Morganthe's evil laughter rang in my ears even as I was showing Katie my home world, Zafaria. I met up with my old mentor, Inyanga Whitestripes, and I told him my concerns.
"Yes, it is as I feared, mma," said Rra Whitestripes. "The Umbra's dark presence is regathering at Mirror Lake. You may need to protect your charge. Even now the old demons have returned; Nergal the Burning Lion has been seen in the Savannah and is bringing back the Fire Lion Ravagers.
I shuddered in terror. "Ice melts under Burning Fire. I will do my best."
Katie told me she had been gotten hooked(no pun intended) on fishing and had gotten some interesting catches, including some shimmering scales from a strange creature...
She also started getting addicted to the silver chest games. "I need to find these magic keys," she stammered. "They're very important, I know it!"
Yep, the new update is out and with it the Revered Crafting and its reagents, the Shining Scales and Shocked Keys. I am going to get as many as possible...
Because I am a filthy cheater. Yep, I managed to complete the Zafaria crafting quest very easily(Katie had a laughably large amount of Sunstones thanks to feeding her pets) and I had Grace carry her to Ozotomeca in Azteca and complete that quest too. So I have the first wizard who actually got to the Khtysalis crafter before she even left Baobab. ;)
We got a bit distracted by the Immortals - they wanted Katie to fight Rra Earth-Shaker. I helped her out and I confronted Poseidon again but we got through it well enough and Katie became a Silver Archon alongside me and my friends.
I know Atlantea is the worst place to farm for gear, but when all you get is the crappy Poseidon's helmet, you know that the sea god stinks like rotten fish. Worse, one of the other players cast Feint on Poseidon like a n00b, trigger the Dispel Ward cheat. :(
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| Yes, this is the wrong picture. I didn't have a pic of the first boss in Mirror Lake. :( |
With that out of the way, I helped Katie get through Zafaria and we reached Mirror Lake, only to find that Tse-Tse Snaketail was back and ready to stop us. We brought him down...
And found Morganthe at the lake altar again, mocking us. "So you came, ha ha ha."
"Okay," said Katie with a sneer. "I'm here as you asked! What is your big deal?"
"You ladies should go home and hide in your bed sheets," cackled Morganthe, stroking her pet spider. "You cannot stop what is to come. I will destroy Wizard City and rewrite it to my liking!"
"What have you got against Ravenwood, you harlot?" demanded Katie.
"You do not know what I had gone through, brat!" hissed Morganthe. "I was a student like you, I could have graduated... but no, Ambrose... well, I've got to go, my revenge is nearly complete, thanks to my old teacher... I have you to thank for that, Grace. You and your little girl group."
"What?" I gasped. "What do you mean?!"
"You'll find out soon enough... HA HA HA!!!!" And with that, she vanished and left us with more spiders to fight. Thankfully we had some good strong allies.
I was confused. What did she mean by possible graduation? There was only one way you left Ravenwood without graduation... well, two; you quit the school willingly or were kicked out, and neither way ended with good blood towards Ambrose and his academy, so I deduced that was what happened to Morganthe. But why did she leave Ravenwood on bad terms? Another mystery which I would not learn about until much later, sadly.
The next day, I learned in terrified horror that Morganthe had attacked Katie in Ambrose's office like she had before with me. Before Ambrose banished her again, she threw a sword at Katie's feet with a wicked laugh and Katie showed it to me, making my blood run colder than Ymir...
The Sword of Kings. Christina was... her prisoner.
"As she was being sent away again," said Katie. "She said this... You and your Storm pal which my Weavers had kidnapped back in Zafaria will be joining her in the Shadow--she was about to end that with a word but didn't get it off in time."
"So I headed off to Avalon and met King Artorius, helped him out, and he was so impressed that he made me a Knight of the Silver Rose!" She beamed in glee. "Well, actually I had to go through the squireship and all that, but my ice magic really made those froudlings cower! And I had help." She winked and I wondered who was responsible. "I prayed at all the shrines to my patron guardian angel that I could save Christina and meet her in person! After all, she was the keystone of your group!"
"We need to save Mma Dawnblade," I said solemnly. "We must locate this shadowy place where she's being held. And the only thing we can do right now is explore Rra Ambrose's home world and find out if she had been messing up that place as well."
"Cool, I remember my mom telling me stories about King Artorius!" said Katie. "I can't wait to see!"
I visited the Knights of the Silver Rose and showed the sword to its former owner, King Artorius.
"Yes, that is the Sword of Kings," he said. "Recently the froudlings have risen up again, along with the dragons, and only your brave friend Katherine was strong enough to send them back with your absence. I fear that Morganthe is to blame. She and her brother have had nothing but power on their minds like the clan of vipers and scorpions they are! With Mallory seeking my throne and her sister seeking Ambrose's magic, I knew they would curse my kingdom! While Sir Mallory has now lost his life and his name as the Nameless Knight, I fear that his sister is becoming even more dangerous with time. Therefore, I shall give you a blessing. The Sword of Kings connects you with your friends and therefore I will give you a means to call my spirit into battle if need be. While I am still unable to fight directly, as much as I would love to resurrect the Council of Light and bring that witch down, I can at least give you more power to confront Morganthe when the time comes."
I bowed. "Thank you, Rra Artorius. If my daddy were alive, he'd be proud of me."
"Keep the Sword of Kings safe," said Gwendolyn. "I fear this is only the beginning of the darkness to come, and you will need all of the help you can get."
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| The fact that you can ride mounts in the final part of the Keep is hilarious. XD |
I helped to clear out the remaining evil dragons and goblins in Avalon, watched Katie get a place of honor in the Keep of Ganelon, then visited Halley and checked his observatory... it was as I had feared, the dark comet that had loomed over Azteca was getting closer.
As we left the library, I saw her. My friend. Sierra.
"Mma!" cried my secretary in glee. "You're okay! We thought that witch had captured you!"
She shook her head sadly. "I am fine, but Christina..."
"We'll save her," I said. "Together."
Just then, she frowned. "Sorry."
Then she grabbed me and I felt the teleport...
And were were in her dorm room. Somehow Sierra had changed her look yet again and was holding a special staff which glowed with an eerie light. "What is the meaning of this, Mma?" I asked in shock.
"I'm sorry, Grace, I know we're best friends... but..." She sighed. "I cannot let you leave this place."
I was shocked. "You're making me your prisoner? Why?"
"Yeah, if Rra Ambrose finds out that you're doing this..." Zoey growled. "He'll..."
"Don't worry, you only need to stay here until I stop Morganthe in Azteca," said Sierra with a cold tone in her voice. "I cannot let you go to Azteca. I will not let you or Katie risk your lives for my sake. I fear what Morganthe is up to is far beyond your ken."
"What are you talking about?" I asked softly. "I thought we were..."
"We ARE friends, we still are," said Sierra. "That is why I am locking you up in my dorm room, because I can't let another of my friends get hurt." She summoned a Gobbler. "Not the most polite guardian but he's good in the job. Babbler, you stay here and don't let this girl or her mermaid leave. Go fetch food for her from time to time. Maybe some books to keep her busy."
"Good guard do gob gob for pretty pink pixie!" burbled the Gobbler, who saluted. He cracked his knuckles loudly to signify that I wouldn't get by him easily.
"You think this will work, pink-hair?" laughed Zoey. "We can teleport! Mma, show her."
I tried to... but screamed and clutched my head.
"This staff was given to me by Ambrose himself as recognition of my skill as an Exalted Conjurer," said Sierra. But I saw something more terrifying in my friend's eyes... no, my FORMER friend's eyes. Darkness, the same sort of darkness that clutched Morganthe's black heart. "It allows me to put up a special ward that punishes and disables the usual teleport. Grace, Zoey, I am so sorry I must do this, but it's for your own good. If you found out what I discovered..."
"You were in Azteca?" I gasped. "I had been there! Morganthe said you were her prisoners! Where is Mma Dawnblade?! What is wrong with you?! That magic... it's..."
"Yes, I have the power of Shadow now," sighed Sierra. "When Sailor Wizard Mercury gave me that vision showing her Shadow Magic, she showed my fate... to be a dabbler in Shadow. I am sorry, but I had no choice, we must fight Shadow with Shadow." She heaved a sob. "Morganthe ambushed us and dragged us to her Shadow Palace. She tortured us with our worst nightmares and Christina broke and talked. She said you were joining us but later we heard that an Ice Wizard talked back to her and she backed off. Christina used what was left of her sanity to help me escape the cell but the Goliaths chased me through the halls... and then a strange trance came over me and I found myself channeling the Shadows... I destroyed them utterly. Grace, I don't want you to become cursed with Shadow too. I must fight this battle alone."
"Alone?" said Zoey. "You are crazy!"
She sighed and teleported away with a word, leaving me in this room with a mean smelly Gobbler.
I was curious. What was Sierra hiding, and what was she going to do to Ravenpetal? I couldn't escape to warn Katie... but I would find a way to eventually. After all, I did not become the #1 Lady Detective in Ravenwood by giving up.
And if Sierra was going to hunt down and kidnap Katie like she did me and had walked down the same path of darkness that led to serving Morganthe, Katie was in danger. I had to find a way to warn her, but there was no way to get a message out... except by telling the Gobbler, and I had a feeling he would refuse my favor, as he was loyal to Sierra. How did Sierra get a Gobbler to serve her anyways? This is another mystery I must solve.
[To begin soon...]
(And thus I've written out Grace, for now. Sierra's Gobbler guard is a housing guest I got from the Ghulture's Hoard pack. Sierra's new wand is also great luck - I pulled the Headmaster's Staff of Zeal, the Level 100 Life Wand, from my second pull of the Professor's Hoard Pack. Sierra's hair has a new strength, I got the Kan Davasi Victor's Hood from the Malistaire second-chance chest after spending 1500 Crowns on it so that's upgraded Sierra's power a bit.)
(Needless to say, Sierra's second visit to Malistaire the Undying was NOT fun - one of the wizards decided to be AFK and the Ice and Fire wizards were all I had in terms of allies. I also missed the Doom and Gloom trick to cut Shadow Malistaire's healing so we had to chew through all of his HP which is a long boring process when you cannot use Feints.) But...
Sierra and Christina are no longer the only ones to have Shadow-touched spells anymore, thanks to a vicious speedrun of Khrysalis. ;)
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