THE ELEMENT GUARDIANS

Chapter 5: Walking in the Rain

When Dan appeared in the rainforest, it was starting to drizzle slightly. Water trickled down his face as he started to wake up. He got up and felt the back of his head. There weren’t any bumps, but his head was still stinging. He was dressed all in brown, his clothing as dark as tree bark—excellent for camouflage. He looked over his shoulder, then walked over to his animal guardian, a large reddish brown wolf, and scratched its ears as he thought about how and where to start his journey. His wolf got up and started to walk ahead of him through the damp rainforest, answering his thoughts.

Now the only thing for Dan to wonder about was how he would fight, were anything to come up against him. As if it were responding to Dan’s latest thoughts, he heard something reach out to him in his mind. It was some kind of object, hanging from a tree—and it was calling his name. Dan approached this strange thing, and when he grabbed it, it shrunk into a knife. It had a nice strap on the end, good for fastening to a belt. The knife was deadly sharp, made out of silver and very light to carry.

Dan followed his animal guardian through the rainforest, using his Earth Guardian powers to move objects out of his way. As he followed the wolf, he passed some useful pieces of wood and other materials. Never one to risk being caught unprepared, he grabbed each one as he went by, venturing deeper and deeper into the forest.

***

That night, Dan came to a clearing where he made camp; using the items he’d collected on his way to start a fire. While he was sitting by the fire, he watched his wolf companion as it surveyed the area for danger. Even with his animal guardian as a companion, he felt somewhat insecure, as if something or someone was watching him.

Someone was, and she wasn’t that far from where he was.

***

The next morning, Dan broke camp and continued on his way through the rainforest. As he was walking through the forest, an unseen figure followed him like a shadow, secluded by the trees. When he came to a stream, he used some of the materials he had found the day before to create a water container—as the Earth Guardian, pottery was a breeze for him. Dan walked a few more miles until he came to a fork in the path. He was on the verge of picking a direction when he heard growling. He turned around to find himself face to face with a strange looking panther and a tiger.

He had never seen creatures like the ones he was facing at that moment. The animals bared their teeth at him, and Dan reached for his transforming knife and pulled it out. When he was on the verge of jumping into a fight, a streak of dark green flashed by him. Dan watched in shock as the blur began fighting the creatures. The shadow was something, but it was hard to tell what it was because all he saw was a haze. In a matter of minutes, all the blurriness finally stopped. The visual that remained in front of him was a girl he had never seen before, a girl with blond hair and bright green eyes. Her red painted fingernails were wrapped around a dagger. She was wearing a dark green leather outfit that clung perfectly to her figure.

“Where on Element did you come from?” asked Dan.

“I’ve been following you this whole time,” she replied. “The better question is, who are you and where did you come from?”

“My name is Dan,” said the Earth Guardian. “I was sent on a quest by my master. I’m looking for a sword of some type.”

“My name is Lilley,” responded the girl. “I live here in the rainforest with a group of frog people. They are warriors, really; we have been trained in the ways of frogs.”

“Wait, that wouldn’t have anything to do with a tree frog by the name of Master Ribbit, would it?” asked Dan. “Do you know Master Ribbit? Have you seen him?”

“I haven’t heard from him in a couple of weeks,” said Lilley. “But yes, I know him. I came from a temple in a secret location. The same location, I’m guessing, where you’ll find what you’re looking for.”

“Master Ribbit has been training me and my friends for an upcoming war,” said Dan. “Some creatures are going to invade my home.”

“Now that explanation makes a little more sense, because over here, we’re also encountering creatures that we never have seen before,” said Lilley. “They have been invading my home as well, but I’m not just a student of the master you speak of.”

“Who is he then? You make it seem like you know him, or have at least heard of him,” said Dan.

“Master Ribbit isn’t just my master,” said Lilley. “He’s also my father.”

“That’s great,” said Dan. “So you’re like his second in command. Am I guessing right?”

“Not exactly, but he did leave me in charge, and since he left, things haven’t been easy.” Lilley looked away. From her tone, it seemed like she had been dealing with this for a couple of weeks, ever since her father had left.

“Hey, I’m sorry for what you have had to deal with,” said Dan. “I truly am. But maybe your father wanted you and me to meet. The fact that you been following me has to mean something, right?”

“Maybe you’re right,” said Lilley. “Okay, I’ll help you try to find what you’re looking for. How did you start your quest in the first place?”

Dan turned his head to look at his wolf, still standing a couple of feet from them, carefully regarding the new person. “Well, I’ve been following my animal guardian since I woke up in this rainforest. That was before I found out it was your forest. When I awoke, the only life around was my animal guardian and myself.”

“I guess we can continue following your wolf.” Lilley shrugged, and then looked at him with a grin. “Or I can show you another means of finding what you seek.”

“How would you know where to find it?” he asked, feeling slightly defensive.

“My father taught me how to look,” Lilley answered matter-of-factly. “If you let your power guide you, it might lead you farther than you ever expected. I could teach you how to do it.” She looked at him expectantly, and then raised an eyebrow. “We can also try the way I’ve been following you. Through the trees, by means of the vines.”

“Let’s use that method,” Dan decided. “Just until I feel safe with you teaching me how to use my powers in a new way. I’ve never thought of using them that way before…Not that I wouldn’t be up for it.”

Lilley led Dan to a tree; she turned to him and took his hand. “Seeing as you don’t have the same gift as I do, which is the power of the green eye—it’s normally red to other frogs, and they use it to pass the ability to one another. I need to be in direct contact with you.” Dan wasn’t against the idea if it got him further on this quest. Once Lilley had a tight grip on his wrist, they launched themselves onto the closest branch that her green eyes could find.

After they were securely on the branch, she walked over to where two vines were hanging and told Dan to grab on to one. He watched as she grabbed hold of the first one and launched herself into the air as if she had done it a million times. Indeed, she had, because this was her home.

He reached out for the other one and thought: How hard could it be? It’s a means of travel. He was also using one of his many earth powers to keep himself stable, just in case. He launched himself off the branch and followed her. As they swung from vine to vine, his animal guardian followed on the ground beneath them.

The wolf stopped at a collection of rocks piled upon one another. Dan and Lilley landed on a branch just above where Dan’s animal guardian was sniffing around.

“You think there might be something down there?” asked Dan.

“Could be, although there is an alternative way of finding out—an ability that I know of,” said Lilley. “If I can use it on my own, I think you should let me teach you. It’s not that hard, and we can do it together.”

“Okay, what’s the ability?”

“I have learned how to become any type of earthly substance—dirt, leaves, grass, stuff like that,” explained Lilley. “Once we have become one of those forms of earth, we can go through an opening in one of the rocks and see what’s behind them. When we’ve determined whether the place is safe, we can create enough room for ourselves to transform back to our human forms inside.”

“Seems fair,” Dan replied. “Let’s given it a go and tries it out.”

“Well, first off, we have to think of the form of the earth that we’re going to transform into,” she explained. They both jumped down onto the ground. Lilley grabbed some dirt in her hand and explained, “Once you have the dirt and you’ve visualized yourself being that dirt, you should be able to change your form.”

Dan followed what Lilley did and picked up some dirt. Then, as she had told him, he pictured himself becoming the dirt. In a few minutes, he felt something happening—he noticed with surprise that his whole body had become a swarm of dirt. While he was the oldest of the Guardians and had protected the element of earth dutifully for a long time, he had never before been earth. Once the transformation was done, he followed the first dirt swarm, which was Lilley, inside to a cavern through a slim opening in the rocks.

The two dirt clouds swarmed through the cavern looking for danger. After a bit, Lilley told Dan in his thoughts that it was safe to transform back into their human states. She was getting tired of trying to keep the dirt form for so long. He agreed with her. In a couple of minutes, they were back in their human shapes. As the change occurred, Lilley heard a growl from the other side of the cavern—there were strange footsteps approaching them.

“You better watch out,” she told Dan. “We has got company.”

As Dan took out his weapon, he saw Lilley summon two swords out of nowhere. Before he could ask any questions about that, he began to hear the growling sound as well. They turned toward where the noise was coming from, and out came a robust, musclebound, two legged griffin creature unknown to either of them. Dan looked at Lilley and posed a silent question by means of a silent gesture.

Any ideas on how to defeat something like this?

She answered him with the same silence: The only way I know is punching, stabbing, and kicking until something happens.

Well, let’s try to figure out a plan while we’re doing that, he said.

They both charged into battle. As the creature swiped at them, while they were trying to duck and survive, an idea was starting to form in Dan’s head.

“Lilley, why don’t we try and use some of our earth powers?” he suggested. “I’ll throw dirt and rocks to distract him and you can pick some vines; I’m sure you can use them to strangle the creature.”

“That might work,” Lilley said, just as she was nearly thrown against the cavern walls by the beast. Dan prevented her from being crushed by placing his body between her and the wall. She landed on her back UNharmed. Once she got up, both resumed the fight. Dan used his abilities to bring all the dirt and rocks in the cavern together while Lilley focused on bringing grass and vines into being out of nowhere. With success, he launched the dirt into the monster’s eyes, blinding him. The volley of airborne rocks that followed hurt the beast all over. Lilley, using Dan as a distraction, had wrapped the vines around the beast’s legs and arms. They worked as one to deliver the final blow, and soon found themselves out of danger.

“Where do you think it came from?” asked Dan once he had caught his breath.

“I don’t know, but I have this strange feeling that what we just faced, and those creatures from the other day, is only the beginning.”

“It’s probably all connected with that battle I was telling you about,” Dan guessed.

“Come on, we’d better get moving before something else reaches for us down here,” Lilley said. As she walked, she created a glowing leaf from thin air, which the pair used as a light source until they could find Dan’s animal guardian.

***

While they traveled through the cavern, Dan tried to learn more about his new acquaintance. Lilley, however, was reluctant to give him too much information. No matter; because Dan knew her father, it was easier for him to trust her. He had no problems with their novice friendship, but felt there was room for improvement. Considering they had just met, Dan could understand why she kept things from him. As they followed the glow of Lilley’s strange leaf, Dan told her stories about himself and the other Guardians, and explained to her what their mission was. Lilley was a good listener, so she held on to every word he spoke.

The two of them looked all over the cavern for any reason why Dan’s animal guardian would have brought them there. As they searched, Dan became troubled. He noticed that Lilley’s glowing leaf wasn’t bright enough. Something had to be done about it. He took out his knife and imbued it with power, creating a spotlight that emitted a bright green light. The addition of this new tool to Lilley’s glowing leaf improved the overall lighting so much that their journey into the cavern was made far easier.

They came to a large area that seemed a good place to spend the night, so they set up camp. Each of them took turns on guard duty to make sure that no other strange things were heading their way. Dan made a fire, and Lilley, with her helpful rainforest abilities, made up some edible food.

“Lilley,” said Dan. “Being a new visitor to the rainforest, I didn’t know it was the forest of the frog natives. Your people don’t let men into the temple, right? I get it, because you seem pretty restrained and cautious most of the time.”

“It’s not that,” said Lilley. “It’s just that before all this happened, Dad left me in charge of helping you and your friends. I’m afraid of what might happen because I’m the leader here. I always have to work harder when things don’t go my way, so I tend to dwell on went wrong in a fight because I know I could’ve done better.”

“Trust me, Jason is just like that,” smiled Dan. “Though every leader or master has similar questions sometimes. I mean, when we heard about this oncoming war, it was a shock for the rest of us. But Jason was the first to find out about it from our master, and he went immediately to the location where the battle is going to take place.”

Lilley looked into the fire pensively, as if imagining the Fire Guardian was there with them. “Seeing what I’ve seen…It makes me wonder what the frog people are up against.”

“No one else has seen creatures like the one you and I saw,” responded Dan. “Our earlier fights seem to indicate that the oncoming war won’t end well.”

“I don’t know what will happen,” said Lilley.

“None of us Element Guardians or you frog people, not even the masters, can predict what will come, but until I find my Element Sword, I’ll make sure that I keep you safe,” said Dan. “That is, if you do the same for me.”

“Well, you better get some sleep, Dan, so I won’t have to save your neck before you find that Element Sword,” said Lilley.

“Okay, wake me up in a couple of hours to change shifts.” With that, Dan went to sleep.

***

The next morning, the two of them continued to talk as they wandered through the cavern, and both seemed more open to each other after the previous night’s conversation. Along their way, as they searched for an exit, they came across a type of vine that Lilley recognized, one that was strong enough to weave into baskets and bags. When they stopped to take a break, Lilley created a pack that was durable enough to hold even weapons, including Dan’s knife. After Lilley created the satchel, they placed inside the supplies they had found along the way. Once all was safely stored, they continued.

Finally, a couple hundred feet in front of them, they saw the ending of the cavern. They headed quickly toward the exit of the tunnel, where they saw a shadow that looked like an animal lying on a rock waiting for them. At first they feared it was another creature, but once they came outside, they saw that it was Dan’s animal guardian. Lilley went over and patted the wolf’s head.

“How do you think he got here?” asked Lilley. “We didn’t see him following us—did he disappear?”

“I don’t know. I think all of my friends’ animal guardians do that,” said Dan. “We should get going, now that we are reunited. Maybe our path will be safer now, and no more dangers will get in our way.”

Soon enough, they both would find out that their illusion of safety was going to come quickly to an end.

As they walked through the next section of the rainforest, Dan asked, “Hey Lilley, do you have any ideas where these creatures are coming from?”

“No idea, but these creatures are from another world. Perhaps even from another galaxy. Anyway, they’re no good.” Lilley sighed. “I’m just lucky that I’ve been able to fight off these things, that I was able to protect the frog warriors—not that I didn’t appreciate their help.” Suddenly, she felt a power that was stronger than normal.

“Come on, I think I may have just felt your Element Sword,” she said. “We wouldn’t want one of those creatures to get its claws on it.”

As they started on a new path, out of nowhere, a deep darkness caught them by surprise. Once their eyes had adjusted, they found themselves surrounded by a multitude of big, small, and fat creatures. All were hissing and growling at them.

“What was that about creatures going after the Element Sword?” Dan asked dryly.

“Forget what I said, we’ve got bigger problems in front of us,” replied Lilley. They picked up some weapons from their traveling sacks. “You got a plan for taking these things down?”

“No, but I won’t admit that I’m scared and afraid,” Dan said, staring at the creatures.

“Well, we can’t take them alone. We has got to work as a team,” said Lilley. Dan was already on it, trying to figure out a way for them to fight the army of dark creatures that had them surrounded.

“We both know that darkness is defeated by light,” said Dan. “Maybe the element of earth can provide something that will reflect the sun’s light.”

“You can try to see if the sun’s rays will bounce off the metal of your knife,” said Lilley.

“I think I’ve got an idea,” said Dan. “I can create crystals that may be able to aid us. You try to distract them for a while.”

Lilley had her swords at the ready, swinging them as if daring the creatures to attack. Dan raced toward a pile of rocks, but a creature got in his way. Dan blasted it with a cloud of dirt to distract it so he could gather stones and start the transformation process from rock to crystal. While that was happening, Lilley and Dan’s animal guardian were trying to hold their own against the other creatures, although they weren’t certain how long they could keep them at bay. Then Dan was back with glowing crystals—not very big, but bright enough to do some damage.

“How are you holding up, Lilley?”

“I don’t know how much more we can take!” she said.

“Okay, take these. I’m going to use the knife-staff now that it has this crystal orb on it. With the help of the sun’s rays, maybe we’ll have some luck,” Dan pointed out.

His staff appeared in his hand out of nowhere and he saw the orb gleaming brightly on top of it. He lifted it to the sky, where the sun was at its highest, and the sun’s rays bounced off of it, hitting the creature’s right and left while Lilley used the other crystals in the same way. Dan’s animal guardian used his teeth and claws to demolish the rest. By the time all the dark creatures had been vanquished, Lilley was exhausted. She fainted into Dan’s arms.

“You okay, Lilley?”

Her eyes fluttered open at the sound of his voice. “Yeah, a few bumps and scratches, but they will be healed in a few days. We frog people heal fast.”

***

The two of them continued through the rainforest. As they walked, Dan asked Lilley, “How are those scratches holding up?”

“They’re doing okay. My advanced healing is working, but it still takes time.”

“Well, hopefully we come upon some herbs. Maybe we can find something that will expedite the healing. After all, I’m an expert when it comes to medicine,” Dan reassured her proudly. Medicinal herbs were his particular specialty, and he used them to combat all manner of ills.

While they walked, Lilley suddenly felt another feeling that was stronger than normal.

“I think we’re getting close to something. It could be the item you’re looking for.”

They had just started on a new path when Dan saw a glint of light. It looked almost like it was coming from a window.

“Hey Lilley, about quickening those wounds, I think we found the place to do that,” Dan said jubilantly. Lilley followed Dan, and in a couple of minutes they came to the front door of a greenhouse. Before they went in, Dan checked the perimeter to make sure that one, it wasn’t a trap, and two, it was safe to go in and wasn’t sacred ground. He opened the door and the two of them walked in.

“Okay Lilley, stay here and rest on this bench.” Lilley took his advice and sat on the bench that was nearby. Before Dan started walking around, he told his animal guardian to keep an eye on her. The wolf nodded its head and stretched out on the floor next to the bench.

Dan started to walk around the greenhouse looking at the different herbs and plants; being well versed in medicine, he knew most of the names of the plants he was looking for. After a while, he started gathering some to mix into a paste that he thought might help to quicken the healing process of Lilley’s wounds. Once he had gathered the Comfrey, Echinacea, and elder for the paste, he walked over to where a stone bowl was standing on its pedestal—it was a mortar and pestle. Before he began to mix, he went back outside to gather rainwater. When he was back at the mortar, he added the water and herbs. He used the knife’s reflective edge to create a fire underneath the bowl, and the mixture started bubbling.

He took up the pestle and mixed the concoction until it turned into a thick paste, thick enough to apply to the skin. When it was finished, he gathered some in a smaller bowl lying next to the mortar. Then he walked over to Lilley and applied it to her wounded skin. Once that was done, he put the extra mixture into a jar made of straw and stashed it inside his pack.

They stayed at the greenhouse for a while, feeling safe there. As they were getting ready to leave, they gathered as many extra herbs (Agrimony, Eucalyptus, and Ash) as they could, just in case the need arose at a later time. Once they were out of the greenhouse, they continued to walk on the path that Lilley suggested, following the power signal that she had felt.

***

After a long walk, Lilley felt the same power as before, but this time it was even stronger.

“I think that we’re getting closer to where the sword might be. We’d better stop,” Lilley said. Dan noticed a dark cloud moving through the sky above them. Lilley looked up and noticed as well.

“That doesn’t look good. It seems like Dark Sky is trying to make sure neither of us gets to that sword,” said Lilley.

“They’re doing a great job of preventing us from getting that weapon, that’s for sure,” said Dan.

“Come on, we’ve got to get to that tree!” Lilley pointed her finger at a distant tree that had a faint glow. “That’s where the power’s coming from. Now we just have to get there.”

“That dark cloud might have been tricking us this whole time,” said Dan. “We’ve got to try and get to the tree before them. Come on, we can ride on my wolf. It’ll be quicker.”

The two of them jumped on the wolf’s back and Dan’s animal started running as fast as it possibly could. They were closing in on the tree when the cloud of darkness came thundering down from the sky, blocking their path to their goal. It was so powerfully evil that the force of it caused Lilley and Dan to be thrown off the wolf’s back and spilled onto the ground. When the dark cloud dissipated, they found themselves inches from the tree. They looked up and saw an odd-looking branch that glinted in the sun’s light.

“That must be it!” Said Lilley. “Come on, we just need to climb to get it.”

“YOU WON’T BE GETTING ANYWHERE NEAR THAT SWORD!” boomed a dark voice from behind them. Dan and Lilley turned and were shocked to see a mutant scorpion just inches from them, its tail swinging back and forth, ready to sting.

“Who are you? What do you want?” the brave couple asked in unison.

“I’m just a follower of my mistress,” responded the beast. “She’s sending a force much greater in size and strength than I. As for what I want, it is simple. Just by wielding that sword, my mistress will hold more power than this galaxy has ever seen.”

“That’s not going to happen while we’re standing here,” said Lilley defiantly. “As the daughter of Master Ribbit and protector of the frog people, it is my right and duty to topple any dark menacing creature such as yourself and prevent them from obtaining any of the Element Swords.”

“Well, you can try, but it looks like I’m not only going to wipe out one, but two inadequate little pawns. With you out of the way, Lilley, daughter of the frog people, your friend will be easy pickings,” sustained the scorpion.

“Not if two work as a team to defeat you,” Dan pointed out.

“That won’t last long. Either way, one of you will be lying on the ground dying. As long as I obtain that sword, I don’t care who it is.”

The two of them took out their weapons and charged the scorpion, their blades glancing off its dark carapace. Dan used all his earth tricks against the creature while Lilley used her vine powers to try and tangle it up, but even with all that coming towards the monster, it was still able to easily wipe away the vines. Dan used his powers also to create boulders that he shot towards the creepy mutant. The scorpion was able to dodge some, but not for long, for Dan was firing them at a rapid speed.

After a while they were back to back, allowing Lilley to say, “I don’t know how much longer we can keep this up for. You have any more of those crystals left?”

“Yeah, but I can’t get a clear shot because he’s blocking the sun,” Dan said.

“Give me what you have—your knife. I’ll see what I can do.”

“What do you want me to do?” asked Dan. “It’s too powerful for you to fight it alone!”

“See if you can get any closer to that tree, and start climbing it,” said Lilley.

“Okay, I’ll try,” Dan told her. “But is careful. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

He summoned the wolf and it came running to him. He told his animal guardian to watch Lilley’s back. After that, he started slowly making his way to the tree.

“Oh no you don’t!”

The scorpion shot a ball of darkness at Dan. The shadowy energy covered Dan from head to toe, and when it vanished, Dan found himself on his back, far away from the tree again. He watched as Lilley tried defending herself against the dark creature. While she was able to hold her own against the scorpion, Dan could see that the fight was taking its toll on her. She was using the crystals; she was able to find an opening where the sun pierced through the shadows, a perfect spot for the crystals to shine. But since she was repeating a move she’d used so many times, unfortunately, the creature was able to keep up with her.

As Lilley was about to stab it in the leg, the creature grabbed her and flung her into the air. She landed not far from where Dan was lying. This brought him swiftly to his feet—seeing what the horrible creature had done to Lilley gave Dan newfound energy. He picked up his knife from the ground and brandished it before the scorpion as it elongated back into a staff.

“No one does that to my friend!”

He charged his enemy, channeling all the energy he had in himself. He let his power take over and used the ability that Lilley showed