Solomon's Challenge Book 1: Zerek the King

Chapter 5: Vania's Village

"So you want to stop the demons, save the village, and get Vania's sword back right?" The village elder asked as he and Sol gathered around a table in an old hut. He was a cheery old man, but he was hunched over and in an obviously bad condition.

"That is correct." Sol replied.

"It's impossible." The old man said very matter-of-factly.

"What? Why?" Sol shouted.

"Because the demons are too powerful! Even if you are who you say you are Sol Draekon, you can't make it up by yourself! You'll die!" The elder exclaimed, then took a drink of some terrible smelling drink that Sol couldn't recognize.

"But I won't be going alone! I'll have Vania by my side!" Sol said, trying to convince the elder to lend his resources to the cause.

"Vania you say? Hmmm. Maybe that gives you a chance. However, she lost her sword, and that could seriously limit her power! I suppose we could lend her one... Ok. We'll lend you or resources. Take some of our soldiers if you'd like as well." The old man agreed.

"I thank you. We will not take any soldiers however, for they can't possibly be strong enough to beat the demons, but I happily accept your gift of food and gear" Sol said, pleased at the transaction.

"I wish you good luck boy. Keep Vania safe." The elder said. Sol walked out the door to go join Vania, who he quickly spotted at a local hut.

"How did it go Sol?" she asked, seemingly very happy with the items the villagers had let her use. Sol saw her carrying two loaves of bread, a two bottles of water, and a broken sword.

"He agreed to give us access to whatever we need, but it appears you've already helped yourself!" Sol chuckled.

"Yeah! The villagers around here love me! I was raised in this village, and I am their strongest soldier. Many of them are still alive because of me. Not the guy who gave me the sword though, he's just a cranky old fart. I had to beg him just to get this! We'll have to take it to the blacksmith to get it repaired." Vania explained.

"No problem, we have plenty of time." Sol said, more cheery than he usually was.

The two made there way to the blacksmith. They gave him the sword, and he said he would repair it for free, since Vania saved his wife and children once when he was out hiking. He said it would take a couple days, so Sol and Vania spent the next two days exploring the area, checking out the market, the games, everything, and also making sure to get a good read of their surroundings, but it was all forest except for a single dark path hidden behind the village, and the entrance. They stayed in the local inn, even though Sol told Vania she could sleep at home if she wanted. By the end of the two days, the pair were eager to get Vania's new sword and explore the volcano.

"Good morning!" Vania cheered as she walked into the blacksmiths house, practically dragging Sol who was hardly awake.

"Oooh! Vania you're here! come quick, your going to love this!" The blacksmith called. He was a average looking middle aged man, who was covered in coal, soot, and ashes from head to toe. He held out the sword, which looked nothing like it did before. The once dingy, rusted, broken sword, was now one of the shiniest, sharpest, and most perfectly balanced sword he had ever seen (besides his own, of course)!

"Thank you sir! It's one of the most beautiful swords I've ever seen!" Sol exclaimed, still in awe from the swords beauty.

"Well, at first it was just a repair job, but once I learned it was to be wielded by Vania, I made it some of my best work yet!" the smithy explained. He handed the sword to Vania, who humbly bowed, and after a few too many "thank you"s, the two went to take there leave, unaware of what was happening outside, until they heard the horn.

"EVERYBODY INSIDE! QUICKLY! NO PANICKING!" Somebody shouted outside.

Vania and Sol rushed to the door, where they found a swarm of demons on horseback raiding the village. Sol knew instantly that it was a little too much for them to handle, or rather, WAY too much for them to handle.

Vania turned to Sol and whispered, "We have to go to the path we found! We can't handle this many demons!"

Sol hastily agreed, and the two flew as fast as they could, dodging hit after hit from the demon's. Right as they reached the start of the path, Sol realized that the demons would just follow them in, and unlike the village, they didn't know their way around in there. Sol turned to run another direction, but quickly noticed that the demons had stopped at the entrance. They looked at Sol and Vania, then promptly turned, and left. Sol didn't have a good feeling about this place.

They creeped down the path, in awe at the beautiful blue color cast by the light through the trees. It was like a fantasy. Plants that were every color of the rainbow, shot up spores that looked like little fairies. The path was green with leaves that should have been trampled and dead on the ground, while the trees held a blue tint. Vania looked around fiercely, while Sol seemed to get distracted by every little oddity he saw.

But then he noticed something. Nothing was moving. Come to think of it, the demons only backed up a small amount before stopping, after seeing the two move back to a certain point. It was as if time was frozen around them. Perhaps it was. Sol didn't worry about it too much, as he followed Vania who was eagerly walking, yet obviously nervous.

The two came to a stop at the end of the path, realizing that it had been a single linear walkway. All that stood at the end, other than the path's beauty, was a large grave-like stone, with the inscription: In the shadows lies the path, to the shadow's aftermath.

"It's a riddle" Sol explained to Vania, "There must be a hidden path somewhere in the shadows, but what aftermath?"

"Only one way to find out, right?" Vania said surprisingly calmly.

Sol nodded, and the two searched the sides of the path for anything out of place. The phrase played over and over in Sol's head, but he couldn't find anything related to the riddle at all, other than the shadows from the trees.

Then Sol asked Vania, "what if it means our shadows."

"What are you saying?" Vania replied.

"What if we need to somehow find a way to bring our shadows together?" Sol explained his thoughts.

The two stood close together, so their shadow's overlapped, and to both of their surprises, a door started to appear! They tried to stand closer, but they were to large to completely overlap.

"We need to find a way to shine light on ourselves!" Sol exclaimed. He grabbed a stick and tried to light it on fire with some sparks from rocks, but when the fire caught, it froze as a tiny flame, and gave off no light.

"Time is completely frozen." Sol said, sounding as if he had lost all hope.

"Wait, isn't there some rule about magic cancelling out magic?" Vania asked.

"I think so." Sol explained, "Something about magic not having an effect on much newer magic. I was told that when I was very young, but I thought it was just a story-telling thing."

"Well maybe there's more to it." Vania explained, "If this time-stopping is caused by magic, then maybe all we need to do is find a way to make fire with magic!"

Suddenly, Vania's new sword started glowing red. Sol took it out of it's sheath, and held it in his hand. The glow fizzled out. He put it down to think of something else, and Vania picked it up to re-sheath it. The glow came back.

Vania gasped, "You saw that too right? It wasn't just me?"

"Yeah, how'd you do that?" Sol thought for a moment, "Try pointing it at the stick!"

Vania pointed the sword towards the stick Sol had found, and the glow turned into a small fireball, which shot towards the stick. They had travelling light.