NOT ALONE- Book 1

Ogres' Land

Alethea was now looking at Cloven who was even bigger than Ivteer. Cloven held his head up high and didn't make any eye contact with his fellow competitors. James doing the same. He would only give a smile to the cameras when they were facing him. Cloven was covered in grey and white fur, paws big enough to squash Alethea to her grave, but she saw something around the Clouded Wolfs' neck. "What's that around his neck?" questioned Alethea.

"No one actually knows, when James saw him he had it," replied Decha.

They all looked back to the screen and Professor Quin was out of the way. "ON YOUR MARKS...GET SET... GO!" he yelled.

All the competitors and their pets raced off into the woods. James was second to the front, whereas Luca was sixth. Hannah Jenkles was at the back of the line, while the other girls from the Generals and Energies were way in front. The camera showed the frustration on her face and Alethea couldn't be any happier.

All of them were stomping, running and some were flying. They had all gone through the first two obstacles - Mischievous Maze and Spiteful Mermaids.

The mischievous maze was full of old tricks from decades ago. They included bowedie-woggles, flaming fountains and more. You had to be careful where you were walking in the maze. There were hidden blocks covered with leaves, rocks or puddles. Once you stepped on them, two things could happen. You could drop into the trap and that's the end of the race for you, or you would unlock a cage of honey-trunkl's. They sounded sweet until Alethea saw their appearance on screen. They had no hands, but two legs which carried their round body. Their eyes were a haunting white and their sharp teeth carried a green substance which didn't stop producing. It was ... foamlike. Two competitors, unfortunately, were already out of the race. Both from the Energies team.

The next obstacle were the spiteful mermaids. Mermaids were definitely not the calmest creatures you could come across. You had to be incredibly careful with them. The smallest of things could set them off into a killing frenzy. They were beautiful yet hideous.

Cloven and James seemed to go through this obstacle with ease, as mermaids loved a Clouded Wolf. You could see that the mermaids were not happy with James sitting on him, but they didn't attack. Afraid they could harm Cloven.  Two General competitors, and one Energy was wiped out.

The two general competitors believed they could trick the mermaids in thinking they were one of them. That didn't end too well, as one of them couldn't swim. Which you cannot in a pool of mermaids. Mermaids could change the water they swam in at any time to complement them. Whether too hot, or too cold, or even turn into a slight slime (this usually happens to slow down their prey). They were dragged deeper into the lake and Madame Gail had to go in and discuss with the mermaids. The other general was surrounded by mermaids. Instead of biting him, they threw tiny pearls which were tampered with mermaid magic. He grew bigger and bigger, and he burst. He didn't die... but his unconscious body was on the side of the lake. Professor Fandle-Hogan (teacher of art), had to go collect the boy before the mermaids changed their mind and ate him.

The Energy competitor couldn't control their pet. Their pet was a Flamis. A Flamis was a fire breathing bird, which was the size of a car. Their wings weighed more than a tonne, and specks of fire would come out of their feathers. Being surrounded by mermaids scared the baby Flamis, so it flew away. Due to the rule of not being allowed to fly to a certain extent, they broke the rules. So they were disqualified.

Alethea watched everyone going through the third obstacle when suddenly the ground split. This seemed to shock everyone, but James and Luca did not seem fazed. She watched James whisper something into Cloven's ear and he nodded. He started spinning in a circle, creating wind with his tail, enough for only him and James who was now floating on to the main ground. Cheers came from everywhere, encouraging them both.