Chapter 5: The Twin Demons of Bone and Magma

The floaty platform took them gently to the next floor. But this time, there were no walls! Just a big, crumbly platform floating in empty space. Below them was a white, scary drop.

Bones.

Mountains and rivers of bones! Old ribs curled like cages. Swords stuck into bones. The leftovers of lots of people and creatures who had fallen here. Their names were forgotten. Their adventures never finished. This was a graveyard with no one to take care of it.

The bones whispered. Not with wind, but with old sad feelings. Each step made the air stir with old regrets, like the ground remembered everyone's last breath. It felt sad and never-ending.

A battlefield of adventures that didn't work out. Helmets from many kingdoms. Broken armor. Rusty swords. This place whispered sad, unfinished stories.

Zsolista stepped forward, her boots crunching on broken swords.

"The Flower is ahead," she said. "Its juice… is amazing. They say one taste makes you feel all the happy feelings you ever had."

"And makes your tongue tingle!" Boka added. "Then it feels normal again! Boka-Boka!"

Baby held on tight. "I miss snacks that aren't spooky! It's-a-Baby!"

The bones started to move – not gently, but with a yucky scraping sound, like the ground was remembering pain. Skulls rolled down hills of bones. Spears fell out of old ribcages.

Then – four eyes opened in the dark!

Not like waking up, but like hot coals glowing in the dark. Orange and scary!

Their eyes looked hungry, not for food, but for revenge, for something they didn't get a long time ago.

Two big dog monsters rose up! They were taller than big doors, with orange fur and black stripes. Twisty horns grew from their heads like melted crowns, and their teeth were made of old bones and black gold. Where their paws touched, the bones smoked and cracked.

Their breath smelled like burnt metal and forgotten names.

They were super angry!

Zsolista whispered, "Ready?"

But after the yummy dream of soup and warm kitchens, this graveyard felt different. Under her boots were the bones of people who never finished their stories – who never tasted home again, never laughed with their friends again. The monsters had stolen their lives.

Zsolista held her sword, Ice Fang, tightly. She wasn't just ready to fight – she wouldn't let her own life be wasted. She had tasted happy memories. These monsters would get what they deserved!

Boka grinned, making heat appear. "More than ready! Boka-Boka!"

"I'll cry and fight at the same time!" said Baby.

The monsters came out. Big, graceful dogs with orange fur that shimmered like fire. They growled together, then ran in different directions! One jumped at Boka, another pulled Baby away!

Two more circled Zsolista.

But they only hit smoke!

The air where the trio had been shimmered with heat. The monsters were clawing at a memory!

The real Zsolista was already up high, a blue and silver blur! Boka spun beside her, leaving sparkly trails like shooting stars, while Baby floated up in a soft, glowing light.

They rose like they had wings of revenge!

"Magic Legs of the Fast Runner!" Boka cried.

"Magic Arms of the Strong Dog!" Baby sang.

Zsolista landed in a fighting pose, changed by magic! Her boots were now like living wolf heads with claws and shiny blue armor. Her arm protectors glowed with gentle, old eyes. In her hand was Ice Fang, her sword covered in frosty magic.

"Let's dance!"

She moved like a storm with a purpose. Every step floated over the broken bones, and when she jumped, it was like a beautiful dance with the strength of her family behind her. Ice Fang shone, leaving ribbons of frost that sang against the hot, dusty air. With one swing, the sword whispered through the bones of the monster – no stopping it, no being nice. It wasn't just a cut.

It was righting a wrong.

One monster roared, surprised by the fast and graceful attack.

"Min! Brother, she's faster than the stories!"

"Silly Go, run away!" screamed Ma.

"I'll crush her myself!" yelled Ku.

Ku raised a fist of hot lava!

Zsolista’s left boot-wolf growled and sucked in the lava!

Then it spat it back out!

BOOM!

Zsolista twisted, poked Ice Fang into her elbow, and turned it into a cannon! She aimed – then fired a freezing spiral of pure magic air!

Ma and Go were covered in ice! Their howls turned into quiet shivers, leaving behind shiny piles of frozen monster meat.

Two were left.

Min and Kuma joined together into one scary monster with two heads!

Kuma hit the ground hard!

Mingo howled, "HELL'S BARK – EMPTY STOMACH!"

The ground shook, and bones flew everywhere! Zsolista held on tight, but she was hit – once in the chest, once in the tummy, once on the face!

She fell into the dirt hard, making the bones groan. The world spun. Cold dust filled her mouth. Blood trickled down her head, warm against the cold ground.

But something made her steady. Maybe it was the memory of yummy soup. Maybe it was the smell of garlic in her mind. Maybe it was the promise she made to all the sad bones under her boots.

She pressed her hand into the dust and stood up – not fast, but strong. Her shadow stretched behind her.

She hadn't come this far to give up.

"I'm tired of barking!"

She lifted Ice Fang, then pressed Boka and Baby into its handle! They disappeared – turning into shiny gems!

The part around the blade melted away. The handle got bigger!

"True Edge – Twin's Demise: FULL MOON OF THE KWONGHI!"

The sword sang!

From the air above it jumped a huge, see-through cat made of frost and howling wind! Its tail curved like the moon! It roared!

The ice-cat spirit sliced through Min and Kuma in one beautiful move, like cutting through not just fur, but years of anger!

Then – silence. A big, sad quiet that felt right.

Snow started to fall!

Not real snow, but shiny flakes of frozen magic and dust, floating down like blessings from a forgotten sky. The battlefield, once dry and mean, softened under the icy quiet. Bones stopped moving. The wind didn't dare to blow.

Frozen monster meat lay where the beasts had fallen – like puzzle pieces that could only be understood after a fight.

Zsolista knelt down, breathing hard, but her heart was steady.

Baby shimmered beside her and curled around her arm like night coming home.

Boka popped out of Ice Fang's handle, sleepy, and started chewing on a frozen monster toe. "Cold and chewy! My favorite! Boka-Boka!"

In front of them, three doors shimmered like promises waiting to be kept.

Zsolista rose slowly, respectfully, and gathered the monster hearts left behind – one for her pocket, two for her snack bag. Not as prizes.

As memories. As magic. As proof that sadness could be answered with kindness sharpened like a sword.

"Onward," she said, rising. "The next floor calls – and it better have soft carpets!"

 

                                         Jump to the Next Part:

 

1) The Great Wizard Zsolista and the Flower of Eternal Compassion pt 1

2) The Great Wizard Zsolista and the FLower of Eternal Compassion pt 2

3) The Great Wizard Zsolista and the Flower of Eternal Compassion pt 3

4) The Great Wizard Zsolista and the Flower of Eternal Compassion pt 4

5) The Great Wizard Zsolista and the Flower of Eternal Compassion pt 5

6) The Great Wizard Zsolista and the Flower of Eternal Compassion pt 6

7) The Great Wizard Zsolista and the Flower of Eternal Compassion pt 7

8) The Great Wizard Zsolista and the Flower of Eternal Compassion pt 8

9) The Great Wizard Zsolista and the Flower of Eternal Compassion pt 9

10) The Great Wizard Zsolista and the Flower of Eternal Compassion pt 10

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This chapter was a banger not gonna lie. I took a break but I am trying to limit it since I write so little and I am already on the third adventure with telling the kids their stories. So I need to finish this up and get to the Mountain of Sheydlandia because that really opens up a multi-story villain but this one sorta does it too? 

Kinda hype because these are pretty good haha and they go into world building for my actual book. These stories are critical for the characters and why they are the way that they are.