Ancient Neopia: Part Five

The Archmagus lifted his hand and a ball of fire appeared. A malicious grin appeared on his face and he then threw it Galgarroth. The fireball exploded and it threw Galgarroth into the wall.

     "Do you see my power now?" The Archmagus held his staff in front of him, chanting words, and beams of light shot out, destroying nearly everything in front of the staff.

     Jarod looked around him and saw his friends on the ground. A blue light was now surrounding the Archmagus and the staff seemed to be ready to attack again. Jarod ran towards the Archmagus and jumped, just as the staff shot.

     The beams flew past the Lupe and when he thought he survived, he got it and he crashed into the Archmagus. The staff flew through the air and then it finally fell on the ground. The Orb rolled out, but a piece was missing.

     "NO!" the Archmagus cried out. "I never thought anyone could find all the keys... or get to this place! You are truly powerful to have defeated me. Perhaps... perhaps you can bring peace to this place after all… Seek Erick, in the tunnels above... he went mad when they sealed this place, but he may still have the power to break free... if... if..." The Archmagus fell on the ground with a thump and was silent.

     "Keys?" Jarod asked, as he walked towards his friends, who were lying on the ground.

     "Here, some healing potions, guys." Jarod handed everyone a healing potion. "Hero… Do you know about these keys?"

     "Keys…" Hero muttered. "A wooden key, almost rotting, A Silvered Horn Key and a Jewelled Crystal Key… I found them in the Jungle Ruins…"

     "But, we didn't go there yet…"

     "I went there. I fought with Rollay Scaleback, but when I left…" Hero sighed. "The monsters attacked me and I didn't have enough power to fight them all. So I had to run."

     "Oh…" Jarod said aloud. "But… um…" He looked around nervously. "I have a bad feeling that something is waiting for us."

     "Yeah." Galgarroth nodded. A chill went over his spine. Rioeiro then came up to Jarod.

     "We have to give the wizard this… orb or gem thingie…" he said, showing the green orb to everyone.

     "Yeah, see what he can do," Hero muttered. "That thing's as good as broken."

     The group walked back to the wizard, fighting off all the monsters that were still in the temple and quickly arrived in the cave that led outside.

     "Eh… Who's that?" The Wizard looked at the group. "You… you have the… the gem?"

     "Well…" Rioeiro showed him the green 'gem'. "Do you recognize this clouded gem?"

     "Oh dear… dear…" The Wizard looked at the gem. "I do... I do... it is the Coruscating Gem, but it has been... been damaged. Give it... to me... and I will... cleanse it."

     Rioeiro looked at the others, who all nodded a 'yes' and he handed it to the wizard. "Th-thank you…" The wizard said and he started chanting words.

     The gem immediately cleared, and vibrant lights came from its middle. The cave lighted up and then, the chipped piece was restored again.

     "This… is it… the Coruscating Gem."

     He gave it back to Rioeiro. "Now…now… can you seek out… Leirobas?" The wizard looked at the gem once more. "He knows… about all… all the jewels… of power." He sighed.

     Hero nodded. "We will do that." And then they left. The feeling that something was horribly wrong did not leave Jarod.

     "Guys… I think the Bringer is outside," he finally said, as they reached the stars that lead back outside.

     They turned to look at Jarod.

     "I can feel it," he finally said. "So much evil… in one place."

     "But… we cannot go out elsewhere. This is the only exit to the temple," Hero said. "We have been everywhere."

     "Then we'll have to fight," Galgarroth said, after a moment of silence.

     Everyone pulled out his weapon and they wished for the best. Then, they ran into the desert.

     There was no sign of the Bringer, but he had to be somewhere. They better be careful.

     ***

     Jahbal was staring into a crystal ball. He could see the Neopets traveling through the desert. The Bringer was supposed to stop them!

     "Bringer…" He muttered. "Get them…" He waited and saw that the group was almost at the end of the Desert of Roo.

     "Sire…" The Moehog, Morguss, appeared. "We have found another portal in Meridell."

     "My plan is going to work…" Jahbal grinned evilly. "Soon, monsters will overrun the other Neopia…"

     He laughed maniacally. "Thank you for your help, Morguss. You make a great evil-doer."

     Morguss grinned. "Thank you, sire." She bowed and left the room.

     ***

     The Bringer followed the Neopets slowly. He wanted to wait until they had reached the forest, where he had set up a army of ghost monsters.

     He grinned and started singing a little song he had heard back at the Two Rings palace. It was sung by one of the servants there.

     "Jahbal came down the mountain, then they died again."

     He chuckled. This part certainly fit, but he only needed to replace Jahbal with the Bringer. Then he looked around for the Neopets and found them resting at one of the Oasis' in the Desert of Roo.

     "Hmm, seems that the ghost ambush is not going to work now…" The Bringer then grinned. "I'll just call them to me." He ran towards the group of the Neopets and watched the ghost monsters appear. He was making as much as sound possible and pulled out his blade.

     They saw him and got ready to fight. He leaped up and landed with a crash on the ground.

     "Hello there…" A malicious grin appeared on the Bringer's face. "I let you go the last time… but this time, I will get rid of you."

     He pulled out another blade and jumped up in the air. He then put his swords together, making them form an X. The swords began to glow and then flames erupted from them. The Bringer started laughing as he started to glow too, then held his swords in front of him and then dived to the ground.

     He turned around, crashed into the ground, together with his blades. A red beam shot through the ground, then was followed by a row of explosions.

     "Heh." The Bringer grinned. "Too easy."

     He looked at the group, who laid on the ground. He then turned around and wanted to walk away, until he got slammed to the ground. Two beams of light came out of him and then went to Hero's body.

     "Don't dare to underestimate the power of Spectral Magic!" Hero cried out and held his sword in front of him. A ball of energy started to form on it. When it was almost the size of Hero's full body, he threw it at the Bringer.

     As it hit, the Bringer roared in pain. Such power he did not expect! He got blinded by the light of the ball. Then, it exploded and the Bringer was blasted off away. The ghost monsters disappeared by the power of the explosion too.

     Hero smiled weakly, but then fell down.

     "What… did you do?"

     Hero grinned and started to explain.

     "This sword was also a gift by my father. It contains the most powerful spell of the Spectral Magic, although it can only be used once in a while. I think about two months until you can use it again, but the power is capable of beating even the strongest monsters in Neopia. Although I am not too sure about that, it sure worked on the Bringer." Hero sighed, before he quickly took a healing potion and gulped it down.

     "Esh, it does take a lot of energy."

     They remained silent, until Galgarroth finally suggested that they should move on and return to Swamp Edge City.

     "I hope we make it out of the desert on our own…" Rioeiro said, followed by a sigh. "We have been through TOO much!"

     "Pssh, at least you didn't get the chance to fall with a waterfall…" Jarod said sarcastically and he rolled his eyes.

     "Guys, look at this!" Hero exclaimed as he walked towards a glowing rock.

     "What is it?" Vex asked curiously. "I've never seen something like it before…" he said, as he looked at it in awe. The rock was shiny and smooth. The green glow around it lightened up the area quite a bit. Then Jarod's sword started shaking.

     "Woah!" Jarod exclaimed, as the sword suddenly started flying through the air. The sword stopped moving above the rock and it then fell down. The sword went right through the stone and as soon as that happened, a blue light erupted from the sword. The light formed a circle and then the group could see Neopia Central. The food store and the Auction House.

     But there was something off.

     "Well, that is Neopia Central," Jarod said, while looking at the image. "But… What are Ghost Kacheeks doing there?" As he saw a ghost Kacheek, similar to the ones they fought at the plains before Swamp Edge City.

     They saw it was chasing a little Aisha. She swung a tiny sword at it, but it had no effect.

     "We have to help them!" Jarod shouted desperately. The group stared at him oddly.

     "How are you going to do that?" Hero asked him. Jarod felt his eyes locked on him.

     "Go through this… Portal." Jarod finally decided. "You keep watch!"

     He then jumped into the image, just to be sucked back to the future.

     He was in some kind of tunnel. In the distance he saw a bright light. On the ground was a chest. Jarod ran towards it and opened it. A few flames then suddenly came out of the chest, he heard a sound and the chest lighted up. It revealed a long sword. It had strange symbols on it, but Jarod still took it. He had to save the Neopets.

     He looked behind him and he saw the faint images of his friends looking into the portal. He then sprinted towards the light. He hoped that Neopia, his Neopia was all right. That the Ghost Kacheek must have been fake.

     But deep inside, he knew that something was wrong. Something was horribly wrong. That's why he was there, in Ancient Neopia. To put a stop against all this. To end the suffering of both worlds now.

To be continued...