Fan Fiction ❯ The Stones of Laharia ❯ Searching for a Friend, Finding a Foe ( Chapter 2 )

Ian looked around. He was no longer in his room, but surrounded by raging flames on all sides. They were closing in on him at an alarming rate!

He desperately looked around for anything that could help him escape. Nothing. There was nothing. Ian was doomed.

The fire was less than three feet away from him, but it held no heat. It was as cold as ice. Bravely, Ian steppes through the fire, hoping that nothing would happen.

Ian emerged on the other side, unscathed. The voice said ice-fire, he thought, I guess it was right.

Suddenly, a small pixie wielding a sword three times its length appeared and started attacking without warning. Ian casually drew his sword and, with a mighty slash, he slew the pixie. Ian picked up one of the glassy wings and looked at himself in the pixie-wing mirror.

His hair was exactly the same dusty blond color, but just about everything else had changed. Instead of his normal brown eyes, they were a piercing pale-blue color. His ears were almost the same, but they were more pointed at the tips. He wore blood-red plate armor and a long black traveling cloak rested across his shoulders. No more baggy shirts and way-too-long shorts. A long, thin rapier lay sheathed at his belt, and his broadsword was still clamped in his hand. He re-sheathed it and began to wander around, when a sudden thought claimed his consciousness. Where were his friends? Where were Erin and Jaymie? The last time he saw them was at the black door.

“I've got to find them!” Ian shouted aloud without really intending for anyone to hear him.

“Find who?” Asked a mysterious voice behind him.

“Huh? Who are you? Where are you? What are you?” Ian nervously looked over his shoulder. He was really paranoid.

“It is I, Lancer. And my dragon, Marquis.” A dark shadow emerged from the flames. Lancer had pale skin, black hair, and red eyes. His inch-long nails were painted, as if splashed with the blood of many of the dear departed.

A huge winged beast flew down toward them and landed with a loud thud. Ian guessed that it was Lancer's dragon, Marquis. It had beautiful golden scales and shocking green eyes. Lancer scowled as Ian jealously gazed at his dragon.

“How did you get a dragon?” Ian inquired curiously.

“I found it.” Lancer replied simply.

“Where?”

“Why should I tell you?”

“Because I asked you nicely.”

“No.”

“Please?”

“No.”

“Pretty please?”

“No.”

“Pretty please with sugar and whipped cream and a cherry on top?”

“No”

“Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please?

PUHHHHHHHH—LEEEEEEEEEEZ?”

“Um….. No.”

“But why???”

“Because I feel like it. And it's my dragon, so…No.”

“But I'm your best friend!”

“What the heck? You are sooooo not my best friend! I just met you. And besides, I don't have any friends. They all were claimed by the game years and years ago. I was the master of the stones, and I failed everyone in this game!”

“Huh? But we spent the last like twenty paragraphs getting to know eachother! And what do you mean, `claimed by the game'? It's just a game, isn't it? You can stop whenever you want to, right?”

“I wish it was that simple.”

“Oh, and why would I want to be your friend anyway? You're mean!”

“Well fine then.” Lancer spat. With that, he jumped onto Marquis and flew across the billowing flames.

“Jaymie! Erin! Where are you?” Ian shouted. He turned around and ran off through the licking fire. After a while, he had fought off all of the monsters in the area. Now to find that Ice-Fire stone! he thought. For hours, he wandered through the fire until he reached a shrine adorned with sky blue fire. Ian turned around, admiring the paintings and surveying his surroundings. He noticed a small red stone on op of a tall table. Too tall for him to reach. He looked around for anything to help him reach the stone. Nothing was found, so he decided to try to jump for it. Once. Twice. He missed both times. Third time's a charm, he told himself. So he tried again.

It almost worked. Ian touched it, but couldn't knock it down.

Suddenly, smoke filled the room. And the great dragon flew toward him. “If you defeat me, I will give you a boost and the key to getting the stone.” Boomed the dragon. “Now. Prepare yourself. Are you ready?”

“Well, um…. not really, but I'll give it a try.” Ian replied.

And so they fought. Ian was afraid, very afraid, but he fought with all his might. Minute after minute. Second after second. Time seemed to drag on forever. `All you must do is lay your sword on me once……' The dragon's voice rang in Ian's ears. Easier said than done, he thought. He parried when necessary, and watched for an opening in the dragon's defenses.

Finally, it came. Ian quickly tapped the dragon's right flank.

“Good. You have proven yourself worthy. No one this worthy has crossed my path for many, many years. I will help you get the stone.”