When Prox left the open gates of the Anichneftis barracks, he was confronted by two much larger Balandians. They were decked out in medium armor, with helmets obscuring all but their crescent eyes. They looked down at Prox, holding long spears that blocked his way.
“What do you scrubs want?” Prox said angrily.
“5th Rank Proxus Kókkino. You have no authorization to exit the premises of the barracks. We have to stop you here, pay a fine, or we will have to take your life.”
Proxus growled, he hesitated for a moment, looking very closely at the spears of the supposed security guards.
“Yeah, you can stop pulling this prank now. There’s no mark symbolizing you’re from the Peripolía* branch on the spearheads. You’re probably just some phonies who played dress up to mug people like us.”
“H-hey, wait!-”
“What happened to that confident voice? You crapped your pants or something? Just get outta the way, or I’ll have to make you two thugs disappear.”
“J-just who do you think you are? Some kind of thug hunter?” Nervously said one of the guards. Proxus scoffed and turned his head to the side at the thought of such a lame sounding title, as well as an unimaginative response. He then looked back at the fools with a devious smile.
“Guess I am.”
Tmp tmp
Slash
With one swipe of Prox’s claws, a large, jagged hole was raked into the armor of the so-called guards, a black, thick fluid began to flow out, making the faker stagger and fall to the ground.
“You- I’ll get you for that!”
The other guard charged recklessly at Prox, screaming like a maniac, spear pointed straight for Prox’s body. An untrained charge like this is obviously futile against a trained soldier like Prox.
Grap
With his left hand, Prox yanked the spear towards and behind him, sending the guard flying towards him. With the momentum Prox created with the spear grabbing, he gripped the ruffian’s head with a tight, crushing grasp, and slammed his head on the ground. He continued the combo by lifting him back up again to deliver a knee strike to his gut, before throwing an elbow to the head that catapulted him into the black grass. Prox walked up to him, wielding the spear he yanked away. He stared at him with a condescending look.
“H-h-h-he-hey! Wait! Don’t kill us! Please! I beg of you! Me and my younger brother just wanted money to he-”
SHUNK
“Save the sob story for someone who cares.” Proxus snapped, he removed the now black painted spearhead from the dead body, he gave it a few shakes to get most of the Balandian blood off of it. He was about to walk away with a new weapon from the corpses, but then he recalled a combat lesson he received when he was still a trainee.
“Remember, we Balandians are able to absorb each other to gain more power, take advantage of that! If one of your comrades falls in battle, even if it’s your best friend, absorb the cells to add his or her power to yours!”
“These chumps probably aren’t that strong, but every little bit will help with bringing down that kid.”
Proxus paced towards the fake guard with the slash tears in his armor, he stuck his hand through the hole, and shoved his fist into the Balandian’s body. He began to feel the sensation of power absorption.
Shlurrrp, shluuup
He removed his hand from the slosh of the body, or at least, what was a body. He looked to see not a single trace of anybody ever residing in the armor, as if it were an empty suit of armor. Proxus also felt a slight vibration coursing throughout his body. It was like he was reborn as something else, no, reborn as a stronger, faster, and smarter version as himself. He looked up at the black moon of the eternal purple sky, and he laughed.
“Ha… Haha… NYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! This is stupendous! I didn’t think one Balandian would have me feeling like this! My whole body feels so lightweight, like it’s bouncing on clouds! Oh man, now I’m just dying for another taste!”
Proxus happily charged over to the other body he planted the spear into. He drove his hand through the openings and into the arm. Once again, he felt the high of Balandian absorption.
Shlurrp, shluup
“OH MY GOD! YES!! This is perfect! If these are weak Balandians, then I wonder how stronger Balan- No, Proxus, get a hold of yourself. You’re not on their level, you’re only a 5th rank. I should be hunting smaller, weaker prey. If it works on Bellows, I may take down a load of them to slowly but surely build up my strength. Heh, there’s no way that punk will beat me at that point.”
Proxus traveled further and further away from his barracks. He would often encounter obstacles along the way, they were nothing he couldn’t handle, however. Steep mountains, hellish jungles, he had seen it all, he merely steamrolled through the myriad of natural environments. However, there was going to be one challenge that would really test his strength.
After what seemed like eons had passed, Proxus finally stepped into the Bellowlands. He knew once he felt the humid atmosphere and the extreme heights of mountains, the mass crowd of ravenous creatures that roamed the fields. They were bellows, the most primitive form of Balandian, everyone who’s doomed to reside in the Badlands once they died became these savage beasts that held no emotions other than the crave to hunger upon themselves and Elementals. The bellows came in all sorts of shapes, sizes, and colors. Some were humongous centipede-like monsters, others were more like winged beasts. They could only survive in the bellowlands because of the thick air that blows in there.
“Alright then, where’s this wormhole supposed to be?”
Prox scanned the area, he never actually saw a bellow wormhole, but in his train of thought, he figured he’d recognize one of these wormholes once they actually appeared.
“Cmon, wormhole…”
CRASH
The sound startled Prox. He turned to see a giant lake behind him. The lake was filled with a watery, dark purple water.
“How did I not notice that?!”
But that wasn’t all, from the great, massive lake, some kind of figure emerged from the center. It made a wave of water spray all over Proxus. He steadied his vision to look at what he was looking at; His heart beated rapidly when he saw the full thing.
A long, wide, green scaly body. No legs or arms to speak of, some kind of snake-like face with golden yellow, reptilian eyes. Frills around the base of the head. And so, so long. It made Proxus feel minor compared to this serpent. It stared down from great height and onto Proxus. It opened its mouth wide to reveal two giant fangs, and it roared. The screeching roar was heard by nearly all the bellows in the land, and they fled like small, stray dogs, every stray dog that is, except for Proxus, who in the face of danger, stood his ground against this serpent of the lake.
“I really got my work cut out for me, huh? Come on, then!”
Proxus had just run into the titanic beast that inhibited the bellowlands. He was alone. The creature was well over ten meters high, and probably even more wide. Proxus knew there was no way he could deal with the serpent. Or at least, normally he wouldn't be able to. Ever since he got stronger, it might just be a possibility. He stared into the maw of the behemoth, getting ready to fight for his life. One wrong move could spell the end for him, but he’s better than that. After all, he still has one snot-nosed brat he needs to get revenge on. He would do anything, even if it was impossible, if it meant getting revenge on John Bayani. But he knew he had no choice; this was the first step to vengeance.
“Prepare yourself, wretch! I’m gonna tear you to shreds!”
His eyes opened wide in terror. The enormous serpent opened its jaws far beyond what should be possible. Proxus took a few steps back, and the monster rushed toward him. He barely had time to react and dodge the attack. The snake immediately launched itself at him. Proxus, for the sake of survival, instinctively threw a rock at the serpent’s open mouth. Its powerful jaws obliterated the rock instantly. This monster was relentless. Proxus took a single step back and closed his eyes.
“Come at me again, you oversized worm!”
As the serpent made its third lunge, Proxus kicked off the ground with all his might. The serpent toppled over, the shockwave making it unable to withstand the kick. He quickly grabbed the beast by the neck and held on tight, the serpent’s head swung back and forth, almost to the point where it was about to break apart. He held the beast as the eyes glowed in bright light.
“Here it comes!”
Proxus growled, and launched himself into the mouth of the beast, with all his might. The snake grew hotter, and he knew that if he didn’t get out of there, he would experience something worse. He ran his hand on the serpent’s mouth and it was smooth. The snake tried to bite his hand away, but it was at a disadvantage, since it was out of position. Proxus grabbed hold of the tongue and pulled it back. The beast reared back its head to dislodge the creature. With a final pull, the mouth broke apart.
Proxus descended to the ground, giant tongue in his arms, he saw the once great serpent, now flailing around like a frightened animal. It turned it’s head and started lowering it, as if ready to return back to the lake in defeat.
“Hey, hey, hey! Don’t run, where do you think you’re going, huh?”
Proxus tossed the giant tongue beside him, he leaped off the ground with great force, outstretching his arms and claws, he dug into the scales of the massive serpent as it was swimming away. He could feel the black blood of the monster leaking out from where he dug in and running down his claws. With all his might, he pulled back.
“GRAAAHHHHH!!”
Keeping a hard grip on the serpent. It resisted, of course, shaking back and forth and screaming half-cocked roars that sounded much more feeble due to the lack of a tongue, but Proxus was too strong. The serpent was thrown out from the water, and onto land, where it violently jerked and shook around.
“Let’s put you to sleep.”
Proxus ran over to the head of the bellow, and stabbed his claws to the head. In an instant, the serpent stopped all of its movements, its eyes open with a dead expression. Proxus wondered how a bellow would interact with his body. With that thought in mind, he began the absorption process.
Shlurrrp shluuup
The flesh of the serpent completely disappeared, except for a pile of lonely, separated scales. Proxus expected that similar feeling he had when absorbing the other two Balandians, but to his disappointment, all he got was a small kick.
“Hmph, I guess bellows don’t give out that much power, even if they’re big serpents. Or maybe it did give me power, but the feeling is more subtle? Whatever, I’ll find out when I make that kid disappear.”
VREEENmrrrbl
A bright light illuminated behind Prox. Shocked, he turned his head round to see an interesting shape; It was an incoherent mess of a purple and black spiral that was vaguely in the shape of an oval. It spun and rotated, making that strange sound while doing so. What was most interesting of all, however, was the very faint blue he could see through it. Proxus squinted his crescents, and stepped in closer. It looked familiar, but he had to concentrate to really figure out what he was seeing. Green grass, similar to the black grass in the Badlands, The blue he saw came from the sky that was above the grass, with white clouds floating loftily in the air. Then, it suddenly came to him. A smile formed on his face. What he found was truly magnificent.
“This is… This is a wormhole to Krobus! Hahahahaha!”
Without a moment’s notice, Proxus jumped into the wormhole, ready to enter the world of Elementals, and get the chance to run it back with his foes. He closed his eyes, before opening them. To his surprise, he didn’t immediately end up in Krobus. Instead, he seemed to be traveling through a passage, floating towards his destination. The black spirals danced around him as he did. It was like running at full speed through a tight, narrow cave, except you were not moving at all, it was a strange feeling. Out of curiosity, Proxus reached to the purple around him, only to be meant with a painful shock to his hand. He immediately pulled in his arm close to him.
“Okay then, I guess that fries me.”
He continued to float towards the end of the wormhole, as he had to put in effort to not sleep through the trip. Somewhere along the line, he gave in to his instincts and slept. He didn’t even know he was dropped into Krobus, that was, until he woke up.
“Urghh.. How long was I out?” Proxus stood up, he was standing on a small grassy hill in the middle of some kind of hilly plains, laying under a tree. He turned, looking for the wormhole he came out of. There was no trace of any wormhole in the area. He remembered what Judas said in Chapter Three.
“Hm, I guess wormholes like these are one-way trips. Now, where the heck do I start? How can I find…”
He then felt a sensation running in his body. The sensation of an overwhelming crush, pressing down on him.
“This pressure! Could it be from that kid? Did he somehow get stronger?! No, that would be stupid, you can’t get that much stronger in the span of a few days, right? Has to be from somewhere else.. Whatever the case, I should check it out. If it’s an Elemental, I bet I could steal it from him…”
Proxus felt most of the pressure come to his left, with that in mind, he turned, and began his sprint towards the pressure. Whether it was John or not, he did not know, but this was his only possible lead. Finding John without it would all be up to chance.
Proxus sprinted up and down the slopes and hills of the grassy environment, until he was met with the face of a cave, its entrance looked like a massive jaw of a predator, patiently waiting to devour all those who entered. Proxus felt a shiver tingle down him. Proxus was considering going around the cave and skipping whatever was hiding in there, but…
“Tch, I bet I could find something great inside there!”
With the seductive thought of treasure in mind, Proxus blitzed inside the cave, ready and eager to explore every nook and cranny of the cavern’s inner workings. Can Proxus find any treasure or trinket? Could any of these trinkets help him out with his personal vengeance against John? Only time can tell. Although, now that we’re here, do you think the Writer is doing a good job at redeeming Proxus? I mean, I think the idea of a common soldier slowly becoming a top tier threat is sick and all, but, do you think he’s doing a good job at this? Oh, whatever, you can share your thoughts later. For now, let’s get back to John and Lolly.
----------------------------------------
“So, John, why exactly aahre we outside?” Asked Lolly. She and him were now in the outdoors of Glazewood. A few moments earlier, John had gestured to Lolly to follow him towards some place. Whatever this place was, Lolly didn’t know. John looked like he didn’t know where he was going, either, as he was frantically looking around the place.
“Oh, finally.” Exclaimed John. He turned. In front of him, was an alleyway. It was long, narrow, and gloomy looking. At the end of the alley was some kind of crossroads, where there was a large center, connected to other alleyways, including the one John was standing near. Lolly peeked over John’s shoulders, she shuddered.
“Um… John, aare you sure ya’ wanna go through dat’ alley?”
“What? Is it sketchy?”
“Huh?! Doesn’t it look sketchy to ya’? Besides, Aah heard dat bad guys like to haahng out therr!”
“That so? Because… I’m not seeing anybody sitting there… If you need protection, then just ask, because I know how to fight, I think.”
“No no, Aah know howda fight too, s’ just so happens dat my way of fighting doesn’t work all dat’ great in small spots like those.”
“Well, my way works in tight spots like those. C’mon, there’s something I need to show you in that alley, anyways.”
Lolly nervously bit her lip. “Fine, whaeva’ ya’ say.”
John began to step down the alleyway. The first thing he noticed were all the messy, wet patches of moss and dirty water that lined the walls and floor. He also felt cramped as he shuffled. Lolly slowly followed John, but she was nervous, understandably so. Don’t you readers know what happened to Bruce Wayne?
John reached the end of the alley, he stepped into the large, open space. He was surrounded by multiple buildings, which formed the square shape of the center alleyway. Lolly soon came to him, looking around, scanning for suspicious looking people. Sweat rained down her face.
“I think this is a good spot. Yawalc, I know you’re there, you can come out now!”
“Yawalc?” Muttered Lolly to herself.
“Aw geez… Being omnipresent isn’t as cracked up as I thought it’d be…”
Shocked by the sudden voice, Lolly turned behind to see the figure of Yawalc. Interestingly, he was wearing corny looking shutter shades, normal clothing, and holding a pack of popcorn. He looked as if annoyed by something.
“Whaaht the?!- Who arr ya’?” Exclaimed Lolly, she pointed her finger at him.
“Oh? And people don’t greet me with respect? Man, mortals are so cruel…”
“Oh, er- Aah mean, hello mister, could ya’ introduce yaself?”
“Now that’s the kind of greeting I like! Hey John.”
“Hey Yawalc, if it’s not too rude to ask, why are you wearing those shades?”
“Eh? I was just disguising myself as a mortal, watching a sports game. Then you called my name, and now we’re here. Speaking of which, I see you’ve found Lolly, nice job.”
“Huh? Nice job? Whaaht the heck is goin’ herr?”
“Hm, right, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Yawalc. I am a divine messenger sent from the Grand Elemental, to unite the 5 mortals whom he shared his power to. You, Lolly Mitchell, and John Bayani, are two of those mortals who have a part of his godly power. I just sound like a crazy dude saying all this, so let me change to further convince you.”
In a bright flash of holy light, Yawalc’s outfit changed completely, the once ordinary clothes were swapped out for a more traditional garb and robes. As soon as she saw the outfit, Lolly immediately recognized the figure.
“Oh! So you’re wunna those angels from them textbooks, right?”
“You see? They only believe you if you wear one of these outfits.” Yawalc smugly said to you.
“Who’re you talking to?” John said confusingly.
“It’s nothing. Anyhow, Lolly Mitchell, for whatever reason, the Grand Elemental bequeathed his ability to you, John, and 3 other mortals. I’m tasked to be your messenger and guide. When we unite the full team, you 5 will be able to use your combined powers to slay the Balandian King. I know this all sounds a bi-”
“Wherr’s the next person we needa’ find?” Lolly said. Yawalc was a little shocked by her eagerness.
“Oh wow, you’re a lot more willing than John… Are you sure you don’t want me to explain why you mortals need to defeat the Balandian King?”
“Nah, we’re doin’ it for the greata’ good, yeah? In dat case, Aah don’t needa question anythang you say.”
“Wait, Lolly…” Began john. “You know how dangerous this’ll be, right? Who knows what kind of dangers we’ll encounter along the way.”
“Pfft, why aare ya’ so scaahred? If the Grandie gave me some powahs, then therr’s no needa worry aahbout it!”
“John has a point, Lolly. Even though the Grand Elemental bestowed you a portion of his power, it doesn’t mean you were just spoon-fed these powers. If you wish to bring out these powers, you’ll have to put in a ton of effort to actually unlock them, more-so master them. You sure you can handle that?”
“Aah thought your job was to guide us, not discourage us, let’s get er’ movin’!”
“Hm, alright. I think I like your style, girl. No chit-chatting then. The next mortal we ought to find is a Fire elemental named Napalmic. Napalmic Fehìonas.”
At the mention of that name, John and Lolly looked at each other with terrified eyes, they looked back at Yawalc, putting their hands together in a prayer position.
“Please don’t make us go!” They yelled out in unison.
“Huh? You people know him or something?”
“Not just us, he’s known by nearly all of Slamerica! He has the title of ‘The Escottian Hunter’ for a reason! I heard they needed, like, 15 watchmen to take him down, and even with several Water Elementals, they struggled! This man is a menace!” A bit stupid, if you think about it.
“That so? Cuz’ according to the message the Grand Elemental gave to me, he’s supposed to be one of the 5 mortals he chose to bequeath his power to.”
“Ah, Ya’ sure y-ya’ didn’t maahke aah mistake or nothin’?” Bargained Lolly.
“An angel? Making mistakes? My goodness, what have they been putting into your textbooks? Though, I did tell John not to overestimate us in chapter two, didn’t I? Look. Whether he’s a good person or not, Mr. Fehìonas is just as important as you two are. Who knows, he might not be as bad as you think.” Yawalc reassuringly said.
“Well… I guess we can check him out… What about you, Lolly?”
“Ah… Surr! We could totaahlly see what’s up with him!... We ain’t gonna get our heads lopped, right?”
“Pfft, no. He can’t even do that in his condition.”
“Oh! He’s currently held at the Rubiang Prison, isn’t he? It’s not too far away from Glazewood. I bet we could make it within a day or so.”
“Rubiang? Ain’t dat’ where they hold a buncha’ bad guys?”
“Yup. I heard from the town crier a few weeks back about his arrest and location. I’m sure a crier here said something similar.”
“You’re right! Aah day ago, the town crier came here to report aahbout Napalmic’s capture.”
“Well, it seems you two know where he belongs, but just in case you need directions: Just exit this town, and head west from there. I’ll give my deuces here. Oh, but one more thing, before I head out… John, do you have my bag of chips?”
“Oh, you almost made me forget! Here you go, Yawalc.”
John removed the O.P.P. bag from his back and set it on the ground. He opened up one of the compartments, and retrieved the bag of snacky goodness. Yawalc licked his lips, and snatched the bag from John’s hands, he opened it up, and just dumped all the contaminants into his mouth, in one quick motion.
“Thanks, now I can go.”
And thus, Yawalc suddenly disappeared in his usual style.
“Does he do dat’ often?”
“You get used to it. Say, Lolly, shouldn’t we say goodbye to William now?”
“Yup, we oughta tell him about what’s goin’ on. Wouldn’t waahnt him feelin’ sick aahbout me!”
John nodded his head. Just then, they heard what sounded like angry, curseful muttering behind them.
“That kid, how dare he interrupt a professional mugging! I swear, I’m gonna…” “Huh? Who in the Badlands are you two?”
They turned around, they saw a hooded man wearing some kind of mask and a long sleeved, black shirt, the mask heavily resembled a Balandian’s face. John observed, before connecting the dots together.
“You… Weren’t a Balandian?” Asked John.
“Huh? Hey! You’re that self-righteous above-it-all type that interrupted my job! You’ve got some nerve, walking in here.”
“You just gonna ignore my question? If you weren’t a Balandian, then how-”
“Did I make a bit of your hand melt away? What, you actually thought Balandians were made of acid or something?”
“Well, are they?”
“Mmphmsmph, heck if I know! But that melt wasn't a Balandian trick! Check it out!”
The figure removed his mask, revealing an entirely different face. A human face, but with some differences. The skin looked purplish, and green streaks were running down his sharp, aggressive brown eyes. John took out the know-it-tron from the pockets of his pants, and pressed the yellow button.
Beep… Beep…
“A Bane Elemental. As the name implies, users can control, manipulate, and generate poisons and other toxins to their will. These users are, well, toxic.”
“Oh, so you’re a Bane Elemental? This is my first time seeing one of them in person.”
“Toxic personality? Aah can see dat. Ya’ need help? How’s it like back home?”
“Grr… MY LIFE MEANS NOT A SAUSAGE TO YOU LOSERS, GOT IT?!”
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“Hm, if he’s a Bane Elemental, that might explain why it felt so hard to punch him, as well as the hand melting… He probably used some kind of acid to make his arms more liquidy to increase defenses…” Thought John.
“Seems like you’re not a friendly talker, I’m sorry, but we’re kind of in a rush at the moment. Bye.”
The Bane Elemental grabbed John’s shoulder, he looked at him with an angry leer.
“Oh no no no, not only did you force me to run away, you just had to walk into my little hideout, now I can’t let you leave without giving you a black eye or two.”
“Aah told ya’ so, John. Hey! Don’t pick on him! It’s your fault ya’ decided to start aah robbery aaht broad daylight! How aahbout you fight me?”
The Poison Elemental looked at Lolly, then he laughed like a wild coyote. Lolly looked a little annoyed.
“Ha! You can’t be talkin’. Ain’t you the boar with that annoying accent?”
“Huh?! Annoying?! Aah’ll have ya’ know dat’ my voice is the most aahttractive part aahbout me!”
“She’s just gonna ignore the part where he called her a boar?” Thought John.
Now aggravated, the thug swung his fist at Lolly. Seeing that slow punch being telegraphed from a mile away, Lolly easily ducked under the punch, she was now in a good spot to counter attack. Lolly hastily jumped back, and raised her arms in a peculiar position; Her left arm was outstretched in front of her, while her right arm was moved behind her shoulder. John and the Elemental looked a bit puzzled, that was until Lolly called something out.
“Quince Sweet!”
There was a pink flash, and after a moment, two, long sticks of red licorice stuck together. They were being pulled in by two, long strings of white taffy. John took a moment to observe the object in Lolly’s hand. That’s when the shape of the object reminded John of something; Lolly made a bow out of candy.
“Hey, wait. You don’t have a quiver of arrows. What are you going to shoot out?” Asked John.
“Don’t need aahny! Look!”
In an instant, a long piece of a candy stick resembling the signature snack sticks that came from Napon appeared, being pulled by Lolly’s fingers, on one end of the stick were pieces of cotton candy, shaped to look like arrow fletching, on the front, pointing towards the enemy, were crystally sweets, those rock-like candies that explode in one’s mouth when eaten. Look man, the writer is trying really hard to make you believe pockies existed in the medieval times, give him a break, yeah?
“Unlimited arrows?”
“Purty much! Now, are ya’ ready to get blasted?”
“Take your best shot! Not like mere sweets will do damage to me, anyways!”
TWANG
The arrowhead struck the Elemental without warning. The Elemental looked down at the arrow newly embedded in his chest, then back at Lolly with a toothy grin.
“Ha! I bet you’re wondering how that arrow had no effect on me!” The arrow plummeted to the ground shortly after, the arrowhead completely gone. “It’s not a big secret, really. A smart looking girl like you should know how acidic armor work-.”
CRAACK
“What in the Badlands is this?!”
Shards of popping rock candies began to form around the Poison Elemental. Shocked, he tried stepping out the ring set up around him, but the formation was too fast.
“Are ya’ totally sure ya’ destroyed dat’ arrow? From those molecules left by the arrowhead, Aah can do wunna these!”
Crickle, crackle, POP!
The construct grew larger and more monumental. He tried his best to break free of his confinement, to no avail. To think such binding power could be held within a single arrow…
“Omegum will find out about this! You meddling kids are soooo done fo-”
Crystallized candy had covered the poor thug’s mouth. Poor fodder, couldn’t catch a break…
…Omegum? John swore he had heard the name before. In fact, he knew a thing or two about them. Who wouldn’t know about the biggest crime syndicate in Slamerica, after all? Well… I guess you readers don’t.
He was finally encased in a solid tomb of candy. John was amazed by Lolly’s innovation.
“Aahnd dat’s for callin’ me a boar!”
“Oh wow. If I were you, I would’ve never thought of using my power like that.”
The thing is, John had never watched Avatar: The Last Airbender.
“It’s only naahtural that you’d know plenny bit bout’ your own element! Though, some people arr just uncreative.”
“Well, good job either way. Should we just leave him here, or…”
“Aah’ll get some of my dulcitas to carry him away to the watchmen department soona’ or lata’. Aah think now’s a good time to get back to say goodbye to William, it’s gettin’ dark out here.”
“Sounds like a plan. Although, I’m a bit confused about what he said, about Omegum.”
“Omegum, what’s dat?”
“Huh, you never heard of them? I guess your town crier is living under a rock,” John muttered. “Blah blah blah, big crime group, blah blah blah, 26 leaders.” There was more John wanted to say, but that was the bare necessities needed to understand this group.
“And whaaht, that guy works for em’?”
“I guess so, he acted like he had some connection to them. You don’t think this is the start of something, is it?”
“Aah hope not. Let’s get outta here.”
Leaving the statue of the unmoving Elemental behind, Lolly and John ran back out of the alley, and back out into the streets of Glazewood. It was already nighttime, so they made a beeline right back to William’s place, ignoring all of the beautiful nighttime scenery of Glazewood. They opened the door and ran right in, accidently crashing into William, who was passing down the hallway.
“Ow! What in the gosh dang heck are ya’ll doin’?”
“Sorry, bro! We just… Needed to tell ya’ something.”
“Whuh? What’s with that sudden sad talk now? What’s goin on here?”
Lolly explained everything that had happened to William. The initial meetup with Yawalc, the discovery of Lolly’s destiny, the encounter with a possible Omegum member, he heard it all. William listened in silent acknowledgement, then sighed.
“Yeah, I figured. I knew the day would come that you would have to leave. I just didn’t think that it would come so quickly.”
“Huh? Ya’ aahlready knew?”
“Ya’. It’s a bit hard to explain, but I had a dream yesterday. In that dream, there was this voice. I’m a little fuzzy on the exact details, but I swear the voice said something about you, joinin’ a team of friends. That all 5 of you would embark on some kinda quest for somethin’. It sounds bogus, I know, but-”
“Hey, hey, wait, I think I had a dream like that, too!”
“Hm, really now, John?”
“Yeah. I heard a voice too, I remember it to a good amount. I believe I saw 4 silhouettes. For some reason, I felt… Connected to them, as if they were a part of me, or like we were all one collective being, if that makes any sense.”
“I see, you don’t think our dreams were connected in some kinda way, do ya’?”
“Our dreams were too similar for that to be a small coincidence, I think there was something going on.”
“Oh, what if, thaat was Yawalc’s way of sendin’ us aahll aah message?”
“That’s probably it, Lolly.”
“Heh, whatever the case might be, I think it’s about time you two fellers head out on your grand quest. It’s gettin’ real dark, and stayin’ up late makes ugly lookin’ bags under your eyes. Lolly, John, sleep here. On the next day, you can set out.”
“Yes, William.”
Lolly began to sniffle, which quickly turned to crying, she ran up to her older brother to deliver a big hug. William was a little surprised, but he smiled, and patted her head.
“Aahll snif miss ya’, brother! Snif Promise me you’ll stay saahfe!”
“Be worried about yourself, I’ll be just fine. I think you should be the one promising me to stay safe, you can do that for me, yeah?”
“Snif, Yeah, Aahll taahke care of mahself.”
John couldn’t help but feel touched by their interaction. He didn’t want to interrupt.
“Hey, John, since there’s only two beds in this house, I’m afraid you’ll have to sleep on the floor, you fine with that?” Said William, he raised his head to face John.
“It’s all good.”
“Great. Good night then, everyone.”
With the night prowling through the environment, not one person was awake. The wind breezed through the house, making their coldness known to those sleeping. It was a good thing for the blankets everyone had wrapped around them.
And then, John awoke, but not in the home was sleeping in. No, he was in a dark void, similar to the one he dreamed of… Before he was attacked by the Balandian. He floated up in the darkness, a feeling too familiar to his first dream. Just what was the connection?
“A guardian flame.” That voice… It was the exact one he heard. Was it The Grand Elemental? It certainly wasn’t Yawalc.
Before he could process what he heard. Multiple dark, slimy looking arms stretched out from nowhere towards John. They looked as if trying to pull John towards their abyssal grasp. As they got closer and closer to John, he could hear faint whispers from the arms.
“Join us…”
“Join us…”
“Join us…”
“Jooooin us…”
They reached lengths that weren’t possible. The seemingly thousands of arms touched and felt him. Wrapping around his body, it was like being tightly grasped by a stranger. The black, clammy arms kept tugging on John’s body, as if trying to drag him to some kind of abyss. He could barely see anything through the viscid long arms, but he was able to see only one thing; What might’ve been the source of the arms.
An enormous, wide, terrible, demonic smile. Its yellow, snaggy fangs and mouth kept opening and closing, as if laughing hysterically after making a gibe at John. Above the maw were two shapes. It was hard to see, but they seemed to look like a set of two inverted pentagram shapes. In the center of both pentagrams were two deep, evil purple pupils that beamed at John. They didn’t seem connected to any head or face. It was almost like the entire dark void John was in was the head of this horrifying smile.
…Hey. Do you think this’ll get past the censors? I mean, this is some obviously satanic crap! Oh well, I’m sure you readers are sick of me intruding on the story with my remarks at this point.
John felt fear. It was the only emotion he could have felt at the moment. He panted and kept trying to remove the arms from himself. Ultimately, though, he was overwhelmed. They were all pulling and pulling him. Dragging and dragging him to whatever hellish depth they wanted to bring him to. He tried and tried to resist, but all in futility. He couldn’t do nothing but watch and watch the arms dragged him to be devoured by the mouth lurking in the darkest area of the void. The gnarly fangs of the monster made in the abyss only seemed to enlarge and become more menacing as John was trawled into its jaw. The pentagram shaped eyes began to spin around very quickly, as if the face was gleeful that it had found new prey.
As John was heaved and heaved into the devilish jaw. He could start to hear some faint speaking from the huge face that stared him down. It spoke in a terrible, frightening voice.
“I’m not who you think… You hate me… But always put faith into me when you make prayers… Why is that?...”
John had no idea what it was saying. Who in the world does he hate? Why would he make a prayer to this person he hated? He couldn’t even open his mouth to speak, he could only panic as he was being eaten by this atrocious face.
…
BWOH
A circular ring of fire spun around John, it completely burned away the arms that were once holding John with awesome power. It just came ablaze out of nowhere. The arms that hadn’t reached John retreated back from whence they came, and the formally taunting smile turned into a frustrated looking frown. The vortex of fire kept spinning round and round until the face completely disappeared, and the arms were nowhere to be seen.
The fire then condensed itself into one massive inferno. It got closer and closer to John, but never close enough to harm him. It was like a loyal protector. The fire reached out to John, as if it grew arms, but when the flame touched John in his chest, he didn’t feel a burning sensation. It was more like warmth. A familiar feeling.
“Allow the flame to protect you from dangers.” It was that voice again, the one he heard in his first dream.
And then, the dream was over. John sprang awake and gasped. After all that, there was only one question he could ask himself before going back to sleep again; Just what in the world was that dream?!
Now, with John sleeping again, I wonder how we should continue this chapter… Am I forgetting someone?
“Hey, don’t you dare forget about me!”
Nah, not that nameless Elemental… Oh! Right. Proxus had entered a monster-like cave when he arrived at Krobus. I wonder how he’s doing now. Well, with John and company asleep, I guess there’s no other way to continue this chapter than to redirect the perspective to him.
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Blast blast blast blast blast blast blast!
Proxus was frantically running in the mysterious cave he had entered. His steps and rapid heart beats echoed loudly throughout the cavern, another sound did, as well. He could barely keep his footing as he did.
SCREEEEEEE
The chilling screech of the beast that he was running from. He didn’t even want to turn his head to face the creature, Proxus only kept running and running, looking for any kind of escape to get away from the sights of the monster, but for now, he was caught in a single, straight path. He could feel the beast breathing down his neck. He yelped out at the slightest breeze he felt brush up against his body. Look, I know he faced off against a giant lake serpent the last time we saw him, but if you saw what was chasing him, you’d be terrified, too.
Crack!
His reckless running led him to stepping on a sharp stalagmite.
“AHHH!”
He fell down, grabbing his foot and cursing in pain, he could feel the black blood leak out from where he stepped on. That’s when he heard a sound he absolutely did not want to hear in a situation like this.
SCREEEEE
His crescent eyes became fully round, as he turned to his side in fear, he looked up to see what was chasing him down the cave. It was dark, but the glowing eyes of the beast practically announced its position to Proxus.
A large, 8 legged horror. It had 8 beaming red eyes, arranged in rows like a wicked formation of soldiers. Its body consisted of two parts; A wide, girthy front with a pair of the most menacing fangs and mouth. The back was a huge abdomen that was seemingly endless. It stared down at Proxus, readying its sharp fangs to devour him. Proxus nearly gave up, but that’s when he remembered. He went through all this effort, voyaging to the furthest outskirts of the Badlands, reaching the creepy bellowlands, facing off against the serpent. After all this effort, would he be paid off via a painful, slow, and unknown death in a cave, eaten by an arachnid? For Proxus, there was only one objective answer:
“KÓLASI NO!”
Enduring the pain of his bleeding foot, he stood up with a sudden burst of energy. The monstrous spider took a few crawls back, and tilted its head. It growled at a low frequency.
“DIE!!”
Proxus rushed in, he grabbed the spider by its front most right leg. With great might, he yanked and pulled the spider towards him. He released his grip, then punched the beast in the eyes. The arachnid screeched out, its fangs retracting. It violently shook its head back and forth, hitting the sides of the cave walls, making cracks form on them.
“So you like to break stuff, huh? So do I!”
Proxus gripped the monstrous spider by the head, and smashed it on the solid wall of the cave. He kept smashing and smashing, each time with greater and greater force.
CRUMBLE
The wall finally broke down, making a large hole for Proxus to go inside of. As one final send off, he set the arachnid’s head on the ground, and stomped on it with his undamaged foot. The eyes suddenly stopped glowing as the spider screeched a deathly tone.
“Yuck, now I have spider guts on me. Now I arach-need to get it off.”
Something in the corner of his eye had captured his attention. A shining, pink light, accompanied by the sounds of sparkling. He suddenly turned his head to see what was making that light. It came from the open part of the cave he made when he smashed the spider’s head against it. To his astonishment, he found a priceless looking object; A crystal. He staggered as he limped towards the jewel, observing it. It looked to be some kind of diamond or emerald, either one was precious enough to keep.
“Hello, sexy.”
He snatched the pink crystal. In one brief moment, dust began to fall from the ceiling, and he could hear loud bellowing from the cave. Was the jewel tied to the cave in some way?
“Blast it! I gotta get outta here!”
With no hesitation, Proxus took the pink diamond-like object and ran off, he continued running in the path where he was running away from the spider, this time being more aware of his surroundings. Even then, it was hard to run with all the parts of the cave collapsing. He ran and ran, until he saw what seemed like moonlight. He had finally found his escape! With a dash of adrenaline, he exited the cave. He fell down to his knees on the green grass, setting the crystal beside him. He could hear the last sounds of the cave collapsing on itself. He panted heavily, before looking up to the night sky. He smiled.
“YEAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!”
And then, he collapsed himself, just like the cave. It didn’t take long for two individuals to come across his comatose body.
“Hey, boss, look at what I found!”
“Hm? Is this…?”
“Look at his body! There’s no doubt about it, that right there is a Balandian!”
“Oh my, it looks like that man has an Acreage on his person too, you see?”
“What do you want me to do, boss?”
“Take him with us, take the Acreage, too. He’s gonna be important for our goal, you see?”
“Right away, big cheese!”
On the topic of Acreages, did you know that it means something totally lame? The writer only picked the name “Acreage” because it sounds kind of cool.
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The sun rose once again. The birds were singing, flowers were blooming. On days like these, kids like John should be waking up. And that is exactly what he did. Opening his eyes, he was struck with a sudden flash of warm morning sunlight. He bolstered himself off the ground, shaking his head.
CRASH!
…And the exact moment that he had got up, he was brought down by the force of an energetic Lolly tackling him.
“L-Lolly?! The heck is your problem?” Exclaimed John, he could still feel the sting of pain in his body.
“Ah-ha, sorry, Aah’m just excited for todaahy!” Lolly said dizzily. If this were a cartoon, her eyes would’ve turned to spirals.
“Huh? Weren’t you crying last night?”
“Hee hee, Aah know, but c’mon, ain’t this the start of a great big ol’ adventure or what? Aah mean, where’s your energy at?”
She quickly got off the ground, and sprinted towards the brown wooden door, she bashed it open, and ran out.
“That girl’s got a lot of eagerness… Is she not even going to say goodbye to her brother?”
“Heya, kid. My sister’s a bundle of energy, ain’t she?” John turned to see William, sipping out of a blue mug.
“She did say goodbye to you, right?”
“Of course she did, kid. You should get goin’, too. She’s gonna lose herself if you’re not givin’ directions.”
“Ok, I’l–”
“Just git on with it already! Shoo! Shoo!”
John scuffled to and fro outside. So much for southern hospitality. When John stepped outside, he scanned the area. Lolly wasn’t in his sight, probably speeded off to the gates already. Oh, but if she’s at the gates, that means those guards are gonna catch John, and that won’t be any good. John sneaked away to the walls enveloping the city, back to the spot where he originally busted in. He was going to bust out instead.
Like before, John raised his hands in front of the stone walls, a warbling sound and flash emitted from his palms. The barrier once again shifted around its shape to John’s will, leaving it open for him to shuffle out of.
When he stepped out, he saw Lolly sitting, back against the wall. She noticed John. She jumped.
“Heya! Say, ya’ got aahny reason why you ain’t comin’ the front gate?”
“You see, about that–”
“Shucks, Aah’m sure ya’ got a good reason! Let’s just go for Napalmic.”
“Uh, y-yeah, sure.”
Remembering what Yawalc said, John and Lolly trekked west. The horizon and the mountain range never seemed to get smaller, no matter how much they walked forward. The ambient sounds of birds chirping and leaves rustling made for a nice tune to their ears. They soon found themselves facing a forest. A normal one, unfortunately. The tall trees and green rooftops made the inner forest seem dark and creepy to walk through. The unsettling setting did not deter our heroes from entering, however.
When they set foot into the dark forest, they could instantly feel the cold breeze running down and up their necks. It was a feeling they weren’t quite familiar with. Nonetheless, they continued their path, keeping a good pace with their steps. It didn’t take long before their constant walking began to wear down on their stomachs. Their stomachs were bellowing and growling like feral beasts.
“You’d think there’d be creatures in place like this…”
There were no obvious food sources in the area. However, Lolly thought of a food source that could be considered… unconventional: the sap of the trees.
“Oh! Aah gots an idea!”
“Huh?”
“Ya’ know how trees have sap on em’, right?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Wellllllll~”
Lolly stepped to a nearby tree. She looked at it, up and down. She quickly spotted a small drop of orange sap. The hypothetical lightbulb above her head lit up. She pointed a finger at the sap. A pink light shot from the tip and straight to the sap. The sap began to change its shape, melding from an unappetizing substance to much more delectable food; Candy.
“Huh? Candy Elementals can control nature, too?”
“Candies not only control and make new candy, we can aahlso make and bend sugar to our will! Sap has sugar, which Aah used to make this bar of chocolate!”
“Doesn’t chocolate need-”
“It’s betta’ if ya’ don’t question it.”
Lolly took a bite out of her own, nature-made chocolate. Licking off the melted chocolate that was on her finger, she snapped a piece of the bar, and passed it to John. He was quick to gobble down the milky goodness.
“Yum. You know, we can’t rely solely on candy after a while. You think The Escottian Hunter knows how to cook?”
“Yeah, maybe… Ya’ think he cooks the heads of the poor suckers that run into him?”
John and Lolly chuckled at the joke. They continued chatting away as they were toing and froing the forest. Their feet were killing them, but their conversations made them forget about how much the forest wore them down.
“When did ya’ realize you were an Elemental?”
“I’m pretty sure it was on my 15th birthday, me and my dad were on a fishing trip. After my father fished up this huge looking salmon, we had the bright idea to cook it directly under a cliff overhang. A piece of the cliff fell off and almost landed on my head, but that was when the rock just split in half around me, like I controlled it on instinct so it wouldn’t smash my head. How about you?”
“Dang! Your neat little story makes mine’s amount to a hill of beans in compaahrison. Aahll that happened was dat’ Aah noticed my skin turned pink, then when Aah was feelin’ hungry, some candy appeared in mah’ hand.”
“Wait, what happened to that Poison you fought back at Glazewood?”
“Ah, him? Ehhh, Aah dunno!”
“Huh?! I thought you said you were gonna use dulcitas to bring him to the watchmen department!”
“Aah forgot, mah’ bad.”
“Ah, whatever. I’m sure the watchmen found him and took him to jail.”
As they walked through the forest, they were soon greeted with the end of the forest. The bright sunny rays clashed with the darkness that lurked within the land of trees. Something immediately caught their eyes; A towering wall of wooden spikes. John and Lolly couldn’t see what was behind the barricade. However, there was a tiny hole, one that John peeked his eyes into.
“What do ya’ see, John?”
“I see a bunch of people in these orange jumpsuits, looks like they’re being sorted by this one watchman in a blue outfit. There’s a sign on a building that says… Oh! This is it!”
“Rubiang?”
“Yes. Oh, looks like they’re returning to their quarters.”
John removed his eyes from the hole, he was quickly thinking of some plan to move in the prison.
“Ya’ think we should just find and move into the entrance?”
“Nah, the guards there will just kick us out. I’m thinking something a little more smashy.”
“Wha duya’ mean?”
John raised his fist. He remembered his confrontation with Proxus, recalling how in the heat of the moment, he used his Elemental ability to create a sort of stone gauntlet that covered his arm; He wondered if he could do it on command. John closed his eyes, and breathed. (My guy, you are not in an edit.) Suddenly, stone began to appear and form around John’s arm. When he looked at his arm, the first thing he noticed was how light it felt on his arms. He figured that stone generated from a Stone Elemental would feel near weightless to its user, hence why he didn’t feel any heavier.
Sheen!
The stone gauntlet was complete. It was like an arm made of rocks. John even went as far as to include fully movable fingers. He smiled.
“Wow!” Exclaimed Lolly. “That little arm of yours is finer than frog hair split four ways. What does it do, exaahctly?”
“If I recall correctly, it should power up my punches, like this.”
WHAM!
With a straight punch thrown to the fence, it broke apart. Shards and splinters were sent flying through the air as a cloud of wooden dust filled the air. It left an opening big enough for John and Lolly to cross into, which they did.
When they stepped inside the premises, the first thing they noticed were two long, narrow buildings with tilted roofs parallel to each other. Behind the buildings was a larger, gray square building that towered and leered over the other buildings. In the center of those three buildings was a massive golden bell that was hanging from a poll. There was also plenty of rocks and boulders standing still.
“Aahlright, we’re herr, where do ya’ think Napalmic is?” Whispered Lolly, she crouched down so as to not be sighted by any watchmen that might’ve been patrolling the area.
“I dunno, but if I bet if we hide behind these rocks, we could pick up a hint from the chatting of the watchmen.”
Lolly nodded, they sneaked closer and closer to the main plot of land. It turned riskier and riskier with each pace closer to the buildings. As soon as they heard footsteps, they were startled, and rolled behind a large boulder.
“Man, I can’t wait to kick back at the cafe once I’m all done with this shift.”
“Heh, yeah.”
“Blast, this urge to pee right now made me forget which cell I’m supposed to watch over, do you remember?”
“Oh, I believe it was building H, cell 087. The Escottian.”
“Ah, thanks. Man, that guy was so angry when we confiscated his sword.”
“I know, right? That guy clings to his sword like a lunatic. I bet 6 frazkens that he’s mad he can’t chop off more heads.”
The two watchmen laughed wildly, and then it faded away as they walked away. John and Lolly now had a clue; Building H, cell 087. Though, that raised another question; Just which building exactly was H?
“Oh, John, Aah reckon that’s H.” Lolly pointed to the long building in front of them. There was a giant letter H slapped on the back of the place. With no time to waste, they quickly sneaked off behind the building, out of sight from any patrolling watchmen. Their heartbeats paced rapidly as the risk of being caught grew ever higher. As they reached towards the end of the side of the building, they found a wooden door. To their surprise, it was unlocked.
“This place seriously needs to check up on their security…”
John slowly turned the knob, peeking inside. He gestured to Lolly to follow him inside, which they did. Within the dark, void-like building were cells upon cells of prisoners. The only hint of color was a tiny little yellow button, but even then, it was a dull, drab yellow. Some of the criminals were skinny and almost skeletal, others were large and wide, all of them were staring at John and Lolly with a intrigued face.
“What’s two little kids doin’ in here, huh?”
“This ain’t no playground!”
“C’here, I need a new cellmate! The last one didn’t last long!”
The aggressive yelling and barking of the criminals shook John and Lolly, they made sure to keep their vision off of the prisoners’ faces. There was, however, a singular cell at the end of the passage that piqued the interest of the two Elementals. They went to and fro to the end, before finally making it to the cell. It was different than the other cells, this one was wider, with more space to move around in, and there was but one person within the cell.
His frame was tall and muscular, with broad shoulders, he looked as though he could punch down a tree with his bare hands, yet for some reason submitted to the shackles placed around his arms and legs. What was the most distinctive part of the man was his head. Or rather, what was standing in place to substitute for a head; A large blaze of fire, ever burning and crackling. There was some kind of collar around the base of the flame. His eyes were two solid black circles, with fire acting as eyebrows. Somehow, he still had a human mouth that didn’t seem connected to anything. If I had to describe it, it’s like those fire people from Adventure Time. The man with the head of fire stared at John and Lolly for a while with a frown, then he sighed.
“What do ye’ lads want?” He said with a heavy accent.