| | | | As soon as I saw the smoke in the window I rushed to the door. What was going on?
I tried to comfort myself by saying that this may not be anything. Maybe I just imagined the smoke. Maybe Rowan was casting one of her fire spells. Maybe, since Rowan loved pets, she bought a Fire Cat and I was just seeing the smoke from his fur. Maybe… maybe…
Still, I guessed we were safe. My dad was an ice wizard, and even though he couldn’t freeze fire, he could still make ice. The ice would then melt into water and put out the fire. At least that is what I hoped. I had no idea if it worked like that, since I never had to put out a fire.
I flung open the door and saw nothing different, except for the fact that the air was flooded with smoke. I had to keep down low to stop coughing.
I advanced toward the living room, which is where the window I had seen smoke coming out of was located.
When I was walking in the room, I tripped over something and I tumbled to the ground. “Oooww!” said a voice.
“What? Who was that?” I asked, looking around.
“Sierra, is that you?” the voice said. When I looked at what I tripped over, I saw my sister, Rowan, lying on the ground.
“Rowan! What’s going on?”
“I’m not sure,” she replied. “It was like this when I came home. I can’t find Mom and Dad, Sierra. I’m scared for them. But,” she said, holding up something that looked like a piece of black fur, “I found
Bandit! He’s just a little dirty from all the soot flying around.”
“A little?” I mumbled. “Why were you on the ground?”
“I was trying to crawl across the floor.”
“Is there a fire or what?”
“I don’t know, but it definitely looks like there is one, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah, it does. I’m going to look for it.”
Rowan gasped. “Sierra, why would you ever want to find fire? It’s too dangerous!”
“I think I might be able to put it out.” I was thinking about what the ice giant in the Tower of Lost Memories had told me. He had said that I could freeze fire.
“Sierra, I don’t think you should.”
“You can’t stop me. I need to find Mom and Dad anyway,” I told her. And before she could protest I hurried off.
It was really hard to see in the blackness of the smoke. Even close to the ground I couldn’t see my own hand in front of my face. I wished that I were a storm wizard so I could summon some wind to blow all this smoke away. Or better yet, a fire wizard so I could put out the fire.
“Mom? Dad?” I called out. No one answered.
When I crawled into my very own room, I immediately knew this was where the fire was. First of all, it was because the smoke was thicker in here. Second, I saw it.
But this was like no fire I had ever seen. Though it seemed as though the effects of this fire were the same, I felt absolutely no warmth when it came near me. And this fire wasn’t red. It was as black as the
night sky.
A shiver went down my spine as I approached it. Then, I made a huge mistake: I touched the fire.
Just like any fire, I felt searing pain. But this pain was worse. Even when I pulled my arm back I still felt as if it was on me. And it hadn’t felt hot at all. It felt more like what I had always imagined the cold would feel like if I hadn’t been an ice wizard. So if even I could feel it, then it must have been really, really, really cold.
Terrified by this cold fire, I crawled away. But every movement I made hurt and made me feel weaker and weaker. I couldn’t take it anymore and I stopped moving altogether. I then tried to make ice appear around the fire, so that it wouldn’t hurt anyone else. But my powers weren’t working. My head was spinning. I felt dizzy and tired. What was happening to me? Finally, I gave into the feeling of fatigue, and fell unconscious.
“Unghh… what happened?” I woke up with a start. I groaned again and slowly sat up.
I looked around to try and figure out where I was. I looked like I was in a dump, with debris all around.
Suddenly, memories came flooding back to me. I rose quickly to me feet, then instantly regretted my decision. Pain shot through my body and forced me to sit back down. So the effects from the fire still hadn’t worn off.
This strange pile of debris seemed familiar to me. When I looked around some more, I realized where I was: this worthless wreckage was the remains of my house.
I was then paralyzed from shock. How did this happen? And where was my family? I struggled to my feet so that I could look around. “Rowan?” I called out. “Mom? Dad? Where are you?”
When no one replied I began to cry. They were the only family I had ever known and they were now gone.
What was I going to do now? All I could think of was go back to the orphanage where I was raised, and that idea certainly wasn’t very appealing. I didn’t want to spend my whole life being called “Strange
Sierra”.
“Sierra? What happened?”
I turned to see Sydney standing where my front door used to be. She looked as stunned as I felt.
“Sydney… I don’t know… there was this weird black fire and then I fainted and…”
“Wait, there was a fire? Why didn’t you call me! I could have put it out!”
I shook my head. “Sydney, it was no ordinary fire. It was black and cold and… I don’t know. I’m so worried for Rowan and my parents.”
“Uh, well, I came here to tell you that you were right about Hunter but since it looks like you are having, um, troubles with your house I guess I’ll come back later.”
“What do you mean I was right?”
“I think Hunter is the myth Seeker of Light!”
“He is? How do you know?”
Sydney looked at me sympathetically. “Are you sure that you want me to tell you now? Because I think you need to start looking for your family and –”
“You’re here now, you might as well tell me.”
“Ok. Yesterday, Hunter messed up his teleporting, just like the Scarecrow said would happen to the myth Seeker.”
“What do you mean ‘messed up’?”
“Uh… he was trying to teleport to his friend in the Fairgrounds and he ended up over a pit of lava in Dragonspyre. He was just lucky that this kid named, I don’t know, Liam something I think, caught him before he fell.”
“Oh. That is bad.”
“Yeah. Now my parents won’t let him teleport.”
“But still, how do you know this is a continuous problem? Maybe that was a one-time thing.”
“Believe it or not, my parents weren’t overprotective of him when it happened the first time. They let him keep teleporting. But then it happened two more times, and that was enough for my parents.”
“Then he must be the Seeker of Light!” I said happily.
“Oh no,” said Sydney.
“What?”
“Do we really have to drag him around now?”
I laughed, feeling happy again. But a single glance around me reminded me of what had just happened to my home and family, and I stopped. “I’m sorry Sydney,” I told her. “I’d love to help you try and awaken him,
but I have other things to worry about.”
Sydney nodded. “I understand. Do you want me to help in some way?”
“I don’t know how you can.”
“Are you sure there isn’t something I can do?”
“I guess you can help me look for my family. I was going to start by
searching under this rubble.”
“Ok! I can help with that!”
So we began uncovering many things underneath the debris, but none of it was what I wanted. Sure, I was happy when we found my deck and wand, but compared to what we could have found that was much more precious
made me disappointed in our discoveries.
While we were looking, I stepped on a tall pile of rubble and it began to move. “What?” I looked down at the pile I was standing on and began to pull away pieces of burnt wood. Pretty soon, I uncovered something
black and fuzzy. Pulling away more debris made me realize that it was our Heckhound, Bandit.
“Bandit!” I cried out. Of course in any other situation I still would have been happy to see him, but now I was extra happy, and not just because I’d thought he was dead. First of all, Rowan had been holding Bandit, and if he had survived then surely she must have. And if she had, then she must be around here somewhere. Secondly, I was happy because Bandit had a wonderful sense of smell. I was sure that he could help us search!
“Hey Bandit,” I said to the happy black Heckhound, “do you know where Rowan is?”
But the animal wasn’t listening to me. He seemed too excited over another pile of fragments of our house.
“Come on Bandit,” I said to the Heckhound, “let’s go look over here.” But he was crazily sniffing that pile.
Then it hit me. Bandit had always loved Rowan the most, and no matter what any of us did he would never leave her side. Otherwise, he was very obedient. The only reason he wouldn’t want to come with me would
be if he found Rowan.
I started rapidly digging through the wreckage. I was even more excited when I found a piece of green cloth that may have been from Rowan’s robe.
“Sydney!” I called to her. “Help me dig! I think I found Rowan!”
“What?” Sydney hurried to my side to help.
Then, after removing a large piece of wood from the pile, we saw an arm poking out. “Sydney!” I cried happily. “This must be her!”
Finally, we uncovered Rowan. Her face was really dirty, and she was unconscious, but she was alive and breathing.
“I’m so glad!” I exclaimed. “I can’t believe we found her! If she lived, then maybe my parents did as well!”
With Bandit’s help, we found both my parents. Even though my house may have been burned down, at least I had my family back.
“But Sierra, don’t you think we should get them to a hospital? Maybe they’re injured,” Sydney pointed out.
“You’re right,” I replied. “Come on, help me teleport them to the hospital.”
We quickly arrived at the right place and hurried them inside. I was scared, but soon the healers came out and told me that they were all fine. My dad had a broken leg, and Rowan had burned herself in many
places, but they would live with the right treatment.
“Thank you, Sydney, for helping me find them. I wonder where we will live now,” I said.
“I’m sorry about your house,” said Sydney. “Hey, why don’t you move in with us?” she suggested.
“That is a great idea! I’d love to live with you! But are you sure your family will be alright?”
“Yeah, I’m positive, but I can’t be sure that your parents will be alright with it.”
“Who else is going to offer to let them move in that they’ll accept? You’re the only ones they have to turn to. And it’ll be perfect, because then I can try and awaken your brother!”
“Oh yeah! This is going to be awesome. I can’t wait!”
My parents were fine. When they woke up, we went back to our burnt down home to gather whatever things were left over from the fire. When we were finished, we moved in with Sydney and Hunter.
Sydney wanted both Rowan and I to sleep in her room, so we were a little cramped. We had lots of fun the first day, talking all about stuff we would do together as if it were a sleepover (you know how us
girls are).
I still wanted to discuss where we would go to awaken Hunter with Sydney, but I couldn’t with Rowan in the room.
At about 6 o’clock at night, someone knocked on Sydney’s door. Rowan, Sydney, and I didn’t pay any attention to it until Sydney’s mother called us down to meet the visitor.
When we came into the living room where Sydney’s parents were waiting, I gasped.
“Hello,” greeted the visitor. I would have thought him completely normal, if it hadn’t been that I knew him.
He was a balance student with short golden-brown hair and purple eyes. His smile was gentle, and he looked like a much higher level than any of us.
I had never seen him before in real life, but I had once in my dream. This was the exact same boy that had tried to kill me in my dream a few nights ago.
“W… who are you?” I asked timidly. If the guy in my dream and this student hadn’t looked absolutely exactly the same, all the way down to the clothes he was wearing, then maybe I wouldn’t have been so shy.
Besides, he had tried to kill me in the dream. Who could blame me for being cautious?
“This is Liam Griffinbane, the boy who saved Hunter’s life. We invited him over for dinner,” explained Sydney’s father.
If this was the kid who saved Hunter, then he couldn’t be a killer… could he?
“Come on Liam. We already have the table set and everything.”
Dinner was pretty quiet. Every once and a while, our parents tried to start a conversation. But apparently Liam was as reluctant to talk as we were.
As soon as I was done I excused myself and ran into the room that Sydney was sharing with Rowan and I. I had wanted to get away from that Liam guy as soon as possible. He seemed kind of creepy. And maybe I was
just overreacting because of my dream but… he seemed to have some sort of dark aura around him.
Rowan and Sydney came back very soon. When they arrived, I confessed to them what I thought about Liam.
“You guys, don’t you think Liam is a little… strange?”
“What do you mean, Sierra?” asked Rowan. “He seems nice enough. After all, he did save Hunter.”
“No, that’s not what I mean. He just… I don’t know. He kind of feels…” I sigh. “It is really hard to explain, so I guess I’ll start with the beginning. I had a dream the night before we awakened Victoria. And
Liam was in it.”
“Really? That is weird. It’s kind of like predicting the future. What happened?”
“It started in the ice magic classroom, and Malistaire came and attacked me with a Scorpion –”
“Wait a minute,” said Sydney. “Isn’t Scorpion a balance spell? And Malistaire is death.”
“I don’t know. I mean, it was a dream and weird stuff always happen in dreams. And besides, just because I’m an ice wizard doesn’t mean I can’t know, let’s say, storm spells. Anyway, then I was in this dark
room and Liam was standing over me.”
“How do you know it was Liam and not some other balance student?” inquired Sydney. “They all look alike to me.”
“Everything is the same! The clothes he was wearing, hair color, eye color… even his wand is the same.”
“Ok, let’s say just for a moment that this was Liam in your dream. Why are you so worried?”
“Because in my dream, he tried to kill me! My sapphire necklace did too.”
“I don’t think your necklace is going to kill you,” chuckled Sydney. “I don’t think the dragon would have given… Uh, I mean…”
“Dragon?” questioned Rowan, who suddenly perked up. “What dragon are you talking about?”
“Um…”
“Sydney meant to say… um…” I tried to think of something to cover her up. Luckily, just at that moment someone entered the room and said, “Mind if I join you?”
We glanced over our shoulders to see Liam standing in the doorway.
“Uh, sure,” I said.
Liam walked in and sat down. I wondered why he wanted to hang out with a bunch of girls.
He seemed to notice what I was thinking and said, “I’m bored. At least you’re better than Hunter. I’m sorry Sydney, but your brother is kind of annoying.”
Sydney laughed and said, “Finally! Someone agrees with me!”
“So, what are you guys doing in here?”
“Well, we were having a nice conversation until you so rudely interrupted,” I huffed.
“I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I guess I’ll leave.”
“No! Rowan and I want you to stay. Sierra can leave if she doesn't want to talk to you,” Sydney encouraged.
I glared at her, but didn’t leave or say anything else. Why were my friends so protective of this guy? Just because he saved Hunter’s life doesn't mean he is a good person. Who knows, it could have been an
accident that he saved him.
Or maybe it is the other way around. Maybe just because he was evil in my dream doesn’t mean he really is.
“What are you guys talking about?”
“Um, well…” Sydney said.
“Sierra had a dream with you in it!” Rowan blurted out.
I sighed. I hadn’t been planning on telling him. It would be weird to tell someone that you don’t trust them because they tried to kill you in a dream.
“Hmm, that’s interesting. And quite a coincidence,” said Liam.
“Why?”
“Because I thought I had a dream with you in it too. I knew you looked familiar, but I wasn’t sure.”
“Really?” I said, surprised. “What happened?”
“It was a little weird. I don’t think you want to know.”
“Good, because I don’t want to tell you my dream either.”
“Come on Liam. Tell us!” coaxed Sydney.
“Please?” pleaded Rowan.
Liam laughed. “It seems like everyone here wants to hear my dream except Sierra. Is it alright with you?” he asked me.
“As long as I don’t have to share my dream with you then I guess it is fine.”
“Ok. And this was a dream so please don’t blame me for thinking up any of this stuff. Well, in my dream, Sierra was there and… well, you were dying. A shady figure in a hooded cloak was attacking you with a
balance spell. And I wanted to save you, but when I ran to you nothing got any closer, and then there was this evil laugh. I felt like it was my duty to help you, but then… I don’t know, I can’t really remember
much of it.”
We were all staring at him like he was crazy.
“Hey, don’t look at me like that,” said Liam defensively. “You wanted to hear it.”
“Yeah, I guess we shouldn’t be staring at you like that. Sorry Liam,” Rowan apologized. “It is just that it was so… unrealistic.”
“It’s a dream! They’re always unrealistic!”
“I didn’t mean it like that.”
“It’s ok, Rowan. Hey, why are you guys here anyway? Isn’t this Sydney’s house?”
“Yeah, but our house burnt down,” Rowan explained. “And how do you know my name?”
“Your parents told me all of your names and said I should go and meet you because we’re almost the same age. But I’m a way higher level than you guys.”
“Really? What level are you? I’m twenty-four,” I questioned.
“I’m forty-one, and a Master Sorcerer.”
“Master?” I gasped. “Wow! I’ve never personally know a Master!”
“Why don’t we become friends?” Liam offered. “I could help you with whatever quests you’re working on. Dragonspyre gets kind of boring after a while.”
“That’s so nice of you!” I said.
We became friends and got to know each other better. I still couldn't believe I trusted him. I wanted to believe in him just like all my friends did, but still, whenever we were having fun together, my dream was at the front of my mind. Somehow, I couldn’t forget him trying to kill me.
So why was I still hanging out with him? That, I did not know.
Many weeks passed. I leveled up to level 28 and managed to get into Marleybone for the first time. I was just beginning to explore its dark streets when Sydney asked me to help her.
I teleported to her and found myself in Cyclops Lane fighting an easy boss, Eyus Maximus. “Why do you need help with this? I was in Marleybone!” I complained.
“Sorry, but Hunter needed help and I wasn’t fully healed.”
“Hunter is still on Cyclops Lane?”
“Yep. I don’t know why, but he prefers the duel arena over quests so he doesn’t level up much.”
In no time the Cyclopes were defeated. With nothing interesting left to do and Marleybone now too far away to even be worth the trip, I followed Hunter around and helped him with many things.
I departed to the Mini-Game Fairgrounds just for a moment to get some more mana. When I teleported back to Hunter, he was talking to Nolan Stormgate. When his conversation was over, he turned to me. “Look what
I found Sierra,” he said, holding up a key. I gasped. It looked exactly like the Key of Frost that I had used to unlock the Tower of Lost Memories! The only difference was it looked newer and this key was
gold. What could it be for?
“W-where did you find that?” I stammered.
“It was lying on the ground by that tent over there.” He pointed to one of the many tents around us that were identical to the ones in the Fairgrounds. This was, after all, a Fairground, but instead it was a
“Festival Fairground”.
“But… but…” I sputtered.
“What do you think it’s for?”
“I think it’s for awakening you!” I blurted out.
“Huh?"
“Um, never mind.”
“Wasn't awakening what you did to my sister?"
"Maybe" was all I said.
"No, I want to know what you meant! If you have any idea where this key goes, please tell me.”
“We should try it out on all the major buildings in Cyclops Lane,” I suggested. “Starting with General Akilles’ Keep.” I thought that since General Akilles’ Keep was like the Cyclops Lane version of Gobblestone
Castle, we should start there.
“I guess,” said Hunter unsurely.
“Good! Now follow me.” Before he could protest I ran away with the key.
Unfortunately, when we tried it on the keep it didn’t work. Next we tried Eyus Maximus’ Lair. It still didn’t work.
“Hmm…” I said trying to think of another place we could try. “We can go to the gates that lead to Olde Town and the Dark Cave, but I doubt that would work. There are no key holes there.”
“Please can we give up?” Hunter complained. “I’m bored! And I wanted to finish some more quests today.”
“No, we need to find where this fits! Let’s see. Maybe if we try… no, that couldn’t be it… but what about… nope, wouldn’t work… perhaps... ugh! I can’t think of anything!”
“Maybe we should take a break,” Hunter offered.
“No way. You just don’t understand. It is vital that we find the place where this key fits. Maybe Sydney has an idea.”
“Come on! Just a teensy, tiny, very short break? I promise it will only be for a moment. It can give you time to think,” Hunter begged.
After a moment of consideration, I decided that would be the best. Hunter was right; it would give me plenty of time to think, and I need to get something to eat. I was starving! I hadn’t had any lunch because
I had been so busy helping Hunter, so you can imagine that I was pretty hungry.
“Fine,” I agreed. “Make sure you meet me back here in an hour, ok?”
“Got it!” he replied as he ran off.
I watched him leave. When he was out of sight, I sighed and walked toward the Festival Fairgrounds.
I scanned the Fairgrounds. Nolan Stormgate was in his usual spot, and so were all the guards. Just then, I realized that I had never been inside the tents here. What could they be concealing? I walked up to
the blue one and peered inside. It was pitch black inside. I wanted to call Sydney, but she was playing a mini-game so I couldn’t disturb her. There was only one other fire wizard that I knew, and that was Seth
Goldenblood.
Unfortunately, last time I saw him he was only an Apprentice. I didn't know what level you had to be to completely light something up, but I wasn't so sure that an Apprentice would be qualified. And even if they
were, then they certainly wouldn’t be very good at it.
Though I worried for my safety by letting a lower level light my way, if I wanted to see what was inside the tents then I had to take my chances. Besides, ice wizards learned how to freeze stuff as a Novice. I told that to myself over and over, leaving out that fact that usually when a Novice tried to freeze something, they ended up freezing the wrong thing.
Seth wasn’t busy and he came right away. He agreed to light up the tent since he was also curious.
“By the way,” said Seth before we entered, “I am an Initiate now.”
“Good,” I muttered. “At least that gives me some comfort. An Initiate is much better than an Apprentice.”
We slowly walked inside. I glanced around the tent, but to my disappointment, I saw nothing. The tent was completely empty.
“Aww,” pouted Seth. “I thought they held some sort of mystery.”
As we were turning to leave, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. “Hey Seth,” I said. “Turn your light over there.”
He did, but all it revealed was a small brown chest. “Look,” I said in a little bit disappointed tone, “it is just like the wooden chests you see on the streets.”
“What are you talking about?” asked Seth, confused. “Sierra, there is nothing there!”
“Can’t you see it?” I strode right up next to it. “It is right here.”
“I don’t see anything. There’s only air.”
“What?” I shouted in dismay. “Come on! Right here. You can even touch it.”
Seth reached out his hand, and to my amazement it went right through the chest!
“See? Nothing there. Told you so.”
“What just happened? Your hand went through the box, as if you were a ghost or something!”
“You’re crazy, Sierra. I’m telling you, that is just an empty corner.”
“Hmm… wait a minute Seth; will you please stay here for a moment?”
“Uh, sure, I guess. Just don’t be too long.”
“I won’t.” I kneeled down next to the chest and attempted to lift it. But it wouldn’t budge. After examining it a little, I noticed a key slot. I took the key that Hunter had found out of my robe pocket. When I tried it, it worked!
“I found it!” I shouted happily. “I found where the key fits!”
“What do you mean? You weren’t even holding anything,” Seth corrected.
I just ignored him and called out to Hunter in whisper chat. “I found where the key fits!” I exclaimed. “Come here, quickly!”
Hunter didn’t delay in coming. Luckily, when I quizzed him about the chest, he could see it fine. I wondered if Seth was playing a trick on me. I didn’t know him very well, so I had no idea if that is something he was likely to do.
With Hunter finally here, I lifted open the chest. But to our dismay, when I discarded the lock to see the chest’s contents we saw nothing.
Behind us Seth suddenly gasped. “That chest just appeared out of nowhere!”
I smirked. “Oh, so now you can see it. It was always there, Seth.”
“No, but really! I couldn’t see it before!”
“Interesting…” I commented.
Seth opened his mouth to reply, but instead Hunter suddenly cried out “Something grabbed my leg!”
We looked down to see a giant arm hanging on to him. It was an enormous arm that looked like it belonged to a Cyclops.
The arm began to drag him across the floor. Seth and I watched helplessly as he was thrown into the chest – and disappeared.
“Hunter?” I cried out. “Where are you?”
Then the hand came back out of the chest, searching for its next victim.
“Oh no, we’re next!” Seth whimpered.
“Not if I can help it. Run!” We turned to make a getaway, but apparently the Cyclops that the arm belonged to had other plans. He grabbed both of us and dragged us down into the chest.
“This is it!” sobbed Seth. “I’m never going to see daylight again! I always liked you, Sierra. Even if I didn’t get to know you well, I’m going to miss you!”
“Uh, Seth,” I began.
“I know you’ll miss me too. If you survive, tell my parents I love them. Why us! Why couldn’t it be anyone else?”
“That’s exactly what I thought when I found out I was a Seeker!” I exclaimed.
“A what?”
“Nothing. But I just wanted to point out that we aren’t dying.”
“What do you mean?” Both of us looked around. We were in some sort of room that reminded me of a dungeon with its bare, grey, stone walls.
“Sierra? Seth?” We spun around to see Hunter on the other side of the cramped room.
“Hunter, what happened?” I asked.
“I’m not sure,” he answered.
“Come on, let’s find a way out of here,” I suggested. But when I turned back to face what I thought was Seth, instead I found myself face to face with a Cyclops.
“AHHH!” I screamed and I scurried to the other side of the room.
“Do not be afraid,” said the Cyclops. “I am a friend, not an enemy.”
“That’s what they always say,” growled Hunter. “Leave us alone. I am a powerful myth wizard, you know!”
“Yes, I do know, Hunter Thundershield.”
“H-how do you know my name?”
“I know Sierra’s name too. But that boy I am not so sure about.” The Cyclops gestured to Seth.
“Oh, that’s Seth Goldenblood,” I answered without thinking.
“Sierra!” cried out Seth. “Don’t tell him!”
“Then welcome, Seth,” said the Cyclops warmly.
“I don’t want to be welcomed! I’m not planning on staying. Just get me out of here!” Seth lit up a fire and held it up to the Cyclops. "I have this fire and I'm not afraid to use it! I will burn this place down if
you don't let us go home right now!"
The formidable Cyclops backed away. I couldn't believe that such a powerful creature was afraid of fire! "I do not want any violence," it said. "I will return you home if you desire."
"Yay!" exclaimed Seth. "Come on Sierra, let's go."
"No," I said. "I'm not moving." I turned to the Cyclops. "Do you know anything about... the Seekers of Light?"
The Cyclops smiled. "Yes."
"Oh yeah?" Hunter challenged. "Then who are some of them?
"Sydney Jadehammer, your sister, is, and so is Sierra here. And you too, Hunter."
"Hah!" Hunter shouted. "See! I'm not a Seeker!"
"Not yet," I said with a grin.
"What do you mean?" he questioned.
"You are the myth Seeker of Light, Hunter Thundershield," explained the Cyclops.
"What?" he exclaimed. "No I'm not! I don't have any problems like my sister, and I'm not special!"
"Oh yes you do," I countered. "You have the teleporting problem, remember?"
Hunter looked embarrassed. "So Sydney told you about that, did she? That horrible girl! I told her specifically not to!"
"Well sorry, but that is what happened. Please help us with this, Hunter."
"Get someone else to help you! I don't want to be a Seeker. I can't face Malistaire alone."
"You won't be alone. The other six Seekers will also be there."
"But... I don't think I can."
"Of course you can," said the Cyclops. "You wouldn't have been selected otherwise."
“Don’t worry, Hunter. Remember, there are other Seekers. And two of them are your sister and I.”
Hunter just stared at his feet. He looked so sad! His face kind of reminded me of what he looked like in Dragon’s Mouth Cave, when Sydney was falling through the air. I could tell that Hunter greatly admired
his sister, though if you asked him he would have probably denied it.
Finally, he looked back up. “You’re right.”
“I am?” I asked, surprised at his sudden reply.
“Yes. I think that deep down inside, I have always wanted to be a Seeker. I guess it was just because I think that I’m too good for anything that my sister was part of. But… your mission is a good one,
and I want to help if I can. If I was chosen to be a Seeker of Light, then I should accept my fate.”
I just stared at him, dumfounded. “W-wow, that was… amazing!” I shouted.
“That was very grown up, Hunter Thundershield,” complimented the Cyclops approvingly.
“I’m glad you’re a Seeker, Hunter,” I said.
He beamed at me.
“Wait!” Seth suddenly yelled. “What is a ‘Seeker’? What are you guys talking about? Someone explain this to me now!”
“Sorry Seth,” I apologized. “I completely forgot that you don’t know what a Seeker of Light is. I guess that since you are here, we’d better tell you.”
“Seekers have to defeat Malistaire,” explained Hunter.
“Oh, really?” Seth’s eyes lit up. “I want to fight Malistaire!”
“I’m sorry, but there is already going to be seven of us. I still have no idea how we will fit in a dueling circle, so we can’t add any more people. We already have found five of the Seekers, and-”
“Actually, six,” the Cyclops corrected. “You have already found the balance Seeker, Liam Griffinbane. You only need to awaken him.”
“Liam is a Seeker?” That settled it. I had to trust him now! I could only hope that the dream had just been a coincidence. If he were a Seeker, then he wouldn’t want to kill me.
Then, I realized something. “Aren’t we supposed to find the life Seeker next?”
“Yes, but since you have already found the balance Seeker, you must awaken him first.”
“Oh, ok. Then let’s get going!”
“But what about me?” Seth whined. “I want to help you fight Malistaire!”
“Really, I wish you could come, but it will be too dangerous for people who aren’t Seekers.”
“Pretty, pretty please with-”
“No!” I yelled. “That is final. But if you want, you can help us awaken Liam.”
“Aww, but I wanted to fight Malistaire.” He looked so disappointed. I felt awful! “What if I’m a Seeker?” Seth countered.
“You can’t be. The fire Seeker is already Hunter’s sister.”
“Come on… pleeease?”
I sighed, but instead of answering I turned to the Cyclops. “How do we get home?” I asked.
“The same way you came here before. Simply climb into the chest.”
“What do you-” Before I could finish, the Cyclops vanished and was replaced with the same wooden chest from before and Hunter’s key lying on the ground in front of it.
“No, don’t leave!” I hollered. “I wanted to ask you why Seth couldn’t see the chest before.”
The Cyclops’ voice echoed around us. “Seth Goldenblood could not see the chest because only Seekers can see it and the key when it is closed. Similar with your awakening, Sierra Winterbreeze. Only Seekers could see the Key of Frost.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. Rowan could see the Key of Frost just fine.”
The voice didn’t answer.
“Please reply! I still need to ask you about how we awaken Liam!”
Silence was my only response.
With a sigh, I picked up the key and once more unlocked the chest. This time, with no Cyclops hands reaching out to grab us, we were forced to climb into the chests ourselves. When we climbed back out, we were back
in the pitch black tent in the Festival Fairgrounds.
“Well,” said Seth. “That certainly was... an experience.”
“It was, wasn’t it?” agreed Hunter. “I can’t wait to tell Sydney that I’m a Seeker of Light too!”
“I bet you are excited, but we still have to find where Liam will be awakened. You guys will help me, right?”
Seth and Hunter exchanged glances.
“Sorry, but I have a huge test in Initiate Myth Magic tomorrow so I have to study,” said Hunter. He ran off before I could protest.
I turned to glare at Seth.
“Um… yeah, and my friend’s birthday is next week and I still have to arrange a surprise party for him and get him a present,” explained Seth. “So got to go! Bye!” He teleported quickly away.
“Ugh,” I muttered under my breath. “Why am I not surprised?”
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