"This is a typical Emma idea," Hanpan said as Jane flew the Protowing towards the Forest Mound.
"Here we go!" Jane shouted, diving the Protowing towards the Forest Mound. The Protowing crashed through the treetops, snapping off branches and boring large holes through trees. The flying machine spiraled into the middle of the Forest Mound and crashed head-first into the altar. It suddenly stopped its rapid descent and was sucked into the Elw Dimension. The Protowing reappeared on top of the corresponding Forest Mound in the Elw Dimension.
"Well, here we are," Jane said. "Where's this castle of yours?"
Emiko took the helm of the Protowing and flew the vehicle to the northwest island in the Elw Dimension. He landed it in front of a large green and white castle. "This is the Elw Castle," he explained. "It was built by the Archmage Kizim." Kizim, of course, was the Elw that created the Kizim Fire of Baskar.
The five -- plus Hanpan -- got out of the Protowing. Cecilia held up the Tear and the doors swung open. The party entered. The Elw Castle had obviously been in disrepair for many years. The floor was covered with dust and huge spiderwebs hung from the ceiling.
"There must be something in here that'll give us a clue as to who's taken the Guardian Amulet," Emiko said.
"What's that?" Jane asked, pointing at a metal object in the distance. It looked like a huge four-legged robot.
"A LEG!" Emiko exclaimed, walking closer. The robot -- which has heavily armed -- bore a certain odd resemblance to a goat.
"A what?"
"It's a LEG -- that stands for Laser Emitting Goat," Emiko explained. "They're a more advanced form of ARM that uses many of the technologies found in the golems." Suddenly, the LEG came to life. Its mouth open and a green tractor beam shot out. The beam picked up Emiko and sucked him towards the LEG's mouth.
Rudy fired his rocket launcher at the LEG's mouth and blasted out the tractor beam. Emiko fell to the ground. "Hey, that gives me an idea," Jack said, getting the hint for a new Fast Draw. He swung his sword and a green wave pulled the LEG towards him. Then he clobbered it in the head with his sword. The LEG retaliated by firing a beam of light at Jack. Jack ducked out of the light.
Cecilia cast Hi-Break on the LEG. Pelted by rocks flying out of the ground, the LEG backed off. Emiko, still lying on the ground, got to his feet and cast a spell. The LEG stopped moving and collapsed to the ground. "Somebody must have set that LEG to attack us," Emiko explained.
Jack was looking into the cockpit of the LEG. He pulled out a kobold, holding the dog-like creature by the fur on its head. "Here's your culprit," he said to Emiko.
"A kobold?" Emiko wondered. "What's a kobold doing here?"
"He's kind of cute, actually," Jack said. "Can we keep him?"
"But he's not as smart as I am," Hanpan added from Jack's shoulder.
Suddenly, a ball of blue light flew out of the Tear and circled over the party. Then it flew down a hallway. "I think we'd better follow it," Cecilia said. The party followed the light down the halls of the Elw Castle to the basement. There the light hovered over an empty pedestal.
"That's where the Amulet's supposed to be," Emiko guessed.
"Correct," a voice said. A vague flicker of Stoldark appeared over the pedestal. "The Amulet has been stolen by Angol Fred, the King of False Rumors. As long as he it, he wields absolute control of the Guardians. You will not be able to summon us. The only reason I able to appear right now is because he is away from the castle."
"Where he is?" Cecilia asked.
"We don't know, Innocent One," Moa Gault said, appearing.
"Move over, Gurdijeff," Fengalon interrupted. "No, the other way."
"But the amulet does no good by itself anyway," Moa Gault continued.
"What kind of name is Gurdijeff anyway?" Fengalon said.
Moa Gault ignored him. "Its power lies in three gems corresponding to Love, Hope, and Courage."
"Ka Dingel, now that's a cool name."
"Shut up, Fengalon," Stoldark said, then turned his attention back to the party. "Angol Fred's generals have taken the gems to their homeworlds. Your mission, whether you choose to accept it or not, is to journey to those worlds to retrieve the gems."
"But how do we get there?" Cecilia asked.
"We can use the Protowing," Hanpan said. "If it can do interdimensional travel, then it must be able to do interplanetary travel as well."
"We'll take your word on it," Jack said.
"Very well," Stoldark said. "This castle will self-destruct in approximately five seconds."
"Let's scram," Jane said.
Cecilia cast Escape and the party teleported outside the Elw Castle just as the castle exploded into a pile of rubble. In the rubble, Rudy spotted an ARM case and walked over to open it. "No!" Emiko said. "Don't open that case. It houses the forbidden ARM, the Death Song. The power of absolute destruction, the heartbeat of annihiliation. It was created by the rogue Elw alchemist John Tesh. We had to seal it up here to contain its terrifying power."
"Hey, ARMs don't kill Elws; Elws kill Elws," Rudy argued as he opened the case and removed what appeared to be an ordinary CD player, albeit one with a large speaker on the bottom.
Any further conversation was interrupted when the sky over the island rippled and then rolled back, leaving a gaping black hole. A second Protowing flew out of the hole, which then closed, and landed in front of the charred ruins of the Elw Castle.
"All done," Professor Emma said, stepping out of the new Protowing. "This Protowing is capable of instantaneous travel to any dimension. I call it the Emma-Mobile."
"That was fast," Hanpan said. "How many unfortunate souls did you sucker into helping you with this one?" Emma ignored the comment.
"So now where do we go?" Jack asked. "Where are these other worlds?"
"I wonder if your furry friend there knows anything," Emiko said.
Jack looked down at the kobold, which he had been dragging along the whole time. "Woof! Kuromimi take you there, just let go of me!"
| Next chapter: The Great Forest |