The Adventure Continues

by Dragon Shimmer

Amelia ...

Anna, Nolegs, and Lance continue to walk ahead of the rest of the team in the ice caverns. Since Natalie, Sunset and Matt were still discussing the plan for the dangerous golem described by the explorer, so the rest of the team elected to scout ahead. Images reflected off the ice made the correct path tricky, but Lance was pleasantly surprised at the accuracy of Anna’s cave map. A sudden cracking noise caught the attention of the gunner.

Lance aims his weapon at the shifting ice. Suddenly an ice blade shoots out at Anna who instantly reacts by blocking the attack with her bow. A strange cry echoes through the chamber when a shiny ice monster reveals itself. Anna attempts to shoot the creature but is repelled by light reflecting off its body. Undeterred by the light attack, Nolegs jumps from Anna’s back onto the monster's head to distract it. Anna jumps in front of the monster to shoot more arrows, but the arrows bounce off its thick covering. Sunset nods to Lance and together they spring into action. While the dragon immobilizes the monster with some fire chains, the gunner fires onto the monster's body, shattering it.

Watching from the sidelines Natalie and Matt nod approvingly at the successful fight. "Nice one." Matt announces happily, "The path is clear again." The others collectively groan.

Moving out of range from the latest bad pun barrage, Anna fails to watch where she is going and slips on the ice. The others laugh until they also start to slide around. Matt takes a good look at the slippery floor and concludes there is water running under the ice.

"Oh no! How are we going to get through this part of the cave?" Natalie complains, "Nobody in our team can ice skate." The mage looks over her shoulder to witness Anna and Nolegs, happily skating on the slippery floor. “Umm… Never mind."

“Wait, maybe there is a better way over this mess without falling on our faces.” Says Matt to Sunset with a devilish look on his face.

Confused, Sunset looks across the frozen room for a minute before the full meaning of Matt’s suggestion occurs to her. The dragon glances back to see her team teammates have disappeared at the same time. A new weight has appeared on her back.

Sunset glances at them with slight annoyance and sighs, "Fine, I will take all of you. Just hold tight," She opens her wings and glides over the area. Anna feels a bit jealous watching them enjoying a dragon ride. Gripping Nolegs securely, she faces the ice floor so no one can see her sad face.

The team travels until it reaches a thick ice wall that seems like a good spot for camping. Sunset starts a campfire. Meanwhile, Lance guards the perimeter as Natalie casts a protection spell. Anna sat down in front of the fire to check the supplies. Sunset has placed a pot on the fire and sat down on the other side of Anna.

With the flame behind her serving as a backdrop, the orange dragon turns to Anna. “Well Anna, we have not had time to talk.” Sunset glances over to the corner at the other members talking and back at Anna. “Don’t worry about them, they can’t hear us... muffling spell.”

Anna looks down and gives the dragon a sad look. Sunset continues, “Come on, I understand what you are going through more than you think. You are trying hard to be part of this team and I appreciate your efforts. However, you are trying a little too hard. Putting yourself in harm's ways such as in the last monster fight is not necessary to earn our respect.” Sunset and Anna glance over to the corner again. Lance is looking back with a worried look. “Well, it looks like there is hope for that lot yet.” Growls Sunset who looks back at Anna with a sympathetic look. “Sorry Anna, I’m not mad at you. I am upset with them. However, Lance looks like he feels guilty and he should for leaving you on the ice.”

“Sorry I-” whispered Anna.

“You, stop that right now.” Retorts Sunset, “When I was the newbie, I acted the same way; overcompensating to prove myself. The truth was I was trapped in a terrifying new place with some rather eccentric people. All I wanted was to go back home and well… I’ll tell you about it sometime.”

“Wow,” replies Anna looking stunned. “I would never imagine any mage as strong as you to be afraid of anything. Sunset, you are right. Every time our team runs into a monster, I am afraid I’ll freeze up and get slammed again like with Mighty Oak.”

“Now lass,” piped up a voice behind the pair. “That is not going to happen. Why do ya think I was so close behind you? To watch ya back of course! Ya just need a bit more experience working in a team to get used to it. Which brings me to my next offer, to train ye properly once we reach Whitefall town.”

“Are you sure you want to train me Mr. - I mean Lance? You hardly know me.” Says Anna.

“It may come as a surprise to ye but Matt is a very good judge of character. Adventures just seem to seek him out. He will never admit it but we would be lost in this case maze if not for your navigation skills” Replies Lance as he pointed behind the archer. “Also another member has absolute faith in ye.”

Anna looked back in surprise at the blue cat sitting comfortably in her cloak. Nolegs had made himself at home and the archer was so comfortable being around her feline friend, she had not noticed him. Anna couldn’t help smiling. Looking at her wonderful friends she felt loved. Lance looked like he wanted to say something to Anna but stopped when saw the last two teammates return.

After a quick demonstration by Sunset about how sharp her claws were, the team minus Anna and Nolegs fully agreed to be more considerate about future dragon rides. Anna reports the team should be near the cave exit after they cross the next bridge. The archer can’t help wondering if the adventures she has teamed up with are the real living legends she heard stories about back at her village. Anna stays silent about the subject, after all, she could be wrong.

A vibration on the floor wakes up Anna. Rolling out of her bedroll the archer sees Natalie, Matt, and Lance drinking hot beverages by the fire. Natalie motions for Anna to join them. Despite the shaking, the teams’ serene expressions convey the message everything was under control.

Lance hands Anna a hot drink while she makes herself comfortable. An occasional ping is heard from flying rocks hitting Natalie’s camp protection barrier. Lance is cheerfully explaining battle strategies. By now the archer is getting used to her teammates' antics. The noise from the next room got louder until a loud crash revealed the source of the commotion. A grey golem welding crystal blades crashes through the wall followed by a now-familiar orange dragon.

Crystal blades swing wildly against the dragon, but Sunset nimbly avoids them. Rolling out of danger the dragon counter attacks with a blast of fire followed by a "Wyvern Slash" to its leg. The golem falls on one knee but does not stop. The creature summons a ball of earth and hurls it at its opponent. The ball explodes sending sharp crystal shards everywhere, but Sunset had a shield spell ready. Quickly creating a magic circle, she chants a new spell just as the golem charges. Flames light up the chamber as a dragon flies out the circle right through the middle of the monster, shattering it to pieces.

"Nice job, Sunset," Matt calls while handing the dragon a cup of brown liquid, "Warm-up yet?"

"Yeah," Sunset sits down with the team, and she looks at Anna, "Looks like someone wants to become a sleeping beauty, but you needed it. Plus you didn’t miss the show." Anna blushes as she rubs her head, Sunset continues, "Maybe should have called it the going to get some water and running into a crystal monster show."

Matt replies “Nope! It will be called the 'do not mess with Sunset the dragon before her morning coffee' show.”

Anna chuckles, “Wow, this is quite the adventure! I wish my friends could see me now, slipping through an ice cave, exploring new areas, and fighting monsters with a team with the same name as the living legends who saved the world.”

This declaration resulted in a mixed group reaction.

"The Living legends?" Matt smirks, "Hum, nice title we have there."

"Nope, don’t like it. Too fancy pansy..." Sunset waves the soup ladle around while others laugh.

"What? Why are you laughing?" calls Anna feeling confused, "Don't you care about them."

Natalie shakes her head, "No, that, is not it. We just don’t consider ourselves legendary heroes." Natalie pats Anna's back, "We're just ourselves." Anna shakes her head and continues eating the soup.

As predicted, the team came to several wooden bridges still under construction, however, the structure was complete enough to carefully cross the chasm. Matt drops a rock over the edge to gauge the depth. The deep pit reminds him of the time when Sunset fell into such a hole. Matt reminisces a bit about her transformation from a pony to a dragon. The swordsman misses the Sunset’s old pony form as her new dragon form could be quite intimidating. However, Sunset kept saying she was fine being a dragon, and adventuring with the team, however, Matt noticed her eyes were sad. Matt has a feeling Sunset misses her old home but there is not anything he can do about it. The swordsman shakes his head and jogs to catch up with the rest of his friends.

Spotting damage from rock eaters, Lance signals the team to be on the alert. Two turtles with rock shells and scorpion tails are blocking the path. The creatures make themselves known by trying to push the adventures off of the edge of the gorge. Matt blocks the first one with his claymore while the others dodge the second turtle. The second turtle tries to hit Natalie, but she quickly leaps back resulting in the beast running straight into the bridge. However, the partially finished bridge surface was too weak to support the heavy creature and it fell through the unsecured boards into the pit. Distracted by the disappearance of its companion the first turtle stretched its neck around while still running after Matt. The swordsman calmly side-stepped out of the turtle’s way and the team watched as it ran itself over the cliff.

"Nah ah," Matt cheers, "I thought these were stone eaters, not lemmings."

Crossing the last bridge, the team encounters a guard wearing steel armor. The sentry proceeds to advise the team about a dangerous area ahead. After Matt explains the team was there to take care of the golem, the guard agrees to allow them to continue. Soon the team is camped close to a continent of other guards not far from the exit. They sit together and start talking happily about their seven years experiment of being apart. This causes Anna to feel a little left out.

After a rest and more information from the guards, the team finally makes their way out of the cave. Everyone is very happy to be out in the sunshine and fresh air again. Suddenly, a large stone crashes in front of Matt and blocks his way. Many other stones shift and merge to create a bulky golem monster. Lifting a sharp-looking crystal blade, it growls at the team as they prepare to fight.

Small stone balls covered in ice fire out of the monster’s leg as it stomps towards the group. Red arrows flash in response. The volley intersects the dangerous projectiles, resulting in several explosions. The stone bombs add the hazard of slippery frozen earth to the battle.

When the golem sees Anna shooting shots unimpeded by the ice, the monster raises its sword to attack the archer. Meantime Matt is having issues traversing the ice so switches to distance attacks. An earthquake gets the golem’s attention as Matt’s sword is slammed into the ground. Light from the sun is suddenly eclipsed by a giant earth sword that smashes against the monster. With the ground cleared of ice, the rest of the team rushes at the golem to cover Natalie’s chanting.

Matt reaches the golem just as it has dug itself out of the earth. The golem swings its crystal sword at the swordsman, but he blocks it easily. Bouncing off of the rocks Nolegs jumps on the monster's crystal sword with his water sword and slashes at it. When that fails the cat jumps onto the monster's head. But the golem pays no attention to the feline’s distractions and continues attacking the other team members.

Sunset flies up the golem and barely avoids another exploding stone bomb attack. Unable to reach the dragon the monster forms a canon out of his hand to shoot her out of the air. Fortunately, Lance's big gun destroys the arm canon. The dust in the air makes Anna sneeze. Seeing her previous attack was unsuccessful, Anna pulls out her old green bow and bends it until it breaks completely. Then with her red bow, the remains of old bow are embedded into the golem’s leg. A green magic circle appears on the ground under the monster. Out of the circle, a torrent of thorny vines covers the golem, pining the monster to the spot.

With the golem temporally immobile, Natalie cast a magic circle, making it appear on the golem's head while Sunset maneuvers for an aerial attack. Fires crackle over the dragon’s body as she dives at the golem struggling in the vines. Staff in hand, Sunset hits the monster with a direct "Wyvern Slash" attack to heat its body, leaving a gaping hole. With the magic circle now complete Anna catches Nolegs as he jumps down. They sprint for cover as a giant iceberg drops into the burning golem, making it shatter into pieces.

"Wow! That was the biggest golem I have ever seen! Well, I hope that was the golem the man is talking about." Matt wonders, "Is it me, or are we running into a lot of monsters lately."

"Ye always run to a lot of monsters… speaking of which our little archer still has a few surprises. That was a neat little trick. Do ye always need to sneeze for it to work?" Lance looks at Anna banteringly, "Right?"

"Come on! I finally got that one spell right," Anna starts to say something else but decides against it. She just huffs and starts moving around the fallen rocks. The Team is almost clear when the air in front of them shimmers. Suddenly, a portal opens with such energy it throws the team back. From the gateway emerges a floating white cat shining with a blue radiance.

Matt exclaims in surprise, "A flying, glowing …cat?!”

A simple wave of a paw from the mystery feline creates a powerful ground attack. Rays of light shoot out of the earth towards the team who quickly scatter to dodge it. Sunset teleports behind the cat but the feline pushes her back with such force the dragon slams against a rock. The cat slowly looks over the team and says, "Ah, so you are the ones who destroyed Arkon seven years ago. Little human things are not so tough." Anna gasps at the revelation as she clutches her cloak protectively. The levitating cat continued, "No matter, the end of your rule is near, human-kind. Cat-kind shall rule the earth once more."

Flames burst out of Sunset’s staff as a dragon wing attack flies towards the enigmatic cat, but it is countered by a burst from the feline. Turning towards the dragon with an unreadable expression, the feline rockets towards Sunset. Sensing danger, Sunset quickly swings her staff at the cat, but the cat catches the staff and levitates the dragon. Lance and Anna fire to stop the cat from draining Sunset’s power, however, the cat’s aura stops the arrows and bullets mid-air. Turning to face the team, the white feline gestures with its paws to the projectiles. Bathed in blue radiance, the fired mortars rain down on the team only to be blocked by Matt’s sword.

The cat smirks as she appears to be preparing a new attack. Unexpectedly the feline stops and looks back at Sunset. The dragon now has a wide grin on her snout as she manipulates a new magic circle. “What’s wrong?” taunts Sunset. “Don’t like your spells reversed.” Grumbling, the cat pushes the dragon onto the rocks.

"Looks like there are some smart creatures here after all," States the cat pointing her paw at Sunset, "Who are you, dragon thing?"

"My name is Sunset," Replies the dragon as she carefully stands up. She feels hurt but tries not to show it, "And who are you?"

"My name is Amelia, one of the god-cats." States the feline smugly. A black hole appears behinds Amelia but her claws slice it apart. Natalie is amazed when her spell evaporates. The mage quickly spins her staff to counter Amelia's paws. The cat smugly reaches out to block the staff but she receives a slash from Matt. Amelia looks surprised at the wound and watches it rapidly heal. “How about that…” She remarks aloud. “This is the first time I have been hit in three hundred years. The last time was from that annoying white dragon."

The revelation about the white dragon surprises Sunset. Before the team can respond, Amelia taps a paw on the ground. A four-legged golem rises from the ground. Amelia looks at the team and declares, "I’m bored now. Goodbye humans things, we will meet again, soon." as she disappears. The team has no choice but to prepare to fight the new golem.

Comments

[Flora Blossom]

Matt waves his hand, "Don't say that." then he lightly punches at Sunset, "You can fight if you see any time you see that it's the right time." Sunset shakes her head as she continues to walk.

any time, you see that it's the right time."

As the Team walks they find two turtles have stone shells and a rock scorpion tail is charging at them. Matt blocks the first one as it drags him so far while others dodge the charge of the second turtle. The second turtle stops and jumps to Natalie to body slam her but Natalie quickly leaps back. The second turtle leaves a hole in the bridge after the slam and falls down the cliff. The first turtle sees that as it stretches itself to push Matt down the cliff. Matt finds himself near the cliff as the turtle wants to push him. He jumps aside, makes the turtle rush forward the cliff and falls down.

not sure if team was post to be capitalize... Unless that's their title? (No no no it can't be.)

as the team walks, they find two turtles have stone shells and a rock scorpion tail is charging at them.

The guard silents for a while as he looks at the team. He sees it's a quite large party because they have six members. The guard agrees, "Oh right, since you have six members in a team. I will show you."

there is only 1 guard...

The guard is quiet for a while as he looks at the team.

"Of course I am always useful, stop underestimating me," Anna huffs and she starts going out of the cave. The Team follows her but when they are taking the step to go out of the cave. An explosion appears in front of them, and after that a pure white cat that glows in blue is floating in front of them.

"Of course,

The Cat waves its hand and many rays of light rise from the round and it is coming to them. The Team dodges at it as Sunset teleports behind the cat but the cat pushes her away, making her slam at the wall. Then it stops for a little while, looks at the Team, and says, "Ah, >>> So <<< this is the team that destroyed Arkon seven years ago," Anna looks at them and grasps, she is shocked as the cat continues, "No matter, the end of your rule is nearing, humankind. Catkind shall inherit the earth once more."

I think you meant to lowercase the s in so... (you can blame your pinkie) A joke I love to discover!!!

[LiterallyAL]

11035994

Chapter corrected and update - thank you for the heads up!