Chapter 14
**NOTE** The rest of the story will be done in third person.
“Does that fire tell you something?!” Justin cried hysterically. “They are going
to EAT us! EAT. US!”
<><><><><>
By the faint light of the thick black candle, the young man by the name of Alexander
wrote in his faded notebook:
Journal-
Guess who I stumbled upon today? I went into the Forest of Slumber and found these
three witch/warlocks. They’re out and tired. So might as well get them well again,
right? Two guys and a girl. They’re all covered in blood and Sleeping Dust. Maybe
these guys can help me get out of here.
-AJ
AJ heard a rustle of sheets and turned around. The brunette was waking up.
<><><><><>
“How could you just DO that?!” Chelsea Rainer yelled at the Quizmaster.
<><><><>
Chapter 15
“Justin shut up!” Rena shouted at him. “This is no time to lose your mind!”
He looked at angry, but he closed his mouth.
“What she is TRYING to say is,” JC tried to amend, “that we know you’ve been through
a lot- more than us on this little journey, but we need to keep our wits and figure
out how to get out of here and kick ass.”
“To put it bluntly,” Rena muttered.
“Well how do we get out?”
“That’s what we gotta figure out.”
“Go to hell Alastor,” Rena cried out. “That bastard did this to us!”
“Well most of the time when egotistical leaders find out that their prisoner has
escaped, they will often try to kill them,” Justin said, mocking her.
“Shut up!” JC yelled at them. “We need both of you people- LISTEN.”
They stared at him, grumbling.
“Ok. Rena, since we have our magic, we can get out,” he said.
“But the Lurkers-”
“Do you want to be eaten?” he shot back. He was growing rather irate with their immaturity.
They shut up.
JC looked down at the ground. The net was suspended in midair over a fire pit. The
trolls were jumping and dancing around for a reason unknown to them. Rena said it
was, “probably some eating ritual.” The heat from the fire was intense. Intense enough
that they were all sweating. Their sticky bodies and the net only made the situation
worse. The pit was a good meter wider than the net, so any intention of jumping out
was rejected.
“Damn what are we gonna do?”
“I gotta take a piss.”
“Justin…”
“What? I do!”
JC let out a chuckle, despite the circumstances. Leave it to Justin to keep them
sane.
“How about shrinking? No never mind- we’ll be fried.” Rena sighed.
“Growing?” JC tried.
“The ropes will break us,” Justin pointed out.
Another sigh of defeat escaped her lips.
“Animals?”
“How would that help us?” Justin asked her.
Rena shrugged. “It’s an idea.”
“Monkeys,” JC smiled.
“Monkeys?” Justin asked questionably. “The ooh ooh ah ah monkeys?”
JC nodded. “What else is there?”
“Would it work?” Rena asked, looking at the hole between each vine. “There’s only
so much space.”
“Water!” JC said suddenly. “Douse the fire…then jump down.”
“Aladork will probably sic something else at us,” Justin pointed out dejectedly,
using his new nickname for the magical adversary.
“So? At least we won’t be eaten,” Rena said pointedly.
“It’s worth a shot,” Justin finally admitted.
“Ok…but what about the trolls?” JC asked, looking warily at the creatures.
“Distraction,” they chorused.
“I’ve got the perfect one,” Rena announced.
She took a breath and muttered something. Then there was a small gathering of violet
flames in her hand. Cautiously she slipped her hand through the vines, and tossed
the flames into the trees, setting them alight.
The net swayed as the captives squirmed in their confines, trying to figure out what
the trolls were going to do. Nearly all of the creatures lumbered of, trying to put
out the mysterious purple flames eating at their trees.
“Now!” Justin cried softly.
Rena sent water rushing at the fire, putting it out in smoke. JC conjured a knife
and sliced away one side. Together they Transformed them into bats. That was then
the trolls finally figured out what was going on.
They called each other through their grunts and shouts, finally getting many of them
to running and chase the escapees.
JC opened his mouth and let a super high squeak, his echolocation working like a
charm. He banked left to avoid a tree branch. Every 2 seconds he let out another
squeak, every screech drawing a black and white picture in his head.
The two other bats flew back around, scared and tired. They wouldn’t have enough
strength to last for the next while. While beating their wings, they snapped at the
vines with their sharp, tiny teeth, finally getting the wild plant to leave a gap
for Rena to get through. As she flew ahead of them, JC and Justin realized in horror
that her foot had been completely ripped off her body. Terrified, they flew on after
her, just barely missing the angry swipe of the creeping plant.
From a little ways off they could hear the cries and grunts of the maddened trolls,
and were even more determined to escape.
Then, suddenly, in a mess of bat wings and screeches, Rena fell.
JC’s eyes darted around the trees around him. There were huge pink flowers, swaying
this way and that. And there was a gold dust rising out of their centers.
Their bodies shimmered, bathed in a crimson wave of sparkles, and the glitter of
light was lifted off their bodies, draining them of the magic that had Transfigured
them. And they were human again.
“Agh…” he mumbled, his hand to his head. His eyes were opening easier in the dim
light. “What…?”
“Hey,” AJ said softly, not wanting to startle him.
JC’s head snapped toward his direction and his eyes widened. “Who’re you?”
“Alex. My friends call me AJ.”
“Where are we?”
“In my humble abode.”
“Why?”
“I found you three, lying in the Forest of Slumber. Of course, who would be stupid
enough to walk into there anyhow?” AJ asked, closing his journal.
“Well we’re newbies,” he said, squeezing his eyes shut then opening them again.
“Ah…well there are three of you,” AJ said. “My group started out with three, also.
I am the only one left.”
JC drew a breath. “Well we’re not gonna die, if that’s what you’re saying.”
“Oh no of course not.”
JC looked beside him, where Rena lay. He was struck with the memory. Consciously
he felt for his arms and legs, looking at his hands.
He let out a sigh.
“What’s wrong with you?”
JC stared at AJ. He seemed trustworthy enough.
“We came here because…because…”
Why were they there again?
“A ring,” JC remembered. “We had to look for a ring…”
“That’s it?” AJ asked incredulously. “You came here to look for a piece of jewelry?”
“Not just any ring,” JC said, recalling the words of the Quizmaster. “A ring that
has the power to defeat…to defeat…oh yeah Circe.”
“Whoa. That’s some hunk ‘o gold.”
“Yeah well. We have to find the heart of the forest,” JC said, his hand rubbing his
sore head. “Dragons are guarding it.”
“Well I applaud you,” AJ said, leaning back comfortably in his chair. “No one’s been
a good fight for the dragons for a while.”
JC let out a short-lived chuckle. He felt the bed shift, and he turned back. It was
Justin.
“Rena…ugh…my head hurts,” he mumbled, sitting up.
“Justin,” JC whispered. “Justin wake up.”
“What’re you talkin about wake up? I am awake,” he grumbled, opening his eyes. His
eyes flicked left and right, then down to his own body. “Why aren’t we still bats?”
JC shrugged.
“It reversed your spell,” AJ said, jumping into the conversation. “The plants I mean.
They-”
“Who’re you?” Justin asked, his azure eyes narrowing a bit.
“I’m Alex, friends call me AJ.”
“What are you doing here?”
“Me and a few friends came here a while back,” he said, shrugging. “I never saw them
again.”
“Oh.” Justin now felt troubled. “Why don’t you get out?”
“I can’t open the gate.”
“Oh.”
“So which one ‘o y’all’s a mortal?” AJ asked, looking at them in turn.
After glancing at each other, Justin raised his hand. “I am.”
“Ah. Well, maybe after this journey you’re on, you can get me outta here. I’m beginning
to hate it here.”
“How long ya been here?” Justin asked curiously.
“Dunno. Too long…lost track.”
“Well, I guess you could use some fun in your life.” Justin rubbed his hands over
his tired eyes.
“Where ya from?” JC asked.
“My world.”
“What world?”
“Alethior,” AJ said. “See, alethio means truth. So I guess it’s like a planet of
truth…right.”
“We came from Earth.”
“How interesting. What was your world like?”
“Boring,” Justin spoke up.
“Trees and plants, although not as much as here…there’s a lot of civilization, like
buildings and skyscrapers and houses…kinda like that.”
“Skyscrapers?”
“They’re buildings so high it seems like they scrape the sky,” JC explained. “Very
tall…there were animals too…cats, dogs…”
“Malls and amusement parks,” Justin interjected.
“Yes those too.”
“Amusement parks?”
“For amusement,” Justin said. He refrained from adding a ‘duh!’
“How interesting. We didn’t have anything like that. My world is filled with metal.
For machines, for cars, hovercrafts…everything you could imagine with technology.
We had to take technology classes for education…and we were always told to tell the
truth.”
“Sounds harsh.”
“It was home.”
There was a silence as they mulled the new ideas. Ideas of strange new worlds and
different concepts. Eerie really.
There was a groan and all eyes were on the last to wake up- Rena.
Her back was to AJ, and she seemed to be talking to Justin.
“Justin? Ugh…so tired…”
“It’s ok,” he whispered, planting a light kiss on her forehead. And she was sleeping
again.
AJ’s eyebrows rose.
JC shook his head. He mouthed, “No.”
AJ’s face read, “Believe what you want.”
“Not to sound rude or anything…” JC started, “but do you have any food? I’m starved.”
“And to think we were nearly eaten last night,” Justin muttered, stroking Rena’s
face and hair. “I’m not goin there again.”
AJ chuckled. “Of course, you can use magic, can’t you?”
“We can’t,” JC said. “The Lurkers’ll find us.”
“Lurkers eh? Stumbled upon their doorstep I suppose,” the brunette said, stretching
out his arms.
“Yeah well…Rena created an illusion of herself when she was held prisoner, and they
saw it fade away when she used her magic…and they tracked us down.”
“Ah…I see. That doesn’t mean you can’t use yours.”
“What?”
“They’re tracking down HER magic, not yours. See, what we release when we cast spells-
the dust- is kind of like our DNA. No one’s is the same. Never the same pattern.
So when they got your friend’s dust, they could trace it. Hers, not yours.”
“Oh good,” JC sighed, conjuring up a tray of food. AJ smirked.
“Hungry much?”
“Oh yeah.”
“Hey me!”
“Oh yeah.” JC conjured up a bowl of cereal in mid-crunch. “There. Happy?”
“Milk?”
“There. Satisfied?”
“Yes. Very much so. Could you get us some clean clothes? We’ve been wearing the same
things for days now…it’s just wrong.”
JC rolled his eyes. “Later Justin.”
“So what happened to you guys?”
So they began their story.
“Hey now, you said-”
“I don’t CARE what I said, get my niece back here, now!”
“Can’t.”
“Why not?”
“We’d have to get a mortal to open up the gates.”
“Who’d they take?” Chloe asked, alarmed.
“Justin.”
“Remind me why we’re going through with this?” Chloe groaned.
“The prophesy says-”
“Yes I know what the stupid prophesy says,” Chloe snapped.
“The youngest of the family must find the ring and attain it before the 50th full
moon after the 20th solar eclipse,” Chelsea recited slowly. “So that means, that
if they don’t get the ring…”
“The magic of this family will be gone.”
Test
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