me with it's leg. I felt myself
losing blood.HUnter charged the scorpion blade flashing
multicolored. He slashed diagonal, then straight up, then
horizontal. The scorpions fell to pieces. I tried to get up to
help, but a searing pain in my abdomen made me fall back
down again. Hunter came to me and hoisted me on his
back.

"If this is the Underworld find the firewater" I managed

weakly.

"I will don't worry, I will save you"

I winced in pain, I looked down. My shirt was soaked in
blood.After a while I felt a little bit better

"Put me down, I think I can walk."

Hunter set me down on my feet. I wobbled a bit, but

managed to stay upright. I slowly limped alongside HUnter,
as I broke my leg somehow in the process. We limped for
what felt like hours. I slowly limped keeping pace with
Hunter. All we needed to do was find the Pyrogon River.I
started hearing the swish of a river.

44
"Hunter go towards the noise, it might be the Pyrogon River"

"WHat is that"

"It's a river that will heal you, at the cost of leaving you
thirsty"
"Should we do it"

"Yes, I have a lot of water"

"Ok"

We changed course to the river. After a while the river

sounds were really loud, but no where to be seen. I walked
to the edge of a cliff and down there was the Pyrogon River.
I looked down to the river and winced, how were we
supposed to get there?

45
 Chapter 9

Hunter sat down, appearing deep in thought.

"What if we jumped in the lake, then gulped a bunch of river"

"The river cannot revive the dead, Hunter"

"I believe I can be of aid, but first do you want an underworld

baguette. They are fresh from my bakery" A girl that looked
about my age sais. She had a heavy French accent.

"My name is Alice, and this is my friend Hunter"

"Stop introducing me Alice, I have a voice you know"

"Sorry, I'll stop"

The French girl laughed.

"My name is Natalie Clementine, my goal is the same as

yours. TO beat Angel-Slayer. I was on an island, me and my
best friends much like you too, got swallowed up into the
Earth"
"That's what happened to us as well. How did you know are
goal?"
"I'm not sure, I just kind of knew"

"May I take up on your offer of the baguette" I asked

"Of course, it's quite hard. Doubles as a weapon"

We shared a laugh.She ripped of two large chunks of bread
and gave one to me and one to Hunter. I nibbled an edge not
sure what to expect, it is after all underworld baguette. It
tasted like a regular baguette at first, but then like a
miniflame in my mouth, it started getting spicy. It wasn't to
intense, but it wasn't pleasant either.

46
"This is good" it might have been my imagination but a puff
of black smoke emitted from my mouth.

"Why thank you" Natalie said.

Hearing this, HUnter took a large bite. I grimaced, knowing

that he would soon be assaulted with tremendous spice.
Hunter's eyes grew wide and started watering. Hunters nose
started running as well. He opened his mouth probably to
scream, but fire came out instead. A large grin popped up on
his face. He did it again and again pointing to the fire.

"I guess I should have mentioned it was spicy,I didn't think

he would take that big of a bite"

"It's fine this is quite comical to watch"

Hunter, who had ignored the spice was using his firebreath
for fun, torching all directions in a 3 feet radius.

"Anyways, didn't you say you had a solution to our problem"

"Yes I did, the solution is what Hunter is doing right now"

"What?" I said genuinely surprised.

"He discovered you can flame through your mouth, but you
can actually get it through your feet as well"

"Wow, that's cool" I took several nibbles hoping it would add

up. I concentrated on trying to pull the spice to my feet, and
imagine fire shooting me up.Surprisingly it worked. I shot ten
feet up in the air then started coming down at a daunting
pace I imagined fire frantically, my descent slowed landing
gracefully on my feet.

"Wow good job, Hunter you should try as well so we can get
down there. Alice is not in the best shape"

As soon as she said it my pain jabbed in my abdomen and I

doubled over coughing.
"Hunter Let's go"

47
Hunter unleashed a torrent of flame and was going down into
the lake at a rapid but controlled pace, quickly followed by
Natalie. I followed at the end. I veered to the left of the
pyrogon and landed on a rocky shore. I scooped up a
handful of the flame water and drank it. It itched my throat,
and then burned it like spicy soup. I felt the jabbing pain
slowly diminish. I was quite far from Natalie and Hunter who
had landed farther down the shore. I lifted my shirt to see
my wound, nothing not even a scar remaining. Wondering if I
could channel my flames into a speed boost, I started a
powerful walk that was faster than regular at least.

"There you are Alice, did you drink some firewater!" Hunter
yelled out, as I was still quite far away.

"Saying Natalie is kind of long plus we should probably use

code names, we never know what's down here" Hunter said.
As he said this I was just reaching them.

"Hmm" Natalie said in thought "How about Nat?"

"It's perfect, mine can be Alie?" I asked

"That's a good one" Nat said.

"I'm still here you know, mine could be..." HUnter thought.

"How about Hun, it's kind of cute"

"That is way to girly" Hunter said.

"Choose already Hunter"

"Okay-Okay, Allie"

"Huntz?" Nat tried

"Sure I'll go with that" ,He paused, "For now at least"

"Great we all have nicknames" I said quite excited.

"Nat do you want to join the Angel-Savers" Hunter asked

"Is it some sort of rebellion against Angel-Slayer, if so I'm

48
in"

"This is great", I said happily, "We already have four in our

rebellion group"

"Who's the fourth"

"You'll meet her soon. She's great, her name is Sybl. She is
kind of like our guardian, she cares for and protects us."

"I can't wait to meet her" Nat said.

We walked alongside the pyrogon chatting and laughing

happily. It was going great until we spotted a monster.

"Not this again" I whispered

"What is that thing"

"It's thing that was in the jelly, what a pain" I said truly
dreading it's attention.

"We can take it together, right team" Nat whispered

enthusiastically. She raised her bread.

I got out my Katana and whispered,"Yeah". Hunter did the

same.

The cat-like monster snapped it's head toward us. Either

hearing Hunter, or catching the scent of the person who
killed it, me. The cat-demon scrambled toward us a
malicious look on it's face.

"Well looky here, three puny mortals all in one place" she
jeered a sneer plastered upon her face.

"You won't have that attitude for long you cat"

"Yeah" Nat and I added.

"We'll see about that" The cat sprang, I just barely deflected
it with my blade.

49
50
 Chapter 10

Nat and I slid under and raked our sword and baguette in the
underbelly of the evil cat.

"Not this time" the feline faked left and raked Nat's back with
her claws.

"Hunter, do the thing"

Hunter charged like a mad swordsman slashing left and

right. I added a forward thrust with all my weight. Hunter and
I combined in a bright flash. the feline monster averted it's
eyes, Hunter and I charged through.

"I don't like you, any of you" the cat-demon wailed as it died,
then exploded into dust.

I ran over to Nat.

"Nat how bad is it in levels of pain 1-10"

"10, I feel like I'm going to faint"

"Nat, fainting is my thing", I said with a smile "Let's get you
some firewater"

Hunter helped me carry Nat to the river, as she was in no

shape to move herself. We carried her to the edge, and she
took a swig of firewater.

"Feel better?" I asked

"Much better, no more pain"

"That's good" Hunter said.

I agreed.

51
We started on out trail again walking through the barren
landscape of the underworld. After a while you start to see a
strange beauty in the red and black shades of the
underworld, I still wanted to get out of here, but I started to
appreciate the beauty of the place more.

"Have you every realized how beautiful this place is"

"Now that you say it I agree, it has it's own unique shine"

"All I see is red , black , scary things and fire"

"You have to see the big picture" I said

"That makes no sense, whatsoever" Hunter replied.

I laughed

"You have to zoom out and try to appreciate you

surroundings"
"Let me try again" Hunter said

"Do you see it his time?" Nat asked.

"Kinda of, it likes calm, and pretty. Almost like from a

fantasy book my mom used to read me."

"Exactly!" I said

We kept walking along the Pyrogon. We had to find the

doors of Mortem Intua, to get back to the real world.

"Hey guys, the monsters goal it to get above ground as well,

right?"

"Yeah it is, I are you thinking what I'm thinking" Nat said
clearly onto something.

"No I don't know what you are thinking, what is going on

here!" Hunter exclaimed.

"We are thinking to find a monster and trail it to the Mortem

52
Intua!" I said excited to Hunter

"Exactly" Nat showing a similar amount of enthusiasm.

We stalked around corners looking for a monster of some

sort, to no avail.

"When you need a monster, of course you never find one"

Nat whispered crestfallen.

"Not so fast, look behind you" I whispered hoarsely.

Standing behind Nat was a to foot tall enormous blue
dragon. Having read about dragons before, I figured this was
a baby dragon. It was actually kind of cute.

"I want to name it" Nat said, having turned around.

"I kind of want to name the dragon as well" I admitted.

"What should we name it then?" Hunter asked

"Well it's blue, and shiny"I said

"I read somewhere that blue dragons symbolize upcoming

spring, os maybe something spring themed?" Nat said.

"Petunia!" HUnter said.

"Let's see if the dragon likes it." I said.

"Petunia, you like that name?" Nat cooed at the dragon.

The dragon snorted a puff of smoke and shook it's head as if

to say no.

"So you think it understands us?" Hunter asked.

"Probably, how about Claire" Nat said.

"Claire, do you like that name?" HUnter cooed at the dragon

mimicking Nat.

53
The dragon shook it's head as if saying yes.

Hunter annoyed, said "And everyone's a critic"

"Yeah pretty much" I agreed.

We all laughed at that, even the dragon gave a hearty snort.

It then sat down and layed down and seemingly beckoned
us to get on it's back.

"Do you want us to ride you?" I asked the dragon. Claire

bowed his head. Nat, Hunter and I climbed on it's back.

I got comfy on the Claire, the slight rock on it's back, and
the swish of it's wings made me drowsy. Within no time I felt
myself slipping consciousness. I shook my head to snap out
of it, I wanted to be awake for my ride. I sat up straight.

"Hey Nat, do you still have any fire bread. I'm really hungry"
Hunter complained

"I thought you'd never ask" Nat replied grinning broadly. She
tore off a piece of spicy baguette and handed it to Hunter.

"Alice would you like some bread as well" Nat asked me.

"Sure why not" I said, suddenly starving. She passed me a

crudely ripped piece of fire bread. Rest in Peace fellow taste
buds, you have served me well in this life, i thought darkly. I
bit off a chunk of bread, tears welled up in my eyes, and my
nose felt like it would blow out fire. I exhaled through my
nose rather forcefully, trying to expel the tingling in my nose,
I did not want to sneeze fire. Instead of exhaling air, I
exhaled fire, I felt like everything inside my nose, but the
outside had turned into ash. Claire snorted as if to say
that's the spirit. Then blew her own mega flame.`

"Good job, you are clearly a master at that, Claire" I said

cooing at the baby dragon. I rubbed it's neck. Claire snorted
a mini flame with content.

54
"Hey Hunter, do you think you could pull out marshmallows,
chocolate and graham crackers from your mystery bag?" I
asked.

Hunter realizing what I was saying said " Oh, yes I can"

"Smores!" Nat exclaimed, clearly excited. Hunter pulled out

the necessary items and started to prep them.

"Claire do you think you could flame some smores?" I asked

the dragon. Claire snorted proudly. I laid on my back, then
started feeling a whistle in my eat. I screamed, I did not like
how fast I was losing altitude. I screamed some more. We
swooped parallel and I wanted to throw up. I was hurled
around clinging for dear life,

55
 Chapter 11

After a while the ground loomed dangerously closer. I

chomped a piece of bread, and shot up into the air. And
glided along side the dragon, I blasted to it's face. It had
fallen asleep. I struggled to wake it up, it would get hurt if it
crashed. I pried open it' eyes. Claire woke up with a jolt and
leveled out are altitude, we were now gliding at a normal
pace. I sighed, relieved. I floated back to my place on the
dragon with short bursts of fire.
"Hunter doesn't the underworld connect to the world?"

"Yeah" It does.

"Can't we just fly up to the overworld?" I wondered aloud.

"We can try" Nat said.

"Claire, can you aim for the sky" I asked.

CLaire angle her nose upwards, we were almost vertical! We

shot up into the sky.

"Not yet CLaire" I managed clinging on for dear life. Claire

slowly was gliding flat in the air.

"Hunter, did you track where we came from?" I asked

"Yeah, why" Hunter asked. He did not get an answer.

"Claire, take us to where we first met"

Claire did a backflip, and we started to fall. I tried to use my

firebread power, but alas it had worn out.Claire throttled
toward us, with our stuff in her mouth. she bumped us with
her head on her back. Hunter got thrown by his stomach and

56
came crashing down as graceful as a watermelon dropped
from a two story building. He belly flopped on the dragon
with a groan. Claire without losing speed, shot towards the
Pyrogon river.

...

Within an hour we were back at the Pyrogon river.

"Hunter give Claire directions". Hunter crawled up to the

front, and I went back.

Nat and I started chatting about her homelife.

"What are you too talking about, makeup? Shoes?" Hunter

asked, obviously annoyed at his exclusion.

"No I'm reaccounting out tale from the beginning."

"Oh, carry on" Hunter grumbled.

After reciting out tale Nat started hers. Nat was a French girl
whose village had been attacked. The place France was
only a rumor in the magic lands, and same vice versa. Nat
then escaped, much like they had, and came across Delphi
of the sea. Her tale was so similar, it was almost
suspicious.

"Dang that story is pretty much ours but modified"

"Yeah isn't that cool" I said.

"It's almost like we were destined to meet" Nat said.

"No kidding, Hunter added.

We rode in silence pondering that thought. After a couple

hours of silence HUnter broke the ice.

"Claire please go straight up, Alice, Nat Hang on!" HUnter

shouted. I clung to the dragon like my life depended on it,
which it did. We went up and up, like a bullet we shot

57
upwards. Up and up we shot into the sky, I was starting to
get used to it. I loosened up and started to enjoy the ride. I
laughed. A blue sky loomed closer and closer, I felt like I
could feel the cool ocean breeze, and the smell of salt on
the air again.

"We're almost home!" I shouted, happily.

"Yeah we are" Hunter said seemingly in another world. Up up

and away we went into the night, Claire spiraled into the
black sky of the overworld.

"We made it, I said. We actually made it" I whispered, tears

of joy welling up in my eyes. Thin streams of pure joy ran
down my face as I looked at the full moon. Nat and Hunter
sated in silence at the land below. It was a serene moment,
until we started descending rapidly.

"Please don't tell me Claire's asleep" I groaned. Hunter bent

over.

"That she is" I scrambled to Nat's bad and tried to get some
fire bread, but it was too late. We hit the ground with a thud
that sent us all flying off, I swiveled my neck to see where I
was going. I was right above the cottage. I managed to
guide myself right outside, and land gracefully on my feet. I
started to panic, I had no clue where the others were.

"HUNTER, NAT. ANYONE, CAN YOU HEAR ME" I yelled

with every ounce of my strength. I crumpled to the ground,
what was I going to do. I lay on the ground feeling hopeless.
I noise comes from behind startling me. A familiar voice like
a clear bell, in my my foggy day.

"Why, I'm hurt. You forgot me" Sybl said, putting on a hurt
facade, given away by her grin. I ran over and hugged her.

"I'm sorry I just didn't think that you would stay" I said tears
welling up in my eyes.

"Don't worry, I'll help you find them."

58
I looked up at Sybl's kind face, tears streaming from my
eyes.

"I promise I'll help, first you wash up I'll make us the much
waited spicy ramen" I broke out in a grin, and wiped the
tears off of my face and followed Sybl inside our hut. A
wave of nostalgia hut me as I walked inside. The house was
exactly how we left it, except the addition of more stuff and
a third cot. I sat down at the carved barstool with metal at
the bottom, I made an mental note to ask Hunter where h
got it from. The stool creaked, and groaned as I sat atop of
it. Sybl clattered around the kitchen with pots and pans, and
of course the prized pack of instant ramen noodles.

"Do you need any help" I asked, she was seemingly

struggling.

"Yes, do you know of anything else we could eat with it?"

Sybl said hopefully.

"I can make fish" I said.

"That'll be perfect" Sybl responded.

I ran outside Katana at waist. I waded into the ocean and

skewered two fish with my sword, then ran back inside.

59
 Chapter 12

Upon entering the smell of ramen wafted up my nose. I

started clanging around the kitchen, following the steps
Hunter gave me. Looking back on the memory brought tears
of longing to my eyes. I worked in silence as tears streamed
down my face. I finished up putting the fish on skewers
about 45 minutes later, and wiped the teas streams off of
my face.

I sat down at the counter with Sybl, after seeing the steam
pouring out of the top of the ramen cup, I remembered how
hungry I was. I slid my cup closer too me, and shoveled it in
my mouth as fast as I could, but not fast in of that I could
not register the taste. After draining my cup, I started on my
fish skewer. I chewed and chewed until my salmon was
over. Sybl was not done eating yet.

"Someone was hungry, or in a rush" Sybl said looking at my

empty bowl and plate. Sybl started eating considerably
faster, as to not keep me waiting. Within 5 minutes Sybl was
done eating.

"Let's go look for your friends."

60
 Chapter 13

I woke up on a strange part of the island, I realized I was in

water and scrambled to my feet.I looked around my
surroundings it was a strange shape with many points. Upon
moving back more, I realized the shape was a star. I sat on
the shore of the star lake.

That's when it hit me, pangs of fear, guilt, and loneliness

washed over me.

"Alice, Nat" I screamed voice quavering. I did not know

where I was.I heard a faint peep to my left. I took off
running, while screaming Who is it. I vaulted over the
undergrowth with a long stick I had just grabbed. I landed in
a clearing, and I scanned my surroundings. Laying on the
ground was Nat.

"Nat!" I yelled gleefully.

Nat bolted upright and looked at my face. Her face broke

into a grin, "Hunter" she said sharing the same enthusiasm.

"Have you seen Alice" we asked each other at the same

time. we got our answer from there.

"Let's go find her" I said. Nat nodded. We trudged to the

green biome, I felt like I could go colour blind to green. The
more I walked the more sick I got of green. I sighed, then
froze.

"Where's Claire" I asked

"I dunno, I think she crashed close to me. I can't believe I

forgot about her." Nat said crestfallen.

61
"Follow me, I've been keeping track of our directions"

"Smart child" Nat said smiling. Nat punched me lightly on

the shoulder before telling me to lead the way to the
clearing. We ran to the clearing that I did not have enough
time to complain about the green. We reached the clearing
and started yelling Claire. Just as we were about to give up
a large stomping bounded from the left.

"Claire?" I whispered hoarsely. Claire the dragon bounded

from the leaves, thankfully she was not green. She was a
blue as always. Nat and I ran over too her and hugged her.
Claire bucked her neck down and I climbed on, Nat close
behind. Claire leapt into the air, rising altitude.

"Claire can you give us a tour of the island" Claire started

going back and forth the perimeter. After a couple hours I
spotted the heart lake.

"Claire land please" the dragon snorted and pulled into a

dive. Nat and I held on to Claire as we pulled into the heart
lake.

"Come on Hunter" Nat called out gleefully. She splashed me

with water. I cannonballed into the lake and created a sonic
splash drenching Nat and myself in the process. Suddenly a
irritated yell made me yelp most undignified. I tripped and
fell face first into the water. I could hear Nat laughing with
another person, and soon another. I angrily blew underwater
and lifted my face and turned around. My anger dissipated,
and I broke into a grin. It was Alice and Sybl.

"Seriously though" Alice said managing to stifle her

laughter," while Sybl and I are worried sick ; you two are
splashing in the water"

"Sorry" Nat said cracking a grin.

"None needed" Sybl said. JUmping into the lake as well.

Alice sighed, then smiled she ran backwards then using a

62
running start leaped into the lake. She made an even more
impressive splash than I did.We waded around the pool for a
couple hours before we went back to the hut. We shoveled
food in our mouths, as we were exhausted.

"Now onto the business at hands, I figured out hos to make

the portal, but I will need help. First I need fir.."

"I have fire!" Nat exclaimed. She triumphantly held up one of

her flaming hot baguettes.

"Okay Next we need, me.."

Sybl was once again cut off but this time by a crash outside.
We ran outside and inspected the area. A scrawny boy who
looked no older than 10.

"What on ear.."

Sybl once again interrupted by the strange by who said;

"Where am I, the last thing i remember was falling" His eyes

grew wide then started to water.

Nat sat down next to him and asked " What's wrong". I put
my had to my spy bag and opened it. I drew out a dagger
and put it at my waist. Nat and Alice consoled the boy
some more, when a flash erupted.

"ALICE, NAT STEP AWAY FROM THERE" Sybl yelled,

obviously worried.

I flung my dagger at the boy, he caught it, then transformed

into a hideous beast.

"So you figured out my identity, now I have no choice but to

kill you" the beast uttered in a raspy tone.

"Before you hurt them you have to go through me." Sybl and
I growled in unison. Alice and Nat took this opportunity to
sneak from behind.

63
"Where do you think your going young ladies, guess I'll have
to deal with you two later" the beast said in the same raspy
voice, then sighed. With another blinding flash, and a feeble
dagger throw from me. Alice and Nat were gone.

64
 Chapter 14

I woke up in a musty room, I racked my brain trying to

remember what happened. I paced around the room, to the
far left were several grates like a prison cell. I was a prisoner
but where?

"Sybl! Nat! Hunter!" I yelled. as a response one peep came

far left. I ran left, but tripped on the uneven pavement
because of a big bang behind me. I turned back fear
overwhelming me,my leg was seemingly broken as well. I
dragged myself across the floor, not willing to look up.

"Alice, What happened" Sybl's voice rang out with

sympathy. I lifted my face.

"I think I broke my leg" I said.

Sybl helped me to my feet.

"How do I know it's you"

Sybl flashed a violent grin.

"How about I reanimate Hunter's intimacy with his pair of

nunchucks" Sybl burst out laughing and fell to the ground, to
be honest it was taking all of my strength to not join her. A
couple minutes later Sybl regained her usual composing
self.

"Let's heal that leg of yours, though it will take a while. Do

you mind if I bewitch you so your two pounds".

"Why" I asked suspicious.

" I doubt you can walk with that thing now can you?"

65
"No I can't. I guess you could"
Sybl chanted foreign words and I felt myself get lighter and
lighter. Sybl hefted me to my feet and put me on a
wheelchair she conjured.

"I think Nat is to our left."

"Got it."
Sybl veered left, and raced down the hallway. We reached
Nat's door within no time. Nat was sitting in a chair gulping
water. There were bruises all over her.

"What happened to you?" I asked horrified.

"I threw myself at the door to see if it would budge" she tried
a smile then winced in pain.

"You two are crazy, I'm sort of scared at what Hunter's doing
right now because of that." Sybl said exasperated.

Nat and I laughed. Sybl conjured a motorized wheelchair.

"Can you manage rolling yourself, and pass me your sword."

Sybl said

"Sure" I said. I reached down then realized it wasn't there. I

looked at Sybl. She sighed. Sybl started chanting again and
my sword clattered to the floor. I limped over to the
motorized wheelchair and gave it a whir. Sybl slashed
through the iron bars.

"Well that was efficient" Nat mumbled. Sybl rolled over the
wheelchair, and helped Nat into it. We raced down the
hallway but into a wall this time. I shrieked and braced
myself, but the moment never came. We were back on the
sandy beach. I couldn't believe it. I steered my wheelchair to
our house, but my wheels could not get traction.

"I figured out how to get to the sky temple, I just needed the
right chant. It took over a hundred books to find it." Sybl
said disdainfully, she eyed a certain corner filled with books

66
with great distaste." I threw myself out of my chair and
started army crawling to the heart lake.

"Where are you going" Nat said

"The heart lake it heals, remember" I said.

"Oh yeah" Sybl said following me.

I started army crawling even faster, I desperately wanted to

walk. About and hour later I was at the shore with one final
heave I was in the water. I laid there for a couple minutes
feeling the throbbing pain in my leg subsiding.

"What on Earth Alice" Sybl said playfully, panting and

gasping for air.

"You left us behind" Nat said smiling painfully. I got up to

the shore and dragged her into the lake as Sybl was too tired
to do anything. After we were healed Nat and I went to go
check on Sybl she was fast asleep. Me and Nat shared a
silent plan and executed it to perfection. We splashed water
on Sybl's face.

"I will get you stinking Naiads, I will get revenge!" Sybl
spluttered.

"Oh, it's you too" she said her tone grim. She ran to the lake
and chanted a tidal wave dripped us head to toe. We
laughed.

"Let's head back home" Sybl said,she reminded me so

much of my mom, it hurt.

We ran back home, Hunter was waiting outside glaring icy

daggers at us.

"Hi Hunter" I tried.

"I was sitting here worried about the tree of you while you
were having a pool party without me, how rude" Hunter

67
yelled.

"Do those words remind you of something"

"Huh?" He thought back seemingly then laughed.

"I guess you gave me a taste of my own medicine" We all

laughed at that.

"Gear up because we gotta go" Sybl said, making the mood

of the family reunion plummet to the ground. HUnter sulked,
but ran inside and got his stuff. Then a smile broke out.

"Can we dress as black ninjas!" Hunter said his eyes shone

like led lights."

"Fine" Sybl said once again exasperated. Hunter called out

his bag and thew us ninja clothes. We split up and changed.
It consisted of Back leggings, a black long sleeve tee shirt
and a black headband, it also came with a weapon holder
and several shuriken and Kunai. I tied my headband when a
noise came from the ground I screamed. It was a walkie-
talkie.

"Jeez, you didn't have to scream" Hunter said his voice

metalic and artificial which was to be expected.

"You scared the living daylights out of me" I shrieked into

the phone."

"You do realize the same thing is happening to Sybl and

Nat, but they are not complaining.

"Can you get me hair tie from your mystery bag?" I asked
calming down"

"Sure, where are you?"

"I'm behind the hut."

Hunter emerged from the shadows and tossed me a black

hair-tie. I took off my head band, and tied my hear up in a

68
bun. Then tied the strip of cloth around my head. the tips
were light blue, Hunter's was green.

"Sybl, Nat you two done changing" I spoke into my walkie-

talkie.

"Yup, me and Nat found each other" Sybl said.

"Hunter and I found each other" I said.

I heard Sybl chanting and then I was whisked away by the

wind, a vortex swirled around me.

69
 Chapter 15

All I could see were leaves and a opaque space, suddenly I

was thrown out the slightly pretty vortex. I landed sprawled
on the ground.

"The reason for the haste is Angel-Slayer. He is planning to

strike, We need to finish this in at least an hour or else,
Britannia will be destroyed."

"Thanks for the pessimism" Hunter said sarcastically.

"You did not let me finish",Sybl said reassuringly,"He can be

stopped as long as we get the holy winged sword. It cuts
through all evil, but can only be held by a pure heart."

"Pure heart? What does that mean?" I wondered aloud.

"A person with a pure heart has a kind soul and is willing to
help others, they cannot have killed or harmed another being
that has done no harm to them, "

"I think all of us fit that description"

"Everyone except me" is what I think I heard Sybl say.

"Why not" I asked.

"Why not what" Sybl asked.

"Why don't you have a pure heart" I insisted.

"How did you know, I thought that" Sybl said taken aback.

"I don't know, I just kind of heard it." I said.

Sybl looked at me oddly one last time before marching on

70
ahead.

"We need to enter the dungeon quick, this should be a

breeze. I cannot assist you, as I have to fly over. I have
already taken the test. Be careful and trust no one" Sybl
said sternly.

We walked downstairs and Sybl flew overhead. as soon as

we walked in there was a mud floor.

"Stop", Nat cried.

"Why" I asked.

"We need to melt the mud first" Nat said turning pale. I
made a mental note to ask her about it later.

"But why" Hunter said.

Two simple words that had a great deal of meaning behind

them were uttered from Nat's mouth: Punji Stick. I felt my
self go pale. The sharpened wood sticks were a key trap in
the success of Angel-slayers soldiers. They were ruthless in
enough to put poison usually succinylcholine that killed a
person by stopping their heart, it worked fast as well. Our
teacher in health taught us about it as nurses use it when a
person is beyond savior.

I willed fire to see if it would work, a small measly flame

shot up from my palm. I willed it with my mind it grew large
and larger, I tried pointing it to the mud. A powerful blaze of
fire erupted, I was so shocked I gave a pitiful welp. The
mud bowed in and fell to the true floor with a satisfying glop.
Sure enough Punji sticks were revealed. I turned around
Hunter looked annoyed.

"Why do you get all the cool powers" he said enviously.

"I'm just better" I said sarcastically.

"Hmph" Hunter grunted and turned away.

71
"Nat, do you have any fire bread?" I asked.

Nat rummaged around in her bag and revealed a firie

underworld bread. All three of us ate a piece and flew over
the dungeon, until Hunter got tired and a leaned against a
wall. The specific spot sank in and lances shot out.

"HUNTER" I yelled more out of fear of his life than anger.

I heard a weak grunt and saw a drop[ of blood spill to the

floor. I flew over with a short burst of flame. Hunter's leg was
grazed by the lances. I let out a sigh of relief, then the
wound started turning purple. The lances were poisonous.

"Nat what should we do, the lances were poisonous"

"I think we should speed through this and take him to Sybl"
she said, her face was starting to pale upon examination of
the wound.

"We have to leave now" she said in a grim tone."

We sped through the countless tunnels exchanging Hunter.

After countless monsters and tunnels we sawa light. With an
extra burst of flame the warmth of sunlight reached my face.
I basked in the glorious light, Hunter writhing in my arms.
We sped upwards trying to find Sybl, the faint glimmer of
armor caught my eye.

"Nat over there"

Nat spun her head around and looked at what I was pointing
then flew towards our last hope.

"It was a monster, I beat it to dust with bread" she said

aghast.

"..." I was at a lost for words.

"Let's just keep going" Nat said appalled.

I was with her on that one, we sped to city, wait what. A city

72
made fully of a dazzling material came into view. People
with wings flitted about. It was like a scene from a fairytale.

"Wow", Nat said in a amazed whisper,"It's, It's beautiful"

We walked around to stunned to say anything. Another

groan from Hunter brought tears to my eyes, I could not lose
him, and I would not lose him. I tore around the streets
reading the various signs, Hunter was losing more and more
blood as I checked behind me. At last a sign with a medical
sign came into view I rushed into the building and read the
directory. I rushed up the dazzling stairs and reached my
destination the emergency room. Someone came out and
took Hunter from me I sat on the floor and I felt tears well up
in my eyes then roll down my cheeks. They kept flowing and
flowing. The door opened once again, expecting to see
someone else who was suffering an ill fate, I had a nice
surprise. It was Nat.

I gave her an apologetic smile, and she sat down next to

me. A couple hours later a nurse came out. I rushed up to
her.

"Will Hunter be all right" I asked desperately.

73
 Chapter 16

"Hunter will be alright" the nurse said calmly.

"Can we see him" Nat chimed in beside me.

"You may in a bit, he is resting right now."

Nat and I sat back down with a sigh of relief, but a specific
train of words from Sybl were playing over and over again.
Trust No one. Had we made a huge mistake. The nurse was
at the reception desk reading a magazine, I walked over.

"Will you be able to find a specific person for me"

"I should, by looking at the log"

"does it say anything about a person names Sybl?"

"Let's see here", she chanted a couple words and log of pure
light appeared,"Sybl is at the food store, I'm not surprised."
"Do you know Sybl" I asked.

"Not personally, but one of my friends know her, he would

almost always tell me about her ridiculous love for food."

We laughed.

"Do you know anything about the holy sword?"

Her eyes grew wide.

"Come this way"

She lad me to a brightly lit room with a sword on it.

"You may attempt to grab it, but be warned I have seen

74
many perish as they do not have a pure heart."

"I believe I do" I said firmly.

"You may try at your own risk." She said.

I reached out waningly and touched the hit a warm sensation

hit my hand. I heard voices in my head telling me that I
should do horrible things with the sword. I cleared the
thoughts and thought I will only use this sword to banish
evil. The blade glowed and flew into my hand.

I could feel the nurse's astonished stare.

"No way, you are the chosen one."

"Do you mind if I see Hunter now?" I asked.

She laughed.

"Sure why not." I lifted the scabbard and the belt and
attached it to my waist I looked even more like a ninja with
the outfit. I placed the blade in it's sheath and followed the
nurse.

"What's your name" I asked realizing that I never asked.

"My name is Elizabeth, what's yours"

"Alice, and the my friend in the waiting room is Natalie, but

we call her Nat" I replied

"Nice to meet you Alice" she said with a fancy curtsy.

"Nice to meet you as well Elizabeth" I tried to do the curtsy

as well but ended up falling. She reached out to me and
gave me a hand, I took it and she pulled me up.

"Thank you" I said

"Your welcome" she said smiling.

75
The two of us laughed. We continued back to the waiting
room, where Nat saw my smile.

"Did you get it" she asked.

I pulled it out and showed her. We both grinned.

"Sybl's gonna be proud" I said.

"No doubt about it" Nat said.

Elizabeth led us both to Hunter's room after a brief reunion.

Hunter looked much better, though his leg was in a cast. I
touched it with my hand, absent- minded and it started to
glow blue. I drew my hand back quickly, but the glow
stayed.

"Elizabeth, I don't know what I did" I said shocked.

She turned around and looked shocked as well.

"By the way, you can call me Liz"

"Okay,Liz"

"Nat, it is a pleasure to meet you" Liz said shaking hands

with Nat.

"Same here Liz" Nat said doing the curtsy.

"Are you kidding me, everyone knows the curtsy. You two
have to teach me it later" I said.

"Who got hurt" Sybl said bursting out the door in a huff.

"It's Hunter"

"Oh Hunter what am I going to do with you" she sighed.

"What's wrong" I asked.

"Angel-Slayer is moving in quickly. He poses a real threat

76
now more than ever. I don't know what to especially with
Hunter hurt" She said.

"What do you mean, I'm fine" Hunter said.I shrieked and

whipped around sure enough there was Hunter poking at his
cast trying to make his leg come down.

"How, just about an hour ago I wasn't sure you could make
it"

"I don't know" Hunter said and shrugged.

"That gets one thing off the to do list, now there is only two
left"

"What's the second" I asked.

"Well aren't we all hungry. I have some for you to Liz"

We all went to the waiting room and ate Ramen, this one
was different and richer in flavor.

"What flavor is this Ramen" I asked savoring the taste.

"Supposedly a Solus special. I guess I have not told you

about my hobby of trying new foods."

"Liz filled us in on that, I am very ashamed of you" I said.

Sybl looked down at her food.

"Because", I finished,"I love doing that too, and you forgot to

count me in"

Sybl looked up and smiled. We made a silent conversation

to stock up on food from here.

"What's up with the conspiring look" Hunter said suspicious.

"Nothing concerning you" I said in the best mysterious voice

I could muster. Sybl and I cracked up and laughed.

77
"Sometimes I can swear that you two are identical twins with
the same hobbies" Hunter said

"How do you know we aren't" Sybl said in a mysterious

voice similar to mine. Once again we started laughing. Liz
and Nat shook their heads, Hunter joined in on the laughter
this time around.

Sybl was again regaining her calm demeanor,"Now for the

business at hand, how are we going to stop Angel-Slayer's
army."

We should punji stick the whole border and give them a

taste of their own medicine" Nat said. I have to say I was for
it.

"We can't stoop to their level, even though I want to" Sybl
admitted.

Liz who was silent for long sope up. "I want to join your
rebellion group"

"Sure, I said we need a healer."

"Perfect" Liz said grinning.

"I have a plan" Sybl said, but it is quite difficult. She recited
her plan none of it sinking in my head.Dejected and
confused I slouched. What were we going to do? How were
we supposed to beat an entire army invasion. Suddenly I
had a plan.

"Your plan;s great and all, but I think I have an easier one" I
said excited. I recited my plan and finished with a grin on my
face.

"That is much easier" Sybl admitted.

"That's a good plan, you should be the military's battle

strategist" Liz said.

78
"I don't know about that much"

"Let's do this" Hunter exclaimed.

79
80
81
 About the Author

My name is Aakansha Ganesh, I am in 7th grade and

I love reading books.My hobbies are playing the piano
and drawing. My favorite book is Harry Potter.

82
83
 About the Novel

Alice is a girl born in a village ridden with poverty

because of the army's taxes. One day the army
attacks, she runs away with her friend Hunter. Alice
swears to take down the corrupt government.

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