It was morning in the beautiful town of Leviton. At the southern edge of the city in a large manor owned by the renowned quaver Lawrence Stokenshire, the Fantasmal Fighters were rising for the day. The members of this group, formerly known as the Action and Adventure Club, were not citizens of Leviton, nor were they native to the planet Mendala. They were all teenagers from Earth. Only five days ago, they were on their way to the Isle of Adventure, a famous vacation spot on Earth where they could experience almost any adventure their heart desired. Now the teens, along with their sole chaperon, Veda Guardman, were on Mendala living out the adventure of a lifetime.
It started when Davron, a power-hungry madman, found an ancient relic known as the Book of War. This book could produce creatures that were loyal to its owner and completely indestructible to all except animals. With the Book of War, Davron had the means to forcibly control Mendala, but this wasn't his ultimate goal. He was seeking the five jewels; a set of ancient artifacts that allowed unlimited inter-dimensional travel. With the jewels and a limitless army of monsters, he could rule over all dimensions.
In an effort to stop Davron's scheme, the leader of Mendala, a man known by name and rank as Fantasma, sought out the only person believed to have control over the jewels, the Daughter of the Sun. He discovered that she was on the planet Earth in a dimension adjacent to Mendala's.
Fantasma found far more than he expected on Earth. The Daughter of the Sun was indeed there, in the form of Ashley Summerson, one of the teenaged members of the A&A Club. More remarkable though was how the other nineteen members of the group also had their fate tied to the Mendala. All twenty teens had the mark of the seals, which gave them the ability to destroy the creatures of the Book of War and possibly seal the book itself forever. Fantasma knew that it was divine providence that these teenagers were already together, as if waiting to be called into action.
However Davron learned of Fantasma's plot and in an effort to thwart him, traveled to Earth to kill the Daughter of the Sun. He too discovered the teenagers and knew he had to put an end to them or his plans for ultimate domination would be foiled. In an effort to escape Davron, the group was transported to Mendala, but an accident occurred during transport and many of them were thrown into different periods of Mendala's past. The ones sent back in time did not age, so they lived on Mendala until time caught up with them and they could once again be reunited with their friends.
Davron realized this and scoured the planet for the teenagers, hoping to capture them while they were still scattered, but they managed to elude him and his creatures until they finally all came together in Leviton. United under the new banner of the Fantasmal Fighters, they stood against Davron's army when he attacked the city the previous day. Thanks to cunning strategy, they were able to completely destroy all Davron's creatures, forcing him to retreat.
Though this gave them a small victory, their quest was far from over. Davron still had the Book of War and quickly started producing more creatures to maintain his forced rule over Mendala. The Fantasmal Fighter's only hope was the five jewels. They planned to use the jewels to open a portal to the Dark Pits, a place where they could trap the Book of War for all eternity.
Davron was still seeking the jewels as well and had already found one but as long as the Daughter of the Sun was alive, he would never be able to use their power. He not only needed to get the remaining jewels but also kill the current Daughter of the Sun. This meant that sooner or later Davron would go after Ashley and her friends again.
Ashley had known nothing of her family's legacy before being whisked away to Mendala. Now she found herself in the middle of a war, fighting for her very life. As the only person with control over the powerful jewels, the weight of the world was literally on her shoulders.
For the first time in several days though, Ashley wasn't worrying about this. She was busy preparing breakfast in the kitchen of Lawrence Stokenshire's manor. Jandor Mason, the leader of the Fantasmal Fighters, created a schedule so that everyone would take turns helping in the kitchen. For each meal three people were responsible for cooking. It was easy using the food mentus that they learned. Ashley, being a natural morning person, was in charge of breakfast. Melvin Conner and Bernie Steward aided her. They started at dawn and one hour later the house was filled with the smell of pancakes, waffles, bacon, and fresh fruit. This was enough to wake all but one person, Allen Guardman.
Ever since his father died when he was little, Allen would occasionally have dreams where the two of them would talk. In these dreams, his father would offer advice and comfort just as if he were still alive. Sometimes Allen believed that his deceased parent was actually speaking to him from beyond the grave. This particular morning, he was having another such dream.
In the dream a white light surrounded him. It did not blind him but he couldn't see beyond it. Then his father appeared, walking towards him from whatever was beyond the light.
"It's been a while since I've seen you, Dad," Allen said.
"I decided to wait awhile before visiting; you seemed to have enough on your plate what with traveling to another dimension and all," his father responded with a laugh.
Allen was shocked. "You know about that?"
"Of course, and I watched all the adventures that you and your friends had on Mendala. I'm proud of you. You've mastered so much in so little time. And your mother, I'd have never pegged her to be the type to trek halfway across a planet just to get your hat," he chuckled.
"She did that?" Allen asked unaware of what his mother had done to obtain his hat which was more than just clothing. He learned that he had inherited a rare condition that caused him to have migraines whenever he used mandamus too often or too quickly. He lost the hat while being transported to Mendala and his mother risked her life to find it.
"That and more; she was even thrown into a cell by Davron," Mr. Guardman revealed. "It was interesting to say the least."
"How do you know all this?"
"I've always told you that I'm watching over you. I've come here because you have a special role in all of this."
"I don't understand."
"You must teach the others to use the powers of mandamus. They won't all learn it, but those who do will learn faster than most Mendalians, just like you. It usually takes people decades to learn mandamus, but your friends will learn in a matter of weeks. I'm counting on you to teach them the skills they need to learn mandamus." He pulled his son down to the floor of the bright room. "Sit down and let me tell you what you need to know."
***
After breakfast, everyone came together in the meeting room that Lawrence had set aside for them. On Earth, when they gathered as the Action and Adventure Club, they would meet in Veda Guardman's basement where they sat around a large oval conference table. Lawrence had placed a similar table in a spare room in his manor and each member sat in the exact same places that they always did with Becky Gabbie, second in command, at the head. Jandor always stood during meetings. Though there were official twenty members of the Fantasmal Fighters, one was notably missing: Tabatha Wright. She had gone from friend to enemy and now fought alongside Davron. However no one spoke of this strange turn of events.
Along one of the outside walls, Mrs. Guardman; Ester, the resurrected first Daughter of the Sun; Lawrence and Salov Stokenshire; Fantasma, the leader of Mendala, and his two assistants, Sharanel Quicksilver and Honsmordin Pornabus all sat in on the meeting. To an outsider, it would seem strange that these people, some of whom held positions of great power, were only there to observe the meeting and did not really participate in the decision-making process. However everyone, including Fantasma, trusted the leadership of Jandor and respected the rules and rituals of the group, which were followed almost unswervingly.
Also present were two animals. Dagian was a highly intelligent, small, white dove that belonged to Ashley's ancestors. He now rested comfortably in Ashley's hair. This seemed to be his favorite place and he rarely moved. Illusion, the dog that had befriended Melvin Conner, sat patiently at the feet of his human companion. Though the others did not know it, Illusion could talk and use mentus. He too was immortal because in reality he was the product of complex mentus.
When everyone was seated, Becky called the meeting to order. Though Jandor led, Becky almost always conducted the official meetings. "Okay guys settle down. We've got a lot to talk about this morning. Our main task, as Fantasma told us yesterday, is the five jewels. Fantasma, you said with these jewels we can send the Book of War to the Dark Pits. What does that mean though?"
Fantasma stood. "The Dark Pits are a place of timeless despair at the bottom of the dimensional ladder," he explained gravely. "It is the only place that would be safe to send something as evil as the Book of War so that no one could ever use it again."
"And what about Davron?" Terri asked.
"When Multus was defeated, they threw him into the Dark Pitts because it was the only way to get rid of the Book of War." Fantasma sighed. "I believe the same fate will befall Davron. He's bound himself to the Book so it won't be easy to separate him from it."
"Wait," Stephanie interrupted, "what about Tabatha?"
"We're going to have to send Tabatha to the Dark Pits?" Ashley shuddered.
Ace shook his head, looking frustrated. "That's not going to happen. We're going to get Tabatha away from Davron before we worry about that."
"Ace is right," Jandor agreed. "We don't know everything about what happened to Tabatha. It could be brainwashing or amnesia or anything. We're not going to hurt her or send her to the Dark Pits. She's our friend."
There were mutters of assent.
Becky turned back to Fantasma. "Is there any way you can tell us where to look for the jewels?"
"Yes, they're in the Fantasmal Fortresses. I only looked at the scroll once and that was many years ago." He rubbed his hands together. "Let's see, I'll need a map."
"No problem." Ben Wilson, the group's resident technical wizard, pulled out the small box that was his creation, a device that combined Earth technology with Mendalian mentus, the limitless interactive storage archives, or Lisa for short. "Lisa, create a topographical map of Mendala on the surface of the table," he ordered.
The small box began to glow and churn noisily. Then a holographic map of the planet appeared on the table before them.
Fantasma paced around the table. "Very impressive; is this melivian quartz?" He stuck his hand through the hologram.
"Yes, but enhanced with a bit of Earth technology," Ben explained.
"I thought it seemed more advanced." Fantasma began to circle the map. "I wish I could remember the exact locations."
"Allow me to help." Alex Calvin Eastman, or Ace to his friends, stood and walked to where Fantasma was. He wore a long red robe but it never stayed the same color. "It just so happens that I helped build two of the Fantasmal Fortresses. I was one of the project leaders. I remember exactly where they are." Ace, like many of the other group members, had been thrown back in time. However, whereas others went back a few months or years, Ace was sent back 11,337 years. Consequently he lived through and participated in a great deal of Mendalian history. Because he did not age, he was only 5 days older after his lengthy stay on the planet.
Ben issued another command to the small box, "Lisa, light each location that's touched on the map."
Ace went to the lower part of the map. "First, we're here." He touched the location of Leviton on the western edge of Candovia and a bright yellow dot appeared. "Just below us, in the Zandamion Swamps, is one of the Fantasmal Fortresses." He touched an area in the swamplands below the city. "Another fortress is in the Lumarian Mountains." Ace touched a spot in the mountains of the northern continent.
Fantasma pointed to an area on the small eastern continent. "I know a fortress lies somewhere here on Estern." Then he touched a spot on the western continent of Sunntondra. "There's also one in the Lost Plains." These were vast flatlands that could not be easily traversed. Vision in the mentant realm was naturally limited and the entire area was devoid of even the smallest landmarks. It seemed some unknown barrier prevented people from navigating the area. Melvin knew the area well though; he had lived in Hidden Valley, the only township in the Lost Plains, for three years.
Finally, Fantasma touched the peak of Fantasmal Mountain. "And of course, we cannot forget the final jewel here. That will be the last one you go after."
Becky studied the points on the map. "Obviously we should go to the fortress in the swamps first. Henry, can you get us all there?"
"No, I can't quicken to a place that I've never been before." Henry Simmons rubbed his staff. As a quickener, he could use this to instantaneously transport people from one place to another. He had only recently been able to hone his skills properly.
"It wouldn't matter anyway, young quickener," Fantasma added. "All four fortresses were built in locations that are virtually impossible to quicken directly to. You'll definitely need to find alternate ways of getting to them."
"Furthermore, I don't think it's wise to take the entire group with you," Honsmordin added from his position against the wall. "Even as we speak, Davron is rebuilding his army. Hundreds of thousands of evil creatures will be roaming around the world looking for the Daughter of the Sun. You can all be sensed in the mentant realm with the exception of the anti-mentant, Allen. You do not want to attract undo attention to yourselves by traveling in a large group. Undoubtedly Davron has many spies. For now he does not know you're still here. We want to keep it that way as long as possible."
Becky nodded. "Good point. We should divide into small groups of five or six people. In fact that might allow us to go after more than one jewel at a time."
"Wait," Fantasma said in sudden revelation. "I've activated the sun seal all over the world."
This declaration was met with an assortment of blank stares.
"The sun seal is a special lock that can be placed on any door so that only the Daughter of the Sun can open it," Fantasma explained. "There are several places that use the sun seal, including the vault doors in the Fantasmal Fortresses. I took the opportunity to activate all these seals when I snuck into Fantasmal Mountain."
Ashley groaned. "Why me?"
"I had no choice. Davron has a traitor guardian in residence. He would have the power to open the vaults. The only way to stop Davron from getting the jewels before you was to use the sun seal. No one can break it, not even me. We're just fortunate the builders of the fortresses took the time to put the seal on the vault doors."
"That was no accident," Ace revealed. "I made sure we did. People thought I was crazy since it was believed that the Daughter of the Sun was dead with no heirs, but I insisted."
There was silence after this abrupt statement. Many of the other members didn't know how to act around Ace, who had been on Mendala for so long and seemed so much older and wiser now. He hadn't brought the group together himself, even though he had kept tabs on all of them after they arrived. He said was that he had his reasons, and Jandor accepted this without question.
Finally Becky spoke again. "Well, with such a large group, we can divide up the tasks that we need to accomplish. Even if we can only get the jewels one at a time, there's still a lot to be done. We'll have to find a way to keep in contact. Any ideas?"
"Quickening gives me a bunch of different ways to keep people in contact with each other," Henry offered. "I just need some help."
"I'll help him," Sharanel piped in from her seat along the wall. "Quickeners should stick together. Also if you carry traveler quartz with you, Henry can quicken to naturally quicken-proof places like the Zandamion Swamps if one of the others is already there and summons him."
Henry brightened. "So if a few of you can figure out a way to get to where the other fortresses are, I can quicken Ashley there. That should save some time."
"Excellent," Becky continued. "We'll figure out who's going and who's staying. Our next order of business should be fighting. Needless to say, we have to learn to defend ourselves. We're spending the whole day in training. It'll be brutal but it's gotta be done. I think all of us have some sort of weapon already. Now it is time to learn how to really use them. Those of us with experience will teach the others who are just learning. Daniel's gonna help us with our mentus skills. Everyone needs to learn to use the mentant realm."
"Also mandamus," Allen added hastily.
Fantasma disagreed. "Unfortunately Allen, not everyone can learn mandamus as quickly as you do. It takes decades to even begin to master it, and we don't have that kind of time. Mentus, on the other hand, can be learned quickly."
"I had a dream or a vision maybe. My father spoke to me and said I was supposed to help others learn mandamus," Allen revealed. "He told me the mark would give them the ability to learn it quickly, like me. Just the other day, I taught Ash the wind command."
Fantasma was in shock. "That's impossible."
"Show him, Ash."
Ashley stood. "Okay." She faced the opposite wall and issued the command, "Mittius Mandamus Wind." Everyone felt the strong blast of wind.
Allen smiled. "See, it's not impossible. It's just as my father said."
"Allen's right," Bernie chimed in. "I've already learned the earth and fire commands and I taught one to Becky."
"That's not surprising at all, considering what I was told about Becky," Allen mused.
"Well then by all means continue," Fantasma conceded, still shocked at Ashley's display of mandamus power.
"My father told me the exact commands to teach the ones who will learn mandamus."
"Well, if what you say is true, then you have a great jump on many others who choose to learn mandamus," Fantasma mused. "Most have to go through a long process of trial and error to determine which of the over one hundred standard commands are suitable for them. Yet, you say you have the exact list for your friends?"
"Stored forever in my brain," Allen confirmed. "I didn't even have to write it down this morning."
"What were you told about me?" Becky asked, recalling Allen's previous comment.
"I learned through my dream that you're a skillmaster. You could master mentus and mandamus completely and become both a guardian and a mind mage."
Becky's eyes grew wide. "For real?"
"That's what I was told," Allen said taking his seat again.
Fantasma was still in awe. "Indeed this is interesting. Skillmasters are almost as rare as melders."
"Well, we'll add mandamus training into the schedule," Becky decided with a grin as she contemplated the power she could potentially wield. "Is there anything else before we head to the practice room?" None of the members at the table said a word so Becky turned to the guests for their comments.
Salov was the first to stand. "Yes, a few of you asked for new clothes or robes and I have made them as requested. Please come see me whenever you are ready to be fitted." Salov was a tailor, and, like many in his family, he was world renowned for his craft. The vast majority of clothing on Mendala was made from a material called ustus which could not be soiled, torn, or damaged. In addition the clothing that Salov fashioned had special properties that helped protect the wearer from harm, like lightweight armor.
Lawrence was next to speak. "As promised, no one knows that you are staying here but this means you must limit your movement. I do not advise you going into the courtyards, especially in groups. There is no quartz barrier to conceal you. Also if you need to go into town, I suggest you have young Henry transport you to my shop. From there you can walk out unnoticed. Since I'm a quaver and have many customers who see me to repair their quickener staffs, people will just assume that you came to pay me a visit or get a staff mended."
Sharanel spoke next. "The modifications to Henry's staff will take all day. He may not be able to practice with you."
"That's fine," Becky approved.
Mrs. Guardman shifted in her seat between Sharanel and Ester. "I want you all to remember that this isn't a game. Be careful and don't take any unnecessary risks. This is going to be a trying and stressful time. If any of you need anything, don't hesitate to come to us. Fantasma, Ester, and I are here to give you whatever guidance you need." Everyone nodded or murmured their acknowledgement.
Fantasma put a hand on Jandor's shoulder. "Storming Fantasmal Mountain will be a difficult task. I think I know a way to help you with at least that part, when the time comes. I will leave today and start gathering my forces. They are all very eager to get their home back. You will have an army to fight alongside you soon, don't worry."
Jandor nodded. "That would be excellent, sir. Thank you."
Becky addressed the group again. "Alright guys, grab whatever weapons you have and go to the practice room. I'm expecting the more experienced fighters to help those who have only been here a short time. We're a team and we have to work together. Allen, Jandor, and I will determine what the schedule will be for the rest of the day so that everyone will get time to practice mentus and mandamus if needed. The rest of you are dismissed."
Everyone except the three leaders quickly left the table to retrieve their weapons. They knew that they had a hard day of work ahead of them.