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THE REAL ADVENTURES OF JONNY QUEST

Synopsis: So how are Jonny and Jessie after all this?

"THE INNER LIGHT" epilogue

by Eric R. Umali

It was like music-- steel ringing against steel, shouts of exertion, cries of anger. And Jonathor's warrior heart sang to it. He was where he was meant to be. Jonathor's soulsword flashed in the midday sunlight, as he cut his way through another battalion of the wizard's soldiers. He moved like a scythe through a wheatfield.

The sixth sense honed by training and experienced shouted at him to turn around. He could feel the war hammer swinging right for his head. But he did not turn. He knew he did not need to.

The flash of energy was right where and when he expected. He saw the light, felt the heat behind him as the soldier fell, the war hammer hitting the ground with a solid thud. Jonathor turned.

Standing beside him, as always was the sorceress, Jessamyn. She clapped her hands as if brushing dust from them, and smiled. Jonathor walked towards her and looped his arm around her waist.

Before either could speak, the sky turned dark. Black clouds blotted the sun, and lightning crackled. A cold, rasping laugh filled the air, coming from all around him. When Jonathor looked again, his ally was gone. Towering over him, in his menacing black armor, stood his nemesis, the wizard Surd.

Jonathor's hand when to his soulsword, he found the scabbard empty. He was unarmed. The wizard continued to laugh. Jonathor attacked, his heavy boot aimed at Surd's head.

The warrior passed right through Surd as if through a mist, and the wizard kept laughing. Before Jonathor could get back to his feet, he felt the sword slip through his body. Again. He took a ragged, strained breath, and felt the scream of pain escape his lips.

"AAARRRRGGGGHHH!!!"

Jonny Quest sat up, breathless. He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. He looked down. His bed. In Maine. Jonny Quest's bed. In the real world. The covers had been twisted and kicked off, as they had been every night for weeks, the nightmare becoming more and more vivid and intense.

His mind still reeling, he drew his legs in and wrapped his arms around his knees, lowering his head.

Another scream broke the silence, and immediately, Jonny was on his feet and out the door.

The screaming continued. Jonny tried the knob on the door and found it locked. Cocking his hand back, he punched a hole in the door and opened it from the inside. He threw open the door to find Jessie Bannon curled into a ball, her bedcovers in the same state as his own. Her voice finally cracked, and, finding no more wind, she sobbed softly.

Jonny wrapped his arms around her. Finally, she released her clenched position and embraced him in kind, laying her head against his chest. He kissed the top of her head softly cradled her close.

Benton, Race and Hadji appeared in the doorway. Race moved to help his daughter, but was held back by Benton.

Jonny and Jessie held each other for a long while, drawing strength from each other, knowing it was the only way they would find their way through to the light.