Authors note: I hope you enjoy this book. Please be aware that there isn’t just one way to look at it. I’ve created this novel so that you don’t have to follow the viewpoint of just one character or side. So each time you read it, try to picture yourself in another character’s shoes, so each time is a little different.

EGYPT: 5,000 B.C.
Prologue : Awakening
A midnight blue flash raced across the desert horizon, bashing straight through pyramids and monuments imprinted with the Egyptian language blocking its path to at speeds unimaginable, inching closer and closer to the world renowned city of Chrysalthia, home of the only thing in its path of dominance the world over, Pharaoh Akhar.

A servant of the Egyptian pharaoh ran down a dark hall, legs aching almost unbearably and adrenaline running through his body, as he had run all the way from the outskirts of the village. He was on his way to bring the unfortunate news to the attention of Akhar, so he could make a decision over what to do about the crisis at hand. After going through the dark hall, he pushed through two solid brass doors, covered with jaw-dropping artwork etched into it. When the servant got through, he entered into an extremely bright room compared to the one he was just in. with gold plated walls encrusted with all kinds of jewels and hieroglyphics. He took a moment for his eyes to adjust, before running up to his king, dropping at his feet, out of breath.
“Pharaoh, the creature you forewarned us about has been spotted! It’s about 2,000 leagues from the border of Egypt, and he’s closing in fast. If we don’t do something about it soon, he could be here within the next 24 hours!!” he exclaimed, looking like he was about to pass out.

“I see,” the pharaoh said. “It seems that the people of our great country will doubt me no more. However, even though I think that this is what they deserve, they should all be evacuated before he arrives. Arrange ships so we can travel to the Arabian Peninsula. Hopefully the red sea will hold him off for a while. Are the four crystals and the sacred Egyptian prophecy safe from “Vertigo’s” grasp?”

“Yes, but what are we going to do about them problem currently facing our endangered country?!? For most of the citizens, this is their life!!!! If “Vertigo” takes that away, then what will happen? They will have to start all over! We all will! Not to mention that Saudi Arabia isn’t going to let us take shelter for free!!!! What is your plan?”

“You leave that to me. “Vertigo” wont be here for 24 hours, so I can use that time to-“

Just then, a heart-wrenching, screeching sound followed by what the pharaoh interpreted as an echo of people stampeding. The smell of blood and fear rose into the air instantaneously after the noise was heard. Akhar gazed deeply into space for a few moments, trying to overcome the unexpected shock and get a grasp on the situation. He then gave the servant a confused, scared, and angry look. “When was that letter sent? When did you get it?”

All of a sudden, an unbelievable force pounded against the brass doors, leaving a huge dent. A few more hits like that, and “Vertigo” would be inside. The servant’s face went blank, hopelessness clearly fueling his emotions.

“I-I-It’s h-h-ere….IT’S HERE!!!!!! RUN!!!!!

Seconds later it burst through the door, and killed the servant simply by looking into his eyes. It paused for a moment to eat its victim, before looking back up to face its match. a serpent-lizard-beast was standing a few feet in front of him. It must have been at least 23ft. tall and 36ft. from “nose” to tip of tail. It was indescribable, and just looking it in the eye could kill somebody by making him suffer a slow but painful death. That was as far as they knew about it, and it was an extremely close call that time. The serpent awakes only once every 1,000 years but won’t stop until it is defeated. Consider this the prologue and the past that lead up to the story your about to hear…

Chapter 1: U.S.A. 2005

7,000 years later



“Justin, hurry up! You’re going to be late to your field trip,” Justin’s mom exclaimed! Justin was a sixth grader at Spikaria Academy. He was not a big person; he was skinny, had black hair with green and blue highlights and had a cross necklace.

“Don’t worry, Mom; I’m already going! Bye!’ he said as he walked out the door. “Man, what a pushy mom,” he mumbled under his breath. “At least I was able to sneak my Game Boy Advance with me because no matter what, I know for a fact that the museum has nothing interesting at all for us to do. However, he had no idea how wrong he was because that field trip would change his life forever.

Justin was now on his way to the museum. He was sitting with his friends: Clarissa, Erik, and Patrick.

“Hey Justin, whit’s up?” they asked. “Did you bring your… “They were suddenly interrupted by the teacher.

“We’re here! Please do not leave anything on the bus, stay in groups, and behave,” she instructed. They were the last ones to get off, when they noticed a stone box partially buried in the ground.

“What is it?” they asked curiously.
“I don’t know…Let’s open it,” he said with a hint of excitement in his tone. They all approached the box carefully, not knowing what they would find. Three…two…one…Crack! They slowly but steadily opened the box. Inside were four magnificent crystals each with something in their center. The red one looked like there was a fire burning in the center. The blue crystal had some sort of water droplet in the center. The yellow one had a bolt of lightning, and the green one had a blade-like leaf. As they took the stones out, they found a piece of wrinkled parchment at the bottom. “What do you think it says?” Justin inquired.

“I can decipher it for us,” Clarissa muttered. “I can read hieroglyphics.”

“That’s great! Read it!” Erik exclaimed.

“Okay, okay, just don’t rush me. It says:
The Prophecy of Egypt

May the reader of this scroll be warned; this is not a lie. Inside this box there are four crystals; each unique in its own way. They only have one sole purpose: to fight a monstrous serpent-lizard-like creature called VERTIGO. It appears once every thousand years, but it will not go back to his slumber until it is defeated or has wiped out the human race. You will be the brave sole to defeat it along with three others. The description is barely able to be spoken of. If you look into its eyes without this crystal, you will be killed slowly and endure an incredibly painful death. Once you touch a crystal, there will be no option on whether you want to fight or not. So if you want to the save the world, then the best of luck to you.
Sincerely,

Pharaoh

“…What do you think we should do?” Erik stuttered.

“I think we should take a vote,” whispered Patrick. “I know! Let’s take a vote on whether or not we want to go through with this or not.”

“Okay, I’ll make ballots,” Clarissa said. And so with that she gave everybody a piece of paper with a yes or no checkbox.

A few seconds later, Patrick announced, “Okay, pass all ballots to me for counting. Let me see… alright, the decision is unanimous: We’re going to fight!”

“Alright, I want the water crystal,” demanded Justin.

“The fire one is mine,” Erik called out.

“I call dibs on the leaf crystal,” said Clarissa in a sort of snobby sort of way.

“Fine, I wanted the lightning crystal anyway,” spat Patrick. As soon as they touched the crystals, a wave of energy flew all over the world, knocking all of them onto their backs; along with a deafening hiss-like roar. Then as if it was a timer, the crystals started glowing.

“Wh-w-wha-what’s going on?!?” They all screamed at once. A portal of some sort was opening right in front of them. You could see the four trembling in fear. I mean seriously? How would you feel if that ever happened? I know I’d be scared if that ever happened. Anyway, they were sucked into the portal. There was a sudden flash of lights as they passed through it at a speed that was probably off the charts.

“This is so amazing…in a scary-beyond-belief sort of way,” Erik screamed at the top of his lungs; it was incredibly loud in there.

“I think I see a light up ahead,” reported Erik. Sure enough, the portal ended, and they found out first hand because they dropped almost 12 ft. to the ground.

“Wait a minute, where’re we?” asked Justin.

“I know where we are,” muttered Clarissa. We’re in EGYPT.”








Chapter 2: Egypt
2005

The desert stretched for miles “Why did the crystals bring us here?” Patrick wondered. “Is there something we needed to see?”

Justin replied, “I don’t know… I can’t see anyth…Wait! I see something running towards us!”

“What do you think it is?” inquired Clarissa.

I don ‘t know, but I think we’re about to find out…look out!” Patrick instructed. They barely had enough time to get out of the way before it sped past them, stopping a few feet away, and coming back.

“What do you think it is? Do you think it’s VERTIGO?” Erik nervously asked.

“I have orders from my master to destroy you. There is no way to escape, so don’t even bother,” the serpent-lizard hissed.

“What do we do now?” Clarissa shrieked.

“I’m going to fight it…so stand back,” Erik bravely said. All of a sudden the sky turned a fiery red. Erik somewhat started to levitate in mid-air. It looked as if he was in a trance. By now he had stopped moving. Then, the fire crystal started glowing and shaking violently. Erik started spinning like a raging tornado on fire. Moments later, they heard a huge bellowing roar come from the funnel. Additionally, Flaming wings appeared. Subsequently, he let out roar and the entire funnel denigrated, showing them what was inside.

“Where’s Erick, Justin?” Patrick queried.

“I…I think that is Erik,” Justin replied. Erik had transformed into a dragon of flame. His wings were completely engulfed in fire. His head was armored with uranium. The dragon’s claws were almost 7 inches long, and to finish it off, it had a tail measuring about 10 feet long covered with spikes.

“Don’t you dare harm my friend!” Erik grumbled.

“A growth spurt and a big bonfire still doesn’t faze me at all,” the servant snapped back.

“Oh, yeah? Well let’s see how scared you are after this…!” Erik started charging toward him with blazing speed. His spikes and claws started growing. He started spinning extremely fast until he was a spiky sort of ball that was heading towards the serpent. “Combustion bladespinner!” Erik Commanded. All of a sudden he let loose a huge discharge of energy. Dragon-like silhouettes revolved around him. Then with a flash of rage, the dragon was back on its feet. There was a vast haze of smoke was surrounding the beast. Then, as it cleared, everybody looked in astonishment.

“No way…,” Erik stuttered. “There’s no way that…THING could have survived.”

“Well, I love to burst your bubble, but WAY,” it muttered. “I told you, plain old fire doesn’t faze me.”

“Oh yeah! Well, although that may be true, let’s see what happens when fire gets a ‘shocking’ boost of energy!” Patrick replied with rage. A veil of flashing light picked him up, making a sort of shield. Then, an army of Thunderhead clouds appeared in the sky. After that, it started shooting at the cloud, making all sorts of sparks and noises. Minutes later, a pair of HUGE wings shot out of the cloud. Then something came out of it… a…BIRD?

“…P-Pa...Patrick... you’re a Thunderbird!” Erik said, as if it wasn’t obvious.

“I am...I-I mean, yeah! Yeah, I’m a Thunderbird! What’s a thunderbird?” Patrick wondered. Okay, pause the story for a second. For all of you that don’t know what a Thunderbird is either, here’s the heads-up: The Thunderbird is a mythical creature that had the body of a bird of prey, such as in this case, an eagle. It had a wingspan of over three miles from tip to tip. Along with the fact that it had TWO heads! The bottom head was thought to shoot lightning out of its eyes whenever they opened. But when the ancient god Quaewteaht turned into a sperm whale, it lured the only four thunderbirds in a deadly battle. When he dove, three of the creatures followed and drowned; the other one was wise and went up to the heavens so now that you have a better idea about this terrifying-yet spectacular creature, let’s get back to the story.

“You thinking what I’m thinking?” Erik said.

“Oh, yeah! Let’s get this party started!” Patrick replied. Then, Patrick’s second head opened its eyes and shot out four bolts of lightning heading towards VERTIGO’S servant.

“I really hope this works,” Erik said, and blew fire all over the lightning. “Let’s back up the attack by using rapid fire!”

The thunder bolts hit the beast, knocking him into an ‘egyptian’ oblivion. But it was still standing! Then it murmured faintly, “come on, is that the best you got? Let me show you what I can really do!” and then started slashing them and biting them violently.

“Okay…so you’re reeealy though,” Patrick said. “But I don’t think anything could survive this!” Then the thunderbird kneeled down and faced both heads directly towards the lizard. Moments later, the dragon got on top of him and did the same thing. The entire time, Justin and Clarissa were watching in silence. Then, they started firing rapidly at the creature, blasting him everywhere. Then there was a big cloud of smoke followed by…







U.S.A.





7 days later


“Whoa, where are we?” Justin inquired. What is this place?”

‘I don’t know, but it looks cool,’ Clarissa replied.

‘Where are Patrick and Erik? They’ve got to be around here somewhere,’ they wondered.

“Hello, sleepy heads! We were starting to think you would never wake up,” Patrick and Erik announced.

“Did you bring us here?” Clarissa demanded.

“No. We thought you brought us here.”

“I bet the crystals brought us here,” Justin said. “But…why?” Suddenly, a rumbling followed by a hole in the wall sent the four plummeting to a hidden chamber of some origin.

“Oh, great. Juuust great. Now where are we?” Patrick stammered.

“It seems like more hieroglyphics. Can you read them, Clarissa?” Justin inquired.

“Sure can! Here’s what it says:


First, say the encryption “incertamo enueptec sythria”, then place the two crystals you want to fuse together.”

“So…now we can combine to form big… huge…whatever?” Erik asked.

“What?!? Somebody could have told me that earlier!” Patrick outraged.

“What’s that over there? It looks like a sort of timeline of some sort.” Justin inquired.

“Hey, look! It’s the guy we blew up. But after that…”

“Kinda looks like a King cobra. But at least it can’t get us…” Clarissa was interrupted by an immense rumbling sound coming from the ground followed by… “Oh, COME ON!”

CHAPTER 4: a SERPENT SITUATION


He probably should’ve knocked on wood, because there it was, and it literally looked like a king cobra. It was about thirty feet in length, and it had 2-foot long fangs. As it uncoiled and showed off its hood, it was actually a mass of vipers and pythons hissing at them, like they were evil.

“I have ordersss from the bossss to desstroy you,” the cobra hissed. “I’m not as easy as the creature before. You beat his servant by pure luck.”

“Oh, do you really think so? Justin stammered. “Let us prove how dead wrong you really are!”

“Let Justin and I handle this guy,” Clarissa instructed. Then, Justin was already getting ready to transform. Moments later, a low rumbling was heard coming closer and getting louder. They looked outside, and all you could see was a blue substance. By the time they realized what it was, they became drenched so thoroughly that if even one drop of water fell on them, they could be mistaken for puddles. It was an almost life-threatening wave, and started surrounding Justin. After that, the swirl began to shrink into a sort of pearl-like sphere that was starting to steam. Unexpectedly, it imploded And there was a galaxy of mist that filled the room. Then out of the mist, they could make out….a liquid ice dragon arose from the ground and released an ear-shattering roar came from the dragon. It looked awesome. Its body was made of liquid, but it had spikes and teeth of ice. So now it was clarissa’s turn. And little did she know that it wouldn’t be that easy.
“Okay, here I go,” she said nervously. Finally, she started to levitate. Thousands of pounds of leaves started to surround her. But then, they heard a scream from the forest of plants. and several more that followed. She was being cut by the leaves and dying rapidly.

“Oh no! What do we do now?” Patrick and erik screamed.

“I-I know what we have to do,” Justin muttered. “We ha-have to c-com-combine. That’s the only way we can save her.” Then, Justin bravely dove into the storm of leaf “blades”. He found clarissa barely conscious, bleeding. He flew over to her, joined the crystals, and screamed, “INCERTAMO ENUEPTEC SYTHRIA!!!” And as he was saying that, a tear drop fell on the crystals.




Chapter 5: A Miracle



Everybody watched in awe as they waited to see what happened, when they saw a shimmering light followed by a noise that sounded like “BENNNEEOOOEENNN!” There was another flash of light, and they could make out only a blue-green silhouette. Then, as it began to clear…

“Oh…my…gosh…,” Erik and Patrick gasped. “They did it. They actually did it. Justin and Clarissa have fused together. I wonder if they’re alright.”
Then the cobra finally spoke. “I’d love to burst your bubble, ssso I think I will. The reassson that this‘Clarisssa’ cannot transssform isss becausse sshe needs a sspecial type of cresst to put on the crysstal. And it just so happens that I have it.” Then one of the cobras in the cobra’s hood opened its mouth, revealing a crest of black crystals.

“ Are they alive?” Erik whispered in an anxious tone. Suddenly, the shadow flew into the light to show itself. It was amazing, like a dream. It was massive. Bigger than 3 Thunderbirds, you would have to see it to believe it. The beast was armored with wood that was as tough as steel on its face and hands. The monster had the spikes of ice like the ice dragon, but had razor sharp leaf blades. but one of the most distinguishing features was these two ice “volcanoes” that stuck out of its back. Moments later, it spoke. You could tell they were alive, because you could hear both of their voices when they spoke. “DON’T WORRY, WE’RE OKAY. BUT THAT COBRA ISN’T GOING TO BE MUCH LONGER,” They bellowed. “You will pay! Get ready to b-,”

“Not ssso fasst!” the cobra yelled. it struck them with extreme force.
Patrick screamed, “YOU KILLED THEM!!!!” He said that because he saw Justin and Clarissa laying on the ground, not moving. Wait…yes they were!

“YOUKNOW WHAT’S GOOD ABOUT BEING FUSED WITH A CREATURE OF EARTH? THE POWER TO RECOVER,” and then the wounds started to heal!

“T-Th-That’sss imposssssssible!,” The cobra shrieked.

“NOW THAT WE’VE ABSORBED-YES, YOU HEARD ME RIGHT, ABSORBED YOUR ATTACK’S ENERGY, NOW WE CAN FUSE THE ENERGY WITH OUR OWN TO SEND YOU INTO OBLIVION!!” AND WITH THAT, THEY TURNED AROUND AND FORMED A BALL, WITH THE “ICE VOLCANOES STICJING OUT LIKE A SORE THUMB. THEY STARTED TO ILLUMINATE, AND THE COBRA WAS RIGHT IN RANGE. THEN THE FINAL BLOW WAS SHOT AND…AND… I’M SORRY TO SAY…THAT THE LAST BLOW RENDERED THEM UNCONCIOUS AND NOT EVEN I KNOW WHAT HAPPENED…BUT THEY ARE ALIVE, AND THE KING COBRA WAS OBLINERATED. THE END, RIGHT? WELL, NOT EXACTLY…




CHAPTER 6: REVIVAL

THE COARSE SAND STARTED TO RUMBLE, AND SINK INWARD. A ROAR VOLATILE ENOUH TO MAKE EVEN THE MOST THREATINING DEMON COWER IN FEAR. IT WAS SO VENEMOUS, SO POWERFUL, SO DEAFENING, THAT THOSE THREE WORDS ARE THE ONLY ONES THAT COULD POSSIBLY ATTEMPT TO DESCRIBE WHAT THE NOISE SOUNDED LIKE. AND THEN, A GASTLY, EMACIATED YET MUSCULAR CLAWED HAND SHOT OUT OF THE DESERT PLAINS, IT’S DARK BLUE SCALES THE ONLY COLOR IDENTIFIABLE BESIDES THE TAN OF THE GROUND. THEN AN EERIE VOICE THAT ECHOED ACROSS THE DESERT AND BEYONDMUTTERED, “I’M BAAACK……..!
Chapter 7: 1,000 year reunion


“Ahh, after 1,000 years of waiting…I can’t belive I’m Back,” Vertigo said. “Rea, my faithful servant. Please come here.” Then, the beast that Erik and Patrick had SUPPOSEDLY killed was standing there, looking as menacing and volatile as ever, with his dark green scales glistening in the blinding light of the sun directly above them..

“Yes, master?” He hissed, while bowing to him.

“Thank you, Rea, for being my most faithful servant. I couldn’t have come back to life without you. So to reward you, here.” Then
Vertigo gave him a vile. Rea drank it and that was NOT a good thing!
He turned into darkness drangon-demon. It had huge horns and fangs. It was truly a menacing sight.

“Th-thank you, master,” Rea bellowed, “I’m forever in debt to you.”

“Alright, now let’s go. I have a score to settle with four bratty children.


Chapter 8: OOPS!!! (3 months later)



Justin, Erik, Patrick, and Clarissa were at the Museum of Egyptology. And of course, where most children are in a museum: The Forbidden section.

“Look at all this stuff,” Patrick whispered, “I wonder why they would keep all this stuff in here?”

“Probably some superstition about a curse or something stupid like that,” Clarissa retorted.

“Yeah, it’s ‘cursed’ alright. Do they expect people to belive that if you touch this gem, demons will attack you?” Patrick boasted.

“Oh, really?” Erik smirked. “I dare you to touch it.”

“Alright, I will.” And then he touched the gem and the place started rumbling followed by… “OOOOPPPPPSSSS!!!!!!”

Chapter 9: Transformation


“I told you it was a bad idea!” Erik yelled. “Oh, no. Look out!” And as they slowly turned around, they came face-to-face with six gruesome demons. Their spiked wings and huge jaws were something to fear.

“I’ll handle this, even if it is YOUR fault,” Erik snapped. Patrick looked at the ground. Justin walked up to him.

“Don’t worry about it,” he whispered, “You know how stingy Erik can be sometimes.” By now, Erik had already re-killed one demon and was working on the other five. But they were starting to gain up on him.

Just then, Clarissa suddenly stopped moving. She just stared into space. She was having some sort of vision. In her vision it showed three demon blurs laughing maniacally. Then she noticed a huge red blur. It was Erik! Suddenly, she started fuming with rage, she started to transform. She had the crest on her crystal. But something was wrong: It was absorbing her life force!! She suddenly tried to take it off. And with luck, it broke into pieces. Then, out of the bog, they could make out a figure. It was a Vampragon! What’s a Vampragon you ask? It’s a sort of dragon with vampire-like instinct, Except that instead of sucking blood, it injects a lethal poison into the target. Her face had the expression of embarrassment, because she couldn’t belive that she had believed that overgrown garden snake. But at least now she knew what triggered her transformations: feelings. But she couldn’t let her feelings interfere. Not now. Not when her friend’s life was on the line. So she started to go into battle.

I wonder if I should tell them about my visions, she thought. The Vampragon had already poisoned one and was beating the hell out of another. A few minutes later, all the zombie creatures were “re-dead”.

“So the crest really did help?” Patrick queried.

“No, it didn’t. In fact, the crest is what almost killed me. It was poisoned. “

“Hey, thanks,” it was Erik speaking. He gave her a kiss on the cheek. They had been going out for a few weeks now.

“You’re welcome,” she replied blushing. Suddenly, her face went blank again. “Wait, I’m getting another vision.”

“Another vision?!? You mean you can see into the future?”

“Sort of. Now, let me concentrate.” Everybody was quiet for a minute or two. Then finally, she took a deep breath. Justin was too inpatient to wait.

“So, what did you see?”

“I couldn’t really understand it. However, I get the feeling we need to go back to Egypt. I think something’s supposed to happen there.”

“You know what that means?” Patrick shouted. “ROAD TRIP !!”

Chapter 10: An un-welcome back

“Well, we’re here. Now what?” Justin asked.

“Now we wait.” So that’s just what they did. But they weren’t bored. Justin made an ice checker/chess board out of ice, and Clarissa made the pieces.

It was now almost sundown, when Patrick twitched his ears.

“Do you guys hear that?”

“Yeah, we do. I think something’s coming.” There was a black shadow looming ever closer to them. But by the time they figured out what it was, it was too late.

“Rea?!? I thought we killed you!” Clarissa screamed.

“I told you, it wouldn’t be that easy, but you didn’t listen. So now I’ve come to destroy you once and for all…”

“Alright, lets tramfor-,“ before Justin could even finish his sentence, Rea picked him up, and said,

“…one at a time!!!”





Chapter 11: Arctic Tundra

Rea was now suspending him in mid-air. And as the three others watched, Rea dug a claw deep into his chest. They thought the worst had happened, when all of a sudden Rea had a terrified look on his face. Justin was shaking violently. He murmured, “You…will…not…harm…my…friends!!!” The ground felt icy. Then, an arctic blast picked Justin out of Rea’s grasp, and froze him. He was transforming, but now it started to look bigger and more powerful than ever. At first he seemed like a harmless water dragon. Suddenly, all these ice spikes shot out of him. And now there were 6 “volcanoes” on his back.

“It’s time to die, Rea said, still 100% sure he could destroy Justin.

“We’ll see about that. But I can assure you one thing: This will be the last time we meet.”

“Let’s go.” After that, it was a bloodbath. First Justin shot out mini blizzards, Puncturing Rea, but then Rea came back with a shadow strike, leaving a gash in his chest. This went on for about half an hour, and then they both delivered the final blow. Rea fell to the ground, and Justin would have died too if he hadn’t concealed himself in ice.

“Whew, that was close. For a second, I thought I couldn’t make it.” Justin gasped. Clarissa ran up to the other 3 and whispered,
“Do you think we can do that too? Because if we could transform, we’d be almost invincible!” They were so preoccupied talking; they didn’t even realize that there was somebody watching the whole thing.

Chapter 12: Friend or foe?

The teens were still talking when they heard a rustle in the bushes.

“Who’s there? Show yourself!” Patrick ordered. Then, out came this beautiful dragon. With moons for its horns, wings, and armor, it was completely gorgeous.

“Please, do not fight. I come in peace to join your group and to fight the forces of evil.” The dragon said as it was transforming into human form.

“How do we know we can trust you?”

“You don’t really have a choice. Face it: you’re desperate. Besides, you all just said the more help, the better. I really am good.”

“Alright, let’s go. Like it or not she’s right, we really don’t have a choice,” Patrick mumbled. As they were leaving, Patrick spun around and whispered, “Do NOT make me
regret what I did for you. Because if you are evil, and you go back on your word, I will make YOU regret ever being born.

“I would never go back on my word. I swear.”

Chapter 13: 9:45, DST

At the cavern, things were back to normal. Well, only if you would consider a prophecy letting five 13-year olds have access to a mystic amulet containing the spirit of an elemental beast and having to save the world from an evil creature and his minions normal. The five were resting peacefully until Wyonna broke the silence.

“You guys, there’s trouble! Vertigo showed his face in Japan! We have to get there as soon as possible! Well, what’re you waiting for? Get up!” She yelled.

“We’re up, we’re up,” Erik mumbled, even though she was still in bed, half asleep.

Later, after everybody was awake and dressed, Patrick looked at the time.

“What?!? It’s only 7:30 in the morning! Wyonna, why did you wake us up so early?”

“Hey, don’t ask me. It was Clarissa’s idea.”

“Well, Clarissa?”

“Today I and my family are going on a cruise to the…um…man, what was it called…starts with a c…forget it, I can’t remember. The something Islands. I’m allowed to take four friends with me, so: do you wanna come?”

“Sounds fun. Besides, After all we’ve been through, I think we deserve it,” They replied.

“Cool. Let me go ahead and tell my parents that you’re coming. The ship leaves at 9:45 A.M., so make sure you arrive ON TIME. So until then, bye!” And with that, she got on her motor scooter and speeded off.

Well, it won’t be 9:45 for a couple hours. Why don’t we just go to sleep for an hour, and then still have plenty of time to get on the cruise ship. Sound good to you guys?” Justin proposed.

“Alright, let’s do what he said,” Wyonna replied. And with that, they set their alarm clocks and fell asleep. But, when they set there alarm clock, they forgot one crucial detail: Daylight Savings time had started today, so clocks were to be set forward one hour. Yikes!!
“Ring!!! Ring!!! Ring,” the alarm clock went. They all were awake and packing up to leave. Wyonna turned on the TV to watch music videos onVh3. But when she got to the channel, she made a weird face.

“What’s the matter?” Patrick questioned.

“That’s odd; the music videos are already over. Is there a new schedule?” But just then something distracted her on the TV.

“Hello, and welcome toVh3’s news,” said the reporter. Hope you set your clocks forward 1 hour, because daylight savings time started today at 2: oo A.M. Have a great day!!!” Wyonna shut off the TV in disbelief.

“If that’s true, then…THE CROUISE IS ABOUT TO TAKE OFF!!!!” Everybody heard hear screaming and rushed upstairs. Wyonna filled everyone in.

“WHAT?!?!?”

“We’ll never make it in time now!”

“Wait! We might not be fast enough, but in our spirit form, I think we might just be able to make it!”

It was now 9:43. They were 45 miles away from the dock. They zipped and dived as fast as they could they could through the blue, cloudless sky, when Erik saw the ship leaving.

“Look! There it is! The ship! We have to be sneaky, or else somebody would see us and that is the last we need right now. I bet Clarissa and her family are worried sick about us!” He reported.

Crash! They bumped into each other as they landed, making a loud bang. They heard someone coming, and they quickly powered down. It was Clarissa and her parents.

“Where were you guys? We were worried sick about you. For a second there, Clarissa thought you didn’t make it!”

“What took you guys so long, anyway?” Wyonna’s face turned red, embarrassed because of her stupidity and mumbled,

Um…we’d rather not talk about it.”

“Wooosh!!!” went the Cruise ship’s smoke stack, telling the passengers that they had reached the destination point. All the kids’ jaws dropped when they saw how beautiful and tropical the islands were up close. The gate lowered down, and they made sure they were the first to get off.

“This isn’t paradise,” Erik exclaimed, “its paradise!!!” Then, native people rushed up to greet them.

“Welcome!!! I hope you will find everything to your taste, and if you need anything, one of our natives will happily get it for you. We have only one small favor: please do not climb past the gates on our Mt. Sol, OR ELSE!!! That is all!” The mayor of the island instructed.

“I wonder what’s past those gates? They’re probably hiding something,” Justin remarked.

“Hey, I heard that there are great coral reefs around here. Wanna go check it out?” Patrick quoted.

“Yeah, I haven’t gone swimming in a while,” Wyonna replied.

Chapter 14: Trespassing

“Alright, is everyone packed up and ready to dive?” Erik announced.

“Yup, everything’s rearing and ready to go.” Patrick replied. Then on the count of three, they all jumped in. It was simply astounding. There were fish of every size and shape just swimming around, Beautiful coral and seaweed every color imaginable and just the feeling was exhilarating. The five were truly in heaven.

“Wow, it’s so beautiful around here,” Clarissa stared, gaping.

“It’s like there is nothing that can stop us from having a good time now,” Wyonna muttered. Everything was nice and peaceful, until all of a sudden, the fish just started speeding away as if there life depended on it.

“I wonder what their problem is,” Erik pondered. “Nothing’s wrong here…is there?”

I don’t know…I can’t see anything wait, hold on… AAAAAhHHH!!!!” Clarissa’s scream was all they could hear, and then they all blacked out. Something rendered all of them unconscious.

A faint wind blowing woke Patrick up first.

“Whoa, where am I? How’d I get here? Where is here?!?’ He shouted, which woke the others who then started to panic.
“We’re trapped!”

“We’re gonna die!”

“There’s no hope!”

“Shut up!!!!! I think we’re on the mountain,” Patrick ordered. When they looked around, they not only found out they were on the mountain, they were trespassing. But then they noticed a small hut up ahead.

“Might as well go inside, where it’s warm,” Clarissa spat. They went inside and of course the door shut all by itself. Inside there was nothing except for a small glass box which contained a stone.

“Great. Now what?”

Patrick looked almost hypnotized. “I don’t know about you,” he mumbled, “but I really want that rock.” He started to slink over to it, and slowly took the glass casing off of it.

“Wait, Patrick,” warned Wyonna, “I don’t think it’s safe to take it.” But it was too late. The ground started to rumble, the hut began to quake violently, and then, this noise like nothing either of them had ever heard before.

“Aw, man, Patrick!!!!!!!!!!!! What’d you do now?!?! Erik scolded.

“Hey, don’t hate, appreciate! Now, let me go and fig-“

“No!!” Patrick interrupted, “I am so sick and tired of people thinking that I can’t fight my own battles. We’ll I can!! And if I die proving it, at least I’ll have some pride!!” Then, one of walls collapsed, revealing a chimera. Now, let’s stop the story for a second and discuss what a chimera is. It had the body, head, and mane of a lion, a tail that turned into a venomous serpent, and a vicious goat’s head springing out of its back. And as if three heads weren’t savage enough, the Chimera also spewed flame from the lion head’s mouth.

It stood there, menacing, its blood red eyes staring right into Patrick’s.

“We’ll, I’m glad I could have you over for dinner,” the beast punned. “Oh, yeah? Well, it doesn’t matter how many heads you have, I made a promise to myself that I would show the world I fight my own battles, and there couldn’t be a better time for me to show it. I…am…not…weak!!!!!” The sky darkened to black. Lightning started to strike all around him. It pick him up and formed a sphere of pure light. Then, it started shaking, and bouncing all over the place. Then, at some random time, imploded with a discharge. And there he was: The Thunder dragon! It was sleek, had a long body, no legs, only arms, and wings.

“Wow, look at him,” Wyonna stared, gasping.

“So what? Let’s get this show on the road; I’m hungry,” The Chimera interrupted. Then, his lion head opened wide, revealing a small fire. But then he blew on it, and it shot out burst bursts of flames at Patrick, who decided to stay still.

“Patrick!! Do something before it hits you!” Justin yelled. But when the fire hit him, nothing happened! It stuck to the electric pulse surrounding his body, making him part fire, part electric.

“Told you I wasn’t weak,” Patrick cackled. Then he flew over the Chimera, and, without even touching it, he started to catch fire and static electricity shocked him all over.

“What kind of magic is this?!?!” The Chimera bellowed.

“The best kind: science!” Erik replied. Then he let out a static discharge, followed by a VERY bright light. When it subsided, The Chimera was sprawled on the floor, permanently paralyzed. Everybody had a sigh of relief as Patrick powered down. But there was something missing: where was Wyonna?

“Hey, where’s Wyonna?” Patrick questioned.

“She was just here a second ago,” replied Erik. They all went outside and discovered why she wasn’t inside. There she was alright, but it looked like they weren’t on the same island they were on 6 hours ago, no siree. All they saw was despair, and ruins. Then, a mysterious voice coming from somewhere untraceable said,

“This is what the world will be like if you result as failures in defeating Vertigo. Nothing will be living except for chaos. Eternal chaos. Justin, spirit of ice and water; Patrick, spirit of thunder and lightning; Clarissa, spirit of nature and supernatural, Erik, spirit of fire and wind…oops, did that slip out accidentally?”

“Cool! I get to be fire and wind? How awesome is that?” Erik interrupted. “Oh, sorry, go on,” he said, hooraying softly.

“Yes, as I was I was saying, and last but certainly not least, Wyonna, spirit of the moon and celestial planets, it is up to you five to save the world before Vertigo, Rea, And his minions do.”

“Wait!! Are you telling me that little pest is still alive??” Justin yelled.

“Yes, I’m afraid he’s still very much alive. But as long as you believe you can, do it, you will. And a word of advice: Help will come only to those who truly need it. Now, your journey has officially begun. We will meet again very soon. Farewell.”

“Wait!” Wyonna pleaded. “Just one question: who are you?”

“A friend, a very close friend,” the voice said, walking away. Then, the whole world transformed back to its normal state, but a chilling wind that followed reminded them that what they just saw and heard was not a dream. If the human race had any chance of surviving, they knew they were the ones to prove it. The world’s fate was in their hands, and now they finally embraced the concept: if you screw up, there goes Africa. If you’re too late, bye bye, North America. But for some reason, even with all that responsibility and pressure, they were still able to put a smile on their faces. But now our story pauses in time. What will become of them and the world they protect? Only time will tell!