by Talia Haze
Saramine bent over to pick up the shield, but the coo-coo clock above her head abruptly announced the hour. With a surprised cry, Saramine stumbled backwards and tripped over another shield. She fell back onto the spinning wheel and tumbled to the floor in a blinding flash.
Strong branches laden with thorns suddenly pushed through the corners of the stone floor and stretched over the wall, like several serpents scaling the stone. They quickly covered the ceiling in thick veins. I gently touched one of the long thorns. It easily could have gone through my whole arm. Best stay away from those…
I couldn’t. The thorn gently poked my arm in return. Did it? No, it wasn’t alive; it drew closer. All the thorns came closer!
“Angel! The thorns!”
“Never mind the thorns.” Angel hadn’t meant to sound so harsh, but she panicked as she looked around our enclosing tomb. “Where is Saramine?”
I didn’t know. Our calls seemed muffled as the thorns crept closer. Where could she have possibly gone? We were surrounded; there was nowhere to go.
“She is here!” Connie pushed over a pile of baskets and there, atop a small, wooden table lay Saramine, fast asleep.
“What happened to her?” Angel kneeled at her side.
“Her finger!” Connie said, holding Saramine’s hand in hers. “She must have pricked her finger on the spinning wheel.”
Ryan’s face fell. “Wait…isn’t this…?”
Angel, Connie and I smiled broadly. “Oh no!” Ryan objected, getting as far away from us as the thorns would allow. “Don’t even look at me, lads! I’m not doing it!”
“Ryan…!”
“We’re going to be skewered!”
“And I’m not playing this game. I’m Rapunzel’s prince, besides.” Ryan crossed his arms, turning to Sean. “You do it, Sean.”
“I…”
“Think of this as Briar Rose,” Ryan interrupted with a smirk. “You are the handsome prince and here is a lady who just wants to wake up.”
“Do it quickly.” I never saw Angel so grave. “We do not have much time.”
Sean looked at Saramine uneasily before kneeling, and quickly kissing her forehead.
Nothing happened.
“Come on, Dragonboy,” Ryan urged. “We know you can do better than that…”
“Shut up, Ryan!” Connie defended. “You are not man enough to do even that!”
“Man enough?” Ryan angrily stepped forward. The thorns clutched his shirt. “What’s that got to do with anything…?”
Sean slowly kissed Saramine on the lips, disappearing from view within another bright flash of light. The thorns vanished, and Saramine sat up, a golden key (6) underneath her.
“That coo-coo clock scared the life from me!” she cried out, holding her chest.
Ryan smirked. “Right as rain, that. Don’t you know what happened?”
“Of course I do!” Saramine brushed off her skirt. “I jumped because the clock startled me, and I fell back onto the spinning wheel. I pricked my finger,” she added sadly as she looked it over.
Angel rolled her eyes, and quietly spoke to Saramine in Inzi. Sean did his best to ignore the two and went on his way picking up and inspecting random weapons that he had no interest in.
Saramine didn’t know how to react, and timidly walked up to Sean, who disregarded her presence until the last moment. “Thank you,” she said. Her voice was low and cautious.
“You’re welcome.” He sounded different too.
“You know, Angel,” Ryan sat on the bottom rotted stair and rested his hands behind his head, “you didn’t have to say anything to Saramine. She didn’t even know!”
“That wouldn’t be fair, Ryan,” Sean argued, still in a low tone.
“Bother your fair,” Ryan answered, standing and throwing out his arms. “It’s not like you didn’t want kiss each other anyway!”
Sean’s mouth dropped open in shock, and Saramine’s blush was so strong it showed even through her dark skin.
“Don’t stare at me like that, lad! You two aren’t exactly subtle.” Ryan stretched and stood. He couldn’t have made the situation more awkward if he tried. “Let’s go already, then! Halabalo, or whatever it is you warriors say.”
“It is ma-hali, Ryan,” Angel muttered, following Ryan out of the door. “Ma-hali.”
“Whatever.”
Connie and I tried to remain invisible as we walked around Sean and Saramine, following Angel outside. The surprise didn’t wear off.
The barren landscape stretched as far as the eye could see. A few gray, sorry excuses for trees broke up through the dry ground. Rocks of various sizes dotted the scene. No grass, no animals, nothing alive could be seen. A gray hazy sky spread above, clutching an angry red sun. The sun gleamed red as a garnet, releasing a dry, dull heat that seemed to flicker all around. Still, everything felt cold, dark and empty.
“Dumplings,” Ryan muttered. “It’s like some bad dream, this.”
“It is terrible!” Connie cried out. From far off, her own voice mimicked her. Alarmed at the magnitude of her echo, she added in a whisper, “What is this place?”
Angel shook her head. “I do not know. But we must go through it.”
Chapter Seven
Key Seven
Someone watched us.
I spun to my left just in time to see a dark shadow hide behind a boulder. Or did I? Nothing but my imagination. Nothing more.
“I do not like this place,” Saramine whispered. “I have never felt such grief.”
“We must go on.” Angel’s voice lost all its regular sternness. “We cannot go back.”
We would go forward. The sound of our own steps seemed to crash around us. I turned back to quickly glance at Sean, who sulked next to Ryan. Ryan must’ve embarrassed the two to death. They hadn’t been so far apart from each other since we met. Now, Saramine led the line, far ahead alongside Angel.
I shivered and clutched my arms around me. My skin prickled with goosebumps, yet I sweat, and my face felt hot. Such an odd sensation! The ground felt as if it were made of dying embers, yet my toes froze at each step. The thin air felt ice cold against my skin, but I felt so feverish. I pulled at the top of my frock, trying to air it.
Which tale? I scanned the horizon, but there wasn’t anything to be seen. Just red dirt set against the hazy sky. The wind blew icy gusts that burned my skin and hair. I pushed the frizzed strands from my eyes. Someone walked next to me.
No one.
I spun around. No one there. I don’t know what I expected. Someone? Something? I looked to my sister. Her hands hung loosely at her sides and she smiled. All was well. Certainly, I didn’t detect something that she couldn’t? A strong hand gripped my hair.
“Shh.”
I spun around. Nothing. No one. Anywhere. Ryan gave me a sideways glance as he and Sean walked past. Was it even there to begin with? It? What was ‘it’?
“Behind you.”
The deep voice that whispered in my ear was nearly inaudible. I stopped but didn’t turn. It stood too close behind for me to tell what it was from the corner of my eye. Did I even want to see it? Each raspy pant resonated in my ear. Close. So close that I could feel the warm breath against my skin.
“Are you afraid?
I jumped away and spun around in circles. No one there. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing there. Nothing anywhere…
“Quicker next time.”
The others were far ahead. I stood still as the distance between us grew. Only Sean paused to look back.
“Gabby, what’s the matter…?”
A strong force hit me squarely in the back, sending me to my chest into the red dirt. What happened? The others ran back towards me. Did I trip? Did I simply lose my balance?
I rose shakily to my feet.
“Stay down.”
Another hard shove. This time, I fell to my back, knocking my head against the ground. The dirt was soft, but I still needed a moment to recover. Sean and Ryan bent at my side.
I blinked quickly, trying to find my senses. A large, dark mass stood close behind Connie. “There!”
Angel spun a dagger in each hand and bent into fighter stance. The mass wasn’t bothered and ran circles around us.
“What is it?” Connie clutched her skirts. “Something lives in this horrid place!”
“Come out!” Angel demanded, planting her feet. A deep, raspy voice laughed loudly in response. The sound echoed through the deserted land before slowly fading. “Where are you?”
“Come get me.”
I unconsciously grabbed Connie’s hand. I didn’t want to get him. Angel did. She set her jaw and turned around slowly, surveying the area. Her reflexes were quick. Had I not been watching her so carefully, I wouldn’t have even seen it. A large, flat-faced man appeared behind her. In that same instant, Angel stabbed her knife backwards...but just as quick, he was gone. I wasn’t even sure what I saw. He ran so very quickly.
Even Angel appeared unnerved. Her jaw still set strong, but a flash of concern passed her eyes.
“What shall you do?”
Ryan stumbled forward when the figure dashed behind him.
“Stand still, and I will show you,” Angel challenged, spinning the daggers again in her hand. Always the bold one. The figure lunged at her, but she didn’t even lose balance. “Missed!”
“No. I didn’t.”
Angel jumped, but not fast enough. He leered behind her. She spun around, but he hit her hard, knocking her backwards. A dark bruise already formed on her cheek. Saramine was his next target. Seeing Angel fall, she was more prepared. She spun around with her leg outstretched and connected, sending the figure sprawling back. I blinked and he was gone; reappearing behind Sean.
“You won’t do that again.”
Angel was already to her feet and stood back to back with Saramine. “That is because you are too cowardly to show yourself,” she argued.
The figure skidded to a stop far ahead, his large shape silhouetted against the hazy sun. The heat flickered around him, and swirling dust concealed his form.
“Cowardly?” he repeated, now slowly stepping towards us. I trembled and took a step back. Angel readied. The dust slowly settled as he neared. “Why should I be afraid? You can’t catch me.” He reminded me too much of Uncle Harrison; a tall, menacing figure with wide girth and stocky appendages. “So run, children.” His flat face wrinkled in disdain, and it was much larger than most. “Run as fast as you can.” His empty, dew-drop eyes glazed bright, and his mouth appeared to be made of icing…
“But you can’t catch me.”
“It’s the gingerbread man!” we called out in unison disgust. With a laugh that thundered in my chest, he ran towards us. It was like getting hit by a boulder. Even Angel was no match, and we flew into different directions. He was solid. I fell hard to my back and lay still for a moment, dazed. If he were truly made of gingerbread, he must have been weeks old.
“What should we do, Gabby?” Ryan complained, trying to stay on his feet. The gingerbread man just made sport of us, and constantly knocked us over. “He’s too fast!”
Even the Inzi were no match. Angel and Saramine were quick, but he was quicker. They tried to attack, but he would either counter, or avoid their blows all together. I didn’t know what to do. In the story, he was defeated when he used the fox to help him across the river.
I looked up from the dirt when he knocked me over again. No water in sight. Even so, how could we possibly trick him into trusting us? We had already tried to attack him a number of times; he would never let his guard down. The only reason he trusted the fox in the first place because the fox showed no interest in him…
I jumped to my feet. I hoped he didn’t understand Inzi. “Na-izik!” I said. My accent was not even close to my sister’s, but everyone turned. I brushed my skirt off and walked ahead, towards nowhere in particular. “I don’t even like gingerbread.” I tried my hardest to sound like Jessica and walked with my nose in the air.
The others stood in dumbfounded silence. The gingerbread knocked me from my feet a few times more, but I rose and continued my journey as if nothing had happened. I hoped the others understood; I couldn’t look behind me. I didn’t want the gingerbread man to think I was looking for him. Angel quickly caught up to me and stared at me with one of her glances. I smiled lightly, before looking ahead, my head held high and indignant.
The gingerbread man stopped in front of me. “You can’t catch me.”
“You’re right,” I agreed, walking around him.
He himself wasn’t sure what to make of me. He ran and stopped before Ryan. “I’m faster than you,” he challenged.
Ryan nodded and rested his head on his hands. “Right as rain, that,” he agreed. “Decent, lad!”
I pinched my lips together, trying to keep myself from smiling. We walked in silence. The gingerbread man continued to run around us, taunting us with his speed and comments.
“I have the key, you know.”
Angel had been looking down at her steps but shot me a quick look with her eyes. Me? She usually was the one with something defiant to say. I laughed aloud while I searched for words. “I doubt that,” was all I could come up with.
It was enough. The gingerbread man stopped his sprint in front of me and grabbed my wrists with his rough hands. “You doubt?”
I trembled in spite of myself. His voice was just so low and ominous, and his form so much like Uncle Harrison’s. Angel kept her weapon sheathed. I shook free of his crumbly grasp.
“You’re nothing more than a baked treat,” I replied, walking past him. “Why should you be trusted with the key?”
“I am much more than some treat!”
In an instant, I was on my back with him pinning me down. I struggled, but he was solid as iron. The others didn’t know what to do. “Do you not see how fast I am? Are you so blind to my significance?”
The smell of cinnamon penetrated my nostrils.
“I am nearly the last challenge! I am no mere childhood tale!”
Nutmeg. Strawberry icing. Ginger.
“How dare you defy me!” He pushed my shoulders hard into the ground. He smelled so good. I couldn’t wait. He was so close.
I turned my head and bit into his hand. He wasn’t solid after all. He was soft and warm…and very much alarmed.
With a cry, he released me. I quickly sat up, spinning around on my bottom and taking two large bites from his leg. I couldn’t let him run off again; he was still faster than us.
Not anymore. He limped on his injury, growling. Only then did I pause. What had come over me? I almost scolded myself for my cannibalistic actions, but he wasn’t a man. Not a regular one, anyway. He was a gingerbread man.
And he was delicious.
No mercy. Sean and Ryan jumped on his back almost the instant I bit his leg and held him down. Angel’s knives were no use; for them, he was solid. For our teeth, he was velvety. Decent trick. We quickly bit into his legs, stopping at least his quick dash, but no key appeared.
“Do you suppose we will have to eat him all up?” Connie asked. The gingerbread man howled at this statement, and used his hands to push away from us. We simply walked alongside him. I hoped not. It would take forever. Even as delicious as he was, he was large as Uncle Harrison. It seemed such an impossible task.
“Let us see,” Saramine said. She looked to Sean and nodded. She fell forward, turning back into the glorious dragon. The gingerbread man cried out in terror, as she took a massive bite.
Sean hesitated only for a moment. When Saramine turned her massive head back to him, he changed with a loud gush of wind.
He was beautiful. Much bigger than Saramine, his fifteen-foot mass rose high into the air.
“There’s the lad!” Ryan whooped as I clapped my hands and cheered. His scales were a beautiful mix of blue and black, similar to the midnight sky. His horns smoothed back against his head and his large wings huddled against his body
. His mighty mouth opened wide and finished the gingerbread man off in one bite.
“You are beautiful, Sean!” Connie exclaimed, leaning onto his massive side. “I cannot believe how beautiful you are!”
Sean smiled as he and Saramine returned to human. A golden key with (7) on it lay on the ground. Sean beamed, turning to Saramine.
“I do not need to be ashamed of my form, anymore,” he agreed. Angel bent to pick up the key, and after checking her compass, we followed her further into the heated land.
“I’m right glad that worked, Bittersweet,” Ryan said, scratching his head. “I thought you a bit soft in the head when you bit into his hand like that.”
“I don’t know what hit me,” I admitted. I felt glad it worked too. “He smelled so good, and he was so close. The fox in the tale snapped at him; I just thought I could do the same!”
Chapter Eight
Key Eight
We walked for only a few minutes more before we could see the end of the dreadful land. Bordered by a quiet river, the green land with bright blue sky contrasted the heated dry desert where we stood.
“Let us get there; make haste now!” Connie cried out. “Remove me from this horrible place!”
It didn’t take long. A narrow rope bridge strung over the wide river, leading to a quiet path further into the beautiful land.
“Ma-hali, one at a time,” Angel ordered, staring at the swinging bridge. “Let us not risk it.”
Connie went first.
“Who is there?” A hoarse voice echoed through the air. The voice sounded muffled and had a thick accent, although I couldn’t tell what kind. A shadow passed over Angel’s face. She could tell. Connie froze, but there was no one in sight. After a moment of silence, she continued her way. “I said, ‘who is there’?”
Connie looked around again, this time infuriated. Oh dear. “You need not repeat yourself! If I choose to make myself known, I will do so! I am Princess Connie of Tempton, and I demand your respect!”
“Just go!”
Connie huffed and continued down the bridge.
