The Orphan Wars (Book One)

by Rowling, Shane

  "Look over where the giant redwood used to be!" exclaimed Jaida.

  A small glowing object could be seen from where Nemeth was standing. Nemeth walked over to the small glowing object, picked it up and stared at it in awe.

  "What is this Jaida?" asked Nemeth.

  "This is one of the gemstones I was telling you about earlier!" exclaimed Jaida. "This is the Forest Emerald! Place it in the center socket of your sword!"

  Nemeth took the Forest Emerald and put it into the center socket of his sword. The gemstone locked into place and the sword glowed bright green momentarily before returning to normal.

  "I hope this is more than just a decoration," said Nemeth. "When the sword wasn't covered in blood and guts it looked just fine. Please tell me this emerald does something useful."

  "You now possess an incredible amount of forest magic in your sword now," replied Jaida. "You're going to need some training to make full use of it. However, the type of magic you saw Terazhul using are some examples of what you'll be able to cast now."

  "That's great news!" exclaimed Nemeth. "I'll have an unbelievable advantage in combat now! It's all sinking in now! We've defeated Terazhul and Vulpes! Now all we have to do is destroy the Black Orb! Thank you so much for your help!"

  "I hate to interrupt such a touching moment," said a distant voice. "However, there are more important things that you need to do. You need to hand over the Forest Emerald to me."

  Chapter Twelve

  "Master, look up into the sky!" shouted Jaida.

  Nemeth looked into the sky above and squinted. He saw what appeared to be a man in a dark purple cloak and hood levitating at least 60 feet into the air.

  "Come down here so we can talk!" shouted Nemeth.

  "This isn't going to go well," whispered Jaida. "I'm unable to gather any information about the man in the dark purple cloak."

  The man in the dark purple cloak slowly descended about 30 feet from his original position and continued to levitate in the air.

  "Who are you?" asked Nemeth. "What do you need the Forest Emerald for? I earned it fair and square."

  "My name is Xantil," replied the man in the dark purple cloak. "The Forest Emerald belongs to me. I saw the entire battle you had with Terazhul and Vulpes. You somehow managed to slaughter them. They were both two of my favorite minions. It will be difficult finding a suitable replacement for them. Care to explain why you are here?"

  "Terazhul had to be destroyed!" shouted Nemeth. "He invaded Lord Dragomir's Academy. He cast a Forestial Corruption spell there that could have destroyed the entire world if it spread far enough. I had to save my friends and my home."

  "Lord Dragomir's Academy!!!???" laughed Xantil. "I wonder why Terazhul decided to leave this temple unguarded and go there of all places. It is very unusual behavior for my minions to disobey me. Also, you can't possibly consider that place to be your home. You are just a boy, but you aren't a baby. You're old enough to know how that place really operates. They do everything in their power to turn every single one of you orphans into brainwashed slaves! Each one of you orphans suffers a war inside of you. Each one of you orphans is also at war with one another. These wars can never been won. You are not a normal child. Is it normal for children to get trained to become ruthless killers? I saw the demonic look on your face when you were fighting. You are covered in blood from head to toe. You should be care-free like most children are. Do you not dream of happier days? Ah, but forget about all that. Remove the Forest Emerald from the sword and hand it over. You can keep that sword even though you stole that as well. I've decided to appoint you as the new guardian of this temple. You're quite good with that sword and you'll need to use it as a weapon in case anybody is foolish enough to try and break into this temple again."

  A look of frustration came across Nemeth's face. There was a lot of truth to what Xantil was saying. It was almost as if Xantil could read Nemeth's mind. Nemeth desperately wanted to cry, but held back his tears.

  "You do have some valid points," replied Nemeth. "But I'm not going to be forced to do anything by you Xantil. If I were to become a temple guardian I'd just end up being a slave to you instead of a slave to Lord Dragomir's Academy. That's not something I plan on becoming. Terazhul was essentially your slave but his actions were his way of trying to escape from this temple and from you."

  "Well then," replied Xantil. "I'll just have to take the Forest Emerald by force. This will be a good test to see if you were ever worthy of being the new Keeper of the Forest."

  "Master, we have to teleport out of here immediately!" exclaimed Jaida.

  "How exactly are we supposed to do that?" questioned Nemeth with a nervous tone.

  "The altar that arose from the ground is the quickest way out of here," replied Jaida. "I am able to open a portal on that altar using my mana. It should take about 30 seconds to open up. Once the portal is open, think of the exact place where you want to teleport to and then jump inside of the portal! Got that?"

  "I hope so," replied Nemeth slowly. "I'll defend myself against Xantil in the meantime."

  "He's flying around," said Jaida. "I doubt he'll come down and make himself susceptible to attacks. You really shouldn't have destroyed that Escoba Retama X!"

  "Stop talking about that stupid flying broom and go create the portal!" exclaimed Nemeth.

  Jaida floated over to the altar and began to transform into a portal. Nemeth made sure that his sword and shield were gripped tightly and he was ready for any attack. Nemeth proceeded over to the altar. He pointed his sword at Xantil.

  "Come down here now and fight me!" commanded Nemeth. "Only a coward would fly around and not attack me face to face!"

  "I think I'll stay where I am," replied Xantil. "Allow me to show you what I'm capable of. Do you care to guess whether or not I already have some other gemstones myself?"

  Xantil summoned a large purple sphere of magical energy in his arms and raised it high above his head. Xantil threw the sphere on the ground below. When the sphere impacted with the ground below, it created a deafening explosion. The sphere transformed into a 25 foot tall purple ring of energy that stretched in diameter throughout the entire room. Nemeth braced himself behind his shield. As the purple ring of energy collided with Nemeth, he fell to his hands and knees. There were no visible wounds but he experienced a pain so great that he never felt before in his entire life. His copper shield became warped to the point of it being completely useless. He tossed it aside with what little strength he had left. Nemeth wanted to scream to relieve some of his suffering, but found he was incapable of doing so.

  "I was mistaken," said Xantil. "It only took one of my attacks to bring you to your knees. You wouldn't have made a very good replacement for Terazhul after all. Ah, you pitiful little orphan. I hope for your sake that you make it to the afterlife. I imagine you will get to meet your parents and they will see that they didn't lose much when they abandoned you…"

  Nemeth looked around and saw that the altar was still intact. He saw that Jaida had successfully opened the portal. He thought that Jaida must have been immune to Xantil's attack, at least while transformed. Some of the pain that he experienced earlier was going away but he was still very lethargic. Nemeth knew that another attack from Xantil would happen any second now. With every last bit of strength in his body, he crawled towards the portal. He struggled to get to his feet. In the corner of his eye, he could see another purple ring making its way towards him. He thought of the Serend Lake region of Lord Dragomir's Academy and stumbled through the open portal. Xantil's attack nearly missed him and moments later, Nemeth found himself lying on the ground near Serend Lake in Lord Dragomir's Academy. His left hand barely had his sword grasped around it, but it was fully intact with the Forest Emerald securely placed in the center socket. The portal closed and Jaida appeared once again.

  "Master, you need emergency healing immediately!" exclaimed Jaida with concern. "Check for a Rejuvenation Potion in your backpack!"

  Nemeth
was unable to move an inch. He was planted face first in the grass. He noticed that the grass had returned to its normal color. If he were to take his final breath, he hoped that this was a sign that the Forestial Corruption spell had been broken. Perhaps someone else could destroy the Black Orb if he died right now. It was obvious at this point that he needed help from someone else. Jaida floated around the area and saw a plethora of students in dire need of medical attention. Some people appeared to be normal and were tending to those injured by the Forestial Corruption spell. However, the wounded far outnumbered those that were healthy.

  "My master Nemeth needs help!" shouted Jaida. "Aria? Bastilone? Are you out there? Is anybody out there that can help him?"

  "I'm Aria!" shouted a female voice. "Where is Nemeth at?"

  "Follow me!" exclaimed Jaida.

  "Bastilone!" shouted Aria. "Come over here now! Nemeth needs our help!"

  Jaida led Aria and Bastilone over to Nemeth who was still lying face down on the ground. A look of deep sadness came over the face of Aria.

  "What is that thing floating around?" questioned Bastilone in a deep tone.

  "I am Nemeth's Guardian Spirit," replied Jaida. "My name is Jaida."

  Bastilone gave Jaida a look of disdain.

  "What kind of guardian are you to allow this to happen to Nemeth?" asked Bastilone in a negative tone. "Just look at the condition he is in! He's covered in blood stains and can barely move."

  "Bastilone, stop it!" exclaimed Aria. "Jaida is obviously on our side otherwise she wouldn't have called for us to help him. There's no reason to say such nasty things to her."

  Aria kneeled down beside Nemeth and put her hands around his. She began to gently shake his body.

  "Bastilone, help me turn him over," said Aria frantically.

  Bastilone and Aria turned Nemeth over onto his back. Tears began to fall from Aria's eyes.

  "What's wrong Aria?" questioned Bastilone in a concerned tone.

  "Well, it was one thing to heal myself and then heal you," replied Aria. "But then we started going around trying to heal the others that are wounded. I've depleted all of my mana. We're barely recovered ourselves. If I don't get a Mana Potion, I'm not going to be able to help heal Nemeth."

  "Look in Nemeth's backpack," said Jaida. "It is a magical item called the Infinite Backpack. You will see a variety of items in a miniaturized size swirling around in a vortex. You simply need to touch the item you want and it will grow to its normal size. He has a lot of potions in there. One of them surely has to be a Mana Potion."

  Aria reached into Nemeth's backpack and began frantically searching for a Mana Potion.

  "I've found one!" exclaimed Aria.

  Aria chugged down the Mana Potion. A bright white glow surrounded her body momentarily. Aria's mana was now fully replenished. Aria put her hands over Nemeth's chest and began to cast the Rejuvenation spell.

  "Rejuven Curacion!" shouted Aria.

  Nemeth's body began to glow bright yellow. Nemeth began to look somewhat healthier. He sat up slowly and began to look around at his surroundings.

  "Come back to us Nemeth!" exclaimed Bastilone.

  "Where am I?" asked Nemeth quietly.

  "You're back at the academy," said Aria. "We're near Serend Lake."

  "Aria, is that you?" questioned Nemeth.

  "Yes, it's me silly," answered Aria. "Bastilone is here too."

  "What about Jaida?" asked Nemeth. "Please tell me that Jaida is ok."

  "Do not worry about me master," replied Jaida. "We are concerned about your health."

  "So has the Forestial Corruption spell been broken completely?" questioned Nemeth.

  "Yes master," replied Jaida. "Defeating Terazhul has broken the spell. We must now focus our attention on the destruction of the Black Orb. Only you are able to destroy the Black Orb and only with that sword."

  Nemeth started to look very discontented.

  "How am I supposed to destroy the Black Orb?" asked Nemeth. "I can't even walk on my own. Then I'm supposed to swim out in the middle of Serend Lake and still have enough power to destroy the Black Orb with my sword?"

  "Are there any professors around that can get Nemeth over to the Black Orb?" asked Jaida.

  "We haven't seen any professors in a long time," replied Bastilone. "The last time I saw one was back at the graduation ceremony we had yesterday. Something very suspicious is going on with the professors. But we can't concern ourselves with the professors now. I have an idea on what we can do. Let's head to the edge of Serend Lake now. Aria and Jaida, follow my lead. I'll carry Nemeth."

  Bastilone carefully hoisted Nemeth over his right shoulder.

  "Tighten up that grip on your sword and keep it that way buddy," said Bastilone. "Everything is going to be ok."

  They travelled over to the edge of Serend Lake. The Black Orb had stopped emitting pulses of light.

  "It would be much easier to fly over there," said Bastilone. "If only we had a flying broom like the Escoba Retama X…"

  "That's ridiculous!" exclaimed Aria. "Flying brooms are for witches only! Besides, I'm going to cast a spell on the lake. It will create a temporary bridge from the edge of the lake all the way to the Black Orb. I'm going to need to even more Mana Potions. I need to get all the Mana Potions out of Nemeth's backpack."

  Aria reached into Nemeth's backpack and took out 15 remaining Mana Potions and placed them on the ground near her. She picked one of them back up and gulped it down which restored her mana completely. Aria held her arms outward with her palms facing upward.

  "Alright here I go!" exclaimed Aria. "Puente Seguri!"

  A grey, semi-transparent bridge began to form from the edge of the lake and extended out to the Black Orb.

  "Let's go buddy!" said Bastilone. "I've got you safely over my shoulder but you need to make sure you hold onto that sword as tight as possible!"

  Bastilone began to walk across the makeshift magical bridge towards the Black Orb in the center of the lake. Jaida floated around, over and under the lake to examine if there were any monsters lurking about. Jaida did not discover monsters but found something even more disturbing. Jaida flew back to Bastilone and Nemeth to report her findings.

  "I have some terrible news to report," said Jaida. "There are dozens of dead bodies of children scattered about Serend Lake."

  "That's all the more reason that we need to smash this Black Orb," replied Bastilone. "Now please don't be the bearer of any more bad news. I need to concentrate."

  Bastilone continued to walk across the bridge towards the Black Orb. Whenever the bridge appeared to fade, Aria gulped down another Mana Potion and recast her spell to create the bridge. After hundreds of feet of walking and seven recasts of Aria's spell, Bastilone finally stood in front of the Black Orb.

  "We made it to the Black Orb buddy," said Bastilone. "If you need to deliver the strike that destroys the Black Orb, then there's only one way I can think to do it. Hold the sword outward as far as you can. And believe me when I tell you that you REALLY need to hold on to your sword tightly now."

  "I've got the sword pointed outward and I'm holding onto it as tightly as possible," said Nemeth softly. "I don't have a lot of strength left, so please hurry and do what you need to do. I trust you."

  Bastilone picked Nemeth off of his right shoulder and flipped him over so he was carrying him by his feet. Bastilone used his incredible strength to swing Nemeth's body towards the Black Orb like he was a hammer. Nemeth's sword collided with Black Orb causing a large crack in the exterior of the orb. The Black Orb started to randomly change colors. Bastilone hoisted Nemeth over his right shoulder again and turned around. Nemeth sheathed his sword. Bastilone started to run back towards the starting point of the bridge. After reaching the half-way point on the bridge, the Black Orb exploded. The makeshift bridge collapsed causing Bastilone and Nemeth to fall into the lake. The force of the explosion caused the lake water to push both Bastilone and Nemeth onto the shore. Luckily, Bastilone was unharmed and Ne
meth did not receive any additional injuries.

  "Master, the Black Orb has been destroyed!" exclaimed Jaida. "Now we must get the help that you need."

  "Let's get you back to your dorm room buddy," said Bastilone. "You need a lot of rest to recover. We can take care of you ourselves. What do you think Aria?"

  "It looks like there are enough healers out here helping everyone else," replied Aria. "Our attention needs to be focused on Nemeth right now."

  Bastilone, Aria and Jaida brought Nemeth from Serend Lake all the way back to Nemeth's dorm room at Justile Dormitory. Bastilone laid Nemeth down on his bed. Nemeth dropped his sheathed sword on the floor. Bastilone removed the backpack he was carrying and the armor he was wearing and placed them against the wall of his dorm room.

  "Thank you all for helping me," said Nemeth quietly. "Jaida, please listen to me. I'm sorry for anything bad I said about you. I doubted that we would be able to work together but luckily I was wrong. If it wasn't for you, I would have never been able to accomplish half of the things I did today. I've only known you for such a short time but I already consider you my friend Jaida. I consider you to all be my friends…"

  "I consider you my friend as well master," said Jaida. "Now please rest."

  Nemeth began to fall into a deep sleep and started to snore lightly.

  "You have known me for an even shorter time than Nemeth has," said Jaida. "But I have a favor to ask both of you."

  "What favor would that be?" asked Aria.

  "Yes, what favor do you need from us?" asked Bastilone.

  "I sense that there is more danger coming," replied Jaida. "The evil that caused Nemeth to be in such a terrible condition was not Terazhul or Vulpes. The evil that put him into this horrible condition and almost killed him is called Xantil."

  Bastilone and Aria turned towards each other simultaneously with a look of confusion on both of their faces. They had no idea what had happened to them today and had never heard of any of these names before.