Why There Are No Black Lupes Part IV

by Silver

Element & The Battle

Silver led Galilobo down more passageways than he could have imagined existed in the mountain. Suddenly, in the middle of a tunnel, she stopped and chanted a spell under her breath. A large flat rock appeared before them. Silver gestured toward it. "Climb on," she said. Galilobo stepped up onto its shiny surface, followed by his pet. She chanted another spell, and the tunnel faded from his eyes; an instant later, they were in another round room. This one, however, was very dark. The walls were made of black rock with little jadestones sparkling here and there. Enchanted white flames floated around the room, keeping it just light enough to read in. Silver led him to a small table in the center of the room. It had clawed feet, and elegant designs and ruins ran around its edges. Galilobo looked at the surface of the table. On it lay a paw-sized rainbow-colored ball.

"This ball," explained Silver, "represents Element. You need to meld with the ball to travel back to his time you must first make your lightening bolt glow."

"How?" Galilobo asked in bewilderment.

"Pick an emotion," she suggested. "Think of a memory that makes you happy, or sad, or angry."

Galilobo thought of when he had captured his first Chia on a hunt with his father. He hoped it would make him happy, but unfortunately, the memory was too worn and faded to be of much use to him here. He called up the memory of when he had been forced to leave Silver to take his place as leader of the Magical Lupe pack. Perhaps long ago it had made him sad and forlorn, but now that Silver was standing beside him, he couldn't feel that bad about it. So he chose to picture little Riverbed lying on the ground, her blue fur messy and covered in dirt. He pictured Shadow, standing over the pup and smirking evilly. He pictured the spiral that was still in the sky somewhere above him, and he pictured the place underwater that Shadow had created for him, in which he had almost met his demise. These memories did the trick; he soon was so angry that he could barely see! The light from his forehead lit the room like the sun. "Good! Good!" cried Silver. "The stronger, the better. Now…"

She lifted the ball carefully and pressed it against the lightening bolt on his forehead. His lightening bolt started to tingle. The ball began to glow, then shimmer, and finally it exploded in a burst of rainbow color. The colors washed around Galilobo like a river, swirling together and splashing apart. Galilobo himself was carried away from Silver by the rainbow through another rainbow in the air, this one shaped like a rotating circle. He flew straight toward its bright red center, and suddenly he was standing on solid ground once again. Looking around in astonishment, he decided that he didn't know this new place at all. Funny that it was somehow familiar. At least I'm not underwater, Galilobo reminded himself. He began to walk. He didn't know in which direction he was supposed to be going, but he also knew that he'd have a better chance of finding something if he moved around.

After about a half-hour of aimless hiking, he came to the top of a mountain that looked strangely like his own back in the meadow. At its peak, he leaned over, panting, struggling to catch his breath. "Welcome." At the voice, Galilobo jerked his head up and stared into the kind, clear eyes of a rainbow Magical Lupe. A black-and-white Yin-Yang, symbolizing the ever-raging battle between good and evil, was set in the center of his forehead. Galilobo knew instantly who it must be. "Element!" he gasped. The rainbow Lupe nodded, a slow smile spreading across his face. Galilobo stared for a moment in wonder, then began to talk so fast that his words tumbled over one another in their rush out of his mouth.

"Sir, it's such a great honour, I can't believe that I'm standing here talking to you, wow, Element, the first Lupe, the only Rainbow Lupe, the father of all packs, the wisest wolf there ever was, I always wished I could meet you, and now here I am -"

Element cut him off with a rich laugh. "My, I've never felt so old! And please don't call me "sir"; we are both Magical Lupes, are we not? Brother to brother."

"Yes, yes, of course," agreed Galilobo, calming down a bit.

"Hmm…. I know all of my sons and daughters, and I never forget a mark. That lightening bolt… you are Galilobo, are you not?"

"Yes, sir - I mean, Element."

"You do know why you are here?" inquired the rainbow Lupe, his voice growing serious.

"Yes… that spiral in the sky back home…." Element sighed. "Your suspicions were right all along, Galilobo. That spiral is the doing of Shadow. Black Lupes were the one greatest mistake I ever made. Oh, don't get me wrong - I don't make mistakes all that often; it's been 18 thousand years since the last one. I'm overdue, in fact," he chuckled.

"You - you're 18 thousand years old?!" cried Galilobo.

"Well, actually, I'm eighty million years old… but who's counting? Anyhow," he went on, ignoring Galilobo's disbelieving gape, "I need your help. Since Shadow is the last black Lupe in Neopia, it shouldn't be too hard ridding the world of Lupe-evil… but I cannot do it alone. Will you help me?"

"Help you?" repeated a stunned Galilobo.

"You're not required to, of course," continued Element. "It's completely up to you. But Silver asked me what she thought, and I replied that you would probably be just about perfect for the task."

"So that's who she was talking to in the room with the enchanted ceiling!" he mused.

"Yup. Oh, and just to let you know, this is Neopia 60 thousand years ago. Just in case you're interested."

With a jolt, Galilobo realized how far back he had traveled through time. He was standing on a mountain - his mountain, in fact - 60 million years before he had even been born! He shook his head; it was almost too much to take in all at once.

"Of course I'll help you," Galilobo gushed. "But, Element… how do you propose we get rid of Shadow?"

"It's quite simple, really," Element replied. "We need to combine our magic."

"Oh… combine our magic… of course," said Galilobo, though he had no idea what the rainbow Lupe was talking about.

Element grinned. "It's ok if you don't understand; I'll explain it. You see, you are the most magically powerful Lupe that was, is, or ever will be - besides me, of course. You are brave, loyal, and kind. You have a heart for everyone, even for those who are said to be mortally sinful. That goodness, that generosity makes you very wise… and your wisdom makes you magical. I need to share your magic if I am going to overpower the strong evil of Shadow."

Galilobo brightened under these compliments. His back straightened. His tail raised a bit higher. "Just tell me how to do it, Element," he said courageously, "and I'll give every ounce of magic I have in me."

"Terrific!" exclaimed a delighted Element. "Now, here's what we need to do: I'm going to bring Shadow here. He'll be immobile, but not for long. That's why we're going to have to work fast. When he's brought here, you need to concentrate on sending all your goodness and kindness and warmth toward Shadow. Send it out through your lightening beam, like a ray of light. Meanwhile, I'll do the same thing, and do my best to keep Shadow from moving."

Galilobo took a deep breath, let it out, and shouted, "Let's do it!" Element closed his eyes and faced the cliff. Galilobo turned and faced the same way. Now the two were shoulder to shoulder. Galilobo could hear the other Lupe muttering a spell under his breath. The spiral began to appear before them. Its white and black colors all blended together, until the spiral was completely black. Then the spiral took the shape of Shadow. He was frozen like a statue; only his eyes moved. But they were so full of hate that Galilobo's blood froze in his veins. "Now!" shouted Element in a strained voice. Galilobo concentrated on being kind. He concentrated on sending out all his goodness through the scar in his forehead. Nothing happened at first; Element's Yin-Yang, on the other hand, already had a beam of rainbow light shooting out of it at Shadow. Galilobo screwed up his face, clenched his jaw, and thought as hard as he could. Celest and Petal came to mind. He couldn't imagine being cruel or evil to them for even a half-second, so he focused all his energy on their memory.

Before he knew it, a white light flowed from his forehead toward Shadow's unmoving form. His light was even brighter than Element's. They stayed in that position until well into the night. Just when the moon rose behind them to scale the sky, Shadow began to shudder. Galilobo feared that he was getting loose of Element's immobilization spell, but then he noticed that some of Shadow's fur was falling off. He managed to open his jaws and scream, "No!" before another shudder hit him. His whole form stretched and contracted like a rubber band…and then it exploded in a burst of black light. Quickly, Element shouted out another spell, and the black light faded before it hit the ground. Galilobo turned to look at Element in admiration, and found that the rainbow Lupe was looking at him in the same way.

"Well done, my brother and son," Element said quietly. "Well done." Galilobo smiled.

"You, too," he replied.

"You deserve a reward," said Element. "Now, what shall it be?"

"Oh, no, you don't have to -" started Galilobo.

"Hush, now, enough with that nonsense; of course I do. I know." He closed his eyes, and the Yin-Yang in his forehead began to glow. Above the rainbow Lupe's head, Galilobo saw a tiny red Lupe running through a field. He recognized the Lupe as Riverbed, the little cub. Then the image vanished.

"There," said Element. "Riverbed's life has been restored. And now…"

He closed his eyes again and chanted for about three minutes. Suddenly, a bolt of rainbow-colored light shot out of his Yin-Yang and rushed into Galilobo's lightening-shaped scar.

"Now you, too, have the power to restore life," Element told him. Galilobo could only smile before he crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

When Galilobo awoke, he was lying on some beanbags in the middle of the egg-shaped room in which he and his pack had first rested. He looked up. Celest and Petal were watching over him anxiously.

"He's awake! Daddy's awake! Yippee!" Petal shrieked, prancing around the room.

"Godmother Silver, come see! Daddy's awake!"

"Petal, shhh!" chided Celest. "Daddy's very tired. You go and play. You can talk to him later." Petal happily bounced out of the room. Are you okay? Celest's voice asked in his mind. He grinned up at her.

"I'm fine, really; just a bit tired." He sat up and rubbed his forehead with a paw. "My scar does hurt a bit, though."

Silver appeared next to them. "Here," she said, sprinkling some dust over his lightening bolt. "This should make it feel better." The moment the dust touched his forehead, the pain was gone.

"Thanks," he said, licking her hand. Silver chuckled.

"You've had quite a day, my friend. You may rest here as long as you see fit."

"Where are all the others?" Galilobo asked, sitting up and looking around the empty room.

"They all went back to the meadow," Celest informed him. "Silver beamed them back with her magic."

"You should join them just as soon as you're ready," Silver commented. "You're a hero; they'll surely want to ask you about your adventure with Element!"

Standing up, Galilobo said, "I think that, from now on, I'll be ready for just about anything. Come on, Celest; let's go home."

And that, my friends, is the story of why there are no black Lupes in Neopia.