by Tom Hoffman
“Oh my, that’s quite lovely to hear. Now, where’s that rope? It’s time I rescued you from these dreadful centipedes.”
Sophia looked at Orville with a bright smile. “Thank goodness Proto is here. I don’t know what we’d do without him.”
Proto let out a delighted laugh. “Oh my, thank you so much! It’s my pleasure to assist you.”
Orville shaped a light but strong rope while Sophia shaped a heavy iron ring securely bolted to the pedestal’s rock floor. “This will hold a hundred mice. All set.”
Orville held the rope out for Proto, who grabbed it with his feet. “All right, I’ll fly it around that tall tree five times, then you pull it tight and secure it to the iron ring.”
Orville lay the coil of rope down and Proto took off, flying across the millipede pit, the rope trailing behind him. He soared around the tall spiky tree again and again until Orville called out, “That good, Proto! I’m going to pull in the slack now!”
Together Sophia and Orville hauled the rope in as tightly as they could and tied it to the iron ring.
Sophia smiled sweetly. “We’re all set. Did you want to give the giant centipedes a big hug and a kiss goodbye before we go?”
Orville rolled his eyes. “How did I ever wind up with such a cruel friend?”
Sophia grinned. “You go first. Here, put these on.” A pair of sturdy gloves blinked into Sophia’s paw. Orville nodded his thanks and slipped them on. He grabbed the rope with both paws and stepped off the edge of the rocky pedestal, swinging out above the squirmy, wriggling mass of centipedes far below. Traveling paw over paw he made his way across the deadly millipede pit and was soon safely on the other side.
Two minutes later Sophia was standing next to him.
“I told you we could do it, Orville. Now you’re officially a shaper and a Metaphysical Adventurer.”
Orville laughed. “Any day you don’t get eaten by a giant carnivorous centipede is a good day indeed.”
Chapter 16
Cry of the Gnorli
Sophia eyed the dense tangled foliage surrounding them. “It’s probably best if we get out of this jungle as soon as possible. We escaped the centipede nest but there’s bound to be more of them slithering around in the undergrowth.”
Orville grimaced, but took out his compass and studied it. “Let’s head east and see where that takes us.” He tucked Proto into his backpack and they began their trek through the nearly impenetrable Periculum jungle. “This is awful, I wish I had something to cut through all these vines. Hey, what am I thinking?” With a flash of light a long silver brush hacker knife appeared in his paw.
Sophia grinned. “Now you’re thinking like a Metaphysical Adventurer.”
Even with the brush hacker it was slow going and several times they were forced to climb up into the jungle canopy to avoid swarms of the giant centipedes. Despite all the obstacles, they were making some headway through the sweltering rainforest.
Orville was hacking away at a particularly thick vine when an idea popped into his head.
“Hey, Proto, what was that you said about World Doors and the Thaumatarians? Who are they again?”
“Ahh, the Thaumatarians were an ancient civilization quite unfamiliar to most mice today. They were the first beings to colonize this universe, and they were the creators of the World Doors. If you’ve read anything about deep physics you’ll remember that it’s possible for many worlds to simultaneously occupy the same space. These are called parallel worlds, or parallel universes. There is a kind of space lying in between those parallel worlds known as the Void. It’s an infinite black emptiness possessing some rather peculiar properties, but it also acts as a gateway to the parallel worlds. The Thaumatarians built a set of twelve World Doors within the Void. In reality there is only one set of World Doors, but it exists simultaneously in all twelve worlds.”
“I’m confused. How do the doors work?”
“It’s far simpler than you might think. On each world there is a single door which appears to be floating by itself several inches above the ground. If you open the door you will find a hallway lined with six doors on each side. Each door leads to one of the twelve worlds. I believe the Third World Door opens to Earth in a rather dismal area known as The Swamp of Lost Things.”
Sophia added, “One of my physics teachers on Quintari mentioned the World Doors, but he didn’t know as much about them as you do, Proto. Are you saying if we find the World Doors here on Periculum we can simply walk through Door Three and be back on Earth again?”
“Precisely. There is one small but very vital detail, however. You need a key to open the door to Earth. Each of the twelve doors has its own key, and they are by no means ordinary keys, I assure you.”
“How do we find a key?”
“I’m afraid it would be quite impossible for you to find one on Periculum. I may have a solution, however. I believe there is a set of twelve World Door keys tucked away down on the third sub level of my lovely home, left there by the Elders. I could take the Third Key to the Swamp of Lost Things, enter the hallway and wait for you. When you entered the hallway on Periculum I would be right there with the key to open the Third Door.”
“But... you’d have to leave your lovely home and travel to the Swamp of Lost Things.”
“Yes, yes, that is quite true, I would have to do that. You are quite correct about that.”
“Proto, are you all right?”
“Yes, perfectly fine indeed, just as right as rain. I do, however, have a sudden overpowering urge to bake great numbers of tasty snacks and both of my hands seem to be trembling rather severely.”
“It’s all right, you don’t need to worry about leaving your home right now. We don’t even know where the World Doors are on Periculum.”
“Yes, quite correct, no need to worry just now. One moment while I pop up a holomap and have a look. Let me see.... Periculum... here... ah ha, yes... and the symbol for World Doors... ah! I’ve found it! Unfortunately, it appears you are quite a distance from the World Doors. You’ll need to travel directly east for three hundred and twenty-nine miles to the Senyph Ocean, cross the ocean, then travel another forty-nine miles inland to a rather bleak looking desert where you’ll find the World Doors.”
Sophia was frowning. “Umm... exactly how wide is that ocean?”
“The distance across the Senyph Ocean... is precisely... one thousand, nine hundred and forty-nine miles.”
Orville’s shoulders sagged.
Sophia looked at Orville in dismay. “I don’t think that’s possible.”
Orville did his best to sound optimistic. “Well... getting down into Pavorak Gorge seemed impossible too. Anyway, we don’t have a choice. We have to get back home. We have to.”
“You’re right. We’ll take it one step at a time. Who knows what tomorrow will bring? We could find towns and villages along the coast with boats that cross the ocean every day.”
Proto gave a great squawk. “Centipedes! I hear them coming! A huge swarm of them!” Orville heard it too, a dreadful slithery rustling sound coming from all around them.
“Hurry! Up into that tree!”
Orville and Sophia scrambled madly up the vines into the dense forest canopy. “We’ll be safe here until they leave.”
Orville groaned as he watched several dozen of the ferocious creatures darting and slithering through the jungle below, gathering in a great tangled wriggling mass beneath their tree. The centipedes were huge, at least thirty feet long, with many dozens of spiky yellow legs capable of propelling them rapidly through the thick jungle vegetation. Orville tried not to look at their monstrous razor sharp fangs, and their jaws... opening and closing. A sudden rush of heat roll up through Orville, and he closed his eyes so he wouldn’t have to look at the dreadful creatures. The last thing he wanted to do was faint and tumble down into a mass of writhing carnivorous centipedes.
Sophia cried out, “They’re trying to cut down the tree!”
Orville ope
ned his eyes and looked down. Sophia was right. The centipedes were using their huge mandibles, making a unified effort to hack through the tree trunk. Orville popped up an impenetrable sphere of defense around himself and Sophia.
Proto wiggled out of Orville’s backpack. “I just had a marvelous idea. I was doing a little research on the infamous centipedes of Periculum and I believe I may have a solution to your current dilemma. Hold on, I just realized this very moment how much I enjoy rescuing you two. Quite invigorating to dash in and save my two dear friends from imminent doom. Perhaps I should become a Metaphysical Adventurer.”
With a flurry of feathers Proto swooped down from the tree and landed on the back of a gigantic centipede. He spread his wings and opened his beak wide, letting out a raucous, discordant shrieking cry unlike anything Orville had ever heard.
“Oww, that hurts my ears! Proto! What are you doing? Get back up here before something happens to you!” Proto ignored Orville’s cries and let loose another jarring shriek that echoed and vibrated through the rainforest.
The centipedes became wildly agitated, racing frenetically around the tree and making dreadful hissing noises. One of them bolted off into the jungle and seconds later the others followed suit. In less than twenty seconds every centipede had vanished.
Proto flew back up into the tree and landed next to Sophia.
“What in the world did you do, Proto? How did you get them to leave?”
“It’s a simple fact of life that every living creature is afraid of something. I simply had to discover what the centipedes of Periculum were afraid of. A quick search through the Elder’s crystalline database told me they are afraid of a very large bird indigenous to this area known as the Gnorli bird. I was able to mimic quite accurately the Gnorli’s piercing cry as it swoops down from the sky to snatch up a tasty centipede.”
“Ummm... a bird that eats thirty foot long centipedes? Exactly how big is this bird?”
“An excellent question, Orville, and the answer is quite simple. The Gnorli bird is a very, very, very large bird indeed.”
Orville gulped. “Oh, wonderful. Now we have to worry about giant Gnorli birds screaming down from the sky and gobbling us up in a single bite.” His eyes nervously scanned the brilliant blue jungle sky.
Orville and Sophia continued moving eastward toward the distant shores of the Senyph Ocean. Proto was soaring high overhead keeping a watchful eye out for centipedes. When he spotted one he would swoop down toward it, shrieking out the raucous cry of the Gnorli bird, and watch with glee as the centipede slithered and hissed away in terror.
After nearly two weeks of the punishing overgrown jungle, the two adventurers finally broke through and found themselves facing a broad vista of rolling emerald green hills extending out as far as they could see.
Sophia gasped. “Oh, this is beautiful! I’ve never seen such a sight, not even on Quintari. Look at the wildflowers! There are millions of them, and so many different colors. And those magnificent shade trees standing alone in the midst of such beauty. They remind me of the big tree in your dream except they have green leaves, not blue. This is simply glorious.” Sophia set off through the long lush green grass and the great swaths of brilliant wildflowers. An hour later she flopped down beneath one the towering shade trees, calling out to Orville, “Let’s camp here! This is lovely and I am badly in need of a rest after that dreadful jungle.”
“I couldn’t agree with you more, Sophia.” Orville dropped his backpack on the ground and took a seat next to her. “We did it. We survived the pit of giant carnivorous centipedes and we found our way out of that dismally humid and creepy jungle.”
Sophia smiled, knowing full well there were still innumerable obstacles standing between them and their safe return to Muridaan Falls. She leaned back against the tree with a long sigh, gazing out at the endless fields of sunlit wildflowers. Those obstacles could all wait. Now it was time to rest, time to enjoy the spectacular natural beauty that surrounded them.
Chapter 17
Sophia’s Revelation
Sophia had shaped a large tent, cots, sleeping bags, and a picnic table. Orville had shaped all the necessary ingredients for the delicious dinner now simmering over their blazing campfire.
“Mmmm... that smells delicious, Orville.”
Thanks, Sophia. Hey, I think Proto needs your help. He’s looking a little unsteady.”
Sophia watched Proto shuffling around in a small circle, rocking precariously back and forth until he finally toppled over with a loud squawk.
“I do hate to bother you, but would you mind giving me just a smidgeon of a charge?”
“Sure, Proto.” Sophia picked up Proto and set him down in front of her on the table. “I’ll charge you right up. Shaping is manipulating energy, so it’s easy enough for me to convert it to electrical energy.” With a small flash of light two copper wires appeared next to Proto. Sophia picked up one with each paw. “Okay, I’ll be your battery. Take a seat and grab one wire with each foot. This should take about twenty minutes.”
Orville sat down across the table from Sophia. “You never did tell me why you asked Master Marloh to send us here.” Orville suddenly knew why. “It’s about your Papa, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it’s about my Papa and how he died. I couldn’t tell you this until now, but my Papa’s name was Rowland Mouse and he was a highly respected member of the Metaphysical Adventurers. I was always told that I inherited his natural shaping ability, and my teachers told me I was a shaping prodigy. That all may be true, but I also worked harder than most mice did at my craft. I loved Papa and I wanted to be just like him. He used to go out on missions to the most amazing worlds, always returning with gifts for me – gadgets and books and technological relics from long before the Anarkkian war. I was always so happy to see him come through that front door and couldn’t wait to hear his stories.
“Almost two years ago he left on a mission to Periculum. It wasn’t supposed to be dangerous as they were only searching for an old monastery. He couldn’t tell me why they were trying to find it, but he told me not to worry because there weren’t any scary creatures where they were going. Besides, Papa was a powerful shaper. He could blink himself fifty miles away if he needed to, and his sphere of defense was one of the most powerful ever recorded by the Metaphysical Adventurers.
“He was accompanied on the mission by a Metaphysical Adventurer named Draken Mouse. Papa was his superior and also his mentor. He told me in confidence that although Draken was a gifted shaper and quite ambitious, he was not a very likable fellow. Papa thought he was too ambitious, that he hadn’t joined the Metaphysical Adventurers for the right reasons, that he was more interested in personal power than making the world a better place to live. Draken had moved quickly up through the ranks of the Metaphysical Adventurers, but was never satisfied with his current position. His desire for power seemed insatiable.
“Draken volunteered to help Papa look for the ancient monastery and though Papa was not especially happy about it he thought perhaps some good might come of it. Papa hoped Draken might gain some insight into the true and noble purpose of the Metaphysical Adventurers. Papa always said the only thing in the world that mattered was love. That’s what he told me almost every day.”
Orville was getting a very bad feeling about what was coming next. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine, Orville. I’ve wanted to tell you this since I first met you, but Master Marloh said I should wait. You’ve probably guessed it by now, but Papa never came back from that mission. He died somewhere on Periculum. Draken Mouse said their scout ship suffered a catastrophic CDETS failure and crashed, killing Papa. When Draken returned he had terrible injuries, though none of them were life threatening. He said Papa had tried to bring the ship down safely but they lost power and he...”
Sophia looked up at Orville, her eyes welling up with tears. “I miss him. I miss him very single day.”
Orville felt his heart breaking. “I’m sorry.”
He reached across the table and gently took her paw.
“AAAAGGGGHHHHH!!!”
Sophia gave a shriek and let go of the copper wire she was using to charge Proto. “There were hundreds of volts of electricity going through that wire!”
“Owwww... unnnhhh...”
Sophia burst out laughing, quickly putting her paw over her mouth. “Sorry, Orville, I didn’t mean to laugh.”
Orville grinned. “Well, at least I made you laugh. That’s something. I still don’t understand why you asked Master Marloh to send us here.”
“Everyone in the Metaphysical Adventurers knew the risks they all faced almost every day, and they sadly accepted Papa’s death as a tragic mishap. I never even thought about it when Draken took Papa’s position in the Metaphysical Adventurers. I never thought about it until I was going through Papa’s desk and found a letter he had written to me. Orville, Papa had been warned by his inner voice about Draken and his overpowering ambition. Papa knew Draken wanted his position and he feared the day might come when Draken would resort to violence. In the letter he said if anything happened to him I should go to Muridaan Falls and show his letter to Master Marloh. They were very old friends and he trusted Master Marloh implicitly.
“I contacted Master Marloh and he arranged for me to come to Muridaan Falls through a spectral door. When I showed him the letter he said he would look into it, but told me to go no further with my own investigation.
“The Red Mouse is Draken Mouse. When I saw the glowbird’s record of Master Marloh talking to Draken, I thought Master Marloh had been lying to me, that he was collaborating with Draken and maybe even had something to do with Papa’s death. When we returned to Muridaan Falls I accused him to his face of betraying Papa.
“I’ve never seen Master Marloh so upset. He told me he had been cultivating a friendship with Draken in order to find proof that he had killed Papa. He had many long conversations with Draken and discovered that Draken Mouse thought Metaphysical Adventurers should have the option of using lethal force if they felt it was necessary. Draken eventually took Master Marloh into his confidence, telling him that his ultimate goal was to become the Supreme Counselor of the Metaphysical Adventurers. He said he would change everything. Lethal force would not only be allowed, it would be encouraged and used against any mice who disagreed with his new order. Draken wanted the Metaphysical Adventurers to become a military force. He said with the combined shaping power they possessed they would be unstoppable. Master Marloh had not told me any of this because he feared for my life. He was afraid if I knew too much Draken Mouse would try to kill me.
