Ancient Neopia: Part Six

His steps echoed through the tunnel and he was getting closer to the exit. He saw faint images of rogue Zafaras, running Kacheeks and various fighting Neopets. He then reached the light and closed his eyes as he leaped into it.

     "Here goes nothing!" and he was engulfed into the light.

     He landed on the ground with a loud thud. He quickly opened his eyes, just to see Neopia Central being attacked by the monsters. Jarod was shocked. He looked around and everywhere the Neopets were fighting monsters.

     "Why?" He turned angry, grabbed his sword and ran towards a Neopet that was being attacked by a plains Lupe. He defeated it with great ease and ran towards his next target. He slashed through the horde of monsters, beating everything in his path, towards another portal.

     A red glow emerged from it. Jarod stopped, sighed and then grinned. "Whoever you are, you are going down…" As he stepped towards it, he saw a faint image of Hero, Galgarroth, Vex and Rioeiro looking in the portal. They were still safe.

     Jarod then stepped through the portal and got flashed towards an arena.

     The Bringer stood there in front of him. The two were surrounded by flames. The light of the flames reflected on the duellists' swords.

     "I have been expecting you…" The Bringer grinned. "Thought you had gotten rid of me?"

     "No, because you always return," Jarod grinned. "Unless you get defeated, right here, by me."

     "Then… we begin!" The Bringer roared, as he ran towards Jarod. His sword lifted in the air, ready to strike. Jarod ran towards the Bringer and jumped as the Bringer smashed his sword in the ground. Rocks flew through the air from the impact but it did not affect Jarod, who was still in the air.

     He held his sword in front of him, closed his eyes and whispered words as they came to him.

     "But it's true," Jarod said. "Heroes never die." Now he opened his eyes. "They just go away for a while." He remembered all the Neopets in Neopia Central. "And they will always come back, when we need them most!"

     He had remembered that very well. His sword started to glow and he then dove for the ground. He then crashed on the ground, with his paws on the ground. A light surrounded him and he now ran towards the Bringer. He then leaped in the air and finally smashed his sword in the Bringer.

     "Wraaah!" the Bringer cried out. Jarod jumped back to the ground. His attack had been successful; the armor of the Bringer was broken. There were a lot of bursts on the place where the sword had hit the Bringer.

     "You!" the Bringer growled, clenched his fists and ran towards Jarod, again. He then swiped at Jarod, who dodged it. He then quickly swiped again. Jarod had no time to dodge it and got hit. He landed on the ground with a large thump.

     "Take that…" the Bringer whispered softly. He stepped towards Jarod and started laughing.

     "Little, puny Neopet," the Bringer said. He then turned around and started to walk away.

     "Heroes never die," Jarod then said, as his sword started glowing again. He now leaped and brought down the sword. It went through the Bringer.

     "What! No!" the Bringer cried out and tried to smash Jarod one last time, before he was turned to ice. Jarod then noticed the ground shaking. He then saw the portal appear again and ran towards it.

     He looked behind him and now the flames were gone and the ground was cracked. Only a small pool of water laid on the ground. A small smile appeared on his face, before he jumped through the portal.

     ***

     He landed in the cold snow. He then quickly jumped up and looked around him. He was on Terror Mountain. This was the place where the Bringer was defeated… but everything here was peaceful.

     What was the use of being here then? A rumble in Jarod's stomach answered that question, as he ran towards the Slushie shop. As he stepped inside, he noticed a chest, with the name "Jarod" on it. He walked towards it, looked around and then carefully opened it.

     To Jarod's surprise, it contained a note and thousand Neopoints.

     "You have beaten the Bringer, you gain 750 experience and 1000 Neopoints!"

     This confused Jarod, but he slowly started to understand it. He would get experience from all the monsters he had beaten and get stronger. He grinned now and walked to the shopkeeper to buy some slushies. Then, he returned outside in search of an portal. There had to be one, otherwise he couldn't have ended up here instead of back in Ancient Neopia.

     He ran through the cold and up the mountains, yet he didn't find anything. He could not go Back now. He had been through too much now to just… quit. He then noticed a figure in the distance.

     Jarod's hope grew bigger, as he quickly ran towards the figure.

     ***

     Jahbal stood high in the Two Rings Palace. He had seen the defeat of the Bringer and grinned. That 'Jarod' was powerful, but he had also used his element. Spectral magic he had used to beat the Bringer.

     The Eyrie grinned, as he turned around and walked through the door. Step… step… he walked down the stairs. It grew darker, until he came in a dark room. The only light source was a candle, standing on a table. The bottles of various potions, poisons and magics reflected the light.

     "Morguss, he will meet Masila in a moment," Jahbal said to the old Moehog, who was sitting on a old chair. Morguss grinned, yet it could not be seen in the darkness.

     "Are you afraid, Jahbal?" she asked.

     "No," Jahbal simply replied. "Why should I be scared of those two puny Neopets. I have far more power than the Bringer and they had trouble with beating him, so they should be squashed as mere bugs under my power." Jahbal grinned.

     "Yes, sire…" Morguss replied. "The meeting with Masila and Jarod is going perfectly… I hope," Morguss said.

     "What do you mean 'you hope'?" Jahbal asked. "I thought you knew what was going to happen!"

     "Ah, sir, but I cannot foresee if another portal appears," Morguss said. "They are everywhere on Neopia and my magic is only limited."

     "I see…" Jahbal sighed and he started his long way back to his tower. The tower that looked out over the field of Two Rings.

     ***

     Jarod ran, but the figure seemed to be running faster than him. He then started running again, sending snow into the air. He left behind a large trail. He looked around and saw that the figure was growing smaller. It was incredibly fast then.

     He then saw a few caves and then started running even faster. He came at a huge cave entrance.

     He slowed down and was only walking. He then saw footsteps leading towards the cave entrance and decided he had to go in there or not. His footsteps could be heard every time he took a step.

     Click… click…

     Jarod then picked up a few sounds, yet he could not hear what it really was. He was growing a little bit scared, but he had to continue. He needed to find a portal, or anything else to get him back to Ancient Neopia. Sure, he could stay here, but… who would stop all the monsters… after all… He was taken there for a reason.

     He then went around a corner and stopped with walking. In front of him was an Aisha, dressed in a purple cloak. She had a lot of rare jewellery.

     "Do you enjoy spying on people?" the voice of the Aisha asked, as she turned around. Her knife was pulled.

     "I just followed you because… I thought you could help…" Jarod started to explain, but quickly understood that she was on the side of evil. He then turned around and wanted to run away, before a knife hit the wall next to him.

     "You are not going anywhere!" the Aisha laughed. "You have enough of a bother!" she said, as she put down the cloak to reveal two other knives.

     "Masila?" Jarod muttered, but he got into fighting position. He then noticed a portal that was opening behind the Aisha. He grinned, quickly ran towards Masila and pounded her. They then both fell through the portal.

     ***

     Jarod landed with a rough land on the ground. Hero and Galgarroth laid on the ground, with a few scratches, Rioeiro and Vex just smashed a few Plains Lupes away and then turned around to see Jarod.

     "Jarod! You're back!" Rioeiro replied happily.

     "Yeah. And I have got something for you guys!" Jarod said, as he gave everyone a slushie. "But… what happened to you guys?"

     "Well… we were bored, so we were fighting off the monsters here," Rioeiro started to explain. "Neopia Central returned to its old state and after that, a few monsters attempted to get through the portal but we fought them off."

     "And now, you are back," Hero finished. "So… now that that is solved… You must have been busy."

     "Yeah!" Jarod said and he laid down. Behind him, the portal started to disappear. He told the story about fighting the monsters, about the Bringer and the arena and then Terror Mountain and Masila.

     "This is not good at all…" Galgarroth said as Jarod had finished his story. "Things are happening in the history that were not supposed to happen at all."

     "All the more reason to stop Jahbal," Hero said. "He is doing this all. I know it."

     Jarod sighed and stood up.

     "I hope we get there in time." He turned around and looked at the sky, which was now turning darker. "I hope we get there in time…" His last words before he fell asleep.

     The Neopia in the future was safe… for now. The Bringer had been here, in Ancient Neopia… and who knows what he did in his short stay now Masila was here. The group, now reunited went to sleep and prepared for what the next day had in store.

To be continued...