Gemini

Chapter 20* The Scarlet Berry

I scowl. Obviously she did that on purpose. For her benefit, though, I decide to keep my hands fisted at my side and instead sidle closer for a look. Zoey is fingering a few insignificant ferns growing at a crack in the wall.

“What are those?” Sam murmurs.

“White-stag ferns,” she mutters. “Absolutely poisonous. It’ll kill you in three seconds flat.” And she pockets it. We go on.

We have only been walking a while when we come across a tiny hole in the ground. Sam nudges me out of the way before I can put a foot down and subsequently fall into the hole, but then Zoey halts and pulls out a long, metal tweezer like thing from her bag. Inserting it into the hole, she gropes around for a little while before giving a grunt and yanking the handles up. Out appears a long, rooty thing- a tiny shrub with miles of roots hanging down, covered with soil. Thick roots, too. She eyes it, and then quick as a flash nips it with her nails. A chunk of root falls out and Zoey chucks the rest over her shoulder.

“This is it. Stumbarg root. It has properties similar to snake venom… It will make your throat constrict and swell until, eventually, you are unable to breathe and die. Among other nasty things.” She gives an evil sort of smile and pockets that too.

We move on, collecting numerous different sorts of mushrooms and berries and ferns. I never knew caves could be so deadly. Finally, Zoey stops and sits on a ledge jutting out of the wall and pulls out a rock. I think it was a rock, because I didn’t get a glance before the whole thing lit up like a supernova, showering light around the small space.

“Remember this?” she said, twiddling the rock fondly. “A Riston Key. We used to use this when flashlights went out of fashion.”

I was blank for a moment and then I remembered. Flashlights had been used until around the year 2060- of course, sophisticated versions that did way more than just emit light- and then they had been replaced by Riston Keys which were basically rock-like things that gave off light according to how much you wanted, just by picking up on your brainwaves. And they could be put anywhere, anywhere you wanted at all. They hardly ever broke.

“Cool,” I murmur, feeling a pang of nostalgia.

“Come on,” Zoey mutters, and she digs out all the stuff in her pockets and spreads them on the ledge. Sam reaches to examine a scarlet berry and Zoey slaps his hand away.

“Don’t,” she says almost pleasantly, “touch that unless you want to get killed.” Meekly, Sam puts back his hand, and gives me an eye-roll when Zoey wasn’t looking. I can’t help but giggle and Zoey gives me a sharp glance.

“Oh, don’t get your pants in a wedgie,” I tell her, and blew a raspberry. Sam laughed, and Zoey glares at me with unveiled hatred.

“So,” she says without looking at either of us, “this should be pretty easy. All we need to do is get Gemini to eat these. And then, when he’s stunned for about five minutes, he should shrink back into human size. Then it’ll be a matter of subduing him and getting him to talk.”

“How do you know he’ll shrink back?”

“Rule of thumb,” she answers superiorly. “Gods always shrink back into their human forms when hurt, injured, or stunned. Most of them, anyway. Now shut up. We need to get a good night’s sleep to ready ourselves for tomorrow, which will be difficult enough with your yabbering.” And then she clears up the spread of poisoned delicacies and puts them safely in her tunic, kisses Sam goodnight, and falls asleep with her back to us.

“So, um, goodnight,” I tell Sam, scratching the back of my head awkwardly. I turn to lie down too, and then he calls my name.

“Kayla?”