Grievous

It was night outside. All the stars were shining brightly and everyone was asleep. There wasn't a soul in sight. A lone wolf howled. This one sounded different though. It sounded old. As if it was close to death. It continued howling until a shadow appeared. It was a man. He carried a large staff in his left hand. He walked towards the wolf. The moonlight illuminated his face. He looked young. The man placed the palm of his right hand on the wolf's snout. The wolf's body fell limb to the ground, but its spirit danced around the man. The man walked over the hill and the wolf followed close behind. The man disappeared in the moonlight along with the spirit of the wolf.

The dream ended as abruptly as it had begun. David sat up and saw Phoenix and Jack talking. Ash and Hazel were sitting against a wall. He looked around and saw an identical portal to the one he just went through. David stood up and walked around.

"You're finally awake." Hazel said

"Where are we?" David asked

"At an old temple. The portal closed. Phoenix thinks Azazel destroyed or closed the portal in our world." Hazel said

"Oh." David said, holding his head.

"Mine hurts, too." Hazel said

"Do they have a plan to get back?" David asked

"No..." Hazel said quietly

"Do they have an idea where Lavernius is?" David asked

"In the Glass Palace on the floating island." Ash said

"Jack said we can reach it with gravity Energy." Hazel said

"That's good." David said

David walked out of the temple and looked around. The weather was warm, he noticed two suns in the sky. The animals in the area looked different than what he has seen before. The temple was in a deserted town. The buildings looked like they were made of stone and began to crumble. In the center of the small town was a broken fountain, water slowly leaked out. Ash and Hazel followed him out. Jack watched as they wandered around and went inside old buildings.

"Once an adventurer, always an adventurer." Jack said

"Don't lie and say you don't want to explore." Phoenix said

"I have a feeling we will have a lot of time to explore once we are done up there." Jack said

"I'm sure someone knows how to open the portal." Phoenix said

"Why? If the gods are dead and the Titans are not even here, then why should some normal person know how?" Jack asked

"Why are you assuming the people here are 'normal'?" Phoenix asked

"True. They could have powers too." Jack said

"We should get to the palace as fast as we can." Phoenix said

"Where did you say it was again?" Jack asked

"Up there." Phoenix said, pointing to the floating island just east of a city.

"We should avoid the city until we kill him." Jack said

"Agreed. It would be bad to tell someone that we came here to kill someone." Phoenix said

"Do you hear that?" Jack asked

"What?" Phoenix asked

"Sounds like horses." Jack said

"We need to hide." Phoenix said

Jack and Phoenix ran into the city and grabbed the kids. They found a basement in one of the houses. Phoenix, Ash, and Hazel hid down stairs while David and Jack were on watch duty. After a few minutes of hiding, David and Jack spotted a small platoon of soldiers patrolling through the land. When the knights were closer, they could hear their conversation.

"Did you hear about the hooman that was in town, Ucyti?" Iklotio asked

"Yes, Miano Plerro told me about the Stranger." Ucyti said

"What about you, Naanie? Did you hear anything?" Iklotio asked

"I heard the report, but I didn't get all the details." Naanie said

"Captain Nathan Ghost, what happened?" Ucyti asked

"There was a strange man who came into town. He was arrested by Captain Miano Plerro, but Commander Joseph Dandridge freed him. He committed no crimes, he was passing through the city. This place looks empty, let's continue our patrol." Captain Nathan Ghost said

"Yes, sir." they responded

The sound of the hooves faded as they departed. Jack signaled to Phoenix that the coast was clear.

"Let's go." Jack said

They exited the basement and moved toward the edge of the town. A group of strange mice-sized creatures passed them. They continued walking for several minutes and saw a large plateau in front of them. Hovering above the plateau was the floating island. As they got closer, they saw that the plateau had a long line of trees running across it. They stopped and stared at the floating island. Hazel's stomach growled.

"We should get some food." Jack said

"That city is not far." Phoenix said

"They were talking about Lavernius. He was in that city and got arrested." David said

"If we don't do anything wrong, then we won't get in trouble." Jack said

They walked over to the city and asked the civilians questions. Many of the people were skeptical about them, but a few answered their questions. The city is called Loipolin. They share the same currency, for the most part. Jack had some gold on him, so he bought them food. After their stomachs were full, Jack led them out of the city. They were stopped by knights at the border.

"More?" Miano said out loud

"We are just passing through, we are trying to reach our friend. I know he was here." Jack said

"Yes he was. He went to the Glass Palace. My name is Miano Plerro." Miano said

"My name is Jack Shard. And thank you." Jack said

Miano stared and watched as they left. Once they were under the island, Phoenix used gravity Energy to lift all five of them into the air and onto the surface of the island. In front of them was the most beautiful thing they have ever seen, the Glass Palace. Glass is everywhere, from floor to ceiling. There are balconies all along the walls with glass railings. The entire Palace was made of clear crystals and glass. The suns rays were split and scattered by the prisms and glass, painting the entire palace in a majestic way. It was an amazing sight to behold.

The doors were made of pure crystals and were very heavy. As they entered, they were in awe. Phoenix led them up the stairs and into the main room. The throne was glimmering in the light. David looked around but did not see Lavernius. The doors behind them slammed shut. They heard footsteps, but did not see anyone.

"The balcony!" Hazel said

There he was, Lavernius Bear. His eyes were glowing blue and gold. And so were his veins. Everyone simultaneously unsheathed their swords.