Part 6

Taran woke up. He was in Lua's house in Burma. He'd had a nightmare. Shaking it off he headed towards the bathroom and took a short shower. He put on the clothes that he had gotten at the Academy and the coat he had gotten there which he now wore constantly. When he was dressed he went into the main room where his friends were gathered around a table discussing their plans. "Good morning." said Kyrin when she saw him. "Did you sleep well?"

Taran nodded and pulled up a chair. "So," said Lua. "After they see the last altar, they'll come back here and meet the rest of us."

"Who is going to go?" asked Argog.

"I don't know." she replied. "The off-road can really only hold three people. If you remember, it was very cramped riding back to the Academy and especially coming here."

"I remember." commented Xolis. "I've still got a crink in my neck."

"Well, let's let Lua decide," suggested Argog, "Since she's the one who got fired cause of this."

"OK." she said. "We know there's going to be another guardian, so I think the Ta'Kor's should go. Kyrin, Taran, Xolis, that's you."

Xolis nodded. "OK then, let's go." The three of them headed down stairs. They grabbed a to-go breakfast in the lobby and then went to the large garage where the valet checked the off-road out to them. Xolis hopped in the drivers seat and Kyrin and Taran climbed in the back.

The off-road headed east and they reached the marshes near Otmos after a few hours where they stopped to eat their breakfast. After breakfast they headed south towards the town of Weln where the altar was supposed to be at. They got out when they reached the town.

In Weln, several people came to greet them but then went back to their own work. The group walked around town. It was a small town, but it was large enough for the people who lived there. The houses were all built along the edge of the lake and had docks leading out to them. There were piles of snow that had been cleared from the streets, which were more like rocky paths, by the residents.

They went out on one of the docks and could barely make out some kind of island. They rented a small paddleboat from one of the residents and rowed out in the lake. It was snowing; the lake had several floating ice chunks, and the three of them got cold. Taran gave his coat to Kyrin when she started to shiver. She reluctantly took it and they continued. Taran still couldn't get over how beautiful she was, "but" he thought to himself, "does she feel the same way about me?"

They finally reached the island which was actually a small, floating glacier. The sides were made of ice and the top was covered with snow. They climbed to the top and got a clear view of the altar. It was just like the other two; a circle of stones with a sword driven in one and a statue in the middle. Instead of a whirlwind or ring of fire, this circle had a hole in it that was filled up to the brim with rough water. The statue seemed to be built on something they couldn't see because it neither sank nor bobbed with the choppy water. "How do we work it?" Kyrin asked.

"I'm not exactly sure." Taran admitted. "It just, happened."

"Xolis?" she asked.

"I don't know either. But you're the only one who can. Your born Kora is water based. Taran is air and I'm earth, so you're the only one."

"Well what are we going to..." she was interrupted by the cry of some kind of monster. They looked around and saw a giant snake like monster coming out of the water. It opened its mouth and an icy breath flew towards them. Instinctively they all jumped out of the way. Xolis sliced his sword in the air and a flash of fire flew towards the creature. Before the flames reached it however they cooled and didn't harm it.

Xolis rolled out of the way of more icy breath and grabbed the sword out of the rock. He held it above him and the cold was absorbed into it. The monster roared at him and knocked him down with a coil that it had raised onto the glacier. Taran shot a bolt of lightning at the creature. It roared and sent another coil flying at him that knocked the sword out of his hands. The monster then shot forth the ice breath that froze all three of them on the spot.

"Ahh." moaned Taran as he regained consciousness. "What happened?"

"I'm not sure." an unfamiliar voice responded. "I found you all frozen." Taran looked up and saw a young girl. She wasn't dressed like the other people of the town. Instead, she was dressed in traveler's clothes. There was a long bow over her shoulder and a pack of arrows to go along with it. He looked around and saw Xolis and Kyrin by him along with puddles of water near their feet.

"Her name's Calis." Kyrin explained, responding to the quizitive look on Taran's face. "Expert treasure hunter and explorer." she quoted and when she did Calis beamed with pride as she heard her words repeated.

"She rescued us from the Kora guardian." Xolis explained as he too revived.

"Yep, that was me." Calis confirmed. "Unfortunately I wasn't really able to harm it."

"OK, now that we know it's there," said Taran, "Let's go back and get the Kora."

"Yeah, but how?" Kyrin asked.

"I don't know." Xolis said. "Just step out onto the water and something should happen.

"OK, let's go." Taran said.

They got back in the boat and Calis followed them in her little canoe. They got to the glacier and climbed back up. Taran grabbed his wind sword and Xolis grabbed his earth sword even though that particular element had no effect. Immediately the sea serpent rose out of the lake and breathed his cold breath. Taran quickly cast the best wind spell he knew and scattered the ice away. Calis shot a long arrow at it but it just liquefied and joined the lake.

"Wait until he breaks its magic shield." Xolis told her."

"Magic? What's that all about?"

Her question was unanswered because a coil quickly swept across the snow. They all jumped over it and Taran took this chance to strike it with his sword. The serpent screamed and its ice blue color became darker. The serpent immediately withdrew and resumed its attack with its breath. It was blowing towards Kyrin but even though she didn't know how to use a sword, she grabbed the ice sword from where it had fallen in the snow and held it in front of her. The cold was absorbed but this wasn't helping the battle. "Kyrin, if the Kora joins you, it will leave the monster." Taran explained.

In response, Kyrin slowly approached the circle of stones and faithfully stepped out onto the water. Amazingly, she didn't sink but stood firm. She began to glow a faint blue. She spoke these words first in Ta'Kor and then English. "This altar, built at the time of the Ta'Kor, dedicated to the Kora of water, is a permanent symbol of the Ta'Kor's power. Any Ta'Kor of water who approach this altar, shall gain the power of the Triad Kora."

She stepped back and then fell into the snow. The serpent's color slowly changed to green and as it tried to spit out ice, nothing happened. From the altar, small crystals floated towards it and formed an icy screen around it. The serpent couldn't maintain it's position above water and crashed down on the water's surface smashing the boats in the process.

"What's happened?" Calis asked.

"The Water Triad Kora granted its power to Kyrin." whispered Xolis.

"Water Triad Kora? What's that?"

"It's a combination of the three Koras that are based of the Water element. It is not as strong as any of them separate, but it provides with a variety of magic such as wave, ice, and storm."

"Oh, that almost made sense."

Taran went over and helped Kyrin up. "How do you feel?" He asked.

"I feel great!" she exclaimed. "Now let's get back to Burma."

"Wait!" shouted Calis. "Why are you guys going to Burma? I still don't understand this magic thing. And what are you guys doing anyways?"

"Are you hinting that you would like to come along with us?" Xolis asked.

"Well, yeah. I really want to understand this magic thing, then maybe I can finally find the lost Ta'Kor city. That's my main treasure-hunting goal. I'm sure there are tons of artifacts down there and..."

"You can come." interrupted Taran. "Now, we better hurry back to Burma before the others get worried."

"Only one problem." Calis stated. "The serpent smashed our boats."

"No problem." Kyrin said. She stretched out her arm and with a wave of her hand an icy path formed on the top of the lake. When they arrived at Weln, they reluctantly paid the resident for the boat and then headed back to Burma.