Of Mice & Magic: Book 1 Ravenspell

Chapter 11: The Dark Mage (part 2)

And now the monster reached out with one tentacle and grabbed a long green line of goo. It began grunting as it pulled the web, dragging the mice toward it.

Amber stepped from the shadows and shouted, "I wish—" just as second wall of snot flew into her.

The stuff hit her like a brick, knocking her back, leaving her dazed. She found herself pinned against the wall, green goop gluing her in place.

The stuff was so sticky that she couldn't move a muscle, couldn't even open her mouth. Through a gap, she eyed the shadow.

Now it evaporated like a mist, and the monster rose up on it hind legs, waving its tentacles. "I am the mighty Ratzilla!" it cried. "The time for your unmaking is here."

It waved its tentacles, and a bolt of blue light shot toward Amber.

A thought flashed through her head, a longing to be outside, away from this mess.

Suddenly, there was a whoosh of air, and a pop, and Amber found herself and all of the other pet shop mice rolling on the cement driveway outside.

She slammed into a dandelion, and white dandelion down floated all around her.

First a whoosh, then a mighty explosion. Fire and smoke issued from the back of the pet shop, and the door blew across the little parking lot.

The mighty Ratzilla stalked through the smoke, cruel and unstoppable.

He peered at all of the pet shop mice, his horrible eyes looking three directions at once. But it was very hard to see through all of those tentacles waving around its mouth. "Come," the creature shouted. "You cannot escape me!"

Ben and a pair of pet shop mice crouched by the wall, just beside where the door had been. Grasping his spear, Ben hopped toward the monster in a mighty leap, but Ratzilla whirled, caught Ben in all eight tentacles, and hurled him thirty feet through the air.

"Help!" Ben called.

"Leave us alone!" Amber cried. And suddenly Ratzilla went hurtling through the air, blasting up like a firework, and shooting into the stratosphere in a gorgeous display of scintillating purple sparks.

Amber had no idea where he went. She looked up, and he was just flying, flying, flying up toward the black clouds.

"And I wish you'd stay gone forever," she added.

Suddenly there was a flash as three bolts of lightning struck from three separate points on the horizon, streaking all across the sky to converge on the purple lights.

For a moment, Amber went blind from the display, and then the heavens grumbled, with displeasure.

Ben plopped on the ground beside Amber, and shook the stars out of his head. All of the mice began to cheer, and they converged on Amber, shouting, "Amber the Cat Killer. Amber the Brave!"

Their voices were a distant roaring in her ears. Amber peered up at the sky, and her eyes filled with tears. Her heart was nearly breaking.

"It's time," she told Ben. "It's time for me to turn you back into a human."

Ben looked up at her in surprise, unable to find his voice.

"But—" he began to say.

"No buts," Amber said, her decision final. "You've kept your part of the bargain, and did it heroically. You helped free the mice of the world, and now it's time to receive your reward."

"But, I didn't," Ben said. "I can't tell a lie. I didn't keep my part of the bargain."

Amber looked at him, unsure of what she was hearing. "What do you mean, you didn't keep your part of the bargain?"