Of Mice & Magic: Book 1 Ravenspell

Chapter 3: The Great Escape

No matter how fast you run, you can't escape your own fear. The only way to beat it is to face it.

                                                                                                      —Bushmaster

Amber backed away from the gigantic lizard. Its black tongue snapped like a whip over her head. She stared at Ben in shock. He was absolutely, heartbreakingly, the most handsome mouse she had ever seen!

His onyx eyes mirrored the sparkling light from the lizard lamp. His lustrous pelt had grown a striking reddish gold, darkening until it was nearly black on top. His lithe tail was elegant, dashing. His perfect whiskers made Amber's stomach flip.

"What going on?" Ben asked, blinking. "Who took my thumbs? Where'd I get the mink coat?" He whirled, and his long tail scrambled away behind him. Ben spun, trying to get a good look at it. Suddenly, Amber saw, the truth dawned on him.

"Mom!" Ben screamed, whirling about in a blind panic. "Mom, I've got a problem! I- I think I'm a vermin!"

The huge lizard, Imhotep, stepped forward. His black tongue stabbed the air above Ben's head. "More than just vermin," Imhotep said in a thick accent. "You're a succulent, full-flavored jumping mouse, if my tongue doesn't deceive me. Firm muscles, well marbled. Just do me a favor: Don't squeak on your way down. Hearing my food shriek in my throat really ruins my meal."

"But, but, how did I get this way?" Ben pleaded.

"A curse, of course," Imhotep said. "We invented them in Egypt—mummy's curses, pharaoh's magicians. Why, my own cousin is a genie's apprentice."

"But who cursed me?" Ben wondered.

"The young wizardess." The lizard jutted a chin toward Amber.

Amber's heart pounded. "Me?" Amber squeaked, eyes wide. "I zapped him? I can't do magic!"

But someone had turned the boy into a mouse, and Amber knew in her heart that old Barley Beard had been right: She did have magical powers!

Ben whirled toward Amber, as if just noticing her. "You're a girl!" he shouted. "And I'm naked!" He threw one paw over his chest and crossed his legs.

"Of course you cursed him," Imhotep told Amber in a deep, sedate voice. "You wished that he could see how it feels to be a mouse." He paused, as Amber realized that she had screamed that, just as Ben was dropping her into the lizard cage. "Now he's a mouse," Imhotep said with finality. "So, about my dinner. . . . Who would like to say grace?"

"Mom!" Ben screamed. His shout echoed off the glass cage, no louder than a mouse's squeak. "The lizard is saying mean things!"

Imhotep lunged.

Amber dove behind a stick. Sweat dribbled down her forehead. The lizard lamp blazed overhead like a bonfire.

Ben froze with fear for an instant, then stepped back and tripped over his own enormous feet. He crawled behind the lizard's sunning log to hide.

"Wait!" Ben called to Imhotep. "Why eat me? I took good care of you!"

"Good care?" Imhotep growled. "You thought I liked watching your favorite cartoons over and over? You thought I liked bubble baths?"

"But," Ben begged, "what about Amber? She's the one you're supposed to eat!"

"Me?" Amber squeaked.