Mira's Sacrifice

Hey jammers!  Here's another one of my older stories.  Looking back, there are so many things I'd like to change in all these stories (the entire plot, for instance) but I will try my best to keep them.  

Mira’s Sacrifice

One day long ago in Jamaa, Greely was in his cave.  His cave was located in Coral Canyons, out of sight to all animals that passed by, though they weren’t out of sight to him.  Looking around, all seemed well in his homeland.  Animals were chatting, going off to the Art Studio to take art lessons from Peck or going to Epic Wonders to buy the newest items.  Greely decided there was no point in hanging around and went farther back in his cave. 

Making a quick decision, Greely swerved into an almost hidden opening in the side of his small-looking cave.   The corridor darkened as he walked farther on, making it almost impossible to see, but his night vision let him see where he was going.  He passed many more hallways before turning sharply to the left.  As he kept going, he felt the dirt floor slanting under his paws and knew he was going farther underground.  Making another turn to the right, he pushed onward.  After making several more turns, an eerie red light was visible in the distance.  Walking closer, he stepped forward into the room.

The sight was breath-taking.  The underground cave was almost dark, dimly lit by candles on the wall.  Black wooden tables lined the sides with all sorts of strange things that Greely used for his magic.  In the center of the room, a gray stone fire pit was glowing with the strange red light.

Greely walked toward one of the tables.  It’s been a while since I looked into Jamaa’s future, he thought.  He scanned the table, looking for one particular object- Ah ha!  There it was!  He reached out a paw and scooped up a blood-red stone that looked like a ruby.  He then walked over to the fire pit.  He dropped the stone into the center of the fire pit and started chanting an ancient incantation.  Then he stopped and sat down, waiting.  

            At first, nothing seemed to happen.  The stone remained in the center and the fire pit just kept glowing.  But Greely knew it would happen, and after a couple of seconds, he was proved right.

All of a sudden, a great fire flew up from the stone, spreading over the fire pit.  It blazed with a red-orange color with the stone just visible in the center.  He stood up.

            “Oh, ancient spirits of the past,” Greely declared.  “Show me our future and guide our paw steps.”  At once the fire reacted, stretching higher and higher until it almost touched the cave ceiling.  Greely stared into the fire intensely, looking for a picture. All of a sudden, black figures started to come into focus in the fire.  Spidery legs appeared and one eye was in the middle of their heads.  They were marching in troops and slowly the Township appeared through the mist.  Phantoms heading for the Township!  He had to warn everyone.  He leaped into the fire and was on his way.

            Greely was being transported to Mira’s castle.  It felt like time was rushing past him and all around him fire blazed and wind blew in his fur.  Once, he made the mistake of stepping forward and the fire singed his paw; he leaped back and stayed in his small circle.

            Eventually, the fire seemed to get smaller and smaller and finally, it seemed to disappear.  Greely looked around.  He seemed to be in the courtyard.  He leaped to his paws and raced inside.  Wandering around the castle, he managed to find the throne room.  Without waiting to be called, he burst in.

            “Mira!” called Greely.  Mira was sitting on her royal throne (very much alike the paradise throne we have today) and talking with a maid.  She turned around, alarm on her face.  “What is it Greely?” 

            “Forgive me for bursting out like that, but I have terrible news,” Greely replied, running up to her and giving a quick bow.  “The phantoms are on the attack again.  They’re marching towards Jamaa right now!”

            “Not again,” said Mira.  She sighed.  “Can’t they take a break from attacking for once?”

            “Apparently not,” grumbled Greely.  “I’ll get the alphas.”  He turned around and raised his paw in the air and a red light shot out, spreading in all directions.  Then the light seemed to pull back towards him and on the end of each beam was one of the alphas.

            “What a great way to wake up,” moaned Sir Gilbert, shaking himself from the beam.

            “Yes, Greely, couldn’t it wait?” Peck groaned with the thought of her lost sleep.

            “No!” growled Greely.  “There’s no time waste.  The phantoms are coming now!” 

            Before the words had left his mouth, phantoms crashed into the room from all directions.  The alphas started fighting as hard as they could.  Right away, Greely could see it was no use.  He fought his way over to Mira.

            “Use your powers!”  Greely called to Mira.  She tilted her head as if she hadn’t heard, then nodded.  All of a sudden, a phantom lunged at him.  He fell backwards.  He felt shocks from the phantom.  He knew he was about to die. 

All of a sudden, a flash of golden light beamed through the throne room.  The phantom turned around in surprise, and then faded into nothing.  Greely stood up.  All around him, the other phantoms were fading too.

Greely saw a life-sized, golden, glowing statue in the exact same place that Mira had stood moments before.  It was the statue that had saved him.  He looked around the room for the real Mira.  She was nowhere in sight.  He tilted his head to the side, confused.

Right then, he noticed that all the alphas were kneeling (well, as close to kneeling as animals can) around the golden Mira statue.  Hundreds of feathers lay at their feet.  Greely tensed.  What had become of Mira?  In a rush, Greely realized the truth.  Mira had sacrificed herself to defeat the phantoms.  Her spirit would remain forever inside the golden statue.

All of a sudden, a phantom appeared.  “You will not destroy my brothers!”  With a blast of lighting from his tentacles, the statue started fading away.  Quickly, Greely used his magic to grasp Mira’s spirit from the statue.  When he looked up again, the phantom and the statue were gone.

Greely used his powers and quickly created a sack of statues.  He took a bit of Mira’s spirit and put some in each statue.  “These are the only ones,” Greely rumbled.  “They deserve a special spot.”

Greely waved his paw and they disappeared.  “Their new home is Jam Mart Furniture.”

And to this day, only one statue remains there, gleaming and golden.