“Hey! That’s cheating!” I yelled as I viewed Damon in the cave. “You can’t sneak in there before we get a chance to complete the quest!”
“I’m not sneaking in so much as I’m trying to escape out…” Damon disputed my assertion. “It’s been a little difficult with Torcaness blocking the only exit!”
I queried, “Who’s Torcaness?” That mystery got solved when a massive, green-scaled dragon opened its red, reptilian eyes and emerged from its lair. I retracted my enquiry, “Got it!”
Torcaness let out a ferocious roar, and Kalmali admonished it, “Was that necessary? You don’t have to be so loud, we’re right here!”
It dove in our direction, and thankfully, we were all able to dodge its advance! Fletcher ordered, “Everyone, spread out!”
“Isn’t that what they said in that horror movie before everybody got killed?” George pondered.
“When we get back, you’re getting detention!” Fletcher barked.
As Aleck eluded the vicious creature, he reminded Fletcher, “He won’t remember any of this when we get back to the Earth Realm!”
Fletcher stubbornly insisted, “I don’t care!”
Kendra esteemed, “These bushes look pretty thick. They’ll keep us safe from the wretched beast!” She changed her tune when she pulled out a slightly singed knight’s armor from the branches. “Never mind!”
The sun reflected off of the mail, and it caught the dragon’s attention, so Kendra had to run from it as it neared her. It chased after the shiny object, and Kendra darted back and forth, keeping it distracted. Ginger wondered, “Is there somewhere unsafe we can lure it to?”
“We could probably find a cliff and trick it into plummeting off the edge!” Osra mulled that brainstorm over for a moment and then frowned. “Oh, but these things can fly!”
“Take your time! This situation is fine!” Kendra sardonically regarded us as she fled from Torcaness.
Out of the corner of my periphery, I caught sight of Damon attempting to tiptoe out of the cave, so I instructed the others, “Figure out a way to slay the dragon! I’m gonna go get the Gilded Pheasant!”
When I grew closer to Damon, he rushed back into the cave as if I wouldn’t dare to enter those quarters. When I followed him inside, he let me know, “I don’t have your precious bird! See?” He alluded to a golden fowl roosting at the top of a pile of coins and jewels.
My vision flickered between the Gilded Pheasant and Damon seemingly unopposed to the premise of me retrieving it, and my suspicion got roused. Getting that feathery treasure would satisfy our goal for the mission, but it was definitely out of character for that devilish dope to permit us to gain a victory so easily. After weighing my options, I finally decided the risk involved with this venture was too high to trust his integrity, and when I realized he had none, I felt compelled to ask him, “Alright, what’s the catch?”
“Nothing!” Damon answered with a shrug.
“What was that?” I probed as a luminescent glow flashed off of his hand when it was visible.
Damon hid his arms behind his back and acted innocently, “I have no clue what you’re referring to!”
From outside, I heard Phoebe propose, “Why don’t we strangle it?”
I chased after Damon to uncover the truth, and Eamon objected to Phoebe, “How would we do that? Our grip would be useless against its massive neck!”
Damon tripped over a tiara, and he exposed his fingers- one of which had turned into a glittery yellow hue! Damon unwillingly admitted, “That’s what happens if you touch it apparently!”
“What if we use a rope?” Jasper posed to the rest of them.
“A rope would help in this scenario!” I noted. “But I doubt Toraness would have any in this-!”
Ginger determined, “We’d need something that’s at least forty-four inches long!”
Damon demonically laughed at me, “It looks like you’re about to fail your quest!” As he cackled, he stretched out his limbs victoriously, and in so doing, he knocked a pile of trinkets down. At the top of the heap, a new set of valuables got revealed, including the Rainbow Tektite! Damon and I each got the same idea, and as we strove to reach the summit, we inhibited each other from moving forward.
While all this was occurring, Ellie remarked, “Forty-four inches? That’s my waist size! Oh, why did I say that out loud?”
“Hold on! That means we can use your corset to choke Torcaness!” Aleck exclaimed as Damon managed to push me off of the heap.
“Nuh-uh!” Ellie refused as I used Damon’s cape to pull him off of the rubble. “You can’t use my clothes to… Wait, none of this is mine! Here!”
I reached for the Rainbow Tektite, but Damon pulled my leg so that I couldn’t reach it. As this struggle went on, I heard commotion blaring out from the exterior, and I couldn’t discern whether or not our side was winning. It was inadvisable to entertain any negative possibilities at that juncture, so I presumed that someone was able to get Ellie’s corset around the dragon’s neck. I wished I had a second to spare to commotate on what a bizarre plan that was! If Damon prevented us from getting home, we would be doomed to remain in this realm forever! We would’ve missed our family, lost out on our jobs, and had to buy Ellie another corset without any of their currency at our disposal! I had to unearth a method of shaking Damon off immediately, but I was at a loss of what action to take… until…
Our brawl pushed a bronze egg from its lofty position and nearly whacked Damon in the noggin! Damon swirled out of the peril’s path, but he had to loosen his hold on me to do so. I garnered the ability to speed to the Rainbow Tektite, and mercifully, I was able to obtain it! Precisely when I grabbed it, Aleck entered and proudly proclaimed, “We slayed the dragon!” He spotted the Rainbow Tektite in my palm, and he somewhat sourly observed, “Evidently, we didn’t need to waste our efforts!”
I would’ve normally reassured him that they pulled off a magnificent feat, but seeing how everyone had convened in the cave, I judged it to be more prudent to flee from the medieval realm as soon as possible. I requested to the Rainbow Tektite, “Please, take us to the Earthly Realm!” The twirling vortex appeared, and I was delighted to catch a glimpse of Damon pouting prior to our departure from the land!
We manifested in the gym in the same spots we previously stood, which made the Ancestral League breathe a sigh of relief. The boys of Fletcher’s P.E. class gazed at each other perplexedly though. “Did something just happen?” Huey questioned no one in particular.
“What happened? Volleyball happened, that’s what!” I conveyed this to him. That wasn’t even a total lie- we did use a volleyball to defeat a monster in part of our journey!
“Why do I have this burn mark on my arm?” Jimmy catechized while peering at a scorched blemish on his skin.
Phoebe fibbed, “That’s a haphazard of the sport!”
George stated, “Why do I get this weird vibe like I did when Rakey was around?”
“You were in trouble then, and you’re in trouble now!” Fletcher articulated. “Detention after school today!”
“For what?” George reconsidered his protest, and then he accepted his fate. “Eh, I probably deserved it for something! Besides, the day is going by fast anyway! It’s already almost third-period!”
Ginger, Ellie, Aleck, Phoebe, and I all glanced at the clock, and we were horrified at the accuracy of his comment. Without saying goodbye or giving one another accolades for a job well done on that mission, we barreled back to our classrooms.
It wouldn’t have surprised me to have seen my students in the hall after dealing with whatever potential disaster Mrithan manufactured, but I did get surprised to encounter Casper in the foyer! He eyeballed me suspiciously, and then he grilled me, “You’re doing another paranormal investigation, aren’t you?”
“No…” I did my utmost to make that sound convincing, but I lacked confidence in my persuasive skills in that instance.
“How could you neglect to seek my advice once again?” Casper upbraided me. “Don’t forget, the occult is my specialty! I’m the expert in this field! Every person in town knows that! Especially Kaleva- that’s actually how we met! You see, we were on this ghost-hunting tour, and she… Where are you going?”
With my hand on the doorknob to my room, I couldn’t resist giving him a sarcastic response, “The North Pole! Actually, that wouldn’t shock me at this point!”
Casper grew indignant about my attitude. “Here you’re making jokes while I’m sincerely attempting to resolve the problem plaguing the school! Not listening to my wisdom and experience will-!”
“No one’s stopping you from doing your investigation!” I brought it up in hopes of ending this tedious conversation.
“You’re right!” Casper’s visage lit up in furor of the truth I inadvertently spoke. “I’ll conduct my own research, and, as a courtesy, I’ll share with you anything I find.”
Without a hint of authenticity, I verbalized, “Sounds great!”
Casper rubbed his chin contemplatively. “I need to uproot the fairy folks from their hiding spot! Where did I put my divination rod?” Preceding him explaining what that tool was or why he was so certain the culprits behind these attacks were fairy folks, I went into my classroom.
To my startlement, I walked into my space only to behold Mrithan hanging from the ceiling! He had evidently gotten tangled up in the projector’s screen holder, and all of the kids from second-period were in the midst of a mirthful uproar. Mrithan noticed my presence, so he requested, “Assistance, please!”
“They didn’t see any of the film?” I reacted in dismay as I pulled him down by his ankles.
“No, no, no! I mean, yes! They saw all of it!” Mrithan swore as I wrestled with freeing his sweater from the contraption. “I was merely trying to create a larger aisleway for everyone as the period ended!”
The bell rang, and as the pupils piled out, I shook my head in disgruntlement. I supposed I ought to have felt grateful that he kept the lesson plan running in my absence, but it irked me that I was forced to tend to his foolishness when I could’ve spent my few minutes of pause between second and third period to consider remedies for the existential crisis of the Rainbow Tektites appearing in our realm. I wasn’t clear on what I could’ve come up with in that short stretch, but still! I could’ve considered the suspects and who may have slipped the mystical rock shards into consumable goods that Aniela, George, and others all partook in. Suddenly, it occurred to me that the fix to my difficulty was literally staring me in the face…
With as much nonchalance as I could muster, I petitioned Mrithan, “So, are a lot of children gonna miss out on your special brew since you’re away from your desk?”
“Huh?” Mrithan obviously wasn’t expecting that topic to get raised on this occasion. “Oh, that! Nobody usually gets that unless it’s the start of the day or lunchtime.”
“I heard there’s a secret ingredient to your espresso that isn’t found anywhere else on this planet. Is that true?” I pressed him as he became dislodged from his ensnarement.
Mrithan’s brows considerably furrowed at that concept. “There is? Hmm! I never thought about reading the ingredients before, but since you mentioned it, I’ll take a gander at it! Well, unless I missed a bunch of calls again! See ya!”
I wanted to interrogate him further, but the bell rang again, and I would’ve appeared insane if I delayed the teens’ learning to chat about coffee! I watched him leave, and I was glad I arranged to show a short flick today- I wouldn’t have been able to concentrate on anything that required any sort of thinking as I soaked all that transpired in!
After school, I went to the grocery store and put two bottles of wine on the conveyor belt. Once I was through, my phone rang. Assuming it was Phoebe needing something from the supermarket, I picked it up, “Hello?”
“Hey, Connor!” my dad greeted me. “Just a friendly warning- your mom is coming to your house this Saturday to introduce you to the wedding planner she hired.”
“Okay!” I sighed. With all of the recent tumult, I nearly forgot about the whole marriage ceremony undertaking! It was aggravating that I didn’t have a valid excuse to postpone it, but I certainly couldn’t reveal that I needed to wait to do this until I thwarted an escaped Hellian’s apocalyptic scheme!
My father reluctantly added, “There’s more… She’s bringing a couple of family members too! Sorry!”
I groaned, “Relatives wanna visit too? Ugh! Well, thanks for the heads up!”
Following another exasperated exhale, I put four more bottles of alcohol onto the counter. The clerk guessed, “Your relatives are heavy drinkers?”
I affirmed, “No.” She raised her eyebrows but didn’t broach the subject any further. As I took off from that locale, I beseeched the universe to keep that paranormal pest away from my abode until my loved ones concluded their stint in Terra Belle!
My Stories 