Twilight to Destiny- Quest of Legacies

Chapter 24

"Goddammit!" Artemis cursed loudly, dropping his bow and arrow to the side as the missile struck through a strip of tree bark. He gritted his teeth. "If only I could've done that a few seconds before I just did, I would've pierced his neck."

"Right," Tobi said anxiously. "Guys, he's looking for Valor. We have to get to her before he does. But Phoenix has an advantage, so how are we going to do this?"

Vale scratched his head, still staring longingly at the poor ice cream dripping out its silky cream onto the dirt-matted ground. "You could shapeshift."

"I can't right now... my power reached its limit. And I've already broken the code too many times." She balled up her fists. "God, I'm so stupid!"

"What code?"

"Never mind. You're not an Aki, so you won't understand."

"I think we should start moving," Artemis murmured. Tobi and Vale nodded and started walking with him."Besides, he can get into Valor's head whenever he wants."

"I'm surprised he hasn't done that instead of coming here," Tobi admitted. The wind scattered the leaves on the forest floor, and they crunched under the trio's feet. Patience was stepping on every single leaf she could find on the path, therefore hopping side to side repeatedly. Hassa, on the other hand, was getting slightly annoyed.

"Would you please stop, dragon?" he asked, facing Patience, his raspy voice in a hushed growl.

She sighed blissfully. Ah, I just love the satisfying crunch of leaves, don't you, Hassa?

"You're weird."

I guess that's how we get along, eh?

"...No."

Tobi cleared her throat and sighed. Patience curiously kept looking to the side and Hassa just padded along, keeping his head low. His rainbow wings beat back and forth and later dropped to his side. The forest was huge and beyond the forest were enormous, grey mountains, with pure white and dull peaks, and surrounding them were beautiful robust flowers and plants.

Vale clapped his hands once and an ice cream cone appeared in his hand. It was white at the tip, representing vanilla, then slowly molding into a chocolate color.

"What?!" Artemis exclaimed. "Where did that come from?!" His emerald green eyes shone the reflection of the delicious sight. The summer heat pounded onto their backs causing some exhaustion.

Vale shrugged and licked the ice cream. "I can summon anything cold...so long as it's not living."

Tobi and Artemis goggled at him and licked their lips.

"Nuh-uh," he scoffed. He wagged a finger at them teasingly. "My ice cream."

Artemis huffed and took out a granola bar from his pack. He started munching while Tobi stared at Vale's ice cream. All of a sudden Artemis dropped his granola bar. Tobi looked up quizzically and took a step back in horror. As soon as Vale took another lick at his sweet treat, he cocked his head to the side and glanced in front of him. He dropped his cone in shock.

***

Finally, Valor and Jered reached the shore where the pale yellow sand brushed their feet. The body of water before them sparkled in the sun like crystals, illuminating the striking tropical blue and cyan colors to their highest peak of elegance. The palm trees in the distance swayed to the gentle gusts of wind and flourished by the sun's light. Seashells were scattered amongst the area.

"Wow," Valor breathed. "I've never been to a beach in my life! It's so... peaceful... and calming."

"Meh," Jered shrugged, glancing at the sunset with seahawks flying and waves crashing against the sand. He pushed up his glasses. "It's okay."