"Well, this is unexpected," Anna grumbles. "This is the direction the Queen suggested we take to get to the Temple of the Godcats. How can there be quicksand pits at the exit of a luxury resort?"
Using a harness Natalie creates, Sunset hovers over the area and successfully pulls Anna out of the quicksand. Gratitude fills the girl's heart as she thanks her red friend for saving her. The tired archer is helped onto a towel and given a second cloth so she can wipe herself off. Afterward, Sunset decides to give her teammate Anna a few minutes to recover. She uses that time to practice flying with her heavier wings.
“To answer ye question candidly… perhaps our queen prefers a variety of terrains.” Replies Lance sarcastically. “Her Majesty did advise us to watch out fir trouble and ye honestly walked into it.”
“Honestly, that is not helping.” Anna grumpily quirks as she continues to breathe heavily after her encounter with the quicksand. Looking at the map she wonders. “Jez, how are we supposed to find anything with only one map and it doesn’t even have an elevation diagram?”
In order not to delay the team any further, the archer gets up to clean off the gooey sand. Anna is ready to continue after a quick rinse with water arrows. As she turns to return the towels to Matt, she discovers they are monogrammed with the letters GR, Goldenbrick resort!
Anna is angry with Matt for once again pilfering random items. Turning around, she attempts to speak with the kleptomaniac swordsman but stops. He is spotted near a quicksand pool. With the help of Nolegs, Matt is sticking poles around the quicksand. Being so light, Nolegs can move closer so Matt can mark the boundaries of the hazards by outlining the edges. Anna recalls the same red-tipped warning sticks were placed around a bridge that was under construction.
The archer is surprised the swordsman would take the time in the middle of a vital quest to warn fellow travelers of the danger. She quietly tucks the towel into her storage. Using all of her stealth the green-haired girl rejoins the other team members.
A short journey takes the team back into the ruins of the once-great cat city. Suddenly the sand shifts to reveal a giant camouflaged slime with two cacti on its head. Immediately, the team prepares their weapons for battle.
Before the team can react, the slime smashes its body into the ground and expels a foul-smelling cloud from itself. The stirred-up debris combines with the slime mist to create a sandstorm. Matt quickly attempts signals a pre-prepared plan to the rest of the crew, but the sandstorm makes it difficult to see.
Natalie’s staff spins a wind spell to blow away the sand. This unfortunately mades the sandstorm debris heavier. Matt glares at Natalie for deteriorating the situation. Natalie’s sheepish expression is stopped when she sees the hissing feline. Jumping onto the mage’s shoulder, Nolegs ‘mews’ at the left side area. Suddenly, numerous sharp-needled cacti appear from the ground. As a result of Nolegs’s warning, the team can avoid them. A glow from Matt’s sword signals the team to prepare for the next wave.
High above the sandstorm, the dragon is carefully gauging the battle. Sunset has flown over the sandstorm to find the hidden monster. The sand-colored slime is well camouflaged but its green head cacti are not. When Sunset sees two green shapes traveling in the storm, she dives down to attack.
Sensing danger from above, the slime shoots cactus spikes at its assailant. However, the crimson dragon dodges the assault. Sunset uses her momentum to slash at the monster with her claws, but the large slime is surprisingly agile and jumps out of the way. Several more cactus needle bombardments are evaded by the dragon before the slime is maneuvered into a better offensive position.
Seizing her chance, Sunset flies lower to the ground and waits for the slime to jump again. She did not have to wait long before it attempts to crush her. Once again, the monster launches into the air, but the clever dragon has learned its movements. Judging where the slime will land, Sunset hurriedly moves aside to reveal a previously hidden ice spike. A loud splat confirms the monster crashed into the trap at high speed. Carefully, the dragon approaches the defeated foe. Upon being surprised by the spike, the slime was unable to dodge it and was immediately dispatched. Breathing a sigh of relief, Sunset watches the storm calm down and the rest of the encircling cacti wither.
Following the sound of coughing, the dragon finds her teammates covered in sand. Sunset helps the team walk over to a fallen stone slab to recover. Then cast a healing spell to help them clear out their dust-filled lungs.
Matt shakes the dust out of his boots and goggles when he notices Sunset. “Hurray!” Cheers the swordsman while hopping on one foot and waving his other boot. “Sunny-gal! You changed back!”
Sunset looks down at herself and is happy to see her old dragon form. However, something is still bothering her, but she decides not to mention it.
"Thanks," Sunset rubs her head and looks around, "Anyway, shall we continue through the ruins? I hope no more monsters stand in our way. What’s wrong with me? I’m not normally so emotional."
Matt is sitting on a statue base adjusting his travel packs, "Nah if our team encounters some dangerous beasts, we will slay them all." The others roll their eyes as they continue to travel together.
Her friend Anna suspected something was troubling Sunset. “You know we like all of your forms.” Adds Natalie. The archer hugs Sunset. “After all, as the saying goes… beauty begins when you decide to be yourself.”
Footsteps echo through the ruins for the first time in many years. Higher up the hill the abandoned structures are better preserved. The team is happy to be able to walk on a paved stone road compared to the previous sandy trail. Rounding a corner, they see the Temple of the Godcats on top of a cliff in the distance.
An irregular distant movement makes Anna stop checking the map. A low flapping sound is heard by the archer’s sharp hearing. She holds up her hand to alert the team. This noise also awakens Nolegs resting in Anna’s back pouch. Nolegs's ears go back. Jumping onto a broken pedestal, Anna gestures toward the approaching danger to the team.
There is no wind, however, two pieces of dusty fabric are floating through the ruins. When the group comes in to view, the textiles slink in their direction. Suddenly, they accelerate. Throughout their experience, the team has learned to always be prepared to defend themselves against monsters when they attack.
Numerous light projectiles are fired from the fabrics toward the team, but they are halted by a shield created by Natalie. Sunset prepares to teleport behind the textile monsters, however, Anna begins an arrow assault first. An arrow plugs into the first fabric with no visible damage. Lance stops Anna from firing another arrow and gestures to the attacking monsters. To the archer’s surprise, the first fabric absorbs the arrow. A torrent of copied arrows bombards the team. Strange sounds ring through the deserted streets again as arrows bounce off Natalie’s buffer.
Fluffing itself up the other cloth randomly changes sparkling colors. Sunset quickly covers Anna’s eyes. “Don’t look at it! It will hypnotize you.”
As Lance is setting up his big gun, he signals Sunset for a specific spell. A large fireball bursts from the dragon. The sparking sphere arcs past the fabric monsters before halting in the sky just above them. Lance’s cannon is now charged. He takes a deep breath, pulls the trigger, and fires an explosive shot between the troublesome fabrics. The resulting explosion makes the cloth monsters fly backward towards the fireball and are instantly incinerated.
Natalie cheers, "That was a perfect shot, Lance!"
Lance rubs his head, "Oh, no need to do that." Then he turns his head to the embarrassed archer, "Now ye knows you shouldn't shoot a physical arrow at a flicker creature."
Anna starts breathing quickly, "I-it was my mistake, but what can I do? I-I never learned how to do ghost enchantments..."
Natalie walks up behind the hyperventilating Anna to calm her. Together they take a deep cleansing breath of air and exhale it while placing their hands over their chests.
Patting the archer's back, "Don't worry, I can give you a quick lesson.” Natalie counsels. “Plus this may be a good time to think about a strategy for getting up to the top of that cliff." Anna smiles and does her best to understand her friend’s charm arrow explanation.
Continuing towards the temple, the team has no alternative but to pass through a circular stone gate. There are two poles on either side of the locked entry. Charmed runes prevent circumventing the structure. The team looks for another way through without success. Sunset is especially irked as she cannot fly or teleport around it. She is preparing to hit the gate with a fireball when Matt stops her.
Wearing a wide smirk, Matt removes a small metal box hidden by some rocks. Inside are two red orbs. He plugs them into the holes on either side of the gate’s poles. Electric sparks arc from the orbs and the rocky gateway grinds open. “Lady’s first.” Announces the swordsman as he proudly saunters over to the open gate and gives an exaggerated bow.
Anna and Natalie walk carefully through the gate first. The space on the other side of the gate ends with a hairpin turn lined with a stone wall. While Natalie watches for trouble from the other side, Anna quietly looks around the corner, and the signs are all clear. The rest of the group quickly follow. As the gate is on a timer, it closes behind them.
Natalie motions for the rest of the team to crouch down and stay silent. A strange and unfamiliar sound is emanating from the top of the mountain. Soon the archer returns with a report.
“Over here!” gestures Anna breathlessly before leading everyone to a hidden vantage point. Beyond the stone wall of the gate is a large flat field. The sounds become louder and more rhythmic. Peering out from their hiding place, the team is amazed at the source of the commotion.
“Cats?” questioned Matt.
Natalie quickly covers the swordsman’s mouth with her hand. “Shush, they’ll hear us.”
Anna checks her map carefully for a way around the numerous felines, however, the area is surrounded by tall sharp rocks and steep ravines. A readout from Lance’s scanner confirms their fears.
“Ok, so the only way to the temple is through that long open area, which is full of boogying cats.” Whispered Matt frustrated. He looked back at the multitude of felines in disbelief. The cats were drinking, shaking maracas, and dancing around a large statue “This is unbelievable, it’s some kind of a cat cult.”
Anna whimpers, "Are we too late? Has the Godcat already been summoned?"
“We had enough trouble with the last two fur balls.” Moans Matt.
“This way of thinking is not likely to help us find a solution,” Sunset says. “Come on now. We have faced tough adversaries before and defeated them all together.”
Nolegs boldly jumps onto Sunset's back and ‘mews.’
“You’re right Nolegs you did land a hit on one of the cats so they are not invincible.” Replies Sunset to the proud blue feline.
“Indeed,” added Lance. “Everything has a weakness, even those two evil kitties.”
“Their names are Diana and Amelia...” Says Sunset but no one heard her.
“You’re right if we can hit those fur balls, then we can beat them.” Says Matt.
“Ye may be able to sneak around the cat cult with a bit of stealth." Suggests Lance. "First, we'll have to get into that area.”
Matt smirks, "All right, we can just walk around..." He then notices another gateway, "Eh? Who built this thing? There was only supposed to be one stone gate, not two.”
“Oh well,” whispers Matt excitedly to himself. He pokes around the dirt with his sword until the blade hits something metal. The swordsman digs up another metal box with two more red orbs inside. Then, he turns around to face the team. “What? I’ve stashed red linker orbs all over the countryside in case of portal emergencies.”
Stepping through the second portal before it closes, the team is, fortunately, able to slip in unnoticed by jumping into a trench in front of a pile of rubble. The layout on the other side is similar to the 1st stone gate with the acceptance of two statues blocking the exit. Each figure is shaped like a cat with two thick arms covered in sharp spikes.
Matt kicks the statue in frustration and asks, "Lance, do you have some bomb to destroy this thing? These ‘ancient cat things’ are starting to get to me."
A mewl comes from Nolegs and the blue feline points his sword at Matt.
“Eh, sorry Nolegs buddy.” Responds Matt sheepishly. “Present company excluded.”
Lance opens his dimension pocket and starts searching, "Well, let’s..." Suddenly the statue's eyes flash and one of them slams its arms into the distracted Matt, causing him to crash into Natalie. Scraping and grinding noises from the other statue announce it’s also active. Both statues move stiffly from the wall at first, revealing more of their spike-covered bodies.
A yellow beam shoots from a statue towards the team who dodges the attack. Sunset quickly casts an earth protection spell on Matt and Natalie who are still stunned by the surprise attack. Fortunately, they recover quickly and get ready for combat.
"They’re some kind of guardian monoliths." Sunset speculates with Lance. Looking around the ditch she adds. “Great and we’re stuck in this gully like fish in a barrel.”
"Agreed." Says Lance. The gunner passes Nolegs a grenade. “Here ye is, this will do more damage than yer sword.” The cat smiles.
“Oh well. So much for stealth.” Says Matt. He and Sunset nod before charging at the stone sentinels.
Some electric "birds" are created by one of the monoliths glowing yellow. The glowing flock rockets towards their objectives. Disruptor arrows shoot down many of the objects before they reach their targets. Natalie chants a spell as Matt and Lance move in front of her to destroy the rest of them.
Sunset teleports in front of the first monolith and attempts to use the "Wyvern Slash" attack but the monster counterattacks with a mortar shot from its mouth. It is swiftly dodged by the nimble dragon.
The second sentinel’s arm glows as it is trying to attack but Lance shoots an explosive projectile to prevent it. Behind the gunner, the air crackles as Natalie’s spell is complete.
Sunset and Matt are fighting the first monolith when some of its spikes morph into red crystals. These crystals burst into flames. Matt is surprised when a fire dragon flies toward them but Sunset is quite annoyed. She slams the staff into the monolith's eye. It roars in pain but stops moving long enough for Sunset to breathe fire onto it. Matt charges his sword and valiantly dashes toward the overheated statue. A blue mist emanates from the swordsman’s blade. Reaching the sentinels, Matt jumps into Sunset's claws and is spring boarded over the blazing statue. Upon contact with the ice sword, the flame monolith shatters into pieces.
When it realizes its fellow has been destroyed, the other monolith glows white as if to prepare for another attack. Appropriately, the sentinel is unable to move thanks to Nadine’s power drain spell. Nolegs lobs the grenade inside the paralyzed monolith’s mouth. This is followed by several of Anna’s gummy arrows. After the grenade explodes inside the monster, it falls apart.
Lance congratulates Anna, "Nice job." He then notices that she's aiming for something. An arrow flies close to Matt’s head. When he turns to look at the ground, he notices a camouflaged construct that looks like a white bird now has an arrow piercing it.
“Everyone freeze!” cries out Nadine. Holding out her staff she expands the still active draining hex. The ditch walls glow and then seem to sputter out. Everyone gasps as hundreds of previously invisible energy “birds” fall lifeless to the ground.
“Amazing Nat!” praises Sunset. “I assumed that the magic I felt was only residual from the monoliths!
Matt immediately jumps back, "Whoa, invisible foes. Now that is difficult to handle."
Anna sighs in relief, "I still can't make ghost arrows yet. It’s a lucky thing Natalie made some for me to try!" Nolegs meows from on top of her shoulder. “Thanks! Good job to you too Nolegs.”
While watching Anna scratch Nolegs’s ears the team suddenly froze in realization. “Oh no… the cult cats!” they all cried in unison.
“Um. I think everyone should see this." Natalie replies seriously. The mage had climbed out of the ditch and was standing on the rim. Anna hurriedly scaled the walls with Nolegs.
Fearing the outcome, Sunset grabs the remaining team members and flew out of the trench. The whole team stares out at the exposed landscape in disbelief.
“Ah! It’s gone!” cries Matt. The swordsman franticly checks his other storage bags for the missing “culinary delicacy” planned for dinner, oblivious to the poorly hidden smirks from the rest of the team. “Where is it? I found the cacti but where is the rest of that monster?”
“Um... we could eat something else. After all, we have defeated other monsters.” Suggests Anna.
“Don’t be silly. We can’t eat rocks.” Replied Matt with a straight face.
***Later tales about the legendary heroes would whisper about the subsequent eye roll that was believed to be of truly epic proportions.***
A barbecued cactus along with other provisions is enjoyed by the team (except for Matt, who is still pouting). Anna has now had time to reflect on the day's events after sitting down in front of the campfire. After viewing the open area at the top of the trench, the archer is very glad to break camp for the night.
“So… that ditch was a trap.” States Anna quietly.
“Yea, and a very clever one at that." Says Lance. He puts down his plate and reaches over to check the map again.
“Where do you think the cats disappeared to?" asks Anna. “That whole area is empty.”
Sunset sighs. Looking over the wide empty field again, she states. “I don’t know Anna. But one thing is for certain, the godcats now know we are coming.”
“Um… Sunset do you know how to do ghost enchantments?” asked Anna embarrassingly “I’m trying hard to understand the instructions Natalie gave me for those charm arrows but I just can’t get it.”
“Anna, while I know about those spells, my strength is elemental enchantment." Sunset admits. The dragon had seen her friend Nadine out of the corner of her eye and didn’t want to hurt her feelings. “Natalie is the most suitable person to teach you charms. You saw how she sensed that invisible trap.”
After looking around, the dragon spots Natalie ‘innocently’ standing by the fire. Sunset calls out to Natalie as she walks over to her spot. “Can you do me a favor?”
Natalie and Sunset give each other a knowing look. Sunset leaned over closer to her friend to whisper. “Nat, I meant every word. We may both be mages but have different strengths. Plus our friend needs help…”
“Agreed.” Whispers Natalie. “Well, shall we teach our friend together?”
“Yes, together.” Responds Sunset happily. The pair walked over to the archer to offer a dual lesson.
Anna happily accepted the offer. Her bright smile hid her true intentions. “Ha, it worked! So glad those two are no longer jealous of each other’s abilities and trying to outdo one another.”
Lessons continued after dark. Since Natalie and Anne were still talking, Sunset asked to be excused to get some rest. As she walked to her tent, the dragon suddenly realized what had been bothering her. Searching through her packs, Sunset locates the object of contention.
Sunset lay down in her tent, looking at an item she had not seen in years. All of the recent fights with the godcats had made the dragon remember some painful memories. She looked at the spinning pendant in her claws—a yin-yang circle. A single tear fell from the dragon’s eye as she reminisced about someone she truly cherished, her teacher the white dragon. “Whitty.”
Several leagues away, a massive sky fortress approaches the ancient city of cats. Along with tanks and planes, it is armed with many heavy weapons. As he walks its halls, Eldaro, now Captain Eldaro, attempts to remain stoic. However, he is as happy as a kid in a candy store on the inside. Despite enjoying the massive citadel, he needs to remain professional to protect the troops now under his command.
Five crystals and seven mages are required to teleport Queen Sabrina and Caption Eldaro to the newly completed fortress due to distance. When it comes to security matters, the Queen completely trusts her old friend. Messages from him about a threat to the world were taken seriously by the ruler. Sabrina smiles warmly. She is glad she was able to convince a man with such experience as Eldaro to lead her soldiers against this new threat.
All of the soldiers have gathered in the large holding area awaiting the announcement of their chosen leader. After some fanfare, Queen Sabrina walks stately onto the balcony overlooking the main hanger. The ruler tries not to appear nervous as she recites a small speech before presenting Captain Eldaro. Most of the defense forces recruited for this mission are younger so they may not trust someone who has recently returned from retirement.
When the Queen sees the inspired faces of her army, her diplomatic face prevents her from revealing how relieved she is. A cheer erupts from several soldiers when they learn that Eldaro is returning as their captain. Since he is well-known for being an experienced strategist who respects others, the soldiers fully support his decision.
Queen Sabrina is delighted to see Captain Eldaro back in action. Eldaro’s inspirational speech stirs up honor, and courage in the troops. Following the assembly, the captain starts a training schedule to prepare the troops for a special simulation.
After the day’s simulation is complete, Sabrina is full of questions about its subject. Eldaro’s training simulates various monsters' attacking troops and locations directly. The queen is more than surprised that her old friend is training for such an event.
Eldaro sensed his friend’s confusion. However he waited until after the training was done before he allowed Sabrina to ask questions. Eldaro knows the queen’s intentions, so he delays their meeting till after the simulation.
Later the pair sit down at a table to relax. By this time Sabrina is bursting with curiosity. "It has been a few years since you have led troops into battle Eldaro. But why instead of training our army to attack and neutralize this threat, you are preparing the troops to be attacked? The hypothetical situations you are proposing are causing a lot of confusion."
Before speaking, Eldaro takes out a wine bottle and two glasses. The man grins as he knows Sabrina can be impatient. Only after leisurely pouring wine for them both of them does he answer, "Our opponents are not normal monsters Sabrina, they are powerful Godcats, so it is wise to prepare for as many possibilities as imaginable. Remember the demon invasion? Many more people would have been killed or injured if we didn’t plan for such incidents."
Sabrina waves her hand, saying, "How can those cats attack this sky fortress? We are 800 leagues away! Your plan involves using highly skilled soldiers to support the legendary heroes from a great distance."
The captain sips his wine before continuing. “I’m confident our forces can successfully support the heroes with the new updated ‘sniper tank.’ Eldaro puts his cup down, "as I said, we have to protect ourselves first before we can help them. If this fortress is down, our heroes will have a hard time without our support." Eldaro looks out the window at the sky, "My gut tells me those powerful felines will not just wait around for our champions to defeat them. So we can’t let our guard down."
Sabrina giggles, "I trust your judgment. Your instinct has a way of coming true."
“Not to worry,” continues Eldaro, “This plan is not all based on instinct. My cousin has a communicator and can provide more of the short-range details.”
The queen nods, "I see. Well, I certainly hope we are all just being overcautious.”
“Speaking of being cautious, is that bird around? I have a special job for her.
A short time later, Silver, a creature with beautiful shiny wings comes into Eldaro’s room. Silver and Eldaro have not seen each other in a while and greet one another like old friends. When Silver spots Eldaro she wastes no time in giving him a wing hug.
“I heard you are now a Captain as well, so congratulations are in order, Captain Silver.” Says Eldaro.
She waves her wings to retort, "I feel like I'm still not as good as you. To me, you remain my savior who has taught me so much."
Eldaro sighs, "All right, no need to praise me like that, I hate praising. Anyway, I have a job that only you can accomplish, can you do it?"
"Please continue," says Silver.
"You, Silver, must fly high in order to spot any advanced threats to this fortress. I also need you to send two soldiers to a high location to aid in scouting the area."
"Why is that?" Silver rubs her head by her wing, "Do you think something is about to happen?”
"That's right, you guessed it." Silver blushes in response to Eldaro's praise, but he tells her, "But anyway, to teleport something over 800 leagues distance is not easy, especially in an army."
"Yes sir," Silver replies as she flies away. Eldaro sips his wine and does his best to not worry. “Sunset Shimmer. Things always seem to happen when you’re involved.”