Chapter 34: Vocal Enemies

Brenda put her hands together, “Now, follow me, please.” She went to the wall behind her desk instead of the exit and for a moment I had become sure I had just signed a deal with a mad woman. She put her hand on the wall in an imitation of grabbing a handle.

Yup, definitely insane.

And then, to my amazement, the wall swung open and revealed a room on the other side. We each stepped inside, all of our mouths agape in wondrous confusion. This room had a large table that took up the entire center and a giant window that stretched across the entire wall opposite the way we entered. On the other side of the window was another room that was much, much bigger than that one. It stretched several stories below this room, many more above it, and was at least half a football field long.

A slam came from behind me and I jumped into the table. It had just been the door, a door that seemed to no longer be there, replaced by a wooden wall. I looked closer to it, trying to find the crease but couldn’t see any. In fact, the pieces of wood ran across exactly where the creases would’ve had to be.

The sound of a door flinging open rang through the room and I jumped once again to see Venelope’s wide eyes as she opened a door - one that was actually clearly there in the room. Her face when she came into the room looked pensive but then relaxed and she huffed, “Goddess, do you have to do that every time?”

Brenda chuckled, “It is fun.”

Venelope closed her eyes and took a quick breath, “Lequin has set up the room. We are ready when you are.”

“Good!” She looked at us and went to talk again but Finn spoke before she could.

“Are we not going to talk about the door that just disappeared?”

Brenda smiled but her annoyance was thinly veiled. Probably how Finn wanted it to be. “It is a gift I possess. Now, this room is the observatory and that room,” she waved a hand to the room past the window. “Is the Mind Room. Before you make your way there, I would customarily query you on your weapon choices, but it appears that each of you have found your designated weapon. So, when you are ready, walk through the door where Venelope shall take you into the Mind Room.”

“And why is it called the Mind Room?” Hazel asked, her voice skeptical just as Finn had been. I didn’t blame her, I was beginning to have doubts too.

“Do not worry, this is simply a way to rank each of you to understand where you stand amongst the rest of the Adventurers.”

“So in this guild, we compete against the other Adventurers?” Gronan asked.

“In a way, yes. But I like to view it more in the lens of assuring no one is allowed contracts they are not prepared for. Now, please, I am on a stringent schedule, are there any pertinent questions any of you have?”

“Several,” Finn said and began toward the door. “But something tells me I won’t get an answer I like.”

“Great, then please, make your way-”

Finn opened the door and closed it behind him.

“He is not one for patience, is he?”

“Not entirely,” Hazel answered as she went to the exit. We followed her but it became immediately apparent that the room we came into was not the one that Venelope had come from. The room was massive, spanning at least half a football field. The floor was made out of a gray tile and the walls were made up of the same material except for a small slit of glass on the opposite side of the room where a figure stood, watching us.

“Um, how did we get to the bottom of this place?” I heard my voice crack as I asked the question.

Venelope appeared beside us, “The Mind Master makes sure nothing is as it seems. It is best to trust nothing.”

“Can we trust you?” Gronan asked.

She gave a sly smile and winked, “Of course.” But as soon as she spoke the words, she blinked out of existence.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Finn said.

“It will be fine,” Hazel said. “It is called the Mind Room, it must all be in our minds.” Though, I took note of the slight tremor in her hands as she pulled her bow off her shoulder. She nodded toward a wooden door in front of us attached to nothing and floating a few inches above the ground. “That just appeared there, right?”

We went to it. “Who wants to be the first one to open it?” I asked.

Nobody answered.

“I’m not going through there first!” I protested.

“You heard Dadrid back in the other town,” Hazel contested. “You are our leader.”

“Oh hell no, I’m just a country boy. No way am I being put as leader.”

She snickered, “Fine, you are not a leader,” She continued to stand where she was.

I sighed. “But I’m still going in first.”

“Correct.”

“Well, since I have no choice. Here I go,” I opened the door and saw it went nowhere, just to the other side of where the door was. “That was anticlimactic.” As soon as I stepped through, though, the whole world transformed into a jungle, filled with thick underbrush and trees that towered over me, making it hard for the sun to reach me.

The sun. Where did the ceiling go?

I tried to retreat back through the door but found it no longer there. The rest of the group was gone. It was just me. I was all alone.

“Well shit,” I muttered. “This isn’t what I was expecting.”

Something rustled through the underbrush of gigantic, elephant ear plants. I gripped my staff and readied myself for whatever was going to come. The rustling was getting louder, and quickly. Whatever it was, it was sprinting straight toward me.

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Then I saw the elephant ears moving, the leaves being jostled this way and that. It was almost here. Whatever it was, it was coming this way and it was going to get me. The energy within me began to buzz and my staff glowed a bright blue as my anxiety began to peak. .

What the hell did I get myself into? I’m about to be torn apart by whatever the hell is in this forest. It’s going to get me, I just know-

My thoughts came to a complete halt as a blur came out of the leaves. My instincts kicked in, urging me to shoot out a beam into whatever it was but I hesitated. And I was glad I did. The thing that came out of the woods wasn’t a massive creature ready to eat me, it was a small cat. Well, it wasn’t quite a cat. It had two tails and small, bony wings attached to its back. But even so, it looked up at me with distinctly feline eyes and meowed.

I let out a heavy, relieved sigh. “Hey there, buddy, what’s your name?”

“Meeeeeooowwwww!” It called back to me.

I stepped back. “Well, aren’t you quite vocal?”

It darted past me, continuing on through the forest. That was okay, it was just...the cat reappeared above me. But it wasn’t the cat I was staring at, it was the much, much larger version of the same creature. It was staring into my eyes with fury. That little cat was going to grow into one much like this one, its mama, but hopefully, it wouldn’t be as pissed off as she was.

My vision grew blurry and the world paused around me as familiar text appeared:

Vedrina:

A cat known to peruse these rainforests. Their distinct black fur and two tails make them stand out amongst the rest of the local cats, that and the wings and the fact they are very deadly.

The world unpaused and I was back to staring at the pissed-off mother that I just learned was ‘very deadly’. Maybe I had a chance to make her not as angry? “Why, hello there.” My voice was barely above a whisper as terror flooded me.

She let out a harsh snarl toward me and that was my cue.

I turned and hightailed it as fast as I could. I heard the soft thuds of the vedrina coming toward me. As fast as I was running, I knew as soon as I heard the footsteps that there was no way I was going to simply run away from her. I had seen that baby come toward me, it had been easily twice as fast as I was. And this one was much bigger than that one.

There was only one way I was going to get out of this, and that was by being nimble.

The footsteps stopped and I glanced behind me and saw the beast in the air, pouncing toward me. I began to fling myself to the ground. Halfway before I hit the dirt, though, I felt a sharp, burning sting as something large tugged on my shoulder.

I hit the ground hard and heard the vedrina touch down further away. I looked up to see where it was and saw it already coming back toward me. I pulled myself off the ground, and in an instant, I felt energy thrumming through my ears. I put my staff in front of me and a beam of lightning flew toward her.

I watched in horror as she ducked, her claws digging into the dirt to get as low as possible. The spell went only an inch above her. It had been close but close didn’t matter. I had missed and now I was too drained to do another. And even if I wasn’t, I didn’t have the time to conjure up another strike as it was pouncing at me for another attack. She thought I was cornered, thought I was just another mindless piece of meat. But I wasn’t.

I wasn’t going to let this beast kill me.

I jumped to the side and ran. I looked behind me to see her hit the ground just beside me and tried to turn my way but her momentum carried her across the dirt several feet away from me. I pushed the jungle leaves out of my way and went around each massive tree I encountered in the hopes of confusing the vedrina. The effort was in vain, however, as the sound of footsteps began to draw closer.

If I didn’t come up with some plan quickly, I was a goner.

That was when I saw it, a fallen down tree that was propped up against several others. The best part about it, though, was the fact that it was hollowed out. An even better part about that fact, though, was that the other trees’ roots had begun to take it over, consuming the entrance beside a small hole that perhaps I could fit through.

How do these gigantic trees stand if they’re hollow?

I didn’t worry myself with the strange question, though, I just pushed myself forward, toward the log. I had been right about my judgment on the hole and I squeezed myself just barely through it.

Good thing I’m not Gronan.

I continued my sprint through the fallen down tree. If I was lucky, the vedrina would just give up, thinking there was no point pursuing such tricky prey. But I wasn’t lucky.

The whole log shook and splinters flew past me as the creature slammed into the small hole. I looked back to see she had made it bigger, but not nearly enough for her to make it through. But that didn’t keep her from trying. She began to dig at the roots with her long, sharp nails.

Fresh cuts showed themselves and bits of wood began to fly all over the place. I felt the adrenaline begin to pump even faster through my body. The vedrina was going to get in, she was going to rip out a new hole and come at me. But then I noticed something, the roots seemed to be healing as soon as they were cut - forming back together as if nothing had happened.

The vedrina seemed to realize that, too, and pulled away from the entrance. She stared at me for several moments and then let out a huff before she turned and walked away.

“Oh thank christ,” I sighed. I had gotten away, “Finally, I got lucky for once.”

Then I was thrown to my side as the log shook harder than ever before. I scrambled to my feet. What the hell was that?

There were several holes in the dried wood and I looked through it where the impact had taken place. In front of me was the damn cat, she had hit the tree with her body. And the worst part about it was that I could see tracks in the ground from where the log had been dragged. It was going to push the tree enough for it to fall off the trees supporting it and I would fall. Even if I stayed down here and didn't fall the many feet the other side of the tree precariously was sitting up on, the other exit was just a gaping hole pointing to the sky where the vedrina could easily get into to get me.

Why did I have to say I got lucky again, I’m never lucky!

I looked to the other exit and knew it was my only chance.

Unless I fall to my death jumping out of that side.

I decided not to think any more about that thought. I just had to trust myself that it would work out. Because luck is on my side, right?

I couldn’t help myself but chuckle at that joke. I’m gonna die here.

I ran toward the exit. It was a steep incline but I was able to keep from slipping. That was, right up until there was another large shake of the log and I fell. The wood splinters cut into my arms, digging in deep. It didn’t matter, I had to survive. I began scrambling my way up on my knees. More splinters, the pain was almost disorienting.

I have to survive, I have to survive, I have to survive...

Another boom and my leg jolted. I practically squealed in pain and tears rolled down my cheeks as I looked down to see at least three inches of wood sticking out of my knee. “Oh God, oh shit. Shit, shit, shit!” I closed my eyes and began to accept my fate. “It's all over, it's all over. Dammit!” Something hit my face hard and I blinked several times before realizing it was my own hand. I had slapped myself.

Thank you. Me.

I began to scramble up the log once again, feeling each time my leg moved as the piece of log moved with it. I was almost to the light, I could see the exit. And then, I made it. I looked out and saw I was nearly at the top of the canopy. There was a ceiling of trees above me, their light reflecting off their greenery in the most beautiful fashion. I looked out at the landscape below me and saw I still had a small chance. There was a tree to my right with a giant branch about three feet above me and maybe a few inches to my right. I’d have to jump to reach it, but I could make it. Maybe.

I tried to get to my feet but immediately fell back down in pain from the splinter. Another boom came as the log shook violently. I looked up to see I was about a foot from the branch now. It had moved, but if I had tried to jump just then I probably would’ve fallen and died. I almost felt the urge to be grateful for the splinter.

Instead, I put my hand around it and took in a large breath just before I ripped it out. The pain was too intense to scream, instead, silence came out of my strained vocal cords. Blood gushed out of the wound and my knee felt limp. I wasn’t going to be able to move at all now. I had just signed my own death warrant.

Screw you splinter!