Chronicles of Uel

Chapter 7

The group walked up the stairs of the sky temple together. Smoak knocked down the door with his vampiric strength. He stepped inside, everyone else following him. Inside the sky temple was a square shape in the floor, made of cloud. Above the clouds were floating platforms, the one in the center and at the top having the golden handle of the Sickle of the Sky sticking out of it.
          Uel pointed. "There it is. We just have to keep him from getting that right now." Everyone nodded. Smoak teleported up to the platform, only to be punched in the face by the mysterious figure. Smoak fell through the clouds below the platforms and away from view. Uel threw his dagger at the figure, who dodged, but the dagger snagged his hood, removing it from his head.
           The figure smiled. "So you have come to stop me, I assume?" He asked, drawing the two handles from under his cloak. The red and blue blades appeared. "Well you're too late!" Suddenly, the figure was knocked from the platform by a small creature. Grunt, in monkey form, landed on the table beside the sickle and began trying to pull it out. The figure waved the blue sickle at the cloud, solidifying the water vapor to ice and bouncing off of it before it fell out of the sky. He landed on the outer square of the layer of cloud. Rin pointed Excalibur at him as Uel pulled his dagger back to himself. "I've been dreaming of collecting all of the sickles for years." The figure said. Uel and Rin looked at one another.
          "Who are you?" Uel asked.
          The figure slumped over. "Ah, dang it. I forgot that part. I am Professor Argyle Minton! I became an archeologist to find the sickles and claim their elemental power for my own."
          Rin lowered her sword. "That's a pretty lame backstory." She said.
          Argyle growled and pointed the red sickle at her. "You will rue the day you made fun of me!"
          "Well, he's got the phrase down." Uel said, jumping out of the way of a blast of fire. Rin dashed forward and swung Excalibur at Argyle, who held up the ice sickle to block it.
          "These handles are impossible to cut through! You'll never get through to me."
          Rin smiled. "Yeah, well I'd like you to meet Excalibur, the sword that can cut through anything!" Suddenly, Excalibur's blade began glowing a soft blue. The sickle's handle began growing a small slit in it as Excalibur gradually cut through it. Argyle jumped back and on to one of the platforms.
          Duros placed his hand on the ground, but found it was the same material as the other temples. "Guys! I can't mance!" He shouted, firing out a few threads. He swung over and attempted to kick Argyle in the head, but missed. Argyle sliced the threads and sent Duros barreling forward. He slammed into the edge of the cloud layer, hardly holding on. "Guys! A little help!"
          Rin looked up to the top of the temple. "Grunt! Could you move any slower?"
          Grunt strained as he pulled at the sickle's handle. "You try pulling something out of where it's supposed to be!" Rin lowered her brow. Grunt looked down at Excalibur. "Oh, right."
        "Just get it faster!" Rin shouted. Grunt nodded and continued to pull. Argyle began jumping up the platforms, Uel right on his tail, slashing at him with his dagger. Rin pulled Duros up to his feet. Uel continued to jump after Argyle, who was now almost at the pedestal where Grunt was pulling at the sickle. Argyle grabbed Grunt by the scruff of his furry neck and threw him aside. Duros used his threads to grab Grunt and pull him to himself. Argyle grabbed the sickle and yanked it out of the pedestal. "Now, did that look hard?" Rin asked, glaring at Grunt. Grunt shrugged. The sickle glowed a yellow color as Argyle swiped at Uel, sending a wave of wind at him and blowing him off of the floating platforms. Argyle began laughing maniacally.
          "We can still stop him before he gets the earth sickle!" Duros shouted. Argyle looked down at him with a smile. He pulled out another sickle and pointed it at Duros. The sickle's blade appeared as a transparent green color. Duros's eyes grew. "You had it all along?" He asked.
           Argyle smiled and nodded. "I found this sickle long ago. It's what drove me to find the other three. I searched for years before finally finding the answer. And once I did, I set out to find them. And here we are." The four sickles floated above his head and started moving in a circle. The circle began moving faster and faster. "Now, I will become the ultimate being! Master of all elements!" The circle began glowing as all the colors melted together. Argyle reached in into the circle and shouted out in pain as the energy flowed through him. An explosion of white light blinded Duros, Rin and Grunt. A metallic clang echoed around the temple. Duros looked up to see Argyle standing there with a long gold pole that stretched from above his hand to the floor he stood on. A glowing white sickle blade appeared at the top, the inside of the blade glowing dimly with all four of the previous colors.
          Duros pressed his teeth together. "We've gotta stop him!" He shouted.
          Argyle laughed. "It's too late now." He rose into the air. In a quick fluid motion, the entire temple crumbled, the pieces beginning to fall through the air. Duros used his threads to pull Rin and Uel to him as they plummeted downward. Uel grabbed Grunt and thrusted himself through the air, jumping from various pieces of rubble. Duros did the same, Rin holding tightly to his back. Duros and Uel slammed into the ground, rubble crashing down all around them. The people of Freyan ran as quick as they could from the falling debris as Prof Argyle slowly floated down to them. "Don't you see?!" He shouted. "It was always intended for one person to rule all the elements!" Suddenly, a ball of fire zoomed at Argyle, a shout echoing out from it. Argyle pointed his sickle at Kai, who stopped in midair, held captive by his own flames. Kai growled and tried to escape, but could not. "You annoy me." Argyle said, pulling Kai to his face. With a swipe of his sickle, Kai was cast aside. A brutal wind began to pick up around Argyle, who held his sickle high. A storm cloud appeared above him, thunder and lightning cascading down around him. Uel held out his arms and backed away, pushing the rest of his friends with him. Argyle opened his glowing white eyes and pointed his sickle at them. "Where do you think you're going?!" He shouted. Chunks of stone began to join the cyclone that whizzed around him.
          Uel planted his foot. "I have a plan." He jumped toward Argyle, who fired a beam of fire at him, which Uel seemed to easily block with his dagger and gauntlets. "Steven!" Uel shouted. Suddenly, Steven was standing beside Duros, who looked down at him.
        "What's he gonna do?! He's just a-" He was cut off by a bright blue light that escaped from Steven, who let out a terrifying roar crossed with a cluck. Duros's jaw dropped as he looked at the creature who stood beside him, now taller than him. It had grey reptilian scaly skin on its body, draconic wings on its back, and a tan feathery head with a bright red spiky plume on both side of his head. Steven let out a roar on par with that of a dragon. Duros stared at Steven's new form for a time before he took off into the air, breathing blue fire at the cyclone. "WHAT?!" Duros shouted.
          Uel landed back beside him. "Told you. He's not a chicken."
         Rin and Grunt looked at each other in awe. "Awesome!" They shouted together.
         Argyle pointed his sickle at the blue fire that now completely blocked his view, but he couldn't seem to control it. "What is this trickery?!" He shouted.
          Uel chuckled. "That there is soulflame. It doesn't go out until the caster says so. It also can't be manipulated by anyone with any sort of control power."
          Duros smiled and turned his fists to stone, slamming them together. "If he can't see us," He said.
          Rin pointed Excalibur at the flaming cyclone. "Then he can't hit us." She finished with a grin. Steven landed on a nearby roof and kept the stream of soulflame going, making sure the cyclone was always completely covered.
           "Now, about that plan." Everyone turned around to see Smoak and Kai standing there.
          Uel nodded. "Alright, here goes." He said, pulling everyone into a huddle.
          Argyle began striking the fire with his sickle, but every time he did, it sent him spiraling backward. "It's incompatible! But how?!" He shouted.
          Duros held out his hand. "Come forth, Zenothius!" He shouted. The blue and gold katana appeared in his hand.
          Kai smirked and held out his own hand. "Come forth, Phoenikus!" Nothing happened. Kai stared at his hand and sighed. "Well that's stupid." He said.
          "We'll just get on with the plan without Phoenikus." Uel said. "Everyone knows their jobs. Let's go!" Everyone launched themselves off the ground. Rin used the glowing Excalibur to cut through the fire, allowing Duros to get inside without being burned. Argyle looked up at him in time to hold up his sickle to block Duros's sword slice, holding him in place as the wind whipped around them, slowing gravity down and allowing Duros to simply float there, holding Argyle back with his teeth pressed together. Uel jumped straight through the flames and punched Argyle right in the side of the face. Duros was able to break through his block and take a slice at Argyle, who used wind to dodge it. He blasted Uel out of the cyclone with a beam of fire. Duros used his threads to attach to the stone floating around and swing around to dodge fire attacks.
           Suddenly, Kai blasted through the fire and slammed his own fist into Argyle, who swung his sickle at Kai with a smile.
          Kai smirked. "No flames for you to control this time." He said. Argyle blasted at him with his wind, slicing at Kai with his sickle. Kai, unable to dodge, received a gash across his arm, quickly covering itself in flame. Argyle smiled. He pointed his sickle at Kai, the flames leaping from his arm and coiling around the sickle. Kai shouted out in pain as an infinite amount of fire leaked from his arm.
          Duros lowered his brow and launched off the rock he stood on. "Nobody hurts my friends and gets away with it!" He shouted, taking a slash at Argyle, who simply blasted him aside with Kai's fire. Rin slashed through the fire once more, allowing Smoak and Grunt to come through. Grunt immediately grabbed on to a rock and jumped around, trying to form an opening. Smoak teleported around, dodging the flaming attacks that now seemed to cover most of the area inside the cyclone.
        "I can't get a hit in!" Smoak shouted.
          Kai pressed his teeth together and clutched his arm. "I really don't wanna do this, but whatever!" Suddenly, the fire stopped leaking from his arm, allowing him to blast away and cling to a rock. Without its source, Argyle's fire soon went out.
        "But how?!" He shouted.
          Kai smirked. "I turned off my flame phase." Suddenly, Kai felt a massive headache for a moment, causing him to go nearly unconscious. He shook it off and jumped at Argyle, holding on to his back. "Now! Get it now!" Grunt launched himself toward Argyle, grabbing the sickle with all four limbs and his tail as he passed by.
          "Got it!" He shouted.
           Smoak appeared behind him. "Open it up!" He shouted. Rin slashed a hole in the fire, allowing Smoak to see far enough to teleport. But before he could, Grunt and Smoak were frozen in a sheet of ice, falling slowly to the ground as Argyle ripped the sickle from Grunt's grasp.
           "Kai, melt them!" Duros shouted.
           Kai shook his head. "I can't! It won't get two feet before he steals it!" Argyle smiled. He used a burst of air to flip over Kai and slam into his back, sending him back through the tornado of blue fire. Uel replaced him, dashing in through the fire. He grabbed the sickle's handle, his hands beginning to freeze over. Argyle ripped the sickle from his grasp and spun it around, bringing it down on Uel, who summoned his dagger to attempt to block it. The sickle's white blade went straight through the dagger and planted itself into Uel's head, placing a large crack in his helmet.
           "Uel!" Duros shouted. He surged forward and barraged Argyle with an assortment of katana slashes. A hand touched Duros's shoulder. Duros turned to see Uel, with his helmet beginning to fall apart. Uel's helmet cracked in half and fell to the ground, revealing a floating skull with a glowing green energy field around it. Argyle and Duros' eyes both nearly popped out of their heads. Uel dashed forward and sliced at Argyle with his glowing dagger. Argyle flipped his sickle around and planted the blade in Uel's chest, which glowed green from under Uel's chestplate.
          "What are you?" Duros asked.
          "I'll explain later, just hit him!" Duros nodded and held Argyle's sickle back with his katana. "Rin! Do it now!" Suddenly, a blade came through Argyle's stomach. Rin let go and drifted backward. Argyle smiled and used wind to push at the blade, attempting to push it out.
           Rin smiled. "Only the worthy can pull Excalibur from its sheath."
           "No! This cannot be!" Duros smiled. Uel yanked the sickle from Argyle's hands, barely phased by the sickle's power entering his body. Everyone began drifting downward slowly until they were on the ground. The winds stopped and the cloud dispersed. Steven landed beside them, his fire subsided. He let out a roar and snuggled up against Uel, who picked up the pieces of his helmet.
           Kai slowly walked up and helped Uel weld his helmet back together. "So, what are you?" Duros asked. Everyone looked over to Uel.
           He stroked Steven as he shrunk back into a chicken. "We're not front around here." Uel said. "We're from the spirit realm."
          Duros knelt down and felt Argyle's pulse. "Well, we don't have to worry about him anymore."
           Uel nodded. "I came to this realm to destroy people like Professor Argyle. People who want to do harm to this world. That's why I became a bounty hunter."
        "So why did you take us with you?" Smoak asked.
          Uel chuckled. "Well, I could sense that you guys aren't the bad guys. I knew you could help me on my quest." Everyone smiled.
          "Well, I'm glad you trusted us." Duros said, his sword dispersing into his body.
           Uel nodded. He held out his hand. "Will you accompany me on my quest to cleanse this world of evil?" Smoak smiled and placed his hand on top of Uel's. Rin pulled her sword from Argyle's body and placed her hand on their's, Grunt behind him. The four of them looked over to Kai and Duros, who looked at one another.
          "Actually, I have some stuff I'd rather do." Kai said, beginning to walk away.
          Duros sighed. "I need to restore my own honor first. But whenever I do, maybe I'll take you up on that." Uel nodded. The sound of marching echoed around the town. "We'd better leave." Duros said.
          Uel nodded. "We'll see you around." The four of them smiled and rushed off into the shadows.
           Duros looked over at Kai. "It was nice to see you again." He said with a smile.
           Kai sighed. "Yeah whatever." He began walking away. Duros frowned and walked the opposite direction. "Hey, loser." Duros perked up and turned around. Kai was looking at him. "It was good to see you, too." He said, blasting off.
           Duros smiled. "Hoping we see each other again." He used his threads to swing away as the knights flooded the area, investigating the corpse of the elemental tyrant on the ground.

A knight walked into the king's chamber with a shard of green metal.
          "This is a piece of armor from Uel, the legendary bounty hunter, sir."
            The king nodded and took the metal. "Who was he hunting?" He asked.
            The knight looked up at him. "It appears the Dragon's Bounty were involved."
            The king nodded. "Be sure to raise their bounties. We want Uel on that case as fast as he can be." The knight nodded and exited the chamber. The king slammed his fist on the armrest of his throne.
           The king's advisor, James, walked into the king's chamber. "I'm sure you heard of the events that took place today?" He asked.
           The king nodded. "The Dragon's Bounty must be stopped." The king said, rising to his feet. "But I'm having trouble remembering what they did in the first place."
            James placed his hand on the king's. "I'm sure it will come back to you, sire."
            The king nodded and sat down. "I do remember now. Thank you, James." James smiled as he walked out of the room.
The End.....