THE ELEMENT GUARDIANS

Chapter 2: The Power Source

The next morning, Master Ribbit arrived at the temple, bringing with him the Element Swords. The Guardians and Master Topaz were waiting for him outside the doors of their temple. Once the old frog arrived, the Guardians introduced themselves, entirely unaware that in front of them stood the greatest scientist in the galaxy.

They all dined together that night; Valyria had prepared an excellent dinner for them all. During the meal, Master Topaz filled Master Ribbit in on the information that she had already told the Guardians about. When Valyria made she present, she listened as her wife continued to regale Master Ribbit. At times, when Master Topaz paused, Valyria interjected with some of her own beneficial dialogue. The Guardians waited until anfter Master Ribbit understood what he had to work with before unleashing their curiosity about the Element Swords.

“How are these swords going to help us in this battle?” asked Sea Breeze. The Guardian of Water had the regal air of an Egyptian pharaoh, the light blue silk of his robes standing out against smooth, dark skin.

“These swords will help increase your power and boost your fighting skills,” responded Master Ribbit. “It is important to add that each of you needs to choose a special type of ability.”

“How do we know which type we should choose?” asked Jason.

“That’s what each of you will need to figure out as I train you to use the swords,” said Master Ribbit.

***

The next morning, the training began. Master Ribbit met them at the temple’s well-used training area. To their collective chagrin, he handed each Guardian a wooden sword.

“These aren’t the real swords,” said Dan, the Earth Guardian. The blade in his hand looked more like the harmless swords his two daughters would train with than the legendary weapon of Element’s chosen heroes.

“I’ll send you all on a quest to obtain the real ones once you have mastered these wooden ones,” said Master Ribbit matter-of-factly.

“How are we supposed to work these wooden things?” asked Quester in frustration. He was an expert swordsman, of course, but he was accustomed to fighting with only the most cutting-edge gadgets.

“I suppose that’s something we’ll need to figure out while training,” Dave told him. The Wood Guardian was the only member of the group who didn’t mind his new sword; the craftsmanship was admirable.

“Dave is correct. I already told you that your individual fighting skills are the first thing that needs to be figured out,” said Master Ribbit. “Now, as for learning how to work these wooden swords, your element powers are at the core of what makes you Guardians.”

“Well, then maybe Dave will be able to fight with these, but what are the rest of us supposed to do?” asked Quester.

“Use your element powers and then channel your power through the wood.”

***

Over the next few weeks, the Guardians trained harder than ever. The greatest reward was that through these heavy drills, they were able to figure out some new battle strategies they could use to combat the army from Master Topaz’s vision. Master Ribbit was pleased to hear how the Guardians planned for what was to come.

One morning, as the Guardians started training, Master Topaz told Master Ribbit she needed to speak to him alone in a secret chamber. Once the door had shut behind them, Master Topaz began:

“Do you think that they are ready for the real swords?”

“I believe that they are,” said Master Ribbit.

“Good, because I had another vision about the Dark Sky army. This one gave me the date and time of their arrival.”

“When is it?” Master Ribbit asked.

“They will be here in just two years’ time. Do you think you can send each Guardian on their separate quest soon?”

“I can do it as early as tomorrow,” Master Ribbit responded. “I can create the individual journeys for them tonight and send them out tomorrow in the early morning. It will be the perfect test of their courage and ability.”

“Great, then on that note, I bid you good luck in preparing the Guardians’ missions,” said Master Topaz, placing a hand on the old frog’s shoulder. “It has been really good to have you here.”

That night, Master Ribbit departed for five different geographical regions of the planet. There he placed each real Element Sword in a location where only a Guardian could find it.

***

Upon his return from his one-night journey around the world, Master Ribbit met the Guardians at the training area of the temple in the early morning.

“Guardians, the time has come for you five to find your real Element Swords. Master Topaz has warned me that the army is coming sooner than we expected. That is why she’s given me the task of sending you off separately to find the real swords. Show us what you have learned in your training now, because the remaining time left after you find these weapons will be used to prepare for war.”

“How are we going to find these real swords?” Quester asked.

“Use your element powers to help guide you, as well as your animal guardians,” explained Master Ribbit. “Once any of you have found your sword, I’ll be able to beam you back into a temple located in a safe galaxy.”

“Where is this temple?” asked Dave.

“You won’t be able to know, even after you obtain your swords. It will only reveal itself once the last sword is retrieved,” responded Master Ribbbit. “Your animal guardians will lead you there.” Dave nodded confidently. His animal guardian was an eagle brought to life from white oak, and no creature had sharper eyes.

“How will you track us?” asked Jason.

“Through this!” Master Ribbit snapped his webbed fingers and a map appeared where they were standing. “Once a sword has been found, the element symbol that represents you will glow and form an arrow leading to a travel symbol that will take you back here. So get going! Got a lot of roads to cover and not much time. But worry not—you have all mastered your element powers, for if you didn’t know how to do that, you wouldn’t be the Element Guardians.”

Chapter 3: The Fire Guardian’s Journey

Jason ended up on a ledge, looking out at a river full of lava. Near the river, he saw a sand path that he instinctively knew would start him on his quest for his sword. But rather than trying to climb down the perilous cliff face, he sent his thoughts out to his animal guardian: the red dragon.

Almost immediately, the ancient creature materialized in the air and landed beside him.

“Hello, old friend. I require your assistance,” said Jason. “I have been sent on this quest to look for a sword. However, I need your help to get me started. I will have to use my firepower too, but first, I must get to that path down by the lava river. Do you think that you could give me a lift?”

The dragon nodded its head and Jason got on its back. They flew down to the river’s edge, where Jason knelt and snatched some of the lava up. Being immune to it, it didn’t hurt him to touch it. With it, he created an enchanted ball of fire that would be his guide to reach the real Element Sword, drawing him to it like a magnet. Indeed, it led him to a mountain quarry full of coal. To reach the top of this mountain, he had to create a way to climb it by using the coal—easily; he created a manmade rock wall and began to climb. He was entirely in his element, as it were. However, anfter reaching the summit of the mountain, Jason, unpredictably, was faced on the other side by a desert that was as dark and black as burnt flesh.

***

It was dusty, but the dust was of coal and obsidian. The sky was so black that it left you with a chill in your bones that made you feel like you had no soul. As Jason looked around, he perceived no signs of life. As a chill wisped through the air, he tightened his cloak. When he looked ahead, he saw that his enchanted guide was hovering over something in the distance. When he approached the ball of fire, he saw that it was illuminating a tablet on a podium. When Jason looked more closely at the tablet, he saw only a single symbol—something that looked like the letter M with a line leading away from it. To Jason, that letter M might have represented anything. As he was looking with more interest at the tablet, he was distracted by a bright flash in the distance. Far away from other mountains and even farther away from him, a volcano was emitting some form of extremely bright red light. Immediately, his guide led him to the next set of mountains, as if it were as interested in investigating as he was.

***

As he drew closer to the mountains, he noticed that the ball of light was hovering over a particular mountaintop packed with snow. Now he only had to overcome the challenge of getting there. Jason had four possible ways to reach his goal, and he analyzed each of them carefully. He could try to fashion a rope of fire and swing up the mountain. However, seeing as the rope would be made completely of fire, he knew that the heat would melt the snow, which would make the top side of the rope unsafe and risk burning the top of the mountain. Then Jason thought he could use a fire javelin to launch himself up to the top. This plan, however, would have had the same result as the fire rope—Jason wished he could ask one of the other, less fiery Guardians for help with this task, but it was impossible. Though his guardian animal hadn’t been used in a while, it seemed the simple solution of flying up a mountain might be deemed below the legendary dragon’s pay grade—as the rules were, he could only seek its help when the situation was critical. Therefore, instead of requesting the aid of his animal guardian, Jason’s fourth idea was to fly over the mountain himself.

Jason closed his eyes and allowed his element to take over his body, transforming himself into a phoenix. Moments later, a bright red bird flew over the mountain, on to the next challenge, where he immediately transformed back to his human form. His transformative powers were very useful, but he much preferred to look like a person. From there, Jason followed the fireball to the next obstacle.

As Jason walked through the forest at the base of the snowcapped mountains, he found a rope that he could use later—one made of fiber, thankfully. At last, he came to the next stop, which was a cave, which the floating magical ball entered with zero hesitation and Jason with only a little. While he followed the guide, he picked up a stick from the ground and easily crafted a torch from it. A few minutes later, with the glowing ball far ahead of him, he encountered a crossroads that joined many tunnels. The guide floated noncommittally between them—excellent.

Unsure of which tunnel to go through, Jason was left to make his own decision of what path to take. While trying to figure which tunnel he would choose, Jason saw a carved sketch on the wall before the entrance of two tunnels; it looked like writing. He walked toward the engraving and found that it was written in the form of a prophecy. The writing said:

What you seek is close at hand. To obtain what you desire, you must go to the hot smoky land, a place that you know and call home. If not retrieved, the red Element Sword will be gone and you’ll all be doomed.

Jason thought of what those lines meant, “A place that you know and call home.” Then he remembered the bright light that had emanated from the volcano. Jason realized that the writing on the wall was talking about where his power had come from—as the patron of volcanos, his destination was clear. The only thing to do now was choose the path that would get him there. Jason decided to use the power he was currently deploying to locate his guide to instead track the immense energy of the sword itself. To do that, he sent his heat waves out around him, emanating into each tunnel and reaching out like feelers. He sensed that he should take the left path. Using the torch he had fashioned when he first entered the cave, he navigated in the dark until the cave opened up again and he found himself at the edge of a forest. He was relieved to be out in the open air again. He was aware, however, that the time to get the sword was running short.

***

​Jason ventured through the forest in the direction of the volcano. He arrived at its base and gazed up at the glowing light; he immediately felt the power of the sword coming from inside of it. The time had come to call for help from his animal guardian.

After Jason got on top of the dragon, they flew up to where he could see the inside of the volcano. From there, he saw the glint of a hilt that was embedded in a rock at the center of a pool of bubbling lava. It was the Element Sword! Now he needed to take possession of this valuable weapon; he was already forming a plan to free it. To do so, Jason ordered the dragon to get him closer to that rock. With the rope that he had obtained a while back, Jason made a lasso and secured it around the hilt of the sword. When he was right above it, Jason lowered himself slowly towards the lava and looped his lasso around the hilt of the sword. Once he had secured the lasso, he charged the dragon upwards and pulled out the sword. When the Element Sword was finally in his hand, it glowed as brightly as molten rock, and suddenly both he and the dragon had vanished.