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

Chapter 25: The collapsing tower

Jake wanted to kick himself.

First of all, Tara just had to trip and send him painfully into a trench - that was no accident. Second, he should've remembered to keep his sword out before he got handcuffed. At least he could have some kind of defense against the dwarves. But wait! There was more! Lily had "borrowed" his sword and ran away with Stacy to save him and Tara. The nerve that he needed to be rescued by girls ... ugh! Jake had gotten his sword back, though Lily didn't look too happy about it.

"Don't expect me to steal your sword again. It's not like I'm going to bust out some moves every time I have to rescue you," Lily told him. "I don't need rescuing," Jake protested. "Oh, yes, you do. You're just a little baby, remember?" Lily smiled. This led to some very creative swearing in Elfin from Jake. Stacy covered her ears and Tara groaned. When he finally stopped elf cussing, he said, "I hope you did not understand that." Lily winced. "Don't worry. I got the gist."

Meanwhile, Stacy peeked out of a window. "Well, the good news is, the elves probably haven't gone extinct, and the candy store is still open," she reported. "What the crap?" Lily muttered. Stacy continued: "The bad news is, dwarves are everywhere, and there seems to be nothing that can stop them." "Oh, dang it!" Tara barked.

Suddenly, a girl about Lily's age with long blonde hair stumbled around the corner. She was definitely an elf. Seconds later a man with spiky brown hair and a long nose followed. Jake stepped forward. "What news of the elves?" he asked. The long-nosed dude answered, "Most are wounded, but there are still some fighters out behind the towers." "But there are still many dwarves in the city," the blonde girl added. Jake sighed. "Better than I thought. Well, then-"

BANG! The tower began to crumble, the ceiling caving in and the walls creaking. "Ann, Will, run!" Tara yelled. The blonde girl and the long-nosed dude darted down the corridor. A section of ceiling above Jake cracked, threatening to collapse. Lily pulled Jake's sword right out of his sheath - so much for keeping promises - and chucked it at a large piece of stone as it fell. The blade intercepted the rock, breaking it into smaller pieces so they bounced harmlessly off Jake's head. Then something hard smacked into his forehead and he blacked out.

Tara yanked Stacy to one side as rubble smashed through the floor. Lily screamed as a rock hit Jake's head with a thunk. He fell to the floor unconscious. Lily picked up his sword from the floor. Stacy scrambled away from a hole in the ground. "We can't stay here any longer!" she yelled. Tara high-kicked a rock into dust and dragged Jake next to Stacy. The floor suddenly tilted at a nauseating angle, throwing Tara out of a broken window. Lily pressed herself against the wall along with Stacy and Jake, but Tara was hanging on to the windowsill with two fingers. Then the tower tilted to the right and Lily tumbled out of the window, dislodging Tara from her ledge as she fell past.