This was it. It was now or never. Under the ground on which Nya stood, the blackest magic in Lar was trapped. And maybe also her mum.
Nya couldn't believe she had forgotten about her mum and the lucky stick. But then, they had met a talking bear. She slipped the stick out of her jeans and held it against a tree.
The wood has exactly the same. This stick had come from Lar, and somehow ended up inside Nya's mum's favourite jacket. That settled it. That memory wasn't a dream, something her brain had made up.
Her mum was here. She was most likely the stranger from the story, and was stuck inside the cave among the shadows. Dead or alive, Nya didn't know.
"Okay. I'll do it. But first I need some information," Nya said to Berny. Pat stared at her.
"Are you sure, Nya? I mean, even if we could get in there, we don't even know a thing about defeating the shadows! How are we supposed to save Lar if we don't know how?" Pat's face was clouded with worry.
Nya knew the words he didn't voice aloud, because she was thinking the exact same thing. Why us?
But that wasn't the point at the moment. She needed to find her mum. She turned to Berny.
"First thing; how do we kill the shadows?" Nya said 'kill' with a slight flinch. Even though these were evil magic that wanted to burn Lar to the ground, didn't mean that saying the word 'kill' aloud sounded any better.
"Well you have those little daggers your carrying, don't you? Use them. It's quite simple," said Berny. Nya gripped the small knife Al had given her before they left. It was in the opposite pocket to her lucky stick.
Al hadn't wanted her and Pat to go alone, but he had other things to do, helping the village. So, just as a precaution, he'd said, he gave her the dagger. Pat already had his own.
She couldn't help noticing that her's had little engravings of bears on wooden handle.
"Okay, how do you know my name?" Nya asked, not wanting to talk about their weapons anymore, let alone how Berny had know about them.
The bear looked a little surprised, but kept an innocent face. "Why, I haven't said your name at all. What do you mean?"
"I mean, that when we first met you, I couldn't understand your growls, but later in the walk I could. You must've said my name at one point," said Nya.
"Well, Nya Aquas, let me tell you that I can growl when I want to, and I can talk when I want to. I don't need no special name magic! You don't hear your friend Pat growling back to me now do you? It just happens that I understand a little human language. What is it you speak, Italian?
Anyway, you're the only one that growls back, little Nya. Don't ask me why. But I can smell bear on you, child. Now, enough questions. Off you go to save the world, human children! Toodaloo!"
And with that, Berny bounded away into the forest. Nya watched him go with her mouth open.
"And he's just going to leave us? Just like that?"
"Yep," said Pat, "What do say we go down that cave and fight some monsters?" He had a slight smile on his face but his hand gripped his dagger so tight his knuckles were white.
Nya was scared too. She had hardly been in Lar for a day and already they were being asked to rick their lives for the forest. But looking around the trees, Nya wondered how many had given their lives so humans could have roofs over their heads.
Berny was right. If they don't at least try, there's a lot of wood to burn in the forest. She stepped towards the cave entrance.
"Those shadows are going to wish they had never crawled out of the ground 200 years ago."
~
It was a long way down. After they had stepped across the threshold of the cave the doorway had disappeared behind them, replaced with a rocky wall.
In front of them was a spiral staircase, leading downwards. Nya swore they had been walking for at least ten minutes and still there was no sign of the bottom. The uneven cave ceiling had gone out of sight a long time ago.
Shadows flickered across the walls. Animals and monster-like silhouettes flew around Pat and Nya's own shadows of their own accord. Nya kept close to the inside railing, away from the wall.
Just as she was about to say that maybe this wasn't the cave but a witch's basement or something, that they should head back up, the staircase stopped. An archway led into the dark unknown.
Pat nearly bumped into her from behind. Seeing the dark doorway he unsheathed his dagger. Nya did the same. Nya took one look back up, but there was no light of the world to say bye to.
"It was nice knowing you," she said.
"You too. At least we'll die trying to save the world." Pat replied. Nya thought that dying to save a magic world was a pretty good excuse to kick the bucket.
They stepped through to the dark....
Into even more darkness. Nya couldn't see anything. It felt like she had just walked into a black hole.
"Pat? You still there?"
"Right next to you. I think. Do you think there's a light switch around here?"
Nya felt a hand brush her shoulder. Pat's breath went into his throat. "What was that?"
"Me, you nincompoop," said Nya.
"No, I heard something."
Nya couldn't see Pat's face, but she could imagine his look of worry. She tried to quieten her breathing and listen.
Boom. Boom. Boom. A quiet throbbing noise, like drums pounding in the distance.
"Jumunji," she whispered under her breath. But the drums didn't get any louder, just a faint pulse.
"Maybe we should leave..." But when Nya took a step backwards towards what she thought was the door, her back hit a wall. Must be over a little, she thought. But taking a few steps to the left and right she found that the doorway was completely sealed off.
Not again.... It felt like their options were limiting by the minute. Every door that closed was drawing them closer to the centre of the cave. Where the black magic was held prisoner.
"Nya? What's wrong?" he must of heard her groping in the dark. Nya told him their problem. The silence seemed to stretch out before them, engulfed in blackness. Only the drums sounded. There was only one way out. She took a step forward.
Suddenly a faint light began to grow out of the darkness, just a shimmer, until everything was doused in a soft, dim light. It was just enough to see the details of their surroundings. Nya couldn't help but gasp.
Rocky uneven walls grew around them with the light. The walls looked like they had been carved right out of the cave, and were as tall as two Bernys placed on top of each other.
A single break in the rock, wide enough to accommodate both Nya a Pat, revealed a hallway with it's own breaks and a turn at the end. They were in a maze.
Nya's first thought was 'woo hoo this is fun! I love mazes!'. Then she remembered where they were. In a cave where shadows that could burn you alive lived. Not so fun.
The maze would be terrifying. Every corner you turn there could be something behind it. Every choice you make would lead you further into the cave, and further away from the entrance to the world above. Or lack of entrance. Stupid shadow cave, trying to make things hard for them.
Pat found his resolve first. "Come on, we've got to keep going." Just hearing his voice break the almost silence seemed to bring her back to the world. Come on Nya, be brave, she told herself.
Armed with their weapons, Nya and Pat stood at the entrance the maze. Nya suddenly remembered something she had learned about mazes.
"If you stick along the left wall you'll eventually find your way to the middle. Or was it end? I don't know. It isn't always reliable, but we can give it a try," she said.
"Sounds like a plan," said Pat. Nya could hear the fear in his voice and wondered if he could hear hers. She trailed her hand along the left wall and they entered the maze.
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Hello people of the world!
This chapter didn't have much action, sorry. Stick with me though! It might get better (I hope).
Maybe I should just kill off the characters and end the book. I don't know, but I think I might keep going. I've got enough loyalty to them to continue the story for a little longer at least.
Vote and Comment and all that stuff.
Yours in demigodishness and all that,
FranVader