The final examinations that Patricia was obsessed with were drawing nearer and nearer; as was the final AyrBall match of the year. They would be against Low this time. Once again, Beech insisted on daily practices. Luckily, it was springtime now, so there wasn't much bad weather. This was their last chance to win back the lost points. If they won by more than ninety-two points, they would overtake Sherazee for third place. If they could win by more than one hundred and seventy points, they would overtake Low for second place. If they made the impossible possible by winning by at least three hundred and twenty-one points, they would be in first place for the first time in decades. This was quite impossible, as there was the unfortunate fact that the team currently hated their Finder, the player that could score them the most points. They decided to keep their distance from the Finder. Because of this, he had nearly been broken-jawed by Stalkers multiple times. Once, he even had to use a spell to get away from the Stalker. Because of this Procus was not as optimistic of their chances as he had been for the first match of the year. Actually, if you stopped and thought about it, what the team did to him was actually a kindness compared to what the rest of the house did.
Wherever he went, he found all Evgenises giving him a wide berth, as though he had some kind of horribly infectious virus. Even Adi's brothers and his dorm mates were avoiding him.
Everyone seemed to hate him. Everyone except the Ravikumars, who kept on thanking him. It was so infuriating. Even the Sherazees and the Lows hated him. They had wanted to see Ravikumar finally get what they deserve, but he had ruined it. In fact, you could even say that the upcoming exams were a blessing. What with all the work, Procus hardly had time to think about what was happening. Most days, he stayed in the library after lessons, trying to keep water in his cupped hands – sorry, scratch that, trying to remember facts about wars.
Procus had sworn to himself not to meddle in things not involving him. His job was to keep water in cupped – okay, I'll stop. However, one day, very near the exams, Procus' new resolution was tested to the limit.
***
It was an otherwise regular day, if you can call any day at Angsanian Towers 'regular'. Procus, exhausted by yet another intensive AyrBall training session, was heading to the library to face off with the towering mountain of homework that awaited him. As he was walking past a deserted classroom, Procus heard a voice from inside. Instinctively, he activated the clear topaz and crept silently to eavesdrop.
"Okay, okay, tonight, tonight. I'll do it!" came Pascal's frightened whimper from inside the room. A moment later, Pascal himself came out of the room. Casting a terrified glance around, he hurried off, as did Procus. Despite his resolution, he would have gambled about twenty Helixes that Kiew would walk out the room a minute later, now with the knowledge of how to steal the Stone. He had to tell the others.
"He's going to do it tonight," Adi said, right after Procus finished.
"Honestly, Adi, you actually think Kiew's going to steal the stone? Remember what Dave said? That Kiew helped protect it?" Patricia retorted.
"He could've been double-crossing and actually helping You-Know-Who!" Vignesh argued right back.
"Well, either way, someone is going to steal it tonight. And we have to protect it," Procus said quietly.
"It isn't our business!" Patricia tried to reason.
"Maybe not at first, but now, it very much is," Vignesh replied.
"Then it's settled. We're going to Foong. She's the only one You-Know-Who is afraid of," Adi settled.
"Oh fine," Patricia agreed.
***
Less than five minutes later, they burst into Professor Jane's office.
"Professor!" Adi shouted, "Where's Professor Foong?"
Professor Jane, who had been marking the scripts of her fourth-years, looked startled, annoyed and severe at the same time.
"Professor Foong is not here, Putra," She replied, rather stiffly.
"She's gone?" Procus gasped.
"Yes, Evgenis, I believe that is what I just said,"
"But, but, she can't be gone!" Vignesh stuttered.
"She just departed for the Ministry of Asian Magical Education. Surely what you wish to tell her is not more important than the Ministry? However, whatever it is, you can tell me,"
Procus hesitated. He would be much more comfortable telling Foong. She just seemed to invite confidences. Professor Jane, however, did not. But, the situation was desperate. So, he did the stupid thing and threw caution to the winds.
"Professor, it's about the Stone of Power,"
Professor Jane's glasses nearly fell off and her witch's hat became lopsided.
"What?" she asked, shocked.
"We think that Kiew's going to try to steal it,"
"Well, then you need not worry. The Stone is protected in many ways. And, either way, Professor Kiew helped to protect it and is not suddenly going to try and steal it," Professor Jane said, gathering up her papers and leaving.
"That's it then," Procus said quietly after Jane had left.
"Yup," Adi agreed.
"What?" Patricia asked, feeling quite wrong-footed.
"We're going to have to protect the Stone ourselves," Vignesh explained, with a steely glint in his eye.
"What? That's a stupid idea! We'll be expelled!" Patricia protested.
"Patricia is that all you think about?" Procus demanded, "Don't you get it? If Lord Bhavinav gets his hands on the stone, he'll be able to come back to life! If that happens, the Age of Darkness will resume! I may not have been around then, but, from what I've been told, it was horrible. Bhavinav –"
"Don't say his name!" Adi and Vignesh hissed in unison.
"You see? People are afraid to say his name, even now! If he rises again, who knows what could happen? There won't even be an Angsanian Towers to be expelled from! He would tear it down; or make it a school for the Dark Arts! He killed my family. If he kills me as well, I'm going to weaken him as much as I can, so that others can properly finish him," Procus finished, quaking with rage at the mere thought of Bhavinav.
Patricia took a deep, steadying breath.
"Yes, yes, you're right," She said in a trembling voice, "I'll go write up some incantations for tonight,"
It seemed to Procus that, either way, it would all end tonight. He would either prevail against Bhavinav, or he would die trying.
***
"Ready?" Adi whispered.
"Ready," The others whispered back.
They all had their HidDens activated, with the exception of Procus, who was using the Helix. In preparation, Patricia had written out so many spells that it would take all day for me to list them.
When they reached the door to the forbidden corridor, they were not quite surprised to find the door ajar, the lock looking like someone had tried to blow it up. Slowly, silently, they pushed the door open and beheld Foreks in all its glory.
Scales gleaming and teeth bared, Foreks looked just as scary as he had the night that the four had first met him, if not scarier. Behind him was the door, slightly ajar as well, and in front of him was a harp.
"Kiew must've played Foreks to sleep, I heard that dragons are susceptible to harp music, but I don't know how to play one of these, do you?" Vignesh asked nervously.
"I'll try it. Run for the door the second Foreks becomes sleepy," Procus murmured back, never breaking eye contact with Foreks, who looked as though he were half-asleep as it was. Procus picked up the harp and started randomly strumming the strings. The sound that he produced sounded something like a chainsaw, a screaming baby, nails rubbing across a chalkboard and car tires screeching rolled into one. Which was not a pleasant sound. The others winced; but ran through the door anyways.
Still playing, Procus walked over to the door… and accidentally dropped the harp.
Procus froze. Slowly, he turned to face Foreks. It didn't look sleepy anymore. In fact, it looked murderous. Its eyes glinted in a menacing way and Procus knew that he wouldn't be able to defeat it. Procus sprinted through the door and found himself in complete freefall, because there apparently hadn't been any floor behind the door.
He seemed to fall for an eternity. All around him, there was nothing but darkness. The Helix soon auto-activated, and he found himself falling while surrounded by a purple aura.
Finally, he reached the bottom. Or at least, what he thought was the bottom. He was stuck in a weird purplish-black goop. To his relief, he saw Adi and Vignesh's heads sticking out the goo beside him.
"You okay?" Vignesh asked, while Adi tried to get his bearings.
"Yeah. Lucky this goop thing's here isn't it?" Procus replied, trying to move. To his dismay, he found out that he was apparently trapped.
"Lucky?" Patricia shrieked at him, "That's Firesludge!"
That didn't really sound very appealing. Right on cue, the goop started to heat up. Shocked, Procus wriggled, trying to get out. Judging by the grunts and growls coming from either side of him, both Vignesh and Adi had the same luck.
"How do you stop it?" Adi gasped.
"Professor Chan mentioned it… it was used in the Dark War… it burned people that stepped in it to death… it can only be cleared by water…"
"So douse it!" Procus screamed at her.
"Yes, yes, but there's no stream or anything!" she fretted.
"ARE YOU A MAGICIAN OR A MAGICLESS SLUG?" Vignesh bellowed.
Procus closed his eyes. The goop was starting to become unbearably hot. The amethyst was doing its best, but Procus highly doubted that even it would be able to prevent the inevitable. Just as the amethyst's power waned, and the heat started to consume him, he felt a cool rush of water wash over him. He opened his eyes to see Vignesh encased in a huge hamster ball of water. Procus remembered Vignesh's weird ability – he could summon water. But he would have to have been freed first. That's when Procus noticed Patricia.
She was doing something very weird. Like she had done before she came to the Towers, she was sending gusts of wind at the goop, dissipating it bit by bit. She couldn't seem to destroy it completely though. Vignesh ran into the Firesludge and it practically melted away. Vignesh's hamster ball dissipated. Adi was still unconscious.
"How did you do that?" Procus marveled at Vignesh and Patricia.
"I didn't really think. I just did something," Vignesh shrugged.
"Either way, we should move on," Patricia said.
Hoisting Adi up, Procus was about to revive him but Patricia beat him to it. Adi suddenly perked up, staring wildly around him.
"What – How – where'd that Fire-thingy go?" He asked.
"Chill, bro. Me and Patricia took care of it," Vignesh told him.
Procus, who was already out of the first room, called to the others, "Guys? You may want to take a look at this,"
The next room was completely bare. There was another door on the wall opposite them. However when they approached it, an invisible force pushed them back. Fiery words blazed against the door, "Only one may enter,"
"I've read about these!" Patricia said excitedly. "This is a Virtue Door. It will only let one person in a one time; and each person who enters has to use their own method of getting through the door. Behind the door will be a challenge. The challenges will change according to how you open the door. It ends at the same place, though,"
"I'm going in first," Vignesh declared.
He stepped forward, pointed his wand at the door and whispered a spell. The lock clicked, and Vignesh opened the door.
"See you on the other side!" he said cheerily as he stepped into the darkness behind the door.
Patricia was next. She stared at the lock for a moment, then at the door, then at the floor right in front of the door. Leaning down, she picked a key right out of the ground. Fitting it into the lock, she opened the door and stepped through.
"Did she just –" Procus asked no one in particular.
"Yeah I think she did," Adi confirmed.
"You go first,"
Adi approached the door, and to Procus' bewilderment, knocked thrice on it. Surprisingly, it opened.
"Seriously? Seriously?" Procus asked.
"Well, it worked, didn't it?" Adi smiled at him, stepping into the black.
Procus stared at the door, wondering how to get through. There was, he decided, only one option left.
Raising his wand towards the door, he incanted, "Excindo!"
The door promptly blew up and Procus stepped into the void.
***
The room beyond was full of demonic creatures. Huge, winged snakes, giraffe-lion things, other weird-looking demons and a huge chimaera. Procus smiled grimly to himself. A duel? Oh, this would be fun.
Yelling a war cry, he threw himself at a sword-headed demon, who immediately tried to impale him. He blasted it to bits before it could. He then spun around and threw a fireball at another demon that tried to slice him. Flinging curses, fireballs and other whatnot at practically everything, Procus blazed through the room, literally. The ruby had made a weird, hamster ball of fire around Procus. Just by running, he could send many demons back to where they came from in a fiery blaze. When his hamster ball hit the chimaera, it just dissipated. Procus dodged past just in time and burst through another door behind the chimaera to find Adi leaning against the wall, looking well-rested.
"Where have you been?" Procus asked.
"Why are you looking so tired?" Adi asked simultaneously.
"Well," Procus explained, dusting off his shirt, "I just fought about five dozen demons at once, along with a murderous chimaera intent on killing me. What about you?"
"When I went through, I found myself in a room full of food. I thought it was a trick, but it wasn't. The food was delicious; it was just like how my mom cooks. Once I had eaten my fill, a door appeared, and I walked through it to find myself here,"
"Well, looks like knocking was the right idea," Procus said. "Aren't the others back yet?"
"No. It's weird. You went in last, right? So the others should have come first," Adi said, worried.
Just then, the door was flung open and Patricia came through.
"Just did a test paper on how the laws of physics and magic overlap. It was actually not that hard, once you realize that Changing is basically just –" She began blabbering.
"Patricia," Adi interrupted, "shut up,"
Patricia looked cross for a moment, then realized that Vignesh wasn't there. She immediately looked concerned instead.
"Where's Vignesh?" She asked.
"That," Procus said, "is an excellent question,"
"He went before all of us. He should be back by now," Adi worried.
Procus looked at the Helix. It had been able to solve many of his problems so far. Maybe it could solve this one as well. He looked at the gems. Ruby? He had a feeling that would actually worsen the situation. Sapphire? Not quite. Opal? But what to reverse? Maybe if he reversed the enchantments on the door…
Procus toyed with the idea, then gave it up. Even if he could do that, it would probably kill Vignesh in the process.
Amethyst? He couldn't really think of any way that the amethyst would be useful here.
Clear topaz? Being invisible wouldn't do him any good, unless he used it to sneak past the monsters, then unlock the door the way Vignesh had, then help Vignesh with his challenge. But they were already short on time.
The aquamarine… communication, wasn't it? A plan began forming in Procus' head. But it would only work if the aquamarine worked the way Procus thought I did.
"Stand back," He told the others. They obligingly kept their distance.
Procus searched in his pouch for a moment, then drew out the only copy of a spell from his spell pouch. It was a MindLink spell. It would allow him to Link his mind to those around him for approximately ten minutes at the most. Procus knew that the spell may even burn him out, since it was otherworldly magic. That wasn't very likely, though, since he would be relying mainly on the power of the Helix. He took a deep breath and began.
Almost immediately, he could hear the thoughts of both Adi and Patricia, as loud and clear as though they were being spoken out loud. Concentrating, he reached for thoughts behind the Virtue Door. First, he heard nothing but the demons' and the chimera's thought. Then, as he probed further, he finally found Vignesh's thoughts.
Vignesh! Can you hear me? Procus thought.
Wha – What? Procus? Came the reply.
Yeah, it's me. Long story. Anyway, where are you?
I have to pick the stupid lock on the stupid door. Spells don't work. You'll have to go on without me. I'll try to catch up as soon as possible.
Okay.
With that, Procus cut the connection, afraid to channel too much power. He realized that he was drenched to the bone in sweat and was on the floor.
"What'd he say?" Adi asked shakily.
"He said that he's stuck in a room where the only way to get out is to pick the lock on the door. He said to move on without him and that he'll catch up. Whose challenge do you think is next?"
"Well, Foreks was Dave's, then I guess that the Firesludge would've been Professor Hamid's. But whose was the Virtue Door?" Adi wondered.
Suddenly, a disembodied voice came to them out of literally nowhere.
"A Virtue Door is a mix of the most complicated forms of Changing and Enchantment,"
Procus whirled around and found himself face-to-face with a dragon.
***
"Dr-dr-dra-DRAGON!" Adi shouted in fear.
The dragon was immense. At least fifty metres tall, it towered above the three. Its ruby-red scales glistened in the light of torches while smoke curled out of its nostrils. Its talons were each as sharp and twice as long as the Sword of Thgil. Its hypnotic eyes were as large as saucers and its teeth looked like the spikes that topped the four towers. Its huge tail ended in a spike that Procus did not want to find himself on.
"So," the dragon hissed menacingly, "you have come for the Stone. But you will never be able to get past me. I am the guardian of the Core of Order and have defeated foes much more powerful than you pathetic humans,"
Procus stepped forward. If this was going to be his end, he was going to go down fighting. The dragon looked him over carefully. Disbelief flickered briefly across the dragon's terrifying features. Then, surprisingly, he made a grated sound which was probably supposed to be a laugh and his expression turned conciliatory.
"My apologies. I did not recognize you at first, Procus Evgenis," The dragon rumbled. "You have grown much. But your eyes are still as unmistakable as ever. I see that you have acquired the Dragon Helix. How fitting,"
Procus felt rather wrong-footed. A minute ago, the dragon seemed ready to kill them. Now, it seemed friendly enough. And why was he calling the Eht Ytinu Xileh Helix the Dragon Helix? And how did it know Procus' name? Something really weird was going on.
"Erm," Procus began, against the fact that his every instinct in his body was screaming at him to run away, "excuse me, Mister Dragon, but who are you? And what do you mean the 'Dragon Helix'? This is the Eht Ytinu Xileh Helix. And how do you know my name?"
The dragon locked his hypnotic eyes onto Procus' fire-red ones.
"Please, call me Flamethrower. And by Dragon Helix, I mean the Helix's true name. I understand that humans now prefer to call it the Eht Ytinu Xileh Helix, the ancient Reverse name for it. It is also known as the Unity Helix. It is now said in Reverse as there must be a balance sustained. However, the Dragon Tongue is the creator of all. Therefore, its correct name should be the Dragon Helix,"
Procus' head spun. This felt like a Foong talk.
"As for how I know you, that is a surprising question. You should remember me," Flamethrower continued.
Procus wasn't so sure. He was sure that he would remember Flamethrower if he had seen him before. Yet, when he looked at Flamethrower, he felt an uncanny sense of familiarity.
Suddenly, an idea struck Procus like lightning. If he could keep Flamethrower's attention on him, then Adi and Patricia could sneak past and stop Kiew. He hoped that the aquamarine would work without a MindLink. He just had to bend it to his will. Concentrating hard, he managed to activate it and reach Adi. He quickly informed Adi of the plan. Patricia and Adi began to sneak away.
Flamethrower was still looking at Procus.
"You really don't know me. How disappointing. Your memory was really erased," Flamethrower muttered. "Well, perhaps this form will trigger your memories. And stop trying to sneak away, you two,"
Adi and Patricia looked shocked as their HidDens failed.
Flamethrower began to spin. Faster and faster he span, until he was no more than a blur. Procus was sure that the place would collapse, but Flamethrower seemed to be getting smaller and smaller by the second until he was human-shaped and -sized until he was no taller than Professor Kiew and human-looking. Procus felt even more certain that he had met Flamethrower somewhere before.
Flamethrower studied Procus once more.
"You really don't know anything about your ancestry, do you?" Flamethrower said slowly. "Well, I suppose that I'll have to tell you.
"Since the dawn of time, there was one tribe protecting the Core of Order from those who wished to plunge our world into darkness. This tribe was the Draconis. Each Draconis could morph themselves into dragons whenever they wanted. A Draconis' powers were based on their inborn element; Fyre, Lyfe, Arth, Ayre, Aqau, Lyght or Dark. These are the seven core elements of the world. For many millennia, the Draconi protected the Core of Order. Until one fearful day.
"I remember it as though it were yesterday. Out of nowhere, a Dark force appeared, one that called itself Ffej Ekrad.
"Using forbidden Dark Control magic, he cast a spell upon my comrades, turning them Dark. They turned on the Core of Order and began to attack it. My brother used a stupendous amount of magical energy to forever seal the Core of Order. Then, he collapsed. I could tell that he was on the verge of death. Swiftly, I carried him away, no longer caring about the fate of the Core of Order. My brother's wife and their two young sons came with us. In dragon form, I was practically invincible. But, with four humans on my back, I couldn't travel very far. I managed to take them to the Towers, to seek advice from Magna Foong. I could feel my brother's life force fading away by each passing second. His Dragon Helix was keeping him alive, but I knew that even it would not be able to sustain him much longer.
"Magna Foong hid my brother and his family somewhere where not even a Draconis could find.
"The reason for this was that Ffej Ekrad could never have discovered the location of the Core of Order without the help of a Draconis, as we are the only creatures in the world who know of its location, other than Magna Foong. Not even the Nocriz Circlet could find the Core of Order.
"At that time, Magna was in possession of the Nocriz Circlet, and used its power to save my brother's life. After such an act of powerful magic, the Nocriz Circlet was set on cooldown for sixty years. Magna gave it to me to guard. And guard it I have. For sixty years. Many have tried to steal it, but none have succeeded. I owe everything to Magna Foong. So, when she asked me to guard the Stone, I gladly agreed. She also asked for my help to protect my nephew, who had just arrived at the Towers this year. So here I am. With the help of Professor Kiew, I have been strengthened once more. He truly is excellent at Brewing,"
A silence lay over the group. Procus broke it.
"But, Flamethrower, what does that have to do with me?"
"Everything. You see, my brother was none other than Nikhil Evgenis, your father. And, since you are his son, you are the Last Draconis. I cannot leave this chamber. You must stop the one who is after the Stone. Go now. Save the Draconi. Stop him. But, before you go, take this,"
Flamethrower handed Procus a black box.
"Open it only when the time is right," Flamethrower said cryptically.
Procus accepted it and quickly passed through the next door.
The second that the three entered the next room, a stench so horrible that it's practically indescribable hit them like something solid. All three of them gagged and covered their noses best they could. Unfortunately, Procus and Adi both knew what the stench meant. Afraid to check, they looked in the room properly.
And there it was. Another, huge and horribly stinky troll was lying on the floor. It was even larger than the one that Procus, Adi and Patricia had had to face at Halloween. They shuffled quickly through the room to the next door, which was opposite.
Procus looked at the other two, suddenly afraid of what they may have to face on the other side of the door. Silently, they drew their wands and pushed the door open. But the person on the other side of the door was not who any of them had expected. It wasn't Lord Bhavinav. It wasn't even Professor Kiew.