Chapter 2: Dark Troubles
Reese and Regulus kept walking. It had been a while and Regulus could have sworn that he saw a flashing kingdom ahead. It had been bright, then sank back into the shadows. He mentioned this to Reese a few times, but the man simply replied, "Must be your imagination." But, Regulus didn't listen. He thought there was something odd there, something with a dark past. He didn't want to venture there at the moment, however, not under the guidance of Reese and especially since he hasn't learned how to use his powers properly yet.
Finally, hours later, they stopped and sat down a minute. Reese, with a flick of his staff, floated wooden logs big enough to sit on towards them and they sat. With another flick, he summoned sticks and stones. He arranged the stones in a circle and gathered the sticks together inside the stone circle. Then, he pointed his staff at the sticks and suddenly he created a fire.
"So..." said Regulus as he attempted to make conversation, "...what's really happening in King Mungulo II's kingdom, anyway? Anything serious?" Reese rested his staff down and took a deep breath. "Before I answer this question, I must tell you that you do not have to call it his kingdom. It has a rightful name." Regulus raised his eyebrows and said, "Why does everyone keep calling it his kingdom, then?" Reese stroked his beard and took off his monocle momentarily. "Well, the kings for that kingdom are very...
vain, as I should say it. They've always asked of the citizens that they all say the name as we have been saying it. Its true name, however, is Gardenwell." Regulus sat back and replied, "Yeah, well the name hasn't seemed to live up to itself, has it?" Reese laughed and said, "No, it has, admittedly, not. However, we Defenders have kept the kingdom safe, at least until the witches that you saw turned up.
"As you can see, they didn't exactly want peace and started destroying everything. We Defenders had to stop them. Unfortunately, we only drove them away twice. The witches' names are Agathor, Hazel, and Annika." Regulus sat up and said, "Hmm...may I know the Defenders' names?" Reese smiled and replied, "Certainly. As you know, I am Reese. I am the founder of the Defenders and my strongest element is Air. The second one is James. His specialty is fire. The third one is Skyler. Her specialty is the element of light. Then, the fourth and last one until now is Luke. His specialty is water. And, the fifth one...is you." Regulus froze for a second. Then, he asked, "What's my specialty?" Reese smiled, and said, "That's...to be found out soon enough."
The moon started rising and the stars twinkled one by one. Reese looked up and said, "I think it's time we start moving again. If we go now, we'll make it by morning." Regulus nodded and stood up. They walked forward again and Regulus saw a shadowy figure. It turned around, its eyes blazing red. It walked closer...and closer...then suddenly, it said in a raspy voice, "Leave now. Your death will be decided by the fates. Or, possibly, The Mighty One will catch you first." Then, Regulus blinked and the strange figure was gone. He rubbed his eyes, and it was still gone. He whispered to Reese, "Hey, um, did you see it too?" Reese raised his eyebrows and said, "See what?" Regulus, looking around, said, "I thought I just saw a figure. It spoke to me telling me that my death would be decided by the fates. Then, it said that "The Mighty One" might catch me first."
Reese stared at Regulus for a moment and said, "Let's keep going. I don't think it's safe here." Regulus then said, "But, who's The Mighty One? I don't understand!" Reese then said, "The Mighty One is a dark fiend. He is feared throughout the kingdom. His dark powers are like none other and even the mightiest of wizards, like the Defenders, possibly might not stand a chance against him." Regulus decided not to say anything. He didn't want to hold up Reese any longer. Then, out of nowhere, Reese said, "Perhaps this should help?" He waved his staff and a broomstick materialized out of thin air. Regulus, frozen in awe, said, "Wha...wait, why do we need broomsticks?" Reese, as he materialized one for himself said, "What else for? Transportation." Reese continued, "Oh, right. For a second there, I forgot you're not used to wizard affairs. Well, just get on and jump hanging onto the broom. It'll fly off instantly."
Regulus, still in shock, obeyed the instructions and he flew into the air! Reese soon followed on his own broom. Reese got beside Regulus and said, "How does it feel to fly?" Regulus, trying to remain balance and steer said, "I-I don't know what to say!" over the sound of the wind. Then, in the distance, a town-like kingdom was becoming clearer to see.
Regulus is in for a big surprise.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~
Well, managed to get it done even after studying for exams. Hope you enjoyed it! Next one might not be out for a while, but who knows? Please comment, it's encouraged and I'd appreciate it!
