Stolen Apprentices

Chapter 2

Ajax lead the group of kids through the portal, trusting Ash to know what he is doing. When they appeared on the other side, it was just an empty room. There were no lights, and there were no windows. A door on the far side of the room was the only source of light. Ajax looked towards Ash and said "What happened? Did the portal take us to the wrong place?"

Ash just shook his head, and said "No, you must prove your worth before you can face the Council. Apprentices or not. Luckily, you guys get to go through it as a group, but that will only serve to make it harder."

"But wait, how are we supposed to know what to do or how to get there?" Ajax asked Ash.

"You must find your own way. I cannot help you." Ash said, before walking out of the door. Ajax ran towards the door, the others following him. When they all got through the door, the earth shot up to close off the opening. The kids turned around frantically, and then realized there was nothing they could do.

"Damn you, Ash. Okay guys, look, this is what we're going to do. There's a door over there. I don't know where it leads, but I'll go through first. You guys hang back for a second, and watch for anything that pops out. I don't know what to expect, so be prepared for anything." Ajax told them, taking the lead.

"Don't get hurt. We have to prove our worth, not our bravery and heroics." Christina told him.

"Yes, mother. You got it."

They walked over to the doorway, and Ajax walked inside. The hallway stretched for as far as he could see, with pathways leading off on both sides. He walked down to the first path, and it lead down a short ways to a door. Ajax looked back towards the other four, before taking strides towards the door. He reached down to the doorknob, and twisted only to find out it was locked. He walked out to the hall again, and shouted to the group. "Come on, we need to check all these doors, or extra paths. This first one was locked, but you never know when you might come across something different."

"Who made you the boss? I don't want to listen to just anybody." Jackson growled.

"Okay, okay. That's fair. How old are you guys?" Ajax asked.

"12." Jackson said.

"I'm 12, too." Christina said.

"I'm only 11." Sylvia told them.

"I'm 12." Elise said.

"So that makes me oldest, at 13. That's an easy way to figure out who's in charge." Ajax said to Jackson.

"Okay, fine. You're in charge then. What should we do Ajax?" Jackson asked him.

"Just do what I said before we had this talk. Check all the doors, but don't open them. Let the others know before you do." Ajax told the group, looking each of them in the eyes. They nodded, turning away to go to seperate doors.

Ajax checked another door to see that this one was locked too. "How are we supposed to get out of here Ash?" He muttered to himself.

Ajax jumps when he hears a girlish scream. He runs out to the hall, and races towards the sound. He races past a few hallways, and skids to a stop where he sees one of the doors are open. Ajax runs into the room, where he sees Christina fending off a moving stone statue. He was surprised to see that Christina was actually on fire, and he thought that she was hurt. That made him mad, he may not have known this group for very long, but already he feels protective over them.

The statue raised his arm to hit Christina, and she wasn't paying attention. She was trying to put the fire out on her body that sprung out of nowhere. Ajax jumped in front of of Christina, and threw his hands up in and x-formation, hoping desperately to protect them. He was shocked when he didn't feel any pain. He looked up to see a pillar of earth had appeared in front of them, effectively stopping the attack.

The other 3 ran into the room, finally noticing what was going on. Ajax and Christine backed up to where the others stood.

"Okay, I think this is our test. We need to figure out how to beat this thing. Christina, next time I say to do something, please do it. I just want to protect you." Ajax said.

"Yes father. Whatever you want father. Berate me later father. Focus on the situation at hand." She replied. Ajax had to hide a smile, but nodded.

The statue started to move towards them again, and Ajax felt his instincts kick in. He stomped the ground, and the earth shot towards the statue. The stone smacked it dead in the chest, and it fell over. However, it just got back up. All the while Ajax is looking down at his foot, amazed wondering how in the hell he did that.

"Whatever you did, do it again, because he's getting up again." Elise told Ajax, looking terrified. "I'm trying, it just isn't working. I don't know why." Ajax told her. "Maybe you guys should try to do something. I think that we all have to do something to defeat it." He said to the group.

Jackson raised his hand and a lump of steel shot out of the ground into his hand. It morphed into a half meter long spear, and Jackson raised his arm back to throw. It flew with deadly accuracy, and it sunk through the statue's forehead. The statue stumbled back but kept moving like nothing happened.

"Okay, so individual attacks aren't working but what if we all tried to attack at the same time?" Ajax asked them.

"The only two people that were able to attack were you and Jackson. How are we all supposed to attack?" Christina asked him.

"It's like an instinct. You have to just let it come to you, and not fight it. It worked for me."

"Well, that's reassuring. We'll do our best."

"Guys, uh, he's getting close, if we're going to do this we need to do it now." Sylvia said to them.

Ajax looked over at her and nodded, as he started to speak to the group "Right, don't force anything. Just let it come to you." The group nodded, but he could tell the girls were uneasy, never doing this before.

Ajax was just as surprised the second time it happened as the first time it happened. He wondered why he could never do anything like this before. When all five of them attacked, it was a spectacle to watch. Sylvia made a shoving motion that sent a burst of air hitting him in its legs, and suspending it in the air. Christina punched the air and an arc of fire was sent towards the statue burning a hole through his chest, and Ajax repeated his motion from earlier, sending a big chunk of rock hitting him in his stomach, making him hunch over. Jackson summoned another spear, but instead of throwing it, he guided it towards the statue with his mind. The spear struck him in the same spot as the last one. Elise created a whip out of water, and smacked the thing across the face with it.

The statue blew to pieces, and the room started to melt away. They experienced a small drop, but nothing serious. The group looked around the room, only for their eyes to fall upon the five people seated upon chairs at the front of the room.

Ash stepped forward and spoke "Bow before the Council."  

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