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Note: This story takes place moments after Another Class in Magic ends. I recommend
reading Another Class in Magic before this story, and probably the other two stories
starring Tadayo and his friends before this one. But if you don't want to, that's
fine, but don't blame me if the story is sort of difficult to follow.
"I don't see why you had to wake me up this late at
night," Tadayo murmured groggily through the darkness. The sun had set over
the horizon revealing millions of stars lighting the heavens with a beautiful
glow. A crescent moon hung in the sky, shining a pale light down upon the stone
walls of Neopia City. Few lights shone from the castle in the dead of the night.
The entire city was asleep. It was the time of NeoQuest, so it was the epitome
of serenity.
"Come on Tad, you aren't afraid, are you?" mocked
his friend Raiden, an electric Kyrii donning heavy armour.
"Put a sock in it, I'm just tired that's all,"
the starry Lupe replied with a yawn. "We've had a busy day. I've learned a few
spells, and you've begun your training to be a knight by Sir Bornavir."
"Don't worry Tadayo," Princess Seryll the Faerie
Ixi taking the lead said, "this should prove to be very interesting."
The trio walked east of Neopia City. It wasn't
long before an abundance of rolling hills, towering above the three friends
came into view. Mountains loomed beyond the hills, casting an illustrious shadow
over the valley that not even the light of the moon or the stars could defeat.
"I know this place!" Tadayo exclaimed. "This
is the Training Grounds! Knights train their squires here against the Beasts
that roam it."
"I should know," replied Raiden. "Right after
we left the orchard at lunch, Sir Bornavir took me here. Man, he is one skilled
Eyrie! You should've seen the way he took a chop out of a--"
"Stay on topic," Seryll mandated with a hint
of vexation in her voice.
"Right, sorry," the Kyrii apologized. "Anyway,
I was fighting a Fire Imp, and I saw this odd light. I checked it out when Sir
Bornavir wasn't looking, and it turned out to be a cave! It was odd, because
I could see a red glow coming out of the cave."
"Maybe it was full of magma or something," Tadayo
deemed.
Raiden sighed. "Well obviously, Tad!"
"We're checking it out, and thought it'd be
fun for you to come along," Seryll finished.
The starry Lupe's face lit up. He was always
aching for adventure of some kind, and maybe this was the thing he was looking
for. "Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Tadayo bounded off toward the
hill side, looking for the glow that would signal the cave's location. His grey
cloak whipped in the wind behind him as he ran. "Wait... Tadayo..." Raiden managed
to say as he jogged after the excited Lupe. The heavy armour seemed to be making
it difficult for the Lupe to run. "You... have... no--"
"He's trying to say you have no idea where the
cave is!" Seryll finished the sentence for him.
Tadayo stopped and spun around. He waited impatiently
for Raiden to catch up. The Kyrii led Tadayo and Seryll toward the side of one
of the hills. The Kyrii pulled back some brambles and revealed a hole. It seemed
to be leading downward into some kind of cave in the hill. Like Raiden said,
a fiery glow emanated from the cavern. The entrance was small, only big enough
for Tadayo to barely fit in.
"I wonder what it could be," Seryll mused.
"There's only one way to find out!" Tadayo and
Raiden responded simultaneously with a glints of anticipation in their eyes
and excited expressions.
But suddenly, with a bright flash of flames,
a creature launched itself out of cavern. The trio could see it was made of
flames. It floated around in the air cackling evilly.
"It's a Fire Imp!" the princess cried as she
pointed with fear at the Beast.
Raiden's eyes narrowed. With a sudden movement,
he pulled his sword out of scabbard. It was a stunning blade. The steel blade
had a Gathow engraved into it and the bronze hilt had two miniature figures
of Cyodrakes. The Kyrii leaped into the air and took a slash at the Fire Imp.
But his armour weighed him down, and as he desperately fought to get high off
the ground as possible he threw off his coordination and missed the Beast by
only a couple of centimeters.
"Fire!" Tadayo cried as he concentrated. He
managed to send a jet of flames at the imp. The flames seemed to energize the
Fire Imp, and make it stronger.
"I think you used to the wrong spell!" Seryll
wailed.
It took a moment for the starry Lupe to realize
he had cast the wrong spell. "Uh... water!" he yelled. But it was too late,
the time it took for him to realize he had cast the wrong spell, the Fire Imp
swooped down at him. It bit down on Tadayo's wand and flew away with it.
"My wand!" he exclaimed as he watched the Beast
sail through the sky above the mountains.
"You can always get another one," Raiden said.
Tadayo shook his starry Lupe head vigorously.
"That's my wand! Master Boraxis will butcher me alive if I don't get it back,"
he cried. Suddenly he turned his shaggy head over to Seryll. The Faerie Ixi
cocked an eyebrow before suddenly realizing what Tadayo wanted.
"Uh-uh, no way! Just because I'm the only one
with wings doesn't mean I'm going to fly and get your wand back!" she cried.
Tadayo clasped his paws together. "Please, I'm
begging you!" he pleaded. "You're the only one who can fly!"
Seryll looked into Tadayo's desperate eyes and
sighed. "Fine, but you're coming with me! Come on," she growled as she flew
into the air. Tadayo nodded and ran out of the Training Grounds. Raiden abruptly
tore off the armour that was weighing him down. He kept a hold of his scabbard,
which held his sword and ran after Tadayo.
The Ixi could see the small light made by the
Fire Imp as she chased after him. The imp's ability to hover was nothing compared
to the thin yet powerful wings of Seryll. Within moments had caught up to the
Beast. She was high above the ground. They were quickly passing the Training
Grounds and nearing the Hills of Jub.
"Do something Seryll!" Tadayo bellowed up into
the air. He and Raiden were running side by side, almost directly beneath their
airborne friend.
"What do you want me to do?" she screeched in
return. "The little monster is made of fire!"
Raiden paused and unsheathed his sword from
the scabbard again. The blade, which glinted in the moonlight was suddenly tossed
into the air by a powerful thrust by the electric Kyrii. The sword spun in the
air, but Seryll managed to clasp her hooves around the scabbard. With one swift
movement, the sword sliced through the Fire Imp which vanished in a puff of
smoke. The wand fell from the sky and landed in Tadayo's outstretched paws.
"Way to go Seryll!" Raiden cheered as his friend
returned safely to the ground. She returned the sword to its rightful owner.
"Thanks!" Tadayo exclaimed as he once again
held the wooden wand. He rubbed his paws against the grey, magical tool and
was grateful it was back in his possession.
Suddenly, they could see light trickling into
the plane they were standing on. They night was passing and daybreak was returning.
"Oh Lenny feathers, it's already morning! Sorry
guys, I've really got to get back into my bedroom before dad gets angry! Don't
want him to start a war because he thinks the princess has been kidnapped,"
she muttered under her breath. She burst into flight once more and soared off
in direction of Neopia City.
"Too bad we didn't get to check out that cavern,"
Raiden brooded, "but I suppose we have today. Anyway, see you Tad!" The Kyrii
headed in the direction of the castle, but suddenly remembered he forgot his
armour back in the Training Grounds. He cursed under his breath before changing
direction.
Tadayo laughed and trotted back to the castle.
It had been quite an evening, but he was anxious to make use of the precious
few hours of sleep he had left before he was awoken, and had to go return to
magic class.
The End
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