Elek's+Gate

Quest to the Phevyn Gate.

“Elek! Elek!” I keep hearing when I roll over in my bed. It was my mother calling me from the kitchen. I begin to open my eyes when all I want is to roll over and fall back asleep. I know my mother would not like that. I perched myself on my elbow and looked at the door that was right across from me. I shouted “Be right down!” I began to smell some bacon on the fire and it smelled really good... If I get my clothes on and get ready for the day the sooner I will be able to have the food. I jumped out of bed and went into my bathroom and took a cold water shower, like I always do. I came out and put on the clothes that I had put on the side of the sink last night before I went to bed. I put on a leather vest that my father had worn.

I try not to think of my father to much because when I do I feel sorry for myself. He was on one of his expeditions to bring supplies to one of the furthest colonies. He was chosen by the council because he had a better adaptation to living out in the middle of the ice and the cold then most people had. This was not his first trip out to the colony. He had been there three times before. When he came home he would tell my mother of his adventures and what had happened. This was all before I was born. An accident happened on my fathers way back to the city the last trip. He was making his way throw the impenetrable mountains when a massive avalanche had caused him and the people with him to be buried alive.

It was two days before he was scheduled to reach the city. The council sent out a messenger who delivers messages between the colonies and the city to go and find the expedition. When he returned he said the path was blocked by a mountain of snow. He requested people to come help dig out the snow. It took the people four days to clear the path. There was no sign of the expedition. There was no tools or clothes from the people, nothing at all. The city said that everyone was pronounced dead at the site. The people who cleaned out the snow made grave stones to mark where the people that had died.

I looked into the picture I had of my father hanging on the wall and then I was looking at myself in the mirror when a tear started to roll down my cheek. I watched the tear roll down my face into the sink. I then snapped myself back into the real world and continued putting on my clothes. I put on my underclothes that helped to keep me warm and then my wool pants. I looked at my fathers locket that was hanging on a hook next to his picture. I looked at it for a while. It was a metal coin with a picture of a wolf howling engraved on the front of it. My mother said it symbolized bravery. He had gotten it from at his ceremony at the age of 19 when the elders presented it to him. Once you get your locket you are now able to venture out into the real world and start your own life if you so choose. Almost everyone decides to find a craft they like and tries to master it.

I put it around my neck and looked at my father’s picture. “Love you Father” I said to myself in a whisper. I then put my belt around my pants and put my compass and survival knife into my holster. Then I went down to the kitchen. My mother was reading the mail she had received along with drinking a cup of grape juice. I picked up the plate that my mother had put on the fire to keep my food warm, sat next to my mother and started to eat the bacon and eggs.

“You have mail” My mother said to me still looking at her mail. “It’s on top of the cook book.” I looked over and there lies a letter with the a red council seal on it. I got up and picked it up and sat back down and opened it. It was from the grand elders. I began to read it out loud so my mother could hear. //Dear Elek,//

//We have been looking over you for sometime now and we would like to offer you the job that would best fit your talent. We know that you have an amazing water bending ability, stronger then anyone we had observed before. We would like you to come to the capital building at noon and talk about the new job.// //From,// //Your Elders.//

I was startled at what I read. I could not help but be curious about what the new job would be. I was also curious at what they said, //We have been looking over you for sometime//. I had never noticed anyone watching me but then again I had never been on the look out for people that would have been observing me. I remember back when I was trapped in the arboretum by the water and ice falling on me from the tremor. I could not help remember what my friend said that I have done. Blasting out of the ground in a swirling sensation of water around me and my eyes being all lit up. I was sure that the council would have heard of it but I did not think that they would have made such a big deal that they have a job for me...

My mother shook me and said “You better be going to work.” I was dazed out, starring at my food. I shook my head and finished up my last egg and hugged my mother and went out the door. It was a very warm day. It felt like it was in the 40’s. higher then it has normally been. I walked down my street passing people and waving at them and smiling. I was still wondering what the job was going to be. I wondered if I was going to be an explorer or a strong ice miner who can only mine hard types of ice.

After about half an hour of walking down to the arboretum, where I have been working. I opened the door that led down some stairs to the main head quarters and the exporting of the fruit and vegetables. I saw my friend Helena. She is about the same hight as me, bright blue eyes and thick blond hair. She was drinking a cup of what looked like orange juice. I walked over and sat down next to her. See seemed tired but I could not see past her bright bond hair and darkish skin.

When the bell rang for us to go work, I got up and headed to my end of the arboretum. The walk way was crowded by people trying to get to their area. All of a sudden I felt something in my back pocket of my pants. I reached into my pocket and I pulled out a small folded up peace of paper with a gold fox seal. This made me think of the fox and when he had saved me. I stepped to the side of the hall and opened the message.

//My friends,//

//I hope this missive finds you all as well as maybe expected. I know that many of your regions are suffering right now, with plagues and illnesses, famines and disease. This has not gone unnoticed, nor is it confined to only your region. You are not alone.// //The time has come for us to meet again, friends. You may not be surprised to know that I have been making contacts in all the regions of Pyrosium for some time now. In fact, my family has been doing this for generation upon generation, back to the beginning of our world. Now the time of the Great Prophecy is upon us. It is imperative that we meet together to discuss this and that we set aside regional differences and animosity in order to confront the evil which besets Pyrosium.// //You must now find the Lost Gates in your land. Look for them in hidden places or in plain sight. There may be legends of these Gates or rumors of them. They may appear broken and disused or new and clean. They may be guarded by the stuff of nightmares. They may appear to be unguarded. Regardless, you must find them and then find the way to enter them. This you must puzzle out for yourselves, but come soon. We have little time to waste.// //I await you at the Forum.//

//The Fox//

I was speechless... I had so many thing’s running through my head. Who was he talking to? //My friends.// This letter seemed so vague, like he was not just talking to me. I wondered what the Lost Gate was.

The second bell had rang and I was late for my shift. I was needed to excavate some small pieces of ice to make more room for storage. I folded up the letter and headed right to work. I could not stop thinking of the letter. What gate? What forum? I felt so lost.

I worked hard and excavated the ice and just in time to leave. I went to the front desk and signed out and told the secretary that I had to go to the council. He understood and signed me off. I walked out and started walking down to the capital building. I had only been in the building once when my mother had to go talk to Gagan about some personal stuff and about her job. She works as a healer in a small little building on the west side of the city. I took out the letter and started to read it again to see if there was more too it... There wasn’t.

In no time at all I had reached the capital building and just stared at it for a moment. This really big building with it’s dark blue domed roof. It was a beautiful building all together with the fancy art work on the side of the building and hot water springs in the front of the building. I walked up into the main office of the building. The clerk pointed me down the hall through the big doors. I stopped at the front of the big door and tried to make myself as presentable as I could. I took a deep breath, subduing all the hesitation I came with and put on a straight face. This was a huge room with paintings and carvings everywhere. On the walls, floor and even the sealing. There were 9 elders sitting at a clear round table in the center of the room. There was a walk way to the middle of the table where I suppose is where the people are to go when they are being talked too. The elders seem to be meditating because they were all sitting crossed legged, eyes closed with a straight face.

Once I stepped up to the table they opened their eyes and looked at me. One of the elders, who I think name was Gia asked, “Do you know why you are here Elek?” He asked me in this deep voice, it was startling. “I am here to find out about the job you say would best fit my ability.” I said, slowly turning around to look at each of the elders. They blinked a little slowly like they were going to fall asleep any second. “We want you to do what your father did” Said another elder “travel around the region and deliver supplies.” I was amazed that they even knew what my father had done since there was so many people in the city, they could not of known everyone, could they? I stood there in hesitation because my father was a unique person who was more adapted to serve in the cold. I did not have this ability. I would not think that they would want me to do anything like that. “May I have time to think about it?” I asked with honesty to the elder in the center of the incomplete circle. “We need an answer as soon as possible.” Gia said. I needed to think about my choices.

My father’s job was a good job that gained much respect with the people. He was a great traveler too, with all of his journeys to the colonies. He must have known about every spot in the region. I did not think that I was able to do as good a job as he did. I looked down at my fathers locket around my neck and said to myself “I can do it.” I then thought about this big quest that The Fox had sent to me, I wanted some adventure and to see if there was this ‘gate’ that he had spoke about. I had a really hard choice to make. The respected career that my father had or the quest of a life time. I looked around at the elders who were back to having their head’s down and praying again. I then thought, What would my father have done? He was a man of adventure, my mother told me stories of his adventures he had on his expeditions. I don’t know what to think, putting my hands on my head, I then decided to go with my gut.

I turned around to face the elders and coughed a little to get there attention. They did not look up. I did it again and they did not look up. This made me wonder if they were asleep. “ I have made a decision.” I said in the direction of Gia. They all looked at me at the same time. “What have you chosen?” The elder said behind me. “ I have chosen to take my own path, It is a generous offer but I don’t think it is the right one for me” I said. I had chosen to go after the quest and to see to see if I could do the impossible. Peace among all the regions of the world. The elders smiled for once and Gia stated “You have made a good choice. Good luck with your journey.” I nodded, stepped out of the middle of the circle, walked out of the grand hall, waved at the clerk, and started walking back to my job.

I was smiling and happy with the decision I had made. I was thinking of what I should do. Thinking the best thing for me to do is to resign from my job, go home and start packing. I ended up thinking of where this gate could be hiding. There were very few locations that I can think of that would resemble a gate.

Once I reached my work 15 minutes later I asked the person at the desk for the resignation sheet. This sheet was not very popular among the people here. The people here are happy with what they do so they never resign until they are unable to work. The last person to sign was from from 5 years ago. I signed it where it needed it and answered why I was resigning. I said that I wanted to take my own path and go on my way in life. Then I thought for a minute, with the pen tapping against my chin, if I should really do this. I figured if I was to do this quest, there would not be anytime for me to do my job. I signed the final signature and gave it to the clerk. I then walked out admiring the building as I walk away from it. I had worked there since I was 15. It was like a second home for me. All my friends worked there and most of them, we became friends because of work. Then I whispered to myself. “Friends!”

I then turned around and walked into the building. The clerk was surprised to see me back. “I forgot some stuff” I said to him as I hurried down the west side where Helena worked. If anyone were to come with me it would be her. The Fox never said that I had to go alone so I thought Helena would like to come with me. When we were little we always went and played out side of the city and tried to go treasure hunting. We never found anything big but we did find some pretty neat stuff. I remembered back when we found this ice block with a fish inside, It was so strange, no one has ever found a fish block.

I smiled as I quickly scurried down to the plant section of the arboretum. She worked at making sure all the plants had what they needed to grow and to produce fruit. When I reached the room, she was taking pollen samples of the lilies. I walked over to her and she looked up and seemed surprise that I was there. “Elek, what are you doing here?” She said with her bright eyes staring at me in surprised. I told her about how I got the job offer from the elders and how I did not accepted. She was in shock that I did not take a job from the elders but then I told her about The Fox and how he helped me when I needed it and how I was chosen for the quest. I took out the letter and showed it to her. Finally after about 15 mins of talking I asked “Would you like to come with me?”

She looked confused. Helena was not sure of what she should do. She turn away and looked around at everything and thought of my offer. She turned around with a smile “I accept” She said. I was happy. She brought the tools she had back at the table and then walked down to the main office with me and then she asked for the resignation paper. The clerk seemed to be in shock that they were loosing two people in one day. He handed it to her and she signed the paper and I could not help look over to see why she was leaving this place. She wrote down that she was going to follow her own path and to find adventure. We both then waved at the clerk and wished her a happy life then walked out of the building and about 50 feet in front of the building we turned around and admired the building. We then had to make plans...

“We need to get some information about the gate, we should go to the library” I said to her looking at the letter. “Let’s go” She said eager to find this lost gate. We then walked to the library and on the way there we talked about what this gate could be and how it would lead to the forum. Once we reached the library we walked inside.

The library was one of the oldest buildings in the city but since it is all made of ice it also looks as new as it neighbors. We walked up to the main desk and asked the librarian about some maps or book of location’s that were forbidden or dangerous to go to. She seemed a little puzzled of why would want such knowledge but she told us to follow her as she walked down to the furthest part of the library and showed us the books of places that are dangerous then she showed us this huge map of the entire region wish names of all the colonies and geographical location’s. “Thank you” I said to the librarian and she nodded and left us.

We examined the map and started to name of location of where it could be. “Demon ridge... Cave of mystery and dangers.... Lost city of Delos... The dungeon of lost...” Helena and I said out loud. The one that seemed to stick out the most for me is the Cave of mystery and dangers. I then walked over to the books of dangerous places. I skimmed the row of places and whispered “ Book of demon ridge, Lost city of Delos...” I kept looking over the books. Helena came over and looked on the row above and picked out a book. //Cave of mystery and dangers// it said on the cover. “I was just thinking that place, it makes sense that the gate might be a mystery to the people and it would also be a place where people would never travel to” We opened the book and the first thing we saw was a picture of a skull cave. It was a sketching of the cave entrance that showed extreme detail. I never knew anything like this existed around here. It felt so evil and angry. There was nothing like that in our society. Helena pointed out there was a person walking to the entrance of the cave. He seemed to be hiding something in his arms. He looked to be holding this gem type thing about the size your hand.

I wondered if that might be the gate that The Fox was talking about.

“That’s it!” I pointed at the picture of the gem in his hand.

“That must be the gate that will lead us to the forum.” I said to Helena. She nodded but I can tell that she was unsure. She continued looking for other pictures in the book but there wasn’t any more. I looked through the books to see if there was another one. There wasn’t. I then turned my attention to the map. In tiny letter words on the western side of the region said //cave of mystery and dangers//. That’s what we were looking for. Below the map was a set of smaller sized maps that we could use. I grabbed the map and Helena closed the book and we then went to the main desk to sign them out. She seemed unsure about what we would want with that but she still signed it out to us anyway.

We walked out of the library and stopped at the little shop at the end of the street. I thought we should make a plan. We sat at the table that was looking out onto the street.

“We need to make a plan” I said opening the map. It was an easy one day journey to get there.

“We need to get some stuff, we should go home and pack up our stuff that we might need and meet back here the next morning” Helena said looking straight at me. I nodded and then we got up and walked out of the building.

We stopped in the middle of the street and gave each other a hug like we always do and said good byes. Helena lives on the opposite side of town that I do. I looked up into the sky and noticed the sun was already past noon and almost right above Mount Oros. It was almost six I though and started walking with the map in one hand and the letter in my other hand. I could not stop thinking about the letter with it’s golden fox crease on it and what it said. I kept reading it over and over again as I walked home. I almost walked past my house with all the thoughts that were going through my head.

I walked in and my mother was cooking in the kitchen. I smelt the big pot of chicken soup on the fire. It’s smell was intoxicating... I walked up the stairs to my room and put the map and the letter on my desk. I went into my closet and picked out some clothes to wear for tomorrow and put them on the sink in the bathroom. I then grabbed my backpack and put clothes from my closet into it making sure I had a lot of warm clothes because who know’s how cold it might be out there. Before long my mother was calling my name from the kitchen. This meant that dinner was ready. I grabbed a bowl and filled it up with chicken soup and sat at the table across from my mother. I told her about my day and the letter from the fox. She was stunned when I did not accept the job from the elders for a quest to find a gate that may or may not be real. She alway’s accepted whatever did. She was a great mother and I could not ask for a better one. She then got up and put her empty bowl in the sink and went into the closet at the end of the hall and picked out a winter coat. She said it was my fathers. It was a big sturdy coat with lot’s of pockets but when I picked it up it was as light as a feather. I could not believe it. “It was made from really warm material” She said. I noticed that my fathers name was engraved on it’s back with gold lettering. No words could describe how much this meant to me. I put my empty bowl in the sink and then grabbed the jacket and went up to my room.

The sun has gone down and I had to light some candles to see. In the shadow of the candles the jacket looked amazing. I wondered why my father did not take this with him... I hung my jacket on a hook in the wall. I then decided to go take a shower. I came out of the shower all refreshed and put on my night clothes. At night the temperature could get as low as -145 degrees. I put my bag on the chest at the end of my bed and climbed into bed. I laid there for a while with the thought of that picture running through my mind. What was the gem? Could it really be the gate? I wondered what would be in the forum... So many question’s I had running through my head. I looked at my father’s locket that was still around my neck and slowly fell asleep.

The sun was just coming over the horizon when I woke up facing the window. I stretched and got out of bed and started the water. I slouched into the shower half asleep. I came out and bent all the water off me and put on the clothes I had picked out. It was nothing special, a greenish leather vest with some heavy thick snow pants to go with it and a strong belt. I also put on some thick socks on and my snow shoes with metal spikes to help hold me on the ice. I walked out of the bathroom and I thought there was something different about today. Then it hit me, my mother is not making any breakfast. Then I looked out the window and remember that Thursday is when my mother sleep’s in. It was no matter, I could make my own breakfast. I picked up the map and put it in the side pocket of the bag. I then put my bag on my back and grabbed the coat off the hook and walked down the stairs to the kitchen. I needed some food to bring with me.

I went into our ice block of a fridge and picked out some chicken meat left over from last night and some vegetables along with some cooking silverware. I also grabbed two empty water containers and filled them up full. I got some dried fruit out of the cabinet and put them in one of the pocket’s in the coat. I also went into the storage room down the hall from the kitchen and grabbed the spare first aid kit and a sleeping bag. The city makes us have two of them for better care if you happen to have an accident. I slid that into the big pocket on the out side of my bag. I also grabbed a pair of knifes and put them in my belt for a survival reason. I think I got everything. I quickly wrote my mother a note saying that I’m going off on my quest and won’t be back for a few days. I put the note on end leaning against the salt and pepper shaker on the counter. I looked around my house, admired everything that we had and then I put on my jacket, pack and out the door I went.

I walked down the street to the store where Helena and I said that we were going to meet up. When I stepped through the door, Helena was all ready waiting for me. She was wearing a thick winter jacket and some thick pant’s similar to the ones I was wearing. She got up out of the seat and looked ready to go.

“Ready?” She asked me in a smiling happy voice.

I nodded and smiled back and then we walked out of the store. I took out the map and looked at it. I pointed out the direction we should be going. Helena took out a compass.

“We should be going west” I said out loud looking at the compass. The compass pointed north so we had to take a left down across the bridge to that side of the city. There was a smaller gate leaving the city down there then the one at the North end of the city.

We walked down to the gate where there was a big man standing. He asked for us to sign our name on the paper and the expected time of return. We said that we would be back in 3 days, a day before they have their monthly city assembly. This assembly is to celebrate the people who are becoming of age and are becoming adults. The people that coming of age will receive a locket, like the one I was wearing around my neck.

We signed the paper and continued walking west. Helena shouted out, “Hey! How about we make some ice boards, we will travel faster then we would on foot.” I liked the sound of that idea. I noticed this big ice block sticking out of the ground that would be perfect for an ice board. I walked over to it while Helena looked around for another ice block. I took off my bag and started to bend the snow that was around me into water. Then I sliced the ice block in half and then again into a quarter. The ice block was about half a foot and a good 3 feet long. Perfect size to start skimming down. I cut the ice block down to the ice board I wanted. I then enchanted the ice on the bottom to make it slippery. I put my bag back on my back then took my board and went up on top of a hill. Helena reached it at the same time I did. Her board was smaller then mine but I am sure it would work. We smiled and then hopped on our boards and strapped ourselves on. Then off we went flying down the hill. Helena was a really good ice boarder. I remembered back when we were in the ice board competitions and she came in right behind me. Less then two seconds behind me. We were alway’s very competitive with each other when it came to ice boarding.

We have been on our board all day when we reached the bottom of this huge hill we had to bend the water really hard to propel ourselves to the top of it. Once we reached the top you could see everything in any direction. It was really pretty with the sun sketching on snow. I turned around and I could not see the city. Helena unstrapped herself and went over and sat down on an ice block and got out some water. I sat down next to her and got out some of my water and a bag of dried fruit I packed this morning. I took little bits and sips and just admired the view.

“How much further do you think it is from here?” Helena questioned.

“I’m not sure.” I said looking around for some geographical identity to pinpoint on the map. I then squinted in the distance and I noticed a water geyser shooting water up really high. I took the map out of my bag and looked at it, to see if the geyser was on it.

“There! We are about half way to the cave.” I pointing at where we were on the map. She looked over and hummed and nodded. I rolled the map back up and put it into my bag and then I stood up and put the dried fruit wrapper into my pocket with a few little pieces left. Helena put her water in her bag and then put it onto her back and strapped herself onto her board fast as lightning and started laughing as she went flying down the hill. I scrabbled my water into my bag and strapped myself in and away I went.

The sun was almost down when we finally stopped. “We should stop here and make camp for the night.” I said panting because of the last hill we went up and over. We were in a valley of some kind. “We should make camp over there under that cliff.” Helena say’s pointing at an extended cliff. It would provide wind protection I thought. “all right” I said. We unstrapped ourselves, took our board and walked underneath it. I decided to take some of the fire stones that happened to be packed in with my sleeping bag. I put them in a circle while Helena got her sleeping bag out and start to prepare the food. I rubbed two of the stones together and that created a spark and lit the rest of them on fire. She then started to cook what looked like fish and beans but I was not sure. I took out my sleeping bag and decided to sit on it instead of the ice underneath it. She handed me a plate with the food and once I had the first bite I knew it was fish and green beans. We then washed the dishes up and climbed into our sleeping bags. Helena had set up her sleeping bag right next to me. Once we both were in bed we fell asleep like we have not slept in days.

It was morning and the sun was shinning onto the ice that then reflected it to my eyes. I sat up and stretched. Helena woke soon after me. The fire was nearly out. The wind must of put it out. I got up out of my bag and started the fire again. I then took out the food that I packed up and started to prepare it.

“How did you sleep?” I asked Helena while I prepare the food.

“I slept allright, the ground was a little hard and cold but It was all right. How cold do you think it got?”

“I don’t know. I was shivering most of the night so it must have been very cold.” I replied. I had breakfast almost ready. I had made the some chicken and cooked some carrots in water from the snow. I handed a plate to her and we both sat on her sleeping bag. I could not help but to admire how her blond hair was shining in the sun. It looked really shiny. After we were done I took her plate, washed them up, put them back in my bag and took out the map.

“Where is this valley I wonder.” I thought out loud meaning for Helena to hear. She and I looked over the map. “There it is, Looks like it’s on the end of this valley where we will see the skull cave.” She pointed out. I took out my compass and pointed the direction out that we should go. We packed up our sleeping bags and I picked up the fire stones after I put the fire out. I had my bag all packed and I was heading out to the valley and strapped on my board. I had beat her this time but I waited until she had everything and was strapped onto her board.

We rode all morning until we reached the top of this huge hill. From here we could see the entrance to the cave. The cave really did look like a skull. We took off our boards and decided to walk down the path to the entrance of the cave. Right before the entrance of the cave there was an ice bridge. I looked down over the edge and I could not see the bottom, it was nothing but black. Helena walked behind me down to the entrance of the bridge. The bridge looked strong enough but I bend at-least three more inches of ice over the top of it to make it stronger. Helena then added some snow so it was not so slick.

I was the first to walk on the bridge. I motioned Helena to wait until I am on the other side. I made it all the way across very slowly just to be safe. Then Helena started to cross. I waited at the other end watching her back to see if it was breaking. She was half way across when I heard a crack. The ice behind her started to break. She started to run. I tried to bed the water over to fix the crack but I was to slow. The bridge started to fall apart. I stood on my end holding out my hand out to catch her. The ice was falling down as quick as she could run. Right at the last end she jumped right into me and I held onto her. We both then looked at to each other and then we stood up. I felt something between us but I did not want to say anything.

“You alright?” I ask.

“I’m okay, thanks for saving me.” She said and smiled. I did not know what she meant by saving her since she jumped right into me. “Your welcome” I had to say. We made sure we had everything and turned around. The mouth of the cave was huge. It had icicles hanging down at least 50 feet. It was really dark and really quite. It made me wonder what might be lying in there to protect the gem. We made sure we were ready. I took the torch that I alway kept in my bag and lit it. The cave was really big when we light it up. There was even some running water in the place. I was warm... How could this be? Caves are supposed to be cold. By this I could already tell that we had found the right cave.

We walked further into the cave. Helena is right behind me with her own torch. She was looking around like I was. I noticed this big ice door at the back of the cave. The door had many carvings in it. I handed Helena my torch and I tried to push the big door open. Nothing happened. Not even a crease in the door. I looked back up to the carvings. “I wonder if you have to say or do something to open it.” I said. I looked closely at each carving. One of the carving near the top of the cave showed a man bending water in front of what looks like a door. I looked on either sides of the door. There were vases made of ice. I wonder if I am supposed to open the door with the water from those. I started to bend the ice into water, when I did it started to glow and the door started to glow as well. I then started to push the door with the water. The door started to glow even more and it started to slide open. Helena was amazed at how pretty the water looked and how much it was glowing. I pushed harder and harder and the door opened completely. The water started to slide into the door and a new ice block started to appear.

I then lowered my arms to my side and Helena handed my torch back. We then walked into the room. A huge room with no writing on the wall or anything, just a big rectangular room. The ceiling started to glow when we stepped into the room and the door behind us shut. I walked over to the wall and it felt warm. “Feel the wall, it’s warm.” I said to Helena who was looking up at the ceiling. She walked over and she nodded. The walls were warm like my last shower was, but the walls were still made of ice. How could this be? I wondered what would happen if I tried to bend the ice walls. Nothing happened. It must have been enchanted. We walked on.

A quarter through the room, I stepped onto a pressure plate and the door at the end of the hall disappeared and the walls started to slide in. I was panicking. We ran down to the end of the hall and tried to push on the wall. Nothing, there was nothing there. The door has just disappeared. I went over to the wall and tried to push on it and Helena went over to the other side of the room and started to push it. The harder you pushed on the walls the hotter it got. I pushed as long as I could but it was not working. I then stopped and took the water out of my bag and started to bend it in a form to push back the walls. When the water touched the water it turned into steam.

Helena’s face then lit up with an idea. “Keep doing that, turn it into steam.” She yelled. I did as she said and then she pushed all the steam into where the door was and the steam started to melt the wall. I used up all the water I had then I started to bend the steam into the wall. The wall was practically pushing us together. When the hole was big enough Helena went through and I got stuck trying to get through. I panicked and then I blacked out.

The next thing I knew I was wide awake and standing. Helena was holding me up. “What happened?” I asked. She was looking over at me and smiling. “You were amazing.” I was confused. I looked over to the wall and there was a much bigger hole in it then there was before. She told me how I was glowing and my eyes turned a bright green and I managed to bend the walls away from me and I walked straight making a hole much bigger. I was stunned that I could bend the unbendable of water. I stood up straight and examined the hole. I did this once before when I was in extreme danger. I wonder if that’s how I become so powerful. I checked to see If I had my bag but I didn’t. I looked into the hole and I could see my bag strap sticking out of the wall. I knew I had lost everything. We still had Helena’s bag. We looked at each other then we walked on.

We were in another chamber. There was some writings on the wall. In the corners of the room there were lava fountains where lava is slowly coming out and sliding down the side of the room. The lava lights up everything really well. I looked down into the middle of the room and there was something glowing in what looks like a tub of water. We walked up to the tub of the water. The tub was really deep, about 3 time’s my hight. I looked down at the tub and at the bottom there was a glowing object. It might be the gem, I wondered. I took off my jacket. “What are you doing?” Helena asked.

“I’m am going swimming.” I said with a chuckle. She took my jacket and moved it to where it would not get wet. I then touched the water. The water was really warm. I wondered if the gem was heating the water. I then stood on the edge of the tub, took a deep breath and then dived right in. The water was getting warmer the closer I got to the gem. I tried bending the water to make me move faster but it would not move. I used all my strength to swim all the way to the bottom. I was in arm’s reach when I reached out and I nearly burnt my hand grabbing the gem. The pain was almost unbearable. I then exhaled all the air I kept in my lungs and I started to float to the surface. I could see Helena’s face at the top of the tub. I almost made it to the top when I started to loose my strength because of lack of oxygen. Helena reached down as far as she could and grabbed my hand and pulled me up.

I reached the surface of the tub and took a huge breath. It felt like my lungs were going to burst if I did not get air. Helena then took me and sat me down next to the tub and hugged me tight. She said that she was terrified if I didn’t make it. I then hugged her back when I caught my breath. I then stared at the gem that I still had in my hand. That was a test for sure I thought. No one would have been able to reach the bottom of the tub. How I did it wondered through my mind. Helena then sat down next to me and dried me off with her shirt. My antenna's were shivering like crazy but I was perfectly warm. I did not understand this.

“Thank you Helena” I said smiling to her. She smiled back and hugged me again. We then took a look at the gem. The gem was white as ice but it had this yellow glow to it. The edges were all smoothed out. I wondered what we would have to do to get it to open a gate. I went into my back pocket and took out the letter from The Fox. The letter was completely soaked from being in my pants when I went down to get the gem. Helena took the letter from my hand and bend the water out of the paper. I put the gem on the ground and Helena started to read off the letter again. The letter did not say anything about starting the gate or anything. She then handed the letter to me and I held the letter right over the gem and then the paper started to glow. There were new words appearing on the paper that was not there before. I then moved the letter away from the gem and it stopped glowing but the gem was still glowing like we connected a piece to some puzzle. The letter reveled what looked like a spell. Helena walked over to me and said “Say it.” I then picked up the gem and held the letter in my other hand and started to say the spell.

The gem started to rumble like crazy and glow to where it was blinding me. I kept saying the spell until it was completed. The gem started to hover in mid air. I started to run back to Helena and then we ran back to the door and couched in the corner protecting Helena and not knowing what might happen. The whole place started to rumble and the icicles on the ceiling started to fall and shatter. Some of the pieces sent razor like pieces at my skin. It stung like crazy. After about a minute of the rumbling and the bright light it all stopped and became quite. When I looked up there was a spherical pool of water with some type of metal surrounding it. I stood up and looked at the letter, there was nothing different about it except for the spell has disappeared. I then walked toward the portal to get a better look at it.

The portal was massive. It had many writings and carvings on it. I did not know what any of it meant. None of it looked familiar. I then walked right up close to the portal and touched the water in the middle of it. It felt like no water that I had never felt before. I tried to bend the water but I should have figured, nothing in this place has bendable water. I could not grab the water. Their was nothing physical about it. I wondered what would happen if I stepped into it. Helena was observing it from afar. She did not trust the thing at all. I looked into her eyes and I could sense fear. My antennas felt something strange about the gate. I looked at Helena and smiled. She did nothing but star at the gate. I turned around and took a step back and picked up one of the ice pieces that has fallen and threw it into the portal. I walked around to the other side and it was not there. I was unsure what had happened to it. I walked around to the other side and walked into the portal, not knowing what will happen to me.

On the other side of the portal, There was a room that was large and circular with a dozen or more alcoves dotting the walls. I looked at the gemstones embedded in each archway and words written above the doors. I turn around to noticed that I have arrived from a similar arch way. On top of the arches there was words written in a language that I did not know. I turned around and looked at my arch way. I wondered what had happened to Helena? Did she follow me or stay behind me... I looked back at the other arches and assumed they were more gates like the one that I had come through in the cave. In the middle of the room was a massive round table that was piled high with books, maps and papers. I looked across the room and noticed that I was not alone. I recognized one of people who was there. The Fox...