One More Kingdom, One More World

Good Old Days Part 1

"It all began when I fell into the mouth of a Hippo," and then seeing the weird look Cole was giving him he amended his statement. "I heard music coming from the Hippo, I was working at a zoo, I ended up falling into an enclosure and into the mouth of the Hippo. Where I ended up here, in Lyrian."

"That's..."

"Crazy... I know."

"I was going to cool."

"Well, I guess, if you weren't the one that fell in. I believe I thought I was dead, but I was in pain, so I didn't know."

"Where did you..."

"Oh right, the rest of the story. Anyway, I ended up in a tree.

"Did you fall from the branches?"

"No I was actually in the tree, but I digress. I ended up at this river procession. They were playing music on a raft in the river and were about to fall into a river. Being the heroic thirteen-year-old I was, I grabbed a bow and arrow, shot one guy in the arm, and one guy made it to shore." Jason's guys filled with an emotion Cole couldn't recognize. "Lou and behold, after running away for saving a man's life, I end up at this place, a library in the middle of nowhere. Crash there a couple of days, look at a secret syllable of a secret word that's supposed to kill an evil wizard written in a secret page that just so happens to be someone's skin with their own blood for ink. The eye blinked."

Cole was keeping up better than he thought he would.

"Well, then I was kicked out by the librarian telling me that I possessed knowledge that would get me killed and sent me on my way to meet the blind king. Eventually, I find him, he introduces me to this girl Rachel, another thirteen-year-old from my world who'd been there a little bit longer than I had. She had walked through an arch, which is what I figured what you did, based on the look on your face."

Cole nodded, his mind preoccupied with absorbing the information.

"Gallorian, the blind king, who's not blind anymore by the way, but we'll get to that, sends Rachel and me on this quest to find the missing syllables of the word that'll destroy the evil wizard named Maldor. Fun times. The next syllable involved some craftwork where we had to avoid a titan crab and a giant bulldog at the same time in a cave. The next thing we know we're on our way to Trensicourt, Galloran's old kingdom before Maldor took over to meet someone. On the way we run into this guy named Tark, the guy I saved from the musical river craft of death, and convince him to do something with his life, and the tavern I actually found you. Well there was also this guy called Ned, crazy, I think he's completely nuts, but he helps us not get killed and we tell him about Galloran. We eventually meet this guy named Ferrin, except he's in pieces, literally pieces, we call those displacers." Again, Jason's eyes filled with that same emotion, but Cole doesn't see. His vision goes blurry for a second. A thought lingerings in the back of his mind, but he can't place it. It frustrates him. "They can be cut to pieces and still put themselves back together. He takes us to Trensicourt. Where we meet Nickolas, the guy we were supposed to meet. I end up having to challenge the Chancellor of Trensicourt to an intellectual duel."

Despite himself, Cole laughed.

"Don't give me that look, I won you know, it was actually over my semi-lordship Galloran gave me before the quest started to help me out."

Cole leaned back in his set. "That's how you became a lord, out of convenience." His tone was incredulous.

Jason rubbed the back of his neck, "Well when you put it like that... I was semi-lord of a land I'd never seen and Chancellor of a place I knew nothing about. Well, I left, with Rachel, and another syllable, and the knowledge of how to find a few more. Ferrin joined us outside Trensicourt. We head to this lake where it's like a giant glob of... something. You have to move fast to get across, and it's super hot. My friend, Rachel, had to get to the island in the middle. She ran across the lake, passed out on the island, and met a dismembered head." Jason ignored Cole's raised eyebrow. "The head told her another syllable, and that a traveling companion, Ferrin, was actually working for Maldor."

Jason looked lost. "That was intense. He told us his presence was keeping us safe, and that we'd only be killed if we let him walk away without us. Well, we couldn't give up, so we left him, got chased by these things, we're saved by someone whose life revolves around a seed. We call them the Amar Kabal, his name is Jasher, and they Amar Kabal have this seed in the back of their necks, that when they die, will grow into the bodies of their first death. It's weird I know, don't try to think about it. Jasher helps us by guiding us through the Sunken lands, a place I've been more than I like, to get another syllable." Jason smirks give Cole a weird sense of anxiety. "I went in that time and well, in order to get it you forget who you are. You have to go into this place that makes you forget who you are and what you came in there to do. Inside was the lovely Corrine, although I don't particularly remember the experience very well, because what you remember under the mold's influence, stays remembered only under the mold's influence.

"After Corrine, to get the last syllable, I had to go to this place where all the enemies of Maldor are treated to the luxury life, don't ask me to explain. I had to find the final syllable tattooed to one's guy's shoulder who was there. I met Drake there, another member of Amar Kabal, " Jason stops to shake his head as if he's wording off certain thoughts, but Cole goes dizzy for a moment, everything starts spinning around him. Faces, events, things go colliding in his mind in unpleasant ways. His head pounds like he's defying some law of nature in his head. He wants to puke, but he can't. Then as soon as it began it vanishes. Leaving Cole with a feeling of emptiness, like his body, his memories, his thoughts, aren't truly his own.

"You okay, Cole, you went white there for a second."

Okay takes a second to compose himself. "I think I just experienced a little shock, I'm good now."

Jason's eyes clearly state he doesn't believe him, but nevertheless, he continues. "Drake and Tark again, since he went completely berserk on some of Maldor's minions, eventually agree to leave with me. In order to leave though, I had to challenge someone to a billiard ball throwing contest to the death."

"You're serious?"

Jason smirks.

"Well obviously you won."

"Hey, don't worry, I didn't kill him. He just didn't bet on the fact that I was an avid baseball player.'

Cole smirks. "Sure, sure," and motions for Jason to continue.

"This other guy joins our escape and gets killed. Jasher shows up and gets exploded by a bomb called ormanitum, Rachel takes his seed to replant. Drake couldn't have been replanted, his seed was messed up, and so that's how I convinced him to join me. Anyway, with the completed word, I ring this going to get myself a confrontation with Maldor since the word would only work in his presence. Turns out, words a fake." Cole notices the tensing of Jason's jaw. He could understand the feeling, just not from where that feeling came from. "Maldor had me thrown into a dungeon intent on torturing me, but luckily Ferrin managed to free me, and threw me into a lake portal that would take me back to Earth."

"Okay, so all I need to do is go into this lake portal thing, and I can go home."

Jason raised his hand to quell the bubbling excitement in Cole's chest. "It's not that simple. You could go through that portal now, but there's no guarantee of what time period you'll end up in. I got lucky. I came out a few weeks after my disappearance. I could have come out during the Victorian age just as easily."

The light in Cole's eyes quickly extinguished. "How do we know what time it'll come out as."

"We don't," said Jason seriously, but, then he smirked ever so slightly. "I know, well knew, or really heard of someone who might.

"Who?"

"You'll have to listen to the rest of my story to find out."

Is this okay, feedback is always appreciated. I want to do this right. All characters and places and things belong to Brandon Mull, on another note, I got the Keeper of the Phantom Isle signed by him that's so that's cool, but he did spell my name wrong so oh well. Happy Easter!

Hope, y'all are okay.

Die Bravely,

Me