The Eragotten Legacy: Part One

      He held his sword up to parry a blow from a Darigan soldier and kicked off, running from the fight for a quick gasp of breath. He noticed a small blue fissure floating in the air. He looked at it. Nobody else had seen it. Jag approached it and ran his hand through it. It was sucked in like a vortex. Jag pulled his hand back and paused a second before sticking his head in. He saw the back of a Scorchio's head and ahead of him was Jag himself, listening with wide eyes to what the Scorchio was saying: "I cannot. That is for yourself to believe. But I know deep down you believe me, Jag. I never worked for Darigan. I, Joseph Blanchette, have never been the enemy to Meridell…" the Scorchio muttered. "The only true enemy was the EEM… and you…"

      Jag saw that the other of himself, sitting at the end of a table in a chair, had seen him.

      Jag pulled out of the fissure, and it vanished. He stood in thought for a second or two.

      "No! Help me!" a voice called from behind him. He turned to see an Acara cowering below the blade of one of Darigan's soldiers; a blue Blumaroo.

      Jag raced towards the two and immediately broke into a spinning kick. The Blumaroo flew through the air and collapsed at a safe distance from the Acara, who stood up and turned to face Jag.

      "Thank you so much, sir!" she shouted gratefully, bowing to Jag. "A soldier like you would be ideal in the new force that Meridell is setting up for protection against Darigan! It's called the Eragotten Emissaries of Meridell!"

      Jag remained silent, and then smiled at the Acara.

      "What's your name? I think I'll join…" he muttered happily, checking his rear to ensure the battle had not come in their direction. It hadn't.

      "Great! My name is Anna Sumuilevelt, and may I ask yours?"

      "Jag Sequen," the blue Techo responded eagerly.

2 Years later…

Jag Sequen held the Regulation Meridell Crossbow tightly in his hands and aimed it across the lush green grass to a target far on the other side.

      "Ready…" Simonyi, another blue Techo, called clearly. "Aim…"

      Jag felt down on the trigger of the crossbow, his hands remaining motionless and still.

      "Fire!" Simonyi shouted fervently.

      Jag pulled the trigger. The slight push from the thrust of the crossbow bolt made him slightly stumble back. The bolt cut swiftly through the clear Meridell air, then finally nailing the target, one contour from the Bull's Eye. He lowered the crossbow as he watched at where all of the other blue Techos shot their bolts.

      Nobody got a Bull's Eye, just about the same as Jag.

      "Good work, Eras! Your aiming has certainly improved since when you have joined the Eragotten Emissaries of Meridell. Your training is over for today, and a mission has been chosen to be performed by that Jag Sequen and Hurric Kurnarl. If you'd visit Brightvale Castle for the briefing it would be appreciated…" Simonyi said, nodding his head down Meri Acres. Jag nodded and hung his crossbow over a wooden rack.

      The blue Techo started eagerly towards the castle, the bright sun glazing down upon him, and the clear blue sky vibrantly glowing above…

      Jag approached the Brightvale Castle. The towers stood high above the rest of Brightvale, and a slight shadow from Darigan Citadel hung over the land.

      Jag spent the time wandering around Brightvale Castle, looking for the secret briefing room thinking of what he'd gotten himself into.

      The Eragotten Emissaries of Meridell was a secret organization created by King Skarl subsequent to the war with Darigan. Nobody in all of Neopia knows of the EEM other then the soldiers who had proven themselves worthy of participating as Eras, units of the organization.

      When a mission was completed, nobody would know of the victory. If a mission was failed, however, everybody in the EEM would be informed of an Eras loss, and the Era would by discharged.

      Jag found his way, finally, to a locked door marked Private, EEM.

      This was his first time approaching these doors in four months. His previous mission for Meridell was only a narrow success, but his partner for that one, Jeremiah Foster, had been dismissed from the Eragotten Emissaries of Meridell for blowing his cover as a "Tourist from Mystery Island."

      Jag knocked three times on the door.

      "Sequen…" he stated clearly towards two little specks dotted into the door. He stood at the door's front, waiting impatiently.

      Finally, a few clicks from the locks within the door echoed peaceably from behind, and at last the door swung open.

      Jag walked silently into the door as it flew open. Immediately following his entrance, the door closed.

      "Sequen, long time no see," Turner Jury, a male green Techo, said cheerily, clapping his hands eagerly and turning to one of the four computers in the metallic room.

      A few dozen florescent lights slithered all around the roof of the room, leaving no corner unlit, and a silver desk lay in the middle of the large room with a plastic lining in the middle on the top, as well as a giant television screen built into the wall on the left. Hurric the blue Techo was already there.

      "Hey Jury, how've you been?" Jag asked willingly, taking a seat at one of the four chairs surrounding the silver desk.

      "Not too bad," Jury replied, typing a few keys on the keyboard at the computer.

      Hurric shifted uncomfortably in his chair, taking occasional glances at Jag.

      "What?" Jag asked irritably, scratching his head. Hurric was about to say something, but Jury broke in.

      "Jag, Hurric, this is Serena Sumuilevelt. We just call her Sum for short," Jury said, pointing over to a green Acara.

      "Pleasure…" the Acara sighed, moving out of their glance. Jag didn't reply.

      "Just give us the mission, Jury," Hurric muttered lackadaisically, yawning.

      Jury shot Hurric a frustrated glimpse, then walked to a computer and sat down in the chair. He typed a few keys at the keyboard once more.

      The television lit up brightly as the florescent lights shut off.

      On the screen was a train going quickly through what appeared to be a forest. The video clip was only in black and white.

      "This," Jury started, turning from the computer to look at the screen, "is a train leading from Meridell to the Lost Desert."

      "That's quite a far distance for a train…" Jag mumbled under his breath.

      "Don't comment, just watch the briefing," Hurric hissed, with an accent on the word comment.

      Jag muttered something too quiet even for him to hear and returned to watching the video clip.

      "This train was just built only a few months ago; however we have recovered recent intelligence that Darigan soldiers are stowing on the train from the Lost Desert and using it to get into the Southern half of Meridell, the only place that their armies would not be able to go if they were to come down from the citadel…" Jury continued, pointing to the political map of Neopia that soon appeared on the screen.

      Jag watched intently at the television screen, determined not to miss a word.

      "However, we've traced this apparent breach to a Scorchio known as Joseph Blanchette. He, in acquaintance with Lord Darigan, has been leading a covert infiltration of Darigan adherents into Meridell," Serena Sumuilevelt stated.

      "Here's the unbelievable part. Blanchette is not only from Meridell, he's a former agent of the Eragotten Emissaries of Meridell!" Jury explained, his eyebrows rising slightly in disbelief.

      "Blanchette…" Hurric muttered. "I knew him… He was a good agent, but I knew he couldn't last too long here…"

      "Save the stories, Hurric," Sum said, tapping a button on her computer. The screen now showed a blue Scorchio. "This is Blanchette. Your mission is to board the train and find Blanchette, and steal his laptop. It has all of the plans for his little boarding schedule for soldiers of Darigan."

      "Alright…" Jag mumbled.

      "We're sending you to the Lost Desert tomorrow. We're equipping you with a Regulation Meridell Crossbow and a black suit with the standard equipment. Camera, Tracer, Thermal Sensing Glasses, a few Regulation Meridell Smoke Grenades and the rest. Try not to be seen in this mission, and keep it clean. I don't want any unnecessary deaths, understood?" Jury stated sternly. Jag nodded.

      "So you're sending us to the Lost Desert on a plane, and then making us go back on the train?" Jag questioned.

      "Correct," Jury answered, nodding. "The scheme's a little different, we know, but it's well thought out."

      "It's all the usual, Jury, I know it… I have been on -," Hurric began.

      "Fourteen other missions. Yes, we know you're professional in this field, Hurric, but keep the gloating to a null," Sum groaned, pulling a sheet of marked paper from her desk. She threw it halfheartedly on the desk along with a bright blue pen.

      Jag grabbed the pen swiftly and clicked it open.

      "Blue? Do you have it in red?" Hurric complained.

      "Just sign the form, Hurric…" Jury muttered.

      Jag tried his best not to look at Hurric's reaction to this as he signed his name above the dotted line.

      "Right. I'm ready," Jag said, smiling as he handed the pen to Hurric.

      The Techo took it and closed his eyes while he signed his signature. He forced a yawn.

      Jag rolled his eyes as he leaned back in the chair.

      "Anything else, Jury?" he asked kindly scratching his head.

      "Nothin' else, Jag. You two ready for the mission?" Jury asked.

      "I was born ready," Hurric barked, stifling a laugh.

      "I'm all set…" Jag muttered eagerly.

      Suddenly, there was an earsplitting scream from outside the door.

      Jag abruptly pulled back in his chair, almost making it fall over. Everybody fell completely silent.

      Hurric took the pen and edged towards the door quickly and quietly.

      "Don't, Hurric…" Jag whispered.

      There was a quiet sound of crossbows being triggered. Suddenly, the door burst open and four Scorchios armed with loaded crossbows stomped in, knocking Hurric out cold with the flat blunt hit of the door.

      Jag kicked off the desk with his feet and the chair skidded with a shrill screech along the metal floor.

      He pulled back in the chair so it leaned back as it went and kicked one of the Scorchios as the chair pulled him to close range. The resulting shock pushed the chair over just as one of the other three Scorchios shot a crossbow bolt at Jag, who blocked it off with the chair as he fell to his back. While on his back, Jag kicked the chair with a powerful thrust of his legs at another Scorchio who was knocked back outside on impact, and then Jag leapt to his feet and faced the two other Scorchios.

      Jag rolled towards one as the other shot at him. The bolts whooshed pat his head.

      Jag grabbed the left Scorchio's arm that was holding the crossbow and threw it into the other's face, knocking him backwards.

      "Give up and you will be spared, fool…" the Scorchio whose arm was being held muttered, smirking through his sweat-drenched lips.

      Jag flung the Scorchio over his shoulder, snatching away the crossbow while doing so, and threw it at the Scorchio who he had just previously knocked backward with it.

      Finally, Jag picked up the Scorchio he'd just flipped and pulled him to his feet, then turned him towards Serena Sumuilevelt.

      The Acara approached the unarmed Scorchio quickly, walking around all of the Scorchios that had been knocked unconscious.

      "Who sent you?" she asked. The Scorchio hissed, showing his sharp serrated teeth.

      Jag constricted the Scorchio tightly.

      "Okay, okay! I was sent by… Joseph…" the Scorchio sighed as Jag released the pressure.

      "Blanchette?" Jury further inquired.

      "Yes, yes, Joseph Blanchette…" the Scorchio continued. Jag allowed Sumuilevelt to strap handcuffs to the Scorchio and take him out of the room.

      Jury turned hesitantly to Hurric, who was felled in the corner.

      "Jeez, he's gonna be out for about a week…" Jury mumbled, pressed his fingers to Hurric's neck.

      "So I'm getting a new partner for the mission tomorrow?" Jag asked, trying to hide his excitement.

      "This is a high profile mission, Sequen, we were only given permission to release this information to two of our agents…" Jury replied, stepping back from Hurric.

      "So what's going to happen then?" Jag asked nervously.

      "Jag, you're going solo…" Jury responded sighing as he sat back in his chair…

To be continued...