“Lance, what’s wrong?” asked Emila panic in her voice.
“What is it?”
“Lance, what’s going on?” said Isfet.
“The…the attacks on Tyrannia…”
“What about them? asked Emila.
“The attacks on Tyrannia were just a test. Dr. Sloth just wanted to see if
we could beat the Monoceraptor.”
“So what?” asked Emila. “He saw that we could beat the Monoceraptor so he
made the Rock
Beast so that every time it was beaten it comes right back.”
“You mean it’s unstoppable?” I asked.
“Yes,” said Lance sadly. Isfet started wailing.
Emila’s eyes looked foggy. Lance was staring at the ground.
“Wait, you guys,” I said. “There has to be a way to stop him. There has to
be something he want from Sakhmet”
“But what?” asked Emila.
“Isfet, tell me everything that Sloth did right before he got here and while
he was here,” I said.
“Well,” said Isfet. “First he got Brucey
B’s lucky coin in a game of Cheat!. And then he came with a bunch of
his mutant Grundos they’re so scary…but…anyway…they went to this really, really
big pyramid and they used the lucky coin to get in. And then he came out with
this staff and Sloth used it on Brucey’s friends and one of them turned into
a snake and the other turned into a mutant. Later on Peopatra told me it was
the staff of Alhasutek. Then he came Sakhmet and he…”
“What about a magical staff?” I interrupted. “Well, he used this staff on
Princess Fernypoo and Capara, she replied. “If he used it on them,” I said.
“Then maybe he used it to create the Rock Beast.”
“Yeah, that makes sense,” said Lance.
“So,” I continued. “If we get rid of the staff, in theory we should get rid
of the Rock Beast.
“So all we have to do is get the staff?” asked Isfet.
“It’s not going to be that easy,” I replied. “We have to get in and out without
getting caught."
“How are we supposed to do that?” asked Emila.
“Well,” I said. “We’ll need a distraction. Maybe those fighting the Rock Beast
can help.”
We walked to where the Rock Beast was raging. The three pets that had beat
it before were still there trying to beat it. They looked awful, as if they
hadn’t slept in days (which they probably hadn’t.) Every time one would get
knocked out one of the others would use a healing potion on it.
“We need your help,” I said explaining our plan. “Do you think you can come
up with a distraction?"
“We’ll see what we can do,” said the Lupe.
“But meanwhile,” said the Shoryu. “Take these Invisihats. Don’t put them on
until you’re in with Sloth because the invisibility only last for a minute or
so. Good Luck!”
“Thanks,” I said. We loaded up the hats and walked to the tower.
“Attack!” yelled the Lupe and at least a hundred NeoPets attacked the Sloth Clones guarding the tower. We went in. The Guardian of the Lost Desert Part
eight: Inside the tower The light inside the tower was dim. There were only
a few candles on the wall.
“This is scary,” whispered Isfet. “I suppose the only way to go is up,” whispered
Emila. I nodded. We began up the narrow, spiraling staircase.
“Wow, we’re a fourth of the way up and nothing’s happened,” said Isfet. “This’ll
be a piece of cake.”
Suddenly, we heard footsteps. “Where do we go?” asked Isfet.
“There's nowhere to go!” said Lance.
“Go back down!” I whispered.
We ran down and hid behind the door. A couple of Sloth Clones came down the
stairs and walked out the door.
“How are we supposed to get up there if we can’t even get past the Sloth Clones
on the staircase?” Emila asked.
“Hmmm…” We all sat thinking.
“I’ve got it! Isfet, get on my back,” I said as I kneeled down. She climbed
up. Then I picked up Lance and Emila and held one in each arm. I started up
the staircase again. We heard more footsteps.
“Now what?” asked Lance.
I flew up to the ceiling and the clones walked right beneath us. When their
voices faded I flew back down.
“Genius!” whispered Lance. We continued up the stairs stopping every time
a guard came and flying above his head. Finally we reached the top of the stairs.
There were at least a dozen Sloth Clones guarding the door to Sloth. The door
was open just a little.
“Put on your Invisihats,” I whispered.
We became invisible. I flew up to the ceiling and through the opening in the
door. We landed softly in the room. I put down Lance, Emila, and Isfet. I slowly,
slowly, closed the door. It made a noise that seemed like it would put all of
Sloth’s army on alert. But Sloth wasn’t paying any attention. I slowly locked
the door with a soft click. Our invisibility faded and we took off the Invisihats.
“Where is it?” Lance mouthed. I pointed to Sloth. He had the staff in his
hand. Lance slowly walked toward Sloth. We motioned frantically for him to stop
but he didn’t pay any attention. Sloth laughed evilly, “They will never defeat
me not when I have this!” He raised the staff into the air.
“ARGH!” Lance had sprung into the air and bitten Sloth’s hand causing him to
drop the staff. Lance grabbed it and ran back to where we were. He and Emila
immediately started to try to break the staff.
“It-won’t-break," Lance panted.
“A couple of NeoPets and a Faerie,” said Dr. Sloth.
“HA! It is impossible to destroy the mighty staff of Alhasutek!”
“Give it to me,” I said. I held the staff in my hands and closed my eyes.
I could feel the magic flowing to my fingertips. I concentrated and using all
of my power….
“WHAT THE?!?!” The staff glowed with a bright light before breaking into a
hundred pieces and vaporising.
“BUT HOW?!” shouted Dr. Sloth who was in shock.
“Yes!" said Emila and Lance in unison.
Isfet ran to the window. “The Rock Beast," she said. “It’s still here!”
“But we destroyed the staff!” said Emila.
The Rock Beast roared.
“I don’t understand it!” said Lance. “We got rid of the staff! The monster
should be gone!”
“Maybe,” I said thinking furiously. “Maybe….Dr. Sloth had already made the
creature….maybe he just used the staff to make it invincible."
“So the next time they beat it, it should be gone for good.” Dr. Sloth had
finally come out of his daze.
“YOU FOOLS! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT SORT OF POWER YOU JUST WASTED?!?!”
Suddenly we heard a loud explosion from outside. “YES! WE GOT IT!”
“THE PIECES DISSOLVED--IT’S GONE FOR GOOD!”
“HUMPH! I WILL RETURN!” said Dr. Sloth.
He threw something to the ground and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. We climbed
back down the tower and went outside.
Isfet burst in to tears. “Sakhmet is saved,” she sobbed.
“LANCE! YOU ARE IN TROUBLE!" Ursula was running toward us at full speed.
“I told you to stay put! Do have any idea how much trouble you’re in?! A lot!
I wouldn’t be surprised if you couldn’t go out for months!”
Emila sighed. “C’mon, Lance let’s go get some chocolate.”
“Wait a second!” shouted Ursula. “I’m not done with you yet!”
***
Later, I took Isfet to Faerieland and the Faerie Queen changed her back to
normal. And everyone lived happily ever after. Well, almost. Lance still had
to be in the same room with Ursula every once in a while and that, of course,
was the worst fate ever imaginable.
The End | 
