A roar echoes through the small valley outside a cave. The scattered rocks shake with every step taken by the monstrous golem. Feeling movement in her cloak Anna tightly clutches her red bow and defensively moves behind the team. Shock waves from the monster had knocked some of the team down. The archer tries to concentrate but she is still weak from her recent spell. Another poke to her back from an awaking cat, makes Anna shake her head to counter her blurred vision. Unfortunately, her boot slips on a loose rock causing the archer to fall backward.
“Floating…” ponders Anna, “Didn’t I fall?” The disoriented archer watches the ground get further away. One hand is holding to the furry blue passenger in the cloak while the other was touching something smooth and scaly. “Scaly… wait.” Recalls Anna. Reality comes rushing back as an invigorating breeze goes through her hair. She was flying. The archer was on her teammate’s Sunset’s back headed for a tall rock. Carefully the dragon put Anna down.
Sunset glances worriedly at Anna, "It’s ok to take a rest," Advises Sunset, "Spells take a lot of mana, so you will need to train so you don’t overdo it." Sunset looks back at the team and the golem. The monster was banging against an ice wall the orange dragon had made earlier. Sunset observes, “Looks like I’m still needed in this fight.” Ignoring her body's growing aches, the dragon opens her wings to dive back into the fray.
Crystals shoot from the golem's mouth against the icy barricade. Cracks appear in the wall but the structure has given the team enough time to prepare for the monster's attack. Natalie has created a shield to block the incoming crystal and ice shards. Meanwhile, Matt and Lance have charged their weapons to the maximum. As the last piece of ice falls, they mutually fire at the monster.
A large explosion pushes the golem back. As the monster opens its mouth for another crystal attack, Lance uses his big gun to shoot an explosive charge right down its throat. Fissures form on the monster’s body. It thrashes around the area, knocking Matt against rock and sending Lance dashing for cover. Confidently, the duel chanting mages Natalie and Sunset raise their staffs. Magic circles form on either side of the golem. Then a fire dragon and an ice phoenix burst from the rings to shatter the golem into pieces.
Sunset flies back up to retrieve Anna and the now awake Nolegs. The team regroups to survey the damage. Their fight with Amelia and the golems has destroyed the surrounding area. Tragically, the entrance to the caves is now completely blocked with a large number of boulders. The team fears for the people now trapped in the freezing cavern. Anna starts crying and cradles Nolegs in her arms.
Frustrate, Matt charges up his sword and hits the largest stone in an attempt to break it up, but fails. A few more rocks are pushed out of the way by Sunset and Natalie until Lance calls out for them to stop. The gunner has heard a familiar sound coming towards them. Loud growls erupt from the avalanche of debris. Earthquakes start rumbling around the rockfall, which gradually gets louder. Boulders from the cave-in start to crack, roll aside, or are thrust outwards. Scrambling on top of the larger stones, the team witnesses several rock eaters emerging from the landslide. To everyone's surprise, the creatures completely ignore them and continue to run through the valley. A rumble from the far wall broadcasts the rock eaters' departure.
Sliding down the rock to the ground, Anna looks at the settling cloud of dust over the reopened cave entrance and then at the team. “You know what?” she states, “I’m not going to question this.” Filled with despair the others simply nod and follow a sign that points to Whitefall town.
Whitefall town is constantly covered in snow because the villagers enjoy the wintertime. Ice spells ensure the town has perpetual snow. Most of the buildings are built from ice instead of wood or stone. Keeping with the village theme, the taverns and shops are decorated with frost and icicles. After such a battle the team members agree they should rest in town and buy more supplies.
Map in hand, Anna tries not to look worried in front of the others. The archer appeared to be looking for something but is still followed the rest of the weary group. Following behind the dust-covered team is an equally tired dragon trying hard not to appear to be in discomfort. Ever since the fight with Amelia Sunset has been feeling worse.
Whitefall town was on the other side of a small stream. The team waves to some friendly-looking people sitting by the water. A girl runs up and welcomes them, "Have you just come out of the Crystal Caverns? We have not been able to use the cave passage since this trouble started, but since you came from there, the guards must take care of things." Matt adjusts his hat and nods as the girl continues, "Welcome to Whitefall town then! All of you look exhausted."
"Thanks," Natalie replies while getting a drink of water and trying to remove a large spot on her sleave, "So... can you please tell us where the inn is?"
"Just go forward until the end of the road then turn left. Then you will see the best lodge in town." Replies the girl. “The Crystal Inn has nice tavern fare, plus it is next to the supply stores.”
After thanking the helpful girl, the team notices they are one member short. They quickly spot her running down the road towards an uncharacteristically gloomy section of town. As the team gets closer, they notice the area has been destroyed. Fallen trees and pits mar the site. Charred sections of what appear to have once been impressive wooden buildings are scattered around.
Standing in front of the ruined structure, Anna turns sadly to the team "Oh no! We were too slow! The second jewel has already been taken!"
Natalie gasps at the ruined shrine. “This is awful! Who would destroy the sacred sanctuary of the blue jewel? It was a shrine to peace.” A sudden realization comes to the mage as turns to Anna. “Oh… of course. The emerald jewel of trust was supposed to be in a secret area. Anna, is that the jewel you are looking for?”
Lance gaits up to the two girls and glances at Matt. “Well, what did tell yea, Matt can pick them. Ok, yea thinks ve all need to sit down and talk. This adventure is getting bigger every minute.”
Initially, Natalie, Lance, and Anna wanted to check the ruined site for clues, while the rest of the group wanted to find the inn. The team dug through the grimy remains for a bit. Matt eventually broke the stalemate by mentioning the lodge would have hot baths. With a sudden flash of light, all three girls vanished into thin air leaving the rest of the team behind.
Sometime later, Matt, Lance, and Nolegs arrive wearily at the inn across town. Perched on Matt’s shoulder, Nolegs gave a confused look at the scene before him. Matt and Lance look rather annoyed. Chatting contently at a table in front of the Crystal Inn’s main building, was a golden-haired mage and a green-haired archer. Leaning up against a tree is an orange dragon munching on a roasted chicken. Natalie and Anna raised their glasses to the remainder of the team as they trudged towards them. A quick conversation reveal the girls had already checked into several rooms, reserved a slot at the hot spring, and ordered dinner.
“Ok girls,” exclaims Matt, “I thought you said earlier finding that jewel was our highest importance.”
“Well…” replies Natalie “Since you were kind enough to point out we needed to reconsider our priorities so... we did.” Both she and Anna have combed their hair and were dressed in fresh clothes. The table was ladened with several plates of fruit, drinks, and pies. Meanwhile, Sunset stretched before she surrenders her comfortable position under the tree. Casually, the dragon ambles over to the table with an additional plate of food.
Matt pushes his hat sideways looked at Sunset sternly. “The world is in danger again and you use valuable mana to teleport to this inn for a spa day..? Come on guys back me up.”
Casually, the dragon’s clawed hand revealed a plate of small carp fish. A moment later, the stacked fish were crowned by a very happy blue cat who moved so fast from the swordsman's shoulder it appeared to be the second teleportation.
“Too bad that we have to leave so soon. It would be a shame for all this meal to go to waste, after all, they just opened a new barrel.” Natalie muses. The mage holds up a large tankard of amber liquid in front of the gunner.
Grabbing the tankard, Lance throws his arm around Matt. “Comin – It's time for some fellow-feeling!”
Matt looks at Lance and Nolegs, “Nice backup you guys…”
Taking a drink of mead, Lance looks at Matt. “No problem! As yer good friends ve will personally taste all of the dishes here to ensure they are up to standard. So ye will not have to!” The gunner takes another swig of his drink. “Hum. Goin to have to research this more…”
Sitting down at the table, Matt concedes to his friends.
After everyone has eaten and rested the group moved to the courtyard behind the Inn. It was a small area but provided some privacy. Natalie created a silence dome so they could not be overheard.
Anna stands to address the team. “What Natalie said earlier was correct. The jewels are very important. Before I started on this journey, I was a watcher at the secret shrine of the green jewel. The influence of the icon protected the village and the surrounding forest from danger. Just like the blue jewel shrine, the Greenwood temple was destroyed despite it being protected by our strongest spells. However, the old tales tell of terrible things occurring if the jewels are used for evil.”
Lance chimes in, “Ye wer right to be cautious. But now ve need to be more active. Nat girl, you mentioned the destroyed complex on the other side of town was the shrine to peace.”
“Yes,” rejoins the mage. “There are three jewels total that maintain balance in the world. The green jewel of trust, the blue jewel of peace, and the red jewel of light.”
“This explains the increased monster attacks and why the animals seem to be on edge” notes Sunset. “Their peace and trust have been shaken.” The others nod.
“Wait,” asks Matt, “Then where is the third jewel?”
“It is believed to be by the ruins of the ancient city of cats.” Replies Anna.
“WHAT!” shouts Matt “Oh no! No more cats! Look at the trouble earlier.” Dramatically, the swordsman stands with his weapon to make a point only to fall over backward.
The team leans curiously over the grounded swordsman only to notice his tumble was due to a well-thrown fish to the head. Holding his head the embarrassed and now crestfallen man holds his hands up the blue feline in apology.
“If the legends are true then ve have a lot to be worried about.” Notes Lance.
“So what are the tales about these jewels?” questions Sunset. “Their absence is already causing chaos.”
Anna sighs, "Unfortunately, you are correct. Alright then, but some of this stuff is hard to believe. Our legends go like this..."
In the beginning, there was a single, divine being. Her name was Godcat. But Godcat was lonely, so she created the heavens and the earth, and all creatures who inhabit it. She then created cats in her image and gave them dominion over the land, and all the other creatures.
Godcat is said to have created all the cats. For thousands of years, cats ruled the planet. They built great civilizations and had advanced technology. But they eventually become too friendly with humans. Godcat was jealous of this new alliance, of cats and humans. So she destroyed everything that the cats had built. Godcat's greatest creation was no longer worthy of her image, so they took away their legs, and that's how they have remained to this day.
Her vengeance sated, Godcat then departed to this world, leaving behind three jewels. For generations, the humans have protected the jewels and kept them apart from each other, as they feared that the Godcat would return if the jewels were brought together again.
Silence reigns over the team for a few mins as they thought about the tale. Until Sunset speaks up. "The cat named Amelia we were fighting earlier was a very powerful being." Sunset was continuing to feel pain but tried to not show it. "And I suppose that she is not only one," replies Sunset, "I bet there is at least one more,"
Matt feels terrified of this, "So... eh we have to stop this Godcat from being revived then since she'll probably destroy the world again!!?"
Natalie pipes in. "Oh yes, that's right! We visited some really old ruins in the desert full of cat statues. That could be it," Then the mage shutters when she remembers. "It was when we nearly died fighting against that world-destroyer demon."
Anna tilts her head, "Demon? You don’t mean Arkon the destroyer?" The team nods, making Anna jump up with astonishment. “But if that cat was right about you fighting the demon…”
Sunset chuckles, "Well, sure I guess." Sunset looks at others and they nod in agreement. Then she starts telling Anna about her team's previous adventures defeating the one-eyed demon. The dragon also describes how she used to be a pony. After listening about their escapades, Anna's mouth hangs open. Sunset tilts her head and pokes at Anna a few times, but there is no response. The dragon chuckles, "Hmm… I think we broke her."
After a while, Anna is finally snapping out of her though, then stares at the team, "You...You guys are...", Suddenly the green-haired girl's eyes open wide in realization. “Oh no! I’ve been bossing around our n-national heroes! Our king is going to put me in the dungeon! My family is going to be dishonored. The village…”
The archer abruptly stops panicking long enough to glare at a now grinning swordsman. Natalie calmly hands Anna a towel and joins forces with the archer to give Matt a disapproving look.
“Hey,” Yells Anna at Matt, “What gives?”
With a large grin, Matt shouts triumphantly, “There’s the return of that fire that I saw when we first met!” Looking back at the rest of the team, the swordsman looks puzzled. “What?”
A shadow moves over Matt as an annoyed dragon moves behind him, “Matt, you are a great friend who will live a long life as long you NEVER pour water on a girl's head again.”
“Gezz, you girls were going to the hot springs anyway. It's all just water.” States Matt reaching up to move his hat, but it is gone. The swordsman looks around for his missing hat under the table and by his travel packs. Then he hears a whistle from one of his fellow adventures. Turning around, Matt sees his beloved pirate hat getting ceremoniously positioned on the table.
Sunset made a mock bugle noise before announcing, “Dear friends, you may fire when ready.”
With a loud splash, the hat gets soaked with the group’s collective water glasses. Matt looks at the scene in horror.
“No! My hat!” Yells the horrified swordsman.
“It's all just water!” proclaims the rest of the team.
Steam escapes from the ground around the area’s hot springs. Nearby are 3 girls who are soaking in the skin-nourishing, stress-melting bliss of the mineral-rich waters. With a blissful sigh, Sunset stretches in the warm sulfur water, allowing its healing properties to work into her aching joints. The dragon feels refreshed but still feels something isn’t right and has a feeling she knows what the problem is.
“Ah,” sighs Natalie, “This feels like heaven. We sure were lucky to get a spot. Those guys are missing out.” Her two companions nod in agreement. “Now Anna, what is bothering you? You have been quiet for a while. Our team doesn’t call ourselves 'The Living Legends' or any other overly fancy names. Is that so difficult to comprehend?”
“No, I’m done beating myself up over that.” Answers Anna. “It was what Sunset said about the effect of the missing jewels. That 'peace and trust have been shaken.' Even when I was traveling with Matt, I felt something was wrong. Normally unobtrusive animals and monsters were not only attacking us but lots of others as well. When staying at the lava campground, I listened to the other travelers. They were not talking about pleasances such as the weather, but about the unusual monster attacks. This situation just has me worried about how much this is affecting everyone. When I started on this adventure it was to find a missing jewel not save the world.”
“Don’t feel bad Anna, none of us noticed it either.” Replies Natalie. “Thinking back we were attacked more often than usual, even with Matt around. However, because of them, you have gotten a lot of experience.”
Natalie moves to face her other friend. “Sunset, you have been pretty quiet, are you alright?”
“Just tired Nat.” replies Sunset.
The trio returns to the Crystal Inn to rejoin the others. Many of the occupants has checked out when word got out the tunnel was safe again so the team could purchase several rooms. Natalie and Anna laugh at the speed at which the news had traveled. As they approach their rooms Natalie joked if they can harness the power of gossip they will rule the world.
The team meets briefly before going to their rooms. Sunset persuades Anna to take a separate room so the dragon could stretch out on a separate bed. Sunset breathes a sigh of relief after the door closes. “Finally some quiet time.” She contemplates as the dragon carefully moves to the center of the bed. As she starts meditating, Sunset senses another mana in her body that is fighting with her mana. “Looks like the reserve trap I created is working too well”' thinks the dragon as she tries to control the new mana with no success. “Well I have two choices, one is to live with the pain until I get a handle on this and the other may be just as difficult to live with. Ok… here goes nothing.” Sunset takes a deep breath as she starts accepting the strange mana and letting it flow over her body. Soon her body is covered in a soft, white aura.
Meanwhile, in the old cat city, Amelia is thinking about her last battle. "That dragon..." Amelia mutters as she punches at a ruined tower. It shatters with the blow. "How dare she take my power?" Breathing heavily the cat looks up at the sky. She takes a deep breath and looks down at the ground. "That orange dragon thing... tricked me... but why was she so like... that white dragon thing."
Amelia places the two jewels on the pole and starts moving around the ruin. It used to be a huge city built on a cloud. Amelia reminisces about her people’s once beautiful home and her missing siblings. The white cat sits on the remains of the metropolis’s town hall that once stood proudly before she and her sister Diana destroyed it. Amelia closes her eyes as she waits for her big sister to arrive.
Back at the inn, the team is waking up from a much-needed rest. Anna wakes up and walks down the hall to the floor’s bathroom. Lance was already inside, so Natalie and Matt are already qued up to use it next. Nolegs watched from the window.
"Good morning," Anna waves a hand at them, "We are just having breakfast downstairs right?"
"Yep," Matt thumps up, "We usually wake up early, not like that scaly lizard... Speaking of scaly lizard, where is she? I thought she would be wake already,"
"Or she overslept, again," Natalie retorts. "Didn't you know that she is usually oversleeping?"
Matt rubs his head. "My bad," Then he clasps his hands. "Anyway, let's wake her up."
Anna, Nolegs, and Natalie follow Matt to Sunset's room. Natalie starts knocking on the doors but there is no response. She shakes her head and knocks again but still no response. "Looks like we’ll have to do the hard way." Natalie turns the knob and found it not locked, she rubs her head and turns her head to Matt as he nods. Everyone peaks inside to find Sunset covered by a bedsheet.
Matt throws out her cover and shouts, "Wake up, Sunset. It's time to go," When the bedsheet is thrown out, he finds that Sunset's wings are changed into yellow flames wings instead of her usual orange scaly ones. Matt shakes his head and sighs. Nothing Sunset does surprises him anymore, however the same cannot be said for Anna who stares in amazement.
“She’s ok, Anna,” says Matt. “Our friend is just a heavy sleeper.” With a flourish, the swordsman jumps on the bed and pushes Sunset over the edge.
Sunset grunts in pain and glares at Matt, then she rubs the spot where he just kicked her, "Why are you waking me up so brutally today?" Matt points at her back, and she looks at them. The dragon grasps. "What? Ok, my wings are... fire… weird." Sunset tries to turn her wings back to normal. After 30 minutes, she manages to change the wings back.
Sunset looks in her friend's rooms and finds them empty. "Hey," mutters the dragon as she quickly rushes downstairs. “Darn it! They left me behind…” she grumbles. However, Sunset was in for a happy surprise. Her friends had set a place for the dragon at the table complete with hot coffee and a nice breakfast. Sunset happily starts eating as the others continue to chat about what to do later.
The team leaves the inn to look for some fresh supplies. Walking by several shops, they watch the stream of travelers moving across the bridge towards the cave out of the valley. Some of the travelers look familiar. It was the guards from the Crystal cave.
Matt and Lance wave to incoming guards and one of them walks over the team. Sunset looks the guard over and was surprised at his appearance. The dim lighting inside the cave and the armor had obscured the guard’s age. The guards protecting the cave were much older than she had realized.
Lance motions for the guard to sit down and offered him a drink from a pouch. The man accepts gratefully and soon they were all chatting about the town's recent events. The older man explains that after the sacred shrine was destroyed, the king for some reason had ordered the town garrison to the capital. The sentry was retired but due to the younger guards being away was one of few experienced people left to protect the travelers.
“We are all quite grateful to you for helping clear the cave of dangers by destroying that monster golem.” Said the old man. “Thought was going to be spending the rest of our lives stuck underground. Been so busy we haven't been able to pick up the area around the shrine.”
“Don’t blame you for wanting to clean that up.” Notes Matt “No offense but it kind of smells.”
“That smell is not from the damaged shrine. It is from the waste disposal factory.” Replies the guard.
“The waste disposal factory?” questions Matt.
“Ever since that plant is built, the west of the Whitefall Town is very foul-smelling.” Says the old guard with a sigh, “The townspeople have tried to send letters to the king, but he didn't respond, so I don't know what to do now."
“Now that ye have pointed it out,” pipes in Lance standing on top of a stairway, “Ve can see it.” Lance looks at the plant and realizes something, "The building for the waste disposal plant doesn’t look right, this design is at least fifty years old. But due to this feller said, this plant is not that old." Lance turns to the old man and asks, "How long this factory was built?"
"Only three years ago," The old man answers, "But since that plant was built, that whole area has been so foul-smelling and smoky that no one wants to be near it. It is not even functioning as a waste plant so it needs to be shut down before it can use any more problems. The fumes have clogged the air and polluted the stream."
Matt rubs his chin and turns to the team, "Well, we helped before. Why don’t we help again?" The others are surprised and try to retort but he continues. "Anna the best way to train you better for the upcoming crisis is to keep going on adventures. Plus the town of Whitefall needs help with this out-of-control factory problem. So it’s a win-win." Looking around the other nod in agreement.
"The town would be so grateful if that plant could be stopped." Replies the guard, "Please halt the plant’s activity so we can get the area cleaned up."
After saying goodbye to the guard, the team turns towards the Waste Disposal Plant. Lance notices Anna lagging so walks beside her.
“What’s wrong, Lass?” inquires Lance to the nervous archer.
“It’s just you shouldn’t take time out to train me when we could be using this time to think of a plan to save the world from Godcat.”
“Lass, don’t worry about that.” Replies the gunner, “A wise man once said, “To achieve great things you need a plan and not quite enough time.”