True Heroes - Chapter 6

Rose Faron stood outside the desolate Starbeans, her face pale under the night sky. It was a cold night, and the day she was having hadn’t helped one bit. It had been miserable. She had been all alone, sitting in her flat, with nothing to do but think over again and again the craziness of the day that had come before.

The question posed to her seemed impossible and terrible. How could anyone, anywhere, deal with a monster like the one she had seen! It wasn’t just that she was scared, but that she doubted that anything, much less a human, could stand up to a force of that magnitude. Just what kind of power was Gabora going to get them, anyways?

It also didn’t seem right to be hurting creatures like this. Sure, they were out to suck up energy from Earth and its people, but was that really their faults? Could their be a way to tame these things? Im her heart, she knew it couldn’t be done. These things were born with the sole goal of taking their mana. If you took away their purpose in life, what would they be?

But as she had thought over all the different ways making this decision could affect her life, the same question had kept coming up. Was protecting those around her worth it? In the end, yeah, it was. And although she felt like the worst person in the world to be taking on such a job, if she was the only one for it, she would take the chance.

As a small orange truck pulled into the empty parking lot of the closed Starbeans, she willed herself to be optimistic. Her friend was here, and he would need all the help he could get in the coming hours. They were in the same boat, and if he felt anything like she did, he would need a friendly face to give him some comfort. If anything, she was good for that.

---

As Zach walked toward the small Cafe, he could see the small, worried smile cross Rose’s face. She looked about how she should, given the situation. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail with a purple jacket, and her face wore a look that portrayed equal parts tiredness and nervousness.

“Hey”

“Hi”

The silence that followed only seemed to add tension to their already tough situation. It seems they both knew what was going to happen, and neither wanted to make the first move. But if Zach was going to do this, he wanted to do it in stride. The world wasn’t gonna get saved if they just moped around, so they should just go, before they had second thoughts.

“You ready to go?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be”

“And you're sure you want to?”

“Nope”

Though she kept a joking tone, it was clear that she wasn’t very happy with her situation. The thought of going anywhere near that forest probably had her in an uphill battle with herself. It made Zach mad that they had been shoved into this stupid situation, but they had to make the best of it.

Zach gave a little smile, if only to lighten the mood. ‘You know, it is gonna be pretty cool. Using magic and stuff.”

This had come up a little when he had thought through his prospects. He was going to do the impossible and stop evil, just like all the superheroes and game characters he had grown up with. That was really cool. But….. The cost made it seem more like a sad origin story. Nothing cool ever came without a price tag.

As the pair began the short walk towards the looming tree’s of Westwood, a strange feeling seemed to envelope him. This was not the first time it had happened. It wasn’t a bad feeling, but it just seemed strange. The feeling wasn’t optimism or anything he should be feeling. It was hope. But it was something external, pushing him to feel these feelings. The hope wasn’t his! How could he feel a hope that wasn’t his own, and who would have the hope to share in this monster infested forest! Nonetheless, hope was there, and he was going to take it. It did make him feel better. Hopefully Rose was feeling something similar.

“So…. Where exactly do you think we need to go?” The owl had only said to meet them at the forest’s edge, and they were fast approaching. What exactly was the plan?

“Were going into the forest, dummy. That’s where Gabora said to go, right?” Rose joked, looking around at the branches hanging above them as they walked into the woods.

As they pushed deeper into the tree’s, It became apparent that Westwood was a very different place at night. It was much less inviting, and with a cold wind to follow it up, the place looked almost off putting. Especially so if you knew the horror that stomped around, hidden somewhere from view.

Suddenly, a large roar echoed throughout the forest, and the screech that followed could only belong to one owl. This wasn’t good.

“Dangit! That’s Gabora screeching! We gotta get over there!” There wasn’t time to waste. Though Gabora hadn’t given them much reason to care for him, he was the only one with the knowledge they needed. They had to go.

“Wait!”

Stopping at full sprint, he almost tripped over himself. “What?!”

“This is it. If we go, we can’t turn back. Are you sure about this!” She gave him this look of pure anguish, half scared and half determined, like she was a bottle that was about to burst.

But, she was right. They would be going all in. Leaving their fears and doubts behind, and jumping into the mad world of magic and monsters. But he couldn’t think about it now. The time for that had passed.

Zach gave a thumbs up and his most optimistic grin. It was go time. “Yeah. I am. Now let's go!”

---
As the pair ran through the tree’s, guided by the sounds of explosions, roaring, and stomping, a thought emerged. What the heck were they going to do when they got there! Gabora had only said that they were going to learn magic and fight, and since the monster wasn’t going to allow that, they would need to find a way to get some time away from their little nuisance Shadow friend.

But as the they progressed, things started to look awfully similar. The tree’s were getting more tightly knit together, and it was even darker than normal, thanks to the cover the tree’s provided. They couldn’t be back at the pond! They would have ran into the river by now! So just how far had this Shadow come, if it had already passed it?

After more running, and a few trips over some particularly large roots, the pair arrived at a hill overlooking the scene. The air smelled of sulfur and other chemicals Zach couldn’t quite identify. To their left, a giant stone temple-like building, almost rotting with age. At its front was Gabora, furiously launching what looked like bottles at the Shadow, which stood only a short walk away, at the edge of the clearing, slowly inching its way forward despite the explosions that the bottles seemed to cause on impact. All around were the scattered remains of other structures, all with the same withered unstable stone that amassed the walls of the temple. The whole field looked like a warzone frozen in time.

But it was obvious that Gabora was fighting a losing battle. Whatever was inside that building, the Shadow wanted it, badly.

“We’ve got to get over there!” It was clear that something would have to change, or the owl could be a chicken nugget for the Shadow’s dinner.
Rose nodded her agreement, but still held her worried look. They would have to make a break for the temple, and hope the beast couldn’t catch them.

“We go on Three! One! Two! Three!”

Zach ran at full sprint down the side of the hill, dodging around the boulders that lay on the ground and putting all his energy into not thinking about what he was doing. As he entered the clearing, He could clearly see the bewilderment displayed on Gabora’s face as he lobbed a bottle only a little ways behind him, spraying dust and pebbles directly onto his back.
The Shadow also seemed to take notice of the new company, letting out a monstrous roar that was almost deafening at this range.

As Zach ran onto the deck of the temple, he took notice of the fact that Rose had not followed him. At this, he risked a look back at the carnage. The girl was sneaking along through the trees, completely fine, and sporting her own look of bewilderment. Great. Why hadn’t he just done that!

“You really know how to make an entrance, don’t you?” Gabora yelled as he continued to assault the beast with his barrage of jars and bottles. The owl was looking a bit worse for wear, his feathers now in total disarray. Behind him sat a pile of bottles, all labeled in a language unfamiliar to Zach.

“What do we do!” It was hard to talk above the noise, even standing right next to each other.

“Start Throwing!” His voice was small and gravely, like he had just finished a shouting match. Zach knew an injured bird when he saw one, and Gabora was on the worse end of the spectrum. They had to get inside, if only so they could give the bird a rest. But if they did that, the shadow would give chase, the temple wouldn’t be able to withstand the damage that would result.

Running down from the tree’s closer to the temple, Rose quickly found the pair. After giving Gabora a concerned look, she turned her glance to Zach.

“That was NOT what I thought you meant by “Go!”

Before Zach could respond, The monster gave another monstrous roar, and started moving faster. It must be responding to their mana. They had to do something, but they didn’t have enough time!

Wait! He had to stay calm. The monster wasn’t to the temple yet. They could do something. But how…

He gave the area another look. Rose was now doing the same thing as Gabora, reinforcing the barrage of bottles that kept the shadow at bay. But the bottles were running out, and they needed a more permanent solution, at least until they could strike it down some other way. But how do you keep a megaton monster out? They couldn’t wall it out, and they couldn’t kill it, so they would have to keep it pinned down, where they could see it. And the only realistic way to do that is….. Wait a second!

Zach quickly reached down, and grabbed the largest bottle he could find. As he did it, he looked around for anything large or heavy. There was nothing around but the remains of a small watchtower, so that would have to do. With everything he had, he sent the bottle shooting through the air, and watched as it detonated right below the buildings supports.

The group watched as the tower fell directly on top of the monster, sending it falling to the ground, and scattering dust and rubble everywhere. It cried out, and tried to rise, but it was wounded. The plan had worked!

For a minute, the whole field was still and silent. Only the cries of the monster could be heard. It was only when Gabora started moving that they came back to reality.

The owl slowly flew over to the door, and pulled out a old rusted key that was hidden somewhere within the folds of his feathers. He shoved the key into the giant stone slabs that comprised the main doors. Gears started grinding, and slowly but surely, the doors started opening.

“Come on! We’ve got no time to waste! Let’s get inside, quickly!”

---
The temple was like nothing Zach had ever seen. The arena-sized main room was almost glittering with the natural light that came through down through the huge opening in the ceiling. In the center sat a large grassy courtyard, now overgrown with trees and flowers. Pillars stood all around the outer edge, holding up the curved ceiling. On either side sat openings that probably led to other rooms, with one larger door going out the back. The whole place looked like something straight out of a action movie.

As the trio entered the main room, Gabora half landed, half collapsed onto dusty stone floors.

Rose quickly rushed over to help him. “Hey, are you okay!”

The bird almost seemed to smile, despite how impossible it might be with a beak. “Don’t worry about me, i’ll be fine. Though I might not be if I had kept at it much longer. You did very well with that attack, Zachary.”

Just as quickly, Roses attention turned back to Zach. “Oh yeah! You were awesome out there! Can’t say I agree with that entrance though. Anyway, shouldn’t we be a bit more worried about the monster that’s barely being contained outside?”

Slowly but surely, Gabora rose to his ‘feet’ and brushed off his wings. “You're quite right. We can’t waste any time. We must remain cautious, though. I haven’t come near this place in a long time. “

Wait…. That doesn’t make sense. “If you were put into stasis after Sialus died, how’d you wake up? When did you wake up?”

The owl started slowly walking across the temple floor. Zach and Rose followed close behind. “I don’t know all the details, myself. I imagine I came to because of the presence of the shadow on Earth. All I know is that I awoke in the treehouse only a few hours before I found you two.”

As the group continued across the granite floor, more questions seemed to pop into view. How did Sialus build this temple, if he was the only human on earth in his time? If Sialus created human’s thousands of years ago, how has this place remained untouched?

“So what do we need to do, exactly?”

As Rose asked the question, she seemed preoccupied with 20 other things. She had a solemn, almost awestruck on her face, looking around at everything, almost analyzing anything that caught her eye. But really, who could blame her? A place like this probably looked like 20 different panoramic drawings, and about a thousand different storybook settings, all wrapped into one.

“Well, I had originally planned to give you time to meet them before we got into any sort of battle…”

“Who’s everyone?”

“If you’d let me explain……” The owl gave Zach a look that clearly displayed his distaste for his apparent rudeness, before clearing his throat and continuing.

“You're going to be meeting the people who decided your current fate. The Heroes of Sialus are within this temple.”

This got Rose’s attention. She looked on at Gabora, a glint in her eye, and surprise written on her face. “But that can’t be! They lived way back in Sialus’s time. How are they here?”

Gabora put on a smile. He must be loving all the awe and attention from Rose.

“If you remember correctly, The Heroes were put into gems, and later put into stasis after Sialus died. That means that they are, in fact, alive and well, probably sound asleep in their gems, waiting for us to awaken them!”

The prized pupils of Sialus. They probably knew him better than anyone else. If anyone was going to be able to answer all the questions surrounding their current predicament, it was them.

As the group walked forward into the back room of the temple, some smaller things became more apparent. A little trinket there, a stack of boxes there. They all stood out thanks to their intricate designs and odd looks.

“What’s all this stuff?” Zach said as he picked up a ring with a small white crystal fitted on it’s face. It had writing written along the edge, with a metallic finish that made it shine brightly in the sunlight. It was pretty, and looked harmless enough, so he pocketed it.

“Well, Sialus did spend many many years on earth before he passed on, and in that time he became a sort of tinkerer. Now, I don’t know all the details, but I do know that he would always be testing and working with different things he would find, trying to infuse magic into them, or trying to create useful inventions. It probably made passing the time a lot more bearable for him.”

A tinkerer, eh? So that means he was a magician, a builder, a giver of life, and an inventor. Is there anything that this guy couldn’t do!

After yet more walking, the group arrived at a dead end room. It was filled with more of the gadgets that had been scattering the floor, and even had a dusty old furnace in the corner, though it was doubtful that it worked.

“And here we are!”

Rose gave Gabora a confused look. “Um… You sure?”

Rose was right. This did not seem like the place you’d keep the all-important magical experts of the past, much less a human life enclosed in a gemstone.

Gabora covered his face with his wing. “No, no. This is only the entrance to the Vault. Though I’m sorry to say you won’t be entering the place yourselves.”

Rose’s face quickly shifted from confused to disappointed. “Why not?”

Gabora shrugged and gave a sigh. “Listen, I’ve seen you kids. You aren’t dumb, and I know that your very capable, but for something this important, I just can’t trust you yet. Stay here, and stay out of trouble. I’ll be back in a minute.”
With that, the owl once again took out his rusted key, and shoved it into a small hole that was fitted into the wall. In an instant, he was gone, disappearing into nothingness, leaving Zach and Rose essentially alone, in the peaceful, but ultimately creepy temple. The silence and low lighting only seemed to solidify the uninviting tone.

“So…. What do you think they’re like? The Heroes, I mean?”

Zach hadn’t really thought about it. They were probably wise, and very knowledgeable. But if they were being taught under Sialus, they’ve would have been in the gems for a very long time, and that’s not including the thousands of year’s they’ve probably spent sleeping in the temple. What would that do to a person? Being trapped for so long, unable to move, and only speak to the person who imprisoned you?

“I’m sure they’re fine people. Anyone willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good has to be someone worth knowing, right?” Zach didn’t know whether he was saying it to comfort Rose or himself.

“Yeah, your probably right. Anyways, there’s been something that’s been bugging me ever since we heard Gabora’s story back at the treehouse. I wonder w-

Suddenly, the owl himself popped into reality just a few feet from them, startling Zach and putting an end to their little conversation. “I’ve returned!”

Rose crossed her arms and pouted. “Yeah, we noticed.”

The owl was covered in a small layer of dust, which slowly subsided after he appeared. Under his wing sat 2 gemstones. The first was a diamond, sparkling even in the low light, that was pure and completely clear, as if it were glass. The second was an emerald that, while not as refined as the diamond, sported more sides, and had dark green twinges sprinkled in with the lighter green. The whole thing looked like something you might see in a kaleidoscope.

Gabora held up the 2 jewels up for the pair to see. “These are two of the gemstones that house the spirits of the Heroes. You will each take one to keep with you, and the spirits inside will help you in your training, or at least I assume so.”

Zach raised an eyebrow. “You assume?”

“Well, these events were planned thousands of years ago, and I was only told exactly what I needed to know to fulfil my duties. At this point, I know about as much as you on this matter.”

That did not make Zach feel better at all.

“Well then. Without further ado, here are your Heroes!”