After making it back to Avindors’ Wake, the group went to bed for the night. The next morning… “So… Keo! What’s our next destination!” asked an excited Avi. “I… don’t know…” Responded Keo. “You don’t know?” Rei walked into the room. Both Rei and Avi looked at Keo in disbelief. “Don’t worry, its not as bad as it seems… we can ask my father for assistance!” Keo said, going for the door. “But don’t you know EVERYTHING?” asked Rei. Keo paid no attention to Rei’s tomfoolery and left the building. Rei and Avi followed behind.

  The three headed for the castle. Avindors’ Wake was quite busy at this time. People were going in and out of buildings, filling the cobbled streets... “So, I get to see that King again, I do have to thank him for not keeping me and Avi locked up. If he didn’t let us out, I wouldn’t have gotten a chance to get along with you two!” Rei smiled as they were nearing the castle. The drawbridge opened at Keo’s signal, and the three entered. They went down the main corridor, and up the stairs. They were once again greeted by King Sholventus.

  “Oh Ho! The heroes return! How are you, my son?” asked the King, emerging from his throne. “We’re in a bit of a pickle, Dad, we don’t know where to go next... to find the next artifact.” Keo responded. Avi stepped forward and bowed. “Um... my... King... sir...” “No need to bow to me ma’am! Just call me Sholvy!” Said the king to Avi. “Oh... uh... OK!” Avi responded. “We need to know our third location... I am aware that your knights have explored 4 different regions... is it possible that it is one of those? I mean, Avindor isn’t huge, so it would make sense for there to be one artifact in every region...” Sholventus stepped down the stairs leading to his throne. He walked over to Keo.

  The King put his hand on Keo’s shoulder. “My son...” Keo looked up at his father... with the sun glistening directly on them like a spotlight. “One thing I purposely didn’t tell you, is that each artifact has to be collected in perfect order. Meaning, that if you were to collect one that was not meant to be collected... serious injury, or possibly even death would occur. I apologize for not telling you, my son, I put you three in grave danger, and simply expected you to figure it out?” A tear fell from his eye. “Dad... it’s really not that bad... look. Were fine, and now that you told us, you can show us where to go next!” Keo responded to his father

  “Come back to my castle, with both artifacts you have collected, and I will show you the correct path.” Rei’s group went back home, fetched the artifacts, and returned to the castle. On the way back, a tremor occurred. “Oh... that doesn’t look good...” Avi said. The Storm of the End had expanded. It was nearly triple the size it was in originally. Anomalous Thunderstorms were seen forming around the storm, emitting purple and white lightning. “Let’s not pay attention to that Avi, lets just focus on brining these artifacts to the castle, everything will be fine.” Keo said. Rei and Keo walked towards the castle. Avi stood still and stared up at the sky. “Ardonous... It seems like it’s not too late to change your mind... please... I beg of you... Give us a second chance...” Avi said quietly. She turned her back to the storm and followed Rei and Keo to the castle.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  “So, here they are father, what do you think we should do with them?” Keo handed his father the two artifacts they had collected. “Excellent! Come with me, I need to show you something...” Rei and co. followed the King into a back chamber. There was a pillar with an opening for the first artifact. The king placed the artifact inside of it. It started glowing, and then pulsating, and some colors and magic manifested, and created a vision of the Cortex Marshes. “We’ve already been there, actually, we just got back from there.” Rei said. “Then why don’t you do the honors with the second artifact? Here, take this key, and enter the gate behind the castle. There, you will find the outskirts of Avindors Wake. Another pillar should be located in there somewhere. Place the artifact in the pillar, and your next destination will be revealed to you. Now, off you go!” The King shoved Rei and his group off the go place the artifact in a pillar in the town outskirts.

  The group walked behind the castle and was stopped by a gate. Rei unlocked it with the key he was given. “Wow! This place is so cool! I’ve never been back here before!” Avi said, excitedly. “None of us have, Avi. This is new to all of us.” Keo replied to Avi. There were several paths leading to different locations, all with signs that were obscured by some sort of magic. The one sign that was legible had a symbol of a brain on it. “This looks like where we need to go.” Rei and the others went down the path, which went on for quite a while. The path eventually reached into an open area, with no walls, and a far stretch down. “Keep your feet steady.” Rei said.

  They made it to the other side. A couple furballs, similar to the ones found in the Gilded Groves, were roaming the area. They noticed Avi and tried to attack her. “Not today, cuties!” She said, taking them out. The three walked ahead and found the pillar. Rei placed the crystal on the pillar. It glowed and manifested into a visual of a lava filled desert. “That looks like the Scorchsand Dunes... I didn’t expect we’d have to go there so soon.” Keo said. “It looks REALLY hot there!” Avi said. Rei took a closer look at the visual. A path could be seen leading up to it from the southwest. “Looks like we need to go southwest from here, and we’ll reach the dunes. Let’s go, the storm in the sky isn’t going to stop growing, and we’re not going to stop searching.” Rei said, leading the group out of the tunnel.