On the journey to find Scorch, the heroes realize they will need the last crystal in order to save him. And when they find themselves at the bottom of the ocean, their only hope lies with an old nemesis.
On the journey to find Scorch, the heroes realize they will need the last crystal in order to save him. And when they find themselves at the bottom of the ocean, their only hope lies with an old nemesis.
Scorch & the Black Crystal
Once upon a time in the land of Atheria, there was a princess Nea and a princess Lulu and they went on the most amazing adventures. They were on a mission to find out why Scorch was terrorizing Atheria (and Skyrabia for that matter). They had just rescued the sky village of Voltarra from a dangerous tornado and had narrowly escaped a rampant fire breathing Scorch.
Back on land, the adventurers were following the dark trail of smoke left by Scorch as he flew through the sky.
“Did you ever find your sister?” Princess Lulu asked Coryn as they walked.
“I didn’t, but I found a note she left that mentioned a place called the Neemis Forest.”
When Phin heard him mention Neemis Forest he spoke up. He knew knew exactly where that was. It was an underwater forest just east of Allaymia but not quite as far as Fjordswell.
“I can take you there if you like.” Phin offered.
“Maybe once we get to the bottom of Scorch’s sickness.” Coryn replied.
As they talked, Nea thought about Scorch and wondered if, and when, they would be able to halt his rampage. They were heading through the north woods towards the Torturian Sea when all of a sudden the dragon came blazing through the air, tossing and turning as he flew through the sky, blowing fire every direction possible as he twisted in pain. Then he made a sudden and complete drop into the Torturian Sea, head first.
The water, in response, created a large wave that rippled through the sea until it came up to the land with a series of huge waves.
Everyone ran to the waters edge. Nea couldn’t believe her eyes. She waited, sure that the dragon would emerge from the water and fly back to safety. But he didn’t, and soon her mind switched gears.
“We have to head down there and save him!” she shouted.
Phin was already running into the water and grasping his magic Torturian Fin. “There’s a spot nearby with the seaweed we need and I have enough dust left to make you all some enchanted seaweed so you can breath under water.” He said, “I think we can make it work.”
Phin dove into the sea, transforming into a merman himself. Nea, Lulu, and Coryn waited on the beach.
It wasn’t long before all of them were on the bottom of the sea, where Scorch had dove into the water and now laid. When they got to the spot, they couldn’t believe their eyes. There on the bottom of the sea rested Scorch. But not the Scorch they knew. A Scorch that had been turned into stone!
Scorch had turned into stone just like the elf chiefs in both the Forest of Forevermore and the the Forest of Nevermore.
“We’re going to need to find the black crystal if we want to heal him.” Coryn said. “Maybe now is a good time to see what my sister was up to at the Neemis Forest - maybe she’ll lead us to the crystal.”
Nea knew he was right. Their best hope for Scorch was to find the last crystal keeper and get the black crystal back from K’Orloch, the ogre. Then use both Devorian Crystals to heal Scorch the Protector. Their closest lead was Coryn’s sister, Hazel, who they had run into on their adventure before. And she was working with K’Orloch, Victor and a mysterious wizard.
“Maybe we can ambush them!” Nea said.
Coryn glared at Nea. “I think we should try a more civilized approach. She’s still my sister. Maybe I can reason with her.”
So they made their way east to the Neemis Forest. On their way, they came across a huge underwater mountain, that was actually an island above water, but from below water it was an enormous mountain that rose above the water line and into the air. It was enormous and they needed to find a way around it.
“This way!” Phin directed them.
He showed them a cave that had been created. It went through the mountain and under the island. They could use it to get to the other side.
As they traveled under the island the water started to get much, much warmer. They swam to the center of the island and came across a small group of merfolk who were working under the island, studying the walls of the cave with a few picks.
“Why hello, merfolk!” Nea greeted them.
The group turned around, very surprised to see fellow swimmers underwater.
“What are you lanfolk doing here?” they asked, noticing that the swimmers had legs and feet instead of fins. “Don’t you know how dangerous it is under the volcano this time of the year.”
Immediately Phin began to re-think where they were.
“Aren’t we under Shellcana Island?” he asked them.
“No! You’re under Wadeheim Island!” the lead miner shouted. “The one with the volcano!”
Phin’s eyes widened.
“You all must hurry. We’ve been studying the volcano for weeks and it’s going to erupt at any minute!”
As soon as they said that, the earth began to shake and rumble, tossing the adventurers around in the water. One of the miners was thrown against the cave wall, where his pick struck into the cave wall and created a small crack.
It wasn’t long before that crack began to spread further and further until there was a steady stream of red hot lava flowing out of the wall of the cave.
“We’ve hit a vein!” the other minor shouted.
All three of them quickly grabbed their things and began swimming out the cave entrance as fast as they could.
“We’ve got to get out of here!” Phin yelled, swimming the other direction. “I sure hope this cave leads us out the other side!”
The rest of the adventurers followed him as the red lava began to fill up the cave.
“Hurry, before the lava fills up the cave!” Coryn warned swimming alongside Phin as fast as he could.
Nea and Lulu didn’t need to be told twice, they both swam with Phin and Coryn towards the exit of the cave, watching the lava as it followed behind them.
They swam like their lives depended on it. Because, quite honestly, it did. The lava crept closer and closer behind them as they swam. The heat coming from the lava reminded them how close the danger was and that they had no room for mistakes.
When they finally made it out of the cave, the lava came pouring out and spread along the sea floor. When it did, it immediately cooled in the water and turned black.
Everyone circled around when they were finally out of cave and took a minute to catch their breath.
“Nice sense of direction!” Nea teased Phin. “You almost got us killed.”
“I’ll try harder next time!” Phin teased back. “Besides, what good is an adventure without a little risk!”
Nea and Lulu glared back at him.
When they made it past a large underwater field of coral, Neemis Forest came into sight. And in the middle of the forest was a huge bubble with two people inside - the Shadow Man and the tricky elf, Hazel, who was also Coryn’s sister.
“Hazel!” Coryn yelled and began swimming faster and faster towards the bubble.
“What are you doing here?” she responded. “It’s too dangerous. He’s sure to find us now!”
“We’ll protect you,” the Shadow Man told her. “You can trust us. Will you trust us?”
He looked up with his soft hallow eyes and held out his hand. Hazel nodded then took it.
“The crystal’s not here though. I’ve hidden it until we find the last keeper. That way K’Orloch can’t get it.”
“I think Tuck may know who last keeper is,” the Shadow Man responded. “But for now, let’s find a place to rest for the night. We’ve all had a long journey today and there’s a lot of catching up to do.”
He then summoned Coryn over.
She looked at him. “Coryn! I had no idea what was going on. I should have known when Chief Eldim turned into stone, I should’ve known. When I saw you with the crystal at the griffin ranch, I realized I’ve been making a terrible mistake. I wanted the purple crystal so bad, it felt so good to hold it. I didn’t see what was going on around me - how selfish I was becoming and what it was doing to Atheria!”
Coryn hugged his sister. “Hazel, you can still be a part of this.”
“He’s right,” Phin agreed. “We need more help.”
And so the adventurers made amends with Hazel and decided to rest for the night. In the morning they would focus on finding the last crystal keeper so they could heal Scorch and the last temple - and bring balance back to Atheria.
The end.