Ancient Neopia: Part Three

     "Jarod! Run faster!" Hero was on top of one of the hills. "Here you are safe!"

     Jarod ran faster than he thought he could ever run. His heart was beating faster than ever and adrenaline rushed through his body. CRASH! The crack raced past Jarod and one of his paws slipped into the crack.

     He fell.

     He desperately clawed the cliff, hoping that he could survive this. His claws were now stuck in the ground, but the shadow walked towards him. The sun had risen now and he could finally see the face of the shadow.

     Bringer of the Night. Its Moehog tusks shined in the sunlight and it prepared its blade to hit Jarod and to finish him off.

     He raised his blade he held in his hand with his sharp claws. He laughed maniacally and then the blade came crushing down. Jarod then let go and fell down, but while he did that, he clawed the wall and kept hanging there, although not too comfortable.

     "JAROD!" Hero shouted as he ran down the cliff and towards the place where Jarod had fallen down. "You!"

     Hero's sword started glowing all kinds of colors. He then ran towards the Bringer of the Night and struck him. It only laughed as he got struck.

     "Foolish Neopet!"

     It ran towards Hero and it smacked him with his blade. Rioeiro ran towards him and quickly gave him a healing potion. The Bringer of the Night then powered up, threw his blade into the air and it started glowing. Then, a flash came and it blinded the three pets.

     A wind started picking up and soon the wind was so strong it blew away the pets, even in the crack the wind had taken Jarod and the pets flew away.

     "I will be seeing you again!" The Bringer of the Night growled and he ran back to where ever he had come from.

     ***

     Jarod sighed and opened his eyes. The sun was shining bright and it was quite warm. He looked around him… The only thing he saw was sand.

     "Guys?" he asked, not knowing where he was.

     "Hero! Rioeiro!?" he shouted now and he was frustrated. Yet, he didn't remember how he had come here.

     "ANYBODY?" Jarod cried out and he started running, hoping to find someone -anyone- that could help him. He fell on the sand and he grabbed some of the sand in his paw. He then threw it into the air and watched as it flew away.

     Flew away…

     Bringer of the night…

     "Guys! Where are you?" Jarod called out for them, stood up and continued running. There! He saw an old building and two figures in front of them.

     A Grarrl and a Mynci.

     Jarod sighed as they were not his friends, but they could do.

     "Hey!" he shouted in an attempt to make them look at him. As he ran to them, he saw that the Grarrl had black armor with spikes on, a tail, also in armor completely with spikes and a black cloak too. The Mynci had a small beard and a scar on his right eye and he had purple armor with a red cape.

     "Hello!" the Mynci said. "Who are you?" The Mynci looked at Jarod, but had his paw on his handle of his knife. He was suspicious.

     "Uh, I am Jarod," Jarod said to the Mynci. "What is your name? And uh… what is with the knife?"

     "Well, I am Master Vex, come from the Darigan Citadel." Vex then motioned to the Grarrl. "His name is Galgarroth, also from the Darigan Citadel." He then removed his paw from the handle of his knife. "Never can be too careful," he explained.

     "Alright," Jarod said, but he still was confused. He was in Ancient Neopia. The Darigan Citadel didn't even exist now!

     "Do you know where we are?" Galgarroth asked. "One moment we were just on the Darigan Citadel and now in some desert waiting for people to notice us in front of some weird building."

     "I don't know what this desert is… But we are in Ancient Neopia," Jarod said to them.

     But as expected, they did not believe Jarod. They reacted the same way as when Hero had said that.

     "I don't believe that!" Master Vex cried out.

     "Fine…" Jarod sighed. "But can you then at least help me find the way to my friends?"

     They continued staring at him, until they finally gave in and they searched. They kept walking through the desert and they fought off any of the monsters that attacked them. True, Vex and Galgarroth were much stronger than Hero and Rioeiro. Jarod wondered if they were going to be okay…

     "Hey, I think I see a forest of some sorts!" Galgarroth shouted excitedly and he pointed forward. Plains of grass and in the distance… the hills. Jarod sighed. His Red Cybunny fur could now be officially declared orange because of the amounts of sand on it. He was really happy to see some grass.

     He ran towards the grass with the other two following him and when they were there, they saw that the sun was almost setting. Again.

     "Night so soon?" Jarod wondered aloud.

     "We have been walking through the desert for a long time," Vex said while he looked behind him.

     "What about we tell you how we ended up in here? It is better than just standing here…" Galgarroth suggested.

     "Fine with me," Jarod said, while he quickly scanned the area around for any monsters. When he saw none, he sat down on the ground near a tree and listened to their story.

     ***

     "So, you see?" Master Vex started the story. "We were out on the Darigan Citadel when a portal appeared. It was blue."

     "We didn't know what it was so we tried to stay away from it!" Galgarroth quickly added.

     "Then monsters came pouring out and we had to fight to defend the citadel. They were similar to the ones in the desert we just went through!" Master Vex sighed. "We have not seen Lord Darigan since then…"

     "Yeah, we decided not to go in the portal in case it led to this place where all these monsters were."

     "Well uh, now, let's begin this story for real now then…" Vex said.

     "While the battle was raging, we found a door opened which lead to a secret room. We did look who did that so we went through that door and we found this pet with a purple cloak all around uh…it with some golden jewellery."

     "It seemed surprised to see us and then she ran towards us, jumped over us and then ran away." Vex paused for a breath, and then continued. "Her cloak slipped off a little and we saw it was a green Aisha. She then jumped into the portal and we had to follow her."

     "That is how we ended up here."

     ***

     "I think this means a lot of trouble," Jarod said. "If this really is Ancient Neopia, that means we are changing the history right now."

     "There might be a way to go back… right?" Galgarroth stared at them. "Right?" he said again, this time with a tone of despair.

     "There is always hope, you know," Jarod said. That was when they heard a loud thump, followed by a painful roar.

     "Wha?" Jarod jumped up. "What was that?"

     "I am sure that was something heavy hitting something that roars," Vex said, sounding confident in his answer.

     "We should go to the place where that sound came from!" Jarod said excitedly. It could be Rioeiro with his giant hammer! And he ran, while Galgarroth and Vex sprinted to catch up with him.

     It was indeed Rioeiro and he was fighting off a pack of Plains Lupes. He swung his hammer and he beat another one.

     "Rio!" Jarod shouted. "I'm here!"

     As he ran towards his friend to help him. Galgarroth and Vex joined too and they fought away the monsters together.

     "Ugh… Jarod…" Rioeiro said. "Been searching for you… All day…"

     "I ended up in the desert…" both Jarod and Rioeiro said.

     "We too…" Galgarroth said sadly.

     They stayed together and Rioeiro introduced himself to Galgarroth and Vex.

     "I wonder if Hero is alright."

     ***

     Hero was dashing over the hills in the desert. Where could they be? Were they safe? He continued running, but he slowed down. He was tired, but he could not sleep here. There were too many monsters. He fought away a Cave Lizard and then started walking. He saw hills and grass and a forest.

     Maybe they were there.

     He now sped up again, filled with hope as he neared the grass. As his paw reached the grass, he felt more energy. The grass was cold. Hero then sniffed the air and he smelled something. A Korbat, Grarrl, Mynci and a Cybunny. But also far more and it was confusing him.

     He looked up and then he heard a roar behind him. Around twenty Dire Lupes stood there, their fangs bared, and they were ready to eat Hero. He had never been so scared.

     "Jarod! Rioeiro!" he cried out, before he engaged in a battle against all the Dire Lupes. He had to beat them. He had to beat Jahbal now…

     He slashed one of the Lupes and kicked one of them away, but now they were circling around him… Ready to strike him…

     "Help me? Anybody!" he cried out again, as one of the Lupes hit him, but he quickly smacked it with his sword. He then looked at his sword. It started glowing and then Hero lunged at the Lupes. He had beaten three in one go and now there were blue orbs flying through the air. Spectral Magic healed him and now he had to beat the rest of them.

     He closed his eyes, breathed in and out and then opened his eyes again. He was ready to take these monsters on. His heart was beating in his chest, as he watched the Lupes circle around him.

To be continued...