Book 1 | Agent 34 and the Desert of Beasts

Chapter 17 | Roadblock

"34!" Agent 34 was awoken by Arenia, who was in his room and was ready to go.

Rubbing his eyes, he sat up from the bed to see Arenia with her packs tugged under her arms, and another traveling suit covering her body. "Ready?"

"Yeah, just let me grab my sword." Agent 34 replied. That was all he had to bring. He was leaving his original sword here and taking his new one that Fáolar gave him. He hadn't even realized he lost his jacket until now. Must've lost it sometime on our way here, he tried to tell himself.

"Let me get Ismara," Agent 34 ran out of the room and headed to Ismara's bedroom. He reached it, and found her sleeping on her bed.

Shaking her, he awoke her by calling her name. "It's time to go," Agent 34 said. "We leave this morning."

"It is?" She groggily said. "Let me get my clothes and sword and armor and I'll meet you by the castle entrance in ten minutes!"

Agent 34 found Arenia waiting outside. She crossed her arms, and said in an annoyed tone, "She isn't ready?"

"Ten minutes." Agent 34 said.

Arenia sighed heavily, and said "okay" quickly.

Agent 34 led them to the throne room where the entrance to the castle was located, and didn't tell Arenia that was where Ismara was supposed to meet them.

Exactly ten minutes later, Ismara arrived with a blue backpack and some shoulder armor. Her sword was attached to a belt that hung at her hips. "Let's go," Ismara said a little disappointedly, looking behind her as she said that.

Arenia quickly spun around on her heel and opened the castle doors and exited Fáolar's castle. When they walked out of the castle, Agent 34 spotted that it wasn't even dawn yet. The village was all sleeping.

Creeping through the village, they made their way past the buildings as quiet as possible towards the desert.

Eventually, they reached the edge of the city and entered the hot desert. A dragon roared in the distance, and Arenia turned towards Ismara.

"You sure you want to go?" She asked Fáolar's daughter.

"I'm sure." Ismara replied, and her face turned into pure determination.

The three elves walked onto the hot sand, and it crunched beneath their feet. They walked up the large sand dune that hid Ilrenia from the rest of the Desert of Beasts, and Ismara continued to look over her shoulder as they climbed.

Eventually, they passed over the top of the sand dune, and Ilrenia disappeared behind them. The sun began to emerge and spread light to the desert, making everything asleep come to life.

"Stop." Arenia said suddenly and quietly, and ducked down. "Look!" She pointed ahead, and you could see a small army ahead in the distance.

"What is it?" Ismara whispered.

"Braunick might have found our location," she suggested. "and he sent an army to capture us. Or maybe it's going to the Zena. Either way, we gotta get ahead of them somehow and get to the Zena. They can help us in battle against that army, because I guarantee we will have to battle them some way."

"I know how to get past them," Ismara said, and Arenia turned to face her. "It will take a while to get to him, but he can help us."

"Who?" Agent 34 asked.

"Wímad. He's a dragon that lives in the dragon city of Vernaya. It's small, and a little like Ilrenia, but with dragons. Dragons despise the other races, so when we go to get help from Wímad, we have to be as quiet as possible or they will kill us for your gem, Agent 34." Ismara explained.

"Hold up," Arenia blurted out. "You befriended a dragon? And we have to go through one of the most dangerous places in Renya to get his help for a simple task like this? We will get shredded in there!"

"It's okay, there is a secret set of tunnels under the city, I promise. Vernaya is the other way, so we will have to turn around to get to it." Ismara explained.

"Well, uh, this might sound wierd to you, but do you mind if I check your memories to prove you really do have a dragon friend?" Arenia asked suddenly, surprising Agent 34.

"Go ahead, I have nothing to hide." Ismara suggested.

Arenia pulled out her tiny wooden wand, and muttered a spell. Suddenly, she shook a little and shut her eyes quickly. She had entered Ismara's mind.

"I can feel her shuffling throughout my memories. I just hope she doesn't go across a particular one—" Ismara's face went black. "She looked at it."

"What memory was it?" Agent 34 asked.

Ismara's face went red, and she started to stutter. "I-its nothing. It's nothing-g. Yup. Nothing."

Agent 34 wasn't completely convinced, but took that as an excuse for her not wanting to tell him. "What does it feel like to go through someone else's mind? And can you somehow use it against enemies?"

"You have to simply utter a spell, and then you'll go into the other person's mind, and your body will be temporarily disabled. If you are mentally powerful enough, you can alter the other person's memories and steal them, like Braunick did to you." Ismara explained.

"Can you speak telepathically to other minds?" Agent 34 asked, and Ismara stumbled backwards a little.

"You don't have to go into other people's minds to do that. Just mutter a message spell and it will direct the message to another person's mind. Here, do it to me." Ismara commanded.

"Erm, how?" 

"Didn't my father tell you?" Ismara grabbed the sword from Agent 34's waist. "This sword can also be used as a staff. The hilt is constructed from the same material wands and staffs are made from, which is a magical substance that grants the user the ability to cast spells. Here, just mutter a message and direct it at my mind."

The fact that his sword doubled as a wand surprised Agent 34. Now he could use spells in battle.

Agent 34 muttered a few words, which was his message. "I'm nervous about fighting Braunick." was his message. He told the wand to send the message to Ismara's mind, and it did.

He knew Ismara got the message by her change in expression. "Why? You two are equally matched."

"If you could beat me, then he can as well. He is stronger than the Old King, and not even Fáolar was stronger than the Old King. Braunick was stronger than him when he had the crown to help him!" Agent 34 said.

Ismara slowly approached him and wrapped an arm around him. "It'll be okay. We will get more gem-wielders to aid you in battle against Braunick. But, Braunick was mentally stronger than the Old King, and invaded his mind in battle as well and paralyzed almost half of it, which made his body shut down and not move, giving him the chance to slay him. Trust me, the Zena will make sure you are physically and mentally strong as well."

Suddenly, Arenia flickered to life and Ismara removed her arm from around Agent 34. "She's not lying," Arenia said. "and I saw some...interesting...memories in there."

Ismara went red again. "Let's just start going to Vernaya." She stuttered a little. Ismara turned on her heel to start walking the other direction, and slipped a little in the sand.

Agent 34 leaned in towards Arenia as they stared walking, and whispered, "What memory was so bad that she doesn't want me to see?"

"It's private. She doesn't want you of all people to know, or anyone in general. I'll tell you when the time is right." Arenia said, which left Agent 34 puzzling even more about what could make Ismara act like this.