Jacob Nimbus and The Guards of Elementum

Chapter 1

I Follow A Strange Blue Lady

    Well now that I've gotten the little introduction to my story out of the way I can talk about the weird stuff, well you know, the really weird stuff. I guess it all started on my ride home from school that day. Brian was walking next to me, 'Why do you think all that water went berserk?' He asked,

'I really don't know it was really weird.' At the time I had a nagging suspicion that I was the one that had caused it, but I didn't mention it to him. We walked in silence for most of the time. Brian was a bit on the scrawny side, which was the main reason the kids at school picked on him, his almond brown hair was always cut the same way, in a regular buzz cut. Unlike me, he wore glasses, which were oval wire ones. They probably would've looked pretty hilarious on anyone else but I guess he made it work. See, me and Brian have known each for 3 years, I met him about a year after my dad disappeared. He was the new kid at school, and I didn't have many friends (I still don't) so we got along pretty well.

Once we reached the intersection of the main roads, he headed off to his house, and we parted ways. 'See you tomorrow!' I called as he walked down the icy winter street.

'Bye Jacob!' He answered.

At the time I had no idea that I wouldn't be seeing Brian for a long time. Oh, and another thing, you might be wondering why I was wearing a t-shirt and shorts in the middle of winter, I'd always been thick-skinned as my mom would probably put it, I rarely got cold and it had to be far below freezing to even make me think about putting on a jacket. Mom always said it was a bad thing, but I really don't see what's wrong with it.

On the ride home I rode past the Obsidian Woods which had always kinda freaked me out... I always figured it was named that because all the trees had nearly black trunks, but man was I wrong. I went past thinking about the stories my dad used to tell me, about the trees. He used to say that each of the trees resembled a guard and at night, the trees came to life and protected the forest. 'That's enough of that...' I scolded myself I didn't want to think about my dad any more than I had to.

Thats when I saw the blue light. It was a faint wisp, barely noticeable, coming from behind the trees. I got off my bike and crouched down low I didn't know if someone was making a strange blue bonfire, or starting a forest fire, but I was just drawn to the light like moths to a flame. I slowly peeked around the edge of the tree and what I saw made my heart skip a beat. There was an eerie light blue silhouette of a woman, she looked about 20 years old or so, she was wearing a white dress and sandals that looked like they were made of- was that water?! I suddenly realized how quiet everything had gotten. It was as if the street and the wind had just quieted down for her presence. She gestured for me to follow her. So I did what any sensible 12 year old boy would do: I followed her. My mom probably wouldn't be home for a few more hours anyways.

Okay, okay, so maybe it wasn't the brightest idea to follow some random blue spirit lady. But I was curious and looking for a change. Life had taken it's toll on me but I intended to make it interesting. She lead me down a mossy path that was so overgrown from vines and thorns, it could've been a tropical rainforest. Despite the cold, I had a sudden rush of adrenaline, it sent warmth surging through my body. After a while she turned in a perfect u-turn and sent us walking randomly through the woods. Before long, I had no idea which way we had come from and I was completely lost. I thought (a little late) that it might be a trap, and I could be in danger... But since I had no where else to go I followed her through the underbrush.

We walked- well she floated for what seemed like hours, finally she turned once more and floated directly through a boulder blocking a cave entrance. 'Uhhhh,' I pondered,

'Miss Spirit Lady, where'd you go?'

No answer, what was I expecting? For all I knew I was hallucinating all this, it was the Grand Canyon all over again...

On the plus side I was lost in the woods with no help in sight, my mom was probably home by now and she must've been worried sick about me. My only option was to go forward and try to follow the spirit through the boulder, the only issue was the thing looked like it weighed a ton...

I looked around for anything I could use to move the boulder, nothing.

I checked for anything that could help me break the boulder, nothing.

Finally, in a frenzy, I ran straight at the boulder with all my might. Right about now you're probably thinking 'Wow, Jacob you really are an idiot.' You're probably right...

Just then- shocker, it didn't work. I ran straight into a rock solid surface. I fell right on my butt and lay there wondering how I was going to find my way home before it got dark.

As I lay there in a daze something rustled in the bushes to my left. My first thought was that it was probably just a bunny or a deer or something harmless, I definitely didn't expect to see what I did see... From behind the overgrown trees and shrubs emerged the most hideous creature I'd ever laid eyes on... It had a long, long, long and I mean long reptilian body like a gigantic serpent, its scales were each the size of a bluish greenish hubcap. Its eyes were glowing red in the left eye and yellow in the right, it hissed in my face as I scrambled to my feet, backing away slowly. Its long forked tongue was brick red, and its alabaster fangs were about half a foot in length they also had some red stuff dripping off of it. I decided it was ketchup, because I really didn't want it to be anything other than that. Its forked tongue dragged on the ground and sizzled and burned whatever it touched, I did not want that thing getting near me. Now, you have to remember that all these weird spirits and monsters were still new to me at the time so I was just a tiny bit in shock. I had nothing to defend myself with and the smell of his breath alone was enough to let me know he wasn't friendly. I picked up a jagged black stone from the ground. If I was going to die here, I would go down fighting.

The snake lunged and it got me right away; its fang impaled my thigh. I stumbled away from him, and the fang came with me. I tore the fang out of the wound as the serpent screeched in pain. I took it as a chance to get away and began to climb a nearby tree. Whatever venom the snake had injected me with, was real strong. My leg was developing a mind of its own. Lashing out randomly and simply making it harder to climb. I reached the next branch and pulled myself a little higher. The poison was sapping my strength, but I had to keep on climbing... As I got higher I could hear the snake getting over his missing tooth. The serpent made a sound that sounded like a smoking addict with a pierced lung. I tried to ignore the blood draining out of me and the snake following me up the tree, and if I've learned one thing from the bullies at school, it was that you can never win a head on fight if you don't have an advantage in the beginning (which I definitely didn't). If you wanted to beat them you had to play it tactical. By the time I'd reached the top branch of the tree I had my plan ready for action...

'Hey snake thingy where did you get this tooth?' I taunted, 'It looks like it belongs to a baby!'

Not my best smack-talk ever but I suppose it worked for the snake. I prayed that he was either a really slow climber or really self-conscious.

I got ready with the rock in my left hand and the fang in my right, my stomach did a flip and a half, the fang had my blood on it. As I stared at it, I wondered what would happen if I died here. Would my mother find my body? Or would I just end up disappearing like my father did, leaving my mother alone... No. I couldn't let that happen, I had to get through this alive. Not just for me, but for the few other people that cared for me too. I waited as the gruesome serpent made his way up the tree, hissing and sizzling, once it reached the top it lunged so quickly I barely had time to react. So as quick as I could, I intercepted his attack with the stone and he bit down hard on it. Crack! 'There goes his jaw,' I thought.

My hope for survival rekindled 'Now for phase two,' I said aloud.

I brought down the fang straight between his eyes as he thrashed around, his jaws were broken over the stone so he couldn't let go. With all my remaining energy I pushed his heavy skull off the tree, it landed on the boulder with a satisfying, Crunch! That's when I realized how exhausted I was and how much my leg was throbbing. My head lolled to one side and I passed out, falling right off the tree and the last thing I knew, I was rolling straight past the broken boulder and the remains of the disintegrating serpent, and right into my new home.