The LupeGelert Stone: Part 3

by kirinki

The Aishas

"Fool! You are no use to me anymore. You have failed," Assassin growled. He kicked the body of Miloga, the Evil Techo Chief over the edge of the platform. It plummeted to the ground below, scattering the helpless slaves. Assassin turned back to RedFlame, who was frozen with terror.

"So you have dared to mess with the Assassin? You will face a slow, painful ending."

RedFlame regained his senses. The Warlord lifted his tail and was about to strike RedFlame when RedFlame sprang up into the air and bit the Assassin on the neck. Assassin's steel hairs were so hard that they threw RedFlame back. He had only one option now, to run. RedFlame jumped off the platform and onto the body of Miloga. From there he ran out of the cave and into the deserts of Salamandastron. He could still hear the Assassin's cries of anger as he ran to their temporary camp. Moonlight was waiting at their camp with Mystic.

"Where have you been? We were worried!" Moonlight told him.

"I have met the Assassin," he replied slowly.

"He is too strong for just me to handle. I could not free the slave Techos, but I killed Miloga the Evil Techo chief."

"What slaves?" Mystic and Moonlight said together.

RedFlame explained on what he had set out to do. "Well, we'll just have to go after him, then."

Mystic spoke up, "If he's got the stone, he might be on his way to use it for one of his spells!"

With their pets in their packs, the three headed out through the desert. RedFlame took out the book again.

"It says to go thataway." He pointed to the west.

While they walked on the hot sands, they ate and drank from the supply of food and drink that Nicodemus had given them, feeding some to their pets. There was chicken, meat, fruit, bits of chocolate, apple cider, water and Lupesoda, which is a sort of delicious soda made by Lupes. RedFlame took a swig from one of his bottles of Lupesoda before taking a huge bite out of a steak. Moonlight nibbled at the chicken and then sipped her water, while Mystic chewed on some pears and slurped up her cider. After quite a bit of walking, they bumped into an Aisha. She was bright blue and striped with purple and her paws were white. She was chanting a strange spell and slowly bright blue sparks of fire gathered around her. They rose and danced around her, growing and growing. After uttering a final word, there was an explosion. When the smoke cleared, there stood over a hundred Aishas, all colored blue. The leader, the striped one, did not see Mystic, RedFlame or Moonlight, but if she did, she was ignoring them.

"My friends, I summon you all to aid me on an important mission. Assassin the Dark Lupe has attacked Salmandastron, but even though he has left, the slaves are still doing his work. Rumour is that one Lupe has escaped his Blade Tail and still lives. He is tracking that Lupe and it is our duty to protect it."

RedFlame tripped on a rock and stumbled into view from behind a sand dune. The leader gasped and cried out: "That's him!"

She smiled. "Greetings, my name is Akkor the Aisha. You are welcome to our tunnels under the dunes where we have shops, supplies and complete protection."

"My name is RedFlame. These are my friends: Moonlight the White Lupe and Mystic the Blue Gelert. We are glad to come."

They followed Akkor into a hidden entrance carved into the dunes cloaked with strong magic so that no normal being can see it. A long, high tunnel stretched out in front of them. Many smaller tunnels branched off from the main tunnel, neatly labeled. Some led to sleeping chambers, some to storage rooms, some to toilets and more to shops. Akkor showed them to their sleeping chambers. Each had a separate room containing a bed built from wood, soft Uni feathers and fur, a shelf for items and a small desk and chair.

Moonlight decided to go shopping. Her first stop was the Battle shop. She bought a sword, two frost cannons (one for her and one for RedFlame), a Gelert wand and a Grand Lightning beam for Mystic and special Aisha-made blasters for each of them and their pets. Next was the Defence and Magic shop. She took out Mystic's money and bought Mystic full body armor and five of each Faerie. She used her own money and RedFlame's money to buy a Lupe Moon Charm and five of each Faerie for her and RedFlame.

As she was walking to the food shop, something caught her eye. A bag of forgotten Neopoints lay on the floor labeled 900 NP. She quickly picked it up and divided it between her friends and herself. She bought them all tasty Aisha food and some other things such as useful books, items and candy. Moonlight, Mystic and RedFlame signed up for the battle competition. RedFlame was pitted against a huge male Aisha. He growled and charged at RedFlame. RedFlame leaped into the air and fired Fire Balls at the Aisha. He then concentrated on the powers of his Lupe Moon Charm.

Before he could strike, RedFlame heard a shout and the Assassin appeared in front of him in a swirl of black smoke. He lifted his tail and whipped it down onto RedFlame's opponent. RedFlame pushed the huge Aisha out of the way just in time; the Assassin's metal tail crashed down onto the hard Battledome floor. It cracked down the middle opening a huge hole. A dark swirl appeared in the hole. The Assassin let out a volley of Dark Arrows, a lethal weapon created by Dark Lupes, before diving into the portal.

"I will get you soon, RedFlame! I am taking a route to a distant part of Neopia to use the powers of your stone!" The Assassin growled before disappearing into the swirl. Mystic and Moonlight leaped into the arena and dived into the swirl after the Assassin with RedFlame followed by Akkor.

To be continued...