Chapter 3

Mike got up to answer the door. When he opened it, he was expecting the worst however, that is not what he got. It was house keeping, asking if the room needed to be cleaned or if they needed fresh towels. Mike sent her away. He wanted to have a talk with Amanda.

"Amanda I have to know why you feel that fighting for what you know to be right is no longer what you want to do".

She said "Oh don't get me wrong. I feel that the evil ones must be destroyed but the cost is too high. At the end of the day it seems like for every one we destroy two more take their place. The reason I choose not to fight is because every one I care about gets destroyed by those monsters".

Mike saw that she was on the verge of tears and said, "I understand why you would feel that way but may I ask you a question?" She said "sure" and Mike continued, "Are all of them as week as the one I fought not to long ago?"

She asked what happened and Mike told her what had happened when he opened the door the first time. Amanda said, "They are what are called the Gatherers. The job they are given is to get us to join them or die. They are among the better trained warriors of the evil network."

Mike said, "If that was the hardest thing they could throw at me I could win the war by myself".

Amanda said, "That is unlikely. You surprised them and if it where not for your ring they would have made you a smoking hole in the ground and that is if you were lucky and they didn't want to torture you before hand".

Amanda and Mike had grown quite fond of each other over the course of that day. Mike decided that in preparation for coming conflicts he had better start training. When he was a child, he had visited a secluded mountain range with his father. He and his father had gone there to hunt as soon as he was old enough to hold a gun. He teleported there. This time he was there to try to train so that he did not become the prey of evil hunters.

Each druid specializes in a group of spells. The magic they use is drawn from the elements. The evils ones do the same thing, but their power comes from a corrupted stream. This gives them horrible powers. The powers they use can only harm others. Druids can heal the earth and all that it contains. Most good druids specialize in an elemental power. The elements range from fire to earth to water and air. Mike excelled in lightning based spells but he was a rarity because he was among the few who could contain the fury of the storms themselvefs.

Amanda's power lay in the art of the Ice.

Each had to be able to construct a weapon to use as a close quarter combat tool when magic was just too dangerous. Mike's was a staff that contained the power of the raging storms. Amanda's was a long Ice Spear that appeared as if it constantly snowed within it while never melting.