When he looked down he could see a bundle of different animals and people making their way up in completely different ways, it was a peculiar sight to say the least: Hollie was flying upwards with a jet of water behind her, Cameron was using some sort of flying shoes which Jay recognized from a brand logo, a big black dog was hurtling up the sides of the hill, Lochlan was creating vines that carried him upwards in a Spiderman sort of fashion, Liam was using his throw-an-arrow then appear-where-it-landed technique to scale the hill, Philippa was disappearing and reappearing from patches of grass, an owl was gliding behind the eagle Jay was riding, a gigantic lion was scurrying along the path at great speed, a brown deer was galloping alongside the black dog and a dove was fluttering very slowly in the air.
Then all of a sudden they went out of sight, and directly below Jay was a big slab of flat land which was getting closer and closer and closer.
“Aaah,” Jay screamed as he veered closer to the ground. Then, with a stumble, his feet touched and he fell flat on his face. He raised his head to see the eagle he was riding just a few minutes ago, swoop down beside him and then turn back into a human.
“Are you alright? I’m sorry about dropping you,” Jordan said, hurrying towards him.
Jay’s face stung as he raised it from the dry rocky ground, the fingers of grass tickling his cheeks.
The view from the hill was quite small. Even though it looked like a clear day, above the edge of the forest was mist and murk, maybe some sort of magical barrier.
“I’m, eh, fine.” Jay sunk his face back into the grass and then jumped out of his skin when Philippa appeared out of it beside him.
“Ooh, sorry.”
Then the owl swept over them, and in midair turned back into Amy, who landed on her two feet next to them. After she had landed the others started to appear. Hollie was first, who landed with a splash, and then Cameron with his flying shoes. Soon after they arrived, Lochlan swung in off a vine, closely followed by Liam and his arrows, the massive lion, the black dog and the brown deer. The animals turned out to be Alice, Broudie and Bobby. Then after a very long time Claire joined the group on the hill disguised as a fluttering dove.
“Now we’re all here we can get started. Right Amy?” Philippa shouted.
“As long as you’ve bought the box, Bobby?”
“Yep, it’s right here.” she pulled out a small brown box with patterned gold and silver markings that moved around the edges like snakes slithering in mud.
“Great, now place it on the floor over there.” Amy pointed out a large rock protruding from the ground a few metres away from them. “Everyone needs to stand around the box and then repeat after me…Misgardio.”
“What?” Jay blurted out, his face screwed up in a confused expression.
“Misgardio, it’s really easy,” Liam repeated as if it was easy-as-pie.
Then Amy began the countdown, “Ready? Three, two, one…”
“MISGARDIO!” everyone screamed at the top of their voice, all their eyes focussed on one thing, the box.
Jay chorused with them, but his came out a bit more like: ‘Mus-tard-ee-oh?’
The brown printings on the box began swimming around more fiercely, and then there was a click and the patterns froze in position.
The seams of the box began to flood with blinding yellow light and it started rattling and shaking as if it was alive. Bobbling around on the rocky podium.
“What’s happening?” screamed Jay over the rustling wind, which had just blundered in over the hill. Nobody answered him.
They just stood there staring at the box, hair flying around like a group of mad scientists.
Then the wind stopped completely, the yellow light that was flooding from the box faded, and an enormous bubble emerged.
There was silence as the bubble grew bigger and bigger, floating into the sky. The translucent sphere gliding like a helium balloon with such beauty and elegance.
Then it stopped, and Amy bowed to the hovering bubble and spoke, “Thy wishes to speak to Athena, goddess of wisdom, on Olympus.”
The sphere fogged up with clouds, a mesmerizing mess of grey and white that dissolved ever so gently to reveal a cobbled passageway, lined with green trees that housed small faces in their trunks. Either side of the trees were some small, white buildings, and straight in front of the pathway was an open field, littered with people, but not the usual sort.
Just then, before Jay could get a closer look at the unusual people, a large woman drifted around the corner of one of the streets and came towards them, a large grin spreading over her face as she veered closer.
“Nice to see you again Amy, you has done me well. All twelve?” The lady questioned in a posh, dominate tone.
“Yes,” Amy bowed and then continued. “Queen Athena, this is the last of us, Jay.” Amy stepped aside and Jay came face to face with the woman, so called Athena, and she smiled.
She was the stereotypical Greek goddess: Large, white toga, fudge-coloured, laced sandals, an elegant flower emerging from silky locks, and a clean complexion. The goddess, although probably two thousand and fifty two years old, looked like a stunning thirty year old from a Greek play.
“Jay Perry, age thirteen, lives at, magician camp, occupation…saving the earth from the monstrous ancient Greek creatures which begin to litter the world as they escape Tartarus,” Athena announced aloud as if reading from a fact file.
“Eh…”
“Do not worry. I am not here to intimidate you, but to congratulate you for getting here. Oh and something else as well.” she cast a small glance behind her.
“Athena, you said I needed to collect everyone as quickly as possible because there was something you needed us to do,” Amy said as Athena turned to face them again.
“There is something I want you to retrieve, something that, in the wrong hands, could be dangerous to earth. The monsters are escaping and as the gap widens, bigger and tougher creatures will be free. Now if they get this something, they will use it to over throw the gods and take over both the magical and mortal world.” Athena’s face had grown suddenly serious.
“We can get it,” Amy said in a triumphant voice. Without knowing where this thing was, what it was and what was needed to be done to retrieve it.
“Yes well, this thing is hidden in a temple full of traps and challenges, and before you get to it you will be faced with many fearsome monsters, even the ones that were once harmless are now bloodthirsty creatures.”
“Athena, we can find it for you, we shall return with this someth-” Amy started.
Jay chuckled to himself at how Amy had changed to suck up to the goddess. Teachers pet professional, or would it be goddess pet?
“Excuse me for interrupting, but what is this something?” Lochlan butted in, ignoring the sudden influx of dirty looks.
“This something is a jewel, and it can give the owner powers of greatness. And believe me, the greatness shall not be of what we can call great,” Athena answered in a serious tone,
“How will we find it?”
“Well, this is not just one quest, but two. First you must find the person who knows where the temple is, and then you must find the temple and capture the jewel. Both have to be done before the monsters get there.” Her words were rushed and her details were minor as if she was in a hurry.
“Who knows where the temple is?” Claire asked from the back of the crowd.
“There is only one person who knows of the temple’s whereabouts. He hid the temple away from anyone, even the gods do not know. He will be reluctant to tell you, but it is worth a try and it’s the fastest way to get the jewel.”
“What is his name?” Bobby pondered.
“His name is Fredrick. He is a demi-god,” Athena told, as she took another glance behind her.
“He’s a demi-god? Why would the Gods trust a demi-god with the information of where this thing is? I mean, isn’t it really important,” Amy asked.
“It is very important.
See, this man helped the gods with the capturing of some of the monsters that are now trapped in Tartarus. So we granted him immortality and entrusted him with the honour of holding the secret of the jewel. You do not have a chance of getting him to tell you where the temple is unless you have something which will prove that you are doing this on behalf of the gods. He is a great man of old demi-god behaviour not like the new ones that pester the magical life.”
“So we need some proof,” said Lochlan.
“I shall send you something that he will remember, and hopefully he will help you on your quest,” Athena said.
“But Athena, we do not know where this man is. We can’t find him unless you tell us where he is.”
“I do not know for sure, but I have a strong feeling Fredrick is hiding in France.”
“Why would he be hiding in France?” Hollie questioned.
“Because there aren’t many vicious creatures in France, so he wouldn’t be hassled about the temple by the monsters that have already escaped. Very clever and cunning he is.”
‘What’s so great about France?’ Jay thought to himself.
“Right so were heading for France, any specific place in France?” Amy asked.
“He will probably be far from the reach of monsters, but that’s all I can say,” Athena replied.
“Somewhere underground maybe, or above ground? Or maybe in the sea?” Liam suggested.
“Yes, above ground would make more sense for him particularly. If you know what I mean. I advise you to set off at the start of summer.”
Jay had never met Athena before but his first impression of her seemed quite genuine, but there was something about the way she explained this apparent ‘quest’ as if she was hiding something.
Then there was a sound of footsteps and Athena finished the conversation, “Take care will you. Five people must go as it has been set. The rest are to keep persuading the demi-gods to help you and not fight you. Goodbye now, and good luck.” she reached out with her hand and washed away the picture. The bubble shrunk in size and plunged down into the box and under the lid with a brisk whistling sweep.
Then with a bang the box closed. There was no noise for a moment or two until Amy took a step forward. She walked slowly to the box, lifted it off the rock and turned to her crowd.
“So, anybody up for a game of squally ball?” She smiled. They all started cheering and laughing, so Jay, even though he didn’t know much about squally ball, decided to cheer as well.
The journey down the hill in the clutch of Jordan’s (in eagle form) long talons was not as dramatic as the journey up. Well, not until they reached ground anyway. The others joined them at the foot of the hill and they took a walk/jog towards the Squally ball court.
“So how much did you read in the book about Squally ball?” Philippa asked.
“Oh, only the main rules and the aim of the game really,” Jay replied.
“Did you read any of the other books?” Broudie questioned.
“No, I didn’t have much time, but I’ll read one of them tonight maybe,” Jay told them as they reached the entrance to the court.
The stadium had a smooth, pure white exterior look that curved in a Pringle shape, bowing in the middle and circling round at either side.
“Well if you’re going on this quest, you better get learning some spells,” Lochlan said as they walked through an alley and entered the building.
‘If I’m going on the quest? Who said I was going? I can’t go, I barely know how to make a flame…in fact, I don’t even know how to do that!’ Jay replied furiously in his mind. But before he could say any more, his breath was taken from him as he walked out into the stadium.
It was magnificent; there were white seats situated above and around a court of green, which was divided by a towering net.
Floating in midair above the court was a black rectangle which kept slowly spinning around.
“Ok, this is it. Who’s up first?” Amy looked around at everyone with a friendly, excited smile.
“Me, Bobby, Claire and Hollie will go against Broudie, Jord, Liam and Louchy,” Philippa suggested.
They all agreed with a few high fives and ‘lets do this’ hugs.
“Right we’ll watch and then the winner will play us four,” Amy finished.
Amy, Cameron, Alice and Jay walked up into the stalls and took some seats near the front. Meanwhile, Hollie and Philippa, and Broudie and Lochlan, took their places at the backs of each side of the court, and Bobby and Claire, and Jordan and Liam, took the fronts.
From up in the stands Jay could see the markings on the court appear and an invisible cube-shaped barrier cover the players.
“Great game this, really funny sometimes,” Cameron chuckled, recalling past experiences.
Then Amy announced the start,
“Rackets at the ready,” After that part of the sentence giant rackets appeared in all the players’ hands. “and the squally.” This time a smaller than football sized ball appeared on the ground next to Lochlan who picked it up with his hands. “Then let’s play squally ball!!!” A whistle blew and the game began.
Lochlan threw the ball into the air, mumbled what must have been a curse, and whacked it over the net. Then suddenly a speaker appeared just above the scorer and started commentating on the game,
“Laughing curse by Lochlan, and Bobby’s hit it back. Here come the giggles. Bobby’s used a transformation spell, it’sss the ssserpent. Liam moves out of the way, IS IT THE FIRST POINT OF THE GAME? Ooh nearly a point but Jordan saves it with a… ah it’s the soak spell. I think Philippa’s taken a shower. So she hit’s it back over the net and then Broudie retrieves. Oo, that’s the melting floor curse. Broudie hit’s the, where is it? It’s the invisibility spell. Can they see it? Ha ha ha ha.”
The speaker continued to commentate for the whole game and its stupid jokes were not the reason why Jay was laughing.
He was laughing at the curses and spells in the game: Jordan was hit by the jelly-legs curse, Claire was being attacked by weeds when she stood in the same space for more than two seconds, the boys were hit with a snow curse which was followed up by a wind spell (made a treacherous blizzard), Hollie was hit with a singing curse (‘Jingle bells, really? It’s summer!’ The speaker had laughed), and Lochlan spent the last minutes of the game with a big, yellow beak instead of a nose. In the end the girls won, fifty-two to thirty-nine.
“That’s a win for Hollie, Philippa, Claire and Bobby. Curses withdrawn.” At the last words of the speaker, all the curses reversed, including Lochlan’s beak. All eight of the tired out players returned from the court to meet Jay and the other watchers.
“Ok, if you still got some energy left, us four will play against you girls. And go easy on us, please,” Amy added.
Jay followed Amy, Alice and Cameron onto the far court.
“Eh, Jay. Do you know any curses or spells?” Alice asked nervously, taking the front quadrant and pushing Jay onto the other front space.
“None apart from the scare spell. Cameron told me that one,” Jay replied as he took the front section of his court.
“Well, try and remember these… Iglormafy, Hauntus, Repuntas serpent and Flaixor mintha-”
“Minthamya,” Jay interrupted, “I remember that one,” he laughed, biting his lip.
Then, just like in the game between the girls and boys, the announcement for the start echoed through the arena, this time the voice of Broudie.
“Rackets at the ready,” A racket appeared in Jay’s hands. It felt quite heavy for a piece of wood. They were made of pure oak, and plastic wiring that was wrapped around the edges and neatly woven in and out like patchwork.
“and the squally,” A ball rose from the ground behind Jay and he started reassuring himself that he wasn’t going to fail at this sport - unlike most sports which were not Jay’s strong points, ‘how hard can this be, it’s like badminton and volleyball put together, and a bit of magic of course.’ His inner self called
out to him.
“Then let’s play squally ball!!!” Broudie finished off his introduction and Jay felt a rush of energy.
He heard the swing of a racket, the muttering of a spell, a collision between racket and ball, and then he looked up and saw the squally fly over his head.
It sped over the net, casting a shadow on the pitch, and then got pelted back over by Claire, who‘s arms, when she hit it, turned green and scaly.
‘Interesting?’ Jay thought, shaking his arms and his legs, readying himself.
The ball went back and forth many times before it first came near Jay’s section, and when it did, he was ready.
He pulled his racket behind him and it was about a metre away when Jay realised that he needed to say one of the spells Alice had told him just before the game had started.
It felt weird hearing those words constantly repeating in his mind in a casual tone. Magic, spells, curses… it was all still being digested. Jay just needed more time, it’s not every day you get told your some prophesised sorcerer who needs to defend the world. Unfortunately now wasn’t the time to sit and digest, he was playing squally ball!
Then, just in time, Jay blurted out a spell, “Iglormafy!”
He hit the ball, which was surprisingly light, and it flew over the net.
His eyes of hope and anticipation watched the ball as it soared across the court.
He looked over to see Philippa, who had just hit the ball and who was now frantically dancing.
Jay laughed.
That’s when he realised that whoever hit that ball over to him must’ve said a spell too, which meant…
“Hairy-legged Jay hit’s the dancing spell at Philippa. Now she can do the cha-cha.” The speaker shouted over the court.
‘What did he mean hairy legged Jay, he hasn’t got hairy le-’ He looked down at his legs, all eight of them, black and hairy, protruding from his hips.
He let out a girly shriek and then calmed himself down by telling himself that ‘these were supposed to put him off and that he was going to continue the game as if he still had two, normal legs.
After that incident he got really into the game. At first he hit a transformation spell of a snake and ended up with a rain curse, and then he let the ball past him when it started to scream, but Alice reminded him that she had already let the ball past three times. Then his team started falling around the court because of a wind curse.
After that he tried the rise-in-temperature spell and ended up completely drenched with water.
He thought the soak spell was bad, but it wasn’t as bad as his temperature spell which made Hollie faint before her racket even touched the ball - that was his first score for his team.
He felt bad that he’d made Hollie faint but he was glad that he’d scored a point.
They lost the game in the end when Amy leaped for the ball, and because of the spring step curse, she flew straight over it.
Jay felt really tired and was glad when it was over, although he could really see himself settling in to this new life.
Constant danger, a purpose, powers to make life easier, and an amazing game! What more could he want?
“Amy’s took a step too far, I think. So that’s a win for Philippa, Hollie, Claire and Bobby. Curses withdrawn,” the speaker screamed as the players met up with the spectators. Jay’s spider legs finally disappeared, allowing him to sight with relief.
“You did great Jay, honestly, that temperature spell was a knockout, literally,” Jordan congratulated.
“Yeah, you were epic,” agreed Bobby.
“Oh, thanks.”
“I bet you’re tired now, aren’t ya?” Cameron said.
“Exhausted.”
“Well you should get some rest, and then maybe we can help you learn some fighting skills,” Lochlan suggested, ruffling his ginger hair and straightening his glasses.
“We’ll meet you in the fighting area about one-ish?” Liam said.
“Ok, that’d be great.”
“Hey, Jay. If you’re having a rest, maybe you could read the fighting book, it’d get you ready for this afternoon,” Hollie said as she joined the group.
“Yeah, the idea of a rest Hol is that you rest,” Jordan laughed.
“Ha, all you do is rest, so you‘d know about it,” Hollie retaliated.
After a lot of chatting and laughing about the two games, they all went their separate ways out of the squally ball court. Jay walked over the green fields and decided to go and check out the waterfall, which he had saw closer up on the way to the squally ball court.
He thought the natural falling water might be a comfort.
As he got nearer he realised the size of it. The thing was huge, much like everything at the camp. Now, a ft. away, he could hear the thrashing of water and could feel the spray on his flustered cheeks.
The waterfall was beautiful. There were trees on either side of a deep pool of clear water, which was being pounded by the tumbling droplets of white blue, that seemed to burst out of a horizontal crack in the rocky wall.
Jay stepped to the edge of the pool and bent down to see his reflection looking back at him.
‘What am I doing?’ he asked himself. ‘Someone tells me I’m a sorcerer and that the Greek gods are real, then I just follow them to a camp with elves and nymphs.’ If this was real it was certainly better than being back at the foster home.
As he continued to daze into the soft wavy water, he started to hear voices,
“We see your future, your past and the road you could’ve taken.”
“Your qualities, your downfalls and the things you do not know.”
“We wish to help you.”
“And support you.”
The voices echoed in the water, as if it was alive.
“Who are you?” Jay asked.
“We were sent to inform you Jay,” the voices spoke dreamily.
“Who sent you?” Jay questioned, thrusting himself to a standing position, his fear battling his intrigue.
“We sent us, we have seen things and heard things that your fellow friends should know,” the voices whispered.
They were feminine voices of a breezy and flowing tone that seemed to fade in and out softly.
“What should we know?” Jay said worryingly, expecting them to tell him that there was some army of dracy things that have started attacking the camp.
“We heard the-” A large rock plummeted into the water from one of the trees, and Jay started to hear screaming. Then he caught a few of their last words. “They are p-” The voices were washed away by yet another tumbling rock.
Jay looked up to see nothing, just trees masked by the spray of water.
What could have thrown those rocks? Unless it was the trees (Jay had learnt that anything unusual was usual in a sorcerer’s eye).
“Who’s there?” he screamed, but no one answered. Now, only the sound of the water crashing and the whistling of the midday breeze were to be heard. The voices had gone.
Jay shot over the river, pondering about the scene at the waterfall, and arrived at the camp fire. He strode in and it kept the same warming heat as it had last time.
The hot rooms never seemed to bother Jay now he had this ring, and he seemed to only sweat when he was running around, like when he played squally ball.
Jay thought a bit longer about what the voices had told him, ‘We have heard things that you lot should know.’ it must have been really important, maybe something that they needed to know for the quest. Jay had read about how most heroes are told of or given something to help them with their quest, like the person who slew the Minotaur was given string, and how the person who killed medusa was given a mirror.
Then she started saying something else, ‘we heard the’, they must have overheard a conversation, and it must be a group of people. Maybe they were the elves or the tree nymphs. Then the last bit, ‘They are p-’ so they are either panicking, posing or panting? That didn’t make sense either.
&nbs
p; He cleared the scene from his mind and decided to take a look into one of the books, and then maybe tell everyone about what happened at the waterfall when they meet at the fighting area later.
So he slumped into the chair and picked up the pile of books that were left on the table from the previous night. He rooted for the one titled - Learn to fight with magic and swords, and when he found it, he jumped back into the sofa and opened the book.
This book contains all the Greek battle gear that has ever been invented. It also will show you how to use them and how you can make them better by using magic.
Jay turned the page to the contents which read:
Swords 1
Shields 25
Knives 53
Spears 68
Other weaponry 80
Magic and weapons combined 114
Glossary 140
Index 144
He read the contents and decided to skip to page one hundred and fourteen. He figured that would be more what he needed.
He started to read the book and it became very interesting, even though he skipped most of the bits with spells.
Most weapons have been cursed or improved by a sorcerer before they come into your hands, so it is a good thing to wipe your weapon clean before you start using it. Now, this part of the book is about magic and weapons together and this mix creates something very powerful. To get your weapon to a good standard, first you should try the spells which strengthen your weapon or lighten your weapon. (The next few pages were covered in spells to strengthen your weapon) Also you could make your weapon transform from a ring to a sword or a hat to a shield. (There was a page of spells to transform your weapons and how to change them back) Now you have got a solid, easy-to-keep and easy-to-use weapon you can start using it. When you use a spell through a sword you get a more direct hit, and swords can also have spells on them which can reflect an incoming spell. A shield can be used to make a wider aim of a spell, good to use in a war. Spears can be cursed to follow a certain person and can be protected with reflection spells so as the person it is chasing cannot blow it up. Certain spells can also get more powerful and really hurt someone. There are also some spells which can control swords to fight with people without you holding the end - This is for advance sorcerers/sorceresses (the next load of pages were filled with enchantments and spells to perform with different weapons). The next page is a question page. You need to think of your question, obviously to do with the book, put your hand on the page and say ‘answer my question’.
After flicking through lots of spell-filled pages he eventually found a blank, double-page spread. He wondered why there was nothing there and then just decided to think of a question and see if it would work.
So he thought of a question. (‘What is the best strengthening spell to use on a sword?’) He concentrated hard and spoke the question in his head, and then he repeated what the book had told him to say,
“Answer my question,” he whispered in a spooky-ish tone which scared him a little bit. Then he removed his hand and a face appeared on the left page.
“The best strengthening spell to use on a sword is, supposedly the diamond covering spell because diamond is the strongest substance. But,” suddenly a black square appeared on the right side of the page and the scraggily, old face in the book carried on talking, “I know there is a stronger metal out there that can be made, but only by skilled metal-workers. The Telchines for example. Here is a film of someone performing the diamond covering spell on a sword, goodbye.” The face dissolved and the black square grew bigger and started to play a movie.
Jay shut the book as he was waiting for the movie to start as he had just looked up and saw it was five past one!
He jumped off the sofa and sprung out the door like a kangaroo.
There was no one by the fire, so Jay ran, and as he did he could hear the clanging of swords and shields. He was so engrossed in the book that he must have lost track of time.
He got to one of the entrances to the fighting area and took a break before entering, didn’t want to walk in half dead. He could hear people shouting and screaming spells from behind the trees.
Then when he had caught his breath he started to walk through the gap in the trees. So far the day had been awesome and now he was going to get his hands on a real sword and do some real fighting.
When he lifted his head up to see what was going on, he saw a 2ft long spear heading straight for him.
Attracted to junk.
(Chapter 4)