CHAPTER 44: 44: EMOTIONAL STORM

The trio walked into the small clearing. Like all the others, it was surrounded by thick trees. The clearing was a blanket of thick grass with wildflowers sprinkled on it like confetti. There was nothing else. No bushes or trees, just thick grass and wildflowers.

The light breeze brushed through the clearing, gently swaying the grass. The smell of the wildflowers wafted through the air, producing a sweet scent. The mid-afternoon heat of the twin suns bathed the field in a gentle warmth.

Drake sighed as he looked around the small clearing. "If I didn’t know that this place is so dangerous, I would have thought it was magical. Then again, magic itself is truly terrifying."

Mike chuckled, the sound echoing through the clearing. "And you are terrifying yourself when you use it. At least we can attempt to protect ourselves."

Chad scanned the area for beasts. He didn’t have Drake’s magical vision, so he had to rely on what the ordinary eye could see. He didn’t see anything. There was no sound other than the light breeze whistling softly through the trees. Thinking of beasts, he turned to Drake. "Are we done fighting beasts? Are you going to be taming or talking to the rest of the ones we find?"

"That depends on the beast. If they attack us first, we fight."

Drake looked around for the perfect spot. When he found what he was looking for, he quickly placed the cabin so they could enter. Renn chose to stay on the porch, to keep watch while Drake, Chad, and Mike entered.

After filling the bucket for Renn, Drake started the fire and began cooking their dinner. "We need to find a way to refill the water. With Renn, we’re using too much. I can’t leave her without water."

"I think we can get to Dragon Head Mounting in a day and a half if we don’t have any issues. I think the bridge is the halfway point. At least it looks like it on the map," Chad said as he studied the dimension map.

Mike stretched over toward the map, looking where Chad was. It looked like it to him, too. He nodded, agreeing with his friend.

Drake was quiet as he cooked the stew for his friends. After nearly twenty minutes, his friends noticed that something might be bothering him.

"Is there something wrong, Drake?" It was Mike who asked. His question prompted Chad to look up from the map. He was busy watching the little dots indicating beasts move around the map.

Drake slowly pulled the pot off the fire and placed it on the table. After sitting down, he looked between his two friends. "I have a dilemma and I don’t know what to do about it."

Chad reached over and started filling the bowls. "What kind of a dilemma?"

Drake sucked in a long breath. "It’s Renn. Once the quest is complete, what do I do about her? I can’t take her back with us, and I want to keep her. I like her."

As if the thought angered the dimension, the wind started to blow violently. A loud crashing sound boomed through the sky as the clouds collided. Lightning flashed, then the rain fell.

Drake immediately got up and opened the front door of the cabin. "Want to come in out of the rain, Renn?" he asked his wolf beast familiar. She padded through the door, having to squeeze through. Her size was too large.

Drake went out and got her bucket, bringing it inside before shutting the door. The storm blazed through the clearing. Rain pounded on the roof, thick drops slamming violently, threatening to crash through.

Thunder rolled through the sky as lightning flashed.

"I don’t get it," Chad started. "A little bit ago, the sky was clear, the breeze was gentle. There was no sign whatsoever that a storm was coming. Now, all of a sudden, we’re in the middle of what sounds like a hurricane."

Drake stood up and allowed his eyes to glow brightly. They glowed a bright emerald green. He stepped outside and looked around the small clearing. The clearing was clear of beasts. There was no sign of anything amiss. He looked up at the sky, but found nothing strange there either. Shrugging, he reentered the cabin. "I don’t see anything strange."

Not thinking anymore about it, the trio continued their meal.

***

The Dimension Master watched the boys as they finished their meal. The violent storm worried him. There was only one reason and one reason only why there would be a storm. He needed his friends to return with the artifact. He needed to prevent Drake from destroying the dimension.

Just as he had that thought, the blond man walked into the room with his muscular friend behind him. The archer was holding a small device. It looked like a crystal ball; only it was made from a liquid metal that maintained a spherical form. When touched, it dented and bounced back like gelatin.

He handed the spherical object to the dimension master and sat in his normal chair in front of the computer monitor. The other man sat in his own chair, watching the screen. The boys were still eating their meal.

The newcomers’ faces paled, drained of all color at the sight of the violent storm.

"What happened?" The blond archer asked. "What’s with the storm. The storm is bad this time. It’s even worse than the last one."

The dimension master looked between his two friends. "I don’t know. Nothing happened. The storm came out of nowhere. Drake was cooking the stew while Chad and Mike were studying the dimension map."

"Could something that Drake was thinking about start a storm like that?" The muscular man asked as he stared at the scene before him. He saw nothing that would prompt a storm of that severity.

The dimension master thought about it. His green eyes were glowing brightly as he thought. "Drake was silent long enough for the others to notice. Mike asked if there was something wrong. Drake had said he had a dilemma he couldn’t figure out how to fix. Chad asked what the dilemma was. Drake had explained that he needed to figure out what to do about his beast, Renn. He stated that when they completed the quest, he didn’t know what to do about her because he couldn’t bring her back here. He wants to keep her," he summarized.

Sighing, the dimension master set the sphere in front of him. Glowing green runes left his palm and entered the sphere. The liquid ball reshaped and formed. When it was completed, A metallic version of Drake surrounded by beasts appeared. His two friends stood beside him.

More glowing runes appeared in the dimension master’s palm, then entered the sphere. The metallic forms seemed to rewind, as if a three-dimensional movie was going backwards in time. When it stopped, it was a scene of a battle in Draco Town. The form of Nelly, a bit older, had been killed by the gargoyle king.

"We have two options that I can think of. We either kill the gargoyle king or do everything we can to keep Nelly alive. This scene is the turning point where Drake changes and chooses to destroy the dimension. What can we do to stop it without interfering with the quest?" The dimension master stated.

The muscular man stared at the metallic scene. "Is this after the quest is complete or before?"

"The artifact can’t show that. By the age of Nelly, I would say yes. Due to the difficulties they are facing, they may take much longer than normal. He may choose to destroy the dimension before the quest is complete."

The blond spoke next, his tone subdued. He worried about the boys. Mainly, the young archer who was his own heir. "Are there others that can complete the quest if the boys fail?"

The dimension master looked at his friend. "Yes. The dimension will pull three boys into the dimension and force them to complete the quest. Drake, Mike, and Chad can receive a little bit of help from us because they are our heirs. Those chosen by the dimension to start a new line won’t." Then he paused. "Our priority is to the dimension, even if it is eliminating our own heirs. Is that what you’re thinking?"

"I don’t want it to come to that. I know the laws of the dimension; we may be forced to kill them. Yes, that is what I was thinking."

The muscular man stood up, his own face solemn. "Then I suggest we find a way to intervene without breaking the rules of the dimension. I don’t want anything to happen to the boys. I want to protect them."

***

The dimension rippled in apprehension. The time of the prophecy had begun; its own existence hung in the balance. It was a balance between existing, nurturing the lives that lived within, or vanishing in the winds of time.