“Everyone hold on to each other!” I heard Carmen yell through the wind. By now I could feel the storm it was right on us. We were all huddled together as close to the ground as possible clutching one another tightly. I knew all we could do was wait, but the sand was covering us quickly. What if we couldn’t breathe? Then I thought of something which I was sure had already occurred to Carmen. Could this sand storm be caused by the God of Wind? Did he already know we were here and he was trying to kill us before we even reached him? The group was squished so close together that we could have been mistaken for one large circular monster. I started to get light headed as our oxygen supply was slowly depleted. I spat sand out of my mouth. It had gotten in my eyes too. Was this it? Was I going to die like everyone predicted? I’m sure they already have a nice epithet ready for me at home.
“We are not through yet!” screamed Carmen. Suddenly I was surrounded by heat and blinded by brightness. My eyes must hate me, first pitch black, then too bright to see, not to mention the sand. I mentally apologized to my eyes for putting them through such torment. I'll buy some nice goggles for them when... if... I get back. Carmen had encompassed us in flames. The sand was unable to penetrate the heat. Carmen’s immense amount of fire worked as a shield for us. Our breathing became less shallow, and when we realized we were safe from the wind and sand we untangled ourselves from one another and stood up. Carmen’s eyes had turned red, and no one dared touch her. “Ulrica,” said Adam. “Use your super hearing to let us know when the wind has stopped.” Ulrica nodded in response. Surrounded by fire Ulrica returned to being human, well a human with wolf eyes and claws.
“How long do these things usually last?” I asked to no one in particular. “It varies,” answered Adam. “You would know that if you paid attention in Geography,” he added. I stuck my tongue out in response. Ulrica sat across from me completely content with relaxing. Adam took a seat next to her and began complimenting her looks. I rolled my eyes; he was such a bad flirt. Ulrica glanced at me before talking to him. 'He’s not my boyfriend. I don’t care if you talk to him', was the face I gave her. So she provoked his lame antics and smiled at him pretending to be interested. At least, I thought she was pretending. I lay in the sand and twirled my staff around lazily. I loved my staff. I could maneuver it gracefully and with ease. It was heavy so it packed a punch, but in my hands it was as light as a feather. I could also make blades come out of either end; however, I tried not to resort to that trick too often. I twirled it round and round in a hypnotizing fashion. Randomly, I stopped the spinning and gripped it tightly in my hand. The cold metal was solid and reliable, but I dropped it instantly and it landed heavily in the sand. That cold grip had reminded me of my dream. The dream where I pierced Liz through the stomach and was covered in blood. Stupidly I inspected my hand to make sure there was no blood on it. It passed my inspection, but that dream and the feeling of my staff in my hands had felt so real. I felt bad for dropping my staff so carelessly. It wasn’t its fault that I couldn’t sleep. When holding the golden staff I felt as if I were holding a rapidly beating heart as it hummed in my grip.
“The wind has stopped,” announced Ulrica. Carmen extinguished the flames that had protected us but something else had taken its place. “Its glass,” I said, touching the wall that surrounded us. “The heat must have turned the sand into glass,” said Ulrica. It looked beautiful, but I easily punched through it. The glass shattered to the ground at my touch. I had gotten very good at destroying things I liked. It was nighttime so we started our journey once more. Adam tried to grab my hand to lead me, but I shrugged him off and held on to Carmen instead. “Ooof,” Carmen and I had tripped over something, and whatever it was it roared at us. “Oh my goodness, it’s a bear!” exclaimed Carmen sounding excited. “What is a bear doing in the middle of a desert?” I was confused. “Who cares? It’s so adorable,” said Carmen. She had that note in her voice whenever we encountered a stray animal. “Whatever you do don’t…” I started. She was already petting it, and it rolled on its back in submission. Carmen held it tightly “I’m naming you Bubba,” she told it. “Name it,” I finished, slapping my forehead in defeat. Carmen held a fireball in her hand so that I could see it. The bear was huge with light brown fur that camouflaged it with the desert. Carmen was on its back scratching it behind the ear. “Let’s keep him,” she smiled. I shook my head. “Carmen we are on a mission. We do not have time for pets,” I told her. This was received with a pouty face that the little brat knew I was unable to resist. I turned around and crossed my arms over my chest, “If it dies don’t come crying to me,” I told her. Gleefully she left the bear and ran to give me a hug. “Sap,” said Adam. I only glared at him. Suddenly, I felt like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. A werewolf, a witch, a ninja, and the least frightening bear on the planet all headed to a palace…oh the irony.
The bear instantly latched onto Carmen like a lost dog. “Come on Bubba, this way,” she would tell it. The bear’s presence, however, only seemed to irritate me. It roared and hobbled after us. Why did Carmen have to have such a soft spot for stray animals? And what is a bear doing in a desert?
“We are close to the palace now. Another days walk, and we should be there. We should just keep walking when the suns come up,” said Carmen. No one protested against this plan. I wondered what awaited us at the palace. I knew it wasn’t good, and to be honest I was scared. It wasn’t long before sunrise came, and I was able to walk without holding onto Carmen and her new pet. We had run out of water but kept the coyote jug just in case we were lucky enough to stumble across a stream. My throat was dry and it hurt to speak. Carmen was right I could see the palace just ahead of us along with a welcoming party. This was perfect. It would give me a chance to stretch my muscles. “Let me take ‘em, I could use a warm up,” I told the group. There were about twenty bad guys that I could see. I wasn’t sure what they were, but they looked to be all the same species at least. They stood upright like men and had arms and legs, but they looked like vultures. They had small red heads with sharp beaks. Their bodies were covered in black feathers. I wasn’t sure if they were just feathery or if they had wings as well. A few of the more confident ones came straight at me; however, I knocked them out quickly. It was as though they weren’t even trying. They were so slow that I dodged them easily and their bodies were weak. A few managed to fly above me, but I didn’t even bother to fly up to them. I simply did an air kick and they were out. I flipped, dodged, and punched. In a matter of seconds, I had beat up twenty vulture faces.
“That was rude. He could have at least sent out a more entertaining welcome party,” I pouted. In truth, I was severely dehydrated and was glad Fugin hadn’t pulled out his big guns yet. Walking for so long had made me dizzy and the loss of water made me feel like a dried up sponge; kicking butt always put me in a better mood.
Carmen patted Bubba, “Let’s go,” she told him. Ulrica rolled her eyes, “Why did you name that thing Bubba, it’s ridiculous,” she told her.
“Well it certainly looks ridiculous, so I guess it fits,” I answered her before Carmen could. Carmen only ignored us, and said we were mean for picking on “Our new friend.” We left Bubba outside; he was kind of pointless anyway.
I’m not sure what I was expecting when I walked into that palace, but it sure as hell wasn’t this. It was magnificent. Adam whistled, “You have to admit he’s got style,” he said and his voice echoed in the large chamber. We were still in the entry way, but slowly we dared to inch farther inside. The entry hall was full of statues that looked like armed guards. This lead to a large domed room with a giant fountain in the middle and several diamond chandeliers surrounded it. When I looked up, I realized the entire ceiling was painted with various designs. “Stereotypically, aren’t evil lairs supposed to be dark and creepy?” I wondered out loud. I couldn’t help but run my hand against the wall, for it was covered in intricate designs as well. On the far side of the large room was the entrance to a hallway. “It is far too quiet in here,” observed Carmen. I agreed, “Yeah you’d think he would have sent more of his minions after us. Especially since the vulture faces were so pathetic.” We all understood that this was a trap, and we all looked at Carmen for her orders. I can’t keep having her make all the decisions. We put far too much pressure on her, I thought to myself. Did she have a plan? I sure hoped she did because I have no idea how to stop a God that can control the wind. In fact, what was keeping him from killing us right now? And it was my idea to jump into the portal! I was horrified at myself. All that talk with Ulrica about how I had to try and fight Fugin no matter what, and I didn’t even have a plan. I also dragged everyone else with me. If we die, it will be my stupid fault! My stupid pride! I quickly tried to gain control back over my emotions. I will win this fight, and no one will die…not again. My mind was set I took a deep breath and let my entire determination course through my veins, overpowering my doubt.
“Goldenflame is ready,” Lynashia said to Carmen. “Huh?” Carmen responded in her head. “Her soul is blinding me with its white light,” responded Lynashia. “I wish I could say the same for me,” Carmen told Lynashia. “Lyn?” asked Carmen. “Yes, dear,” said Lynashia. “If I can’t handle this, promise me you will take over my body for as long as is necessary. Make sure they make it, ok.” Both Carmen and Lynashia knew that Carmen’s body could not take the power that Lynashia possessed. If Lynashia stayed too long Carmen would die. “Understood, Jade Magician,” replied Lynashia. “Even combined I doubt we have the power to confront him head on. We will have to outsmart him,” thought Carmen.
“Listen up everyone,” said Carmen as we all gathered around her. “Fugin is telling us to walk down that hallway, and that is exactly what we are going to do.” We all kind of looked at her in surprise. This was her great plan? “Komodo, I want you to hang back since you are our healer. Goldenflame, you are to walk in first since your armor should be able to deflect any attack. Wolvina, I need you to be faster than any wind he throws at us,” demanded Carmen. We all nodded silently then Carmen stretched her hand out to us. I saw a twitch at the corner of Adam’s mouth that I knew to be his version of a grin when he put his hand on top of Carmen’s. Ulrica rolled her eyes but added her slender clawed hand. Then there was just me, and I soon joined them. “Angels…,” began Carmen until she heard Ulrica cough. “Plus wolf…time to fly,” she told us.
The hallway was layered with thin silver curtains and the walls were lined with giant urns. Soon enough we were face to face with a giant door the size of a house. I was preparing to throw myself against it, when slowly it opened on its own producing a large CREAAAAAK sound. The door led to steps and up the steps was a throne. It was large with gold lining and green velvety cushions. Someone was sitting in it, but I couldn’t quite tell who it was. From this distance all I could tell was that the figure was small in size. I held my staff in an offensive position preparing myself for a fight. “Hello,” said the figure. My heart skipped a beat. I’d know that voice anywhere. “Illusionist!” I screamed and ran towards the figure without hesitation. As I got closer the figure became clearer. It was really her! It was my Liz! I let the armor covering my head disappear so I could see her better. I knew she couldn’t be dead, I just knew. I was about to hug her when I stopped. “Is it really you?” I asked the figure. She nodded, “It’s really me,” and with that smile I was reassured. I held her and didn’t want to let go because I was afraid it was a dream. “I’m so sorry. I never should have left you that day,” I told her. “You were kidnapped by Fugin, weren’t you? Did he hurt you? Where is he?” I asked her. “You killed me, Goldenflame.” I let her go and took a step back. This was another dream, and in a minute I would wake up. Adam, Carmen, and Ulrica were soon standing by my side equally happy to see Liz. Adam and Carmen went to give her a hug asking the same questions I had. “It is great to see all of you,” she smiled at us. Liz was in her Illusionist uniform. Tattoos swirled their way up her arms. She wore blue gloves that had the fingers cut off, black boots, blue tights, and a black halter top that hung to her knees and clung to her tightly with a blue sash. On her left hand she wore the ring of endless light. The ring is a sign that she is the Illusionist, even though it is just a glow in the dark ring she found in a cereal box. The other signs for the Chosen Angels were: the “wrist of roses,” “shard of two moons,” and the “Dragon sword.” Carmen had cut her wrist when walking through a rose bush. I wear a necklace with a shard and two beads beside it while Adam, of course, possessed the Dragon Sword.
Liz had short black hair with blue streaks in it and deep brown eyes. She was about three or four inches shorter than me and paler than the moon. She was just a little kid. A kid I had promised to protect, and I failed. I wasn’t quite sure what it was, but Liz seemed different to me. There was something in her expression that irked me. “I wish we could have met on better circumstances,” frowned Liz. She sat down comfortably on the thrown, “I am with Fu,” she told us. We simply stared at her in confusion. “Illusionist, you have been brainwashed,” Carmen told her giving her a sympathetic look. “I love Fu more than anything in this world, and our love has granted me an enormous amount of power,” said Liz. As if to prove this she snapped her fingers and we were surrounded by…well I wasn’t sure what they were, but they looked like robots. Ulrica scoffed, “You are the weakest Illusionist I have ever met,” she told Liz. I jerked my head at Ulrica and gritted my teeth, “Not helping,” I growled. Ulrica ignored my warning. “You are not a very good liar, are you, Illusionist?” Ulrica was addressing Liz who merely raised an eyebrow. “Liz never lies.
It’s against her nature,” I responded. “Well that’s it then,” Said Ulrica. “An Illusionist is all about deception if you can’t lie then you cannot use your powers to their full potential,” said Ulrica matter of fact. “That and you let Fugin sink his grimy hands around your power. He is not granting you power he is holding you back these pathetic minions are just an example of how low you have come,” said Ulrica. Then why in the world would Liz have been the reincarnation of an Illusionist? I thought to myself. My eyes widened, Liz was lying right now. That is why I felt she looked different. I always wondered what Liz would look like if she lied, and now I know. This gave me hope that the real Liz was still in there.
“I have enough power to kill you mutt,” Said Liz. She stood up and I was prepared to jump in front of Ulrica if Liz was going to attack, but a voice stopped her. “Now sweet heart, you can’t hurt our guest,” It was Fugin’s voice, and the sound of it made me seethe with anger. “Give Liz back!” I yelled to it though I had no idea where it had come from. “You can have her,” Fugin replied. “After all she is not the one I want,” he told us. “What do you mean?” asked Carmen. “You, Emma Carter, Goldenflame, possessor of the shard of two moons, you are the one I am after,” Fugin’s voice echoed.
My blood ran cold, but I turned my face into a stone mask, “Why,” I asked Fugin. “You and I are a bit alike. You are strong and you hate humans almost as much as I do. Don’t try and hide it, Goldenflame. I’ve been watching you. Every person you have saved you did it because you thought it your duty, but in the back of your mind you only saw them as a nuisance and a necessary annoyance for being granted the power of a fully fledged warrior. You live to fight and that is all,” answered Fugin. “Don’t you dare talk to her like that! She is nothing like you!” Adam raised his fist as if challenging Fugin to show his face. “Even when saving your own teammate, you treated her as dead weight.
When the Jade Magician fell from the cliff she was nothing but a burden to you. You once saved a little girl from a burning building and as I recall you referred to her as a “Damn kid,” Continued Fugin. “Join me, and you will be free of these burdens.”
Adam hid his emotions very well but from the slight twitch of his brow I could tell he was angry. “Join me, Goldenflame,” said Fugin. Amazingly I found my voice, “Will you let Liz go?” I asked him. Fugin laughed and it echoed across the room once more, “Still playing the hero, eh? Of course, I’ll let her go. As I said earlier, she is not the one I wanted. The only reason I took her is because the young are so easily influenced while I would have had to try a bit harder for you, my dear, especially since you are already in love with someone else. I want you being by my side to be your decision,” answered Fugin. “However, I do believe the best punishment for the Angels would be to be killed by their youngest member. Don’t you agree? Tell you what, let us play a game,” Proposed Fugin. “If you can reach Ms. Elizabeth within an hour I will take Goldenflame and release Elizabeth. If you fail to reach Elizabeth within this time frame, she will be ordered to execute all of you. Well, all except Goldenflame. Goldenflame, you and I are kindred spirits. I look forward to working with you. You can be free around me. You can shed your disguise of a selfless human for I will not look down upon you, and we can rule this world together,” said Fugin. “You are the monster here, not Emma,” yelled Adam. “Never mind that; is it a deal or what?” asked Liz. None of this appeared to have fazed her a bit in fact she looked happy. “I do love games,” said Liz.
Carmen took a step forward, “You’ve got a deal,” she told Liz. As soon as the words left Carmen’s lips, I felt the ground disappear from under my feet. “Why am I always falling into darkness?” I whined, it was times like these where I hated gravity, but before I could land my feet against my staff to fly back up, we had hit the ground, and I could see that the hole that we fell through already closed up. I heard someone land on their feet where I of course landed on my bum. Someone grabbed my hand, “This way,” it was Ulrica’s voice and she yanked me to my feet. “Where is everyone else?” I asked after we had entered a corridor with lighting. “Fugin split us up and had us fall into two separate holes,” answered Ulrica. “Erm... you can let go of my hand now,” I told her. Ulrica smiled at me, “I know.” For some reason this brought a blush to my face. I hoped Ulrica didn’t notice. Despite her grin, she let me go. The corridors were small so I felt suffocated in the small space. We quickly began running. I was worried about the time limit, and whenever we encountered a second path to follow I let Ulrica sniff out the best direction. I felt as if we were going nowhere when suddenly Ulrica came to a halt. She turned to look at me, “Stop,” she ordered. I was standing still, “I did,” I said, stating the obvious. “Stop thinking that Fugin was right about you,” she told me. I started to say something but stopped. Fugin was right about me. I hated people and loved fighting more than anything. I tend to think a lot about what kind of person I am, and the kind of person I want to be. “We don’t have time for this,” I Argued.
Ulrica was taller than me with long platinum blond hair, silver wolf ears and stunning eyes. She removed my hair tie so that my hair fell to my shoulders. She ran her fingers through it and pulled me close to her, “I know you, Emma, even if you don’t know yourself.” Ulrica, as always did not know the meaning of personal space. Tears stung my eyes, and I blinked several times in an attempt to keep them at bay. No, no I refuse to let them drop. Suddenly, I gripped Ulrica tightly and fell to my knees sobbing. All my emotions just burst. I was so tired of being strong…just so tired. “How do you know? How do you know I’m not some awful person? Everything Fugin said was right. I hate people. I hate them so much,” I sobbed. I buried my face in her chest hoping it would stop the tears from running down my face. Ulrica tilted my chin up so that I looked her straight in the eyes. She wiped the tears from my face. “You are the most beautiful person I have ever met, inside and out,” she told me. She laid her forehead against mine, and somehow it managed to calm me. My body stopped shaking, and my breathing returned to normal. A shock ran through me, and I felt as if I had woken up. I was able to gain back control over myself. I stood and pretended like nothing happened, “We are wasting time we have to find Liz,” I told her. Ulrica stood up and invaded my personal space once again. I took a step back but only found the wall. Ulrica saw my movement. Regretfully, she stepped away from me. “I need you to be you when we face this guy. There cannot be a single thread of doubt, got it?” she told me. There was steel in her voice this time, and I wondered if everything she had just said was a lie. I nodded and motioned for Ulrica to lead the way. At a last minute thought, I stopped her. “That right there, never happened,” I told her. “Of course; just like this never happened,” she gave me a kiss on the cheek. I wiped it off and frowned, “Dane told me you like to play with people’s emotions. I want you to know, that won’t work on me because I don’t like you like that.” A smirk appeared across Ulrica’s face.
“Then why is it, Goldenflame, that whenever I enter a room your heart beats faster?” she asked. “That’s not true!” I said, angry at her accusation. She crossed her arms then pointed to her silver wolf ears. “I have incredible hearing,” she said. I felt as if she were mocking me and was about to protest some more when I saw her ear twitch. Ulrica turned to look ahead of us with a now serious expression on her face, and in a moment she was running full speed. I wasn’t as fast as Ulrica, but I tried desperately to keep up.
The end of the corridor split into two separate ones in opposite directions. I was about to take the one on the right when a hard blow to my chest pushed me back. Ulrica had kicked me, and where I had been standing there was now a pile of rubble. I got back on my feet and started to claw away at the chunks of rock, “Wolvina! Wolvina, can you hear me!” I screamed. She couldn’t have been crushed, I reassured myself. She is too fast for that. “I’m ok, just take that hallway and find Liz,” the voice was faint, but I heard it. “I’ll come back for you, I promise,” I told her. With that said I sprinted down the hallway leaving Ulrica behind.
I would bump into walls when a sharp turn popped up, but I continued my fast pace. This maze felt endless and everything looked the same. Another sharp turn was ahead, and I was about to collide with the wall then push off and move forward like I had done so many times before only instead of pushing off of the wall, I fell into it. I did a quick spin to keep myself from falling. Once I hit the wall, it sounded like shattered glass. I was surrounded by Goldenflames, wait no, I was in a room full of mirrors. I crashed through all of them hoping to find an exit. Instead, I found a set of stairs leading up. Unfortunately, waiting for me at the top of the stairs was a present. “Hi there,” I greeted an ugly Giant. It was like one big blob of blubber. The fist itself was larger than my entire body, and he was a pale green color. He moved to slam his fist down on me; with both hands I caught it and hurled him backwards. “Can’t hang out right now, maybe later,” I told it after landing on its head. I hopped into a hole in the wall, leaving the giant behind. Entering through the hole, my feet were quickly knocked out from underneath me causing me to do a complete three sixty where I landed upside down, holding myself up with one hand on my staff. Their ploy to throw me off balance failed. I saw that there were two creatures this time, but they were nowhere near the size of the giant. I forced one of the creatures against the wall and pressed against his neck nearly suffocating it. “Where is Liz!?” I ordered it to tell me. Its partner came at me, but I knocked him out with one blow. I put more pressure against the first creature’s neck to the point that it started crying. “Where?” I repeated. The creature pointed to its left. If it had not pointed it out to me, I would have missed it. There was a small lever a few feet from me. I left the creature unconscious by its friend and pulled the lever. I was put in a glass box that shot daggers at me. It was useless of course. The sharp daggers were nothing but bubbles against a Goldenflame’s armor. The glass box rose upward like an elevator, and I was standing beside the throne where we had started out. I broke out of the glass box. Here was the throne, but where was Liz? In my anger, I threw the beautiful chair against a wall and watched it smash into tiny pieces.
“Now what did my throne ever do to you?” It was Liz. I turned around to see her standing before me with her arms crossed over her chest and that stupid smirk that never left her face. “I win,” I declared. “I expected nothing less from my new accomplice,” echoed Fugin’s voice. His voice irritated me why couldn’t he just show his face? And why did he want me? I know he thinks I’m evil, but Carmen has far more power than me. Unconsciously I frowned…was that why Fugin wanted me, because I wasn’t as strong as the Jade Magician? He wanted someone strong but not strong enough to resist him? “Where is the rest of my team?” I asked him. Suddenly a platform rose up from the floor carrying Adam and Carmen. Adam had his sword drawn ready for anything while Carmen stood looking calm and collected. “Where are we?” Liz asked me. She gave me the same face she makes when realizing we had something due in class and she had forgot about it. “How much do you remember?” I asked her. “Ummmm…we were training. After you and Wolvina fought some giant spider, and Gonzo yelled at Jade Magician?” said Liz. Wow, that feels like forever ago. “Carmen and Adam will catch you up,” I went to give her a hug, when a wall of wind prevented me from getting nearer. Carmen and Adam were at Liz’s side in a second. I’m sure they wanted to make sure Fugin didn’t take her back. The wall of wind disappeared and Fugin spoke, “Do not get any ideas now. The deal was you join me, and I let Elizabeth go. I still have control over her. If I want her back, all I have to do is say so,” said Fugin. As an example Liz started talking all brain washy again about how she was so in love with Fu and wanted to destroy the world. Then she was back to normal. “Go back to Earth. I will buy you guys some time. He only wants me,” I called out to them. Maybe by turning myself in I can save Earth. Fugin circled me in wind once more. I think he’s just showing off. “I’m not leaving you!” called Adam over the wind. Adam looked earnestly at Carmen expecting her to have an answer. Carmen had heard what Tio said, there was no way for us to defeat Fugin. He is a God, and he is merciless. We are not strong enough to face him, and by letting him think he had a new evil accomplice, I was at least able to keep Earth safe for a little while longer. Carmen knew this was the only option. She knew she had to take the team and leave. I turned away from them, my family, letting them know that I wanted them to leave and that this was my choice. I couldn’t hear what they were saying to each other, but it looked like Adam was yelling at Carmen and that she was ignoring him. Liz simply stood there confused. Give it up Adam, I thought to myself. “I challenge you!” screamed Carmen over the howling wind. I turned around in surprise. What was that idiot doing?! She is going to get everyone killed! Did she not listen to Tio at all?! Wait…Tio…Tio said that Fugin never turned down a challenge. What did Carmen have up her sleeve? It got quiet until Fugin finally spoke, “I’m listening.”
“Lyn, any ideas?” Carmen thought. “No, but you better think of something fast,” answered Lynashia. “You are zero help!” Carmen’s mind was racing, but her face showed nothing but composure. “What good is taking over the world without enjoying yourself first? How about a wager to liven things up?” suggested Carmen. “I propose a tournament. Four of any demons you choose against the four of us,” said Carmen. “And what does the winner get?” asked Fugin. This was good if Fugin is asking questions. It means he must be interested. “If you win you get me,” said Carmen. “You already have Goldenflame and Illusionist. With me you get the three creations of the Gods you hate.” Since Adam was created by a servant God Fugin had no reason to be interested in him. “True,” commented Fugin, “B