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“Let’s go, old man. We’ll be traveling all night as it is, Dargonna’s gonna kill me. Scratch that, at the rate we’re going we’ll reach the opening by morning.” A.J. snapped, annoyed at their pathetic excuse for progress. There was only a quarter of a mile left, and they had stopped yet again. Sean had collapsed on the ground, unable to go further.
Jordan shot J. a sharp look, but he ignored it. Moving towards his fallen leader, Jordan was cautious to stay away from the annoyed guide. “You all right, Train?”
Sean raised his head slightly, revealing his deathly pale face. “Do I......do I look all right to......to you?” he gasped. Jordan flinched at the reply, and kneeled down.
“No, but I guess it doesn’t really matter.” The blonde wrapped his arm around Sean, “Come on, A.J.’s going to start beating us if we don’t get a move on.”
“Damn straight.” came the muffled reply.
Jordan just shook his head and pulled the older man up. “God forbid A.J. kills us before Triccan gets a chance to.” he muttered.
A.J. looked up sharply at this and gave a dry laugh. “Kill you? Why the hell would Triccan kill you guys? You’re the chosen ones, no way in hell would the Dark Knight just off and lop off your heads. Naw, not nearly painful enough. You’d most likely die of torture or starvation or some such. His dungeons are made especially for the ‘chosen ones’. Kill you, ha, what a laugh. Good one Evans.”
“Yeah, ha ha, very funny.” Jordan muttered angrily, “Are we heading out or what?”
“Aw, did I hit a nerve there Evans?” A.J. taunted, laughing at Jordan’s annoyance. The younger boy frowned at the crazy old man.
“No, I just figured you’d want to get going.” he muttered. Ignoring A.J.’s teasing, Jordan got a better grip on Sean and started walking towards their destination. A.J. put his hand up, beckoning for the boy to stop.
“Now, now, I’ve put up with this for far too long as it is. And frankly, I’m sick of it. Put your fearless leader down, you won’t need to carry him any longer.” J. stated, dismissing Jordan’s protested with a wave of his hand. “We’ll just transport ourselves to Dargonna’s pasture.” he finished simply.
Jordan eyed the guide as if he had lost his mind. “And how do you intend to do that, genius?”
A.J. smiled. “I told you guys, the Challenges are quiet rewarding to those who can handle them.” Jordan snapped his head around as he realized what this psycho was saying.
“Are you meaning to tell me that all this time, while I’ve been dragging Sean’s over-sized ass around this cave, while we’ve been starving back in the woods, worrying that Triccan will find us and pull us apart limb by limb, this entire time, you’ve been able to transport us to Dargonna’s wood with a flick of your wrist?” Jordan glared at the old man.
A.J.’s grin just widened, “Precisely.”
Jordan surpressed the urge to slug this smartass. Something hit him all of the sudden. “Wait a minute, what about the rest of the group? Aren’t they waiting at the mouth of the cave?”
A.J. dismissed Jordan’s worry. “We’ll bring them along too. Why not? Should be fun.” He laughed when Jordan’s expression didn’t change. “Don’t worry, blondie, I won’t forget the wifie.” More laughter as Jordan’s scowl deepened.
“One last thing, why did you wait so long? Why didn’t you just zap us there when you first found us?” All looks of amusement vanished from A.J.’s face when he turned to the boy.
“You’re going to see a lot of crazy shit once we leave this cave. I wasn’t lying entirely when I said that I didn’t want to drag a couple of novices through dangerous territory. Even if we got directly to Dargonna, there is still plenty of ways for Violenza to stop us. He hates me for surviving, he’d kill me in an instant if it weren’t for Dargonna. You’re very lucky you know, Dargonna is extremely forgiving. Sogno may not be, but at least you’ll have Drag Queen to take the blunt of his blows. That’s another reason for the unicorns, you know, they take the beatings from their leaders if their five fails. And then the unicorn takes out his frustration from the brutal beatings on the survivors. When a five fails, their unicorn’s pasture becomes ugly with greed and violence. The fives are Kinsod’s only hope, so when a set fails, there is no longer any hope in that land and their defenses against the outside world falls apart. So all that is dishonest in the world can seep through. Kinsod is more than just another realm, it is deeply connected with Earth. That such a fantastic world exists keeps hope in the hearts of humans. Likewise, Kinsod cannot survive without the sorrows of human life in which to turn into later happiness. It is a perfect balance, this union. One cannot survive without the other.” Now A.J. turned to face Jordan, looking him dead straight in the eye. Even in the dim light, Evans could see his brown eyes ablaze. “Never give up hope, boy. For you see, it is more than simply the deaths of three of your members that marks your failure. It is your loss of hope. We gave up, boy, because we were weak and stupid. Don’t make the same mistake.”
Jordan was silent for a moment before speaking. “How many have failed?” he asked quietly.
A.J. shook his head silently, “Fourteen point five.” he said softly, “You five are the last hope for Kinsod. If you fail, Triccan will win. Kinsod will die under his control. And so will Earth.”