The Dragon's Bounty III:Dying Light

Chapter 6

             Duros opened his eyes and looked around. Every direction he looked was blue, large pieces of stone floating around. He, too, was floating in midair. He finally spotted a figure in a dark cloak with skeleton hands.
            Duros waved. "Hey, hi, where am I?" The figure pointed to a sign above the gate he was standing beside. The sign read: Gate to the Afterlife. Duros's eyebrows shot upward. "So I'm dead?!" He shouted. The Gatekeeper shook his head. "Then what happened to me?" The gatekeeper took a book off the shelf and pushed it in Duros' direction. Duros caught it and looked at the title: "So you got Caught in Limbo." He looked at the Gatekeeper. "Cool title." He said, opening the book. The Gatekeeper shrugged and went back to watching the gate. Duros skimmed the first few pages. "So I'm stuck here until someone on the other side can make my body hospitable again?" He asked. The Gatekeeper nodded. "But couldn't I have just made a new stone body?" The Gatekeeper shook his head. Duros sighed. "Well who's gonna be able to help me? Everyone I came down with is off in the cave doing who knows what." The Gatekeeper shrugged. "Can't you check in on them?" The Gatekeeper shook his head. Duros sighed. "Well then what do I do while I wait?" The Gatekeeper gestured to his side, where there was a jens board, all the pieces set up for a game in standard edition. Duros shrugged and moved himself over to the table and sat down. "I have to warn you, I'm not very good at jens." He said with a nervous smile. The Gatekeeper moved his first piece.

            Elliot opened his eyes and looked around. He was in a white stone room, held up by purple metal chains. He tried to pull himself free, but to no avail. He looked over to his left to see Kai in the same predicament he was in.
            "Hey, Kai!" Elliot whispered. Kai didn't seem to move. "Kai!" He raised his voice a bit. Still no reaction. He sighed and looked forward, where there was more purple metal in the form of vertical bars, a jail cell. "Kai!" He shouted.
            Kai jumped and shook his head, looking around. "Where are we?" He asked.
            "In a jail cell." Elliot said.
            Kai rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I got that. But where is this jail cell?"
            Elliot shrugged. "I dunno. Woke up here." He strained his neck to try and see past the bars. There was the sound of boots clicking against the floor. A figure entered their view: the king of the quarries.
            He smiled. "Hello, prisoners. I see you have finally awoken."
            "That is when you would say hello to a person." Kai said.
            The king pointed at him. "Shush, you!" He shouted.
            "So why are we locked up?" Elliot asked.
            "I thought you were going to help us." Kai said.
            The king laughed. "No, you fools. I wanted you to help me." Kai and Elliot looked at one another.
            "Help you? How are we going to do that if we're locked up?" Elliot asked.
            The king pulled the vial of Styx from his pocket. "With this." He said with a smile.
             "It's just some magic water." Kai said.
             The king shook his head. "It's much more than that. You see, one of the Demon King's henchmen enlisted our realm to help him get to your's, in exchange for safety-"
             "You really think you'll be safe?" Elliot asked.
             "Shut up." Kai said. "He's telling us his evil plan."
             The king growled. "It's not evil! It's survival."
             Kai shrugged. "Yeah whatever."
             "It's definitely evil." Elliot said. Kai nodded.
             The king growled and walked away. "Fine then, I won't tell you."
             Kai shrugged. "I'm sure we can figure it out." He said. Once the sound of boots was gone, the two looked at one another. "You stopped him!" Kai shouted. "We needed to hear that!"
             Elliot shook his head. "Nah ah! If you hadn't told me to hush, he'd still be talking!"
             Kai growled. "No, it's your fault!"
             Elliot growled back. "It's your fault!"
             "Guys, come on." They both looked to the cell bars, where a familiar figure stood.
             "Qiuran?" Kai asked. His eyebrows lowered. "You're with him aren't you?"
             Qiuran looked around and leaned in closer. "I'm pretending to be the king's right hand man. I'm really a leader in the rebellion, trying to overthrow the king and keep the Demon King from entering either of our realms." He smiled.
             Kai raised an eyebrow. "And why should we believe you?"
             Qiuran shrugged. "I figure this'll help." He pulled out a key and unlocked the metal door, then tossed the key inside. Kai caught it with his tail. "I was never here." Qiuran said, walking away. Kai smiled and unlocked himself. He adjusted his dragonscale wrist cuffs and began to walk out the door.
             "Forgetting something?" Elliot asked. Kai rolled his eyes and unlocked Elliot.
             "Now let's move." Kai said. Elliot nodded. The two skulked down the hall in the direction the king had gone. They spotted the king down in a lower room where a channel had been cut out in the ground that led to a hole in the wall. The king uncorked the vial and poured it in. Suddenly, the small bit of Styx expanded into the entire river, flowing from the end of the channel all the way down to the hole. Kai growled. "I figured it out." He said.
             Elliot looked at him. "Figured what out?" He asked.
             "He's going to take the river to the shadow realm and give it to the Demon King."
             Elliot's eyes nearly shot out of his head. "And in the process make it impossible for the Demon King to enter. He's a double agent, too!"
             Kai nodded. "We've gotta stop him." Kai said. He jumped out and landed beside the king, who was about to jump in. "Stop!" He shouted, holding the king back. "What do you gain from this?" He asked.
             The king grimaced. "Safety!" He shouted. "I want this infernal river out of my realm! Too many travelers come through here, they'll only die. I'm helping them, too!"
            Kai pulled the king away from the river. "Look, now you have control over the river. When travelers come, they'll start here, instead of outside. You have already saved them."
             The king shook his head. "If anything this makes it worse! The travelers show up straight in my kingdom!"
             Kai sighed. "Those are your two options. We won't let you give the river to the Demon King!"
             The king growled. "It is the only way to keep my people safe."
             Elliot jumped down beside Kai. "If he's for the people, then what about-" He was cut off by a white figure jumping down, grabbing the vial and jumping into the river.
             "Thanks for your help!" Qiuran shouted as the river began to run dry as he corked the vial. Kai blasted after him, diving down the hole. Qiuran smiled as the water surrounded him and he disappeared, Kai slamming into the ground below.
            Kai punched the wall. "We've lost." He said. Back at the top, Kai sat on the riverbank in defeat.
            Elliot patted him on the shoulder. "We still have about a month left before he attacks. It should be fine."
            Kai shook his head. "But what if he lied?"
            Elliot sat down beside him. "We won't be there to help fight." He said softly.
            Kai looked at the king. "And it's all your fault."
            The king sighed. "I hope you can understand. I was only doing what was right for my people. Frankly, I'm glad I didn't have to go. The Demon King would have surely killed me. Poor Qiuran is probably being tortured to death as we speak."
            Elliot nodded. "You did what you thought was right. Can't say we haven't done the same."
            Kai nodded slowly. "But how are we going to get back now? The river is dry."
            The king narrowed his eyebrows. "What is your realm like?" He asked.
            Elliot smiled. "It's lush, green, warm. No voices drilling into your brain. The breeze is soft and cool, not like here."
            The king smiled. "Do you think the people there would be afraid of the quarries?" He asked.
            Elliot shook his head. "No reason they should be." The king nodded.
            He planted his fist into his palm. "It is settled then. The quarries will gather all their magical energy and get you back home. We will accompany you and fight alongside you against the Demon King." Elliot and Kai looked up.
            "You would do that?" Kai asked.
            The king nodded with a heroic smile on his face. "This place is dangerous, even for us. Best leave it to the Melds."
           Kai stood and smiled, grabbing the king's hand. "You have no idea how much this means to us." Elliot stood behind him and nodded.
           The king smiled. "Then let's get to work." In town square, all the quarries with magic stood in a circle. The crystals on their heads began glowing purple. Qesan clutched his mother's leg as Kai told her the news.
            She sighed and placed her hand over her heart. "I know not why he did what he did. But I, Quesa, swear not to let Qesan follow in his footsteps. We are happy to fight alongside you against the Demon King."
            Kai smiled. "Thank you."
            The king looked back at Elliot. "Unite us!" He shouted. Elliot shined a light into the crystals on the king's head. The light refracted out and to all the other magic users' crystal structure, the light turning purple. All the quarries standing around the circle gasped in awe of the spectacle.
            "Hope this works!" Elliot shouted, straining as he felt the magic power drain from his body. The purple light began spiraling down to the ground, spreading across it in a circular shape. A shockwave of energy launched everyone back, leaving a gateway to where Elliot and Kai had entered Catastrophe.
            "How do you think that portal got there?" Kai asked Elliot as he pulled him to his feet.
            "I've heard something about ghosts making the realms unstable. Maybe something to do with that?" Elliot asked. Kai shrugged.
            "Lush and green you say?" The king asked.
            Kai laughed. "This is a cave. It's where we were on a mission before showing up here."
           The king smiled and nodded. "I trust you." Kai nodded. Together with Elliot, they led the quarries into the mortal realm.

            Andrew swung one of the swords from the armory around, a shimmering golden hilt with a sparkly silver blade.
           "I think I'll take this one."
           Aro laughed. "Dagger would kill you." Andrew shrugged. He placed the sword back in its scabbard and sat down beside Aro.
           "Ok, now I'm bored." He said, slouching over. Aro slouched over beside him.
           "Me too. Why did we even decide to come here?"
           Andrew shrugged. "Thought it would be fun. Turns out most of these rooms are empty." He leaned back against the wall.
           Aro sighed. "Well now what are we gonna do?"
           Andrew shrugged. "There's gotta be something."
           Huey walked into the armory. "Hey, you guys need something to do?" He asked. Andrew and Aro shot upward.
           "Do we ever?!" Aro shouted.
           "We haven't done anything since training ended last week!" Andrew shouted.
            Huey smiled. "Dagger told me to take someone and head out west to see if we can get the outlaws to help us with the Demon King. He wanted to do it earlier but never had the time to with all the training going on."
            Andrew nodded. "Will Iris be there?" He asked.
            Huey shook his head. "She's training with the Black Wolves to get them all ready. After the fiasco with Mother, they've agreed to help us."
            Andrew nodded. "I'll still go." Aro and Huey looked at one another. Aro shrugged. Huey shrugged back and the three headed out on horseback toward the Wild West.
            "Yee haw!" Aro shouted.
            "Yeah, don't actually do that when we get there." Huey said. "It's offensive to them. I guess it's a 'them' thing."
             "Aw man." Aro said, slouching over. Andrew laughed.