Chapter 17

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

The three of us stood outside the entrance of the lair. The door was a mishmash of colors. It didn't look intimidating, but we knew better.

"Okay, so here's what I'm thinking," I said, looking at Robbie and Jessie. "We split up. We can cover more ground that way."

Robbie shook his head, the stubborn set of his jaw making it clear he wasn't on board. "No, Cendi. Remember what we decided? We stick together. It's safer that way."

Jessie nodded in agreement. "Yeah, let's not make things harder for ourselves. We follow the plan."

"Right, the plan," I tried to hide my reluctance. I knew they were right. It's just that part of me wanted to rush in, find Jaylyn, and get out as fast as possible. But haste, especially here in Doodle, could mean sloppy mistakes, and in our case, potentially deadly ones.

"Alright, sticking together it is." I said.

"Good. Now, let's go rescue Jaylyn," Robbie said with a firm nod, and we stepped through the doorway into whatever awaited us inside.

The corridor ahead of us looked like a funhouse. Pendulums with blades swung from the ceiling, their arcs wide and menacing. We had to time this just right.

"Okay, on three," Robbie whispered. "One... two... three,"

We darted forward in a synchronized dash, ducking and weaving through the swinging obstacles. I could feel the rush of air as one blade swooshed by my ear, the sound making my heart race double-time.

"Watch out," Jessie yelped, tugging at my sleeve to avoid another close call .

We were almost through when Robbie let out a surprised grunt. I spun around to see him touching his face, eyebrows gone, leaving behind smooth, unmarked skin.

"Robbie, your eyebrows," Jessie gasped.

He blinked at us, then felt his bare forehead and chuckled. "Well, that's one way to avoid plucking. If that blade had been one centimeter lower, I'd be noseless right now."

"Thank goodness for small mercies, then," I tried to suppress a laugh. It was either that or scream, considering the ridiculousness of our situation.

"Let's keep moving," Robbie said, still rubbing his brow, or lack thereof, as we moved on.

Next up was a dark room the size of a small house with seemingly bare walls. Yet, something was off. We took a step in and froze. There was a terrible scent that hit us with an odor so foul, it was like walking into a solid wall of stench. The world's worst fart would have been a compliment to this smell. Breathing was impossible; I could taste the foulness on my tongue.

This wasn’t just stinky. It was dangerous. Deadly even.

"Can't... breathe..." Jessie said, her face scrunched up in disgust and fear.

"Barrier spell," I said, pulling out my wand and waving it as I swung my hips and moved my wand around. A shimmering bubble enveloped us, filtering the putrid air.

I took in a ragged breath, as did Jessie and Robbie. Clean air. Thank goodness.

"Stay close," I said, my voice muffled within our protective dome. We shuffled side by side, practically glued to each other as we made our way across the room. Every step was a trial in not stepping on toes or elbowing each other in the ribs.

"Whoever designed this place has a sick sense of humor," Robbie said, his face still comically smooth without his eyebrows.

"Tell me about it," Jessie said, her nose wrinkling even though the barrier kept out the worst of it.

Somehow, despite everything, we made it through the gauntlet of pendulums and noxious gases, ready for whatever came next.

We rounded a corner and walked into a chamber lined with crystals that glowed like eerie nightlights. They pulsed, casting shadows on the walls that danced as if alive. I instantly had a bad feeling about them. If we’ve experienced room after room of bad things, this has to be the same.

"Careful," I whispered, but my warning came too late. Jessie reached out, her fingers brushing against one of the crystals. She stiffened, eyes widening in shock before she slumped, paralyzed.

"Jessie," I cried, pulling a healing potion from her bag. I popped the cork and poured it down her throat. Her body relaxed seconds later, and she gasped for air.

"Thanks, Cendi," she said, shaking her head. "Note to self: don't touch the pretty lights."

"Let's get through here without any more touching," Robbie said, his voice strained. We navigated carefully, our bodies tense as we avoided the paralyzing beams.

Once past the chamber of crystals, we stopped, taking deep breaths.

"I feel like every step of the way in this lair is a warning to turn back," I said.

"A smart person would," Robbie responded. "But a smart person wouldn’t be trying to save someone in a dangerous lair in another world to begin with."

"Not to self. Stop touching crime scenes," Jessie said with a smirk.m

Robbie leaned back against the colorful wall… and fell backwards into darkness. I had to hold back the shriek of surprise that threatened to spill from my lips as I rushed forward.

"I’m okay," he managed, sitting up.

And he was. He’d simply fallen through some type of trap door.

"What should we do?" I asked.

Jessie shrugged. "Explore the hidden room?"

"Definitely," Robbie said, getting to his feet.

The trapped door led us to a room filled with fantastical artifacts. Everything was oddly shaped, vibrant, and full of energy. This wasn’t a room full of dangerous things. This was a room of precious things that someone would likely prefer we not find.

"Look at this stuff," Robbie said, picking up an object that resembled a clay tree. "Feels... powerful."

"Powerful and bizarre," I added, examining a lopsided smiley face.

"It is." Jessie seemed to be coming to some sort of realization. "You guys don’t have a lot of experience with powerful objects, but this is a room full of them. At the academy, we have rooms filled with magical items similar to these, but they’re kept under lock and key, because we don’t want anyone to steal them. If we find the right items, they might help us find Jaylyn and get back home. Search around. Inspect everything. But do it carefully."

"Got it," I said, but then something else caught my eye, a key, ancient and ornate, resting on a velvet cushion. I stretched out my hand and touched it. Pain seared my fingertip, and I recoiled, a drop of blood welling up.

"Are you okay?" Robbie asked, concern etching his features .

"Yeah, just... surprised." Tentatively, I touched the key again. No pain. I didn’t know what the key did, but I liked it, and I wanted to investigate it further when I got back home. I slipped it into my pocket, feeling its cool metal against my leg.

"Hey, check this out," Jessie held up a badly drawn horse figure. It thrummed with magic, but she passed it off to me.

I held the strange artifact, wondering what it might do. Could I conjure a horse to gallop through the rest of this lair on? When I glanced over at Robbie, he was bent over, studying something. My thoughts wandered to Robbie's rear, muscular and rather nice to look at, if I was being honest.

"Oi, what's that?" Robbie pointed to the wall where, projected like a shadow puppet, was the image of his own butt.

"Uh..." My cheeks flamed with embarrassment.

"Thinking nice thoughts, are we?" he said, before standing up straight and pressing a quick, soft kiss to my lips. The surprise left me momentarily breathless .

"So, the horse figurine projects what you’re thinking about on the wall," Jessie said. "That’s absolutely fascinating. And might be useful. Make sure to hold onto it."

"Agreed," Robbie said. "Although we’ll have to think less about my butt. Maybe Cendi should put it in her pocket, just in case."

"Jerk," I said, though my heart was doing somersaults. "Let’s focus. We still need to find Jaylyn."

"Right," Robbie said, grin lingering as we gathered more artifacts in our pockets and bags, each one stranger than the last.

"That might be enough," Jessie said. "We can’t have so many things that we’re weighed down."

She was right, even though some part of me wanted to keep collecting the powerful items. "Now what?"

"Go back the way we came?" Robbie asked.

We headed back the way we came, inching along carefully, watching out for more tricks and traps. Only, there were simply hallways filled with the dark drawings and the strange swirling of colors. Jessie pulled out the map, and we followed the paths that would take us to the center of the lair. To the place the Lizard Wizard was most likely to be hiding, and the place we hoped to find Jaylyn.

Time ticked by. We had to duck and hide, waiting for guards to leave, several times, but no one spotted us. Thankfully.

We edged closer to the inner sanctum, our steps almost silent on the rubbery ground. The hallway widened in front of us, and we instantly hid from sight. Jessie made a motion for us to be quiet, and look. We did, carefully, poking our heads out to see what was ahead of us. This hallway was as wide as a house, with a dozen different halls branching off from it. But right in front of us, there was a doorway, lined on both sides by our enemies. Cricket guards with blue armor and red eyes stood watch. A barrier between us and the room we were trying to get to.

Robbie gave me a nod, and I knew what to do.

"Here goes nothing," I whispered, clutching the horse figurine. I focused hard, thinking of the biggest, most terrifying bird I could imagine.

In an instant, the wall beside the guards came alive with the shadow of a monstrous bird, its wings spread wide, and talons outstretched. The crickets let out ear-splitting screams and scattered in all directions, tripping over their own feet to escape.

"Nice one," Jessie chuckled, patting my back as we slipped toward the now unguarded entrance.

The door to the inner sanctum loomed before us. Two statues flanked it, their lopsided eyes seeming to follow our every move.

"Okay, so how do we open this thing?" I asked, eyeing the door warily.

"Wait, there's something written here," Robbie said, crouching down to squint at the scrawled letters. "It's a riddle."

"Hit us with it," Jessie said, her brow furrowed in concentration.

Robbie cleared his throat. "I have cities, but no houses. I have mountains, but no trees. I have water, but no fish. What am I?"

We pondered for a moment, the silence stretching between us.

"Come on, brain," I said.

"Could it be a toy?" Jessie suggested.

"I don’t think so," I said. "What about a television?"

"I’m not sure they have televisions here," she answered with a frown.

"Robbie, any ideas?" I asked. He’d been awfully quiet.

"Guys, it's a map," Robbie said, his face lighting up with excitement.

"Of course," Jessie slapped her forehead. "Nice work,"

With the answer spoken aloud, the drawn door shuddered and swung open with a creak that sounded suspiciously like someone dragging a stick across a picket fence. We exchanged grins, ready for whatever lay beyond.

We tiptoed into the inner sanctum, the rubbery ground of Doodle muffling our steps but not enough to silence the echoes bouncing off the walls. I squinted in the dim light, taking in the nightmare before us.

The room looked like something out of an Indian Jones movie. It was huge and dark, other than the flickering torches along a stone path about as big as a four-lane road. Only, giant blades were swinging back and forth along it, and there were dark pits at random, almost hidden by the dark stone. On each side of the stone path was nothing, just a dark abyss. And at the end of the stone path? A huge throne with a terrifying creature sleeping on top of it.

"Look at that," Robbie whispered.

"Is that a lizard man?" Jessie's voice trembled.

"Yeah, with a wizard hat," I said, my own voice sounding strange in the hush of the room.

Someone had let loose with markers and clay, creating a creature both whimsical and terrifying. Dark lines swirled around him, and his eyes were two glowing orbs that didn't seem tied to any one spot on his face. He was shaped like a lizard, with black scales, and a long tail.

Then, there was movement beside the lizard wizard. I squinted at the strange creation, trying to figure out what I was seeing.

"Jaylyn," I said softly, spotting her in the center of a magical shimmering blue cage that looked suspiciously like a cage, her big brown eyes wide with fear as they met mine across the distance .

"Shh," Robbie said. "We don't want to alert him."

I nodded, feeling the weight of responsibility settle on my shoulders. As a new Fairy Godmother, it was on me to get us all out safely. We needed to free Jaylyn and deal with whatever that thing was. And we had to do it soon.

Suddenly, Zorand's eyes snapped open, zeroing in on us. He rose from the cage, like a thing of shadows and limbs, hurting toward us like a storm. His limbs twisted in ways that made my stomach turn.

"Quick, the artifact," Jessie shouted.

Grabbing it from my pocket, I clutched a small stone bird in my hand and focused. In seconds, we were nothing more than a painting of a bird on the wall, our colors blending with the scribbled landscape.

"Is it scared of birds?" Robbie asked, his voice barely a whisper.

"Looks like it," I said, watching Zorand hesitate.

But then he blinked, those slits of yellow narrowing as he peered at our illusion. "Nice try," he said, and lunged again .

"Here goes nothing," I said, removing my wand and pointing it straight at him as I created my spell. It hit him square in the chest, stopping him cold for a moment. But only a moment.

"Hit him again," Robbie yelled, his own wand at the ready.

We pelted him with spells, each one holding him back a little longer than the last. But he kept coming, relentless. And then, his own spells began to come. One exploded next to me, taking chunks out of the ground. Another hit the ground by Robbie, somehow setting the stone on fire. Suddenly, instead of being the ones attacking him, he was the one attacking us.

And he was winning.

"Stand back," I pulled deep from the well of magic inside me. I cast a protective barrier around us, a shimmering dome that echoed the blue of Jaylyn's prison.

For a while, it worked. Zorand's magic bounced off, harmless. But then, his spells became fiercer, and cracks appeared in my shield. A burst of his dark magic slipped through, and we felt the sting of cinders on our skin.

"Jessie, now," I cried out.

She didn't hesitate, flinging a handful of ice cubes into the air. The temperature plummeted, frost creeping across the floor and up the walls. Zorand's spells slowed, weakened by the sudden cold.

"Keep going," I said, but my heart sank as I saw my protection flicker.

With a roar, Zorand conjured a massive fire beside him, the heat intense enough to make the air waver. He seemed to draw strength from the flames, growing larger, more terrifying.

"Watch out," Robbie shouted as blades dislodged from the walls, hurtling toward us.

We ducked and dove, each move a desperate dance to avoid being sliced open. I could feel the heat of the fire, the chill of the ice, and the sharp threat of steel all at once, a sensory overload that threatened to overwhelm me.

"Can't keep this up much longer," I gasped, dodging another blade. My barrier was all but gone, and Zorand was just getting started .

"Jessie, do something unexpected," I said, struggling to keep my voice steady.

"Snakes. They hate snakes. Use the stone to create another illusion!" she said with a knowing glance. In a flash of light, we appeared as serpents slithering on the floor, our bodies long and our tongues flicking.

Zorand recoiled, his yellow eyes wide with fear. He stumbled back, dropping his staff and forgetting all about being scary. "No, not snakes," he said, his own snake-like quality lost in his panic.

"Chase him," Robbie said, and we did, sliding across the colored floor with an unnatural grace.

Zorand ran, his feet slipping on clay spots mixed in with the stone as he looked back at us in terror. He didn't see the hole, the one he'd conjured for us, until it was too late. With a shriek, he fell, plummeting into the depths of his own trap.

There was a moment of silence before we heard the dull thud and a sizzle. Poisoned spikes, hidden at the bottom, had done their job. Peering down, we saw Zorand's form disintegrate into smoke, the cloud dark and then vanishing like a bad dream fading with the morning light.

"Is it over?" Jessie asked, her voice tentative as we returned to our human forms.

"Looks like it," Robbie said, his blue eyes scanning the room for any further threats.

I let out a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding. The shimmering cage around Jaylyn flickered and then disappeared, leaving her free but shaken.

"Let's get out of this place," I said, already feeling the weight of the day's events heavy on my shoulders. A new start awaited, one without Zorand's shadow looming over us.