BOOKS

OLVIER VOTEX

It was a dark night. The owls hooted from the sky, and wolves howled in the land. As much as I like getting pecked by owls or ripped by wolves, I was busy. Ahead of me I saw a light of bluish black light. I was running to it, and behind me, a creature rustled behind me. I didn`t know what it was. I didn`t want to know. I ran and ran, but the land around be began to fold and unfold again, until there was nothing but a dot it the universe, me running uselessly inside it like a hamster in a hamster wheel. The thing chasing me gained. It emerged; a dark form bigger than three meters. It opened its mouth, a black hole as dark as midnight. A clear, whispery voice said to me, YOUR DECISION. YOUR FATE. YOUR DEATH. The blue light I was running to vanished, and I was sucked into the black hole.

“WAKE UP!!!!” yelled a voice. I woke with a start. Whew, it was a nightmare. I groaned out of my bed as I tried to remember where I was. I was on a vacation with a few of my friends in the Grand Canyon. Ugh. I had a whole day of hiking to look forward to. I dressed out of my pajamas and went outside. “Yes, mom. I`m awake now.” Caroline, who was the one who woke me up, glared at me. “It`s eleven thirty. You`ve been sleeping through breakfast, and now it`s time for lunch. Now, Caroline was the school president. She had blond hair, brown eyes and was as tall as six and a half feet. She had a way with words, and if that didn`t work, well, she got scary. Compared to her, a charging bull seemed less frightening. The hotel room opened. Samuel Alumi walked in. Samuel, often called Sam, was an energetic kid. He was never calm, but he was cool. He never got worked up by anything, including Caroline`s anger. “Hey guess what? The hotel restaurant serves sausages and milk!” He said happily. He was tall, about seven feet, and had brown hair and green eyes. He was exceptionally strong for his age, strong as most adults. And he was fifteen. Me? My name is Oliver Votex. We were on a summer vacation, just the three of us. After we finished lunch, we went to the helicopter guide. We always started with something airborne to start the day. Yesterday was a parachute. Today was a helicopter. We went outside to enjoy the fresh air, stood in line for a few hours, then finally, we boarded the helicopters. We first glided over land not very below us. Then, we got to the canyon itself. I felt my heart fall to the pit of my stomach. The helicopter stayed flying, but the feeling was different. The guide was talking. “And there`s the rivers that formed the canyon, and there is our lair of destruction, and there`s the tour center…” Wait. Lair of destruction? I leaned over to Sam. “You hear that?” I asked. Sam nodded. He raised his hand and asked. “Sir, what lair of destruction?” The guide looked surprised. “You didn`t know? That is where we kill innocent youths who ride this helicopter. You`ll know soon enough.” Sam looked shocked and afraid. Caroline looked mad. She drew her weapon, a pocketknife and a switchblade and said, “I hope you were kidding.” The guide chuckled. “I`m afraid not.” He lunged at us. The next second held many events. The driver also charged at us, leaving his chopper in autopilot. I didn`t like that. The driver and the guide began to change into… snails. A huge snail the size of a human replaced the guide. A snail as big as the chopper itself replaced the driver. The shells looked like it was made with more than just calcium. Caroline carried lots of things in her bag. I reached it and pulled out a kitchen knife. Small snail charged. I brought my sword down with all my strength, but the shell snapped the blade like a twig. The small snail hissed. “Our shells are made with multi-titanium. You cannot break it with regular metal, lunch!” Beside me, Sam, and Caroline wasn`t having much luck with the big snail. It sprayed slime all over them, sticking them to the ground. However, Sam managed to get a laser pointer in his free hand and flashed it at the small snail`s eyes. The snail`s eyes recoiled, and I pulled out my family heirloom, a golden switchblade, and stabbed it into the snail`s neck. The snail hissed, and I pushed it, down into the Grand Canyon. I heard a sickening crunch below, and I knew the snail`s fate. The big snail roared with fury and opened its jaw. It was a small hole, but it sucked in the helicopter and sent us plummeting down to the ground. We were falling a mile. If even a monster snail couldn`t survive this, I didn`t have hopes that we would. But the next few moments rocked. Sam grabbed a piece of rock jutting outwards and swung to the top. Then he began backflipping down the canyon walls, leaping on the walls to sustain a steady speed. As for us, Caroline vanished. She reappeared on the canyon floor. Me? I was doomed. I looked at the gaining floor, thinking about not dying. I closed my eyes, preparing for death. I didn`t die. There was a slight whoosh sound, and when I opened my eyes, I was floating. I looked down; I saw a dragon. It was blue, with sky blue patches in its skin. It`s tail was clubbed, like a thick disk with spikes all around it. It`s wings were striped with red, and it`s head had two horns. It let out a ringing sound that echoed throughout the canyon. I willed it to carry me down, and he obliged. Sam and Caroline were looking at me in shock. “Cool, huh?” I bragged. I went over to them and saw that we were in the bottom of the Grand Canyon. “I didn`t know you could teleport.” I said to Caroline, raising my eyebrows. “I didn`t, either.” We didn`t have time to celebrate, though. From the sky came our dear enormous pilot, rolling up into a shell. It hit the ground and rolled, unharmed. The snail body popped back up and roared. I pulled out my switchblade, Caroline hers, and Sam drew another kitchen knife, ready to fight. Luckily, we didn`t have to. Something crashed down from the sky onto the snail`s shell. There was a gold flash. The shell ripped open like rubber. The snail roared and hissed, thrashing wildly until the head was cut open. The person who saved us stepped to us. He had dark, black hair, blue eyes, and a playful smile on his face. “Hello! My name is Jack! Jack Tews, to be exact. “Jack? You still alive?” Called a voice. From the sky descended a huge dragon, about twice as large as mine. It had four short legs, three long tails, and red wings. From it leaped a girl. She had black hair, blue eyes, and a scowl on her face. “This is my sister, Luna.” Jack introduced. I took one glance at her knew she would always boss his brother around. Sam backed away. Caroline grinned. Of course. Luna`s personality must be really like Caroline`s. I had terrifying images of those two raging around the school, screaming for less homework. I shoved that thought aside. “Where are we going? We can`t be expected to go back to the hotel after this!” I said. “Sure, you’re going to go to a place that all humans with powers like you go. Come on, let`s go!” Sam and I shook our heads. “Nuh uh. I am not going to ride that dragon as long as Luna is riding it.” Luna glared at us. “Fine. I`ll ride a different ride.” She jumped off and created a mass of darkness. She should have fell through the cloud, but she floated on it. “Anyway, let’s go.” I rode my dragon, and Sam and Caroline and Jack rode Jack`s dragon, called a Firewing. We touched down on a piece of land that had several ecosystems in one square mile. In the center was a place of glistening metal. One brick opened and we went in. “Welcome to Snow fort!” Jack said. He led the guide through the entire fort, bigger than the entire school. We went to the arena, where we met the three legendary sorcerers. “So, you stabbed the snail with a gold knife?” Evan asked. He had short brown hair, black eyes, and held a wooden pole. “Can I see the knife?” Joshua asked. He looked exactly like his brother, except he had a sword and was a bit shorter. I showed them the switchblade. Joshua examined it. “This is magicae gold. Where did you get it?” He said finally. I told them the story. When my parents died, all their possessions became mine. I was a kid, but I was given a large switchblade that was said to be a family heirloom. Then Collins went inside the room. I heard she could control most people with her voice, so I was very nervous. She had caramel hair, multi-color eyes, and had a golden sword strapped in her waist. The gold that Joshua and Collins carried were the same shade of gold as mine. Speaking or shade, the swords didn`t make one. The shadows were like a reflection. I opened my blade and examined it. Sure enough, it cast a reflection on the floor. Collins looked at us. “So, you guys fell into the Grand Canyon?” She asked. “You guys look fine for people who fell a mile.” “Well, Sam backflipped his way down, Caroline teleported, and I rode him down into the bottom.” I answered, even without thinking. Her voice encouraged us to talk about the fall, and I suddenly felt the urge to please her. Then I told myself to snap out of it. Me resisted.

Today, we had the first day of school. What kind of magical place for kids with inhuman powers have school? The only interesting part was the part about the several metals.

In the known world, there are many metals of magic. The most common metal is known as silt iron. Though not the strongest, it is very lethal due to its magical properties. With its mere touch, it can turn most living beings into silt. However, some creatures are immune. These creatures are the most powerful human beings in the world. Next is multi-titanium. It is very powerful, able to withstand the full force of an atomic bomb. It is heated by the full force of a star and is very difficult to do. Serene silver is next, and it is very difficult to find. It burns up most living things on touch. It also gives the user the ability to teleport to anywhere another piece of rare metal is. And the rarest of all, magicae gold. This metal is so rare that only kings or sorcerers use it. It is so powerful that it could vaporize a city with an ounce of magicae gold.

We have taken out the two metals ice steel and royal aluminum, for these metals signals the use of dark magic.

I stared at my bed at night. I took out my switchblade. I flipped it open and willed it to become larger. Instantly, a two-sided sword appeared in its place. I have never used this magic ever since I saw it`s damage. And the other side of the blade, glowing evilly, was the metal royal aluminum. The metal of evil.

During PE at school, we did archery. I was okay but Caroline took the big win. The team leader, Joe, and Caroline did an archery match, betting a quiver of magicae gold arrows. It was a tie. Joe, impressed, gave her the quiver, and she`d been boasting about it ever since. Anyway, we were summoned after school by Evan. “We have gotten a message from the land of Scorch.” “I thought that Scorch was destroyed.” I said. I read about the war last year, where Jack and Luna Tews became famous. “No, Scorch is not destroyed. We only destroyed Gamillion, who was just using the land. The message said that Snow fort should surrender and turn in the three new people here, you, Caroline, and Sam, to the army coming or die.” “Refuse, then!” I said. “We have magical and physical magic protecting the place. Without a sorcerer, no monster can get in.” Evan sighed. “The monsters to attack are Meelays, spirits of destruction. They inhabited bodies of ice-steel, and they are very hard to kill. And someone more powerful than a sorcerer is leading them-the king or magic, emperor of time, and the destroyer of worlds. He is known as Destroyer, his real name unknown. He created magic itself. He can crack the most powerful spells with a single flick. And worst of all, he is recovering his most powerful weapon, a suit of armor of royal aluminum and ice-steel. We must stop him. If not, he would be too powerful to stop. He holds a grudge against the Earth for purifying his magic.”

It all started when Collins asked for a cough drop. Jack said he had never seen a bigger armada head out to war- even the war with Gamillion. Below us sailed hundreds of war ships, each having enough soldiers to make a war by itself, and enough ammunition to destroy Texas. Above us flew a hurricane of dragons, each with a solider or two. I was riding my own dragon; a species called a Bonereaper. I didn`t like the name. Above us was Snow fort itself, full globe form, flapping it`s huge silver wings, packing yet more cannonballs and weapons and soldiers. Caroline was on a warship below. Sam was currently flying. And the sorcerers were flying behind us. Collins flew up to me and asked the ridiculous question, “Do you have cough drops? My throat is really hurting.” I rolled my eyes. “Who brings cough drops to war?” Collins sighed and flew off, and that`s when it happened. Bonereaper tilted his head and began to growl. I tensed, and instinctively took out my switchblade. A small golden blade popped up. Suddenly, a black blob slammed into me. I jumped, and then I made my sword appear. A dozen black thingies, Meelays, surrounded me. The other guys gasped and tried to help, but they hissed and growled at them, and then at me. Then I began to fight. I sliced through my double-sided swords, destroying one monster after another. Black smoke burned away against my two powerful metals, magicae gold and royal aluminum. In two yellow and gold flashes, all the Meelay dissipated into smoke. “Wait… isn`t that royal aluminum?” A boy named Lucca asked. I looked down at my sword. Oops. “Um… no?” I said. “That weopon is so powerful that most people have never even seen royal aluminum in their lifetime.” Lucca said. Thankfully, I was saved by a giant wall. It sprouted in the middle of the ocean, with thousands of archer Meelays lining the wall. Lucca cursed. “A wall in the middle of the ocean? This is so unfair.” An arrow flew right toward him and bounced of his thick metal shield. Lucca cursed again and flew right at the wall, blasting bursts of fire into it. I heard he could control is body temperature, which seemed like a pretty good deal, since he could heat himself a bit and claim to have a cough and stay home from school. Apparently, he used that power another way as well. His hands filled with white-hot flame as he blasted it through dozens of Meelay. Then, with the exact same hand, he froze another clump of smoke with dry ice. However, neither the flame nor the ice did any damage to the wall itself. Sam studied it. “That wall is iron ore! You can`t heat it or freeze it with human flames.” Huh. I never knew that about iron ore. Then, Sam was ambushed. Two screaming arrows flew right into Sam`s head. When he saw them coming, his eyes widened. He didn`t even have time to raise his shield. I closed my eyes. I heard no sound, so I opened my eyes. Sam Alumi had caught the arrows flying towards him, an arrow in each hand. He gave them back to their owners by impaling them in their guts. Then Caroline shot another arrow, her golden one, right at the wall. An entire section of the wall fell crumbling down, but it was still dangerous. Archers lined the walls, aiming their arrows at the gap that we were going to enter. Luckily, Luna was on business. Sheets of black foam surrounded them and vanished, taking archers with them. The other ones were besieged by our dragons. Then I remembered my old trick. I leaped from my dragon, ignoring the “Are you crazy?” Comments from above, used my sword as a helicopter and flew down. Since the two metals always were pulling back from the other, it was easy. I glided down and leaped on the wall. I slashed and hacked, destroying the smoky monsters. My blade cut deep gashes on the iron wall, and on the monsters. I saw other soldiers pulverizing the other Meelays. We finally were able to go past the wall. There we met our army. An army of ice-steel armored solders waited on the shores and the sea. These guys are not going to be as easy to kill as our other Meelays. Just for a test, I borrowed a bow and arrow and fired it at a monster. The multi-titanium arrow bounced off. I gulped. Jack charged.

Okay hold up. I was going to gulp and say “We`re doomed.” Or suggest going back and come back with shining gold ships. That was when Jack charged. He leaped over twenty feet and fell into the ocean. Then, he rerose as a giant watery giant. I heard that he could control the elements he was currently in. I didn`t believe it. Now I do. He swept an entire ship and picked it up like it was a toy boat. He tossed it into the air, and all the solders came tumbling out. I could vaguely see them underwater, screaming as they drowned. I found the only way to kill them. To drown them. I charged as well, as Jack currently used a warship as a weopon to ram other ships. I did something I never dared to do before. I unleashed the full energy of my weopon. Royal aluminum and magicae gold happily split apart, in an enormous nuclear reaction. Waves of powerful magic washed through the ships, ripping through ice-steel like it was made of foam. The blast got closer and closer to our fleet, and I thought, ‘Uh-oh.’ Then Sam stepped in. He grabbed the energy wall, almost solid, and pushed. Evan and Joshua helped keep them at bay. Soon, the wall evaporated, leaving me in the middle of a waste field. The world was spinning. I collapsed from pure exhaustion.

I woke up later in a ship. I sat up, groggy and tired. I looked around. I saw my surroundings: sick bay in the middle of the fleet, with Lucca studying me. I nearly fell from my bed. Around me were floating pieces of multi-titanium. They dropped to the floor as soon as I looked at them. “Did… you…” I asked. “No, you did.” Lucca said. “Wait, what?” my voice cracked like breaking ice. “You have the rare ability to control the magic weapons, almost without even thinking about it. Nobody has seen Royal Aluminum since the war of the sorcerers. Destroyer had a whip made from it, just to torture his steed. Here`s an example.” With that he fired a cannon at the nearest ship. My heart lurched with panic. I willed the cannon to freeze, it did, and fell into the ocean. “See?” Lucca said. Then I remembered someone else. “Wait… how about Sam?” Lucca pointed to the bathroom. “Oh…” I hoped my face wasn`t as red as it felt. “Taking that much energy, especially with someone who could multiply that power is like going into the center of the sun. Not that I`m complaining, but he should have died. But all Sam got was a first-degree burn.” Lucca said. “Um and the war? Did we win?” I asked. Lucca panicked. His hands caught on fire as his hair began to frost. “Um… the blast didn`t kill every monster, but it did destroy the navy and a part of the land army. I squinted at the bay. I could see gold flashes, blue eruptions, and fiery blasts. Then our ship got over run.

I don`t know how they got here. I just know that they erupted from the floor, climbed up from the water, and jumped from the sky. A dozen smoky figures quickly formed into ice-steel bodies. They roared and lunged. I drew my sword and slashed. Clang!!!! The Meelay hissed, a deep gash in its stomach part. Then it charged again, along with its friends, growling and foaming. I was tired. I didn`t have another nuclear blast in me, and even if I did, if I used it here, I would kill my friends. Sam saved us. He emerged from his bathroom, grabbed the nearest Meelay by the head, and popped the head clean off. Sam`s powerful hands ripped through ice-steel like rubber, completely immune to the magic of the magic metal. I decided to help. I yelled in defiance and the Meelay froze. Then, with all my remaining power, I made them hit each other in the heads. It was fun. Then, it became less enjoyable. Regular Meelays zoomed around us. Sam`s fists were powerless to the smokey monsters, and so were my magic powers. I slashed my sword at evert monster that got near, but they were hard to kill, since they just dissipated into smoke and came back. I wonder why the first ones I fought were such pushovers. Lucca came to the rescue, thankfully. His fists began to frost, freezing over the air, until his fists were covered in ice. His first punch swirled through the smoke monsters, right into my sword. The second blasted through the smoke monster and froze him in place. Sam pulled out his secret weopon, a huge hammer with a pole of multi-titanium, a hammer of serene silver, lined with magicae gold spikes. He swung it one side, destroying a row of Meelay. Another blow, and he nearly knocked Lucca into oblivion. “Hey!” Lucca yelled as he leaped to one side. “Watch it!” Then I saw a fiery explosion on the bay. The ships rattled. A wave of power washed over us, knocking us to our knees. Lucca quickly steered his ship to the bay, partly because I forced him too, partly to find wounded friends. Sam manned the cannons, destroying Meelay we went. We reached the bay. There was a moving fortress of greenish blue metal. I jumped off the boat and landed in the harbor. Caroline and a few others were holding the fortress back. “What`s happening?” I asked. “You know Mole dragons?” She said. “Well, the Meelay have made a shield out of their nearly impenetrable scales, mixed multi-titanium and ice-steel into it, and have now they made a fortress, ceiling included.” Caroline fired a gold arrow into the wall, but the arrow bounced off, leaving a small dent shield. Caroline scowled in frustration. Then Sam came in with Lucca. First, Lucca blasted the shields with white-hot flame, then Sam rammed his hammer on it. Their was a silver explosion, and the shield burned away. Then, Sam rammed another shield, making the whole fort stumble. Spears jutted out from the chinks in the wall and nearly impaled Sam if he hadn`t grabbed it and snapped it in half. Lucca burned away the spears, until only stubby titanium poles remained. Then, Lucca started pelting the shields with ice balls. They bounced off without any damage, but they left a ringing inside the fort, and some of the Meelay dropped the shields in surprise. Using that chance, the archers fired into the wall, and the fortress began to crumble. “Now let`s go into that cave behind them, because that`s where the elite troops are. And let`s hope we don`t find guards, shall we?” Caroline said. Uh… more searching and fighting.

We found some guards.

Hooray.

Now we were pinned to the cave wall, those annoying snail things we first saw coming closer to us. “Why aren’t these guards Meelay?” I asked. “These snails are the only things that pray on Meelay. Caroline said. “These are the elite guards of Destroyer, and these guys are trained for war.” Caroline said. Each snail had a varying magic metal for a shell. But their powers were so strong I only managed to make them stagger a bit. The snails hissed. Then, thank goodness, another monster leaped to intercept the closest monster. It was Mr. Vananberg. He had vanished ever since the returning when the second sorcerer`s war first began. Mr. Vananberg fought with two snails, a silt iron shell, and a multi-titanium shell. He tore the first one`s neck, then chased the second away. “Hey kids! Sorry for being out of commission for a while.” He frowned when he saw my sword. “Is that royal aluminum?” He asked. “I thought that metal vanished millennia ago.” The other ten snails closed in. I slashed the first one to pieces, then I got rolled over by another snail. I had enough time to think ‘this is an irony way to die’ before I was hauled up by Sam. He lifted the snail that trampled me and tossed into a crowd of Meelay still attacking my friends. Julian stabbed at it, and it died. I almost felt sorry for it. But the snails were relentless. Caroline shot a silt iron arrow into a snail, and it collapsed into fertilizer. “You stink like a man from Tyre!” A snail growled. I froze. “Wait, what?” I asked. “The stupid Phoenicians has made stinking purple dye from us snails! Now we would avenge our ancestors!!!” Another snail screamed. Oh yeah, I learned about that in history class. Boring. “A man from Tyre smells wonderful!” Caroline announced. The snails gasped. “Um… yeah! Purple is my favorite color! Thank the Phoenicians!” Sam yelled. Wait. Purple was his favorite color. Heh. That was funny. The snails glared at them, giving me a chance to kill them. I spun my blades like a helicopter, willing it to spin as fast, and chopped off the heads of the snails. Then, I willed the shells to go around ramming into Meelay as we went in. Then I heard a “OUCH!!!” from the battlefield. Normally, getting hurt in a battle wasn`t really that concerning, until the voice screamed, “WHO MADE THE SNAIL SHELLS GO AROUND HITTING EVERYTHING?” Oh dear. I guess I must learn to control my powers. Sam guarded the doorway as me and Caroline rushed over to the voice. “Sorry.” I said. It was Collins, who had a shard of the metal-oh no, silt iron- in her arm. “Are you okay?” Caroline asked. “Yeah. Sorcerers are immune to silt iron or serene silver, but that`s a secret. Since you hit me with a poisonous metal, I expect a payment.” I gulped. Was she going to ask for cough drops? Then I was doomed. “What payment?” I asked fearfully. “I want to go inside that cave.” She announced. That was like asking for her death as payment for almost killing you. “Sure.” Caroline said. “But why?” “Because in that cave, there is Destroyer. And you people cannot fight him with out any magical support. Joshua and Evan are busy, so I`ll go.” With or without the magic in her voice, I believed that I could not fight the beginning of magic.

As soon as we entered the cave, we collapsed. The pressure of magic here was so intense that we could barley move. Even Collins fell to her knees. Then she and I brought out our magical swords, making a light strong enough to penetrate pure darkness. I`ve felt Luna`s wrath. She banished me into a blackhole every time I asked her for homework. This was even darker and more powerful. Royal aluminum blazed with silvery copper light. ‘The metal of evil’ I thought. Royal aluminum was so rare and powerful and evil that it sucked in the darkness, leaving room for us to breathe. We trekked onward, into the darkness. Caroline shot a golden arrow into the darkness, but it bounced of the of darkness. Except for the small pocket of light that we used for breathing, it was complete darkness. No light spread out. The darkness was literally solid. Caroline picked up her arrow. Sam rammed his powerful hammer into the dark, but nothing happened. Then, the dark blew away. We were facing Destroyer himself. He looked like a Meelay, but he was bigger and radiated light, though his body was pitch-black. He rumbled in a powerful voice ‘My time is nearly here. Just a few more days become powerful again. My servants, the Meelay has done me good. Just one more piece of royal aluminum and I will be free!’ The aluminum part of my sword glowed and shook. Only my power kept it from breaking off. Behind him was a plate the size of a small house. It was made purely from royal aluminum, and the only missing hole was a straight line. The shape of a blade. Collins stepped in. “Stop.” She commanded. Her voice was so powerful that every cell in my body stiffened. The darkness was momentarily overpowered by the power of her voice. It crept back, and then started to reform. Collins glanced back and saw that the rest of us had been petrified. She blushed. “You guys can move.” Instantly my body unfroze. Caroline aimed an arrow right into Destroyer, but the arrow passed through him and bounced off the plate of royal aluminum. ‘His life force’ I thought. Collins swung her sword at the darkness, penetrating the dark. Destroyer roared. A wave of power blasted us back. “Guys destroy the shield behind him!” I yelled. Destroyer chuckled with amusement. ‘If only you could’ he taunted. A shard of royal aluminum was blown off the shield, a sharp point so accurate that Destroyer must`ve intentionally done that. I raised my sword, but the shard froze in midair. I was controlling it now. I shot it to the cave`s exit, and the aluminum zoomed through the dark and vanished. Destroyer roared again. The dark force froze, as if to wait for the piece of the metal to come back. When it didn`t, it charged toward me with powerful speed. Sam saved me. He grabbed the thing, a being of pure energy, and shoved it back to the wall. The dark dispersed, coming back as many small balls of dark. Sam took out his hammer and started playing baseball with them. That gave me time for my plan. I closed my eyes and concentrated. The plate began to rattle. I heard cracks forming inside the shield, and then it began to split apart. Piece by piece, the wall of royal aluminum cracked and fell to the ground as dust. I swept it away, all throughout the world. Sam stopped playing baseball. The pressure of darkness disintegrated, leaving me and my friends in a regularly dark cave.

Thought we were done? That is a big fat NO!!! Naturally, the Meelays life force should be connected to Destroyer, right? That is also a big NOPE!!! Dozens of new Meelay emerged from the cave walls, holding baseball bats. Except for the guy in the front, the rest of them held wooden bats. The leader guy held an aluminum bat. Collins cursed. “That wood is made from redwood, the same wood as Evan`s pole. I mean, Evan`s is enhanced with a lot more magic, but even regular redwoods are almost impervious against magic metals. Only the powerful three metals, gold, steel, and aluminum can destroy it. Sam`s serene silver hammer bounced of the bat like it was rubber. Caroline`s golden arrows did stick to the bat, but it didn`t break it. I slashed at leader guy, but my sword bounced off the bat. I cursed. That bat was made of royal aluminum. One blow from that thing and my sword would become a sickle. I relied on speed and sharpness. The Meelay relied on strength and force. Thankfully, redwood wasn`t as impervious as Collins thought. Even though his hammer was useless, Sam`s hands could snap the bats like twigs. Collins enchanted them into lowering their bats as Collins blew their heads off. Soon all the Meelay were gone except for the leader. But I underestimated the strength of the bat. The bat rammed into my shield, and the multi-titanium crumpled like aluminum foil. My arm broke as well. My left arm exploded in pain. I managed to slice the undefended leader, then I crumpled in pain. My friends rushed toward me. I felt all three of my arm bones break. “Here. Eat this.” Collins said. She gave me a rock to eat. I stared at it. “Um… eat a stone?” “Eat it. It`s good for you. But don`t chew it. It would snap your teeth.” As soon as my tongue touched the rock, it exploded in flavors. One moment it was sweet, then bitter, then spicy. No flavor lasted more than a moment. Before I knew it, the rock melted in my mouth. My broken bones began to heal, and in ten minutes, all three bones were completely back to normal. Just then, Lucca barged into the cave. A monster snail had been creeping up to us. Two multi-titanium spears speared it on the neck. It pinned the snail to the wall. Lucca took out a pencil and a pencil sharpener and sharpened it. Then the pencil turned into a sharp spear. We finally exited the cave, to find the world in chaos. Tiny pieces of royal aluminum flew around, and the Meelay furiously trying get them. I groaned. I snapped my fingers, and every single shard was combined in one fat whirlpool. It swept across the enemy lands, slicing monsters to pieces like a big blender. Then the whirlpool sank into the ocean, caught by Jack. He turned back into a solid person, and his weopon was in flamethrower form. “Um… you fought as a water giant using a flamethrower?” Collins asked. Jack nodded, poker-faced. Sam`s hammer turned into a foam toy hammer, the one that they sell for preschoolers. Jack turned to us. “There`s something that I need to show you. It`s on the bottom of the ocean.

How do we get into the ocean? With a submarine! Multi-titanium could withstand powerful pressure up to a million tons. Just me, Caroline, Sam, Jack, Collins, and Luna. It was also good for getting into the Mariana trench. We sank into the deepest part of the ocean. I turned to see a faint glow. A door of silt iron was lying on the floor like a trap door. “We need to open that thing.” Jack told us. “But the pressure is so powerful that I couldn`t get out to work on it.” Sam got out. He winced and nearly plummeted to the ground. He swam unsteadily to the door and took out his hammer and rammed it on the wall. It bounced off. Sam frowned until he figured out that his hammer was still a toy made for kids. He blushed and the hammer turned back into a serene silver and magicae gold monster weopon. He rammed it again. The door broke open like it was wet clay. We swam inside. Once we were in, we found out that the water was kept out with magic. That means our submarine plummeted. We hit a row of jagged rocks. They broke as our multi-titanium vessel hit them, and we bounced off into a soft, strange ground. Jack studied it. “Huh. The ground is made of vines.” I was about to warn him that in every single movie the ground of vines would lash up and choke the trespasser to death when he stepped out. The vines stayed still. Then Jack`s eyes widened. “Guys! This thing is a net!” Sure enough, what should have been a black floor was a chasm so deep that we couldn`t see the bottom. And the entire crew was on a net made of vines. I nearly slipped the first step. “Luna? Can you do something about this?” Luna stepped out and concentrated. The black chasm began to solidify, until we were standing on a decent floor made of black marble. Then, as soon as it solidified, it turned back to darkness. Luna closed her eyes tighter, and the ground solidified again. “Hurry!” Jack said.

When we reached the end of the chasm, Luna collapsed. Jack picked her up in a fireman`s carry. Then his weopon, Clasher, turned into a shining gold Lamborghini. “Whoa! Your weopon can turn into a car?” Sam asked. “It takes a lot of energy to stay together, but the bill`s on Evan.” Jack said. He let Luna down, while Sam called shotgun. When we got inside, I understood why took magic to make it. The cupholders were gun holders. Above every seat was a dagger sheath, complete with Jack`s dagger collection. Jack handed us each a gun. “These have silt iron bullets. I found them in Snow fort`s convenience store.” What kind of store sold guns to kids? I put mine on the gun holder. The holder readjusted themselves to fit the gun perfectly. I pulled out the dagger above me. Then I put my own switchblade/sword into the sheath. Once the blade was comfortable in the self-adjusting sheath, I sat down comfortably. Only then did I realize the strength of magicae gold. It zoomed into the darkness so fast that it seemed to bend time itself. “WHERE ARE WE GOING?” I yelled to Jack. “WE`RE GONNA GO UNTIL WE SEE SOMETHING!!!” He screamed back. Then we hit something. We didn`t see anything except for the darkness that stretched ahead. We got out of the car, holding our shotguns and personal weapons. Luna woke up after a few minutes. Jack snapped his fingers and Clasher turned into a round cylinder. “Flashlight.” He said. He shined his block on what we hit. It was solid darkness. The dark made way from the glow of magicae gold. “As soon as we pass this wall, we would enter the land of Scorch.” He said. We slowly trekked through the wall, occasionally stopping for energy breaks. Finally, we reached the land of death.

The eerie glow of ice-steel threw ghostly shadows around the walls. Jack covered his flashlight in a blue holofoil. “Then it would look like ice-steel.” He explained. “Then we can hide more easily.” We crept around the land, with no apparent destination. Then we saw what we were apparently looking for. It was a crowd of Meelay. They were bringing back pieces of glowing dust-royal aluminum dust- into a swirling hole. The hole sucked it in, then the other part expelled the dust, turning it into armor. What had Evan said? ‘He is recovering his most powerful weapon, a suit of armor of royal aluminum and ice-steel’

Destroyer was rebuilding his power.

All we could do was watch, horror-struck. The batch of royal aluminum wasn`t his life force. It was his weopon. He wanted to melt it down and get his power back. And I only sped the process up, by pounding into dust. Slowly, the armor began to form. Even with Collins with us, we couldn`t take that much on our own. Then Jack had an idea. “Guns” He whispered. His gun had s.s. (not stainless steel) bullets. He shot it. The gun made no sound as the silver bullet shot right through a line of smokey monsters. They burned away. Our silt iron guns were also silent and fast. But it was still not enough. Solid darkness began to leak out from the hole and began to deflect our shots and surrounding the whole place. It was too late. The armor was completely reformed, royal aluminum plates with liquid ice-steel filling in the gaps. Destroyer arose.

His body swirled around the armor, growing arms, legs, and a head. His body was completely black, with glowing red eyes and a swirling black-hole for a mouth. My head began to split open. YOUR CHOICE. YOUR FATE. YOUR DEATH. The words echoed inside my head like ping-pong balls. Then, as fast as it happened, the pain passed. The bullets we were shooting sparked harmlessly off the armor. Then Lucca, yielding his two spears, sneaked behind Destroyer, and nailed him on the back. Destroyer growled in annoyance. “He has a weak spot on the back! A small hole!” Lucca yelled. Then he froze into a statue as Destroyer turned. On his foot was a shard of ice-steel. I choked back a sob. Then I remembered: Lucca`s soles were thick multi-titanium. It could stop occasional hazards like stepping on magic metals and dying and it made him look taller. He must have frozen on his own. And there was a small weakness, the hole where my blade should have been. I yelled and the ice-steel chunks rose. I hurled them at Destroyer at the speed of bullets. But then Destroyer raised his hand and they melted away into glowing blue puddles. Then I yelled again. I once again unleased my power, a real risk because

a) I could die.

b) My friends could die.

c) The plan may not work.

Blue explosions filled the air as Destroyer was engulfed in a tornado of blue energy. Thank the heavens, my friends understood. Collins began to chant, and the voice was so enchanting that even I was distracted. The explosions erupted; another volley of powerful energy charged with magical voice. Jack whipped out Clasher, turned it into a fine javelin, and threw it at Lucca. He immediately unfroze and caught the javelin. Luna closed her eyes, and the darkness began to press down on Destroyer, who was wilding yelling, trying to stop this magic, but he was disoriented. Sam took the risk. He swung his hammer like a baseball bat and hit the evil being on the head. Then Lucca did it. He threw his spear with deadly accuracy. It was so fast that in one blink, the javelin travelled one hundred meters and hit the small chink. In a golden flash, Destroyer collapsed. Then I saw it. What I saw in my dream so long ago. The blue flash. All the energy concentrated on Destroyer`s weakness, and he opened his mouth. All the light and energy of the ice-steel and our previous attacks were all sucked in. In one horrific gulp, he swallowed our hopes-literally. He rose triumphantly to his feet. Then he collapsed into brown dust-silt. I was focusing on a dagger that I borrowed from Jack. I pulled it out in our first ride on the golden Lamborghini and carelessly put it in my pack. Now the dagger had defeated Destroyer himself.