Your teens are a hard age to get through. One day everything is awesome and going great, the next…Well, not so much. It feels like everything is crashing down around you. But it is without a doubt, an age that you have to get through. It’s the most influential part of your life, and during this time, my life changed forever.

My name is Tyler, I’m fourteen, I have brown hair, blue eyes and I am one of those teens. I too have the occasional mood swings that can leave a parent scratching their head wondering just what it was that they said that led me to get so defensive. I live in Seattle, Washington and I love it. Beautiful place. Visit it sometime. But yeah, I grew up in Seattle so I knew the place like the back of my hand. I knew the twists and turns of the city and I know the many homeless folks that litter it.
And this day was like any other, all my friends were out partying, none of which were courteous enough to invite me to come with them. So I was walking through the forest looking for new unexplored places.
Looking for said places always ended up with me, out in the middle of the forest, far after dark, trying to be as stealthy as possible, so that some wandering jerks didn’t jump me.
Walking through the forest I came to a small hill. Noticing that I had never encountered this hill in my travels tugged on my curiosity to go further, deeper, into the forest and over the hill. So I did. When I reached the top I could see a faint blue glow in the distance. Wondering what it could be, I walked closer to the unearthly light. As I drew nearer, the light grew brighter, until me, and everything around me was bathed in an unearthly blue glow.
As it turns out the mysterious glow had been coming from a ball, about the size of a golf ball except it was an icy blue. I walked toward the ball resting in a tall patch of grass and picked it up, immediately feeling the coldness of what I had found. I realized that it wasn’t a ball, but a crystal. I rolled it around in my hands, wondering where this cool little paperweight had come from. I slowly began to walk away until I felt my foot sink into the ground. I looked down to see that the ground behind me had caved into blackness. And the ground was falling away around me. I ran trying to get away from the ever-growing mouth of the forest. But it was far too fast. The ground beneath had caved in and I was falling.
I was falling through a darkness that I had never known existed. I tumbled headfirst down the long black tunnel and the only thing to illuminate my decent was the faint glow coming from the crystal that I held tightly in my hand. I looked up, or down, since my head was beneath my feet, and saw a white light coming at me at an immense speed.
Suddenly, I was blinded. I had to blink several times for my eyes to focus and get used to the harsh light coming from the three suns above. I looked around in awe at the amazing landscape around me. There were mountains far off in the distance, with a volcano towering behind them proudly. There was an enormous forest with the largest tree I had ever seen standing tall in the center. There was a large lake beneath me, and a small grey area that seemed to be a town on top of a hill. But before I had time to inspect the town my breath and vision were snatched away as I broke the surface of the lake.
I shot down so far that I didn’t know if I’d be able to make it. I put the crystal in my pocket and tried to swim as fast I could to the surface above. My lungs were fit to burst and I was exhausted. I saw the light glimmering on the surface of the water at the top. And my head exploded from the water with deep greedy inhales of air. But as I began to swim to shore I felt something grab onto my leg. I kicked and tried to fight it but it dragged me under once again. I looked down to confront my attacker that was dragging me down ever farther but there was nothing but water and the precious air bubbles that were escaping from my mouth. I tried to swim back to the top with my remaining energy but I was losing air and my muscles were tired. The world around me began to grow dark until I fell from the water into a tunnel of air.
I coughed and spluttered and rolled over onto my back. I looked around to find that the lake was far deeper. I was literally lying on solid water. Not ice, just… solid water. I stood up to see that the tunnel extended throughout the lake, with many different tunnels branching off of it. I turned around and saw that there were two men walking towards me. I ran towards them with my arms flailing like I’d been lit on fire.
“Where am I!?” I screamed.
They didn’t answer.
“I fell into a hole and then I fell out of the sky and ended up in this place! What is going on?” I asked as they drew ever close.
They both hesitated for a moment and then continued coming towards me. They were both holding swords and they were dressed in black and blue armor. They wore masks and I couldn’t see their expressions. When they finally reached me they grabbed me by my arms and began to drag me back the way that they had come.
“What’re you doing!? Let go of me!” I yelled angrily as I kicked and shook trying to loosen their grip.
They continued to drag me off down the tunnel not saying a word. I supposed that we would be walking for a while so I slowed my pace, the men continued at the same walking speed and I slowly drifted behind the guard to my right. I put my hand on his shoulder and he shook it off. I put both my hands on his shoulders and jumped onto his back. They must have taken it as a threat because they threw me to the floor and stuck the points of their swords in my face.
“What’re you doing?” one of them asked me.
“I’m tiiiired.” I replied “ I’ll go with you guys without a fight if one of you carries me.”
“I will not be seen carrying an outsider on my back!” He said angrily. “ Either you come with us, or we throw you out of this tunnel to drown.”
“Ugh, fine.” I grumbled pulling myself up onto my feet.
They grabbed my arms again and I shook off their hands.
“Don’t touch me.” I said, glaring at both of them.
We continued down the tunnel until I could see a bubble in the distance that must have been connected to the tunnel. As we drew close I could see that there was an entire city in the bubble. We walked closer and closer until we came to a large gate. The guard on my right waved a signal to the guards inside. The gate let out a loud and annoying screech and I was pushed inside where another five guards decided that it takes seven people to guard a kid.
We continued through the town silently and then we came to another gate, this one however, was golden and intricately designed. The guards on the other side opened it up and we all walked inside. We crossed a heavily flowered courtyard to a castle. It was blue and decorated with shells and other assorted things that you would find under the ocean. We came to the door but this time nobody opened it up for us. A guard wandered from the others to the side of the door where there was a small hole in the wall. He stuck his hand inside hesitantly and I heard a thunk and a groan escape his mask.

The door slid open silently and the guards proceeded inside. I turned to look at the guard lagging behind, the one who had stuck his hand in the hole. Just as he passed me I saw a drop of blood slide down his gauntlet and dissipated in the water beneath us. We continued inside where we walked through room after room of elaborate paintings and beautiful sculptures. We came to the throne room and the guards threw me on the floor and saluted their king. The certain way that my body turned when I hit the floor caused the crystal to become dislodged from the depths of my pocket and roll across the floor. It hit the king’s foot and rolled to a stop right in front of him.

I stood up, brushed myself off, glared angrily back at the guards and faced the king. He too was masked and I could not see his expression as he slowly bent down to pick up the crystal. He turned it in his hands, inspecting it. And then he looked up at me.

“Young man… How did you happen upon this?” he said, lifting the crystal in front of his face.

“I uh, I found it when I was walking through to forest, then the ground caved in and I fell into the lake, then your stupid guards found me and brought me here.”

“Do you know what this is?” he said calmly.

“I just know that it’s a crystal.”

“It isn’t just any crystal. This crystal belongs to the god of the water people.”

I heard a shuffle of feet behind me from the guards.

“This crystal represents all that we stand for. It was what gave our god his power.” The king said, gripping the crystal a little tighter.

“If it belonged to your god how exactly did I find it?” I asked

“Our god has been defeated. Or else he would have this right now.”

“Well that just sucks. Can you let me go now please?”

“No, I can’t do that.” He said still gazing at the crystal.

“Why not!? I didn’t do anything wrong!”

“There are only three people in the world who can hold this crystal. The god, the king, and the voyager. And since you are neither a god nor a king, you must be our new voyager.”

“What? How can I be your uh… your voyager if I’m not even from here?”

“It’s not often that we have voyagers from different worlds but this is not the first time. Come with me.” He said standing up.

We left the guards back in the throne room to talk about what they had just heard. And the king led me through a hallway until we came to a wooden door. He wiped dust off of the handle and opened it. I winced at the loud creek that come from the hinges. We walked inside to a round room with statues in it.

“Past heroes of the water.” Said the king solemnly. “You will join them eventually.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” I questioned.

“There aren’t very many voyagers in here because the voyagers haven’t been particularly… heroic. Their job was to learn element manipulation and be a role model to the world, do good deeds, set an example, but not you.”

“Wait, why not me?” I asked, worried.

“You are one of the few voyagers who are to receive a mission.” He said, inspecting the statues.

“Why me? What do I have to do?”

“The crystal you found belonged to our god. The person who has it has their water manipulation powers sky rocketed. It’s the same with all the god’s crystals. Even a full-fledged voyager wouldn’t be able to defeat a simple guard if that guard possessed all the crystals. “ He said now dusting off the statues of the heroes.

“That’s great but what does that have to do with my mission?”

“The gods can no longer be trusted. I believe that it had to have been the god of the forest who defeated our god because water would have no effect on him. So we want you to defeat the god of fire.”

“Excuse me? The god of fire? But wasn’t it the god of the forest who beat up your god?” I asked, really confused.

“It doesn’t matter. You wouldn’t be able to defeat him now anyways, for now we need you to defeat the god of fire and become more powerful. He resides at the peak of the Black Volcano in an ancient temple where he has been training ever since the gods split up. Every god retreated to a sacred place filled with something of momentous value. The god of water for instance, had been stationed in a cave far beneath the ocean where he protected an ancient wrecked ship. Nobody knows what’s inside. Well… until now. The forest god knows and I want you to travel there and find out what’s inside. It will certainly come in handy when you finally confront the god of fire.”

“So you know where it is then?” I asked, still trying to wrap my head around what he had just said.


“Not exactly but I do know that it’s located somewhere in the body of water at the end of the river that runs through the forest.” He said slowly. “Follow the river but be careful. The people of the forest could be anywhere at anytime. They know the forest inside and out, I would advise that you keep to the shadows while still keeping sight of the river. Don’t ever stray, many a soul has gotten lost in that forest.”

“Ok, got it. So it’s water learning time right?” I asked more upbeat.

“Yes come with me. I will show you the basic manipulation of water.”

We walked out of the castle into the courtyard, through the golden gates, and down some streets. We came to a water fountain in what I believed to be the center of the town.

“Here. I will teach you the ways of water, observe,” said the king, waving a hand towards the water fountain.

He squeezed his fist tightly and the water shot into the air.
“Whoa.” I said. Looking up into the air.
He then stretched out both hands and the water stopped. He moved his hands and the water moved with it. He made it all flow back into the water fountain and then he turned to me.

“I believe that it’s your turn.”

“Ok. You can’t just say it’s my turn dude. You needa show me what to do first.” I said, looking at the water.

“It’s simple really. All you need to do is visualize the water moving through you. Just think that you can do it and you can. And anyways all the element manipulations seem to come easy to voyagers.”

“Well I guess that explains it enough…”

I walked toward the fountain and raised a hand. Then I turned back to the king.

“What about the hand movements? Is there anything I need to know?”

“No, all you need to do is what feels right.”

I turned back to the fountain and raised a hand, the water raised from the fountain. It didn’t shoot up like the king had done. But it was still pretty awesome. I moved my hand to the side and a stream of water went with it. Floating a few feet above the ground. I clenched my fist and the ball of water that was hovering in front of me evaporated.

I heard clapping behind me and turned around. There was the king and another man dressed in light blue armor but still obviously a person of the water. I bowed to both of them, smiling widely.

“Excellent, Voyager.” Said the king. He motioned to the man next to him. “This is my good friend who will be teaching you the ways of ice. Go with him and learn.”


The man motioned for me to go with him. The king stayed behind while me and the man proceeded down the cobblestone streets. We continued walking and I noticed that it had gotten colder. Snow had accumulated on the street in front of me and as we walked ever further it had begun to snow. By the time I could see my breath the man had stopped. We were at another water fountain. But this one was frozen solid.
“The first step in learning how to control ice is to learn how to change it back into water.” He said as he waved a hand to the fountain. Which instantly started running again. “It’s just as easy as water.” He said, refreezing the fountain.
I stepped forward and blew into my cupped hands, warming them up. I sniffed and raised a hand to the ice. I pushed forward and it melted. I raised both my hands straight up and looked up. The water shot up into the sky and I clenched my fists. It froze, but this wasn’t actually that good. It had turned into needles of ice hurtling towards us. Quickly I waved my hands to the fountain. All the shards of ice slammed into it. Some broke, some landed in it, some impaled the ground around it. I unfroze the shards and maneuvered the water back into the fountain that started up again.
“Eh, decent. That was pretty good except for the part where we almost just died. But, you know, whatever. I’d say that you pretty much have ice down. You can meet the king back at the fountain in the center of town. I believe that he is still practicing. He hasn’t gotten out of that castle of his in ages.”
I thanked the man of ice and walked away, through the snow and back into the regular, warm, part of town. I blew into my hands and stifled a sneeze. I definitely liked the regular part of town more than that chilly place. I saw the king at the fountain, still practicing. A crowd had assembled around him. And were watching with starry eyes as he swirled water above their heads. He stopped when he saw me.
“Ah yes, Voyager. Mastered ice, now have we?”
“Think so. I can freeze it and stuff.” I replied. Looking around at the crowd that was now staring at me with wide eyes.
The king noticed the whispers and fingers being pointed at me.
“Yes, citizens this is indeed our new voyager.” He said walking towards me. “He will be leaving on a quest soon I’m afraid. He will be in town for the rest of the day and will be leaving tomorrow. Get to know him while you can.”
He put his arm down on my shoulder and turned me away from the crowd.
“Not a word of what has happened to our god. We need to keep our people happy.”
“Got it. Is there anything else?” I asked. Glancing a look back at the crowd of people.
“Oh yes! I nearly forgot. You still need to master mist. Your teacher should be waiting for you at the third fountain. It’s down the same road as the Ice fountain but in the other direction.” He said pointing a finger to a sunny looking part of town. “Meet me in the castle when you are done.”

I proceeded down the street with the crowd now following me. Their eyes looking me over, their fingers pointing. All of them were whispering until a boy about my age came closer and began to walk instep with me. I could hear the whispers growing increasingly loud now.

“Voyager huh?” He asked looking ahead.

“Yeah, it’s kind of crazy.”

“I’d think so. How did you get here? I’ve never seen you around before.”

“Well I was in my world looking through the forest when--”
“Your… World? What do you mean?”
“Well, I don’t know exactly. All I know is that I fell into a hole and came out in this place.”
I could see the next water fountain now. This one seemed to be spraying mist.
“That is pretty weird man. Oh, by the way, I’m Luke.” He said, turning towards me with an outstretched hand.
I shook his hand and smiled.
“Tyler. But it looks like we’re here so I have some learning to do. You’re welcome to stay and watch though.”
“Definitely. I think I’ll watch with the rest of the crowd until you’re finished.” He said walking slowly back to the group.
It felt good to have a friend in this strange new place and I had a smile on my face as I walked towards the man in armor that was obviously water but was a whitish. He crossed his arms and turned his head to the fountain.
“Mist is in my opinion the most useful part of water. It can save your life in dangerous situations and it can teach you a lot of things.”
I heard some gasps come from the crowd.
“With mist you can make anybody see anything you want. Look behind you for instance.”
I turned around and saw a tree standing proudly behind me.
“I didn’t see that earlier…” I said turning back to the man.
Again, gasps escaped the crowd.
“Look again.” He said uncrossing his arms and nodding at me.
I turned around again to see that the tree was gone.
“Well now. That’s pretty sweet. Are you going to show me how to do it?” I asked.
“Just picture whatever it is that you want to make really.”
“Wow. It seems way too simple to be this legendary art of element manipulation.”
“It comes simple to the voyager. Other people like me and the king need to practice for years to master only one type of manipulation.”
“Oh well that’s cool I guess…”
I imagined a dragon, big and red. I maneuvered the water behind the man. And the shape of the dragon slowly started to form.
A person in the group shrieked and I heard snickers and laughs.
“Your turn to turn around.” I said to the man with a grin on my face and my arms crossed.
He glanced behind him and took a quick double take, jumping back. The crowd laughed and cheered. He turned to me slowly.
“I’d say you have it. Now get out of here.” He said once again crossing his arms.
I laughed and waved at him as I left, and once again walked down the cobblestone street. The crowd split apart while some stayed to watch the man do his thing and the other half decided to stalk me again. Luke ran up to me and smiled widely.
“Was it hard to make a dragon like that?” He asked.
“Not really. You just need to think about it and move the water.” I said turning into the golden gates of the castle.
The crowd including Luke stopped behind me as I proceeded through the gates.
“What’s wrong?” I asked with a confused look on my face.
“We aren’t allowed in there dude.” Luke said walking up to the gate.
I pulled him inside and he freaked out, scrambling to get out.
“Don’t worry about it. You’re with the voyager now.” I said with a wide grin.
He looked back at the crowd with a pale face and then looked up at the castle.
“Well alright then…” He said hesitantly.
We walked up to the castle and I kicked the door open.
“Honey! I’m hooome!” I yelled inside.
“What the heck man!?” Luke screeched.
“Don’t worry I got this.”
Guards ran to find out who this obnoxious intruder was.
“It’s just me guys. Calm down.”
I heard mumbles from them as me and Luke proceeded to the throne room.
“You probably shouldn’t do that if you don’t want to get roughed up from my guards.” The king said with a small laugh.
“I knew you’d like it.” I said smiling. “So I got mist down. What’s next?”
“Oh? Who’s this?” The king asked, noticing Luke.
“This’s my friend Luke. He’s cool, don’t worry.”
“Oh yes… The sky child…” he muttered.
This little comment confused me a little, but I shrugged it off.

“Honored.” Luke said, blushing and taking a knee.

“Dude just go shake his hand or something.” I said looking at the king. “This guy is guy is pretty awesome for a king.”

He straightened up in his seat.

“Yes well, you are without a doubt my favorite voyager. And-”

“Nice! You hear that Luke?” I laughed.

“Yeah, all the others were too serious and didn’t know how to have fun. I enjoy your time here. But-”
“NICE!” I exclaimed. “Sorry, continue.” I smiled.
“But you have mastered water far faster than I had thought you would. You are to leave immediately. We need to find out what our god was guarding as soon as possible.”
“Aren’t you gonna miss me?” I asked.
“Well you’ll be back soon. You are to report back once you have discovered what he was guarding.”
“Alright. Can Luke come?”
“Absolutely-”
“Nice!”
“Would you please stop doing that?” The king asked, shifting in his seat. “I was going to say absolutely not. The trip would be far too dangerous for someone who doesn’t know any water manipulation.”
“Dude! He can hear you. He’s right there.” I said pointing at Luke.
“It’s alright. You can teach me when you get back.”
I smiled and turned back to the king.
“So . . . What now?”
“Come with me.” He said standing up. “Oh, and I’m sorry Luke but I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
Luke and I exchanged handshakes and he walked out of the room.
“I’m going to have to hold on to the water crystal.” He said stretching out a hand.
“No no no. Sorry, bud. But if I’m going into the forest unarmed I’m keeping this with me.”
“Very well.” He said pulling something from his pocket, “This will take you to the edge of the forest. No further.” The king said holding a purple crystal out in front of me.
“Uh, dude?” I said raising an eyebrow. “That’s a rock.”
“Not just any rock. This is a teleportation crystal.”
“I don’t beli-”
“Poof!” The king threw the crystal at the ground and a puff of smoke surrounded me.
“Farewell. I’ll see you soon.” The king said, his voice growing fainter.
As the smoke cleared I discovered that I was exactly where he said I would be, at the edge of the forest. I sighed and started looking for the river. I found it about 20 yards from where I had been. I slowly entered the forest and a chill went down my spine. I could hear voices, whispers really. But it was still freaking creepy.
I continued along the river, looking over my shoulder every now and then, but of course there was nobody there. I felt helpless without a weapon, so I froze some water into the shape of a sword for some security. Now that I had a “sword” I could beat the crap out of anything that tried to eat me. The bushes to my right shook and I jumped back with my weapon at the ready. Something grabbed me from behind and I swung my sword. It hit the attacker in the head, and with a deafening crack, my sword shattered, sprawling him out. I froze his wrists and ankles to the ground.
“What the eff was that!?” I screamed.
No reply.
I bent down to inspect the man to find that he had a black mask like the people of the water. The only difference was he had a leaf on his mask. A person of the forest, he was just a guard though. He was probably trying to stop me from getting the water treasure.
“uhh . . .” He moaned turning his head.
“Oh, hey there.” I said kneeling down.
“Who . . .? What . . .?”
“I kinda hit you in the head with a block of ice, sorry.”
“You! What is a person of the water doing in our territory?”
“Stuff,” I said standing up. “How come you attacked me?”
“We don’t like uninvited visitors.”
“Well you know what? I don’t like you.” I said, turning to walk away.
“Are you just going to leave me here!?” He yelled to me.
“Uh… yeah pretty much. Later.” I said waving.
I felt pretty awesome right then. Now I knew I could take on these forest people. A light to my left made my curiosity twinge. I knew I wasn’t supposed to leave the river. But the unexplored wonders! I couldn’t resist. I strayed from the river towards the light, but then I hesitated. What if I fell in another hole? What if I came out in another world that didn’t find me being there a good thing? I slowly edged my way to the light and when I looked around a tree that was being rude and blocking my sight, I saw a sword.
It was amazing. It called to me like it had been waiting for me its entire existence. I reached out and touched the handle. It was warm to the touch. If this sword was for anyone, it was for me. I wrapped my hands around the handle and pulled it out of the tree trunk it was impaling. It slid out smoothly and it felt perfect in my hands. It was as light as a feather despite that fact that it was like four feet long and enormous.
I swung it around and it moved perfectly with me. I swung it at a tree and it passed right through. No drag, no resistance, it was like cutting butter. The tree tumbled and I started walking back to the river. Suddenly the ground beneath me started to shake. Crap! I turned back and once again the ground was crumbling. I sprinted until I got to the river, the hole followed. It swallowed everything in its path. I ran along the river until I could see the light of the sun coming from the outside of the forest. I made one final dash and I was out of the forest. But unfortunately now, I was flying through the air.
The edge of the forest was on a huge cliff face. I hurtled through the air but it felt like I was actually flying. I took a glance behind me at the forest and I was higher then the trees. I wondered how this was possible until I saw the figure of a person standing on the cliff edge with his arms outstretched in my direction. I must have gone out of his range though, because now I was back to hurtling towards the water.
I stretched out my legs as I came rocketing down. I hit the surface of the water and shot down. Quickly, I made an air bubble around my head.
“Phew . . .” I exhaled into my bubble.
I held the sword tightly in my hands and made the water push me to the surface. I was feeling lazy. When my head was once again above the water, I froze a patch of water to my left. I climbed onto it and looked around. All I could see was water. I made the ice I was standing on into a pillar so I could get a better view. I could see land far away the only other interesting thing I could see was a whirlpool in the water.
“Might as well check it out.” I said to myself.
I froze a trail to it and walked. When I was at the edge looking in I could see a golden light coming from the center.
“Jeez, what’s with all the glowing stuff?”
I jumped down into the whirlpool as it spun me around, and around, and around.
When I finally hit the center I slid down a tunnel. I kept sliding until I fell out into another large air bubble like the water town. Inside was a sunken ship.
“Oh, original.” I muttered.
I proceeded to the ship and was ambushed by forest people.
“How the eff did you guys even get down here!?” I screamed.
“That’s not important now.” One of them answered.
They jumped at me. I swung my sword. It met another blade but I broke it with near to no effort. I pulled some water from the ocean we were fighting under and a wave crashed all of them into the wall. When they touched the bubble they popped right through and floated up to the surface.
“Alrighty then.” I said smiling.
I walked up to the entrance of the ship and the door had that oh so familiar water drop symbol. I put my hand on the door and nothing happened. I guess I wasn’t magical after all. But then I pushed on the door and it creaked open.
“Wow.”
I walked down a set of stairs and into the main room. It was beautiful. Chests of gold and jewels littered the floor.
“Nice!” I exclaimed.
I picked up a few jewels and gold pieces and stuck them in my pocket, my smile showing my overwhelming joy. A pirate’s hat sat on a chair and I put it on smiling. I put on necklaces and bracelets and rings until I was starting to feel heavy from all this stuff. I was pretty sure this wasn’t the sacred treasure that the god was guarding so I searched for something that looked like it could be of importance.
A glow was coming from a different room. Obviously hinting to me that I should go in there. Inside the room was empty all except for a pretty awesome looking shoulder plate. I picked it up and a teleportation crystal fell out and shattered on the ground.
“Crap!” I yelled.
I couldn’t go all this was way just to accidentally get teleported somewhere. I didn’t even know if this was what I was looking for. I found myself in front of the king yelling obscenities.
“Tyler! You’ve found it?”
“Is this it?” I asked holding up the shoulder plate. “I didn’t really find anything better.”
“Well hand it here boy.”
I handed the shoulder plate to the king and he inspected it deeply. He took a glance up at me and gasped.
“Where did you get that sword!?”
“Found it.” I said while removing the pirate hat and taking off the many jeweled rings.
“Where exactly?”
“The forest. Why? Is it magical?”
“It is, that is the legendary sword, Destiny.”
“Sounds kinda girly.” I said looking down at my sword.
“The story of that sword has been passed down for ages, oh the power it possesses.”
“Really? It was just kinda sitting there in the middle of the forest. Don’t you think somebody would have picked it up by now if it was this awesome?”
“They most likely have, in the legends it is said to tear hole in the world if it is ever removed.”
“Ooooh… yup, that’s this sword alright.”
“This is perfect! This sword is exactly what you need! Tyler where is your water crystal?”
I pulled it out of my pocket and held it up for him to see.
“Good, now place it in the hole on the blade of the sword.”
There was a little crater big enough for the crystal, I wondered why I hadn’t noticed it earlier. I placed it in slowly and a small click confirmed that it was in.
My sword slowly changed to a deep blue color, its handle changed to look like waves for a hand guard, and fog was flowing off of it like dry ice.
“Awesome!” I yelled with a humungous smile on my face.
“I’ve never seen anything like this...” The king gasped.

“Now that I have a sweet sword, I think you needa get me some sweet armor, buddy.” I grinned. “You gotta keep your voyager happy. Hey what about that shoulder plate I found?”

The king examined it closely and yet another gasp escaped his kingly face.

“That’s what they’re guarding!” he exclaimed happily.

“What is it?”

“I know where you can get your armor Tyler!”

“Really!? Where!?” I screeched happily.

“The gods! When the world was first made there was only one god, one hero, and one villain. Eventually the villain had corrupted the people and turned them against the hero. They ambushed him in the night and his body was never found. Only his armor in a heap was found untouched. The legend says that a person with evil intent could not touch it.”

“And the gods gathered it and hid it because?”

“It’s so full of power that if someone who didn’t know how to control it was to put it on they could destroy people, villages, everything.”

“Well it looks like I’m going to be one powerful individual.” I said, smiling broadly. “Throw that thing my way.”

The king threw the shoulder plate to me and I placed it on my right shoulder. It was warm and it felt like it was merging with my clothes.

“Alright well do you know what pieces the other gods have?”
“We’ll talk about it more when you get back.”

“Get back from where?” I questioned.

“The god of fire is resting at the top of the Black Volcano. You can easily defeat him with your mastery of water and your newfound sword.”

“Alright throw me a crystal, I’ll be back in a sec.”

The king tossed me a teleportation crystal and I sliced it into two clean pieces with my sword. The purple smoke surrounded me and I found myself at a fork in a dirt road. One sign read “To Black Volcano.” The other said “The Lost,” and something was crudely scribbled under it that I couldn’t read.

“And I’m off to the volcano.” I said turning down the dirt path.

I could see the volcano not too far off and I walked to the bottom of a trail that winded up its side. I began my journey up the black mountain and found myself sweating profusely. Well it was a volcano, so that wasn’t too odd. I also noticed a lot of lava filled craters along the trail. Suddenly I had an idea on how to get to the top.
A smile broke out on my face as I shot a stream of water into one of the bubbling craters. Nothing happened. I shot another, twice as big. The lava started to bubble angrily and I covered the hole with a flat rock and stood on top. I prepared myself for flight as I scrunched my face and bent my knees. Nothing happened. I loosened up and turned around. Suddenly me, the rock, and a truckload of steam shot into the air.
I was hurtling towards the mouth of the volcano at a pretty insane speed as tears started streaming from my eyes and the wind whipped at my face. I struggled to get my arm straight out in front of me and I shot out some water. My speed slowed and I started to fall.
I was falling down to the menacing mound of dirt and lava, and there was nothing I could think of. I braced myself for impact and then hit the smooth flat ground of a temple. My shoulder was on fire with pain, I looked at my bone sticking out of the skin on my left shoulder and I choked. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to block out the pain. I made some water in a ball in front of me and slowly moved it onto my shoulder. It burned but then I froze the water over the bone. I couldn’t feel it as much, but it still hurt.
I stood up shakily and picked up Destiny from the ground. It was still enchanted with the water crystal. I scanned the area and I noticed a set of stairs heading up into the temple. I walked over to the stairs and leaned against a wall. I pulled off my shoulder plate with an effort and placed it over the frozen, broken, and bloody one. I walked up the stairs quietly and looked around, everything was bathed in a warm orange glow.
A dark figure was seated in the middle of the room, surrounded by thousands of candles. He stood up with his back faced to me.

“You should leave.”

“Haha no way pal.”

He jumped, and turned around slowly. His shoulder-plates shone with gold and his face was hidden under a helmet. A glowing red sword hung at his side that just said “back off”.

“Who are you?” He demanded.

“Name’s Tyler. Remember it.”

“You little-” He didn’t finish his sentence before he threw a huge ball of fire at me.

I took a step to the side and it blew a huge hole in his wall.

“You took a cheap shot and you still missed. Some god of fire you are.”

“How dare you disrespect me! You fool!” He ran at me.

I tried to dodge him but he tackled me and we both flew through the hole in his wall and out into the air once again. I froze his arms to his side and punched him in the face.

“Is that all you’ve got kid?” He laughed, breaking his arms away from the ice and wrapping his hands around my neck.

Everything began to turn dark. I started feeling really sleepy. I couldn’t go out like this. I used the last of my strength to put him on the bottom. We hit the ground and he let go of my neck. I had smashed him against the ground and he wasn’t too happy about that. I shot out a stream of water at him and he sliced at it with his sword. The second the water touched the sword it sizzled, and steam slowly started to surround us. I couldn’t see a thing.
I made some mist and turned it into another me. He smiled and looked at me happily but this was torn away as he was sliced in half by the god of fire. More steam shot out and the god turned to me. I made a wave of water crash him against the cliff-side and he dropped his sword, which instantly lost its glow. He was dripping wet and I froze him to the cliff.
“What!?” He roared. “How!?”
“Skill.” I said smiling, and catching my breath.
He broke free once again and hit me with a fireball. My shirt lit on fire and I fell back. He picked up his sword and swung it at me. I quickly recovered and pulled up Destiny to my defense. The swords hissed and steamed as sparks flew off of them. I thought I had the upper hand but he was too strong he knocked Destiny out of my hand and swung hi sword at me a second time. I jumped back and he shot out black smoke from his hand that obscured my vision.
Coughing, I tried desperately to find Destiny and get out of the smoke, but to no avail. I made a second wave that drowned out the smoke, and turned around to find the god of fire charging at me with his sword pointed. Suddenly he was smashed against the cliff face by a heavy wind and Luke came out of the sky and landed next to me.
“I got your back.” He said unsheathing a long and intricate sword.
I scrambled to pick up destiny as the god of fire was recovering from the random gust of wind that had interfered with him killing me. I heard him grunt as he dropped his sword. A demonic sounding yell made me and Luke turn. The god of fire jumped at me with his hands blazing and the next thing I knew, I was on the ground, I had my sword pointed out in front of me. It was through his chest and steam was rising from it. Suddenly the god exploded in ash. All his armor and weapons were left behind.
I looked through the heap of metal and something glowing red made my heart flutter. I wiped away the ashes and picked up the warm red crystal. I took the water crystal out of my sword and it changed back to normal, then I clicked in the fire crystal and it instantly transformed. The shape, the size, the color, it was great. The sword now was covered in flames and was glowing red, I could feel the heat coming off of it.
“Sweet.” Luke gasped.
“I know right?” I replied smiling, “So wait a second, how did you get here?” I asked.
“I flew.” He said shrugging. “I’m originally from the town of the Sky, but I had mastered all their skills quickly and I wanted to learn more.”
“So you went to the Water town to learn…”
“Yup. And I think you could use my help. So I’m staying with you.”
“Alright, sounds good,” I replied smiling, “Now come on, I hafta check out some stuff.”
I put the water crystal into my pocket and we walked back up into the room where I had met the god. We checked the room and found an armored glove at the place the god of fire had been sitting. I picked it up and slid it on, it felt like it was taking the shape of my hand because it fit me perfectly. I looked around and found a heap of teleportation crystals on a table. I put some into my pocket and dropped one. The smoke surrounded us and I could hear cheers coming from somewhere.
When the smoke cleared, we found ourselves in the center of a stadium. A dinosaur was charging at us.
“Oh crap.” I muttered.
I took off running from the beast and Luke flew up into the air. The crowd gasped as he suspended the dinosaur into the air with him. I froze its arms and legs together with the thickest ice I could make. Luke dropped it back down and the crowd cheered as the dinosaur struggled to escape. Luke flew down next to me and gave me a high-five. We walked away and I patted the shoulder of a man dressed in armor, staring at us in awe.
“Next time.” I told him assuringly.
I broke another crystal and the smoke came and went. This time we were in the right place. The king gasped.
“What happened!?”

“Eh, not too much, I got some stuff.” I said showing him my glove and my sword.

“Luke? What are you doing here?”

“I helped out Tyler, sir.” He replied quietly.

“Yeah, I probably wouldn’t even be here if he hadn’t shown up.” I added.

“Well the people of my city thank you, Luke.” The king said, outstretching his arm.

Luke shook the Kings hand and smiled broadly.

“It looks like you two have done a lot. I think you should go upstairs and rest. In the morning, Tyler, you and I will go pick up some enchanted clothes I had made for you while you were gone.”

“Magic clothes? Really?” I asked with one eyebrow raised.

“Yes I’m quite excited about them actually and-”

“That is so dumb.”