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So the three traipsed about the room, eager to discover where Herbert has escaped. They were led to a wall, their noses aloft.
"Great, it goes up towards the ceiling, what are we gonna do? Great..." Muttered Sara, now quite perturbed that Herbert wasn't the nice little friend she had hoped he'd be.
Dan lifted Mike onto his shoulders in an attempt to trace the trail out an exit above their heads. Mike extended his arm and traced the webbing up the wall. "Man, this feels like marshmallows… hey, who invented marshmallows?"
"John Marshmallow!" yelled Sara.
"Nope, wrong, its George Marshmallow! Haha...." said Mike in jovial pursuit. "Uhh... guys... wasn't the wall wet and cold before... why is it warm and fuzzy now?"
Lars
Brad
Mike
Brad
Elisia
Brad
Lars
Sara K
Brad
Elisia
Lars
Dan
Sara
Sara K
Dan
Lars
Lars
Sara K
Jesse
Lars
Jesse
Dan
Brad
Lars
Mike
Dan
Sara K
Lars
Sara K
Sara C
Mike
Esther
Dan
Jesse led the group on down the passage, unknowingly leading them further and further from their friends. Lars, meanwhile, had been looking more and more concerned. Finally he called "Stop!" with such vehemence that everyone stopped dead in their tracks. It might also have had something to do with the fact that he decided to use one of his Force powers to halt them.
"OK, what now?" asked Brad in a rather annoyed tone.
"As a Jedi, I am aware of the life around me, and as we've been walking, the life signs of the missing members of the group have been getting steadily fainter. Whether that's because they're almost dead or just farther away, I don't know, but we need to at least stop, if not turn around altogether.
"All right." Jesse said, "I suppose we should take a vote. All in favor of continuing on this path, say 'aye', all against, say 'nay'."
"Force powers, eh?" said Brad, "Why haven't you used these before?" Not really knowing why he was suspicious of Lars, Brad pressed further. "Y'know, I'm really not sure you even are Lars.... how is it that you are here anyway? You said that you were exploring this place, why?"
Not willing to waste time with this while his friends were still in danger, Jesse decided to put an end to it...."Brad, whether or not he's on our side I don't really know. He looks a lot like Lars and he talks a lot like him too. And I've been getting the feeling that we've been running in the wrong direction too. I think we should go back."
Deferring to their effective leader, the rest of the group turned and followed Jesse. Lars wasn't so quick to follow. Instead, he sent a message into Brad's mind, "Watch yourself Brad...I know your thoughts."
Soon enough, the group returned to the T where they had originally diverged from their path. Unfortunately though, they did not notice the rock fall this time either - So this time they turned back toward the room with statue.
Meanwhile, in Herbert's Lair, Sara, Mike, and Dan were busy. They had encountered a warm, fuzzy covering on the wall. As they felt around a bit more, they found the covering to be edged in a straight line and tasseled on that edge. It was Sara who figured out what it was: "It's a tapestry guys! Like the ones on the walls of medieval keeps!"
It was obvious to all of them what to do next, considering that the trail of sticky goo continued up under the tapestry. Mike returned to Dan's shoulders and lifted the tapestry.
The tapestry lifted to reveal a long thin stairway climbing up into the darkness. "Aha!" Mike grinned. "We have a solution. It looks like a good way to get out of this hole. It is, after all, going up." Mike swung himself up and onto the ledge, pushing the tapestry aside. "This must be where the warm air was coming from." He reached down, and with Dan’s help hoisted up Sara, who was in the middle of humming some song about a mean little Herbert. Dan scrambled up after, and brushed himself off. "Well let’s start climbing…" he said as he took the first step up the stairs.
The light from the torch carried by the still humming Sara flickered on the wall as the group wound up and up. Breaking the repetitive tap tap of shoes upon stone, Sara spoke up. "You know, the Herbert isn't dead. When he nabbed me, the venom he hit me with knocked my out completely. I didn't even get a good look at him." Dan shrugged, and looked back over his shoulder. "We have already been through elf sorcerers, and wolf men. I think we'll be able to handle a spider if he shows up." Mike agreed. "It doesn't appear that much can stop our group. But at the same time I am worried, this is the first time we have truly been split up. The question is will we be able to handle the same situations alone.
The conversation however, came to an abrupt halt, as the stair ended at a blank wall. "A dead end?" Mike groaned looking at the wall. Dan shook his head. "Why would they put a stair this far to dead end it?” And with this place, there has got to be an explanation. Moving along the wall with his hand, he found a particular rock jutting just further than the rest in the wall. With a gentle push, the rock slid in. A grating sound came from the wall just ahead, and with a whoosh, it swung open.
As they stepped out of the darkness of the tunnel, they did a double take. They were back in the temple entrance, with the ominous moss covered statue peered innately into space. Moonlight was now streaming through the opening near the roof, illuminating the lofty walls and the black stone, which glinted a milky white in the soft light. The exit was directly across from the entrance the group had gone into in the first place. "A circle" Sara said "We must have gone down around then up the other side." Dan turned and moved off towards the statue. "It doesn't matter now, we just need to find the others. Being blocked off, they must come around the circle too..."
Dan was again interrupted, this time by a sudden and terrifying noise. Almost a scream, it sounded like a wailing. The group spun and looked towards the statue. A leg extended, slowly over the back of the statue. But this leg was at least as long as car, and thick as a small tree. Mike gasped " Oh boy, that can't be good." Another wail emanated from behind the statue, and suddenly, a huge shadow moved towards the three. As it moved into the patch of moonlight, Mike Dan and Sara stared gaping at the monstrosity. The spider was about the size of a garage, with long deadly legs thrashing about.
Mike jumped back, sliding his katana out of its sheath. "Dan, that is way bigger than the one we killed!" Dan grimaced "It must be a different one." The beast wailed again then charged, gnashing long fangs. "Dan lets move!" Mike yelled. Dan, knowing the scenario, kneed down. Mike was running and jumped stepping up onto Dan's cupped hands. With a rush Dan catapulted him up towards the monster. Twisting through the air, he could hear Dan's arrows whistling past him. He landed bringing his sword down with all his strength. His sword hit, but ricocheted off. The spider spun, flinging mike from its back then reared up wailing again. Mike sat up as Dan moved over still letting arrows loose from his bow. "The thing is like stone! My arrows aren't doing any good!" Mike nodded "I found that out too"
The beast, now re-oriented moved once again towards the three. "We can't do this!" Dan yelled as they backed towards the wall. "Look!" shouted Sara "The other tunnel! I can see a light!"
Ironically, while the light coming from the tunnel was without a doubt the "rescuer" group, the reason that it was arriving with such haste was Sara's friend, Herbert. Needing a large space to fight it in, Jesse and Elisia and the rest made a rapid retreat, seeing that the statue room was just before them. A mixture of joy and fear came upon them as they saw Mike and Dan battling a spider at least twice the size of Herbert. Jesse and Brad both charged at the second beast, leaving Lars and the Elisia, who now had the torch, to hold off Herbert. Jesse and Brad spun through the air in unison, their swords cutting a deadly swath toward their foe. Jesse pulled the trigger of his gun blade just as it collided with the skin of the giant spider. Those watching in relative safety could see white fire run down the length of the blade, filling the room with a spontaneous white-hot glare. Unfortunately, neither sword penetrated, and the force of their blows sent Jesse and Brad sprawling to the floor. By chance though, Brad's buster sword sliced through one of the chains that traversed the floor.
As the sword severed the chain, each link started to glow and then melt into oblivion. Jesse took Brad's accident further, quickly severing the other chains too. As the last chain began to melt, the statue started to shake. The stone casing around its exterior started to crack and crumble. Both the spiders and the humans both stood transfixed by the statue's transformation. As holes appeared in the stone and the shell fell away, light shone forth with true volumetric lighting effects. Finally, the being, now free from its long-binding chains, stood and stretched. Unfortunately, its joy was short lived, for a shadow passed from above.
The shock of the large shadow came merely so everyone could distract themselves from what they feared from the statue. In fact, the large ominous shadow was nothing more than a cloud passing across the moon. But there was no time to nervously laugh it off, for the statue was still in metamorphosis. A brilliant light grew around it and Jesse, in turn, pulled out his sunglasses and put them on. Everybody was forced to shield their eyes from the glow, even the spider could have been found raising 6 legs to cover his multiple eyes. About 10 seconds later the light diminished, and the statue returned to its original form as if nothing had shaken it.
"What was that Jesse?" questioned Elisia.
"It was Mikey!! He didn't look too distressed- in fact, he looked like he was dressed in expensive robes and eating a huge feast! Man, I feel left out."
"Yo, Jessie- no time to feel left out... Arachnophobia!!" Reminded Dan.
Esther, watching from the sidelines was almost angry. When Brad accidentally sliced through the first chain, she thought that the statue that had captured her thoughts since the first time she saw it would be finally free. And that seemed like a reality too - until that cloud passed over the skylight. Was there some correlation that she had missed? It seemed like everything was what it seemed but she knew better. She scanned the room, looking for anything different.
Meanwhile, the guys were having a hugely hard time with Herbert and his counterpart, the huge spider that Dan had recently dubbed Iron. Even Brad's Lion tooth Technique, the one in which he used his Buster sword to pole-vault high above Iron, spinning laterally and then twisting backwards, his sword hilt ending beneath his feet on the way down. Instead of pinning Iron to the floor, Brad only succeeded in jarring every bone in his body and dulling his blade. This alone told Brad that the fight was futile along with the previous experiences of Dan and Mike and Jesse. They all resorted to diversionary tactics, Sara using her torch and Jesse, Brad, and Mike's swords to blind the beast while Dan set up a fiery arc with his arrows between the enemies. This proved effective for a while but the group knew it wouldn't hold for long.
As Brad considered the situation, he glimpsed Lars, still in the doorway, seemingly disconnected from the fight. Brad was about to call to him when he noticed that Lars wasn't looking at the fight, but instead at the statue's head. Brad followed his gaze, seeing for the first time a dagger hilt protruding from the statue's cranium. The dagger had not penetrated all the way and whitish mist seemed to wrap itself around the blade. Then he noticed a figure on the back of the statue climbing. Yes, it was Esther. Brad was unsure what to make of it all, but what he did know was that he wasn't going to be left behind. Plunging his sword in the turf beneath his feet, he ran to the statue and started climbing. He hoped that he would find something to help his friends.
How now, good sir?
The reason Lars had been standing still was not because he was lazy, but because he was attempting to use the Force to penetrate the outer shell of the statue (he hadn't used it much until this time since there hadn't seemed to be much need of it). There must have been some sort of power guarding the statue, which was completely impenetrable to any persuasion of the Force. Realizing that this attempt was futile, he ignited his lightsaber, and charged into the fight. Lightsabers, as everyone knows, can cut through everything but cortosis metal.
Apparently the larger spider's exoskeleton had in it, not iron, but some form of cortosis.
Re-igniting his lightsaber, Lars quickly dismembered Herbert, who was not so lucky.
Brad and Esther, meanwhile, had reached the top of the statue. The dagger must have had some sort of enchantment upon it, since they found it impossible to remove. Of course, that also could have been the result of superglue, but either way, the effect was the same. The dagger would not come out.
A shadow once again fell over the room. The sky was beginning to cloud up; in fact, it was looking downright angry by this time. Perhaps it was.
Brad and Esther struggled in vain to remove the dagger, the fight raged on the ground.
Dan, when he saw that Brad had stuck his huge sword in the ground, ran over, picked it up, and handed his own smaller blade to Elisia, who, like the rest of the girls, was unarmed.
"Go for the Eyes!" yelled Jesse loudly. Indeed, those did seem to be the only vulnerable part of the giant behemoth of an arachnid, which was still taking large, but rather clumsy, swings at the group with its forelegs. Unfortunately, the eyes were, for some strange reason, rather close to the huge, sharp, venomous fangs.
At that moment, Sara C. looked up just in time to see some serious electrical activity in the clouds above. "JUMP!!!" she screamed at Brad and Esther, who like Anakin in Episode I when he was told by Qui-Gon to "Drop!” amazingly obeyed instantly. And not a moment too soon, a huge bolt of lightning lanced down from the angry mass of clouds and struck the metal hilt of the dagger...
The "arena" was immediately illuminated with the intense glow of the lightning. Sara Knight shot a quick and nervous glance at the guys, who were gallantly fighting with long METAL swords. Not good. Her attention though, was rapidly diverted to the likes of Brad and Esther, who were descending from the top of the statue with great haste, and by no will of their own. Realizing that the fall might render them paralyzed, her mind turned to the pressing matters of how to save them. After planting her torch in the ground, grabbing Elisia and Sara C by the arms, and yelling to the guys at the same time, she rushed the other girls over below Esther, and arranged a net of arms to catch her. Dan, Lars, and Mike did the same below Brad, while Jesse covered for them, still launching projectiles aimed as accurately as possible at the spider's eyes. As the girls lowered Esther's bruised form to the ground, Sara K's head narrowly missed being pulverized by the stomp of a spider leg. A long tear appeared on her shoulder and started to bleed, and she bit her lip in an attempt to remain focused. Figuring that Sara and Elisia were better at first aid and better suited to look after Esther, she asked Elisia for the dagger, grabbed it, and ran out in front of the spider. The guys had resumed fighting stance as well, and Brad was in better shape than Esther for combat.
The ground began to shake as cracks snaked out from the place where the sword was lodged in the statue. The statue was splitting.
On unsteady ground, Sara K stared up at the spider with a smirk.
"Come and get me."
Not knowing what to think, Iron the spider contemplated Sara with bewilderment. It had taken many of these tiny creatures in its day, but they all had worn large metal plates that seemed to offer some protection at least against Iron's massive claws. Even the male creatures that had been recently attacking Iron seemed able to defend themselves quite well, and if it wasn't for Iron's mighty exoskeleton, they might have defeated it a long time ago. This small female, though, seemed to have no visible protection whatsoever; her meager weaponry, a small pointy piece of metal, looked like it would offer no opposition to Iron's eight enormous arms either. Bewildered, Iron prepared to charge, angry that such a tiny human would challenge him.
Sara looked to either side, noting the positions and likely avenues of attack of the other guys. Bending her right knee slightly and extending her left leg backwards, she flipped her dagger in her hand so it pointed downward. She gave the signal and the guys swept in from the spider's flanks. Iron tried to look at both sides at once, its eight eyes looking in two different directions. Using its forelegs efficiently, it managed to fend off both attacks, getting in a few blows of its own. These two attacks accounted for; it turned back to the little one and wondered why it hadn't attacked. Sara wasn't there though. Too late, one of Iron's eyes caught the glimmer of moonlight off Sara's blade as she came flying down. Sara spun once in the air to gain momentum and then plunged the dagger point blank into one of the beast's gigantic eyes. The membrane surrounding the eye gave easily and the blade penetrated deep into the monster's head.
Mike and Dan, ever observant, were there to catch Sara on the way down. As Iron writhed in the background, it's life flowing from it, Sara wiped fluid from the length of her arm - "that was absolutely, the grossest thing I've ever done."
"At least it's over," Brad said, "Now lets find Mikey and get home." The rest of the party nodded relieved agreement.
Their attention now free, the group turned to the statue and the enormous crack that had appeared in it. As they watched, an entire section of the statue's torso fell, revealing a hollow space that had previously been hidden. After a few minutes, the group decided that it was safe to explore the ruin. Brad and Esther were the first to scramble up to the gaping hole. As the two peered into the darkness, the others joined them.
"Well, what's in there?" asked Dan, jumping over the hole to one crumbling shoulder and looking down at the rest.
"I can't see, can you?" Brad replied. "Wait, I think there's something there. Yeah, in the corner there." Sure enough, there in the corner was a small figure, curled up into a ball. Two things were easily noticeable: its hair was a startling, deep green color, and, from what they could tell, it didn't seem to be alive.
Jesse ventured into the dark abyss, enthralled at what this sallow lump may behold.
"That would be awesome if it were Gollum" thought Jesse to himself, trying to suppress his anxiety of another creature willing to attack. He carefully poked and prodded the lump, to make sure it was really dead.
"What is it Jesse?" Inquired Dan
"Yeah, hurry it up over there!" Cried Mike, on watch in case any other arachnids decided to drop in.
Jesse was entranced in what he discovered embraced in the arms of the monster. In fact, it was a teddy bear. This teddy bear was not just any teddy bear, for it had the words "You are beary special" embroidered on the tummy.
"Uh, guys... you'll never believe this." He held it up outside of the hole for the group to see. No one could not contain themselves from erupting into an uproar of laughter. Jesse shrank back in embarrassment, in trying to be the brave soul. But nobody thought less of him.
a moment of awkward silence followed Jesse’s great shame as the exhausted group controlled their sniggles and laughter. A great relief in the defeat of the destructive arachnids flowed through each member as they leaned against the walls of the statue. in the following silence, a faint ticking sound grew louder and louder, finally capturing the attention of the deluded crew.
"What’s that..." ventured Elisia warily, breaking the silence.
"Uhh, whatever it is, it's coming from that teddy bear over there," said Lars, standing up to find out what it could be.
He shrugged and carelessly tossed it out the opening, glad to be relieved of the strange object. As they climbed out of the dusty chamber into the crisp night air, they were mesmerized by the breathtaking view laid out ahead of them. A soft rain began to fall and the moonlight captured each drop, sending shimmers of light cascading across the marble rock. A blanket of mist rolled through the clouds and suddenly a faint lullaby floated through the air, resonating in their ears. Its tune was so hypnotizing, their eyelids grew heavy and suddenly their mission seemed insignificant in comparison to the magical notes that filled the air. Their battles with the arachnids were forgotten as they strained with their whole beings to capture every note of this mysterious music that seemed to come from nowhere and yet filled everything around them.
Esther dropped to the ground, and the rest of the group sank into a deep sleep, their minds suddenly cascading into a maelstrom of dreams, swirling tumultuously as the lullaby flowed through their heads.
Behind them deep in the dark chamber, the heap lying in the rubble shifted. Its lurid face caught by the spectral moonlight was transfigured as the lullaby escaped its mouth.
Only Brad, who was too contrary to fall asleep when all the others did, remained somewhat conscious. Even so, he was in a stupor, and did not really comprehend what was going on as the Gollum creature, as they had called it, stole quietly out of the ruined statue, still singing, and began to go over the group one by one, touching its vile fingers to each person's head, hands and feet. As it did so, the person touched seemed to stop breathing, much like the Gollum had when it was found.
As the creature approached the semi-conscious Brad, he began to think that something must not be right. But how could it not be right? The music was wonderful, all he had to do was to slip into slumber and he could enjoy it forever. But why? What would falling asleep do for him? With a great strength of will, he stood up.
The Gollum suddenly stopped what it was doing and began to sing a song even sweeter than before, and Brad began to get back down again. But no, he realized finally what was going on. Summoning all the strength left in him, he brought himself up to his full height and launched himself at the creature...
Brad impacted the Gollum-like creature at top speed, laying the weak thing out quite easily, clothesline style. It stopped its melody immediately, and almost immediately, Brad regained his presence of mind. The slimy green thing picked itself up on its forearms and backed away scared of Brad. The latter stood in the cat stance, his buster sword ready for action. Like a shadow it slunk around a corner and was gone. Brad dropped to his knees, letting his blade lay on the ground. It was obvious to him at least that the music the creature made warped even the visual cortex, making the group mistake the creature for a teddy bear. Brad lay back onto the ground and stared up at the night sky, wondering absently how long it had been since last he slept. This last thought hovered in his mind as he drifted off into oblivion.
The companions lay in a heap, all immersed in a deep slumber. Though the spell had been broken, not one of them had rested at all since the commencement of their perilous quest. The rain fell softly upon them, and the night sky was a blanket of stars. Utter tranquility surrounded them, and every fear and anxiety was swept away by the peaceful night. Yet off in the distance, a faint beam of light began its descent. It grew to a radiant glowing presence, one that slowly awakened the group with its ominous brightness. The question of what tidings that this light would bring raced through everyone's mind, for bright shining lights are often quite important during these sorts of adventures. The light gradually diminished, and a figure was left standing before them. A shadow left the figure unknown, and an awkward stillness lingered in the air. For a moment not a word was spoken; then the figure stepped out and gazed up at the baffled party. "Sara C??" exclaimed Esther. "But, Sara C is right there! Indeed Sara C was still among them, and this mystery person from above seemed to emit a flawless resemblance. "Yes" the stranger announced. "I am Sara C. And that imposter over there is my evil clone, who was sent by the unknown dark and sinister forces to monitor your location. But do no longer fret, for i have arrived and I will do away with this pretender. But honestly, did you truly buy into that embarrassing act?? The true Sara C would never think of befriending such an obviously large and harmful creature such as Herbert the spider, and besides, his name would have been Stanley. Also, the real Sara C would have been quite aware of the fact that there were wolves in the entrance to the forest temple, and she also would have informed you that they could be easily passed by without being destroyed. These truths make me rather disappointed in you all for falling victim to such a scheme." She shook her head in disappointment, then made her way towards the Sara clone, which was looking a bit apprehensive. Sara C withdrew a large Spork and proceeded to do away with the evil clone. "Wait!" Brad exclaimed. "You just appear from a beam of light and tell us you have a clone and expect us to freely believe you?" "Yeah Brad, you may be on to something" Dan contributes. " How do we know which Sara C is the real Sara C?" The Sara C from the sky gave a hurt glace. "Of course it's me guys, I came to youth group late and found a portal in the Stein's front yard. Seeing that the house was empty I figured you all went into it, and I was feeling a bit adventurous, so I figured, why not? And I jumped in. Luckily, I was transported to your direct location, and, well, here I am!" Everyone appeared a bit skeptical, but they summarily agreed to believe the Sara from the sky. But as Sara was explaining her appearance, the Sara clone had slipped away, and was now out of sight. "Great" exclaimed the true Sara C.
Imposter or not, "great" pretty much summed up Sara K's feelings as well. She was a little disgruntled that of all people, she had not recognized the fake square root for what it was...if it was truly a fake. She was also bewildered as to why her counterpart had been carrying as Spork, as it was her own utensil of choice. Those insignificant matters aside, the "clone" was now most likely running amuck in the temple, which was not something they needed in addition to their other obvious problems.
Sara K sighed and looked down, and impatiently prodded the still-sleeping Mike with her foot.
"What? What? I'm awake!" he muttered, and then turned over again.
The two Saras glanced at each other, and at that instant, the bond of the square roots was reformed. They broke out into a spontaneous wake-up song that they learned well at camp...
"You brush your teeth in the moooorning...you brush your teeth in the mooooring...you brush your teeth in the moooooooorniiiiiing...but first you have to....GET OOOOOOUT OOOOF BEEEEED! GEEEEEEEEEEEEET OOOOOOOOUUUUUT OOOOOFFFFF BEEEEEEEED! You wash your face in the moooorning...you wash your face in the mooooring...you wash your face in the moooooooorniiiiiing...but first you have to....GET OOOOOOUT-"
"SHUT UP!" the rest of the group and the newly awakened Mike screamed over them. The Saras giggled and linked arms.
"She's the real thing," Sara K said, and the mix-up was solved.
Elisia spoke up. "Ok, so...wolves, giant spiders, a Gollum thing with a teddy bear...what else are we in for guys?"
"And where do we go from here?" Esther asked. "Our pathway splits."
Jesse, re-energized, was unable to keep still. He pointed in one direction. "Let's go this way."
Brad and Dan had been talking, and shook their heads.
"I dunno Jess," Dan said, "something just feels off."
"Yeah," Brad echoed, "I'm thinking straight is the way to go."
"Alright, I'm with Jess though" Mike protested. "So now what?"
"That's not what I meant..." Dan cut in. He raised his head up and glanced toward one of the spires that had been seen from the forest clearing. The mist had returned, and the morning sun cut through it from behind the tallest spire.
"I think that anything we are going to find in this temple will be in that tallest spire." Jesse thought for a tic, gazing up at the tower, and then nodded. Brad also nodded his approval. "Girls?" The girls also agreed, and so they all gathered their things, and prepared to go. "I saw something that looked like a staircase inside the courtyard, to the right of the door we originally went in. I think it leads to the big spire.”, said mike. The fellowship was once again on the move.
How are thou pale with anguish, with sore abuse and scorn? How does that visage languish that once was bright as morn?
They discovered it was exactly as it had been the first time they arrived. Apparently this place had some sort of day/night cycle. That led them all to one conclusion:
The entire quest must be completed in one day.
"Well, apparently the tunnels on the left are the wrong path”, commented Dan, "and the stairs do seem to go up as far as I can see." Which was, however, not very far, since it was a spiral staircase.
"Well, up we go then"...
Sara K
Jesse spurted forward up the long winding path. "C'mon guys, it's the stair master!"
Sara K thought about throwing her sandal at his head in protest, but upon considering the possibility of climbing the rest of the way barefoot, slid it quickly back on her foot. She instead focused on her inner hope of finding a waterfall or stream of some sort within the deep intestines of the temple. (Hey, a girl can wish!) It had been at least 24 hours since any of them had showered, and it was driving her crazy. She began humming the Herbal Essences jingle, which made Brad grin.
"Mmmmm...Herbal Essences...." he murmured.
As they neared what seemed to be the middle of the climb, Elisia looked back down at the great black spiral. "Oh guys, it's so photographable!"
Mike followed her gaze, zeroing in on the way the sunlight was now shining in at the bottom, casting long shadows and mesmerizing highlights. "And paintable!" Esther nodded her agreement with his statement.
Dan snapped his siblings out of their reverie. "Task completed by nightfall, remember?"
After about 10 more minutes, the group as a whole reached the top. From there, another predicament faced them, for the path split again.
"Ok," Brad said, "as far as I can tell, we've got three options."
Sara K whispered to Dan, "but there's always option #7...to hear a duck quack..." Brad's stare silenced her.
"As I was saying, three options. We could split up here" he continued, to sounds of dissent, "let me finish! And each group takes one path. Option two, a couple of us head down one way, and send word back to the others to follow if it looks promising. And option three, we just pick a tunnel, and everyone goes, and we hope it's the right one."
"I'm not in any hurry to split up again," Esther commented.
"Yeah, me either," added Sara C.
Sara K shrugged. "If we take option two, I'm going with scout group. I refuse to stay here and wait for something to happen."
Lars spoke up. "Splitting up doesn't sound real intelligent at this point, but at the same time, it might save us a lot of effort if the scout group finds that one tunnel is a no-go. Fewer people travel faster."
Mike stepped forward. "So is that what we want to do for sure?"
As the fellowship embarked on their trek up the winding staircase, Jesse's thoughts turned to the events that had unfolded since that fateful day at Ren and Bess's house.
It had began like any other Friday, the expectation of cookies, friends, and a Bible study. Somewhere, it had changed course to their present darkling excursion. What would drive one to abduct such ordinary folk as Ben and Jessica, and proceed to ensnare a host of other every-day people?
Obviously the entity or sinister force behind the ill that had been dealt to them was quite otherworldly -- quite possibly privy to the deepest workings of the universe, as evidenced by the interdimensional transports. There must have been a breach of information or some type of intelligence that the least likely people had stumbled upon that threatened this mysterious being, collaboration of spirits, or what ever it might be. Otherwise, why not leave the ignorant powerless to challenge him in their inconsequential corner of reality?
As the party trudged up the stairs, he gazed about them, studying their faces. They were the same people he had always known; yet they weren't. It seemed as if their visages bore the lines of experience. Their expressions were sharper, their eyes deeper, and their presence weightier.
He also contemplated the changes in setting. They had begun their journey in the "real world". The real world -- he smiled grimly at the thought. The 'real world' -- where good and evil were are smeared into an obscure gray muck, where the greatest challenge is discerning whether or not a TV show is Christian entertainment exercising the discipline to turn away if principle deems it unwholesome. In contrast to his new surroundings, the "real world" seemed quite empty, vacuous, and trivial. Here, evil was the stroke of the sword and then point of the arrow trained on the heart, summoning pain and death...
The voice of Lars brought him out of his musings. "Well here we are". They stood at the top of the staircase and gazed through a door hanging ajar at an awesome sight.
What Jesse was noticing was true. After a little over 24 hours, the group had changed noticeably. Perhaps it was the experience of combat against ever more dangerous foes, perhaps it was the very essence of this strange land that was working on them, but they were definitely different; even Sara C. who had not been there that long, was showing signs of changing. Of course, it could also have been the dirt that, as Sara K. had noticed; they had not had time to shower off.
Don't ask how everyone knew this at the same time; some things are better left unknown
The group agreed that they would send two people down each tunnel to return in five minutes.
Dan and Elisia were chosen to take the left branch, while Jesse and Sara K. took the one to the right. Despite loud complaints, Lars had to remain with the rest of the group. Disappointed, he started taking it out on the wall, kicking and prodding it since he could not very well decapitate anyone with his lightsaber.
As he was kicking at the wall, one of the stones to meet his toe gave way. Intrigued, he pressed it farther. It suddenly fell away to reveal that the wall was actually hollow, with an outer wall some two feet away from the inner one. About five seconds later, he heard a splash from down below, followed by the sound of thrashing in shallow water.
As he and the rest of the group pondered what this could mean, the Sara K and Jesse team came flying back through the corridor, breathless, and slightly scorched.
The whole group, including the fast returning duo of Elisia and Dan, gathered around to hear what they had to say. Sara and Jesse were both talking at once, confused, excited, and smoking a bit.
Lars too, was trying to relate what he had discovered about the hollow wall.
"Everyone, be quiet!" Esther said. "Now, one at a time..."
"Well," Jesse started, "we were fine for about 50 feet, but after that...."
-"There was the big reptilian hissing", cut in Sarah.
Not to be denied the critical moment of the confrontation, Jessie blurted out in one breath, "so-then-the-big-nasty-lizard-started...eh.... belching this uh...big-infernal-gas cloud--a.k.a.--fire."
"And that's why are clothes are burnt," ejaculated Sarah in a last desperate attempt to regain center stage.
"Well that sounds like a dragon to me," said Lars contemplatively. "It fits the description in the handbook here..." -- whipping out a small text from the breast pocket of his Jedi cloak -- "eh...'Malevolent Denizens Inhabiting Deserted Temples'...ok...subheading 'Forest Temples'...hmm.... ah, here it is--"The Red Horny Sinew Render!"
"Is he a bad lizard," piped up Sara C innocuously, receiving weary stares from her companions.
"Well," started Lars slowly, "the books says, 'The Red Horny Sinew Render derives its name from its inclination to thoroughly barbarize its prey when feeding. It is a red-skinned, scaly reptile with horns resembling those of a North American steer, yet shorter, approximately 1.5 feet in length. It is strictly carnivorous and feeds only on live prey. Indigenous to woodland temples, they reside primarily in cellars and cavernous rooms, guarding objects that others covet yet they themselves have little use for."
"Well, didn't you say something about an opening in the wall?" Brad probed, trying to divert the group's course from the current road.
"Wait!" interjected Esther, "We haven't heard what happened to Dan and Elisia."
"You probably noticed our rather hasty return as well," said Dan, "Well, we ran into a pack of... of... well, I can't really describe them, they're about this high--" here he pointed to the top of his (as everyone noticed at that moment) nearly shredded sneaker.
"And have purple skin, warthog-like faces, razor sharp teeth, hedgehog spines, six legs, and an attitude worse than a starving Rottweiler" Lars glanced up from his Parody Fantasy Realm Survivor's Guide©.
"--Right." Dan continued, looking a bit miffed. Before he could go on, Lars continued:
"These beasts are known as pygmy snashers (combination of snarlers and slashers) and twenty of them can strip a dragon to the bone in less than one minute."
"Uh, right." Dan attempted again, succeeding this time, "so obviously they are each guarding something, but what are they guarding, is it really important, and should we instead go down the hole in the wall?"
"Or," put in Elisia, "we could use them both to our advantage."
She got blank stares from everyone.
"Remember that line about being able to strip a dragon of its flesh in less than a minute? Well, suppose we could lure them towards the dragon? They would most likely be too full to bother us, and the dragon would be no more than a skeleton."
This seemed reasonable until Sara C. (who did not much like the idea of killing anything more than was necessary) pointed out that they really had nothing to lure the little critters with.
"So," quoth Brad, "We seem to have three options here: One, charge one or the other of the creatures and try to beat them down. Two, go down the hole to face unknown peril there, or three, attempt to lure the snashers towards the dragon and hope they're not good friends."
"I think we should do a combo of two and three," put in Mike, who up to this time had been silently brooding over the different possibilities.
"Uh...Mike?" asked Dan quizzically, both teasing and looking for an explanation. Skeptical stares turned towards Mike from all sides.
"Well," he began timidly, "It seems like it's going to be kinda' hard to avoid getting caught in the crossfire once the purple miesters and the dragon start going at it. So...why don't we all jump into the hole after we lure the snashers?"
"I don't know" rejoined Lars. "The whole seems a little hazardous. I knocked a pebble down into it and I'd estimate it was five seconds before that sucker plopped into the water. That's quite a drop. Not to mention I stirred something up -- there was a thrashing right after the stone hit the water. At any rate, the water didn't seem very accommodating -- the splashing sounded sort of shallow like a baby smacking the watery surface of a little play pool."
"Well, we might as well investigate the crack in the wall," proffered Brad. "Maybe there's a way down other than a straight line." A wry smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as Jesse and Mike turned to catch his eye and share the dark humor, with wry smiles of their own. Everyone quickly mumbled assent to his suggestion and Lars led the way to the breach.
"Yep, its dark." stated Mike insipidly. Esther began to rummage in her gown pockets, and came up with something that looked like a crystal about the size of a pencil with a lanyard hanging from one end. "This was glowing a little bit when we were walking in that dark hallway. Maybe it will illuminate the crevice." Mike unwound the string on his katana grip and gave it to Esther to attach to the crystal. As she lowered it carefully into the hole, it began to light up. By the time she had reached the end of the string, It shone brightly, easily illuminating the space. The water was a good distance down, but it appeared to be very deep, which could be good or bad. Swirls could be seen in the water, evidence of some kind of creature. Dan took aim and let loose an arrow into the center of one the swirls. The surface of the water churned for a moment, and then became still, and something floated to the surface with a host of small bubbles. It was probably three feet long, and seemed to be a type of eel. When it reached the surface, it flipped over on its belly, revealing a lamprey-like set of teeth arranged in a circle around its giant maw. At that moment, a rather large shape could be seen darting past the floating carcass, five or ten feet under the water. It turned sharply, and broke the water, jumping over the eel. It closely resembled a dolphin, but was yellow in color. Its hide showed numerous circular red marks, apparently inflicted by the eel. It dove again under the water and disappeared. All was still again, and nobody but Sara K noticed three similar shapes move smoothly in the same direction. She quickly made the others aware of this fact. "Guys, i would guess that if there are no more of those eel things, then its safe in there. Those dolphin things look friendly."
"What do you mean 'safe'?" complained Jesse in a tone of desperation. "Personally I'd rather grab the dragon by the jaws and throw IT down through the crack rather than hop right in myself." Elisia and the Sarah looked upon him with shock at this uncharacteristic lack of resolve, but the rest of the group responded with a tired, knowing stare. Seeking to reconcile himself he began to explain his aversion to their present course of action.
"You see it all the started the first year I went to camp--"
"Oh please don't start this again," Brad interrupted. "No, it started long before you nearly drowned during your deep end test at Camp-Li-Lo-Li. I remember when you took lessons at Adams street recreation center with Seal dude, and after that flunking the swimming test at Monroe Middle School further worsened your phobia--"
"Wait a sec," interjected Jesse who had been hanging his head in shame. While his abysmal swimming history was being related with careful historical detail by Braddeus and Jesse was looking sunkenly at his shoes, he spied a ledge five feet beneath where they all stood.
"A ledge!" exclaimed Dan. "I'll test and see if it's safe." And before anyone could utter a warning, Dan leapt impetuously to the platform below. "Seems pretty sturdy," he observed.
"Well," began Mike sarcastically, "I guess if you ignore the problem of getting back up."
"That," said Lars, "is no problem. I am a Jedi, remember? Levitation is no problem" "I hope so anyway", he thought to himself.
They had knocked down several stones now, and there was a rather large hole in the wall. The whole group crowded around it and looked into the yawning chasm below. Upon careful inspection, the shallow splash seemed to have come from a soft sandy shore with only a couple inches of water on it. The large black stones were still lying on the subterranean beach.
"Hey Lars, how about using your levitation abilities on that lamprey thing, it would make great bait for the snashers if we cut in into little chunks." said Brad in a rare moment of brilliance.
"What about when the snashers see us?" pointed out Sara K., "I don't really want to find out what those things can do to a human in less than a minute."
"This ledge here seems to be ideal, especially if we can put some of those stones back."
Thus agreed, Lars asked everyone to be quiet and closed his eyes. As the music theme for the Force started playing softly in the background, he began to make subtle movements with his fingertips. Dan, who was still on the ledge, watched in wonder as the carcass of the lamprey, still impaled on the arrow that had been its bane, slowly rose out of the water. Up, up, up, it came.
"OW! Yuck!" exclaimed Dan as the limp tail slapped him across the face. This caused Lars to lose his concentration, and the lamprey fell right into Dan's arms. "Gross! Here, catch." Dan heaved it up through the opening. The thing was actually almost six feet long, of a grayish hue, and thoroughly disgusting.
"Wow!" commented Esther, "That is even grosser than I thought."
Lars then proceeded to hew it into strips with his lightsaber, not a pleasant task.
"OK, now we need to figure out a way to make a trail of these from one corridor to the other, and at the same time hide ourselves in the wall." Jesse said, matter-of-factly.
"There." Lars said as he dropped the last chunk of eel meat to the floor. "Don't think I'll ever do that again."
"Well, now all we need is someone to make a trail of theses things.." He nudged one of the chunks with his foot. It made a squishing noise and flopped over. "In any case, we should hurry. The smell alone might kill us all."
Mike, who at the time was standing against the wall, held his nose. "I'll take it as long as we get rid of the smell!" Lars reached down and threw him a chunk. "He's all yours." Gathering up a armful of smelly eel, Mike looked nervously down the dark openings, then started off into the passage leading to the snashers. "Good luck!" Dan yelled after him as he disappeared.
Jesse stood looking down into the hole, at the deeper water just to the side. He was paying extra attention to the swirls of moving creatures below. Presumably the dolphin like animals, but one couldn't be sure. As he turned around to address the group, he was interrupted by a yelp from the snashers tunnel.
Mike came bursting out the entrance, his face white as a sheet, and running as fast as his legs could carry him. Without stopping, he ran past the group and dove through the hole in the wall. His disappearance was soon followed by a large splash. "What's with him?" Sara asked as she stood up. "Well"...said Brad, "I don't think this situation is going to turn out positive" Dan rolled his eyes "What else is new with Mike."
"Uh oh!" Esther yelled, "We have more trouble!” As everyone turned to look down the tunnel, a wave of purple snashers turned the corner, heading towards the group. "Whoa! Now we know why Mike was running! Lets move!" Dan said as he sprinted back to the hole in the wall. "Everyone through! And try not to hit the beach."
One after another, the members of the fellowship dove through the hole, leaving Jesse as the last. With a quick glance behind him, at the ominous and growing horde of snashers, he leaped into the hole falling through the darkness.
Jesse hit the water hard, and receded a good distance into it before managing to claw his way back to the surface. His head broke the water and he sucked in a ragged breath of air, and he knew immediately that he had jumped just in time. It wasn’t the pounding noise so much as the vibration that shook his body even though immersed in water. Jesse looked up towards the crack of light from which he had leapt and saw the blurs of snashers whipping past. Turning his head quickly around, he saw several people treading water, most heading for the beach. Brad swam toward Jesse to make sure that he was okay, and was slightly impressed when he began to scissors stroke in the same direction.
Mike yelled out, "It’s clear, there are no more..." and was abruptly stopped when he was lifted cleaner than the Lorax out of the water. Rising up from under him came one of the yellowish dolphin-like things in a perfectly arching jump, and disappeared along with Mike under the water. The group surged in the direction that the dolphin had gone, but stopped when they realized that it was gone.
They were awestruck, and once again scared beyond reasonable limits, but there was nothing to do for it, so dripping and soggy, they crawled one by one up onto the beach. Esther's light showed only a short distance, and everyone huddled together towards it. They looked around and realized that the snashers were no longer running past the crevice. A half roar, half scream pierced through the air, followed by the sound of rock smashed against rock, and a host of drawn out barking noises.
But their attention was averted by a huge splash nearby, and they were amazed to behold mike on the back of the dolphin, snaking towards them in the water at a high rate of speed. Just before reaching the shore, the dolphin turned and slid sideways, practically stopping on a dime. The group standing on the shore received a not-so-welcome deluge of water right in the face, and when they had shaken off, Mike began to speak with a huge grin plastered across his face. Exactly what he said, nobody knew, because it was drowned out by what was no doubt the dragon's roar. By this time, the earth shaking was not a new feeling, and they were able to ignore it relatively well. Between the roars, rending metal, and smashing stone that was evidence of the heated battle going on nearby, Mike explained how he could control the dolphin. By leaning different directions and grabbing on to the dorsal fin, it was relatively easy to control the movement of the dolphin. Brad raised one eyebrow, and then noticed farther out in the water that several more dorsal fins had emerged.
How are thou pale with anguish, with sore abuse and scorn? How does that visage languish that once was bright as morn?
"Alright a guys, let’s free Willy!" Jesse exclaimed, and started swimming.
"Wrong movie, Jess," muttered Sara K under her breath, but followed suit.
Lars, who had a sinking feeling (no pun intended) about the dolphins and didn't quite trust them, made a last ditch effort to levitate the gang back out of the water. He concentrated on Sara as she stroked past, and managed to lift her a few inches out of the water, before realizing that lifting the lamprey before had drained him more than he thought. She splashed back down, and proceeded to dunk him repeatedly for his efforts (somewhat reminiscent of her pool parties the summer of 2001...). Sopping wet and grinning, she then dragged the pouting Jedi onto a dolphin behind her, as there was only one left, and steered it up in line beside one, which carried Sara C and Elisia. Farther ahead, Dan, Brad, and Esther had all mounted similar creatures.
Another roar sounded from above, and the group nudged the dolphins on, not wanting to be hit by falling debris.
Lars, sputtering and grumbling, and at the end of the line, surveyed his surroundings. Esther's Atlantis-like crystal gave off more light than his saber, and since the thing didn't have a non-lethal setting, he figured it was wiser to keep it turned off for the moment. Besides, he was thinking of decapitating the dolphin, which, he was still sure, was up to no good, but he knew that wouldn't have gone over too well with the rest of the group, so he refrained. Besides, hate leads to the dark side.
The cavern they were in was fairly large. Large enough that Esther's crystal did not penetrate the darkness all the way to its walls, although occasionally someone in the group would notice a flash of reflected light from either side, and sometimes what must have been the far-distant top, though the light was reflecting so faintly that it was hard to tell how far it extended. Gradually, the number of reflections increased, until the whole wall seemed to be flashing with light. They eventually concluded that the walls extended for about a hundred feet in all directions. The depth of the murky water was impossible to guess.
The dolphins now seemed to be doing more of the steering, and some of the group began to think that Lars' suspicions were right. Esther's light now began to be less needed, as a slowly growing glow began to envelop them.
Elisia, who was in front, noticed it first. An underground island, replete with palm trees and various exotic fauna lay before them. The light that was coming from it seemed to be somehow suspended about fifty feet above the ground, but it was hard to tell exactly what was causing it. This seemed to be where the dolphins were taking them. Sure enough, five minutes later, they were dropped off next to the shore to do whatever was next on their quest.
"That's the last time I trust seafood," Sara Knight commented. She turned to the slippery mammals. "Tuna cannery. Does that mean anything to you?" The dolphin flapped its tail and splashed her in response. "Humph. Not like it matters, I'm soaked anyway."
"Weren't you the one that wanted a shower?" Brad observed.
Sara merely growled.
And so, the quest to find the artist formerly known as Mikey P resumed, but not so enthusiastically as before. The fellowship was wet, hungry, and not too eager to meet any more "creatures."
"So, are we following 'the light in the sky' now?" questioned Elisia wearily.
Mike shrugged. "Seems as good a course of action as any. It's pretty much the only interesting thing around here. What could be causing it, I have no idea, but we might as well check it out."
Brad, who was ringing out his shirt, piped up. "I'm all for it, we've come this far...if anything, I'm just curious."
Lars was tempted to crack a "light at the end of the tunnel" joke, but decided wisely that the atmosphere wasn't right. He went back to giving Sara K a hard time instead, something he had become quite proficient at. ;-)
Brad scaled a palm tree and threw down some of the coconut-like fruits.
"Good thinking, Brad. Hope these are good to eat," Esther said.
As they continued walking, the girls strayed now and then to find sharp rocks to crack the coconuts on.
Coming back from once such venture, Sara C called the attention of the group. "Hey guys, look what I found!"
Sara C peered down at her discovery with a grin spread across her face. " Aw Sara, not another small ugly multi-legged friend" Sara K muttered. "No! I really found something!" Sara C proclaimed. Reluctantly the group made their way towards her, lured by their curiosity. "See guys?" She held up a large white shell, wrapped around itself like one of those shells you can "hear the ocean" through. "Why...that looks like..." Elisia began. "Yes! It's a conch!" Sara C concluded with excitement. Esther spoke up, "No, you said it wrong, it's conch!" "Oh, ok, sorry Esther" Sara C replied. Suddenly her face lit up. "We can use it to find Mikey P! Perhaps if we blow into it, he'll hear it, and come and find us! It could even lead us to the missing couple Ben and Jess!" "Hold it" Sara K jumped in. " If that's a conch, and we're on a tropical island, then.... oh dear me" "Ohhhh I get it!" Dan announced. "First we were led into the forest temple from Zelda, because so many of us play it, it seems to bind us in a way; a sort of common attribute among a majority of us" "And now, we're on the island from Lord of the Flies" Brad added, "because so many of us are familiar with the story, and it is prominent in the minds of many of us." "Yeah, that makes sense" Esther replied, "Especially because some of us did a nice little project on it." The gang stood around, trying to fit pieces of the puzzle together for quite some time. A silence slowly drifted over the group, and each individual stood still; pondering their new surroundings and wondering what this new environment might behold for them. Distant cries from deep within the island could be heard; sounds of young male children raving wildly. After a few moments, Sara K spoke up. "Well, we're on the island. There's a conch. From those noises I'm guessing there's y half naked little boys somewhere around here running around trying to kill each other. But.... where’s the beastie?"
Far below, a small splash sounded, then faded away into the silent glass like surface of the subterranean lake. Brad pushed away from the edge of the island, and stood up. "So, now we are on a floating island, with an undiscovered source of light, in an underground lake, inhabited presumably by 3rd grade savages..."
Sara nodded, "yeah that sounds about right. And on top of that, we have this handy conch!"
Immersed in thought over where this great island beast could be lurking, Sara k failed to notice the dim light reflecting off of what seemed to be a disk shaped glass protruding from the soft tundra. Brad, however, from his perch in the tree caught glimpse of it, and swung down to check it out. Plucking it from the fern bed, he wiped the dirt away to reveal a smudged pair of specs.
"Hey guys, looks like we're holding ransom the very life of this island, and it also means a blind Piggy..."
"You mean 'Cow'," corrected Sara C, gathering with the others around the new discovery. "Well, what should we do with them?" ventured mike, unsure yet of what this meant. The sound of faint voices was growing steadily closer and the group found themselves growing more nervous with the savage cries that became more distinct with the passing second. "Hey um, maybe now would be a good time to-get-out-of-here...." whispered Esther, searching frantically around for a suitable hiding place among the dense cover the trees offered. She slipped behind a wall of shrubbery, as Jesse grabbed a nearby vine hanging from a branch overhead and swiftly pulled himself up, smiling to himself about how all that working out at Stalpin’s had finally paid off. Mike and Sara c summarily followed his example and shimmied up vines, disappearing into the canopy of leaves. Brad resumed his position in the coconut tree as the rest of the gang found shelter in the umbrella of greenery. The vines were pulled up and wrapped around the upper branches. The screams had become louder and more frequent, reverberating in the ears of the hidden rescuers. Esther, however, realizing the vulnerability of her position on the ground, grabbed her last chance to get into the treetops and burst from her hide out, searching frantically for some method of getting into the trees. "Wait foh meeee guys, wait foh me!!!" she cried as the shrubbery behind her shifted from movement....
Concealed high in the foliage, Dan wondered to himself why everyone insisted on using parodies of things instead of making their own ideas, but just as quickly shrugged it aside, and realized that it had absolutely no relevance to the current situation.
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