23

"Ventague is your name correct?" Chief Heron asked John.

"Yes sir" John said scarfing down his food. Taking a bite out of a shrogr leg he put it down. Something was wrong he could sense it and so could the Dragon inside him for his eyes begun to glow. Excusing himself he walked off.

Chasing after J. Mike Chief Heron stopped at the exit. "I wouldn't go out there. The last couple of weeks some creatures have been rising out of the depth…"

"It's all good." Giving Chief Heron the thumbs up John leaped out of the hole in the mountain falling thousands of feet before reaching the bottom.

"I hope you survive" Heron whispered. Clicking the two feathers that hung from the top of his head he sent out a sound that alerted everyone it was time to seal their clive. Doing the same he rolled a boulder in front of the entrance.

A blood curdling sound shot through John mind as the waves from the sea begun to submerge part of the island. "No wonder the Eahoians live so high up in the mountain walls" John thought. Placing his hands over his ears and closing his eyes the sound echoed through John's head even louder. Opening his eyes once the sound nulled, he noticed creatures a little bit bigger than him shooting out of the waves in droves and climbing up the mountain.

Trying to speak to the slimy creatures through telepathy he noticed that they didn't have any eyes, a nose, or ears, only a mouth with sharp teeth. Flying high in the air a bow emerged in Johns hand. Whatever these creatures were, he wasn't getting a good vibe off them and John refused to let them reach the Eahoians.

Drawing the string back Ventague counted the creatures creating an arrow of wind for each one. Releasing the string the arrows hurled toward their targets. Falling into the water more of them rocketed out of the fierce waves. Drawing his string back and releasing a second round of arrows they continued to come. Taking out wave after wave the number of them only grew larger. Sighing out of annoyance John released his bow and called upon his swords.

Calling upon the water Dragon in him he calmed the raging tide best he could causing the sea to withdraw revealing an army of over a thousand of these slimy creatures. "Texas Cyclone" John yelled releasing a tornado upon them ridding the land of the creatures but once again only more crawled out of the ocean. Dropping his sword on part of the Island that wasn't submerged it sunk into the ground causing it to freeze over. Landing on the ice J. Mike begun to skate around slashing through the creatures. As his sword made contact it would convert into water making ice statues out of the beasts. Screaming as only more came forth John yelled, "How many of them are there!"

When Morning comes

Exiting out of their clives as the sun rose the Eahoians sung with joy realizing that no one was captured. Hearing something call the creatures through telepathy John watched as they retreated into the deep.

Tapping John on his shoulder as he fell to one of his knees Heron said, "We are eternally grateful."

Drained and breathing heavily John looked back at Heron. "Don't get excited yet" he said staring off into the ocean. "They were only pawns. Someone is controlling them, and it lies deep in the ocean. That's where I have to go." Standing up John raced to the ocean before the signal left his mind.

Inside the Queen's Chamber

"Excuse me my queen but we lost over three-fourths of our squadron that was sent to Eahoa."

Turning to face the messenger the Queen stood straight up spreading out her wings. Clicking her giant mandibles, she yelled, "How dare you disturb me."

"But my queen!"

Releasing thought waves into the messenger mind she yelled, "Do you feel like dying? Inform the royal guards and let them deal with it. I have a colony to give birth to."

"Yes, my queen" he said turning around and exiting.

"Before you do. Bring me something to eat, my children are starving."

"Yes, my queen."

At the Bottom of the Sea

Arriving at what appeared to be a cave John could see slug-like creatures crawling over it. Spitting out balls of goo as they slid there, slimy bodies around they built up their nest diligently unaware of John's presence. Concealing his presence John snuck pass the creatures entering the nest.

"Woah this place is huge." He whispered. "It didn't even look this big outside." Gazing around the nest it looked like an oversize ant farm with all the tunnels it contained. Releasing his circagen John knew that he would have to remain vigilant while moving about.

Silently creeping through the nest John slipped pass the same creatures that he fought earlier except now they were hard at work creating tunnels. Hearing a voice in his head John hid while one of the workers walked by dragging something encased in slime. Placing his aura into his eyes John could see the life force of whatever was imprisoned, it was still alive. Thinking about how the same creatures attacked the Eahoians unbothered by the animals that may have lurked by John decided to follow it.

Concealing himself in trillions of tiny water particles to reflect the image of his surroundings John followed behind the worker making sure not to make any sounds. For even though it didn't have any nose, eyes or ears he knew something was allowing it to move about with ease.

Coming to what appeared to be a chamber of some sort there was only one way in and one way out. Removing the slime that kept you from entering the worker dragged whatever it held into the room. Covering his mouth as he slipped pass the worker John couldn't believe what he saw. There were thousands of people cocooned in slime. They weren't only attacking the Eahoians but people from all over.

Waiting for the worker to leave John stood in the middle of the chamber. "Crop circle" he whispered, emitting blades of wind throughout the chamber cutting the people down. Freezing over the cocoons and shattering them John freed each prisoner one by one. Releasing thought waves into the mind of everyone in the room he showed them the images of what happened at Eahoa and of the worker dragging his victim into the chamber.

Somewhere in the Kubatchee Nest

"You feel that?" Kishnik asked picking up on the thought waves from the newly freed prisoners. "The queen won't be happy."

"It's almost time to give birth we will have to sedate them before they are fully awakened." Selsgro responded. "or else, the queen nor the larvae will have anything to feed on."

Inside the Pabulum Chamber

Meditating John could feel his energy restoring itself as he connected with the infinite spirit. Trying to regain control of their muscles the newly freed people had no hope for escape in their current condition, let along the ability to fight. Feeling a rush of wind coming from all sides of the chamber John awoke from his meditation. "Damn it! I thought there was only way in." he mumbled.

Gazing at the newborns, well at least that's what John thought of them considering they could only crawl. Talking also seemed to be out of the question but somehow, they understood him and that's all he needed. "Macerating hold" he thought making vines of water fall from the ceiling and attach to the newborns holding them up like puppets. Standing up John positioned himself in front of them. "Fort Glaze" Placing his palms on the ground a fort of ice formed around them.

Tugging on Johns shirt one of them managed to mutter out, "Kubatchee…. take…..queen…"

"Wait, what?" John asked moving his head closer so he could hear.

"Take… queen." He muttered again.

"Take queen what are you?" Remembering the sound of the voice that was calling the army back to the nest John understood what he was trying to say. "I get it take down the queen."

Nodding his head, the man whispered out, "Yes."

"Aite cool." Creating a second "Fort Glaze" within his "Fort Glaze" John dismantled the first one into thousands of shards. Scanning the chamber, it was full of the same Kubatchees that attacked the Eahoa except two of them. "First the army, then the larvae, now these. What purpose do they serve?" John wondered. Releasing the ice daggers as the Kubatchees moved in they entered the chest cavity of all the creatures transforming them into ice statues. Well, except the two new ones whom armor was so thick that it shattered the daggers. Walking through his "Fort Glaze" John gazed at the final two contestants. "Look like these two are going to give me a problem."

Making a clicking sound Kishnik alerted the rest of the royal guards throughout the nest about the intruder, so they could protect the queen in case of others. Staring at the two royal kubatchees John thought that they resembled grasshoppers only standing upright. Spitting out a brown juice Kishnik charged in with a powerful push of his legs.

Feeling Kishnik enter his circagen John had no time to move. Placing water molecules in front of his face to protect it John shouted, "Wha'" as he spread his wings out and flew upward a few inches away.

"It was a set up?" John thought as he dodged the slash coming from Selsgro. "Imma have to…" Placing his leg on the ground Selsgro spun delivering a kick into his side. Spitting up as he was sent flying backwards through the air, J. Mike used the wind to flip himself over planning to land. Kicking John in the face Kishnik had different plans for him.

Bouncing off the ground John took aim at Kishnik wings, "Crescent Wind" he mumbled releasing his crescent blades. Losing one of his wings Kishnik dove toward the ground landing safely. Spitting out multiple wads of brown juice Selsgro leaped high into the air. Charging in Kishnik done the same as Selsgro came spiraling down still spitting out the goo.

Dodging the juice John took his eyes off his opponents to gander at the juice melting through the ground beside him. Landing on top of John Selsgro released a stream of his acidic spit but John created a layer of water in between them. "Wind Grenade." John shouted creating a small ball of wind and energy it exploded knocking Selsgro off him.

Rolling over as Kishnik scythe like arms slashed into his shoulder John hopped onto his feet. Finding himself in between two boulders he had nowhere to go as the two royal kubatchees homed in towards him one aiming for his neck the other his legs. Leaping up and twisting horizontally John slid in between his aggressors. "That was to close!" John told himself.

Stabbing their scythe like arms into the ground the royal kubatchees made a U-turn heading back towards their intruder. Leaping above them John caught his opponents in a watery rope. "Cyclone slam" John said creating a tornado as he spun, then slamming them into the ground. Absorbing the pressure of the slam because of their armors both royal guards stood up unharmed except for a small crack in their armor.

Gazing at each other for only a brief second the royal guards rocketed off the ground. Using their legs like springs they begun to bounce from one side of the chamber to the next. "They move in perfect harmony." John thought as they slid passed him. Left, right, up, down and diagonally they ricocheted off the walls unpredictably. Clenching his jaw all John could do was focus on his circagen for his eyes couldn't keep up.

Seeing his moment to attack Selsgro opened his giant mandibles as Kishnik delivered a kick. Caught in Selsgro mandibles John couldn't do anything as they shut closed around his midsection. Pshhh! Halting both kubatchees couldn't believe what happened. Instead of the body being split in half water splashed Selsgro in his face. "Crystal beam" John shot an energy beam of ice from inside his "Fort Glaze" which magnified the attack.

Feeling the ice-cold sting as the beam pierced through his armor Selsgro screeched in pain as it froze over. "Sonic Punch" John shouted punching Selsgro in his wound and shattering his armor. Knocking Selsgro through the chamber wall John turned and faced Kishnik. "It's just me and you know." John told him through telepathy.

With a push of his powerful legs Kishnik was a foot away from his foe in seconds. "Artic Spring" John said smirking as water burst out of the ground. Feeling his armor freezing over as he made it through the geyser Kishnik searched for his opponent. "Ice hammer" John shouted flipping through the air he pounded Kishnik into the ground with his giant ice hammer shattering his armor and knocking him unconscious.

Already telling the newborns that they can leave the "Fort Glaze" whenever they regained full functionality of their body John dashed off in pursuit of the queen. Making it outside the tunnel that led him to the captives he found himself surrounded by both Royal guards and soldier kubatchees. Slapping himself in the head and exhaling John shook his head. "I should've cloaked myself. Creating an ice wall, he sealed off the tunnel. "I need to come up with a plan."

Two hours later

Meditating John focused on the spots where he placed bits of his aura and booby traps. Feeling the last booby trap go off John stood up. Getting to him was still going to be a hassle for he created a maze within the chamber, and it was only big enough for one maybe two of the Kubatchee to advance at a time. Watching Ventague stand up all the newborns prepared themselves for battle regardless of their condition.

"There, on the way" John yelled making water and ice clones of himself. "Are yall sure you want to do this."

Nodding their heads or saying yes in some form of manner the captives were united and ready to fight for their honor and their love ones, regardless of their weaken state and the fact they were clearly outnumbered ten thousand to one. Shrugging his shoulders John replied, "Alright but if you want to kill them, I will leave that up to you. I don't want no parts of it." Seeing that he was understood John hid them in ice blocks so they would appear to be part of the maze.

Losing over half of their army on the way to the chamber two of the royal guards returned to the queen to protect her, four returned to the entrance and four entered the chamber with what little soldiers they had left. Cloaking himself John intention was to flood the entire nest for as long as his allies remained in their ice blocks like he told them they would have no issues. Plus, he left the clones behind just in case. Reaching the exit, he launched a rock pass the royal guards distracting them long enough to slide pass.

Retracing his steps back to the entrance of the nest he called upon the Dragons inside him. Swimming above the nest the larvae were still at work. Staring at the nest for a few seconds he realized it grew since he entered. Placing both hands in front of him he created ball of energy made of ice and wind. "Ventague's Wrath" he thought as he released the blast upon the nest. Upon contact the blast exploded first freezing ten yards of the nest then sending shockwaves of wind shattering everything that was frozen over. Satisfied as water filled the nest his next goal was to remove the larvae that immediately went to work to fix the problem. Creating a whirlpool John watched the larvae get sucked into the vortex. Putting the vortex into the hole the ocean begun to drain into the nest at an even faster rate.

Feeling as if he were going to collapse Ventague wasn't done yet. Sealing off the hole with ice then using the surrounding water to create a bubble he lifted the Kubatchee nest out of the water.

Eahoa

"What's that" one of the Eahoians shouted pointing towards the giant bubble heading towards them. Panicking the Eahoians prepared to abandon their clives until John thought waves hit them, showing them his plan. Sounding the alarm for war Heron let out a high pitch sound.

Flying above the clouds where everyone could see him, Heron shouted. "These people have taking away our loved ones, destroyed our food sources and our clives as well. Now it is time to repay them their debt. Placing on their battle armor each Eahoian waited until the nest was set on the ground.

Breathing erratically sweat poured down John's body. "Deep Freeze" he mumbled as the bubble froze over then shattered destroying the nest.

"Attack" Heron shouted as all the Kubatchees were revealed.

Spiraling towards the ground John had no energy left and the world slowly faded away going black.

Seven Hours Later

Popping up out of his sleep J. Mike found himself surrounded by the people of Eahoa who refused to leave his side while he was passed out. Facing the stars John rubbed his eyes then slowly lifted gazing down at the bandages he was wrapped in. Breaking out into song the Eahoians made it even more apparent that the battle was won. Walking up to Ventague, Heron handed him a spear. "This spear was crafted by the talons and feathers of our fallen. Anything it touches or pierces will be ripped to shreds by the various soundwaves it emits. We would like you to have it as a token of our appreciation."

Accepting the spear John told them thanks. Walking up to Ventague, Sorjene bowed. "First I would like to apologize for my rude behavior." Pulling out a crown of feathers she handed them to John. "Then I would like to give you this crown establishing you as royalty whenever you enter an Eahoian city.

Whistling and cheering once again everyone broke out into song. "Now we feast" Heron shouted.