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The Lord of the Sites The Fellowship of the Page Book 4
By Seth Rex
Chapter 20
“In the deep places of the Web!” muttered CrazyCompy, echoing Icebreaker’s words before they began this hike. “And look at where we’re going! Oh, joy!”
No one bothered to tell him to be quiet; that was how they all felt. They had fought Wolves, spammers and a prehistoric giant squid, mutated beyond recognition, and already one of their number was gone. Their only comfort was that no blue light came from Sting or Glamdring, which meant there were no flooders or spammers anywhere near.
“We must make haste,” said Icebreaker. “Making good time we will still take four days to reach the other side.”
For a day they walked through the long darkness, saving their food and drink. They would need it. They walked on, stopping only rarely, and rarely longer than three minutes. One time, Icebreaker stopped them to peer over the cleft.
“The wealth of WebCrawler,” he said. “Is not in gold or jewels, the mere toys of sprites, nor in iron, their servant. Look down there.”
They all peered down. Icebreaker held his lit staff over the edge, and down below, a bright substance reflected it. It was as bright as sunlight, and seemed to light the whole chasm.
“The wealth,” continued Icebreaker. “Was in mithril, the precious metal.”
They continued on again, with Icebreaker still talking.
“Martin had a shirt of mithril that Trex-Rage gave him,” he said. JPJunkee whistled, impressed.
“That was a master gift, worthy of a conqueror of many battles!”
“Yes,” agreed Icebreaker. “I never told him, but it was worth more than the Kazaa ever was!”
Seth-Rex barely managed to stop himself from jumping, feeling amazed that he was wearing something worth more than the Kazaa.
And so they continued on, not seeing anything living other than themselves in the cave for a while. But Seth-Rex, whose senses seemed to have been more fine-tuned since he was stabbed, sometimes thought he heard something. He listened above the sound of JPJunkee and Icebreaker’s footsteps ahead, above the small sound of newbie feet on the stone, above CrazyCompy’s loud boots, above RaptorVinny’s light footsteps and above Aragorn’s cautious feet. You see, he thought he heard another set of footsteps not far behind, light and stealthy, as though the owner wanted to get close but not too close. Whenever he heard it, he checked Sting to see if it was blue; but it wasn’t. Seth-Rex had a sneaking suspicion that they were being followed by something with no flooder or spammer blood, but something just as bad; perhaps one of the creatures Icebreaker had mentioned. But something told him no. And when they stopped for a lengthy break at a junction with three available passages after two and a half days of wandering the mines, he got his answer. He was casually watching over a small cliff, where he could see down below the path they had taken (his eyes had also been focused by the knife; he could see a bit better in the dark), when he spotted movement. Something was moving down below, something small and dark, crawling on four feet, a small, slinking figure scrabbling over the rocks. Jolted by fear, he hurried over to Icebreaker, who was sitting on a rock near the edge. He kept the figure in his sight the whole time.
“There’s something moving down there!” he whispered urgently. Icebreaker looked down and spotted it before nodding.
“It’s Dac.”
Realisation seeped into Seth-Rex.
“Dac?”
“I had a feeling something was following us since yesterday,” said Icebreaker. “It was poor Dac. His life as Domy was a sad story. Yes, Domy was his name once. Before he found the Ring. Dac was always his nickname, but eventually that became his real name, as he forgot the name Domy.”
“What’s he doing here? Didn’t he hide in E-Bay after he escaped from the veterans?”
“Possibly. But he must have taken refuge in WebCrawler, seeing as both Shniz’s forces and the veterans were tracking him. He can sense the Ring near, at last, and he’s now following it, seeking it with as much need as Shniz. He hates and loves it, as he hates and loves himself. He cannot get rid of his need for it.”
“It’s a pity Martin didn’t kill him when he had the chance,” growled Seth-Rex, watching the figure slinking towards the stairs. For a split second, he could see a gleam of yellow eyes.
“Pity?” echoed Icebreaker. “It was pity that stayed Martin’s hand, that stopped him from using that sword on your belt on the creature’s neck. You have not seen him and do not understand the pity Martin felt. You may yet, but you may not.”
Seth-Rex looked at him.
“You say this as though you have seen him.”
“I have, Seth-Rex. But not just that. I know the story of his life as Domy.
Long ago, he was one of the people that lived on the Great River, AskJeeves. I have heard rumours that they were newbies, but I’m still not sure. He loved the river, and enjoyed looking for roots and beginnings. He was inquisitive and curious, but he didn’t look up much at all; he kept his face down. He had a friend by the name of Martin, who was sharper-eyed but not nearly as quick or strong. The two of them often took a boat to the river, and one time, on Domy’s birthday, they went up to a part of the river where Vader had fallen, long before, though they did know it. Domy had gone hunting about for roots while Martin went fishing. But a fish grabbed the line and pulled him in, and as he was coming up, he spotted something gold on the bottom. He came back up, went down and picked it up. It was the Ring.
‘Ooh, a ring,’ he had said. He stroked his boat toward the edge of the river. He got out and sat on a log where Domy was.
‘I found a ring,’ he said. Domy looked at the ring.
‘Ooh. Is it for me?’ he asked. Gamblers frowned.
‘But I had already bought you more than I can afford, Dac,’ he said.
‘But it is my birthday. The ring would be a nice present,’ said Domy. Finally, after hearing Gamblers complain about how he had found it and it being his, Domy choked him and took the ring for himself, and hid Gamblers’s body. Domy then took the ring with him wherever he went. He had used it to spy on his family. When they had realized this, they had begun to despise him. Domy, in the meantime, was becoming corrupt through the ring. In return from the hatred and being thrown out of his home, Domy fled to the misty mountains where he would remain for years to come, forgetting his own name, staying with Dac, as he had been called a lot. The ring brought to Dac unnatural long life and for 500 years it poisoned his mind, hiding below the mountains, while he became a twisted little creature.
And then came Martin, with his clear voice which brought back memory of that which Dac had forgotten. He took the Ring without Dac knowing, until Dac found out and was forced to leave the mountains, or be caught by the spammers and flooders. And so he eventually came back here, not far from the cavern he had lived in for so long.”
Seth-Rex was silent. Icebreaker continued on.
“You see, Seth-Rex, he would have been a normal person, but the Ring twisted him and made him a pitiable creature. Do not be so quick as to decide those you do not know need death. Some who live deserve death, and some who die deserve life. It was not the fault of Domy that he became Dac. The Ring did to him what Morgoth the Dark Enemy did to veterans: twisted and cursed him several times over, warping him beyond recognition.”
Seth-Rex accepted this. But he sat down, feeling sorry for souls he had not met.
“I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened, not to me or Martin, or Domy, or Vader. No one should have to bear this. I wish none of this had ever happened.”
“So do all who live to see times such as this, but that is not for them to decide. All they have to decide is what to do with their time, and how to make the most of it. Do not worry, Seth-Rex.”
Suddenly he sat up.
“You smell that?”
Seth-Rex raised his eyebrow.
“Smell what?”
“The air…it isn’t so musty. Come on, let’s go!”
He stood up, and so did everyone else, feeling surprised. Icebreaker and Seth-Rex didn’t know it, but all of them (save Aragorn who knew it already) were listening to the story of Dac. Spinoboy, however, spoke up.
“The air isn’t musty? What are you talking about?”
“I mean it smells more like outside air,” said Icebreaker. “If in doubt, Spinoboy, follow your nose and not your eyes.”
Spinoboy understood what he meant about the air, but was still confused due to the sentence that had followed. But Icebreaker was leading them down one of the passages, so he had no time to wonder at the statement. But when they emerged out of the other end of the passage, they had something else to wonder at.
“Behold!” cried Icebreaker. “The great Sprite Kingdom of Netfirms!”
They were in an enormous hall, with many stone pillars about a hundred meters high, and a patch of sunlight shining through a small circle in the roof lit the place up, revealing it in all its magnificent glory. The light seemed to make even the lowest filmy corners of darkness light up, and the true kingdom of Netfirms was revealed. It was just a shadow of its previous self, but it was still marvellous to behold.
“Now, that’s a sight to see on all counts!” said Mad-Rex.
But JPJunkee was looking around, searching for something…and he found it. A small chamber off to the side, with the sunlight shining into it. He sprinted into the room, ignoring their cries of “Come back!” and “JPJunkee!” He ran into the room and saw the sunlight shining on a small stone structure, only a few feet off the ground. Inscriptions were carved into the top, and JPJunkee read them, kneeling in shock when he finished.
“No…” he moaned. “No!”
The others followed him in, staring at the spritish runes, wondering what had caused his dismay. They soon found out.
“It says, ‘Here lies AcroIguana, son of JohnArnold. Lord of WebCrawler,’” read Icebreaker. “So he is dead. I feared it was so.”
JPJunkee sobbed onto the tomb of his second cousin, Martin’s best friend in his company on his adventure. AcroIguana had visited the Kazaa long ago, and Seth-Rex had met him. It seemed a thousand years ago, Seth-Rex thought, as he stood beside the dusty stone tomb. Then, for the first time, they noticed the other bodies. Several sprite bodies lay about the chamber, some holding axes, two holding scythes, and one holding a book. Icebreaker bent down and picked up the book. It seemed to be a large diary of sorts; a book of records. It was rather large, and the thick, broad cover was cracked in places. He opened it up and a few pages fell out. He picked them back up carefully inserted them into their proper places. Then he began to read the spritish script, trying to read the smeared words.
“‘We have taken the gate, and the cavern where the Mithril was found. Panos was defending the great hall, but fell when the sp…I can’t read it. Something starting with sp and ending with ers. Panos fell when the something…appeared in a large force. He killed twenty-two, but was taken down by four arrows. We managed to drive them back, and took the hall. Twenty-second of November, three years of colonising WebCrawler, we have fought hard to reclaim it. But the dark forces are too many. We set a trap in the tomb-room, and pushed the bodies down the well. AcroIguana set up the base of operations there.’ So that is where we are now. Panos and some others must have been buried here as well.”
“They were,” said CrazyCompy. “This ledge around the room has similar plaques to AcroIguana’s. He was obviously of greater importance, so he had a tomb in the centre.”
“Many pages are missing,” said Icebreaker. “The notes of the first half of the fourth year are gone. The next one says: ‘Oviraptor has become a captain of the eastern gate. His group was separated from ours in a battle in the great hall…’ And there it trails off, with a small trickle of blood. The next page has larger writing and uses veterish. That must have been Killer-Raptor. He wrote: ‘Ninth of August, AcroIguana lord of WebCrawler was killed by a sniper flooder. The arrow passed through AcroIguana’s neck. We decapitated the flooder, but more are coming. They have taken the bridge and the…I cannot read the smeared ink. The next sentence begins: ‘Ambrose, Drucifer and Camel are all dead. They held off the flooder force, but something else comes. The Errors were frightened away, and the flooders and spammers followed. A shadow moved in the darkness, and a tongue of flame engulfed Ambrose, Drucifer and Camel. We ran before it could get us, and knew our chances were doomed. The northern gate was destroyed and the eastern gate was taken; Oviraptor was driven away. He survived the attack on his force, but the only other exit was the western gate, which is impassable. The Watcher in the Water has covered the pool. The noise of the gate always wakes it. It took Oviraptor and several others. All the gates are blocked; we cannot get out. Drums beat in the deep, loud and warlike. We cannot get out. They are coming.’”
A loud clatter made everyone jump. DinoDude had been holding Icebreaker’s hat and staff and had been walking around the room, looking at the graves, when his foot had hit a loose stone and accidentally kicked it into a nearby well, which had had walls surrounding it, but some had been knocked off. It was one of these that DinoDude had accidentally kicked, and it flew into a small helmet on the ground. Both had fallen into the deep hole, causing a loud clattering noise. They lasted for five minutes until the sound vanished.
“What was that?” cried Icebreaker; none of them had seen what had gone in. DinoDude confessed what had happened.
“Next time,” growled Icebreaker. “Watch where you’re going!”
He was not as severe as he might have been, and Seth-Rex suspected this was probably because the whole thing had been an accident. But something happened that halted everything briefly. Out of the well, they could hear a faint tapping, as though in code, and another one responded. Soon, there was a large number of taps, some more faint than others, down below. Then they subsided as quickly as they had begun.
“What the…” began Mad-Rex.
“That sounded like a hammer,” said JPJunkee. Confusion was alive in his voice.
“We had better watch our step,” said Icebreaker. “I have a feeling that something heard that noise. We had better get some sleep here and continue on soon. A few hours only. I’ll wake up RaptorVinny in an hour for the next watch. Now get some sleep, all of you.”
None felt sleepy, but soon Icebreaker was the only one still awake.
None of them had noticed a flicker of blue light from Sting or Glamdring.
Icebreaker passed an uneventful 20 minutes of first watch, but soon he heard a scuffling in the hall. He stiffened and placed his hand on his sword, but then he heard a familiar voice.
“Where did they go, precious? Where are they, what have they done with the precious?”
It was soft, barely audible, but in the stillness and silence of the chamber, Icebreaker heard it. So their little friend was still following them. Soon he heard the scuffling again, and a few feet out of the door, a figure appeared. For a minute, it was sniffing the ground, but then it looked up and spotted Icebreaker. The gleam of those yellow eyes sparked, and the next second, he was gone. Icebreaker kept his hand on the sword when the voice came again.
“I think one of them saw us, precious, one is awake. It’s that wizard. We can’t go in there, no. We’ll have to wait,” it said. Then there was a sharp hiss of breath; he had just heard or seen something, obviously.
“What’s that?” said the voice. “Do you hear that, precious? Something below…”
Icebreaker strained his ears also. Soon, he heard what the figure had. A soft boom, boom. What was it? Something stirred in his memory from the book.
‘Drums beat in the deep, loud and warlike.’
Icebreaker leapt to his feet and withdrew his sword. The blade was gleaming bright blue; they had company! He heard feet scamper away in the hall and knew the figure had bolted in terror. Quickly, he roused the others.
“We have company!” he cried. Everyone leapt to their feet.
“Spammers!” hissed RaptorVinny, hearing the familiar hated screeches.
“The hammers were tapping messages,” growled JPJunkee. “They know we’re here!”
“Draw your weapons, hold your ground!” ordered Icebreaker. CrazyCompy sprinted over to the door and stuck his head out. He barely jerked away as five arrows flew right at him, but he spotted something with the enemy.
“They have a Cave Error!” he said.
He and Aragorn heaved the rickety doors shut and bolted them with spare axes. JPJunkee stood up on Spinoboy’s tomb, snarling, “Let them come! There is one sprite yet in WebCrawler who still lives!”
RaptorVinny drew his bow and readied an arrow; Aragorn picked up a discarded one, wishing he had not refused Dan’s. JPJunkee held up a throwing axe. CrazyCompy drew both sword and scythe, leaving his shield on his back. The newbies all drew their swords and shields, and Icebreaker held both his sword and staff. Soon, there was a pounding on the door, and it looked ready to splinter. Once the spammers realized it was barred, they used their disfigured weapons to crack holes in the wood. As soon as one appeared, RaptorVinny fired an arrow in. A loud screech was heard as the weapon fell back. Another hole appeared and JPJunkee’s axe flew in. The spammer outside wasn’t expecting it, and it fell backwards as well. Aragorn fired another spammer backwards with its own arrow, but the spammers had had enough. As one, they charged the door, and the wood splintered. Instantly, the spammers flooded into the chamber. Several were met by arrows and axes, but soon, all were forced to use close-range weapons. With a roar, the newbies charged after Icebreaker into the fray, and soon half of the spammers were dead or dying. They chose the wrong group to have a fight with: it included the greatest fighter in JPDatabase, the chief and best fighter of the Rangers, a prize fighter of E-Bay, an extremely vengeful sprite and a wizard of high importance. Half the spammers were dead, but one of the still alive ones seemed to have a distorted halberd in one hand and a chain in the other. Soon he pulled the chain taut and pulled in the other end. And the other end happened to be around the neck of a huge, grey beast with lines of code etched into its scales. It looked vaguely like a raptor, but this was no mountain raptor, despite the obvious resemblance.
“Cave Error!” cried RaptorVinny.
Fuelled by the appearance of their beast, the spammers renewed their attack, and the Error ran with surprising speed right at JPJunkee, who tossed an axe into its shoulder. It recoiled briefly but raised a large, crudely made stone club and attempted to crush the sprite, who dived out of the way. The club instead hit the book of records, which was resting on Spinoboy’s tomb, so book and tomb were both destroyed. Angered that its prey had escaped, the Error chased after him, not noticing that it stepped on a few of the spammers, including the one holding the chain for its neck. It soon lost sight of JPJunkee in the confusion and turned to chase Mad-Rex, who had just impaled a spammer from behind, and raised its club again. He dug his sword into the back of another spammer, unaware of the danger looming, until the club hit the ground next to him and the resulting shock wave sent him flying forward a bit. He hit the ground and rolled over, and the beast raised its foot to squash him like an insect. But then, suddenly, it reeled backwards, and was forced to use its overlarge flat foot to steady itself. Mad-Rex leapt to his feet, and stabbed another spammer nearby. He saw what had happened to the Error: Aragorn and CrazyCompy had grabbed the chain from the dead spammer and used all their strength to drag the great beast backwards. Once Mad-Rex had escaped it, they released it and it fell over. Errors have little to no intelligence but they can comprehend things. It used its mighty strength to wrench the iron collar off its neck, and started using the chain as a whip.
Seth-Rex, Spinoboy and DinoDude were all standing back-to-back, fending off spammers every which-way, when all of a sudden the chain lashed the ground next to them, creating a large crack in the tombs around the side of the room. Quickly, they leapt up and hid behind the pillars, and the great beast decided to ignore them and find someone else to kill. It didn’t notice CrazyCompy sneak up behind it until he had dug his scythe deep into its back. But the tough scales of Errors proved too much for the scythe, and while it gave the Error a nasty injury, the metal broke and was left buried in its skin.
“For AcroIguana!” roared a voice, and suddenly a small figure leapt from nowhere and hurled a throwing axe into the beast’s shoulder. Then JPJunkee raised both battle-axe and halberd and swung them into the belly of the beast. The Error was then slowed by three nasty injuries, but it was still alive and kicking. It chased JPJunkee in rage, swinging its chain, but catching a pair of newcomers instead: some of the more stronger flooders were now entering the chamber to back up their spammer allies. But soon an arrow met the beast’s eye, courtesy of RaptorVinny, who had finished slashing up some of the last spammers with his knives. The Error, half-blind, lashed out at the veteran with the chain, but he ran nimbly away to fight the flooders. As he did, the shortest fighter in the room joined him.
“For the Kazaa!” roared DinoDude, meeting the flooders head-on and driving his sword into them. The other three newbies, who had assembled at the destroyed tomb and now they charged as one at the oncoming flooders. The flooders were caught unawares by the ferocity of such small opponents and several were killed. But as all four were concentrated on the flooders, they didn’t notice a hulking form rear up behind them until…
“SETH-REX, BEHIND YOU!” bellowed CrazyCompy, turning to bury both his sword and broken-yet-still-sharp scythe into an attacking flooder. The newbies whirled and dived onto the tombs around the side a split second before the Error brought its chain into the ground, achieving nothing except the deaths of four unlucky flooders. Enraged that its prey had once more escaped, it dropped the chain it held and picked up a discarded spear. Turning, it jabbed at DinoDude, who leapt out of the way just in time, and then the others all did the same. But now the beast had selected Seth-Rex, and as the enemy force was dwindling, so too were chances of eluding it in the confusion. Seth-Rex was now secluded in the back corner, and the beast made constant thrusts at him. At the last minute, Mad-Rex shot out of nowhere, slashing at the somewhat smoother underbelly of the creature, in its gaping wounds JPJunkee had inflicted. But he enraged the beast even more, and it swatted him away with ease before it focused once more on Seth-Rex. It raised the spear for a last time, and this time its aim was true: the spear drove into the newbie’s stomach. He managed to give a choking gasp before the monster ripped the spear out and he collapsed to the ground.
Still dazed, Mad-Rex saw him fall and suddenly his strength blazed anew. He, Spinoboy and DinoDude all let out mighty roars and sprinted towards it, leaping onto the creature’s back and driving their swords in and out of it. Confused, it dropped the spear and started swinging its enormous arms to try and knock them off. Within minutes, Spinoboy had been swatted away like a fly, but the other two, fuelled by utter rage, grabbed the open gashes to hang on. But the Error now had other trouble: the flooders and spammers that had attacked were all dead, so now Icebreaker, JPJunkee, RaptorVinny, Aragorn and CrazyCompy had joined the fray. Several flooder and veteran arrows were now buried in its gut, as well as three or four throwing axes. Icebreaker hurled a small blast of lightning-magic into it and it screamed with fresh, blinding pain. Just as it did, both newbies drove their swords into the back of its head, and as it reared up to its full and considerable height, RaptorVinny fired one last arrow into its throat. With one last breath, it keeled over and fell, dead. Mad-Rex and DinoDude went flying and landed on the hard stone floor, moaning with pain.
It was a terrible sight to behold. The eight of them glanced around, taking in the floor, now littered with pages from the book, already rotted corpses of sprites, and fresh carcasses everywhere of flooders, spammers, an Error and one newbie. It was to the latter they now stared at. Aragorn and Mad-Rex ran over to his slumped form.
“Oh no…” whispered Aragorn, but suddenly Seth-Rex sat up, gasping and coughing. Everyone else jumped in amazement, purely bewildered. He looked at them, still winded.
“I’m all right…I’m just really sore…”
“By rights, you should be dead!” said Aragorn. “That spear would have impaled a Wolf!”
Then Seth-Rex’s mind flashed back to Dan’s JP3 Page.
“‘This coat is as light as the sword, but it’s as solid as a Pteranodon’s scales and an Error’s skin put together!’”
He unbuttoned his shirt and everyone stared in wonder. JPJunkee’s eyes widened.
“Mithril!” he gasped. “You are full of surprises, my friend! You were indeed lucky to be wearing that coat!”
“Martin gave it to me,” said Seth-Rex. “It was the one Trex-Rage gave him.”
As he said this, climbed to his feet and moved about until he was comfortable again. JPJunkee was clearly about to reply, but he halted, listening to something. Soon they all heard it clearly: the drums were once more beating in the deep, and a large amount of howls were coming up from the well; more flooders and spammers were on their way. Icebreaker quickly turned to the door.
“They are coming. We must flee! To the Bridge of Netfirms!”
And so they left Spinoboy’s tomb behind as they ran into the main hall. They hall itself was a mile and a half long from the tomb chamber to the exit Icebreaker was leading them to, and when they were about a quarter of the way there they heard the sound of howling and screeching behind them. Turning, they saw masses and masses of flooders and spammers chasing after them agilely. A lot had come from the chamber, but others had come from other passageways and more still had been crawling out of cracks in both the ground and ceiling, the latter of which scuttled nimbly down the pillars. As the nine of the Fellowship reached halfway, more flooders and spammers appeared in the path in front of them; more of the ones who climbed from roof and floor, no doubt to cut them off. Soon they were hemmed in from all sides, being taunted by spear-toting flooders and aggressive little spammers. Just as they started to close in, however, a silence fell from the rear of the circle, and it slowly spread to the front. Three hundred flooders and spammers froze, listening alertly to something they only seemed to hear. But then the Fellowship heard it too: something else had stirred in the deep, something terrible. Shafts of light and smoke appeared at the far end of the hall, accompanied by a menacing growl. The flooders all started screeching in terror, and all three hundred abruptly scattered, diving into any opening they could find which would take them away from the new force. Soon only the Fellowship were left in the hall with their weapons ready, eyeing the light that had appeared. Soon, in accompaniment to the evil, huge growls that penetrated everything in the hall, there came the sound of thudding footsteps. At first, no one spoke.
“DiloDude’s Bane,” hissed JPJunkee.
“‘A shadow moved in the dark,’” recited Icebreaker softly. “Not just shadow, but also flame. A beast of the ancient world, bred by the Dark Enemy Morgoth. This foe is beyond any of you.”
Everyone looked at him. To say he was extremely tense was a large understatement, but he soon spun to their original destination.
“RUN!” he bellowed before sprinting off towards the opening. Everyone else ran, but the creature behind them heard his yell and replied: a terrifying roar emitted from the light, which seemed to be drawing nearer. The roar had everyone petrified, and it chilled them all to the bone; whatever that thing was, none of them wanted to meet it. They bolted through the doorway with CrazyCompy in the lead. They ran down a small flight of steps and emerged onto a balcony. Their entrance was anticipated, however; as soon as CrazyCompy emerged, an arrow spat from a higher platform on a different part of the cliff face and skittered across the stone floor, causing him to jump and lose his balance. DinoDude and Aragorn barely managed to grab him and stop him tumbling into the abyss, while RaptorVinny sent arrows back at the flooder archers. Three were killed before Icebreaker stopped him; there were many archers on that platform.
“Quickly!” cried the wizard. “The bridge is near, and we must get out as quickly as we can! Do not stop! Once you cross the bridge, wait for no one else, understand? Follow the path and the stairs and you should come to a gate. Get out of these mines as soon as possible! Go now!”
Everyone sprinted over the wide, winding path set in the cliff. It was long, but easy enough to conquer. Eventually they came to a large opening, in front of which the bridge was standing. It was narrow, yet solid stone. But they stopped in dismay at the opening: it was a wide staircase, and just at the foot of the stairs was a huge fire. Icebreaker immediately shoved them towards the bridge.
“GO, QUICKLY!” he bellowed. “Quick, over the bridge! Flee! The Spinosaur is upon us!”
“The Spinosaur?!” echoed JPJunkee, but Icebreaker didn’t have time to reply, for the flames began to rise higher, and soon, from the flames, leapt the Spinosaurus itself.
It was huge, certainly larger than the Error, about as tall as two Errors on top of each other, and 15 meters long. Its eyes glowed the bright yellow of fire, yet its skin was black and smoky, almost like a shadow. The white-hot teeth gleamed in the light of the fire, which was the very spine of the beast. The flames had created the spine for which the dinosaur was recognised. The enormous creature ran at them, and as fast as they could, they ran to the bridge. Eight of them reached the other side, but as they looked back, the Spinosaur had reached the foot of the bridge, and Icebreaker was right in the middle. Aragorn and CrazyCompy ran back, but Icebreaker yelled at them.
“Go back! You cannot fight this enemy!”
Reluctantly, they turned and ran back to the others, who were hiding at the foot of the stairs, watching. RaptorVinny fired an arrow right at the monster, but it merely burst into flames from the molten heat surrounding the Spinosaur.
“You cannot pass!” roared Icebreaker. The Spinosaur snarled and sent its fire burning higher and brighter in reply. It also drew a flaming sword from the folds of shadow that made its body.
“ICEBREAKER!” screamed Seth-Rex.
“I am a servant of the Secret Fire,” hissed Icebreaker. “Wielder of the flame of the Rising Sun. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Morgoth!”
The Spinosaur swung the sword at him, but it crashed onto the dazzlingly bright blue light that had appeared on his staff, and though Icebreaker shook with the impact, the flaming sword dissipated and the dinosaur drew back its arm. Utterly angered, it withdrew another weapon: a fiery battle-axe. It swung this at Icebreaker with the same result. The fire burned brightly on its back as a sign of its rage. It took a step onto the bridge and brought out its final weapon: a burning whip with many tails. It swung it in an attempt to intimidate its foe, but it failed.
“Go back to the shadow!” he snarled. It lashed the whip around him, snarling in reply, but Icebreaker had finally had enough.
“YOU SHALL NOT PASS!” he bellowed, and as his voice echoed all throughout the mines, he slammed his staff into the stone of the bridge and cracked it, repeating this again more fiercely. The Spinosaur roared and took another step, but the crumbling bridge could not support its weight, and it fell, snarling and screaming, into the dark chasm. Icebreaker peered after it before turning back to the rest of his companions. But even as he did, the whip shot back up and curled around his ankle, snatching it out from underneath him. He fell and barely managed to grab the stone of the bridge, dropping his sword in the process. But as Seth-Rex tried to run forward and the others held him back, Icebreaker looked back at them.
“Flee, you fools!” he hissed.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” screamed Seth-Rex, but it was too late. In that instant, Icebreaker let go of the bridge and was gone.
Sound seemed to cut off from Seth-Rex’s ears as he saw his friend, who was almost like a father figure to him, fall into a deep abyss. CrazyCompy and JPJunkee had to drag him up the stairs: his legs had locked into place and he couldn’t seem to move. But flooders were now approaching from the other side of the bridge, firing arrow after arrow at them, and they could not afford to wait any longer. He was pulled up the stairs, and soon they came to the eastern gate of WebCrawler. They burst into the bright sunlight, and they all collapsed in grief. Aragorn was silent, but he could still stand. He surveyed the others. JPJunkee was on the ground in shock, silent. RaptorVinny was leaning against the rocks with his head bowed. Mad-Rex, DinoDude and Spinoboy were all sobbing into their hands, and CrazyCompy was sitting silent like JPJunkee, the same shocked expression stuck on his face. Aragorn walked over to them.
“On your feet, Mad-Rex,” he said. “CrazyCompy, RaptorVinny, JPJunkee. We must go.”
“Give them a minute, for god’s sake!” cried CrazyCompy, jumping to his feet, but Aragorn was adamant.
“I am sorry, but we must move as soon as possible. The flooders will come out at nightfall, so we must go now. Come on, everyone. DinoDude, Spinoboy, Seth-Rex…Seth-Rex?”
He looked around and spotted Seth-Rex moving away.
“Seth-Rex!”
Seth-Rex stood next to a small trickle of water and bowed his head.
“Goodbye, Icebreaker,” he whispered, before turning away.
Chapter 21
With the death of Icebreaker, the fellowship needed leadership. Icebreaker had trusted Aragorn with leading the fellowship through the rest of the trip but Aragorn didn’t know if he could handle it. Everyone still felt the sting of loss. But Aragorn now needed to get them to safety.
They walked through the edges of the mountains and saw something great. In the distance was UFXN. RaptorVinny walked up to Aragorn.
“ UFXN, home of the lady AngelsPhoenix and AlanGrant5. They would help us,” he said. Aragorn nodded his head and they moved on. They walked down from the mountains and entered a long plain that would lead them to UFXN. Aragorn looked back toward the mountains and knew that flooders were following them by now. Aragorn sighed with that thought. They had to cross this plain to get to UFXN. They couldn’t run for they had been travelling far and were growing tired. They would have to walk at their very best speed; Aragorn and RaptorVinny could keep the rear in case flooders followed. RaptorVinny would be able to shoot them from a distance, and Aragorn wasn’t such a bad distance shot.
“ We must keep moving. RaptorVinny, keep a watch out behind us in case any flooders follow us,” Aragorn said. RaptorVinny nodded his head and they began walking the distance. JPJunkee predicted at least a mile’s walk before reaching the borders of UFXN.
It was a journey nonetheless. Aragorn walked straight ahead of them. He was in the lead followed by Seth-Rex, Mad-Rex, Spinoboy, DinoDude, JPJunkee, and CrazyCompy with RaptorVinny at their flank. RaptorVinny constantly glanced behind him to make sure they were not being followed. Since they still had a ways to go, it was easy for flooders to catch up to them in the open range. Aragorn had actually been holding his sword ready in case they did have to fight. Seth-Rex was growing tired and Mad-Rex noticed this.
“ Mr. Seth-Rex your tired,” he said.
“ I can manage,” replied Seth-Rex. He glanced around him to see that the others were quite tired themselves. They had to make it to the borders of UFXN if they wanted to rest.
They were finally reaching the boarders of UFXN when something happened. RaptorVinny turned to see behind him and he noticed that the flooders had indeed been following them. They were moving at a fast rate and catching up.
“ Aragorn we are followed!” he cried. Aragorn readied his sword and stood in front of the newbies. JPJunkee took out his axe and CrazyCompy readied his sword as well. RaptorVinny readied his bow and armed an arrow. RaptorVinny pictured at the moment at least 30 flooders. It was no wonder that they had been out, the evening dusk had appeared and it was no lighter out than a cloudy day. RaptorVinny readied for a shot and took it. One of the flooders in the distance fell. Aragorn took his bow and quickly armed an arrow, shooting at one of the flooders. Another distant flooder fell but they still came forward. JPJunkee wanted them to come closer so he can slice one with his axe.
“ Will they ever leave us alone?” asked Mad-Rex.
“Apparently not,” replied Spinoboy. They readied their small swords just in case they would need them.
“ Walk backwards,” said Aragorn. They began a good backwards walk toward UFXN as RaptorVinny shot another flooder with his bow and arrow. That left 27 flooders estimated from the distance. One of the flooders came forward and had come closer when Aragorn’s arrow hit him between the eyes. They reached UFXN but the flooders finally caught up.
“ Good. Now I can draw my axe upon some necks!” said JPJunkee. But before he could, arrows shot out and killed the rest of the flooders. They were stunned, as they didn’t think there was anyone behind them. The fellowship turned to see veterans standing next to the trees. One of these veterans, the one standing the closest to the fellowship, bowed. This was Vinsfeld. He walked up to Aragorn.
“ I bring news from AngelsPhoenix, lady of the lake. We here have heard of your quest and allow entrance,” he said. Aragorn bowed in response and spoke in veterish.
“ Thank you. We need rest and supplies. I’m afraid it’s gotten a great deal more dangerous than we planned,” Aragorn explained. Vinsfeld nodded his understanding.
“ We can help out as best as we can. We too hear of the dangers. Come and we shall talk. AngelsPhoenix and AlanGrant5 would like to hear of your journey so far,” Vinsfeld stated. He glanced toward his fellow veterans and asked them to take guard in case other flooders came this way searching for the company.
They walked through the forest towards Lycos. Aragorn stood up in front with Vinsfeld as they talked.
“ News came here 2 days ago of the fellowship. We knew of the 10 that left Dan’s on the quest. I see here only 8 though. I am not to hear what has happened but I do assume your journey has not been the quest it was thought to be,” said Vinsfeld. Aragorn nodded his head.
“ We have had many a tragedy, and I fear the worst is to come,” commented Aragorn. They walked toward the top of a hill and spread out. in front of them was a in the woods. Like Dan’s, but quite unlike Dan’s at the same time. Like Dan’s forests and a bed of water surrounded it. Unlike Dan’s, Lycos was connected to a bunch of trees and not merely a town within. The heart of Lycos was a huge tree that outgrew the others.
“ I give you Lycos, home of the lady of the forest, AngelsPhoenix and of the lord AlanGrant5,” said Vinsfeld. They began their long walk down the hill and headed toward the city. It was an amazing walk. They now saw trees native to this land. The trees seemed to grow bigger. RaptorVinny marvelled at its beauty. This was the type of land he lived in. He was quite used to forest dwellings. The newbies could get used to it as well. After all they lived in holes in the ground. They would soon reach the gates of Lycos itself. And there they would get quite the sight when they saw the city.
Chapter 22
They walked through the gates and immediately there was a change. Seth-Rex glanced upward and saw that there was a city above him. They would have to go up toward that city. It seemed quite high for a climb. Vinsfeld led them through toward a huge ramp that twisted around one of the trees. He turned toward his new companions.
“ Up this ramp is the great hall of AngelsPhoenix. She will be waiting for us there,” he said. He then turned and walked up the ramp. The fellowship followed him up. Seth-Rex glanced around as he walked, trying to take in all of the sights to be seen. Mad-Rex once again was in shock. He was once more around veterans. CrazyCompy felt nervous. He glanced around at all the veterans here, and wondered about the situation. He knew that flooders wouldn’t reach here, but he had travelled so far and had fought so much that he was almost literally exhausted.
They finally reached the main section of the city in which they needed to go. They walked toward a building and standing in front of one of the buildings was AngelsPhoenix. She was quite beautiful. In fact JPJunkee thought she was more beautiful than mithril, and that was saying something for a Sprite. Vinsfeld walked away and left them there.
“ Greetings,” she said. “ I am AngelsPhoenix. And this is AlanGrant5. We welcome you to UFXN.” AlanGrant5 stood beside her. He seemed tense and yet calm.
“ And so you arrive. Please tell me, where is Icebreaker the Gray? I wish to speak with him,” AlanGrant5 said. Aragorn felt solemn with this statement.
“ He fell at WebCrawler. A Spinosaur of Morgoth had attacked,” Aragorn explained.
“ This is tragic news. And I see that Carna has also fallen,” AngelsPhoenix noticed. “ This is indeed a dangerous quest. This journey lies on the edge of a knife. Stray but a little and you will fail. But rest now. We shall aid you on your journey in the morning. You have come far and have suffered much. Now is the time for peace.” She smiled as she glanced around the fellowship. She laid her eyes on Seth-Rex. Someone so small carried such a burden. She wondered if he could continue on. She knew that he was trustworthy, but would he be able to continuously resist the ring?
That night, the fellowship set up camp near the base of one of the trees. It was a cosy spot. Mad-Rex noticed it was quite a bit softer than usual areas. He liked this place. He almost didn’t want to leave. But he had an oath to keep and he didn’t want to abandon his friends. It was now that something came to Mad-Rex’s mind. He walked over to Seth-Rex and sat down next to him.
“ Mr. Seth-Rex we need to speak,” he said.
“ What about?” Seth-Rex asked. He seemed to be slightly more cheerful now.
“ Well it’s nothing bad. It just makes me wonder. Here we’re going to this hotmail and we don’t even know the way in. If we do make it to this mount doom, how do we get inside?” Mad-Rex explained. It made Seth-Rex think. Mad-Rex was actually right. How were they to get into Mount Doom once they got there?
“ I suppose there’s a way in. We’ll just have to find it once we get there,” Seth-Rex answered. He lie down and put his head on a veteran pillow. He glanced up at Mad-Rex.
“ Besides when were you ever worried about getting into the cracks of doom? Imagine what the gaffer would say about this,” he said jokingly. Mad-Rex took the joke, but decided to answer it seriously anyway.
“ Oh he’d just get on my back about it, that’s what. OH Mad-Rex why bother getting yourself mixed up in this Hotmail trouble? Be a smart Newbie and keep your nose out of it,” Mad-Rex stated. Seth-Rex could only laugh. Mad-Rex always picked on his self, making references as to what the gaffer would say to him. Perhaps he was right too. The gaffer always hated the crazy things people did. He didn’t pick on Martin but he knew that Martin had gone on adventures and didn’t like it too much. Martin was a respected Newbie. Thinking of Martin made Seth-Rex a bit homesick. He missed Martin and wondered what Martin was doing at this moment. He wondered if Martin had possibly heard of Icebreaker’s death and the adventures so far. It had been thrilling but more than once Seth-Rex could have lost his life and the quest would end. It was just one of those many risks Seth-Rex took when he volunteered to take the ring further than he already had…and needed to. Seth-Rex didn’t HAVE to take the ring to doom. He just felt obligated to. After all it had indeed come to him and Icebreaker had said that it was meant to come to him. Perhaps this was his destiny and he was taking it. Seth-Rex would live through this…but at what cost? He glanced toward Mad-Rex and noticed that the gardener newbie had fallen asleep. Seth-Rex slowly closed his eyes and soon he was fast asleep.
CrazyCompy was sharpening his sword. He had seen battle in many forms. This was the worse form he had seen. He was a part of a quest that could decide the fate of the world. He felt obligated to protect Seth-Rex at all costs, but the safety of his people had also been important to him. He wrestled with both obligations and so far he was truthful to his oath to see Seth-Rex through till the end of the quest. He figured that if Seth-Rex succeeded, JPDatabase would also be protected. He would be killing 2 birds with one stone. This was his final decision for now. He knew what he had to do. He had said that JPDatabase would see it done and so be it, which is what would happen. He noticed Aragorn walk around for a while. He knew that the ranger had some things on his mind.
“ You seem troubled,” CrazyCompy said. Aragorn turned toward him.
“ I wonder what will happen now. We need to reach Amazon by dark tomorrow. Icebreaker may have wanted us to head that way and he may not have. Either way we must make sure we arrive safely,” Aragorn stated.
“ Do you trust that Seth-Rex can complete his quest?” CrazyCompy asked.
“ He has strength. I trust him,” Aragorn replied. He sat next to CrazyCompy.
“He has such honourable friends,” CrazyCompy said, commenting on the 3 accompanying Newbies.
“ They care about him,” Aragorn noted. Aragorn also seemed to notice CrazyCompy’s troubles.
“ What troubles you?” asked Aragorn. CrazyCompy turned to look at him.
“ I worry about my city. JPDatabase is constantly under siege by the flooders of Hotmail. I sometimes wonder why we can’t take the ring there and defend it,” CrazyCompy answered. Aragorn understood what CrazyCompy was worried about. He wanted to protect his people, but this was not a good decision.
“ We could not take the ring there. It would be dangerous,” Aragorn stated. CrazyCompy nodded his head.
“I hope we can one day ride together towards the white city, as brothers, with honour,” CrazyCompy said.
“ We will. I promise you, nothing will happen to ProBoards,” Aragorn stated, calming his friend’s worries.
Seth-Rex couldn’t sleep. He decided to take a small walk along the trees. He had wondered about this AngelsPhoenix. He had seen her walk down some path and had now been following it. He thought she was quite beautiful for a veteran. He walked toward what appeared to be a pair of stairs made of branches, down a small hill. He slowly walked down them to see AngelsPhoenix standing next to a very small waterfall. She noticed him and smiled.
“ Hello Seth-Rex,” she said. He walked toward the middle of the room.
“ Do not fear, this is a place where I come to think,” she explained, “ and I see that you have some thinking of your own to do.” She picked up a large cup and filled it with water.
“ What do you think about?” she asked. She walked toward what appeared to be a birdbath.
“ I think about what this quest could lead to if I continue,” Seth-Rex said. AngelsPhoenix noticed his concern within his voice.
“ Perhaps you worry about friends? Perhaps family?” she asked.
“ I suppose both. I worry about the Kazaa, Newbiton, Martin and my friends that have come with me. Spinoboy, DinoDude, and Mad-Rex are all willing to risk their lives for me, but I don’t want to lose them. I just want things to go back to the way things used to be,” Seth-Rex explained.
“ They do this because they are your friends. They want to make sure you come back safely. You feel the same way that they feel about you. You are the ring bearer Seth-Rex. You have a task that is virtually impossible for most others. To carry the ring this far would have been a difficult task for one person alone. Yet 10 people have openly offered their loyalty toward your cause. And though you may have lost 2, there are still 8 that hold their oath to the fullest extent of this quest,” AngelsPhoenix explained. She poured the water into the birdbath. Seth-Rex had to think about this for a few seconds. He saw towards the birdbath.
“ Would you look into the water?” asked AngelsPhoenix.
“ What would it show me?” Seth-Rex asked in response.
“ Nobody knows. It shows what will be, what could be…and possibly some things that have already come to pass,” she explained. Seth-Rex walked up to the water and slowly glanced into it. At first he saw mostly his reflection. It was crystal clear water, and he liked the way that it sparkled. But suddenly images appeared to him. First he saw the Kazaa as a peaceful place. It was as he left it, and Seth-Rex almost had to laugh as he thought he saw the gaffer getting drunk as usual. But then BOOM…he saw Icebreaker the Gray doing something. There was fire and smoke…BOOM…he saw the Kazaa in flames. Flooders and wild surfers were attacking the area…. boom…he saw the fellowship, one by one, as they glanced around. He saw a strange aura around CrazyCompy and wondered what it could mean. Then he saw the most horrific scene ever. He saw the eye of Shniz looking at him. It was intense and he’d almost thought it was looking deep into his soul. It almost seemed to speak to him.
“ I see you,” it said. He fell backwards, holding the ring in his hand. He glanced up at AngelsPhoenix. He stood up and looked back at the water, but it was once again clear and peaceful.
“ I know what you saw,” she said. He glanced up at her.
“ It is as clear as this water. You saw the eye. Does it scare you?” she said. Seth-Rex simply nodded his head. He was completely winded by what he saw. She looked sternly toward him.
“ Then you know why you must continue this quest,” she said. He held out the ring.
“ If you want it, I will give you this ring,” Seth-Rex said. AngelsPhoenix became tense for a minute. He had offered her the ring. This was bad indeed. She was slightly weak to the calling of the ring.
“ I cannot lie. I have desired it. Instead of a king, they would have a queen,” she said as a strange aura appeared about her, “ powerful and wise! All would cower and love me!” But she calmed down and the aura disappeared.
“ But I cannot take it Seth-Rex,” she finished. She walked up to him and closed his hand gently. “ I say this Seth-Rex. You are the ring bearer and this task was appointed to you. If you cannot find a way, then all is lost.”
Seth-Rex walked up toward where Mad-Rex slept, only Mad-Rex wasn’t sleeping. He walked up to Seth-Rex, slightly worried.
“ Are you ok?” he asked. He saw the worry in Seth-Rex’s eyes. Seth-Rex looked toward him.
“ No Mad-Rex. I don’t know if I can continue on like this. I do not want you getting hurt. I don’t want Spinoboy and DinoDude risking their lives for me,” he said.
“ Don’t say that Seth-Rex. Nothing will happen,” Mad-Rex suggested. Seth-Rex nodded head, though he wondered if it was true. He knew that Mad-Rex would say anything to keep Seth-Rex’s hope up and he thanked Mad-Rex for that cheering up. He went back to his little bed and tried to fall asleep. Mad-Rex followed his lead and did the same.
AlanGrant5 had called for Aragorn. Aragorn walked up through the veteran city up to the palace where AlanGrant5 stay. AlanGrant5 motioned for him to sit.
“ It is a long journey from here on toward Hotmail. Which path did you plan to take?” AlanGrant5 said. Aragorn had to figure this one out. He hadn’t known the exact path to take. Icebreaker had taken the liberty of knowing the path but now that he was gone, he’d have to decide. AlanGrant5 noticed this discomfort.
“ I do know of a way. It is difficult but I think it will be no more dangerous than what you may have already faced. It leads you through Borders. Be careful, for that will be rocky and very rugged. But once you get through there, it is mostly swamps. But you will get to where you are going,” AlanGrant5 explained. Aragorn nodded and gave his thanks. Suddenly a guard ran up toward them.
“ Lord AlanGrant5, there are flooders headed this way!” he called out. Aragorn grew uneasy. He got up and went off with the guard. RaptorVinny, JPJunkee and CrazyCompy followed as they heard the news.
The flooders were from WebCrawler. Aragorn could tell, as that was the direction they were coming from and he had seen them for himself. He noticed that they must have been lying back while the others came at them the first time. Vinsfeld waited alongside Aragorn.
“ They’re obviously looking for the ring bearer,” Vinsfeld noted. Aragorn nodded his head in agreement. Vinsfeld raised his bow and arrow in ready stance. RaptorVinny did the same along with a few other archers. The rest held their swords ready. CrazyCompy had his hand on his sword’s hilt and JPJunkee prepared his axe.
“ No dirty blooded flooder’s gonna get passed this Sprite,” he said.
“ You could remix that,” said RaptorVinny jokingly.
“ Do not mistake me for some fizzy drink, master Veteran,” JPJunkee stated. RaptorVinny could only chuckle. Aragorn noted the formation. It was a wedge formation. They were going to try to break the lines.
“ Vinsfeld, prepare a defensive formation…rows of three. Archers in front!” he said as he prepared himself. Vinsfeld relayed the order and the archers came out prepared. The sword carriers fell in behind the archers. Now they were prepared for this battle. It was a clear night and it was definitely going to stay that way. The way it looked, there were at least 60 flooders. This wouldn’t take too long, Aragorn thought. He readied for the attack. He waited for the right moment.
Vinsfeld readied for the attack as well. He readied his charge.
“ Steady,” he said, “ Fire!” He gave the call. The flooders were close enough. Archers fired at the flooders. Most of the flooders had shields, but 5 of them fell nonetheless. They sent another barrage of arrows, knocking off 3 this time.
“ It’s no use!” Aragorn said. The flooders sent a barrage of arrows their way, taking down 5 of 30 veterans. Luckily they were more or less shielded by the trees. With 25 veterans, and 4 of the fellowship, they were equally ready for the attack. RaptorVinny readied his 2 daggers and CrazyCompy finally unsheathed his sword. Aragorn took his sword as well, and JPJunkee was ready for the battle. All the veterans readied their swords. The flooders slowly came upon them and Aragorn sliced into a flooder. He quickly spun and jammed his sword into the flooder’s chest. Another flooder came upon JPJunkee but JPJunkee quickly sliced his axe through the flooder’s leg. The flooder fell and JPJunkee chopped his neck off. RaptorVinny dodged a slice toward his right shoulder by a flooder. He jabbed one of his daggers into the flooder’s chest, then he grabbed the flooder’s arm, spun it around, jammed his other dagger into the flooder’s back, then kicked the flooder in the butt, causing both daggers to cut deep, squirting blood from both wounds. CrazyCompy parried a shot from a flooder and struck back, slicing the flooder’s chest. Vinsfeld had to slash through a flooder’s shield before quickly spinning and upper cutting the flooder in the chin with his sword, splitting open the flooder’s jaw. The blow had also forced the flooder upwards into another flooder, knocking that one down. A sword had been dug into the ground by the hilt with the blade sticking up. The blade impaled both flooders. Other veterans were taking out a few flooders as well. 2 veterans had taken out 3 flooders as they came up for a surprise attack.
Seth-Rex had been awoken by the noises in the distance. They heard hollers from the boarders of the forest. He saw a veteran lady walk by in a slight rush.
“ What’s going on?” he asked.
“ Flooders are attacking UFXN!” she said nervously. He thought for a second.
“ They’re coming for me,” he said to himself.
Aragorn sliced through the shield of another flooder. He blocked a shot to his head and then sliced off the head of his attacker. Aragorn figured now there were only 32 flooders left. JPJunkee jumped at the chance to slice into the chest of one of the flooders. He then used his momentum to slice into the chest of a second and third flooder. They all dropped like flies. He loved killing flooders. RaptorVinny had taken to his bow and arrow. He armed an arrow and shot it straight at a flooder, hitting it between the eyes. He quickly armed and shot another one through the heart. As fast has he drew his second arrow, he had now armed his third arrow and shot it into the chest of another flooder. His aim was improving, RaptorVinny thought. Vinsfeld noticed it and liked the craftsmanship of this veteran, RaptorVinny. Vinsfeld sliced through another flooder’s shield and chopped the flooder’s head off. CrazyCompy grabbed a dead flooder’s sword and readied himself. He blocked the sword of a flooder with his sword, and then chopped the flooder’s arm off with the other sword. He wasn’t finished as he quickly spun and split open the chest of the flooder. He then X-Sliced at another flooder, forming an x on his chest. He readied for another shot when a flooder knocked him down. The flooder was about to drop his sword down on CrazyCompy when an arrow jammed right through one ear and out the other. He turned to see RaptorVinny in a small pose, indicating he was the shooter. CrazyCompy nodded his respect and Aragorn helped him up. The other flooders were beginning to retreat. The battle was over. Of 60 flooders, 22 had run away with their lives. Of 34 defenders of UFXN, 28 remained. 6 veterans had lost their lives, 5 due to arrows, 1 due to a surprise attack. Aragorn felt that soon would be a good time to leave. Vinsfeld walked up to him.
“ We shall restock in the morning,” he said.
“ That would be wise,” Aragorn agreed.
Chapter 23
In the morning, everyone was rested and prepared to leave. They walked through the area led by Vinsfeld, AlanGrant5 and AngelsPhoenix. A few veterans walked behind them for protection. It was pretty much quiet at the time. The flooders did not come back after last night’s battle. Aragorn was still slightly tired, but he was prepared for the long journey ahead of him. Aragorn knew the way toward the Moviefone and Amazon. They would be taking boats, AlanGrant5 had told him. They were going towards the dock.
When they got there, veterans started packing the boats for them. AlanGrant5 took Aragorn to the side to speak with him.
“ These boats will take you as far as you need. You will want to hide them when you rest so that hunting parties will not see you. Be careful, I do indeed feel that all those who want your ring bearer may and will go hunting for you,” he said. He held out a special dagger. “ This I give personally to you for your use. It will come in handy on many occasions.” Aragorn nodded and gave his thanks.
AngelsPhoenix stood in front of the fellowship. She was fond of them. First she walked to Spinoboy. To him he gave a veteran dagger. It was sharp and sturdy.
“ For you young Spinoboy brandy buck, I give this dagger. May it be for you what sting is for Seth-Rex,” she said. She then moved toward DinoDude. She also gave him a dagger.
“ Likewise, let it be to you what sting is for Seth-Rex,” she said. They both nodded and gave their thanks. She walked to Mad-Rex and smiled. She handed him a special rope.
“ This is our finest rope. Let it be a helping hand when things get steep,” she said gently. Mad-Rex smiled sheepishly. He had gone all this way without rope and now he finally had it…guaranteeing himself that he’d forget about it more than likely. She then moved toward RaptorVinny. She gave him something slightly more special to a veteran. She gave him one of their elite bows.
“ A UFXN bow. Earned by the honour and easily deserved by our E-Bay brethren,” she said. RaptorVinny nodded and gave his thanks in veterish tongue. She moved toward CrazyCompy and handed him a golden belt and a new sword.
“ May these be to you a sign of hope and honour,” she said gently. He nodded and gave his thanks. She smiled, and moved on toward Seth-Rex. To him she gave a small bottle full of a liquid light.
“ TO you I give the light of our most precious star. May it be a light for you in the darkest of times,” she said gently.
“ Thank you,” Seth-Rex commented. She smiled once more and kissed Seth-Rex’s forehead. She then moved toward JPJunkee.
“ And what does a sprite ask of the lady AngelsPhoenix?” she asked gently.
“ Nothing could be asked…but of a strange request…a single strand of your beautiful hair…and to glance upon the beauty of the lady AngelsPhoenix one last time,” he replied. She laughed softly and instead of giving him a single hair, she gave him 3. She walked toward Aragorn last.
“ It appears as if you are already gifted by me. She is with hope Aragorn. I as well am full of hope. One day you will come back,” said AngelsPhoenix. She touched the white gem that Yvonne had given him before the council of Dan had taken place.
“ She has hope that you will return,” she finished. Aragorn knew of this hope. He was intending to return to her. AlanGrant5 walked up to them.
“ Everything is ready for your departure. The lake shall speed up your journey and give you a head start. Early rumours state of a creature following you that is not of flooder kind. I would not put it passed my ears and mind to think that he is somewhat related to them…but it would appear as if you are being followed,” AlanGrant5 said.
“ Dac,” Aragorn said slowly. AlanGrant5 nodded his head in agreement.
“ He has been following us through WebCrawler as well,” Aragorn explained.
“ Be careful. He may not be with the flooders, but he may well lead them to you,” AlanGrant5 warned.
They had now settled into their boats and prepared to leave. Aragorn, Seth-Rex, and Mad-Rex were in one boat. RaptorVinny and JPJunkee were in another, and CrazyCompy had the two other newbies, Spinoboy and DinoDude. They began their journey and set off for Amazon. Aragorn had been warned. They would watch out for Dac on their way to their destination. Aragorn had become slightly concerned as to why Dac had been following them. He knew that it was because of the ring…but to what extent does it control him on this quest? Is he going to try to take the ring back? AlanGrant5 had also said that it would be a day and a half journey to Amazon. This was the first day and so far it had gone by uneventful. Though he knew that somehow Dac was still behind them.
“ RaptorVinny…keep watch behind us. Let me know if anything is following,” he said. RaptorVinny gave him a nod in acknowledgement. Soon night came along and they stopped along the bank which had a clear space for camping the night. As requested upon, they hid the boats behind some bushes and set up camp. But before doing so, RaptorVinny had warned Aragorn of a passer-by. They hid behind huge rocks as a log went by in the river. Not everyone could see but hands were holding on to the log.
“ Well there goes our skulking little friend,” said Aragorn. They came out of their hiding places.
“ He’s been following us all this time?” asked Seth-Rex.
“ It would appear so,” RaptorVinny replied.
“ I still don’t know why Martin didn’t kill him when he had the chance,” Mad-Rex stated.
“ Some things just aren’t worth wasting your time on,” CrazyCompy commented.
“ Besides, he’s no real danger yet,” added Aragorn, “ You better rest. We’ve still got some time to go before we arrive at Amazon tomorrow.”
The morning had come and the fellowship readied their stuff. They had a decent breakfast and made off once again on their way to Amazon. Now that Dac was ahead of them, it was obvious that they would have temporarily lost him. Aragorn knew though that he’d find and catch up to them once more. It was only a matter of time. But it didn’t matter at this time. They had come upon a curve in the river. They went the way they were supposed to and now in the distance, shadowy stone statues lay upon them. The river AskJeeves had brought them to the Moviefone. Behind that was Amazon and the fall of Napster. They moved slowly through the river towards the huge statues. It was a sight to behold.
“ Seth-Rex…the Moviefone. Long have I wanted to look upon the Webmasters of old,” he said, “ There used to be a great kingdom around here. This used to be the boarders of Google where the old lands of men ended. But all that ended when Morgoth took hold and the great wars of Surfers destroyed its beauty. Little did they know that such beauty still lay here in the form of its ruins…and the Moviefone still stands.” Aragorn had them land in a patch of sand and they perched their boats onto the land.
The newbies went to pick up wood for a fire. It was evening and the fellowship had set up camp for the night. Aragorn looked over to the other side of the river. They would have to go that way for their destination. Seth-Rex had come back and put the firewood down. Now he walked over to the edge of the river. He glanced toward the other side.
“ What’s over there?” he asked Aragorn. Aragorn walked over beside him.
“ That is our destination. Across there is Borders, marshes and hotmail,” Aragorn replied.
“ We have to go through there?” asked JPJunkee, having heard the statement. Aragorn glanced toward JPJunkee.
“ There are razor sharp rocks. And after that, the marshlands go on for miles,” JPJunkee stated.
“ At least there will be no flooders following us,” Aragorn noted. JPJunkee thought about that for a minute. He shrugged and went on to sharpening his axe. The other newbies walked up and dropped the firewood.
“ That’ll be enough for tonight,” said Spinoboy.
Night-time came and the fire had been started. They sat around it and kept warm. Seth-Rex thought it best to bring up a concern of his.
“ Aragorn…if we do make it to hotmail, how do we get into the cracks of doom to throw the ring in?” he asked.
“ There is a cave entrance that was dug into the side of the mountain. It is Shniz’s personal entrance. We’ll be able to get in through there,” Aragorn replied. Seth-Rex felt a little calmer now. He didn’t want to make the journey, risking his life to destroy the ring just to find out that there is no entrance into the mountain at all.
“ We must rest. Tomorrow we make up our minds if we go with Seth-Rex to Hotmail or not,” Aragorn stated. They then went to sleep for the night around the fire.
Through the dark Seth-Rex saw a shadow. It was a dark image of something he had feared for some time. It was the eye of Shniz. It glared at him. Seth-Rex backed away. He glanced around at where he was. He was right in hotmail! He tried looking around for the mountain of fire…but the eye of Shniz was coming upon him. it was almost as if the eye was chasing him! Seth-Rex tried to run. He tried to find the mountain so that he could throw the ring away and destroy it for once…but something was keeping him there. He couldn’t find the mountain. He ran as fast as he could but he couldn’t do anything better than he had already done. He turned to see the eye almost upon him. he tried to run again but now he saw the dead bodies of his newbie friends. He saw Mad-Rex decapitated, he saw Spinoboy and DinoDude skewered. He saw RaptorVinny stabbed through the head with an arrow. He saw Aragorn’s sword stabbed through his heart. He saw JPJunkee with an axe through his head. He then saw the worse of all. He saw CrazyCompy with the ring! He held it up and laughed. No, it was Shniz! CrazyCompy morphed into Shniz! He brought up his staff.
“ Now newbie, you will die and be with your pitiful friends!” he said. He brought his staff up and then slammed it upon Seth-Rex’s head…
Seth-Rex woke up with a start. He glanced around to see his friends asleep. He had been dreaming. He stood up and ran off into the woods. He knew where he was going because he had found a good place to think while he had been looking for firewood. He couldn’t handle it anymore. He had to think. He had to destroy this stupid ring and get rid of his misery. Seth-Rex found the spot. It was an old tomb of some sort that had no tombs inside. He walked into the building and sat to think. He sat near the wall and wondered about the dream. Soon he found himself falling asleep once more.
In the morning Mad-Rex awoke to find that Seth-Rex was gone. He stood up quickly and woke up Aragorn.
“ Aragorn, Seth-Rex is missing,” he said. Aragorn noticed the empty area and quickly stood up. The others sensed the tension and woke as well. Once everyone had woken up, they split up to look for Seth-Rex. It was confusing though. Why would Seth-Rex run? Mad-Rex had been concerned for Seth-Rex but it made sense that Seth-Rex would want time to think. Perhaps he had merely wanted to think a while and had woken up early? Mad-Rex walked up toward a spot he had found with Seth-Rex the day before.
As Seth-Rex thought about his dream, he had herd footsteps. He walked out to find CrazyCompy walking up the path.
“ CrazyCompy,” he said. CrazyCompy waved toward him and walked over.
“ You had us worried Seth-Rex,” he said.
“ I’m sorry. I needed time to think about some things,” Seth-Rex replied. CrazyCompy knew what Seth-Rex needed to think about. It was the ring of coarse. It was his choice as to destroying it.
“ You carry a burden. It may be a stressful time. Why not take it to JPDatabase? It would be safe there, I promise,” CrazyCompy said. Seth-Rex glanced up at him.
“ Perhaps for some time, but then what? The enemy would find out about it…something bad would happen and the enemy would get it then. You heard Icebreaker. It cannot go anywhere but to Hotmail to be destroyed,” Seth-Rex stated. CrazyCompy nodded his agreement. But he felt obliged to protect his option.
“ That may be true but there are many things there at JPDatabase. If such a thing happens, we are closer to Hotmail than we are now. We could take it there on a straight path,” CrazyCompy said. Seth-Rex had to think about this. Perhaps it was true, he had no reason to doubt CrazyCompy at the moment…but then he remembered the dream. It was CrazyCompy holding the ring and it was CrazyCompy that morphed into Shniz, trying to kill Seth-Rex.
“ I cannot take your advice. Please understand that I cannot do this. It would lead to suffering,” Seth-Rex stated as plainly as the writing on the ring. This got CrazyCompy boiling. He stood up straight.
“ I am trying to help you!” he said. Seth-Rex backed away from him.
“ Why do you recoil? Would you think me a thief?” CrazyCompy asked.
“ I cannot trust you. The ring is grabbing at you,” Seth-Rex replied.
“ It is not the ring. I want to help my people!” CrazyCompy yelled.
“ It will not help JPDatabase!” Seth-Rex yelled in response.
“ Damn you newbie!” CrazyCompy screamed this time as he tried to grab at Seth-Rex, but Seth-Rex kicked him back and ran away.
Seth-Rex ran as fast as he could through the branches of trees. He unknowingly ran by Mad-Rex, whom had just about fallen. Mad-Rex got back up and followed. Seth-Rex reached the beach and stood there, gasping for breath. He sat down and seriously thought about his decision now. The ring had taken CrazyCompy, just like he was within the dream. It was now or never. He pushed a boat into the water and got his stuff. He put the pack into his boat and got in. he started paddling out when Mad-Rex ran out into the clearing.
“ Seth-Rex!” Mad-Rex called out to him. Seth-Rex noticed this and his heart broke.
“ Go back Mad-Rex!” he called out to Mad-Rex. “ I go to Hotmail alone!”
“ Of coarse you are! And I’m coming with you!” Seth-Rex called back. Seth-Rex had to laugh at that. Mad-Rex had contradicted his very own statement. How could Seth-Rex go alone if Mad-Rex was coming with him? Mad-Rex grabbed his pack and waded into the water. He couldn’t swim so Seth-Rex had to pedal back to him. He grabbed Mad-Rex and pulled him into the boat.
“ Oh Mad-Rex you really are useless,” he said. Mad-Rex had to shrug at this.
“ I won’t let you go alone Mr. Seth-Rex. I made a promise to you and to Icebreaker. I said I’d keep an eye on you and by the beatings of the gaffer himself, I will,” Mad-Rex stated. Seth-Rex then felt love and admiration for his best friend. Mad-Rex was with him till the very end. They both rowed the boat over to the other side and quickly got out. They hid the boat behind a bush and walked off toward Hotmail…
CAST
Martin: Bilbo Baggins
Seth-Rex: Frodo Baggins
Mad-Rex: Samwise ‘Sam’ Gamgee
Spinoboy: Meriadoc ‘Merry’ Brandybuck
DinoDude: Peregrin ‘Pippin’ Took
Carnotaur3: Farmer Maggot
Gambler: Deagol
Domy: Smeagol
Dac: Gollum
JPJunkee: Gimli
RaptorVinny: Legolas
Dan: Elrond
Carna: Glorfindel
Yvonne: Arwen
AngelsPhoenix: Galadriel
AlanGrant5: Celeborn
Vinsfeld: Haldir
Aragorn: Aragorn (duh!)
Jeff: Strider
CrazyCompy: Boromir
Icebreaker: Gandalf
Parasaur: Saruman
Goldrex: Radagast
Shinz: Sauron
Dino-Snore: Tom Bombadil
Becky: Goldberry
Vader- Isildur
1/17/2007 11:16:32 PM
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