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Chapter Three "What is it?" Gary asked. His grandfather, father, and himself were in the cavern just outside the room Kali sat in. "You know that witch we told you about?" his father asked him. "Yeah. What about her?" Gary asked. "She's not very happy about her daughter." "Daughter? What daughter?" "Gary, don't you know who you're friend in there is?" his grandfather asked. "You mean Kali? She's harmless. I don't believe she'd hurt a fly." "No. She probably wouldn't. But flies are a lot different from humans. Don't you know who her mother is?" The light bulb went on in Gary's head. He figured out what his relatives were saying. "Kali is the daughter of the old witch that lives across the valley?" "Yes. And from what we know, she does know some of her mother's magic. If we let the witch get her hands back on her daughter, then who knows what disasters could happen." "But I told you! Kali doesn't look the least bit harmless!" "Right now she is not dangerous. But, like your father mentioned, if her mother gets her hands on her, than with their own powers combined, they could rule the universe. They'd be quite an invincible team," Grandfather explained. "So we must get her as far away from here as possible." "Won't she come looking for us anyway? Sooner or later, wouldn't she find us and take her away?" Gary demanded. His father did not answer his question, and his grandfather looked back towards Kali. Gary leaned against one of the columns, and looked up at the sparkling roof of the cavern. "Gary, it will be your job to protect her," his grandfather said after awhile. "On her own, she would be in great danger. Your father and I will keep the witch occupied with other things. But we won't be able to keep her off your trail for long." "Which is why you must travel quickly. Don't stay in one place for two long, and try to steer clear of small villages. If people notice you, and she comes, then the people living there would no doubt tell her where you went." "What? I haven't even completed my training yet! And now you're telling me to take a total stranger, a harmless fourteen-year-old girl to some place that you won't even tell me, so her evil mother can't teach her dark magic?! This is ridiculous! Why do I even bother letting myself get messed up in these things. I should have stayed with mother--" "No, Gary. You must go through with this. Consider it part of your training. This is a dangerous mission. Sooner or later, something like this would have happened. We're only lucky it happened so soon!" "Forget this! I'm out of here." Gary stomped off to the room Kali was in. "Kali!" he said, walking inside. "Kali, we have to--Kali?" The room was empty.
Kali watched Gary walk out of the room with his grandfather. Sighing, she started to eat the soup. "Hey, this stuff isn't half bad. It's better than what my mom makes." She finished the soup and stood up. I wonder what they're talking about out there… Walking out of the room, Kali walked back down to the mystical cavern. She could hear three voices arguing. "Gary, it will be your job to protect her," a voice said. "Oh her own, she would be in great danger. Your father and I will keep the witch occupied with other things. But we won't be able to keep her off your trail for long." "Which is why you must travel quickly. Don't stay in one place for two long, and try to steer clear of small villages. If people notice you, and she comes, then the people living there would no doubt tell her where you went." "What? I haven't even completed my training yet!" Gary was speaking. "And now you're telling me to take a total stranger, a harmless fourteen-year-old girl, to some place that you won't even tell me, so her evil mother can't teach her dark magic?! This is ridiculous! Why do I even bother letting myself get mess up in these things. I should have stayed with mother--" Kali couldn't hear what was said next. She turned around and started walking back to the room. They were talking about her! Kali had been on the verge of laughing, so she had to walk back. Her mother was, apparently, evil, and full of dark magic. Which didn't half surprise Kali, since all her mother had taught her were curses. But then, the thought of her own mother, the old whiner, was an evil goddess, whom these people obviously slightly feared. She almost burst out laughing at the thought, when she heard footsteps behind her. Quickly, she ran around the corner, out of the light from the cavern. "Kali! Kali we have to--Kali?" She heard Gary's voice searching for her. What did 'we' have to do? To her left, Kali heard a strange noise. Wandering into the dark, keeping her left hand on the wall, she walked down towards the noise. She turned a corner and could see a faint light. She walked towards it, partly hypnotized. Kali… called a mysterious voice. Kali, come here…come to the light… Kali walked towards the sound and to the light. As she got closer she realized that it was a small opening outside the cliff. "Ha! Who said I couldn't go back to my cliff?" Kali whispered triumphantly. "I'm getting out of this hole in the ground!" She pulled at a boulder that was blocking the opening. Pushing it aside, she crawled through the tiny opening. Standing up, she noticed her mother standing before her. "M-mother? Is that you?" she asked, dazed. Her mother was wearing a dark black cloak, and had the strangest look in her eyes. "Kali, at last you have come to me!" "Whoa, okay, did you get enough sleep last night? You look--" Kali was interrupted when she noticed a small beating against her body. Her hair was already soaking. It was extremely dark outside. And it was raining. "That's funny. I could have sworn that there wasn't a cloud in the sky when I last was outside." "Quiet Kali! Tonight is the night when we begin your real training! Take my hand, and let us go forth!" "Whoa. Okay, slow down. What on earth are you talking about?" "Tonight you shall begin your training as an Elemental. You will be the last element that we need, and we shall be powerless. After your body is stained with lightning, then you will search for three things. One: the golden stallion, which you shall pluck a single golden strand of hair from. Two: you must find a unicorn, slay it, and bring back the horn. Three: you must find the scale of the black dragon. Then you bring it back to me." "Huh?" Her mother grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards the cliff. Looking across what should be the valley, Kali saw a canyon. Turning around, she noticed that the cliff she stood on was one wall of a valley, and a wall to a canyon. Her mother jerked her back to face the canyon. "Stand on the rock over there." "Are you crazy?! I'll probably slip or get struck by lightning or both! Wait a minute, that's what you're trying to do, isn't it? You want to kill me!" "Kali, listen to me! Your name means dark goddess or energy! This is your destiny. You must join my tribe and me. We will be undestructable. No one will be able to defeat us. We will rule the world, and then the solar system, and then the galaxy. Then, we can rule the universe!" "You're crazy! I don't want to rule the universe. I just want to--what do I want to do?" Kali stared at the rock. Decisions, decisions. What were the consequences of her choice? It would be so much easier to walk away. She considered that. But that would be the coward's way out. "I'm not a coward!" Kali told herself. She started walking towards the rock. "Yes, Kali, that's right! Go forth, and become!" Kali climbed onto the rock, the rain splattering across her face, the wind whipping her hair all around her. She looked up, and gulped. Her mother started chanting something. Her mother chanted something that no one else understood. Kali stood straight up on the rock, and stared up at the sky. Faintly, she could hear someone cry her name. "Kali!" Then, in a blinding shriek of light, Kali slipped on the rock, and felt herself being ripped apart. She felt light flow through her, surround her, and she was engulfed in flames. Her body was on fire, yet she was cold. Her back felt as though it was being sliced open. She was falling, falling, the light in the darkness. Her voice did not work, as she was screaming but no sound came out. She could hear thousands of sounds, yet could not comprehend what anything ment. She was blind, she saw only darkness. She was not breathing. Kali felt her body exploding, or so it seemed. Then it was squished, as though she had swam to far down into the ocean and the pressure had made her a pancake. A burnt pancake. Tears flew down Kali's eyes as she caught her breath, shivering. A coldness swept over her body. Now, Kali could barely see figures running around her, and started shaking wildly. She coughed once, twice, and then again. She was burning, she felt as though she was laying on the sun, yet she shivered crazily. Kali found a hole, and attempted to climb through. Then she was falling again. A giant thing reached out and grabbed her and threw her up. She was slung over something. She heard a soft noise, then crossed her eyes and fell asleep. |