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

Chapter 22: The totally embarrassing attack

Jake hit his head at least fifty times on the tunnel before they finally tumbled out of the crawl space in a heap. As his annoying older brother Parker would say: Dude, how can you manage to hit your head fifty times in a row without getting knocked out? I mean, seriously? Maybe for once, Parker did have a point.

Stacy, Tara, and Lily slowly got up from their human pile. Five seconds later, they were talking to Jake like very angry mothers. "Jake Iander, what in the world were you thinking?" Tara demanded. "Going against all those dwarves all by yourself ... I'd rather go with a group of people myself," Stacy said. "You are much too young to be picking fights," Lily declared. "Whatever," Jake muttered. "What did you say?" all three girls said at once. As he opened his mouth to say something an evil cackle startled him.

"Ha!" A dwarf stood no more than ten feet away, wielding a brass club with a worn leather grip and steel spikes. The surprised but now alert group rose unsteadily. Stacy hid a dwarf's knife she had stolen behind her back. Lily enclosed a pile of dirt in her hand. Tara reviewed her numerous headlocks and throws, and Jake slowly drew his sword. The dwarf laughed. "You think you can defeat me, the leader of the dwarves? This is too funny. Let's play a little game. I'll give you two hours to hide in the maze, and then I'll come looking for you." "You despicable dwarves," Jake snarled. "I'll-" "What maze?" Stacy asked. The dwarf smiled and threw his club.

The club smashed a withered bush into dust and screws rolled everywhere. A metal bush was not a good sign. In ten seconds the ground underneath them had caved in and they fell through, landing on a stone floor. Lily groaned and sat up. The dwarf had disappeared. Around them, walls stretched out. The walls seemed to form a rock labyrinth, complete with dead ends and potholes. Tara swore. "We're supposed to play hide and seek in that?" I guess so," Stacy replied. A war horn blew and the game began.

As soon as the horn sounded, Tara yelled, "Split up!" As they took a step forward, the walls around them shifted, so now there was only one corridor with numerous stone trenches. "Never mind," Tara muttered as Lily started through the tunnel.

If you think Lily was brave, you're wrong. Lily started running because she had felt that they would be in big danger if they stayed there. Before long, Jake, Stacy, and Tara had caught up with her. The corridor began to widen as they sprinted over the stone ground. Five minutes in, a trip wire sent Lily sprawling. "Duck, people!" Jake yelled as whistling sounds filled the air. Stacy pushed Lily into a trench as Tara tripped and crashed into Jake, who fell into another trench as arrows filled the air, sinking into the stone walls with a dull thunk. Lily crouched as cage doors topped with sharp metal points slid over the trenches. They were trapped.