Ancient Neopia: Part Four

Hero smashed, scratched, slashed and smacked the Lupes with his sword. He was growing tired. He punched a Lupe with his paw and kicked another one, but he was a goner. He fell on the ground.

     "Is this my end? No way!" Hero said to himself. "I can survive…" He whispered those words, before he heard someone jump over him, followed by a few others. He heard the sounds of slashing blades and then he blacked out.

     ***

     "Hey! Hero!" The voice of a concerned friend woke him up.

     "Booger…" Hero said softly, while he opened his eyes slowly.

     "So… You are awake," Galgarroth stared at him. "Is this your friend, Jarod?"

     "Yeah… He was with me when I came here. I didn't even know what this place was. Or if I could go home…" The last part was spoken very softly.

     "Oh," was the only reply he got. Jarod handed a healing potion to Hero, who quickly slurped it all down. He was in a far better condition then when he had arrived… to wherever he was.

     "Where am I?"

     "You are in the Swamp Edge City, in an Inn," Rioeiro said to answer the question. "Some warriors were headed here, so we walked with them here. It was the most nearby city."

     "Yeah, you were wounded badly," Vex said, while nodding heavily.

     "Yes… But who are you?"

     "Those are Galgarroth and Vex, I found them in this desert." Jarod started explaining things, about how they met and how he had walked with them towards the end of the desert and how he got reunited with Rioeiro.

     "Ok…" Hero said after Jarod had finished telling the story. "But I think we should search for new armour or weapons."

     They all agreed, and thus they went out of the Inn and towards the shops. They got new armor for Vex, Jarod and Rioeiro and new weapons for Galgarroth, Vex and Hero. Their armor was just fine, as they could fight well but their weapons were so badly damaged that they had to be replaced.

     They were discussing about how they were going to get back. They had to visit the same building where Jarod had found Vex and Galgarroth. It seemed to be the Temple of Roo and there was a Archmagus who craved too much power, thus he had to be stopped.

     Jarod got bored and walked over to the sea to think over things. Would someone miss him at home? And how would he go home again. It was not like they had Virtupets here so that he could play "NeoQuest V.2000 inclusive a blaster" and get sucked back to his home.

     He had to wait. Cybunnies did not like waiting, Jarod thought. He had waited so long and now he was sick of it, yet he had too. He did not know anything yet, so he had to see how things turned out.

     He stood back up and walked around. He saw the beginning of a swamp in the distance. Jarod thought that the swamp was about half an hour away.

     He then looked around town some more and then went back to the Inn, where he found Galgarroth and Vex talking to each other.

     "We have to get out of here!" Galgarroth said to Vex, sounding a little bit annoyed.

     "We know too little to do anything yet!" Vex said, trying to reason with the annoyed Grarrl. But it didn't seem to work well.

     "Ugh, I hate it when you are right about something that I don't like," Galgarroth said, then he turned his back to Vex and sat down at a table. Vex still followed him and sat down at that table too.

     "I hope we do get back though," Vex said sadly. After that, they did not talk much.

     Jarod was now looking for Hero, who had suddenly disappeared. Rioeiro was probably with him too. And there they were, together looking at a sword. It was red and blue. It looked like flames erupted from them. On the blue side blue flames and on the red side red flames.

     "That is a cool sword," Jarod said as he neared them.

     "You think so?" Rio replied sadly. "It was my dad's sword."

     "Oh," Jarod said. "What happened to him?"

     "One day he went out to fight with the other warriors of Neopia City. They went to fight all the monsters on the plains around Neopia City. Some returned… But my dad never came back."

     "Oh," Jarod said again and he felt guilty for asking it. "Oh… I'm sorry."

     "Thanks," Rio nodded, then he picked up the sword. "But… I want to give it to you."

     "Wha? Me?" Jarod stared at him. "But… it was your fathers, don't you like to keep it as a memory?"

     "I keep my memories inside," Rio said and he walked away. "We leave tomorrow and head towards the Temple of Roo. Hero says so."

     They left for the Inn and went to their rooms where Galgarroth and Vex were already sleeping. Everyone slept peacefully. The first time that Jarod could sleep without thinking if his friends were alright. They were all close to him.

     ***

     The Bringer stood in the room in front of Jahbal.

     "Sir, the Neopets are currently in Swamp Edge City," the Bringer said. "They are returning to the desert to go towards the Temple of Roo."

     "Yes," Jahbal nodded and turned around. "I see."

     "Do I have to do anything, sir?"

     "Go to the Lost Desert. You will stop them if they get out of the temple," Jahbal said and he now turned around again to face the Bringer. "And get rid of them this time."

     "Yessir." The Bringer bowed and then walked away, the ground shaking every time he made a step.

     ***

     The day was a peaceful day. The sun was shining now and the swamp almost turned into a long river. A few townsmen were fishing and it actually surprised Jarod that there were fish in the swamp.

     "Alright, we have a five little pouches of water," Rioeiro said and he put the pouches in a small brown sack. "We have to be careful with them out in the desert."

     "Yeah. But I do not think we can get lost," Hero said, as he motioned towards a young, green Quiggle that was walking towards them. He only wore old pants and a pair of old boots.

     "Hello there!" he said cheerfully. "I am Trevis."

     "Heya Trevis!" Jarod replied and the others followed. "Are you uh… our guide or something?"

     "Yeah, but I can only bring you there," Trevis said. "I have never been further than the Temple of Roo and here, but that White Lupe-" he motioned to Hero. "-said you were not going to return to Swamp Edge City."

     "Oh…" Jarod looked at Hero and then back at Trevis. "We should go then." And the journey towards the temple started. However, they did not know what danger was waiting for them there.

     They climbed over hills, passed several ice-cream stands and one oasis. They stopped to rest at the oasis.

     "We are nearby, but I have a feeling that something is wrong there," Trevis said. "I wonder what it could be…"

     Galgarroth and Vex sat down at the water to cool down and Hero laid down next to a few rocks. Rioeiro leaned against a tree.

     "I have a feeling Jahbal has a little surprise for us at the temple…" Hero whispered to Jarod, who sat down next to him.

     "I think so too… And every time you mention the Temple of Roo…" Jarod hesitated for a while then, yet continued. "I think about the Bringer."

     "But why does it bother you so much?" Hero asked curiously. "It is a monster, true… But monsters roam around here."

     "It is because the Bringer is, according to me, not supposed to be here," Jarod started. "In my time… say, the future… there are the Bori."

     "Bori?" Hero asked confused.

     "A Neopet species," Jarod replied. "The Bringer wanted to get rid of all the Boris and he had chased them down towards Terror Mountain. It's a mountain completely covered in snow, but to continue on… The Boris were frozen by an unknown force to protect them."

     "Really?" Hero listed attentively as Jarod continued on.

     "It all started when a group of thieves wanted to steal a gem to become rich. That gem was deep in the mountain," Jarod sighed. "They had found the Bringer of Night in the Lost Desert and had taken him towards Terror Mountain. The thieves thought the Bringer listened to them, but after a while, the Bringer did whatever he wanted."

     "But that would be… to expect?" Hero said, then he sighed.

     "He summoned frozen skeleton warriors to fight the thieves. The only goal for the Bringer was to get rid of the Bori. But then a Usul called Hannah took the Gem and used its power to stop the Bringer. He was supposed to be gone…" Jarod said sadly. "He was supposed to be gone…" he muttered.

     "I see…" Hero said and the two didn't say anything anymore.

     "Alright, you guys want to go?" Trevis finally asked. "I have also filled three more pouches with water for you, so now you have a total of EIGHT pouches!" Trevis grinned proudly as he handed the pouches to Galgarroth, who happily took them.

     "Lead the way," Hero said and the group followed the guide towards the temple.

     They walked and finally they saw the Temple. The Temple of Roo. Yet, following the pets was the Bringer. He had to wait until they came back out of the temple and then he could fight them… and finish them.

     He grinned evilly and watched the pets go inside the temple, yet he saw the Quiggle run back towards Swamp Edge City. "Let him go, you need to get rid of the others," a voice said in the back of his mind.

     ***

     Inside the temple, there were signs on the walls. There were a few tables and chairs and a few lamps, hanging from the ceiling of this… cave.

     "Do… people live here?" Jarod asked uncertainly.

     "I don't think so…" Galgarroth said, while looking around.

     "What, you would call that Cybunny a monster?" Hero said, while pointing at a possibly mad Cybunny, that was standing in front of an hallway.

     "Eh? Who's that? Who's there?" the Cybunny asked, while he looked around.

     "We are a group of travellers. Our names are Hero, Jarod, Rioeiro, Galgarroth and Vex," Hero said.

     "Oh... uh... well hello... I'm glad you found me... I don't suppose you'd be willing to help an old wizard, would you?" The Cybunny seemed relieved that there were some pets here.

     "What… kind of help?" Galgarroth asked curiously.

     "Uh... well... ages ago... when this place was... was attacked, in a terrible battle... they put a shield over this place, trapping the inhabitants... we cannot escape... uh... perhaps... perhaps you could find something for me... I could escape if I had it... please... please help…" The 'wizard' Cybunny looked at them, not saying anything. Yet his eyes showed that he was begging for help.

     "What do you need us to find?" Jarod finally said, after a long time of silence.

     "Need... I need... a carved oaken staff... from the giants who roam the plains to the south of the Desert of Roo. And... and a headpiece... one of the Jewels of Power, to... to sit atop the staff... and one last thing. An ancient artifact... the Coruscating Gem... to focus the power and create the final... the final staff. Seek the Archmagus here... he has... he has the gem." The wizard now nodded. "He is here… he hears us!"

     "Jewels of Power?" Jarod asked, his voice a tone of confusion.

     "The Jewels... the Jewels of Power are... are lost to time. But there is one who knows... who can tell you about them. Seek out Leirobas, to the north..."

     "Wasn't Leirobas this Quiggle in Swamp Edge City?" Jarod whispered to Hero, who nodded. "Seems like we have to change our plan then…"

     "I didn't know this… But we will have to find our way back on our own then."

     "Continue uh… down this hallway… the Archmagus… he has power… but he does have the gem… gem…" The Cybunny nodded again and cast a healing spell. It was not very strong, but it could do.

     The group nodded and they headed down the hallway. They came in a large room, with lots more tables and chairs. The whole room was lit up with candles and the ground the walls and even the ceiling were made of gold. There then was a wall with three keyholes, which struck Jarod as very odd. There were gold signs on the wall. Then, Hero took out three keys, stuck them in the keyholes and the wall moved away.

     They continued on, until they came to another hall. It was very big and decorated nicely. With a big carpet and chairs with gold on them.

     Then, a green orb appeared. The moment they saw it, a flash of light blinded the pets. When they opened them again, the Archmagus of Roo stood there. He cackled and then he said "This place is protected so that none here may leave... and such a fate will be yours as well!"

     He raised a wooden staff and the green orb they had seen now attached itself to the staff.

     "Oh boy, fighting time. I am so happy," Jarod said sarcastically, as they got into fighting positions.

To be continued...