Up and Away

The Thrilling Conclusion of the Valley of the Spirits

Last time, our heroes found Ben Franklin who is being held captive in a cabin in the woods. Snake and Rufus burst into the room, to be confronted by a werewolf!

As soon as the man transformed, Rufus leveled his rifle and fired. His shot struck the beast-man, knocking him back into the desk.

"Doctor. Get in here, we need you!" yelled Rufus. McCoy rushed in, just as the werewolf returned to his feet.

Rufus pulled out his pistol, The trio unleashed a devastating volley of close range pistol shots. Each struck the werewolf knocking it back down. Snake unloaded all 4 rounds of her revolving pistol into it then added another shot with her backup pistol.

Acrid smoke filled the room. Our heroes readied their melee weapons, expecting the beast to pounce on them, despite its wounds. However, as the smoke dissipated a bit, they could see it lying prone on the ground, blood spilling upon the floor. The trio breathed a sigh of relief.

Dr. McCoy rushed over to Franklin. Removing the gag and cutting his bindings, McCoy announced, "Doctor Franklin, we are here to rescue you."

"Thank you. Did you use silver bullets?"

"What? No."

"Then I do not believe that the beast over there is dead.

McCoy nodded with understanding. He glanced over, and could see that despite the blood loss, the beast still retained color in its face. Slowly, its hand began to move. Determinedly, McCoy strode over to the beast, unsheathed his sword, and struck off its head.

Franklin nodded. "Yes, I would say that that should do."

McCoy turned, and announced "Let's get you away from here."

Our trio helped Franklin walk to the door. Opening it, they were witness to a terrible sight.

A veritable army had entered the clearing and was heading to the cabin. There was a horde of zombie Indians, undead wolves ranged ahead of them with several werewolves leading the pack. Most terrifying of all, a familiar figure led the army. The Wizard!

The Wizard called out. "You three again?! You have interfered once too often. Now your doom is certain!"

"I thought he was dead." Rufus asked.

"He was," declared the doctor. "I pumped enough poison into him to kill a bear."

Franklin responded, "We are dealing with dark arts that transcend petty human understanding."

McCoy nodded in understanding but Rufus just began to reload his rifle.

"Looks like we make out last stand here," Rufus stated with determination.

"Quick!" Snake replied. "Out the back to the barn!"

The party rushed out the back entrance of the cabin, ran to the barn, and threw open the doors. They were greeted with a bewildering sight.

In the center of the room was what looked like a boat. However, this boat had a huge, floating sack tethered to it.

"Well, I'll be." stated Franklin. "A sky ark!"

"What?" asked a confused Rufus.

"Never mind! Just get in."

Franklin quickly gave instructions to the astonished party. They opened a set of sliding doors in the roof, un-tethered the balloon, and floated up and out of the barn. They began to pass over the heads of the evil army. The zombie Indians began to shoot at them with bows and muskets.

Rufus began firing back with his rifle but Franklin pointed to some filled bottles lying on the floor of their ark. He quickly explained what they were - grenades! McCoy and Snake began lighting them and throwing them at the foes below them. The ensuing explosions ripped apart the undead creatures and scattered the army.

However, the Wizard was not finished. They could see him waving his hands in intricate patterns.

"He's preparing some kind of spell!" shouted the doctor.

"Not for long," replied Snake, as she grabbed a grenade, took careful aim, and threw it at the Wizard.

The missile hurtled toward the foe as he continued his gesticulations. A sudden gust of wind caught the grenade and it veered off course.

"Noooo!" shouted Snake.

The gust blew the grenade aside. It landed a few feet from the Wizard. KABOOM. It exploded, sending flames gushing in all directions. The concussion knocked the Wizard to his feet.

"You did it!" shouted Rufus.

The sky ark soared above the trees and was soon out of range of the enemy, With Franklin's instruction, they maneuvered the ark and peacefully sailed through the skies toward home.

The End