Synan and Zoe are soon fully healed.

They hang out at the camp for a while later.

Soon, Synan says, “We need to get back out

into The Land of No Return. I’m in a competition

against Syrus to catch more monsters than he

does. So we need to get out and catch them.”

“I have ten marbles,” Zoe says, “But I

only have one monster.”

“You already have one? Cool. What one

is it?”

“It’s name is Clawz.” Zoe reaches into

her pocket and pulls out a red marble. She drops

it and it bounces off the ground, releasing a

lizard-like monster. This monster can stand on

its hind legs. It is all red with an orange belly

that goes between its legs and up the bottom

of its long tail. It has circles on the heels of its

feet which are also orange. The monster sits

on the ground cleaning itself.

“Nice monster!” Synan says, “Where’d

you find it?”

“Inside the volcano. Before the monsters

kicked me out.”

“We need to find more monsters. This

is the first one I’ve seen so far.”

“Okay. Let’s go.” Zoe says.

They leave the camp and get back to

where they were fighting James. Two dead monsters

are here--the ones that were following them. They

are brown and were carrying a purple eyeball

with spirals on it. Their eyes are in the front. Their

hands are on top of their head like antennas.

“Well, that battle got these monsters off

our back. I wonder where James is now...” Zoe

says. They walk on down the path toward the left.

James watches them from a rock on the volcanic

mountain.

Synan and Zoe come to a dark blue mountain

near the edge of the island. They’re coordinates now

are 9:00. They started at 6:00, so they are about

one-fourth around the island. The door to the cave

is ice-blue. The door is locked. Next to it is a small

monster about one foot tall. It is round, with tiny

pointy legs. It’s eyes circle it like a belt. On it’s head

is a silver horn.

“What do you want, humans?” It says

threateningly. Clawz is still out of its marble.

“Can we enter the cave? We need to

capture monsters.” Synan says.

“Well too bad!”

“Let us in! Or we’ll kill you!”

“Wish I could let you into the cave, but

I don’t have the key to the Ice Barrier.”

“Ice Barrier?” Zoe says.

“Yes. There are seven barriers on this

island. The Fire Barrier opens the red door to

the volcano. The Ice Barrier opens the blue door

on this cave. The Earth Barrier opens the door

on the mountain ahead. The Star Barrier opens

the door to Wizeman’s Fortress. The Thunder

Barrier opens the door to the Lightning Palace

on a floating island. The Flower Barrier opens

a door to Monk’s Hidden Garden, and the

Warp Barrier can warp you clear way across

the island. That’s all I know. I think the Warp

Key can be used for some other things, though.”

“Well, where is the Ice Key?” Zoe asks.

“Last I knew, the Monks took it to their

Hidden Garden.”

“Where is that?” Synan questions.

“From here, its on the other side of the

volcano. The entrance goes into the volcano from

Monk’s Garden. The Ice Key is inside the Flower

Barrier. When they stole our key, we stole their

key.”

The monster holds out a silver key. It’s

handle is a colored metal flower. It’s pedals are

yellow, and the inside is a light orange. “Oh, I

almost forgot to mention my name. My name is

Prisem. Well, here’s the Garden Key. You better

bring the Ice Key back with you.”

“We will.” Synan says. They take the key

and go on.