Ancient Neopia: Part Seven

The group awoke to a peaceful sun, who was sending his rays of light over the plains.

     "Guys?" Rioeiro woke everyone up and they all watched the sun go up.

     "Where are we headed now?" Jarod asked, still sleepy.

     "The Techo Caves," Hero said and he turned around. In the distance you could make out the faint images of the mountains. "That is the last part of our journey."

     "Really?" Vex asked. "Then… we should go."

     "Why?" Jarod asked.

     "We aren't supposed to be here." Vex said. "We got here accidentally, you got sucked in by your Virtupet. So… that must mean something."

     Rioeiro nodded. "They might be in danger if they continue on to the Two Rings palace."

     "Why?" Jarod asked.

     "It might change the history completely… and they won't exist anymore." Rioeiro sighed. "You are different."

     "But… why am I different?" Jarod asked. "I got here and I had no idea why! But now I know, but if I stay… won't I completely disappear in the future?"

     "Jarod," Hero said. "You are special, you have spectral magic in you. You are the one we needed."

     Jarod stared at the group and sighed. "Just great…"

     "I have to tell you later," Hero said in a tone that indicated that this discussion was finished.

     "Alright… But we do have to find another portal then," Hero finally said, after a moment of silence. He stood up and walked in the direction of the mountains. "We must go to the mountains. We might find a portal there… the one here already closed."

     They then continued on… to stop Jahbal. It was almost the end. Jarod sighed and looked around him. The surrounding started to change. The trees were now turning bare and ready to break. All the grass was dead and it was getting colder.

     Before them was a cave entrance. "This is the entrance of the Techo Caves?" Galgarroth asked curiously.

     "Yeah," Rio said. "Hero said so."

     "Weapons ready!" Hero said, as he pulled out his sword and entered the caves.

     ***

     They walked through a tunnel. A lot of rocks were lying on the ground and they saw small lizards crawl around. A little bit of grass was still growing in this cave.

     "You look like someone who could do a task for me…" a voice said, as they came around a corner of the Techo Caves. In front of them stood a red Jetsam with a green shirt on.

     "Who… are you?" Hero asked, while he tightly held his sword in his paw.

     "My name is Mr. Irgo. I sell valuable pieces of monsters on the black market; living gemstones, body parts of certain beasts, and so on," Mr. Irgo replied, as he motioned towards a sword on the ground next to him.

     "Very well…" Hero said. "What tasks do you have in mind?" Hero asked.

     "I need you to collect things for me. The first is a set of gems, or rather, pieces of the living rock creatures that inhabit these caves. I need a piece of agate, a piece of chrysolite, and a piece of serpentine. If you bring me these, I will chip off a fragment of each and create a new piece of armor for you: an energy absorber." Mr. Irgo grinned. "The second set of things I need are pieces of the Drakonids who live here: an eye, a hide, and a heart. Bring me these and I can draw some of their magical power away to make you an robe of protection."

     "That is… nice," Jarod said, not really wanting to actually peel off a eyeball of an monster.

     "Say, you be with a whole group, ye?" Mr. Irgo asked. "If that is so, then you must get four of each item. Then I can make four different types of armor, or a robe of course."

     "Right. We'll do it," Hero decided and he turned to the rest of the group. "Without good armor, we are toast."

     Jarod sighed but still ventured into the cave to get the items.

     "Look at that!" Vex exclaimed, as they saw a Hatchling Drakonid. It was a light green colour, with small horns on his back. "It is so cute!"

     "Look out… it's dangerous, even though it might seem cute," Hero informed them.

     That was when the Drakonid turned around. Its horns started to grow large, his body turned a darker green and finally it started growing itself.

     "Guys!" Galgarroth shouted, before the Drakonid stormed at the group. They jumped and dodged it, but it quickly turned around and stormed at them again. Now he hit Vex, who rolled over the ground. He then jumped up and kicked the Drakonid, who bit in his feet after he restored.

     "OW!" Vex shouted and he pulled his leg away and jumped up to safety. Galgarroth then ran towards the Drakonid and slammed it into the wall. Hero and Jarod waited until the Drakonid had restored. The Drakonid now walked towards Galgarroth. Jarod and Hero jumped over the Drakonid and hit it with their swords. Hero used his spectral magic to restore some of his wounds. Rio delivered the final blow, which sent the Drakonid through the air and then against the wall.

     The Drakonid finally crashed on the ground and it disappeared, leaving behind a small bottle of green goo and an eyeball, which caused Jarod to promptly turn around.

     "Hey, it is just a eyeball," Hero said, as he picked up the eyeball. "It isn't gross or something. It is just a small round white ball!"

     "Sure…" Jarod said. Hero then held the eyeball in front of Jarod. "Very funny, now put it away…"

     Hero laughed and walked back to the entrance to give the eyeball to Mr. Irgo. Jarod turned around and looked further into the cave. He then noticed a small ball with spikes. It was of a light blue colour. He then heard footsteps and turned around to see Galgarroth and Vex walk towards him.

     "Be quiet!" Jarod whispered, as he motioned towards the blue ball standing on the ground. Finally Hero came and he too saw the ball.

     "That's a Chrysolite Dervish." Hero whispered. "It can give us a few pieces of Chrysolite for the armor."

     Then a rock suddenly fell down and this, of course, attracted the Dervish's attention. He turned around and saw the group of pets staring at him. He then turned angry, curled up and rolled towards the group, who dived out of the way. As soon as Jarod landed, the Dervish jumped at him.

     Jarod then swung his sword at the Dervish and slammed him through the air. It fell on the ground and you could see bursts. It was not completely defeated yet. Hero then jumped at it and slashed it, then quickly jumped back. Even more bursts. Than the Dervish jumped at Jarod. It kept hanging in the air midair and then suddenly it flew at Jarod, who got knocked away against the wall.

     "You!" Jarod growled and then ran at the Dervish and slashed it… then again and it was followed by eight more slashes. Finally the Dervish fell to the ground, broken. There were a lot of pieces of Crystallite on the ground and Vex picked them up.

     "We should give these to Mr. Irgo," Jarod said, sounding very annoyed and he walked away to hand the pieces to Mr. Irgo. He then quickly ran back and he got handed a strong healing potion and Vex a minor healing potion.

     The following battles only consisted of Drakonids, Crystallite Dervishes and Juvenile Drakonids. The Dervishes were send flying by Rioeiro, who hit them like Whack-a-Kass. That was until they saw a stone Scorchio.

     It turned around and looked at the group of pets.

     "A Tempus rock Scorchio…" Rioeiro said, as he stepped forward. "Hey, this one is quite dangerous, be careful!"

     The Scorchio looked at them with empty eyes. It growled at them and then suddenly fired a fireball at Hero, who dived for the ground to dodge it. He then swiped at the rock Scorchio, who growled again.

     Then a ball of light appeared on Hero his sword. Jarod could feel immense power in it. Hero then ran towards the Scorchio and started slashing it. Then the rock Scorchio started changing. The bursts disappeared and a red Scorchio was revealed.

     It looked at Hero and then bowed.

     "Thank you! I have been stuck in here for so long!" the Scorchio said. "Jahbal turned me into this monster, but now I am free!" He smiled. "I am Mr. Irgo's helper."

     The group then walked over to the Scorchio. "You are looking for items to make another armor, right?" The Scorchio then revealed hearts, eyeballs, pieces of agate and more. Just enough items to make armor for everyone. "Well, can you take me to Mr. Irgo?"

     The group then stared at him, until Hero stepped forward. "Thanks for the items; we will take you to Mr. Irgo. We need to go to him now too!"

     Jarod sighed and walked back to the red Jetsam, awaiting their arrival at the entrance of the cave. The Jetsam then saw them and when he saw the Scorchio he was surprised.

     "Irgy!" Mr. Irgo ran towards the Scorchio and hugged him. "I thought you were gone…"

     "No dad, I'm still here!" Irgy replied as he smiled. "I have given them the items to make them armor. Will you make them armor?"

     "Yes, I will," Mr. Irgo replied happily, as he laid all the items on the ground. They all started glowing and a flash blinded everyone. There, on the ground laid three pieces of armor and one robe. They exchanged their armor for the newly acquired armor, thanked Mr. Irgo and Irgy and then left them. They were almost at the city of Kal Panning.

     After a lot of tough fights, they came to the Mountain top. They had to venture through two more caves and then… they would be in southern Neopia. They had to go to Kal Panning first to gain access to the Two Rings Area.

     "Hero," Rioeiro called him. Hero turned and looked at Jarod.

     "Yes?"

     "Do you know… what is going to happen after we get to the Two Rings Palace?"

     "I don't know, Rioeiro…" Hero said. "I don't know…"

     They ventured through the two other caves.

     "We are first heading to Sunny City," Hero then said. "I have this medallion, and someone said I had to visit Gali Yoj."

     "Medallion?" Jarod chipped in. "I didn't know of any medallion…"

     Hero grinned and then continued walking. He then saw a patch of grass and ran towards it. "Here!" And he then ran out of the cave to see the Sunny City. But deep inside, Hero knew this was just something to slow down their journey.

     Nobody knew what could happen on their way to Kal Panning or the Two Rings Palace, but he had to brace himself for the worst. He then took the medallion and looked at it. It had strange symbols on it. It made it impossible to read it, so Hero then stashed it away again.

     He had to visit Gali Yoj tomorrow. Right now, the whole group needed sleep after venturing through the Techo Caves. But before this… he had something important to tell to Jarod.

To be continued...