by Justin Sloan
“See,” Allie said, “Alternate reality.”
“Exactly.”
They walked on, careful not to stray from the stone path that was surrounded by small, glimmering pebbles. Pillars of rock rose up around them, with draperies and ancient Japanese paintings flowing from them. Tall clumps of bamboo grew between the rocks.
A soft flute carried in the wind—a tune like something out of Zelda, perhaps, Daniel pointed out. She told him she’d just have to trust him on that one.
This time, they both saw the eyes. And then a snarling that even Daniel couldn’t deny.
“Not that way,” Allie said, looking for a new path, one that was not in the direction of the sound. She pointed to stepping stones leading off to the right.
They skipped across the stones and hurried toward a stairway. Daniel screamed, and Allie looked up to see a winged wolf like the one from outside sitting atop one of the pillars and looking down at them as if ready to pounce.
Daniel readied his sword, but Allie ran back and pulled him with her.
“It hasn’t attacked yet!” she said, but she spoke too soon.
The wolf leapt, diving into their path. Urged by the helmet, Allie stepped back, but she tripped on the stepping stone and landed in a scattering of shiny pebbles. Almost immediately, her skin began to burn. But the beast’s claws were coming for her, and she didn’t have time to worry about anything else at the moment. She rolled aside as Daniel lunged with his sword, narrowly missing the wolf creature. Allie pulled herself up and aimed her ring, sending out a shot of light that knocked the beast back and into the pebbles, where it writhed in pain.
Daniel stood above it, sword raised, but then looked at Allie with hesitation.
“Do it!” she yelled.
His eyes narrowed and he stared at the beast again, then let the sword fall to his side. The beast stared up at him with frightened eyes.
“Let’s just keep moving,” Daniel said.
She stepped forward, ring raised, thinking she’d do what Daniel couldn’t so that the beast wouldn’t interfere again.
But she couldn’t do it either. Her arm felt heavy, and her whole body seemed drained of energy. Somehow, attacking the creature didn’t feel right.
“Yeah,” she said, hanging her head. “Keep moving.”
They left the winged wolf behind and found themselves in walkways of more shoji-screen walls, a cavern with a rock ceiling high above them. More than once, Allie was sure she saw the winged wolf clutching onto a stalactite, staring down at them. But then she grew more worried about the fact that every turn they made just seemed to take them back in a circle, no matter which way they went.
“Some kind of maze?” Daniel asked.
“Let me guess,” Allie said. “You think it’s cool?”
“I would if I wasn’t so freaked out right now.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
The two walked on, side by side. Allie heard a loud flutter behind her, and looked up to see the wolf’s red eyes, trailing them. She shuddered and tried to focus on the way forward, but the fluttering sounded again and a chill went up her spine. She turned, ready for anything…. But the winged wolf seemed to motion with its wing before flying to another stalactite to their left. She frowned, considering the situation.
Maybe it was somehow trying to help? She kept her eye on the beast, moving in the direction it had indicated as best she could in the maze.
“Remember the wolves in Kyrgyzstan?” she asked. “On Solomon Mountain?”
“Yeah, but I thought we agreed those were Chris’s weird form of a spirit animal, trying to help us.” He glanced up at the winged wolf. “This feels a bit different.”
“Just thinking out loud, but watch….”
Again the wolf motioned, this time in a different direction. Allie followed, Daniel at her side. Now when they looked back, she could tell they were definitely farther from where they had entered, and making progress through the maze.
“You gotta admit, something’s going on here with that wolf-thing,” Allie said.
“When we’re out of here safely and it hasn’t bit off my head, then yeah, sure.”
They continued down the passageway, following the wolf as it flew, and soon they took a left that brought them to the opposite wall from the one they’d started. At its base they found a small door that was only as tall as their knees.
They looked up to see if the wolf would lead them somewhere else, but it seemed to have vanished.
“So, you have a drink or a cake that will shrink us or something?” Daniel asked.
Allie knelt down and opened the door, peering into the darkness. She looked back up at Daniel, and he backed away, hands raised as if to ward her off.
“Nu-uh, I’m not crawling through that!”
“Don’t know that we have a choice,” she said. “You wanna stay in the maze instead?”
“Yeah, kinda.”
She jutted out her lower jaw and raised her eyebrows, doing her best impression of her mom whenever she was serious about something that Allie didn’t want to do.
“Come on, Allie.” Daniel knelt and looked into the narrow passage. “It’s dark, it’s…. it’s like a….”
“A casket?”
“Ugh. I was gonna say MRI machine, but yes, now that you mention it.” He looked at her, eyes wide, but then nodded. “Can you at least make your ring glow or something while we crawl?”
With a nod, she agreed. She got down on all fours and, ring glowing, inched her way forward and into the tunnel. It was a struggle, especially since having the ring glow forced her to concentrate, and drained her energy. The ring’s white glow illuminated what seemed to be a long tunnel with dirt and rocks surrounding them, nothing more.
They crawled through without incident, and she was as happy as he looked when they emerged to find themselves in a new room. Several thick, wooden beams led across to the other side, with an open area below them. The glow from Allie’s ring showed the bottom faintly, the glow reflecting in what appeared to be moving water.
“Why’s it moving like that?” Daniel asked. “Shouldn’t water be still in a place like this?”
“You’d think.” She started across the middle beam, not wanting to dwell on the waters. She hated the idea of falling, even if there was water down there to catch her, and she wanted to keep her mind on the beam—and getting across.
A creak sounded from behind and she turned just in time to see Daniel struggling to keep his balance. Her hand nearly missed his, but she was able grab it to help steady him. Just as he was firmly on his feet, a hissing sounded from below.
“You gotta be kidding me,” Daniel said, jumping back. A second later, gleaming eyes appeared and teeth reflected the glow of Allie’s ring as a snake chomped at the spot where Daniel’s foot had been a moment ago.
“Now you’re afraid of snakes?” Allie said, heart thumping, hand trembling. “How cliché.”
“Have you ever met someone not afraid of snakes?” he asked, pointing at the slithering mass below. “Especially that many, with heads as big as ours?”
She shook her head, not wanting to talk again and give away how bad her teeth had begun to chatter. When she was young, her brother had snuck a garden snake in her bed. She had discovered it when she curled up to go to sleep, and she hadn’t stopped screaming for at least an hour, sure the snake had tried to kill her. Even after her parents told her those little snakes couldn’t hurt her, she’d had nightmares for years.
One foot in front of the other, she told herself. Each foot touched on the beam gently, careful not to risk her balance.
“Do we have to go so slow?” Daniel asked from behind.
She refused to look back, or even pause to answer. Just one foot in front of the other.
Daniel sighed with frustration, but continued behind her. Slow and steady.
Something growled, and Allie paused, listening.
“What was that?” she whispered.
A sm
all chuckle. “I think it was my stomach. I’m starving back here.”
“You can think about food at a time like this?”
“Not me, but that doesn’t mean my stomach wasn’t. This little guy has a mind of his own.”
She risked a glance back so she could glare at him. “Just focus on staying alive, okay? And ask your little belly friend to shut up.”
He half smiled, but then glanced down again and the terror returned to his face.
Finally, they made it to the end. This time, they were happy to see a normal sized doorway. But there was no door in it, just a doorway that led to a drop, the ground not far below. Now Allie’s stomach was beginning to rumble as well, and she felt drained from using the ring for so long. But since there wasn’t any other light source, she kept it on.
Daniel lowered her first, and then slid down behind her, landing with a thud. Allie turned to help him up, then felt her breath catch in her throat—they weren’t in a separate room at all. They were surrounded by snakes, and several had noticed that they had company.
“RUN!” Allie shouted, already pushing herself away, Daniel’s hand held tight in hers.
In spite of the exhaustion, she felt her feet moving faster than they ever had. At first she thought it was the terror of being chased by snakes, but when she looked down, she saw the sandals glowing and remembered their special powers.
The cavern curved to the left. Ahead was a large opening, like a cave entrance, with beaded ropes hanging from the top all the way to the bottom.
“In there!” Allie shouted, knowing how stupid it sounded since there was nowhere else for them to go.
They neared the entrance, but a loud snarling echoed in the cavern and the winged wolf landed before them, teeth bared.
Daniel pulled the sword and prepared to attack, but Allie screamed “No” and pulled him aside as the beast leapt and attacked the snakes! Its claws ripped at the first snake’s eyes, then it turned on the next with a howl and sank its teeth into the snake’s neck.
Allie ran with Daniel and, brushing the beads aside, they entered the cave.
The sudden change made her stop abruptly. Where there had been chaos before, now there was only peace. A waterfall nearby brought the scent of lilies. Sunshine warmed their skin. Allie licked her lips, smelling freshly baked bread, and saw a tray of sweet breads on the floor, surrounded by bright orange and purple flowers. Past that, seated with her legs tucked under her kimono and head bowed, was a woman with white face paint and her hair done up in the geisha way. Allie took a step forward, noting the floral pattern on the white kimono that matched the flowers on the floor.
“Were you expecting us?” Allie asked.
The geisha looked up slowly, eyes full of warmth. She smiled, lips never parting, and motioned for them to sit.
Allie and Daniel exchanged a nervous look, but both were too hungry and tired to resist.
“Thank you,” Allie said, sitting across from the geisha.
The geisha motioned toward the food and bowed slightly.
Daniel took a piece of bread that looked like it had a pineapple crust and began munching away at it. With a jolt, Allie remembered all the stories where heroes found themselves in situations such as this.
“Wait,” she said, a hand on Daniel’s arm. He paused mid-bite, wide eyes looking at her. Allie shook her head, and Daniel lowered the bread.
“What’s the problem?” Daniel asked Allie in a whisper.
“We have no idea what’s going on here, or who she is.”
“She’s a goddess,” Daniel said, staring ravenously at the geisha, his voice slurred. “So beautiful.”
“And Yuko?” Allie asked. “Have you forgotten about her?”
Daniel shook his head, as if trying to clear it, then muttered, “Yuko.…”
The geisha laughed, a low, haunting laugh. “You’ll both be perfectly safe with me.”
“We’re looking for our friends,” Allie said. “Troy and Brenda.”
The geisha smiled, staring intently into Allie’s eyes. Under that stare, Allie felt herself wanting nothing more than to lie down and take a nap. A long, restful nap.
She shook her head and repeated herself, “We’re looking for our friends!”
“You’ve already found one of them,” the geisha said, motioning behind them where the winged wolf stumbled in, licking a wound on its leg.
“You mean….” Allie stared in horror at the beast, then turned as Daniel let out a shout. He doubled over and, as she watched, hair sprouted from his face. Something started to work its way out of his back, and she covered her mouth and stepped back as he sprouted wings.
The geisha stood, tall and imposing. She held out her hands like she would take them all in an embrace, and then smiled wide.
“Allie, you belong with me. Don’t you see? I can give your friends incredible strength. We can form an army from them the likes of which cannot be defeated. Join me, and together we can rule as goddesses. The men of your world will bow before us, swoon over us, cater to our every desire.”
“If you knew anything about me at all,” Allie said, stepping forward in spite of her hunger and exhaustion, “you’d know that none of what you just said means two craps to me.”
The geisha’s face contorted, no longer beautiful. Her skin pulled back against her skull and her eyes reddened, until the former goddess looked very much like the fallen angel they’d fought in the tomb when rescuing Yuko’s family.
“She’s one of them!” Daniel shouted, still partly himself but half winged wolf as well. “Allie, save yourself!”
He leapt for the geisha-creature, trying to pull his sword free. His claws made him clumsy, though, and he dropped it. The geisha spun on him and blasted him with a glow of red light, then hissed, “Kill your friend.”
Daniel, his nose growing into more of a snout and his teeth protruding and growing pointy, struggled against the command, but then growled as his eyes glazed over.
He leapt for Allie, teeth bared.
Move left, her helmet nudged. She threw herself to the side. The other winged wolf—whether it was Brenda or Troy, Allie didn’t know—collided with Daniel and they rolled, gnashing teeth and clawing at each other. The geisha held up a hand and they both fell from each other, bodies twitching, then turned on Allie.
Allie gulped, looking between the two winged wolves that she knew were her friends, or had been her friends before they had been changed by the fallen angel in front of her. A glimmer caught her eye—the sword.
Allie charged, relying on the speed of the sandals and the warnings from the helmet. She dodged under a blast of red light and snatched up the sword in time to see both wolves leaping for her. She couldn’t hurt them, but she could use them. She leapt, hoping the sandals would help her to jump as well as run, pushing off of one of the wolves and onto the other, and then springing with all her might for the fallen angel.
The sword bit deep, cutting right through the kimono and pulling down as gravity worked its magic. Screams filled the room as red light shot forth from the slash made by the sword, swirling around Allie and the winged wolves.
“You can’t stop us all!” the fallen angel screamed, reaching a clawed hand for Allie. “We’re too powerful, we’re too much for you!”
Allie, feet now planted on the floor, felt the energy of the ring push through her. With a final surge of strength, she spun and chopped the clawed hand off before plunging the sword deep into the dark angel’s chest.
The screams erupted into a piercing screech, and then the room exploded in a mixture of red and white light, fading slowly.
Allie knelt on the grass in the woods, no temple in sight. Daniel and Brenda were back to their normal human forms, lying beside her, panting, thin lines of blood and scratches covering their skin. But they were safe.
Still trembling, Allie stood and blinked, trying to pull herself together.
“Missing boring old history class about now?” Daniel said, propping himself
up with his elbows.
“Missing a whole lot of stuff right now,” Allie said. “And yeah, I’d even take history class over this. Any day.”
“Daniel?” Brenda said, eyes wide at their surroundings. “Allie? How did we get here?”
“They had you,” Allie said. “Daniel for a minute there, too.”
Daniel hung his head in shame. “It was horrible. Sorry, Allie. You know, for attacking you.”
“As if you had a choice.” Allie handed him back the sword, which he accepted with hesitation. “We still have to rescue Troy, and I’d prefer you have a weapon so I don’t have to do it alone again.”
“Any idea where to begin?” Brenda asked.
“Well, if we find ourselves a winged wolf, that’d be a start.” Allie turned, looking at the Egyptian pyramids. “Otherwise, that’s as good a place as any.”
Chapter 10: Egyptian Gods
The walk went on and on, especially now that they were exhausted and the armor weighed even heavier on Allie. The winds had shifted, and where once the air had felt fresh, now it carried with it the thick scent of sulfur, at times gusting with sand so that the trio had to cover their faces and wait it out. Finally they crested a hill, and found only desert and pyramids before them, a wide river cutting through the sand and leading to the hill of ancient Greece in the distance.
“You mean, I was… like a werewolf?” Brenda said, not fully understanding.
Allie nodded, wishing they could just continue the walk in silence.
“More like some other kind of creature,” Daniel said. “But yeah.”
“Eck!” Brenda walked slower for a bit, then caught up. “Sorry for that back there.”
Allie found herself rattled as they grew closer to the first pyramid. She expected it wouldn’t be any different than the temple. More bad guys, more fighting. More near death experiences.
“It wasn’t your fault,” Allie said when she noticed Brenda staring at her.
Brenda gave her a half-smile, then turned and looked at the pyramid above them.
