Hyperspace Adventures Book 25 : The Strongest Union

• Addiden Zhao
• Short Story
• 2022

After hours of digging, the Shrine had been uncovered. The Last Lell and Ben carefully stepped into it. It was not the Shrine of Strength. It was the Shrine of Hope! Ben saw an old piece of paper on a crystal-clear table. It read :
'The Shrine of Hope. The Wise Men continued to battle the Emperor and was defeated. The Wise Men of the East, North and South committed suicide. The West Man escaped, leaving a boy called Bob stranded. This Shrine is the last resting place for the Wise Man of the South.' The Lell shuddered before floating to an ancient chest an opening it. It contained a beautiful, flaming orb engraved with a big S. The flames were yellow. Ben, without thinking, touched the orb. It didn't harm him. Suddenly, a feeling gushed through him. It was a feeling of hope. He hoped he could defeat the Emperor. "This orb, we will take it. Come, Lell, we must find the Shrine of Strength," Ben said softly to the Lell. The Lell almost seemed to nod as it created a Rift and Ben stepped through with the Lell on his shoulder. They reappeared on a mountain with swirls of mist. They saw a cave and entered it. It was a Shrine. But it was the Shrine of Purity. Disappointed, Ben picked up a piece of paper. It looked just as old as the one in the Shrine of Hope. Ben gulped before reading it. It said :
'Welcome to the Shrine of Purity. The Wise Men had journeyed up a volcano before seeing a castle. It was the Darkness Castle. The Four used their strength, purity, hope and balance to eradicate the Darkness Castle. However, the Emperor was sly and spread the debris, creating more and more Darkness. He created a new Darkness Castle and Darkness kept on getting stronger. The Four escaped to plot their next attempt at derailing the Emperor. This shrine is the last resting place of the Wise Man of the North and the Purity Orb.' Ben had a feeling that he had to get the Purity Orb. He felt the strange tingling sensation from the Hope Orb and he knew that the two orbs had a connection. The Lell spoke to him in his mind : 'The Orb is in the next room. I can feel the aura. However, I can also feel that it is being guarded by something notoriously Dark.' Ben gulped before he and the Lell got into the next room. It was a small room. It the centre, there was a dog. A Cerberus. A three-headed dog!!! It was Morporgortor, the Emperor's trusty guard. And it could talk. "Wh-what are you doing here?" cried Ben in fear. "I am Morporgortor. But you already knew that. I was assigned to this Shrine because the Emperor feared that you might take the magical Purity Orb. I sense you already have an Orb in you pocket. Why don't you hand it over?" growled Morporgortor. "B-but why didn't the Shrine of Hope have a guard like you?" asked Ben without sense. "Because he buried it. He through that no one would ever get there. But it seems you have," growled Morporgortor. "OK. I get all of that. But why haven't you or the Emperor grabbed the Orb?" asked Ben with curiosity. Morporgortor snarled. "Because only such 'do-gooders' could touch such a thing. It is death to even touch the Orb unless you truly are you on the Four Wise Men's side. Now I get rough. HAND OVER THE ORB. PUT IT ON THE TABLE NOW!" roared Morporgortor. Ben shrieked before trying to back away but Morporgortor pounded at him, biting him with on of his three heads. The Lell made a noise before striking Morporgortor hard. Then Ben, without realising he should have thought of it ages ago, took out the Orb of Hope and slapped it on Morporgortor's belly. Then, there was a shrieking noise and Morporgortor was dead. Ben grimaced before picking up the Orb of Purity. It was white with flecks of blue and surrounding the Orb was a ring of magical mist. Engraved on the Orb was a huge N. Suddenly, truth and purity became one and gushed through him. He felt purified. His mind was calm and clear of negative energy. He put the Orb Of Purity in his pocket and the two orbs flashed together. Then, he picked up the Lell. They had work to do. They had to find all the Orbs and get to the Shrine of Strength...before the Emperor got to them.







TO BE CONTINUED