Legacy of the Portal Masters: The War for Earth

Chapter 9: Julia, Portal Master of Life

Julia loved nature. Many a day would she spend just wandering through the forest close to her home, admiring the beauty and life around her. She constantly wandered off the trails, though never got lost. Once, she had stumbled upon a small clearing surrounded by willow trees and with a small stream running through. She came there often, and just sat, her tan skin basking in the sunlight. It was on one of these days that changed her life forever.

(Maine, Earth, Present Day)

Julia was sitting in her willow grove, enjoying the sunshine and sounds of nature. She heard birds chirping, wind sighing through the trees, the rustling of leaves, the gentle chuckle of the stream as it flowed. But something was... different. She seemed to feel a strong concentration of life coming towards her. From the sky. She looked up, and rocketed to her feet, for there were five green-glowing meteorites hurling towards her. As they drew nearer, Julia thought everything became more... Alive. The trees seemed to sway to their own accord, animals seemed to be more energetic, even the grass beneath her feet seemed to pulse with life. And as she caught the meteors, the green gemstone touched her palm. Fantastic visions flashed through her mind like lightning. Dragons. Elves. Islands floating in the sky. A word formed in her mind. Skylands. But it arose not from the Crystal, nor the life around her. It came deep from her subconscious. It came from within her. She didn't know how, but she knew all there was to know about Skylands. The fact that she had held this knowledge in her subconscious so long scared her. It didn't make any sense to her, and as she looked to the figures in her arms, once again information came to the surface from the depths of her mind. She knew the elven ninja-Stealth Elf, the Treeman-Stump Smash, the plant/dragon-Camo, and the Bambazooker-Zook. She set them on the ground, and her mind dropped into her Crystal. Her view became shaded with an emerald green hue. The heroes in front of her glowed with an inner magic trying to be freed from the prison containing it. The Portal Master focused her might and brought the power of Life crashing down on the containment magic. The prisons shattered, and the warriors were freed. They rose, but instantly turned, drawing their weapons. Julia peered over them, and noticed now what she hadn't before. A squadron of Drow Spearmen reinforced with Life Spell Punks and Arkeyan Jousters. And a man behind them all, wearing a black cloak cuffed with green. A Mage.

"Alright child, let's settle this bloodlessly. Hand over the Crystal," he snarled "or you and your friends die!"

"I'm not afraid of you, or the Darkness! I will stand against you, and all who serve the Dark! Skylanders, to battle!" She cried. Another word rose in her mind, gramen... As she spoke this word, green leather armor covered her, a thorn dagger hung from her waist, and in her hand appeared a... rose? She wondered at this, but a Drow came charging towards her. Without thinking, she swung the rose. It transformed. The stem became a hard leather grip, the leaves became metal and spiked, and a chain slid from the handle. She crushed the Drow's skull with her rose mace, making a sickening thud. She cringed, but pressed into the fight, crushing arms, legs, heads... Anything that got in her way. Drow fell, Arkeyans crumpled, and the Mage laughed. He laughed.

"What's so funny?" Julia sneered, "Or are you just trying to laugh in the face of your death?" The Mage laughed even louder.

"No, it's just that, like an idiot, you've let yourself be surrounded. Archers!" He called. Drow appeared from the branches of trees, cloaked in leaves, and drew their bows, arrowheads glinting in the sunlight. Julia gulped. "Swordsmen!" He cried again. More Drow stepped from the treeline, also camouflaged with leaves. They drew swords from the scabbards in their hips, and the air filled with the sound of steel on leather. Even the Skylanders seemed nervous. A plan slowly started to form in Julia's mind.

The archers nocked their arrows.

The swordsmen started to advance.

"Now!" cried Julia. The Skylanders ran at the Drow forces. Surprised by the heroes going on the offensive, the archers took about two seconds to aim. That was all the time Julia needed. With her Life magic, she made the rope-like canopy of the trees wrap around the archers. Once ensnared, the trees threw their captives at the Mage. He cried out as he watched the projectiles hurl towards him, and he was soon buried under a pile of bodies. After seeing the power of the trees, the swordsmen tried to run, but were also picked up. The Mage pushed his way out of the pile that trapped him. After seeing his soldiers defeated, he picked up the nearest bow and quiver, and nocked an arrow, aimed at Julia

"Make another move, and be destroyed," he warned, "no Life energy could save..." The Mage never finished that sentence. Instead, is body went limp, firing the arrow off wildly. He fell forward, and revealed the two dragon tooth daggers buried in his back. His body turned into grass, and Stealth Elf picked up and sheathed her blades. But where the Mage fell, the grass grew taller and wove together to create a Portal. The Portal Master and her Skylanders then used it to return to Skylands.