The Secret Mission
April 30th, 2006 by SalemChapter 36 - A storm raged on over the tallest mountain in Cragorus. Fist jumps from cave to cave as he makes his way up the rock wall, now turned into a waterfall. Fist sniffed around the cave. It smelled like another dead end. Fist looks outside and sticks his head out of the waterfall to look for the next cave. Then Fist uses his arms to jump to the next cave up and enters it. This was the one with the right scent. Fist shakes himself dry and heads down the cave. In the cave, Fist finds his bedding, belongings, and a small fire burning in the corner. “Fist,” said the warrior as he lies down on his bedding. Fist looks at a badly drawn picture of Zealot and growls before blowing out the small fire. The Mountain Dwarf turns as he covers himself with his blanket and falls to sleep.
Inside the mountain, Terra has helped her house guests move to a dinner table in the middle of her home. On the table was a smaller table that was just the right size for them as well as blocks of wood for seats. Terra cooked up a feast and placed the food on the small table with some difficulty. “I’m sorry,” apologized Terra, as she spilled the broth from a roast all over Salem and Pawn. “It is OK,” said Salem as she began to wipe herself clean with a towel she took out of Pawns void. “You poor things look so starved,” said Terra. She places a bowl of boiled fowl on the table with the same difficulty as the roast. “I’m sorry dears,” said Terra, “My hands are not as sure as they used to be.” “Were did you get all of this meat?” asked Jarody. “There are herds and flocks of animals that live in the valley just outside my main entrance,” said Terra, “To tell you the truth, there are people who live in the valley who’ve frequently visited me.” Everyone of the Blade Masters were shocked into silence. Selene and Salem were the most amazed of the group. “Who are these people?” asked Salem, breaking the silence. “That is not important now, you all must eat. Please, eat, EAT,” said Terra is a very grandmotherly way. “So much meat,” said Emhril, as he began to eat. Vivien had a shocked look on her face with her little mouth gaping open ever since she first saw Terra. David was sitting next to her and decided to close her mouth. David picked up Vivien’s little chin, closing her mouth. However, Vivien’s jaw just falls open again. David tries a few more times to close Vivien’s mouth to no avail and gives up.
After dinner or breakfast, no one knew what time it really was, the group sat back with full stomachs. “And now that we are full, it is time to get down to business,” said Terra. I’m sorry to be blunt but I can’t think of any other way to tell you of this without making it sound less vital,” said Terra. “How important is this you have to tell us?” asked Selene. “I am not long for this world, I can feel it coming. You should know very well what it is I’m talking about Jarody,” said Terra. “Yes, I do. Terra, I can’t tell you exactly when it’ll happen but I know it has to be done soon,” said Jarody. “What are you talking about?” asked Christina. “I’m dieing,” said Terra, “When I pass, you must complete a task or else finding a Blade would not matter at all.” “What’s going to happen after you die? Is the world going to blow up or something?” asked Zealot. “Worse,” said Terra, “When I join my father and family in the Sun Temple, the SunBlade will fall from the sky and land. When that happens, this world will no longer exist and the people of this world will just disappear” “Why?!” yelled Emhril. “You see, this world only existed to be a refuge for my family. It was my father’s wish that this world was created for us to live in. As long as one of us was alive, this world’s existence was needed,” said Terra, “But when I pass, there will be no more need for this place to remain and so it will disappear.” “You mean, when you die, this world will die with you?” yelled David. “It is worse then that,” said Selene, “We will vanish as if we never existed at all, no spirit, no afterlife.” “That is correct, Selene,” said Terra, “But this fate can be changed. You see, the SunBlade right now is in the sky to hide me and my family from the people we escaped from. As long as I’m alive, it will stay in the sky. When I die, it’s purpose will change and it will fall to land on the planet to perform it’s last order. There is no way to get to the SunBlade as long as I’m alive. It will have to land in order to carry out the last order.” “What is this last order? To erase your father’s wish?” asked Zealot. “No. Actually, there is no last order, if my father isn’t there to give the SunBlade another command. It will simply undo everything, discontinuing the wish and cause this world to vanish. This is where you come in.” “Us? What can we do?” asked Christina. “When the SunBlade lands, you have seven days to reach it. That is how long it will wait for my father to give it it’s next or last command,” said Terra, “You must reach it before the end of the seventh day.”
“Where will it be when it lands?” asked Salem. “That is part of the problem. There is no way of telling where. With the turning of this planet and the uncertainty of when my time comes, you must wait until the SunBlade lands to know where it is. When you reach the SunBlade, you can prevent this world from slipping into nonexistence.” “How can we do that? We are not Gin,” said Salem. “Well first of all, you must have the SaintBlade with you. The real SaintBlade,” said Terra. “That’s no problem, the SaintBlade is back at the Temple of the Blades,” said Christina. “Um, no. It is not,” said Selene. “But!” said Christina. “You do not really think we would leave a Blade that can grant absolutely any wish out in the open like that?” asked Salem. “The real SaintBlade was lost in Mount Obelisk when Lord DarkRaptor used it to kill De La Groot. The mountain collapsed in on itself burying it under millions of tons of rock,” said Selene. “So you meant the Blade in the Temple is a FAKE?!” yelled Christina. “We are sorry, but it is,” said Salem. “The real SaintBlade must be retrieved and combined with the SunBlade,” said Terra, “I admit I did not plan on telling you this. If I thought you were unable to complete this task, I would have let you go on your journey without making you worry about events you couldn’t prevent. When it happened, you would have just disappeared without knowing or caring about what happened. But I believe you can do this.” Terra looked at her tiny guests and saw they were on the edge of their seats waiting for her to continue.
“Let me tell you about how to prevent the end then I will tell you of how to retrieve the SaintBlade from it’s resting place,” said Terra, “First of all, it would have been much easier if you did have the KingBlade. You could have fooled the SunBlade in believing that one of you were my father and given it it’s last order, but I’m happy to see, out of some strange twist of fate you actually picked your group members to represent each member of my family. Even this small child is representative of my own mother. Again, if you had not done this, I would not have told you. Now here is the important part, after combining the SaintBlade to the SunBlade making it into the SunSaintBlade, you all must be touching it. The SunSaintBlade will believe that you are my family and will follow any command you give it. It is not necessary for Haiku to be there but it can’t hurt. It is then you will make a wish and say at the same time, ‘We the children of Gin reinforce our father’s wish and to have this world continue it’s existence for all time’.” “But the SaintBlade takes a soul to make a wish. Does this mean that one of us will have to die?” asked Selene. “No. Not at all,” said Terra, “You are not making a new wish, you are simply reinforcing this one. The SaintBlade is only being used as a key to allow you to access the SunBlade. Without the SaintBlade, not even my father would have been able to prevent the end of this world since it was the SaintBlade combined with the SunBlade that created it.” “We understand what we need to do, but do all of us have to be there to enforce the wish?” asked Salem. “I’m afraid so, all eight of you are required to be there and say the words I’ve given you. Otherwise the SunSaintBlade will not believe you to be my family and will not listen,” said Terra, “And now, the problem of retrieving the SaintBlade. The people who live in the valley outside my home can help you with that. You must meet with them and persuade them to help you,” said Terra. “Persuade them? Will they not want to prevent their end?” said Selene. “The people who live in the valley are not of this world and will not disappear when the end comes. They have a way to leave this world and can exist on another if they had to,” said Terra, “They been content to stay in the valley and journey into another world for supplies and technology.” “Much like what Jarody does,” said Salem. “You must convince their leader to help you retrieve the SaintBlade,” said Terra.
“We understand what we must do. We will save this world,” said Selene. “Somehow I figured this would lead to saving the world,” said Jarody. “But first, I must give you a few things,” said Terra as she got up. “Come on my Spider Gauntlets, time to meet your new friends,” called Terra. A huge spider comes from another room and makes it’s way up the table leg to the top. The Spider Gauntlets were actually Terra’s gauntlets combined to become a huge spider. “This is the Blade my father made for me. It’s the only Blade that wasn’t part of my father’s. It’s made of elements from this world. Since I’m leaving soon, I feel better if it was with you. It can take you to the Valley,” said Terra. The group began to climb on the back of the huge spider. “Look Carber,” said Haiku, “You have a big sister now.” Terra took a large box from a shelf. To Terra, the box was no bigger than a crouton. To the Blade Masters, it was a large chest. On the top of the chest was a letter attached. Here you go Pawn, do not remember this, it will exit the ThievesBlade’s void on it’s own when the time for it comes,” said Terra. “What is it?” asked Salem, as Pawn sucked up the chest into the void. “Can’t tell you, you’ll find out when the time comes for it to exit the void. Until then, it’ll have to remain a secret,” said Terra, “Now go and meet with the people who live in the valley. Good luck and be safe my little one.” The Spider Gauntlets begins to take the Blade Masters down the long cave to the Valley outside. “Wait!” yelled Christina, “You said you had something for me!” “You will see when you get to the valley!” called back Terra as the Spider Gauntlets whisked them away.