Rakta’s Chime

Once upon a time in the land of Atheria, there was a Princess Nea and a Princess Lulu and they went on the most amazing adventures. Now they found themselves in the Glass Castle, high above the clouds in the Sky Kingdom of Skyrabia. They had just run into Prince Paul & O’Lah after finding the green Terrianian Crystal buried under a tree in the clouds.

What they learned from Prince Paul and O’Lah is that they had been having lots of their own amazing adventures as well and, although they had started their journey with Prince William, it became clear that Tuck and Ryla needed Prince William and Prince Clef for something else important. That’s when Prince Clef mentioned he’d read about a Cloud Temple up in Skyrabia that it was protected by a wingiant.

“And he read us a few notes he had from some research he did and gave us this rough map of Skyrabia.” O’Lah finished, pulling out a map. 

“It seems my brother has been paying a lot of attention to this shattering.” Princess Aria responded. “Based on this map, though, I can get you to the Cloud Ruins. But it won’t be easy. That spot is sacred to the wingiants and sealed using a magic chime.”

“Do we know how to find the chime?”

“It’s kept in Rakta’s cave.”

“Rakta?” asked Princess Nea.

“He’s one of the most ancient giants - bound to the Cloud Temple.” 

“Princess Lulu, do you still have your flute?” Prince Paul asked.

Lulu patted her pocket, which held the magic flute that Jacob had given her in the Frost Caves.

The journey across Skyrabia was a long one. They hiked over hills of clouds and around countless crystal ponds and through wooded sky forests filled with more wintrees and winplants that you could find on the ground. Plants that sparkled and glimmered in the sun. Oh, and that was another interesting thing, without hardly any clouds above you in the Sky Kingdom you had to wear protection so you didn’t get sun burnt. Now, none of the winmaids or winmen had to wear any protection for they were already darkened by the sun and had built up a tolerance to it’s rays.

As they traveled across the land in the blazing sun, they stopped for a break near a small pond clearing. As they sat there O’Lah noticed that some of the flowers nearby were unique and unlike anything they’ve ever seen. As she got near, she realized that there were moonshades - a special flower who’s pollen actually makes you drowsy. A type of pollen that, on her adventures, would come in very handy for an ogre like O’Lah.

She pulled out a bottle and began carefully collecting some pollen, making sure not to breath any of it in herself. 

As she was collecting it she heard a whizzing by her left ear. 

Swat! 

Then again but near her right ear. 

Swat! 

No luck. 

While swatting, she accidentally let go of the bottle which flew into the wind - only to freeze and hover in mid-air before her eyes. 

“What magic is this?” asked O’Lah. 

“It’s no magic. I’m a fairy. What is an ogre doing in Skyrabia?” asked the voice. It was tiny and coming from the bottle. 

“A fairy!” exclaimed O’Lah, for she knew - like most Atherians, that fairies were invisible except under special conditions - magic ones - or if the fairy decided to reveal itself. “I’m on an adventure, with some friends. Now let me have my bottle back, fairy, before you put us both to sleep.” 

“If you insist,” said the voice. The bottle slowly lowered back into O’Lah’s hand. 

“I have not seen an ogre up here before, ogres are not welcome in Skyrabia.” 

“Well, I have not SEEN a fairy up here before either.” 

“Very clever for an ogre. What brings you so far west to Voxbay Valley?”

“This would be easier if I could see you.” 

“Well, that would require something special - like the Titan Mask, Orim’s Spectacle, or fairy cream - or for me to trust you.”

The fairy whizzed around O’Lah’s head.

“The Titan Mask?”

“Or some other type of magic. But there’s not much magic in ogres.”

O’Lah grew tired of the fairy’s comments about ogres. He was probably right. It wasn’t an ogre’s nature to be in the Sky Kingdom and ogres were not known for magic. And ogres weren’t known for helping other races, let alone being on adventures with them. 

O’Lah slowly closed her eyes and held out her hand as the purple crystal inside her pocket grew brighter. Before the fairy knew what was happening, O’Lah summoned a pillar of water to appear just next to her head, right where the fairy was flying. 

The fairy flew right into the wall of water, soaking it’s wings and sending it to the ground coughing.

“If you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to my friends.”

O’Lah left the invisible fairy on the cloud coughing to catch its breath, but not before the fairy had taken note not only of O’Lah’s purple crystal but also the odd birthmark on her wrist.

When O’Lah got back to the group, they headed towards Rakta’s cave. She didn’t think twice about or wonder why a fairy might be in Skyrabia or what effect it would have on this fairy to see the magic crystal’s power at work. 

The adventurers got to Rakta’s cave and started to get nervous. For it was a large cave and had more special ornate symbols all around it. There were the same types of symbols they saw in the Ocean Ruins. 

What if the giant was there? And awake? Would Princess Lulu’s flute work again? They all looked closely at each other and nodded.

They weren’t going to let that stop them. But they did decide on a plan, in case anything funny happened.

“We should have someone stay here and keep a look out - just in case anyone shows up.”

Aria raised here hand, “I’ll do it. Just don’t have too much fun without me.”

So the four travelers kept going. Step, step, step. They walked, ever so softly. 

Although this was a cave, it was so much more, for the inside was decorated with beautiful steps and walkways and walls that were beautiful. 

After a short hike up the cave, they quickly found what they were looking for - Rakta’s treasure room. It was a large, bright room that was open to the sky. And it was full of enchanted items. A set of golden bells, two spears over a shield, a ring of keys, a mask and over on the far side, a wind chime floating on a pedestal. 

“That must be it!” signaled Paul, and walked over to grab it. 

“Look at all these amazing treasures!” O’Lah said. “Have you ever seen anything like them?” And she walked over to the mask.

“We should just get the chime and go!” said Lulu. “Before ...”

And before she could finish her sentence, they heard the heavy thumping of footsteps - giant footsteps coming near. 

Without a word, the four adventurers looked at each other and began heading out the door. Paul, chime in hand, trying his best to catch up with the others. 

“Booga woooga woooga!” 

They heard from behind them as they ran down the steps. 

“That must be Rakta!”

“Lulu, get your flute ready!”

“Aria, we must hurry!” they yelled coming to the edge of the cave. Only to find that Princess Aria was asleep against the wall.

“Princess Aria, wake up!” Nea yelled shaking her. 

“What happened?” Aria said, looking dazed. 

“Rakta is chasing us!” 

“I don’t know what happened to me. One minute I was there standing by the cave, enjoying the flowers, the next minute you are all running out the cave being chased by Rakta.”

“Don’t tell me you were smelling a moonshade?! We need to find some place to hide!” O’Lah said. 

“Quick, let’s hide in this cave.” 

They all ducked into another cave, quieted down and Princess Lulu pulled out her flute just in case. Pretty soon a few seconds became a minute and then a minute became a few minutes and they realized that no giant was coming after them. Maybe Rakta didn’t hear them take the chime after all.

“That was a close one!” said Paul. “Now how far away is the temple?”

“Too far to get there tonight.” O’Lah answered. 

“Well, let’s take it easy and head over first thing in the morning.”

“Princess Aria, have anymore of that moonshade?” 

They all laughed, then agreed to get a good nights rest and head to the Cloud Ruins in the morning.

The end.