Heights and Depths

Heights and Depths, the World of the Lightning Dragon.
== Heights and Depths ==
“Whoa,” Mike gasped as he and Nate stumbled into an ancient monument, lit only by the glow of the green portal. They were camping in the woods near their home, where they camped together hundreds of times with their families. As best friends, they always got along. Now, there was no way out, except for the mysterious portal.  
“Should we go in?” Nate asked nervously.  
“We must,” Mike replied, looking up to where they had fallen from. It was at least a good 7 feet. They might have broken their legs if it wasn’t for the squishy thing they had landed on. It didn’t look like something they would have wanted to know what it was. “There’s no way out. So if you don’t want to starve in here, let's go in.”  
And so they took a deep breath, looked around one more time, and stepped into the portal. 
For a second green energy surrounded them, stretching endlessly. Then shapes began to form, and the next moment they were pushed out of the portal by an unknown force. Then they could see clearly that they were in a plain, with a village in the distance. The ground shook violently and the portal seemed to be collapsing on itself, and that was exactly what was happening. Mike and Nate ran away from the portal, and the portal, after a minute or so, exploded in a green fireball.  
“Uh, what now?” Nate asked. They were recovering after the blast blasted them off the ground and about a few yards up. Mike was now bandaging his right hand, as he scraped his hand on a tree when he was falling.  
Mike looked up. “I don’t know,” he replied. “Maybe go the village?” 
“Good idea.”  
The friends walked toward the village, without saying a word to each other.  
They got to the village in about half an hour, only to find that the village was abandoned... Almost. They found a very old man sipping coffee in a very old wooden house. Mike knocked on the door. 
“Come in!” said the old man in a surprisingly young voice. As young as maybe a teenager.  
Sure enough, when they went into the house, a teenage boy was waiting, as well as the very old villager they saw through the window.  
“Hello,” the very old villager said in a very old voice. “Huh. I see you’re from the alternate reality. Let me explain everything to you. 
“You know about the theory of the Multiverse. Well, it’s true. There are countless realities, although yours is sort of like the ‘hub’ of the Universes. Most of the population is based on Reality Earth,  and the Portals are located there. This universe is one of the minor ones. You should be able to go back from a portal about a mile in that direction.” The villager pointed toward where they came from.  
Mike and Nate glanced at each other uneasily, and Nate was the one who spoke. “That portal... Sort of exploded.” 
The villager’s expression suddenly became concerned. “In that case... There’s only one other way to get back, and that is through the Sky Fortress. Beware, as that portal is guarded by the Lightning Dragon.” 
Nate and Mike gasped, although for a different reason. Nate was just shocked by the fact that there were actual dragons in this universe, while Mike was trying to figure out a way to fight it and get back home. Impossible, he thought.  
“There is a way to beat the Lightning Dragon, however,” the old man continued. “Go get the Fire Guardians from the ultimate depths of the world. Tell them you have come to beat the Lightning Dragon. They’ll follow you. About the Sky Fortress, well, it’s floating in the Sky. I’ll give you the Stick of Benders to reach the Depths of the World and the Heights of the Fortress. Good Luck.” The man handed Mike the Stick of Benders and the villager, as well as his grandson, vanished.  
“Go to the Depths of the World?” Nate asked.  
“Good idea,” Mike replied. They held the Stick, Nate holding one side and Mike holding the other. Nothing happened for a moment. Then a lightning struck them, ripping reality and teleporting them to the Depths of the World.  
They teleported into a hellish landscape of fires and red stones everywhere, as well as occasional holes to the void. Lava waterfalls – wait maybe Lavafalls? - were right in front of them. Mike immediately grabbed Nate by the arm... No, neck. Accidents happen. Mike immediately grabbed Nate by the neck and pulled him back.  
“You’ve got to watch out!” he yelled at Nate.  
Nate didn’t reply; instead he changed the subject. “Where’s all the Fire Guards?”  
Mike gave him a blank look. “You actually thought they would be wandering everywhere around? Like a zombie apocalypse?” 
“Yes!” he replied. “And speaking of zombies, where are all of them?” 
“Do you think zombies are real?” 
“I mean, it’s another Universe! Yes!” 
Mike just shook his head. “You just watch way too much Zombie Apocalypse Movies.” he mumbled. 
There actually were Zombies and Skeletons everywhere, at least in the World over the Depths. But those monsters were actually passive in that universe, and tended to repel away from people.  
Nate picked out a spyglass from his pocket, while Mike just stared at him blankly. This was because he had a compass, a bomb, a missile, a sword, an axe, triple dozen pork chops, and many more things in his pocket.  
Nate scouted around until he found a castle-like structure in the distance. “Look over there,” he said. “Maybe Fire Guards are over there?”  
Mike took the spyglass from Nate and looked around for a moment until he found the structure. This time, Blaze-like figures were faintly visible. “Looks like it.” Then he added, “They’re called Fire GUARDIANS, not Fire Guards. Because Fire Guards sound weak.” 
They walked to it, frequently checking through the spyglass to make sure they were going the right way, and after about an hour they arrived at the fortress.  
“WE HAVE COME TO RECRUIT YOU TO BEAT THE LIGHTING DRAGON!” Nate announced at the top of his lungs as soon as they were in the earshot of the fortress. They could now see Fire Guardians peeking through the square lookout holes of the Fortress-like Structure. The Fire Guards were like Red Skeletons that were on fire. One threw a weak fireball at them. The others just simply put up flaming shields before them.  
“I REPEAT, WE HAVE COME TO SEEK HELP FROM YOU TO BEAT THE LIGHTNING DRAGON!!!” Mike yelled. This time, Fire Guardians started to flow out of the fortress, revealing that there were about a thousand of them. “Okay, okay! Double dozen is enough!” And whispered to Nate, “Do you think so?” 
“We’ll be fine,” Nate replied. “We have a problem, though. How are we going to get those Fire things up to the Sky Fortress?” 
Mike thought for a moment, and seemed to come up with a solution. “Um, guys, can you teleport?” The Fire Guards stared at him blankly, and then suddenly disappeared. A fireball flew over them, and Mike and Nate both looked back. The Fire Guardians were behind them.  
“I guess they can,” said Nate. “We’ll use the Stick, and they’ll teleport.” He turned to the Fire Guards. “Teleport directly above here to the Overworld.” 
The Fire Guards nodded. Or seemed to. Nate got out the Stick of Benders and Mike touched the other end. When he looked back, the Fire Guardians had disappeared. 
Nate and Mike stumbled out from 6 feet high. Not enough to actually injure, but high enough to give pain. “OW!” one of them yelped.  
Fire Guardians were already scattered around. “Follow!” Mike shouted and the skeletons started following Mike. To their luck, the Sky Castle was within a mile or so. Nate and Mike ran up to it, the Fire Guardians following them, and used the Stick of Benders to teleport up. The Fire Guardians teleported too. 
The Sky Fortress was huge. Really huge. The entrance room had a Wooden Chest. Mike cautiously opened it, revealing a bunch of Diamonds and four Enderium swords. He pocketed all of the diamonds and gave two swords to Nate, and took two for himself. One for each hand.  
Nate, swinging at Electrons, monsters made out of pure electricity, wandered into the next room. Not much was in the next room. Or the next. In truth, the only room that provided precious items was the entrance room. No one knows how it got there.  
Mike quickly followed Nate, and the Fire Guardians obediently followed Mike. They ran through the various rooms and chambers with swiftness and got to the Dragon Chamber.  
“Ready?” Mike asked.  
“Ready.” And Nate opened the door.  
The Lightning Dragon shot a bolt at them the exact second the door was opened. Fire Guardians flowed into the room, throwing tons of Fireballs at the dragon. Mike and Nate was blasted to the ground.  
The Lightning dragon was on Fire, and although it was quickly taking damage, it still had enough power to attack.  
“Quickly! Stab its heart!” Nate screamed at a spark missed him by inches.  
Mike used one of his sword to defend and one to attack. The Enderium was flaming now, but it didn’t damage the material. It even made it stronger. But even a Flaming Enderium Sword couldn’t penetrate the thick dragon scales. His shirt caught fire, and he quickly took it off. And then he remembered. It wasn’t the heart. It was the one, single scale that was upside-down. That was all dragons’ weakness. If that comes off, it will die. Not instantly, but soon. He desperately searched for it, defending himself with both swords.... 
And then he found it. A single scale. He took a deep breath and ripped it off. The Lightning Dragon started to burn more and more, until there was nothing left but ashes. 
“Nate?” he called out. It was only then that he realized that he was missing.  
“I’m here!” he replied, dropping from the ceiling. “I think the Fire Guards can go.” 
“Fire Guardians, you have done a great job. You may go back to your home now,” Mike announced. The Fire Guardians disappeared instantly.  
There was a Green portal. “Let’s go in.” Mike said, and they both stepped in, back to their world.  
Category:Call of the Wither
Category:Stories