by Trevor Darby
I could hear frantic movement, splashing and gurgling shouts to my left.
“Taz?” I called, shaking off the intoxicating fog that was still trying to take over my brain. I swiped away the water in my eyes and caught sight of my friend, flailing in terror, a few yards away. I swam toward him and pulled him to the surface, gasping.
"Maps!" I called frantically.
“Chace, behind you!”
I turned to see Maps floating on the current, gesturing wildly to a spot over my shoulder, her face twisted in horror. I wheeled around to see a jet black whale-sized creature with teeth the size of car doors not twenty yards away. Without warning, the river’s current changed directions. Suddenly, instead of being carried away from the beast, we were being sucked directly towards the monster’s gaping mouth.
“Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap,” Taz said, kicking wildly. “Grab Maps by the hand and get us out of here, Chace!”
I held onto Taz with my legs and reached for Maps' outstretched hand, but just as I laced my fingers with hers, it started again. The low, hypnotic chants and whispers.
“Stay with us, have some fun. Our time together has just begun.”
My mind began to glaze over like it had before. I closed my eyes and shook my head, trying to break free of the illusion, but it was too strong. I loosened my grip on Maps’ hand and began to drift down into the water’s depths.
Then, it was like I was flying. The sky blurred before my eyes as I pitched and rolled.
“What’s happening?” I mumbled groggily.
“Sweet!” I heard Taz yell as I forced myself to focus. Taz was still locked between my legs, and Maps’ hand was clutched in mine as we floated above the water in a giant bubble seemingly made of pure magic.
“Holy crapoley...it’s a freaking Lamassu,” Maps whispered, mouth gaping with awe.
“La-ma-what?”
She pointed. I caught sight of the bull-sized creature flying alongside us. It had wings with the body of a bull and a human head. He sported a braided black beard and warm eyes, the color of fudge brownies.
“He’s a Lamassu,” she whispered reverently. “They’re a kind of protector god in Assyrian mythology.”
We all watched the noble creature as it led our magic bubble toward the opposite shore. Before we reached it, Maps yanked her hand away, suddenly coming to her senses.
“Oh my gosh, Chace. Why the heck did you teleport us right in front of that killer whale thing. Were you trying to get us killed?” she demanded furiously.
“I didn’t. The current changed and I...didn’t you hear the voices?” I said, as bewildered as she was. “They wanted us to stay, and I couldn’t seem to remember why we shouldn’t. I swear, I think I lost my mind for a minute.”
The majestic creature beside us let out a booming laugh as we floated towards the river bank. “You got caught by the mermaids, boy.”
“Mermaids?” Maps demanded, eyes wide as saucers. “For real?”
"Yes. Though mermaids aren't evil creatures, they can be incredibly dangerous. They are able to place powerful illusions on the minds of those they wish to enchant.”
“How could they not be evil? They led us right into that crazy shark thing,” I said, still shaken.
"That was not their intention. I doubt the mermaids even considered it. Their goal was to keep you in their illusion for the rest of your life, no matter how long or short that might be. In their eyes, living a final few moments in bliss playing with them in the water would’ve been far better for you than living out the rest of your life as you are. Even now, they call to me, and I must fight their lure,” he said as we landed on the ground. The bubble disappeared with a loud pop.
“Um, Mr. Lamassu...Can I touch your wing?” Taz asked, still clearly awe-struck by the fantastic creature.
The Lamassu let out his hearty laugh and leaned into Taz, letting him stroke his feathers. Once Taz had gotten a good feel, the Lamassu stepped back and eyed us solemnly.
“I must warn the three of you. This realm is not for the faint of heart. You should be careful if you plan on continuing onward. You’ll be entering troll country soon. If that wasn’t scary enough, you should also know that the dragons come out to hunt in this area at night. I cannot accompany you on your journey as my duty lies on the other side of the river, but I give you my blessing.” He stepped back and turned as if to go.
“H-How did you know we were in danger?” Maps asked as he spread his majestic wings.
"You could call it a Lamassu's intuition. We're bound to guard any nearby pure-hearted creatures that are in danger. This is my territory."
How I wished he could’ve been member number five of the Myth Squad...
I pushed away my disappointment. I brought the conversation back around to the missing member number four of the Myth Squad, Raven.
“Have you seen a girl about our age recently? She should’ve passed through here yesterday or so,” I asked hopefully.
"I saw no such girl, but I was many miles west of here yesterday," He flapped his great wings and took to the air. "I must go. There are more creatures in need. Good luck, children. I fear you’ll need it.”
I knew he was right. And given that we’d used a butt-ton of luck evading death by mermaid and decapitation by killer whale-shark, I couldn’t help but wonder if we’d used up our share...
Chapter 12
“At least we know we’re still headed in the right direction,” Maps said, pointing to the first amulet symbol we’d seen since crossing the river an hour or so earlier.
I nodded and looked sympathetically at a frustrated Taz as he bent over the spot, squinting.
“Good, I’d like to avoid becoming dragon food at nightfall.” Taz gulped and straightened, noticeably picking up the pace as we continued.
The wasteland we trekked through made for excellent visibility and easy walking. Still, it had gotten so depressing over the last hour that I felt ready to sing when several small clusters of large trees came into view. "Let's try climbing one of those trees and see if we can spot anything from up high,” I said, pointing to the closest group.
Maps nodded and led us onward towards the small copse. “I wonder how big a troll is,” she said idly as we walked.
“Judging by the size of those footprints, I’d guess he’s at least twenty or thirty feet,” I murmured thoughtfully. “Could be even more.”
“I’m going to just pretend you didn’t say that,” Taz replied, rushing ahead.
When we arrived at the base of the largest tree, he blew out a sigh.
“Guess I’m going to try scooting up this thing so I can play lookout,” he said, cracking his knuckles and then tugging the bow from his back. I let out a poorly stifled laugh as I shook my head. In all our years of hanging out and exploring the woods in our neighborhoods, I couldn’t remember a single time Taz had made it all the way up a tree. He was a lot of things...loyal, funny, and a great shot. But a good tree climber, he was not.
"I can use my magic to help me if I fall, so maybe it’s safer for me to go...” I said, moving towards the trunk before he had a chance to argue.
The thick branches made the climb relatively simple, but the height of the tree meant it still took me several minutes. After I recovered from the breathtaking view at the top, I noticed a slightly curved trail of glowing dots that disappeared before reaching the mountains in the distance.
“What do you see?” a voice blared in my ear.
I jerked my head around, nearly toppling over, to find Maps balanced on another branch beside me.
"Holy crap, Maps," I said, my heart pounding in my chest. "Jeez, talk about stealth mode. I didn’t even hear you climbing.”
She tipped her head in a sage nod. “I’m like a cat. Catch sight of anything or what?” she asked again as she peered over my shoulder.
Heartbeat returning to something closer to normal, I nodded and thrust my index finger in front of me. “If I remember the map correctly, it looks like there’
s been some movement in the landscape since Raven placed her marks. See the sparkles?”
She nodded and let out a low groan. "If those are all her marks, there's no end in sight. Which means we've got miles to go at the very least. We better get a move on. I don’t want to be without shelter in the dark.”
“You’re not kidding,” I agreed with a frown. I followed Maps as best I could as she scuttled quickly down the branches. Taz was waiting at the bottom, leaning with his back against the tree. Judging by his heavy breathing and the dirt and tree bark shrapnel on his shirt, I had to assume that he’d tried to follow us up and failed.
“Ready?” he asked, trying to play it cool.
“Yeah, we have a lot of ground to cover if we want to get there in time. We couldn’t see the end of the trail, even from up there,” Maps said, beginning to march forward.
When we arrived at the second trail marker since leaving the tree a short while later, Maps stopped and turned to her right, cocking her head at a tiny cluster of trees. “What do you think that is? Let’s go check it out.” She pointed to a tiny glowing spot near one of the trees. “Looks like some kind of earring,” she murmured, frowning as she leaned down to pick it up.
A small black-and-white bird swooped in and grabbed the small, shining bar just before Maps could get her hand on it.
“Mine!” it squawked loudly as it flew up and perched on the lowest branch of the tree it’d been sitting under. It cocked its head at Maps and looked at her speculatively.
“Did that bird just—” Taz began before the bird cut in sharply.
“What’s wrong with you, never seen a talking bird before?” it said back, sounding more and more human with each word.
"My aunt had a parrot, but he just repeated stuff. You know, like Polly wanna cracker. You’re actually talking,” Taz said, shifting uncomfortably as he looked to Maps and me for confirmation that he wasn't losing it.
“You’re a Magpie, right?” Maps asked.
“You can call me Clara. I collect shiny things from all over the Realm. Normally I’d go by the rule of finder’s keepers, but this one,” she gestured to the earring held in her left claw with her beak, “just fell out of my nest. Can’t find what isn’t lost, I always say.”
“What does it do?” Maps asked, “I see it glowing with magical energy.”
“Most importantly, it looks shiny,” it eyed Maps for a long moment, “but, one magpie to another, I should tell you that I’ve heard some here use it to enhance their attributes. If you're fast, it can make you faster, and so on...”
"So, there's no way we can have it?" Maps asked gently.
“I would, but a magpie never gives away its shinies.”
Maps settled back with a frown and then brightened. She cleared her throat and then casually tugged a gleaming, golden compass from her pocket and looked at it in her hand. The arrow at the center of it was spinning like a top in all directions. "I really wish we could have it, but I guess we'd better get going if there's nothing we can do that'll make you part with it." She turned and started walking away as if to leave as Taz and I followed her lead.
Please let this work.
We could really use that earring...
“Wait. What is that?” The bird called after a few seconds.
“Oh, this?” Maps asked, turning back around, “It's just a compass from the Human Realm. They don't work here apparently, so the arrow won't stop moving."
I stifled a laugh as I watched her move her hand from side to side, enticing the bird with the shininess of the item.
“C-can I have that?” Clara asked, eyes gleaming. “You said it doesn't work here, so you won't need it anyway, right?" She cocked her head to one side, mesmerized by the compass. I'd never thought birds could look greedy before, but I knew they could now as I looked at the longing in Clara’s face.
“Sorry, I wish I could, but I'll still want to have it once we get back to the Human Realm," Maps said, pausing before adding, "unless you have something to offer in a trade that might be more helpful...”
“What about the earring?” the bird said, still staring at the compass hungrily.
Maps walked back over to the bird, "sounds good to me." She tossed the compass up, and Clara released the bar earring from her claw, sending it falling into the forest floor as she flew past to catch the compass by the chain in her beak. “Pleasure doing business with you, Clara.”
The magpie squawked, unable to talk through the chain in her mouth, and flew high into the tree, presumably back to her nest.
“That was awesome,” I said after we were a few dozen feet away.
“Thanks,” she said, tossing the earring to Taz. “For you. As thanks for before, when you caught me.”
“Thanks,” he breathed, beaming with pleasure as he went to slip it into his pocket.
“No way!” Maps rolled her eyes and punched him playfully in the shoulder, “you’ll lose it like that, we gotta do this right. Also, does it even work if you’re not wearing it?” She snorted. “Doubt it.” She grabbed the earring from his hand and shot me a glance. I nodded and grabbed him gently by the shoulders.
“This will only hurt for a second,” I said, trying to sound reassuring.
"No way, guys, my mom will kill me," he said as he wriggled around. We ended up on the ground, but I eventually managed to hold him still as Maps descended on him, earring in hand.
“One. Two. Three!”
Chapter 13
"It's getting pretty close to nighttime. It's been a while since we saw a mark from Raven," Maps said, glancing worriedly up at the sky, “I hope we’re close.”
I nodded and frowned, thoughts of hungry dragons filling my mind. “Maybe it’s time to find shelter,” I said as I turned to Taz, who was still rubbing at his earlobe.
“These troll tracks are starting to freak me out,” Maps added, pointing at a cluster of overlapping footprints of various sizes going on all different directions. We'd started seeing more and more massive tracks about an hour before. Still, while I was excited to know we were likely getting closer to Raven and her captor, the sheer number of prints was definitely nerve-wracking. "Do you know anything about them, Chace? Are you powerful enough to handle them if they attack us in a group?"
“I don’t know much about them,” I said, hesitating before continuing, “but in terms of me being powerful enough, everyone I’ve come in contact with who would know seems to think I’m pretty strong.” If only I had a better understanding of how strong, maybe I wouldn’t feel so afraid. “If we run into more than one, I could probably use some tricks to fool them before they were able to get their hands on any of us. They’re not exactly known for being intellectual, after all. I bet the only reason Raven got captured is because of her injuries.”
Still, it would be safer to continue in daylight.
Which meant another night of leaving Raven at the mercy of her kidnapper.
“I think we should press on,” I said finally. Hoping against hope that I wasn't leading my squad into the jaws of certain death and dismemberment or something equally awful.
Taz and Maps both nodded. We pressed on, our steps a little slower, quieter, and less confident with each passing minute. My spirits lifted a short while later when Maps pointed to the familiar glow of an amulet marker in the distance. Stone structures were also just coming into view in the swiftly fading light.
“See those?” I whispered, pointing as my pulse began to pound with excitement, “I bet she’s somewhere in one of those houses or whatever they are. How far do you think it is, Maps?”
She paused and put her hand to her chin speculatively, squinting into the distance. "I'd guess no more than three miles, but it's hard to say without knowing how big the structures are.”
"Think we can pick up the pace to near a jog?" I said, "if we get there tired, we can take a few minutes to catch our breath before we prep for Operation: Save Raven. What do you say?”
Taz groaned from behind, “I can usually
barely handle running the mile in gym. I don't know how I'm gonna handle this, but I guess it’s better than being dragon food. Lead on, Captain.”
“Yup, let’s go,” Maps said, nodding and picking her pace up to a light jog.
The trip went quickly, and the large buildings were just a stone's throw away by the time the last rays of sunlight disappeared from the horizon. Running short of breath and seeing that the others were no different, I slowed our pace from a gallop to a slow walk.
“We made it,” Taz said, grinning. "I can't believe it, maybe it's just the earring, but I've never run so far in my life. And I don't even feel tired."
“The magpie did say it would enhance your abilities some,” I said as I fumbled through my bag. I grabbed a bottle of water, one of our last, and took a swig before passing it around as we trudged on as quietly as possible. Despite all the tracks, we still hadn't run into an actual troll. I definitely didn't want one seeing us before we saw it. “Those look smallish, but that one looks big enough for a troll,” I said, pointing to some smaller stone buildings a few hundred yards away that were just in front of a rough, castle-sized structure. A few similar setups could be seen to the left and right, almost like we were in a weird sort of Troll neighborhood mixed in with people-sized dwellings.
“Seems weird that those are so small, no way the trolls made buildings they couldn’t even fit into,” Maps said.
Suddenly, the light went from dim to nearly nonexistent. It was as if the moon had been plucked right from the sky.
We stopped talking.
I could hear my own heart beating.
“Well, that’s not ideal,” Maps murmured as we all moved instinctively closer together until our backs were touching.
I blinked furiously, willing my eyes to adjust to the lack of light, but then instantly wished I hadn’t. Because, to my horror, I could just make out a massive, inky shape against the midnight blue sky.
