"Could you guys find your way back to that bonfire?"
"Not a chance," Martin said.
Zack gaped. "You can't be serious?"
"I'm totally serious. Gather up more flowers, as many as you can carry."
"Carole, there's no way we'll be able to find our way back. We were running blind and lost the whole time."
Carole looked at the three strained faces. The time for secrets was over. "I can. I have...certain abilities."
"I knew it!" Zack declared. "That's how you got away from the dragon, isn't it?"
"We'll talk about it later. Right now we've got to rescue Runt." She stepped to the edge of the hollow to prepare herself.
It took a great deal of effort this time, partly because of her worries about Runt and partly because the others were watching, but eventually she was able calm herself enough to make a connection. Almost as soon as she did, that sinister presence swept towards her. Carole jerked away in fear. It had been waiting for her to do that. Now what?
If she made a link, that thing would almost certainly find her; if she didn't, Runt was as good as dead. The more Carole thought about it and what Runt must have been going through, the angrier she got, until practically boiling with rage, she refocused and sent her mind's eye ripping through the dark like a flaming arrow. She made the link.
"Ohh!" she gasped, as she sensed what was really happening to Runt. "We have to hurry. There's not much time."
"What are they doing to Runt?" Lil said.
"Nothing pleasant. Let's go!"
Once out of the patch of flowers, they marched shoulder-to-shoulder. Each held aloft a bundle of blooms, the light from which shone like lanterns, not only enabling them to see where they were going, but also giving a fragile sense of protection. Carole because she was concentrating on Runt, the others because they were listening for sounds of danger.
Carole found she could maintain her link to Runt with relative ease. She walked forward without the slightest hesitation. At one point she felt herself being drawn in two different directions, and quickly realized why. "There's a vortex nearby. After we rescue Runt, we'll double back and get out of this horrid place." She kept her fear in check by focusing on the task at hand.
After what seemed like hours of walking, she heard the distant rumble of thunder. "Rain. Just what we don't need."
She watched for flashes of lightning, heralding the onset of a storm, but the sky remained jet black and the air bone dry.
"That's not thunder," Zack said after a while. "Those are drums."
Soon they could pick out individual beats, though there didn't appear to be any overall pattern to the sounds.
"At least we don't have to worry about them hearing us coming," Martin said.
"They'll still be able to see our lights," Lilly said.
"Not at first," Zack said. "The party's in a crater. We'll be out of sight."
Carole stopped chewing on her lower lip and said, "I think I've got a plan, but I'd better scout out the area first. Here take my flowers."
She worked her way up a slight rise until she could see into a crater-like depression. Dozens of sickly-looking demons were drumming and dancing around a ghastly blood-red bonfire in the center of the crater. The fire gave off little light. Its thick smoke spiraled up like black ink. She had no way of knowing exactly how many demons were down there, but one thing was certain: Runt was part of the ceremony. He was trussed up and lying on a large slab of rock, right beside the flames.
"I don't like the looks of that," Zack whispered in her ear.
"You were supposed to wait for me back with the others."
"I don't remember seeing that big ugly guy," he said, pointing at a particularly large demon who was standing over Runt and waving a nasty-looking stone knife through the flames.
"This isn't going to work," Martin whispered in Carole's other ear. "There's too many of them."
"Did you guys leave Lilly by herself?"
"She's fine. She's got all the flowers."
"I suppose we could surprise them," Carole said. "If we run at them yelling, they might forget about Runt in the all the confusion. Then we could link up at the bottom and leave together as a group."
"What happens if that big guy comes at us with his knife?" Martin said.
"Whatever we do, we'd better do it soon," Lilly said. "Ugly's starting to look serious."
"Ouch!" Carole reached into her dress and pulled out the faerie wand. "This thing's acting up again."
"It's glowing the same color as the flowers," Lilly pointed out.
"I wonder..." Carole gripped the wand tightly in her fist. "I've got another idea, come on," she said, scrambling back to where they'd left the blooms. She explained her idea.
"Okay, you got it? I'll count off sixty seconds. When you hear the signal, go to the top of the hill, holding the flowers high. Lil, you stay here. Martin, you go left, Zack take the right and I'll go to the far side. Listen for my signal in one minute. Go!"
Carole sped into the dark, counting off the seconds to herself. She quickly reached the opposite side of the hill, and waited impatiently for the rest of the minute to be up. Finally she reached sixty and placed the wand to her lips, feeling it buzz with energy.
Praying that the others were in place, she blew sharply into the tiny reed.
The sound wasn't at all shrill and whistle-like, but a clear, ringing tone, as if she'd just tapped a bell. Although the tone was quiet in comparison to the demons' ruckus, it continued to grow in volume until they must have heard. Their drumming faltered and finally ceased altogether. Soon only the pure ringing of the whistle-wand could be heard.
Holding her flowers high, Carole marched up and over the hill. The flower-lights held by the others illuminated the rest of the hilltop. The demons began milling uneasily about the crater. A few snarled, a few whimpered, but all watched.
Carole blew into the wand again.
A stream of light, leapt out and shot across to Lilly's bouquet, snaked over to Martin's bunch, careened across to Zack's and finally flashed back to Carole's.
To her utter amazement, the light didn't fade, but continued zigzagging back and forth between the flowers, weaving a gigantic web.
Below, the demons' uneasiness increased, but in no time at all the wand had finished creating its web of light and the creatures were cowering beneath a vibrant, pulsing trap.
Carole blew into the wand a third time. Bright sparks flared up and beaded along the line, like liquid drops of light threatening to drip onto the mob below. "Forward!" she called, as she stepped over the crest. As she marched, she piped short tweets, each of which shot different bolts of color into the webbing, causing it to sparkle and glow with ever brighter pulses.
The demons began screaming and dashing madly about, but with no place to go and with the web dropping steadily towards them, all they could do was pack themselves into a tight ring of whimpering bodies, encircling the fire.
This wasn't what Carole had hoped for. With them bunched up that way, there was no way she could reach Runt without having to fight her way in.
"Hold!" She stopped midway down the hill and watched to see that the others did the same. As an experiment, she lowered and then raised her arms. A single wave rippled across the shimmering web.
The demons hissed venomously.
She stretched her arms high and brought them down quickly.
A much larger wave caused the demons to bellow.
Again and again she pumped her arms, creating ever larger waves, which dipped closer and closer to the now-cringing mass.
Finally one demon broke from the pack and went howling up the hill. At first she thought it was going to attack the web, but it dove beneath and vanished into the dark. The hill was soon alive with bodies scrambling, wriggling and worming their way under the web of light.
Soon nothing was left in the hollow except a trussed-up Runt and the sickly fire. Even the large brute who'd been wielding the knife had escaped.
<
br /> "Hurry," Carole called. "I don't know how much longer the light's going to last."
As the four of them ran into the crater, the webbing sagged and plopped onto the bonfire. With a sickening squelch, both fire and faerie light blinked out, plunging them into a dreadful darkness until their eyes again grew accustomed to the weaker glow of the blossoms.
"Quite the display, Carole." Zack jumped forward to untie the ropes holding Runt. "Hey, I can't cut these lines. Where's that knife?"
Carole fished inside her rucksack. "Use this instead." She handed over her own jackknife. "I don't think you'd better touch that stone thing."
Seconds later Runt was free.
"Let's get out of here before those creeps come back," Martin urged.
"Just a sec." Lilly pulled a bunch of blossoms from her bouquet and held them out to Runt. "This time I'm making sure you get some!"
They scrambled out of the crater. Carole believed she knew exactly where to go. The others clustered close, as if no one cared to be last in line.
She continued to follow her inner guidance, which was actually easy to do since the limited light didn't allow for much distraction. That Runt agreed with her choice of direction was reassuring. After a time, she heard the occasional sound in the dark. Eventually she had to admit they weren't alone, but at least the demons seemed to be keeping their distance. However, soon she began to notice something else.
At first she thought it was simply the jitters from fearing they were being followed, but the feeling continued to build. It was as if the darkness itself was getting thicker, becoming almost alive.
It's found me, she suddenly realized.
"Something's wrong," Lilly cried. "The flowers are fading!"
"What do you mean?" Zack said. "My bunch is glowing fine."
"The light's not reaching out as far. Just a little while ago I could see over fifteen feet. Now it's half that distance."
"Maybe we've just bunched closer together."
"No, she's right," Martin said. "The flower-light is getting weaker."
"What if the demons notice?" Lilly sounded really scared.
"They still smell good. Maybe that'll be enough to keep those goons away," Zack said.
Carole picked up the pace and the others followed closely.
"Shouldn't we be there yet?" Martin said some time later. "It seems like we've been walking forever."
"We are getting closer," Carole said, "but who can tell in this darkness."
"Oh-oh!"
"What now, Lilly?"
"One of my flowers just went out. We'd better find that tunnel soon."
Carole sensed a ripple of amusement emanating from the surrounding gloom.
One by one, the blooms continued to fade. Before long, Carole got the impression the demons knew what was happening, for the darkness was no longer quite so quiet.
"Anytime with that tunnel would be good, Carole," Zack said. "Not trying to rush you or anything, but our friends are definitely getting bolder."
"It can't be too much farther," Carole didn't want to admit she was having trouble holding to her bearing. Her entire bundle suddenly went completely dull. "Maybe it's time to start running."
The weakening light gave her even less of an idea of the terrain ahead. Runt squealed out a warning, just in time to make them skid to a stop at the edge of a cliff.
Zack whistled. His toes were gripping the edge. "That was close. "
Martin said, "How will we find a way around this?"
"We won't have to go around," Carole said. "The vortex is directly in front of us."
"Where?"
"Down. What do you think, Runt? "
Runt looked extremely uncomfortable at the prospect of jumping into the dark.
"J-j-jump?" Lilly said. "Off the cliff?"
"It'll be easy," Carole said, hoping no one could see how worried she was.
The remaining light was dimming fast and the demons were crowding closer by the second. Carole laid several of the still-lighted flowers in a line, pointing toward the edge. "It's now or never," she said. "Go first, Runt. Show them how far out the tunnel is." Grunting to himself, Runt gauged the distance. Picking up a glowing flower, he raced towards the cliff and leapt. Everyone bent forward. The tiny light dropped away, before suddenly winking out.
"See, no problem. Now get going. We're almost out of time."
"Let's jump together," Lilly squeaked.
"I'm game." Martin took Lilly's hand.
"Me, too." Zack grabbed her other hand. "Ready? One, two, threeeee!"
As Carole went to follow, the demon rabble charged. She knocked the nearest one aside before she dashed for the edge.
And sailed off... into nothing.
* * *
- 29 -
It wasn't exactly nothing. There was air, but the flashes of multicolored light no longer spiraled beneath, and the raucous noise of the demon horde no longer sounded behind. Had the vortex winked out?
Had she missed the vortex? No, even if the tunnel had vanished she would still be falling, not just hanging in limbo.
Carole tried turning around, but there wasn't anything to push against. She twisted like a cat. Demons, flowers, vortex, cliff, everything had simply vanished. Was it possible she'd made another dimensional leap? That didn't seem right. She would have felt something, noticed some sort of vertigo.
Then she did feel something, like fingers pawing her skin. She shuddered. Whatever was touching her, it was as cold as death.
She struggled to free herself, yet there was nothing to free herself from. She was stuck in emptiness.
She sensed a gleeful hunger. "Well?" She hoped she sounded braver than she felt. "What do you want?"
Youuuuu!
It wasn't exactly a sound, more like an unpleasant smell, but with it came a gust of frigid wind that burned deep into her skin. Her fingers and toes went numb and fatigue tugged at her mind, dulling her fear, pulling her towards sleep.
"I can't sleep now!" she cried, shaking herself alert. "I have to escape. Find the others...find the connector..."
Sleep will clear your mind...help you find that which you desire.
She fought the foreign thoughts sneaking across her mind.
Sleep will give you strength.
That did make sense, but still she hadn't the time.
Just a little nap. You deserve it. So tired...
She was tired. Tired of running from danger. Tired of having to look for the connector, of having to look after the others, of trying to get back to The Hub, of having to take care of Runt...
"Runt?" Carole jerked awake. "I don't mind looking after Runt. He's my best friend. Owww!" Her limbs were a mass of pins and needles. She tried wriggling her fingers but that only pushed the cold farther up her arms. "What are you doing to me?!"
The cold wasn't just freezing her. It was after something. It was probing, searching, searching for...
For her heart? Could it be? But why? Why her heart?
An icy tendril began boring into her chest.
"No!" she screamed. "You're evil and I'll not let you get to me!"
The cold hesitated.
She tried to recall her biology lessons, to remember anything she could about her heart. It was a pump. It pumped blood to her body through arteries and veins. Okay, so she needed it to survive, but she needed all her other organs too. What was the big deal?
Something more, though. Something different. Something she was missing.
We are more than the sum of our parts. Hal was always saying stuff like that. We're not just skin and bones. We are capable of so much more. If that was the case, what else was her heart capable of?
Everything relied on it. Everything was connected to it. In a sense it was the center of her body, the core, the hub of all things...
The Hub!?
Could her heart in some way be like The Hub?
Once again the cold crept into her chest. Out of desperation, she groped for Glistlefern's wand. With
stiff and clumsy fingers, she brought it to her lips and blew with all her might.
There came only an empty hiss of air.
Dead and useless, just like me. I'm going to let everyone down. I might as well just give up and get it over with.
"Wait a minute!" Anger flared through Carole. "Those aren't my thoughts! I'm not useless and I'm not dead.
"I'm a multitasker and Melodious T. Philamount said I could do it. I just need to find my own voice...my inner voice! I can figure this out myself, like I've always done."
Hope surged, but even as it did, the enveloping evil began to squeeze her like an icy python.
The more she resisted, the harder it squeezed. Her body felt as if it would snap in two at any moment.
"Not like this." She grimaced, and hot tears stung her frozen cheeks. "I won't let it end like this."
There had to be something she could do. She tried to swing her staff. Her arms no longer worked. She tried to scream. Her voice was barely a whisper.
The answer was within and she knew that, but so what? What good was any answer, if her body was useless and she was being crushed to death. Unless... Unless the solution really was within! Could it be? Was the evil trying to distract her from that truth?
She couldn't focus. Just breathing was a struggle. Pressure built in her head. Blood throbbed in her ears. Searing bolts of pain careened through her skull.
A thought bubbled into her mind. Use the pain.
"The pain?" she gasped. "How can I use the pain?"
Not only was there stabbing pain but there was also sound--the sound of her blood rushing through her veins. She concentrated on that sound, allowing the noise to grow and grow until it overwhelmed the pain, until it became a roaring waterfall.
She visualized herself plunging into the current, yielding to its pressure, allowing it to carry her deeper and deeper within until she reached her own center. Until she was awash in the force of her heart's powerful contractions.
But there was something besides the rhythmic pumping. Between her heartbeats reigned a silence equally as powerful as the sound of her flowing blood, but completely the opposite.
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