Chapter 23: Grandson of Exitilus

Hunter told us that, in order to enter the town of Kora, we needed to fight several dragons that held Jewels. We had no idea where to look, so we spent our day searching throughout Moneo. We found one located in a cave close to Kora. This dragon was big and red and had a lot of attack power. Its arms and legs burned the ground it stood on and its breath burned everything in its wake. It was one large dragon against the sixteen of us. The creature wasn't very fast or resilient, but it took down most of us. At the battles end, we claimed the Ruby it was protecting. After treating everyone's wounds, we headed out in search of the others. The long-lasting Emerald Dragon, whose breath would put us to sleep, we defeated in a cave north of Mora. The quick Sapphire Dragon we found in a cave at the bottom of Lora Lake, so we had to wear our Water Armor to fight it. The Crystal Dragon, who had wings to fly and breath that can petrify us, we found and defeated in a cave close to Pora. In a cave at the base of Aora's iceberg, we found the Pearl Dragon, who could freeze us just by breathing on us. The final dragon, the incredibly strong Diamond Dragon, whose breath would constantly shock us with lightning, we found south of Eora. With all five jewels in our hands, we rested for the night then warped back to Kora.

When we entered the town of Kora, we saw destroyed buildings everywhere, save a lone fortress that we assumed Hunter would be hiding in. Ghosts of soldiers tried to block our progression and one in particular was much stronger than the others. We fought magical, animated creatures, dragons, mages and even physics itself before. We were ready for anything. Using Madilynn's piercing lance, we defeated the near-impenetrable knight and continued. We arrived at the topmost tower in the fort and Hunter was there, waiting for us on a throne.

"Well, I see you've found some new friends, Stephan," Hunter said. "Jennifer and Stan, how are you doing?"

"We're all a little tired from the adventure," Jennifer answered.

"Yes, so you mind telling us Exitilus's secret so we can end it?" Stan ordered.

"You are quite impatient, aren't you?" Hunter said standing up. "There was one more with you, though. Where's Andrew?" We all just remained silent for a minute.

"Hunter, Andrew… is missing," I said. Hunter folded his arms.

"Oh, I see. I'm sorry to hear that…"

"Listen," Kyra said walking up to him. "Can you tell us how to defeat Exitilus so we can bring Andrew back?"

"Very well," Hunter said walking back to his throne. "But first, there's something I was told to tell you. I'm sure you must be wondering how exactly I came to be, Stephan."

"That is one of the things I was thinking about," I answered.

"The role of Exitilus's grandson was what I believed myself to be, but I found that's not who I am. Before your adventure started around a month ago, Stephan, I was put in Eora's dungeon because I posed a threat to Exitilus. Not because I held some of his power, but because I held some of the Gems' power."

"What are you saying, kid?" Stan asked.

"I'm saying I was not created by Exitilus, I was created by the Gems. In fact, I was created by the Gems and was locked up on the same day, May 5th."

"You're only a number of weeks old?" Jennifer exclaimed.

"Yeah. The Gems, one way or another, created me to stop Exitilus. That is how you saw me move stone and earth on my own. When that didn't work, a different person was sent to find a new hero."

"The Silver Knight," I deduced.

"Correct. I don't know who he is or what his goal is, but the Gems sent him there to start you off in my place."

"You're saying the Gems created you and sent the Silver Knight to send me and Andrew off?" I asked. "Who told you all this, because you didn't know this when you were in the dungeon?"

"The Mysterious Man was here waiting for me when I arrived," Hunter answered.

"So, are you the secret to defeating Exitilus?" Hamilton asked.

"That's correct. However, I was told to prepare you for the fight ahead. I hold the power of the Gems, but so does Exitilus. You must fight me to prove you are ready to fight him. Do you accept?" We all looked at each other then looked back at Hunter.

"Yes!" we all answered.

"Very well," Hunter said as he started floating. "I will not go easy on you. Doing so will only give you false experience. Now, let us begin!" Hunter began by changing the entire room to a walled off, large square room to give us room to fight. Then Hunter shot out a large thunderbolt at us. We all dodged out of the way and drew our weapons. Helen swung her whip to try and knock Hunter out of the air, but Hunter just moved out of the way. Kyra and I shot out magic blasts in Hunter's path as he flew around the room. Hunter dived at us with his fist coming down. His hand struck the floor and it sent shock waves around the room. Most of us got knocked down while the rest of us jumped. Hunter threw air blasts at us throwing some of us into the wall. Jennifer rapidly fired her arrows as Hunter avoided them and shot out fire blasts, burning her arrows and Jennifer. Matt and Stan nodded at each other as Matt took Stan's legs. Matt hurled Stan at Hunter and rammed him into the wall! Hunter got back up without a scratch on him! Lacey turned into a large cannon and shot several cannonballs at Hunter as Daniel shot out blasts of his out. Octavis threw his boomerangs and Chris shot out his Possession Gems. Hunter brought up a stone wall to block everything then sent it out to them. Hamilton rushed at Hunter as Alice ran around healing everyone. Hunter dodged each of Hamilton's swings then shot out an ice blast, freezing Hamilton. Hunter floated back up and summoned a large tidal wave and sent it at us. Marina spun her staff around and made the wave fly back to Hunter. I shot a lightning bolt at the water and electrocuted him. When the water receded, Kyra froze the water still on Hunter's body and trapped him in ice. Hunter broke out after a few seconds and sent ice shards in every direction. Hunter then called up a large storm cloud and lightning raged throughout the room. I took this chance for an attack. Jumping over the lightning bolts, I shot one of my own and it went right through Hunter. He fell to the ground, clasping his chest and yelled,

"ENOUGH!" We all stopped and watched the room return to normal. Hunter got back up, but his wound was gone. "I can see you are all worthy fighters," he said to all of us. "I have no doubt that you will defeat Exitilus." We all cheered for each other. "However," Hunter said and we all stopped. "Exitilus holds much more power than I do. If you even want a chance to defeat him, you must first take back the Gems he holds. Without them, he's powerless. I will join you when you take them, but for now, I believe you have one more left to collect after this one." Hunter walked up to me and handed me the Kora Gem.

"The town of Yora," I answered.

"You've chosen a good time to go there," Hunter said to us. "The annual festival is being held. You should take this time to go, rest and have fun before your final battle."

"The annual festival?" I asked. "But that was supposed to happen at the beginning of the month."

"I guess people just got tired of waiting," Hunter said. "Go and have fun. When the time comes, I will meet you in Cora."

"Thank you, Hunter," I said.

"You don't want to come with us?" Hamilton asked.

"No, I have to train harder before facing my supposed grandfather. I wish you the best." Hunter held out his hands to us and our entire surrounding changed. We were now standing in front of Yora, well rested and refreshed. We walked into town to see many games and activities.

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