Mortal (14 page)

They lowered their caps, as though
they were going to curtsy, and revealed maws of razor sharp teeth
on top of their heads. They slithered across the path and created
an impenetrable wall of twisted roots and limbs.

David whistled loudly. "Got to admit,
the witch has a wicked sense of humor."

A thick mushroom thrashed forward and
swung its limbs violently towards David’s head. He ducked out of
the way—just as another one sprouted from the ground and launched
another attack. He kicked out and thrashed at the mushroom with his
blade. But the more he cut and slashed, the more mushrooms appeared
from the darkness to replace the first attackers.

They were outnumbered ten to
one.

Kara’s head started to throb again
just as a massive killer-mushroom charged towards her with a mouth
full of gnashing teeth. It was going to crush her like a
tomato.

K
ara flattened herself on the ground just as the mushroom’s
body passed over her head.

Whoosh!

Her bangs lifted off her forehead in
its wind, and a bit of earth spattered on her face. She rolled over
and jumped to her feet brandishing her sword.

Her friends were already in
combat.

Jenny kicked at a large mustard-yellow
mushroom creature and leapt over it just as it tried to wrap its
limbs around her ankle.

"It’s an ambush! What kind of magic is
this?" she screamed as she hit the mushroom with her bow and it
snapped back with an angry mouth.

"We should have packed frying pans
instead of daggers," yelled David as he hacked away at a blue and
white polka dot mushroom. "We could have stopped for
lunch."

More mushroom creatures shot out from
the darkness and surrounded Peter. He jumped back in surprise and
hit at the attacking beasts desperately with his
moonstone.

"Kara!"

She heard David’s scream before she
saw that he was surrounded by a mass of swirling mushrooms. "Get
out of here! Run back to the entrance and get out!"

Crazed mushrooms launched themselves
from the shadows and attacked him from every side. He hacked away
at their limbs with his soul blade, but the ground trembled and
responded by sprouting more of its creatures. For every one David
cut, ten more thrashed out at him. There were just too
many.

But Kara wasn’t about to give up—too
much depended on her. She took courage from her friends and jumped
into the fray with the violent mushroom beasts. She hacked and
whacked with all her mortal strength. With every hit of her soul
blade, her bones reverberated all the way to her chattering teeth.
But she didn’t give up. She screamed in rage as she cut, kicked,
punched, and pulled at every giant vegetable that came near her
friends.

"It’s a trap!" cried David as he
kicked back at a large purple maw that tried to puncture his
abdomen. "The witches sent us to our deaths! They’ll wish they’d
been separated at birth when I get through with them."

"Then why don’t you find us a way to
escape, genius," said Kara breathlessly.

David jumped over the tangled mess of
snapping chops. The moonstone’s light bounced off the black cave
walls as he ran. He was covered in black earth. He fought his way
through the tangle of mushrooms and slipped into another passageway
to the right side of the cave.

After a few seconds of silence, his
voice rang out. "The cream-of-mushroom soup didn’t follow me. It’s
clear! Come on guys—we can’t fight these things—hurry!"

His moonstone’s light
wavered.

Kara waited for Peter and Jenny to
make it through before she jumped over the mushroom militia and
slipped into the network of underground tunnels. She landed softly
next to Jenny and Peter who were dusting themselves off. They were
a little shaken and covered in dirt, but otherwise they didn’t look
harmed.

David inspected the new tunnel.
"Mushrooms belong on pizza—they don’t normally grow arms and legs
and want to eat us. First giant water fists, then man-eating
mushrooms—what’s next? Killer carrot sticks? Actually, that would
be really funny."

He walked further down the passageway.
The moonstone’s light made his blue eyes sparkle.

"Don’t get too comfortable," said
Kara. "I have a feeling we haven’t seen the worst of it
yet."

Peter adjusted his glasses. "The Fay
sisters warned us about the cave—about the evil that was in here.
They said it wouldn’t like the spirit walkers."

"I don’t care what those stupid women
said," said Jenny. "I hate them."

She flung her bow across her
shoulders, and her face hardened. She looked at Kara questioningly.
"Which way do we go now? There are more tunnels up to the
right."

Kara strained through the darkness.
"Look, there’s light at the end of this tunnel. It could be a trap,
but it could also lead us to the witch. I say we follow it. What do
you—"

The rest of her words were lost as a
sudden dark presence overcame her. It was a warning. She couldn’t
shake off the feeling of danger. Her friends were in danger—she was
sure of it. Whatever was inside this cave—she knew it would be the
demise of the guardians—she would have to make them leave and go on
alone.

"Uh...guys, I think you should go
back," said Kara.

She addressed her friends as calmly as
she could. "I can feel something dangerous coming. The witches were
right—this is suicide. Your souls are in danger in
here."

"Never," David raised the tone of his
voice. "I’m not abandoning you here in this freak show. It’s not
going to happen."

"David’s right." Jenny squeezed Kara’s
arm gently. "We knew what we were doing when we took the
assignment. We knew the dangers."

Kara shook her head. "But these
dangers are not what we’re used to. This magic this is different.
We’re not fighting against demons anymore. I should go in there
alone. You can wait for me back at the entrance. I’m sure it’ll be
fine—"

"Forget it." David set his jaw. "You
don’t have a choice. We’re coming with you and that’s the end of
it." He turned around but not before Kara saw the anger on his
face. She felt a stab in her chest.

Jenny let go of her arm and smiled
gently. "Like it or not, we’re coming with you." Kara opened her
mouth to protest, but closed it again. She knew it was no use to
argue.

"Keep your eyes open for any more
killer mushrooms."

David lifted the moonstone and lit the
path in white light again. He looked up the side of the passageway
and raised his arms.

"We come in peace," he said out loud.
"Keep your broccoli and asparagus in their pots."

Kara sighed. "Come on then, we have a
date with a witch."

They walked in silence. The cave
looked identical everywhere. It was a labyrinth of underground
tunnels. Water dripped and their treads echoed and were amplified
by the cave until they sounded like the beating of
drums.

Suddenly, the cave wall to their right
was illuminated with spots of multicolored light. At first Kara
thought they were minerals in the rock, but she soon realized that
they were moving like glowing worms. They twisted and coiled around
one another until they formed a series of symbols. Then they held
themselves in position. They looked like words on a
blackboard.

"Hang on," said Kara as she halted.
"Look—do these look like words to you?" She edged closer for a
better look.

"Don’t get too close," said Jenny
suspiciously, "it’s probably another trap."

Kara’s eyes widened. "I can
read it...it says, ‘
Spirit walkers beware.
Go back if you value your soul.’"

"We already know
that,
cave
." David
held the moonstone closer to the worms. "Tell us something we don’t
know."

The glowworms shifted and rolled and
another series of words appeared.

"
Beware of the witch,"
read Peter.
"This is fascinating. The cave walls are actually communicating
with us. Clearly, they’ve been bewitched or something."

"Really, you think?" said David
sarcastically. "What—the killer fungi didn’t give it away. I hadn’t
noticed them attacking us."

Kara watched him take a slow step back
to keep more distance between him and the glowing worms.

Kara agreed that this was some sort of
magic. And yet, she wasn’t frightened by it. In fact, she felt
drawn to it, curious as to how it all worked. The worms were cute,
in a slimy way.

The letters shifted again
and a new set of words appeared. "
Watch
out for the big rocks, spirit walkers,"
read Kara.

She frowned and looked to the others.
"What do you think that means? What rocks?" she searched the shadow
covered path. "We’re in a cave—there are rocks everywhere. Do you
guys see any big rocks that stand out from the others?"

"Nope." David scanned the area with
the moonstone. "The witch is toying with us. She’s probably
watching us right now and having a good laugh. Come on out,
witch!"

Peter scratched his head. "It could be
a clue..."

"I doubt that," said Jenny,
"considering the cave’s murderous intentions."

Kara turned back to the sign. "What do
you mean by big rocks? Can you tell us where they are? We don’t see
any rocks?"

She stood waiting for a moment for the
sign to change, but it didn’t. When it finally did shift, the words
faded, and the worms disappeared back into cracks in the wall as
though the sign had never happened.

"So much for that," said
Jenny.

Kara shrugged. "Come on, let’s keep
moving—"

BOOM!

The thick cave wall
splintered in an explosion of dust and shards of rock. Two eight
foot tall man-like creatures stepped out from the shadows. They
were stocky and massive—
if mountains could have offspring Kara decided they would be
them. Their thick chests rose and fell with every breath, and
instantly she knew they weren’t demons—they were magic forces sent
by the witch.

Their
crusty
gray hide looked like stone. Like great apes, they moved slowly, as
if they were struggling to move their stone bodies.
The tallest and widest of the creatures held a
battle-axe in his massive hand. The other dragged a spiked club.
Their yellow eyes glowed with supernatural intelligence.

"Uh...guys," said David. "Who called
for reinforcements?"

In a great leap, the giants hurtled
towards them.

P
eter tried to turn and run, but he wasn’t fast enough. The
battle-axe caught him on the side of his legs and tore them off
completely. He flew in the air like a ragdoll and landed in a
crumpled heap on the round. His mortal legs landed in a pile next
to him. He opened his mouth in a soundless scream. His face was a
mask of horror, and he cradled what was left of his legs with his
arms.

Jenny nocked two arrows at once and
let them go. They hit the second giant in the chest, but bounced
off like tennis balls—they didn’t even leave a mark. She nocked
another three, let them go, and again they bounced off the creature
with no effect. She staggered back in shock. The giant lunged at
her and hit her in the chest with a great swing of his club. She
flew into the air and crashed into the cave wall.

Kara could see Jenny’s essence seeping
out of the many deep holes in her body—as though she was wearing a
polka dot outfit. She slumped to the ground and didn’t
move.

Without thinking, Kara charged at the
giant that had attacked Jenny. She wasn’t sure what she was going
to do—she just wanted it dead, or at least hurt it. Her anger
surged through her like a hot fever. She thought she could sense
her elemental power awaken, like a light buried deep within her,
slowly coming to life. She felt her confidence return—she would
blast them to pieces with her power. She would save her
friends...

But then the light flickered and
died.

Kara staggered and nearly fell, the
fear was so overwhelming, and for the first time on a mission, she
felt vulnerable and weak. Without her elemental powers to fall back
on, her mortal body was no match for the giant rock-men. She had
nothing but a puny dagger—as useless as a toothpick against
mountains of rock. She swallowed back the bile in her throat. What
a fool she had been.

She looked up into the wicked yellow
eyes and prepared herself. A giant club with spikes like razor
sharp knives flashed towards her. She lifted her arm to protect her
face—

Crack!

Pain shot up her arm. She flew back
and tumbled to the ground. Her eyes watered as the excruciating
pain emanated from her broken limb. Her cry died in her throat, and
her arm hung lifelessly on her side, as though it were dead.
Grinding her teeth, she felt the ruptures inside her arm. The
shattered bones felt like shards of broken glass poking her skin.
Wetness trickled down the side of her face. Her jacket sleeve was
stained with red. The ground wavered, and she felt herself drifting
into the darkness...