Other Earth 2
By: W.Bob Yankovic
Temple of the Dreamer





	"Blah, blah, blah. Yadda, yadda, yadda. Aaaaaaand, the paper
from heck is finished. MUAHAHAHA! I have once again overcome the evil
diety of the research paper. I AM VICTIORIOUS!" Luke said as he
saved
and printed the paper. It had taken him all night Friday, most of
Saturday, and two hours after he came in from church today to finish
it. "My eyes hurt, and I'm five steps closer to carpal tunnel.
Munchie
time," he said crossing the living room into the way to small
kitchen
of the guys' apartment.
	"Looks like they took all the food with them," he
said sifting
through the meager amount of stuff left in the pantry. He selected a
package of Ramen Noodles and began to boil some water. "I'll
really
have to get on to them when they get in. Which shouldn't be too much
longer," he noticed. The clock on the microwave showed 11:45 pm.
	Luke sat down, said a blessing, and dug into his noodles ten
minutes later. "Ahh, they're fine. I shouldn't worry. By the
time I
finish this they should be in." He began to eat but at a much
slower
pase than normal. Ten minutes later he glanced at the clock.
"12:05,
I'm still not worried. 12:06, now I'm worried," he said as he
stood. He
grabbed his coat and a flashlight and headed for his car.
	An hour later, and at least twenty unsuccessful cell phone
calls to Crash's phone, he pulled into the small parking area of the
National Forest the guys were camping in. "There's Sean's
Z," but why
the heck aren't they in it?" he said to himself. He pulled the
map that
Crash had given him out of his pocket and spread it out on his hood.
	"Looks like they are about two miles due east. Oh, well here I
go," he said as he began to walk down the path that was marked.
He
began to pray on the way. He had never liked being in the woods in the
dark. But if his gut was any indication, his friends were in deep
trouble.

	The first robed man dove in at Sean. Sean ducked, did a half
spin, and uppercutted him right in the jaw. He fell to the floor
unconsious. Sean spun the bo he had in his hands in an effort to
dissuade any more attackers. "I'm not afraid to kick your pagan
white
robe wearing cultist butts. Don't try me!" he said in a loud
voice.
	"Hey Sean, I don't think they speak English!" Crash said
swinging his sword back and forth in a big arc. One of the guys came
charging in from his left side. Having been taught a little self
defence himself, Crash lowered his shoulder, caught the guy by the
leg,
and cleanly flipped him over his back towards another guy who caught
him, but fell to the ground under his weight.
	"Hey Crash, I got an idea," Sean said bringing his bo to a
ready position. "BLADES!" he screamed. From both ends of
the pole two
blades in a tuning fork like position sprang out. He made a few
horizontal swipes, managing to slice some nice gashes in the
attackers'
robes. They took a step back in a precautionary manner.
	"Your's has a trick too?" Crash said.
"FLAMES!" he said and the
now slightly familiar flame encased the blade of his sword.
"Nice,"
Sean said catching a glipse of it over his shoulder. "I know,
not too
shabby yourself," Crash replied. By now, the crowd of attackers
had
grown significantly. They seemed hesitant to attack, instead they just
circled the boys, occasionally speaking to one another too softly for
either of the boys to hear.
	"I think they're planning something," Sean said,
"I'm gonna
ruin their plans." Sean did something with his hands and the
blades
retracted back into the shaft of his bo. Then he dove into the
surrounding men. He thrust his bo into the gut of one man, then spun
it
180 degrees to hit him in the head. He gave a little kick to him to
push him over, then ducked as a man threw a punch at him. He gave him
a
leg sweep and was on his feet fast enough to swing the bottom end of
the bow into his face, effectivly dissabling him.
	Crash, now that the attention was off of him, decided that
fifty to one odds weren't that great. He sheathed the sword saying,
"I'm better with fists," and grabbed the first guy he could
get his
hands on. The guy spun around and caught Crash right in the chin with
a
jab. "Ok, that really hurt!" he said. He stomped really
hard on the
guy's foot and kneed him in the face when he bent over. He was smarter
the next time. He grabbed a guy from the back and just threw him as
far
as he could, about three feet. Before he could finish his planned
elbow
drop a foot met his gut, with quite a bit of force.
	Crash doubled over and almost lost the ritz crackers he had
eaten earlier. Before the pain made him black out he heared Sean
taunting the men. "Aww, step up to get your butt kicked!"
he said as he
did a jumping spin kick that landed on one guy's temple.
"Next!" A guy
charged him from his right with his shoulder lowered in a football
tackling stance. Sean rolled over his back and gave him a kick in the
butt that sent him head long into a stone buttress. "
	"Owie, that has to-" he was interupted by a punch in the
kidneys, "hurt." Suddenly the guys stopped and parted. From
up the
stairs to his left, Sean could see a man dressed in a similar robe to
the guys, but red in color trimmed in white. "Who is this? Santa
monk?"
he said. He stood and picked his bo back up now that he didn't have
fourty guys on him at once. He held his hand up in front of him palm
up. "Come on Santa. You gonna sick Rudolph one me? Let's see what
you're made of! I know almost every martial art form ever thought of.
And I'm sure that if I could hold my own against your elves, I could
take you," he said and finished it with a 'bring it on' gesture.
	"You, know all martial art forms, but one!" Santa
Monk said.
Before Sean could blink the monk was in front of him, while he was
blinking, the monk knocked him out. "Bring them inside,"
the monk said.

	"GUYS!" Luke yelled. He had found the campsite
where the guys
had been, but it looked like it had not been used in just about the
whole three days. The coals in the fire were not even close to being
hot, in fact they already had a few leaves on top of them. The tent
looked like it had been blown over to one side, and definately not
slept in. "Man, why do I get stuck with the daredevil friends.
They
said they were gonna ruff it but running out into the woods without
half your stuff is just crazy," he said. That's when he noticed
it. It
was black, shiny, and covered by a limb that had fallen from a near by
tree. "Oh, no," Luke said as he walked over towards it.
	He knelt down, cleared the limb off and said a silent prayer.
It was Crash's guitar case, but it was smashed to pieces.
"Something
bad happened here. Crash never lets this guitar out of his
sight." Out
of the corner of his eye he happened to see a foot print. He stood up
and slowly followed with some struggle, the path that Crash and Sean
had walked to the cave.
	"I don't remeber Crash saying anything about

caves," Luke said
wondering if he should go it. He called his friends names a few times.
On the last try he was almost certain that he heard Crash calling back
to him. "Hold on man! I'm coming!" he said as he flipped
his flashlight
on and hurried into the cave.

	"Sean!" Crash yelled. He had only just recently regained
conciousness, and was currently trying to get Sean to follow suit. The
boys were hanging from chains that were wrapped around their wrists.
They were about five feet off the ground in some kind of room that
looked like it was an improvised prison. "SEAN!" he yelled
again.
Slowly Sean opened his eyes.
	"I guess Santa thought that I was a naughty boy,"
he said. He
blinked a few times before he noticed that he was hanging from the
ceiling. "Wow, those are some strong guys," he said trying
to look
around for a way down.
	"I've already tried. We're stuck up here for now
anyway." Crash
said reluctantly after a few moments of Sean swinging trying to get to
the wall. Sean slowly stopped swinging after momentum worked its way
out. Just about two minutes later Santa Monk barged in the door
carrying the weapons the two boys had weilded not to long ago.
	"Where did you get these?" he asked. The boys were
hesitant to
reply that they came from another world and they had taken the weapons
from a man who then dissappeaered and left them in a sealed room where
they were then transported into the middle of the monastary of monks
from heck. Instead Sean answered, "Didn't you leave them under
our
Christmas trees last night?"
	The monk was obviously confused, and that only served to make
him even more angry. "I do not know what you are referring to,
but I
suggest that you begin to clarify yourselves very quickly. Where did
you get these?" he said slowly.
	Crash gave Sean a 'shut up' look and looked back to the monk.
"I don't know exactly how we got here or where we are. We went
in this
cave and found a man that was holding those. When we tried to talk to
him, he dissappeared and somehow after we picked up the weapons we
ended up here. That is all that I know and I really can't explain
why,"
he said. The monk looked back to his companions and nodded.
	"It is as we have expected, you have found the Gateway. But
there were only two of you?" he said inquizitivly. Just then the
guys
heard a loud noise and the sound of someone yelling. Moments later
monks dragged Luke into the room.
	"Miss me fellas?" he said sarcastically. One of the monks
handed a bow and quiver over to Santa Monk. "Chain him with the
others,
we have much to discuss," he said. Luke put up little resistance
as
they wrapped the chains around his hands and tossed the other end over
a rafter. The monks wenched him up on the right of Sean and left them
there after securing the chain to a eyebolt on the wall.
	"How did you get here?" Sean asked. "I guess
the same way you
did. Cave, old man, fire, strange feeling, angry monks, chained, stuck
with two goofballs. Same ol story," Luke replied. The guys spent
the
better part of an hour trying to figure out just exactly where they
were.
	Luke, the history buff, didn't have any rememberance of a
culture that had monasaries, temples, and monks, and spoke English,
besides the Catholic faith. "Due to their accent, I would say
that we
are somewhere in the middle region of England, about a thousand years
ago," he said. "You mean to tell me that we traveled
through time?"
Crash asked. "Precisely," Luke answered.
	"How is that possible? I mean we didn't have any kind of device
like on the movies. We didn't run around the world backwards until we
slowed and reversed time. So how in the heck are we back in
time?" Sean
asked. Luke contemplated a little and answered, "Maybe we did
have a
device. Each of us had a weapon didn't we? Could they have somehow
brought us here?"
	"That would imply that the weapons we had were magical. And
everyone knows that magic is just slight of hand anyway," Crash
said.
They all seemed to think for a while. None of them seemed to be able
to
explain how they were transported into this time frame, if indeed they
had traveled through time.
	Before they could discuss anything further, the monks barged
back into the room and began to lower the guys to the floor.
"You guys
really know how to make an entrance don't ya?" Sean said
sardonically.
After they were released all three guys gave their own shoulders a
good
rub down. "Remind me to pack some asprin next time we decide to
travel
through time," Sean said. They all enjoyed a slight chuckle
until the
monks began to herd them out of the room.
	"Hey where are they taking us?" Sean said trying to
peak around
the monks to see in front of them. "I have absolutely no
idea," Crash
answered. Luke seemed to be studying something along the walls.
"It
looks like the runes that we found in the cave. All I can make out is
something about Dreamer," he said not taking his focus off of the
walls. One of the monks turned and said, "Please do not talk,
all will
be explained in a few moments." The three boys complied more out
of
wonder of the architecture around them than obediance. They seemed to
walk for about five minutes through all kinds of passageways. Crash
noticed that the floor kept slanting down, and buy his guess they were
probably underground now. That is if they entered on ground level.
	They were lead down a long hall to a door that encompased the
whole wall it was set in. It was solid stone, reinforced with huge
iron
crossbeams at bottom, mid, and top levels. In the center of it set a
huge circular lock like mechanism with three hemispherical
indentations
in an isosoliese triangle inscribed in it. There were uninteligeable
markings from the foot to the top of the door inlaid with gold. Right
under the lock were four words in the script the guys had noticed in
the caves.
	"Here...lies...the...Dreamer?" Crash read. The
closer the boys
approached, the bigger the door became. In all they guessed that the
door was an easy fifty feet tall. At the midline of the door stood
Santa Monk. He held his hand out for them to stop when they came
within
ten or so feet from him.
	"I presume that you would like some answers," he
said. "My name
is Duthos (DOO-those), and I am the head priest at this temple. Yes,
the Temple of the Dreamer. You traveled here through a portal that we
of this world once called the Gateway. It has long been forgotten in
this realm, for it has not been used in eons. The Gateway does not
exist in your world, nor does it exist in ours. It is the waypoint on
which both our existances hang. I can only guess that the man whom you
describe is Garalyn the Grey (GAR-a-lin). He was once a great leader
on
another world. I can see that you are lost in my explination so I will
start from the beginning."
	"Once your world and mine were not seperated. The two formed
the planet Tera. There were many kinds of peoples and races on this
world. Magic and Science worked hand in hand for the betterment of
all.
Then people began to chose sides. Magic and Science were about to
collide head on. A great king, Valin Blayde (VAY-lin Blade), rose up
and brought peace to the land. He ruled justly and honorably. Yet he
had a flaw. He had chosen to forsake his hold on magic. His three
sons,
Kris (duh) the White, Garalyn the Grey, and Phearon (FAY-ron) the
Black
however forsook all science and gained great magical power, such like
Tera had never known. They over threw their father and set up a
Triarchy. They enslaved all non-human races and put them to work. Kris
soon realized his error and called for his brothers to withdraw the
bondage on non-humans. Phearon gathered his followers to strike Kris
down, but before war could erupt, Garalyn sided with the great Elven
magician Nahira (Na-HE-ra), and sealed the brothers in two glass
coffins, to sleep forever. He cast all the evil men through the
Gateway
to another world that he had created. Then he drew all magic away from
the evil men so they would never find a way back to Tera. He fashioned
the magic into three orbs which he set in swords and cast them to the
corners of Tera."
	"You stand today where the body of Kris the White sleeps
forever. Behind these doors is the coffin he is imprisoned in. And now
Garalyn has brought the Three to come and cleans this world of evil
once again," Duthos said.
	"Wait, wait, wait, I enjoyed the fairy tale, but there is no
way that we crossed into another world to become the heroes who kick
evil's butt and walk around like we are the men. It's just not
probable, and it is not feasable that magic even exists," Luke
said.
	"Hey, is that how you fit down our chimney every Christmas? I
always knew Santa was magic," Sean said. Crash gave him an elbow
gently
to the ribs and shook his head no.
	"I didn't expect you to believe me. After all your human race
has been without full exposure to magic for over eight thousand years.
I can see how it would be hard for you to grasp the idea,"
Duthos said
softly.
	"Hey, why did your lackies jump us? And why did you keep us
hanging by our wrists for six hours?" Crash said. Duthos had
seemed a
little too nice all of the sudden and Crash didn't trust someone who
sicked his cronies on he and his friends.
	"You appeared in an area where no outsider had been in two
thousand years, ever since the Dreamer was transported from his last
resting place. You were armed, and your friend here has quite a foul
mouth," Duthos explained. "We kept you bound because we had
to discuss
who you were, where you came from, and why you possessed the Weapons
of
the Magi."
	"They must be Baptist," Sean said. "What is so
special about
the weapons," Luke asked totally ignoring Sean and his prithy
remarks.
Duthos, likewise ignoring Sean, answered "They were forged by
Nahira
himself during the reign of King Valin. They were supposed to be gifts
to his sons at their coming of age. They were never given due to the
war. Instead Nahira hid them. They hold tremendous power inside them.
No one has ever seen the full power. It is rumored though that Garalyn
found them before he dissappeared. Presuming that it was indeed he
that
you met, this rumor must be true," Duthos said.
	"So, why did you bring us here, and are you planning to let us
go?" Crash said as his interest was running out. Duthos held his
hand
out gesturing to the door. "Behind this door is the only hope
for our
world. An evil army called the Hand, has found the casket of the
Phearon the black, and even now they work to open it. Their leader, a
horrible human named Jrinyain (jrin-YAI-in) Icefist hopes to awaken
the
evil leader and set him up as the leader of the world. If he succeeds
in raising Phearon the Black, the world will forever be plunged into
darkness. He will find the Orb Swords, consume the magic of Earth, and
be invincible. The only way we can hope to combat this is to awaken
Kris the White. We never expected that anyone would attempt this evil,
so we sealed Kris behind this door that can only be opened by the
three
Orbs. This is where you will come in. You will be given back the
weapons of the Magi, you will find the orbs, and you will eliminate
Jrinyain. This is your mission."
	"We WILL?" Sean said, "What happens if we
don't wanna save this
world?" Duthos smiled. "Garalyn has brought you here for
this reason.
You will not be able to return to your world until you accomplish this
task," he said.
	"Great. Next you are going to say that we are destined to be
the saviors of this world, that we are the only people that can weild
the power of the Magi weapons, that the Orb Swords will only be found
through our working together, and that we must succeed or die,
huh?"
Crash said sarcastically. Duthos gave a strange little stare and then
said, "Exactly what I was about to say."
	"Great, do we have to dress like elves?" Sean said. By that
time Duthos had taken enough. "Whatever you keep refering to is
false
and if you do not immediatly cease I will bash your face in with the
heel of my foot!" he screamed at Sean.
	"But then you would be one destined man short wouldn't you? I
don't think you will accomplish anything by doing that," Sean
said back
smiling at his wittiness. Duthos nodded, noting his complaint, lifted
his hand and from out of nowhere called lighting down on Sean. Not
enough to kill him, but more than enough to hurt. "HEY! That
really
stings!" Sean yelled.
	"If you are to undergo training here you will learn to shut
your mouth and speak with your power," Duthos said. He turned
and began
to walk away. "Get some rest. Your trials start on the
morrow," he
said. The three boys looked at each other and shrugged. One of the
monks directed them to a quaint little room. Three beds had been
prepaired.
	The guys all flopped down on their respective beds. All were
too stunned to speak. Sean finally spoke up with what seemed to be a
pertinant question. "Didn't ol Duthos say that no one had
entered this
place in over two thousand years? How old does that make him?" he
asked."I don't know. This whole thing really bugs me. His story
sounds
like a fairy tale or some Square RPG. I don't think that he told us
the
whole story," Luke said slightly agitated.
	"Magic and Science? What the crap was all that
about?" Crash
said. "And Orb Swords, and Three Brothers, and anciet kings?
What are
we, stuck in Middle Earth? Will I get to see hobbits?" No one
seemed to
be able to answer any of the questions. Luke was having an expecially
hard time accepting the story that Duthos said. He just kept saying,
"Magic isn't real."
	The boys talked well into the night until one by one they
nodded off. No solution had been reached, but a plan had been formed.
If they were going to get the weapons back, they might be able to get
back to reality. That was their best shot, and it was decided that
they
would try it no matter the cost. The next day would be an interesting
one.