Part 6.5

Whew!  This was the longest part yet!  TEN PAGES FOR ALL OF PART SIX!  I’m almost done!

            Unable to see anything, Clara asked, “Is everyone here?”

            We all said yes, and everyone was thankful to get out of the way of the stones.  But things would only get worse.  We felt along the walls, searching for a way out, but no one could find anything.  I kept bumping into people, and I was worried that one of us might fall back through the door, since we couldn’t see any of it.  Just pitch darkness.

            “You know,” commented Moht eventually, “I bet that it’s magic, ‘cause we can’t see any of the door anymore.  Otherwise there would be a big light rectangle in the floor.”

            “Great,” groaned Roxton, “Now what are we supposed to do?”

            “Well, I know some spells,” Clara said, “but none of them are light spells.  I can clean water, make a fire-”

            “Well, that works just as well,” I told her.

            She shook her head, “It’s not that simple,” she told me, “I need to have something to light it on.  Like a log or a piece of cloth…” she trailed off at the last part, but I couldn’t tell what she was thinking since her face was shrouded by darkness.  “May, can I use your hat for a second?”

            “What!” I practically shouted, alarmed.  Someone shushed me, and I dropped my voice, “I will not be burning my hat!”

            “Well then,” asked Clara, “how do suppose that we are going to get light in here?  Just chant something random in Altadorian,” I sighed and pulled off my fedora, but she wasn’t done with her rant, “like ‘quamquam est malum malum’ or ‘Semper ubi suberubi?!’” and poof!  Just like that, the lights popped on.

            “Whoa,” muttered Roxton, “I didn’t know you could do that.”

            “But that doesn’t even make any sense!” exclaimed a surprised Clara, “‘Semper ubi sububi’ means ‘always wear underwear’!”  We all burst out laughing at this.

            “Well,” said Moht, wiping a tear out of his eye, “Maybe they just didn’t want anyone to find out how to turn on the lights?” We all agreed to this theory, and I looked around the cavern in which we stood.

            The room was small, about the size of a dinner-table, with dark grey walls and torches which had recently been lit.  Then I looked back down at my hat, and I noticed something written very neatly in cursive near the brim:

            Roxton A. Colchester

         I gasped as I saw this, and quickly handed it to its owner.

            “Huh?” he asked as he took the hat from me, and I quickly pointed to the name written inside, “Hmm.  We must have accidentally switched hats at some point,” and proceeded to take the one from his head and hand it to me.  But in the rim in the same handwriting was his name.

***

            When the alarms were sounded at the prisoner’s escape, Evre looked up in unease from her sandwich.  “What on earth?” she wondered out loud, and hurried down the dungeons just in time to watch the familiar tail of a blue Wocky disappear around the door.  And she knew she had to help.

***

            There was a door on the wall besides the one on the floor, and we hurried into it.  We found ourselves in a rather large chamber, with the same stone walls and flooring and the same torches.  It was rather semi-circle like, with nine other doors.  Eight of them, plus the one we had just come through, were normal, small, wooden doors, each of a different colour, but on the flat wall was a large marble double door.

            “Well, what now?” wondered Jordie aloud.

            “Big doors usually mean exits, so out we go,” said Roxton with a grin, and pushed open the large double doors.

            And there, right in front of us, was what basically looked like an army of rather mismatched pets.  They all wore the same scarlet uniform, but there was every colour from pink to zombie, every species from Usul to Skeith.  Everyone gave a quick shout and they all rushed in.  We all backed up quickly, preparing to run, but as the army stumbled in, it seemed that they could not see anything.

            “Ahh- what’s going on!” shouted a purple Yurble who had run into a wall.  “I can’t see!” moaned another voice for the crowd.

            “Guys,” whispered Moht, “They can’t see us because of the magic.  Or anything else, for that matter.  But they might be able to hear us, so be quiet.”

            “Okay, so what now?” I asked, making sure to keep my voice low.

            “Pick a door, any door!” exclaimed Clara, and we quickly shushed her, “Eight of these doors lead to traps, one of which we were just in, all of which connect to the dungeons in some way or another.  One of the doors is the treasure room, or contains something that needs to be kept out of the way from everyone else.”

            “All righty then, so choose one of the doors,” whispered Roxton, but whatever else he was about to say he was cut off from, for at that moment the tall faerie stormed through.  She shoved her way to the front of the crowd and quickly announced, “Semper ubi sububi!” and then it seemed that the outsized throng could now see us, for someone shouted “Get them!” and rushed towards us.  So we all ran into the first door we were closest to, which happened to be purple.

            We slammed the door behind us and pushed it shut as they tried to push it open.  I used my feet to insure that it would stay closed, but then I heard a lock click.  I instantly lessened my weight and turned around.

            Clara held a hairpin in her paw.  “Found a lock,” she said with a slight but exhausted smile.

            Suddenly, I heard a sound.  Well, I guess you could say that it was a voice, but it was such a strange voice that it didn’t quite seem natural.  And it seemed to beckon, “Come.”

            I turned around slowly, expecting some kind of vicious beast; a trap for the unwary.  My gaze was met with a lush curtain, from which behind the voice was coming.  The whole room was decorated in dark coloured fabrics, with ominous torches hanging from the walls.  Over all, it really did look like some kind of villain’s lair.

            The voice suddenly changed to become much deeper, “Come closer.”

            I was about to walk towards the curtain, but Clara put her hand up.  “Who are you?” she asked.

            “I am not someone you should wish to cross,” responded the voice, now rather nasally.

            “Okay, that really doesn’t help.  Tell us who you are, and we might come closer.”

            The voice sighed loudly.  “Clara Chatham, I understand your worry,” it said, and Clara looked rather surprised that it would know her name, “And if I was in your sandals, I would be worried too.  Very well, I will tell you a small amount.  I am the ruler of the Fyr, working hard to bring justice to my people.  They range from the ignored Moltarian faeries to the little bullied Kacheek who wishes to show his superiors that he is not weak,” the voice, now rather high pitched, paused dramatically, “And the lonely orphan who wishes she had a family.”

            I drew in a shuddering breath.  “How do you know that I’m an orphan?” I asked the voice.

            It responded very simply. “I am psychic.”  I had thought that whoever was behind the curtain seemed perfectly sane, but then it sighed again and told me, “I am not a psycho, I am psychic, which means that I read minds.”

            I guess that this was about when I realised how hard it was going to be to fight my enemy.

            “But exactly who are you?” repeated Clara.

            “You really wish to know more about me?  Very well.

            “Back when I was younger, my sister and I were renowned throughout Faerieland as being the most beautiful of them all.  We were carefree, until my twin was captured by Balthazar.  I have not seen her since, and believe her to be dead.  I went to Balthazar’s lair to free her, only to be captured.  Using my powers, I brought an army of faeries to my side, only to have my efforts fail.  My good friend and I were the only two to escape, and I was banished from Faerieland.  I wandered about Neopia, until I came across Moltara, at which point I discovered that I was not alone in wishing for revenge against someone.  I have despised almost all faeries since my banishment, and I have found that there are many more whose wishes are yet to be fulfilled.  And so, the March of the Fyr began.”

            “Wait a second- what exactly is the ‘Fyr’?” asked Roxton.

            “The Fyr is the organization for those who wish for vengeance.  Together, we can conquer all that have shamed us and stood in our way.”

            “But that is probably not the greatest way to get revenge at all!” protested Roxton.

            “Neither of you two is even on good terms with any faeries at all,” commented the voice from behind the curtain.

            “What?” Clara exclaimed, seemingly offended, “When you’re in the process of saving Neopia from a terrible doom, you will do just about anything to help!  Even if it means throwing slushies at faeries!”

            “Um hm?” asked our masked villain in a voice that sounded oddly like Veer, and Clara turned a little red.

            Suddenly, I heard a small clicking sound coming from behind me.  I whirled around just in time to see the lock click ever so slightly.  Then BOOM!  The door burst open, the army piling in.

            “Get them!” shouted a baby Ixi, and boy did we run for our lives.  Or tried to anyways, for the room was so small, that we could hardly go anywhere.  We were trapped.

            We backed into the wall, edging away from the crowd that threatened to consume us, until we saw a familiar face flying over them.

            “Evre!” I shouted at the slightly bewildered fire faerie.  “Help us!”

            “How?” she asked me.

            “I dunno, can you get us out of here?”

            She looked a little thoughtful for a moment, then suddenly snapped her fingers.  “Oh, yeah!  I know exactly what to do!”  She flew down next to Kerlie, who obviously didn’t know who she was and looked more than just a little worried, and pushed on a stone in the wall.  With a loud crumbling noise, a small piece of the wall fell away, revealing a hidden passage way.  “This way!” she shouted, and quickly hurried in.  We all filled in behind her.

            We kept running through the pitch black passageway.  Sometimes we would go up, others down, and once or twice the ceiling got very low.  The army kept following us, though there seemed to fewer of them now.  “This is Rermia’s escape passage!” Evre shouted back at us once, but I didn’t have the time to ask who Rermia was, because we suddenly popped out into broad daylight.

            We were on top of the volcano, standing precariously on a ledge.  I peered down, and saw, much to my horror, that below us stood the rest of the army, angrily waving their swords at us.

            “Oops,” said Evre, a little bit embarrassed, “I think we took a wrong turn further back.  I couldn’t see anything.”

            “So what are we supposed to do?” asked Clara.

            “I have an idea,” I said, beginning to grin.  I whipped out my last coil of rope, cut off a few short pieces from it, and quickly tied it into a lasso.  I had read about Kauboys doing something like this, and I spun it around in a circle.  Well, I mean I certainly tried my best, but the rope still flopped over me and hardly did anything besides get tangled.

            “Here, let me,” Roxton said, taking the rope from me.  He spun it quickly in a circle, and asked where he should throw it.

            “Right there,” I said, pointing to a rather tall tree.  “We’ll be over the army if we go there.”

            Clara shook her head, “No, they could run straight to us at that angle.  It would be harder for them if we threw it right behind them.  It’ll make for a much riskier fall, but if we can make it through there, we should be in a much better position.”

            “I like May’s idea better,” said Roxton, and I could tell that another argument was about to begin.

            I spoke quickly before Clara could put in a word, “Let’s just go with Clara’s idea; it’s probably more logical then mine.”

            Roxton threw the rope, and it landed on the tree perfectly.  “You have to teach me how to do that,” I told him, grinning.  And, yes, yet again, people started staring at me like I was a crazy person.  “Seriously guys, what is wrong with me smiling?” I asked them.

            “We’ll tell you later,” said Jordie, grabbing one of the pieces of rope I had cut.  He looped it over the zip-line we had created, and began swinging down from the mountain.

            Moht jumped on, then Gaviella, and then, since we were running low on rope, Kerlie used his tail.  “Ooh!  This looks like fun!” exclaimed Evre, and quickly swung down before I could say that I hadn’t cut a piece of rope for her.  We had two pieces of rope and three people.  And between the two of them, there was also going to be quite the argument. 

            After about a minute into the debate of who should stay here, I quickly said, “I can use my hands.  I’ve done similar things already; I think I know what to do.  You guys go.”

            They grudgingly set off with their ropes, and I rubbed my hands together in anticipation.  I backed up a few inches, and then took a running leap forward.  I grabbed the rope before I fell, the momentum hurting my fingers.  But it seemed like it worked, because I was sliding forward really fast.  Maybe a little too fast.

            I was coming up behind Clara, going much faster then her.  I shouted to her, but the wind in her blue Wocky ears must have been too loud, because she never even looked behind her.  I gulped, when suddenly I came up an idea.

            I let go of the rope with one of my paws, and swung to my right.  I had plenty of momentum, because right as I was about to hit Clara, I started to swing back.  Then I let go with my other paw, and flew through the air for about a second.  Using all of my strength, I grabbed onto the rope in front of her.  Unfortunately, I kept swinging, and found myself going a little too far to the left.

            And right into a tree.

            I held onto the tree for dear life, and I didn’t fall into the crowd.  My head spun and it felt like I had just played a loosing game of Darigan Dodgeball, for the horrible feeling of loss spun quickly through my heart.  I was going to die, I realized, and I didn’t think that anything could save me now.  Anyone, though, was an entirely different matter.

            Evre grabbed me under my shoulders, and I was certain that I was going to pass out, but I kept my consciousness by force; I knew it would be bad if I fell asleep.  We were flying directly towards the ship, which looked like it was very close to the land (Lillian had brought it as close to the island as she could, but in the process had gotten it stuck in the sand).  Evre dropped me quickly onto the deck of the ship, and I stood up, steadying myself with the railing.

            Everyone else was quickly coming towards us, and they all clambered aboard.  The army was close behind us, and we were almost certain that we were not going to get away. 

            Evre flew away from the ship, and levitated in the air for a few seconds.  It seemed like she was spacing out and muttering to herself.  We readied ourselves for battle, and I took out my stick from my backpack.  I had shoved it in there at the last minute, and now it looked like I was going to have to use it.

            “Acendebis!” I heard Evre shout behind me, and suddenly the boat began to float into the air.  With another something in a different something in Altadorian, we began flying at what felt like the speed of light.

            We couldn’t steer, the captain was unconscious anyways.  We soared over the island, and then over the sea, and then over Krawk Island, and suddenly we saw the Lost Desert, and then I gasped as we flew over Shenkuu.  We saw all of Neopia in about fifteen seconds.

            Of course, we had to drop to the ground, for the winds were whacking us straight in our faces.  We lay down on the deck of the ship, holding onto whatever we could find for dear life.  “How do we land this thing!?” I heard someone shout over the not-so-light breeze.  I looked around for Evre, but it actually looked like we had left her behind.

            That’s when we began coming up on Neopia Central.  The ship began to sink a little bit, and suddenly we crashed right near Uni’s Clothing.  About half of the ship skidded another couple of feet, and we decided that the ship was wrecked.  I guess you could say that I was at least a little bit glad that the captain had stayed asleep during this time.

            We got off of the ship, I guess sorta expecting some kind of congratulations.  A few Neopians glanced at us sideways, but continued on walking.  I had certainly seen plenty of flying ships crash into something, about once every few months.  I guessed they just thought it to be normal.

            “Well, what now?” Moht asked me, and I realized with a sinking feeling that my first adventure was now over.

            “I dunno,” I said, “I guess we’re supposed to go home now.  Not like I really have a home.”

            “Hey, it’s okay, I’m only on the other side of town,” he said with a smile, and I grinned half heartedly at him.  We quickly hugged each other, and I found my feet treading quietly towards the way that I knew was the pound.  I thought I was going to go back to my old life then and there.  Boy, was I wrong.

            The wind began to pick up, papers and grass whirling around as if a tornado was about to begin.  And I saw a large dark mass in the clouds.  I realized something then: they weren’t going to be letting us live. 

            They had followed us.

Not my greatest drawing yet, but I have a feeling that it will help you guess something about the ending.