The Necromaniac Chapter 4 "Imbalanced" Part 3

"Imbalanced" Part 3

I don't know how I didn't see this coming. We were surrounded by killer scorpions, and one of them had Sestiva, threatening to inject her with its deadly venom if I made any sudden moves. How in the world did these even get here anyway? Wait a minute. Before the sandstorm blew through, the sand wasn't that deep, making it impossible to even hide in. But after the sandstorm, the sand was almost up to our knees. That's when the scorpions appeared. There could be only one explanation. The scorpions were swept up in the sandstorm and carried here. They'd been wisked away from their home so they were ticked. I would've probably felt the same way if I was suddenly dragged outta my home. When they emerged from the sand, the first thing they saw to take their anger out on was us. That basically sums up how Sestiva ended up in the middle of a hostage crisis. A million thoughts rushed through my brain as I tried to think of a plan. I couldn't come up with anything cause I stink at doing things under pressure, normally. A thought finally came across. This was a balance school enviroment. In other words, this was Kane's turf. But if he took physical form, then the scorpions might take the transformation as a threat and poison Sestiva. I didn't know if Kane would be able to conjure up anything in non-physical form but it was worth a shot. Kane, I began saying to him in my head, give it all you got. Kane began willing for something to appear. I waited for something.... and nothing came. Until...

I heard one of the scorpions scream. I turned my head to see that it was frozen solid. But how? Then I heard another scorpion scream and looked to see that it was reduced to ashes. Before I could ask how either of those events happened, the ground began to rumble. What I saw made what I saw make perfect sense. Looming over the scorpions was none other than a Hydra. The scorpions immediately became filled with terror as they began scuttling away. I was glad to see that they left Sestiva behind. I thanked Kane and the Hydra disappeared. "Are you ok?", I asked Sestiva as I ran over to her.

"I'm fine", she said, brushing some dust off of her.

"What a relief"

Then I felt a hand touch my shoulder. I quickly turned around to see.... a mander? Yup, believe it or not, standing there was a light blue mander. It jumped when it saw me turn around so quickly.

"Oh my!", the mander yelped.

Woah, talking Lizard! Oh wait, I forgot manders could talk. "What's a mander doing here?", I asked.

"Oh, don't you know? Manders are creatures of Balance", the mander answered, "You've probably seen my relatives in Krokotopia. They are the descendants of the manders who travelled to and settled in Krokotopia from Sorceria."

"Ah so that's how they got there!"

"Yes, and who might you be?"

"Name's Timothy", I said, introducing myself, "And this is my friend, Sestiva. We've been trying to search for the village on Sorceria in hopes of finding Lady Judgement."

"My name is Macen," the Mander said, introducing himself, "And you're in luck, because I was just heading my way back to the village. I know this desert, and know every way around, and I'll be happy to lead you to the village."

"Thanks"

We didn't say anything on the way to the village.

"Would you mind if I asked you how you got the name 'Macen'?", Sestiva asked, breaking the ice.

"Sure! I come from a long line of travellers. The name 'Macen' means traveler. My great great great great great great great great great great grandfather helped lead the expedition to Krokotopia, where the first manders settled there."

"Wow, I bet you do a lot of traveling yourself ", I said.

"Yes, I do. May I ask why you're wanting to see Lady Judgement?"

"Well, there is someone who has intruded Sorceria, seeking Lady Judgement to use her power to upset the balance between the elemental as well as the spiritual planets. We need to find her fast in order to warn her of the impending intruder"

"Yikes! Why didn't you say so in the first place! I can get you there through a much faster way!"

"How?"

"Watch", Macen said. He blew into his fingers and whistled. At first, nothing happened. But after a few moments, I saw something rising out of the sand. Standing there were 3 scarabs. "We can ride the scarabs to the village. They can move rather fast both above and under ground. They also have great stamina." Macen jumped and swung his leg over the side of the scarab and sat on it. He motioned for us to do the same. It was pretty easy getting on, cause it felt like getting on a horse. A big, insecty horse with pincers. "You'll also need these!", he said while throwing me and Sestiva a pair of goggles. What are these for? "Put them over your eyes to keep sand from flying in them when the scarabs start tunneling underground", Macen pointed out, reading my mind. We both strapped on our goggles. I was about to ask where I should grab onto during the ride when I noticed a small shelf between the back of the scarab's head and the front of its wings. I grabbed on tight and it was the perfect thing to hold onto. Sestiva noticed what I was doing and did the same. We all gave our scarabs a kick and they began tunneling in the sand. I wasn't prepared for what happened as the scarab started tunneling. I only expected a little sand to fly around here and there. I was dead wrong. As the scarab started digging, sand went flying everywhere. I ducked down and covered my head, bracing myself from flying sand till this ride was over. I could feel the air getting cool as we headed under the sand, so we must be underground. The ride lasted about maybe 7-8 minutes until we started to surface. I could tell we were surfacing as sand came down and light started breaking in. I opened my eyes to see we were standing in front of the village. There were stone houses all around and there were dirt paths indicating streets. I looked way in the distance and at far end of the village, I saw a large building towering over the village that resembled a palace. I knew that somewhere in there waited Lady Judgement herself...

To be continued...