Mark of the Ranger

L. Melted Snow

          Jordan soared across the sea, riding his Woodlandish Falcon, Birchlight. The Falcon could fly at a speed of over one hundred miles per hour, but that didn't seem to be helping with going across the sea. It had been longer than expected to reach the island. He turned to his partner, Josie. "Do you think we'll get there in time?" He asked.

          "In time for what, exactly?" Josie responded, not really answering his question. She pulled out her bowedge and nocked an arrow. Jordan thought about what exactly they were riding towards the island for. They had gone completely against orders, which were that only Lion's team from the Outlands was allowed to go there at this time. Undoubtedly, they would be put on probation. "To help them. Will we get there in time to help them?" He asked, specifying this time.

          "Well, that depends on whether or not that's the island we're supposed to be going to." Josie pointed, and Jordan turned. A ruined island, covered in jagged and broken rock. Jordan was about to ask Birchlight to dive in for a closer look when he saw a flash of light--light magic, to be exact. "Yeah. Yeah, that's the island," he answered, then asked Birchlight to swoop in and drop them by where the flash of light had come from. Birchlight understood and tilted herself into a dive, curving at the last second when they neared the beach.

          Jordan and Josie quickly dismounted, then donned their carved wooden masks. They dashed through an open door, down a hallway, and up a long flight of stairs. "Why couldn't Birchlight just drop us on the ceiling, again?" Josie asked. Jordan shrugged. His only answer was that perhaps Birchlight hadn't fully understood what he had said.

          They burst through a small room where ashes laid haphazardly throughout the room. The Woodland Rangers didn't have time to question it or take samples of the ashes, so they continued. They heard Lion say on the other side of a wooden door, "It's just like in my dream. It's all here." There was a definite edge of horror in his voice. Jordan nocked an arrow on his own bowedge just as Ko shouted, "Give us the core!" His voice had no edge of terror, but rather, stupid valiance. The Woodland Rangers ran in to help him.

*****

          Ko wasn't scared of the little flamey construct. He knew that he could take it, easy as pie. All he needed was some water, his daggers, and a whole lot of stupid valiance. Thinking that perhaps the construct didn't hear Isabel say it, he cleared his throat. "Give us the core!" And drew his daggers. He could get the water later. Suddenly, just as he was about to leap, someone burst in through the door. Who had even closed it in the first place? 

          Jordan and Josie, the two Woodland Ranger Commanders, stood there with their bowedges drawn. "What he said," mirrored Jordan, somehow making it sound cool. Ko turned back to the fire construct, who just chuckled. Ko didn't know much aside from toy-making and Ranger-ing, but he knew that a laughing fire construct was hysterically bad news. The fire construct thrust its hand out, and a missile of fire shot from its "hand," so to speak. It was really just a collection of fire that looked like a hand.

          The Rangers sidestepped the blast, and kept their bowedges drawn. They're not messing around, Ko thought to himself, preparing to join them in the lack of messing around. He pointed the dagger in his left hand menacingly at the fire construct. "We're not messing around," he shouted to it, in case it hadn't got the message already. He then did something really stupid: He leaped at it. 

          There was an aura around the fire construct that was really hot, but nothing that Ko's Ranger Gear couldn't handle. He thrust both daggers forward, and he hit something solid in its chest. With a clack, he bounced right off and landed on his feet. "It's got a solid skeleton!" Ko shouted to his fellow attackers. The other Outland Rangers--and the Grand Wizardess--simply watched in awe of the former toy-maker. The Woodland Rangers simply nodded, then released their arrows. Each one hit the construct in the chest.

          The construct cried in pain, then threw fire at the Ranger again, this time one bolt for each. The Rangers were barely able to dodge. Seeing the construct throw fire just made Ko mad. "Listen, flamey one," he shouted to it. "You can't just go throwing fire at these people. Give us the core, and we'll let you down easy!" The fire construct was not convinced, nor did it want to be let down easy. It threw a bolt of fire at Ko. He skillfully dodged it, waiting until the last second for dramatic effect.

          The Woodland Rangers each traced Marks of Agility, which would increase their speed, and nocked two more arrows. Ko, getting the idea, traced his Mark of Agility, and his Mark of Strength. He leaped again, this time stronger and faster. Once he stuck his two daggers luckily in the construct's chest, he pulled out his right one and stabbed in another place. He did the same with his left dagger. He continued impaling the beastly thing that dared to shoot fire at Rangers. He could tell he was damaging the construct, but it was starting to get hot. 

          The Woodland Rangers shot their arrows, then nocked more, then fired again. They fired again and again in rapid succession, seemingly not wanting to stop until the construct was down. However, the construct had other ideas. It roared and thrust its limbs out in a star shape, increasing its fire tenfold for a moment. It had done this to get rid of the arrows, but it had also gotten rid of something else that was hanging onto it.

*****

          Ko's melted corpse fell limply to the ground. Jordan dashed up to it. "You've got to be joshing me!" he cried out. However, Ko's dead, nearly liquid body was definitely not joshing him. Only a living Ko would have done that. "His core!" Josie cried. "Take out his core!" Jordan thrust his hand into the melted snow elf's chest, only to find a scorched core. It was supposed to be orange, but three-quarters of it was a smoky black. "It's beyond salvageable," the Woodland Rangers told their Outland comrades. Isabel seemed very mad. 

          "You can't just do that to my escorts!" she yelled, then, with a glow from her five-crystal-staff, which Jordan hadn't noticed until now, she flew towards the fire construct. Jordan was glad that the Grand Wizardess was willing to avenge a lowly Ranger, but he hoped she wasn't melted, as well. Lion walked up to them. "Did this happen in your dream?" Jordan asked him bitterly. Lion shook his head sorrowfully. 

          "In my dream, his corpse was solid." There was a silence after that, before the fire construct roared something loudly.

          "This won't be that easy! Reginald! Kerigato! E! Destroy them!" With that, a man in purple armor emerged from the overhang on the left. He was at least four times Jordan's volume. A geovore, covered in fire crystals, showed its face from the ravine on the right. Finally, something burrowed from the ground right in front of Jordan--a naga. Jordan looked back at Lion.

           He was about ready to burst into tears.