' "What the heck is happening?!" Orion questioned.
"You were bitten by a Shadow Bug, you knucklehead!" Shadow Foxy snarled as an answer. The jet-black fox turned to Izzylyn, Amilie, and Elena.
"You three, go to the east. You'll find The Dragon's Temple. There's an orange eye there that can fix this!" He declared.
"Why do I have to go with her? What can't it just be her and Elena??" Amilie complained.
"The temple needs three people to open it. Now GO!" Shadow Foxy barked. Izzylyn grabbed Amilie's hand and ran off.
"Let go of me!" Amilie ordered.
"Do you want to save Orion?" Izzylyn asked.
"Yeah, duh!" Amilie responded.
"Then quit complaining!" Elena said as she started sprinting into the East.
"Orion, you need to calm down." Shadow Foxy said.
"How am I supposed to keep calm in a situation like this?!" Orion yelled.
"It'll settle the beast." Moonlight explained.
"The beast?!" Orion wondered, now even further from calm.
"Look at me, Orion." Shadow Foxy said. Orion looked up to meet the fox's gaze. "You have to do your best to keep yourself at bay." Orion nodded. The boy took deep breaths, and it seemed to slow the dark substance. But, Orion felt a sharp pain, and he lost control. The dark substance bolted up his neck and bound his arms to his torso.
"Well, that backfired." Shadow Foxy realized. Moonlight nudged Shadow Foxy out of the way, and looked into Orion's eyes. The dark substance seemed to slow again, but Orion felt the sharp pain again.
"Embrace." A voice said. It was the same whisper from earlier. The dark substance nearly engulfed Orion before he took his arms away from his torso and threw the journal to Shadow Foxy.
"Use it to distract me!" Were Orion's final words before he was engulfed by the darkness.
Izzylyn, Amilie, and Elena had been running nearly an hour, with no resting. Their adrenaline was pumping through their veins and bones.
"How.. much.. longer?" Amilie complained.
"Less than a mile now." Elena said from the back. Izzylyn could see something over a hill.
"I think I see the temple." She claimed. Izzylyn ran faster towards it, with Elena and Amilie not far behind. On the top of the hill, the three saw the temple. It wasn't very big. Only a few stone pillars shaped like a doorway, and stairs leading down.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Elena said. "Let's go." She sprinted towards the stone doorway, and waited for the others to catch up. When they did, Izzylyn let go of Amilie's wrist.
"I'll go first." Izzylyn said. She grabbed an unlit torch from the side of the stone doorway, and lit it from a match in her satchel.
"Isn't that a fire hazard?" Elena asked.
"Nope." Izzylyn replied. She walked down the stairs into the darkness, with Amilie and Elena following behind her.
"Moonlight! Take the shot!" Shadow Foxy yelled. Moonlight aimed her bow up the giant creature of darkness. Shadow Foxy was pinned under one of the creature's giant tendrils.
"I don't want to hurt Orion!" She responded.
"Just take it! Orion will be fine!" Shadow Foxy barked. Moonlight pulled the arrow back, and let go. The arrow soared through the air like a bullet from a gun. The giant creature saw the arrow, but it reacted too late. The arrow pierced through its head, but the hole regenerated.
"You... you are filled with anger." The creature stated. Moonlight didn't respond. Shadow Foxy closed his eyes. Seconds later, Shadow Foxy appeared next to Moonlight, and threw a potion at the creature. Cory threw rocks at the creature, but that only made him the creature's next target.
"None of you will save the Darkheart." The creature claimed.
"But we can try." Shadow Foxy said before throwing a bag full of dangerous potions and herbs at the creature.
"How do we open this thing?" Amilie asked. Izzylyn, Amilie, and Elena had finally made it to the bottom of the stairs, and had found a giant set of stone doors, closed.
"Shadow Foxy said there needed to be three people to open the temple." Izzylyn explained. She looked around, and saw three cubes made of a dark purple colored stone. Izzylyn grabbed one of them, and a slot on the stone doors opened. Izzylyn walked over to the slot, and put the purple cube inside of it. The stone doors shook, but it didn't open.
"Get the stone cubes into the slots." Izzylyn said. Amilie and Elena each grabbed a cube, and put it in the slots. Three levers appeared on the stone doors.
"We'll pull them at the same time." Elena stated. They did exactly that, but the doors didn't open.
"Well, we're screwed." Elena said. Amilie turned around and started walking, but saw something.
"Uh. Girls?" She asked.
"What?" Izzylyn replied. She turned around, and saw it as well. It was a pedestal. But what was on the pedestal surprised them. Floating just above the pedestal, was an amulet.
This must be that 'Dragon's Eye' thing Shadow Foxy was talking about. Izzylyn thought. The amulet almost resembled a giant eye. The pupil was a slit. The eye color was an orange that slowly faded into a yellow. There was a long, leather string on the back of it. Elena walked towards the amulet, slowly reaching for it.
"And she's hypnotized." Amilie explained.
"Oh really, you think?" Izzylyn asked sarcastically. Amilie nodded in reply. Izzylyn walked towards Elena to get her out of the trance.
"Elena. Hello?" She asked.
"Hewn het ebast trurens, merdela yese halls vesa him." Elena riddled in reply.
"What?" Amilie asked. Izzylyn wrote it down.
"You know what? I'm just gonna grab this thing and get outta here." Amilie explained. Izzylyn walked over.
"That amulet is as big as my hand, so I doubt you'll be able to carry it." She said, "You might be able to carry Elena up the stairs, though." She continued.
"Fine. Deal." Amilie said. Izzylyn grabbed the amulet, and Amilie grabbed Elena's hand. The temple started shaking.
"Of course this happened." Izzylyn said. She grabbed Amilie, and darted towards the stairs.
"When are they getting back with that Eye?" Shadow Foxy whispered to himself.
"S. F! They're back!" Moonlight yelled from a distance. Izzylyn ran over the hill from the east, holding the amulet above her head. She threw it far, and it landed in Shadow Foxy's hands.
"You gotta cool down, Dark Shadow!" He explained. Shadow Foxy pointed the amulet at the dark creature. Nothing happened. When Izzylyn made it to the Ruins, she gave Shadow Foxy the note with the strange words Elena said.
"Hewn het ebast trurens, merdela yese halls vesa him." Shadow Foxy repeated. "Shadow language. It says 'When the beast returns, emerald eyes can save him.'" He looked towards Moonlight, who was shooting arrows at the giant creature.
"Moonlight, heads up!" Shadow Foxy yelled. He threw the Dragon's Eye over to her. She turned her head and caught it just in time. But, the creature noticed the amulet. It swung a demented arm at Moonlight, knocking her back.
"Nobody defeats the Darkness." It stated.
"Besides light." Cory remarked. He started running back towards Shadow Foxy and the others. Moonlight held out her hand, but the amulet was gone.
YOU ARE READING
The Enchanted Realm: A Dragon's Eye
FantasyOrion Foxro Darkheart has always loved adventure. He basically wishes for it when his family moves from Maine to Detroit. Now he's gotten more than he wished for, and with the help of his friends, he must find his way out. But one of their own hides...
