Crater Creator

13. Questionable Friends

I sure do fancy starting my day with a red sandstorm blowing in my face after walking all night. How I wished that we brought a pony with a carriage, my feet are aching so badly. It must be hundreds of degrees out here. We came from a beautiful open, green, and cool grassland, to a dry, hot, and red desert. I think that that little twerp led me here to die. "It won't take too long, he said, it'll only take a little while." Yeah well a while, must translate to six days. "Hey," I hollered at him, "How far until we reach some water?" He looked at me with a blue rag wrapped around his face, "Can't be far now, the closest water source is beyond at great red boulder. Be sure to only fill your flask, do not, I repeat do not drink straight from your mouth. An old race trek these lands and they drink this water if they find traces of DNA that is not theirs. They will know that someone has breached their home, and they will neutralize that threat." Oh yeah sure, 'An old race', will come and 'kill me'. I would love to see them try to take me down. I still do not trust Zunlin, if there is a water source, and not some of his friends around the corner, my trust for him may increase.

The only reason I am still following him is just so I can save my friend. I only can hope that... wait what was that. An old, dry, and hoarse voice flew past my through ears like a whisper. "Go to the Valley of the Golem, seek Senex. He will help." Zunlin turned to me and said with a scared voice, "Did you hear that, it was like an old man spoke in my ear? He said something about the Golem and Senex, do you know who or what they are?" I said in an uninterested voice, "It's just the lack of water, don't worry about." "But..." "But nothing it was out imagination, nothing more." He bowed his head at me and moved on. He moved around the corner, as did I, to walk approach a water hole, with a mini waterfall pouring into it. A big grin formed on Zunlin's face. He runs up, pulls out his little brown flask, and drowns it in the water. Tilting his head, he took a big ol' sip out of it. I unsheathed my magic flask and did the same. He looked so cute and innocent taking off his little blue rag. His skin was light green with a short snout on his scaly face. I thought, "Maybe I'm judging him too much, maybe I should cut him some slack."

It was queer though, the water was a reflective blue. I could see myself in the water and Zunlin drinking in the background. "We should rest here for the night or until this storm blows over," he said with a tired voice. "Plus we've been a travel for days without stopping." I looked at him, tiredly, "Yeah, we'll set up here. You sleep I'll take the first watch." His bright eye has looked at me, "Okay, you're a good friend." He set his blue rag on top of flat rock and laid his head on it. He put his hands under his head and slept with a small smile. I returned to the water and ran my hands through the waterfall. Gazing at the color rocks that decorate the bottom of the water, I pick up one of the rocks. Admiring the rock, I realize there was a small gray button that lied beside a few rocks. My curiosity gets the better of me, turning my head back and forth, checking for anyone, I push the button.

A red light shoots from the water to the sky. The light sucks me into the sky, leaving behind my bow and Dreams blue daggers. I travel through the clouds and farther and farther away from the ground. When I look up, I find the sky getting darker. Soon my view of the sky went from a light blue to a deep black with very, very small white dots. I take a breath, but now I am suffocating. My vision gets blurry, the body gets weak, and my eyes get tired.

I wake up in a red barren desert. "Was that a dream? Where is Zunlin? Where am I?" Questions fill my head; I hop up to find no water hole, colored rocks, or Tainted. Although there is still a red sandstorm, then I see something. Four dark figures stride through the sand. The Four turns to me, one wields a metal club, another fire shield, another ice sword, and the fourth stops the sandstorm. I stagger to my feet and reach for my weapon but I find nothing in my sheath. They stand only a few feet from me, but they do not raise their weapons. They set their weapons down and all raise one hand. They wear only a turban, purple robe, and brown sandals. Their face looks like a red rock and they say something, which sounds like the grinding of rocks. I know not of what he said, but then a voice speaks in my head, "They do not mean any harm to you. They only wish to talk." Grabbing my head, I ask, "Who are you and where am I?" The voice said, "I am just a voice, I have no name. The only reason for my existence is to translate what they say and what you say. Where you are, may come as a shock, but you are in the same dessert you were in before, just millions of years before." " Why am I here, I was only passing through I didn't mean any harm?" I said in a scared tone. "You were summoned here by a Golem named Senex. He has been watching you for some time. He has seen how you overcome your obstacles and wishes to help you. The Golems are the ancient race from the Elemental Age. Golems are the size of a Troll, but their skin is a hard rock. They are immune to Magic and have elemental powers, such as Earth. What was so special about the Golem is that they were never hostile; they only ever wanted to help anyone. Senex is the leader of the Golem's, and he is a wizard. He has no physical strength, but he wields ancient, never before seen magic from the times of yore." I have never before seen a Golem. They must have died off before my time.

The four Golems lead me to a temple; it must have been bigger than a castle. Two Golems opened the monstrous door for me, revealing a long and tall room. A red carpet leads from the door to the end of the hall. At the end of the hall, was a throne with many windows behind it. Broken benches litter the area, with burnt banners on the walls; a chandelier lies smashed and broken in the middle of the room. As I walk the red carpet, I see another Golem, though this one is smaller. He was a skinny Lil' one, with a big red and white cloak on, and a gold crown atop his head, this must be Senex. Without him even turning around, he greeted me with a, "I'm glad you were able to join us. My associates and I have been waiting for your arrival." He turned around and fell to one knee, "Tell me, what do you require, Master Chris? Anything you need, tell me, and I shall give it to you so you may kill that evil Dwarf Gimrak." "Well, I need a soul gem and an army to fight the creatures that side with Gimrak. I have a friend named Zunlin who is both alone and young, I need to be brought back to him when I return. In return, I will give you the Crater Creator. Does this sound like a deal?" His rocky hand rubbed his chin with a crumbling sound. "I do not need the Crater Creator, keep that ball. I must do something before we can talk, hurry along now." He turned around and sat in his seat. I walked around the red throne. He was making a big green orb in front of him, muttering incoherently.

I decided to look around for a bit, while he did his thing. While I was walking, I stumbled upon a book. It was a large red book with a white, fur spine. I heaved it off the ground, and burnt pages fell like leaves off a tree. The title read, "Castle Rock, Rulers of the Elements." Because of my curiosity, I sat down beside a broken stall and began to read.

It begins with,

"Castle Rock, Rulers of the Elements"

By John Riverson

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Chapter one, the finding of the Golem

The men believed their King insane after he sent them to find a new creature. He called them Earth fighters; he "supposedly" saw them when he went a stroll in what is now Cannon Canyon. After this sighting, he came bursting through the front gate screaming about some demon. With interest he sent a posse of men down to Cannon Canyon, they never returned. After multiple possess, teams, and squads he sent, he sent an entire army to the canyon. Millions upon millions of fully trained men finally see what King Heam was speaking. Terrifying creatures fill the canyon from top to bottom. Confronting them was a dim idea. So the mad king decided to capture one, he thought he could use it for his use. After a couple of years, he finally caught one of them. The Elemental was neither enraged nor hostile, for it was like a puppy in a kennel. It looked lost and scared, cooped up in the metal cage we kept him.

Years past over, scientists and blacksmiths have cracked open the Elemental, studying and learning about the beast. They have only repentantly learned that they have never meant any harm; they were just confused. The men requested to their King that we release the beast, but King Heam had other ideas. Soon our enemy became interested and included themselves into this discovery, King Heam than began capturing more of the Elementals, to use against his foes. He moved from Earth's in Cannon Canyon to the Water's in Whiplash Bay, then to Air is in the high peaks of the Dwarven Mountain. We conquered kingdoms, ruined strongholds, and demolished settlements with our army from hell. Until at last came the Fire's, Heam's most treasured fighters. Finding and retrieving a Fire will be the hardest of them all. King Heam took his best Elementals with him to the Ignis Tundra seeking for the Fires. They all fell, not even seeing the Fires.

After a while, King Heam finally gave up his search and began mixing the Elementals, creating new Elementals. Water and Air formed Storm's, Earth, and Water made Tidal's and he went on from there. All seemed fine, until one night, a guard informed the King that the Elementals were grouping and about to breach the castle walls, they turned on us. The Earth's broke our walls down, the Water has washed our ships away, and the Tidal has crushed them. Air has ripped away from our colors, Hurricanes soaked our city, and worst of all the Fires are coming to burn the city down and everything with it.

We all have been confined to the city hall where King Heam rests upon his throne at the end of the hall.

If this is to be my final point in life, may the truth be heard, and may God bless us all.

God bless us all

Sincerely

John Riverson