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Mystery

I stared in terror. “W-what are y-you doing here?” I stammered. He chuckled. “Fancy seeing you here, Jack.” Who is he, you ask? He is the ancient lord, Kliviere. The problem? He was supposed to be dead!!! I saw him die with my own eyes!! Actually, I was the one that killed him!!!

A few years ago, Kliviere was the strongest person ever. He had acquired all six of the Paladin Crystals. What are the Paladin Crystals? They are crystals that grant you powers. The first one gave you super strength. The second one gave you the ability to fly. The third one gave you X-ray vision. The fourth one gave the super hearing. The fifth one gave you super speed. The sixth one enhances all of your previous powers. 

How did Kliviere acquire all of them? Before he had them, they belonged to the Six Monks of Fate. The monks had a contest every year. They find challengers to battle them in an arena fight, and if you win, they will give you one of the crystals. Kliviere had beaten the monks six straight times, with the help of King Arthur’s Excalibur. Whenever King Arthur died, Merlin put the sword back in the stone. Whoever can pull it out again will never lose a battle ever again. Kliviere managed to pull it out after 5 tries, and used it to acquire Six Paladin Crystals. 

Merlin knew the world was in grave danger, so he called on me to defeat Kliviere. It turned out I also have superpowers, but I was naturally born with them. My power was the ability to slow down time. That was the only reason I was able to take him down. You would imagine my shock to see him back in front of me. I was mortified. I asked him, “How did you manage to survive falling down a volcano?” He laughed, “I didn’t really fall down. I can fly, remember?” I slapped myself! Of course! How can I be so dumb. Wait a minute. I heard a splash! I asked him how he did that. “I simply threw a rock in the lava to make you think I fell, then I just flew back up after you left.” he replied. 

I started stalling to buy time. I needed to think of a plan! As I was stalling, the only plan that came to my mind was: run!!! I knew I couldn’t, because he would catch up easily. He seemed to know I was stalling, but he decided to humor me, and answered all of my questions. He knew I was dead. Suddenly, I had a great idea. 

I still have my superpower! I saw that up ahead, there were railroad tracks. Whenever I was battling Kliviere, I noticed I can actually control what slows down and what doesn’t. I decided to run. I ran until I was over the railroad tracks, then slowed Kliviere down so he got run over. To my surprise, it was the train that got destroyed! I did not know what to do. He slowly walked up to me, and raised his Excalibur. I closed my eyes, and just as he was about to bring me to my doom, I got teleported. It was Merlin!!! 

“You can’t die yet,” he told me. “You are the only thing between him and absolute power.” What? I am just a measly sixth grader with a power that can make someone slipping on a banana peel appear in slow motion! I can’t stop him! “You might think your power is useless,” Merlin said, reading my mind. “But I trust you to know what to do when you have to do it.” What? Okaaaaaaaaay. “What do I do now?” I asked. “Go to the mountain of Sparrey,” he replied. Then, as quickly as he appeared, he disappeared again.

That was weird, I thought. Whatever. Better do what he told me to. The mountain of Sparrey is a very dangerous place. There are a bunch of creepy crawlies and dangerous animals hiding up there. That mountain was originally created by Merlin to be a place where the Six Monks can rest, but evildoers overran the place, and now, no one wants to go there anymore. 

Even though it was a very scary place, it holds Merlin’s legendary staff. It is engraved into a stone wall, and so far, none of the evildoers have gotten it out yet. The staff can be used as a weapon of mass destruction, but can also be used to restore the wildlife. I guess Merlin thought Kliviere was going to try to take his staff, so he wants me to go and protect it.

As I arrived at the mountain, I can already see Kliviere trying to break the wall. As Merlin feared, he was trying to take the staff. I hurried up the mountain, only getting bit by a few mosquitoes, and I decided to try a sneak attack. I slowed down time just enough to not make him notice, but also slow enough so that he will not have time to react, and silently crept up behind him. I took a deep breath, and struck him in the head with a heavy log I found on the ground. 

NOTHING HAPPENS!!!! Well, something did happen. My log broke. He turned around, and when he saw it was me, he laughed. “You are so naive, boy.” he said. “Do you know why I can’t be harmed?” I was pretty curious about that, but right now, I AM JUST TRYING NOT TO DIE!!!! He slowly sauntered up to me, and whispered in my ear, “I took the stone Excalibur was in.” I tried very hard not to gasp. Whoever can lift the stone, will be guarded from harm. I guess he knows that part.  But what he doesn’t know, is that 3 days later, not only does the effect wear off, but if he doesn’t return the stone, he will die no matter what. Funny thing is, the stone is actually supposed to be on Mount Sparrey.

I cautiously asked him, “How long have you had the stone?” He looked at his watch. “2 days, 23 hours, and 50 minutes, why?” “Nothing,” I answered. Okay. So I just have to stall for 10 more minutes. I started asking him a bunch of random questions, and I can tell he is getting very, very annoyed. I decided to physically distract him.

He was a few steps away from the place he took the stone, so I decided to lure him away. I started hitting him with a stick, until he grew so annoyed he lunged for me. I dodged. I asked him, “What time is it?” He answered, “11:59. Time to return Arthur’s stone.” WHAT??!! HE KNEW? I have to stop him! I tried to tackle him, but he was too bulky. He flung me to the side like a fly. No! He is about to stick the stone back! I have failed to stop him!

Just as I was about to give up, I noticed Merlin’s staff next to me. I suddenly have a very good idea. “Kliviere!” I said. “Look over here.” He turned around, and I hit him in the head with the staff. The staff shot sparks out of the tip, and it made Kliviere hesitate. Just enough hesitation, really. The minute hand on his watch struck twelve. 

I breathed a sigh of relief, until I saw Kliviere still standing next to me. “A-Aren’t you supposed to be dead?” I asked. “ Ha ha ha! I guess it was just a myth after all!” he said. Just as he said that, a flying boulder came crashing out of the sky, and miraculously missed me entirely, and landed on Kliviere’s head. He stumbled around, and fell with a great thud.

Well, I guess we have rid the world of Kliviere! Suddenly, he stood up. “Good thing I casted a protection spell!” he said. Oh no, here we go again!

July 26, 2020 21:12

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3 comments

Spencer Pinkus
21:58 Aug 05, 2020

An imaginative response to the prompt. It would be good to learn more about your narrator/protagonist’s backstory and setting.

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Danielle Rose
00:30 Aug 05, 2020

This was a really fun take on the prompt Derrick! It felt like a session in an Arthurian D&D campaign. Something to keep in mind: you could make the dialogue clearer by starting a new paragraph when a different person's speaking. Great job and keep writing!

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DERRICK CHU
01:17 Aug 05, 2020

Thank you!!! I will keep your advice in mind.

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