The Magical Quest

Chapter 11

"Hello, I'm talking to you." a voice said. Luke yelped and sat up. He was sitting on his bed in his old home on Tatooine, but everything was oddly distorted, as if he wasn't really there. Part of him knew he was asleep, but the rest of him was startled by the surreal landscape. He glanced around, and noticed there was someone sitting in the armchair across the room. He almost immediately recognized who it was. It was his father. Anakin Skywalker resembled his son in many ways, but his face was different, harder, and perpetually surly. "What do you want, dad?" Luke sighed. Since his father was a ghost, he could visit Luke in his dreams pretty much whenever he felt like it. It was pretty annoying, especially when Luke was looking forward to a good night's sleep. At least Yoda and Ben left him alone most of the time. Anakin frowned. "Alright, young man, give me a good explanation why you went to another dimension. "Dad, I didn't want to. It's not like I can help being sucked through a portal-thingy." he retorted. "Well, your sister doesn't appreciate it. Give her a little warning next time, would you?" Anakin shot back. That comment kinda stung. Sometimes it was annoying that when Anakin lectured Luke to the point where he wanted to punch something, there wasn't really anything he could punch. "Now, son, the reason I 'invaded your privacy' (he made quotation marks with his fingers), was so I could warn you. I'll give you some advice that'll keep you from joining us sooner than expected. We hope that when you finally die and come to join us, age will have mellowed you out so you won't annoy the crap out of me." Luke scowled. "If you're gonna give me some advice to save my life, I suggest you spare me the behavior lecture and just get on with it." Anakin gave him a scowl of his own. "Would you talk like that to Yoda? No? Then don't talk like that to your father. Remember that I didn't have to save your life and--" "Ugh, dad, would you just give me the freaking advice?!'' Luke yelled, finally snapping. Anakin sighed. "Fine. Alright. So the dragon you fought. You're gonna fight a lot worse by the time you come back. Also, when you go to the Himalayas, watch out for yetis. They're like Wampas. Big and stupid, but really dangerous. Remember, when you need to find the secret to destroying your enemy, you'll find the solution if you look for what you can't obtain." "That makes zero sense." Luke complained. For once Anakin smiled. "You'll find out what it means." he said. "Not helping." Luke muttered. "Oh, and by the way, women ALWAYS find out. Always." Anakin remarked with a snort. Luke flinched. "Dad, are you hinting about something?" he asked. His father smirked and the landscape began to dissolve. "Hey! Dad! What are you talking about? I hardly understood anything!" he yelled, before something hit him in the side of the head, snapping him back to reality. "Bored...bored...bored...bored...bored..." Thundra was groaning, while tossing cookies at his head. "Hey, it looks like we're landing." Luke said, trying to distract her. She glanced out the window. She was frowning, but no longer tossing cookies at his head. He peered out the window, catching sight of the savannah below. A herd of creatures that resembled horses were galloping along, being chased by a pack of feline animals, and a couple of grey animals with noses like ropes and enormous ears were lumbering along a trail through the grasslands. "Okay, genius. I'm assuming you don't know what any of those things are, so I'll tell you. The horse things are called zebras, the things chasing them are lions, and the big grey animals are elephants. Got it?" Jess said suddenly. Luke jumped. "How are you so quiet?" he demanded. The town they had landed near was small and simple, but Luke had a gut feeling there was more to it than meets the eye. At the village well, there was a teenaged girl holding a hunting spear with a disgruntled look on her face. "About time," she said in a thick african accent, "Andri contacted me and told you you'd show eventually." She scowled at Fircone. "Did you mess with the engines again?" "Um, yeah, how did you know that?" Fircone asked. "My name's Harriet. I'm part air spirit, and my senses are enhanced. I could hear you punching silver-hair before you had crossed the equator."she said, turning her irate stare to Thundra. "Seems like they'll be fast friends." Luke muttered to Jess, who stifled a snort of laughter. Thundra herself looked impressed for once. "Do you know where we would find the Book of Air?" she asked. Harriet frowned. "You're gonna have to travel across the continent. We're near the city of Pahi, Tanzania right now. You need to get to Mt. Kilimanjaro. Since you need a guide, I'll come with." "I thought that was my job!" Thundra complained. "Weren't you born in north africa?" Maia asked. "Yes," Thundra huffed. "I was born in northern Chad." "Okay, that's desert," Maia continued. "Yeah, we'll need you, Harriet. Thundra, since you speak Swahili, you can translate." Thundra let out an indignant huff, and continued to sulk in the back of the group. "Alright," Harriet said. "We have to travel over land, or the air spirits will see us coming. To get the book, we're gonna have to kill a wind dragon. Yes, bigger than a fire dragon, and twice as deadly." "Hold on, lemme get something." Fircone said. He raced over to the Voyager III and pressed a button. The ship shrunk to the size of a harmonica, and Fircone ran back over. Everyone gasped in amazement. Maia just rolled her eyes. "This is gonna be fun." Matthew groaned, sarcastically.