Fire and Metal: Chapter 8

Fire and Metal: Chapter List

Quest Day: Lance's POV
The moment I crossed over the magical borders, I felt vulnerable. My skin felt raw, exposed. I mustn't get too accustomed to protection. Neil glanced at me, "I know the feeling, man."

"Well, how are we gonna get North?" asked Felicia. I pointed at a car.

"Neil, you wanna do some carjacking for us again?"

Neil nodded, and chanted a few phrases. A key appeared in his hand. We all got on the car, which was a sweet Aston Martin Vantage. Knowing my luck though, the better the car, the less time it lasts.

I was right. Neil had been driving us for less than two hours when everything exploded. We went flying off the highway. We all would've died if not for Neil. He cast a cushioning spell, then cast another one to throw us out of the car before it exploded. We landed in the trees outside the highway.

"Lance, come here! Neil's fainted!" Felicia cried.

His face was pale, and his forehead glistened with sweat. "Quick, get his some of that godly drink. What was it? Nectar?"

Felicia nodded and rummaged around in her pack until she got it. She spooned some into Neil's mouth gently. We waited, not daring to give him anymore. He came around in a couple of minutes. "Ughhh... What attacked us?"

"What do you mean? Maybe the car just malfunctioned." I asked, disturbed.

"Look at the car dude. No car just randomly loses three wheels on a highway. Especially a luxury sports car like the Vantage."

"Good point." I conceded. Neil pulled out his staff again. I pushed him down, "Dude, you're in no condition to fight."

"I have to, I'm more experienced, you guys need my help." He insisted.

I nodded, and took out my Army Knife. Suddenly I wondered, I wonder what the other blades do? I tried the screw driver, and clicked the button. A glowing bronze lance expanded in my hand. Not my style... I took out the shorter blade, figuring it would become a dagger. It didn't. Instead it became a single-edged blade, a falchion. Perfect for a small battle. I grinned.

Suddenly two hellhounds lept out of the woods. One of them was still chewing a piece of tire. I yelled, and slashed at one of them. It lept aside and clawed me in the ribs. I staggered, but managed to dodge the worst of the blow. Taking advantage of its outstretched limbs, I stabbed it through the chest. Disintegration. The second hell hound was getting pounded by Felicia and Neil. But everything went wrong when it disappeared into the shadows and reappeared behind them. ''How did that happen? ''It swiped at Felicia, and she fell to the ground. Neil cried out and fought it furiously. I tried to help, but couldn't do so without hurting Neil. This hellhound was much more skilled than the other one. Finally, Neil batted it into a tree and it disintegrated. We both rushed to Felicia. It turned out her pack had taken the blow more than she did. With a quick spell, Neil mended the pack. Felicia was stirring, but more worrying was Neil. He looked ready to collapse.

"Too much magic?" I inquired.

He nodded and lay down. "We're taking a break." It wasn't a question.

I went off to the side and examined my Swiss Army Knife again. I took out the bottle opener, and clicked the emblem. Nothing happened. I took out the can opener as well. This time, it became a bow. But there were no arrows. Useless. The scissors just became a standard set of office scissors. I took out the reamer, which became a harpoon. The Parcel Hook became a grappling hook, which could come in handy. Besides that, only the double-edged sword a the falchion seemed like tooks I would actually use.

After everyone recovered, we tried to figure out where to go. In the end, we just walked to the nearest gas station, and Neil used the Mist to convince some rich looking guy that his Mercedes was ours.

"So, how are we going to rescue our mom once we find her?" Felicia asked.

I froze. This question had never occurred to me. I had always assumed we would just go with the flow. So I just shrugged. The rest of the day, thankfully, was uneventful, but because of our "rest stop," we did not get very far north. We set up camp by a forest just before we reach Albany, New York.

"Felicia, I meant to ask you earlier, how did you summon fire back at the arena?" I asked.

"I've always been able to. I just thought it would freak people out." She muttered.

"Hey, that was cool, but I was wondering, maybe that's why your symbol was a flaming hammer." I suggested, referring to our claiming.

"I don't know," She said. She turned around, "Were those footsteps?"

I listened. "Maybe it's just Neil outside.

"What about me?" Neil poked his head through the tent.

"Were you stomping around outside?" I joked.

He shook his head, immediately making me serious again. I told him about the footsteps, and he immediately drew his staff. Felicia lit a flame to light up our surroundings. There were two teenagers, probably brother and sister, silently walking toward us from the darkness of the forest. At the fire, they flinched a little, but the girl said: "We are the children of Nyx. We were sent to stop you, and so we shall."

"By whom?" Neil asked, as he took up a defensive stance.

"That does not concern you." The guy said as he melted into the shadows. I was ready. I spun around, expecting him to appear there. He didn't. I felt an arm around my neck and the cold blade of a sword pressed against the back of my neck.

"Do not think to outsmart me, foolish blacksmith." He whispered.

I flipped out my knife. Not bothering to transform it into a sword, and stabbed in the thigh. Yelping, he jumped back.

"Your lucky you are wanted alive." He growled. And then he threw a knife at me. Before it hit me, the knife erupted in a burst of white hot flames. Liquid bronze splattered on the ground, burning my leg. Clenching my teeth, I engaged the girl in a duel. She with her sword and sheil, me with a falchion. The falchion felt right in my hands, it was a sharp balded leaf in my hands, one that could slip through any defense. Eventually, I gave her a gash on her cheek. Still, I had much less experience than her, and before she retreated, she threw her shield at me, knocking me out cold.

When I woke up, the two Nyx children were gone. "What happened?"

Neil answered, "Felicia was amazing! She pulled out those knives of hers and battled the guy. Then she threw a knife, it lodged in his ribs. She dove under his defenses and took out the knife, and set his shirt on fire in the process. Then he fled with his sister."

Felicia blushed, "I just got lucky."

I smiled at her. "So, are we going to continue this quest or not?"

"Let's go!" Neil said, and we resumed our jouney in our stolen Mercedes.

Or we tried to. The cunning children of Nyx had burst our tires and busted up the engine before they left.

I cursed. Stealing another car ust seemed like bad luck. "Well, let's just go into Albany and see what we can do."

Felicia suddenly stopped. "I just had an idea! It's completely weird, but I'm sure it's right. It's a weird feeling, it felt like someone whispered it into my head."

"Spit it out." I nearly erupted in frustration.

"We have to go to Albany's state capitol building."

"Well, at least we have a destination again." Neil said.

We took a bus to downtown Albany.