Saturday, September 15, 2007

Hyphea Chapter 3: Two Versus One
After a long and exhausting climbing, they finally reached the top. It was flat and they could walk on it without any problems. Frost stood still and looked around. He could see the whole icy desert and the ocean on one, and a huge forest on the other side. To him, it was an amazing adventure. He became even more happy now that he has seen all this.
-Wow... this is so unbelieveable! What have I been missing all these years?! – he said, with a wide smile and eyes sparkling with joy.
-Nothing new to me – said Aqua. –I swam through the whole ocean and I know exactly where's what.
-Really? I knew only about ice until now! – said Frost, shocked. –I never got enough guts to come near any other element!
-Get used to it. If you want the ultimate adventure, you'll have to visit all the areas, and eventually meet other sorcerers.
-Yeah... you might be right. But now that I've seen this, I'm going on and I won't stop at any price! – said Frost.
-Alright, and I'll follow you. I always wanted to meet other sorcerers, but I never had enough guts for that, just like you didn't to leave the ice.
Both of them were tired. Aqua sat down. Frost sat near her, his eyes wandering around and admiring the view. They were sitting and resting like that, without anyone speaking a word.
Finally, Frost broke the silence.
-Umm... Aqua? Is the water... warm? – he asked her, with a shivering voice. He never touched it and was afraid of it. He wondered how can the ocean that is full of water be so flat, and at the same time take any possible shape.
-Well, test it yourself! – said Aqua, conjuring a fistful of water. She smiled, and splashed Frost with the water. Frost got scared, and created an icy aura to protect himself, turning drops of water into snow flakes.
-Hey! Stop it! – shouted Frost at her, breathing quickly.
-Come on, water can't hurt you! Just relax and touch it! – said Aqua, smiling and conjuring some more water in her hands.
-I... I can't!
-Don't worry, it's ok. Just touch it!
Frost needed a lot of time to gather enough guts to listen to Aqua. Finally, he stretched his right hand towards the water. Slowly and carefully, he touched the water and got his finger out in an instant.
-See? Nothing happens! – said Aqua, giggling. –Come on, again!
Frost was now a bit mroe relaxed. He realized that water wasn't dangerous. Now he touched the water with his whole palm.
-It kinda feels... nice. – said Frost, still a bit shocked.
Suddenly, vine whips emerged from the ground. They wrapped Frost and Aqua immediately and started dragging them deep into the ground. Aqua screamed, but Frost wasn't worried for himself. His extremely low body temperature froze the whips, allowing him to break free. But Aqua couldn't do anything. She sank deeper and deeper, screaming helplessly. Frost couldn't do anything, because the hole that the whips made was already refilled with ground. Then, two sorcerers appeared in front of him. The sorcerers of the earth element, Rock and Flora.
Rock was 20, tall and wearing a dark brown suit covering everything except his face and hands. He had two metal claws on each fist. He had a helmet-like cap and shoulder protectors, which made him look like a knight. Also, unlike other sorcerers, instead of a staff, he had a long, double-edged sword. His ability was to move earth and rocks the way he wanted.
Flora was 15. Her body looked pretty weak. She had something like a headband on her head instead of a cap. Also, she was wearing a dress wrapped with thorn whips and roses. She had a short staff made of two vine whips twirled around each other, and holding a red crystal brawl on top. She was specialized with plants and poison.
-Who do you think you are trespassing our land just like that?! – shouted Flora at Frost.
-Leave now and we won't hurt you! – said Rock angrily.
-WHERE'S AQUA?! – shouted Frost. He was furious. He didn't think for a second to leave without her. He doesn't know her for too long, but he felt something for her that didn't allow him to leave her on her own.
He raised his staff towards the two. Flora reacted rapidly and sent thorn whips from the ground to wrap around his staff. Frost's attack was stoipped. His aura didn't work on his staff. But he took the thorn whips with his free hand, tore them apart and got free from the whips. But that wasn't enough for him to get away with it. While Frost was taking care of his staff, Rock turned the ground below him to mud. Frost had already sunk to his knees.
Frost reraised his staff towards the two and fired an ice beam. They evaded easily. The mud affected Frost so that he loses his balance. Then an idea occured to him: he fired another ice beam towards the mud below him. He froze it, together with is legs.
Rock laughed out loud.
-You seriously think you can beat us with your legs frozen? – he said, almost sure about their victory. But he was surprised: Frost's legs weren't frozen. He only froze the mud that wasn't touching him. He was able to easily get out of it like that.
-It's not over yet! – shouted Frost. –Hailstorm!!!
He raised his staff high and suddenly it started to hail. The ice pieces started to become bigger and bigger, bashing all the rock around Frost.
Flora looked at Rock's eyes. He understood the signal. He made holes under them to protect themselves from the hailstorm. Frost realized that the hailstorm won't be of any use now. They are under ground, where no ice can get. The hailstorm stopped. He was out of ideas. His mana was low. He looked helpless.
In the meanwhile, Blaze and Pyro were flying nearby and noticed the hailstorm.
-Pyro, what do you think? –asked Blaze.
-Frost's there, definitely. – he replied.
-Let's go then! Hurry!
Then, long, sharp, spikey rocks emerged from the ground around Frost, making a cage. It had an opening on top, though. An opening, where now Rock and Flora stood, ready to exterminate Frost as soon as he jumps out. And down there, Frost was again sinking into mud. Without mana, he couldn't do any spells. He was helplessly sinking deeper and deeper.
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