Chapter 2: Saved

After this sudden realization, Joey began to walk in a tremulous sort of way, in caution, and began to wonder where/when he could get something to satisfy his grumbling stomach. He couldn’t jump, and therefore he couldn’t get out of the boat, much less do anything even if he could make it out. Anyway, even a grown-up can’t exactly do much on a completely empty stomach.
Then, right as Joey was cautiously trying to push the boat away from shore, although he already knew he was too weak to successfully do any harm to the chains, he heard the king shout out something to one of his royal guards, who immediately began to scavenge for Joey, as he presumed. Unfortunately, the guard sniffed out Joey right away with its keen sense of smell. “Well, well, well, what do we have here?” the guard began “Looks like something yummy!”
Then, oddly, the king’s royal guard, Serumadud, the king’s most trusted creature in his kingdom, kneeled down and whispered into Joey’s ear “I’m doing this just this once, whoever you are, but you’re lucky, and, besides, your mother tasted terrible.”
The guard smashed the chain with one punch, dropped a giant bag of food into the boat, and pushed it away, muttering to himself the whole time about how much trouble he would be in if the king found out about what he’d done. Then, with a final push, Joey was off with bread, fruit, and water for his trip to the land beyond.
Joey fell asleep right when the ship set sail, right after stuffing an apple down his tiny throat. Joey Malask had a gift, a real gift. He was the first, and probably only ever, newborn baby that was almost already matured, not completely in the brain, or size, but in strength. He had the strength and brain of a 10 year old, but still the size of an average baby. He awoke to a sudden thump from the base of the ship, and hopped up instantly, and looked around suspiciously. He didn’t see anything peculiar, although there was a massive puncture in the bottom of the vessel. That’s when he noticed it.
An immense Bolsot was hanging out from where it had crashed into the boat. For those of you who don’t know what a Bolsot is, well, it’s a hideous sea dragon type creature that has lethal spikes all across its body, along with poisonous breath, as well as sharp teeth, and claws. This type of sea monster is one of the most dangerous creatures anyone could possibly encounter, and, unfortunately for Joey, he had no idea. He looked at this repulsive monster as a harmless, innocent animal stuck in a crack in his boat. Although there was this creature in front of him, the only thing he was worried about was his boat, which was beginning to descend to the depths of the Garbariun Sea, the deadliest, most dangerous ocean in the entire world.
While his boat was plummeting downwards towards the bottom of this treacherous sea, the Bolsot was still squirming around in a desperate effort to free itself, and Joey was struggling to find something to patch up the gash in the boat, along with his efforts to free the “innocent” Bolsot. Joey tried everything he could, but, after a few frantic moments, the ship went under, with Joey in it.
Joey, having never learned to swim, of course, tried to wriggle his way to the top, but it was useless. Joey closed his eyes, and waited for fate to overcome him. But that’s not what happened. Instead, he felt a slimy body begin to lift him upwards, and he didn’t know what to think, whether to think it was doing it on purpose to save him, or to kill him itself. Joey gasped with relief as oxygen flowed into his lungs once more, although he didn’t know if he was still safe. He no longer had any food, or a boat for that matter, and he was still gliding on top of an enormous, oversized...thing.
Joey was once again taken under, but he still grasped the creature who could obviously breathe under water, and he began to wonder if it was that Bolsot that he had seen a few minutes ago, struggling to escape the gap in his boat. Then, he found out the answer, for, the very same Bolsot it surely was, and he new this because he could recognize the face, and the vast spikes lining its back. Joey was just lucky he hadn’t been stabbed by any of those spikes, because he most surely would be dead.
The Bolsot recognized him, too, and immediately slid Joey off, to his surprise, for he still had the contemplation that the Bolsot was nothing but an innocent bystander who accidentally crashed into his unfortunate boat, which was now somewhere at the bottom of the ocean for all he knew.
Joey struggled in the ice cold water once more, and he thought that he was going to die. Now, Joey Malask had an incredible gift, and he was choosing to waste it by complaining that he was going to die. That would be fine for you and me, but when we’re talking about the legendary Joey Malask? I don’t think so. He needs to try to put up a good fight, at the very least, and if he dies trying, so be it. Luckily, Joey isn’t the kind of kid, or baby, who gives up easily. Of course, most babies don’t have anything to give up on anyway, but, if this particular infant wants to keep at what he’s doing (fighting a dangerous Bolsot which could kill him in an instant, in ice cold water in which he could get hyperthermia in, and, besides, even without the deadly Bolsot watching his every move, he was still stranded out in the absolute middle of the cosmic Garbariun Sea.) then that’s plain old fantastic, and extraordinary, and extremely bizarre.
Now, Joey decided that he wouldn’t give up, but try to live for his mother, his kind mother who was with him in her last moments alive on this Earth, and cared for him so much that she gave her life up for her baby.
Joey splashed his way eastward, away from the dreadful monster, heading for land. Then, the deadly beast was on him again in one bound, and hissed deafeningly, allowing little strands of poisonous drool to spill from its mouth, and into the ocean below it. Joey looked around nervously for a friendly face, perhaps even the Serumadud from back at the kingdom, but the only face looking at him was the face of a particularly ugly Bolsot, which was exactly the opposite of “friendly”, or “innocent”, he realized.
Then, praying for a miracle, hoping that maybe lightning would strike the Bolsot, and the sea would dry up for no reason. Unfortunately, neither of these things happened, although he felt something hard knock against his skin. “It’s probably just the Bolsot beginning to eat me.” thought Joey, discouraged that he couldn’t save himself. Suddenly, he spun his head around, and surprisingly, he saw wood, not poisonous scales. Maybe he couldn’t save himself, but maybe someone else could save him.
That’s when a man named Peter Norack saw the little baby boy floating in the water. At first, he thought the baby was dead, with maybe a life jacket on, but he saw the little boy’s stomach breathing softly, while astonishingly treading water. He lifted the boy on board, and the little boy started screaming, thinking the Bolsot was lifting him up to kill him. Peter was out in his boat, trying to catch the Bolsot, for each Bolsot brought in dead was worth a heap of cash. By now the Bolsot had left, scared away by the sudden large boat in the water.
“Little boy, what... what is your name? I’m Peter Norack.” Peter whispered softly towards the boy.
“My... my name...my name is...my name is J... Joey Malask.”
 

Chapter 3: Home

Joey was nursed to health back on the island of Krolia, in which Peter made the decision to take in the baby Joey as his own, and right then, Joey Malask had a father, somebody to care for him, to make him no longer an orphan. Peter carried his new son home on his back, chatting softly about how completely extraordinary it was that he had came upon this little boy in the middle of the ocean, in the vicinity of a dreadful, vicious Bolsot.
Peter promised with all his heart to be a good father to this sweet little boy, and care for him with all the love he had within his heart, full of joy over this new company for him, all day, every day.
As for Joey, he thought of this man as a brave, heroic figure, with care for him, and, most importantly, at first, he thought of the man as a person who had the will to carry out miraculous feats, such as saving a little baby from a horrific Bolsot.
Then, one day, their relationship for one another changed completely and dramatically, after Joey, with his keen eyesight, caught sight of a bull being carried in for the circus, and, suddenly, after the person handling the keys fell off into a deep slumber, the bull rammed into the 6 inch board, smashing it completely.
It slowly charged out, eyeing every fearful citizen, and heading straight for the only man wearing a deep red shirt, the waiter at Bulls-eye, a restaurant. This person was the only outdoor waiter, and he happened to have the name Peter Norack.
Instantaneously, Joey ran out downstairs and pulled on the doors. Both of them, locked. He ran and checked the window. Again, they were locked. Desperately, he threw a red brick at the window, smashing it. He hopped through the open area, and ran towards the charging bull, grabbed its right horn, and pulled it slantwise, making the bull crash downward into the ground, doing the splits. Soon, a collective gasp echoed throughout their wonderful city, and allowed a huge crowd to rush around the dusty bull, straining to get a glimpse of the hero.
When the dust cleared, they saw none other than the newest member of their city, Joey Malask. Peter ran, and hugged Joey in a breathtaking squeeze, allowing for very few areas in which Joey could get the tiniest bit of breath out.
Peter loved Joey even more than he did when he had first adopted him, even more than when they shared bacon in the midnight air, even more than when he just saw Joey running out in an effort to save him. But now, Joey Malask, at the age of 4 months, had saved him from a charging bull.
Now, I bet if your infant had saved you from a bull, you would’ve bought the baby a little toy, or a bit of ice cream for him to taste for the first time. But when this happened to Peter Norack, he proclaimed his proposal to take this strong baby on a voyage in his Yacht, to the forests of “Where the dead are awoken” as legend has it. Peter had always dreamed of saving the citizens of Cynohnia, and the only way to break the curse is to unlock the to gateway of freedom, and then into the freedom city, and form an army to go up against the monsters of Cynohnia, or the monsters brought from the “Where the dead are awoken” forest to Cynohnia. Of course, they would have to have the gut to cross the Garbariun Sea, trek through the “Where the dead are awoken” forest, and find the secret combo to the gateway of freedom. The combo would make them bring some objects, like a dead monster, or a dead tree, one of the talking and moving, and very violent trees, and some other tricky things that only the strongest, bravest, and the most willing could do.
He proclaimed their determination to leave on this trip, with the approval
of Joey, who honestly had no idea what he was going up against, but wanted to have a “relaxing” trip to wherever Peter wanted to take him. Everyone in town agreed to this, and awaited his departure with great enthusiasm.
After months of planning, on the very day that Joey turned 1 year old, although neither Peter or Joey had any idea of what day this was, and how 1 year into the past, Joey’s birth mom had just died, and her son was sitting in a boat, twiddling his thumbs. Now Joey and his new father were off on an adventurous trip together, hoping to save the other citizens of his hometown, and save them from having to go through what his own mother had had done to her.
Of course, it wouldn’t/shouldn’t be that easy to escape from the city harmlessly, and that was upsetting to Peter and Joey, who assumed the escape would be a breeze. The two were just setting up the boat, gathering all their equipment and such, when devastation overcame their tired bodies.
Peter was leaning over the boat, trying to untie the rope attaching them to the dock, when he heard an earsplitting cry from Joey, who was looking into the eyes of the most hideous, the most repulsive, and the smelliest Larnock he had ever seen.
Now, if you don’t know what a Larnock is, then you can just allow me to explain. First of all, there are different types of Larnocks, but the one in particular that was staring into the face of Joey is called a Porore, or a Por, for short. They are not poisonous in any way, although the reason they are extremely dangerous to all humans is because they look tremendously unattractive, and if someone tries to back away, the Por will jump into the air as does a dolphin, and bite them a single time. It hurts, it really does, and the fact is, if they stare or look at, or touch, the bite mark, a distinct tooth will sling out of the wound and kill them.
Now that you know what this creature is, I will explain what occurrence happened to Peter and Joey. So, as I was saying, Peter heard a shrill shriek, and turned to find that Joey was staring face to face with a Por. The Por looked around curiously at his prey, and decided that he would wait them out and see what they would do, if the helpless humans would freak out, or come to the wise conclusion to stay composed, and wait for the enemy to depart before beginning their voyage. Peter knew exactly what to do, however, Joey didn’t, for Peter was trained on all the proper skills to escape monsters, but Joey was born where the monsters were being trained to kill the citizens of Cynohnia, and the king had the right mind to keep the secrets of the technique of the safe escape away from the citizens. The first Joey did was, well, shriek, as you already know, followed with a fall backward, which made the Por see that this little boy would be easy prey.
Followed by Joey’s fall was a strict glare from the Por’s twitch lines running along its face, and then a quick leap into the air, and, finally, a swift crunch into the skin of Joey Malask. Joey screamed, and Peter nervously ordered Joey to, no matter what, to not look, touch, or glance at his wound. Joey looked straight up so
that he would have no temptation to glance at his injured arm, and chained one arm behind his back, therefore insuring that he wouldn’t contact his wound in any way.
Peter fretfully hopped out of the boat, and, knowing that the only way to make it impossible for him to be killed at the time being was to cover the gash up with something. One thing I haven’t yet told you about the Por is that, its bite does not go away, and it will forever be on his arm, and the only known way to insure nothing goes wrong in that area is to amputate the arm, if nothing else is available.
Peter ripped a bandanna out of the hands of an elderly woman, and sprinted back towards the boat, without explaining why he had done such a thing to someone’s grandma. When he reached the boat, he was relieved that Joey had came up with such a smart way to make sure that he didn’t look/touch his wound in any way. Peter then carefully tied the bandanna around Joey’s injured arm, and took him to see the nearest doctor, who said that Joey would be safe for now, but if anything further happened to him, Joey would need to have his arm cut off, or just that particular area on his arm.
Then, Peter took hold of Joey’s hand and headed back for the boat. Inside the boat, Peter sat Joey down in a chair, and said “Joey, I hate to say it, but the doctor was right, you need to protect that arm of yours. I’m doing this for your protection, and because I love you, not for any other reason, but, Joey, I’m going to have to cut off that area on your arm. I can’t bear the fact that my new son has a killing device on his arm. I worry about you. Okay. I hope you understand. We’ll make it quick, don’t you worry.”
In fact, Peter was right, it wasn’t that bad, but it had a slight pain to it, like that of a shot, a really bad shot, but once it was over, Peter rewrapped Joey’s arm, and exclaimed “So, who’s ready for an adventure?! I sure am. We’ve had a little danger so far, but, I mean, danger is both of our middle names, right buddy! Let’s get going!”
Finally, they set sail, to the applause and cheers from the crowd, although some people said that they doubted their ever making it even near Cynohnia, but, I mean, Peter and Joey didn’t care, for, no matter what happened, they would enjoy their time together on their adventurous, exciting, dangerous, and life threatening trip across the Garbariun Sea and the forest “Where the dead are awoken.”
 

The wind was blowing in Peter and Joey’s faces as they began their journey, which was a feeling neither of them had ever had before. They talked to each other about everything they would need to accomplish, and Peter taught Joey all the secretive facts about how to escape every type of monster you can imagine. Then, on their third night at sea, a tragedy overcame them. The first out of many on their voyage, but by far the worst, as you can imagine, since, well, you know the term “First the worst,” “Second the best,” and others like that.
They were nearing the ¼ mark in the ocean, and it was night, a cold, windy night at that. Then, with both Peter and Joey fast asleep, a loud bash was sent around the ship, which woke Peter, though Joey remained fast asleep. Peter stood up, rubbed his eyes, and opened a window to scan outside and make sure nothing was outside that would bother them. As soon as Peter’s eyes were exposed to the outside air, he gasped, for he realized suddenly by the smell, the low rumbling shake in the water, and by scanning the area, that a large whirl pool was forming, and, boy, it was close. He didn’t know whether to feel upset that their trip may come to an end soon, or to be worried for Joey’s life. Since he realized he didn’t know which emotion he had possession of, he went with both.
Peter shook Joey awake instantly, and, mumbling softly, Joey looked outside the window, and gasped in the same way Peter had. He realized suddenly that he had dreamed the night before about them being sucked into a massive whirlpool, though he thought it to be a typical, average nightmare. Now that he knew what was to overcome them, a voice inside his head screamed, telling him that he should have warned Peter, and he assumed that it was entirely his fault.
The two explorers stood, and just stared at the wide ocean in front of them, with an immense whirlpool that was to wipe them out, and bring everything stored inside of them with it.
Together, they awaited their fate, thinking that they didn’t have any way to escape the danger sign in front of them. Finally, when they were a few feet in front of it, they said a solemn goodbye, saying “I have enjoyed your presence in my life greatly. I’m sorry I brought you into this, for it’s my fault.”
The ship began to swerve slowly, and then a big gash began to form on the edge of the ship, allowing for a few drips of water to run slowly into the ship, which began to pull the ship to the depths below. Once again, Peter and Joey said goodbye, and the ship, the huge Yacht built by Peter himself, was forced
underwater.
The force of the boat pushed both Peter and Joey far under, Joey more so than Peter, since, of course, Joey is much smaller in size than Peter. They squirmed ferociously, just wanting to breathe one more breath, or more, of course, if possible. Lifting his head up out of the water desperately, gasping, and remembering that he had to go back for Joey; Peter took a deep breath, and dunked his head back into the cold water. He didn’t need to, though, because the whirlpool was now at its greatest, forcing Peter to be dunked under water without his trying to, and, with the whirlpool spinning him as if he was number 2 being flushed down the toilet, he was spun under, and flailed around urgently until his heart was almost stopped, then he felt a flush of air whoosh throughout his body.
Peter was put out cold, and when he awoke, he had no idea why. He spun his head around and, remembering Joey, hopped up and sprinted around the corner of, well, wherever he was, and looked around for Joey. Turning his head once more, he caught sight of something that is still vivid in his mind to this day. There in front of him, was a dragon, not a simple, average, everyday dragon that doesn’t even breathe fire, but a real live menace of a dragon, and in its right claw, it held a small boy, with the name of Joey Malask.
Peter ran, no, sprinted towards the dragon, and, man, he didn’t care what kind of dragon it was, it had his friend, no, his son, and he didn’t like that. Joey saw him, and instantly started screaming for him, telling Peter what exactly to do. Of course, Peter knew what to do in the presence of a dragon, and he also knew what kind of dragon they were dealing with here. The dragon here was a Chinese/Japanese dragon, and, boy, they are not nice, one of the fiercest dragons alive, in fact.
The dragon saw Peter coming, and it knew exactly what to do. It flew up into the sky above. Peter stopped completely, and stared straight up into the air, and he realized suddenly what had happened to change the certain death that would have overcome them. As legend has it, the Garbariun Sea holds a secret passageway to Laomerria, a foreign underwater island that holds treasure far beyond the total amount of money in the rest of the world combined, and they had just been sucked into it. I mean, how lucky can you get?
Anyway, the dragon hid in the clouds, where Joey saw the most amazing, the most wonderful, and the most, well, shiny, sight he had ever seen. In front of him stood all the wealth in the world, with gold, diamonds, and more gold stretching as far as the eyes can see.
It turns out, the dragon wasn’t evil at all, it just seemed like that, considering that this particular dragon was a Chinese/Japanese dragon, and, normally, that specie of dragon just aren’t nice, no questions asked.
Still, Peter didn’t know this, and when he saw the dragon fly downward from showing Joey this marvel, he was ready. He threw a spear that he ripped off
the skull of a skeleton resting by the edge of the city, and threw it at the flying dragon that had his son in its grasp, and it flew in the air as if in slow motion, and Peter caught sight of Joey, Peter’s best friend and son, screaming “NO! DON’T!”
Peter realized suddenly, and he felt a sudden pain in his heart, realizing that, first of all, he could injure his son if the spear pierced the skin of the dragon and sent Joey flying off to the ground below. He also realized that this dragon was no ordinary Chinese/Japanese dragon, but a good, kind hearted dragon.
Either way, the spear pierced the dragon’s heart, which sent little Joey Malask flying downward out of the massive claws of the Chinese/Japanese dragon.
You know by now, of course, that Peter wanted with all his heart for Joey Malask to be safe, but, alas, he didn’t feel any special feelings for Joey as he had had only 2 minutes before. Unfortunately, he was mesmerized as he watched silently, watching his own son fall at a very steady pace. He wanted to run and snatch his little boy out of the air, but he just didn’t feel like it was his job. Now, you know Peter wouldn’t just leave Joey there, falling to his death, but, then again, maybe he would... or maybe, just maybe, something/someone would do Peter’s job for him.
Well, Joey was nearing the ground now, a rock hard pavement like that of a diamond flooring piece, and, in one last desperate act to stay alive, he glanced at Peter, who was standing, and staring. Joey didn’t know why Peter was doing what he was doing, but he disliked it very much, and wanted his dad to help him. He looked down once more, and saw that the ground was but a few feet away, and he prepared to die. For some reason, he felt as if he needed to stay alive, like the world needed for him, frantically, to stay alive. One small task for Joey, that Joey might not, and probably would not, be able to fulfill.
Then, when Joey was right at the edge of despair, he was snatched out of the air, and pulled down into a pit next to the rock hard flooring, and he disappeared into the ground, just as Peter was hit with a realization that maybe Joey was OK, and safe somewhere, with somebody else, a stranger that would be of more help to Joey than lousy old him. Then, Peter Norack sat down on a rock, and cried, though little did he know that he was sitting beside the cave of wonders, a prodigy in ancient history, the wondrous pit guarded by a vicious Cyclopes that would rather enjoy to eat a human, ripping into that delicious human flesh.

When Joey saw the monstrous beast in front of him, which was holding him in a tight (and slimy) squeeze, a little scream went off in his head. “What is this beast, and why is it staring at me as if it wants to hurt me? Why isn’t my dad my dad here to save me? I just don’t understand.” Joey thought with a questionable look on his minuscule face. “I just don’t understand. I just don’t understand at all.”
Then, the beast, a Cyclopes, as a matter of fact, stared down Joey, until Joey almost dropped dead with fear. Peter was still sitting beside the pit of wonders, feeling sorry for himself, when he looked down, and caught a glimpse of light coming from a hole next to him. He had no idea what was happening inside, and he wasn’t sure if wanted to find out. All he knew is that he wanted his son back, and he wanted him badly. He felt terrible about leaving Joey falling through the air like that. That’s when he saw the strand of light peering out of the lowly pit adjacent to him.
He decided he wanted to find out what was inside the cave like thing, so he got up, and walked slowly towards it, and hopped in. When he reached the bottom, he saw the worst sight he had ever seen. A Cyclopes, a rather beastly looking Cyclopes at that, was getting ready to cook his son in a major bonfire! He tiptoed slowly towards the fire and the Cyclopes, then jumped out from behind a boulder and kicked the fire in the leaning face of the Cyclopes, who roared in agony from the burning pain.
Joey saw Peter immediately, and they had a quick reunion, (10 minutes after they last saw each other) with Peter kissing Joey on the head and saying “Joey! I’m so, so sorry! I never should’ve done what I did! It’s just, I felt like I didn’t need to help you, and that you didn’t matter in my life! I didn’t like that feeling. I didn’t like it at all.”
Of course, that lasted about 2 minutes, until the Cyclopes rubbed the ash and fire from his eyes and roared louder than any sound ever before known to man. Covering their ears, Peter and Joey screeched in anguish, for the noise was so deafening, blood was beginning to drip from Joey’s ears, and Peter felt as though he might never hear noise other than the deafening roar of that Cyclopes ever again. When the Cyclopes finally stopped bellowing out in anger and complete agony, Peter and Joey sighed silently, and felt more relaxed, until, of course, the Cyclopes looked down and glared right into the eyes of the two companions, and, boy, he looked mean. Really mean.
Then Peter and Joey said one word that would have been obvious to a 2 month old baby. “RUN!!!”
Believe me, they didn’t think twice, but they ran away from there like Olympic sprinters. Of course, the Cyclopes’ was right on their tail, considering that the Cyclopes had legs that were about ten times the size of your average adult.
Soon enough, the Cyclopes scooped up Peter and Joey, and glared at them with one evil eye. Then, something happened that changed the course everything would have gone. The legendary magic trident hidden in the wondrous cave was resting on a golden table right beside them. I will tell you now that the trident was the very thing that turned the Cyclopes into, well.... a Cyclopes. You see, the vicious, monstrous, beastly, and savage Cyclopes before Joey and Peter was once a human that was wandering around on this island. In fact, the man was brought onto the island in the same way as Peter and Joey had, in a whirlpool.
The creature/man who controlled the trident, and had full possession of it, was a man named simply “Antonio C. Strickland.” Antonio was also the one who made the whirlpools to bring Peter, Joey, and the man who was now a Cyclopes to Laomerria. Let’s put it this way. Basically, Antonio could do whatever his microscopic heart desired with the trident, which was now sitting two feet from Joey’s and Peter’s skinny little bodies.
Peter knew this already, and, he was the first to catch sight of it, and, therefore, he became breathless, and he wondered what it was doing here, since Antonio went everywhere with his trident. Of course, Peter couldn’t just go and grab the trident, considering that he was in the tight grasp of the menacing Cyclopes. Also, he would need to figure out the password for the trident, which would not be easy, especially with the Cyclopes watching him with one careful eye.
The Cyclopes was standing still, trying to figure out what kind of death he should give Peter, and he knew already that he would just eat Joey raw. In that time, Peter carefully tried to squirm out of the sweaty Cyclopes hand. Gradually, he began to move upward out of the Cyclopes’ hand, and, finally, he slipped out of its grasp, and fell a bloodcurdling 15 ft. to the ground.
Peter felt a sharp pain in his leg, but he tried to0 keep his mind off that for a the time being so that he could concentrate on figuring out what the password was for this golden, powerful trident. He limped over to it, and looked back to make sure the Cyclopes hadn’t noticed his absent. It hadn’t, for Peter had slipped a medium sized rock in his place. Peter kept limping, until he reached the trident, which shrunk to the size that would perfectly fit his hand, just by scanning his body. “Remarkable! Let’s see what else this baby can do!”
He took hold of the trident, and, right before he started to utter random sentences that might unlock the tridents wondrous powers, a dust cloud appeared in front of him, sending a chill throughout his body. He stared hard as the dust cleared, and saw the shape of a body forming as a silhouette, until he saw the whole body, which made him gasp. He’d recognize that rather stunning male face anywhere. His head had all sorts of gadgets hooked on the top of his head, like a helmet, you would say, and it had all the wonders that would normally only be seen in mythical stories and legendary tales. It had all powerful weapons on it, and his body had armor that could block out 100,000,000 gunshots shot in it at once,
and it could shoot out bullets that would demolish the deepest of armies. The man under all this high tech gear was obviously the man who owned the trident, by the name of Antonio C. Strickland.
Peter dropped the trident and slowly backed up with his arms in the air, for he knew he would have no chance against all that high tech gear. The Cyclopes had seen everything since Antonio appeared, and he quickly snatched up Peter once more.
“I intended for you to be killed by my Cyclopes here, and I knew you would be tempted to deprive me of my trident here” Antonio began, teleporting the trident into his hands without even looking at it. “I suppose you wonder what my Cyclopes was doing in taking you to the exact room in which my trident was... well, you see, this was all part of a plan, a rather smart plan, if I do say so myself. You see, in taking you in the room with my trident, I was able to set the trident so that it would place all of you under my power, so that I am now able to control your every move.” he concluded with a sly smile forming across his face.
“Now, you,” Antonio ordered looking at Peter “Why don’t you punch yourself in the face. Hurry up now, and do what I tell you to.” Antonio said with a devious grin across his face.
Hesitantly, Peter brought his right arm out and punched himself in the face as hard as he could. He gasped in pain, and thought to himself “What am I doing!”
“Now, you,” Antonio said pointing at Joey “Why don’t you do the same as your friend over here?” Antonio exclaimed.
Surprisingly, Joey didn’t move a muscle. He looked around, and then whispered to Peter in a calm way. “What does he want me to do?”
“The Cyclopes dropped Joey to the floor like a hot potato. Then Antonio asked nervously “Your name doesn’t happen to be Joey Malask, does it?”

“C’mon. We’re going on a walk. We have a lot to discuss.” Antonio said with another uneasy look. “If you are really Joey Malask, then you are truly the
rightful owner of the trident. Let’s put it this way. You were born on the island of Cynohnia, which is ruled by a king who has no love for his subjects, and, since he has all sorts of killer beasts that he brought from the forest “Where the dead are awoken,” he’s basically a murderer. Your mom, obviously, is Mrs. Malask, and I heard that she was killed after you were born. I’m sorry to hear that, but you must know this. Your mother was the wife to the very man who made the trident. That man is your father, obviously, and he made the trident for his wife’s protection and comfort. Then one day, he was killed by, unfortunately, me. I was trying to steal the trident, and you know now that I succeeded, though I still regret killing him to this day. I’m not a murderer, I just wanted power, and by golly I got it. Everyone throughout the land came to know my name. Of course, Mr. Malask made the trident in a way that anyone with the name of Joey Malask would not be tempted by its power, but only strengthened in a way that only a Malask could, like a real warrior. Now, Joey Malask, I have found you, something I have longed for the day I got this. Your mom and dad obviously planned to name you Joey, and your mom stuck to that promise. Joey Malask, I give you the trident of power, the trident with the entire world in its authority.”
Joey looked awestricken, while Peter looked dumbfounded, and, well, let’s just say their looks were about in the same category of awe. Antonio smiled slightly in the corners of his mouth, and handed the trident of all power to Joey, who took without question. Antonio seemed to know everything about Joey, and he also knew about Peter and Joey efforts to save Cynohnia. “Joey, why don’t you go ahead and give that trident of yours a go? Say...why don’t you construct yourself a new boat, considering your other one is already in the Laomerrian junkyard?”
Joey pointed the trident at a rock, recited the secret code that only a true Malask would know, and then gazed at the rock and said “Cruise ship, 25 master bedrooms, large dining room, ballroom, basketball court, baseball field, movie theater extent, and lots of different fancy facilities.” A beam shot from the trident, which hit the rock, and created a large smoke cloud over the transformed rock. When the dust cleared, a monstrous cruise ship stood before them, shining like a diamond in the sky.
“Well, what are we waiting for... let’s go!” Peter exclaimed in an excited tone. Peter and Joey ran to the massive structure, and got on. Together they looked for and found every facility Joey had wished for, plus a few additional rooms which were absolutely splendid. Then, the two adventurers walked out to the bow of the ship, and thanked Antonio for the trident, and its powers, waved goodbye, and set off once again on a absolutely wonderful journey to the Cynohnian land, and the forest “Where the dead are awoken.”
The two felt the familiar breeze of the wind blowing in their faces, and together they felt as though nothing could stop them, for they had the trident that
held the power of the whole world, and they had the most completely massive, vast, and immense cruise ship ever built, and it had only taken a few seconds. They played a round of bowling, ate plenty of gourmet meals, watched a movie or two, and battled incalculably in the video game room. They both thought that life could never get any better, when suddenly; an incident occurred that made Joey’s stomach flip, and make him be so upset that he thinks his father would be ashamed to call him his son.
A dolphin like creature, called a faloin, was sighted by Peter as he was resting on the bow. Faloins are the highest jumping creatures in the Garbariun Sea, and they were approaching at an intense speed. The faloin was almost at the edge of the boat, and it was leaping very, very high.
Then, the faloin leaped sky high towards the boat, and Joey turned away and waited for the faloin to strike against his worn body, trident in hand. Joey looked back a few seconds later, and he stared down at his hand, where the trident was not. He gasped, and looked around fretfully. He didn’t have to see the faloin with his trident to know, he just knew. The faloin had knocked the trident out of his hands, and into the depths of the Garbariun Sea.

Joey didn’t have time to think about his loss for very long, for ahead of them the two could clearly see that the forest “Where the dead are awoken,” was sitting calmly about 50 miles or so away from Cynohnia. Cynohnia could be seen slightly, and it brought back memories from his childhood that he did not want to retain.
Peter and Joey rejoiced at the sight of land, but they were still down in the dumps over the whole trident thing. Anyway, they would have to continue the journey without the trident, for now at least. Both Peter and Joey sat back and waited for the time when they would set foot on dry land once again, and they grabbed a smoothie from the mother of all cruise ships before their expedition on it would end abruptly.
They finally reached the black, ashy beaches; if you would even call them
beaches, and strolled out of the ship slowly, unsure if they actually wanted to continue the journey. I mean, they had made it so far already, but, without a trident, although they hadn’t planned on using one beforehand, they were lost. They had planned on using the trident to teleport them to the gateway of freedom entrance, or at least to kill the monsters on the way. Now they had no plan, no experience. Furthermore, they were scared, completely petrified that they would be departing into the forest of doom, as some people called it.
Nonetheless, they didn’t want to give up on the journey, mostly because they were afraid that they would let the other guy down, though that’s what they both thought, so if one of them had spoken up, the other guy would’ve said “Oh, well, that’s OK. I mean, I would like to continue, but if you’re scared, that’s completely fine by me.” Of course, neither of them protested about continuing the journey, so, therefore, they had to make the long, cold walk into the forest “Where the dead are awoken.”
Peter and Joey walked leisurely, and whenever they heard the slightest rustle in the trees, they would spin around and do a double take. Then, when they were walking casually, whistling as if they weren’t freaked out, the king of Cynohnia looked through a telescope he had toward the woods, in case a new monster came along that he might want as his royal guard. When the king saw Peter and Joey walking along through the forest, a blast of recognition rushed through him. Had it not been what, 6-12 months since he had last seen that baby? He knew he had seen that baby before, but where and when? That’s when it hit him. “Malask.” he thought with an evil frown across his face. Then he looked at the other guy...a grown man shivering like the little one. “What a baby.” he thought.
The king called one of his royal guards to his room. “I need you, Serumadud, to find this boy and this man. Kill them at first sight. If you successfully do this, I will allow you to eat another one of my evil citizens for breakfast in a few days, just like yesterday. We’ll eat together, you with... um, how about Ted, and me with my donuts. Together we will rule the world, and it will be all because of yo...wait no, not you, me, because of me, with a little help from you, of course.”
Meanwhile, Peter and Joey were having a terrible time. They were happy about one thing, and that is that they hadn’t had and confrontations with monsters, and dragons. On the other hand, they were freezing, hungry, and tired of walking all day. Their day just went downhill from there. After a few days of walking, they felt as though they would starve on the spot, until they caught sight of their first savage beast, a Serumadud. The Serumadud was sitting down, cleaning itself, and it had a huge pile of meat in front of it. “FOOD!” Peter and Joey both thought simultaneously.
They approached the Serumadud slowly, and then sprinted forward and,
desperate now, grabbed a piece of chicken sticking out of the immense pile. The Serumadud recognized them instantly, and pounced forward at Peter, who was waiting for Joey to return with the food. Peter let out a shrill shriek, and then everything went black.
When Peter awoke, he was staring up at the Serumadud, and Joey was standing a few feet away looking completely berserk. I mean, he looked as if a train had hit him, and the expression on his face read that he wasn’t having the best of times with the evil Serumadud. The instant the Serumadud noticed Peter awake; it grabbed Joey from his position in mediocrity, and spun around at Peter and growled “I let this boy go a few months back, something I highly regret to this day, though now I have hold of his revolting carcass once more. What I am about to do is something I will exceedingly regard others to do in the future, when nauseating humans such as this one are present around others. Now, my master, the almighty king of Cynohnia, has told me to kill you when I first see you, and I have already botched this task, though I will follow through on what he has told me directly to do. First of all, this “Joey Malask” of yours is dead meat, along with you, when I get the chance. Of course, I could kill you now, but I like to do it the fun way...and the rather tasty way as well.”
The Serumadud then clawed at Joey with his razor sharp claws, and made a huge gash in Joey’s cheek. “The painful way.” the Serumadud continued, snickering softly as he made further marks on Joey’s poor face. Peter screamed as he watched his friend getting tortured menacingly by this monstrous beast, and, of course, Joey yelled loudest of all, because, for the first time, he realized what true agony was, and he disliked it very much.
“You can try everything you can to escape me, but I am all eyes, I know your every move, I can smell you from miles away. There is no escape from me!” the Serumadud finished, as he began to claw at Joey’s neck.
Peter couldn’t stand it any longer. He had to help his friend, his son, and, by golly, right now seemed like a great time for poor Joey to receive some aid as he was being tortured by this beast. He contemplated the negative and positive consequences in doing what he was considering.
Then, he stepped forward, and grabbing a rock, he kneeled down, and cleared his mind of any catastrophic thoughts. He knew exactly what he was required to do as a father of this extraordinary toddler, so he ran up to the Serumadud, and dove forward, plunging into the startled Serumadud, who dropped the exceedingly wounded Joey, and gnashed his claws at Peter with a swift movement of his arm. When Peter crashed into the Serumadud, he smashed the sharp rock towards the Serumadud’s evil heart, killing the king’s most trusted guard, and helping the citizens of Cynohnia in doing that.
Peter looked over at Joey and grinned happily and jumped off of the dead Serumadud. Then, he grabbed Joey in a death curdling squeeze, and whispered
“Joey...we may be able to complete our journey after all! Maybe, just maybe...we’ll be able to save the citizens of Cynohnia, of your homeland.”
“Well, we better get going! If we hurry, it’s possible that we can make it by sundown. Besides, if we wait any longer we might as well be ordering the other beasts in this savage forest to come out and kill us. In knowing that, let’s get a move on!” Joey replied quietly.
The two explorers set off once more, hoping for no more unwanted disruptions during their short trip to the gateway of freedom. They walked quickly, still scared for their lives in case another beast noticed hem and attacked, and talked quietly about what they would need to do when/if they did reach the gateway to freedom. “First off, we will need to pull the lever located on the top of the gateway, which will not be easy. This will unfasten the screen that will tell us what to do in order to open the gate. When we get the door opened, we will have to walk through the freedom city and form an army to demolish the Cynohnian king and all of his royal guards. The citizens of the freedom city are like shadows...they cannot be killed, and all the swords and claws of the monsters and people of Cynohnia will go straight through them. Then, when all is said and done, you and I will decide on whether to stay in your homeland of Cynohnia, or my homeland of Krolia.” Peter explained to Joey in a hushed tone so that nobody, no monster, could hear them.
It took 9 hours of exhausting walking, or limping, in this case, but Peter Norack and Joey Malask made it all the way to the gateway to freedom in one piece. When they first got there, they needed to find a way to reach the top of the large gate. Peter looked around for something that could possibly hoist them up, while Joey tried to climb up from the base. Finally, Peter found a large boulder, which they used to elevate them to the flat surface about a quarter of the way from the top that Joey had found in his long, exhilarating search.
As soon as Peter got up to the slim ridge in the gate, he pulled Joey up, since Joey was a little bit too small to reach the ridge by himself. Then, he looked upward for something else to bring them to the top of the gate, until he noticed a familiar body in the sky. He nudged Joey, who recognized the figure right away, and called out to it. Then, Peter realized what it was as well. The flying figure in the sky was none other than the very dragon that they had seen in the underwater land of Laomerria. Joey yelled out to it, and when the dragon noticed them, it flew down to them and nudged Joey, possibly trying to tell him something.
The dragon nudged Joey a few more times, until it realized it wasn’t going to get a response from either one of them. Then, it grabbed Joey in its mouth, and threw him onto its back. It wasn’t until it did the same to Peter that the legendary Joey Malask, and the unknown, but soon to be legendary Peter Norack realized what the dragon wanted to do.
It flew them up to the top of the gate with ease, and the legends thanked
the helpful dragon greatly. Then, they walked together to the lever that would unlock the gateway to freedom, and pulled it with large grins on both of their faces.

The dragon carried Peter and Joey to the ground and watched as both daring adventurers glanced up as the center of the gate deteriorated and then disintegrated completely, opening up a large screen that would supposedly explain what the two would need in order to open up the gateway to freedom. Then, Peter got the shock of his life, followed by Joey stumbling backwards in terror and grief. The screen before them clearly stated “In order to open the gateway to freedom, you must obtain possession of the trident owned by Antonio C. Strickland, and once/if you complete this, you must bring it here and use it as a key for this little lock here.”
Suddenly a not-so-small lock appeared on the gate, and Peter and Joey, who were both still mildly bewildered, decided that they might as well head back home, for there certainly wouldn’t be any chance of either of them diving into that freezing cold water, perhaps just drowning themselves since they would be under for so long.
They headed back for their cruise ship rather gloomily, talking about how far they had made it, just to get turned down like that. They boarded the ship, and began to depart for the long, extensive journey home. For the next few days of doing nothing but sitting quietly in the dining room, Peter and Joey ate nothing but biscuits and raw meat. They felt as though their lives were over, though they weren’t, for they still had each other, and a wondrous tale to tell. They had made it all the way to the gateway to freedom, slightly harmed, but still alive, which was something no person, nor 2 people, had ever done.
On their 9
th day at sea, Peter and Joey found trouble. A Kerow, which is a  water creature in the depths of the “black reef,” which is the name of the area in the water in which all the darkest spirited monsters roam, where even the deadliest monsters from the forest wouldn’t trek. These beasts are #1 on the list of monsters, and the reason why they are so famous is because of their highly dangerous porkals, which is a part of these monster’s bodies that have both poisonous spikes, and an area where their spirit releases from their body, and destroys the good spirit inside of an unlucky person, and places an evil spirit inside the position of the good spirit, making him/her have terrible nightmares, and it turns them into the very same savage creatures that these Kerows are. Eventually, the evil spirit will vanish completely inside of him/her, and, unfortunately, though it may seem highly unlikely, he/she will be disintegrated, melting like the wax of a candle, wherever he/she may be.
Now you see why this Kerow creature is highly disregarded by humans, and avoided at all times. Well, Peter and Joey had to come face to face with this creature that day, and, believe me, they did not enjoy it. Anyway, when the Kerow came close enough to see clearly, Joey saw something that changed his perspective of the Kerow’s appearance. Peter saw it too, but, since what he saw happened to be Joey’s, he saw it first.
Dangling in the Kerow’s mouth was the trident, Joey’s trident, the trident they needed to open the gateway to freedom. “Look, Peter! The trident! We just might be able to return with it after all, but we will have to pick a fight with this savage Kerow, something I’m definitely not looking forward to, and I know you aren’t, either.
“I see, and you’re right, if we can snatch the trident from the Kerow and return unharmed, we will be able to return with the trident and finally depart into the gateway of freedom.”
Peter, surprisingly, dove into the hostile, freezing water confidently, and he landed right on top of the Kerow’s back, exactly where he wouldn’t want to land. Then, he reached forward, and tried to grab the golden trident from the evil Kerow, but he had no such luck, and he fell backward into the rigid water looking quite scared.
Joey couldn’t stand seeing his father about to get harassed by a Kerow, so he dove in too, which was against Peter’s will. Then, something utterly remarkable occurred. The trident containing all power, the trident built by Mr. Malask himself, the trident that would not be able to overwhelm Joey with its prevailing power, forced itself out of the Kerow’s strong jaws and landed right in Joey’s bare palm. That was the first time Joey realized truly that this trident, this trident with all the power in the world, was truly his. His father had made so that it would always, until the end of time, be his.
In knowing this, Joey aimed the trident towards the Kerow, who was
perplexed about how this gold thing had escaped from his mouth, and he turned the Kerow into, well, a dragon. Not a fire breathing, man eating dragon, but a dragon like that of the very dragon that had helped them reach the top of the gateway to freedom. Now, they used the dragon to transport these two wondrous swashbucklers to the gateway of freedom. It was a felling neither of them had ever felt before. They were soaring threw the air, high above the clouds, and the wind was blowing in their faces like when a dog sticks his head out the window in a speedy car ride.
It took less than an hour to land by the gate, which surpassed the cruise ship’s time by about 15. Anyway, when the dragon landed Peter and Joey beside the gate, Joey took the trident as a key, and carefully placed it in the keyhole. The screen told how many times to turn, and whatnot, so Joey was able to figure out how to open when Peter read it for Joey, since Joey couldn’t read. After all, he is just a baby! Anyway, when the lock was completed, Joey and Peter took a step back, and waited.
Finally, after waiting a few seconds to hear the lock whir and sputter, after months of travel and planning, Peter and Joey saw the extraordinary stream of light pour out of the gateway to freedom as it opened for the first time, and it sent a warm chill through their worn, tired bodies, and the world.

Peter and Joey walked into the gateway to freedom together, congratulating each other on their accomplishments, and on how they had gone so far already and that there was still plenty of further adventures to come.
The city surrounding them was distinguished as “the golden city,” and the 500“freedom city,” because the city was, in fact, made out of solid, gleaming gold, and it was the very place where freedom supposedly came from. You see, when a young boy named Chester Lunsce saved Garmeddan, or the freedom city, as it’s
now called, the city vanished completely with Chester as the king. Garmeddan was in a way alike to Cynohnia, though it was still far worse. Brothers turned on brother, killing one another through the orders of the king that came before Chester. You see, the king was pure evil, and all he cared about was watching the sorrowful deaths of each and every citizen of Garmeddan, and, every day before dinner, he would pull a slip with the name of one of his subjects on it. The person whose name was pulled would be put in the mercy of the king, and the king would kill the unlucky citizen any way his black heart desired, whether it be “the easy way out” when he decided to burn the person at stake, or “the hard way to go,” when the king was feeling a little extra mean, cutting off the limbs of he/she once every 10 minutes, until, when an hour passed, he would cut off their head. Believe me; you would not want to live there! Anyway, when Chester finally arrived in Garmeddan, he devised a very smart and well thought out plan to save the city. Each day, he would hide one of the citizens until none remained, and then he jumped out and yelled to the king “Looks like I’m your only subject left! What are you going to do now?”
Well, the king decided to fight to the death against Chester, to see who lives to continue on “alone” on the “empty” Garmeddan. Of course, the king didn’t give Chester any weapons, but still, with Chester’s amazing strength and speed that the king had no idea about, he killed the king of Garmeddan and saved the land that had had a king that only cared about the torture of his subjects.
That’s when the land vanished completely, and was never seen again until Peter Norack and Joey Malask came along that day. Garmeddan was proclaimed the “freedom city” when the land started sending invincible shadow like creatures that saved other torturous cities from evil. Fifteen years after Chester saved Garmeddan, five islands surrounding the Garbariun Sea had been saved, which was half of the 10 total islands. Now, Joey and Peter were entering the time in which they would try to help Cynohnia, and make 6 saved islands instead of five.
The land was declared the “golden city” after the island vanished, because the whole place turned into solid gold.
When Peter and Joey looked around at the gold city, they noticed the brilliant gold twinkle and shine into the eyes of strong looking black creatures that looked like walking shadows. Each and every citizen of the freedom city looked at Joey and Peter with an inquisitive look, though the two explorers could see the joy in the light inside their eyes.
“Citizens of the freedom city! We salute you! My friend and I would like to share with you some vital information that we would like for you to solve! The land of Cynohnia, one of the islands that still remain unsaved, is in trouble. The king has retrieved monsters aplenty from the forest “Where the dead are awoken,” and he is using them to murder the citizens of Cynohnia. This is Joey Malask, and he lived in Cynohnia for very few days after his mother died soon after his birth.
His mother died in by the monsters of Cynohnia, so Joey wants to return to his homeland, and bring peace to it. We need your help to destroy the evil king and his monsters, and if you do this, you will be one island closer to 10 perfect islands surrounding the Garbariun Sea. Please, citizens of the freedom city, please help us do what we have been planning to do together for a while. My son and dear friend is almost 2 years old, and he would think of it to be an early birthday present if you complete this task for us.” Peter exclaimed enthusiastically. “Please.”
The freedom city citizens looked at each other blankly, until one of them answered “Sir, we would gladly fulfill this task for you, but it is not our decision. Our almighty king makes the decisions about who saves what. Go see our king. His name is Chester Lunsce.”
After hearing this, Peter and Joey walked along until they finally found Chester’s palace. Two guards were standing cautiously in front of he doors, but they didn’t look anything alike to the monsters in Cynohnia. In fact, they smiled at them and asked them what they needed to do. “Well, you see, we need to see the king.” Peter answered, who had clearly made himself the spokesperson this time around.
The guards smiled again and opened the doors at once, and cleared out of the way while Peter and Joey strolled down an elegant red carpet leading to Chester’s headquarters.
As soon as Peter and Joey walked into the king’s room, they jogged up to where Chester Lunsce, king of the freedom city, was sitting comfortably and waving. “Welcome! I always love visitors! What brings you to my humble palace at this time?”
“Well sir, we need to ask you a question.” Peter answered in a serious tone of voice.
“Well then, ask away!” Chester answered in a surprisingly cheerful kind of way.
“Thank you, sir. You see, Joey here and I would like your help in saving the land of Cynohnia. I think you know it. It’s one of the 10 islands around the Garbariun Sea...one of those which you haven’t saved yet. Joey’s mother died with him in Cynohnia shortly after Joey’s birth, and we were hoping to help the citizens of Cynohnia so that they don’t get into the same fix that Joey did. Please sir, I’m sure it will turn out well.”
“Why...” Chester answered. “...of course we’ll help you! We’ve been itching to assist one of those 5 unsaved islands lately! We’ll leave tomorrow morning!”

Peter and Joey stayed overnight in one of the king’s most comfortable beds, and they got one of the best sleeps they had had in days, even more so than when in the warm beds in the custom cruise ship. Now that they knew that the freedom city citizens were there to help them, they no longer had any fears or worries about what would come in the future. They no longer thought that anything bad would happen to them, now that the king who had killed the evil ruler of Garmeddan was amongst them. And they were right, too, because with the shadow like freedom city citizens on their side, they were as safe as a boy in his mother’s arms.
In the morning, when Peter and Joey awoke from the loud hoot of a horn, they looked out the window and saw a large screen, where they saw a giant winged creature resting on a platform far into the distance, on the rocky beach outside the forest “Where the dead are awoken.” Then, the creature started flying over the forest, until it looked so close to them that they felt as though they could just reach out and touch it. A few seconds later, they felt a slimy, scaly thing somewhere around them. Peter and Joey both turned their heads simultaneously, and both of them got the shocking of their lives when they did.
The winged creature they had seen was sitting next to them, and it had a few of the shadowy people already aboard it. Reluctantly, Peter and Joey boarded the winged creature along with king Chester, who had just walked into the room where he was to go in order to be able to board the creature as well. Peter and Joey cringed when they were about to fly to the next home and pick up some more citizens who were going to fight in the battle for Cynohnia.
It turns out, the video shown that morning had been the clip made to show what form of transportation the citizens would be using in order to get around. “Cool.” Joey thought with a grin. “I’ve never ridden any animals before, especially not flying animals. In fact, the only thing I’ve ever been in that’s used to transport a person or a thing was a boat, and those things aren’t all that fun. Well...actually, I have been on a dragon, but that was only because it grabbed me.”
When the flying creature had picked up every man in the freedom city, it flew away until it perched atop the gateway to freedom. Then, it spit out a dead fish onto the dead concrete. “What the...” Peter and Joey both thought. What surprised them most was when the king hopped off the creature and cut a piece of the fish with his sword he had with him. Then, he popped the piece in his mouth.
“It’s good to eat! The rest of you can eat some as a little snack before we start or little trip!”
The men all hopped off the flying creature and started to eat the fish. Of course, Peter and Joey wouldn’t dare even take a small sniff of the disgusting, and raw, fish. “It gives us strength before a big battle. You should try it.” Chester said gesturing towards Peter.
“Well sir, um, well, you see, I wouldn’t dare accept such an honor from such, um...royalty. I mean, dead fish is such a treat!”
“Well then, more for me” Chester replied dumping the remains of the fish in his mouth. Then, miraculously, right after the fish was gone and devoured by Chester and his men, they changed into something, well, different. Chester became a huge; I mean huge, sea serpent like thing, kind of like the massive Bolsot Joey had to fight in the Garbariun Sea when Peter and Joey first met. The majority of the remaining men transformed into small Pors, while the few men that weren’t sea serpent’s or Pors turned into a Kerow or a Serumadud, both alike to the monsters Peter and Joey had fought and won.
That’s when Peter realized what was happening. The men were trying to signify that Peter and Joey, by themselves, could beat the Cynohnian king and his monsters. Peter and Joey had overcome the threats from all of the monsters they had faced, and that was why the men were trying to show that, well, if Peter and Joey could beat these monsters, along with the Serumadud, who was one of the king’s best guards, they could beat the pulp out of any of the other monsters the Cynohnian king had in store for them.
“I understand what you’re trying to say, but, nonetheless, we need your help. We won’t be fighting one at a time, but we would be up against thousands of different beasts. Please won’t you still help us?”
“Peter Norack, Joey Malask, me, and the rest of the freedom city warriors, will fight alongside you. The only thing we are trying to say is that, no matter what, this was not our doing. We have been watching you for your whole trip, and, by golly, we have seen some pretty amazing things. Joey, you are a heck of a baby, though “baby” is not the right word for you. Heck, you’re more adult than any real adult I’ve ever seen. If there is anyone out there braver than you, I’ve got yet to see it. And you, Peter, you are one of the best fathers I have ever seen and known. The way you take care of your son, (when he isn’t taking care of himself) and still fight like a true warrior is truly amazing. Also, I totally love how you adopted this boy that you found caught in the middle of the Garbariun Sea. Most people would’ve rescued him, yes, but they wouldn’t have taken him as their own, and/or taken care of him with such care. Both of you, I know you can, and would, complete this conquest, though even if you didn’t, neither of you would have died without knowing truly that you will be known as true heroes and the boldest of warriors ever known to man-kind.”
“Sir, Chester Lunsce, I am bewildered that you would take me to be utterly extraordinary when I know that there are far more powerful and brave men in this world, but still, I take in your compliments with great appreciation. And I know Joey does too, though he is, I agree, the most extraordinary infant ever to set foot on this earth, and he set foot on this earth and walked when he was hardly even a week old. Anyways, I- no, we thank you, Chester Lunsce, king of the freedom city.”
“Well, with that being said, we better get going.” one of the men interrupted, not wanting the conversation to take the whole day. “We’ve already wasted an hour for snacks and chit chat.”
When Chester heard this, he too realized that, yes, they would need to get a move on, but no, they had not “wasted” an hour, but used it to explain the info about the legends to the legends. Then, the men all re-boarded the flying creature, which Peter realized was called a Maro. The Maro took off flying, soaring high into the air where it would supposedly stay for the remainder of the ride. After two or so hours of boring travel, with nothing at all to do except look down at the wide, open world below them, obtain a monstrous pit in the stomach, throw up, and watch the pink, brown, or yellow vomit plummet slowly towards earth, the companions on the huge Maro spotted something, well...strange, in the horizon. Squinting closer at the intriguing object nearing them, Chester and his group saw that this unidentified object could now be identified. “Sir...that’s an X.X 74 if I’ve ever seen one.” one of the men piped up with a frightened look on his shadowy face that was barely visible behind the black shadowiness on the man’s face. “We can’t do with one of those at the moment, especially not with these two humans accompanying us, but it looks like they’re heading straight for us for now. We need to bind a distraction of some sort, to make them head in the other direction.”
Now, for those of you who don’t know what a X.X 74 is, well, it’s simple. First of all, they are planes, fighter planes, not any creature of some sort. Second of all, they have humans in them, as very well alive as Peter and Joey, though the men inside the plane (no women would dare enter the same vicinity as these mean, ruthless men) were very, very evil and blood thirsty. They would move around in these planes and just approach whatever else they could find floating around in the cold air, and then they would either shove the individuals off of their form of transportation, (if on a flying dragon, Maro, etc.) destroy the from of transportation with death curdling missiles, (if in another plane, jet, etc.) or jump attack the form of transportation to destroy the engine controlling the plane causing the plane to pitifully crash into the ocean or land below (also if in a plane, jet, etc.).
The heroic group heading for Cynohnia put their heads together to think out a plan, an ingenious plan, and a plan that would trip out the evil men in the
X.X 74 heading straight for them. The first person to speak up with an idea was Chester, of course, for Chester was, in fact, the king who had saved the island of Garmeddan along with rescuing 5 additional islands with the help of the past citizens of Garmeddan. “Guys, I think I have an idea. First of all, I need to say that if my rather well thought out plan fails to succeed; I will be the one who you may blame. My plan may not be the best in the world, but I know for one thing that we will need me in order to be able to carry out this arrangement. Alright, well, my plan is simple. First of all, we are, in fact, going to allow the X.X 74 to reach our Maro. When the plane gets to us, Peter and Joey will hide behind me, because if the men inside the plane see that we have live humans on our ride, they’ll take Peter and Joey aboard their plane and torture them. Then, they’ll throw Peter and Joey off the plane one by one, and neither of them will be able to survive like we would as shadow relatives. After we hide them, all of us will jump aboard their plane and try our hardest to destroy the plane engine inside the plane like they do to us so rudely. The reason I said we would need me most is because I’m clearly the most buffed out, and, of course, I am the biggest and the most strategized one here.” Chester explained right before giving his guns (his muscles) a big kiss.
The ret of the passengers looked like they agreed with the plan, though, to be honest, Joey wasn’t that excited about jumping to a plane that would be a few feet away and about 15,000 feet above the ground. With or without Peter and Joey’s agreements, Chester’s plan was the one that went, and, besides, the plane was nearing closer by the minute.
When the plane came close enough to see clearly, Peter and Joey went as told behind Chester big back and waited. “Peter, if I don’t make it alive, and you do, my only wish would be for you and the group to save my homeland, Cynohnia, from all of its troubles. Of course, I’m planning to stay alive, but if I don’t, not when I do.” Joey whispered nudging Peter softly. “And I know you’ll make it out alive too.”
The men on the X.X 74 saw the Maro flying slowly towards their plane, and they saw who was on it too. They noticed clearly that there were two live humans behind the king, Chester, and the rest of the men looked like the everyday shadow like men that they encountered every now and then. They knew what they wanted to do with the humans, but the other men looked tough to beat. Well, anyway, they were almost to the Maro, so they wouldn’t have much time to think.
Then, suddenly, all the men on the Maro, including Peter and Joey, hopped up and jump attacked the plane, with Chester jumping first right onto the glass window on the front of the plane, breaking the glass and landing on top of the person driving the plane, killing him. “One down.” Chester thought.
After that, the rest of the men jumped into the broken space in the glass and started attacking the evil men. They were throwing the men out the windows,
socking the men in the face until they died, and tying the men to the bottom of the plane until the rope came loose sending them falling quickly to earth. Man, it was a massacre! All of the men in the X.X 74 were dead in a minute, and when the last one was killed, Chester shouted out “We did it! Not exactly according to the plan, but we still did it. And in no time flat too!”
The freedom city citizens celebrated for a little while longer, until Chester pronounced that they would be using the X.X 74 as transportation from that time on, since it was only partly damaged. They sent the Maro off, then Chester controlled the plane away from the area, leveled the plane so that it wasn’t tilted, and brought the plane upward because it had been lowered because there had been no driver. Then, finally, after all the preparations were made, and everything fixable was done and fixed, the group from the freedom city left that area in the sky, and continued on their journey to save Cynohnia, and leave but 4 evil filled islands to remain.
The remainder of the journey lasted for an hour, though it was harder to see clearly because the wind was blowing in Chester’s face at a high speed as a result from the window being smashed open.
When Cynohnia came into sight, Chester began to lower the plane slowly towards the edge of Cynohnia, not wanting to attract anybody by landing in the heart of the island. Chester decided to land in the water, because he and the other citizens from the freedom city could breathe underwater. Even though Chester knew Peter and Joey couldn’t breathe underwater like he could, he wanted to risk the chance of losing either Peter or Joey in the dreadful Garbariun Sea. “I’ll grip them securely myself, and they’ll be fine. Besides, I remember witnessing Joey struggling in the sea near that Bolsot, and he made it out alright, along with Peter, who was in a boat in the middle of the sea also in the vicinity of the frightful Bolsot. I think, no, I know, they’ll be fine...just fine.” Chester thought with a nervous look on his face.
Chester Lunsce, king of the freedom city, landed in the cold Garbariun waters that formed a gigantic wave that collided into the massive beaches of Cynohnia. Peter and Joey were pushed under the water by the massive pull from the plane meeting the water, and when they looked up while struggling to regain composure and swim to the surface; they saw all the black silhouettes from the freedom city citizens already near the sandy beaches.
Peter grabbed hold of Joey’s arm and together they attempted to pull one another upward towards where the freedom city men were already resting. Peter glanced over at Joey, and as soon as he did, he began to feel queasy, and he didn’t know if it was from his not being able to breathe, or from seeing Joey struggle to stay alive with his face turning purple from the possible drowning. He figured that he might as well not think about it, and try to get Joey safely to the Cynohnian beaches alive. He swam upward as best as he could, though he was beginning to
wince at the thought of him and his brave, strong son drowning just outside the place where the two of them had been striving to reach.
Just as Peter was beginning to feel hopeless, a solid 3 minutes after the “soft” landing into the Garbariun Sea, he felt a strong hand grab hold of his shoulder and pull him upward towards the sea’s surface. As he was being dragged at a rather fast pace towards the surface, Peter looked around frantically for Joey, whom he thought was being carried by his own hands. He also looked to see who was pulling him to shore, and, of course, he was being held by the strong hands of Chester Lunsce. Then, he felt cold air circulate throughout his body once more. He looked around, and he was lying on the sandy beach of Cynohnia, though there was no Joey Malask in sight. He got up, and started walking along, examining every person he saw, making sure that he knew whether they were or weren’t Joey. After he got through every soul he could see on that beach, he hung his head, and began to run looking around and screaming with tears in his eyes. When he had hung his head ashamed for losing Joey, he saw, below his tired, sore feet, an exceedingly bloody and not breathing Joey Malask.

All of the freedom city civilians’ leisurely trudged over to where Peter was on his knees crying his eyes out. Peter slowly picked Joey up in his arms and laid his head on Joey’s silent stomach. “I’ll never forget you, Joey Malask. And I’m sure that I’m not the only one that will, until the end of time, have brilliantly vivid memories of you and your brave, hardworking, courageous soul.” Peter solemnly whispered in a hushed tone. “You will live on in my heart, and you will never leave it.”
After a few silent moments of nothing, staring off into space and remembering every solitary and wondrous feat done by Joey, Peter laid Joey into the sand, and closed his eyes. Then he murmured a few words that slipped out of his mouth and almost stopped time altogether. “Oh Joey, how do I wish you were still among us right now. We could be saving your homeland, representing you as the most essential person ever born in the Cynohnian walls.”
After he said those words, Peter remembered something. “Joey told me that if he did end up dying, he wanted me and my companions to save Cynohnia for him, as a kind of...well, funeral gift.” Peter thought.
Then, something outrageous happened. Peter didn’t see it, but he didn’t have to, and he wouldn’t have cared either way. Chester looked around at his subjects from the freedom city and, well, he winked. The shadowy freedom city subjects looked around vacantly until they saw Chester wink one more time and glance at the sobbing Peter Norack.
Suddenly, between Peter’s sobs, Peter heard a soft mumble coming from below. “P...Peter?” the voice rang out questionably.
Peter glanced down in awe, and he saw the descendant of the man who made the trident of all power, Joey Malask, looking quite perplexed and sort of, well, gratified. Peter looked from Joey to Chester, then back to Joey. He didn’t need to think twice; he grabbed Joey in a death curdling squeeze that would’ve killed an average human being. Except Joey wasn’t an “average” human being. He was Joey Malask the great, Joey Malask the physically and emotionally muscular infant, and Joey Malask, the kid that gave Peter Norack a new perspective.
Joey looked around at the grinning Chester Lunsce, the dumbfounded Peter Norack, and each and every one of the smiling freedom city inhabitants. Peter stood up, pulled Joey to his feet, and asked a simple question. “Joey...what happened down there that allowed you to be separated from me, and how in the world did you return to your wonderful, adventurous life when you were clearly drowned and beaten to the pulp by...something?”
“Well, I was feeling rather weak after 1 minute had passed of us being trapped underwater by the strong pull caused by the plane colliding with the sea’s surface. I feel sluggish even now, though my “death” was caused by something different than drowning. After 3 minutes had passed, I could feel myself turning purple, and I almost passed out. Then, I saw Chester dive in the water and grab
you. I know for one thing that he thought that you had hold of me, so he just pulled you, instead of grabbing both of us. And you were holding me, at least in the beginning you were. I don’t really remember all that happened after that. I guess I just blacked out from my being underwater for too long, but it may have been for another reason. You see, something, some creature, came up from the depths and snatched me in its teeth...right out of your hands! I could tell that I was being pulled downward by the creature, and one of the only things I can still remember vividly was the deep, red blood that was seeping from my chest and into the cold Garbariun water. That’s when I blacked out completely, and I that was the last thing I remember until I woke up with you and all of our freedom city companions surrounding me. I suppose I just passed out for a moment and-.”
“Joey, you were dead, you didn’t pass out, or anything like that. I don’t know how, but I believe our friends here saved your butt.” Peter replied nodding at Chester. “And I believe you would be in heaven at this moment instead of being amongst us, ready to take on the challenges of fighting and conquering Cynohnia. Oh, and also, I was very intrigued by how you were beaten by a creature of some sort, and you still managed to make it back here alive and close to being well.”
Joey looked again at Chester and his strong freedom city friends. Then, Peter, not wanting to carry on with yet another conversation stalling their arrival to the inside of the Cynohnian walls, he asked “So! We should probably get a move on, and start heading for the inners of the Cynohnian walls! We don’t have all day to discuss such an exhilarating matter.” Peter looked at his companions anxiously. “I mean, isn’t Joey’s halfway trip to death like, the best topic ever!” Peter finished sarcastically.
Seeing that Peter was right, Chester stood up on a rock and told everyone the directions. “Alright, we are going to begin our trek into Cynohnia quickly, and quietly. Peter, you and Joey can stay in the middle of our group at all times, seeing that neither of you are exactly invincible like we are. Of course, Joey showed that he may be, in a way, alike to us; since he lived that death threatening attack by...whatever the creature was that attacked him. Anyway, as you probably already understand, we will be traveling as one, for, if one of us gets in trouble, we’ll have our whole group around him in a second. For starters, let’s just say the king and his royal guards aren’t going to be playing Mr. Nice Guy like the past few islands we have set free. Two of you and myself will be the ones to fight the king, and the rest of you will go for the royal guards. Of course, once the two of you that I choose and I finish off the evil king, we will join the rest of you in a 30 vs. 1000 fight to the death against all the evil monsters, vicious beasts, and whatever else the king brought to his kingdom from the forest “Where the dead are awoken.” Now, men, let’s get this butt-kicking started! Any questions?” Not one person raised their hand. “Ok, with that being said, let’s go, men! Together, we shall bring peace to our survivor, Joey Malask’s, homeland! Peace!”

The group marched casually towards the walls of Cynohnia, the walls where Joey was slung overtop of by his caring mother, Mrs. Malask. When Joey saw the familiar stone walls separating the Cynohnian land from the Cynohnian beaches and dock where Joey had found the boat that had begun his adventurous journey, he had a solitary, but vivid, flashback of his childhood. He remembered his mother, whom he was born to exactly two years before. He remembered the evil king who had ordered the Serumadud to kill him and his mother, and most of all; he remembered his mom’s soft, kind voice that always made him feel out of harm's way.
Now, he knew that he was the least bit safe, for he was heading into the very kingdom where his mother was very cruelly put to death. In fact, he was headed into the kingdom where he might fight the king, with the help of Chester and another person, if, of course, Chester selected him. When the group reached the walls, which took no more than 3 minutes, Chester made an announcement. “The time has come for me to select two of you to accompany me in my life/death battle against the king. I will say one thing in advance for now, just as a heads up, though I hope this doesn’t discourage your courageously offering to assist me. Nevertheless, the king will not be easy, and I believe he will be exceedingly angry, and he will desire even more to kill us because Peter killed his most trusted royal guard, a Serumadud. Anyway, I just want to see how many of you will be brave enough to assist me.”
Not a hand was kept down, and Chester decided to choose for himself who would be his assistance against the all powerful king of Cynohnia. “Since I know each and every one of you would be as loyal to me as the next person, I will select two of you with my wits. I am leaning towards taking the one who helped me on the last island...but I think I’d better try someone new this time. Peter and Joey would be excellent choices, if they were invincible...well; I think I’ve made my decision. I know I may regret this, but...Peter, Joey, the both of you will be my aids while fighting the king. I know neither of you are completely invincible, but
both of have the courage, and will, that nobody in this area, in the whole world, could come even close to matching. Peter Norack and Joey Malask, I wish you the best of luck during our battle, and I know neither of you, because your hearts are so great, will be the least bit injured. Again, I wish you good luck.” Chester sighed greatly. “Oh, and also, I wish myself luck, because, I mean, we need me in order to take down Cynohnia. I mean, right!”
Peter and Joey rolled their eyes on that last comment, but then they concentrated on the fact that they would go up against the very man who killed Joey’s mother. Or at least ordered something else to execute Joey’s poor mother.
Well, anyway, as soon as Peter heard the news that they would be fighting the king, they cringed in fear. Then, they realized something else. If they killed the king, they would bring revenge on Cynohnia for killing Joey’s mother, and, on the other hand, they would become known throughout the world for being the first humans to ever fight side by side with the men from the freedom city.
In fact, since the freedom city army was known so greatly throughout the world, Peter and Joey would become known for killing the king of Cynohnia with the help from the king of the freedom city. The invincible, powerful, buff and ripped, king Chester from the powerful and unforgettable land called the freedom city. Peter and Joey then looked up at Chester with a serious mask on their faces, and, in unison, they said “Chester, both of us would be honored to fight beside you against the king of Cynohnia. Even if something goes wrong, something as bad as death, I would be able to know that I fought beside the all powerful king of the freedom city, Chester Lunsce. Sir, if I died, I know that I would be able to die happy.”
Chester grinned softly, until he decided to head through the gates of Cynohnia. With a “soft” push, Chester slammed down the huge gate, something that landed on top of the nearest house, destroying or killing whatever or whoever was inside the small Cynohnian cottage. “Oops.” was all Chester could say after what he had done. He was supposed to kill the king and his army, not the villagers of Cynohnia.
Just like they had planned, the group walked single file towards the king’s humungous palace, trying not to attract very much attention. Trying not to attract any attention, in fact.
As the group walked slowly forward, with their heads held high, a tall, scrawny middle-aged boy was peering through his window, carefully watching the odd group marching quietly. Then, the boy trotted over to his table, where his grandpa was drinking a warm cup of coffee. “Papa, why does that little boy out there, in the front of that single file line, look exactly like me?” the boy asked looking up at his grandpa with eager eyes. “And why is he in a huge line with this buff guy and lots of buff other individuals?”
The boy’s grandpa leaned forward and looked out the window. “Well
sonny, I’m sure it doesn’t mean anything. Though he does look kind of similar to you. In fact, I think he does looks exactly like you.” The grandfather’s mind trailed for a second, as he stared out into space, thinking. “Perhaps this boy just happens to look like my grandson.” he thought with a questionable look on his face. “It couldn’t be. It absolutely couldn’t. Debra has been dead for a while now. There’s no way this could be true. I must be going insane, thinking thoughts like this. I am growing pretty old. I guess I’m just getting to elderly to keep living on this planet. I better turn myself in to the king. I know that he wants for all of the elderly to be put to death because he can’t manage to keep his mind straight with old people babbling nonsense in his face every day.”
“Son, I think you should just concentrate on other things for now. That boy shouldn’t be of any disruption to your chores and everyday jobs. It’s been hard ever since your mother died, and I’m getting to be old. We can’t manage to be thinking about random boys that look somewhat alike to you. Now, David Malask, I think it’s time for you to get to bed.” the grandpa whispered.

Eight years before Joey was born on that terribly bloody night, a different Malask boy was born. Mr. Malask and his wife were both crouched down around the new baby once it was born; in the exact same area where Joey was born. They named him “Dave Malask,” and, though he was the future brother of Joey Malask and the son of Mr. Malask, the man who made the trident containing all the world’s power, he was no different than any other ordinary baby boy, weak, color blind, and whiny.
Dave learned all about the evil doings of their king, but, somehow, he wasn’t the least bit frightened of the torturous king. He believed, as did most of the citizens in Cynohnia, that the king was constantly murdering them for their own good, as a reminder of his great power, and to show that he, the king of Cynohnia, was strong enough and kind enough to protect and care for them. Of course, about half of this was not true, for; the king would kill them for the sheer fun of it, and he enjoyed testing his royal guards to see the horrible, bloody damage that could possibly be done by his royal guards brought from the forest “Where the dead are awoken.”
When Dave was 5 years old, his life changed completely. His father, his
father that helped and showed him how to construct wonderful gadgets that would supposedly facilitate mankind, his father that he would watch day by day build a wondrous gold trident, died. It was a hard death to take, but it happened, and there was nothing that could be done to stop it. Dave cried himself to sleep during the nights that followed, and he would wake up in the morning only to be struck once more with the realization that his father was dead.
Then, when Dave was eight years old, his brother was born. Dave was home alone, awaiting the arrival of his brother and his mother. The night passed by, then the morning. He didn’t bother going to breakfast that morning, and he wasn’t afraid that the king would find out about his absence. The rest of the day passed, and still nothing, nobody came home to the eight year old home alone Dave. Dave stayed awake all that night, praying that his mother would come home to him.
By the time morning came by, Dave was fast asleep on the kitchen floor. He awoke to a knock on the door. Excited, he leaped up and ran to the door. Inside of him, he said one final prayer before opening the door. “Please let this be my mother and my new brother. I would be devastated if anything happened to them. Please, lord, please.”
Dave closed his eyes, and ripped open the door. Then, he opened his eyes to see his grandfather standing there, and, believe me, it didn’t look like he was there for a welcome home surprise party for Dave’s mom and his little brother. “Dave, I’m sorry! Your mother died because she was late for breakfast, and you would be, too, if they had found you. Your brother was slung over the Cynohnian walls, and I have no idea if he is dead or alive. I reckon he’ll be dead by tomorrow morning, and I’m guessing you’ll be angry at me for not standing up to the king and giving my life for them. I’m just an old man anyway.” Dave’s grandfather said while looking at his feet. “I’m sorry, I truly am.”
Dave looked at his grandfather hoping to see a smile slide across his face, and to hear his grandpa say that he was just joking. But all Dave saw on his grandpa’s face was complete sorrow and dread. “Dave, you’ll be living with me now. I know I’m not the best parent in the world, but I’m going to have to do, given I’m the only one you still have. Again, I’m sorry, I never meant for your father and mother to die when you were at such a young age.”
Dave stared out the window for a moment with glassy eyes, until he asked “Grandpa, why does everything bad have to happen to me. Why can’t I meet my brother and have someone to hang out with? Why do I have to be brotherless, motherless, fatherless, and I’ll probably lose you too soon enough, grandpa?!” He asked that last question with a fierce tone, glaring at his grandpa. “Why do I have to have such a mean, heartless grandpa that will probably die soon to leave me stranded here with nobody to care for me?! Why?”
Dave sobbed some more, but his grandfather looked at him sternly, and
told him that, well, he was being a jerk to the only family member he had left alive.
“If you want me to die, then fine. I can kill myself, and leave you to suffer. Dave, you need to be grateful for what you do have, not morn over what you don’t have.” Dave’s grandpa replied glaring right back at Dave.
Dave stormed off at this last remark, sat down on a couch, and cried. There he stayed for the days to come, and there he stayed until he cooled off and went home with his grandpa.
Two years later was when Dave looked out his window, he saw the huge line containing buff individuals, along with a baby that looked exactly alike to Dave. Also, he saw a one grown man that wasn’t nearly as muscular as the others. Little did he know that the baby was his two year old little brother, and the weakest adult was his brother’s step-parent.
If Dave had known about his brother, I’m sure he would’ve ran outside and grabbed his brother into a death curdling squeeze, and Joey would meet his long lost grandfather. Dave and his grandfather would’ve joined the group’s expedition, and everything would be alright. Everything could then be resolved, and everything would happen in the right order in order to successfully save Cynohnia.
But none of those things were known, and, therefore Dave didn’t meet his brother, right away, at least.
Dave continued on with his life for that day, while Joey, Peter, Chester, and the rest of the freedom city warriors continued on with their journey to save Cynohnia, and bring peace to Joey Malask’s homeland, the land where Joey’s brother lived, the land, where Dave and Joey were the closest to each other as they had ever been before.

Joey and his group walked along together, silently, towards the king’s huge palace, where they would unleash a sneak attack. Nobody in the group would dare
say a word. Joey looked around at the land that he barely remembered, and, as he looked at the citizens, he noticed that each and every one of them had no glint in there eyes, like they never did anything fun in there lives, and, well, they probably hadn’t.
All of the citizens were wearing raggedy clothing, like that of what Mrs. Malask was wearing when she gave birth to Joey. Joey cringed as he thought of what he could be wearing at this moment had he been raised in Cynohnia.
Peter and Joey both stopped to take a moment to fill up on the scene around them. They saw people all around, people with nothing but complete terror in their eyes, people horrified about the thought of their king murdering them, or their friends and family. But they saw one thing that was shared by each of the citizens; they all had a particular love for their king.
Finally, after plenty of bewildering images were planted in the minds of the freedom city warriors, along with Peter and Joey, the large group from the freedom city arrived at the palace of the evil king of Cynohnia, the king who had sent the Serumadud to murder Joey’s mom, for something as small as being tardy for breakfast.
The palace was huge, made out of solid gold, and neatly embedded with sparkling diamond. One thing that made Joey dislike the king of Cynohnia even more was that the king had a huge gold palace, which he could easily sell to another island for a good amount of money in order to enhance the homes and clothing of his citizens, and the king’s loyal citizens had miniscule, straw roof cottages that fell apart every once in a while.
Joey peered a little closer at the massive palace, and, through a window, he could see the king, talking slowly with one of his beastly, savage guards. Chester noticed this too, and he made a small growling sound supposedly signifying that he wished he could just stomp right up there and rip his head off.
“Peter, do...do you think maybe we can kill the king? I mean, he may be strong and all, but I think... I know he has a weakness. He must. Everyone has their Achilles heel.” Joey asked softly.
“I don’t truly know. I can see him now, and, well, he doesn’t look like the nicest guy in the world...” Peter trailed off for a second. “...but what if our sneak attack works...and we end up killing every soul in that huge palace. I mean, the palace may be huge, but do you really think the king can manage to bring that many guards to his palace. He would have to take more than a few trips to bring enough beasts from the forest that we made it through.”
Peter and Joey looked at each other questionably for a few seconds, until Chester announced that they would be heading into the palace right away, and, though they didn’t have much time for chit chat without the king noticing them standing there, he would need to explain a few rules. “First of all, I have decided that we are going to secretly jump attack the king, and, if that doesn’t work, we
will head down through the palace killing as many royal guards as we can find. If, and when, we do, in fact, eliminate every royal guard, Peter, Joey, and I will go up against the king singlehandedly, while the rest of you go to make sure none of the citizens are out to kill us for what we’re doing. Any questions?”
“What if we don’t eliminate the royal guards. Will you, Peter, and I still fight the king? I mean, while the rest of the group fights the guards, wouldn’t the three of us fight the king?” Joey blurted with a look on his face that clearly read “I-think-the-king-will-be-easier-to-fight-than-the-guards-so-I-want-to-go-up-against-the-king-and-leave-the-rest-of-the-group-fighting-more-than-one-creature-at-a-time.”
Chester looked at the hopeful, scared look on Joey’s face, and, when he saw the two year old with his eyes bulging out like bowling balls, it was easy to come up with a reply to Joey’s question.
“Joey, do I have a suggestion for you. I know you’re a baby, but please try to tone down that screechy baby voice of yours. Oh, and also, I guess we can fight the king before joining the group against the royal guards.” Chester replied with a grin. “But only because babies can be so resistant when they want something. Oh, by the way, it’s been nice having a kid in the group. Makes traveling a whole lot more interesting.”
Joey grinned right along with Chester, and the group decided to begin their short trip into the palace. The group turned the corner, only to find two royal guards, well, guarding the entrance to the palace. Chester smiled, and told the group to follow his lead. He ran right up to the guards and slammed their heads together. Then, he grabbed one of the guard’s head and used the guard as a sword against the other guy. He slammed the bruised body into the other guard, and soon both of them were scrawled on the floor, dead.
Peter looked at Chester amazed, and thought “This might be easier than I thought. With Chester among us, we can beat the guts out of anything that comes our way.”
Chester pushed open the large, gold doors and rushed everybody inside. As soon as everybody was inside the great palace, the group from the freedom city began to carefully find their way to the king’s headquarters. In an exceedingly hushed tone, Chester told the group to follow behind him, and to have Peter and Joey in the middle of the group for extra protection.
Tip toeing, not daring to make the slightest shrill movement, Peter looked around at the scene around him. Above him there rested a giant glass chandelier, and, on the walls around him, a golden statue forming the king stood bright and tall. “Couldn’t the king spare one or two of these items in order to enhance the kingdom around him?” Peter thought angrily.
When the group turned a corner, Chester saw nothing in front of them, so they continued to walk slowly upward towards the king’s headquarters. Chester
still led the group, of course, so Joey, nor anyone else for that matter, could see very far past Chester’s broad shoulders. “I wish I was as ripped as that.” Joey thought while picturing himself at the age Chester was, muscles bulging out of his shirt like a frog’s eyes when standing next to a giant alien from outer space holding an oversized axe. “Then I’d be the one leading the group, and I’d be the only one who could see in front of me.”
If Peter, being in the very middle of the group along with Joey, was, in fact, able to see in front of him, he would have noticed something peculiar about how Joey was walking. Peter was behind the biggest freedom city warrior besides Chester, and, for this reason, he was unable to notice this peculiar stroll.  Joey was in front of the huge man, and, therefore, Peter was even more incapable of laying eyes on Joey. You see, Joey still had the bandana used in the beginning of the journey to cover up the wound made by the Por. When Joey was pushed underwater by the force of the plane crashing into the water, the bandana slid off his arm. Then, as Joey was walking into the king’s palace, he unchangeably glanced at his arm.
Now, as Joey was walking through the palace, his knees were beginning to fell wobbly. Then, when the group urged on through the palace, Joey completely collapsed onto the floor. Everyone in the group stopped and ran over to where Joey was when they heard the sound of head meeting ground.
It was obvious, nobody had to say, nobody had to check, everyone just knew. Joey Malask, at the age of two years old, had breathed his final breath.
Peter looked up at Chester hopefully, looking for more of that life saving magic they had done earlier. Chester shook his head, and explained how Joey was still a little bit alive when he had been partly drowned in the Garbariun Sea. Now, everyone knew, including Peter, that Joey’s time had come.
Something inside Peter screamed. Why hadn’t this happened to him? Why couldn’t all the life/death situations happen to him, Peter Norack? In fact, Joey’s two year life had been filled with nothing but life/death situations. Joey had been slung over a gate in Cynohnia, lived for approximately 4 days without food and water, fought an enormous Bolsot, bitten by a Por, flown on a dragon, picked up by a massive Cyclopes, clawed menacingly by a Serumadud, attacked by an X.X 47, nearly drowned by the massive pull of the Garbariun Sea, and now this.
Tears were rolling down the cheeks of Peter, so Chester put a strong hand on his shoulder. “Joey, you have done a lot of amazing things in your life, and all of it was done in two years. I’m sorry your time on earth ended so suddenly, and I know I’ll see you again in the future. You will always hold a special place in my heart, and I know for certain that we will be able to rejoice together once more in the land of God. With love that will last forever, Peter Norack, your father forever.” Peter recited with grief in his voice that was known throughout that small passageway leading to the place where Peter would be able to seek revenge
against the evil Cynohnian king...for Joey.

That night, David Malask knew something was wrong. When he remembered his occurrence with the little boy who had looked alike to him, Dave knew, he just knew, he had to see that boy. He had to.
He waited until his grandfather went to bed, then he got out of bed, grabbed a box of Swedish fish, and walked outside into the Cynohnian air. He could smell it in the air, something, he didn’t know what, but something was afoot at that moment, and the thing he smelled that made him sense this was blood, pure, red blood.
Dave was Joey, but he was a Malask boy, and he knew his blood when he caught a whiff of it. The scent of blood was obviously the smell of the blood from his blood relative, Joey. He didn’t know how he knew, but he knew. His brother was out there, and he was in trouble.
Dave followed the smell all the way to the king’s palace, and, sighing reluctantly, he jogged inwards. When he turned the first corner, the scent was too strong for him bare, and he knew his brother was close by. He turned his head, and, finally, after two years of yearning, David Malask met his brother. Well, he thought his brother would jump up from where he was resting, in the group he was in, and recognize Dave as his bro, his friend. But Joey didn’t move, nor did he open his eyes. Dave walked a little closer, and he saw a hint of blood across Joey’s shirt. “You must be Joey’s brother. You have a very brave brother, son, and yes, his name is Joey, seeing that you have never met him. I’m sorry, but Joey, unfortunately, has taken his last breath but 3 hours ago.” Chester informed with a sad look.
Chester took a step back, and Dave saw a man kneeled over Joey. Then a thought crossed Dave’s mind that blew him away. “Dad?” Dave whispered softly thinking Peter was his “dead” father since he had supposedly been caring for Joey as only a father would.
“Joey?! You’re alive! Why, this must be some other guy that looks like you.” Peter said thinking Dave was Joey and pointing at the dead body below him.
“Wait, what? My name isn’t Joey. I’m Dave Malask.” Dave said perplexedly.
“No...wait, who did you say you say you were Dave Malask.”
“Yes, sir.” Dave replied vacantly.
Peter trailed off in thought for a second, looking questionably at Dave. “Are...are you Joey’s brother?” Peter asked.
“I...I think.”
“You sure do look a lot like Joey. Well, I guess you would/could, in fact, be Joey’s brother. Oh, by the way, I’m Peter Norack. I was nursing and caring for your brother. I adopted him as my own when I found him in the Garbariun Sea.” Peter replied.
Then both Dave and Peter looked down at the dead Joey, and both of them let out a soft whimper. Dave was so close to meeting his brother, and here he was now, two feet away from Joey, and his brother was dead. Chester put a hand on Dave’s shoulder, and told him everything about how Joey and Peter’s trip, and how they had come along to the freedom city, and they were coming along to save Cynohnia. He had hoped Dave wouldn’t mind that their king was about to be murdered.
Dave perked up when he heard about how Joey’s mother had been killed by the Serumadud, and his brother slung over the walls. He was amazed as he heard about all the truly amazing things Joey had done in his short life, and when he heard the reason for the trip, which was to bring revenge on Joey’s homeland for the terrible thing the king had done to Joey’s mother; David Malask looked Peter in the eye, and said “Peter, I want in. I would like to help you in fighting the king. I think this is some of my business, and I need to help you in bringing revenge to the king for my brother and mother. I hope you will allow me to help, even the tiniest bit. I mean, I’m not much of a fighter, but, I mean, what the heck, I have Joey Malask’s blood in me.”
“Dave, I think of you to be a son as well, and, of course you can help. Joey is your brother.” Peter replied.
“Thank you, sir.” Dave said smiling. “I’m sure I can be of some help to you and your companions.”
Still upset over the loss of Joey, the group didn’t continue with their rampage that night. They slept well through the night, and in the morning, everyone felt refreshed and ready to go.
When everyone in the group was up, they snuck back into the palace. It was pretty early, so the guards were asleep, and they hoped the king would be, too, so they could smuggle him in his sleep.
They crept up to where the king’s bedroom rested, and, when they were close, they saw two wide awake guards in front of the door enclosing the king’s
bedroom.
Chester smiled again, and, thinking he would do the same thing he had the day before to the other guards, he walked up and attempted to crush both guards with his bar hands. One of the guards glanced at Chester and laughed. Then, it grabbed Chester’s moving hand and twisted it. Chester winced from the pain, and when he looked down where his arm should’ve been, he saw nothing but the ground. The guard had Chester’s strong arm in its grasp, and, using it to push Chester onto the floor, it walked up to Chester and kicked him. Not baring to watch any longer, and, barely even thinking, Dave walked up to the evil guard and slapped him in the face.
Looking at Dave unbelievably, the guard stopped and called the second guard over to take care of Chester. Then, the first guard shoved Dave on the floor and jumped on him. It pounded its hard fist into Dave’s scared face, until, finally, Dave got up the courage to shove the guard off of him. Standing up quickly, Dave charged at the guard. Then, out of anger, not even knowing what he was doing, Dave grabbed the guard and pulled him over his head. The guard screamed in horror as Dave brought him slowly over to the large gold walls enclosing the palace. Dave slammed the guards head into the wall, and, for good measure, after he thought the guard had taken enough punishment, David Malask through the strong guard straight through the solid, hard, golden walls.
Everyone in the group stared at Dave as he walked back to the group, including the other guard. The remaining guard tried to run off in fright, but Dave tackled him and ripped off its head. The blood came streaming down the open hallway, until it stopped at Dave’s shoe. Dave pulled Chester to his feet and laughed. “What in the world did I just do?! I really am a brother of Joey Malask!”
Chester looked Dave in the eye and said, “Son, where’d you get those moves. I’m gonna have nightmares from looking at that guards lone head, but, that’s besides the fact. You are truly a brother of Joey Malask, and I don’t know if you’re just a natural, or you did what you just did out of anger. Either way, David Malask, that was something.”
The group then walked over to the large, brass doors separating the king’s bedroom from the outside world. Pulling it open, the group saw in front of them, clear as day, the king of Cynohnia, fast asleep. It was plain to see that the king was a heavy sleeper, which was a good thing.
“Dave, in honor of Joey Malask, your brother, I allow you to be the one to kill the king.” Chester whispered with a slight hint of a smile on his shadowy face. “I may be invincible, and, as you can see, my arm regenerated, but you, along with your brother, have something special.”
Dave smiled and took the sharp knife from Chester’s hand. Then, he walked up to the king’s bed, looked at the king’s beardy face, and stabbed.

It turns out, once the king died, everything he owned, including all the monsters he brought from the forest “Where the dead are awoken,” were destroyed. Dave, Peter, Chester, and the rest of the group walked out and told everyone the news. No one seemed to mind.
In fact, the island pronounced Dave king, even though he was only ten years old. Everything went back to normal, and the land became one of the six islands saved by the freedom city, with a “little” help from Peter, Joey, and Dave.
As king, Dave made everything right again. He no longer had the palace, because, obviously, that was owned by the king. For this reason, Dave flew on the dragon he found in Laomerria to, well, Laomerria and picked up most of the gold from the clouds where the dragon had first taken Joey.
Then, King Dave built new houses for every citizen of Cynohnia, including himself. He didn’t think himself to be any more special than anybody else, and that was one of the very things that made a king great. Chester and the other men from the freedom city went back to where they lived and, well, I guess you could say they had their bragging rights.
Dave offered Peter a job as one of his royal guards, and in return, Dave would feed him with any food Peter wanted.
The trident rested against Peter’s gold walls, though the brilliant gold shimmering across the room from the trident seemed to stand out between gold and gold. Every once in a while, Peter would hold the trident in his hands, and look at the only thing he had still in remembrance of Joey. He knew that Joey would always live in his heart, but that didn’t change the constant urge to see Joey slit the throat of the king instead of Dave. Then one day Peter looked where the trident would be and nothing was there besides the familiar dust on the solid gold floors of his bedroom.
He walked outside and looked around for the trident urgently. Then he looked up, and he saw the brilliant gold from the trident floating in air, or at least he thought it was floating. He looked closer, and he saw a faint image of Joey, smiling, and he saw that Joey was holding the trident in his hand, where it belonged. Peter looked at the shadowy form of Joey Malask for a long time, until he saw something that blew his mind away. He could see the baby face of Joey,
but he saw that Joey was as ripped and buff as Chester. Then, Joey began floating down to earth, and Peter watched Joey as he floated downwards, until he came to a rest somewhere near the forest “Where the dead are awoken.”
Peter called up Dave, and together they sailed to the forest. Together they trekked through the forest, and when they reached the gateway to freedom, the large doors opened without the trident, or anything else for that matter. They walked in, and when they saw Chester standing in front of them, they gawked. Not because Chester was in his tighty whiteys, but because Chester was laying his strong hand on the shoulder of none other than Joey Malask.
When Peter looked closer, he saw that Joey was in the same shadowy form as Chester and the other citizens of the freedom city. Dave and Peter looked at each other and nodded, smiling, until Dave walked up to Joey and talked to him, his first time meeting his brother, alive or sort of alive. Peter and Dave looked at each other again, and nodded once more, signifying that they both thought Joey should stay here, in the freedom city, where he belonged, as a hero, a prodigy, a legend.