Black+Fire

Dust leaped off the small table as Merlin swiped potions from their holders, preparing for his quest. He strapped a small satchel full of books, and potions, on his back and dashed out of his cottage, the creaky door swaying behind him. Contemplating his surroundings cautiously, he took his garden hoe and dug the rich soil under a rotten rhubarb plant. Out of the hole in the Earth, he produced a small black obelisk with engravings that pulsed with white hot energy. The obelisk’s light illuminated Merlin’s face in the eerie black night. He set it carefully on the ground and began chanting. The hymn rang out into the darkness, echoing into far away caves like a beacon of light. When Merlin’s spell ceased, the obelisk was as black as the starry night around it. Then with a small pop, it exploded with brilliant purple light. Suddenly, a circular portal no larger than a walnut grew bigger, and bigger until it was the size of a small bolder. Merlin took a deep breath and slowly inched backward until he was nearly two yards away from the gateway the obelisk projected. Then he swiftly dashed into the gleaming purple light. It was a tumble of time and space that seemed to go on for days, and yet in the blink of an eye he was there. Merlin stumbled into a fire hydrant with his long wispy beard blowing in his face. “So this is the future.” he remarked curiously. Then he looked in shops and theaters, tasted food and drink and when he had almost filled his note books until they would burst, he saw it. It was a giant green lady with a gleaming torch, the text on the bottom of the statue read : The U.S statue of Liberty. Hand flying eyes peeking, Merlin quickly finished off the rest of his notes and heard a comment from someone standing near by. “Hey look at that dork!” someone shouted “He looks like a guy from ZZ Top!” he exclaimed. Merlin wondered what this preposterous name was, and figured it was a insult. He quickly grabbed a potion in his bag and threw it at the man who had disrespected him. Fizzing and whizzing, the potion exploded near the man’s feet, with putrid fumes. Then, when the man next breathed he instantly morphed into a frog. When a few people that were around Merlin saw this happen, they all took out sleek shiny objects from their pockets, and the contraptions started to beep when they touched them. “This is the FBI what can we do for you?” Said out gruff voice out of the machine. Then Merlin decided it was time to go because the people nearby did not look happy. The purple glittering portal opened at a alarming speed and Merlin stepped in with ease. Again he hit the time space continuum and with a sudden rumble he was tumbling back to his cottage on the top of the hill. “An interesting travel!” he stated, as he lifted himself off the ground. Unfortunately he had never traveled in time before, so he closed the portal a bit clumsily.

The ash was fresh from the horrible flames, reflecting the moon light it drifted to the ground. Boom.Boom. The Earth shook as if the it was breathing in slow deep breaths. The stupendous dragons reared up and roared. Boom. Boom. Boom. There it was, a tiny cottage at the top of the hill.

 Merlin woke with a start, he quickly got out of his straw bed, and put on his robes. Then he grabbed his staff without hesitation, and dashed out the door. there were two dragons, one was a little bit smaller than the other and it one had five multicolored feathers on each of his wings, but it was still just a horribly terrifying as the other. Good by old man. The dragons said in Merlin’s mind like a hiss of a thousand snakes. Then the jet black dragon grabbed the obelisk in his maw, and tossed it in the air. The portal opened and the dragons jumped through taking the obelisk with them.

Jake woke up, his eyes hazy from sleep, he slowly rotated his head and looked at the clock. His eyes widened. “Holly cow!” he yelped. “School starts in five minuets!” He instantly jumped out of bed and threw on some jeans. Then he tumbled down the stairs fidgeting with his shirt half way on, he grabbed a box of cereal and ran outside to catch the bus. Oh no! he thought. the bus was just about to leave. He jumped through the buses door in the nick of time and went to his seat by Fred, breathing hard. Jake was on his second year of middle school, and was obsessed with archery. In fact he was so in love with this sport the every where he went he had some kind of bow with him, even at school he carried a quiver full of arrows and a cross bow in his back pack. Soon he would be a sponsored archer for his accuracy with long range.The bus drove a few more feet and then, without warning a giant black beast fell out of the sky, shortly after the first a more colorful beast that closely resembled the first fell right on top of the bus and split it in half. Jake and Fred dove out of the bus just in time. Jake quickly unzipped his back pack and pulled out his cross bow. He aimed for the Dragon’s head but when the behemoth turned around and locked eyes with Jake they seemed to understand each other like they had been best friends for years. In that exact moment both boy and dragon made a silent vow, they would not kill each other, well at least not yet.

 School was canceled for the rest of that day and Jake was sitting in his room pondering what had just happened. He was extremely confused, and unsure what to do. Again he looked out his window and saw the two dragons still in the air circling lady liberty’s head. Jake knew he had shared something important with the dragon but was unsure what. He decided the next course of action would be to name the dragon so he didn't have to call it dragon every time. After a few minuets of thought he concluded, the dragons name would be Inferno.

 Jake sat on his bed with his cell phone held tightly to his chest. What wold he say to Fred? “Hey whats up yea, so I was wondering if I could take your boat out to Ellis island and chat with those dragons.” No that wouldn't work Fred would think he had gone mad. After a rough self pep talk, Jake knew he would have to steel the small blow-up raft that Fred possessed, it was the right thing to do.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> In the dead of night wearing all black Jake ran to his window. Cross bow in hand, and long bow strapped across his back. He flew out the window, grabbed a tree branch and fell to the ground with a small thump. Luckily Fred’s house was just across the street and he easily crept to Fred’’s garage. Jake grabbed a can of oil that he had brought with him, and spayed the garage door’s rusty hinges. The door opened with ease so he went in and grabbed the orange case that held the raft. He went back to his house and grabbed his bike, put the raft in the back basket and rode toward the docks. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">There it was, the New York docks leading to the open ocean. Jake took a deep breath and unpacked the raft trying not to be seen by the day’s stragglers. There was a little frog near by croaking and Jake had to chase the frog away because it would not stop hopping all over the place. He pulled the red tab that said “inflate” on the raft, and after a few seconds the raft was ready to use. Jake put it in the water and jumped in. He used a kayak paddle he had found on the docks to maneuver through the hundreds of boats chained there. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">He was only a few hundred feet from the island now and he was terrified, one of the dragons was sleeping and the other was still perched on lady liberty’s head. He was getting very close now, twenty feet, ten, five. Crunch! The boat slammed into the Rocky shore of Ellis island. Cautiously he snuck past the sleeping dragon and realized it was Inferno. One of Inferno’s eyes rolled opened and Jake felt a voice in his mind. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I did not come here willingly. It thought. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Inferno? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hmm, I like that, you may call me that. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">If you didn't want to come here I guess it was that guy’s idea. Jake pointed to the dragon in the sky. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Yes, and I can not go back to the past, now that the obelisk is destroyed. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hang on you came from the past? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Yes. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And you don’t like the guy up there? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">No. Inferno rolled on his back like a cat, and swatted the air as if there were imaginary bugs there. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Well then why don’t we team up and kill him? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">No, if we failed he would kill me. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Alright I’ll go my self. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Jake, with a conniption fit, stomped to the door of the statue of Liberty. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Breathing hard, Jake ran up the stairs inside the statue. The trap door leading to lady liberty’s crown was just ahead, so he got out his cross bow and inched toward the door. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">As quiet as he could Jake pulled opened the trap door and climbed out. So far so good the dragon hadn't seen him yet, it was still hovering above the torch. Then suddenly it spiraled down in a flaming torrent, nearly crushing Jake. He dove behind one of the crowns spikes and felt very hot, as he turned his head he saw a blast of fire blazing from both sides of the spike. Jake decided that it was time to fight back and shot a arrow form his cross bow. The arrow flew straight and clear, only to be pulverized by the dragon’s fiery breath. Come out where ever you are. The evil voice rang in Jake’s mind like a bell about to explode. BOOM! Another one of the spikes went plummeting hundreds of feet into the ocean. Jake had to hurry with his arrows, and he clumsily dropped his cross bow off the crown into the darkness. He still had his long bow strapped on his back and tugged it off with a small jerk. The dragon was getting very close and Jake had only seconds until his spike was destroyed with him. Jake started to draw the bow string and saw Inferno bolting upward at a alarming speed. He released the string, everything seemed to move in slow motion. The dragon’s eyes widened because the arrow was heading straight for them. Inferno shot a small bolt of flame to the arrow tip for effect, and it stuck home. The dragon’s eyes rolled back in his head and a fell over with a defining blow, he was dead. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Jake moaned and fell over. In a instant Inferno was standing right next to him. He analyzed Jake and saw that his foot was bloody, and broken. He had to heal Jake so he lightly grabbed him in his jaws and flew down to a grove of houses, there were two people standing out side of one house wailing. “Jake, Jake!” Inferno landed and folded his wings in. The two people were horror struck, they thought that this huge dragon had eaten Jake because he was partly sticking out his maw. Inferno set Jake on the ground and stared at his parents expediently. Their eyes widened. And they both rushed over Grabbed, Jake and put him in their car. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Jake woke up in his bed with Inferno’s snout hovering over his face. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“AAH!” Jake screamed. Inferno looked down and gave him a toothy, horrible grin that smelled like charcoal. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“He-he-how did you get in here?” Jake stammered. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Through the window of course. said Inferno in Jake’s mind. Jake looked at Inferno and realised that only his head and neck were in Jake’s room. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“My parents let you in?” Jake said astonished. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">After I told them what happened and that I meant no harm. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“OK, well I want to see them.” Jake said. He tried to get up but felt a searing pain in his left foot if he touched the ground. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“All right never mind.” If a can’t get up will you hand me my phone.” <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">What is a “phone.” Thought Inferno? <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“It’s that.” Its that Jake pointed to a small piece of metal on his desk. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">If that is what you want. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Inferno gently picked up the phone with his jaws and handed it to Jake. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“Thank you. Oh and you don’t mind giving someone a ride?” <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">No. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“Cool.” “Hi Fred it’s Jake.” <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“JAKE! Your OK! You've been in a coma for two days!” <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“Relay? I was wondering if I could make it up to you for stealing your boat?” <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“How, that thing cost me five hundred dollars?” <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“Would a ride on a dragon be equal to the cost?” <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“YES!” <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“Then come by at three.” <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“Gless sir! I mean YES SIR!” And then Fred hung up the phone, probably to go to the bath room because of excitement. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Later that day Fred arrived at Jake’s house and went for a ride on Inferno, when he came back his hair made him look like he had just got out of a wind tunnel. Fred left about two hours after he came, and Jake was looking at a book. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“Inferno!” he gasped and pointed at a picture in the book. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“This looks just like the obelisk you described” Inferno swallowed deeply. “It’s in the Chicago museum!” Jake read. “We can get you home!” he yelped. Then despite his injury he hopped out of bed and raced out the door, Inferno trailing behind him.