The Cobbler

 

The Cobbler: The first of six

Chronicles in the great story of The Land of Mystics.         

 

                                                                

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Douglas Landmesser

            Take my hand to the wondrous land of lollipop trees and peppermint flowers, all things make believe. A land of strawberry hearts and teacup boats on saucers of foam, a wondrous land of wafers and cream. There, deep within the darkest shadows of imagination, you will find The Cobbler. Known to no one to exist, The Cobbler stays locked away within his fortress for all eternity. The Cobbler is said to control all that occurs within The Mystical Land, The Land of Mystics.

The Land of Mystics is located somewhere between the edge of dreams, and the genesis of imagination. This amazing Land is made up of two smaller lands, both of unique countenance. The first, the larger of the two, is named The Land of Candy. The second is named The Goldenland. The Cobbler is hidden deep within this Goldenland. This Goldenland is a terrible, bitter land. A land where no trees grow, a land of impassable boundaries. There, The Cobbler is said to unconsciously control all of The Land of Mystics. The Cobbler's fortress is said to be filled with incredibly marvelous treasures beyond all possible imagination.

Now, to bring this mass of lands and beings together, we must start somewhere. Now, as I recall, this certain adventure began in a small town called Gandor. This town, small as it was, was placed square in the center of The Candyland. It is said, that beings within this town tend to possess more powerful magic than normal. It is also said, that in Gandor, houses are built from raw materials within minutes because of the unusually strong magic ability of the people of Gandor. It is also said, however quite more obscurely, that the full extent of the people's power in Gandor has not yet been displayed and that Gandor may soon rise to power within The Land of Mystics.

To obtain some understanding of the makeup and the mentality of the people of The Land of Mystics, we must first journey back in history and in time as well. Back to the very genesis of time. Back, even before this. Back to the time when matter did not exist. Back to when beings made only of energy and photons existed. This time was called The Pre-Mysticarian Era. This era lasted until about 11,800 BC. (Before Cobbler)

In the Land's long struggle to survive, the genesis of all came from this one point. Now, before the beginning of time, two rulers, each with their own pros and cons, ruled over this Land of Mystics. The first ruled over The Land of Candy. He was a good ruler who believed in doing right. The second was equally well, for he also believed that evil was wrong. These two lands grew in harmony as each strive to reproduce the newly discovered substance called "matter", and to then build the two Lands in their physical matter state.

Years and years passed, years called teras back then. Each Land worked terribly hard. The Candyland, possessing more citizens and under the rule of the clever ruler Contrus, created a notably larger Candyland. The Goldenland, with fewer citizens and under the rule of the "not so clever" ruler Saramus, also created a suitable land however not much could be spoken of for this new Goldenland in the way of beauty or splendor. This era when the lands were created physically and citizens of The ancient Land of Mystics lived was called The Ancient Mysticarian Era. This lasted up until year zero, or the creation of The Cobbler.

Now, one unwritten law in this past Land of Mystics was this; beings of this land did not use their magical powers unless necessary. Unfortunately ruler Saramus became lazy of working with his hands and he ordered his workers to use their magic ability whenever they wished. This action, at the time, was not a large issue. In the years to come, The Goldenland was finally able to catch up to The Candyland's splendor and now each land had grown into wonderful splendors. With this newly created world, the two rulers decided to establish a government that would, along with many other things, make the laws that would abolish the use of magic when it was not necessary.

The new government began smoothly until this issue arose. Saramus argued his case that magic made work easy and that it should be used to its full capabilities. Contrus argued that the magic power that they were given was sacred and was supposed to only be used only when necessary. He argued that this would let no being become lazy. The Goldenland and Candyland parties argued over this single matter for three days until Saramus finally lost his temper.

Angered by the arguing, Saramus stood suddenly in the afternoon hours of the third day and spoke,

"If you wish to stop us from using magic" he said, "then come and stop us!" He then marched from the negotiation room and disappeared into his Goldenland stronghold known as Creasant rock. This was a terrible mistake on his part.

From this point, hundreds more problems erupted within the council until war was finally declared three months later. From this moment The Candyland and The Goldenland engaged in the most horrible battles and war that The Land of Mystics had ever seen.

The Candyland, possessing stronger magic and more citizens, won the war that was known as "The War of The Mystics". This war occurred around 20 BC and lasted right up to about a month before The Cobbler was created. The Candyland forces had become the offensive side. They were to go in and destroy The Goldenland. The Goldenland would attempt to restrain The Candyland's forces until they simply gave up and left The Goldenland alone to make their own decisions.

This victory cost a great deal of lives for The Candyland and completely destroyed all of The Goldenland. Cities that once stood proud were cast down in the raging hatred that fueled the war onward. Families were torn apart. Thousands and thousands of beings were lost. The Land of Mystics was in ruin. The Goldenland became a desert wasteland. The seal of peace and unity that had once spawned the genesis of this beautiful Land of Mystics was now broken and the barrier of time had begun. This new effect of aging and erosion began to take its dramatic toll upon The Land of Mystics for you see; The Land itself was dying. Beings began to perish. Buildings began to rust, fall apart. All life upon The Land of Mystics began to end. Strange, however, was the fact that none of the animals of this Land of Mystics seemed to die, nor did they look a day older than before this terrible war.

By now, all of the inhabitants of The Goldenland were killed, including old Saramus himself. This, however, was not true for Contrus. That is, not yet. You see, Contrus knew that all was lost. He could feel the power leaving the land in every new day. Every day the suns of the sky burned weaker than the day before. All was lost, At least lost for his generation and of his race of beings. Contrus, knowing this, set forth to assemble a group of seven powerful wizards. These wizards began to work with their spells and their powers to create a center, a focus point, in which they could concentrate all of their power.

Before they had finished, they had constructed a large cave in which they could accomplish their task. Contrus granted the seven wizards his signet ring that they would use to seal the spell for all time after casting it. As they worked savagely to accomplish their task at hand, the world around them began to crumble. A bitter cold and darkness began to sweep across the land as Contrus had foreseen, for the two suns of the sky had begun to sink into the great ocean of The Land of Mystics.

Contrus was injured in battle and had asked a dear friend to deliver his ring to the cave. The ring arrived at the cave seconds before it was too late for the wizards needed now to seal the cave from the outside bitter conditions. Outside of this cave, the once beautiful Land of Mystics had turned into a frozen arctic abyss. The wizards, along with the power of Contus' signet ring, placed an impenetrable force field around the entire Goldenland.

They then cast the amazingly powerful spell that they had been slaving over for all of this long time. When the spell was cast, the seven wizards stood in a circle around a single point. Within the center was a stand that possessed Contrus' signet ring. The stand was a great structure that needed steps to even reach it's top. From the wizards came a simultaneous blast that came together in the center of this stand. Once there the incredibly strong force then seemed to weaken to a point that was questionably even there.

After a moment the power then returned to the cave, but in a different form. Within the darkness there came a lovely rainbow colored sphere that possessed a power that had never been seen before within The Land of Mystics. Somehow this sphere had transformed into some new creature that the wizards had never intended on creating. The sphere then sacrificed its life to create an ultimate being, a being of no perversion, a being of a kind heart. A being of immeasurable magic power was its goal. The pure essence of this amazing being began to be overtaken by the evil within the cave so the wizards needed to act quickly.

They sealed this being away within the impassable boundary of The Goldenland. They then constructed a fortress within The Goldenland. After this they then sealed their being away within this fortress. This fortress then guarded by a second force field. Soon after this their cave stronghold fell to the chilling wrath of the bitter cold of the outside land. The terrible cold and darkness instantly rushed into the cave and froze these eight beings in place where they stood.

The entire planet then turned to darkness as the two suns crashed into the great ocean of The Land of Mystics. This caused a terrible explosion that only aided the world's destruction. The surface of The Land of Mystics then froze over in a thick sheet of ice and snow that entombed the entire planet. After this terrible event, the lifeless sphere slowly drifted off into the bleak darkness that it was created in, absent of a life giving sun. This terrible era was called The Animalian Era. For ten thousand years the lifeless planet drifted in the dark void it was created in. For ten thousand years The Cobbler was sealed away within his fortress, completely unconscious of anything around him or himself for that matter. For ten thousand years the Land of Mystics seemed all but doomed. Before the world fell, one of the seven wizards of the cave named their ultimate being. Upon the entrance to the being's fortress this wizard carved the name "The Cobbler". The Cobbler, as you would expect, was given the power of eternal life. The wizards knew, as well as Contrus, that when The Cobbler finally awoke, The Land of Mystics would awaken from its bitter winter and into a wonderful spring with him.

Eventually The Cobbler began to awake. As The Cobbler began to awaken, a small pink dot began to come into focus within the eternal blackness of the never-ending night sky. Years more passed. The spell that took The Cobbler hostage slowly began to wear off. With this The Cobbler awakened more. By this time the planet had finally drifted to a new pair of suns that were now clearly and eminently shining in the still dark sky. As The Cobbler awakened more, the planet seemed to move closer and closer to these two bright stars in this eternal night sky.

Soon after this, however, The Land of Mystics was doomed to suffer a worse fate than the last, for these new life bringing suns had began to warm the planet's surface. This could only end in one thing. The surface of The Land of Mystics entered into a horrific transformation as the endless layers of ice and snow began to melt and rupture. Immeasurable glaciers cracked and shifted constantly, causing terribly savage icequakes and earthquakes over the entire surface of The Land of Mystics. This only made the situation worse for the horrific rumbling only awakened The Cobbler faster. Over the vast years the ice began to melt and return to the vast ocean. The Land of Mystics had finally returned to night and day. With the constantly changing daytime and nighttime

The Cobbler awakened more. With this the high peaks of the choco-mountains began to surface through the ice and water. More years passed. The lower mountains and some of the lands that existed in the past now began to peak out through the melting ice and snow. Years more passed. Finally the land was back the way it was. Plants began to sprout growth like nothing had occurred but a long winter. The animals seemed to almost spawn from the ground, they also acting as if nothing had occurred. The Cobbler was now only half-asleep.

Finally The Cobbler could bring life back to The Candyland. The Cobbler summoned all of his power only one time in history. That time was to temporarily break through the seals that were placed upon his fortress and upon The Goldenland and to create two living beings. The Cobbler, never before seeing the mystical creatures of the long ago past, created two beings that he thought would suit this land best. The first of the two beings The Cobbler named Barnibus and called "male". The Cobbler then created a second being and named this one Ethopia. The Cobbler called this creation "female".

The Cobbler then brought them to one another. From these two beings came the present citizens of The Land of Mystics. After this task was complete The Cobbler rested while he watched his creations slowly grow into a wonderful race. This time was called The Genesii Era.

The Cobbler had finally fulfilled the prophecy of the ages. Life, kind and peaceful life had once again sprouted within The Land of Mystics. This new race discovered new ways of harnessing their magic into new resources that The Cobbler had not thought of. From his dream-like solitude The Cobbler smiled upon his creation. Then, in one final spell, The Cobbler empowered a bloodline to have a child that would some day free himself and again regain The Goldenland for all. The Cobbler then slipped back into his infinite sleep. The citizens of The new Candyland were left by The Cobbler, the knowledge of magic and of the Land's names so to this very day, most of the lands have the exact names as those of the long ago past.

This new civilization grew without error to overcome The Land of Candy. The Cobbler watched his creation's every step, hoping to see his victor arise. For ten thousand years The Candyland citizens have been living in peace and harmony. This time of growth and invention is known as The Modern Growth Era. So begins the first of six chronicles in the great story of The Land of Mystics, so begins...

 

The Cobbler

:Chapter One - The Beckoning

 

            A cool breeze blew over the town of Gandor as the leaves on the Farabond trees throughout the town gently rustled together, creating a most pleasant sound. The first of the two pink suns had already began to set over the eastern choco-mountains, the other close behind. The sweet smell of hunny sundrops filtered through the air, their wonderful aroma bringing joy to our hearts. Here we come upon Gandor, the setting sun's light gleams from the small white houses built of pure white stone that erect from the glass-like sand of the sea-front town. The sun's light beamed from each blade of purple that lines each house throughout the town.

            A look out beyond Gandor, to the north we come upon the shining Andorthian Sea. This sea continuously bubbles away within a warm, tender bath of sweet liquid, the aroma of this also filtering throughout the town. Across the sea to the north lies the city that they call the sister city to Gandor, Gondor. The Andorthian Sea is located directly in the center of The Land of Candy. The sea and the towns are a wonderful sight within the dusk light.

            To the west of these things are the beautiful Rainbow Geysers. Here, hundreds of geysers have formed from the underground of The Land of Mystics and are constantly erupting from the ground, shooting forth a rainbow colored liquid through the air at hundreds of miles per hour. This blast of colorful liquid has been known to travel over a mile high. Unfortunately, these beautiful geysers are poisonous and will kill upon the touch. Further west you will come to The Hunnydew Forest. Here the heat of the suns is blocked by the dense growth of the trees and the other plant life. Within this dense growth there flows rivers of Iota (one of the many forms of rain within The Land of Mystics) that condense upon the bark of the trees within this forest. This makes a green dew called rigga. This rigga is the single sweetest substance known to all of The Land of Mystics. One pure drop of it will turn any liquid into a solid block of green sugar-like material. Very small drops of this are sometimes put into drinks to sweeten.

            South of The Hunnydew Forest is another famous forest, The Forest of Enigma. No being has ever traveled this forest fully for it is the deepest, darkest web of growth ever seen before in all of The Land of Mystics. When traveling, it is suggested that you keep your distance from this place for even the large dragons fear this place. It is said among the animals that evil creatures that existed before the creation of The Cobbler in The Ancient Mysticarian Era haunt the woods.

            The dragons of this Land of Mystics are, like the other animals, highly intelligent. They are, however, nothing like the human interpretation of dragons. The only likeness is that their countenance is slightly the same. They do not shoot fire, eat people, or destroy villages. They don't even like meat! They would much rather dine on the alamelon heart curses that grow high up in the farabond trees. These dragons are incredibly friendly and will fly you anywhere you like for about ten parsects.

            One thing you should understand about The Land of Mystics. Some advanced creatures and beings do not need to eat or worry about things of this nature for their magic ability seems to support them within these things. However, for the most part, everyone needs to eat and sleep. Because this is true, obviously the beings that possess magic do not need to worry about it for they can just "whip up" a meal with their powers. This, however, is not true for the animals. So, within this wonderland of magic and complete freedom there does exist a form of currency and economy for these creatures.             You must also understand that animals are not just simple-minded beings that can talk. It is just that some of them choose to be just like some of the Mystics choose to be. In fact, most of the animals are more intelligent than the Mystics for they do tend to live longer.

            Death however, is also a relative term within The Land of Mystics. No one just dies. There is a problem with the whole Land of Mystics, you see, within The Land of Mystics, the true and uncorrupted land, no being is evil. No being has evil intentions or ideas. The evil that is within people does not exist within the true Land of Mystics and therefore no one can be evil.

            The problem now is that this evil wrongfully exists within the land. Throughout my story you will hear this struggle and yet you still may not understand it so allow me to continue. The Cobbler knows who is evil and who is good. Because of this, The Cobbler had to reward the good and punish the evil until he could bring The Land of Mystics to its final end as a utopian planet.

            So, to punish these evil beings, The Cobbler would have them "die" at their older ages, and then be cast into The Dark Land. This "Dark Land" is the opposite of The Land of Mystics in that it is dark, evil and cold. Once The Land of Mystics is converted to it's true, last and final form, these creatures will no longer have a desire for evil.

            So that should take care of that. Now, as I was saying, west beyond these two forests, The Hunnydew and The Enigma, there lie the famous Choco-mountains. These giant mountains sit along the edge of The Goldenland. Created completely of a rock-hard chocolate, in the mid-day these mountains would come alive and rivers of chocolate would flow from them. These rivers would flow within the paths that were carved over the ages and the Choco-Springs would come to life. The Choco-Springs is a network of river channels that carry the melted chocolate around the entire planet by day.

            If you were to travel east from Gandor, you would come upon a forest that is known for its beauty, The Fawn Forest. Within this forest the rocks that lay upon the ground are all diamonds, all shining and beautiful in their countenance. The trees in this forest are like brass and silver, thier fruits alike. The grass in this forest is a bright, stunning purple that perfectly matches the large snake-like creatures that are busy crawling around keeping the incredibly fast growing grass short.

            South of The Fawn Forest is one of the few remaining relics of The War of The Mystics, Valiance Rock. To the east of The Fawn Forest is the vast Golden Plains that shine brightly across the land. The grasses that grow within these plains are brown and yet they have tiny diamond slivers embedded within each long, slender blade. This causes the suns light to explode beautifully from the entire area.

            If you travel further east you will come upon some of the towns and cities of The Candyland. Here, as far as the eye can see, buildings seem to tower, stretching their tired old limbs upwards into the beautiful sky. Southeast from this clump of civilization lies another relic from The War of The Mystics, Echoing Silence. North of this is the unknown, mysterious, Land of The Seven Dwarf-Lords.

            If you travel even further east, you will come upon The Mountain Berry Fields that are full of flowers as far as the eye can see and even further. Fields and fields of flowers protrude from the seemingly endless rolling hills. Flowers of rose, flowers of lilac, flowers of divers kinds and colors. An unimaginable blur of color and beauty that is almost unmatched within the whole of The Land of Mystics. Further east you will come upon more of the many castles, cities, towns and villages of The Land of Mystics. East, further still, you will come upon the second set of The Choco-mountains. These of equal magnificence as the last.

            Beyond these mountains is the mighty seal that severs The Candyland and The Goldenland for all eternity. Traveling to the other side of this seal, we enter into The Goldenland. Here we find The Cobbler's fortress to the south. Northeast of this is another relic from The War of The Mystics, The Creasant Rock Ruins. These things will be spoken of later. East of this and you will have gone west for you have now walked around the entire planet.

            Now, let us return to Gandor. The animals of The Land of Mystics are somewhat of a mystery. It seems that somehow they survived the destruction of The Land of Mystics for they had quickly surfaced after the terrible ice age had come to it's end. The animals of The Land of Mystics, if you recall, are highly intelligent. Usually, the only difference between them and us Mystics is the magic issue. No animal possesses the power of magic. I suppose now is as good a time as any to explain to you who I am. I was once one of the citizens of this new Land of Mystics. Furthermore, I was the one who saved The Cobbler and returned The Goldenland to The Land of Mystics. This is the reason that I know so much. So now, let us enter into the town of Gandor...

            The dawning of a new day was greeted by the first of two suns just starting to ripple it's way over the western choco-mountains. By this sun's bright pink color you could tell that the day was to be a warm one. Crossing swiftly across town we come upon a house. The white walls of the house are shining marvelously within the newly birthed sunlight. The dew of the morning was dripping from the structure, splashing onto the sands below as if a rain had just passed. The house is, like any normal house in the early morning hours, quiet and serene in countenance.

            Walking down a solid white path of rocks sunk into the ground, we come abruptly to a lovely white door. Reaching forward, we turn the golden door handle and slowly creek the door open. Then, sneaking inside, we quietly creak the door closed behind us, trying carefully not to make even the slightest sound. As we look around the house we find a beautiful site coming to us.

            The walls of this house are all a created from a green crystal. These walls are all transparent and the sunlight shines through them in an extravagant display. Within the air is a wonderful aroma that enters our noses and tickles our heartstrings, reminding us of the happiest day of our lives. The seemingly endless wonder of the house is almost overwhelming. A long, couch-like structure sits tucked into a corner of a room. Within the center of this room sits a completely clear crystal table, almost undetectable by the eye. It's wonder alone brings a strange joy to our hearts.

            To the left we come upon a lovely kitchen. A grand wooden table sits within the middle, gold plates and crystal candleholders neatly arranged upon it. Straight ahead lies a staircase that leads up to the second floor. The steps to this second floor are carved from magnetos stone, a white stone that had gold and silver particles embedded within it. The floors, both downstairs and up, are all marble, much like that of earth's, that also shines forth in the morning sunlight. The molding along the walls is carved from a rock called substantionite. This a red rock that glows beautifully within the night's darkness. It still glows now for the day has now awakened fully from its long sleep.

            As we quietly move up the stairs we can hardly keep from bursting with glee at the site of the solid rectangle of pure gold that forms a doors. The handle of the door is also magnificent for it is a perfect sphere, and a clear crystal at that. Reaching forward, we turn the door handle and quietly creek the door open. As we close the door behind us the room's beauty comes to us. The entire floor is substantionite and is still slightly glowing. The cabinets and dressers throughout the room are all carved from a strong hardwood found in The Choco-mountains called Brock. It has a green tint to it and it smells of peppermint.

            Here we come upon a bed that is tucked comfortably in the right corner of the room. Within this bed of silver posts a young boy sleeps, tithen spreads protruding from the sides of the bed. Tithen is a rainbow colored yarn that is used within The Land of Mystics to make fabrics. The beautiful glow of the floor reflects off of the golden ceiling. Within the center of this golden ceiling one thing hangs. from a long golden chain hangs a single diamond. No larger than a fist, yet the diamond seems to be the most beautiful part of the room and for good reason.

            The diamond was enchanted by three wizards, for a small fee, to shine forth a beautiful rainbow light that becomes brighter and dimmer with the time of day. At night the charm seems to only cast a gently haze about the room. Within the daytime, however, the charm shines forth in a magnificent outburst. The charm has more talents as well. Somehow it manages to spin all of the time and, when called upon, will play enchanting lullabies that could easily put even the fiercest dragon to sleep.

            From here we come upon the boy. His name, Corren. His appearance, not that different from that of a human's. He has two arms and legs, two ears, a head and ten little fingers and toes. He has one nose and basically the standard shape of a human. One noticeable difference would be his ears. These are slightly smaller than human ears. They are also pointed at the top. Another, and probably the biggest, difference would be his eyes. His eyes are mainly blue and yet within the center of them where you would expect to find the little black dot, there is only crystal found. This crystal is a shiny, clear crystal that clearly defines his magic ability.

            You need to understand that within The Land of Mystics there are many unwritten laws. One of them is this; any being that possesses the power of magic will have some sort of change upon their body to show that they possess it. Usually, as you can probably tell, it is your eyes that change. Now, lets see...

             his hands were basically the same as a human's hands except his fingernails were made of the same crystal as his eyes, clear and wonderful in countenance. His skin is also different from human's, almost completely white. His feet would be the same as a human's if they had arches. His feet are completely flat on the bottom. Corren wore long green cloths, the kind of clothing that has no real definition. It just sort of hung on to him be sheer friction.

            Upon each shoulder sat a gold symbol, a sign of The Choco-mountains on the left and a caundy on the right. The sign of The Choco-mountains is a mountain in a circle with a star above it. A caundy is a sweet green leaf of a plant that grows on the bark of the farabond trees. When eaten your mouth becomes dyed green. from each of these decorations hangs a necklace of pearls. The right given to him by his father and the left by his mother at birth. They are thought of as sort of a good luck charm.

            Each pearl is a pinkish color with tiny diamonds embedded within them. Around each writs he wore a golden bracelet that helped him lift heavy objects with ease because of their magical abilities. Corren's boots are brown with silver laces. The soles of the boots are purple with crushed diamonds embedded within it. Around his waist sits a black belt, a sword's sheath hanging from this. Within this sheath sits a mighty sword.

            Even though violence does not exist within The Land of Mystics at this time in history, Corren still feels it necessary to become a good swordsmen. His sword has a steel handle that has rubies embedded within it. The blade itself is a shiny, chrome-like color that was enchanted by three wizards some time ago. So, through all of the criticism and jokes, Corren still stubbornly insists that evil would some day return to The Land of Mystics and that he would some day save them all. Even with no apparent evil on the horizon, Corren still trained long and hard.

            When he would become bored of this training he would use his magical powers to create the meanest, scariest beast that he could come up with. His good heart cursed him at this task each time for he could never create anything much worst than a dragon. He simply could not be evil. After he had created one of these creatures, he would then battle it to the death. He would come, sometimes, very close to death, but he always seemed to somehow pull himself from danger at the last instant. He would never use his magic to make up for his slowness.

            The magic of The Land of Mystics is strong, but like anything, it has some rules. The first is that magic can not easily heal self-inflicted wounds. Secondly, it is equally hard for magic to heal wounds from an evil enemy. For this task, the spell of heal three is required. Heal three is the third level of healing spells, learned by wizards and the like who take the time to learn it. Other rules of this ancient power will be spoken of later.

            Corren keeps his two weapons sealed away within a trunk. Now we return to the boy. He has already began to stir from his sleep for the suns have reached a higher place within the sky and morning is now upon him. As the boy awakens, he leaps from his bed as if on a spring and has exited the room not a second later. We quickly move to a dark corner of the room to avoid being seen. Corren now heads down the solid rock steps in search of his early rising mother...

            "Morning mom! How are you today?" Within my question there came no answer. Now thinking that something may be wrong, I inquired of her again. With this she finally spoke up,

            "Good, uh, Corren. Did you sleep well?" With a sarcastic tone I responded,

            "Well, as well as anyone can knowing that evil stirs around us in secret by night!"

            "Well good heavens Corren! No 'evil' is going to attack you while you sit and eat your breakfast so come and sit!"

            "Sorry mom, I got to go." With this I kissed my mom on the cheek and then charged the stairs to my room. Once there I removed my mighty blade and shield from their resting-place within the chest and dressed myself in them with pride. Removing my blade from it's sheath I then, brushing my purple hair from my eyes, looked it over with pride. There was not a scratch upon it. Within that moment I slid my finger down the edge of the blade, being precariously careful not to press to hard as to cut my finger. In a moment I slid the blade back within it's sheath and again took off down the stairs.

            In a moment I had reached the front door and, with a great cunning, I managed to sneak past my mom who was still busy within the kitchen. Creaking the door closed I then exploded down the white path to our house and came abruptly to the street's edge. I crossed this street and took a right to land upon the empty north road. The street was quiet, no beings had yet left their houses within our small town. Up this north road I ran and in a moment I had reached it's end.

            There I jumped down a steep hill and came crashing upon the glistening sands of The Andorthian Sea. The suns in the sky had drifted behind a clotting of clouds and the sands of the beach shined brilliantly within the abridged sunlight. There, on the beach, I summoned my magic in an effort to create the most hideous beast that I could come up with. A tingling began to build up within my hands and in a moment I cast them forward in front of me.

            From them exploded two red blasts of lightening that shook the beach like an earthquake. the blasts rocketed about twenty feet from me before colliding in their paths and exploding once again. With this came a tremendously loud booming sound that vibrated even the waters of the near by sea. As the bolts came to their ends they formed into a red, transparent sphere. After a moment the sphere fell from the sky and crashed into the sand, a large thud accompanying it. A second later the ground began to tremble once again for from the sand an object was arising, it's countenance not yet known to me.  

            The clump of sand then fell from the shape as it now reached it's grotesque claws forth and pulled itself from the hole it was in. The ground again trembled as this monster creature stamped it's feet upon the ground, shaking the dirt from it's massive body. This creature was hideous indeed, but was no more hideous than that of a dragon. The creature's scariest feature was his eyes that had a grumpy, tired look to them. The creature looked left, then right, then seeing nothing special, spoke to me in a deep rumbling voice,

            "Why, master, have you created me?" With a simple reply I said,

            "to do battle!" To these words the creatures eyes dimmed. It obviously thought that I had lost my mind for his countenance was overpowering to mine and his strength was also.

            "And... why do you wish to... fight?" the creature questioned. I replied in insult for I knew this beast would not, like all of the others before him, fight unless provoked,

            "Do not fear my little teddydragon, I have removed the pains of battle from your obviously sensitive body. You will not fear your little booboos at all." With this the creatures eyes widened in anger. With this the creature rose to it's full height, still more sand falling from his gigantic body. Soon the look within the creature's eyes told me that it was ready to fight...

            With that Corren unsheathed his sword and charged the creature with a great wrath. As Corren came within the dragons reach the dragon rose it's large, razor sharp claw and violently swung it upon him with an unbelievable force. Cleverly blocking the blow with his large shield, Corren leaped into the air. Then, grabbing the creature by it's horns of it's head, he hurled the creature's face into the sand. With this the dragon became enraged. The dragon then rose it's head from the ground and starred upon the meek-looking Corren with half rage and half amazement.

            Then, in a vicious roar, the dragon lunged forward at Corren. Corren rose his shield in defense but it was not able to brace himself in time. Corren now found himself flying backwards through the air. The dragon had delivered a valiant blow that had overcome Corren. Within a second Corren came crashing down into the sand, his head spinning from the violent impact.

            Corren was dazed by the attack but he was now on his feet as quickly as he had fallen, and a good thing this was for the dragon was already upon him once again. As the dragon opened it's large mouth to end Corren, a disturbing smile crossed Corren's face as he instantly recoiled his sword and thrust it into the dragon's chest with a loud yell of victory.

            The sword cut through the soft underside of the creature and buried into the dragons body, sliding inward up to the hilt. The fatal wound had obviously been served. The creature, burning with hatred, grabbed Corren by his arms and cast him forward towards the sea with a strength of amazing countenance. Amazingly, the creature hurled Corren with such a great strength that he began to actually gain speed in his path...  

            Crossing the sea was an unforgettable experience. I remember, I was flying wildly through the air, half unconsciously and half terribly dizzy for I was spinning head over heals. Finally crossing the sea, I crashed into the roof of a house. I crushed this and continued downward to the second floor. Through this I traveled and into the basement I even passed. I knew I was in real trouble this time for I couldn't feel any of my limbs.

            Upon the hard substantionite basement floor I finally crashed, this stopping me in my path. I was in so much pain and yet I couldn't feel much of it for some reason. I knew I was in the most trouble, however, when a darkness quickly flooded over my completely open eyes. After that I was unconscious.

  

:Chapter Two - A Midnight’s Dream

 

I then drifted off into dreamland. I can’t recall exactly what I was dreaming of or even if I was dreaming at all. I only recalled one event and this was one of amazing caliber. I recall I was dreaming of The Land of Mystics and, like a titan, another dream seemed to enrapture the first and take it away so all that was left was darkness. In a minute the strong dream returned and there it began its images.

Within this I was dreaming of myself sitting upon the side of my bed in my very own room. The large amount of pain that I expected to feel had all but vanished and this was how I knew it to be a dream, and yet at the same time I had complete and total control of the dream as if it were real life.

After a moment I feared that it might not be a dream for my room was dark like night and yet there was somehow a light within it. With this I stood, of a sudden, curious of how I had found my way back to my room. Could the entire day have been a dream? But then, why was it still night?

A thousand questions began to race through my mind and in a moment an alarming thought raced into my mind, are my parents okay? Has something happened to us! These terrible thoughts now turned into actions for in the excitement of the moment I drew my mighty blade and cried out in a loud voice saying,

"What is this! What evil has come to destroy Gandor! Show yourself!" With the end of my words came a blinding light that exploded into the room. The light was so bright that I could see nothing within the room, only white. This light was terribly intense and yet, for some reason, it did not hurt my eyes at all.

Then, as sudden as the light had come, a figure formed from within the center of the light, it's countenance much resembling that of a mystic except with no facial features at all. With this I became even more enraged and yet a fear began to also set in within me so that I was not sure of the proper next action. This decision, however, was now made for me for in this moment the terrible white light now became a stunning pink, it's countenance of a marvelous kind.

The figure that hovered within this light then became less luminous and more materialistic. A few seconds passed. I said nothing for now I knew not this being's purpose, good or bad. After this time had passed a strange feeling began to build up within me and to this I began to raise my sword for an attack. The being, seeing this, spoke to me in the most peaceful, loving voice that I have ever heard,

"Do not be afraid, Corren." From the surrounding pinkish glow came two gentle beams that slowly came to me and pressed upon my stomach. I felt my stomach slightly push in and as the beams faded my anger and fear also faded so that I was now at a place of peace that I had never seen before.

It was now clear to me that this being, whatever it was, was of a good nature and also was of a grand authority of some sort. The being then spoke once again,

"I am The Cobbler. I am calling you from The Goldenland." I quickly questioned him,

"What is this you speak of my lord, for The Goldenland if unknown to me? Why would you call upon a mere boy such as me?"

"Oh, my dear, dear Corren. If I could only tell you now. Corren, your heart is good and your motives are pure. Your tongue is restrained and you expect nothing in return for your good deeds. You have presently perished from The Land of Mystics. Your life force has fled from you." To this, like a silly child, I questioned once again,

"But my lord, how then can I stand before you this moment?"

"Corren, I have summoned you. Everything that has transpired has done so according to my desire. You, Corren, are presently standing within m fortress within the vast desert Goldenland." This I again questioned for I was young and foolish at this time,

"But my lord, if I have perished, how is it that I can stand here presently?"

"My dear Corren, you stand here only in spirit. Corren, I have chosen you to restore order to the terribly hurting Land of Mystics." Again I questioned The Cobbler's words,

"What is this land that you speak of my lord? And what of this fortress that you inhabit?" The Cobbler continued,

"Do not worry Corren, I shall explain all in due time. Now, I have restored your vitality. When you awaken, you shall know all. Please Corren, for the sake of The Land of Mystics, learn of me and free us all."

With this the marvelous light faded from the room as quickly as it had come. While I stood there I felt my body grow weak. Suddenly I clasped to my knees and gasped for a breath. I then fell forward and again slipped off into dreamland. From here the course of my life would change forever. I was now on the quest to free The Cobbler and to save The Goldenland. From this point onward I would be equipped with weapons of unimaginable power and ability.  
   

:Chapter Three - A New Hope

 

I awoke to find myself lying in a house, starring up into the clouds of a lovely pink sky. From the floor above, two beings were starring down upon me with questionable looks upon their faces.

I was lying in a most uncomfortable position. Dust and debris from the broken house above was falling into my eyes and nose. My shield was under my back along with my twisted left arm. It was obvious that this would have been broken if The Cobbler had not interceded. My left leg dangled in the air upon a piece of the roof, the other lay tucked under itself in a painful position.

From out of this terrible mess I began to pick myself, but when I did so the two beings that looked upon me yelled for me not to move for fear that I may injure myself more. I could tell that they were overwhelmed that I had even survived the ordeal for their eyes were as large as the blinding suns that now beamed down through the dust into my eyes. Seeing this, I assured them that I was all right while I managed to climb to the top of the broken steps that led to the first floor of the slaughtered house.

Once there I brushed the dirt from my cloths and held back a chuckle as the two beings watched me in amazement. After a minute I had cleaned myself and I then began to summon a spell to repair the house that I had... remodeled. When they saw this they cried out again,

"No! Don't worry about this! Please, just head home and rest!" I thanked them both repeatedly before passing out the front door and walking to the street. I wasn't quite sure where I had ended up for I was thrown quite a distance and I had forgotten a lot of what occurred just before I crashed into the house. Eventually I discovered that I had only, like I expected, landed in Gondor. Getting home wasn't a problem.

After about a half an hour and twenty turns and blocks later, I finally came to the sign that I was searching for. The walk was a wonderful experience. It had been quite a long time since I had really looked over a town for its splendor. I especially enjoyed the simple yet lovely trees that seemed to perfectly compliment the buildings that they grew next to.

Eventually I had come to it, the sign that read "Dragon Port". After a moment I had passed this and there I came to the payment booth. A strange looking man sat within the booth. He appeared "hard at work" on some papers. Tossing ten parsects on the counter I asked,

"May I have a ride please?" The man replied in a preoccupied voice,

"Where...you heading..." then looking up he said, "son?" With a laugh I said,

"Gandor." His face became puzzled,

"What is a young boy like you doing all of the way over here?" At this I laughed aloud. I then spoke,

"I'm remodeling houses!"

I could tell that he did not know the humor of this for his brow only became more deeply confused at my sarcastic words.

"Well, lets see here son... ten parsects oughta do it..." With that he turned around upon his stool and began fishing through a pile of papers. In a moment he returned to me with a tag. "Here you are son, just take a right and head into that there door." I thanked him and walked to the door.

With a hard tug I managed to pull open the giant wooden door, it's hinges old and not cared for, the door was like a rock trying to move. As I entered into the large room my eyes were met with an overwhelming number of dragons. I walked into the building and found the main isle. Down this I walked, now understanding the numbers and letters upon the tag that the man had given me. In a moment I had reached lot 37-B, the same as on my card. Within this small area I found my ride.

This dragon was a strange creature. In a loud, roaring voice the creature spoke,

 "All aboard!" I handed the paper to the dragon and climber up upon the saddle that was strapped to her waist. She then asked if I was ready. With a nodding of my head the dragon rose from the ground and thundered from the lot and into the main isle. Once here her large arm muscles contracted and her gigantic wings were opened so that her countenance was of an amazing measure.

"Hang on!" She yelled, her muscles again contracting and her wings exploding towards the ground. As they did this there also came a tremendous burst of air that blew my hair straight up and blew my cloths with an incredible strength. Another burst and we had already left the ground. With the third we had blasted forward towards the large exit of the building. The amazing power of dragons had always amazed me but to ride one and to be aided by it's mighty strength, this was truly a new experience for me.

Out the door we glided and, thinking this was the extent of the amazing display, I entertained a short nap during the trip back. This, however, was not to be for with another warning from the lady dragon we suddenly burst forth through the air at an incredible speed. Now, away from the ground, we exploded into the clouds. Flying constantly higher and faster, she increased my amazement with each passing second. Then, when it seemed as if we could go no higher, in one amazing dive, we tore through the sky and rocketed downward towards the sea at a speed that I dare not tell of in a story. At this tremendous speed it took only a second to arrive at the Gandor seashore.

In my fear and excitement I could not speak and yet somehow I managed to leave the dragon's back and land upon the beach's lovely sand. The dragon had placed me down in the spot where I had fought earlier in the day. I thanked the dragon and sent her on her way. Now, looking frantically about, I could find no dead dragon, no sword, or anything that I had left there earlier. All that sat there was a strong wooden chest.

The chest was clearly sealed by some sort of magic for within the suns’ light it glue a strange green color. At this great amount of power I was amazed. Then, within my mind, I recalled what had happened in my dreams earlier. Suddenly my mind was flooded with the knowledge of all the horror and glory that helped to shape The Land of Mystics into what it is now.

With this new information, and the now-present knowledge of The Cobbler's existence and power, I now felt a burning desire to learn what this chest possessed. With this in mind, I concentrated myself upon the chest. I then began to summon all of my strength. Amazingly the chest came open as if it were not sealed at all. I guessed that The Cobbler had increased my powers with on a great level.

I cautiously walked to the chest and unlatched the hinge. Then, in one quick push, I opened the top. From within the chest came a blast of green light that all but blinded me. Through this I pushed onward and into the chest I thrust my hand, my fingers grabbing hold of an object, familiar and yet hidden. Stepping backwards, I pulled the object from within the chest.

To my surprise it was a sheath to a large sword. In my excitement I reached further within the chest. As I did this, the green aura decayed, revealing the items within. From the chest I next pulled a valiant sword that had a gold handle. The blade was a strong alloy that was enchanted by some form of magic that I had never seen before.

Within a few minutes I had removed a sword, a sheath and a shield from the chest. Within the chest I also found a red crystal that was attached to a golden chain. I took these new items and dressed within them, placing my old things within the chest. I then sealed the chest closed with a spell of my own. As I did this the chest slowly faded into nothing. Within this new equipment I could feel the power surging through my body. This new power was amazing, however, it could not be even closely compared to the power that ran throughout my body as I unsheathed the mighty blade from it's sheath for the first time. The sheer weight of the blade made its power obtrusively eminent.

With this sudden acquirement of power my body gave way and soon I found myself loosing my balance. In an instant I was weak in the knees. I took a final stance to try and save myself but soon I had clasped to the sands of the beach. From this moment I felt that I would never again see anyone or anything that I loved or cared about again. My life had officially been incorporated into the history of The Land of Mystics. There was no turning back from here. From this point I would be known in history books and campfire stories as Corren of Gandor. This name would soon be feared and respected by all beings of The Land of Mystics.       

 

:Chapter Four - The Interminable Encounter

 

As I lay asleep on the beach, The Cobbler guided my mind through the basic principles of these new weapons that I had received. Before I had finished learning of these new things The Cobbler suddenly faded, completely ignoring the large red crystal what I had been given. I stood puzzled for I knew nothing of this crystal except of its apparent magical power. With this I awoke to a familiar voice...

"Corren! I have been searching for you for hours! Why are you on the beach at night like this!" She looked very irate and at the same time concerned and curiously seeking my response. As I rose from the sand she continued, "What are these things that you have and where did you get them?" I ignored her. "Corren!" she insisted. I screamed at her,

"Silence mother!" To this she exploded,

"What is this you have said to me!" I spoke again,

"silence." At this she swung her hand and slapped my face. At this I became enraged. With my rage burning I jumped backwards and drew my sword. Suddenly, before I even knew what I was doing, I had summoned a fire spell and had slashed my mighty sword upon her. As I swung, a wave of fire exploded from my blade.

It blasted through the air and crashed into my mother. I now became aware of my actions but it was too late. I turned to perhaps stop the fire but all I saw was my mother lying upon the sand. Apparently she had rose her hands against the attack for the flames burned both her hands. Luckily the fire never passed her hands and only the force of the blast had knocked her onto the sand.

At this my eyes widened in disbelief. I had struck down my own mother for I could not control my own anger. Now I had learned both sides of this great new power that I was given. They do you well, but without control, they are worse than having no powers at all.

"No!" I screamed, my terror growing when she did not stir from the sand. I threw my blade to the sand and ran to her side, tears already beginning to form within my frightened eyes. The savage and unexpected attack had thrown her quite a distance. Immediately I summoned all of my magic and created a transparent, blue sphere. Then I threw it into the air. A moment that seems like eternity passed. then finally a blue sphere tore from the sand. Three wizards dressed in white robes poured from it as it floated level with the sand.

(Hold on, allow me to explain something here. Within The Land of Mystics there are two ways to travel. The first is physical, dragons, walking and the like. The second is magically. This is done with the use of "portals". Portal use is quite simple actually. You just think of the place that you want to go and then make the portal. It automatically locks on to the location for you so that all you need to do is jump into it and there you are. Of course traveling very far distances like the other side of the universe does take a bit longer, three of four seconds at least. So, as you can tell, this does not take that long at all. For all use upon The Land of Mystics, this is surely instantaneous. Now, another cool function of this is the ability to send a sort of flag with one of these portals. It is kind of like sending someone a taxi on Earth. You send out one of these portals and with it goes a message. The one Corren sent was to any and all doctors to come and help his burned mother. Short and to the point, the portal knew exactly where it needed to go to find doctors and to bring them back. Clever little portals, aren't they? Sorry about that. Anyway, let’s get back to the story.)

The wizards came to my mother's side and began summoning spells and within a moment she was returned to perfect health. I thanked the wizards and sent them on their way before my mom had even awakened. Thankfully she had lost consciousness and had never felt the pain that the fire would have caused her. I leaned down to my mother's side as her eyes slowly opened. Within her eyes I found no anger, just confusion.

After I apologized a great deal I then began to explain the events that had occurred earlier in the day. Now my life was heading in a different direction. The simple mistakes and little problems of the past were no longer important. Local life was no longer important. Now I only worried about the goal that was at hand, the goal of freeing The Cobbler and restoring The Land of Mystics to its original beauty.

While we walked home in the night's ever growing darkness, we decided to tell no one of the events that had occurred this day. As we reached the end of the path to the front door I saw my father standing at the front door. By the look upon his face it was eminent that he was furious. To save any aggravation, my mother left my side and quickly moved to his side to begin explaining the events of the day. My father didn't seem to believe the story one bit, but what sane person would considering the circumstances. This was true until she came to the part about The Cobbler and the dream.

When she spoke these things his face turned pale and a sadness that I had never seen upon it before leaped upon it. After a time of silence from him he went on to explain to us that he had been of matters like this but never believed them until now. By this time it was late at night. We decided to sleep so three clear heads could decide what to do about this matter in the morning. Now there was nothing more to do except sleep.

I didn't dream that night. I only recalled myself thinking upon the cloaked powers of the red crystal that I was granted by The Cobbler.    

 

:Chapter Five - The Genesis Of Time

 

            Time. The ever-present consumer. It never has an end. It never has a genesis. The only contradiction that proves that time ever seized, occurred before time was truly existent itself. Now it has seized again. This time, however, by the power of The Cobbler and the power of the boundary that sealed off The Goldenland.

One problem has arisen from this. If the time in The Land of Candy has now stopped and the time within The Goldenland has continued on normally, what will happen when The Goldenland and The Candyland are reunited after this long time? How will this event effect time? Will it? Will time begin again in The Candyland? If so, will all eventually perish like once before?

            Only The Cobbler can answer these questions. So also can I considering I am telling the story. But no, that would ruin the entire story. So please, read on...

            I awoke early that morning. Only one of the suns had traveled from its sleepy bed and into the sky. Because of this, the sky was still partially purple. The gleam of the diamond that hung from the ceiling was slowly becoming brighter for the day was aging. I rose from my bed, still clad in my new armor. Downstairs I found my parents sleeping on the couch in the sitting room. I moved to wake them but stopped when I recalled what hour of the day it was still.

            By now I had become uniquely curious of the full power that The Cobbler had granted to me. With this question in mind I moved to the doorway and disappeared out of it. Traveling down the empty main street I came to the shore of the Andorthian Sea once again.

            There I removed my weapons. The light of the first sun was gleaming off of the still waters that made a beautiful glow upon the sand. I then unsheathed my mighty blade. It was an amazingly strong alloy structure. Its hilt appeared to be made of gold. Within the center of the hilt there were three crystals that had been embedded directly into the metal. One red, one green and one a bluish color. The blade itself was strongly locked within the hilt and the handle was solidly secure to the hilt so that the entire device felt as if it were one piece of metal.

This sword had a double-edged blade, this seeming to always glow slightly purple because of its power. I decided that this was the time to test this blade out to see exactly what sort of power it possessed. I walked down the shoreline until I reached, in my opinion, the more or less middle of the Sea. Once there, I summoned all of my magic and pointed the sword at the Sea.

            The surface of the water began to part across the entire Sea. With this I rested the blade upon the ground and allowed the waters to settle back down. Seeing the power of the blade, I then raised my hand towards the water and I said,

            "part." The surface of the water began to tremble. "part!" I shouted. As I said this, the ground began to quake. Then, with an amazing burst of energy that seemed to travel from my hand, the Sea slowly parted down the middle to form two halves, each of equal measure. When the waters had finished parting, the Seabed was now visible. Sitting upon the Sea's floor laid the bodies of the underwater creatures that were caught within the middle of the parting waters and were torn in two.

            As I used this hand to hold the waters in place, I used the other to build a solid path of fire across the Seabed. When I had assuredly tested my magical strength, I attempted to hold both actions in place with just one hand, then with one finger. Then, with all of my effort, I parted the Sea and put fire on wet land with only my mind.

            Now I had realized that this was not all just a dream. I realized then that I was truthfully called by The great Cobbler, the most loving, caring, beautiful being in all of The Land of Mystics, to save him and The Goldenland alike. After this was all over I gathered my things and prepared to travel home. This I found not necessary, however, for as I turned around to leave the beach, all that I saw in front of me was a large grouping of the town's people. Apparently the entire town was awake particularly early this morning and had seen the entire act.

My parents were particularly amazed for they had always thought of me as an average boy. "Nothing special here." they would say, in joking of course. I still believed that they thought that way often until now.

            In a few minutes people from Gondor began to arrive, crossing through the path created by my magic, complaining of loud noises and of a small earthquake. They had watched the show from across the Sea and had come over to see this amazing being who had done this amazing work. Within a few days I was known as "The Great Hero" and "Wielder of The Enchanted Blade". I was admired and greeted everywhere that I traveled.

            As a display of my appreciation for their acts of kindness, I erected a beautiful tower that towered into the sky over one hundred feet high. This I placed within Gandor and named "The Tower of Peace".

            From there, however, we came upon a problem. What was my Job? What was I supposed to do exactly? Where was I supposed to start? I thought long and hard on this subject until it finally came to me. I needed to find out what this cursed crystal was for. This settled the matter. I was off on my quest to find out what I was off on my quest to do. I said my final good-byes and then simply left Gandor. I headed east towards the highlands where I knew many a wizard lived. From this sprang the first leg of my adventure...

            As you can tell, I didn't have much of a social life for I haven't spoken of any of my friends or family outside of my parents. This, however, is simply not the case. Within Gandor I simply seemed to land within the middle of the generations. My parents were rather young when I was born and, since aging and death are only relative within The Land of Mystics, I seemed to grow up with no real brothers and sisters.

            Also, within Gandor there were really no children of my age groups for my parents were young when they had me. I seemed to fit within a strange little timeframe that even I had a hard time understanding at times. So, within this era of "loneliness" as I tended to call it, I grew and learned a great deal about the adult responsibilities of life. Perhaps this is why The Cobbler chose me. I knew of the ways of the older people and yet I had the energy and zeal of a youth.

            Whatever the reason, please read onward as the time of adventure reaches it's genesis in my adventures!

 

:Chapter Six - The Black Wizard

 

            Walking through the outskirts of town, I noticed things I had never seen before. A small shop, just as magnificent as the others, lay on the East End of town. This was my first stop. I approached the small building with caution for smoke was coming from the windows. Clearly a wizard was hard at work here. The door was made of a white rock and had a golden handle.

            I grabbed hold of the handle and pushed upon the door. It took a minute for me to realize that the door was sealed closed by a magical force.

            "If this truly were a magic shop" I said, "you wouldn't be making a large amount of money by having the door sealed shut..." To this no one responded and I became worried. I feared some poor wizard might have sealed himself away within this shop accidentally. I wondered if my immediate powers would be able to overcome a spell that was put in place by someone who spent time contemplating on it.

            With that in mind I raised my right hand towards the door, my palm facing forward as if it were against a wall. I then summoned all of my power and said.

            "fall". The door didn't budge. I felt anger starting to grow within me. Suddenly I could feel the anger swelling in my feet. My boots began to glow red. This anger moved swiftly up my legs and into my stomach. My body began to glow red. It moved up into my chest, then into my hands. My eyes began to burn as I focused my attention towards the door. In a mad rage, I launched my hands towards the door, beams of red light forth from them as I did this. These beams hit the door and crashed through it, continuing into the shop.

            As they traveled into the shop, I felt the seal break from around the door. I watched in a sort of happiness as the door was savagely ripped from the hinges and thrown into the shop's darkness. Suddenly a crash shook from within the building and a strange yell echoed out from the absent doorway. A few seconds passed before a strange creature waddled out from within the doorway.

            This figure was short, about four feet tall, and yet had a magical countenance about it. It appeared to be some form of a man, but the black hood that he wore obscured his face. His cloths were all black. His skin was as white as a ghost’s was, and he wore all black. He had black boots, black pants, a black shirt, and even a black belt from which a series of black patches hung. A black cape and hood that concealed his appearance hid all these things. The only sign of color that appeared within his countenance was a silver chain that hung from his neck. Attached to this chain was a green crystal, similar to my own. He also had long, black hair that was almost invisible within the mesh of black attire. The wizard spoke, "What is this you have done to my door!"

            "Anyone with the door to their shop sealed shut can't be making any money."

            "I was creating a secret potion using the powers of The Mystics you fool! You could have easily incinerated half the town!"

            "My apologies black wizard." "My name is not 'black wizard', it is Maramound!"

            "Well, Maramound, ‘tis strange to find a door sealed shut with that much power and yet have nothing hidden within." To this Maramound only laughed.

            "How is this possible? You broke the seal I put in place in an instant. I composed that seal over two hours. You are not even a wizard and yet you have destroyed it with... what is this! You have the red crystal!" At this I became excited.

            "What do you know of this?" I said, now noticing that his green crystal was exactly like my own.

            "Where did you acquire that stone?" Maramound asked.

            "It was granted to me by The Cobb... err... my Father."

            "You lie! only The Cobbler can grant such a powerful charm!" I fell backwards in shock. Recovering from my fall, I quickly pressed, "How is this that you know of The Cobbler?"

            "I am the mighty Maramound. I am the only creature not created by The Cobbler who also wields the power of magic."

            "But how can this be? All of the creatures not created by The Cobbler were destroyed in the old times!"

            "Ha! You know not of what you speak boy! The Cobbler gave me the power of magic to help save the animals trapped under the ground during the ice age you fool! We were never killed. The stupid Mystics were killed because they went to war with each other and destroyed everything on the face of the planet. It's no wonder the suns crashed into the ocean! After that absolute ten thousand year hell, The Cobbler rewarded me by allowing me to help a young boy who would some day save The Goldenland. I guess I am to assume that this boy is you."

            This was the genesis of a beautiful relationship, I could tell. After this we began to discuss the events that had occurred before we met. I was still curious as to what these crystals were for. Maramound couldn't tell me for he didn't know either. By now we had figured out that these crystals stood for members in our group.

            We also discovered, after a long examination, that the three stones embedded within the hilt of my sword were exact copies of the crystals that we not sought after. After a small test we also discovered that these crystals possessed an immeasurable amount of magical power. We also discovered that this magic could only be used if the three crystals were placed together, and that they were centered on one task. This acted as a safeguard in case evil hands were to obtain these crystals. This was also to aid in the elemental equation. Fire - red, and Water - blue, don't compute very well without Earth - green. The third crystal, and more importantly, the third member of the group, must be found.

            From here we journeyed beyond Gandor, burning the magic shop to the ground before leaving. Another use of these crystals, they would be drawn together like magnets if they neared each other. The important thing was that if these crystals were further apart, they would pull slightly together. You could almost feel the crystal pulling upon you're neck when the wind wasn't blowing strongly.

 

:Chapter Seven - The Subreption Of Crystal Blue

 

"North from here I recall a story of a powerful swordsmen who overcame three large dragons in a single sword blow." Maramound said as he returned his green crystal around his neck. He continued,

"Apparently the animals said something which enraged the warrior and she killed them." Hearing this I became surprised. Why hadn't anything of this sort occurred within The Land of Mystics before this time? I recalled that these sorts of events had been occurring a lot in the past month or so. I also recalled that these sudden acts of violence should not be occurring within this Land of Mystics at all for evil did not exist within The Land of Mystics.

I then began to fear that something terribly evil was beginning to take over the minds of the inhabitants of The Land of Mystics. I feared that this candy-coated, dreamland would come to a sudden, and violent end. More and more reports of violence and killing were slowly coming in from the east closer to the great seal. Darkness seemed to be seeping in through the cracks in The Land of Mystics...

We had traveled for some time before our eyes came upon any sign of civilization. The air was slightly cooler than Gandor's and the smell of the Sea had fled from our noses. The trees had become a darker shade of green now and the leaves, a shining golden-brown. The grass was more of a reddish color than of purple and there seemed to be much more of it. Beyond all of these differences, the land seemed the same. Soon we had come upon this apparent civilization. All we found, however, was a large clearing in the vast wood. Within this clearing was only a small stone statue.

This statue had the countenance of an old-time knight from The War of The Mystics. It appeared as of this, except it's head had two terrible horns tearing up through it. The devil-like face of the statue was full of evil. From the looks of it, the statue appeared to be carved from Substantionite.

Through the clearing we quietly crossed and to the clearing’s edge we came. At the edge of the clearing I reached forward and attempted to part the brush. Strangely my hand collided into a clear, glass-like wall. In my confusion I turned to Maramound. Maramound, however, was not facing me. In my growing confusion I turned to see what it was that he was starring at.

To my overwhelming surprise, the statue had begun to break apart, revealing a true and living warrior within. Maramound began to summon a defense spell. I was still confused beyond words. I hadn't the faintest idea what was occurring. I began to wonder if this being was even an enemy of ours. The answer to this question was quickly found.             The knight upon the stand now stood the remaining rock of the statue falling from his in this act. The knight then leaped from its statue stand and came crashing upon the ground. I reached for my hilt, a fear now entering my mind. The knight unsheathed its sword and swung it at me, releasing a fire blast that exploded into me. I felt myself flying backwards. After a moment I came crashing into the dirt with a terrible shake. I shook my head and moaned a bit before jumping back upon my feet.

Maramound had already cast his spell for I could see his body had a red aura hovering about it. Maramound then threw his hands forward towards the knight, sending forth a green wave across the clearing. Seeing this, the knight began to run from the wave. Finally catching the knight, the green wave encased the being in a green sphere. The knight cried out in agony. I now recalled what the knight had done to me and I became angry.

I raced forward, pulling my sword from its sheath. Then, leaping into the air, I came down upon the creature, swinging the sword with all of my strength. As the blade swung downwards, it began to glow red. My feet came crashing to the ground as the blade buried into the knight's chest. I jumped backwards as I saw the mighty blade begin to illuminate. I now starred in amazement as the sky darkened with iota clouds.

Suddenly the wind exploded violently as a thunderclap roared across the clearing. A blast of lightening exploded from the sky and sped into the sword. It traveled down the sword and into the knight. The knight exploded into ashes. A second later Maramound had finished his magic attack and was sad not to be able to use it.

I stood still, amazed by not only the power of the blade, but of the entire incident. Maramound noticed me and in a reassuring voice he said,

"Don't worry! That was nothing! Truly terrible battles wait ahead for us in this coming adventure!" To this I only laughed. After this had ended I gathered my senses and then walked to where the knight's ashes lay smoldering upon the ground. I reached down and grabbed a hold of my sword. Amazingly the sword was in perfect condition. I soon came to the conclusion that the use of this magical blade, in magical ways, restored it's valiance and not weakened it. It was almost as if the sword absorbed some of the magic that traveled through it and used it to rejuvenate itself.

I slid my blade back into its sheath and turned to Maramound. He was busy casting a spell. In a few seconds he was finished. He now began to move his hands back and forth in front of him. As he did this, little green particles seemed to appear from the air itself. They quickly assembled in two neat little spheres, one in each of his hands. I only now noticed that this was where our power came from. This close examination of the conjuring of a spell made me sort of happy. It is sort of in the air and when it is used, it sort of just comes alive.

This was the first time I had actually watched someone using magic. Maramound took the two spheres and threw them forward, speeding towards the seal that sealed them within the clearing. The two spheres traveled across the field and crashed into the clear wall, crumbling it instantly. The false wall crumbled with a rumble that seemed to echo through the woods abroad.

Soon silence had restored itself to the forest. In a few seconds we had gathered our things and we headed from the clearing. From here on I would always think of Maramound as a wizard of valiance. Never again would I underestimate him because of his height. In a few moments we had lost sight of the clearing and entered an area of the woods called The Fawn Forest. Here Maramound spoke,

"Stop. Let us travel by portal." To this I questioned,

"But Maramound, do we even know where we are going?" He stood thinking for a second.

"We shall go to the city of Copernicum. There we shall find this swordsman that I spoke of before. The crystals point to this course anyway, look." That was that. Maramound ripped open a portal and we had disappeared within it. In an instant we had surfaced in what appeared to be a somewhat large city.

We entered the city from the south side and we were amazed by the activity of the town. Beings of all sorts ran here and there, going about their business. This place was much different than Gandor. The buildings were mainly green instead of the pure white of Gandor. These green walls had an occasional blue streak that ran down them. The magical feel of the town was much weaker than that of Gandor's.

As we walked down the main street of the town, beings would stare in amazement at me for they could feel the amazing magical power that I possessed. I was stronger, for the moment, than Maramound for I possessed weapons that were crafted by the mighty hand of The Cobbler himself. Maramound hated this horribly. He hated the fact that Maramound, the grand wizard, was weaker than some average boy with a sword and a good little heart. The city seemed basically peaceful until we came closer to a small section in the northeastern end of the city.

There a large crowd had gathered to watch some sort of fight. We could not yet see the commotion from where we walked so I ran off into the circle while Maramound only continued to stroll along, taking his sweet old time. After a moment I had pushed forward to the center of the commotion. Once there I saw a mancos, standing opposed to a swordswoman of valiant stature. Words of profanity and hatred spewed from each creature's mouth until the mancos yelled one final word that drove the swordswoman to rage. The swordswoman grabbed a hold of her hilt and ripped her sword from its sheath. She then ran forward, charging the mancos. (A mancos is a large, duck-like creature that has a flat back used to transport beings for a small wage.) The crowd awed in amazement as the warrior leaped incredibly high into the air. The mancos froze in amazement. Gravity took effect and this warrior then fell swiftly to the ground, savagely burying her sword into the mancos' head. The warrior then jumped backwards. Then, to my surprise, the sky darkened with iota clouds and the wind exploded in a savage rage.

A bolt of lightening exploded from the sky and ripped into the sword. It then exploded into the macos' head. The mancos exploded into a heap of burning ashes. The warrior walked to the mancos' ashes and retrieved her sword, still rather warm from the spell. She then looked over her sword over as the crowds began to dissipate. After she had finished, she slid the sword back into her sheath.

This warrior was clad in blue armor. She wore blue boots with chain link upon them for protection. The blue shield that she carried had a "C" carved within a large red circle that took up most of the shield's face. The warrior's blade was created from a strong magical metal. The hilt of this sword shined silver and had two red rubies embedded within it.

Her body appeared the same as Corren's, that is, she was a being created by The Cobbler. Like Corren and yet had black hair. Within her eyes were the signs of hatred and sadness. She had been hurt by someone, somewhere. It wouldn't take long for me to discover what this thing was. Although her mean, uncaring self shined through so brightly, I could see, for some reason, the overwhelming love that she kept bottled up inside, even though I had only met her this very minute.

This love was very hard to find, however, for when she recovered herself from the battle, she spat upon the ashes of the creature that she had just destroyed. The crowd had by now vanished, leaving only trampled dirt behind. I now approached the warrior from behind. Then, stopping for a second, I grabbed the hilt of my sword. I began to silently slide the blade from its sheath. This was obviously a very well trained warrior for before my blade was even drawn; she had drawn her blade and was resting comfortably upon my neck. In my surprise I fumbled around with my sword and shield to prepare for her attack. In a second I stood opposite to her, ready for any attack. She wasted no time. As I starred her down I realized that she couldn't be a day older than Id. She appeared to be a savage warrior and yet she wasn't an inch taller than I was either. She now attacked. Her eyes widened as she ran towards me at a surprising speed. She then leaped into the air not ten feet from me. Then, speeding down upon me, she attempted to bury her valiant blade into me head. I had only an instant to react. I swung my blade upwards, colliding with hers with a savage violence.

A large spark exploded from the impact. Her strength was amazing but I seemed to have won the initial bout. To her amazement she was thrown backwards and onto the ground. She didn't seem to be hurt but only enraged more. Recovering from her assault, I raised my blade outward so the point was directed towards her. Then I leaped into the air and came down, thrusting the blade into the soil. To this the ground began to quake. A large fault tore it's way through the ground, blasts of fire pouring from it. A savage roar tore up from the fault. The warrior didn't seem scarred in the least. This surprised me for I was almost scarred myself. In a moment the head of a hideous creature ripped through the soil. I jumped backwards, grabbing my sword, as the creature climbed from the crevasse and onto the ground.

This creature had claws that protruded from its terribly rough red flesh. The beast balanced itself and then rose on its four feet, shaking the dirt from its body. The creature's eyes then widened and its gaping mouth tore open. From it's mouth exploded a wave of burning rocks that glue terribly hot in the air. The warrior jumped away to avoid being incinerated. The warrior then raised her sword into the air and called upon the mighty snows.

A terribly cold wind blew into the field and the raging fire was reduced to a few loose ice sickles. The giant creature, being adapted to the terribly hot temperatures of the underground, quickly returned to its hole to avoid freezing to death in this bitter cold. Waiting for her counter, I began to summon a lit attack. This spell would return any attack made upon me with twice the wrath than it was given.

In her rage she returned her sword within its sheath and began to summon a wind spell. In a moment she was ready with her attack. She raised her arms outward to from a cross-like shape. Then, with a terrible speed, she began to rotate upon her feet. Faster and faster she spun. Green trails of illumination began to stream from her fingers. In a moment two green spheres had formed within her hands.

Then, in a violent hurl, she threw these spheres backwards. In a strange sound the two spheres tore apart and formed into a green cloud. The wind now picked up across the field. I began to feel my legs being blown out from under me. At that instant I cast my lit spell. Red streaks of light exploded from me hands. The beams exploded through the air until they traveled about ten feet in front of me. Once there, they stopped. They then spread out across the air and created a kind of red, luminescent shield. The warrior's spell exploded violently. From within this green cloud launched forth green spheres that seemed to be bomb-like attack weapons. These spheres sped towards me and impacted the false shield with a terrible strength. The winds now slowed to a stop. The warrior stopped spinning and the green cloud faded. I raised my sword and blasted forth a simple fireball that crashed into the false shield. The shield exploded forth in a green, windy blur that threw the warrior backwards a large distance.

When she landed, she slid a few feet in the dirt upon her back. I quickly attacked while I could. Raising my sword towards the sky, I again thrust it into the soil. From the sword blasted a red beam that sped forward and impacted the warrior. The beam encased her body, leaving her paralyzed. I then ran to her side. Once there I looked down upon her and realized that she had been injured. Seeing this, I instantly waved my hand and undid the spell. She rose slowly, watching for any offensive move on my part. Her face was stricken with anger but she knew the wrong move now could easily cost her life. I began to speak but she quickly rose her sword, ready to allow it to do the talking. She swung upon me with all of her hatred. Moving my shield, I cleverly blocked the sword blow. Then, without thinking, I instinctually countered the attack. My blade sped down upon her, forcing hers away. My blade slashed forth, burying into her shoulder. She swung her blade, pushing mine away. This wound didn't seem to effect her one bit for she recovered and summoned yet another spell.

Then, at the close range, and before I could react, she blasted forth two fireballs that exploded into my chest. I saw a terribly bright flash. Then I felt a burning in my chest. A second later I found myself buried in the dirt. My armor had stopped the immediate fire attack, but the magic behind the attack had found its mark. Now I found myself enraged as she had been. I planned to hold her captive like before, but this time until I could get things together. The warrior became board of this spell game and again drew her sword. I had finally completed my spell but I decided not to cast it.

No, first I needed to see just how good of a swordswoman she was. It was timed to dance with the princess. I stood upright, drawling my sword. We stood facing each other, about ten feet apart. She ran forward, slashing down upon me with the blade over her head. I met the attack with a valiant swing from the ground, upwards. Our swords clashed with a terrible violence. I swung downwards, clashing into her awaiting shield. She swung downward, burying her sword into my knee. I dropped to one knee from the blow. I then swung my blade upward to catch her second attack that was aimed for my neck.

I leaped into the air from one leg and came down upon her, clashing my shield into her face. She fell from the unexpected move. I then slashed down upon her again, knocking her blade from the meek hand meant for a defense. In an instant I had cast a heal spell and had repaired my leg. The warrior was again on her feet. She charged me, rage burning in her eyes. I returned her charge and we exploded into one another with a horrible shake. We were both cast upon the ground. I rose quickly and came at her again. She valiantly defended herself until she returned to her feet.

She leaped into the air and amazingly landed behind me. I turned as fast as I could but to no avail. I felt cold steel bury into my arm. I grunted in pain as I stumbled backwards. My arm had been cut to the bone. Blood began to trickle from the slit in my green chain link armor. Seeing this, I lost it. I exploded into an uncontrollable rage. Exploding forward, I slashed upon the warrior, knocking her sword from her hands. I then savagely swung down upon her shield, cutting half way through it. I could feel the rage burning within me. Again and again I slashed down upon her. Again and again I assaulted that amazingly strong shield.

Sparks of my wrath began to explode from the shield because of how hard I was hitting the metal. Within my assault I saw a weakness in her defense and I exploited it to its fullest possibilities. In this weakness I slashed down upon an unblocked leg, burying deep within it. She screamed half in pain and half in anger at me. With this new weakness I slashed down upon her again, knocking the shield from her hands. She fell to one knee, trying to stop the blood from filling her boot. I came down upon her again, burying the sword into her arm. Her leg exploded upward and her boot buried into my face. I stumbled backwards in surprise. She then stumbled to her sword and charged me at an amazing speed for her condition. I gripped my sword and ran at her with all of my strength. She leaped from the ground and flew towards me with her blade protruding forward. This was the time for my spell for I cast it at this moment.

My body began to glow red. As I felt her blade touch my chest I jumped to the side, leaving a red outline of myself floating within the air. She flew into it and was instantly frozen within it. She was now floating within mid-air, not even knowing anything was wrong for time had froze for her.

"A good show!" A voice echoed from behind me.

"Maramound!" I said, turning to see him. "Thanks for all of your support and help!"

"No problem!"

Maramound began to examine the warrior as he walked to my side. As Maramound got closer, he immediately grabbed the blue crystal that hung from her neck upon a golden chain. I was busy examining her valiant sword that contained the two red rubies. Maramound took the crystal from her neck and examined it more closely. He then placed it next to his and they both began to glow brightly. I walked to him and gave him my crystal. He took the three crystals and put them together on the ground. They began to react. The three crystals lifted off the ground and began to swirl around each other like electrons around an atom. A light began to emit from them. The light now turned white and flooded the entire field so that nothing could be seen except white.

From this light a figure began to form. This figure could not be completely seen clearly because of the magnificence of it, but I knew who this was. I now bowed low to the ground. Maramound, not being created by this being, had no interest in bowing at all. He simply walked up to The Cobbler and greeted him as if he was a friend. The Cobbler spoke,

"My good and faithful Corren. You have traveled far on your quest to free me and The Goldenland. For this valiant act I thank you. I am now sad to tell you that I am not I. I am only a recorded image of myself, built into these three crystals. I only will be able to help you along your quest with problems that will occur the present or the past. I won't, however, be able to tell you the future in this primitive version of myself. Now, Corren, do you have any questions that I may aid you in now? I also thank you, Maramound, for your assistance with Corren. For your service I shall increase your magic ten fold."    From within The Cobbler came a rainbow-colored blast that exploded upon Maramound. This thrust him to his knees, even as a powerful wizard he could not stand in the power of The Cobbler. The beam then consumed Maramound completely. I kneeled in amazement for the power that exploded from The Cobbler forced me to drop, even when it wasn't directed towards me. In a moment the beam stopped. The Cobbler then continued,

"Now, presently, Corren, your magic shall be increased ten fold." As The Cobbler finished speaking I felt my body become weak. A blast of rainbow-colored light consumed me. I immediately felt my strength increase. The bittersweet mix of weakness and new strength was amazing. I could feel the power growing within my hands. I saw only rainbow. In a moment it ended just as it had began. I found that I was again able to stand in The Cobbler's presence.

Maramound appeared the same and yet I could feel the magic power pouring from within him. He stood facing The Cobbler. I stood and then bowed once again to The Cobbler. The Cobbler spoke once again,

"I must leave you now. Your powers are great and you will need them to fight this warrior you have encased within time. Only after you overtake her will she join your party and help you in your quest."

I bowed to The Cobbler once again. Maramound also did so, but he only in thanks to The Cobbler for his new powers. The Cobbler began again,

"Mind you of this, her true powers lie naught in her swordsmenship, but in her ability as a wizard. She has not yet revealed her true powers to you. But aware also of her two rings which use the powers of the elements as their ally."

With this final word, The Cobbler faded into the air, leaving only a faint glow behind. This faint glow, along with the other light, was then drawn back into the three crystals. Within a moment Maramound had returned the three to their respective owners. When the crystal touched the warrior, however, she was freed from my spell and came crashing upon the ground in a terrible mess.

Her blade, thrust forward in a terrible attack, buried itself into the ground and threw her forward as she held on to it. She now rose; puzzled as to how I moved to where I was so quickly and how Maramound got there. Even with these things on her mind, she still stood ready to kill us both. I became "very angry" again and Maramound began to summon a spell. I drew my sword from its sheath and charged the warrior with my rage "savagely burning".

Before I even reached her she had left the ground. Jumping through the air, she amazingly cleared us both. (I suspected magic was at work) We turned around and then began to cautiously approach her. By now she seemed a bit more calm than the savage warrior we knew previously. I wasted no time in speaking to her,

"Why are you so bent on destroying us?" She replied,

"Why did you drawl your sword on me?"

"I only wish to know the circumstances in which you acquired that crystal that presently hangs from your neck."

"If you wish to find out, you must be worthy!"

"How then shall we show that we are worthy in your eyes and therefore be able to acquire this knowledge my lady?" I said with a bit of sarcasm.

"By overcoming me in battle!" With that she stepped backwards and readied her sword. Her sword now vanished into thin air from within her hand. Her blue armor then vanished and a blue cloak and wizard's garments appeared upon her. Her entire countenance changed from the past barbarian into an evil-looking wizard. She now began to laugh with an evil sound that echoed across the field. She then slipped her hand into a small black pouch that hung from her belt. Maramound began to approach her summoning a spell for he knew that wizards were very dangerous when they removed objects from pouches and the like.

From her pocket she pulled the two rings that The Cobbler had foretold us about. Both rings were made of gold. One of the two rings had a red ruby embedded within it and the other had a blue ruby within it. From these two rings would soon blast forth the savage attacks of this wizard and Maramound knew it. The wizard slipped the two rings on her hands, the red on the right hand and the blue on the left. As she did, the two rings began to glow their respective colors.

Maramound summoned a fireball and threw it at the wizard. Maramound planned for the attack to be weak so the wizard would almost be insulted by it. This became eminent to me only after I watched her reaction to the assault. The wizard watched the fireball explode across the field towards her in its savage fury. She watched it almost until it touched her flesh. At this point she instantly waved her hand sending forth a blast of frozen air that destroyed the fire attack. She then rose her hands to the heavens, mumbling in some strange language that not even Maramound seemed to know. The pink sky became dark with clouds. The winds picked up and Iota began to pour from the sky. Then the lightening began. Bolts of lightening exploded from the sky randomly, destroying everything in their paths.

The sands of the battlefield began to pick up in the winds and blow around the battlefield and the fighters on it. In a moment a storm was raging. The battle, the true battle, had now begun. The wizard began to laugh over the savagely loud roaring of the storm. She raised her hand forward towards us. I cast a defense spell over Maramound for he was much closer to this wizard than I was. As the blast of red tore from my hands and encased Maramound in it's protective grasp, The wizard had raised her shoulders and a blast of rainbow light exploded from her hands. Cutting through the raging wind and sand, the blast vaporized the Iota that it cut through as it traveled. Leaving a trail of burnt sand, the blast impacted my red shield and was extinguished.

This sudden destruction of such a strong spell caused an explosion that shook the field. Maramound had apparently been planning for this moment for he removed the crystal from his neck and placed his hand upon it. The crystal exploded into a green aura as a savage green blast that tore across the field towards the wizard. The wizard wasn't as sarcastic of this attack as the last for this was truly a valiant assault that she was dealing with. She attempted to defend against it, but to no avail. She was too drained from her last attack and she had no time to cast a strong defense against this rather powerful assault. The blast raged forward and exploded upon her with its entire wrath. The blast sent the wizard flying backwards and onto the sand. The wizard rose quickly, not wanting to show any sign of weakness.

Raising her hand, she struck the already savage storm into a tornado-like assault. The winds and sand began to strike us down from all sides. The sand began to tear at our cloths and skin as if it were sandpaper. We summoned an elemental protection shields. This, unfortunately, gave the wizard ample time to summon her next assault. This was a large problem for neither of us had the time to raise out magical defense shields. I began to think on what we could possibly do to get out of this loop of barbaric fighting. As the storm raged the wizard put her hands into the sky palms upward. Within her palms two red spheres began to form. The attack was focused mainly on me so I had time to let Maramound work. When the spheres grew to the desired size the wizard wasted no time in hurling them at me.

I drew my sword and swung at the closer of the two spheres. I had no time to worry about the second. I hit the first, reflecting it back towards her. The second I had to jump over. This caused it to hit the ground and to explode behind me. The wizard rose her hand and reflected the first sphere back towards me once again. We played this volley for some time before I became board of it and added a ball of fire to the returning sphere. They both sped towards her and were soon destroyed by her hand. She seemed as if she was having a good time, even though she would take the slightest advantage that I gave her to kill me. After this I guessed that Maramound had a plan so I buried my sword into the sand. I then blasted a bolt of lightening towards the wizard from my hands that she blocked with almost no effort. I looked over to Maramound to see if he had a plan.

To my surprise he wasn't there. He had somehow stealthily cast an invisibility spell and was hidden without either of us sensing him. I now sensed an influx of magic power and I knew that Maramound was summoning some form of spell. The wizard became worried. She rose her hands and seized the storm so she could try to trace Maramound. This was a big mistake on her part. I felt Maramound's power weaken, and I knew that he was moving away from me and towards the wizard. The battlefield settled down as the clouds quickly dissipated from the sky, relieving the late afternoon suns. More than afternoon now, almost dusk, even night. I now wondered just how long we had been of this field. I recalled Maramound's plan and I now discovered what I needed to do. I cast a small spell that was designed to hover over the wizard's head. It was designed to hide Maramound's magic trail so that he could move in closer to the wizard. She destroyed it as soon as it was placed there but it had done its job.

Maramound was able to sneak past the wizard's side and come up behind her. Maramound knew that the wizard would instantly sense him when he moved to cast his spell so he had to do this as fast as he could. He waited in silence. None of us moved. The air was silent. In an instant the entire act was over. Like a cobra Maramound threw his hands towards the wizard and large green waves tore from his body. The wizard turned instantly, but to no avail. The incident was ended within a tenth of a second. The blast exploded into the wizard and threw her violently forward. The blast was so strong that it leveled the mound of sand that the wizard had been standing on. The wizard was thrown a far distance indeed. As she flew through the air her body was being constantly assaulted by the savage spell that Maramound had created.

Gravity took over and she sped downward and crashed into the ground causing a small ripple of sand to disperse from the point that she crashed like a pebble in a lake. Amazingly she quickly began to summon a spell after this savage assault. This battle was clearly not over and was clearly going to need savage fighting to win.        

 

:Chapter Eight - The Battle For Understanding

 

The wizard's raging hatred began to flood the field in which we fought. Amazingly the wizard lifted her head out of the sand and began to rise to her feet. Night was by now all but upon us as the last remnants of the days light seceded from the sky.

The wizard kept her distance for she had been injured, but the amazing fact that she could even stand amazed us. The night had finally set in the sky fully. The small white moon in the sky that glowed luminously above us now only lighted the field that we fought on. In this brief chance to rest, I noticed that a crowd had gathered around us and was watching our every move with more anticipation than the last battle this afternoon. They, of course, stood at a safe distance away.

Maramound was busy mixing heal spells and other things to take care of our various wounds. I, however, was focused on destruction. I was almost possessed with the quest that was at hand, overcoming this valiant warrior and to finally unlock the mystery of these crystals. Unfortunately my physical injuries made this impossible. With nothing to do, I began planning a series of attacks that I could use to assault this wizard with the most effectiveness. This wizard was most likely busy preparing a sinister chain of powerful spells that she could use to rip us apart.

In a few moments the wizard was well enough to fight onward and we didn't have the chance to argue the matter with her. The battle was onward. This battle would be known around campfire stories and in history books as The Battle of Dawn's Awakening for after this battle, in such a crowded town, the hatred and rage that we displayed finally broke through the wall of love that once held it away from the hearts of the citizens of The Land of Mystics.

After this battle, evil would, for the first time in 45,000 years, sweep across The Land of Mystics once again. Beings of love and happiness would now become barbarians. Swords and armor would replace the paintbrush and the pen.

I became board of waiting for the wizard to make a move so I took the first action. I pulled my blade from it's sheath, it’s brilliance glistening in the moon’s light, and lunged it at her, blasting forth three blue transparent spheres that sped towards her with a great speed. The wizard rose her hand against them and three blasts of fire exploded from her right ring, smashing the ice attack into nothing.

Maramound saw this opportunity and he threw his hands towards the wizard, blasting forth a quick bolt of lightening from his fingertips. The blast tore across the field and exploded into the wizard. This assault stunned her but she quickly countered with a green blast that put Maramound upon the ground. I countered again against the wizard with a sword swing that shot forth three burning rocks upon her. This attack was mildly weak but it seemed to truly effect her. When I saw this I was surprised and I then frantically tried to discover why this occurred.

In a second I had the answer. Of course! Her weakness, The element that you least expect to be you're enemy’s weakness is probably the weakness. Discovering this new and vital piece of information, I yelled to Maramound,

"Elemental ground! Maramound, the weakness!" He looked at me a moment before his eyebrows raised and a smile crossed his face, this confirming that he understood. Maramound put the fire spell that he was planning on hold and began to summon the strongest ground attack that he had time to. I prepared a magical shield to cast upon Maramound so that he could work his best.

Then, to throw the wizard off of our discovery, I became "enraged" once again and I ran forward, sword swinging wildly. With her laughing hysterically at me, I ran to the wizard's side and swung my sword down upon her with all of my strength. The wizards shield reflected the assault, but it did weaken the shield an incredible amount. This was clearly an unexpected move to her for wizard had not planned to upgrade her physical attack shield. This now became an extremely important task for her and so in a moment she was prepared to do so. She had to choose quickly and in an instant she did so. In a moment she had charged this shield and was now at the mercy of Maramound for her offensive spells were put to an end so that she could concentrate exclusively on this one task. She, however, did not know of her second flaw, our knowledge of her weakness. This was indeed her undoing. Maramound now had the perfect circumstances for the assault. The wizard's guard was down, her physical shield dwindled, she didn't have an assault prepared, she knew naught of our plans, and her attention was being focused on repairing her physical shield. She had made a critical error at a critical time within the battle.

Maramound knew all of these things and struck with no mercy. Summoning two black spheres, Maramound hurled them into the sky. The ground began to quake. The crowds around us began to scream as the sky exploded into a raging fury of asteroid-like brimstone cinders. These cinders sped from the sky and crashed down upon the wizard with a terrible strength. As they crashed upon her, they exploded into burning shrapnel that assaulted her even more savagely. The wizard was, as I expected, overtaken by the assault. The wizard clasped to the ground, completely drained of her energy.

Then, in a final attempt to save herself, she rose her hands into the sky. When Maramound saw this, he ended the assault. As a final few cinders fell upon her, the wizard held them back with a weak blue aura that barely surrounded her swoon body. Soon after the last rock fell upon her hands also fell to the sand as the meek blue aura faded from her. She appeared to fall into unconsciousness. We had finally won the battle.

Maramound came to my side as I walked to the wizard’s side. Her unconscious body seemed so peaceful now. Maramound cast a heal three spell upon her just to make sure that death was not an option for her for the blows that she received were quite strong. I watched from an "out of the way" distance. In a moment the wizard was surrounded in a red aura that glowed beautifully in the night's light.

The crowds that had watched the battle were now dispersing from the field. The wizard slowly recovered. In a few moments she opened her eyes and then smiled. She tried to speak but she could not. She then closed her eyes and slipped off into a deep sleep. Maramound composed a few spells and in a moment he had erected a tent for the night's sleep. In a moment the wizard was sleeping inside it.

Maramound took it upon himself to stand guard at the door while I drifted off to sleep. Maramound, the great guard, would soon also be sleeping as well. Darkness ended the day and foreshadowed the events yet to come.

   

:Chapter Nine - The Spirit Game

 

This night's dreaming wasn't to last long. I had just drifted off into dreamland when The Cobbler haunted me once again. The same wonderful lights and colors appeared before me as before. In a moment I was bowing low in The Cobbler's presence.

 When I rose from my knee Maramound and the wizard were both present. The wizard didn't know whether to bow or not for she did not know where she stood and Maramound refused to bow for he didn't fear The Cobbler. The Cobbler had not created him and therefore he didn't feel that he needed to bow. The Cobbler wasted no time,

"Tharen. I am The Cobbler. I have created all living things of this Land of Mystics and all of the powers that they possess. I control all that occurs within The Land of Mystics. I have called you here this night to tell you of my plan and of you're involvement in it."

The Cobbler then went on to explain the entire story to the wizard we now know as Tharen. I stood in silence while Maramound spoke to The Cobbler in between sentences. Soon Tharen understood all. She became more and more calm as she stood in The Cobbler's presence. Soon she seemed almost passive, a first for this savage warrior. She was strong in magic but she also had a hard time standing in the presence of the mighty Cobbler's power. The Cobbler then spoke once again,

"Tharen. I shall now empower you with a magical strength that is beyond you're imagination." With this a blast of rainbow colored light exploded from The Cobbler's blurry presence and surrounded Tharen in its splendor. The amazing power that came from this light cast me to my knees. In a moment the blast ended. When it had finished I rose to my feet. It was now that I realized that Maramound and Tharen had vanished.

Surprised by this, I moved in front of The Cobbler. There I stood, waiting for him to speak. He did not. I became impatient,

"What is it mighty Cobbler?" I said. The Cobbler spoke not. I became puzzled.

"What is it you need of me mighty Cobbler" I said. As I spoke seemingly to myself, The Cobbler's colors began to dim. A sadness filled the place that we stood in and the marvelous white faded into a dull grayish color. The air now became cold. In this I became scared.

"Mighty Cobbler, what is this!" The Cobbler finally spoke,

"Corren. I must tell you of a terrible event that will unavoidably occur. First you must know that you can not tell your allies of this. Secondly is this; I know this may seem strange to you now, but you must do this one act that will drive Tharen to hate Maramound. It is now necessary for you to understand why you must do this now, it is only necessary that you do this, for you will understand when the time has come. Only the importance of the act is eminent now. The act that you must do is simple.

Within your journey you will come upon a library of scrolls. Within this library a dragon of fire will attack you. You will win the battle, however, before you fight you must act. The creature will put a seal upon the door to keep Maramound and Tharen out so that they can not help you. Maramound will easily be able to destroy this spell. You, Corren, must compose a spell that will take the appearance of Maramound's magic.

Then you must place it on that same door so Tharen can see it as Maramound's magic. This will cause her to believe that Maramound tried to kill you. Unfortunately Tharen will not know it to be Maramound's spell for certain unless you use Maramound's crystal for the spell. I have foreseen that it is not possible for you to obtain Maramound's crystal to cast this spell. Because of this, I have created this small clone of his. This has only the power of one spell within it and it will be destroyed when it is used.

I have planned and planned and this is, unfortunately, the only way to truly save The Land of Mystics. Again I tell you, Corren, the future of The Land of Mystics rests within your ability to complete this one task exactly as you have been told.

It will be terribly hard for your good heart to conduct such a task, I can feel it.  However, if you do not listen, The Land of Mystics is cursed from this point onward. Remember these words and show no one this charm I have for you. You must awaken now Corren for morning has come. Remember the words I speak Corren, please..."

And with this The Cobbler faded into darkness. Darkness flooded my dreams and in an instant I was awake. As I opened my eyes my eyes they became focused upon some shiny green shape that was floating above my head. It appeared to be floating in mid air as if a string held it in place. After seeing this I recalled my dream with The Cobbler. I sat upwards and grabbed the green shape from the air. It was obvious that the glistening object was the crystal shard that The Cobbler had spoken of. I took if from the air and slipped it into a pouch on my belt. I then laid my head back onto my pillow. Within a moment I was again asleep.

The Cobbler must have had a strange interpretation of the word "morning" for the first of the two suns was only slightly twinkling within the lands behind the western choco-mountains when I went back to sleep. The night passed slowly as I dreamed my dreams and snoozed away. After a while I awoke once again. By now it was late in the morning. Maramound was standing at his post outside of the tent but he fooled no one for he had been within our dreams and we knew that he had been sleeping with us.

This wizard that we now knew as Tharen was still sleeping, tired from the past day's battle. I rose from the tent floor, stretching out my tired old body in one upward thrust. In a moment I walked across the tent and left it through the door in the front. The though of making Tharen enraged at Maramound seemed evil and impossible, but I knew this had to be done to repair The Land of Mystics to it's former splendor.

I pushed the matter from my mind, however, as I greeted Maramound. We began to discuss the matters of the past night as Maramound laughed over the fact that he was asleep not more than two minutes after I. After this, Maramound began to create a wonderful breakfast using his powers. While Maramound prepared the meal, which consisted of Iota and Caundy toast, I continuously contemplated the events that had occurred to bring us to this point.

Soon the smell of caundy melting on the flame awoke Tharen. She still seemed a bit dizzy but her wounds had all been healed. By the end of breakfast she seemed ready to tell us of her adventures that led her to the acquirement of her crystal.

She started by removing the shiny blue crystal from around her neck and handing it to Maramound. She then began her story,

"I became a warrior some time ago when my family was killed, along with the rest of my town, in one of the small battles which eventually lead to the genesis of The War of The Mystics..."

"What!" I interrupted. How could she have been alive when The War of The Mystics occurred? Every being from that time was destroyed! "This can't be true!" I continued. Tharen instantly spoke up,

"Stop this! I will soon explain all. Now, as I was saying, you could then understand that I would be mad at The Goldenland. Fueled by this rage, I savagely trained my skills both physically and magically so I could one day join The Candyland army and crush The Goldenland. Eventually this hard work paid off. Soon I had met up with an amazingly strong warrior of the time named Dothar."

At this a small chuckle came from Maramound but in a moment he was silent. Tharen then continued,

 "We both had our reasons for hating The Goldenland, and we showed it, politically and, in some cases, physically. Eventually Dothar and I grew to be good friends. In a short time we had helped each other train well enough to join The Candyland army. Unfortunately soon after this he was lost in a little battle just outside of the Hunnydew Forest. This was the final step. Now I would lose it completely. Soon after this The War of The Mystics was declared officially. I joined The Candyland army and, because of my reputation, moved quickly up the ranks. Soon I had been promoted to a four star general and placed in the chair of chief military advisor to Contrus himself. By this time we had assembled our armed forces and we were moving into position, south of The Fawn Forest, to fight the first of three major battles of The War of The Mystics at Valiance Rock. We moved in from the north as Goldenland forces approached from the southeast. Valiance Rock, being the main stronghold of The Candyland, was an obvious first target. Soon both forces had begun in a series of battles before coming together for the main, two-day battle of Valiance Rock. The forces that I was in charge of came together with Goldenland's men in the early morning hours of the second day of the battle. By this time we hadn’t seen any action. We charged east as their forces came in from the northeast. We fought savagely. Body parts and blood began to cover the ground. Eventually The Goldenland force retreated south. We pursued them and destroyed them unmercifully under my orders. After this we regrouped and marched north for the third day of the battle. There we met up with general Farren's troops who were fighting savagely against the larger Goldenland army. We silently moved around southward and came in behind them from the east. This sandwiched The Goldenland forces and they were crushed. This was a major victory for The Candyland for we had removed The Goldenland forces out of the heart of The Candyland. This clever assault earned me even more fame. After The Goldenland's defeat they finally began to take the war seriously. From here The remaining Goldenland forces marched into the famous Mountain Berry Fields in the far east of The Candyland. General Farren turned his troops over to my command and returned to Gandor, which was at the time, the main command center for the War of The Mystics. Not until The Battle of Echoing Silence did the command center move to The Land of The Seven Dwarf-Lords. From here, with the aid of general Tofranis, I marched my forces East to The Fawn Forest. There, reports from spies pinpointed The Goldenland's location between a town named Frunx and The Golden Plains. We moved east across The Golden Plains and then marched southwest, attacking The Goldenland forces from the side. The Goldenland was ready for us and had taken a vantage point high up in a mountain peak. This was a terrible lose for The Candyland. After four days of unsuccessful raids upon the mountaintop I ordered a retreat to the northeast. There we hid ourselves in The Golden Plains and disappeared from sight. The Goldenland forces, trapped  on top of the mountain, sent reinforcement requests to the army upon Creasant Rock. Unfortunately we killed all of their messengers before they even crossed The Golden Plains. Their forces began to weaken until we finally took the mountain in a surprise night attack from the southeast. Again the western boundaries of The Candyland were secured. By now general Farren had returned with fresh troops. General Tofranis and Farren were old and knew they could no longer keep up with the was so they turned over their troops to me. I was now in control of the entire Candyland Army. It was now up to me alone to win The War of The Mystics and I had enough hatred built up inside of me to pull it off. From The Golden Plains we marched southeast to Frunx where we quickly destroyed The Goldenland's troops. The Goldenland had regrouped and was marching west from Creasant Rock to The Land of The Seven Dwarf-Lords. In an attempt to sneak attack them I ordered that we march east. We would then march northwest and come in behind them. Unfortunately they got word of this and marched quickly south into The Mountain Berry Fields. By the time we arrived north of The Land of The Seven Dwarf-Lords we had missed them completely. By now they had marched west and had come up north into Gandor. I broke the force into two. One would march southwest and then north, attacking The Goldenland forces off guard. The other was to secretly march west and sneak into Gondor. They would then sneak across The Andorthian Sea and sandwich The Goldenland's forces. Unfortunately they saw it coming and retreated southwest. I cleverly ordered the southern troops to quickly march northwest. This forced The Goldenland forces to march west. I then quickly march the northern forces southwest that forced The Goldenland's army western into the poisonous Rainbow Geysers. This quickly destroyed them. Seeing these new victories, more manpower joined The Candyland forces from Gandor and Gondor. This was what we needed. From Gandor we marched swiftly east. Crossing The Golden Plains, we quickly moved our command center into The Land of The Seven Dwarf-Lords. This would make The Goldenland lose interest in the western section of The Candyland. By now The Goldenland forces had marched southwest from Creasant Rock and had set up camp in a small village called Echoing Silence. Here the second of the three large battles of The War of The Mystics was to occur. Learning that they had moved there, we quickly marched south and prepared for battle. Early the next morning the sky was lit up with war. I had broken the force into three groups and we came in from the north, west, and east, forcing The Goldenland army against the great ocean's edge. Even with this overwhelming advantage The Goldenland forces held out for three days. After this victory we regrouped. We then marched northwest, directly to Creasant Rock's evil glow! We knew that Creasant Rock was The Goldenland's strongest and last remaining stronghold and therefore we knew that Saramus must be placed within. The basic structure of this fortress consisted of two areas. The first was a large wall with a crevasse upon the other side. This would trap any invaders of the fortress into the second defense. This second defense guarded against magic attacks upon the internal structure of the fortress. This fortress was said to be unbreakable. I led the attack to do the impossible, to raid the fortress upon Creasant Rock. To take this structure would mean the end of The War of The Mystics, and of The Goldenland. We finally fought to the base of the rock three days after the battle had begun. Here we set up camp and began to plan an attack upon the fortress. Two days passed before we had constructed our plan. In the early morning hours of the next day we stormed the rock. We began with a massive magical assault upon the giant walls that entombed the fortress. These were protected with strong magic so no access could be acquired but this did weaken the wall's power a considerable amount. This would help us later. Next we charged the incline that led upwards towards the fortress. The Goldenland forces within the fortress rose up against us from inside of the fortress with large, savage magical assaults. From further away they fired large lightening blasts that rained down upon us with the wrath of God. I was hit six times but by then my magic was so strong that it held back these assaults. As we came closer to the rock, the blasts of lightening changed into terrible fireballs that poured upon us. I, myself, saved two men with my own sword. Though this assault we charged faster for the heat of the flames was horrific. Finally reaching the wall of the fortress we unleashed our spells at a terribly close range, the strength of this killing The Goldenland men who were close to the other side of the wall. From above the large wall reinforcements assaulted us with fresh spells. I was overtaken by an attack and barely survived the assault. Raising with the help of three of my men I ran forward in rage. Now my rage was burning with a new heat that I had never experienced before. With this rage my brain went into overtime. In a moment I had set up a concerted effort to break through the large wooden doors that kept the fortress sealed shut. No doubt there were wizards inside constantly casting spells upon this door to keep us out but we had the advantage for these wizards did not know exactly how many attacks were being made upon the door itself. In a moment we had done it. With a final fire blast from one of our men the door suddenly exploded into splinters and the fortress was ours. In an instant Goldenland forces from within poured from within the fortress and clashed with us in a furious combat. I struck down twenty men or so before access to the fortress was possible. Seeing my window, I ran towards the doorway holding my sword forward. Plowing through three of four men I finally stepped within the Creasant Rock Fortress. Seeing this bold act, my men rushed in behind me with a terrible strength. With a few of my men I charged forward, striking down men right and left. In a moment my forces regrouped behind me and with a terrible strength we charged forward, destroying everything in our paths. We charged forward until we came to a second wooden door with two wooden staircases protruding from the right and left walls. From here we were attacked from two sides. Men from the two staircases charged forward, suddenly attacking us with a fresh strength. I ordered the troops to fight from the center, turning sideways to face the two oncoming assaults. It was here that a lot of The Candyland's forces were lost. Soon the left assault was destroyed and the right was soon to follow, however we had lost a lot of men in the unusual fighting of the staircases. Before we had destroyed the right staircase forces the large wooden doors in front of us suddenly tore open. From here we were surprise attacked from the side once again. We fought valiantly. We destroyed the right assault but we were slowly being forced backwards by the overwhelming forces that seemed to endlessly flood from this second open door. Seeing this I quickly sounded a fall back. The men were relieved to hear this for they had been fighting with an incredible strength considering the circumstances and must have been tired. In an instant we had fallen back to the first destroyed door once again. Alas! Our backup had finally come. This, you understand, was before teleportation. We had to walk wherever we wished to go. Our backup assembled behind the walls of the fortress where they could not be seen by The Goldenland forces. The ghastly legion of Goldenland forces charged towards us out of the fortress. At the last moment I ordered a withdraw. The Goldenland forces ran clear out of the fortress door and into our trap. Instantly the waiting Candyland forces flooding into the fortress behind The Goldenland's forces. We then quickly charged forward, attacking them from the front. The backup forces then assaulted them from the rear. This sandwiched The Goldenland forces and they were quickly destroyed. We then charged forward as one united force, climbing over the piles of dead bodies. We then ran straight into the lion's den. Quickly we charged forward and flooded through the second set of wooden doors that protected the fortress. This led us right into the heart of the fortress and straight into the full force of the entire remaining Goldenland strength. It was here that our men were slaughtered terribly. Suddenly three powerful wizards sealed the wooden doors closed behind us and we were trapped within this large room. With no place to go I ran to the front of the men and yelled "charge!" This was the last word I spoke. Battle was the only sound heard after this. Magical blasts and clashing of swords and screams of pain and horror and anger filled the air. I destroyed fifty-seven men by sword and twenty-three by magic. I then ran forward into combat for the last time for this time a sword of a wounded enemy suddenly thrust upwards into my stomach as I crossed over his swoon body. I did not slow down. I killed three more men before clasping onto the floor. I died seconds later from the wound. Well, so it seemed. I slipped off into a comma and then awoke much later but in a different form. It was dark then and I was hovering above the ground in the dim glow of the fading smoke. I recall looking down upon the ground. There I saw bodies. Thousands of them lying everywhere upon the ground. No living beings stirred. I turned my face in misery for I knew this to be The Creasant Rock battle. A blinding blast of light exploded from the destroyed fortress. I slammed my eyes shut for the light was so terribly bright. Suddenly I realized that the light was not bright, it only blinded all things from my view. I slowly opened my eyes and saw, which I now know to be, The Cobbler. The Cobbler then explained to me that I had perished and that he had brought me to his fortress in the future within the wasteland Goldenland. The Cobbler then told me that I was to win this War of The Mystics. The Cobbler then explained to me exactly how I was to do this amazing feat. He then spoke to me to end my fears. He said, "My dear Tharen. Do you believe that I would tell you these things in err? Do not fear my love, I control all. I can foresee the future that you so eminently fear and I can tell you that nothing is in vane. You will excel! Now go! Fight with all of your might!" A blast of light suddenly exploded from The Cobbler and I was back with the exact room that I had died in. I instantly recalled what The Cobbler had said. Instantly I rose my sword and thrust it into the metal floor of the fortress. I then summoned my magic and cast a spell upon my men that caused them to float above the ground. I then instantly summoned a blast of lightening which I threw into my sword. The blast traveled instantly down my sword and exploded into the floor. The blast instantly traveled throughout the entire metal floor, killing everyone who stood upon it by electrocution. Within an instant the entire Goldenland forces were destroyed. Instantly the spell upon the wooden doors faded and they swung open. Instantly I ordered two groups to raid the upstairs and to bring Saramus and his surviving generals to me. Within a few minutes the entire upstairs was destroyed. Somehow only Saramus survived the upstairs assault. The other generals must have resisted the assault upon the second floor and must of had to been killed. The War of The Mystics had finally come to an end. This evil war had cost me my family, my village, and my best friend Dothar. We quickly sent Saramus to Gandor where he would be burned at the stake. Suddenly a terrible quake rumbled throughout the land. I know this now to be the beginning of time. This is when the barrier of time had begun. Buildings rusted, deteriorated. Beings began to perish. Contrus, before perishing, sealed The Goldenland away within an unbreakable force field. He also created the being that I now know as The Cobbler along with the seven wizards. I was present when these acts occurred. Contrus had been injured in combat. Because of this he asked me to bring the wizards his signet ring. The events that took place within that cave caused my destruction along with the rest of The Land of Mystics citizens. The seven wizards had just cast their concerted spell and were awaiting Contrus' signet ring so that they could seal the spell from being undone. When I got to the cave with the ring they told me to walk up a set of stair and to place the ring in the case directly above the power center. I walked up the steps to the platform and I placed the ring in its place. As I did this I tripped over my battle-riddled boots. Before I fell into the center of the wizard's power, I grabbed Contrus' ring. Falling downward, I held the ring out in front of me in a dive-like maneuver. This would cause the ring to hit the power first so that the spell would be cast before I could land in it and mess up its effects. The spell was cast as planned even though I had fallen in it. The only problem was that I had my magic sword on me when I fell into the power. This sword had evil magic power in it. When the spell was cast, The Cobbler was now totally pure. Some evil magic from the sword was in the spell when The Cobbler was created and therefore The Cobbler's spells would also have some evil in them. Unfortunately The Cobbler used his magic to create the first of his creations. This is why your world is deteriorating once again, it is not totally pure. You, Corren, are probably the only being created by The Cobbler who is not evil by heart. Anyway, I was instantly destroyed by this terribly strong power but I wasn't killed. This may seem strange but somehow my mind was saved from destruction. Somehow I seemed to be unconscious for the longest time until I was born into a beings body once again. Fortunately for me when I aged I recalled the past and I knew who I was. Fortunately also for me was the fact that my body also grew into it's past strength. It took my only a few months to get to the point that I am at now. When I finally realized exactly who I was and also recalled that The Cobbler was cursed to create impure beings I went into survival mode. This is why you found me fighting that creature yesterday. I though that the creature was trying to remember me from the past. As you might have learned, the animals of the past Land of Mystics were not killed in the terrible ice age. How they survived is still a mystery to me however. Anyway, looking around this "new" Land of Mystics that is supposed to be so much better and so much more controlled, the memories of the past Land of Mystics flood my mind so strongly that I feel as if I could cut right through them. There is almost no difference. This land is doomed just like the last."

With all of this said, Tharen then sat back and took her crystal from Maramound's waiting hands. Tharen then rose. She walked rather briskly towards the battlefield that they had fought on the day ago past. I pursued her cautiously. She stopped of a sudden, near the spot where Maramound had overtaken her.

She looked back at me and then turned back towards her work. She kneeled down to the sand and began feeling around through the sand as if she was looking for something. In a few seconds she rose again. Then, turning to me she said,

"How is it that I lost so easily?" I did not speak. She stared into my eyes. The rage that was once so eminent within her eyes was now gone. All that was left now was the lost glare of a hurt, confused little girl, sweet as could be. I only stared right back. In a moment she closed her eyes and turned away. I could tell the tears would soon come so I moved to comfort her. And the tears came indeed. Soon she would grow to trust me, but for now she simply cried she fears and hatred away upon my caring arms.

          

:Chapter Ten - The Seven Dwarf-Lords

 

            A new day arose from the last and within its air you could tell that adventure was stirring. The three crystals now united, they pushed violently onwards towards The Cobbler. Our next stop, however, would not be to The Goldenland. No, we were still far from this boundary. From this town that we fought in we traveled east to the only logical place left to go, The Land of The Seven Dwarf-Lords. Here we would encounter the full effects of The Cobbler's power for this is where The Cobbler was created. Of course you must remember that we did not know this at the time so that made the trip a little interesting. So...

            After walking for what seemed to be forever, we finally came to a small clearing within the endless forests and fields. Here we came upon a rickety old sign that read "‘Tis The Land of The Seven Dwarf-Lords" To this I laughed,

            "How can there be seven dwarf, lords?"

            (You must recall, we didn't even know that The Land of The Seven Dwarf-Lords existed. All we knew was that there was supposed to be a town that possessed a strong magical essence to it, and that it was in this general direction. We had no idea that The Cobbler was even created within The Land of Mystics. Even Tharen, being in the cave when it occurred, did not know where the cave was. The Land of Mystics was in such ruin when The Cobbler was created that she had no way of knowing where this cave was. She couldn't have recognized that it was the great command center of The Land of The Seven Dwarf-Lords that she passed through to get to the cave.)

            I then withdrew my words for I recalled Maramound. Small in appearance, and yet possessing great power within. Following the golden arrow that was painted upon the sign, we continued walking through the woods until we began to see some sort of shape appearing through the dense growth. A moment later we were able to see it clearly.

            Apparently what we were looking at was a long road. But this road was not just a normal road for it was shining brilliantly in an incredible display of rainbow luminescence that was clearly created by some amazingly strong magical power. We moved through the remaining woods that kept us from it and stepped down upon the side of this wonderful road.             Maramound, being the expert in magical matters, stepped forward upon this road first. We watched him cautiously as he kneeled down to the rainbow stones and felt them with his hand. The road was arranged in a brick wall-like fashion of rounded square rocks. These rocks were all aligned perfectly as if they had been put in place very carefully and with much planning. Walking on it was like walking on a sheet of ice however, for the rocks were cut so perfectly that they fit together perfectly so that they were equal in height.

            One could almost swear that the road was one solid piece. Our joy was short lived, however, for now Maramound's face suddenly dropped as the small amount of color that his cheeks did possess fled from them. He spoke,

            "Oh...boy."

            "What is it Maramound!" I pursued.

            "This stone...these stones are, not of this Land of Mystics. I only faintly recall now. Within the past Land of Mystics wizards and the like would use this stone to light their homes when the nighttime would come. This rock has not existed within The Land of Mystics in more than 35,000 years. Prepare your weapons friends, this could get interesting indeed!"

            After a moment Maramound spoke again, "I can guess that this road is a beautiful site in the night hours." This was apparently to help calm us down but it didn't help. The magical power that flooded from the road alone was incredible. I began to feel that this town may have some importance in the quest that we were on. In a moment we had decided to walk down the road.    "This should bring us to somewhere" Tharen said. With no other idea we started walking. Soon it was apparent that this was more than just another town. As we drew closer to the town I could feel the weight of the power in the town upon my shoulders. It was actually applying pressure to our bodies, much like the pressure of deep water.            Soon we had traveled down the windy, twisty part of the road and we were now on an incredibly straight path that led straight into the town. From where we stood we could see a large fountain that sat directly in the center of the town. Around this line a series of shops and houses that were so close together that they seemed to be carved from the same piece of wood.

            Finally, after a notable walk, we arrived at the fountain that appeared in front of us some time ago. As we began looking about the town we finally discovered exactly what it was that was wrong with the town. There was no one within it. No being stirred. The town appeared deserted. After a moment I spoke up,

            "Umm... perhaps we should knock on one of these doors?" To this Maramound shook his head in humor of my gesture. I walked across the street and approached one of the houses that lined the fountain. I stopped just short of the door and reached by arm out to knock on it. Before my hand could hit the door, however, it swung open as if attached to a spring. Maramound and Tharen rushed to my side incase a fight would ensue. A large lady-dwarf peaked her head out from behind the large wooden door. She then spoke,

            "What do you want there boy?" She was only about four feet tall yet she seemed to be very skilled in the magical arts. I thought a second as to what the best question would be. Then I spoke up,

            "I am looking for the source of the power that this town thrives off of." She now grew even less friendly than before,

            "What is it that you want with The Cobbler's power?" I was taken back that she knew The Cobbler but, by now, these surprises had grown natural. She was not an animal and yet she knew of The Cobbler somehow. I spoke to her in a different tone now,

            "I was sent by The Cobbler to free The Land of Mystics from the terrible fate that it is rushing towards to eminently now." She then said something that surprised even Maramound,

            "I know this. But I also know that you are not the true Corren unless you can obtain The Cobbler's Rhyme." To this we were all silent. Now what is this she speaks of? The Cobbler's Rhyme? I turned to Maramound. He returned the same blank face. I then turned to Tharen. She also was bewildered.

            I looked back to the lady dwarf. She had a satisfied look upon her face. I spoke,

            "My lady, stay a minute..." I reached to my neck and removed my crystal from it. Tharen and Maramound did the same and in an instant we were in the presence of The Cobbler once again. I spoke to him,

            "Mighty Cobbler, what is this rhyme she speaks of?" To this The Cobbler spoke,

            "My rhyme is hidden within The Land of The Seven Dwarf-Lords. You have obviously reached The Land of The Seven Dwarf-Lords. For certain reasons Corren, you three must find it on your own. The answer will be discovered in a library, Corren. A library of scrolls."

            With these words my face fell white. Maramound and Tharen knew not what The Cobbler was saying. Now had come the time for be to betray my dear friends. The Cobbler continued,

"This search will take a long time but it is necessary to save The Land of Mystics. I bid thee well. I will leave you to your quest now." In a flash we had returned to the dwarf's doorway. Maramound and Tharen were starring at me with questioning faces. I tried to act as surprised as they did. I spoke,

            "I have no clue what The Cobbler has spoken of! I swear it!" Maramound was understanding,

            "Don't worry Corren. I know The Cobbler acts in ways that even I don't understand at times. The Cobbler knows things that we don't. He can put things together that we can't. The answers will come to you when they are necessary. Now let us not worry about it. It will surface if or when it is needed."

            Tharen agreed to this and we visited the dwarf once again. I spoke to her,

            "The Cobbler's Rhyme is hidden somewhere within The Land of The Seven Dwarf-Lords."

            "Very good, Corren." She said. "You truly are sent by The Cobbler. Then I must do what I am ordered. I can not help you on your quest for you must go alone and learn from this experience. I shall inform the town's people of your identity so they do not stay you in your travels. Within a second her door was closed in front of us and she was gone. I looked at Tharen, then at Maramound. Then I spoke,

            "Well... what should we do?" Maramound spoke up,

            "Well, lets see about this library." To this we were off. The simple word library stabbed at me, deep within. I knew only now that what The Cobbler had spoken of was entirely truth. This was where I was to fight the bird of fire and betray my own friends. With these evil thoughts upon my mind I became silent and fearfully depressed.

            One different thing about The Land of Mystics is this; libraries didn't actually exist within the land. Because of this, the towns kept a building set aside in the town for scrolls. Whenever something worth note occurred within the town, someone would document it on a scroll and seal it within the scroll building, this building generally called "the scrolls".

            Soon we had discovered the exact location of the town's scrolls and we searched through the building as quick as we could. Within an hour we had tracked down the only existing record of the creation of The Cobbler. Somehow these documents survived the vast ice age and were recovered long ago by the beings of this Land of The Seven Dwarf-Lords. In the scrolls it was said that they were written by one of the seven wizards that were in the cave when The Cobbler was created.

            Tharen's fall was also documented within the scrolls. This proved her story to be true as well. Reading this section of the scroll I said,

            "You’re a piece of history Tharen!" For some reason she was not amused. Maramound now became excited,

            "Look at this!" he said. He then began to read from the dirty scroll that he was holding, "Darkness loomed over the shadows of the things that once were. Then the being was formed. I myself named it 'The Cobbler'. Darkness overtook the land. I remained to live for three and a third sector. (Or three hours after The Cobbler was created.) As the shadows of death shaded my countenance I had the vision that freed The Cobbler's Rhyme to me. I scribed this rhyme in The Cave of Tharen, in memory of her terrible accident and sacrifice that saved us all. The Cobbler lived, even to the death of Tharen. The fallen leader of the good cause. And then I wrote: Good is th..." That’s it. The last page is missing." I spoke up,

            "let us find this Cave of Tharen." Tharen spoke up,

            "But we can't just wander around pointlessly until we find a cave!"

            "Then the answer must be hidden within the scrolls! Maramound keep looking."

            We continued to search through the mess of old and tattered papers until Maramound uncovered a small wooden box under a large shelf of the scroll walls. This was the only problem with scroll rooms, no one bothers to organize anything within them for most items within them are birth dates, deaths, and the like. Nothing of great value is ever kept in these great buildings for it would deteriorate or be lost rather quickly.

            Maramound pulled the tattered box from its dusty sleep and dusted off the cover. Maramound then opened the box, revealing a smaller box within. This box was clean and protected from any acts of time. Upon the lid of this box was carved "The Cobbler" in ancient script. Maramound looked at me, I at Tharen. Maramound slid the cover off of this second box. As he did so, a wonderful light exploded from within. Maramound then reached his hand within the box, unsure of what it would encounter.

            With this the amazing glow of the box decayed. Maramound then took something from the box and placed in on the table that we had been working at. We all starred down upon the object in confusion. It appeared, after a moment of examination, to be a small key. A strange key at that, a key of two heads. The key was solid gold, a familiar trademark of The Cobbler's work. From here I reached down and picked the key off of the table for a closer examination. With that it came to me what this key was for.

            "This is for the cave" I blurted out. After a moments time we all came to agree on this idea. Now we were ready to go. Tharen rummaged through a pile of papers and took out a map of the land, hoping to find the cave labeled as some other place on the map. After a moment her eyes widened,

            "Here! The cave is marked on this map! It is now called Momentous Cavern."

            "Why did they rename the cave?" I said. Maramound was busy thinking. "Maramound, Tharen, let us then travel onward into the darkness!" Then we were off. I kept hoping and praying that the event that was scheduled to occur would not happen. I knew, however, that I was doomed to act when Maramound and Tharen all but ignored me and continued their work upon the map to pinpoint the exact location of the cave. With nothing to do but wait, I decided to look around the scrolls. The building smelled of old papers. The floor was dirt, basically the ground. The walls of this amazing building were all wood, the support of these only each other’s weight. There was a dark loom to the room, almost as if the endless rows of scroll cases were enchanted by some unseen force.

            Small candles lit the passages in between the scroll cases. By now night had set in fully. The enchanting glow of the moon beamed unusually bright through the large stain glass windows that were placed above the shelves. I noticed that a strange pattern was created by these beams of the moon's light that came through the window. A fire burned and crackled within a fireplace in the corner next to the bookkeeper. The bookkeeper wore a burgundy wizard's cloak that covered his body completely. It was impossible to tell him as a creation of The Cobbler, an animal, or a dwarf. The bookkeeper appeared to be sleeping. This place seemed strange, not the land, but just this building. The building seemed almost evil. This, perhaps, was only because I knew of the dangers that were to come.

            The moon seemed to be getting larger within the sky. This brought a strange feeling to me that seemed to sweep over me like a blanket. I began to worry as a cold chill ran down my back. Now I rose to my feet, throwing my chair backwards and unto the floor. The candles and torches of the room seemed to be slowly dimming. I now turned towards my party, but they were as busy as ever.

            With the moon growing steadily brighter and the lighting of the room growing steadily dimmer, I finally grabbed a hold of my sword and, in one mass outburst of my emotions, I tore it from it's sheath. The familiar screeching sound echoed throughout the silent library. To this Maramound and Tharen finally paid attention,

            "What is it Corren?" Tharen said, she rising and also unsheathing her blade.

            "This place is evil! Watch out now, evil is approaching!" With my words the ground began to quake. The light that poured through the stain glass window now exploded into flames of a terrible intensity. The dry wooden building began to burn like paper.

            "Come!" I yelled, swinging my sword towards the door. With that I blasted forth a wave of water that cleared a path for our exit. Then, jumping into the air, I sped down upon the ground and buried my sword into the soil. I then leaped forward, tearing my sword from the soil. Behind my blade came a geyser of water, this going to work on the fire at hand. In a moment we had exited the building. This was the moment when I had to betray Maramound and deceive Tharen.

            I was not particularly happy about this. The bookkeeper was nowhere to be found. This would be my excuse to enter the building once again. With Tharen yelling after me I ran into the building yelling,

            "The bookkeeper is trapped!" After I had entered the building I removed the green crystal shard from my pouch. I then immediately cast the spell that was stored within it. This put a seal around the door that was now slammed closed from the seal's power. That was that, the crystal shard faded to Iota within my palm.

            I then ran to the bookkeeper’s desk. The smoke from the flames had begun to fill the room. I cast a small spell that dispersed the smoke from my path. I then ran to the room where the fire had started. When I arrived there the flames seized. The fires then exploded once again and encircled me within an impassible wall of flames.

            The battle had begun! This battle would be known to people around campfires as The Battle of Raging Fury.

 

:Chapter Eleven - The Battle of The Raging Fury

 

The battle was on. The savage flames that had encircled me within their wrath came together into a center point in front of me where they formed into a being of flames. It now became clear what this being was, for The Cobbler had told me of it earlier...

Corren grabbed a hold of the hilt of his sword and unsheathed it with an ever-growing anger. He then stepped towards the creature, ready for anything.

"Evil being! Have you come to attempt to destroy me and in turn stop The Cobbler from being free from The Goldenland?" The creature responded in a hideous, rumbling voice saying,

"No! I have come exclusively to end your miserable little existence. I have no grudge with The Cobbler."

"You must know that I have been sent by The Cobbler and therefore to attack me would be attacking The Cobbler!"

To this the dragon said nothing but only lifted its large wings and blasted forth-burning cinders of savage countenance upon Corren. Corren rose his shield against the attack and blocked every cinder. With this finished Corren took his sword and thrust the blade into the ground. He then stretched his hands outwards towards the dragon. From his hands came a blue, transparent sphere that glowed in incredible contrast to the savage flames that burned abroad. Corren hurled the sphere towards the dragon with all of his strength. Corren then ran backwards and prepared for battle. The blue sphere had drifted to the top of the fire dragon's head and was now glowing a brighter blue than before, now almost cold in appearance.

At this the dragon became enraged. The creature leaped from the ground and hovered in the air before coming crashing into the ground causing it to savagely quake. Corren was thrown to the ground in this but his vengeance was at hand for his blue sphere had already grown to the size of the dragon's head.

The dragon knew, as well as Corren, that this small blue sphere would become the creature's undoing. The dragon again rose into the air and prepared to attack. Corren, seeing no way to attack a being of fire physically, pulled his sword form the dirt and again buried it into the dirt in front of him. As the blade slashed downward a savage blast of lightening exploded from it's edge and launched forward towards the creature.

The amazingly fast assault exploded into the creature and stunned it a bit. The blue sphere had now grown to perfect size. Corren now prepared the sphere by yelling out,

"Armageddon clock, freeze this rock!" As the words came from Corren's mouth and echoed across the library, the blue sphere exploded and a blue liquid poured from it. The liquid flooded over the dragon's body and began to glow a bright blue. The dragon screamed out in a horrific screech that shattered the stain glass window that the moon had shined through earlier.

Steam had already begun to pour from he half-encased creature. Soon the dragon was completely encased within this blue substance, a sound not being heard from its lips. A moment later the liquid then decayed and became nothing. All that was left was a cold stone carving of the dragon's countenance. The statue's eyes, however, stilled burned a savage red color that showed the dragon's life force that was encased within the rock. The beast was not destroyed, only encased within a void of magical parameters...

I quickly rose my crystal from my chest and empowered it with my magic. I then walked to the stone and touched the crystal to its cold surface. As the stone touched the crystal, a red beam exploded from it and encased the rock statue in a red aura. This would keep anyone from freeing this terrible beast without this crystal. I then slipped the necklace back around my neck. With that the flames that burned around the room were silenced and everything returned to it's past self. I put my blade within its sheath and walked over to the bookkeeper’s desk to rest a time.

As I sat there resting I then recalled Tharen and Maramound's confrontation and with that a green blast suddenly exploded across the room with the door of the library in front of it. Obviously Maramound had finally broken the seal upon the door. He was an even greater wizard then I had thought for he had broken a spell that The Cobbler had created. Maramound and Tharen then charged in behind the shattered door, fighting like enemies would.

I had been expecting this so I had already prepared a spell that would separate them. Maramound and Tharen were both fighting half-heartedly for neither wished to strike down each other. This meek battle lasted for a few moments before I rose from my rest and separated them with a laugh. Somehow a fireball jumped from my right hand and exploded into the two, throwing both of them to the floor. At that they both turned and now recalled that I was also in the story.

After a moment of strange silence they both rose to their feet, shame upon both of their faces. I didn't bother to ask why they were fighting; this would only stir up more anger. I suppose they were also happy that I did not ask for it would be hard to tell someone that someone in their own group tried to have them killed. They also knew that I wouldn't believe this anyway. Trying to bring the matter to rest, Tharen quickly spoke up,

 "Are you okay, Corren?"

"Well, I am fine... but this dragon, oh this dragon!" Maramound spoke in his sarcastic, peon voice,

"So whad ya do to it?"

"I used the power of my crystal to convert it into a good little dragon!" Tharen spoke,

"Good. If we are even in need of aid this dragon could be a great ally. Good job Corren!" Maramound then spoke in almost a whisper,

"you can feel the creatures power from here... I bet this creature has an amazing creator."

A strange silence flooded over the room. By now I had learned not to like silence within libraries so I quickly spoke up,

"Let us travel onwards! I've had enough of this place for one day!"

From the library we traveled and back to the dwarf's house we went. There the lady had a much different attitude towards us now that we possessed the key to Tharen's Cave. Here the dwarf was gracious enough to let us stay the night. Tomorrow we would travel onwards to this cave of Tharen's.

 

:Chapter Twelve - The Forest of Mystery

 

To understand what is about to occur, we must first look back on the events that have already occurred. First, the three members of the group; Corren, Maramound, and Tharen. The three crystals that we possess, however, are a difficult trail to follow.

Now, Corren possesses the red crystal. It can be assumed then, that this crystal represents fire. Tharen possesses the crystal blue. It is then logical to assume that this crystal, and Tharen, represent water, or ice. Maramound possesses the crystal green. (If you recall it blends beautifully with all of his black cloths)

Now it would be then normal to assume that Maramound represents nature. This fits him well for he is an animal of The Land of Mystics anyway. So could it be possible that these three heroes contain the elemental powers of nature. Perhaps? Does it have anything to do whatsoever with the story, not really...

"Where are we Maramound?" said Tharen. We had, by now, traveled a good distance northeast into the vast wilderness of The Land of The Seven Dwarf-Lords.

"I don't know for sure. A magic force is eminent over this hill and yet I know not yet..." After a tiring walk of almost an hour we finally reached the top of the hill that Maramound was pondering. At the top of the hill the air was crisp and clean.

The wonderful smell of nature filled our lungs and filtered throughout our noses in a lovely rhythm that took us captive. Soon Maramound had discovered exactly what he was looking for and he was very happy that we hadn't walked up this large hill in vane. In a moment Maramound began to uncover the ruins of some sort of pavilion that once stood  on top of this large hill.

The pavilion had an altar in the center of it that extended into the air about three feet. There were diamonds of divers kinds embedded within its sides. The rest of the structure was carved from marble. Within the center of the altar there was three slots carved within the stone. We soon caught on. We removed our crystals from around our necks and placed them within their respective slots within the stone. We waited a moment in silence.

The winds upon the hill became calm and then halted completely. All of the sounds of nature then faded from the forest. Suddenly three beams of light emitted from the crystals. Suddenly the entire hill upon which we stood began to quake. In a moment the marble altar began to slide into the ground. In a moment the altar had became level with the floor of the pavilion. After this the commotion died down and the natural sounds of the forest returned to our ears. We removed the crystals from their slots and replaced them to our necks.

As we did so a small rock arrow slid from within the pavilion floor which pointed to the other side of the hill. We slowly turned around and discovered that the entrance of a cave had torn from the side of the hill. The quaking was apparently more than just a special effect. We then glanced at each other in amazement. We then began to walk once again.

Climbing down the other side of the hill we quickly moved to the entrance of the cave. As we approached the cave we could immediately tell that it had been sealed with an amazing magical power. Soon we would discover that life would grow much more difficult from this stage in our journey.

 

:Chapter Thirteen - The Cobbler's Rhyme

 

The point of no return now stood before us. The large golden gate that sealed Tharen's Cave shut to the world was now before us; the mighty cave the mighty Cobbler was created in. The mighty cave in that the great ruler Contrus used his signet ring to seal The Cobbler's spell into infinity. This great cave stood in front of us with only one boundary to stay us. An incredibly strong golden gate sealed with an incredible magic, the likes of which none of us had ever seen before.

All of this and yet we possessed the single key which could unlock all of this wonder and terror and splendor. This was truly an exciting moment in our adventure. So Maramound, with his overwhelming formality, simply stepped forward and drove the large key into the lock of the gate with no particular care or concern. Then, turning the key, he unlocked the gate. From within the cave came a cool wind that lasted a moment. This was the air pressure reaching their equilibrium.

"Not much for ceremony, eh Maramound?" I blurted our sarcastically. Maramound answered only with,

"when we free The Cobbler, then I'll join in your ceremony and celebration. For now let us just get it done." We agreed to this rather quickly. Maramound, being the expert in the magic realm, again took command of the group. Maramound grabbed a hold of the large golden gate and pulled rather briskly upon its handle. To this the gate swung open without any resistance or noise for that matter. A musty old smell flooded into out nostrils from within the cave. We entered the cave and began traveling within its deep belly.

As we began to get deeper into the cave it seemed to be getting brighter rather than dimmer as one would expect of a cave. Also, we could feel the overwhelming presence of a magical force somewhere within the cave’s reaches. It almost felt as if we were walking through a heavy fog. You could feel the magical power protruding from the walls of the entire cave. The entire cave was empowered and probably created entirely of magic.

This was probably the only reason that the wizards were able to create a pure and clean spell. All evil was probably forced from the cave by this overwhelming magical power. They had to actually build an entire cave using only magic just to get a pure atmosphere in which they could work.

I began to wonder why Tharen wasn't leading us, she probably knew this cave better than any of us. Now, as we traveled deeper into the cave's dark bottom we noticed that the walls were actually glowing a faint bluish color because of the incredible power that the cave possessed. This was clearly the cave in which The Cobbler was created.

As we came even closer to the center of the cave, the power within actually made it hard to breathe. This place clearly had to contain some form of living power for the power within the cave was simply too strong to be a leftover from the creation of The Cobbler.

"Interesting place this is" Maramound blurted out. By this he told us that even he was beginning to be effected by the power of this place. Walking onward, we soon discovered that the cave opened up into a large cavern. By now Tharen seemed to be remembering something for her forehead was continuously wrinkling.

Within this cavern stood seven statues that were arranged within a perfect circle. These seven statues were all carved from Aurathan stone. This is a pinkish stone that is very beautiful. All of these statues were wizards. They were carved standing as wizards would who were summoning a common spell within the center of them.

Within the center of the statue there also stood another statue. This one was carved from Rosetta stone and was a basic mirror image of Tharen. It was no surprise, then, when Tharen suddenly exploded into a violent frenzy of speech at the sight of this,

"This is the spot! The exact spot where The Cobbler was forged! And that is exactly where I fell into the mighty power that created The Cobbler! And these are the seven wizards!" She  now froze in an overwhelming excitement. She then began again,

"My sword! It fell from me before I was destroyed! It must still be here! Perhaps behind the statue!" With this Tharen ran towards the circle of wizards. At this I realized a horrific thought,

"Wait, stop!" I cried, But this fell upon deaf ears. She continued running with all speed until the reached the edge of the circle. Suddenly a blast of light exploded throughout the cavern, blinding Maramound and I with its terrible intensity. I was thrown backwards against a wall of the cavern. I assumed Maramound was as well. I awoke some time later upon the cold damp floor of the cave. Maramound was still upon the ground.

Tharen was a mess. I managed to struggle to my feet, a ringing pain within my head restraining my motion. The incredible amount of power that had been forced into this rather small cavern caused the physical makeup of the "untrue" matter to distort.

(If you recall from the pre-Mysticarian era, the land of mystics was created physically by matter. This matter, however was not true matter. That is, it didn't come from some already created source. The mystics of that old land of mystics had created it. This means that if it is hammered by enough magical power the magic that was used to create it will be "distorted", causing the matter to become half matter and half energy. This rare phenomenon is referred to within the land of Mystics as a siffer or siffer matter.

It makes the matter act like a time bomb. Whenever other false matter touches it, the siffer turns back into false matter but the false matter that caused it to react gets... well, blown up. It is sort of like fusing two hydrogen atoms. It's really weird and non-understood stuff.)

Tharen had been savagely assaulted by this siffer distortion. I moved to her side, removing my crystal from around my neck as I traveled. I then placed the crystal upon her chest. Using the crystal and all of my strength I somehow managed to summon a heal 2 spell. This seemed to help her a bit.

Maramound would need to take care of her but at least my spell would keep her alive until Maramound was awake. Maramound came around in a few moments. When he did, he rose and walked to my side, still trying to be the tough guy that he wanted to be known as. Maramound then went to work summoning a heal three spell. As he worked he looked at me.

"Siffer" I said.

"Damn! We almost lost her to a damn siffer! Those wizards didn't even bother to clear out the siffers after they were done! Wow. I didn’t think that you knew about siffers, Corren. Maybe there is hope for you as a wizard yet." Maramound then rose from his work and summoned an amazingly strong fire spell. He then hurled it forth towards the center of the circle of wizards with an incredible strength.

The blast  impacted the remaining part of the siffer cloud and returned the matter back to normal. I tried to calm Maramound down,

"Maramound please, these wizards were about to die at the time when The Cobbler was created. They didn't have time to worry about siffers. They probably thought that this cave would simply disappear once they died!"

"I don't care! It's not right, as a wizard of any type, to leave a siffer anywhere! Do you have any idea what could have happened if that siffer suddenly made it outside of this magically sealed cave and it just happened to react? Oh god! I wouldn't want to be alive then! All of the matter would be caught in a chain reaction! The entire planet would be vaporized!"

"Alright, okay, you’re right, just help Tharen now."

Our tense voices helped to cover up the fear within our minds of the thought of losing Tharen. Only now did we begin to calm down, when we knew that she would live. With nothing left for me to do I decided to walk to the circle of wizards. As Tharen slowly recovered from her assault I moved across the circle and reached the center within a moment. As I stepped into the center of the circle, a magical force stronger than anything that I had ever seen before came upon me.

This amazing power dropped me to my knees. I knew it as The Cobbler's power. Even with this terribly strong force pushing upon my body with all of it's strength I began to detect something else within this power. I now had discovered it. With this an overwhelmingly good feeling came upon me. A feeling of love and happiness. You could tell that The Cobbler was at one time here. Within this lovely essence I stood for a moment until I saw Tharen rising to her feet from the cave floor.

"A little shock?" I said, half in a jest and half in a caring manner. As I asked her this I secretly grabbed a hold of her sword that was lying behind her statue. She saw me, she wondered, she hoped, she suddenly knew. Then, in one explosion, she rang out,

"My sword! Do you have any idea what kind of powers that this sword possesses? This sword has laid within the power of The mighty Cobbler for many a year and by now must be amazingly powerful!" Tharen ran to my side and grabbed a hold of the mighty blade, a joy glowing within her eyes.

The power that the sword possessed glowed a beautiful bluish color within the darkness of the cave. Tharen unsheathed her old blade and slid this new blade into its place. Tharen now seemed complete. She seemed incredibly happy now, and she made a new vow to never be taken alive again. At this moment Tharen once again became aware of her surroundings. She seemed as if she knew exactly what she was doing as she removed her crystal from her neck. She then walked to the front of the statue that resembled her and in one quick motion, she slid the crystal upon the statue's neck.

Tharen then laughed and said,

"Look, it's the 'rock hard' warrior Tharen!" Suddenly the crystal began to glow a bright blue. Tharen jumped backwards from the statue in surprise.

The entire cavern began to violently quake. The statue then began to slide within the cave floor. Tharen reached down and grabbed her crystal from around the statue's neck as to not lose it within the cave's floor. She then walked out from the circle of wizards. As she did this an unknown voice echoed into the cave from behind us. I turned as it spoke,

"Two to go, my friends." Tharen turned, Maramound blasted. Maramound swung around in a circle as a red sphere exploded from his right hand and ripped into flames as it sped towards the echoing voice. A blue sphere of the same type exploded from the darkness and ripped into a block of ice as it collided with Maramound's fireball. As they collided Maramound's assault was destroyed.

"Hold thee attack! I mean ye no harm!" cried the voice. This mystery voice seemed to echo throughout the cave as if it were more than one voice speaking at the same time. I began to feel that something was not right in this place. I then became alarmed for there now seemed to be more like seven of eight voices speaking in synchronize. I grabbed a hold of the handle of my sword and pulled upon it, unsheathing the mighty blade into the darkness. To this the cave began to grow brighter. As the light finally grew into an adequate source my suspicions were confirmed. Standing before us, in no particular order, were seven dwarfs of a standard countenance.

I somehow knew them. They were the seven Dwarf-Lords of this Land of The Seven Dwarf-Lords. They were not tall, no more than four feet, and yet they each had a noticeable magic power about them. This power seemed much weaker than it could be, almost as if they were trying to hide their true abilities. The dwarf in the middle of the seven spoke,

"You have accessed The Cobbler's Cave. I congratulate you. I must now give you what you will need to become the heroes of this Land of Mystics. Leader, come forth."

We stood there a moment, no one moving. A few moments passed before I noticed that Tharen and Maramound were both starring at me. I finally caught on that they truly did think of me as the leader of this group. I stepped forward.

"Now, prepare for battle, for you must be tested!" The seven dwarfs then stepped backwards and disappeared within the remaining darkness of the cave. Within this each of the seven exploded into a raging fury of colors. These colors then came together into one point in a terrible explosion that shook the walls of the cave. An instant after this had ended a hideous monster emerged from the shadows.

The seven had spliced into one hideous creature of terrible countenance. The creature had horns and claws protruding from all points of its body. This creature also possessed an amazingly strong source of power. Maramound cast a magic shield around us so that we could fall back without being attacked. Tharen unsheathed her new blade and pointed it at the creature's neck. I was ready as well.

The creature wasted no time in assaulting us. Suddenly the creature rose it's large front craws into the air, revealing four more limbs of the same magnitude. The creature's eyes exploded with life as an amazing yellow glow flooded over them. I went to work on a fire spell. Suddenly Maramound leaped into the air and blasted forth a wave of all-consuming ice that encased the creature in its power. Tharen then followed with a fire blast that encased the frozen creature within her savage flames. (Tharen) Corren then rose his hands into the air and summoned a yellow sphere. He then hurled it at the creature.

The creature rose its grotesque claw against this assault. The sphere was  reflected from the creature's claw and crashed into the floor of the cave. A savage wave of lightening blasts exploded from the sphere as it faded into nothingness. After this Maramound assaulted the creature with a black sphere that encased the creature's eyes in a terrible black fog. The creature howled in rage.

(Maramound) The creature was a clever one, much more powerful than the ones before it. I felt that I might need to use a dark power from the long ago past if things got much worse. The creature launched forward it's large limbs and blasted forth a bolt of lightening from each. The assault attacked Tharen and Corren, I barely escaped their wrath. Tharen rose from the ground but Corren lay a moment for he had been with the front of the assault. (Tharen) Corren stayed upon the ground but Maramound was ready. Maramound grabbed a hold of his crystal and rose it, along with his two hands, into the sky. With this a glowing red aura encased his body. As the aura increased in its intensity, Maramound could no longer be seen within its glow. Then Maramound  leaped into the air. A blast of red power exploded from out of the red essence of Maramound's glowing body. Then Maramound, along with the entire red aura, vanished into nothingness.

Then, in one terrible explosion, the red sphere blasted back into existence in the form of terrible brimstones that came crashing down upon the creature at a horrific speed and from every angle within the cavern. As they came crashing into the creature the brimstones would explode into burning shards of shrapnel that injured the beast even more.

The creature once again howled in rage however it didn't seem to be putting up much of a fight. The creature then recovered and rose it's hands for attack once again. Soon the creature had prepared an attack. (Corren) I rose from the dirt that I was lying in and I once again readied my sword for an assault. Tharen had summoned some sort of silver sphere and now hurled it upon the creature. As the sphere sped towards the creature it exploded into three pieces that formed into three silver swords that went burying into the creature's head with a terrible force.

This assault deterred the creature's planned attack, however could not stay it. Maramound now appeared within out presence with a sudden red flash. He appeared quite tired from his last assault but he wouldn't tell us that. (Tharen) Corren ran forward towards the creature and leaped into the air. Then, slashing downward, he buried his mighty blade into the creature's head. The creature jerked its bleeding head in a wild rage in an attempt to throw Corren from it. The creature jumped and shook in its wild rampage. Then, with one final toss, the creature sent Corren flying from its head at a terrible speed.

Corren flew across the cave. Maramound summoned a spell and caught Corren in mid-air. (Corren) Floating towards the ground, I saw Maramound create a green, transparent sword that he then hurled at the creature. The sword spiraled through the air and then buried itself into the creature's chest.

With this final wound the creature seemed to suddenly awaken. Maramound began to walk backwards for he knew something that we didn't. The creature didn't even seem to be fighting back before but now it slowly began to rise to its full height. Then, right before our eyes, the creature exploded into tiny yellow spheres that hovered within the air in a large cloud. Then, as quickly as they had separated, the spheres now came crashing back together in another explosion. The creature that was now formed resembled a lion of Earth. It's eyes exploded into a haunting red glow that lit the dark cave in a ghastly manner. The creature blasted two round, laser-like beams from its eyes that exploded into Maramound's defense shield.

The amazing power that Maramound had put into his shield actually stopped the attack completely. It was as if the creature had never attacked him. I ran from where I stood and returned to my spot along with my two allies. (Maramound) Corren came running back from the place where he had landed as Tharen was preparing a decent ice spell. Corren seemed a bit shaken but he also seemed ready to fight. All of this time this new creature was creating little green cubes that it was placing around itself, the use of which was unknown to us as of yet. From this point I felt that it was time to bring out the dark spells.

(Tharen) I stepped back a few feet from the creature and prepared my ice assault. Maramound was busy working on some evil, dark spell that I knew nothing of. It was amazing, however, the amount of magic that he was summoning to cast it for almost none of our assaults used as much power as he was attempting to summon.

The creature had now finished its cubes. Three of them in all, and now each placed in front of one of us. The cubes now melted into roundish blobs. From each blob then came three copies of the large lion-like creature that we had engaged. This was the perfect moment for my spell and I cast it. The cave now grew surprisingly cold. The air in the cave turned into a false wind that blew savagely throughout the cavern. I chanted,

 "arctic winds, destroy these evil creatures!" To my command an arctic wind exploded down upon the three clones, freezing them within a sheet of ice. Then, the cave exploded into quaking as a large ice sickle tore through a side of the cavern. The gigantic sickle drove its large point through the three clones, shattering them into nothingness. The sickle then receded as quickly as it had come and the cavern returned to normal as quickly as it had changed.

The lion creature was now enraged. In it's rage the creature leaped into the air and pounced upon Maramound. Corren leaped to save Maramound who was, by now, not even paying attention to the battle, but the lion creature was too fast. The giant claws to the beast came crashing upon Maramound and, in our overwhelming amazement, they continued to pass through Maramound and came crashing upon the ground. The creature’s claws had passed right through Maramound as if he were a fog! With a confused look upon it’s face the creature was thrown backwards against the wall of the cavern with a tremendous magical force. (Maramound) Lost within my evil spell, the amazing amount of power that I summoned caused my physical body to become like a ghost so that it would not die. The stupid creature actually attacked a rather large rock that cut its claws. That was why the creature was thrown backwards, I didn’t even touch it.

Corren rose his sword to the sky and it burst into flames. He then leaped into the air, and with the aid of a fire attack from Tharen, lobbed off one of the creature's toes. (Tharen) In Maramound's hatred, he continued to work on the, now terribly strong, spell that he had begun working on some time ago. Corren was busy cleaning the creature's insides from his sword.

Maramound was now becoming amazingly powerful. He had soon summoned enough power that I was able to feel its presence. He was however, still hard at work on this single spell. I soon began to fear for his health with this much power upon him. I saw it was up to me to hold the creature at bay, but while we talked the creature had prepared a new line of savage attacks.

The creature blasted forth an amazingly strong fire attack that caught me off guard. (Corren) The creature, in a sudden attack, opened its gaping mouth and blasted forth random fireballs that exploded as they hit the ground. Maramound was hit as well as Tharen, but with the magnitude of magic that now surrounded Maramound, the attack was reflected back towards the creature. It was now up to me. I stood proud. Then, revealing my sword, I stood in the attack position that a swordsman would use if he were awaiting a sword bout.

The creature's eyes told me that this was in incredible bold move on my part for the creature could have easily destroyed me at this range. Even with this, the creature took my challenge. The creature then converted from its lion shape and into the countenance of a large knight, dressed for combat. We faced each other for a moment as we studied each other's movements.

Then, in a sudden motion, we charged each other and our swords came crashing together. The creature's blow possessed an incredible strength. This was partially due to the fact that its sword outweighed mine by about five pounds. Even with this I fought valiantly, trying to keep my mind on technique and not on the fact that I was sword fighting a creature of incredible power and ability.

Our swords raged savagely together in a fury of sparks and light. left and right, up and down we clashed together. Finally I had obtained a window. In an instant I blocked one of the creature's blows and leaped into the air. I then flipped over the creature's head and came crashing down to my knees behind it. As I landed I swung my sword down upon the creatures left leg. I had finally hit the creature.

I knew now that the creature was not a perfect swordsman. The creature wasted no time in turning and slashing down upon me in its revenge. It's sword buried into my left arm. I grunted in pain but rose and clashed with his sword once again. Again we exploded into a terrible fury as sparks and lights exploded from us.

Maramound, during all of this, was still working on his terrible spell, however this was slowed for he had prepared and cast a heal three on Tharen and now upon my arm.  Tharen rose from the ground and also charged the creature. Within this terrible frenzy Tharen joined. Amazingly the creature was able to battle both of us with a single sword. In a moment we could see that the creature was beginning to slow. At this we only fought harder.

Then finally, in our burning rage, we overtook the valiant knight by knocking its sword to the ground. The creature leaped into the air and then converted back into its lion form. It then came crashing back down to the ground. We moved back to Maramound's side. Suddenly I felt the presence of a magical force overwhelm me and I jumped to the side for I knew it was Maramound. I then turned and starred upon Maramound.

Maramound's eyes were glowing with the evil that he had summoned. The cave began to quake. Lightening began to pour from his hands.

(Corren) I moved from Maramound's path as well for he was ready to go. Tharen and I then moved away from Maramound for we had no idea what sort of attack that this may be. The creature, seeing Maramound's obvious power, prepared a various line of magical defenses to block his assault for attacking him would do no good now and running would be worse.

Terrible explosions began to tear from Maramound's body. Maramound cast the spell for he could no longer hang on to its resistance to act. He was instantly surrounded in a terrible bright blast of red that traveled from the floor to the ceiling in a sort of cylinder shape. Maramound's shape was partially invisible because of the intensity of this light. Beams and streaks of yellow light then began to flow through the once solid red cylinder. Maramound then floated off of the ground. Then, as Maramound was floating above the ground, the colors faded. The cave now grew dark.

A black sphere formed within the space between the creature and Maramound. Maramound stretched his hands outward and turned his palms inward. He then spread his arms out and the black sphere grew to the width of the distance in between his hands. Lightening began to explode from within the black sphere. Maramound, with one hand in position to hold the circle, moved the other above the first. To this the cave quaked more violently. The black sphere then began to create an almost moaning sound. The sound constantly grew louder. Maramound began to chant from the air,

"black darkness! control this vast paradox! I summon thee to strike this evil creature down! I use evil to strike down evil!"

The cave shook even more violently. The cave now grew completely dark. The only lights within the entire cavern were the blasts of lightening from the black sphere and the lion's eyes. Tharen became scarred. She began to scream. To this only responded move violent quaking which drowned her voice away. Maramound continued,

"dark wrath upon you!" Suddenly a terribly high pitch began to mix within the disturbing moaning that already existed.

"I call upon the dark spirits!" Maramound chanted. To his command the moaning grew much louder. From the black sphere there came ghostly images that cast themselves upon the lion creature. Their moaning increased and became more violent as these dark spirits pulled upon the creature. They were pulling the creature into the dark portal! The creature resisted savagely.

To this the darkness responded. The high pitch grew louder as four large black spirits emerged from the black portal. Then, grabbing each of the lion's four feet, they lifted the creature right off of the ground. The black portal grew larger and began to spin within itself like a tornado. The wind now became violent within the cavern. The dark spirits finally pulled the roaring lion creature into the portal. As it traveled into the portal, the seven dwarfs attempted to separate and end the conflict and announce defeat.

They wished to do this for if they were taken into this black portal, they knew where they would go. Tharen and I had no clue what this was, but Maramound knew well for it was his assault. The creature exploded and the seven dwarfs reappeared but it was too late. Maramound, for some reason, did not stay the spell and the seven dwarfs were taken into the black darkness.

Then, with a terrible blast of lightening, the portal sealed within it's evil. Another blast and all was silent. The rumble faded and echoed down the cave as the moaning of the spirits and the high pitched noise faded. Maramound stayed afloat within the air for a few moments before he finally became normal again. With this a blast of lightening tore through him. With this he sped from the air and crashed to the ground. The battle was over.   

 

:Chapter Fourteen - And The Aftermath...

 

            "Maramound!" I yelled. He did not stir. "Maramound!" I repeated, now running to his side. I feared the worse. I feared that the darkness had taken his soul as a price for awakening it's evil. Tharen didn't speak. She stood with her sword drawn, apparently completely petrified and yet at the same time ready to kill anything that moved. "No, Maramound! You’re not leaving me!" After a while he finally awoke.

            To this I rejoiced,

            "Oh thank The Cobbler! You finally awoke! You... you scarred me you big jerk!" Maramound spoke meekly, trying to show that he was fine to allay my fears,   

            "‘Tis... the price... of darkness. The evil... overwhelms the... soul... and it is lost... to The Dark Land for a time... after the spell is cast."

            "My friend, arise"

            "Have we the Rhyme?"

            "I'm not sure! You cast the seven dwarfs into that black abyss of yours! I'm not sure what we should do!" Maramound's eyes squinted,

            "No... did I?"

            "Why, can they still return?"

            "We... must act... quickly. If we don't... they will be lost to The Dark Land for all time... I will retrieve them."

            "No, no! You shall rest!"

            "Very good."

            "Give me your crystals." At that Tharen had finally calmed down and had arrived at my side. Placing our crystals together, we were within the presence of The Cobbler. The Cobbler spoke,

            "You have done well Corren. Maramound shall recover. Remind him that The Candy Star power that he used must be reversed within three hours or the dwarfs will be lost within The Dark Land forever. Do not concern yourself with these things I speak of now Corren, they will mean nothing to you even if I tried to explain them now."

            "Very well mighty Cobbler. I know now that there are some things that I just shouldn't know about and therefore I won't push the matter."

            With these words we were back within the cavern once again. Maramound had recovered just as The Cobbler had said. As we replaced the crystals to our necks, Maramound rose from the ground and spoke,

            "Now we must leave quickly for the dwarfs have been within The Dark Land for two and one half hours already!" I spoke up, completely unsure of what I was saying,

            "Maramound! The Cobbler told me to tell you that The Candy Star power that you used must be undone within three hours from now." A smile slowly tore across Maramound's face.

            "What is this power Maramound?" To this Maramound burst into laughter. "The Cobbler told you this you say? Well, in time my good friend, in good time. The answers that you seek are coming soon."

            With this Maramound rose his hands into the air and summoned a black sphere. From this Maramound formed a portal. In a second he had disappeared within it and neither of us followed for we wanted no part of this candy star or of this Dark Land yet.

 

:Chapter Fifteen - Evil

 

The point of view will now change to Maramound for neither Tharen or I dared to follow Maramound into this Dark Land...

A cold breeze and I was back within the familiar darkness of The Dark Land. This land is where the souls of the evil go when they die. Within the true Land of Mystics no beings will die. This Land, therefore, has always been surrounded in mystery. I, along with The Cobbler, know the full truth behind The Dark Land, but that is another story. For now let us just get on with the rescue operation.

I entered into the darkness and the evil of the land was upon me. It shrouded my eyes, tugged at my cloths, attempted to enter my soul and have it. This land was pure and total evil, the exact opposite of The Land of Mystics. The evil blew as a savage black wind in my face, it crawled upon me as a fleet of savage ants, and it slithered over me as a group of black snakes. In a moment it realized that I possessed a stronger power than it did, and it fled from me.

Now I had left this darkness and appeared upon a bridge within the dark and cold land that I knew so well. The bridge was created from a dark and moldy rock that was slightly damp from the cold wet air of The Dark Land. Under this bridge was a dark, evil water that brewed away in small bubbles like a sea of old motor oil. A thick mist swarmed around the bridge and made sight impossible. This was not a problem however for I knew the way well by now. Through this mist I walked forward and into the dark, cold land I traveled. After a moment I had come to the end of this bridge.  Here the fog had faded and it was here that the all too familiar land finally came into view.

Laying among the rocks that lined this sludge river's edge were the bones of the beings long past who were banished to this evil world from The Land of Mystics for their evil acts. I walked passed these with no pity for I had lost this long ago along with most of my other emotions. I then left the bridge and walked down a path, passing crippled souls who had been cast even from within this dark land for they were so evil. This was the closest thing to death that they could suffer for they were cursed to lay upon the cold and wet grounds with their two legs broken for all eternity.

This simply was not right. At this site I began to feel that after we would free The Cobbler, we should come to this Dark Land and free these poor souls as well. Through this field of death I passed and through another portal I passed. This second portal led to the dark chambers of the underground. The dark portal faded from my eyes and I had returned to the familiar smell of decaying flesh that lingered so eminently within the air. I surfaced in a torch-lit hall with bodies of lost souls piled high to the ceiling; their lifeless bodies stripped of clothing,

Past these I walked with the same unemotional mind set for I had seen this all before and nothing seemed to scare me anymore. From here I walked forward and entered into another large room. Within the center of this room there lay a large pool of bubbling lava. There the souls of the evil were being incinerated in a horrific pain, indescribable with mere words.

The terrible part of this is that they would come back to life as soon as they would perish and would be forced to suffer the horrific pains of death over and over for all eternity. Countless screams of pain and agony continuously poured from this cavern. By this I passed and into the next portal I traveled. This room I did not recall very well until it came into view. Here was the torture room. Here souls were savagely tortured to death only to come back to life and suffer once again. Evil creatures called cloaks conducted this torture.

These creatures were large, pig-like monsters that stood upright. Within this room these creatures would grab beings and drive spikes into their helpless bodies. Or smash their fingers into bits with a hammer. Perhaps light them aflame and hold them down to suffer. Or perhaps just begin slashing their flesh with blades until they would slowly bleed to death. These were all practiced here, these, and many more.

From here I finally entered into the room that I wanted. This room was where the new arrivals would travel to be assigned to their location. Within this rooms sat the dark lord, The Gobbler. He controls all that occurs within The Dark Land, like The Cobbler of The Land of Mystics. Through the portal I traveled and I was now within his presence. 

As my eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room I saw The Gobbler sitting upon his thrown, this located against the center of the wall furthest from me. He heard me come, but he didn't know who I was so he didn't even look up. He now spoke in his authoritative voice,

"Welcome to my Dark Land new soul. Remove your disgusting self from my presence and travel down one of these two halls. This will decide your fate." At this a small smile spread across my face. I silently summoned a fireball and prepared it for assault. You see, once a being entered into this Dark Land, he or she would lose their powers and therefore had no way to fight back. This would truly surprise The Gobbler to an incredible degree. With the stealth of a lion I crept upon him and then cast the blast forward. The entire room lit up with its wrath as it exploded into The Gobbler's chest. He was cast backwards from his thrown and thrown up against the wall behind it. He then fell from this and rolled forward across this thrown, finally coming crashing upon the ground in a terrible mess. From his place upon the floor he coughed a few times as he struggled to his feet. Through this coughing he spoke,

"Maramound! You return! And so soon! I'm so sad to see that you have turned to evil but how did you get here with your powers intact?" The Gobbler then cast a black sphere upon me that would disable me from using my powers. This, of course, did nothing for I wasn't dead and I sure wasn't evil. The sphere sped into my chest and faded into nothing like a soap bubble hitting the floor. I laughed and spoke up,

"Sorry to disappoint you Gobbler, but you've been sitting alone to long. You actually thought that I would sink so low as to use you're evil?"

"What! Your not mine? Oh well, I knew that you couldn't be evil anyway. So what brings you to my presence this... day?"

"Sorry Gobbler, I am working for The Cobbler." The Gobbler instantly exploded into a rage,

"No! This can't be true! You are working for the very being who cast me down into this slime pit oh so long ago! Why?" He then continued in another tone, "How could you do this Maramound! Betray me and go off and work for that sissy Cobbler! I ought to kill you where you stand!"

To this I laughed,

"First of all Gobbler, I recall that you made The Cobbler put you down here because you wouldn't behave! Secondly, your lucky he didn't just kill you! Third, I have one of The Cobbler's crystals! If you start with me I’ll be happy to destroy you in one shot with all of the evil that is within you!" To this The Gobbler backed down. He then spoke again,

"Oh... well... I guess you think you are special then, huh? Well, I think The Cobbler would probably destroy me if I started with you anyway. So, what can I do for you Maramound?"

"Yea. Okay, about two and a half hours ago a group of dwarfs came around here."

 "Oh yes, seven dwarfs was it?"

"That’s them!"

 "Yea, they came in a while ago, still alive! I figured that you had something to do with it. We usually don't get alive ones down here!"

"Do you have their chips?"

"Yes...here! Just cast them upon the ground to redeem their souls!"

"Yea, okay..."

 With that The Gobbler handed me seven tiny crystals. These contained the "copies" of the dwarf's souls within their tiny insides. With these I quickly existed The Dark Land and I was, within an instant, back within the cave that Tharen and Corren waited in. Without a word to Tharen or Corren I cast the crystals upon the ground for time was now of the essence.

The crystals shattered open and in one white flash the seven dwarfs stood in front of us once again. (Corren) Maramound appeared in front of me after these seven dwarfs were recovered. He spoke,

"This land will soon be as The Dark Land if we do not hurry to free The Cobbler." I only nodded to this. The dwarfs seemed happy to be back and were, in no way, mad at being sent to The Dark Land for a time. After a short time the dwarfs returned to formation. The leader then spoke up,

"How is it that you three have overtaken us seven? The Cobbler must truly be your ally for no one has ever had the power to overtake us before." With this the dwarf reached within a pouch that he had on his belt and pulled forth a scroll. He then handed it to me and spoke once again,

"This is what you need. The Rhyme of The Cobbler." As I took the scroll from him our hands touched and I knew the true powers of magic that he was trying to hide deep within himself. I then spoke up,

"Thank you... wizard!" To this Tharen and Maramound were not surprised for they had figured it out some time ago by the way that their magic flowed. The dwarfs, now being confronted with this, admitted to what I had said. The seven dwarfs then converted into their spirit form, relieving that they were indeed wizards of valiance.

Then, in a orderly fashion, the seven floated to the center of the cavern where the circle of statues lies. Maramound, being a fellow wizard, began to speak but couldn't think of anything to say. After a moment, each of the wizards entered into their respective statue and presently vanished. After a moment Maramound rose his hand and blasted forth a fireball that sped towards Tharen's statue. In an instant one of the wizards stopped the blast. The fireball then bounced from this first wizard and exploded across the circle towards another wizard's statue. The fire blast bounced off of this and exploded into another wizard. Faster and faster the fireball flew, bouncing back and forth as if it would never slow.

Then finally, in one last explosion, the fire blast left the last wizard's hands and exploded into Tharen's statue, blowing it into a pile of dust. Maramound then spoke to us,

"The spell! The spell must be pure! The Cobbler must be made again, and of a pure spell this time. Freeing him won't fix the problem entirely, he must be created again."

"Calm down Maramound!" I said, "Come and rest from this dark cave. There you can explain the entire thing to us after a good sleep and rest." From here we left the cave for we feared that Maramound might be losing his mind. Once there, Tharen created a tent and I put Maramound to sleep. He was resistant at first but he soon clasped from exhaustion.

We all rested from this day until the following morning. This became a useful aid for from this time onward, sleep would become a luxury. The next morning Maramound awoke with a startle. He lay upon the floor of the tent a minute before he recalled exactly where he was. When he finally remembered, he clasped the tent in which we slept. I was awake some time before he had awakened and it took him a while to notice that I was watching him. Tharen awoke a moment later. Seeing Tharen awake, Maramound quickly spoke,

"The spell. The spell that created The Cobbler. It was perverted by Tharen's sword. Even after the spell was cast, the sword stayed within the cave, perverting all of The Cobbler's works up until just now! Nothing can erase this damage. The sword was not converted into good; the sword converted The Cobbler's magic into evil! The Cobbler is cursed to be destroyed for only a pure spell can make a pure being." As these words echoed from Maramound's lips, the very sound of them brought him back to his normal self.

An eerie silence swept over the forest in which they stood. Everything and everyone knew the words that Maramound had just spoken were entirely true. The Cobbler had to die. This terrible truth always kept hidden within the darkest shadows of our thoughts but now it had been torn to the shining surface by Maramound's words.

From here we went immediately to the cave. Into the cave we went, and directly to the statue that Maramound had destroyed the day earlier we stood. Strangely the statue had now been repaired and was shining in its beauty as if nothing had occurred. It was obvious that the magic of the cave had done this. A strange look slowly spread across Tharen's face. With this she walked forward directly to the statue's side. She then removed her crystal from her neck and again put it around the statue's neck. As she did so, the statue vanished. All that was left was another scroll.

This one appeared to be much older and seemed to possess some amount of magical power. Tharen reached down and picked up the scroll. She then handed it to me. I removed its bindings and began to unscroll it. As I did so I somehow knew that it was the true scroll. The scroll was written upon with a gold ink that seemed perfect in every way. I read the scroll to the group,

"Thee who shall find The Cobbler's Rhyme must never read it aloud for it contains the powers that control the heavens abroad: Darkness reigns over the shadows of the things that once were and yet even in these chambers lays the power of The Cobbler." Then unscrolling the scroll fully, I saw The Cobbler's Rhyme. "Beginning to end, The Cobbler must mend" I read this silently for I didn't want to release the power of all of the heavens upon us. I tore The Cobbler's Rhyme from the scroll and placed it within a pouch that hung from my belt. Tharen reached down and grabbed her crystal. She then returned it to her neck. I noticed as she did so, that the statue became matter again. I also noticed that the scroll that the wizard had given me before had vanished from within my pouch. We

looked at each other in awe for a moment before we left the cave, locking the gate behind us and leaving the key within. The cave would never open to anyone again.

We now traveled down this large hill and entered into the town that once rejected us. As we entered  the town for the second time, we were greeted with cheers and screams of congratulation. Here we would spend the night in the grandest party that was even known within The Land of Mystics! 

 

:Chapter Sixteen - The Grand Party At The Land Of The Seven Dwarf-Lords

 

Darkness was quickly falling over The Land of The Seven Dwarf-Lords. Through this, the glow of the campfires and the rainbow rock road sparkled brilliantly like diamonds in a sunset. From the feel in the air, you could tell that a celebration was stirring. Our heroes had just returned from the Tharen's Cave. Down the mountain they traveled and onto the rainbow rock road they stepped.

As they made their way back to the large fountain that their adventure had began at, they were greeted by a crowd of beings, all running towards them with arms wide open. (Corren) The beautiful glow of the road, mixed with the amazing power of The Cobbler, made the countenance of the night unforgettable. Once we had reached the fountain a wave of infinite voices of congratulation and appreciation began to flood the large alley in which the crowd had gathered.

Soon after this, the immediate crowd began to grow for news of the coming party had spread throughout The Candyland like wildfire. The so-called leader of the town was running around like a mad man trying to organize the celebration. Eventually he simply gave up and handed the task to a respected man within the land named Comsar. After he did this, the job began to run smoothly.

By now it was dark and our heroes were cleaning up for this special occasion despite how tired they were from the past day's fighting. Tharen had grabbed Comsar and had demanded to know the schedule. After some discussion he finally gave in.

"Well, if you must know, we plan on having three main events. The first will be the formal genesis and a small speech. Then we'll have some fireworks. Secondly, we will take some time for feasting and celebration such as singing and dancing. This should allow us enough time to prepare for the grand Lollipop Parade! I won't speak of this, however for that is too wonderful to spoil!" (Tharen) Comsar then scurried away and went back to work. Corren was already bored of standing around so he was already on stage, helping to move the platforms around. Maramound was helping to create proper lighting along the vast, now-called, rainbow road, the name of which I found out only a moment ago however I could have guessed this rather easily. The whole place was a grand site.

Maramound seemed to know something that we didn't for he seemed to know what he was doing a little too much. From the fountain I quickly moved to a point high above the land to get a better perspective. Only from there did I finally perceive the total beauty of the land. From the northern end of the land large mountains and vast forests shielded any unwanted visitors from entering the land easily. I assumed that this is why The Candyland forces moved their command center to this point after they secured the western half of The Candyland. As you move south the mountains and trees break into almost a rising sun's shape. Within the center the of this rising sun shape the mountains and trees decay and give way to houses and buildings which form a kind of dead end way for the rainbow road to travel into. This, of course, ending at the fountain. The library that we visited earlier is located to the southwest of the fountain. Tharen’s cave is located southeast from the fountain, hidden deep within the protective forests and mountains that grow around the land.

This lollipop parade that Comsar spoke of will almost definitely travel down this rainbow road. The road is windy towards the end, but near the fountain there is a very straight and long piece of roadway that would be just perfect for a parade's ground. Soon I left this vantage point and returned to the lower Land of The Seven Dwarf-Lords. By this time the official start of the festivities was almost ready to begin.

(Corren) By now we had finished constructing the main stage and the vast large tables that needed to be set up were almost completed as well. Maramound was growing tired of setting up lights and tables and in a moment he lost it. Suddenly he yelled with aggravation and then ordered all of the workers to clear out of his path. He then summoned a very powerful spell and cast it. Instantly all of the work that needed to be completed was.

Most of the workers simply laughed at how amazingly strong Maramound was because they had never seen anything like this before but some of the workers marveled at his strength. They had obviously not believed the stories that they had heard about our group's strengths and victories. They must not have believed that The Cobbler himself had empowered us to have these amazing powers. (Maramound) After this was completed I met up with Corren and Tharen to discuss the night's festivities. (Tharen) In a moment I had found Corren and Maramound and had explained to them the night's schedule.

After we talked a while Comsar grabbed us and threw us upon three nicely crafted chairs that were neatly arranged upon the stage. After this he moved to the center of the stage and began to call the overwhelming crowd to his attention. Comsar then began his speech as I faded out into the distance. My focus slowly began to change from the crowd and Contrus, to the beautiful night sky. Through the darkness, the stars blasted as if they were endless. These stars, like Earth's, white and sparkling.

The moon had also risen within the sky, this the same as Earth's as well. Slowly I began to think about the...

"and Tharen!" Flash. Suddenly I was back on stage with bright lights upon me and thousands of people clapping for me. I politely waved to the crowd, completely clueless of what had just occurred. Comsar continued, "And now Corren has a small speech for us, please, welcome master Corren with a great big Land of The Seven Dwarf-Lords applause!" (Tharen) Corren slowly rose from his chair that sat to the left of mine and as he walked by me I could tell by the look that he gave me that he was looking forward to this like a sword chop to the head.

Corren quickly crossed the stage and moved out into the front as the crowd's clapping died down. Corren then began,

 "Thank you, thank you. Now, welcome dear friends, welcome guests, welcome foes!" The crowd politely laughed at this sorry excuse for a joke.

"I am speaking to you tonight not as an amazing hero. Not as some great warrior. I come to you tonight as a fellow inhabitant of The Land of Mystics. Why I was chosen for this mighty quest, I know not. But I do know this. Myself, Maramound, Tharen. We three shall do everything within our power to complete this task at hand, no matter what odds that shall come up against us. No matter... what the trials we must overcome... no matter what we must sacrifice... no matter what personal weaknesses that we must overcome. We will, we will, have the strength to carry on until we either succeed in our quest or die trying. Thank you all for this gracious and warm welcome."

With this the crowd exploded into applause and cheering. Corren slowly turned and walked back to his chair. After this Comsar returned to the stage and officially began the festivities. A group armed with strange musical instruments moved to the stage and began to play a fast, dancing song.

Maramound cast a spell and cleared out a large portion of the tables that were in the center of the whole of them. He then cast another spell that created a dance floor composed of substantionite and magnetos stone squares in a chessboard fashion. (Corren) Tharen moved off stage and headed southward to the craft booths such as archery and things of this nature. Maramound continued to make light work of the decorations and of the structure assemblies.

With nothing left to do I figured that I would take a walk back to the fountain for a rest. With this in mind I traveled north until I reached the fountain. Here it was partially dark for no one was at the fountain at this hour, but rather at the grand party. It was a wonderful fountain in itself. It was completely carved from the same rock that makes up the rainbow road.

With just the fountain's glow, the dead end to the great land seemed to be the most beautiful part yet. I walked to the fountain's edge and sat down upon its lower ledge, being careful to avoid the jets of water that seemed to be constantly shooting out from the fountain. From this lovely seat I starred intently down the rainbow road that glimmered in it's indescribable splender. I also noticed, after a minute, that I could see almost all of the festivities that were taking place for the road was so incredibly straight.

After a while I turned from this and again faced the beautiful fountain. In a moment I leaned forward and drank a mouthful of the cool fresh iota that constantly sprung forth from the fountain.

(Tharen) By now the fireworks were ready and I had stopped to watch their beauty. This lasted for a while until the wizards became tired. After this we continued to feast and dance like we were children again. By now even Comsar had loosened up a bit and he was now making a little show on the dance floor with his lovely wife.

(Corren) I sat upon the lovely fountain for a good long time until I heard the commotion die down within the town. At this I became curious and I began to rise, but suddenly I had no need to. To my surprise, along each side of the rainbow road, terribly bright white lights exploded down the edge of the entire length of it.

In my shock I realized that The grand Lollipop Parade had begun and that I was directly in the way! Beings began to run down the sides of the road and began to flood in along its borders, even as far as up to the fountain itself.

I jumped to my feet as the lights turned into exploding sparkler-like flames, rainbow in color. Suddenly the entire roadway exploded into a rainbow blur, almost as bright as day. I ran to the side of the road as the fountain itself began to sink into the ground. Soon the fountain was covered over with a trap door. In a minute the trap door began to open once again. To this the crowds exploded into celebration. As the trap door opened, a terribly bright red light exploded from within it. The crowds cheered wildly overcome with joy and curiosity at what Maramound and Comsar had in store for them.

In a moment the light converted into a pinkish color. From within this trap door came a marching beat with flutes and trumpets mixed within it. Without warning the trap door rose from out of the ground and upon it were hundreds of musicians, all playing a marching beat at an amazingly loud level. All of these beings were dressed the same in beautiful and dazzling cloths. As the marching beat came to a steady timed beat the large group began to march forward in beautiful unison, raising the curiosity of all even higher.

The flutes of the band played an especially enchanting tune, it's sound as sweet as honey and as smooth as silk. Soon Maramound and Tharen had found me. We greeted each other and then sat and relaxed to watch the splender unfold in front of us.

Directly behind this first marching band came another army of beings, each of these throwing caundys and alamenon heart curses to the crowds. Right behind them came even more beings, each doing some little play or song, each having more beauty and splender than the last. After all of these groups had passed, then came the rides. A brief pause in he waves of beings allowed a dimming in the brightness of the air.

Suddenly, from within the trap doorway, two dressed beings ran forth down the edges of the rainbow road. Between each rainbow sparkler they placed a small, strange-looking lollipop that had a candy cane for a stick. These two beings carried a large bag of these lollipops and each moved down their side of the road with an amazing speed and accuracy. So fast was this that it was hard to even see them working. This is the effect that was desired for soon they had finished emptying their bags and then came running back up the road, disappearing within the darkness of the trap door once again.

The rainbow sparklers exploded with a flash. As they did this the tiny lollipops grew into giant ones, reaching upwards into the luminous shy at least ten feet. Each lollipop began to spin while within the ground. Then, as they began to spin faster, candies and treats began to be thrown from their tops, this action bringing joy and happiness to all that stood near them. Then the lollipops began to play a more enchanting, slower beat as the marching beat faded off into the darkness down the road. Soon it seemed as if the parade had ended.

The sparklers had all but stopped and the lollipops no longer spun but only played this enchanting song. Moments passed, no one stirred. Then, as if time itself had skipped a heartbeat, everything exploded back into action, now even faster than before. Once again everyone exploded into excited cheering. The beat now picked up again. Soon larger groups began to move down the road, each better than the last. This grew until finally a large floating stage came down the road. Upon this sat beautiful pieces of art, paintings, statues, drawings, and all sorts of other wonderful things, all decorated in splender.

This continued for an amazingly long time, each stage bigger and better than the last. Soon beings on stages were going by. Better and better, more and more, it was truly a wonder not worth spoiling as Comsar had said earlier. After a seemingly endless time the floats and rides, people and shows, began to slow down. A moment passed and they had vanished down the road and into the shadows. The lollipops began to slow and the sparklers began to calm their flames. Soon only small glows came from the road and the lollipops began to shrink to their original sizes. A second later and it was done.

The smoke cleared and the amazingly clear night sky had now become visible. With this the crowd exploded into a roaring applause. This ovation lasted more than ten minutes. After this had settled down beings then began to leave. To this came an explosion rocked the road. Comsar appeared in the front of the road by the fountain. He yelled over the crowd,

"Wait then! One surprise still awaits you all!" Everyone stopped and starred in awe at what could possibly be left after such an amazing show. From the now almost completely dark sides of the road the little lollipops began to glow a beautiful rainbow color from within their cores. This color was of a magnificent intensity. Then they all exploded high into the air right out of the ground, a glitter trail trailing behind them in their flight. Once they reached the air, they all exploded and then rushed together to create the best fireworks display that had ever been seen. This amazing show lasted a good ten minutes.

Everyone cheered especially loud to this for this was a truly enchanted show. Now the show ended. Crowds moved back to town for the second feast and more fun was now ready to start. Tharen went absolutely nuts,

"Maramound! You genius! That was absolutely marvelous! Wow!" I spoke, "Maramound... you worked with Comsar!"

"Sure did! Did you like it Corren?"

"Maramound. How did you two come up with that so quickly?" To this Maramound grinned,

"Come on Corren! I mean you don't think that you are the only one who The Cobbler tells secrets to, do you!" Tharen spoke,

"You mean... The Cobbler designed this and gave it to you?"

"Sure did! Only The Cobbler could have created something so genius as those lollipop fireworks. Did you see them?"

"Wow! Good job Maramound!" After this we three moved into the main festivities area. There we fell asleep listening to each other talk about the wonderful night they had.

After about ten minutes we were all asleep. This ended the wonderful night that we had experience at the grand party at The Land of The Seven Dwarf-Lords.      

 

:Chapter Seventeen - The Darkness Of Gandor

 

The next morning after this party was one to remember. The beautiful splendors of the past night still lingered within everyone's minds. Everywhere we looked we could see love and joy and happiness. The thoughts of The Cobbler being freed flooded my mind for I realized that The Land of Mystics would always be like this after The Cobbler was free to control it once again.

The sweet smell of breakfast was floating through the air. Everywhere we looked we would see beings working together and giving freely. This wonderful site would probably be the last happy moment that we would experience until we had finished our quest and we wanted to enjoy it while it lasted. Comsar and the others asked us to stay for another day but I had to refuse. We had to constantly push on towards the end or we may as well just give up for the time when things would once again end in disaster for The Land of Mystics was steadily approaching.

Only in this mystical Land of The Seven Dwarf-Lords was there still the candy-coated love and kindness that The Cobbler had for us. It almost hurt to take the last step off of the rainbow road and onto the dirt of the ground, but it simply had to be done. So out of this town we traveled and into the cold harsh world we stepped once again.

 Now that we were closer to The Goldenland, it's infecting evil had begun to change the landscape. The trees and grass had lost its splender and had turned into some strange green color. The trees had now all turned to wood and their leaves all to a waxy-like material. We had just stepped out into this land when I, of a sudden, fell very ill. (Corren) I recall collapsing to the ground. Tharen was instantly at my side. I feared the worse. (Maramound) I began to summon a heal spell but in a moment I stopped for I knew that this would not aid him now. As I expected, he began to mumble,

"Gandor... must save Gandor." Tharen cried out,

“Maramound! Cast a heal spell!" I spoke,

"No." Tharen stopped. She then turned and starred into my eyes. A moment passed. She suddenly spoke,

"You... are sure you know what you are doing... right? You... know what Corren means to, me?" To this I only nodded.

"Watch my lady, he will act in a moment."  In a moment Corren rose his hands into the air and summoned a portal. Within moments we were through it and we were walking down the main street of Gandor. The magic shop that I once owned was now completely gone for someone had cleaned up the charred remains. The houses and other shops of the town, also all destroyed. These also were replaced with ashes. Corren fell weaker as we approached the house that he had once lived in, ignorant to the world around him. The parts of his house that survived the flames were scattered around the yard, the rest was incinerated. It was obvious that a magic battle had torn through the town of Gandor.

"This town resembles some of the towns in The War of The Mystics." Tharen said. After a short time Corren had finally recovered. The initial shock of the power being drained from his hometown had effected him profoundly. For some reason he had a strong magical tie with the town of Gandor, much stronger than normal.

As we continued walking towards the Andorthian Sea, I suddenly felt a strong magical power above us. I stopped walking and looked up into the sky just as a blast of light exploded from the sky. I cast a shield around our group while Tharen drew her sword. No sooner did I cast the shield then a burning flame exploded into it. The shield was destroyed, yet it did its purpose. I summoned an ice spell while Tharen moved Corren to a safe location behind a burnt building. Now another blast exploded from the sky and crashed into the ground next to us. I cast my ice spell into the sky however it hit nothing. Our enemy had somehow aligned itself with one of the suns and was now invisible to us. We could only attack and hope to hit this foe. Tharen blasted forth a fire attack but to no avail. Now a fireball tore from the sky and exploded into Tharen. She was thrown backwards and came crashing upon the ground a moment later. She was stunned but she jumped to her feet, anger was now spreading across her face. I quickly summoned a quick lightening bolt and cast it into the air. The blast hit nothing but clouds. The ground began to quake as dark clouds of iota flooded into the sky. I quickly looked back at Tharen. She was summoning another fire spell. I summoned a defense shield for I had no idea where this attack was coming from or who it was meant for. The quaking increased as the ground began to fault within a large crack that spread down the middle of the road. Suddenly the road tore upwards as a red blur exploded from it and sped into the air. A large explosion rang out within the air as an uncountable number of lighting bolts  rained upon something within the sky. Within an instant the remains of a dragon-like creature came raining down from the sky. Suddenly, within this mess a red blur sped from the sky and crashed upon the ground. Behold! It was Corren! He had obviously recovered and had, I assumed, killed the creature that we were fighting.

"Good job!" I yelled to him, half in a jest. (Corren)

"Glad to be a help and conscious!" I said.

"What the heck happened here?" Maramound yelled. I spoke,

"Couldn't tell you... but we better find out, and fast!" At this we gathered our things and quickly walked to the Sea to see if any clues as to what happened still remained. When we had arrived there we found nothing. From there we crossed The Andorthian Sea and looked throughout Gondor as well. Nothing. Not even a body. I now realized something and spoke up,

"Maramound. Did we find any dead bodies?" He thought for a moment before speaking. Tharen spoke up,

"No... not one. That means... they aren't dead! They must be somewhere else fighting!"

"Right Tharen! But where?" Maramound spoke up,

"Well that’s easy, look!" We both looked at Maramound in curiosity. He had his left hand extended and one of his bony fingers was pointing towards the edge of town. There we discovered that there had been a trail of total destruction that was carved right over the hills that were east of the town of Gondor. In a moment we realized that our time was growing scarce.

"Oh... my. They are already at war! We have no time to spare!" Tharen said, half-worried and half-determined. Maramound then spoke,

"It's because of the evil in the land without The Cobbler. Let me explain something to you two. The Cobbler was originally created to keep everything in harmony. He was designed to be a part of every atom, molecule, and cell that makes up the entire Land of Mystics. He was not designed to be this one amazing being in one concentrated spot. This is not how The Cobbler should be, and when we free him and fix the spell that he was made with, he will not stay this way either. With The Cobbler not in every atom of the land, there is no harmony. We can’t get along. We aren't capable of it because of the way that we were designed. We must be careful for now on to

hang on to each other. I have seen the evil of evils. I know the darkest of darkness. I have seen it and we must hang on to each other to fight it. This world will not want us anymore. We are the only truly pure ones that are left. We must be careful..." I quickly spoke up,

"Well what are we waiting for? Let us stop this nonsense fighting and return the land to order!"

 From here we went off on our quest to fight the good fight and to return The Land of Mystics to order for as long as we could.    

 

:Chapter Eighteen - The Good Fight

 

From Gondor we traveled, following the terrible charred path of destruction and carnage that the warring parties had left. We had no clue as to who was fighting who and who was alive or dead. It was this curiosity that drove us onward. It took quite a while before we finally came to the end of the destruction trail. Finally reaching the end, we climbed to the top of a terribly steep hill. Upon this we peered down into the valley below and our eyes suddenly came upon a horrific site.

In this valley below there was a savage battle taking place. Within the battle's horror we still managed to watch it for a little time before we became so sick of the barbaric destruction to watch any longer. After a while we came to the conclusion that the "bad guys" had been attacking the towns around them to gain more power within The Land of Mystics and when news of this reached the towns of Gandor and Gondor, the inhabitants decided to fight back against these foes. Obviously the enemy could not win against Gandor and Gondor so they had brought reinforcements in and this is where they had met for combat.

We knew that it would be rather easy to end this fighting, however we feared that the results of the force that we had to use to do this would be worse then just letting the battle end naturally. This, however, could take days and we simply did not have the time. We also knew that if we could stop this battle it would scare everyone else that was fighting into termination. This battle came to be known as The Battle For Sanity Redemption.

After a moment we had decided that Maramound would be the best one to end the battle for he possessed this amazing power that he had used within Tharen's Cave to defeat the seven dwarf-lords. We backed away from the scene as Maramound stepped up to the edge of the large cliff. He was now fluid in his movements. His eyes flooded over with evil once again. Dark clouds of iota flooded into the sky above as if the dark powers that he summoned were no longer held at bay. To this the battle did not respond. They didn't even notice that Maramound was lurking above them, summoning a terribly awful spell that was geared towards their destruction. This lack of respect would be their undoing. The sky suddenly darkened with black clouds that replaced the clouds of iota in their evil countenance. Darkness flooded over the valley. This slowed the battle a little but the time for surrender had passes. They were now at the mercy of Maramound and his wrathful vengeance.

Maramound was now mad that the beings below did not stop there fighting, and, you don't make Maramound mad. The valley floor began to savagely quake in its terrible overshadowing darkness. Bolts of lightening exploded from the sky, striking down beings right and left. The battle had now ended and attention was given to Maramound upon his cliff of wrath.

Maramound began to chant once again, "Dark forces, I bid thee to serve me!" With this Maramound created a black sphere between his two hands. Terrible explosions again began to explode from his body. Then, casting the spell, Maramound was encircled within a red cylinder-like light that exploded up into the black clouds of the sky. Maramound now lifted off of the ground within the beam and was quickly possessed. Beams of yellow then began to tear through the once red light until both finally faded leaving Maramound floating in the air.

The valley grew darker as Maramound cast the black sphere that he had created into the valley below. As he did this, the valley began to quake more savagely then before. Boulders began to tear from the cliff that Maramound stood upon and were being cast down upon the beings within the valley's depths. The river that ran through the middle of the valley was suddenly torn apart and the waters from it flooded into the ground.

Then suddenly, a terrible explosion ripped up through this crack. Following this came a wave of terrible flames that exploded upon the beings near the fault, killing them instantly. The black sphere that Maramound had cast into the valley began to emit a ghastly moaning sound that echoed across the valley. The sound quickly grew louder. Maramound then began to chant from his place within the air,

"Black darkness! Control this vast paradox! I summon thee to strike these evil knaves down in their stupidity!"

The valley exploded into a even more terrible quaking. The valley now grew completely dark. The beings below within the valley cried out in terror but Maramound would not listen to their pleads for now he was angry, and, you don't make Maramound angry. Maramound was ready and willing to destroy them all. To their screams of terror only responded more violent quaking and moaning. Maramound continued,

"Dark wrath upon you fools!" With this a terrible high-pitched noise called out from the black sphere and, mixing with the ghastly moaning, created a sort of horrific grinding noise. Maramound continued,

"I call upon the dark spirits!" From this command the moaning grew louder and blotted out the high pitch. A legion of black shadows emitted from the black sphere. These shadows cast themselves upon the beings within the valley, pulling them into the portal. As they entered the portal's boundaries, they were struck with an incredible amount of lightening bolts that killed them instantly. This left only their souls to enter into The Dark Land. The spirits moaned and shrieked across the valley, pulling poor souls in right and left. After a time the portal began to crumble. As it did this, lightening poured from it's center and assaulted the beings that the spirits had not claimed. In a moment all had ended. The ground sealed back together and the clouds of the sky faded back into their places, revealing the beautiful and sunny afternoon.

Maramound was still in the air. He was breathing heavily but he seemed to be okay. Suddenly a bolt of lightening exploded towards him but in an instant he rose his hand against it and it froze in it's path. Maramound then waved his hand at the blast and it faded into nothing. Maramound then floated to the ground. We ran to him as he landed. Maramound spoke,

"I mastered it."

"Maramound... how is it possible?" I said.

"I wanted it enough. I wanted to be able to cast it without it using a part of me as payment. I mastered it."

Suddenly we all turned and peered down into the valley below. The beings who were still alive were all silent and were starring up into the sky, trying to make figures out of our blurry shapes. I quickly whispered,

"Good job Maramound, that should save the land until we can free The Cobbler." In an instant we had leaped off of the cliff that we stood upon and a moment later we came to a floating stop upon the floor of the valley with the aid of a little magic. The living masses came running to greet us. From the crowd a man came to me and began to speak,

"My name is Har..."

"Now that this nonsense has ended," I interrupted, showing my position of power, "we need to talk." The man glared at me with hatred until he suddenly noticed the incredible magic power I possessed. The look of hatred then instantly fled from his eyes and he spoke,

"You... are the mighty Corren sent by The Cobbler from the town of Gandor! My lord, what can I do for thee!" I continued,

"First, what has become of my town of Gandor and the power that it once possessed?" To this he humbly responded,

"‘Tis... us my lord. The group we were fighting had attacked Gandor and Gondor. If you were there, the trail of destruction lead you here. I am the humble Harthor from the western side of Gandor." Maramound spoke,

"Hathor, because of Gandor's amazing level of magic your minds have not yet been effected by The Cobbler's absence. You are still striving to be pure. To stay this way you must take these beings back to Gandor and Gondor. Build walls around the city limits and let no one out, let no one in!” He spoke up,

"I will do my best. Now, be off! Save us all!"

With this we quickly left the valley for if we did not leave then, we would not be able to leave for evil was already crouching to destroy us within that very valley. Without another word Maramound tore open a portal and in an instant we had disappeared within it. In a moment we arrived back within The Land of The Seven Dwarf-Lords. This was it. Now we would find The Cobbler.     

 

:Chapter Nineteen - The Critical Mile

 

This was the most important and most critical stage in our quest. From here we would need to possess the most serious of minds, the purest of hearts, and the strongest of wills. None of us spoke for some time for we all knew that this was a very serious part of our quest.

Maramound of the green crystal, skilled wizard. Tharen of the blue crystal, skilled swordsmen and wizard. I, Corren of the red crystal, wielder of the mighty Cobbler's blade and an excellent swordsmen as well. These would be the three names, Corren, Tharen, and Maramound, that would be famous for freeing The Cobbler and restoring The Land of Mystics to it's past beauty and splender...

"This could be a good place to stop." Maramound suddenly spoke, ringing out through the evading silence of the endless forest that we marched through. He was obviously tired but didn't want to admit to it. The truth was that we all were tired.

By now we had crossed the Mountainberry Fields and we were now coming to the edge of the large grouping of cities that followed them. Past these cities there seemed to be a forest that continued forever. Perhaps it seemed to long because it was, by now, converted completely into the hideous growth of The Goldenland, or perhaps we were simply exhausted.

Whatever was the case, we obviously needed a rest. So here we rested. We had stopped within a small clearing that was next to a lovely little lake. The Goldenland had corrupted The Candyland completely from this place. The sky had turned from it's beautiful pinkish glow and into a bland bluish color. The suns had also been changed from their original beauty to a boring yellowish color.

The Candyland had not yet lost it's magical powers, however. Even this was slowly fading though. The land had lost it's glow and it's natural beauty. The “candycoatedness” of this part of the land was long past gone. Because of these dramatic changes, you could say that our moral was low. It was as if someone had pealed the shiny layer of a gold coin off and you were now only left with a dull yellow color. The coin is still gold and worth the full price of gold, and yet with no shine, no luster, nothing to bring attention to it. The land seemed this way, rougher now, almost mean...

Maramound had erected a small camp while I was busy preparing some food. I knew that Maramound and Tharen wouldn't want to waste time eating food when it wasn't necessary, however I composed some of the old "home town" foods that I thought might spark some new passion within our hearts.

Tharen sat by herself, contemplating the things that had occurred on this long, crazy journey. She seemed to be overall happy with herself so I left her alone in her thoughts. In a while I had finished preparing the meal. It was a glorious site. Maramound had slipped into his brute magical tough guy act and was showing no signs of wear.

In a moment I became sick of his act and asked him to sit down. He did so, ignoring the annoyance in my voice. The main course was a mix of three different fruits from around Gandor, Remellons, Gobons, and Ondoits. A remellon is a green fruit with a hard purple cover on the outside. It has a strawberry-like taste to it. Gobons are basically the orange of The Land of Mystics. Ondoits are very strange. They are completely red on the inside and yet they taste sour and have a soft pinkish cover on them. Maramound and Tharen marveled at the site.

"A wonderful feast!" Tharen said, examining the magically created meal.

"A beautiful site!" Maramound added. To this we all dug in. We had our fill of iota to drink along with our meal. A while passed before we had finished our dining. A smile slowly crossed my cheeks at their happiness.

After this we were off again.

"Where are we now?" I asked, not really directing the question to anyone. Tharen took out her map and looked over it a minute before noting a point,

"Here, we are ten miles off course of the..." She paused a moment. "Choco-mountains!"

"No!" Maramound suddenly burst out, thinking the same as Tharen. Maramound continued, "With this new hotter sun those mountains will be melted into a chocolate puddle miles long! The land will be a bog of chocolate by day and a rock hard cement by night!" I spoke up,

"We must save The Land of Mystics soon... or their may be nothing left to save." From here we continued our journey. Off we hiked towards The Choco-Mountains. It was not long before we found out just how correct we were!

   

:Chapter Twenty - Chocolate, Chocolate Everywhere...

 

            It was quite a distance that we had traveled from our last resting-place before we came upon a grassy hill that we began to climb. Walking up over this hill, we came upon a terrifying site. The ground, of a sudden, turned from a grassy blur and into a completely brown sheet. We were stunned. We had expected the mountains to be melting but this was incredible! The entire mountain chain had begun to completely melt!

Maramound moved to the chocolate's edge and slowly reached down to see if the chocolate was hard enough to walk on. Suddenly a wave of chocolate flooded over the top of the solid chocolate that coated the ground and buried Maramound from head to toe. Tharen and I burst into laughter however Maramound was not amused. After the chocolate had stopped flooding over him he cast a spell that cast the chocolate off of him.

After this, Maramound rose his right hand and blasted forth a red sphere that parted the chocolate in half, this of course allowing us a safe path to walk on.

We stood in awe as we peered out across the chocolate covered wasteland. Maramound took the lead as we traveled across the seemingly endless chocolate. The actual Choco-Mountains that once stood as looming shadows over The Land of Mystics were now only little hills, not more than twenty feet high, that sat within the center of the whole mess. We didn't bother to stop and waste magic trying to put the mountains back together for if we did; the suns' heat would simply melt them once again.

When we had finally reached the other side of this mess we smelled rather deliciously of chocolate. We had now entered into "no mans land". Beyond these melted Choco-Mountains is the great seal to The Goldenland itself. Across this small void we crossed and towards the seal we faced.

Finally we had come upon the seal that encased The Goldenland. The great seal stood massive in the sunlight and its strength. The seal had a slight rainbow tint to it and was it was emitting such a tremendous amount of power that it made my stomach churn. As we looked within it's borders we could see strong winds blowing wildly around within The Goldenland. The winds roared savagely for a sandstorm was just beginning within.  

 

:Chapter Twenty-One - The Breaking Of The Seal!

 

As we approached the seal's glowing boundary, we noticed that a large rock had been caught in the middle of the seal so that one half of it was stuck within this world and the other within The Goldenland. Upon this stone, however, there was a strange carving that Maramound, after a minute of examination, determined to be an ancient script that was used within The Pre-Mysticarian Era. He quickly deciphered it,

"To thee who holds the three crystals of The Cobbler's power and also The Cobbler's Rhyme, I greet thee. You then are worthy to break the mighty seal that was placed upon The Goldenland. Henceforth, if you do so desire, place the three crystals within their proper places beneath these words. With these in place, and The Cobbler's Rhyme spoken at the assigned time, The Cobbler will be freed from his prison within The Cobbler's Fortress! Well, that’s it." I spoke up,

"Well... nothing to do not but follow directions!"

With that I removed my crystal from around my neck and walked to the rock carving. I then kneeled and slid the stone into its awaiting hole. As the rock slid into it's respective slot, a faint red color swept over the seal's surface as if some being had lit up a red light and shined it upon a mirror’s reflective surface. As Maramound did so, a faint green swept over the seal in the same fashion. Tharen then moved into position. Tharen feared her job for hers was the last crystal  to enter the carving. In a moment she hesitantly slid her crystal into it's place and then quickly backed away from the seal.             With this the seal began to glow dark purple and was not impossible to see through. The ground suddenly began to quake. With that the rock carving slid into the ground as the three crystals floated from their places. The crystals quickly assembled in a triangular pattern and as they floated into the air. The three crystals then exploded into tiny crystal shards that swirled around each other in a beautiful flash of colors. After a moment of this the tiny shards froze in place exactly where they floated. They then sped forward with an incredible speed and buried themselves into the great seal. The shards buried deep within the seal and then exploded within it.

The savage blast caused a chain reaction that traveled down the entire seal and crumbled it as it traveled. With the falling of the seal came a blast of sand that exploded into our faces as a raging wind suddenly tore from The Goldenland.

The clash of the two lands had begun. A raging sandstorm ripped across the chocolate wasteland, turning all of the chocolate into a crusty mess. A terribly strong wind continuously busted from The Goldenland, trying to equalize the air pressures between each of the newly joined lands. This was a terribly destructive force for it embedded The Candyland with sands from The Goldenland. The two weather systems of the two lands collided and caused terrible explosions of lightening and horrifically strange forms of rain to fall. As a result, The Goldenland became flooded and The Candyland became perched. The only safe haven from this savage collision was the sealed towns of Gandor  and Gondor.

The chaos continued for a great deal of time. Mountains were torn down, oceans were drained, and the whole balance of The Land of Mystics was destroyed. All of this destruction and chaos simply for the two lands to be one once again. The ground shook so violently with this terribly drastic change that it became a swamp for the underground springs had ruptured and had flooded the entire Land of Mystics. The sky was torn into darkness and the suns were torn into a slumber.

An artificial night swept over The Land of Mystics with only the meek moon to guide our quest from here. Magic was now useless for anyone besides us. It simply would not effect anything for the sheer power which flooded from The Goldenland was simply too much to combat.

 

:Chapter Twenty-Two - The Journey To The Cobbler's Fortress

 

A raging thunderstorm, sandstorm, and any other kind of storm you can think of assaulted us as we forged ahead into The Goldenland. After the initial quaking had ended it took us about fifteen minutes to actually recover from the unsteady grounds. After we had once again managed to gain control, we forged ahead through the dark, cold desert.

Finally, after an hour's walk, we had reached the front of The Cobbler's Fortress. The fortress was as it was made. Not one single chip or crack lay upon its sand-covered surface. It was as if the sands had bounced off of the fortress without even making contact with the structure. Somehow we were able to stand in the overwhelming magical power that poured freely from the fortress.

I now quickly ran forward for I felt that we had finally reached the end of our journey. Suddenly I stopped after realizing that we had finally reached The Cobbler's fortress. Once I had reached the point of no return, I raised my foot from the wet cold sand of the desert and dropped it down upon the first step to The Cobbler's Fortress. As my boot crashed upon the stone, the dusts of time floated out of its way.

This was an unexpected relief for when my foot touched down upon this first step of the fortress, the raging storm and all of the clashing between the two lands instantly seized. The suns were instantly ripped back into the sky.

"You must have the magic touch!" Maramound yelled to me. He continued, "Strange, isn't it Corren, that now only you have the three crystals?" I was puzzled by what he said. The crystals had been destroyed at the seal. "Check your sword..." Maramound aided. I soon caught on to what he was saying.

"Your right. I must do this alone." With that I waved and walked up the steps and stopped at the door to The Cobbler's Fortress. Quickly, without a second thought, I reached forward and tugged upon the door with all of my strength. I felt that if I did not act before I thought that I would never open that large gold door. Surpassingly the door opened with the greatest of easy and I was almost thrown backwards by the extra strength that I used. I heard the chuckles of Maramound and Tharen behind me but I didn’t return to them a laugh for this was too serious to me.

I quickly moved inside and slammed the door behind me. As the door slammed shut I was overwhelmed with a magical force. This, however, was nothing like I had ever felt before. This power was like trying to hold a planet upon your shoulders. I was instantly thrown to my knees. This terrible force came at me like a wind, pushing and holding me at bay. Even with this force against me I somehow managed to turn and see the room in which I stood. Everything within the room was solid gold. Everything was shining forth was an indescribable beauty that could only be the work of The Cobbler.

As I looked throughout the room my eyes began to hurt at the beauty of it all. With one final look I lowered my eyes and began pushing forward towards the finish line, the other side of the small room. Ahead of me was a single solid gold door with a slot for the handle that I knew only my blade could fit within.

Only now did I know what Maramound spoke of fully for I now recalled the three crystals that were embedded within the hilt of my sword and the power that was stored within them. With these things in mind I battled, I pushed; I exploded and attacked against the force. It was now blowing upon me as a physical wind, my cloths waving around within the false wind like a flag.

I struggled forward savagely, The relentless winds continuing to force me backwards. Now I was on the floor, crawling and pushing against this wind with all of my strength. Fighting and fighting, I savagely forced my way forward until my fingers suddenly touched the shiny surface of the door. From here I attempted to rise and I was thrown unto my back. From here I inched forward once again, fighting valiantly against this amazing force.

In my struggle I dug my sword into the floor and pushed forward with it. Harder and harder this savage force blew. I gritted my teeth yet pushed forward. Every inch of my body was now forcing and pushing against this wind hoping to finally reach this final door. Before all was lost I made one final daring act.

Suddenly I leaped into the air and sped towards the door, my rage bursting forward with all of its strength. I felt my blade slide into the slot upon the door. I had it! Instantly the forces within the room faded. With this I fell to the floor with a crash.             After that I rose and turned the sword that was buried within the door. The door unlocked as if it were just used the day before. Then, standing tall in relief, I gave a quick tug upon the door. To my surprise the door wouldn't budge! I tugged harder. To this came only the same effect. I stood starring at the door in awe and disbelief.

Suddenly a screamed out in a rage. In a moment I returned to my senses and began to think. I quickly came to the answer. With that I stuck my hand into the pouch that I carried on my side. From within I pulled an old crumbled piece of scroll. I unraveled it and silently read the words that were upon it once more. I then braced myself for anything and then spoke,

"Beginning to end, The Cobbler must mend!" A blast of light instantly exploded from an unknown place and blinded me with its wrath. The room now began to quake as the door in front of me began to slide open. After a moment the door was thrown open with such strength that the door was ripped from it's hinges and was buried into the wall that was behind it.

I now knew that The Cobbler had already left the room within for the presence of him was not found within the doorway. I charged into the room, looking around frantically for any sign or message that was left by The Cobbler to us. Within the center of the room I found a table. Upon this table sat seven necklaces that gleamed in the room's light. I grabbed the seven and ran from the fortress. The Cobbler awaited us elsewhere and I believed that I knew exactly where!   

 

:Chapter Twenty-Three - The Unveiling Of The Seven Dwarf-Lords

 

Exiting the fortress, I found Maramound and Tharen awaiting my presence. I met them with an overwhelming joy that bubbled from within me with an incredible zeal. Tharen was the first to speak,

"It is finally ending, isn't it? We are finally at the end of this quest!" I spoke next,

 "We must go to Tharen's cave, and now!" Maramound was one step ahead of us as usual for before us sat an open portal with the end of Maramound's black cloak disappearing within it. After Maramound we chased, and in an instant we were within the cave once again.

Into the darkness of the cave we charged, overwhelmed with joy at the thought of meeting the great Cobbler himself. As we entered the cavern at the end of the cave, The Cobbler's glow met us within the darkness and turned the cave into a lovely site. I greeted The Cobbler, who was, for the first time, in his pure and full form. He was now as real as Tharen or Maramound and he was not cloaked in some dream-like interface or vision.      

The Cobbler gently reached his hand towards me and with this my sword appeared in front of me. The Cobbler then spoke in a voice that was alien to his usual voice, a voice of sadness at best,

"You know what must be done, Corren." In a moment I realized why The Cobbler had returned my blade to me. At this I spoke,

"My lord, I can not!" This was a waste of my breath, I knew, but I simply could not bring myself to slay The Cobbler. At this the sword appeared within my hands. I simply could not destroy the very thing that I had just spent almost a year fighting for. Again The Cobbler spoke, this time in his usual loving voice,

"Come on Corren. You know that only your blade can end me." Maramound chimed in,

"Come on Corren!" The Cobbler continued,

"Corren, ‘tis not such a terrible act. I shall return soon after you strike me down and I shall return a hundred times stronger than I am now. It is a burden for me to be living now in this form. I will restore The Land of Mystics to a beauty that you can not possibly comprehend." At this I looked down at my blade. The Cobbler spoke again for the last time, "You can't think about this one Corren, you have to just do it!" Within my fear and hatred and love and terror and tears I suddenly spoke as the cave suddenly grew silent,

"Beginning to end, The Cobbler must mend." With this I cried out in sorrow as I swung around with all of my strength and hurled my mighty blade forward into The Cobbler's wonderful glow.

The blade passed through him and buried into the stone wall behind him. The blade didn’t even seem to have hit him at all. The Cobbler then spoke his last,

"It has ended and in this has come a new." After this The Cobbler simply faded into the air. No explosions, no horrific quaking, as peacefully as he had come, he left.

A tear rolled down Tharen's cheek as she starred off into the empty cave that was once occupied by The Cobbler. Maramound was as hard as a rock on the outside, but I knew that he was hurt on the inside, as was I. I walked across the room and pulled my blade out of the cavern wall.

"Truly this blade is mighty for it has taken the mightiest of lives in its wrath." From here I joined Tharen and Maramound and we three walked into the center of the circle of statues. As we stood facing Tharen's statue I felt some strange, cold substance dropping upon my head.

Suddenly a feeling of wild joy took me captive as I realized what this was, and as a joke, I stepped backwards with a jurk. As I did this, a million small particles of glitter-like appearance came pouring from my hair and fell upon the floor of the cave.

Maramound tried to question them but there was no time for this for now these and many more began to swirl around us as we stood within the circle. Tharen and Maramound suddenly laughed as they realized what this was.

"This is The Cobbler's workings!" Tharen said, "He is playing with us, making our task easier!"

"Of course!" Maramound continued, "The Cobbler was destroyed but he is by no means dead! He just had no body to inhabit!"

I now recalled what The Cobbler was up to. Remembering this, I took the seven necklaces that I received from him and cast them into the blur of particles that sped around us. The necklaces drifted off into the air and were now caught by this glistening powder. Suddenly the necklaces were moved into position by the glitter, each over one of the seven wizard statues. Now the necklaces dropped upon the seven statues like clockwork. As they did this, the statues instantly came to life.

At this the cavern converted into it's past countenance that was present over thirty-five thousand years ago. Somehow only Tharen was able to move. It was as if we were watching a play or a dream from far away and could not change any of it. We knew, of course, what Tharen was there to do. The amazing ability of time travel put Maramound's brain into a temporary point of insanity. He continuously rambled on in disbelief at this new event and yet at the same time he seemed to almost understand The Cobbler's amazing workings. We knew now what Tharen was here to do. She needed to stop herself from falling into the spell that created The Cobbler and to end the corruption that occurred because of this.

Tharen went to work. She quietly climbed up upon the structure that held the slot for Contrus’ ring and hid in a dark corner. Soon the past Tharen had reached the top of the stairs. At this second, Tharen jumped from the shadows and cracked... herself over the head with the hilt of her sword, knocking her unconscious. Tharen then took the ring from herself and ran to the edge of the platform. She then very carefully slid the ring into its position above the spell's glow.

We now seemed to leave that far away place and somehow we felt as if we had entered the cave with her. With that Tharen ran to our side. Moments later the wizards cast their spell. Amazingly we were all thrown upon the ground from the power of the spell. The light from the spell was incredibly intense.

This cave of the past faded from our eyes and we now returned to the present day cave. The eight statues that were in the cave had now vanished and all that was left was a portal that sat within the center of the now-vanished circle. At that we ran forth and leaped into the portal, an overwhelming joy taking us captive as we did.

From the portal we came, and into the sky high above The Land of Mystics we appeared. We floated there in curiosity a moment before we discovered what we were there for. Our attention was now drawn to the cave that we had just stood within, it's size and shape now hard to make out at the height we had reached. Large explosions were tearing from the cave with a terribly strong force that shook the ground and sky, sending bursts of hot air into our faces.

Now the entire mountain crumbled to pieces in one large explosion as a rainbow colored blast of light tore from within it. This explosion literally shook the entire planet. The immense blast of color exploded upwards into the clouds, throwing them aside like rag dolls. The blast poured from the mountain much like a volcano and yet with an immeasurable strength.

When the rainbow blast reached the edge of the planet's atmosphere, it began to spread out over the entire surface of The Land of Mystics. As the blast traveled over the land, it completely destroyed everything within its path, much like a raging fire. The explosion was so strong that the barrier of time, for some reason now visible to us, was shattered and time was once again seized in it’s steps.

The blast shook the entire planet as it roared across its surface until it finally collided with itself on the other side of the planet. From our place in the sky we were now moved into the dark heavens above from where, it was now eminent, we would watch the destruction of The Land of Mystics.

 

:Chapter Twenty-Four - The New Planet

 

A red glow now took the planet captive, starting from within its core and traveling outward to its surface. From the planet then rang massive explosions that accompanied this glow, the intensity of these we could actually feel from within our place way above the planet. From within the planet then came an all consuming wave of molten lava, shining valiantly forth through the clouds, that flooded over the planet's surface and destroyed everything within it’s path.

From this point the planet ruptured from the center and,  in one final blast, exploded with a raging fury that had never before been matched within the darkness that it was created in before now. The blast shook the heavens. The small pieces of the planet that managed to survive complete vaporization slowly drifted out into the darkness as The Land of Mystic’s atmosphere crumbled in front of our eyes. The terrible blast and energy sped past us as if it had no end. Only after several minutes did it’s fury seen to subside.

After this had ended, we looked back and forth at each other wondering what we should do and also wondering what the other was thinking. As we began discussing this matter within the eternal darkness of this strange place, we also began to notice a strange event that had started to occur. The smaller pieces of the planet had begun to clump together. After a moment we simply assumed that this was gravity working on them. This we thought until the clumps began to glow a pink color. With my sudden enlightenment I now spoke,

"Beginning to end, The Cobbler must mend indeed! Look! The Cobbler is at it again! He is putting The Land of Mystics back together with him a part of every atom! Look! He has a hold on every atom of The Land of Mystics at the same time!" Soon, larger clumps of the planet were being formed from the smaller ones and were now being pulled towards one another with an amazing chain reaction.

Faster and faster the pieces sped together, the sheer force of the gravity now also pulling upon us a bit. After a time all of the pieces of the planet had been thrown roughly together once again. The entire hunk of dirt and rock was glowing pink with The Cobbler's presence and power! It was a magnificent site.

The pinkish light left the planet's surface and was now gathering at one small point upon the planet. As the pinkish light would leave a point on the planet, that place would be restored to its past splendor as if a picture had been unfolded upon the dirty, crude rock. The Goldenland was restored to its past beauty and The Cobbler's fortress was nowhere to be found. This pink light now came together into a single point and rose from the planet and stopped in front of us.

 This was The Cobbler in his true form, free to flow throughout the entire Land of Mystics and to spread his love and joy to everyone and everything for all eternity. The sphere then spoke,

"I am The Cobbler, the true Cobbler, a part of every atom of The Land of Mystics. This is how it is supposed to be." I spoke up,

 "Cobbler! Thank you for this!" The Cobbler continued,

 "No, I thank you Corren. I thank you for saving The Land of Mystics and I as well. Thank you also Tharen, Maramound." The Cobbler paused for a moment and then continued, "Corren of Gandor, you shall rule as king over The Candyland within the Castle of Gandor. If she will allow, the lady Tharen shall be at your side as queen. Do you permit this Queen Tharen?" Tharen starred at The Cobbler for a moment. She then spoke to The Cobbler with a laugh,

"So, you can read minds also now, huh?" Before The Cobbler could answer she continued, "Yes, I'll be your queen!" The Cobbler then continued,

 "Grand Wizard Maramound. You shall be The Grand Wizard over The Goldenland. You shall have seven trusted wizards at your side as advisors. They shall come from the bloodline of the Algoron descendents." To this Maramound's eyes widened but we did not dare ask for we knew not to bother with such things now. "You must be a firm leader Maramound. Rule The Goldenland with an iron hand for it will need a great work to return it to it's past splendor before it was destroyed by hatred." The Cobbler then laughed and then continued, "What shall I do what all of my free time? Perhaps I will take a vacation! Now, I must leave you. If you ever need my council, simply call out my name. I shall speak to you but I can not be with you for I now also have a great quest to conquer, keeping this land in order! I bid thee goodbye!" Tharen spoke,

"Thank you mighty Cobbler!" Maramound spoke,

 "Thank you also Cobbler!" I spoke,

"Next time then Cobbler!" To this The Cobbler spoke his last words for this adventure,

"Oh, and yes! This 'next time' will be sooner than you think!"

And that was that. With that The Cobbler exploded into a cloud of countless pink dots and then disappeared into The Land of Mystics. Even now as we look upon the future, we can foresee no evil on the horizon. This is all due to The Cobbler and his pure intentions. This is why, when you are looking into the storybooks of time, there is one being to always remember. From beginning to end, The Cobbler must mend.

 

Here lies the end to the first of six chronicles in the

great story of The Land of Mystics and of the adventures

that have befallen it. Here lies the end to

 

The Cobbler

 

 

THE END