Two Worlds (Written by a 10-year-old author, 62,000 words, 72 chapters)

Chapter 9: Over the hill and into the water

Tara hated to be alone.

But even as she ordered Lily to follow Stacy through the door without her, she knew it was the right choice. Now she couldn't have been less alone in her life - surrounded by dwarves.

The dwarves had appeared out of nowhere. The little people surrounded her in a loose semicircle, their weapons gleaming. Tara began to think fast. If she moved, they would knock her out with a dart or worse. If she stayed still, the dwarves would capture her anyway. A smart person wouldn't move.

Tara moved.

She leaped at the nearest dwarf and grabbing his wrist, flipped him to the ground. She ducked and rolled as grenades were thrown over her head. Tara ran as bombs burst on the floor inches away.

Uh oh, Tara thought as she began to tire. Those sleep bombs were easy enough to make anyone go good night. If she could make it to that door ...

The entrance to one of the countless hallways in the tower was fifty feet away ... forty feet away ... twenty feet away ... She dove for the door as a sleep grenade spilled its contents on her head. Dang it!

***

Lily winced as she limped along the hard floor, leaning on Stacy's shoulder. That stupid fireball had blown her into the wall hard. She managed to stagger to the door. Stacy looked outside and frowned. "That's strange," she said. "The dwarves have disappeared." It was true. There was not a single dwarf in sight. "Let's check outside the wall," Lily suggested. Together they stumbled past the remains of the north wall and over a hill. "They're over there," Lily said, pointing.

Next to a lake, the remaining dwarves floated inside a giant pool of water, relaxing. Their location puzzled Lily. Why didn't they just swim in the lake? Lily's hand reached into her battered weapons bag. Her dart gun was gone, but at least she had a few grenades.

Lily pulled out a lightning bomb and lobbed it at the pool of water. ZAAAAAAAPFWOOOM! Light crackled through the ball of water and the dwarves inside went limp. The whole thing happened in five seconds, less than Lily expected, but water is an excellent conductor of electricity. The two walked down the hill.

No sooner than Lily's foot touched the bottom of the hill a growling sound echoed through the air. "Get down!" Lily hissed. As they crouched on the grass a sleep grenade exploded next to Stacy and she fell over. Lily scrambled to her side.

Thump. Lily glanced to her right to find a strange-looking bomb with a ticking timer on it.

3:00.

2:59.