CHAPTER 5

Jason stared hard at the faery, he hopped about while whistling a tune jason was unfamiliar with.

    He turned to terra who nodded, this was the creature who Rumpelstiltskin was fashioned after,

" er faery?... Rumpelstiltskin?" He said,

" you could call me that ikir, or four hundred other names that justify me from the twelve realms" he replied pouring a powder that daren said to be fairy dust on the ground.

  Jason stepped forward,

"Then you know why we're here" jason said,

"By all means ikir, you and your protector with your...." He stopped looking at terra as a sly smile curved up his lips,

"Interesting, very interesting don't you think?, terra of house rectir" he said,

   Jason turned to terra, she shrugged,

"What's he talking about?" He asked her,

   " don't know, he must have seen something" she replied,

   Jason bit back the reply that pushed at his tongue, to pester her here would be fruitless, whatever she was hiding would reveal itself somehow,

" as I was saying, you were planning on returning to aratia to reclaim the throne of your ancestors and establish order" the faery said,

  "But you do know all things come at a price" he said,

"So I've heard, name it" Jason replied squarely looking the faery in the eye,

It chuckled in delight while quivering a finger in Jason's face,

"You surely are quick in answer ikir" he said,

"Very well ikir, I will state my offer, but not now. You'll get through the portal though" answered.

   Jason had a confused look,

"What?, didn't the stories say I would ask for something?" It said looking at the bewildered trio,

"Make no mistakes, you'll have to swear on illummino to fulfill your promise when the time comes" it said warningly,

    Jason relaxed, he nodded and swore on illummino to fulfill his promise,

   The faery relaxed, clapping his hands a golden door appeared at his back, jason eyed it warily and glanced a look back at daren and terra, they nodded,

"State where you want to appear and enter " the faery said,

  Daren stepped forward,

"Vulpix" he said loud and entered in a glow of white light,

  Terra followed in the same manner as daren and disappeared,

  Jason stepped forwards and made to go when the faery held him back,

" you must protect your b- I mean lady friend, she is important in this" it said,

     A confused jason nodded and said the name while entering the portal,

Great!, first illummino now the faery he thought,

   The light sucked him in and twirled him around for a second before dumping him on raw soil, he groaned before raising his head up, it was not what he expected.

      The sky was darkened withe the flames of a flying creature that attacked people, shadow warriors fought against men in armour with a flag raised high above that consisted of a rising sun and a flaming torch.

    For the first time ever, jason experienced a medieval blood bath, the streets were covered with the bodies of men, he watched terra and daren battle a creature that looked half gorilla and the rest of it a lizard. 

      At once the blades appeared in his hands, edging him on to destroy the darkness, he made for terra and daren, a flip over them and a slash at the chest of the beast did the work as it exploded in a bout of black dust.

   Daren nodded a thanks and shifted into a dragon?, he turned back at the war, twirling the blades in his hands, and taking off despite cries from terra,

   Seriously, what's her deal?! He thought,

  He jumped over a few people and landed right in the war, the began slashing and tearing at the shadow warriors, letting the blade direct his movements.  He moved forward until he saw a warrior at the rear with a lot of tattoos on his face and hands,

The leader he knew, that had to be it,

He felt the power of the blade pumping through him, the power and something else, something familiar and yet foreign.

    He broke out of the last defence and faced the leader, it backed away from the rays of the blade, while swinging a broadsword. Jason stepped back and neatly cleaved off its hand, it screamed in a dark brutal manner and moved back, eyes open in shock, jason allowed a smile to creep over his face.

   The creature swirled in a wisp of smoke , jason only held the blade tighter,

Yeah yeah, time to go bigger, this ain't power rangers! He thought,

  The leader finally stopped spinning and in its place was a serpent with two heads and black fangs that dripped a sort of blackish venom that burnt the earth wherever it landed.

       Jason went into overdrive, he felt every muscle in his body relax and tighten his grip around the blade, one of the heads sprang in attack, he went sideways while tearing at its side.

     It hissed in pain and reared back, he could see every muscle in its body move, every step it took were slowed down, and apparently the mark of the blade never healed, a good advantage to him considering what he faced.

  Once again, the head attacked with its fangs outstretched to close in on him, he flipped over it and landed on the head, two hits on it severed it off, he knew what was next, if it was anything like the hydra Hercules fought, two heads would grow back in its place, but somehow the stump sizzled and dried in a clot of blood, he made a mental note to never leave the blades as long as he was in this realm.

   The last head stared at the stump expecting his other to reappear with a friend but it never came, it hissed and attacked blindly like its former, jason front flipped over it and landed at its back, he tore through the middle section, it exploded in a rain of black blood and goo.

       He cleaned the pieces of the charred flesh that fell on him while watching the pieces evaporate into black dust that seeped into the earth, going back to the abyss it came from,

"One heck of a welcome party" he grumbled to no one in particular,

   That's when he noticed the whole field was field with people, mostly people that were shocked to their cores, he hit himself mentally, the plan to stay hidden was definitely in jeopardy.

  Not only would marxis feel his aura, but he would also know his location,

So much for laying low he thought to himself,

   He tried a fake smile as he caught daren and terra sneaking through the edges of the forest with a glare that told him to bolt.

  He stepped back and absorbed the blades, they were still rooted to the ground, one finally croaked the word ikir and the rest continued as they fell to their knees,

"Howdy y'all" he said as he turned and ran through the forests,

  The shouts of the people echoing at his back as they pursued rung in the air, in a matter of time he outran them due to his speed.

    All of a sudden, he felt a jolt of energy go through him, it felt hot and cold at the same time. He fell to the ground in pain, his eye sight fading, sweat covered his face as the excruciating process continued making him scream louder, it was like something invaded his body, trying to merge with it.

   Gradually he began to lose consciousness in blinks,

The sounds of footsteps sounded,

Blink,

Two figures appeared from the edges,

Blink,

A female voice screaming at him while holding his head,

Blink,

And then darkness.......

**************

Marxis walked quickly into the throne room, he held his ribcage as it throbbed in pain. He tied a little of his life force to the sensory barrier that covered aratia, it served as s shield to inform him of the number of warriors and creatures of aratia enters and left, not for the pure energy that broke his dark shield.

        He reached the room and proceeded to the alter formerly dedicated to aether but now to herega. He waved his hand as a mirror appeared, it shimmered to life and showed the battle ground at Vulpix, a deadly blade taking out his army of shadow warriors in a blink of an eye.  A closer look at the culprit revealed a boy with brown hair and a golden iris, he smiled,

It must be my lucky day he thought,

  He never thought it would be that easy for derora to find the prince in that world void of magic, but a very wrong move by the prince just made his work easier, at least herega won't find fault in using derora for this,

"Derora, get in" he called,

The doors swung open and the female warrior stepped in, her eyes shinning in the lamp light. Marxis didn't see a genuine reason to lock this dark beauty up, you just need leverage against her which he did, apparently herega didn't know much about her top warriors.

"It seems our prince and his friends are in the realm, gather your finest and bring him to me alive, I need his blood" he said,

   She stood there, looking at him,

"Anything the matter?" Marxis said as he held a parchment up,

She nodded and walked out, he could feel her anger rising and her fight to contain it, he smiled to himself,

       Like I said, leverage

***********

    Jason woke to the gentle breeze that nudged him up, he looked around, the realm looked slightly hazy. He heard the voices of daren and terra at the tree in front, they were hunched over a body, his body. He stared in shock, was he dead?, it wasn't possible, he didn't take any attack to his body,

       "Ikir" a voice called,

It came from within the jungle, he couldn't bear to leave his body but he had to, the calling was loud and controlling.

He moved through the bushes, following the call until he reached a cave, it radiated power, one he knew.

  He went in, tiny insect like creatures illuminated the way. Paintings of a man with a staff lighting the way filled the walls, the call got louder till he got to a room.

  A man in thight cotton armour that seemed to sprout plants sat in the middle, jason approached slowly, he raised his head at jason, eyes as green as the forests and the black of his eye as dark as the fertile soil,

   "I've awaited your arrival for years ikir" he said in a rich voice,

Jason could only nod in reply, this man resonated power, not as much as illummino but enough to give a soul the vibes.

  He stood up and gave a quick bow,

"My mistake ikir, I am loathem, the god of the earth and all its produce" he said,

    Jason raised an eye brow, he thought only illummino was a god,

"Oh no my king, there are hundreds of gods that create Aratia, some swore allegiance to illummino while others to the dark god" he said,

"Okay, so why am I here?" Jason asked,

"I sensed your aura bonding with the earth of aratia which Marxis polluted" he said,

"And you woke the forests and soil of Aratia up, you healed me of the plague I had to constantly deal with, for that I am grateful my king"he finished,

    Jason nodded, if he could heal the soil, what more could he do with it?

"I'm sorry ikir,you do not have the magic needed to wield the earth, aether claimed you immediately you were born, but I promise the soil and forests would answer to you in time of need ikir" he said with a sad look,

  Jason nodded,

"Could you help us get to the doors of tredor?" Jason asked hopefully,

"I'm sorry ikir, illummino specifically said we shouldn't help in your journey to the temple, however the forests should be safe " he replied with a wink,

  Jason muttered a thank you,

"And now I must return you to your companions, the girl has been soaking up the soil with her tears" he said,

And with a flick of his hand, sent jason back to the realm of the mortals, unaware of the demon that approached from the east.....

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