Talk up your brand.

Chapter 23

The stranger

When Raven arrived at his next destination, he saw nothing but a bright light and then he collapsed. And when he awoke, he saw nothing but sand in every direction he looked.

 “Well, at least I’m in the right place, but every time I time jump I end up alone.”

Raven started to walk but as he did he began to sink.

 “Oh great… quicksand!” yelled Raven.

 The sand stopped moving as Raven stood as still as he could. Raven pulled out his wind crystal and used it to try to fly out of the sinking sand. As the scorching hot sands crushed against Raven’s skin, he felt as if the sand were a human stabbing him with a thousand knives. Raven screamed,

 “Hello! I need help, is anyone out here? Please, I’m about to die!”

 But no one was around, and Raven was slowly sinking to the bottom of an endless pit. So he decided to pull out the elemental crystal of speed. The power of the fragment totally stopped time and Raven wiggled himself out of the sands and into a safer place.

“Hello, is anyone out there?”

But there was no answer. Raven was beginning to worry as there was nothing anywhere but sand, and the wind started to pick up. As Raven walked further into the sands, the storm got worse. The sand was as rough as a scorpion fight in a desert, and the further Raven walked, the harder it was becoming for him to see.

“I need to go back!”

Raven yelled to himself, but there was a small voice inside of him telling him to go forward through the sands. The sand was in his eyes, in his clothes, and in his hair, but Raven never gave up until he heard a horrible screaming sound. It was a gigantic monster in the sand. It had a thousand eyes, and a big mouth with billions of sharp little teeth. Raven had begun to run when the sands spoke.

 “You can't get away from me. I work for the darkness, and it’s time to collect your soul.”

Raven looked up as the giant monster appeared out of the sands and towered above him.

“No thank you, I like my soul, so come back in say fifty years.”  

“Very adorable, little brother, but if I’m trapped in this prison then I will do everything in my power to stop you.”

 Raven just yelled,

“I’ve stopped you once, so doing it again will be no problem at all.”

Richard was angry and desperate, so he unleashed a full range of fury down upon Raven.

“Hey, listen, freaky voice. I’m still needing my soul, so go get another one.”

Raven began to run as the monster burrowed itself into the golden sands. He jumped as the sand began to collapse. The monster was barely visible.

 “At least now I know what the darkness is in this time zone. First in the Ice Age, and then I was stuck in the Jurassic era, and now Egypt. God, why did I agree to this?”

 Raven started to run west, away from the sand monster, and Raven thought he saw a glimmer of hope in the distance. But the sand monster had circled Raven and then wailed a cry for back up. Suddenly, six monstrous sand creatures were surrounding Raven and then the six monsters turned themselves into one giant sand creature. Raven gulped and thought to himself, can I be afraid now? The monster struck Raven, and he collapsed in the soft golden sand.

Just as the monster was about to strike Raven again, he used his fire ability to create a fire tornado and that scared the beast off. The beast wailed as sand and fire were combined together. The monster burrowed itself into the sands and disappeared. Raven heard the monster speak.

“Sorry, master, I’ve failed you. I could not defeat him alone.”  

“If I’m stuck in this prison world then I need you to do my work for me. Do not fail me again!”

Once the monster was gone, Raven fainted of thirst and was well out. Raven was lost and alone, the last words he muttered were,

“Rainy, where are you? I can't do this alone, I need you.”

While he was asleep, a person found him and pulled him out of the sands and into a small village called Rbies. This was the future town of Rubies.

When Raven woke up, he was lying in a bed in a small tent. He looked around and saw a bunch of small children who looked about six years old. The children said,

“You are brave to stand up to the Burrow Worm.” Then a woman yelled,

 “You are a fool to take it on. You’re lucky to be alive! I’m Ruby.” Raven had stood up.

“I’m Raven, thank you for saving me.”

The woman had blonde hair which sent Raven into a flashback…

“Raven, sweetie, me and your dad are just going away for two weeks. We will be back in time for your birthday.”

  “Mom, please don't go, it’s not safe… Mom, Mom…”

The woman shook Raven.

“Hello, buddy, are you okay?”

 “I’m sorry. It’s just you reminded me of someone I once knew.”

  “Oh yeah? And who would that be?”

  “My mother,” Raven said.

 “Follow me. I have something I need to show you.”

Raven followed Ruby into a small town filled with people laughing and having fun.

“It looks like a great home here. I bet the leader of these people is incredibly happy with the example that he leads.”

  “Why does every man think that a man is in charge? Women can be leaders too.”

Raven followed Ruby up the stairs of the castle and into the castle through the Egyptian doors.

 “Excuse me, Ruby. I have a question to ask you.”

 Ruby ignored Raven and led him to a garden of sorts.

 “I saw you fight the Burrow Worm. How is it that you managed to use powers like that? I bought an artifact that allowed me to harness the power of the sun,” Raven said to Ruby.

 “The gods only help Egyptians, so why would they help you?” asked Ruby.

 “I don't know. I guess I’m just lucky,” Raven replied.

“Why do I get the feeling that you are not being honest with me, Raven?”

 “I’m sorry if you feel that way, but I should be leaving. Thanks for saving me, Ruby, but I need to go and find someone.”

Raven left the castle. Once he was in the courtyard, he saw a shopkeeper selling a rag uniform. Raven bought it and put it on.

 “At last! Finally, I can breathe. This sand is getting on my nerves.”

 Raven walked through each and every shop asking about someone called the Queen. When a man told him her name, Raven thought, you have got to be kidding me… that person who saved me is the Queen! Suddenly it hit Raven. Roku and Lucy had a child, but he never knew if it was a boy or a girl until now. Ruby was the ancestor that Raven needed to save, but from who? As Raven began to head up into the castle yet again, he heard a noise coming from the gardens, it was a figure dressed in black trying to kill the Queen. Raven screamed,

“Ruby, you are in danger!”

 But there was no reply. Raven barged into the Queen’s chambers and saw the man had a knife to the Queen’s throat.

“You were warned by Richard that meddling would get you killed, but now I’ll erase you from history.”

 Raven threw a fireball, and it killed the assassin, knocking him out of the window in a burst of flames. The last words the man spoke were,

“The war has begun.”

Ruby yelled,

“Who was that, and how did you do those things?”

 “Ruby, listen, you and I are distant family. Do you know a man named Roku?” Ruby cried,

“God, no. Will you please give me some answers?”

 Raven began to explain to her,

“I’m not from this time period. I’m from a town called Rubies. This town in the future. I was pushed off a cliff, now I’m fighting a battle throughout every time period. I’m stopping evil trying to get back home. I’ve met King Ren, your granddad, in the Ice Age, then I met a man called Roku in the Jurassic period. He’s your father, I think. Now I’m here in Egypt trying to stop these Sand Burrow Worms.”

 Ruby began to laugh.

 “I think you hit your head a little too hard when you fell off that cliff. I don't know how to thank you for saving my life, so I’ll invite you to dinner tonight.”

Raven didn't care if Ruby believed him or not, he was only glad she was safe.

“Hey, don’t worry about it. After all, you saved me too, so let’s just call us even.”

Ruby smiled and together they walked around the castle.

Raven accepted her kind offer of staying in the castle, and headed to his room. Inside his room, he read about the history of the town. Raven began to read a book, and the first page was a new spell. Raven had just begun to read it aloud when the door to the bedroom was kicked in. It was Ruby.

 “What are you doing, my child? You clearly don't know the rules, so I’ll tell them to you. Do not practice magic in here again or I’ll kill you. That is your only warning.”

Raven was confused, so he just closed the book and lay down on his bed. Three hours later, there was another knock at his door. Raven opened it, but no one was there except an envelope with a piece of paper that had a message on it. The message read,

Raven, old buddy, I’m alive but trapped inside the pyramids.

I’m trapped, help me! Rainy.

Raven charged out his room and bumped into Queen Ruby.

“Where are you going in such a hurry, we have dinner to come. So, let’s walk.”

Raven asked Ruby of the pyramids, and she laughed.

 “The pyramids are a legend, they’re not real. And as for your letter, it’s probably one of the kids playing a joke.”

As Raven walked down to the chambers, he met a man, and he slipped a note into Raven’s pocket. Raven opened up the parchment and inside there was a note. He was shocked to learn that the ancestor he was meant to save wasn't named Ruby but Rose. Raven confronted Ruby, but she refused to tell him anything.

“I know that you are not the queen, so tell me Ruby—where is Rose?”

Chapter 38

Powerless

Richard used the darkest of magic and possessed Raven.

“Get out of my head!”

Richard began to slowly creep his way into Raven’s mind.

 “I can see your memories, brother. I can see everything that you hold dear.”

 Richard had managed to locate a memory of Raven’s that was buried so deep it caused Raven to black out. Richard saw the memory, and it made him angry.

It was the first time that I saw her, she smiled at me but, of course, she went for my brother. Her name was Nora. I had walked up to her and said,

“I’m Richard. What’s a nice girl like you doing here?”

 Then Raven came over to us and yelled,

“Back off, creep.”

 Nora smiled at him and said,

“It was nice meeting you.”

Richard yelled, “You took everything that was mine. First the girl that I loved, then my own sister, and now you are trying to take away my powers. Well, this time you won’t have anything because you will lose, Raven.”

  “You know, I feel sorry for you that you became this evil,” Raven yelled.

 “You will never know true love. You will never know true happiness.”  

Richard had begun to lose his grip over Raven’s mind and he saw flashbacks of everyone that Raven had ever met and had ever loved. Suddenly, Rainy launched a ball of metal toward Richard.

 “You are pure evil!”

  “Evil? I chose this life for myself. The guards are on high alert, Raven. Not even you can fight forever.”

  “I don't need to!” Raven had managed to fight the possession with Rainy’s help.

“Get away from my friend, dirt bag!”

 Rainy ran over and pulled out his sword to attack Richard, but  he evaporated into smoke.

“Haha, it’s very funny that you, a mortal, think you can stand up against me.”

Raven was out cold, and Rainy struck Richard blow for blow; it was then that Richard had used his dark magic to truly become a demon of pure destruction. Richard turned himself into the ultimate beast. He was now a griffon—nine feet tall with the head of an eagle and the body of a lion. The beast spiraled toward Rainy when Rainy punched the ground and made a speed mirage of himself. The griffon was confused as there were now six versions of Rainy in front of him. Richard clapped in approval,

 “Yes! Finally a worthy opponent. Hey, Voice, I think you chose the wrong person for the job.”

Rainy screamed, “I need your power, ancestors! Give me the power of the nine crystals.”

  Suddenly, Rainy started to glow.

“No, this is impossible!” Richard cried.  

“Enough of this!”  

Richard grabbed Rainy by the throat and threw him out of the palace windows.

“Rainy!”

Raven cried. Raven sprinted out of the window after him. Rainy was trying to focus on his dinosaur form.

 “Raven, I can't change, I’m going to die!”  

“Rainy, hang on! I’ll use my wind.”

  Raven tried to use his elemental power, but he couldn't, he was falling too fast to control his powers.

  “Rainy, I’m sorry I failed you.”

 Raven tried to grab Rainy when a fireball hit him. It was Richard, he had jumped out of the castle and was flying toward them. Raven was struck with a powerful blow, and he plummeted into the ground with Rainy. Richard walked toward Raven and Rainy to see if they were alive, but they weren't moving.

 “Good. Finally, you’re dead. The goodness was wrong, you are not the chosen one destined to stop the evil, I am.”

It was three days later when Raven slowly moved. He had survived and so had Rainy. Raven tried to stand up, but he was too severely injured to move. Rainy was just alive but unable to move. Raven dragged himself toward the jungle and tried to collect some firewood. Raven tried to use his powers but none of them were there. Richard must have taken them when I was dead, how did I survive? Raven brought back firewood and slowly began to assemble it. Hours went by until Raven slowly started to feel like his powers were returning but, sadly, he was just a hollow shell.

“Hey, Rainy, are you okay?”

 “Richard just threw me out of a window, and I fell fifty thousand feet, I’m lucky to be alive. Raven, we are outnumbered and outmatched, how are we going to do this?”

 “When I was younger, I heard rumors of a man who could travel to the dawn of humanity. He was said to be exceptional. This one man had the ability to change time—he could bring foes back from the dead. If we go to this man, he could help us bring back Nora, Rose, and Ratchet.”

 “Raven, that’s a bad idea. You’re on about necromancy. Rose died, Ratchet died, Nora is gone, she's not coming back.”  

“Don't you say that! Don't you dare say that.”  

“Open your eyes, you jackass. Look what your mission has already done to us.”

 In their weak state, Raven and Rainy began to fight. They punched each other until both of them knocked the other out.

Morning had come before Raven apologized to Rainy.

“I want to go home, Raven. I’m tired of fighting, of avoiding danger. We've been through a lot together, we have fought so many monsters, overcome so many dangers.”