Tei


 * //__media type="custom" key="6333247"

Supreme Councillor of Great Tribal House Tupua Iwi Maunga Council House of Grand Law__//**

Tupua Iwi Maunga Members - Jack(Leader) - Tei (Deputy) - John - Caleb - Libby - Brooke - Ryan (newly converted)

<-My Recount of the Ashley River Challenge->

The walk to the Ashley River was tiring but it was worth it when we got there. We had morning tea and then we were off to the First Aid challenge. We had to build stretchers out of sticks. I found two mushrooms that looked like potatoes.

The next activity we went to was River crossing. The water wasn't deep and we went through twice. But at least I leant alot about safely crossing the river, like the way the way you hold your partner's bag's straps and that you cross diagonally going with the current so that you would land on your back if you were to slip.

Then it was off to the Bivvy Building. This was my favourite activity and my team came third in the contest. I was unsure about the idea of our bivvy at first but then I realized that I would work quite well. We then went home after walking back to school from an exciting day at the Asley River!

Blade Wars 1

The Sword of Destruction

Chapter 1

Hordes of African cavalry swarmed the sandy plains around the fortress. The orcs were manning the crossbow turrets and shooting down on the African infantry, only to be retaliated by waves of black, steel arrows. The cavalry were almost on the bridge. The fortress itself had multiple floors. 2 of them were underground leading to the evacuation area a few kilometers away. The subterranean route was plagued with Lava Slugs. The top floor was not the kings throne room. He would usually camouflage himself with his wizard powers and stealthily execute any attackers. Reinforcements were being sent through the underground tunnel sewers. They were needed to defend against the attackers. The king’s fortress wasn’t really his fortress. It had been used as a stronghold when they were flanked by the cavalry coming down Stone Hill. The Orcs, Lizard warriors and the king had led them to a trap, but it seemed as though t was failing when the cavalry soon got into the main passage of the stone fortress. Two spiraling sets of concrete stairs led up to two different rooms. The skins of the previous African rulers of the region were hung on the wall of the throne room. This was now covered in the arrows. It had already been torn apart when the infantry had somehow been able to sneak into the throne room undetected. Suddenly the kin, in his black cloak, torn from scratches of swords and scimitars that could not dent his reptilian skin was surrounded by the African resistance leader. The army drew their swords and raised their shields. The king did not turn around. He kept walking through the hall. He dropped a small black orb on the ground. Purple electricity shot out of it as the Africans were sent flying into the pit beneath the fortress. The leader hung onto the stone railing and crawled over. He sprinted back into the opposite hall where the king was no longer in sight. Thousands of roars erupted from a massive Orc army which had just destroyed the enemy forces as the reinforcements arrived. The leader lunged at the king. The king sidestepped and threw a portrait of the former African king at the ground and hurled another of the black orbs. This time they inflated into a sharp, thin magical, disc and almost decapitated the leader. The leader staggered towards the king in fear but pulled light cannon and shot a small blazing cannonball which blew the king through the wall. The leader walked through as another black disc shot at him through the powdery smoke. He evaded them with skill and spun around to strike the king multiple times before slicing his sword through the black, dusty cloak. Both men lunged at each other and locked arms before the king kicked the African in the gut. He attempted to throw him out side but the king reversed it and threw him through a weak, stone pillar onto the bridge. The Orcs stepped back as the king came out and charged at the groggy enemy and struck him with a metal blade on his forearm. He recovered and tried to weakly stab the king. The king dodged it easily and kicked him towards the railing of the bridge. He stumbled over the stones into the pit. Just then a scout Orc ran up to the king panting heavily. “Sir, the enemy forces are weaker now, if there is a time to strike their main base, that time is now.” The king nodded and readied his troops for the journey to the docks. The base was across the sea. It would be a long journey to their base. But it was now, or never. Chapter 2 The journey through the sewage was covered in encounters against Lava Slugs and each wound stung like a burn. Slimy green liquid oozed through the water as the warriors waded over the sewage. A small crack of light shone through the top of the tunnel. The king leapt up and pulled the crack apart with his strength. It opened up to a sandy desert-like plain. This was where the army had access to the Gate to Syratyde, the port city of the Northern African region. The city was full of hostile people so the army had to disguise themselves and locals, if they were to get through unnoticed. They walked through but suddenly arrows flew down from the dull, grey sky. Most of the soldiers evaded them but some were struck on their backs and heads. The king searched around the area, but it was cloaked in sand and obscured his vision. The Africans were atop a high ledge and could see the shadows of the army because they were facing away from the sun. The ambush was expertly planned, prepared and executed. The arrows continuously rained down like water but a strong force field was put up by the king to shield most of the injured soldiers. The force field flickered as the arrows ceased. The dust eventually cleared as a sandstorm was seen coming in from the west. The army, except for the king hurried to the city to shield against the storm. The king glanced back as he ran to the city following his forces. The entire ledge was covered in rocks as if it were a rockslide but all that was heard was the noise of metal clanging against the ground and rock. The rocks were stained black and this ooze was pouring over the boulders like blood. They ran inside and up a sandy path to a temple. The building was crammed full of people, old to young, sick to healthy, small to big. They all had a black mark on the left side their neck and walked around with no emotion or senses. They constantly walked into each other before turning the other way to repeat the process. The temple was dimly lit by cheap candlesticks. Young children had no mark and they seemed to be scared by the older people. The sandstorm slowed down after hours and a large, piercing noise was heard from the town. Just like the ledge, it had been wrecked and covered in a black liquid. Another noise was made and a cliff fell down and black sludge erupted from the rubble. The army scurried through the new path made by the fallen cliffs. They had passed the gate, but they had no idea what the destruction of the town or cliffs and ledges were caused by. Chapter 3 The port town was peaceful, but the army was worried about what caused the recent destructions. They boarded a ship across to the enemy base, and stocked the ship with plenty of food, and weapons. They set sail crossing the sea. Many pirates and enemy ships were scattered across the short voyage but most of the men remained alive. The last bits of the voyage were the most dangerous. A large pirate galleon sailed to the portside of the ship and boarded a few dozen pirates. The Orcs rushed to the side of the ship to battle them but most of them were blown apart from the cannon firing. The ship was badly damaged but it swerved from side to side long enough to come into contact to a small island, not far off of the African base. The pirates were chucked overboard but, recovered by the time the Orcs made their way down to the sandy beach. The Orcs shot weak laser beams out of the wooden clubs. The pirates retreated uphill, into the center of the island. The king trapped them there and battled them back down to the Orcs. They were now surrounded and easy to defeat. The bodies were thrown into the deep water where the Toxic Sharks would feast on them. Every now and then blood would shoot out from the water onto the sand. The army decided to explore the island while some of them salvaged the cargo of the pirate ship. In the center of the island at the tip of the hill there was a mossy, temple, hewn and constructed from stone. The king explored it alone and found a golden studded, wood chest, decorated with dirty gems. He opened the chest and found a scroll. It was ripped in several places and read item and guardian. The list was all smudged but the first line under “item” and “guardian” was slightly glowing in the dark temple. The army left the island on the repaired ship and soon arrived at the Indian base. The Indian base had been completely destroyed and a man in purplish-blackish armor was walking to the remains of the fortress. Chapter 4 The whole path leading up to the fortress was covered in bodies of the enemy Africans. Suddenly a rippling noise came from the shore. More pirate ships were coming to raid the African base. The army obviously had unfinished business with the bandits. The pirates were hard to target until they got close to the shore. A few of the enemies were shocked or paralyzed by the Orc Beams. The pirates totaled a number of over 100. The Orcs had been reduced to less than 70. The pirates slashed and stabbed at the Orcs. Cannon fire shot from the ships that were still far from land. The numbers of the Orcs were falling. The pirates quarrel was with the Orcs not the king. The king chucked a few magic discs at the pirates and walked up the hill to the fortress. Pirates jumped onto the king and tried to cut-throat him but the king threw them over his shoulder and swiftly killed them. He continued up the path to the fortress. Someone was in the fortress. He was levitating in front of an altar. He held a sword. It was black and purple and black sludge oozed out of it onto the ground. He muttered some spells and then decapitated an African. He threw an African onto the altar with a magical force and repeated his actions. The sword turned the blood into metal. The blade sharpened with each strike. The knight laughed and turned around. He chuckled again and pointed his sword at the king. The king stood there. He stared at the sword. The knight stood on the ground again and walked towards the king. His armor rattled as he smashed the edge of his sword against his thick, steel shield. It had a purple frame and a black, circular sheet of metal. A purple image of a sword and a bird in flight was engraved into the metal. He kept walking. He strutted down some stairs. Pirates rushed into the fortress but the knight pointed his sword at them and their bodies twisted and cracked. They fell lifelessly to the rock floor. The knight laughed again as he pointed the sword at the king again. The king rolled behind a stone pillar. The pillar opposite it bent strangely and broke into dust. The king took a deep breath and rolled back out of the protection of the pillar. Chapter 5 The knight shot some shadow-like orbs towards the king. He was lifted into the air as the knight attempted to strike him with a slash of his sword. The king wriggled out but the knight threw some metal spikes at the king. They exploded into smoke and the knight shot his sword powers to the smoke. The smoke blew away. The king had climbed up the vines onto the second floor. He leapt down to the king. The knight levitated the king off. Both men turned around and shot their magic at each other. They collided and black rays shot everywhere. The king dodged them but a few struck the knight. His armor was pierced and the king charged with a spear aiming for the hole in his armor. He stabbed him in the arm and kicked him stomach. He picked up a hammer and crushed the knight on his helmet. The knight stumbled back and charged at him. He dodged it and pushed him into a pillar. He fell back where the king stole the sword from his grip and sliced his head of. The knight’s body fell back into the fountain. The water turned to a dark red. Then it turned to black. The fountain rose to the ceiling and a holographic image showed the sword the king was holding. Then 5 more empty white spaces. The weapon was obviously one of great power. But there must be more than one. The End

Blade **//Wars __2__//**
 * //__The Shield of Reversal __//**

Chapter 1 The ship swept through the murky water, soaked in blood. The ship sped up. Dead bodies of Orcs weighed the vehicle down. The ship caught severed bodies of pirates on the front before they were pushed under the vessel to roll away. The ship arrived back at the fortress of the king. O attacks had been made because most of the more powerful enemies, like the pirates and Africans. The top floor of the fortress had been left as it had been when the army left. It was torn up and had holes in the walls from where a fight had taken place. The king walked to the bridge and went to the underground section. There were multiple old, rusted anvils and firing furnaces. The king walked to a tall, large device and tapped a large button. The machine lit up in a green glow. Out of nowhere a green, cylindrical bolt shot through the stone wall. The king looked at the horizon from where it came from. He squinted at the sun and saw a large, crawling red figure. Blood appeared to be dripping from it. The king walked to the top of the fortress. The monster had come closer. It was now standing, slightly upright. It looked like a skinned human. Its head was the shape of the brain. The sun dried up the blood. Its heart beat and with it, blood spurted out for a few meters. The king watched it until he got a closer view. The creature was limping. Arms and small pieces of muscle flew off. It got to the bridge and then collapsed. The king rushed down to inspect it. He touched it and it clawed at his scaled face. It then melted into a pool of blood and dripped down a crack in the bridge.

Chapter 2 As the king walked away, a scout rode in onto the bridge and stood in front of him as he got off of his mechanical horse. “What is it now?” “We’ve received multiple messages from our smaller military and research bases that their power is failing and their radars are detecting life forms on the move in the mines down south!” “OK, what bases are being attacked?” “They’re not being attacked. They’ve been surrounded by the life forms for several days. Any attempt to go out of the base ends in them being destroyed.” “And what are they doing in the mines?” “They’re searching for something, they’re not mining or excavating. They just circle around the main structure.” “Have there been any other activities beside these?” “No. But they’ve been sending small groups to the nearby forests. They disappear a few minutes later. A small team of Orcs have been able to escape and report that they leave trails of blood. The forest is full of light green spirals where they have disappeared.” “You mean like this?” The king walked to the destroyed wall. The green bolt had left the same mark there. “It is similar, but the spiral is much thinner and longer. And it only glows at night. Also, the spiral is going in the opposite direction.” “How did you escape the bases, which one did you come from?” “Fort Leafshade, I managed to escape on the time when their groups go to the forest.” “I’ll teleport us to the main radar and Fort Greytower, because it has the highest point we’ll detect much more.” “All right, but some teleportations have been disabled to the interference of the Blood Demons.” “Blood Demons?” “It’s what we call the creatures.” “I guess we better get going!” The king teleported to Fort Greytower’s radar room to the west. It was grey as expected and had old computers for the radar in it. The blue door was bolted shut. They moved to a computer. As they sat down the bolted door flung open and a Blood Demon pounced over the first row of desks. Chapter 3 It shot the green bolts at the Orc scout. He went spiraling through a computer. Electricity flew everywhere. The king could see the blood demon was searching for something. It lifted its mighty arm and swung at him. He ducked it and chucked a chair over the creatures head. A red mist sprayed out of the creatures head and the king fell to the floor choking. When he woke up he saw the Blood Demons, but they were human-shaped and they were crowded around someone, or something. They stood upright. The king tried to see the thing they were crowded around. They saw him move and lunged at him and pinned him against the wall. The leader got up and looked at the king. “Hmm, Slithzerikai” he said in a crackly, echoing voice. “What does that mean to you, Mushcraniumite?” “Ahh, insults, I am The Shroom, the leader of the Fleshmorphus species, but I am a crossbreed of the Sporeus Vine species. That is where I get my title from. You are a Slithzerikai, one of the most dangerous, rare species on the planet. You are working among Orcs. Why? You are much too powerful for them!” “But, I see you possess the Sword, but, I own the Shield, you know of these items don’t you. There are six of them. Each is a powerful piece of a set of armor. There is the Sword of Destruction, the Shield of Reversal, at the Skull Helmet of Magic, the Platemail of the Steel Body, then there is there are the gauntlets of Venom and the boots of Speed. Each item has its guardian, I have told you a lot, too much, but I will tell you more. Intelligence is an invaluable item.” “The sword, was guarded by the Dark Knight, the Shield is mine, and will stay mine. The Skull Helmet belongs to the Shadowdragon in the depths of the mines. We are searching for his item. You will not get in our way. You possess powers. You will use those to find the Shadow dragon for us. The Platebody belongs to the Neutraliser. He is a mechanism located in. Even we, the most intelligent life forms known, do not know his whereabouts. Then there is the gauntlets which belong to the Toxic Slug. He lives in the underground of our base. He is my brother. The last is unknown. That is our last goal. To identify him. And you will come with us to help us. Chapter 4 “These rocks, gems, ores mean nothing to us. Our infantry have located the chamber. Follow me, Arktha!” “My name, how do you know Shroom?” “You’d like to know, but you would never accept the truth, nor consider it.” The rocks slid down from the cavern walls. The Blood Demons growled at the king as Arktha and the Shroom passed. The cavern lair of the Shadowdragon was at the end of a stretched, straight path. “The door requires 2 keys to open it, the Sword and Shield. Hold yours to the door.” They held their items to the door. It creaked open. A swirling purple, vortex was in the center of the dark circular, room. “Only one may enter this at a time, you go first Slith.” “Why so honorable Shroom?” “It is my tradition, unlike you treacherous Sliths!” “That is what makes me better than you.” “You know nothing! Slith.” “I know nothing? You- The Flesh Demons lunged at Arktha knocking him into the wall. They threw him out of the room as the door slammed shut and the enemies surrounded him.

Chapter 5

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The Shroom lunged at Arktha but he rolled out of the way behind a rock. The lasers shot from the Blood Demon’s weapons to obliterate the rock. Arktha ran behind a large pillar and recovered. The Blood Demons closed in on his location. Arktha turned around and decapitated the Demons with the magic he possessed. The Demons retreated to the higher region of the cave. The Shroom shot a laser at the exit and it caused a massive rock fall. The Shroom charged at Arktha. Arktha side-stepped and kicked him in the gut. The shield of the Shroom glowed greenish-blue and it reversed a few seconds of time. The Shroom dodged Arktha’s charge and kicked him in the gut. The Shroom bent down and the king kicked him in the head and punched his chest a few times. The Shroom again used the Shield’s powers and now the Shroom was beating the king down with his large fists. The king fell to the ground and crawled away as the Shroom shot green bolts of electricity at him. He stood up but the Shroom abused the Shield again. The king was on the ground again and the Shroom stood over him choking him by his neck. The king threw the Shroom over his shoulders and choked him. The king had realized that he would have to counter the Shroom’s reversals with his own. He stood up again and kicked the Shroom. He stumbled back and bent down. The king walked forward but a massive red laser shot from the Shroom’s head. The king was blinded and fell into a pit in the cave. The Shroom pounced on him but the king rolled over and collected a laser shovel and whacked the Shroom. The shield glowed dimly and reversed time, but this time it backfired because the power had been used too much. The shovel repeatedly hit the Shroom. The two combatants walked back and climbed the pit to open the door to the portal. The two stood by the door. Arktha hit the Shroom and kicked open the door. The Shroom fell into a deep pit. As the Shroom fell the portal faded. The king realized what he could do instead of hunt the Shadowdragon. He looted the shield from the Shroom’s brain and walked away. Two of the items had now been found, but four more were yet to found, one of which had not been identified.

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center;">The End

Blade Wars 3 __ The Skull Helmet __ __ Of __ __ Magic __

__ Chapter 1 __ Leafshade Fortress was heavily guarded by Orcs after the attack and invasion by the Blood Demons and their intelligent leader the Shroom. Arktha exited the mine and walked through the streets of Leafshade. Dark leaves blew through the windy town. It was so silent. The only noise was the collision of clubs and stuffed dummies in the Barracks, the slicing of arrows in the wind at the Archery Range and the echoing cries of Greshka. They were large creatures with a shield-like head. Two horns sprouted from its chin and it had two stubby arms that led to 3 long black claws on their brown, wrinkly hands. Orc Troops were marching down the street. Their armor buckled and clanged with each step. A new shipment of heavy weapons had been delivered. The Orcs uniform had been delivered as well. The troops were marching through the forest to Fort Westarse. Arktha kept walking until he reached the forest as well. The path split into two directions. One was to the fort but the other was a long journey that only led to one place. It was a trading town with a small mine to the south of it. However the reason Arktha was heading there was because it was rumored that the third set of the mystical armor was guarded there. The Shroom had long left, but his information still echoed inside Arktha’s brain. The Orcs split away from Arktha. The road was long and perilous. The road was also plagued by wild monsters, outlaws and mercenaries. He also knew that the Shroom was scouting the road with his Flesh Demon troopers. Indians were also out for revenge, but he had already eliminated their leader and they only had a few squads, little more than 20. The road was covered by tall, rocky cliffs. Sculkters were rushing along the cliffs. The were large mutated worm-spiders. Their head was long and covered in long, black, wet hairs. Their torso was like a spider’s but had no fur. They had a long, worm-like tail and small spider legs. They hunted in packs and could shoot spider webs out of their mouth. Arktha was aware of the creatures and he had no time to get rid of them. He came along to some rocky ledges. They had large pillars supporting them. He went onto the ledges and came to a halt after a good thirty minutes. It came to a cave blocked with some large rocks. The Shroom had left his mark. A trail f mucus and blood. Then he heard some clanging and buckling noises behind him. “Not these jokers” Arktha started. “Nightshade, we have scouted the area and found that all caves have- “Give him the damn letter, Orc” the sergeant snapped. The Orc rushed forward and handed Arktha a torn, wet letter. 3rd Snow Rain Month Arktha, The scouts have retrieved information of a nearby shrine in the ruins of an old city. It is said that the shrine gives blessings of health, cures any sickness and any donation will let the eye of the city’s old god’s watchful eye follow you and rotect you from danger. Obviously a scam to get money for an illegal cause, but the point is that the priests have recently held sermons about a terrible monster, made from bone and blood, shrouded in a shadowy cloud of darkness. Something about a legendary helmet, made from the monster’s brother’s skull. The skull helmet. They have it prophesized in their history books that a Slith mage will slay the beast for them. Call back when you have decided what you are doing. Guard Captain of Southbone Fortress, Mavelus Arktha was puzzled by this, there was no direction to the ruins. As soon as he thought about this. Everything he saw, stretched and distorted in an illusion. He fell backwards as the Orc legion walked away.

__ Chapter 2 __ Arktha was in his own mind. A strong force was possessing him and he was in a dream. The entire place was filled with memories of his enemies. The entire place was blank but for those images. But out of the darkness Arktha could recognize something moving. Something large. It was covered in black mist, like a shadow. It resembled a dragon. It stood on two legs, but it was crouched down. It was floating towards him. “Aah Arktha, I see, when you set out on your mission, what did you expect the dragon to look like. Flesh and skin. No. With muscular wings? No. What were you thinking? Lets take a look, shall we?” When the dragon talked its mouth did not move. It was as if it was just a large skeleton, controlled by a ghost. “No! Enough! I have suppressed by rage for you long enough! I shall kill you where you stand! Foolish! You killed Mykrall, my pet, the Dark Warrior! Haha! Revenge!” The shade began to shift away and the dragon kept laughing. Arktha woke up in a dark cave. Was this the dragon’s cave. Arktha had never been nervous before, but he was almost trembling. Luckily for him it was just the nest of some Sculkters. They soon returned to feast on their prey but Arktha disposed of them with magic. While he cut them open for some food, he had found that one of them had eaten a map of the area. He pulled the piece out and wiped the guts and digested food off of the paper. The shrine was nearby. Arktha traveled over the towering cliffs and saw the ruins of the city. Flames had swallowed all of the ruins except the shrine. Goblin troops were advancing to the burning remain of the city. Arktha had not noticed them. All of them walked into the ruins and burned to death. Black flames rose to the sky and the vision of the world swirled around and vanished into darkness. Arktha was now in a large cemetery. He knew where he was. This was were he was made, in a massive tower. He was made by a false god, Quaviec, he was the leader of the Slith Resistance. Years ago an army of machines destroyed his city beneath the tower. Quaviec was the last to die, and before he did he summoned the souls of the dead Sliths and enemy humans and cast them beneath the earth in a mine. Blackdawn Mine, it was. The humans came in their machines. They had metal boxes with a long rod that shot out large, explosive missiles. They were tanks. Arktha’s human half let him know this. They also came with metal sticks, that released purple, hot lights. They were the human’s laser guns. The memories haunted Arktha even though he had never witnessed it. Blue figure were walking around into and out of gravestones. They were spirits of Arktha’s ancestors. **__ Chapter 3 __** Arktha was almost invisible to them, but he knew he could communicate with them. He approached the biggest gravestone with engravements littering the sides and front of the symbol of the Slith Resistance. <span style="font-family: 'Engravers MT','serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">“Who fought to resist and protect, Our authority he could not detect, WHO DEFENDED NOT TO BECOME A SLAVE, NOW RESTS INSIDE THIS GRAVE.” “QUAVIEC, THE LEADER OF THE SLITH RESISTANCE, THE LEADER OF HIS PEOPLE, THE DEFENDER OF HIS PEOPLE, THE HERO OF HIS PEOPLE, NOW RESTS WITH THE GUILT OF THE END OF HIS PEOPLE.” “THE HEART OF FIRE” “THE MIND OF LIGHTING” “THE FIST OF STONE” “THE SOUL OF DEATH” “THE LEADER OF DEMONS” To Arktha it seemed ironic, that someone so despised by the humans, got such and glorious tribute on his grave. Arktha searched for a switch to open the grave. He ended up punching it open where a scaly hand gripped his wrist. At this moment he could smell a familiar scent. A cold liquid dropped onto his neck. “Shroom, what are you here for” Arktha asked quietly. “I was sent here for the same reason as you.” “It seems that I was wrong, in the mine, I said that the Hugeslug and I are brothers, I have rechecked my experiment, but my brother is…” A huge claw demolished through the walls of the grave. “Him?” “No, no, definitely not.” The Shadowdragon drained all of the spirits into his body. His claw crashed down onto the grave and drained the energy from Quaviec’s soul. “Oh, shit!!” **__ Chapter 4 __** The Shroom knelt down and a green energy appeared over his head and blasted at the Shadowdragon. The dragon screeched before a huge tentacle made solely of shadow constricted the Shroom while the Shadowdragon’s tailed grappled Arktha and threw him into a gravestone. The soul broke loose and was drained into the Shadowdragon’s body. The shadowsragon’s mere presence caused Arktha to be bowled over by the spirit. This gave the Shroom an idea. He teleported the two away. “We don’t have much time, Slith!” “What?” “I’ll break a gravestone and you grab hold of the spirit’s tail and get into the dragon’s body. Find the source of his power, or at least distract him until his spell wear’s off, Blakdrako species can’t naturally attract spirits for power.” “Once inside get to his head and remove the dark crystal inside its head, the shade will fade and he will be nothing but a pile of bones.” “Ok!” The Shroom distracted the dragon while Arktha used his agility to get behind a gravestone. The Shroom shot to the gravestone and the spirit erupted from the headstone. Arktha grabbed hold of the spirit and was sucked into the dragon’s stomach. Arktha crawled upwards until he reached the chest. The souls were floating here. “Arktha!” It was Quaviec’s soul that was speaking to him. “No…time…save…us…listen…no…time…listen…quickly…go…now…hurry…up…A29Z14…711AJJK…QWR.” The last few words were a code, Arktha figured as he crawled into the head. There were two choices now. Let his enemy die, or trust his change of heart. Arktha thought for a while. He could see through the Shroom sprawled in a corner. He thought of leaving him to die, but the Shroom’s one word, had convinced him to change his mind. It was ‘Brother’. Arktha immediately and frantically searched for the crystal. The description of dark, was not very informative. Everything was dark. He trusted his gut and leaped up high and held onto a long spike that felt like a thick prism of glass. The dragon started roaring. Arktha pulled down on the crystal. The dragon’s darkness began to fade and the souls escaped. The dragon became significantly weaker without the souls and he collapsed on top of the Shroom. When the dust cleared he was ontop of the dragon’s spine. “Just bones” Arktha said as he scanned the remains, “and a big brain.” “Yeah, I saved you Slith” he bagan “or, brother.” “This, this is Quaviec!” “The legend was false, Quaviec led the human army. But our race was destroyed by the humans, we are the last left, Arktha.” “Then the sister myth was true, I had a brother fused with the remains of the previously deafeated empire, I seek revenge on the humans.” “But how did you know it was Quaviec?” “The skull helmet.” Arktha was sad, but he soon began to laugh. “I think this is yours.” The Shroom handed the skull helmet over. “Until we meet again, brother.” Arktha dashed away into the nearby woods. “Shrimp” said the Shroom. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Tempus Sans ITC'; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center;">THE END

THE NEUTRALIZER AND THE CUIRASS OF STONE

Chapter 1 Arktha walked through the dense forest, towards the direction of his next target. The fortress of the fabled Neutralizer. Shroom had already told him that he was the general who commanded the attack on the Slith home village. But if it had not have been for the Neutralizer, Arktha would never had needed to be made. "Damn flies" the Shroom grunted as he swatted away a cluster of sandflies. "Damn heat" Arktha moaned sarcastically. "You're lucky Arktha, I'm a walking pile of living body parts, this heat fries me!" "So, how do these items work?" "Ahh, damn thirst, if only- "What? Aah yes, the sword's full potential lies in its ability to cut any item, with the exception of the Mystical Armors, of course, the Cuirass is the largest piece. The shield, which I still think you should share with me- "I beat you!" "Finders keepers!" "Ahh fine, I've never even used the damn shield anyway." The Shroom somehow made the shield glow and a huge flash of light covered their eyes. "Ahh fine, I've never even used the damn shield anyway." "Yes just like that." "Weird, but how does it work." "You need a strong mind, my brother." "Coming from a brain, what does it mean?" "That's where your helmet comes in, it strengthens the mind, what I wouldn't give to make a helmet like that my size." "Right, well, here's Fort Cyndroquet, where I grew up amongst, the, um, the Orcs." "I can see your shame, they are very very- "THE MAN-EATING CABBAGE IS COMING!" "Yeah" Shroom started "like that." A trio of Orcs came out . "One of the Archer's has gone mad, went crazy because of a tomato soup shortage." "Can't you just get a merchant to sell you some, or did you spend your wages on Prexzel Juice again?" "The merchants are too scared by the "Man-Eating Cabbage" to bother to sell anything." "Don't play dumb with me Orc, there are 3 full crates of Prexzel behind you" as the Shroom peered behind the Orcs' wall of fat bellies "and 2 half full crates!" "We'll promise to spend it on food, and armor, weapons or whatever, just please help us." "I reckon we got through the jungle pretty quickly, I can use a punching bag" the Shroom said. "Punching bag?" the Orcs squealed in unison. Chapter 2 Inside the fort Orcs were trading in their money for bottle of Prexzel Juice, but the Guard Captains, and some of the smart wizards spent it on books and weapons. Arktha was proud of them but at least the Orcs could use Prexzel Juice without collapsing. It was illegal but Arktha allowed it in his forts because it kept the Orcs awake and healthy in battle. In the food court some of the larger Orcs were still eating legs of mutton or pork. The mad Orc was hanging on the chain of the chandelier. Arktha stood there counting. The chandelier lasted half a second. This was a sign that the Orc was severely underweight. The table underneath him broke in two and the fat Orcs walked out of the building. The mad Orc had to be taught some manners. The Shroom looked at Arktha. "I can't climb!" Arktha was soon scaling up the north wall. The Mad Orc was swinging on another chandelier. Arktha and Shroom had correctly predicted this. But he was soon on the biggest chandelier which did not even budge under the Orcs weight. Arktha leapt across, just landing on the chandelier after the one the Mad Orc was on. Arktha leapt onto the chain and skillfully chopped it down to the ground. The chandelier fell onto the Orc. Blood poured out of him. "Tomato soup!" "That fixes that." Arktha decided to read on some books of the local animals and plants while Shroom spent his nights eating corpses of his Ogre and Troll victims. In the morning the both awoke early and continued their journey along the path. They could see the towering fortress of the Neutralizer. It's peak was so high it looked as if it pierced the clouds. "Did you know that the Darksprout Ungulas are a common cure for Chammex disease?" "What don't I know?" "Lets see, how many Ogres did you eat last night." "Thirty-eight and a three quarters." "Impressive." For another hour or so the journey was dead silence except for the occasional rustle of the bushes and trees, that was until a sealed package was dropped from the sky onto Arktha. "Warn me next time Ovactyn!" It was a note. It was sealed by an Ogre's throatskin. "Hey, I recognize that!" Arktha almost threw up but he didn't want to spoil the note. He discarde the seal and read the note. HELL OVER MINT RACK INGO GRES ORAR YOUJ USTF OLLO WING YOUR DREA MSSL ITHI SEEY OUHA VETR AVEL LLED FARI NYOU RQUE STFO THES EVEN ITEMS YOURF RIEND THOUG HTTHE REWAS ONLYS IXITE MSOFT HESET OFARM ORBUT THERE ARESE VENYO USLIT HSARE VERYP ERSIS TENTS PECIE SBUTSO WEAKAN DMISLE ADISEE YOUHAV EDISCO VEREDQ UAVIEC ASAFAK ELEGEN DIAWAI TTHEDE LIVERY OFYOUR THREEI TEMSSL ITHARK THA. "Ovactyn, you've had too much Prexzel Juice." "Its a code, from the Neutralizer." "Um, yes, yes every second letter." "ELV." "See its about elves." "No the code uses all of the letters." "Hmm, I see." "Hell over mint rack." "Flames above a cool-icy." "No, no, look!" "Hello vermin tracking ogres or ar you just following your dreams slith I see you have travelled far in your quest fo the seven items your friend thought there was only six items of the set of armor but there are seven you sliths are very persistent species but so weak and mislead i see you have discovered Quaviec as a fake legend I await the delivery of your three items Slith Arktha. "Smart." "What, he has two spelling mistakes and it is filled with inadequate literacy grammar!" "Right." "Lets go." "This is a pathetic excuse for a taunt." Chapter 3 The two soon reached the land of the Neutralizer. The robot guards were zooming around on gravity-defying wheels that enabled them to hover without touching the ground. Everything was chrome and lights flashed everywhere. The robots frequently had malfunctions and randomly shot each other. The pair hid themselves with a potion of silence and invisibility. "They can use heat sensors, you know, we may as well ask for permission to raid the fortress." "Heat sensors, just another thing to the list of ultimate cliche robot town." "I have to admit, he has no creativity, laser guns, robots, hovercraft." By now a gang of the robots was surround the two. Their potion had worn off and the guards that noticed them. "Heat seeking" Arktha moaned "nice". "That gives me an idea." The Shroom tried to ooze a liquid onto the bridge. The liquid touched a robot and he exploded into an inferno of electrical sparks. The guards chased him around while Arktha and Shroom went through to the fortress. It was empty excpet for the laser turrets. They shot out red laser beams at the two. "Red lasers" Arktha groaned "couldn't he think of anything better". Shroom got behind one of them a ripped out the power source was Arktha evaded its lasers. The laser shut down and they continued up the stairs. It led into a bright hall. All of the doors led to rooms that looked the same, except for one. It was a big library with a huge altar in the middle. "Hold on Shroom" Arktha spoke quietly. He opened the door and mindlessly walked into the altar. Security alarms went off and lasers shot around the room. "Um Arktha." Arktha had lost conciousness and was mindlessly being pulled to the altar. He was sucked into a portal and the Shroom was left alone to climb the tower himself. Chapter 4 "ARKTHA!" It was Quaviec's voice. "I AM NOT A LEGEND, YOU MUST ALWAYS REMEMBER THIS!" "What is my purpose?" "Why was I created?" "BECAUSE YOU ARE THE LAST OF THE SLITH BLOOD LINEAGE!" "YOU MUST DEFEAT THE EVIL THAT SENT US HERE!" "THE THREE GUARDIANS OF METAL, POISON AND SAND!" "NEUTRALIZER: BRIGGS A. METALECTRIC". "TOXIC SLUG: GRIMUS ECTOPLASMUS". "CYBORG SCORPION: METALECTRIC SCORPII". "THEY SERVE THE ONE WHO SENT US HERE!" "THEY SERVE THE ONE WHO SENT US HERE!" "THEY SERVE THE ONE WHO SENT US HERE!" "YOUR FRIEND IS USING THE SHIELD OF REVERSAL." "THEY SERVE TH- The rest of the message from Quaviec to Arktha was muffled and Arktha could only decipher one word. That word was 'return'. It gave Arktha the feeling that one of his enemies had returned and had to make sure he was killed. His vision switched back to the Neutralizer's fortress. He was still in the library and ecided to chase after Shroom. He ran up stairs through corridors, down holes and eventually found the Shroom battling the Neutralizer in a large hexagon-like area. The Shroom launched a green laser from his brain. It seemed to have no effect of the Neutralizer. Arktha realized what the Neutralizer was. This wasn't the Neutralizer at all. It was a hologram and the lasers from the Neutralizer were shooting from behind him. But why hadn't the Shroom realized this. He thought for a moment but the guards were patrolling and noticed him. He was carried back down all the stairs until he was tossed into a large cell. The guards activated a panel that forced a pink forcefield to show up. Arktha was locked in a cell. He sat there for a while and he could soon hear footsteps coming down. "Feeding time." The guards could speak in an echoing, croaky voice. They tossed Shroom into the opposite cell. Many cells were empty but one was still there other than the two warriors. "A slith?" "Yes?" "You, what is your name?" Arktha could not see the person he was sleeping to and the Shroom was too busy eating Ogre corpses to notice. "I am Quaviec." "Quaviec! I should have killed you sooner! You doomed our people. You left the fate of our civilization in my hands and when I was captured you made a clone! You are a monster! Tell me where is the clone!" "I... I am the clone." "Quaviec? You are far dim-witted than I expected. What makes you believe I would believe **your** nonsense!?" "Arktha..." "Arktha?" "You!" "I...Forgive me." "Don't worry, I was wrong to pretend to be Quaviec, but what is the full story of Quaviec." "I'm sorry, its my slave duty now." "I'll tell you later." Chapter 5 Arktha's clone was soon back from his job and ready to tell Arktha about Quaviec. "I kept but, one thing with me when I was enslaved. A book. It was an autobiography of Quaviec." He cleared his throat, coughed, sniffed and then took a deep breath. "Quaviec was sitting in his throne room one day when the Empire attacked our civilization, with tanks, grenades, guns and from the land and sky. He was a legend. A legendary coward. He immediately named me king of the Sliths and ran away. The Empire tracked him down and killed him. He was skinned alive and fed to the Neutralizer's son, the Cyborg Scorpion. I was braver and stood up to the Empire. We were winning the fight until the Empire made a false accusation that Quaviec had escaped alive. The Sliths would prefer peace over strife and retreated. Only to end up just like Quaviec. I sat in my throne room. I then dragged myself to the Temple and lay on the altar. I prayed to Fatha Fol and Matha Mil to protect me. The declined my offer and refused to shield me because I was a shadow of Quaviec. I tried to escape for protection. Fatha Fol and Matha Mil summoned the Toxic Slug and Neutralizers son to kill me. I was beaten to death my two mutated animals. But Quaviec had left a clone of me. I would stay alive as long as the clone did. But if the clone died, then so would I. I was immortal, as they never found you. If the prophecy of our Holy Book was broken-that I would stay a slave-then the threads of fate would be stained and our doomed world would belong to the Human Empire." Arktha understood everything now. He broke out of the cell and walked up to his clone. "Yes, do what needs to be done" his clone croaked. Arktha opened the cell and decapitated the clone. He then set the Shroom free. They escaped before the guards came in. As the guards came in they noticed the clone's dead body. "They have died." "Master will be most pleased." Arktha and Shroom knew that the only way to destroy the tower was with and earthquake. So Arktha used his powers, combined with his rage and with the aid of Quaviec he shifted a tectonic plate from under the earth. Fatha Fol and Matha Mil shield them from the heat and the power of the earthquake. The tower collapsed and it was left is a great ruin. The heroes climbed outof the ruins. "So Shroom, just one question". "If you are my brother why dont you understand what me and um, Arktha were talking about". Shroom just looked to the moon and ran off.

THE END

Prologue "Where is your friend going"? "I do not know, but he will be back" Arktha replied, as he searched through the cracked stone pillars from the recent explosion. He picked up a half-broken stone column and threw it away into the forest nearby. "After the explosion, something feels... strange." Arktha heard footsteps faraway in the forest. He felt something in the air. He smelt smoke coming from the mountains. He wiped some black blood off of his lip with his black robe's sleeve. "Humans are nearby, Arktha, in the mountains, allies of an enemy." "What does that mean" Arktha said, at the same time listening to a light rustle in the trees. "A greater force is at work than the guardians of the items" Arktha's clone looked to the corner of his eye towards to forest. "Quaviec" Arktha muttered as he looked to the sky. "Perhaps, he lives in spirit, but your greatest enemy is out to get you" his clone whispered. "I must... tell you something, Arktha, Quaviec made you to- Shroom broke in from the forest carrying a large black object on his back. He stepped out of the shadows and the two Sliths saw he was carrying four men with full black armor on his shoulders. "I expected an ogre." "I'm not hungry for a snack" Shroom began, "we have bigger troubles." CHAPTER ONE "There are people following us" Shroom started "humans, but very dangerous and they- Arktha and his clone cracked up in laughs. Shroom breathed deep impatiently. "Humans... dangerous... you've eaten something poisonous out there Shroom" Arktha laughed. "Arktha" Shroom said strongly, silently and seriously. Arktha immediately stopped laughing while his clone stood up off of the ground. "They are here." At the moment Shroom said that a man leapt down from a tree and kicked Arktha twice while two masked men took on Artkha's clone and the Shroom. Arktha blocked the kicks and spun the man around. But he was taken by surprise when the man swiftly ducked and turned to kick Arktha in the shin. Arktha smashed his elbow on the man's head and kicked the man's ribs. The man grappled Arktha's feet and threw him over his shoulders. Arktha rolled back and charged the man. The man dodged but Arktha flipped forward and spun his foot at the mans head in mid-air. The man ducked and turned to slam Arktha in the gut and smack him in the face with a roundhouse kick. Arktha fell with his neck tilted to the ground. Shroom and his clone were having trouble too. The man suddenly flipped over in the air and stomped on Arktha's forehead. Arktha grabbed his foot and twisted it around to flip the man over. Arktha took a sword out of one of the sheathes on his calf and lunged at the man. The man flicked his legs up and flipped Arktha over. Arktha landed a full flip but tripped up on a root as he stumbled forward. The man took a massive mace out of nowhere and swung it forward, annihilating the root as Arktha rolled into a puddle. He had to regroup. He leapt up into the tree above him and twisted around the branch to kick the man in mid-air. The man spun around, and Arktha parried a shot from the mace and continued to smack the man around. He made the mistake of attempting an uppercut. He hit it but the man managed to do a backflipping kick at the same time and the two stumbled back into a tree and fell down. They looked at each other and then their friends, who had each fought each other neck and neck. The humans looked at each other and nodded. "Arktha, they are not our enemy." "Come with us" the leader said. "Do what they say" Shroom spoke. Arktha got up and slowly walked towards the humans. CHAPTER TWO The three humans led the Shroom, Arktha and his clone through the forest talking about what they were doing in the forest. The Shroom followed closely but Arktha and his clone distrustfully followed behind the pack. "We are a resistance group from the stronghold town over the mountains" the leader said "my name is Trebilious, but the people in town call me Rebellious or Troubleless, they both sound like my name, oddly, these are Brutreil and Mersenelis, respectively called Brute Rail or Betrayal and Merciless or Mercenary, by the people." The two others stopped and turned around in unison. The leader turned and looked around, before muttering "Defiant Phalanx", what Arktha guessed was a codeword. A pit broke open in the earth but instead of falling, they floated down. The entrance closed up and a few moments later a half a dozen rows of bright torshes lit up. The resistance base was a huge labyrinth of discrete underground chambers. There was an armoury, a barracks, a planning room, a food room, an archery, a storehouse, a map room, a dozen buildings packed with soldiers in a black uniform carrying knives, swords, axes, spears, maces, flails, hammers, staves, and bows and crossbows. The three men removed their masks, and Arktha did not expect what he saw. They barely looked like rebels. The leader looked like a regular human wearing a dark hoodie and trackpants, the second looked like he was wearing 4 layers of sweatshirts and a jacket and baggy brown pants and the last wore a plain shirt and blue cargo pants. Arktha stood with his mouth open for a moment. But then the men waved their hands and a huge rippling wave of shade washed over them and their looks changed instantly. Trebilious was now a large man with a steel faceless helmet with black trim and a long violet plume that reached down to his shoulders. His nose looked crooked and broken and his skin tone was tan, almost light brown, but it made him look dead. Maybe the fact that his lower jaw had absolutely no skin on it, or he had his bottom lip curled into his mouth and no upper row of teeth, but something about his face made him seem dead to Arktha. And vaguely familiar. Trebilious wore a black medallion on his chest and a blue hoodie with red trim and flares revealing his chest (which also made him looked dead), a black metal belt which held up blue baggy pants with leather pads on the outside of the thigh and silver-black, metal boots. Brutreil had long black head pulled back into a ponytail that reached his back. His face had leathery skin that was pulled back against his forehead and cheekbone. He had a big chin and cold, black eyes. He had a big burn mark on his forehead. He was so big he nearly made Trebilious look like a midget, but was not as bulky as Shroom. He had a massive chest with several layers of scale and chain armor with brown and yellow leather strips dangling from the sides. He had red cloth strips blowing in the wind, hanging down from his arms, which had a thick leather jacket surrounded by armour tightly clinging onto them. He had grey, loose trousers with boots almost exactly the same as Trebilious' but brown. The third one was Mersenelis, who had dark skin and wore gold tinted black shades and had a shaved head. He had black bands on his arms and wore fingerless golden-coloured gloves. He had a dark leather vest with gold and violet trim and blue baggy pants. At the end of his legs he had high golden-steel boots and blue metal kneepads. They all seemed very familiar to Arktha, and his clone was keeping his distance from them. They each ran along to the armoury and the three companions followed them. They each brandished their weapons. The leader had a giant mace, which Arktha was thankful had not banged his face in their battle. Brutreil had a short spiked scimitar with a bronze handle and hilt. Mersenelis had a long metal spear in his hands. But he was holding it for show, he passed it to Shroom, who passed it back. Mersenelis muttered 'Fine' and picked up his two golden gloves with a huge spike, stained with the blood of plenty of impaled and mutilated foes. "Pick one" Brutreil said, "you'll need it." Arktha selected two long sabres and started hacking at dummies in the next room. His clone took a double-sided staff and began twirling it around, accidently decapitating three stuffed straw dummies. Shroom examined the weapons until he came to a massive 2-metre long solid gold hammer. Even Shroom needed all four arms to make it balanced. He could still move quite fast though, but he was usually quite fast for his size. "What're they for?" Arktha asked. "We're going to attack the town, spare the villagers, kill the guards, and capture their leader, bait the other guards, and with our increased forces, attack their capital, and put an end to their rule." "Whatever" Mersenelis mumbled, but he definitely the most serious about the mission. "Let's go" Brutreil commanded, as hordes of soldiers in black rushed past onto horses, into formations, and preparing for the raid. Arktha suddenly looked at his chest at the Platebody from the Neutralizer. Then he looked up at Shroom and his clone. They both looked puzzled at his eyes and then slowly shifted their eyes to his chest. All their blood froze, and suggested, that they had picked it up without realizing. They didn't sound sure. Arktha stayed behind for a few seconds looking at the platebody. He had not picked it up, or had he, without realizing? CHAPTER THREE As soon as the resistance made their attack the three ran off into the woods. "How did that happen?" "I don't know, I don't understand" Arktha said. "Let's just concentrate on our mission" his clone suggested. "Where is the Toxic Slug?" "I don't know." "I do know" the Shroom commented. Hours later the trio arrived at the Shroom's evacuation point where the Flesh Demons teleported them into what Arktha called "The Floating Fleshies Ship", which was the Flesh Demons biggest warship. The inside was a huge hall filled with training soldiers and computers. There was a manhole with a huge clear metal barrier that read "DANGER! DANGER! TOXIC! TOXIC!" The three continued to the pilot room where Shroom took a key off of his desk and walked to the manhole, without question from his loyal soldier and unlocked the metal barrier. Green fumes that smelt like rotten onions, cat food, sweaty socks, and plenty of other stinky substance leaked out. They climbed in, and the smell up the top smelt like an air freshenere compared to what was downstairs. Upstairs a human would've coughed a few times, but down here they would have had a seizure, choked or threw up their entire body. Luckily the three adventurers weren't humans. But they coughed and wheezed, and the deeper down the rusty dagger. It was dark and they exit was now at least 10 metres above. They began to feel sick but soon they reached the bottom about 25 metres beneath the entrance. They blindly searched the bottom until they found a crawlspace that lead to a hall with torches dimly lighting the area. They walked along for hours until they finally came to a massive round room with more Flesh Demons working on computers. The Shroom walked up to the biggest one and said, "We're visiting my pet", and the monster nodded and rapidly printed a command into the computer. A huge pit opened and a glass box floated up. "Get in" Shroom said seriously. The Sliths looked confused as the Shroom looked at them impatiently. Arktha decided to walk up to it and kick one side in. "Oh, great, did you want to make us go the hard way" Shroom snapped grumpily. "How would I get in, it was solid gla- "Forget it." The Flesh Demons were already typing another command into the computers and a huge green circle materialized where the remains of the glass box lay shattered and broken. "Get in" Shroom sighed again. They touched the floating orb and there was a stunning flash of light. Arktha instantly knew he was being sucked through a portal but it was not what he expected. It was a mixture of extreme burning, crushing, stinging, and aching pain. When he rematerialized in a filthy cave after a few seconds he was shaking and had collapsed on his knees. Shroom and Arktha's clone had already recovered from the pain and were walking forward. Arktha looked up and saw a huge green slug with purple tentacles licking its gaint red lips. It was suspended by giant iron rings attached to metal poles. The Shroom knelt down and said "Hello, um, Brother" as Arktha spewed a bucketful of blood out...in front of his three brothers. CHAPTER FOUR "So we're all brothers" Arktha questioned faintly. "Yes" his clone commented, as if Arktha was dumb. "A family resemblence, undoubtedly" a dark voice spoke from a ledge in the cave. "Oh no, Cybrihn" Shroom said. "Five brothers" Arktha sarcastically joked. "Uh, yep" his clone nodded. "Oh" Arktha gasped, "Who's not my brother?" "Mykrale was a cousin, Shadowdragon was your thirty-eighth cousin, twenty-three times removed, Quaviec was your father, and the resistance members, are your enemies!" "And who might you be" Arktha asked "Cybrihn?" "I am Cybrihn, guardian of the platebody of- "Whoa!" Arktha exclaimed, "twenty-eighth cousin, thirty three times removed, thats a big family!" "Thirty-eighth and twenty three actually Arktha" Shroom said weakly. "Shut up, little brother!" "Feisty," Arktha whispered. "That goes for you too Ark- "Whoa! You're the Neutralizer, the guy a blew up just before I- "I said shut up, little brother!" "I am Cybrihn, guardian of the platebody, the Neutralizer QG-1807! The father of Mersenelis and Brutreil, and your familiar friend, Trebilious. "Two more nephews" Arktha sighed, shaking his head. "QUIET!" "Aren't you one to talk?" "You, you are trying to anger me, to bait me into battle, but I have my pets to do it for me, Brutreil, Mersenelis, unleash your uncle, the slug!" CHAPTER FIVE Before Arktha knew it the slug was crawling through the hall and digging through the earth. He jummped at it a slashed with his swords. The beast stumbled back where Shroom caught the beast with a suplex. The clone launched a couple of ancient Slith magic fireballs at the creature, which seemed to ripple over his body. As he cried in pain smacking the cave around Brutreil attacked Arktha with a punch and a kick. Arktha spun around and jumped to roundhouse kick where Brutreil's head would have been. But Brutreil ducked and snapped the leg and spun Arktha around before unleashing his scimitar and sparking his against Arktha's swords. They stumbled back and Arktha kicked Brutreil in the stomach before catching him in a cut-throat position. He was about to decapitate him before the slug blindly smacked its tail into him and sent him flying forward. Brutreil tossed Arktha over his shoulders and stuffed his scimitar into his mouth. The slug now helped Arktha for once and sent Brutreil flying into a pit of stalacmites. His clone had now treated the slug to a nice snack of resistance member casserole. The three adventurers remained as Shroom calmed the slug down. "Arktha, the gauntlets" the clone commented. Arktha spun around and saw the gauntlets at the bottom of the spike pit. "How do I get them", Arktha asked Shroom. "Your slith powers!" "I can't do magic, if only some Slith other than me could unexpectedly and conveniently use magic powers to wonderfully telekinetically levitate the gauntlets up" Arktha sighed sarcastically. "It would break the prophecy, Arktha" the clone replied. "What prophecy?" The Shroom sighed, "The ancient Slithzerikaian Prophecy states that Quaviec would create a savior to the Slith Race who would collect a set of armor to revive the Sliths, yarda, yarda, ya." "And only you and the guardians can magically or physically touch them." "Typical" Arktha moaned. Arktha bent over to the side of the pit a reached his hand down. He could almost touch it. He sighed and remembered his weapons. He pulled them out and stuck them down with his hand. He dragged them along the pit while turning around the pit's edges. He scooped up the gauntlets and caught them in his hands. "Oh wait, we forgot the platebo- "I'm wearing it, something magically got it there." "Teleported" his clone corrected. "How" Shroom asked. Arktha muttered "I don't know", but the last item, the boots of speed, apparently, still remain guarded. "Then we're wasting time" Shroom commented. "I have to agree" Arktha spoke softly.

THE END