The Desert

The Desert

It was boiling hot and Sarah couldn't stand to be in that poxy little flat she rented on a day like this, so she decided to check out the local beach. She had just moved to Florida where she was working as a journalist, and in her spare time, a painter, and occasionally she would do the odd modelling job. She was 21, coming up to 22, and she missed her family in Australia terribly.

When Sarah got to the beach it was packed, but eventually she managed to find a spot not to far away from the sea. She unrolled her towel, pulled off her top and trousers so all she was wearing was her bikini, and sprawled out upon it. But before she knew it she was fast asleep, unaware of what was going on around her.

When she woke up the first thing Sarash noticed was the heat-it was far hotter than it had been, and the silence-it was deafening. She reached out to where her bag had been, but it was no longer there. She sat bolt upright and opened her eyes, thinking that it must have been stolen, but when she saw there was nothing for miles around she began to panic... Perhaps she was still dreaming, but no, after pinching herself several times she realised it was real-she was lost, in the middle of nowhere. And the worst part was that she had no food or water.

She roamed the desert for hours upon end, before finally collapsing; she shut her eyes, ready to die, but opened them one last time, hoping that she would be in Florida again, but she was not. However what she saw amazed her; since when had there been a jungle. Where had it come from? or was it simply a mirage? she prayed it wasn't, that it was real and that it had some form of food and water. So she gathered up all of her remaining strength, clambered to her feet and began to walk towards the jungle. The hot golden grains of sand burnt her feet and droplets of sweat soaked her hair, yet still she went on, it was a long way away though.... Several times she sat down and cried, it was not just physically straining but mentally, but somehow she always managed to get up and go on, telling herself it was better to die trying than dying a quitter. Eventually she grew so thirsty she got a sharp rock and made a cut in her arm, then she drank the blood, which tasted revolting, but Sarah was too dehydrated to care.

An hour later she was beginning to fall after every few steps, but one time Sarah fell on something... She groaned in pain as the thing stuck into her side, it was a smooth flat metal oblong and the picture of a swan on a lake was engraved upon it. It was hot and heavy but for some reason, which Sarah herself did not know, she felt the need to take it along with her, so she did.

After two hours Sarah had covered a half a mile, but still she was a long way away from the jungle, so finally she accepted that she was going to die. She was still very badly dehydrated and after 5 more minutes she had passed out.

But she awoke, fully clothed, in a cabin, and found a young woman with bonfire red hair staring down at her, she looked to be in her late twenties but she had an aura around her which made her seem far older; a small white lizard hovers behind her, chirping.

"Hello, I am Indyana, I found you and brought you here; this place is known as the creature refuge, and I run it. And this is Rhianna," she motions to the lizard like creature with wings before handing Sarah a drink, which she had trouble drinking. Then she gave Sarah some food-she didn't bother to ask what it was, she just ate it.

After an hour Sarah felt much better, and her and Indyana got talking, Indyana told Sarah about herself before mentioning a contest which was going on, a contest for a special Bishel dragon. But before explaining about the contest she told Sarah about the Bishel dragons, telling her that there were 3 here at the refuge right now, Athena, Jarod and Pierre. Then she told her about the contest, and about the 14 seals the competitors would need before they began to build a suitable home, she told Sarah about the Bishel dragon rituals and about the Kailan. And low and behold Sarah decided to look for the seals! after Indyana told her the contest wouldn't last very long she insisted on starting her hunt immediately; Indyana insisted accompanying Sarah, even though she couldn't help because then it wouldn't be fair on the other competitors, saying she may collapse at any moment. But before they set off, Sarah asked Indyana if she knew how she'd got there, and Indyana said she had been summoned, because 'they', whoever 'they' were, had felt she was worthy of entering the contest, Indyana apologised for Sarah's suffering though, saying that had not been part of the plan. Normally Sarah would have gone mad but she wanted to see what Bishel dragons looked like in the flesh.

Then Sarah remember the metal oblong she'd found, could it have been a seal? what had happened to it?

"Um Indyana when I was crawling through the desert I found a metal oblong with a swan on a lake engraved upon it, I was wondering if you saw it and if so was it a seal?" she asked.

Indyana smiled coyly, "arr yes, the Homeland seal, it's a seal of the soul, there are 4 seals of soul and this one represents ties to home and hearth." She goes over to her desk and picks something up off it-the seal. She toys with it for a moment before handing it to Sarah.

"Congratulations, looks like you've found your first seal, you came in clutching it and I literally had to rip it out from your arms. I can see why they chose you, your sharp and on the ball, and I sense you are very strong-both physically and mentally. Where do you want to look now?"

"How about in the forest?"

"Sounds good to me, lets go."

The two come across many creatures in the forest, one of them was Goldhawk, the guardian of Dragons of the Glenn, or at least he had been while it was around. But soon Sarah spotted another seal in an ancient oak tree which had grown to monumental size.

She struggled to climb the bough so she had no idea how she would get the seal when it was right at the top, but she would try anyway, even if she died trying. But then 2 featherdrakes, who had seen where Sarah was looking, and wanted the seal for themselves, flew up and snatched it from the tree. Sarah leapt down from the stalwart bough immediately and bounded after them, they flew so high up though... but she could just about see them, and eventually they landed somewhere in the jungle. Now the only problem was finding out where they were, Sarah exhaled heavily but did not moan, for what good would moaning do? they simply continued walking. It took Sarah awhile but finally she found them, but they were with a women. The green and brown one hissed but the women whacked him round the head gently with her staff to shut him up.

She looked apologetically towards Sarah and Indyana and approached them, "sorry, please excuse Bark Edge and Coal Christian, they know of the hunt for the special Bishen and were only trying to make sure the seal didn't fall into the wrong hands, but now you are one of the chosen ones, so I hope you accept my humble apologies, they were not sure of your identity so they decided it was best to bring the seal to me."

"Um well I guess that explains things..." mumbled Sarah, not sure what to say or do next.

"Oh I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself, I am U'haria, Edge and Christian's carer," remembering the seal in her hand she hastily handed it to Sarah. Then she identified it as the Kin seal, another seal of the soul.

'2 down, 12 more to go ' Sarah thought to herself before bidding U'haria, and the (now friendly) featherdrakes farewell and resuming her search.

After finding the Kin seal they moved on, they passed a few more creatures, some normal some mythical creatures with guardians, yet Sarah still hadn't found another seal. Then they came to a river, Indyana said it had very strong underwater currents and that it would be best to find another way across it rather than to risk using the stepping stones. But Sarah being strong willed and a rebel refused and before Indyana could stop her she was leaping from stone to stone, it looked at though she were pirouetting across the stones rather than leaping. Then suddenly she lost her footing and fell in, she sank like a log; and the current instantly began attacking her, trying to carry her further down... towards the waterfall. Eventually she managed to come up for breath, it was like when you hold your breath and then you come up just before you pass out. But she found nothing to hold on to, and gradually the waterfall grew nearer and nearer. And try as Indyana might, she could not save the doomed Sarah. And before she knew it, Sarah found herself falling, and all she could think about was the jagged rocks below, rocks that was rip her to pieces like starving sharks. But just before she hit the rocks she felt herself being lifted upwards, and then when she turned her head she saw.... she saw wings. Her wings; or were they? they were flapping without her trying to make them flap, and since when had she had wings? But as she travelled back up to the pinnacle of the waterfall something caught her eye, it was another seal! But it was caught in some boulders to the side of the waterfall.... oh if only she could get to it. Then after that thought her wings flew her towards it and stopped near the boulders, just near enough so that she could dislodge the seal and take it with her. And then it hit her, whatever she wished, the wings would do-if they could that was. And when she was safely on dry land Indyana said the seal was the Energizing seal, one of the three seals of life, but that was not before she had shunned Sarah. Then Indyana explained that this, was infact the garden of Eden, and that this was holy water, and because she had absorbed some, it had given her wings.

Sarah was not sure whether she liked her wings or not, they were red and black in colour and quite attractive for wings-but she was a human, and humans didn't have wings. Still what good would worrying do, she was stuck with them now and they come in useful... Besides fate must have lent a helping hand, and fate had brought Sarah here, and being here was a blessing, infact whether she won the contest or not, just being able to take part was an honour, and one that she would never forget.

Sarah continued her journey through the forest using her wings to get over fallen logs (and any other obstructions) as she went, until Indyana poked her in the arm and pulled her over so that she saw what she saw.

"That my friend, is Jarod, a rare hybrid Bishen dragon."

Sarah gasped, astonished, "wow!!! I know you said the Bishel dragons were small for dragons but I could never picture them being this size...."

Jarod flew over to the pair, "hello Indyana, I presume this is one of the chosen ones, so what are you doing in the forest? Besides searching for the seals of course," he said addressing Sarah.

"Um well I was hoping to see a Bishel dragon in the flesh, after all if I win I'll be getting one and I'll need to know how to care for him/her," Sarah replied, still shocked.

"Good, good, good, so how many seals do you have so far?" Jarod uttered in an upbeat voice.

"3 and I still need 11! but I'll manage somehow" Sarah said.

"That's the spirit! most people these days give up far to easily," Jarod grumbled beforing looking directly at Sarah, his visage wore a pensive expression. "Wait here traveler," he told Sarah before shooting off into the tree tops.

In a few minutes Jarod returned, holding something in his mouth. "This," he says in a matter of fact tone after spitting the seal out of his mouth, onto the terrain, "is one of the three seals of element, but it's exact name is the Zephyr seal. I was given it because I have wings, therefore it is an element to do with me. You show great potential, which in my eyes makes you worthy, and you seem to have a good heart, so I would like you to have this. It will bring you another step closer to winning the hunt."

"Indeed Jarod spirit is not something Sarah lacks, she's already almost got herself killed in that sacred river, but luckily she developed wings before hitting the rocks."

Jarod tutted before chuckling, "your a very lucky girl Sarah!"

Sarah gawped as Jarod handed her the precious seal, and once it was safely in her hand she treated it like a baby. "Thank you," she mumbled, words no longer came easily to the girl who talked none stop most of the time when she had company. Indyana said good bye for them being as every time Sarah tried she got tongue tied, then she pushed on, venturing further down the path.

They passed 4 more creatures before stumbling upon a hostile young griffin. Yet Sarah showed no fear and she had already seen what the griffon was guarding, it was another of the seals. She and Indyana instantly broke into a fluent sprint in the other direction, then she decided to try and fly her and Indyana to safety, but she couldn't go fast enough if she held onto Indyana and she couldn't leave her, so they had to run. At first the griffin wasn't sure what to do but soon he was hot on their heels. Then Sarah had a sudden umpulse to trust her instinct, and suddenly her instinct seemed to speak, it told her to pull out the zephyr seal and run as fast as she could. She obediently pulled the Zephyr seal out of the satchel Indyana had given her and ran even faster. And the faster she ran, the slower the griffin became, and then it hit her, she was unlocking the Zephyr seals power. Then Sarah yelled at Indyana to run back to where the griffin had been, which at first dumbfounded Indyana, but once she saw Sarah running back she followed. And they ran straight past the irked griffin!!!! which made Indyana laugh in pleasant surprise. But once they were back there Sarah only had a few seconds to stop and examine the area before the griffin returned, but luckily that was enough. She saw the seal again, it was in the bushes, so she rapidly raced over and stuck her hand in the bush, fumbled around for a while, trying to get a good grip on the seal, and once she did she yanked it out. By then she could hear the piqued griffin's soul piercing screams, so once she had it she and Indyana darted away. Then she began to feel these weird trusting vibes, so she asked Indyana about the seal and about the vibes. Indyana laughed when Sarah told her and said that was natural, because that was the Trust seal, the thrid seal of the soul.

"Where now?" Indyana asked.

"The caves!" Sarah shouted back in reply.

Indyana nodded and motioned for Sarah to follow, which she was doing anyway.

When they reached the caves they didn't see any creatures, which seemed odd, but they were too tired to care; so tired that they simply lay down and fell asleep with no blanket or pillow.

The next morning Sarah woke up felling rather hungry and terribly thristy, and when she heard a sizzling sound she sat up. It was only Indyana, she's managed to get a fire going and was cooking some slices of meat that she'd brought. She pulled one away from the fire and handed it to Sarah, along with a flask of water. Once they had eaten and drunk they set off again, but the cave was just as dark as it had been yesterday. They went further into the cave despite the fact it seemed deserted, then suddenly Sarah slipped and slammed into the side of the cave, but somehow she ended up on the floor. At first she thought she'd hit the wall, pivoted upon her heels and fallen over, but no, this room had a light in it, and books were everywhere. It was a library, so she to see if there were any seals around. But there weren't, so she decided to see if there was a book on the seals themselves which would tell her where the seals were hidden, but there wasn't, and anyway, did she really want to cheat? no, of course not, she didn't need to. Then she thought to look in books about the seasons, because Indyana had told her about the seals of time, and it had to be seasons, or birth or something like that. But when she found nothing in the first book about the seasons she began to look in every book that had something to do with time. And finally she found a seal in a sports book, a book about summer sports. And with it was a note which read:

dear worthy person who finds this, this is one of the 14 seals that will get some lucky person a special Bishen. This is the Summer seal, a seal of time, guard it with you life!

So Sarah put it in her satchel and began to look for a way out, but there wasn't one! She tried the door (if you could call it a door) she came in through, but it wouldn't budge. She began to pound on the walls but nothing happened, but she did not cry, instead she remained focused and began to think of a way out. She began to move the bookcases about, searching for another opening, but there wasn't one. However when she pulled one away from the wall she saw that the cave sloped in, so there was a little cove, and then she saw there was a hole in the bottom of the cave which was filled with water! Then she saw a shadow which made her leap back, for it was not her shadow.... Then the 'thing' stuck it's head up through the water, which made Sarah giggle. It was another Bishen! Athena probably, and she was holding another seal! She managed to crawl out of the water and once on dry land she dropped the seal and allowed Sarah to pick it up.

"This is the Aqua seal Sarah, a seal of Element, my mate Jarod told me about you and I felt I should help you with your quest as well, even though you could do it on your own I thought I'd save you some time."

"Th-tha-nks," Sarah gabbled."

"Follow me," Athena cooed before diving back down the hole.

Sarah held the seal in one hand, thinking it would allow her to breath underwater, then she made sure the rest of the seals were safely secured in her satchel before following Athena into the water. She was right the seal did allow her to breath underwater, and amazingly it didn't make her sink, if anything it helped her swim, they were in an underwater cavern now where the water was crystal clear. Athena looked behind her and seeing Sarah was there, she motions for Sarah to follow her into another cavern using her head, but Sarah refused, instead she pointed to a whole which lead back up into the dry caves. She didn't wait for Athena's response she just swam off and once she was near enough, she pulled herself out, shortly afterwards Athena's head appeared above the surface of the water.

"Where are you going?" Athena asked.

"I have to finish touring the cave and find Indyana.... would you mind waiting here?"

Athena sighed, "ok I'll wait."

"Thanks," Sarah mouthed before dashing away, her wings flapped violently all the while in an attempt to get dry.

Moments later a spine chilling scream escaped Sarah and echoed throughout the chain of caves, which made Athena shoot out of the water and land in a heap on the cave floor.

"Sorry," whispered a petrified Sarah.

"Not at all, I wouldn't want to be in your shoes... want me to do anything?"

"Could you get me anything that I could use as a throwing weapon?"

"Sure, I'll be right back," Athena said before disappearing into the body of water.

Athena returned 5 minutes later and dropped the shells on the cave floor, "I didn't miss anything did I?"

"No," replied Sarah in a hushed voice, then she bent down and picked the 2 sharpest shells up and threw one at the cobra, which was curled around one of the seals.

It hit the snake but not on the head, and now the snake was approaching Sarah, ready to attack! So Sarah hurled the other shell at the cobra, but this one didn't hit the snake at all. The snake was just getting ready to strike when suddenly Athena released a dark torrent, which sent the snake flying into the wall, she kept the dark torrent going for a while, and when she finally stopped using her breath weapon the snake fell to the ground, unconscious but not dead.

Sarah shot across and snatched up the seal before turning to Athena, "why didn't you tell me you could do that?!"

Athena smiled slyly, "you didn't ask, you asked for shells. Besides I wanted to see how you handled yourself, you still have a long way to go, but considering you have not been trained you did pretty well, for a newbie that is." Athena said grinning, "will you be ok if I leave you now to catch my dinner? I'll be back as soon as I've eaten,"

"Sure," Sarah said confidently, "oh and this is the Spring seal right?"

"Yeap."

Sarah nodded before turning and walking out into a different cave, her head held high.

Half an hour later Sarah still hadn't came across Indyana or any creatures, let alone a seal, but still she remained optimistic.

Then she entered a really eldritch cave, it had piles of dead leaves all over the floor and there were conkers, acorns and all sorts of other things! She began shuffling her feet through the leaves until she fell head over hells. She dug around for what it was she'd fallen on and when she pulled it out she saw it was the Autumn seal. She let a delighted shriek and began to dance around, throwing leaves up and anything else that was hidden in the leaves, then she sighed heavily and flopped down on the floor, so far she had 9 seals, but she still needed 5 more! And she was soaking wet; she began to mope about and get tearful, and before she knew it she was fast asleep, she often feel asleep when she felt down in the dumps, and part of her had known she was going to fall asleep.

The next thing she knew Indyana was shaking her, shouting for her to wake up, then Indyana told Sarah she'd turned the caves upside down searching for seals, even though she wasn't really meant to help, and that she must have the only seals that had been hidden in the cave. So now their adventure in the caves was over, Sarah told Indyana that she had to go underwater with Athena, and that the Aqua seal would only allow one of them to breath underwater, so she was to stay in the cabin, then when Sarah had finished looking she'd go there, then they'd search for seals in the desert. Indyana agreed but after Sarah told her about the cobra she insisted on going with Sarah to meet Athena, just incase the cobra was conscious.

When they arrived in the cave Indyana instantly began looking for the cobra, unlike Sarah who looked for Athena. But the cobra was still unconscious, which was surprising being as another day had gone by, so Indyana left and Sarah went down below into the sea again. Then something caught Sarah's eye... blood. As she swam closer she saw it was a shark, skewered on a serrated coral, and the coral had gone right through it's side. Athena swam closer to Sarah and she began to act out what had happened by swimming above the shark and using black torrent. Then she swam to the side of the shark and motioned to a rectangular bulge in it's side, which Sarah instantly recognized as a seal, then Athena motioned for Sarah to come and pull it out. She tittered slightly before swimming back over to Sarah and prompting her. Sarah pretended to scowl, but the truth was she wasn't squeamish and didn't mind getting her hands dirty, so she swam over, stuck her hands into the sharks lacerated body and ripped the seal out, but as she went to swim away she turned, unable to resist a quick glance into the shark's clouded ebony orbs. Then she continued swimming with Athena, and quickly because soon other sharks would arrive. Moments later she remembered the seal, she had forgotten to look at the seal and see what sort it was. She grinned, no wonder the shark had eaten it, a fish was engraved upon it, however she did feel sorry for the shark, being attacked like that by Athena just for eating what he thought was a fish. Even though Sarah didn't know the exact name of the seal she knew it would be something to do wish fish or eating, but she was certain it was a seal of life. Because although it was the same shape as the seals of soul, they had all had pictures of birds on and this was to do with life! How could a fish be anything to do with the soul or a bird be anything to do with life?

They swam for about a mile before they heard funny noises; it sounded like a soprano was singing, and the high pitched notes reverberated throughtout the underwater caverns, which puzzled Sarah. Since when could people sing underwater? They turned in the direction of the singing and swam on, as the singing grew louder the caves grew darker.

Then they came into a cave which had a huge oyster shell sitting in the center of it, if Sarah hadn't came to the refuge she wouldn't have believed that the shell was an oyster's, but after today she knew anything was possible. And as she approached the oyster, it became clear the singing was going on inside the oyster! Sarah's first thought was 'a singing oyster! now I've seen-or in this case heard, it all!' But then the oyster shell opened and inside was a dishy young mermaid with sapphire blue hair and baby blue skin, and the lower half of her was of course the body of a fish, but the scales looking as though she were cut from pearls! And despite her odd colour and fish tail she was the most beautiful human-if you could call her a human, Sarah had ever seen. She looked at them, her vivid blue orbs full of sorrow.

"Hello..." she said.

"Hi... um have you seen a seal?" Sarah managed to say, it was the first time she'd spoken underwater and her words came out in bubbles, and were only heard once the bubbles burst.

"You mean this?" she dangled a seal infront of Sarah.

Sarah nodded and tried to take the seal, but the mermaid snatched it away which made Sarah's blood boil.

"Give me the god damn seal or Ill kill you!" Sarah screamed in rage.

The mermaid threw the seal at her, and even though they were underwater the seal cut through the water and travelled at the speed a normal object would have when thrown through the air. And the mermaid coiled up, clearly hurt by Sarah's outburst, Athena whacked Sarah using her tail and shot the mermaid an apologetic look.

"Sorry..." Sarah uttered, "I thought... I thought you were going to be a bitch and withold the seal, which I need-needed, really badly. I'm taking part in the contest you see... do you know about the contest?"

The mermaid brightened up slightly, "no I'm sorry, I just didn't want you to leave immediately... no one ever visits me and I get so lonely. And yes I've heard about the contest, that's the Singing seal, it's a seal of life believe it or not."

"Oh... well we can stay a while, and I don't suppose you know what this seal is do you?" Sarah pulled out the seal with a fish on and showed the mermaid.

"Why didn't you ask me?!" Athena whined.

Sarah shrugged and continued to wait for the mermaid's reply.

"Yes it's the Feasting seal."

"Thanks," Sarah said, "oh and I'm Sarah and this is Athena."

"Hi, I'm Pearl."

The 3 talked for another hour and before they left Athena promised to visit Pearl again and even gave her directions to her own home! And in return Pearl told Sarah to head on, further down the cave until she came to a waterfall, she said that she'd been told there was a lava pit behind the waterfall, which would be a good place to hide a seal, for only the wisest and bravest would risk going behind the waterfall. And then Athena realised she couldn't go behind the waterfall with Sarah, so she said she'd come back to see Pearl again after traveling with Sarah to the waterfall. This would be the last part of their underwater journey, which saddened the pair, though they both tried not to show it.

Before they knew it it was time for Athena and Sarah to say good bye; but Sarah vowed to return, and she would! whether she got the egg or not. But that was not all Sarah said, she also asked if Athena would be a god parent if she did find the egg, and Athena happily accepted and commented on how honoured she felt before disappearing into the water. Then Sarah crawled out of the water and begin to flap her wings, trying to dry them.

When her wings were finally dry she went back as far as the tiny island would let her then ran forward towards the waterfall, set her heart on flying through the waterfall and a second later she was flying toward the waterfall. But as she neared it she could see the back of the waterfall, it was not hollow!! there were rocks behind it. Then the wings stopped flapping and Sarah began to fall, she tried to get the wings to fly her back to the miniscule island but they wouldn't, and it was then that Sarah decided she was going to end up dead one way or another, so she might as well die crashing into a pile of rocks. So again the wings carried her towards the waterfall, and Sarah braced herself for the immense pain she would feel, but remarkably she never felt any pain, the rocks had been a mirage! Of course, now it all made sense, that explained why the mermaid had said only the bravest would attempt to go through. And then she found herself being lowered onto the ground; and once her 'the' wings stopped beating she stood up and strode across to the profound lava pit. Sarah had assumed she would have to search for the lava pit but no, there it was as clear as the nose on her face. But the heat instantly began attacking her, it was hot even from the top of the pit. But sure enough there was the seal, balanced on a rock which was just visible. Sarah gulped but this was something she had to do, so once again she set her heart on the place she wanted to be, hovering just above the seal, which may not seem like much, but within moments of entering the pit Sarah was soaked, and the wings took their time! The risky part was if Sarah passed out, because without concerntrating she would plummet into the lava. But of course Sarah would rather die than give up, but she did not manage to remain conscious. However something pulled her back up, it was Goldhawk! He was a fire dragon so obviously he didn't mind the heat one bit, and after Sarah was on safe ground he went back for the seal.

Once Sarah was conscious again she thanked Goldhawk who told her about the waterfall and everything else, including the seal. He said it was the Terra seal, the third seal of element, the seal Pierre was supposed to have hidden, but he'd never got the chance to because someone had stolen it. The only explanation Goldhawk could think of was that someone had hidden the seal there thinking it would be safe. And when Sarah asked how he'd found her he said he'd been hiding there all along, up on a huge ledge which Sarah hadn't noticed before. They spent the night in the cavern even though Sarah wanted to go to the cabin because Goldhawk said Sarah may pass out again at any minute.

As soon as they were both awake they set off for the cabin because Sarah was so eager to continue her search. She didn't even realise she was let alone still tired!

When they arrived at the cabin Goldhawk told Indyana everything that he'd seen, and Sarah told her all about her adventure with Athena. And immediately after Goldhawk left Sarah began searching again, only this time it was in the desert. They searched and searched but they didn't find anything, and then of course it began to get dark. But Sarah, who had exceptionally good eyesight saw a dark shape move. So while Indyana had her back turned she walked off and crept up upon the 'thing' before leaping on it. And to her surprise it was a human, but the thing that didn't surprise her was that the human had a seal.

The human, who turned out to be a tall blonde (fairly attractive) young girl, punched Sarah in the face, which made Sarah wince. But Sarah retaliated by grabbing the girl by the hair and bringing her face down into her knee. The girl, unlike her, screamed in pain though. So Sarah punched her. But then the girl kicked Sarah in the knee, and she hastily snatched up the seal and began to run off. Sarah staggered to her feet and tried to follow the girl, but it was no good. Then she remembered her good old wings! so she set her heart on hovering just above the girl, and within no time at all there she was! right above the girl, her unsuspecting victim. Then Sarah came crashed down upon her, and the fight started all over again, only this time Sarah used her wings as a weapon. They shot out and because the girl was about the kick Sarah in the side, she ended up with a broken leg. By now Indyana had found them and all she could do was stand there flabbergasted.

"You," she said with surprising venom, "were banished from this realm Ambrosia."

The girl just shrugged and spat as Sarah, who ignored her. Instead Sarah continued searching for the seal, where had it gone? arrr there it was. She staggered towards the seal and picked it up, but there was a not attached.

"Indyana?" Sarah called.

Indyana stopped screaming at Ambrosia for a moment and turned toward Sarah, "what is it Sarah?"

"Um the seal had a note attached, this is what it says," she cleared her throat and then began, "err I can't read the first bit, I think it's a spell and the rest just says this seal is the Winter seal, a time seal." She handed the note to Indyana and wiped her nose, which was bleading."

"Hmm so you thought you'd turn us all into frogs Ambrosia, I can't say I'm surprised. You always did lack creativity, but I think I'll turn YOU into a frog, that way you can't cause any more trouble." So Indyana began chanting and once she'd finished reading thr spell, Ambrosia began to change and grow smaller, and all Ambrosia could do was scream and scowl, she seemed to melt at first but then she took on the shape of a toad, a hideous one! And then when the transformation was complete Indyana began to chant again, and to Sarah's surprise Ambrosia didn't explode, instead a small portal opened around her and pulled her in, leaving her and Indyana in total silence.

Now was the moment of truth; Indyana explained the third spell to Sarah, and she also explained that it would conjure up the final seal, the love seal. The most important seal of all, the seal that would guide her to the egg. And this part of the journey Sarah had to do alone, so she hugged Indyana good bye, shedding a single tear, a tear of both sadness and happieness.

"Good bye Indyana... I'll never forget you and the others, and I promise to visit.... tell them I said bye please? I don't know what I'll do without you..."

"Of course... and we'll hold you to that," Indyana said smiling, "and Sarah, you'll do fine without us-and seriously, I do hope you'll visit, because I will miss you terribly! You opened your heart up to us Sarah and your a dreamer, a believer, and you know how to handle yourself, I mean look at what you did to Ambrosia! So go, follow your heart and find this special Bishel dragon egg!"

Sarah managed a smile and then she began to chant. The chant was a long one, it lasted 5 minutes, but after it was finished the darkness seemed to tear and light burst through, and in the light's place was the love seal. By now Sarah was feeling very emotional and tears began to trickle down her pretty visage; however no sobs escaped her. And then she read the final spell. The spell opened a portal but before Sarah stepped into it and into a new dimension, she waved Indyana good bye with her free hand, but it was not just good bye to Indyana, it was good bye to the whole realm, which she had loathed at first but now loved. Then she stepped through the portal, the love seal held just infront of her, ready to lead the way.