Chapter 17: A Gnome Named Gnome ------------------------------- Sascha looked curiously at the elemental. It was certainly an odd-looking creature, much like the others they'd found. Despite its appearance, though, she knew it possessed incredible magical energy. Sascha shivered in anticipation of receiving that power... But first, how would they get it to help them? Sascha decided that the 'please-help-us-restore-magic-and-save-the- world' routine would work again. She glanced briefly at Akfek, who nodded. Once again, he'd guessed what she was thinking. They stepped toward the magical being. "Greetings, oh Elemental of Earth," said Akfek in his most charming voice, while Sascha smiled winningly. "We have come to -" "Eh? What's that?" the elemental interrupted, "can't hear. Hold on a second." The creature bent its neck, and whacked itself on the side of the head, dislodging a trickle of sand from its ear. 'Boy, Shade,' thought Sascha to herself, 'some of your relatives are really strange...' "Oy!" the elemental continued. "That's the trouble with travelling underground! It's cheap, it's fast, but you can never get the sand out of your ears! Now," it clapped its hands together and looked directly at them, "what were you saying?" Sascha paused for but a second before jumping in. "We have journeyed from afar to seek your help and guidance in amatter of great import." 'Boy, what dialogue,' she thought, 'I impress myself...' The little creature looked skeptical. "Eh? Who are you anyways?" it asked suspiciously, glaring at them from beneath bushy eyebrows, "how'd you find me?" Sascha could see that a _sane_ elemental might be a little harder to convince... "Perhaps," began Akfek, "you would care to hear the story from some of your own kind." The air behind him shimmered, and Shade and Luna appeared. "Shade! Luna!" the Earth elemental exclaimed. "What is going on here? Why are you travelling with these humans?" Shade said nothing, and seemed a bit distracted, but Luna began jumping up and down and babbling incoherently. "Magic destroyed! Pelicans saying Ni at will to extinct Moogles! World in uproar of hermaphroditic mosquitoes! Nature is FOOBAR! Ack!" Despite her confused speech, Gnome seemed to understand. "What? Destroyed magic? And these two younguns are going to restore it? Hm," He tugged at his beard thoughtfully. "Well, I guess you really _do_ need me... And I can't allow the Earth to be harmed further... So, I'll help you." The elemental waved its hands, and the transfer was completed. Sascha and Akfek would now be able to use Earth magic. Sascha breathed deeply as the energy flowed through her, and wondered when she would get to try out her magic. So far, Akfek had hogged all the fun. 'I sure would've liked to experiment with Dark Force on that brat who knocked me over...' she thought, and had to fight back a cruel grin. In the meantime, Akfek had convinced Gnome to travel with Shade, as Luna did. Sascha looked up just in time to see the three of them disappear. "Well, there's one more for our collection," she said smugly. Soon, no one would be able to stand against them. She stared out across the Veldt. 'Soon,' she thought, 'all this will be ours...' Which reminded her... "Have you figured out how we're going to infuse this magic into that armor?" she asked. If they could get those things to work, well, they would be truly unstoppable! 'Imagine,' she mused, 'a whole new Magitek Army...' "I'm working on it," Akfek said vaguely. "Well, why don't we camp here for the night?" she inquired. "That'll give you lots of time to think about it." 'And it'll give me lots of time to try out my magic!' she added silently. Akfek considered this for a moment, then agreed. He _did_ have a lot to think about... such as what he would do when he controlled the new army. Some time later, just as the stars were appearing, Sascha left the camp. She'd been dying for a chance to try out her new power, and she didn't think Akfek would mind. After all, he'd been pretty liberal with his own. Sascha walked briskly, breathing the pleasant night air. She was no longer afraid to walk alone. She cast her eyes about, wondering how exactly she would carry out her experiment. Then, she spotted a large tree. "Target practice!" she grinned capriciously. Now, which magic to use? Gnome? Why not? She felt the power within her and drew upon it. Almost subconsciously, she uttered the words to the spell. Suddenly, a score of crystalline missiles appeared and shot towards the tree, splintering it to bits. Sascha looked on in amazement. She tried a different spell; a hucge ball of mud fell from the sky and covered what was left of the tree. This was incredible! She tapped into Shade's magic next, and the whole mess disappeared into a dark gate. Sascha was practically giddy. She'd never had so much fun! She decided to try one more before returning; something from Luna. 'Let's make this a _big_ one,' she thought, and chanted a few words. For a moment, nothing happened. "Well, that was a waste of -" she began, but was interrupted when all hell broke loose. The sky seemed to rip open, and the area in front of Sascha was engulfed in a blinding golden light. A crack like thunder magnified a thousand times was heard across the Veldt. When the light dissipated, she saw that everything in its range had been completely destroyed. Plants, trees, even rocks had been reduced to dust. She stood staring, dumfounded. "What was _that_?" she heard Akfek's voice behind her. "Moon Power," she replied reverently. "Luna's magic." Akfek smiled evilly. "This elemental magic is even more powerful than I'd hoped. There is nobody who will stand in our way now! Nobody! Haa, haaa, haaa!" At this Sascha smiled, and began to laugh too. * * * * Within the Cloak of Darkness, Shade was perplexed. HE could sense something strange, but couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. He looked over at his fellow elementals. Gnomwe was asleep, and Luna appeared to be knitting a... something. No, it wasn't them he was feeling... What then? It seemed like a foreign power. He'd first noticed it yesterday. Perhaps something sent to kill his proteges? No, he didn't think it meant to harm them, just to... watch. Shade didn't know what to make of this, but decided to keep his eyes open too.