Guardian of the Air Gem (2)

Aavern and I loaded up with makeshift javelins (just sharpened sticks) and rocks. We barely got ready when the giant snake burst through the cave and descended upon us. It was infuriated. It stayed up above us and rained rocks and dust upon us, blown with its strong breath. The Krie clan started diving down on the snake, striking the snake as they flew past in precision maneuvers. The snake turned its attention to blow them away.

Riselus began to climb to get a good angle at the snake. Dracoa coiled up and closed her eyes, probably to focus her energy upon her gem. I put a leaf on her head. She opened an eye and glared at me. I hastily backed away. Aavern and I approached the snake. It seemed to have somehow grown several times in size since the last time we saw it, now larger than the already massive meeting cave. It was now pure white and was still getting angrier as the Krie clan rained pain upon it.

"Remember what we discussed," Aavern said. "Just get one javelin stuck in its head." He began to bombard the snake as well as I flew up to gather momentum. 

The snake flew right at them and tried to whip them all with its tail. At that moment, Riselus reached the top. He leaped up and smashed one of his huge claws upon the snake, scoring a huge gash in it. The snake turned to face him and I took a big chance. I darted in and slammed my javelin into the snake's eye, then, not having another one, and being completely out of ideas, sat on its other. It roared with anger. It thrashed me off with sudden violence and hit me with its massive tail in the same instant. My vision blacked out briefly. I awoke a few minutes later to see Qassot carrying me and setting me down on the ground. I was all the way at the base of the mountain. 

I looked at Dracoa. "It's all set."

Dracoa looked at me and suddenly shot up into the air, spun in a spiral, then shot up again. A massive whirlwind began to appear around her. She repeated this several times. At each spiral she made, the wind got more intense. Then, with her shooting up, the whirlwind became a tornado which attacked the snake, trapping it and sucking in the rocks it was throwing out, bashing against it repeatedly. Everyone quickly got out of the way. Then, Dracoa flew straight up until we could barely see her and wrapped herself in a misty white shroud. She darted down, crossing the distance in a split second, and slammed it into the head of the snake, still with a javelin embedded into one eye. The snake then let out a stone-shattering shriek, which made everyone briefly black out, then, with blurred vision, we saw the snake slowly crumble.

-

By the time our vision recovered, the snake's outer layer was gone - it was now its original size, and it was retreating back into the cave to slumber.

"I can't believe that worked," Aavern said. He was out of breath and very bruised.

"But you came up with the plan," I said.

"I know," Aavern said, "but I didn't think it'd actually work."

"How many got hurt?" Dracoa asked.

"A bunch of the Krie clan are pretty bruised up, and a few creatures are still stuck under the rubble," Qassot said, scratching a massive bloody gash that had opened on her head, "but I don't think anyone died."

A Krie clan member came over and slapped Qassot's claw away. "Don't touch that. You're making it worse." The dragon then put a bundle of leaves on Qassot's head and told her to hold it there.

"What happened to you?" Dracoa asked.

"I ran into a rock trying to catch Cyil."

"Thanks a bunch," I said, "I don't think I would've survived that."

"You'd better give me extra food next time we eat as compensation," Qassot said. "My head is killing me."

Riselus landed next to us with a ground-shaking thud.

"You're bleeding," he said.

"I know," Qassot replied.

"Is it going to be this hard every single time?" I asked.

"It's going to get easier," Aavern assured me, "We'll have more gems." He was the only one of us who looked no worse for wear.

"How did you get out of this unscathed?" I asked.

"I dodged?" Aavern said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "You just kinda ran into everything. You've gotta be more aware of your surroundings."

"Okay mister battle veteran," I said sarcastically. "What other wisdom lies in your boundless mind?"

Aavern bowled me over into a bush.

While we were tussling, the creatures grouped around the base of the mountain began cheering, thanking the Krie clan and us, though many of them wondered why the guardian chose to awake at that moment, and a few began to shoot us dirty looks.

"I feel like we should leave," Qassot said.

"Yeah!" I said. "Let's go to my bush to rest!"

"It's also my bush," Aavern mumbled.

"That's a good idea," Dracoa said. "I can't believe you came up with a good idea, Cyil!"

I was too tired to argue. I threw a leaf at her instead.

"Is your head okay?" Dracoa asked Qassot. She took the leaves away. Surprisingly, the wound was already closed and had left behind a faint long scar.

"How did that heal so fast?" I asked. 

Qassot could only shrug. "It doesn't even hurt anymore."

"Where were you even keeping this?" Dracoa asked, gesturing at the golden chain around her neck.

Qassot reached into her mouth and pulled out four more identical chains.

Silence.

"How did you even-" I started.

"I'd better keep those," Aavern interrupted, grabbing them and leaving, probably to find a stream to wash them in, with Dracoa following closely behind.

By the time they got back, they were quite soaked, but Dracoa quickly used her gem to dry Aavern and the golden chains, and he put them in his fur.

"Don't put things in there," Dracoa said sternly.

"Where else was I supposed to put them?" Qassot asked.

"What gem should we go for next?" I asked, quickly changing the subject.

"The water one," Qassot said, "You owe me, remember?"

"Didn't you want extra food a moment ago?" I mumbled.

"I'd have to agree," Dracoa said, "She didn't really do much when fighting that guardian. Riselus, Cyil, and Aavern should be fine for the time being."

"But isn't the earth gem closer?" I asked. "That place in this valley that we talked about."

"Riselus doesn't need a gem right now, though," Aavern said, "The important thing about a team is making sure everyone is the same strength. A team is only as strong as its weakest member, after all."

"Hey!" Qassot said, "Are you saying I'm the weakest one here?"

"When'd you learn that?" I asked simultaneously.

"From Azor's scrolls," Aavern said, ignoring Qassot's question.

"Don't ignore me!" Qassot said indignantly.

"He has a point," Dracoa said.

"Don't be mad," I reassured her, "We're getting the water gem next so you won't be the weakest!"

"Thanks a lot," Qassot grumbled.

-

After we rested up, we left the valley and headed towards the plains again. We decided to search the many lakes of the island. Ninlog Lake seemed best. It was the largest lake in the area. Fortunately, it was on this side of the Raik Mountains. We took our time, since it was quite near, before Qassot decided to make all of us nervous.

"What if the gem is in the sea?"

This awarded her with several glares.

That gave us a real shock, but we were hoping that it was on the island somewhere. If it was in the sea, then it would be almost impossible to find, since the sea stretched into oblivion, and was the one place that no intrepid explorers dared to venture. A boundless expanse of water with no end. We fervently hoped it would not be in the sea. With that thought still in our minds, we dove into the lake at sunrise the next day, after eating a few birds and berries. There were squids, those evil fish, who seemed to have found their way into the lake from the underwater river under the Raik Mountains, rocks, shiny rocks, jewels, shed scales, and assorted sands and gravels. No gems. There wasn't even a current. We did, however, find a tiny underground stream that connected it to the underwater caves.

"Just worthless stuff," I sighed when I surfaced. "Those rocks are pretty, though."

Aavern popped up next to me. "Same here."

"It must be somewhere else," Riselus said, "There should be a guardian, and I don't see one."

"Well, where would it be?" I asked.

"Perhaps in another lake," Qassot said.

"But there are no other lakes," Riselus said, "Not even on the other side of the mountains, according to Azor's maps."

"What if it's in those underwater caves?" Aavern suggested, remembering my theory.

"I hope it's not," Dracoa said. 

Aavern had never taken the long journey under the mountains and therefore did not know how long, dark, and tedious the journey was. There were so many branch-offs from the main tunnel that searching it was completely out of the question. 

"Besides, a wizard put it there," Dracoa continued. "Why would a wizard put anything into an underwater cave?"

Aavern nodded knowingly. Azor did not like swimming. He said that it would take the entire day for his "clothes" to dry off. Upon being asked why he didn't take them off, he gave us a strange look that ceased any debate.

"What if it is on a river?" I suggested. "Let's check the Krie River."

We traveled along the Krie River for the next few days, but nothing prevailed. Because Dracoa now had the air gem, she could redirect the jetstream, allowing us to skip the underwater river and cross over the top of the Raik Mountains with relative ease. Well, except for Riselus. He looked incredibly uncomfortable at being carried again. We then followed the gently flowing river on that side. 

"Since we aren't going to Azor's castle, we can check both ways," Aavern said.

Qassot and I went to the left while the others went to the right. We had been swimming along the river, searching the riverbed, when I suddenly remembered something.

"Uhh, Qassot, do you recognise this river?" I asked.

She paused for a second and her eyes widened suddenly.

"WHIRLPOOL!"

We got out quickly. We could dimly hear the roar in the distance.

"Wait… " Qassot said. She was thinking.

"What?" I asked.

"The air gem was on a spire, right?"

"Yes, why?"

"Didn't the air gem make a tornado around it?"

"Yes, why?"

"It kind of whirled the air all around itself, right?"

"Yes, why?"

"Shouldn't the water gem do the exact same thing?"

"Yes, why?"

"Whirlpool? Whirlwind?"

My eyes widened. I hadn't realized it.

"Yeah!" I got excited. "Let's go over and see!"