Bayacrux Chapter 8

Walking down to a spot under a tree, Shed, Julie, and Ladi set up camp, spreading out blankets across the firm earth.
"I still wonder where the others are", Julie said, staring at the yarn fringe of one of the blankets. "But I think we'll do fine on our own. I'm a good Mayao"
"I hope so", Ladi said, staring up at the rising white sphere in the sky. She let herself fall onto the blanket, staring at what stars that were visible through the thick canopy of trees that had suddenly grew around them.

******

Ilex led the four that were with him up to a trapdoor on a staircase made of dirt.
"If you want to get back to where you were", he said, "This is how you'll get there. Now get going. I'll escort you until you find your friends"
Heaving open the old, wooden trapdoor, Ilex led Tereya, MM, Phizz, and Fre out into the cool night air of the forest.
"Where are we?", MM asked. "This isn't the Air part of the Octogon..."
"I'm confused too", Ilex said.
Pointing to some people sitting over in the distance, Fre said "I think that's Shed. Let's go over and see them"
Phizz ran like a natural-born athelete, tearing through the expanse of trees between them and their goal. MM tried to run to catch up with him, but Phizz just kept going faster and faster, legs blurring in a circle.
"Wait up!". MM stopped running and fell to the ground on her knees, breathing heavily.
Phizz tried to stop running, but slammed into a tree.
"Are you okay?", Fre asked. He was following behind them, Tereya's head reluctantly placed on his shoulder. She appeared to still be weak.
"I... don't like being chased", Phizz sighed. His boyish face, framed by it's soft brown curls, was bruised by the collision.
"Hey", MM said, walking back to where Ilex was, "will you come with us until we get to our friends?"
"Yeah, didn't I say that before?"
"...I guess. I just don't want you to run off on us"

******
Shed saw a flicker of movement in the distance, and recognized Fre's sky-blue hair. "Guys! You're back!"
Julie ran out to give MM a high five, but tripped and landed flat on her face in the dirt. Ladi pulled her up by her hand.
"Number one, what happened, and number two, who is that guy?", Shed said, pointing to Ilex.
"I don't like quizzes", Fre said.
"We fell into a hole in the ground", Phizz said, staring accusingly at MM.
"And 'That Guy' is Ilex", Ilex said, pointing to himself.
"So what happened? Are we still in the Air area?"
"We should be", Shed said. He filled them in on what had happened with Drake.
"Well, that's weird", Phizz said. "Real weird". He told Shed about what had happened with them falling into Ilex's domain.
"That's weird too", Shed said. "I still can't help but thinko there's something going on that we don't know about"
"There just might be", a gruff voice interrupeted.
Out of a grove of trees, two creatures entered the clearing. They both walked on two feet. One was a feminine lime green fox-like creature with a pink flower around her neck, bright yellow eyes, and one pink tail. The other was a large masculine wolf-like creature, who was blueish grey and had a patch of black fur on whis chest from which two crab-like claws erupted.
Shed backed away, pulling out his flute cautiously, even though he had a hunch these two creatures wouldn't harm them.
"I am Kaye, and this is Mammon", the fox-like creature said. Her voice was soft, but clear. She and Mammon bowed to the group of Mayao.
"We are messangers of the Gods", Mammon said. It was clear that it was he who had spoken before.
"We have come to tell you about what has happened and what you must do", Kaye said. "The Gods are still weak from making their creation. Because of this, evil Mayao think this is their time to strike. They are working to destroy all the Guardians of each part of the Octogon"
"Guardians?", Shed asked.
"Powerful creatures like the Prysm Wyrm. There is one per element. A few have already been killed, such as Spectrum of the Mystery and Seraphi of the Light", Mammon said. "These evil Mayao believe that if they destory all the Guardians, they will be free to rule"
"But what about the Gods?", Julie questioned.
"The Gods do not have all that much power. They are there to keep the land stabilized, to provide things when needed. People can't depend on them. They can only guide you. They do not control you", Kaye answered.
"This sounds serious. What do you want us to do?", Fre asked.
"We want you to kill these evil ones", Mammon said. "Then the Gods will be able to appoint new Guardians".
"The evil Mayao we are focusing on live in the area of Darkness", Kaye said. "One is the Creature Master of Darkness, so be careful"
"Creature Master?", Ilex said, walking out from behind Shed. "Another one? My father told me we were the only ones left"
"Creature Mastering is an ancient art that was said to have died out a long time ago. It dates back to even before the Torpedo, to people who had an affinity for ancient creatures called animals. Most of the Creature Masters died out, but your family line remains, Master Ilex Oddison". Ilex cringed at hearing his full title. "Every few decades a person pops up with Creature Master abilities, but that does not mean they will become a Creature Master". Mammon finished his speech as Shed realized how weird it was that they talked in turn.
"Speaking of Creature Masters... I scent one", Kaye said. "It appears to be a creature... no, four. I'll advise you to be careful"
Before Kaye and Mammon could dissapear back into the forest, three medium-sized creatures bounded out of the brush. They all looked like crosses between cats and dogs. One was dark green and black and had what looked like a giant lime around it's neck. Another was light brown, black, red, white, yellow, and purple. It had spiky ears and various designs on it's body, but the most noticable part of it was another head growing out of it's back with a skull and crossbones design on it. The final creature was blue with white fins for ears and at the end of it's tail. It had yellow pom-poms on the ends of it's ears.
"We'll hold them off", Mammon said. "You run"
The group did as told, but stopped by a tree to see if the two messangers needed any help.
Kaye cast a few earth spells, making the ground rise and quake under the feet of the monsters. The green and black one fell to the ground, weakened. the multicolored one simply molded the earth into a wave shape, riding on it as if it were water. It jumped down and bit at Kaye with it's two heads.
Meanwhile, Mammon was fighting with the blue creature. The aqua creature did a few acrobatic moves, then sprayed a forceful jet of water from it's mouth. Mammon stick his large paw out in front of him to block the jet, and the creature jumped onto his chest, knocking him to the ground. Mammon's claws seemed to take on a life of their own as they fought with the blue creature.
The multicolored creature set it's sights on Kaye. It waved it's five clawlike tails as dirt swirled around Kaye, encasing her in a coffin of earth.
"Kaye!", Tereya called. she burst form Fre's grasp, MM, Shed, Julie and Fre following close behind.
The creature then turned it's attention to Tereya. Dirt began to grasp at her feet, tripping her.
"Tereya!", Fre shouted. He tried to free her from the earth, but to no avail.
Kaye suddenly got an extra burst of energy. While the creature was distracted by Tereya, she burst out of the earthy tomb and kicked it in the main head, making it collapse to the floor. Enraged by the defeat of it's partner, the green and black creature shot a spray of sludge from it's mouth. It seeped into Kaye's skin, her fur turning purple as she fell to the ground.
"Please", she said with her last breath. "Save the Octogon"
Tereya was released from the knocked-out monster's grasp.
"I think we should capture these", Shed said. MM and Julie nodded, Julie pulling out her triangle and MM taking deep breaths.
They all made music the way that had done before to summon their monsters, but calming, beautiful music that spoke of the friendship between mand and creature. Suddenly, the three creatures became calm. MM collapsed to the ground, out of breath, Shed sighed and put his flute away, and Julie rubbed her tired wrist.
Ilex pointed at the three monsters in turn. "Greemo", he said, finger pointed towards the green and black one. "Armagezing", gesturing towards the multicolored one, "and Hydron", he said. "They're yours now"
Shed walked to Greemo, MM walked to Armagezing, and Julie to Hydron, each meeting it's new partner. Mammon slowly walked over to Kaye and picked her up in his giant arms.
"You were truly brave, sacrficing your life for a human", he said. "We will all miss you dearly"
"Ilex, how did you know their names?", MM asked.
"Creature Master stuff...", he replied, staring down at the ground.
"So, you're going back now?" Mm sounded dissapointed.
"No. I think you guys need my help more now than anyone down in those caves could"