The journey to the Marshes

The day had finally come. Daniel could see his friends' backpacks lying on their beds. Daniel lay sprawled on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He remembered all the things he has done these past few months. He knew there is a very low chance that all 10 of them will return safely.

Daniel sat up, startled, when Bonnie came running into the room. Bonnie was the hero of speed, she could run 10x faster than normal human beings. "Boo!" she said, in a jocking manner. Daniel smiled at her. "Are you ready to go?" she asked in a concerned matter. Bonnie was the youngest in Daniel's class. She was one year younger than the rest of them. "Yeah" Daniel said confidently.

Just then, Harold walked into the room. He looked nervous as usual. But their was something about him that changed, but Daniel didn't know what. Then Harold's assistant teacher, whose name was Mrs Mary, walked in and sat down next to him, comforting him. Daniel felt sorry for Harold. He had to go on this Quest with absolutely no experience. The room was silent. Bonnie kept staring at me and tilting her head towards Harold's direction. Daniel knew what she meant. He had to help him in some way.

Daniel stood up and walked over to him. He knew all eyes were on him. Harold looked up at him nervously. "You don't have to go on this quest if you don't want to" Daniel said. "No" Harold said confidently. Daniel was taken aback. It was the first time Harold said anything to him with so much confidence. "I have to help you and the others, I'm SUPPOSED to be part of this" he finished.

Daniel knew he was right. He nodded and got his bag and walked out of the room, but this time, with a whole level of confidence. But one thing kept nagging him at the back of his head, the mysterious figure watching him at the Assembly Hall. He never saw him again. But Daniel knew the horrible truth, he was a spy, he didn't know who he worked for, but he somehow got in the school, and managed to blend in with the surroundings.

"It's time to go, Daniel" Mrs Katrina said. She was wearing a night blue robe. "Come with me, the others are waiting for you..."

Daniel was taken by surprise when he saw a military airoplane waiting outside. Dennis and the others were waiting outside. "Hello, Daniel" Dennis said. He was staring at the large plane. Daniel could see everyone else looking at it as well. Klara was leaking water from the ground. It was breathtaking, double the size of normal planes. It had the offical Elemental Hero School logo on it. Daniel watched as the steps descended.

Mrs Katrina walked towards him. "Here is a ES-Pad, you can use it to contact me anytime you want and I can let you know if something is happening" she said. Daniel accepted the ES-Pad and smiled. "Thanks" he said. One by one, the heroes climbed inside the plane. Daniel was the last to get in. "It's amazing, isn't it" Dennis said. "Yeah" The interior was bigger than Daniel thought. There were 10 large seats that could transform into beds and 2 toilets as when as a small kitchen place. Three other people were also on the plane.

Two of them were payed cooks serving them their food. And the final person was the pilot. He didn't speak to us at all. He always had a grumpy, unchanging look on his face. Everyone stirred clear of the pilot. "So where are we going?" Daniel asked. "We're going to the Miltan Marshes" Catherine said. It seemed to Daniel as if she knew everything. "It's where the stones were originally kept. I know someone there that could help us." Daniel took a deep breathe. "Ok" he said.

7 HOURS LATER:

Daniel thought the plane journey was the best part about their Quest. The ten heroes enjoyed the luxury while it lasted. Once the plane lands, there will be no one helping them. Daniel spent his time relaxing, thinking about what to do once they got there. Igor sat next to him. "We haven't talked ever since the first day we met." he said eying the edge of the seat. "I'm glad your part of this Quest" Daniel said, he didn't know what to say to Igor. "Do you know what these stones do?" he asked him. Daniel shook his head. "They are known to possess magical abilities" Igor said, looking up. Daniel didn't respond so Igor left. Daniel talked to Dennis and Myra for a bit after his encounter with Igor. He knew they had half an hour before landing, and after that, it was up to them to find the ten stones...

The plane landed just outside a forest full of trees. 'The timing sucks' Daniel thought. It was beginning to get dark, so they decided to set up camp. The pilot was nice enough to stay for the night, but he's going to leave next morning. Daniel stared at the Marsh in front of them. Acres of gooy mess and water lay before then. 'Who hides sacred stones here?' thought Daniel to himself.

Daniel had a feeling that the pilot was in charge. He suggested that they split up to gather resources for the night. And so Daniel, Dennis, Igor, Harold and Alicia were on wood gathering to start a fire. Bonnie, Klara, Edger and Myra were to find stones and large logs for seats. Alicia and Klara moaned in frustration. They hate being seperated. And so everyone said goodbye to eachother.

Daniel felt uneasy about being seperated but they had no other choice. Daniel was the only one who hasn't unlocked any abilities yet. The light from the mobile phones wasn't enough so Dennis used summoned fire to lead the way.

Night dawned pretty quickly. Soon, Daniel and the other 4 heroes had to stay close together to not get lost. They frequently did roll calls to see if everyone was there. Daniel thought back to when he was 7, when he practiced the same thing with his scouts. They started collecting the wood for the night and got ready to leave. Suddenly, a piercing scream came from near the helicopter. Daniel scanned the area and told everyone to return. They hurried back, hearing the scream get louder and louder. "Klara!" Alicia shouted. Daniel didn't know how she knew it was her, but he had a feeling she was right. Sweat started to pour from his forehead. He hoped the others were okay.

What Daniel saw back at camp will never leave his mind. Daniel's mind pumped harder and quicker. He felt the moisture from his neck pour down. He stared in horror at the sight of his Harold covered in blood. Daniel paniced and called for the others, but they were nowhere to be found. He heard more shouting. Daniel thought he heard Dennis shouting, but he was too far away.

Daniel checked Harold for a heartbeat. But there was no pulse. Daniel cursed. Tears started forming in his eyes. He should never have let Harold come. Tears poured down into the soil. Daniel could make out the tear drop covering a piece of stone. It started to glow, brighter and brighter by the second. Soon, it was brighter than Dennis' flame. Daniel felt a heartbeat. Then another one.

Daniel was so happy, he could have danced with joy. He heard Harold groaning. But Daniel knew he couldn't let his guard down. Someone or something hurt Harold, badly. Then, Daniel heard laughter. The laughter came closer and closer. Daniel looked around but saw nothing. Harold groaned louder, as if warning Daniel of something. "Welcome, child of Darkness, I have never seen someone scared of their element before." The laughter started up again. "I'm not scared of the dark" retaliated Daniel. He heard the other heroes shouting his name but it seemed the mysterious person has build a barrier between then and the other heroes.

Daniel wanted to see really badly. He wanted to see in this darkness more than he wanted anything else. He screamed and screamed. Something hard hit him. Daniel cried in pain. Then it hit him again and again from all directions. The pain was excruciating. "You thought just because you had your rare fancy power, you could defeat my master" the voice said. "You can't even defeat me" he cried in excitement. Daniel couldn't feel himself anymore. It felt like thousands of bullets being shot at him from all directions. He tried to cover himself. But the second he moved, his whole body hurt.

Daniel wanted to see, he wanted to see really, really badly. If this kept up, he would die. His knees gave way and he was knocked to the floor. The evil cackle continued. 'Whoever was doing this had no sympathy for humans, so I wouldn't have any symthay for this evil tyrant either' thought Daniel to himself and he hit the ground with his hands and screamed, he screamed louder than he had ever screamed before. Birds flew away and everything became silent...