The Beginning of Troubled Times

Chapter 6: Business in the Shadows

 At around eleven in the evening, Panda was in the dungeons creating something. She had been working hard on this weapon since six in the morning and was almost finished when Boris walked in. Boris took one look at the welding table and saw the weapon Panda was creating. It was a weird weapon, due to an arrow-like tip on one side and a round oval on the other.

"What the heck is that?" Boris asked out of shock.

"A harpoon and missile mixed, also what 22 called my secret weapon," Panda quickly explained. She always has had a lack of patience with others, so she hoped that Boris wouldn't ask questions about her weapon. Unfortunately, Boris had two questions he wanted to ask.

"What is the harpsile's function?" Boris said

"Haha, nice name for it. Well, you fire it out of a standard missile launcher, harpoon side first. Then once it reaches its target the harpoon sticks into an object, usually a tree or the ground itself, so it can't be moved. Then, without the Matinials or really anyone being able to defuse it, the missile would go off, doing a crap ton of damage," Panda explained.

Boris then looked around the room, and suddenly had a look of suspicion in his eyes, that Panda, unfortunately, noticed, so she spoke up.

"What's so weird to you, Boris?"

"How did you make it?"

"What do you mean?"

"There are no tools in here, so how would you put it all together?"

"Why would you ask?"

"Haha, very funny response Panda, but this is a serious question,"

"Have you ever wondered if we descended from somewhere, that wasn't normal?" Panda asked Boris.

"I have given that a thought before, I can't figure it out though," Boris confessed.

"You're welcome, I already found out for you. You and I both descend from some pretty famous people in Parnatia. We can both do magic, I've just taught myself for a while, which is also why I don't have tools down here. I don't need them," Panda said. She then summoned an item out of her backpack, which was on the other side of the room. The item appeared to be an old storybook. She then summoned two more like it, both of different sizes. Then, Panda handed them over to Boris, and he read the titles out loud.

"The Dragon's Ashes of Heart, The Darkened Wars of Life, and The Warriors of Freedom?" Boris read.

"Panda, my great-great-great-great grandmother, wrote down their journeys to defeat one of the greatest villains of all time. You might recognize some of the names in there like Kay is your great-great-great-great grandfather. You might also recognize Flame, Eagler, Dave, Nick, Josh, and Potato?"

"These stories are true then? Do you know where their graves are, Flame's included?"

"Of course I do, I've been there before. They were all buried together, on top of a beautiful hill in the Flaming Lands. I'll take you there someday, it's an amazing sight. We can also visit other landmarks in the stories if you would like," Panda reminisced.

"We can go in a month, but we are too busy right now. Do you mind if I borrow these to read them?"

"Not at all, but let me copy them first,"

Panda then summoned a spellbook and shot a spell at the three books, which then duplicated themselves.

"You need to teach me how to use magic, that looks amazing," Boris said in awe.

"I can teach you someday, but right now I can't. I need to do finishing touches on the harpsile," Panda said

"I think I could help you finish it, just teach me the basics afterward," Boris added, "please,"

"Fine, but once again, let's just finish this," Panda said, losing patience. She then summoned some tools for Boris, but he instantly dropped them on his foot and started hopping around, holding one foot in the air while wincing, while Panda was howling with laughter. Three hours later, at one-thirty in the morning, they had finished. It had black and red paint on it, along with the word, "HARPSILE" written in yellow paint. They both left the dungeons, hid the weapon, and then went to bed. Once Panda entered her room, she didn't go to bed but instead pulled out some spellbooks. Panda didn't look, or even feel tired, due to not usually sleeping until three in the morning. She flipped through the pages, looking at advanced spells. Panda read through the whole book, and then tried one of the spells. She looked at the painting of war on her wall, then cast the spell she had just read about. Her eyes turned solid white and she rose into the air. In an instant, she was inside the events of the painting. It was an overgrown savannah, with acacia and bushwillows scattered around in the tall prairie grass. Panda felt a sudden blessing of warmth and happiness, but it was almost instantly diminished by a yell from behind her, but she couldn't turn around anymore, the spell was fading. Within minutes, she fell through the painting onto the soft carpeted floor in her room. Two people were standing over her now, checking if she was alright.

"Panda, what the heck were you doing?" A voice asked,"22 was looking for you!"

"Boris, what do you think I was doing?" Panda said, lightly, still flat on her back.

"I don't know Boris, but I think she was putting herself into a painting," a familiar voice who Panda recognized to be 22's.

"You're correct, 22. I was in a painting!" Panda laughed, "the beauty of magic,"

"Well, I think the first thing you should do is stand up, then we can discuss what we were going to," Boris suggested. So, Panda stood up quickly, almost falling over due to dizziness, then looked at Boris and 22 more clearly. Boris was wearing a black and purple nightgown, while 22 was wearing a black and grey suit, with a solid red tie.

"So, what is it, 22?" Panda asked while brushing dirt and dust off of her robes.

"I know the Matinial's battle plan now," 22 admitted. Panda and Boris then stared at him out of shock, until Panda asked something crucial.

"How?"

"Dave ordered me out of the room, but I hid outside of it and heard everything. Close call too, Sylvia almost caught me. I think she saw a glimpse of my shoe," 22 explained.

"Well, what is their plan?" Boris asked
"It isn't fully finished, but here. So, they are going to cross over the sea between Lowres and Larthes, to enter Ethesin. Dave's not sure what type of defenses we have, but he thinks they can easily storm those. Then, straight into the palace, find you two, bring you both back here, and hold a public execution. Such a flawed plan, to be fair Iris pointed out a lot of the flaws, but I assure you that I will figure it out," Gerrit recounted.

"That's interesting," Panda said slowly, "Did you figure out what their weapon is?"

"I did! It's a sniper combined with a flamethrower. But, they might have another weapon. Dave and Nick can do magic,"

"Well then, Kay. Looks like I will have to teach you soon," Panda said. Just then, they could hear footsteps outside, and a hurried discussion.

"Where is Panda usually at two-thirty in the morning?" Chief Commander Owen's voice said.

"Unless she is in the dungeons, she will be in her room, which is right here. Look, the light's on, knock," Frog guessed. But before Owen could knock, Boris opened the door. There were the three chief commanders, standing before them.

"Panda? Boris? We have someone from the Matinials who is in the entrance hall. They have an offer for you two," Chief Commander Jamison explained. Panda and Boris exchanged a darkened look, and then followed the Chiefs out of Panda's room. 22 tagged along, quite reluctantly though. Once they got down to the entrance hall, there was a girl with fluffy brown hair pulled up into a bun. They were wearing a hoodie and dark blue jeans and were staring at 22.

"Oh no," 22 whispered, "Not her."