Destined: The Six

34. Rubrum's Forest

          A few hours later, August's voice came on a speaker that Jeremiah was certain the train didn't have before. "Alright, amigos, we have reached New Zealand!" his voice confirmed as the train dived for landing. Jeremiah, who was sitting on his bed, stood up and walked over to the sliding door wall. When he felt the thud of the train landing, he opened the door and walked out, hoping for no more tribal people.

          There were no more tribal people. There was just a forest that seemingly went forever, with a mountain in the distance. Loraine had landed on a beach, which was no less beautiful then the emerald forest. To Jeremiah's right, at the edge of the forest, was a familiar structure covered in vines. Jeremiah walked over and uncovered it.

          The familiar structure was, in fact, a pylon. A beam of light shot into the sky, and a force to Jeremiah's left rammed into him, knocking him down and out.

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          Apparently, Jeremiah must have uncovered the pylon. Something had to have knocked out all of Dylan's friends, and Dylan blamed Rubrum. Just like Dylan predicted, the majestic red stag came to a charging halt in front of him. "Hello, little Destined," he drawled with a smirk on his face. "Have you found out my riddle?"

          "Yup. 'Child's play.' The two most popular games for kids, in the olden days, at least, are hide-and-seek and tag. Should I turn around and count to ten?" Dylan answered with a smirk of his own. Rubrum nodded with a childish smile, then presumably dashed off into the forest. Dylan wasn't sure, as he had turned around and had begun counting to ten.

          After a count of ten, Dylan spun so that he faced the forest. Rubrum wasn't immediately in sight, so he ran into the endless storm of green. 

          Dylan was immediately lost. Once he entered the forest, he turned around and only saw more forest as far as the eye could see. Dylan, not one to lose heart, even when he was lost, continued to run. He was determined to find that majestic red stag, and he was going to destroy it. 

          Dylan searched under every nook and cranny that he could find. He looked for Rubrum in hollow logs, in holes in trees, under bushes, even in the mouths of animals. He knew that Rubrum was a magical creature, so he assumed that he could hide anywhere. He wished that this game of hide-and-seek was child's play, but no, it had to be difficult. Dylan also wished that he had grabbed Heather's Dress of Eradication.

          Dylan tried one last hope. "MARCO!" he cried out into the forested nothingness. he heard a voice in the distance. "POLO!" it shouted back. Dylan cried out again, this time closing his eyes. The voice responded again, but this time Dylan was paying attention. He ran towards the voice. Every once in a while, he would cry out, "MARCO!" and the voice would respond "POLO!" Dylan was glad that the voice seemed to be getting closer.

          About an hour of running and crying out later, the Voice of Polo seemed abominably close. Dylan ran through a group of bushes to reveal a bird next to what looked like a watering hole. Dylan was confused. "Marco," he said halfheartedly. 

          "Polo," the bird responded in the same tone. Dylan wanted to explode. The bird had even sounded like Rubrum. All that running and shouting for a bird? At last Dylan could get a drink of water. He put his lips to the lake and began to drink. After hydrating, Dylan heard something crashing through the forest. Dylan didn't have to have owl ears to realize it was heading straight for him. He took cover behind the bird.

          Rubrum burst into the clearing. He saw Dylan hiding behind the bird. "I see you, Destined," he growled. He charged Dylan again. Dylan narrowly dodged it, and he was glad. Rubrum had cracked the rock that was smashed in his stead. Dylan pulled out his two cutlasses. "Fight me," he challenged. 

          Rubrum stood up, dusting rock rubble off his shoulders. "Will do." he immediately charged. Instead of dodging like a coward, Dylan made an"X" with his cutlasses. The two fighters locked weapons, Rubrum's horns and Dylan's cutlasses. The two backed away. They repeated this, locking weapons.

          The two backed away again. Dylan charged again, going for a swipe instead of a lock. He leaped straight for Rubrum's left antler. He struck gold with his Atlantean Gold, lopping the antler right off of Rubrum's head. The majestic stag man howled in pain. He charged again, but he was slower and weaker this time. Dylan sidestepped it easily.

          So that's the ticket, Dylan thought. His antlers are his source of power. Dylan ran to Rubrum's right, getting into position to lop off another antler. Rubrum must have seen Dylan's positioning, though, because he adopted a defensive stance. 

          Dylan leaped for Rubrum's head, assuming that he would be slow and unable to stop him. That was almost entirely untrue. Apparently, Rubrum's defensive stance became more powerful when he lost an antler, since defending was more important. Rubrum grabbed Dylan with one fist and slammed him on the ground.  

          If Dylan had been a normal person, his spine would have shattered. As he was, however, Dylan felt the crack of his skin being broken. If he didn't want to bleed out, he wanted to make sure he didn't let Rubrum do that again. Then he realized that rock-hard skin wasn't the only ability that  he had. Dylan called up the watering hole and doused Rubrum with it. 

          While Rubrum was gasping and sputtering, evidently caught off guard by Dylan's attack, Dylan took this time to lop off Rubrum's other antler. The majestic stag howled in pain again. Dylan decided to put him out of his misery, gory description not included.

          Rubrum's carnage faded away. Dylan turned around to see that he was at the edge of the forest, with the pylon clearly in sight. He would have questioned it, but it didn't seem to be necessary. Dylan heard the groans of the others waking up as he strolled over to the pylon.

          "What did we miss?" Jeremiah asked, rubbing his eyes. 

          "Oh, just the entire thing," Dylan told him.

          "WHAT?"

          "The important part is that I can break the pylon now," Dylan finished as he raised his cutlasses. He brought them down, splitting the pylon in half. The light from the pylon slowly moved over to him. Voices spoke from all directions.

Son of the ocean, you have bested the red stag. Take, now, the squid's blessing.

          A squid appeared in the air by Dylan's side. It floated nonchalantly, as if it was meant to float and breathe air. It was about the size of Dylan's head. "Oh, hi, squid's blessing," Dylan managed.