(no subject)
Chapter 2
"There's a pit of about one hundred feet deep five hundred meters after the slope ends. If you can get past that, then you'll be able to get past the rock slide." Angus said. He took off after Ben. Soon the whole cave was filled with the terible sound of rock crashing against rock and more rock sliding towards them. It was an avalanche of rock. The group wouldn't have minded about the rock slide, but for the fact that it was headed right for them. Benji paused in his running for just a second and looked behind him. His ears were filled with the roar of the sliding rocks and crash of rock upon rock. His eyes beheld the biggest specticale of rcok that he had ever seen. The rocks were litterally flying in all directions as they tumbled down the small slope that they were running down. He turned and ran to catch up to his friends and to hopefully beat the rocks to the pit, but he knew that they would never make it. The rocks were coming at them far too fast for them to outrun them all and they'd be killed if it caught them.
"There's the blasted pit that Angus told us about. If I can only reach it in time........" Benji thought. He was running as fast as he could, but it wasn't fast enough. He knew this to be true when two or three rocks flew past his head. The rock slide was almost upon them and in another second or two, it would have them in its deadly grip of stone death. His legs churned with the strain that he was putting onto them. They just weren't making him go fast enough! Then he saw a large rock hit Ilonton in the back and saw her go down. He changed his position quickly and ran up to her. He stooped low to the ground and continued to go at a dead run.
"Got to time this......just.......right! Now." Benji said to himself as he grabbed Ilonton and pulled her to her feet and out of the way of an even bigger rock. He shoved her into his arms and then ran like all of hell had broken loose that day. He reach the bottom of the slope and saw four of the company jump over the pit with ease. If it was that thin, how were the rocks going to be stopped by it?! Their momentum would just cause them to fly over the blasted thing and right into his friends! Suddenly something hit Benji in his back and he went down! Nate saw the hit, but was it was too late to help him. He had already cleared the pit and was forced to watch his brother die by a stone death.
"BENJI!" Nate screamed. He watched as the rock that was directly in his path flew into another rock and bounced off that and soared through the air only to hit his brother in the back. He watched as his brother's body turned a sharp angle, sending their friend, Ilonton, into the air. He watched as he tripped over his own feet trying to stay balanced and catch his friend before she hit the floor of the cave. He watched as they both hit the floor of the cave. He watched as the rocks bore them down. He watched as Benji tried to get back up onto his feet, watched him slip twice, watched as two more of their team made it over the pit, he watched as his brother was hit by another rock; one the size of a car, he watched Ilonton make it over the pit and land chest first on the dusty ground and roll several times. He watched as the rocks continued to bear Benji down. He watched as he finally climbed to his feet and then get hit by a third rock. He watched as Benji went flying into ground twenty feet in front of him and hit with bone crushing force. He saw his brother get caught up by the slide and then get swept away. He saw his frailed and lifeless body plunged into the depths of the pit. He heard his scream of death as he went over the side. He heard the rumble of the rocks stop altogether, as if by his brothers' scream of horror, they had known that they had taken what they wanted to and then he saw the slide stop.
"Noooooooo.....................Benji.....not him......Oh, God! Not him!" Nate said. He rushed to the edge of the pit and stared down into the blackness. He couldn't see anything. There was no sign of his brother anywhere within the darkness. He closed his eyes and turned from the scene of death. The rest of the group quickly asserted that Benji wasn't with them and they looked over to where the slide had been a moment before and then to the pit. They knew then, that he had gone over the side of the pit and to his death. There was nothing they could done to save his life another time from the grasp of death.
"Dad, we have to go down there and find him. I want to make sure that he's really dead. I'm not going to leave him to a grave a stone unless I know for certain." Nate said. His eyes flared with a firery madness and they all knew that he'd go down there into the pit alone if he had to. They all nodded. Then, with heavy hearts, they made the terrible desent into the pit. It was almost three days since they had began the climb downwards and now, at the end of the third day, they finally reached the bottom of the pit. In the darkness, they looked for their missing member, but to avail. His body lay beneath the rocks of the slide and his was dead. Ben turned to Chuck with a gleam in his eyes.
"Why don't you use your power to light up this place for us?" He asked him. Chuck nodded. He drew his spear and then said the name of his power. Instantly they were all awash with light. Nate roamed around the dim light, his eyes searching for his brother. He was looking for something that he knew would prove that his brother was dead. He was looking for the swords of the Armor of NightHawk. They would tell him where his brother lay, for they were in tune with his Armor and they were the only things that could help him find his brother.......or were they? Nate looked to Ben of the Armor of Heart. He then knew that his power would lead them to his brother quicker than they would find his swords. Nate spun around and looked at him in his eyes. He knew what to do. Instantly the arrow was upon the bow's string and pulled back. Then it was set free. The arrow twisted and turned. It spun and circled them all once, twice, three times, four times, five times, six total and then it flew into some rock anc began to glow red. Its glow was one of blood. They knew that that was the place that their friend had fallen.
"Now that we;ve found him, what do we do? We can't get him out of there by ourselves. The Armor of Earth might help, but I don't want that Armor's power to bring this whole place down on us." Nate said.
"We'll have to dig." Julia said. Her eyes filled with tears when she saw the arrows' glow quicken. She knew that her son might still be alive, but they had to know for certain and the only way they could do that was if they could get him out of his stone grave. Suddenly Nate felt the presence of something within the pit that they had climbed down into. He looked around and then saw the source of the feeling. It was the golden staff of the Ancient One. The staff that Benji had had strapped to his back just as he went under the rocks.
"Can't. The rocks are too heavy." Benjamin said.
"The staff." Nate said.
"What?" Chuck asked him. Nate turned to him.
"The staff is what will get him out of there!" Nate said. He pointed to where the staff lay, half buried in the rubble. The group rushed over to it and Nate bent down. He looked at it for a moment and then took hold of it. The staff began to glow with the same yellow light that had destroyed the Hell-Spirits several times before. He gave the golden staff a sharp pull and then it came free of the rock. He brushed off the dust and then walked back to where the arrow of the Armor of Heart was still glowing. "Now to get himf ree of that prison of rock." Nate said. He pointed the golden ball at the rocks, but nothing happened. He tried again and again he failed. He dropped the staff upon the ground and it clattered noisily to the rocks below his feet. He feel to the ground in despair. He had lost the one person that he had cared for most in his life. He couldn't go on and he just stayed where he was. Then something stirred in the staff. In floated into the air and then over to Nate. It stopped when it was right in front of him. The golden ball of the staff began to swirl with blue and white and black lines of colors. Suddenly the Ancient Ones' face appeared int he glowing ball. Nate looked at the staff and gasped.
"Nate of the WindStar, listen to my call. In order to save the life of your brother, Benji of the NightHawk, you must use the power of your Armor. You must use the Winds of Chaos to free him before it is too late for him. To achieve it you must be the master of both your mind, your spirit, and your body. You must have this control or the power of the Winds of Chaos will do nothing save for bring the whole cave down upon you and your friends. Farewell, WindStar." The Ancient Ones' face slowly disappeared in the golden ball and then it was still again. Nate looked at the floating staff as it slowly lowered itself to the ground and then lay next to him.
"I will do as you have asked of me, Ancient One. I will set my brother free of his stone grave." Nate thought. He closed his eyes and folded his leg underneath his body. He let his mind wander deep within himself. Then, as if he had been followed by some terrible black thing, he felt something within himself stir with rage. He knew that it was the very part that he must conquer and control. It was his mind, fighting him off with every ounce of power that it had within itself. Nate sat where he was, his tightly closed and lurched to one side. He hit the rocky ground hard, but managed to get back up and continue the fight. within a moment it was over and he stood the victor. He then felt the same feeling again and he knew that it was his spirit that had come to fight him next. Again he mangaged to conquer it and control it. The last was his body. He flet the heat rise and then he knew that he had to cool himself down. He thought of water and slowly his body temperature fell back to normal. He had conquered his mind, his spirit, and his body and in return he had gained thier respect of him and they would help him. He slowly stood up and then drew his swords. He looked at the arrow once and then jumped into the air. He clashed the ends of his swords together and then, as he was falling back to the earth, he called upon his power:
"WINDS OF CHAOS!" Nate shouted with all of his might. This time, the lightning was ten times as strong as it had been before. He came out of his swords with a rush of wind and charged the rock where the arrow was. It bore down upon it and then shattered it with a great explotion of thunder and lightning and sound. Bits of rock rained down on the whole group and Nate fell back to the earth. He collapsed onto the ground, and closed his eyes. But his eyes stayed open long enough for him to see his brother picked up and brought over to rest beside him. He slept that night away and in the morning the two of them awoke with new strength in their bodies. It was another three days before the small group had made it out of the pit and then to the place that their friend, Irookon of the Armor of Illusion, was sleeping. When they reached the place, they could hear water pouring down onto the rocks and into a larger body of the liquid. Then they turned a bend in the path that they were on. There, before them, was a huge lake and in the center of the lake was a large fountain. Coming out of the fountian was water that was steaming hot. In the middle of the tower of water that was falling from the top of the six leveled fountain was their friend, Irookon of the Armor of Illusion. The fountain itself was made of glass.
"In a cage of no true form." Nate said.
"The answer to that is the Fountain of Illusion. The water of the Fountain is the illusion. Water can take the form of whatever it wants and thus has no true form." Tobockin said.
"Now what?" Ben asked the open air.
"Now I have to find a way to get him out of there." Benjamin said. They all looked at him. "Each Armor has something in common with another one, right? My Armor, the Armor fo the Snake, is like the Armor of Illusion. Snakes were once thought to be devils and able to take the form of whatever they wanted to, thus my Armor is in tune with Irookons' Armor of Illusion." Benji nodded.
"Good luck." Benji said to his friend. Benjamin nodded to him and then walked out to a cliff. He looked at the waters of the lake and then his face guard snapped into place. He jumped over the side of the cliff and landed in the waters of the lake. He swam to the suface and then poked his head above the churning waters. He looked in front of his and saw the Fountain. He dove back into the water and began to swim for the Fountain. Suddenly everything went black and he knew that he was in terrible danger. The Warlords of Evil were somewhere within the cave.
"Probably fighting with the others right now." Benjamin thought. He continued to swim and soon he reach the Fountain itself. He poked his head out of the water and then began to climb onto the Fountain. Once he was upon the suface of the Fountain, he looked back to where he had left the others. He was right. One of the Warlords of Evil was fighting with his friends. He then knew that the only way to stop the Warlord was to free Irookon. He climbed up to the top of the Foiuntain and then saw that Irrokon was trapped inside the fountain itself. He'd have to use his power to break the glass. He drew his spear and then said the name of his power.
"VENOM STRIKE!" Benjamin shouted at the top of his lungs. His power lashed out of the spear and shattered the water cage that his friend was trapped in. Irookon instantly awoke and drew his nunchucks. He twirled them over his head and then called upon his power:
"WEB OF ILLUSION!" Irookon shouted. The moment the words were out of his mouth, small webs shout out of the weapon and flew towards the Warlord of Evil. It caught onto him and then the illusion started. The Warlord stopped what he was doing and looked behind him. A huge mountain cat was staring at him in the eyes. It was a rare cat known as a vamp. It looked just an ordinariy mountain lion of Earth, but it wasn't in one way. Its front fangs were hollow and they were used to suck the blood from its victims. Brayockin looked at the lion in the eyes and it leapt for him. He turned and jumped out of the way and gave it a swift kick on the head. The cat vanished.
"It was only an illusion!" He said.
"Yes, but we're not!" Someone said behind him. He turned once again and was face to face with Irookon and Benjamin.
"It's about time you two got here! Its time for the cat to eat the mouse. Farewell, Illusion and Snake." Brayockin said. He leapt at them and shouted the name of his power: "TIGER STRIKE!" His swords glowed with a bright orange light and the light shot out of the sword blades and bore down upon Benjamin and Irookon. Just as the last moment passed, the two of them jumped out of the way. They called upon their powers and then they heard the rest of the group call upon their own powers.
"NIGHTHAWK SCREECH!" Benji shouted. His power shot twoards the Warlord and was joined by the other powers of light.
"WINDS OF CHAOS!" Nate shouted.
"FIRES OF DOOM!" CHUCK shouted.
"WATERS OF DEATH!" Julia shouted.
"EARTH MANTRA STRIKE!" Ilonton shouted.
"BEAR CLAW STRIKE!" Brian shouted.
"HEART ATTACK WAVE!" Ben shouted.
"VENOM STRIKE!" Benjamin shouted. The last person to call upon his power was Irookon. He shouted the name and then they saw the most amazeing specticle of light ever seen by human eyes. Their powers joined as one and then turned to a brillant bright red color.
"WEB OF ILLUSION!" Irookon shouted. The bright red beam of light shot towards the Warlord of Evil and hit him in the chest and face. Within moments Brayockin was engulfed in the light. He screamed his pain and furry and then he was gone. The only thing that marked his passing was a thin whisp of smoke and a chared area of ground.
"Do you think that he's dead?" Chuck asked the open air.
"No. He just disappeared and went back to his master. He's wherever Evil is and I, personally, don't want to know what's going to happen to him." Benji said. The left the cave and then turned to the west. Within three days time they had gotten to the place that the next memeber could be found. It was a large cave. The open hole that would allow travle into the cave was dark and forbidding. The group stopped to rest for a while and then Irookon quickly departed from them and entered the cave. As he walked into the cave, he spotted a few shaped hanging upside down on the cave's ceiling. They were bats. Irookon went farther into the cave. Every so often, there'd be a patch of light in the cave and he'd sheild his eyes from it so that he could continue to see in the dark. After a long time of walking he came to a fork in the path. The one going to the right led off to more and the one going to the left led off into darkness. He took the left. Within moments, he was emerged in darkness and he could hardly see anything. After what seemed to be years, he found what he was looking for: A huge cavern that was just in dim blackness. There was no light coming into from any side.
"Now to find Thren." Irookon said. He looked around and then spotted a faint glow of light int he center of the darkness. He walked towards it and sooner discovered that it was Thren. He was inside of pillar of rock and part of it was crystal so that anyone on the outside could see what was inside of the pillar. He notice that the pillar was made from obsidian. It was dark as the blackest night and it shined in the dim light of the pillar's glow. Irookon drew his nunchucks and then was about to break apart the pillar of rock, when he was aware of something in the cave. It was something black and hideous. It was dark and evil and meant to do him harm. Irookon looked around. He saw nothing. There was nothing to be seen anywhere. He then decided that if he were to survive this fight, he'd want help. He called upon the power of his Armor:
"WEB OF ILLUSION!" He shouted and crashed the ends of his weapons into the crystal part of the pillar. It shattered and Thren opened his eyes.
"Irookon, look out!" Thren said. A sharp pain shot up Irookon's left shoulder and he wheeled about. Before him was an evil looking thing. He could see only the eyes of the creature and nothing more. The eyes burned red with hate and death. Irookon suddenly felt something that he had never felt before. It was feeling that crept through him slowly and it was black and terrible. He couldn't raise his weapons to fight back. He could run. He could call for help. Something had taken hold of his heart and he suddenly knew what it was. It was fear. He was afraid of the eyes that faced him. Those red eyes of hate and death and pain and anguish. Suddenly the eyes shot to the right and he heard a loud thud. A hand was on his shoulder now and he didn't fight the person who had placed it there. He knew that it was Thren. Together they ran from the dark cave. The creature was up and after them in a moment! It howled with fury and hoped to catch them before its prey of feed reached the light of the cave's entrance. As the two of them ran, they could heard the sounds of the thing that had given chase upon them, getting closer and closer. They ran for the cave entrance and they knew that they just might make it. Whatever it was that was giving the chase, it was getting far too close for their comfort.
Thren stopped and faced the thing that was chasing them out of the cave. He drew his swords had brought the tips of the blades together. He then called upon his power: "CLOAK OF DARKNESS!" He shouted. A dark beam of light shot out of the swords and hit the creature in the eyes. Instant dark spread before its eyes and the two humans ran like mad. They made it out of the cave witht he roars of pain and fury after them.
"Irookon, are you alright?" Benji asked him as the ran out of the cave.
"Yes, I'm fine. Just a bit tired and very soar from that run. What was that thing that gave chase?" He said.
"I don't know and I don't really care about that right now. If you can still walk at a fast pace, then we to get out of here. I'd rather not stick around to see if that thing can come out into the light." Nate said. The group agreed. They quickly left the cave and were headed south. By the end of the day they had reached the next place that another one of the Light Warriors could be found at. They had reached the Light Mountains.
"Okay, we're here at the Light Mountains. Now what do we do?" Ben said. He looked over to Thren.
"First we sleep and then we climb these blasted mountains. I have a feeling that Cilth will be traped in the snow on top of the highest peak." Thren said.
"That's right. She is there. She's on Mount Light, the only mountain that gets the first rays of light in the day and the last in the night." Angus said.
"I'll fly you to the peak of that mountain if you want me to do so." Sapphire said. Thren stared at the old dragon int he eyes for a moment and then nodded. They all made camp that night slept the night away without trouble of any kind. At the crack of dawn, they rose and Thren climbed onto Sapphire's back. Benji and his brother were with him. Thren had asked that they join him, because Benji had the eyes of a hawk. He could tell when someone was about to fight them, and Thren didn't have that skill that he had learned from Brian. Brian had stayed on the ground levle with the rest of the team, so that he might be able to do the same thing on the gound. Nate, on the other hand, had the ears of a bat. He could hear things that Thren couldn't and so he'd be of some help up on the mountain if Cith could speak in her mind. Sapphire flapped his mighty wings and they were in the air in a few seconds and soaring on the gusts of wind. They flew into the wind and then Sapphire turned so that he could ride the winds to the mountain. Within half an hour, they were soaring over the mountain itself and Sapphire turned his head so that he could speak to his friends.
"Hold tight! I'm going to land!" The dragon said. They gripped his big neck and then felt the wind rush past their ears with ear-spliting howls of rage. Sapphire was going down nose first!
"Sapphire, what are you doing?" Benji screamed above the sound of the wind.
"Hold on!" The dragon called. He then landed and they fell off his neck and into cold snow. The three humans picked themselves up and faced the dragon.
"Sapphire, why did you go down nose first?" Benji asked him.
"Had to. You see, I never would have made the landing so smooth had I not done that." He answered.
"Okay. No offence, but next warn the person who is upon your back when you're going to do that. Now let's find Cilth and leave this place!" Benji said.
"Good idea. Come on." Nate said. He started to pick his way around in the snow, testing it for weak spots. Suddenly he tripped over something. He went down face first into the snow. Benji walked over to him and helped him up.
"You alright?" He asked him.
"Oh, yeah I'm fine. I like falling down face first into ice cold snow and not know what it was that made me do that! Do I look okay to you?! I've got bruises all over my arms and legs and I really want to get off this mountain!" Nate said. Benji rolled his eyes and then walked back to the place that Nate had tripped and had fallen. He brushed the snow away and then saw that it was rock.
"You tripped over a rock. Come on. Cilth has to be here somewhere!" Benji said. They search all that day, but to no avail. They couldn't find their friend. Then, as the sun began to dip into night, a ray of light hit a small mound of snow and for a moment it appeared that someone was trapped within it. Benji knew that that was the place that Cilth was trapped within. It was a mound of snow and ice.
"Thren, I know where she is." Nate said when he saw what his brother was looking at. He pointed to the mound of snow and ice and Thren drew his swords. He brought the tips of them together and then said the name of his power. Instantly the ice was melted and Cilth was free. She nodded to Nate and he smiled back at her.
"Now that we've gotten you free of this place, I'd say....." He never finished his sentence.
"I'd say it's time for your death, Light Warrior." Someone said behind them. They spun around and they were face to face with all six of their enemies.
"Oh, come on! Don't you guys ever quit?!" Benji said.
"Never." Draconies said. He drew his swords and rushed Benji. Benji jumped out of the way and landed a firm side kick in his ribs. He then punched him int he hands and Draconeis dropped both of his weapons. Benji then threw his hip into his ribs and threw Draconeis over his back. Cilth instantly attacked Brayockin and Oakon at the same time. She kicked both men right int he face and then threw each of them into Draconeis, who was just getting up from his sudden fall to the hard ground. The three of them went flying into each other with sudden force that knoced them all out. That was when the fights broke off and they all rushed over to Sapphire. He flapped his wings and they were airborne in a moment. Within another half another, they were all standing besides their friends at the bottom of the mountain. Quickly they all fled into the mountains. They ran like the wind and soon they stopped. They had lost their attackers once more.
"Which direction do we go to now, Angus?" Nate asked the wolf.
"I don't no." The wolf said.
"Tobockin, do you know the way from here?" Benji said whe he looked at the wolf.
"I wish I could say yes." The wolf said.
"Blast. Moncoo? Sapphire? Do either of you know the way from here?" Chuck said. Both animals shook their heads.
"You've got to be kidding me. Here we are, almost done with this foul quest, and no one the knows the way to the rest of the Light Warriors?! Oh, boy, we are in for it now." Benji said. He slowly shook his head from side to side and closed his eyes.
"I know the way." Ilonton said. "I know how to find the rest of the Light Warriors........but I also know of something else. Something that you and your family need to know before we go any farther with this quest. This information is about your family and its history. You remember, Benji, when I told you about the seventh person who was with the Light Warriors on the Second Quest for Peace and on the Third Quest for Peace?" The young girl looked at him with eyes that showed him nothing save a distant look. A look of the truth that he'd find out right now and right here.
"Yes, I remember that. What has this quest got to do with that person?" Benji said.
"That seventh person was your........" Ilonton stopped what she was saying. She didn't know if they were to hear about who the seventh person was now or if they were to hear it from the mouth of the Ancient One. Then she decided that they had to know. She felt that she had no right to hide that which they did not know about themselves from them. She had to tell them. She had to! She continued:
"That person was your great-great grandfather." She said. Benji nodded. He knew. He knew it along. He had been told by his great-great grandfather of a magical world filled with both good and evil and of the quest that he had gone on when he was just a boy of twelve and then of the quest he had gone on again with the same people when he was twenty.
"Thank you for telling us this." Benji said.
"There's more about him that you don't know about." Ilonton said.
"Oh?"
"Yes. I think that I had no right to hide this information from you and your family. I'm sorry and I ask that you forgive me. Any way, it has to do with the Light Warriors of old and of two of Armors that we have in our group now. Those Armors are....." She never finished. Benji had cut her short.
"The Armors are NightHawk and Windstar." He said. Ilonton was shocked.
"How couldhe have known if I never told him until now?" She thought. She then looked him in the eyes.
"He told me of this world, of its people, of its evil and of its good. He told everything......everything. But, I still want to hear it from you. I want to hear you tell me of the quests that he was on and what happened to him. I know that after the Third Quest, he wasn't the same. There was something about him that I couldn't figure out until now. That thing is that he changed somehow. I think he had some of the magic of the Armor of NightHawk trapped within his blood and so it was carried over the generations to me and my brother, where until now, it has been dormant." Benji said.
"I understand. You see, your great-great grandfather, Mr. Phillips, he was called, was one of the best fighters that I've ever heard of. There were a total of eight Armors of Light that had been found so far, six of these were doomed to be the slaves to Evil once again, but the other two weren't. NightHawk was given to your great-great grandfather when he proved that he could use it and control its evil with his mind. The other one, WindStar, was given to one of this world. It was given to Threns' great-great grandfather. And so the two of them became fast friends and they fought many evils until the Second Quest had arisen from the ashes of the First Quest. The two of them were joined by the Light Warriors of that time and so the eight of them went forth to fight Evil once more. They all made it back alive and but the six that we fight now never healed from their fights with Evil. He took over their minds and slowly poisoned their hearts. They now serve only him and so must be killed in order to be set free. Any way, your great-great grandfather returned to Earth, but before he went back to your home, he told us that if Evil should ever return from the abyss that they had trapped him inside of, that they could summon him and that he'd help anyone who wanted to see Evil dead. That's what we, at Ioaktiekon, did. We called him back to this world when he was twenty or so and we asked him if he could still wear the Armor of NightHawk. He never even proved it to any of us that night. That night the Armor sprang to life and the moment he touched it, it was upon him. The rest of the Warriors of Light, the other seven, joined him in a quest against Evil and his followers.....but your great-great grandfather never came back from that quest. He, and Threns' great-great grandfather, were both betrayed by the six that we fight today. They murdered Threns' great-great grandfather and tried to steal his Armor, but Mr. Phillips stopped them. He fought them and slayed them all....or so he thought. They would have remained in their graves, had Evil not found them all and brought them all backt o life and gave them the gift of immortality. Mr. Phillips brought the Armor of WindStar and a note back to the gate of Ioaktiekon. He also left the Armor of NightHawk with us. He somehow managed to get back to his own world or so we thought until now. Now we have proof that he did make it back. You and your family are that proof. The note said that the Armors of NightHawk and WindStar and any other Light Warrior Armor that shall be found over the years must be turned into medallions that would disappear once the Armor they bore was called upon for the first time by a new bearer. That's what Moeton, the Blue Wizard, did for us at the Castle of Peace. As the years went by people soon forgot about your great-great grandfather. I never did.....though I never met him, I never forgot about the tales that I heard about him from my parents. After about seventy years or so, you and your family were brought into the world of Earth and that was when the Two Evils, one of which happened to be Evil, only in a different form, apeared and started to make the peace that we had earned from the last quest disappear. At first only wolves and vampires and trolls would fight among themselves, but then it spread to almost everyone. That was when I asked Moeton to help the world of Zadonkon. He said that he couldn't do anything at the moment. After that long conversation with him, he disappeared for a while and when he returned he had with him the madallions that gave to you the Armors which you have now. Before he summoned you to this world and before he called upon the other people that are gathered in this group and those that we still have to find, he discovered that over the passage of time, the Armors lost a lot of their powers. He used his White Magic to heal them as much as possible, but that wasn't enough. Then the Ancient One appeared to him in a dream and he was told to give him the madallions. He did so and the Ancient One took them away. He placed each one in the places that we have been and the places that we need to go to. The only people he ever told about where they were were Angus, Tobockin, Sapphire, Moncoo, myself, and the Green Wizard, Merlin. Moeton summoned you and your family not because of what your parents were doing to you and your brother. He brought you hear because you are decendants of Mr. Phillips. The Armor of NightHawks power runs in your blood." Ilonton said.
"But how come Nate wears the Armor of WindStar when that Armor was never used by our great-great grandfather?" Benji asked. His face was a look of puzzlement.
"He can bear the Armor of WindStar because your great-great grandfathers' blood is within its metal. He was hurt badly when he returned the Armors to us and his blood was adsorbed into the Armors' metal. That is the only reason that Nate can bear it. If it were not so, then Thren would be wearing it now and he would be wearing Threns' Armor." Ionton said. Her voice was distant and dream like. It was as if she were in the past with the original Light Warriors. Then the distance disappeared from her voice and her eyes. She looked at them all with eyes round and huge with sadness. Benji placed a hand on her shoulder and she felt comforted by his hand.
"Thanks for telling us about this. It means a lot to me and my family." He said. He turned around and looked at the cold trees before them. He turned back to Ilonton. "Which way?" He asked her. Determination flared in his eyes. Ilonton took a step forward.
"North. Follow me." She said. She stepped out into the front of the group. They hiked all that day and into the night. It was nearly midnight by the time they stopped and fell to a deep sleep. In the morning, the group awoke to see that the wolves and dragon were gone. They waited for their return. It was a long wait and Benji began to worry about them. He was just about to go look for them, when they appeared silently out of the sky and forest. Sapphire landed smoothly and then looked back to the wolves. They walked up to the humans and looked at them. In their hands were nine rabbits.
"We thought that we should have something to eat first and then continue with this quest." Angus said.
"I couldn't agree with you guys more!" Chuck said.
"Well then lets build a fire and start cooking those hairy things!" Thren said. "I'll make one that's smokeless."
"Good idea. I don't really want to have to fight anyone while I'm eating." Benji said.
"True." Ilonton said. They had the fire going within minutes and the rabbits were quickly cooked and eaten. The wolves, dragon, and elk didn't eat anything.
"Aren't you guys hungery?" Benji asked.
"We've already eaten." Moncoo said.
"Are you all ready to leave?" Angus asked.
"Yes. Let's go." Ilonton said. All that day and again into half of the night, the small band worked its way north. By the time midnight had reach them, they were where they wanted to be. They had reached the Shadow Caves. Inside one of the six caves, they'd find Mr. Tolkien of the Armor of Shadow.
"Which cave?" Ben asked Ilonton.
"The center one. The two others are merely dead ends and their is constant darkness within each of them. The center one with have light in it and that cavern we will find Mr. Tolkien of the Armor of Shadow. Come." Ilonton said. She led the way into the cave and they were soon lost within its darkness. Ilonton didn't even falter once. It was as if she had been here before many times. The every one in the group lost track of time, save for Ilonton. She knew which way to turn and at what time to do so. When Benji had asked her about how she had known which way to go, she merely said that the Ancient One had told her family of where each Armor could be found and how to reach them. The information had been passed from mother to daughter for generations and it would continue to do so. After what seemed to be years of walking and stumbbling into the rocky walls of the cave, the small band made it to the center of the cave. The cavern that they were insideof was huge. It was about the size of Candle Stick Park! Small cracks of light streamed into the cavern through cracks in the ceiling, giving it an eeire appearance. The light fell in small and large streams to the ground. The small group moved deeper intot he cavern. Ilonton then brought them to a halt. She pointed to where the light and darkness faded into shadows. That was where they'd find Mr. Tolkien's prison. Cilth walked up to the front of the group and looked to the place that Ilonton had shown them. Her eyes came to rest upon a large pillar of rock. The pillar was about sixty feet tall and their feet in circumfrence. The pillar was made of jet and white quarts crystals, makeing it look a deep grey color. Inside of the pillar of stone was Mr. Tolkien.
"There's a pit of about one hundred feet deep five hundred meters after the slope ends. If you can get past that, then you'll be able to get past the rock slide." Angus said. He took off after Ben. Soon the whole cave was filled with the terible sound of rock crashing against rock and more rock sliding towards them. It was an avalanche of rock. The group wouldn't have minded about the rock slide, but for the fact that it was headed right for them. Benji paused in his running for just a second and looked behind him. His ears were filled with the roar of the sliding rocks and crash of rock upon rock. His eyes beheld the biggest specticale of rcok that he had ever seen. The rocks were litterally flying in all directions as they tumbled down the small slope that they were running down. He turned and ran to catch up to his friends and to hopefully beat the rocks to the pit, but he knew that they would never make it. The rocks were coming at them far too fast for them to outrun them all and they'd be killed if it caught them.
"There's the blasted pit that Angus told us about. If I can only reach it in time........" Benji thought. He was running as fast as he could, but it wasn't fast enough. He knew this to be true when two or three rocks flew past his head. The rock slide was almost upon them and in another second or two, it would have them in its deadly grip of stone death. His legs churned with the strain that he was putting onto them. They just weren't making him go fast enough! Then he saw a large rock hit Ilonton in the back and saw her go down. He changed his position quickly and ran up to her. He stooped low to the ground and continued to go at a dead run.
"Got to time this......just.......right! Now." Benji said to himself as he grabbed Ilonton and pulled her to her feet and out of the way of an even bigger rock. He shoved her into his arms and then ran like all of hell had broken loose that day. He reach the bottom of the slope and saw four of the company jump over the pit with ease. If it was that thin, how were the rocks going to be stopped by it?! Their momentum would just cause them to fly over the blasted thing and right into his friends! Suddenly something hit Benji in his back and he went down! Nate saw the hit, but was it was too late to help him. He had already cleared the pit and was forced to watch his brother die by a stone death.
"BENJI!" Nate screamed. He watched as the rock that was directly in his path flew into another rock and bounced off that and soared through the air only to hit his brother in the back. He watched as his brother's body turned a sharp angle, sending their friend, Ilonton, into the air. He watched as he tripped over his own feet trying to stay balanced and catch his friend before she hit the floor of the cave. He watched as they both hit the floor of the cave. He watched as the rocks bore them down. He watched as Benji tried to get back up onto his feet, watched him slip twice, watched as two more of their team made it over the pit, he watched as his brother was hit by another rock; one the size of a car, he watched Ilonton make it over the pit and land chest first on the dusty ground and roll several times. He watched as the rocks continued to bear Benji down. He watched as he finally climbed to his feet and then get hit by a third rock. He watched as Benji went flying into ground twenty feet in front of him and hit with bone crushing force. He saw his brother get caught up by the slide and then get swept away. He saw his frailed and lifeless body plunged into the depths of the pit. He heard his scream of death as he went over the side. He heard the rumble of the rocks stop altogether, as if by his brothers' scream of horror, they had known that they had taken what they wanted to and then he saw the slide stop.
"Noooooooo.....................Benji.....not him......Oh, God! Not him!" Nate said. He rushed to the edge of the pit and stared down into the blackness. He couldn't see anything. There was no sign of his brother anywhere within the darkness. He closed his eyes and turned from the scene of death. The rest of the group quickly asserted that Benji wasn't with them and they looked over to where the slide had been a moment before and then to the pit. They knew then, that he had gone over the side of the pit and to his death. There was nothing they could done to save his life another time from the grasp of death.
"Dad, we have to go down there and find him. I want to make sure that he's really dead. I'm not going to leave him to a grave a stone unless I know for certain." Nate said. His eyes flared with a firery madness and they all knew that he'd go down there into the pit alone if he had to. They all nodded. Then, with heavy hearts, they made the terrible desent into the pit. It was almost three days since they had began the climb downwards and now, at the end of the third day, they finally reached the bottom of the pit. In the darkness, they looked for their missing member, but to avail. His body lay beneath the rocks of the slide and his was dead. Ben turned to Chuck with a gleam in his eyes.
"Why don't you use your power to light up this place for us?" He asked him. Chuck nodded. He drew his spear and then said the name of his power. Instantly they were all awash with light. Nate roamed around the dim light, his eyes searching for his brother. He was looking for something that he knew would prove that his brother was dead. He was looking for the swords of the Armor of NightHawk. They would tell him where his brother lay, for they were in tune with his Armor and they were the only things that could help him find his brother.......or were they? Nate looked to Ben of the Armor of Heart. He then knew that his power would lead them to his brother quicker than they would find his swords. Nate spun around and looked at him in his eyes. He knew what to do. Instantly the arrow was upon the bow's string and pulled back. Then it was set free. The arrow twisted and turned. It spun and circled them all once, twice, three times, four times, five times, six total and then it flew into some rock anc began to glow red. Its glow was one of blood. They knew that that was the place that their friend had fallen.
"Now that we;ve found him, what do we do? We can't get him out of there by ourselves. The Armor of Earth might help, but I don't want that Armor's power to bring this whole place down on us." Nate said.
"We'll have to dig." Julia said. Her eyes filled with tears when she saw the arrows' glow quicken. She knew that her son might still be alive, but they had to know for certain and the only way they could do that was if they could get him out of his stone grave. Suddenly Nate felt the presence of something within the pit that they had climbed down into. He looked around and then saw the source of the feeling. It was the golden staff of the Ancient One. The staff that Benji had had strapped to his back just as he went under the rocks.
"Can't. The rocks are too heavy." Benjamin said.
"The staff." Nate said.
"What?" Chuck asked him. Nate turned to him.
"The staff is what will get him out of there!" Nate said. He pointed to where the staff lay, half buried in the rubble. The group rushed over to it and Nate bent down. He looked at it for a moment and then took hold of it. The staff began to glow with the same yellow light that had destroyed the Hell-Spirits several times before. He gave the golden staff a sharp pull and then it came free of the rock. He brushed off the dust and then walked back to where the arrow of the Armor of Heart was still glowing. "Now to get himf ree of that prison of rock." Nate said. He pointed the golden ball at the rocks, but nothing happened. He tried again and again he failed. He dropped the staff upon the ground and it clattered noisily to the rocks below his feet. He feel to the ground in despair. He had lost the one person that he had cared for most in his life. He couldn't go on and he just stayed where he was. Then something stirred in the staff. In floated into the air and then over to Nate. It stopped when it was right in front of him. The golden ball of the staff began to swirl with blue and white and black lines of colors. Suddenly the Ancient Ones' face appeared int he glowing ball. Nate looked at the staff and gasped.
"Nate of the WindStar, listen to my call. In order to save the life of your brother, Benji of the NightHawk, you must use the power of your Armor. You must use the Winds of Chaos to free him before it is too late for him. To achieve it you must be the master of both your mind, your spirit, and your body. You must have this control or the power of the Winds of Chaos will do nothing save for bring the whole cave down upon you and your friends. Farewell, WindStar." The Ancient Ones' face slowly disappeared in the golden ball and then it was still again. Nate looked at the floating staff as it slowly lowered itself to the ground and then lay next to him.
"I will do as you have asked of me, Ancient One. I will set my brother free of his stone grave." Nate thought. He closed his eyes and folded his leg underneath his body. He let his mind wander deep within himself. Then, as if he had been followed by some terrible black thing, he felt something within himself stir with rage. He knew that it was the very part that he must conquer and control. It was his mind, fighting him off with every ounce of power that it had within itself. Nate sat where he was, his tightly closed and lurched to one side. He hit the rocky ground hard, but managed to get back up and continue the fight. within a moment it was over and he stood the victor. He then felt the same feeling again and he knew that it was his spirit that had come to fight him next. Again he mangaged to conquer it and control it. The last was his body. He flet the heat rise and then he knew that he had to cool himself down. He thought of water and slowly his body temperature fell back to normal. He had conquered his mind, his spirit, and his body and in return he had gained thier respect of him and they would help him. He slowly stood up and then drew his swords. He looked at the arrow once and then jumped into the air. He clashed the ends of his swords together and then, as he was falling back to the earth, he called upon his power:
"WINDS OF CHAOS!" Nate shouted with all of his might. This time, the lightning was ten times as strong as it had been before. He came out of his swords with a rush of wind and charged the rock where the arrow was. It bore down upon it and then shattered it with a great explotion of thunder and lightning and sound. Bits of rock rained down on the whole group and Nate fell back to the earth. He collapsed onto the ground, and closed his eyes. But his eyes stayed open long enough for him to see his brother picked up and brought over to rest beside him. He slept that night away and in the morning the two of them awoke with new strength in their bodies. It was another three days before the small group had made it out of the pit and then to the place that their friend, Irookon of the Armor of Illusion, was sleeping. When they reached the place, they could hear water pouring down onto the rocks and into a larger body of the liquid. Then they turned a bend in the path that they were on. There, before them, was a huge lake and in the center of the lake was a large fountain. Coming out of the fountian was water that was steaming hot. In the middle of the tower of water that was falling from the top of the six leveled fountain was their friend, Irookon of the Armor of Illusion. The fountain itself was made of glass.
"In a cage of no true form." Nate said.
"The answer to that is the Fountain of Illusion. The water of the Fountain is the illusion. Water can take the form of whatever it wants and thus has no true form." Tobockin said.
"Now what?" Ben asked the open air.
"Now I have to find a way to get him out of there." Benjamin said. They all looked at him. "Each Armor has something in common with another one, right? My Armor, the Armor fo the Snake, is like the Armor of Illusion. Snakes were once thought to be devils and able to take the form of whatever they wanted to, thus my Armor is in tune with Irookons' Armor of Illusion." Benji nodded.
"Good luck." Benji said to his friend. Benjamin nodded to him and then walked out to a cliff. He looked at the waters of the lake and then his face guard snapped into place. He jumped over the side of the cliff and landed in the waters of the lake. He swam to the suface and then poked his head above the churning waters. He looked in front of his and saw the Fountain. He dove back into the water and began to swim for the Fountain. Suddenly everything went black and he knew that he was in terrible danger. The Warlords of Evil were somewhere within the cave.
"Probably fighting with the others right now." Benjamin thought. He continued to swim and soon he reach the Fountain itself. He poked his head out of the water and then began to climb onto the Fountain. Once he was upon the suface of the Fountain, he looked back to where he had left the others. He was right. One of the Warlords of Evil was fighting with his friends. He then knew that the only way to stop the Warlord was to free Irookon. He climbed up to the top of the Foiuntain and then saw that Irrokon was trapped inside the fountain itself. He'd have to use his power to break the glass. He drew his spear and then said the name of his power.
"VENOM STRIKE!" Benjamin shouted at the top of his lungs. His power lashed out of the spear and shattered the water cage that his friend was trapped in. Irookon instantly awoke and drew his nunchucks. He twirled them over his head and then called upon his power:
"WEB OF ILLUSION!" Irookon shouted. The moment the words were out of his mouth, small webs shout out of the weapon and flew towards the Warlord of Evil. It caught onto him and then the illusion started. The Warlord stopped what he was doing and looked behind him. A huge mountain cat was staring at him in the eyes. It was a rare cat known as a vamp. It looked just an ordinariy mountain lion of Earth, but it wasn't in one way. Its front fangs were hollow and they were used to suck the blood from its victims. Brayockin looked at the lion in the eyes and it leapt for him. He turned and jumped out of the way and gave it a swift kick on the head. The cat vanished.
"It was only an illusion!" He said.
"Yes, but we're not!" Someone said behind him. He turned once again and was face to face with Irookon and Benjamin.
"It's about time you two got here! Its time for the cat to eat the mouse. Farewell, Illusion and Snake." Brayockin said. He leapt at them and shouted the name of his power: "TIGER STRIKE!" His swords glowed with a bright orange light and the light shot out of the sword blades and bore down upon Benjamin and Irookon. Just as the last moment passed, the two of them jumped out of the way. They called upon their powers and then they heard the rest of the group call upon their own powers.
"NIGHTHAWK SCREECH!" Benji shouted. His power shot twoards the Warlord and was joined by the other powers of light.
"WINDS OF CHAOS!" Nate shouted.
"FIRES OF DOOM!" CHUCK shouted.
"WATERS OF DEATH!" Julia shouted.
"EARTH MANTRA STRIKE!" Ilonton shouted.
"BEAR CLAW STRIKE!" Brian shouted.
"HEART ATTACK WAVE!" Ben shouted.
"VENOM STRIKE!" Benjamin shouted. The last person to call upon his power was Irookon. He shouted the name and then they saw the most amazeing specticle of light ever seen by human eyes. Their powers joined as one and then turned to a brillant bright red color.
"WEB OF ILLUSION!" Irookon shouted. The bright red beam of light shot towards the Warlord of Evil and hit him in the chest and face. Within moments Brayockin was engulfed in the light. He screamed his pain and furry and then he was gone. The only thing that marked his passing was a thin whisp of smoke and a chared area of ground.
"Do you think that he's dead?" Chuck asked the open air.
"No. He just disappeared and went back to his master. He's wherever Evil is and I, personally, don't want to know what's going to happen to him." Benji said. The left the cave and then turned to the west. Within three days time they had gotten to the place that the next memeber could be found. It was a large cave. The open hole that would allow travle into the cave was dark and forbidding. The group stopped to rest for a while and then Irookon quickly departed from them and entered the cave. As he walked into the cave, he spotted a few shaped hanging upside down on the cave's ceiling. They were bats. Irookon went farther into the cave. Every so often, there'd be a patch of light in the cave and he'd sheild his eyes from it so that he could continue to see in the dark. After a long time of walking he came to a fork in the path. The one going to the right led off to more and the one going to the left led off into darkness. He took the left. Within moments, he was emerged in darkness and he could hardly see anything. After what seemed to be years, he found what he was looking for: A huge cavern that was just in dim blackness. There was no light coming into from any side.
"Now to find Thren." Irookon said. He looked around and then spotted a faint glow of light int he center of the darkness. He walked towards it and sooner discovered that it was Thren. He was inside of pillar of rock and part of it was crystal so that anyone on the outside could see what was inside of the pillar. He notice that the pillar was made from obsidian. It was dark as the blackest night and it shined in the dim light of the pillar's glow. Irookon drew his nunchucks and then was about to break apart the pillar of rock, when he was aware of something in the cave. It was something black and hideous. It was dark and evil and meant to do him harm. Irookon looked around. He saw nothing. There was nothing to be seen anywhere. He then decided that if he were to survive this fight, he'd want help. He called upon the power of his Armor:
"WEB OF ILLUSION!" He shouted and crashed the ends of his weapons into the crystal part of the pillar. It shattered and Thren opened his eyes.
"Irookon, look out!" Thren said. A sharp pain shot up Irookon's left shoulder and he wheeled about. Before him was an evil looking thing. He could see only the eyes of the creature and nothing more. The eyes burned red with hate and death. Irookon suddenly felt something that he had never felt before. It was feeling that crept through him slowly and it was black and terrible. He couldn't raise his weapons to fight back. He could run. He could call for help. Something had taken hold of his heart and he suddenly knew what it was. It was fear. He was afraid of the eyes that faced him. Those red eyes of hate and death and pain and anguish. Suddenly the eyes shot to the right and he heard a loud thud. A hand was on his shoulder now and he didn't fight the person who had placed it there. He knew that it was Thren. Together they ran from the dark cave. The creature was up and after them in a moment! It howled with fury and hoped to catch them before its prey of feed reached the light of the cave's entrance. As the two of them ran, they could heard the sounds of the thing that had given chase upon them, getting closer and closer. They ran for the cave entrance and they knew that they just might make it. Whatever it was that was giving the chase, it was getting far too close for their comfort.
Thren stopped and faced the thing that was chasing them out of the cave. He drew his swords had brought the tips of the blades together. He then called upon his power: "CLOAK OF DARKNESS!" He shouted. A dark beam of light shot out of the swords and hit the creature in the eyes. Instant dark spread before its eyes and the two humans ran like mad. They made it out of the cave witht he roars of pain and fury after them.
"Irookon, are you alright?" Benji asked him as the ran out of the cave.
"Yes, I'm fine. Just a bit tired and very soar from that run. What was that thing that gave chase?" He said.
"I don't know and I don't really care about that right now. If you can still walk at a fast pace, then we to get out of here. I'd rather not stick around to see if that thing can come out into the light." Nate said. The group agreed. They quickly left the cave and were headed south. By the end of the day they had reached the next place that another one of the Light Warriors could be found at. They had reached the Light Mountains.
"Okay, we're here at the Light Mountains. Now what do we do?" Ben said. He looked over to Thren.
"First we sleep and then we climb these blasted mountains. I have a feeling that Cilth will be traped in the snow on top of the highest peak." Thren said.
"That's right. She is there. She's on Mount Light, the only mountain that gets the first rays of light in the day and the last in the night." Angus said.
"I'll fly you to the peak of that mountain if you want me to do so." Sapphire said. Thren stared at the old dragon int he eyes for a moment and then nodded. They all made camp that night slept the night away without trouble of any kind. At the crack of dawn, they rose and Thren climbed onto Sapphire's back. Benji and his brother were with him. Thren had asked that they join him, because Benji had the eyes of a hawk. He could tell when someone was about to fight them, and Thren didn't have that skill that he had learned from Brian. Brian had stayed on the ground levle with the rest of the team, so that he might be able to do the same thing on the gound. Nate, on the other hand, had the ears of a bat. He could hear things that Thren couldn't and so he'd be of some help up on the mountain if Cith could speak in her mind. Sapphire flapped his mighty wings and they were in the air in a few seconds and soaring on the gusts of wind. They flew into the wind and then Sapphire turned so that he could ride the winds to the mountain. Within half an hour, they were soaring over the mountain itself and Sapphire turned his head so that he could speak to his friends.
"Hold tight! I'm going to land!" The dragon said. They gripped his big neck and then felt the wind rush past their ears with ear-spliting howls of rage. Sapphire was going down nose first!
"Sapphire, what are you doing?" Benji screamed above the sound of the wind.
"Hold on!" The dragon called. He then landed and they fell off his neck and into cold snow. The three humans picked themselves up and faced the dragon.
"Sapphire, why did you go down nose first?" Benji asked him.
"Had to. You see, I never would have made the landing so smooth had I not done that." He answered.
"Okay. No offence, but next warn the person who is upon your back when you're going to do that. Now let's find Cilth and leave this place!" Benji said.
"Good idea. Come on." Nate said. He started to pick his way around in the snow, testing it for weak spots. Suddenly he tripped over something. He went down face first into the snow. Benji walked over to him and helped him up.
"You alright?" He asked him.
"Oh, yeah I'm fine. I like falling down face first into ice cold snow and not know what it was that made me do that! Do I look okay to you?! I've got bruises all over my arms and legs and I really want to get off this mountain!" Nate said. Benji rolled his eyes and then walked back to the place that Nate had tripped and had fallen. He brushed the snow away and then saw that it was rock.
"You tripped over a rock. Come on. Cilth has to be here somewhere!" Benji said. They search all that day, but to no avail. They couldn't find their friend. Then, as the sun began to dip into night, a ray of light hit a small mound of snow and for a moment it appeared that someone was trapped within it. Benji knew that that was the place that Cilth was trapped within. It was a mound of snow and ice.
"Thren, I know where she is." Nate said when he saw what his brother was looking at. He pointed to the mound of snow and ice and Thren drew his swords. He brought the tips of them together and then said the name of his power. Instantly the ice was melted and Cilth was free. She nodded to Nate and he smiled back at her.
"Now that we've gotten you free of this place, I'd say....." He never finished his sentence.
"I'd say it's time for your death, Light Warrior." Someone said behind them. They spun around and they were face to face with all six of their enemies.
"Oh, come on! Don't you guys ever quit?!" Benji said.
"Never." Draconies said. He drew his swords and rushed Benji. Benji jumped out of the way and landed a firm side kick in his ribs. He then punched him int he hands and Draconeis dropped both of his weapons. Benji then threw his hip into his ribs and threw Draconeis over his back. Cilth instantly attacked Brayockin and Oakon at the same time. She kicked both men right int he face and then threw each of them into Draconeis, who was just getting up from his sudden fall to the hard ground. The three of them went flying into each other with sudden force that knoced them all out. That was when the fights broke off and they all rushed over to Sapphire. He flapped his wings and they were airborne in a moment. Within another half another, they were all standing besides their friends at the bottom of the mountain. Quickly they all fled into the mountains. They ran like the wind and soon they stopped. They had lost their attackers once more.
"Which direction do we go to now, Angus?" Nate asked the wolf.
"I don't no." The wolf said.
"Tobockin, do you know the way from here?" Benji said whe he looked at the wolf.
"I wish I could say yes." The wolf said.
"Blast. Moncoo? Sapphire? Do either of you know the way from here?" Chuck said. Both animals shook their heads.
"You've got to be kidding me. Here we are, almost done with this foul quest, and no one the knows the way to the rest of the Light Warriors?! Oh, boy, we are in for it now." Benji said. He slowly shook his head from side to side and closed his eyes.
"I know the way." Ilonton said. "I know how to find the rest of the Light Warriors........but I also know of something else. Something that you and your family need to know before we go any farther with this quest. This information is about your family and its history. You remember, Benji, when I told you about the seventh person who was with the Light Warriors on the Second Quest for Peace and on the Third Quest for Peace?" The young girl looked at him with eyes that showed him nothing save a distant look. A look of the truth that he'd find out right now and right here.
"Yes, I remember that. What has this quest got to do with that person?" Benji said.
"That seventh person was your........" Ilonton stopped what she was saying. She didn't know if they were to hear about who the seventh person was now or if they were to hear it from the mouth of the Ancient One. Then she decided that they had to know. She felt that she had no right to hide that which they did not know about themselves from them. She had to tell them. She had to! She continued:
"That person was your great-great grandfather." She said. Benji nodded. He knew. He knew it along. He had been told by his great-great grandfather of a magical world filled with both good and evil and of the quest that he had gone on when he was just a boy of twelve and then of the quest he had gone on again with the same people when he was twenty.
"Thank you for telling us this." Benji said.
"There's more about him that you don't know about." Ilonton said.
"Oh?"
"Yes. I think that I had no right to hide this information from you and your family. I'm sorry and I ask that you forgive me. Any way, it has to do with the Light Warriors of old and of two of Armors that we have in our group now. Those Armors are....." She never finished. Benji had cut her short.
"The Armors are NightHawk and Windstar." He said. Ilonton was shocked.
"How couldhe have known if I never told him until now?" She thought. She then looked him in the eyes.
"He told me of this world, of its people, of its evil and of its good. He told everything......everything. But, I still want to hear it from you. I want to hear you tell me of the quests that he was on and what happened to him. I know that after the Third Quest, he wasn't the same. There was something about him that I couldn't figure out until now. That thing is that he changed somehow. I think he had some of the magic of the Armor of NightHawk trapped within his blood and so it was carried over the generations to me and my brother, where until now, it has been dormant." Benji said.
"I understand. You see, your great-great grandfather, Mr. Phillips, he was called, was one of the best fighters that I've ever heard of. There were a total of eight Armors of Light that had been found so far, six of these were doomed to be the slaves to Evil once again, but the other two weren't. NightHawk was given to your great-great grandfather when he proved that he could use it and control its evil with his mind. The other one, WindStar, was given to one of this world. It was given to Threns' great-great grandfather. And so the two of them became fast friends and they fought many evils until the Second Quest had arisen from the ashes of the First Quest. The two of them were joined by the Light Warriors of that time and so the eight of them went forth to fight Evil once more. They all made it back alive and but the six that we fight now never healed from their fights with Evil. He took over their minds and slowly poisoned their hearts. They now serve only him and so must be killed in order to be set free. Any way, your great-great grandfather returned to Earth, but before he went back to your home, he told us that if Evil should ever return from the abyss that they had trapped him inside of, that they could summon him and that he'd help anyone who wanted to see Evil dead. That's what we, at Ioaktiekon, did. We called him back to this world when he was twenty or so and we asked him if he could still wear the Armor of NightHawk. He never even proved it to any of us that night. That night the Armor sprang to life and the moment he touched it, it was upon him. The rest of the Warriors of Light, the other seven, joined him in a quest against Evil and his followers.....but your great-great grandfather never came back from that quest. He, and Threns' great-great grandfather, were both betrayed by the six that we fight today. They murdered Threns' great-great grandfather and tried to steal his Armor, but Mr. Phillips stopped them. He fought them and slayed them all....or so he thought. They would have remained in their graves, had Evil not found them all and brought them all backt o life and gave them the gift of immortality. Mr. Phillips brought the Armor of WindStar and a note back to the gate of Ioaktiekon. He also left the Armor of NightHawk with us. He somehow managed to get back to his own world or so we thought until now. Now we have proof that he did make it back. You and your family are that proof. The note said that the Armors of NightHawk and WindStar and any other Light Warrior Armor that shall be found over the years must be turned into medallions that would disappear once the Armor they bore was called upon for the first time by a new bearer. That's what Moeton, the Blue Wizard, did for us at the Castle of Peace. As the years went by people soon forgot about your great-great grandfather. I never did.....though I never met him, I never forgot about the tales that I heard about him from my parents. After about seventy years or so, you and your family were brought into the world of Earth and that was when the Two Evils, one of which happened to be Evil, only in a different form, apeared and started to make the peace that we had earned from the last quest disappear. At first only wolves and vampires and trolls would fight among themselves, but then it spread to almost everyone. That was when I asked Moeton to help the world of Zadonkon. He said that he couldn't do anything at the moment. After that long conversation with him, he disappeared for a while and when he returned he had with him the madallions that gave to you the Armors which you have now. Before he summoned you to this world and before he called upon the other people that are gathered in this group and those that we still have to find, he discovered that over the passage of time, the Armors lost a lot of their powers. He used his White Magic to heal them as much as possible, but that wasn't enough. Then the Ancient One appeared to him in a dream and he was told to give him the madallions. He did so and the Ancient One took them away. He placed each one in the places that we have been and the places that we need to go to. The only people he ever told about where they were were Angus, Tobockin, Sapphire, Moncoo, myself, and the Green Wizard, Merlin. Moeton summoned you and your family not because of what your parents were doing to you and your brother. He brought you hear because you are decendants of Mr. Phillips. The Armor of NightHawks power runs in your blood." Ilonton said.
"But how come Nate wears the Armor of WindStar when that Armor was never used by our great-great grandfather?" Benji asked. His face was a look of puzzlement.
"He can bear the Armor of WindStar because your great-great grandfathers' blood is within its metal. He was hurt badly when he returned the Armors to us and his blood was adsorbed into the Armors' metal. That is the only reason that Nate can bear it. If it were not so, then Thren would be wearing it now and he would be wearing Threns' Armor." Ionton said. Her voice was distant and dream like. It was as if she were in the past with the original Light Warriors. Then the distance disappeared from her voice and her eyes. She looked at them all with eyes round and huge with sadness. Benji placed a hand on her shoulder and she felt comforted by his hand.
"Thanks for telling us about this. It means a lot to me and my family." He said. He turned around and looked at the cold trees before them. He turned back to Ilonton. "Which way?" He asked her. Determination flared in his eyes. Ilonton took a step forward.
"North. Follow me." She said. She stepped out into the front of the group. They hiked all that day and into the night. It was nearly midnight by the time they stopped and fell to a deep sleep. In the morning, the group awoke to see that the wolves and dragon were gone. They waited for their return. It was a long wait and Benji began to worry about them. He was just about to go look for them, when they appeared silently out of the sky and forest. Sapphire landed smoothly and then looked back to the wolves. They walked up to the humans and looked at them. In their hands were nine rabbits.
"We thought that we should have something to eat first and then continue with this quest." Angus said.
"I couldn't agree with you guys more!" Chuck said.
"Well then lets build a fire and start cooking those hairy things!" Thren said. "I'll make one that's smokeless."
"Good idea. I don't really want to have to fight anyone while I'm eating." Benji said.
"True." Ilonton said. They had the fire going within minutes and the rabbits were quickly cooked and eaten. The wolves, dragon, and elk didn't eat anything.
"Aren't you guys hungery?" Benji asked.
"We've already eaten." Moncoo said.
"Are you all ready to leave?" Angus asked.
"Yes. Let's go." Ilonton said. All that day and again into half of the night, the small band worked its way north. By the time midnight had reach them, they were where they wanted to be. They had reached the Shadow Caves. Inside one of the six caves, they'd find Mr. Tolkien of the Armor of Shadow.
"Which cave?" Ben asked Ilonton.
"The center one. The two others are merely dead ends and their is constant darkness within each of them. The center one with have light in it and that cavern we will find Mr. Tolkien of the Armor of Shadow. Come." Ilonton said. She led the way into the cave and they were soon lost within its darkness. Ilonton didn't even falter once. It was as if she had been here before many times. The every one in the group lost track of time, save for Ilonton. She knew which way to turn and at what time to do so. When Benji had asked her about how she had known which way to go, she merely said that the Ancient One had told her family of where each Armor could be found and how to reach them. The information had been passed from mother to daughter for generations and it would continue to do so. After what seemed to be years of walking and stumbbling into the rocky walls of the cave, the small band made it to the center of the cave. The cavern that they were insideof was huge. It was about the size of Candle Stick Park! Small cracks of light streamed into the cavern through cracks in the ceiling, giving it an eeire appearance. The light fell in small and large streams to the ground. The small group moved deeper intot he cavern. Ilonton then brought them to a halt. She pointed to where the light and darkness faded into shadows. That was where they'd find Mr. Tolkien's prison. Cilth walked up to the front of the group and looked to the place that Ilonton had shown them. Her eyes came to rest upon a large pillar of rock. The pillar was about sixty feet tall and their feet in circumfrence. The pillar was made of jet and white quarts crystals, makeing it look a deep grey color. Inside of the pillar of stone was Mr. Tolkien.