Fan Fic - The Force of the Fog

[Neshae]

This is probably this first fan fic story I ever came up with, only I didn't really come up with a whole lot for it until recently. It takes place somewhere in between The Witch's Stone and Heirs to the Throne.

Prologue

There was a hidden evil in the land. The elf could not tell where it came from. It would take over the bodies of all life and bend them to his will. There were only a handful of people powerful enough to stop him.

Fhuyt woke up. He looked out the window. Out on the horizon, the sky had turned from a deep, dark blue lit with diamond-like stars to a pale pink, with a lavender color in between the two. An almost exact mirror of the almost dawn marked the ocean, its waves washing up onto the shore below the cliff that the Shades Against Evil building was built on. All the houses on the cliff and the house on the beach were dark. All was peaceful. Fhuyt loved mornings like this. He sighed contently. Maybe it had only been a dream. There seemed to be no evil.

A soft wind blew, making his white blonde hair stir. That was when he sensed it. An evil was approaching, just like the dream had predicted. A black, shadowy fog gathered on the horizon. Fhuyt didn’t know what it was, but he knew it was part of the evil. He had to protect everyone from it, starting with those closest to it. His eyes went to the house on the beach. If the evil got a hold of what lay in that house, all would be lost. The first of the protection went to Alaesia.

Suddenly, the evil became aware of what he was doing. He protected more people in his world. Then he saw something, a piece of what the evil knew. He saw the other world, where Alaesia’s friends had helped her when her memory was lost. He sent more protection out to that world to protect the ones called Rayman and Neshae.

He was about to protect more when a sudden violent electricity shot through his veins. He cried out in pain and knew that this was the evil’s doing. There was one more he had to protect before he blacked out. One last spell went back down to that house and protected the one other person living in it.

Blackness formed over his eyes and he fell to the floor, no longer able to protect anyone else from the evil of the fog.

Chapter 1

Dawn was approaching. The vampire had no idea why the girl was out so early, or what she was doing alone in the forest, but he didn’t really care. He was hungry.

Neshae wasn’t like most of the vampires in this world. He looked more like his twin brother, Rayman. But he sure wasn’t as well known as his brother. Though they weren’t identical twins, they were both limbless. And apparently, limbless vampires didn’t transform into bats like the others did. His bat wings stayed with him all the time, folded over his black shirt and coming together just above the red bull’s eye on the front. Hair was black and hung down more than Rayman’s. His eyes were as green as the leaves on the trees around him. His shoes were green with splotches of gray scattered across them. Around his waist was a thick leather belt with the silvery hilt of a sword tucked into it.

He was close to her now. His fangs came out. Just a few more steps and he’d have her.

She turned around, her eyes red and glowing. Neshae stopped, caught by surprise. He hadn’t exactly seen that coming.

Taking advantage of his hesitation, the girl took a swing at him. Slightly amused, Neshae caught her hand easily. But then she brought up her leg and kicked him in the side. Neshae cursed and let go of the hand. She continued taking swings at him and he dodged each one.

“Is this all you got?” Neshae taunted.

To his surprise the girl grabbed him and held him off the ground. “Shloth kopi andertnes khwi.” Her voice was dark and twisted, like several voices, deep and treble, were speaking it at once.

Neshae had no idea what she said, nor did he have time to think about it. She threw him against a tree.

Okay, fun’s over. He thought and pounced at her with vampire speed. Before she could do anything, he bit her neck and drained her.

A beam of sunlight broke over the horizon and hit Neshae’s eye. He closed it and backed up. He sighed irritably. Morning already. He left the girl’s body and spread his wings, taking flight.

He landed next to the human village. It was the only human village in the world and could easily be pointed out as such. Most of the buildings and houses looked the same. One of which, on the very edge of the town, resembled a small castle.

Sunlight bathed everything in a golden light as humans began coming out of their houses to do work and some of them left the tavern in a stumbling, drunken trance.

Neshae took a glance at the town, but generally avoided it. Most of the villagers would be bound to recognize him and he wasn’t very liked around the place. He went straight to the castle house and flew up to one of the windows and climbed in.

The castle had been empty when he had found it. And it was still empty. But all the doors other than the one on the roof were locked and there was no key to be found. He wandered the halls until he found a dark bedroom and fell asleep on the bed.

Chapter 2

Alaesia and Dorithmir wandered through the halls of the SAE building. There was chaos and confusion going on and people were refusing to leave the building. There was a little bit of fog on the beach, but there seemed to be no reason to want to stay indoors.

When they found Fhuyt’s room, it seemed as though most of the confusion had sprouted from there. The two squeezed past a couple of new people that they hadn’t gotten to know yet and entered the room. Inside they could see Shigyu and his wife, Bujit.

Shigyu stood by the window, trying to close the curtains, but not able to find them. He was wearing a sandy colored cloak and had short, dark hair and white, sightless eyes. He was rambling some jibberish that only Bujit seemed to be able to head.

Bujit was a little taller than Shigyu. Her hair was long and golden, the same color as her eyes. She was wearing a white dress and trying to make sense of what her husband was saying.

Fhuyt lay on the bed. His long, white blonde hair was sprayed across the bed. His face seemed disturbed. This was not a natural sleep. Shigyu had been brought in here so they could try to find out what was wrong with Fhuyt.

Alaesia and Dorithmir approached the bed. Alaesia had black hair that wasn’t as short as Shigyu’s but didn’t reach her shoulders. Her eyes were orange and alive like a jack o lantern on Halloween night. She was wearing a purple shirt and blue jeans. Dorithmir was dressed in all black. It was his mood. His hair was black and did reach his shoulders. And his eyes were black as well. His skin was slightly more pale than the other people in the room. Despite his looks and the way he was dressed, he was not a vampire.

Dorithmir took Fhuyt’s hand in his own. Fhuyt was a father to Dorithmir. Dorithmir had discovered his powers at a young age and his parents had forbidden his use of them. So he had run away and Fhuyt had found him. Fhuyt had taught him everything he knew and together, they had started the SAE.

“How long has he been out?” Dorithmir asked Bujit.

“Since dawn.” The woman answered. “Some people heard him cry out and when they got here he was on the floor by the window. We don’t know what caused this, but no one wants to have anything to do with the outside world at the moment.

Shigyu looked directly at Alaesia. This unnerved her, for he could not see anything. And she hadn’t even spoken.

“Do not trust the water and the air. Separate, they are key elements in the survival of every living thing. But when together they shall take those very same lives. All shall be in control of one who seeks the worlds. The five worlds. Only the three can stop him.”

“Are you saying the fog did this?” Dorithmir asked.

“One who is pure of soul and bears the ring. One who is consumed by insanity, yet as trustworthy as the mighty ones. One who once had no limbs, and bears the D. Separate, they shall fail, but together they shall conquer the water and the air. Beware his power, for he—“

Shigyu never got to finish. He cried out and tried to stumble away from the window and collapsed on the floor.

“Shigyu!” Bujit exclaimed and knelt by his side. She glanced over her shoulder and moved away from the window as well.

Out of curiosity, Alaesia moved to the window. She felt like she was being watched. She looked down at the fog on the beach and saw that it was rising. It seemed to be crawling up the walls of the cliff.

“Get protection spells on all the windows!” she said. “Don’t let the fog in the building!”

The new people hurried out of the room to spread the word.

“Do you have the amulet?” Bujit asked, her eyes wide.

Alaesia paused for a moment. “No I don’t.” She looked back out the window.

“If the fog was going to do anything to us, it would have already.” Dorithmir said. “But if it is able to get that amulet somehow…”

“You stay here and watch after things. I’m gonna get the amulet and get to Rayman’s world. I’m pretty sure I know the three Shigyu was talking about.” Alaesia said.

Dorithmir nodded.

Alaesia raced through the building and through the fog. Nothing happened to her, fortunately, but she didn’t know how long that would last. Once or twice, she almost lost her way, but finally, the shadowy form of her house appeared through the fog on the sand.

Alaesia went through the door, which was open. Something was wrong. She went through the house to find that everything had been thrown around, as if someone were looking for something. She hoped she wasn’t too late.

She reached under her pillow and pulled out an amulet. Two glowing, blue snakes slithering across each other, forming a cross with a glowing, blue ring to bind them. A black chain sprouted from the longest snake’s mouth. The Snake Cross Amulet was safe.

There was a noise behind her. Alaesia turned around and saw a man. One thing Alaesia noticed about him was that his eyes glowed red. Deep down, she knew it was because of the fog.

The man picked up a chair and threw it at Alaesia. She ducked and shot a blast of fire at him. It hit him in the arm and he pounced at her. Alaesia sent lightning at him, but he dodged it and kept going until he rammed into her, throwing her up against the wall. He grabbed her by the neck and held her against the wall and said something in a strange language.

“Shloth kopi andertnes khwi.” His voice was dark and twisted, like several voices, deep and treble, were speaking it at once. Alaesia’s eyes widened. She knew what language that was.

The man took a knife out of his coat and was about to stab her with it. Alaesia raised her leg and kicked him between his. He stopped breathing and gave a high pitched squeak and let go of her. Alaesia put the amulet around her neck and ran out of the house before anything else could attack her. She created a portal using the amulet’s magic. It was violet in color, but also swirled with yellow and black. She jumped through it and the portal closed behind her.

Chapter 3

Rayman could feel it when he woke up. There was a presence of evil in the air. The atmosphere was thick with it. A gray fog had settled over the forest while he was asleep. He couldn’t see past the trees nearest to him. Occasionally, the light of a lum could be seen through it.

There wasn’t a sound around him when the forest should have been noisy with life. It was eerily quiet. He looked around, trying to find the source of the evil presence.

There was a noise to his right. Rayman turned his head to see two gleaming, red eyes through the fog. Then a teensie leapt out at him, a sphere of magic in its hands.

Rayman jumped back in surprise. A teensie had never attacked him before. The magic sphere hit the spot where he had been and left a charred crater in the ground.

The teensie created another magic sphere and threw it at Rayman. He ducked, still confused.

“What in the world is wrong with you?” he asked it.

The teensie stopped in the middle of creating a third sphere. The light of the sphere flickered and faded away into nothing and the teensie was still. For a moment he did not move. Then he looked up at Rayman.

The teensie spoke in a strange voice. It was like several voices, high and deep, speaking at once in a dark, twisted form. It was not the voice of a teensie.

“Shloth kopi andertnes khwi.” It said.

“Huh?” Rayman asked.

Instead of an answer, the teensie created another sphere and shot it past Rayman at something, then disappeared. Rayman looked behind him, but saw nothing. There wasn’t a sound, no movement, nothing through the dense fog.

There was a noise from another direction. From out of the fog swarmed mosquitoes, all with the same glowing, red eyes as the teensie.

Before he could react, a hand grabbed him and pulled him toward where the teensie had thrown the magic sphere. The mosquitoes flew by.

Rayman looked at the person who had saved him to see that it was Alaesia. Fortunately, her eyes were not glowing red as well.

“Hey, D.” he said, calling her by the name she had gone by in the first two adventures they shared.

“Hey, Ray.” She answered. “As you’ve probably noticed, something’s wrong.”

“Yeah. But what? Something’s happening to everything.” Rayman said.

“Yeah, it’s going on in my world too.” Alaesia said. “And apparently, three more. Shigyu said something about the fog taking over the five worlds and only the three could save them.”

“You don’t think Figuya has anything to do with this, do you?” Rayman asked. “It wouldn’t surprise me if she could do magic in spirit…”

Alaesia shook her head. “No. She only wanted to take over this world. And I don’t think she’d be able to get to mine anyway…”

“So what all do you know?” Rayman asked.

Alaesia sighed and stared off into space, as if trying to remember everything. “I know that the fog is causing everyone it touches to act weird, like zombies controlled by some evil. I know that there are a few people it doesn’t effect, like me, you, and Dorithmir. I know that the evil is able to attack things even without the use of the fog, for Fhuyt and Shigyu are now in comas from being too close to the window. The evil tried to take the Snake Cross Amulet. And it said something in a strange language. I don’t know what it said.”

Rayman thought for a moment. “Well, there’s gotta be a source to this fog somewhere. We have to find it and stop it.”

A soft breeze blew towards them from the north, the breeze that had blown the fog in that direction. The fog had come from the north, so that was where its source would be found. It also happened to be where they would find the human village where Rayman’s brother, Neshae, lived.

Alaesia and Rayman looked towards where the wind had come from. “I guess we’ll be picking up Neshae on the way.” Alaesia said.

“Provided he hasn’t been turned into a zombie.” Rayman said as he started going north, Alaesia following him.

[Neshae]

Chapter 4

It was a while before they reached the human village by Helm Mountain. This was where the two had first met Neshae. Night was approaching. Dark clouds hung in the sky and rain began to fall. No one seemed to be out in the rain, fortunately, so Alaesia and Rayman didn’t have to fight anyone.

When they found the tavern, they climbed in through a window to one of the bedrooms. They didn’t want to run into the bar keeper that owned the inn. He was more than likely a zombie just like everyone else.

Rayman fell asleep on a bed while Alaesia looked out the window. She loved to watch the rain. She leaned up against the wall and closed her eyes, listening to the thousands of little drops of water fall onto the roof of the tavern and the ground outside. It was peaceful despite the fog and the zombies and the constant evil presence in the air.

Alaesia opened her eyes as lightning flashed, creating a square of light on the wall as it came through the window. It flashed once again, sending the same square of light on the wall. Then it flashed once more, this time with a shadowy figure in the center of the square.

Alaeisa’s heart leapt and she looked at the window. Nothing was there. This whole scene seemed very familiar to her. She got up off the bed, ready to attack anything, just in case she was wrong about who it was.

She looked out the window, but saw no one. Before turning around, she smiled. She knew who was behind her. She could smell the faint smell of cheese, like on cheese puffs.

She turned around. Behind her stood a Raymanian man with black hair and bat wings folded over a black shirt with a red bull’s eye over the heart. On his hands were black biking gloves and on his feet were shoes that were green with splotches of gray. Around his waist was a thick, brown belt with the handle of a sword tucked into it.

“Hey, Neshae.” Alaesia said.

The vampire laughed. “Don’t worry, I won’t drain you.” He joked, for that was what he had said when they had first met and he was about to bite her. “So what’s going on?”

“Well aside from us on a quest to save the world, not a lot.” Alaesia said as she sat on a bed.

“So any idea what’s with this fog?” Neshae asked. “The last human I bit had red, glowing eyes and was almost as strong as I was. And it spoke in some weird language with a freaky voice.”

“You too, huh?” Alaesia said and began telling him everything she knew about the situation.

“Well, I guess I might be able to come along.” Neshae said when she was finished. “I just MIGHT be able to fit a quest to save the world in my busy schedule.”

“Right. Eating cheesey poofs all night is busy.” Alaesia joked.

“Hey, those things are as addicting as they are good.” Neshae said.

“Well, get some sleep.” Alaesia said as she laid down on the bed. “We’re gonna start in the morning.”

Neshae groaned and sat on a third bed. “I hate all this ‘world saving during the day’ stuff. Can’t we do it at night this time?”

“We aren’t wasting a day. And Rayman is already asleep, I need sleep. It isn’t gonna work this time. Maybe the next one.”

Neshae snorted and laid down.

Alaesia closed her eyes and soon fell asleep.

Chapter 5

Rayman woke up to a snarling noise. He opened his eyes and saw a human climbing in the room through the window. He sat up and got out of the bed, ready to fight, for the human had red eyes like everything else.

Alaesia was next to wake up. “Woah!” she cried out. The human looked in her direction, its eyes falling onto the Snake Cross Amulet around her neck. Then it lunged for her. Instinctively, she held out her hands and an invisible force seemed to catch the human, holding it inches away from her.

Alaesia had always had the ability to fight with her soul. One might call it telekinesis, but she never did. The only downside was that it only harmed members of the spirit world, not solid beings. It could, however, hold them in place or bang them around a bit.

Rayman was about to react when there was another noise as another human climbed through the window and pounced at Neshae.

“Neshae!” Rayman cried out.

Neshae opened his eyes and saw the human come at him right as it had landed on him. The wind was knocked out of him and his fangs came out, his temper pushed past the limit.

With his own snarl, Neshae picked the human up and bit his neck. There were several more noises and more humans could be seen coming toward the window.

“Time to go.” Alaesisa said and tossed her human out the window.

“Come on, Neshae.” Rayman said as he followed Alaesia out the door.

Neshae reluctantly let go of his meal and followed the two out of the room as another human started climbing in.

They crept through the hallway, making sure to stay quiet. They moved quickly so to stay ahead of the coming humans. The lobby was completely empty. Even the bar keeper was nowhere in sight. They started on through to the door.

A cleaver flew past Alaesia’s head and stuck into the wall. The three turned around and saw a big man wearing a dirty, white apron behind the bar. His messy, dark hair was tied back in a rubber band. Like all the zombies behind them, his eyes glowed red. This was the bar keeper.

The three continued to the door as the bar keeper climbed over the bar and chased after them. They were almost forced to skid to a stop when they made it outside, for zombies were heading toward the door too. They turned right and continued north.


They walked on for hours after loosing the zombies in the forest. The fog was thicker in this area. It seeped through their clothes and made them feel damp and cold. The atmosphere was as gray and gloomy as the fog they walked through. After a while, they lost sense of direction. Were they still going north?

“We’re lost, aren’t we?” Neshae said.

“I think so.” Rayman answered. Everything looked the same: a wall of gray against a floor of green.

“Uh, guys…” Alaesia said. A strong wind started blowing their way. “I think some kind of storm is coming. We’d better find some shelter, otherwise we might end up freezing.”

“How are we supposed to do that?” Neshae asked in an irritated tone. “We can’t see five feet away from us!”

Alaesia closed her eyes. Rayman knew what she was doing, and it was enough to quiet Neshae. Harsh winds blew against the three as Alaesia’s soul left her still body. She was still alive. Her breating regulated and everything went in a sort of automatic pilot. Snow flakes began to fall around them and the boys huddled up next to Alaesia.

Her eyes opened. “There’s a cave over there.” She pointed through the snow and fog.

“Lets go.” Neshae shivered.

It was a few minutes before they reached the cave, but when they did, they were glad to get out of the wind. The fog wasn’t as thick in here. It was more of a gray mist that made the rock slick and slippery.

“Well at least it’s warmer here.” Rayman said. The snow fell in a fury outside the cave.

“I guess we camp here for the night.” Alaesia said and sat down on the rock floor, leaning up against a wall. She shot a blast of fire onto a rock in the center of the cave. It lit up and magically caught fire, warming them instantly.

Something illuminated by the fire caught Rayman’s eye. He stood up, ready to fight. “We’re not alone.” He said.

Alaesia and Neshae stood up. Further back in the cave was what appeared to be a wolf. It’s wolf-like head held two red eyes and a mouth full of fangs. It was massive in size, its head as big as Rayman. Its fur was dark gray, thick, and purple scales could be seen underneath it. Its claws were not like that of a wolf’s, but of a dragon’s. A pair of bat-like wings sprouted from its shoulder blades and a scaly, hairy tail swung threateningly.

“Oh great.” Alaesia said.

Neshae drew his fire sword. “Since this thing is likely to attack us with or without the fog, I believe it’s safe to say we can fight it. Right?”

“Right.” Rayman said.

The beast pounced at the closest person to it: Alaesia. She grabbed it with her soul powers and threw it against a wall. Neshae pounced at it, sword ready. The beast landed and slashed a great paw at him, batting the vampire away. Neshae hit another wall and dropped his sword. The fire faded from the blade and hit the floor with a click.

The beast pounced for Rayman now. Alaesia picked it up again and threw it against the same wall. Her arms trembled and sweat beaded across her face. It was heavy.

Rayman wound up his fist to launch it at the beast. It recovered as the fist was launched and made a move to catch it in midair. Alaesia saw this and reached out with her soul power, pushing Rayman’s fist aside. The jaws of the beast snapped at the air, then it returned its gaze to the girl.

Neshae got up and leapt at the beast again. It whacked him with its tail sending him across the cave once again. But not before Neshae managed to give it a good slice across the back. It howled in pain. Its eyes glowed even brighter and it took a deep breath.

“Oh sheitsky!” Neshae cried and the three ran out in to the blizzard and dove on both sides of the entrance just as a blast of flame shot through.

When the fire died, the beast followed them out. It turned and saw Alaesia, then crept toward her. She would not be able to pick it up again. It was too heavy.

As if on instinct, the Snake Cross Amulet glowed on her chest. The light reflected on the beasts eyes as it had gotten close. It backed away, seemingly terrified, then took flight.

“What was THAT?!” Neshae asked as he and Rayman got up and came to Alaeisa’s aid.

“It was scared of the amulet.” Alaesia said.

“I wonder if that has anything to do with the zombies…” Rayman wondered.

“Let’s get back in the cave to think about it.” Neshae said. “It’s cold out here.”

Alaesia smiled and got up. Then the three returned to the cave and camped for the night.

When they awoke, everything outside was covered in a blanket of snow. Despite how little they wanted to go out into the freezing wind that was still blowing and the fog that was as thick as ever, they had to continue north.

The hard part was deciding which direction was north. Luck was on their side when they found a moss covered rock laying on the ground. Although the moss had frozen, it was clear which side of the rock it was growing on. So they followed the moss and went northward through the snow and fog.

Not much else happened all day. They didn’t run into any more zombies. They probably couldn’t find the three in the fog anyway. To keep everyone warm, and to light their path in the growing darkness as the day began to end, Alaesia burst into flames. The fire danced across her skin, but did not burn her.

Suddenly, there was no ground. Walls of ice shot past them and the fog was reduced to a line above their heads as they fell. Neshae flapped his wings and Rayman used his helicopter power, but Alaesia had no flight ability.

“Hold on, I gotcha!” Neshae called and caught her.

“Thanks.” Alaesia said. She looked up. “Hey, the fog doesn’t seem to be coming in here.”

Neshae and Rayman followed her gaze.

“You’re right.” Rayman said. “Maybe we’d better camp down here for the night. Where there’s no fog, there’s bound to be no zombies.”

“Sounds good to me.” Neshae said.

They landed on the bottom of the chasm and looked around. To their left was a cottage. It was a strange place for someone to live, but it was better than staying outside in the cold. The three went up to the door and knocked.

Chapter 6

“Who is it?” asked a rough voice on the other side of the door.

“My name is Rayman.” Rayman said. Before he was able to introduce Neshae and Alaesia, the door opened.

“So you’re the famous Rayman.” A short man stood in the doorway. He had a heavy frame and a long, black beard. “Doesn’t look like the fog has taken over ya. Come on in.”

The three followed the dwarf inside the cottage. A fire blazed in the a fireplace on the back wall, hitting them with a welcoming blast of warm air. The room was full of desks, bookshelves, and weapons. Most things looked ancient, possibly created thousands of years ago.

“Wow.” Alaesia said in awe as she looked around. “Fhuyt would love this place…”

Neshae looked at the weapons on the weapon rack. “These are awesome! Where did you get these?”

“My family’s been collecting them over the centuries.” The dwarf answered. “Same goes for all the books.”

Rayman and Alaesia looked at his book collection. “You wouldn’t happen to know about the five worlds, would you?” Alaesia asked.

The dwarf looked at her suspiciously. “Most people have forgotten about that subject. Why should you be so interested?”

“A friend told me that this fog is trying to take over the five worlds.” Alaesia answered. “We have to find the source of this fog and we’re kind of—“

“Confus-ed.” Neshae said.

Alaesia raised an eyebrow and looked at him. “Uh, yeah.”

“The five worlds is a system of worlds linked together by magic. Teleportation to other worlds is possible, but to these, it’s the easiest. No one knows why this is so. Not even my books.

“There are four worlds surrounding a center world. This center world is very hard to get to. You can’t just teleport there. If you could, then every madman in existence would try to go there and take over.”

“Why?” Rayman asked.

“That is the easiest place to take control.” The dwarf answered. “If you control the center world, you can control all five. This fog is probably coming from the center world and leaking out into the other four.”

“So someone has managed to get to the center world. That explains why the fog is in our worlds and the guy was able to magically knock out Fhuyt and Shigyu. But why couldn’t he do the same to us?” Alaesia observed.

“Probably a protection spell.” The dwarf answered. “If someone tries to stop this villain from taking over, he can take them out instantly. One of those people you mentioned were probably just able to protect you three before he was hit.”

“That makes sense.” Alaesia said.

“SO how do we get to this center world?” Rayman asked.

“There should be a portal somewhere.” The dwarf said. “You’ll probably follow it if you keep following the fog. But be careful, because there are people who guard the portal with their lives. They will not just let anyone go through at the risk of letting them take over.”

“Thanks.” Rayman said. “Would it be alright if we stayed here for the night?”

“Of course it would.” The dwarf answered. “You three would freeze to death out there.”

[Holy Crap]

Oh, i have to remember to read this.

[Neshae]

Chapter 7

The next day, the three left the dwarf's cottage and Neshae flew them all back up on top of the chasm. THen they continued their journey north.

The wind had stopped, so it didn't seem as cold as they walked through the snow. And it wasn't long before great, shadowy shapes emerged from the fog. They loomed thousands of feet high and jagged peaks marked the tops. There was an ancient feeling to these mountains. And the fog was coming from a pass between two of them.

THey made their way through the narrow pass, having to climb up at first. Footing was treacherous from loose rocks and they often found themselves slipping and sliding a little way back down. But eventually, at around nightfall, they reached the height of the pass and things leveled out a bit.

A net suddenly came out of nowhere and fell on the three. Alaesia's fire tried to burn the ropes, but they seemed enchanted for durability. Even Neshae, with his vampire strength, couldn't break through.

"It's no use struggling." said a voice through the fog. "We've prepared for anything."

A figure emerged from the fog. Her hair was a frosty brown color and was tied back out of her way. She dressed in light clothing, despite the weather of the snowy mountains. In her hands, she carried a spear.

"Who are you?" Neshae asked.

A few more figures emerged from the fog. "We are the guardians of this pass." the first said. "We have vowed to let no one through to the center world."

"Someone has already made it through." Rayman said. "We have to stop him before this fog controls everyone."

"Wait a minute." Alaesia said. "Why aren't you zombies?"

The people looked at each other in confusion. "Zombies?"

"Yeah. Where have YOU been?" Neshae asked. "This fog has been turning everyone in at least two worlds into zombies."

The people muttered amongst themselves so that the three could not hear. Then the first spoke once again to them.

"Our people have long since been protected from all kinds of magic for being guardians of something so powerful. I believe your hearts are in the right place, but risks cannot be taken. We cannot let you to the portal. We can, however, give you shelter for the night. These mountains are dangerous at dark. My name is Grathorin."

"Well that is appreciated." Alaesia said with a shiver. The wind had picked up again. "I am Alaesia, and my companions are Rayman and Neshae."

The net was removed and the guardians led the three through the pass. At first, everything looked the same, but then the travelers felt a welcoming blast of hot air. Almost like a steamy shower. THe snow in this area was melted and the ground was almost muddy. Then the pass opened up and started going down hill. In the distance, a massive rain forest could be seen. Trees poked through the misty fog and different animal sounds could be heard as many smells drifted their way.

"Welcome to the Forest of Kehain." the first guardian said.

THey made their way down the pass, which was almost as dangerous as going up because of the slippery mud. But it was better than going down the other way in the snow and cold wind.

When they came to the bottom where the valley began, they found a village made of grassy huts. Despite the material they were made of, they seemed very sturdy. The three were led into one of the huts guarded by two large guardians.

"Sorry about the guards." Grathorin apologised. "But we have to make sure you don't try to get to the portal." Before they could reply, food was brought to them and they were left alone for the night.

"Well this stinks." Neshae said. "I say we escape and make a run for the portal."

"Well that getaway would have to be a quiet one." Alaesia said. "These guards aren't exactly going to let us just burst through."

"Right." Rayman said.

After a moment, Neshae said, "I have an idea. I've never tried it before, but it might work."

"What?" Rayman asked.

"Let's finish eating first. I'm hungry." Neshae said and dug in to his food.

When they were done, Neshae put a hand on each of them and activated his vampire camouflage. The three instantly vanished.

"Alright! It works." Neshae said.

Rayman opened the door and they left the hut single file to the confusion of the guards. Then they made a run for it northward, following the fog.


It was hours later when word got out that the prisoners had escaped. The guards had gone off looking for them, not wanting to be blamed for the escape, but eventually gave up.

"We must stop them before they reach the portal." Grathorin said. "Send the Ocono after them."


THe sun was beginning to rise when they reached a grove of trees in the center of the valley. These were the trees they had seen so clearly through the fog, due to their size. Their great trunks were big enough to outsize the trees of even the Clearleaf Forest and the Crossroad of Dreams. Within the center of the grove was a portal. It was a beautiful, blueish-purple light shimmering in midair.

Before they got to the portal, however, a massive tentacle of stone slammed down on the ground between them and the portal. They looked up at the creature of stone. It was like a kraken, but made of stone. Eight giant stone tentacles moved towards the group, cutting off their access to the portal. They would have to fight it. As if to confirm this, the stone kraken gave a stone grating screech that filled the air for miles.

Chapter 8

“Holy sheitsky…” Neshae said.

“Look out!” Alaesia cried as a tentacle came their way. The three dove to the side and it slammed into the ground where they had been standing, sending up a cloud of dust.

Neshae drew his Fire Blade and struck at the tentacle, but only succeeded in chipping the stone.

Alaesia went through the elements of magic in her mind, desperate for a way to defeat the kraken before they were crushed. Earth beat air, air beat water, water beat fire, and fire beat earth…unfortunately, that wasn’t working very well here. She swore and dove out of the way as another tentacle came at her.

“The eyes aren’t made of stone!” Rayman exclaimed.

Alaesia looked at the kraken’s massive body. He was right. Two eyes the size of Alaesia rested at the base where the tentacles joined. If they could at least damage those eyes, then they could at least keep it from seeing where to slam its tentacles.

Another tentacle swiped at them. They ducked.

“Good luck getting to them, though.” Alaesia said.

“Leave that to me.” Neshae said. “You two just keep it distracted.”

As if the kraken knew what they were planning, all eight tentacles seemed to spring into action. Five of them started furiously trying to crush Alaesia, Rayman, and Neshae, while the other three knocked over trees to fall on them. They found themselves constantly trying to get out of the way of swinging tentacles and falling trees.

“Can’t you use your soul powers to stop the tentacles?” Neshae wondered.

“No.” Alaesia answered. “I can only grab onto souls. This thing is created entirely out of magic. There is no soul.”

Neshae activated his vampire camouflage and tried to make his way towards the eyes. The tentacles that had been trying to kill him began swinging randomly, trying to hit him anyway.

“Keep it distracted!” Rayman said.

“HEY! CALAMARI!” Alaesia shouted at the top of her lungs. “CAN’T YOU DO BETTER THAN THAT?”

There was a shriek of rage as all the tentacles attacked Alaesia and Rayman. Their battle became even harder as they had even more tentacles to dodge.


The guardians ran through the forest towards the portal. If the Ocono didn’t manage to kill the prisoners, then they would. Grathorin led the way, determined to keep anyone away from the center world. The Ocono would at least slow them down enough so she could catch up to them.


The tentacles stopped swinging madly around Neshae when Alaesia screamed. They all focused on her and Rayman. Now was his chance. He crept forward to the kraken’s eye and summoned the flame in his Fire Blade. Then he drove the blade into the eye as far as he could, which was pretty far since he was limbless.


The kraken gave a horrifying cry of agony as its eye was punctured and the tentacles began to crumble. The three now had to dodge a shower of falling rocks. Neshae revealed himself and the three reunited as they waited for the dust to settle so they could see the portal.

When the dust cleared, the portal wasn’t all they saw. Many spears were pointed in their direction. They looked around in surprise and discovered that the guardians had followed them. Grathorin was in the lead, as usual.

“You have betrayed my trust.” She said. “And you defeated our strongest creation. The Ocono took years to create.”

“The what?” Neshae asked.

“You will not speak!” Grathorin said in a frustrated tone. “By all rights I should have you three find me another creature to protect the portal before I kill you.”

This didn’t look good. Alaesia needed to create one more distraction to allow their escape. But what?

Neshae tried to go into camouflage again to carry out a plan he had come up with, but the spears closer to him moved closer toward his chest.

“We shall not be defeated as easily as the Ocono was. You three will die now.” Grathorin said.

Alaesia burst into flame, taking the guardians by surprise. She controlled the fire so that it would not harm Rayman or Neshae, but it could burn anyone else. The flame grew and grew until the guardians were forced to back away. The trees that the kraken had knocked over caught fire, causing the guardians to scatter even more. Alaesia cooled down and, taking Neshae’s and Rayman’s hands, made a break for the portal. As spears came flying at them, they entered the portal and vanished from sight.

They tumbled out through the other side of the portal. A single spear followed them out and was buried in the sand next to them.

Where they had landed was a huge desert. It was very hot and the out of place fog made things incredibly humid. In a few seconds, they began to sweat.

“THIS is the center world?” Neshae asked.

“Yep.” Alaesia said.

[Holy Crap]

Well that place sounds pretty crap.

[Neshae]

Well you only see a little bit of this world in this story, but it's not all desert.

Chapter 9

Something was wrong. Rayman knew this. He just couldn’t put his finger on what yet. He looked around. The fog was here without a doubt. They couldn’t see more than a few feet away from themselves. Alaesia, Neshae, and the spear were just vague shadows to him. Then it hit him.

“There’s no wind.” Rayman said. The fog was completely still. They couldn’t tell which way it was coming from. And so they could not follow it and find the source.

The tall shadow dropped to the ground, becoming a bump on the sand. “Well this stinks.” Neshae’s voice said.

There was a blue glow on the shadow that was Alaesia. She was using the Snake Cross Amulet. A shadowy arm pointed to their left. “That way.”

Neshae stood up and they continued on their quest. The desert seemed completely barren of life. As nightfall came, the humidity caused by the fog was nearly unbearable. But they kept going, knowing they would find the source of the fog soon.

Suddenly, the ground fell beneath their feet. Rayman used his helicopter hair and Alaesia grabbed onto him while Neshae flapped his wings. When the dust cleared, they saw a tunnel. Several people held weapons pointed towards them. The fog slowly began to fall with the three.

“Hold your weapons, men.” Said a man heavily clad in armor. “They don’t appear to be zombies.”

“We are protected from the fog.” Rayman said. “We’re trying to find its source so we can stop it.”

“I say we kill them.” Said another person. “They’ve put a hole in our ceiling. The fog is already coming in! Soon we’ll all be zombies trying to take every innocent life and serve Affsuh!”

“You know who is behind this?” Rayman asked.

“Calm down, Fuwr.” Said the first person. “Let’s discuss matters elsewhere. Seal the room off so fog cannot reach us.”

They were herded out of the room by the soldiers. Then several more people melted some kind of substance along the cracks in the walls around the door and piled rocks around it to keep the fog out and anyone from opening the door to let the fog in.

“Now.” The first person said. “What are your names?”

“I’m Rayman.” Rayman said. “These are my friends, Alaesia and Neshae.”

“I am Laoshe.” The man said. “This is my kingdom. I’m afraid it is a shadow of what we once were, but it is better than staying on the surface and being taken by the fog.”

“You said you know the one who is behind all this.” Alaesia said.

“Affsuh.” Laoshe said. “Come. Let’s have a meal and I’ll tell you all you need to know. The surface world is dangerous at night, even without the fog zombies.”

Chapter 10

Laoshe led the three into a room where they were given some kind of stew. Then Loashe began to speak.

“So you three are looking for Affsuh.” He observed. “You are lucky you’ve made it this far. He has more abilities.”

“So how can he control the fog like this?” Alaesia wondered.

“Back when our city was a great place in the middle an oasis in the desert, Affsuh was the apprentice of my court wizard. He was a fast learner, very bright lad. But he was too fast. He tried to do some magic on his own and it consumed him.

“No one noticed at first. All that was noticeable was that he no longer persisted learning the next spell immediately, but did as he was told and practiced the one he learned. We thought he had just finally learned some patience. But we were wrong.

“The Ahseniahs treasure holds were the greatest throughout the lands. One item we had in particular was the Mist Crystal. With this crystal, anyone would have the power to control mist and fog in many different ways.”

“Like controlling people when they breathe it in.” Rayman said.

“Exactly.” Laoshe said. “Affsuh was about to be made a court wizard when he reached manhood. By then there was no trace of the young man he was before. The corruption had completely changed him. Someone asked him what was wrong. But he smote her with his powers. He had done it silently so that no one else knew. But they would soon find out.

“That night he decided to make a run for it. He gathered what he could and broke into the treasure rooms to take whatever he could sell. One thing he took was the Mist Crystal.

“It was not long afterwards that guards found the body of his friend. He was nowhere to be found. We searched and discovered he had taken the Mist Crystal. A few days later, word got around that a fog was creeping over the land and turning everyone who came in contact with it into zombies. We knew it was him. And we had to act fast before we were taken by the fog too. We dug out these tunnels and sealed off most openings so that the fog could not follow us.”

“This story is great and all,” Neshae said, “but do you have any idea how to get to the guy?”

“The fog has been coming from the west.” Laoshe said. “But you will have to come up with some kind of plan to defeat him. As long as he has the Mist Crystal he can use the fog to do anything he wishes.”

“Then why hasn’t he?” Alaesia asked.

Laoshe shrugged. “Maybe he is not so good with distances. It takes more energy and concentration to perform magic the farther away it is from you. But he will almost certainly be able to perform that very magic when you are close to him. You must be wary.”

“Okay, so we take the Mist Crystal and he’s defenseless. Then we kick his ass.” Neshae said.

“That won’t be as easy as you think.” Laoshe said. “The last band of heroes to try to stop him was nearly destroyed. One was found dehydrated in the desert. He said the crystal was on a pedestal and anyone who touched it was turned to stone. And as long as the crystal isn’t in someone else’s possession, Affsuh can use its power.”

“Well this stinks.” Neshae said.

“We’ll figure out something.” Alaesia said. “Do you know where Affsuh is hiding?”

“A cave in the swamp across the desert is all we know.” Laoshe said.

“Well thanks for the information.” Rayman said. “And the meal.”

“No problem.” Laoshe said. He was about to say something else when there was a sudden distant crash, followed by screams.

The four got out of their chairs and rushed out of the room. The seal in the wall was broken. Fog and zombies of several different species burst in. People panicked and ran away. Those who didn’t were either torn to pieces by the zombies or taken control of by the fog.

“ZOMBIES!!!” Neshae screamed and charged into battle to protect the remaining civilians. Rayman and Alaesia followed.


Neshae punched his way through the first few human zombies until he came to a giant troll that had been taken over. Its eyes glowed like every other zombie as it roared at the vampire, then tried to squish him. Neshae dodged the giant feet easily then pushed it over. This was a difficult task, even with Neshae’s vampire strength, but when the troll fell over, it hit its head on a rock and was knocked unconscious, blocking the hole in the wall so no more zombies could come in.


Alaesia picked zombies up and knocked their heads together while Rayman was busy punching them. The two cheered when Neshae blocked the entrance for the other zombies.

When all the uncontrolled people had left, Laoshe yelled through a cloth over his mouth to keep the fog out “Hurry! This way!”

“Come on!” Alaesia called to Neshae and the three ran to follow Laoshe. “Where are we going?” she asked.

“These tunnels lead under the desert for a few miles. Just keep going straight and you will keep going westward. Goodbye and good luck to you.”

“Thanks.” Alaesia said. Then she, Rayman, and Neshae went through the tunnel while Laoshe held off the zombies.

Chapter 11

The three walked through the humid fog. They had left the caves hours ago and had trekked through endless amounts of fog and sand. Rayman began to wonder just how long Fhuyt’s spell would last.

“I’m bored” Neshae said.

Rayman sighed, irritable from the humidity. “Who isn’t?”

“We’ll get there soon.” Alaesia said. “This swamp can’t be too far away.”

“And then we’ll get to deal with fog AND mosquitoes.” Neshae said with cheerful sarcasm.

“And we’re gonna have to figure out a way to get that Mist Crystal without turning to stone. So start figuring.” Alaesia said almost as irritably as Rayman had.

Rayman thought about this obstacle for a while. Chances were they wouldn’t be able to just knock it off the pedestal, for the spell would prevent that as well. Otherwise those other heroes would have been able to remove it. There had to be some way. Either that, or one of them would have to sacrifice themselves to get the crystal. If it came to that, Rayman would be the one to do so. He didn’t like the thought of loosing Neshae or Alaesia if he could prevent it.

“Eigh!” Neshae cried in surprise. “Careful where you step. I found the swamp.”

“Ew.” Alaesia said as she found it too.

Rayman stepped into a sudden murkiness. They had suddenly moved from sand to mud. A foul, rotting stench filled the air. Insects buzzed in their ears. And the fog moved towards them stronger than ever from the direction they were heading.

It was not long before a shadow appeared in the fog. They had made it to a small mountain. The mouth of a cave opened up to them through the mist.

“I guess this is the cave Laoshe was talking about.” Rayman said, observing the fog steadily pouring out of the cave.

“Looks like it.” Alaesia said. “Let’s go.”

The two Raymanians followed her as she led the way into the cave.

The walls were smooth, as if cut by magic. They had to feel along the walls to navigate the caves. Rayman felt along the left while Neshae felt the right. They both held Alaesia’s hands so that if the cave turned on one side they wouldn’t be separated.

“Wait.” Neshae stopped. “You hear somethin?”

The other two stopped and listened. “No.” Alaesia said.

“A faint scratching noise. I think we have company.”

Rayman and Alaesia prepared for battle even though they couldn’t see anything. Soon they too could hear it. Something that sounded like claws scratched along the rocks of the cave and echoed around the three. They weren’t sure if there was one of the creatures or one hundred.

“They’re like salamanders..” Alaesia said after apparently using her soul power to see. “But they almost have a humanoid appearance except for crawling on all fours.”

“How many are there?” Rayman asked.

“Uh…eight.”

“Oh boy.” Neshae said. There was a sudden on the right side of the cave as the vampire drew his Fire Blade. “Bring it on.”

Something, probably a salamander, hit Rayman in the chest and knocked him to the ground, pinning him to the stone. He punched the thing’s head and pushed it off of him. There was a cry from Alaesia as one of the things hit her and a splatter sound as Neshae sliced through another. Then there was the sound of a salamander hitting a wall as Alaesia used her soul power to fling one around.

There was another thud and the earth trembled. “Uh oh.” Rayman said.

The salamanders stopped attacking and ran away.

“I think we’ve started a cave in!” Alaeisa said.

“Come on!” Rayman said. “We’ve gotta get out of here!”

“Which way?” Neshae asked.

Rayman hesitated. The fight had thrown off their navigation. The salamanders could have easily gone outside to escape the cave in or further into the cave back to their master.

“Whichever way the salamanders didn’t go.” Alaesia said, thinking the same as Rayman.

“Good idea.” Neshae said and the three ran in the opposite direction as the salamanders.

Rocks fell behind them as they ran through the cave. Rayman desperately hoped they weren’t hit by any, since they couldn’t see to dodge them.

After a while, the falling rocks stopped. The fog was not as thick in this cave. There was a wall of rocks behind Rayman, but not Neshae and Alaesia. They had been separated.

[Holy Crap]

Deserts and swamps, how pleasent.

[Neshae]

Hehe yeah, I think that's about all ya see of this world in this fic. I may end up involving the center world in another fic in the future but right now I'm not planning on it. Anyway, here's the next chapter. The next scene involving Alaesia and Rayman is actually the first part of this story I ever came up with years ago.

Chapter 12

Alaesia coughed as the last of the dust settled. The rocks were done falling.

“Rayman.” She called, trying to locate her friends, “Neshae.”

There was no answer.

“Hello?” she called.

Still no answer. She had been separated. Her heart pounded. Anything could have happened to them. They could have been crushed in the cave in. She tried to keep calm. They were alive. She would find them again.

She felt along the wall, searching for a way out of the darkness. The rocks were cool and smooth until they gave way to an opening. Immediately after feeling empty space, her hand met another hand.

Alaesia cried out and jumped back, jerking her hand away.

“D?” said a familiar voice.

“Rayman?” Alaesia called into the darkness. “Is that you?”

“Yeah. Where’s Neshae?”

“I don’t know.” Alaesia said. “I guess we were all separated.”

“Come on.” Rayman said. “We have to find a way to Affsuh. Then maybe we can be able to find Neshae around here somewhere.”


Fhuyt lay in his bed unconscious still. Affsuh watched him from his distance. The fog was working. Everything had been going according to plan until that elf had to notice. It was time for the protection spell to be removed so that he could control the three who stood in his way. The only three who would be able to stop him. The three that would give him more power than he had anticipated when he started this.


Alaesia created a fire ball and illuminated the cave. She didn’t know why she hadn’t thought of that before. Rayman stood beside her, squinting at the sudden brightness.

“That’s better.” She said.

Then she felt something. There had been something around Rayman earlier. It was around all three of them and she hadn’t noticed until it was gone. It was like a shield.

Then it came to her. Fhuyt’s protection spell. And the one around Rayman was gone. Rayman collapsed to the ground.

“Rayman!” Alaesia cried.

Rayman stood up, looking at the ground at first. Then his head rose so that he looked at Alaesia. His eyes were no longer the deep, dark blue that they had been all his life. They were a bright, glowing red.

“Oh my god.” Alaesia said. She tried to say something else, but no words would come. Rayman, of all people, had been turned into a zombie.

“Shloth kopi andertnes khwi.” He said.

“What does that mean?” she asked in a halfway frustrated tone.

The Rayman zombie smiled. “It means join us for there is nothing you can do to stop us. Your hero is gone, D. Neshae will soon loose his shield and become one of us too. Join us willingly or be forced into slavery as a zombie.”

“Let Rayman go.” Alaesia said.

“Wrong answer.” Rayman said and charged for her. Alaesia backed away and ducked as Rayman’s fist came at her.

“You’re fighting a loosing battle.” Rayman said. He picked Alaesia up by the neck and held her off the ground.

“Rayman I know you’re in there.” Alaesia croaked desperately. “You have to fight it.”

Rayman wound his fist and prepared to send it towards the girl’s head.

“Rayman, please…” Alaesia said and closed her eyes. She would not fight him. She couldn’t hurt him. He was one of her best friends.

She waited for the fist to smack into her head, but nothing happened. She opened her eyes and saw Rayman looking confused. His eyes didn’t glow as much.

It’s working. She thought. “Rayman, fight it. You can do it.”

The red faded from Rayman’s eyes and once again turned into a blue so dark they almost appeared black.

He realized what he was doing and let go of Alaesia. “Oh my Polokus…” he said.

“Fhuyt’s spell must be wearing off somehow.” Alaesia said. “We’d better hurry up and find that Mist Crystal before it gets Neshae. With his abilities he could kill us both if Affsuh wanted him to.”


Neshae wandered through the cave. It was dark, even with his dark sight. He had his Fire Blade drawn to give some light.

In the light of the fire sword, he saw more salamanders. They looked in his direction, then began coming toward him. Behind him, more salamanders came out of an intersecting cave.

There were nine of them. He prepared for battle watching for which one would attack first.

One jumped for him and he sliced through it with his Fire Blade. Two more jumped at him. He sliced through one and kicked another into a wall, hoping he didn’t start another cave in.

The rest of them attacked at once. Neshae sliced through one of them and was knocked to the ground under the weight of the other six. He felt one bite into his side and cried out. He swung the Fire Blade wildly, killing the remaining salamanders before they could eat him alive.

His free hand went to his injured side. Blood dripped to the cave floor. He couldn’t drink the blood of the salamanders to heal. He didn’t know what their blood was made of but it didn’t look edible. It was a greenish purple color.

There was a scratching noise and more salamanders came out of the intersecting cave the last four had come out of. There were too many of them. He’d have to make a run for it.

He ran through the cave, the salamanders chasing after him. The pain in his side was intense, slowing him down. Soon the salamanders would catch up with him and devour him.

Light appeared up ahead. Neshae raced for the light, hoping the salamanders didn’t like it. The cave ended and opened out to the swamp. It was a different entrance. He didn’t have time to see if there were any more. He had to get away fast.

He splashed through the murky waters of the swamp. The trees were too close together in this area. Flying would be nearly impossible. Behind him he could hear the salamanders.

He had lost all sense of direction. The wound in his side was still pouring out blood. His eye lids grew heavier and heavier as he forced himself to stay awake.

He came to a rock on a patch of somewhat dryer land. It was in this spot that he collapsed.


Reana ran through the swamp. Her pursuers were close. She could hear their shouts in the background. She was getting tired. They would catch her soon. And all she had for a weapon was her knife.

Before long, she came upon a spot of somewhat dryer land. There was a large rock in the middle. And laying up against that rock was a limbless vampire covered in blood. She knelt down beside him. She could hear faint breathing. He was still alive. But he was injured and could die if he was left out here. But she didn’t need anyone slowing her down. She had to get away fast.

Before she could make the decision, the vampire’s eyes opened. Reana froze. In a desperate attempt to heal his wounds, he leapt at her. Reana screamed and tried to stab him with her knife, but he was too fast. He moved the blade out of the way and bit her neck. Then, under a sleeping spell, she fell asleep.


The pain in Neshae’s side stopped as his wound closed. He had not drained the girl, just taken what he needed to survive.

He heard shouts in the swamp. Someone was coming and they didn’t sound friendly. They were probably looking for her. He had to bring her with him, at least until she woke up. He looked around, wondering where the salamanders were. They had been so close when he had collapsed. He should have been lizard chow by now. He shrugged, glad that he wasn’t. Then he picked up the girl and carried her through the swamp.

Chapter 13

When the girl woke up, Neshae put her down. He had found a dry strip of land to walk on close to the moutntain where Affsuh’s lair was hidden.

“Who are you?” she asked him.

“Name’s Neshae. Who are you?”

“You bit me!” she exclaimed angrily as her memory came back.

“Hello, You bit me. Why aren’t you a zombie?” Neshae asked.

The girl glared at him. “My name’s Reana. And I should be asking you the same question.”

“Well it’s not like you can’t trust me.” Neshae said. “The zombies are the ones working for the bad guy, not the rest of us. I was just curious.”

Reana stood up. She goaned. “Great, now my neck hurts.”

“Sorry.” Neshae said. “I was injured.”

“Well why didn’t you bite the people that injured you?” Reana asked irritably.

“I saw their blood. It wasn’t appetizing.”

Reana looked a little green. Her eyes wander for a moment until they saw the mountain. “We’re at Affsuh’s lair.”

“No kidding.” Neshae said. “Any idea how to get in and stop the bad guy?”

Reana shook her head. “I’m not even sure where we are. The entrance could be anywhere.”

“There are more than one.” Neshae said. “My friends and I went into one entrance, and I came out through another.”

“What happened to your friends?” Reana asked.

“We were separated. Cave in.”

“Oh.”

There was a moment of silence and then Neshae said, “Well let’s get lookin. This fog’s just getting worse.”

It wasn’t long before they found another entrance to the mountain. The two went in and Neshae drew his Fire Blade to light the way.

“Watch out. There are salamanders all over the place.” He said.

“Salamanders?” Reana asked.

“What? They’re huge! How do you think I got hurt before I bit you?”

The rocks around them suddenly spun around them. The colors blurred into a solid brown and then changed into a brownish lavender color. Then the colors separated and sharpened. They were standing in a massive cavern. On a pedestal in the center was a lavender colored crystal. The Mist Crystal. Standing between them and the crystals was a figure in a gray robe. The hood was up, hiding his face in shadow.

“Welcome to my lair.” Said the figure. “You shall be joining my army soon.”

“Why did you just teleport us here?” Neshae wondered. “Now I can kick your ass sooner.”

“There won’t be any ass kicking here.” The figure reached a hand toward Neshae and Reana. Everything went black.


Rayman and Alaesia followed the cave until they reached a massive cavern. In the middle was a pedestal with the Mist Crystal and a figure wearing a gray robe.

“You have arrived.” The figure said. “Now you too shall become part of my army.”

“No we won’t.” Rayman said. He wound up his fist. Alaesia formed fire balls in her hands. The Snake Cross Amulet glowed.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Affsuh said. He reached off to the right and a green light appeared. A sphere of green lightning formed and inside was Neshae, unconscious. “You do anything wrong and he dies. You will become part of my army, my greatest, most powerful part. No ‘heroes’ will stand a chance with you three on my side.”
----------------
That chapter actually has an illustration but I'm too lazy to post it. If you wanna see it go here:
http://hyperactivemothman.deviantart.co ... 3-48529427

[Neshae]

Chapter 14

Rayman and Alaesia were thrown into a dungeon cell somewhere within the mountain. The green sphere around Neshae floated into the cell behind them and disappeared, causing him to fall to the floor. Then a fourth person appeared in a similar sphere. Her hair was long, brown, and pulled back. She was wearing a brown rain jacket over a pair of jeans. She also floated into the room and was dropped onto the pile of prisoners.

“The spells protecting you four should wear off soon.” Affsuh said. “Then the fog shall make you my minions.” He closed the door and walked away.

“The hell we will.” Alaesia said. “Once they wake up, we’re out of here.”

Rayman picked Neshae up and propped him up against a wall. Alaesia did the same for the girl.

“I wonder who she is…” she said.

Before Rayman could answer, the girl’s eyes opened. She looked around, startled, then her gaze settled on Rayman and Alaesia. “Where am I?”

“We’re in Affsuh’s dungeon.” Alaesia said. “My name is Alaesia. This is Rayman. Who are you?”

“My name’s Reana.” The girl said. “Neshae and I were about to fight Affsuh and then…everything went black…”

“Fighting wouldn’t have done you much good.” Rayman said. He told her about the Mist Crystal and their mission to steal it. By then, Neshae began to wake up. “Ready to escape?” He asked his brother.

Neshae yawned. “Gettin there.”

“Well get there quick cause we’re getting out of here.” Alaesia said and went to the bars. She grabbed onto two of them and concentrated on her earth powers. She didn’t use them often, mostly fire magic, but the Snake Cross Amulet helped. She was able to bend them. “Hurry, before the spell wears off.”

The four escaped the dungeon cell and crept around the halls until they found Affsuh’s lair once again. He stood still, controlling the fog to spread even farther. He hadn’t noticed them yet.

Rayman turned around to face the group. “I’ve thought this out. If the other heroes could have just knocked the Mist Crystal off the pedestal, they would have and Affsuh wouldn’t have beaten them. One of us is going to have to sacrifice ourselves to get that crystal. I’m gonna do it.”

“Rayman, no.” Alaesia said.

Neshae looked terrified. “Dude, no. You’re not doing that. You’re the only family I’ve got left.”

“My mind’s made up. We don’t have time to argue. That spell could wear off any minute.” Without waiting for anyone to reply, Rayman turned and ran for the pedestal.

Alaesia was still shocked, so didn’t move yet. Neshae ran past her after Rayman, determined to get there first.

Rayman suddenly hit an invisible wall and fell backwards. Neshae, who had been right on his tail, hit it and staggered back as well.

Alaesia looked at Affsuh. He had noticed them now. “Shit.” She said and prepared fireballs. “He saw us, guys.”

Rayman and Neshae charged into battle. Reana stood in a daze.

The spell must be wearing off. Alaesia decided. Let’s do this quick.

Alaesia threw two fire balls at Affsuh. Invisible walls cut them off just like they had cut Rayman and Neshae off from the crystal.

The mist itself picked Rayman up and threw him into Neshae. The two tumbled to the floor and Alaesia tripped over them in her own charge.

“You three have no power over me.” Affsuh said. The mist thickened around their faces and became wetter and wetter. Soon it was almost as if they were under water. They tried to move away, but the water followed them. “I can do anything with mist and fog that I wish.”

The water vanished and the three coughed and gasped for air. Rayman charged for Affsuh, winding his fist. Solidified fog picked him up and threw him over Affsuh’s shoulder.

While his back was turned, Neshae leapt for the sorcerer’s neck. Affsuh cried out and threw the vampire over his shoulder with Rayman. Before Alaesia could do anything, she was picked up with the fog and like a whip, she was flung in a semi circle around Affsuh and into the Raymanians just as they were getting up.

Next, Affsuh began creating an army of creatures made from the solidified fog. The three gazed at the scene in horror. It seemed impossible to beat him.

In the corner of her eye, Alaesia saw Reana suddenly take off toward the pedestal. As Affsuh was turning around to stop her, she reached the Mist Crystal and pushed it off. It fell to the floor with a clang.

Reana’s body began to harden and turn gray. She stood motionless, her hand in a pushing position just past the pedestal. Her eyes closed and she moved no more.

The fog thinned out and the fog creatures disappeared. Affsuh took off in a desperate run to the fallen crystal. Neshae got up and flapped his wings, giving him even more of his vampire speed. An instant before the sorcerer’s hand grasped the crystal, the vampire’s unattached hand reached out and got it.

“Ha! Where’s your power now?” Neshae taunted as he began flying back to the group.

Affsuh’s gaze followed him and a cone of swirling fire shot out of his hand like a geyser on its side toward the vampire.

“Neshae look out!” Alaesia cried. With the Snake Cross Amulet she teleported herself right behind Neshae and created a wall of fire to stop the cone.

Next she sent out a soul arm and grabbed Affsuh. He squirmed in surprise in her ghostly grip and she threw him into a wall. “Payback.” She muttered under her breath.

The ground under their feet suddenly quaked and great rippling lumps appeared under Alaesia and Rayman, moving them away from Neshae, who had Affsuh’s Mist Crystal clutched in his hands.

Affsuh walked toward Neshae, his back arched slightly in his anger. “I tire of this. Give me back my crystal or I shall rip you to so many pieces even my salamanders won’t want to eat you.”

Neshae winced and the crystal glowed. An invisible wall appeared and Affsuh ran right into it. He stumbled back, surprised. Neshae smiled. It was the dark smile he used when he was about to kick some serious butt.

Fog formed into giant spears toward the ceiling and shot at Affsuh. The sorcerer shot blasts of fire at each one, causing them to splatter to the ground. Next Neshae made the fog swirl around Affsuh. Slowly at first, but then it got faster and faster until he was caught in a raging, wet tornado.

The tornado grew until it filled most of the cave. Affsuh created a sphere of energy around him and pushed out with it, causing the tornado to splash to the ground like the spears had. He glided in his energy sphere for a moment and landed right in front of Neshae.

He picked the vampire up with one hand and created a green lightning ball in his other one. “You will NOT stop me!”

Alaesia and Rayman got up and rushed to Neshae’s rescue. But before they got there, Neshae drew his Fire Blade and shoved it into Affsuh’s chest.

The lightning ball vanished and Affsuh dropped Neshae. He staggered backwards, and then fell dead to the ground.

Chapter 15

The fog dissipated and everything around them cleared. It was over. They had won. Everything was gonna turn back to normal now. No more thick fog to confuse them and throw off their navigation. No more zombies. No more salalmanders.

Everything except for Reana. The group turned their gaze to her. The statue still held her position, a great sacrifice that they could not have succeeded without.

“Thanks, Reana.” Rayman said.

“Hold on a second.” Neshae said. “With most magic spells, aren’t they supposed to disappear when the sorcerer dies?”

“Not all of them. If they’re meant to stay up after the sorcerer dies, they will. This is probably one of those.” Alaesia said.

“Uh uh. I have a hard time believing he had that much power. You saw his abilities. We kicked his butt easily once he no longer had his crystal. I’ve fought sorcerers with those powers. They are always stronger than this guy.”

He went to the pedestal where Reana stood. He knocked on the side of her head. “Anybody home?”

“Neshae come on.” Alaesia said.

Neshae sighed in disappointment, then turned to leave. The group stopped as they heard a cracking sound.

All three turned to face the statue. A single crack had appeared at the back of her head. It spread and grew branches of smaller cracks that made their way along the rocky surface like lightning in the sky.

One piece of stone fell from the girl. Then another. Then several more. Then rocks and dust were raining from her. Flesh could be seen under the stone and the statue tried to move and get pieces of rock off her, like a bird hatching from an egg.

Reana gasped for air as her face was free. Her hands went to her head and the three came o her aid.

“You’re okay!” Rayman exclaimed.

“I’m alive…” Reana whispered. “But the spell.”

“I knew it!” Neshae said. “I knew he wasn’t strong enough to make a spell last!”

They brushed the remaining rocks and dust off her and then Alaesia used the Snake Cross Amulet to teleport back to the desert caves that they had been in earlier.


Fhuyt opened his eyes. Evening’s light shone in the distance, making the sky a bright orange. The fog was gone. He smiled. Alaesia and her friends had succeeded. The worlds were saved.


They returned the Mist Crystal and Reana decided to stay there for a while and become a new apprentice, promising she wouldn’t do the same as Affsuh and steal the crystal and start the madness all over again.

After saying goodbye to her, they teleported back to the portal back to Rayman’s world.

Alaesia hesitated before entering the portal. “I wish we could just teleport back to your world. If some of those portal guardians decided to stick around…”

“Then you can teleport us somewhere else before they can do anything.” Neshae said and leapt into the portal. “LAND!” he cried as he made it to the other side.

Rayman laughed and agreed he was glad to be getting back home. He jumped through the portal behind his brother, followed by Alaesia.

As they had suspected, Grathorin and some of her soldiers had camped near the portal in case something went wrong. At Neshae’s shout, they looked in their direction.

“There you are.” Grathorin said. “You have broken our sacred rule by entering the center world. For that we must kill you. But since you seem to have stopped the fog and saved all five worlds from destruction and enslavement, you shall be spared. But return and our mood may not me as friendly.”

“Uh, thanks.” Neshae said. Alaesia teleported them outside the Fairy Counsil.

“I guess you’ll be leaving then.” Rayman said.

“I have to find out of Dorithmir, Fhuyt, and Shigyu are okay.” Alaesia said uneasily. “But don’t worry. You haven’t seen the last of me.”

“Well, see ya later.” Rayman said.


Alaesia gave each Raymanian a hug and then teleported back to her own world. She appeared right in front of the SAE building. She raced inside and up the steps, her heart pounding as she realized just how much she missed Dorithmir.

She found him in Fhuyt’s room, as she thought she would. Fhuyt was awake and sitting up in the bed. When Alaesia arrived, the two looked in her direction.

“Alaesia!” Dorithmir cried out and they embraced each other. “Fhuyt and Shigyu are okay. They just woke up. What happened?”

Alaesia smiled and began her tale.


As Neshae was flying back to his house in the human village, he wondered what the other worlds were like. He had seen D’s world a couple times and now he had seen the center world. But there were two left to explore.

His adventurous spirit fired up as he saw an old friend of his on the ground below. The man was short. He was dressed in sorcerer’s robes and pointed ears stuck out of his brown hair. He smiled and landed next to Dehairn,

“Hey, Neshae.” Dehairn said.

“Hey. I need a favor.” Neshae said.

“Name it.”

“Well, I found out there are five worlds connected somehow. I wanna explore the other two. Can you open up a portal for me to one of them?”

Dehairn reached out hand and a bright light appeared in midair. “There you go. I’d come along, but I’m in a hurry. See you later.”

“Thanks.” Neshae said and stepped through the portal. Right before he went through, an image flashed through his mind. There was a boy with antlers and two fox tails.

The image was gone as quickly as it had come. Neshae shook his head, slightly confused, and continued through the portal, excited about what he might find on the other side.

The End

Yes there is a sequel to this story. The Adventures of Dreyfus and Neshae happen next. But it was a team litterature so I can't really post it. You can find my half of the chapters and the links to Drey's chapters here:
http://hyperactivemothman.deviantart.co ... and-Neshae