The 4 Elemental Items

By Bastian Taylor, 11

A July 2024 Monthly Story Challenge Winner

Chapter 1

Anna was lost in a desert and was far from home. She was trying to find berries but got lost in the sand-like setting. “I.. Need.. food…” she said, but did not know where the berries were. “They were here a day ago!” She thought. “Does this have to do with that evil monarch trying to take over the world!?” 

Anna had read the news and heard about a warlord trying to use his army to take over the earth. Luckily, rebels were stopping this evil ruler from getting too powerful, but they were losing and did not have many fighters. Just then, a sound distracted Anna. “I have a bad feeling about this” she thought. A tornado of sand was forming and Anna decided to run. The sand tornado was closing in, would Anna survive? She got on the ground but heard a little ‘click’ sound. “What was that?” she thought. And before she knew it, she was teleported to another place entirely. 

Chapter 2

Anna found herself in a corner of a large room. 

A sign was on the wall saying “Obey the Monarch”. Just then, a large number of men came out of a door in the wall. Anna quickly hid behind a box near her. “That was close,” she thought, “but who are these people?” The man at the front of the troops turned on a screen. It displayed many items: a torch that was lit, a glass of water, a thunder bolt in the ground, and a huge tree. The man suddenly spoke. “With our map of the way to the 4 elemental items, we can gather them and create the staff of power! Then we can defeat those pesky rebels and have our leader rule the world!” The crowd of men erupted in cheers. “The staff of power!? I thought that was just a bedtime story!” thought Anna.

The staff of power was made by the greatest warriors of the world to maintain world peace. Anna suddenly had an idea. She would try to steal the plans to the staff of power and then give them to the rebels! She heard they were going to visit her village soon so that could help. She slowly crept up on the high ranking officer of the evil monarch’s army. She was close to him when she accidentally made a creaking  noise. “What was that?” one of the men said. “It's probably nothing.” Anna crept closer and carefully, she pickpocketed the officer and grabbed an envelope that said: Map to the 4 elemental items. Then she quickly crept to the door and managed to get away. Meanwhile, the officer found out that the map was missing. “Uh oh,” he said. Anna ran back to her village, ready to tell the rebels about what she had found.

Chapter 3

Anna was correct in thinking that the rebels were coming to her village. Most of them had swords but a lot of them looked like newbies to this thing. Anna  handed the paper to them. “What’s this? They asked. “Look inside of it.” They opened the paper and their jaws dropped. Anna asked “Can I join the rebels?” They said, “Yes, come with us to the base. We will show this to the boss.” Anna said goodbye to some of her friends and left with the rebels to their base. After walking 2 miles, Anna  and her new friends came upon a codepad that blended into the  surroundings. “Only high ranking officers know about this. Do not try to figure it out.” “Got it.” Anna replied. A door in the ground suddenly opened revealing a staircase. The rebels walked down it and Anna followed.  They passed a room full of rebels before reaching a man with a large nose. “What is it Officer Vacfan?” The man said. “This girl stole the map of the 4 elemental items from the enemy.” “That's incredible!” He said. “We need to look for the items so we can get the staff and make world peace. What is your name, girl?” “Anna.” She replied. “Well Anna, we’re gonna need help to find the items so you will use the map to find them and make world peace! They do not know that you are the one that stole it so it would be better if you went alone. Will you become a rebel and fight against our enemy Anna?” “Yes, yes I will.” 

Chapter 4

Anna was first tasked with finding the Eternal Torch, which was the elemental item of fire. “The map says it is in a large cave…” She said, A village was on the way there so The group of rebels approached and checked on it, hoping to restock their supplies. They did,  and a person who was drinking fruit juice told them that the staff of power  is  extra powerful if it is used by good people. “What do you think that guy means?” A man in the rebels asked. “I do not know, but there is probably going to be a sign that says foreshadowing.” Anna replied. Anna  saw a sign that said FORESHADOWING in big letters before they arrived at the cave. “Guess I was right.” She said, 

The cave was hidden by booby traps around it. There were many springs. Someone was almost a victim of them. The cave was hotter than the climate, probably leading to the eternal torch. There were more rooms with more booby traps, making it harder for Anna and the group to move on. But soon, they reached a huge room with a gigantic torch in the middle.

“We are here!” Anna shouted. A man in the rebels read some faint text. “The Eternal Torch signals hope.” He read out loud. Anna carefully took the torch out of its holder and held it up high. All the rebels started feeling brave, being able to do anything when the torch was held up high. The rebels left with their next destination:  The Leaf Of Life.

Chapter 5

“It says here that the Leaf Of Life is located   underground.” Anna said. The rebels walked for about 3 more days before reaching their destination. On the way there though, A rebel noticed advertisements for the Evil Monarch’s army… The place was surrounded by green grass, rocks, and flowers.

“We need to dig.” Anna said. The rebels pulled out shovels and started digging. After 10 minutes, the group discovered a rock floor and Anna jumped down to check out the area. “All good!” She said, the rebels followed her and they saw the Leaf Of Life. “2 down, 2 to go.” Anna said as she held it up, As she did, the group started to feel happy, as if they had been given the best gift ever. But the happiness did not last long as the group heard rumbling from above. “IT'S THE EVIL MONARCH!” People screamed. Anna took out her staff and started battling the enemies and her friends did the same. “ATTACK!”She said, the rebels charged, knocking many of the enemies out. Anna put down The Eternal Torch. “I'm glad I know what this does.” They were winning the fight and some of the enemies were retreating, but a tall man with an ax came from the enemies and soon the rebels were losing. Anna used her staff to knock him off his feet and steal his ax. “Hey! Give that back!” He cried. The rebels soon managed to win the battle with the tall man weaponless, and they moved on to the next item.

Chapter 6

“I think the electric bolt is next.” Anna said. “It is the signal for power and leadership.” Since if she got the items she would be using a staff, She used a normal one to practice attacking trees. They were breaking from her attacks, showing that she had been practicing. After 20 days on track of the electric bolt and with the help of the map, they reached the location of the third elemental item. “The map said it is located on a hill,” Anna said to her allies. “Watch out because the evil monarch will be here soon.”

The group climbed up the hill and got ready for booby traps. But they didn't find any… Anna dug a hole for the group and they went into it. They saw a pedestal: But they did not see the thunder bolt. Just then, Anna heard a small beeping sound. “Run!” She cried. A huge explosion destroyed the hole. “Ahhh!” Anna cried. She had hurt her leg. Many other people cried in pain as the explosion was huge. “That was bad. It seems like they got the thunder bolt before us.” Said the doctor of the rebels. “I hope that we can get to the vase of water before them.” “We will.” Anna said. “I'm sure we will.”

Chapter 7

The crew traveled slower due to the injuries, another setback to their journey was that they had to cross a forest. After a day they reached the entrance of the forest. Luckily for them a member of the group had an idea. “There is a small mountain we can climb to the top. It is faster than going through the forest!” “Great job!” Said Anna. Now we have the edge over the Evil Monarch. Anna also thought in her head. “Of course! The Leaf of Life!” She pulled it out and all of a sudden, all the troops walked like nothing happened. The rebels were ready to go, and so they started off to the vase of water. The evil monarch was with his experienced bodyguards as they were approaching the river. “Um sir?” One of the bodyguards said. “What is it?” The main villain said with a groan. “Should you send us to slow down the rebels?” “That is a good idea. You go looking around for them and try to steal one of the items.” “Yes sir!” “Take this teleportation device. It will help. And if you don't get the items you will be in trouble…” “Yes… sir…” The bodyguard said with a gulp. He took out the device and teleported around, looking for the rebels. Anna had just finished setting up camp and the rebels used the mountain's resources to stock up on food, water, and more. Then they reached the bottom of the mountain where the vase of water was a mile away. Anna was confident, but then she saw a portal in the distance. “There you are! Time to steal your elemental items.” Said the bodyguard of the evil monarch. He used a bow and arrow to knock out some of the rebels. Anna charged, looking to get a hit on the enemy. While doing so they got in an arrow. “Ow!” Anna said. She started feeling sleepy. “Aw crap! Don’t tell me he has sleep arrows! Maybe I should swing my staff around to buy me some time.” The enemy tried to grab some of the elemental items from her, but Anna remembered to swing her staff and she got in a hit and the enemy did not steal anything. A rebel charged at the evil attacker. “Baseball bat beatdown!” “huh?” The rebel pulled out a bat and sent the enemy into a wall. “Arrgh! It seems like you are powerful, too powerful. Wait until I report this to the boss.” And he made a portal and jumped in it.

Chapter 8

Anna soon woke up and realized that they had traveled to the aquatic vase and they needed her help. She knew that she was the only one able to swim to get it but she was nervous. “What if I get trapped? Anna thought. Anna took a deep breath and jumped into the water. It was cold and murky, but she just made out a stone structure in the water. She swam over to it and saw a blue glowing vase. She grabbed it and started swimming back up. Her breath was running out and rocks were falling down. She dodged some rocks and soon she made it to land. All the rebels were there waiting for her, and they cheered when they saw that she was alive. They had the aquatic vase, and now it was time for the final battle.

Chapter 9

They soon reached the base of the Evil Monarch and it was scary. There was thunder, black trees, bats, and more. They got in the base by using vents and sleep gas to stop the guards from finding them. Things were looking good until They made it to the final room: The room of the Evil Monarch. They jumped out to attack but the enemy had the thunder bolt. The evil Monarch controlled the thunder to knock out some of the opponents. Just then one of the rebels distracted the evil monarch and Anna stole the thunder bolt and started trying to figure out how to make the staff of power. The rebels were losing though and they did not have a long time. “YOU FOOLS! YOU WILL NEVER BEAT ME!” The Evil Monarch said. Some of the rebels formed a plan to split up and stop the evil monarch’s allies from doing anything. Meanwhile   A punch from the enemy injured the rebels. Just then stomping of feet were heard just outside the building. The other rebels were there to help! 

They bursted inside and started attacking their enemies. While Anna was happy to see the rest of the rebels, The Evil Monarch stole the thunder bolt and tried to attack Anna. Anna was too fast though and she got away from the attack. Then she swung  her staff and it sent The Evil Monarch flying into a wall. The dust rose and he looked just fine. “You will never win.” He said. A blast of lightning from the thunderbolt  stunned Anna and the Evil Monarch punched her straight through a wall. “OWWww!!!” She cried. Thinking that Anna was knocked out, The Evil Monarch decided to deal the final blow with his fists. But just as he reached her, the 4 Elemental items started glowing. “Huh?” Said the evil Monarch. They started sliding on the ground, moving to Anna’s staff. Anna secretly smiled, knowing that she had the staff of power on her side.

Chapter 10

Anna slowly grabbed the staff and stood up with it. Soon it became clear what she had in her hand: The Staff Of Power. “I will win.” Anna said. She sent a beam of light at The Evil Monarch.

It sent him to the back of the room. “How does she have the staff of power?” The Evil Monarch said. Anna used the staff to create a thunder cloud, a flame, a tree, and a wave. “Time to end this:” Anna said. “Elemental smash!” all of the power from the staff of power was used up in that attack, but it was worth it. The Evil Monarch was erased from history from that attack And peace was restored to the world. Anna smiled as the dust settled from the attack, and without a leader, the dark empire fell. The world was safe after that attack, and Anna had done that attack.

THE END