Chapter Fourteen – “Flight”

Frost, Elise and Wolfie emerged from the recesses of the Amazons’ tunnel system showing the scars of their hard fought battle. Elise looked characteristically grouchy and with good cause. Fighting off the rodents of unusual size without the aid of their muscle proved to be quite the trying experience. Their skin was covered in scrapes and bite marks, and they were so physically exhausted that all three of them collapsed in the grassy field. Andrea immediately started to scratch at the lightning bolt on her t-shirt. It was stained with the blood of vermin, much like the clothes of her companions.

“When I get my hands on Jenette, I’m going to tear off her wings and shove them up her ass!” Elise stated angrily. “You don’t abandon your unit because you’re bored. What kind of person does that?”

“Demons,” Wolfie responded, inspecting her wounds. “They’re evil. What did you expect?”

“I don’t know; a little respect from my teammate I guess.” Elise sighed as she spoke. “I just wish I knew how much farther we had to go. I’ve been stuck on a raft surrounded by cannibals at every bank, left hopelessly dangling over the ridge of a glacier in the Arctic, been stranded with no water in the middle of a desert, but I’ve never wanted a mission to be over as much as I do now. We’re undermanned, outmatched and probably have intergalactic rabies.”

“Undermanned… that’s just begging for a pun.” Andrea said with a giggle.

Elise rolled her eyes and dismissed Frost’s inappropriate timing. The erstwhile male watched her teammates’ expressions carefully. They were more than ready to throw in the towel, while she was still brimming with energy. The only sensible thing to do was to give them a little hope, something to let them know that their journey could still be a success. Without a word, Andrea took off running across the field. It was then that the true nature of what Anne had transformed her into became apparent. She left a visible red and yellow blur as she tore through the high grasses, leaving a dirt trail behind her. Her exhausted compatriots were shocked into coherence, but before they could even question Frost’s speed, the wavy-haired blonde was standing in front of them again.

“How did you do that?” Elise asked, stunned.

“I’m Batman.” Frost stated proudly, her hands on her hips. “Okay, so I’m really more like Jesse Quick, but saying ‘I’m Jesse Quick’ doesn’t have quite the same impact.”

Elise and Wolfie both stared at the girl with an unamused look.

“Okay, Anne saw my shirt and decided to give me super speed. I guess I might be a little overly-hyper as a side effect.”

“Really? We hadn’t noticed.”

“Anyway, aren’t you going to ask me where I went? No? Well, I’ll just tell you then. Being the excellent scout that I am, I scoped out the entire field for us, and you’ll be pleased to hear that we don’t have much further to go. In fact…”

Andrea Frost latched her arms with those of her friends, making sure that she would not lose her grip on either one of them with what she was about to do. Then, she dug her feet into the ground as if she was at the starting blocks of a race and burst forward at speeds so fast that the naked eye could not see. In a matter of seconds, the trio left behind the underworld entrance and stopped right in front of their destination.

“Warn us the next time you do that!” Elise shouted.

Frost turned her angry leader around so that she could see what Wolfie was now staring at, her mouth agape. In front of them stood an enormous, craggy mountain. Mountains were not a strange sight of course, especially for an experienced adventurer like Elise, but stone pillars and an entrance carved directly in the side of the mountain were another story. The doorway was so immense that a dinosaur could have passed through its gates. Upon closer examination, the pillars at the sides of the gates looked as if they had once been gigantic statues, but the faces and features of each of them were broken off, leaving no trace of who they once were. From the outside, it looked as if nobody had lived there in a millennium.

“Um, no offense, but what makes you think that this is the place we need to be, Frost?” Wolfie asked, trying to make sense of the Tolkienesque gateway.

“The first time that I ran past, there were two Amazon guards at the gates. They ran inside as soon as I stopped running. I guess that means we’ll be walking into a trap, but at least we know that we have the right place. I mean, it would have been completely embarrassing if we walked in there and all we found was some dragon sleeping on a pile of treasure.”

“Yes, that would be practically mortifying…” Elise responded in a flat tone. “Let’s get a move on and be prepared to fight.”

The intrepid young trio marched forth through the imposing gates and into the cavernous expanses of the Amazons’ base. Torches and great braziers kept the place lit in an eerie orange glow, but it was more than enough for the adventurers to immediately see that they were not alone. Amongst the high-ceilinged arches and the intricate carvings of a long forgotten civilization, the Amazons stood in vigil. Their faces would appear in the light of the fire and then disappear into the surrounding darkness. The fact that only a central path was illuminated made the rescue team all the more cautious.

“I don’t like the looks of this. Why aren’t they attacking?” Frost asked nervously.

“I would guess that they’re waiting until we reach a choke point where they can pin us down. Just keep moving. Something tells me that this path is going to lead us right where we want to be.” Elise instructed her team as they ventured deeper into the Amazons’ lair.

 

***

 

The treetops of Haven were abuzz with the nervous chatter of mother birds and monkeys. This was understandable behavior, given the presence of a translucent lavender sphere hovering only a few feet from the tiptop of the canopy. Any good mother would be protective of their young when something so large was flying past. There was a good chance that it was some new kind of hawk or eagle after their young, after all. However, this was obviously not the case, as floating pink orbs were rarely dangerous. This particular capsule, in fact, contained a rather average sized, red-haired woman wearing a white summer dress with purple flowers printed on it. If the nervous animals had known that this woman was potentially their planet’s only hope for survival, perhaps they would not have raised quite the alarm.

Anne marveled at the vast expanses of beauty the world had to offer. Unlike the world she came from, this place was pure and unspoiled, or at least what she could see of it was. According to Irene’s stories, her vision was clouded. There was a dire threat to the sanctity of the planet and she alone was their only hope for survival. While this may or may not have been true, it was still quite the burden to rest upon her shoulders, and yet, there was a building excitement in the witch’s heart that she could not control. This was the sort of thing she always dreamed of doing with her magic. It was the sort of thing that her own creation, Miranda West, did in every single one of her novels. For once in her life, she no longer felt alone. She was surrounded by a magical world, one that she was inherently curious about.

“Your world is absolutely magnificent, Irene. Where I come from, there are few places left on Earth with this kind of untouched wilderness.” Anne remarked to the pixie. “It’s hard to imagine a place with such peace and harmony on the surface…”

“Yes, it certainly looks serene, doesn’t it? As I’ve told you, however, that is not entirely the case, nor has it been in the past. We’ve had our share of violence in the past. In fact, many ages ago, where you now see trees was a blood-soaked battlefield beyond your imagination.” Irene spoke in a somber tone. “After this world’s rejuvenation, it is sad to see our home in such peril again.”

“If you don’t mind, could you tell me a little more about your world’s history?” Anne pleaded, her sense of adventure at its peak.

“What’s past is past, but we still have much ground to cover, and storytelling is a great way to make a journey seem faster. You will have to regale me with stories of your own homeland when I have finished.” The pixie declared. “Well, then I will tell you the tale of our bloody past, long before the Professor and the daughters of Athena came to this land in their Ark, back when we had our own ‘civilized’ races that choked the world of its resources.”

Anne crossed her legs in front of her and slouched against the wall of her magic bubble, settling in for Irene’s story.

“In the warring times, there were four major civilizations. The Elves lived amongst the trees, communing with nature in a way that the other groups could not possibly understand. The Dwarves carved expansive cities into the sides of mountains, leaving their likenesses wherever they went. The Trolls built vast bridges, connecting the land near their riverside villages, and then there were the Orcs. The Orcs were a nomadic army that took pride in their military might above all else. It was inevitable that these four factions would clash swords with one another.” Irene explained. “The Trolls struck a bargain with the Orcs in order to spare their villages, that they would cut a path for them and allow the Orcs easy access to the isolationist Elves and Dwarves. Soon, there were two sides and the world broke out into perpetual war. The battles struck at the hearts of our magical lands, destroying our forests and leaving us stranded from our homes. It seemed as if there would never be a cessation, until the day she appeared.”

“Ooh, she?” Anne seemed rapt with interest.

“Amidst the battling, which had long since lost any meaning to any of the factions involved, there appeared a small child. She could have been no more than four years old, by measure of your species. She had long stunning red hair and a distinctive purple glow in her eyes. The moment that she reached the center of the hostilities, everything stopped. The leaders of the four factions came forward, not knowing that this little girl was the Djinni in disguise. She asked them, one by one, if they wished for everlasting peace and not a single one of them said no. Before they knew it, every soldier, every woman and child back in their cities and villages, every last member of each of the four factions took root in the ground and became the trees that now cover most of this world.”

“Wow, but wait, why don’t you just go to this Djinni and wish for her to undo what the Professor has done?” Anne questioned the diminutive woman. “If she can change an entire planet’s worth of people into trees, can’t she reverse the deterioration of the planet itself?”

“Sure, she could, but she does not grant the wishes of forest folk, as she puts it. Then, there is her notoriously fickle nature. Even if we took you to see her, there is no guaranteeing that she would grant your wish in the way you intended. Look at what happened at the end of my story.”

“Oh, well, I guess that makes—”

The cacophony of bird and monkey noises reached a deafening apex. Something other than the girl in the pink bubble was disturbing their late afternoon peace. It took a moment for Anne to pick up the sound—the sound of trees bending and swaying, of the ground rumbling. The planet itself was wailing in pain, as if it were a small child that just skinned its knee. The earthquake made the entire jungle shake beneath them, and scared the birds below into a frenzy.

Black feathers surrounded Anne and Irene as a murder of crows, or what Anne took to be crows, took flight. Their talons scratched at the magical barrier that separated Anne from a plunge that would mean certain death, and the sheer number of birds in the sky obscured the witch’s vision completely. All she could see was Irene scrambling to safety as the hysterical birds pecked at her tiny body. Anne searched her memory for the right spell, one that would send the crows back to their nests, but her concentration was wavering as her bubble dropped down about ten feet.

“Go back to your nests!” She shouted.

As if somebody was playing with a sheet of bubble wrap, the crows popped in rapid succession. Rather than flying back to their nests, however, the birds shrank. Their lustrous black feathers were replaced by the downy feathers of a chick, and one by one, the birds tumbled from the sky and crashed through the canopy. Irene, who had been a second away from being lunch for one of the crows, stared at Anne curiously.

“That’s not how I would have gotten out of it, but it worked. Good job,” she congratulated the witch, “but it looks like we’re running out of time.”

 

***

 

It’s been a while since we’ve seen the faces in the darkness. Frost told herself. I don’t know how Elise and Wolfie are holding up so well, perhaps it has to do with their backgrounds. I know that my heart is racing and not just because of Anne’s spell. I’m neither a world-class adventurer nor am I a skilled grappler. I’m just an ordinary girl. Funny that, I would have thought I’d have more of an objection to being female, but it seems strangely natural. I don’t want to go as far as saying that I like being one, but it certainly isn’t as uncomfortable as I would have imagined. Still, considering what we’ve been through, I think I’m holding up rather well. I’m covered in blood and I’m not getting squeamish in the least. Hell, we’re walking into certain danger and yet I’m willing my legs forward. With my speed, I could put this entire place behind me without a second thought, but I couldn’t justify leaving behind my friends and the men that are being held captive. Wow, my mind’s racing as much as my heart is.

As Andrea’s mind raced, the team left behind the antechamber. The dimly lit path took them down a flight of steps, into the lower levels of the once Dwarven city. Elise’s intuition was proving itself to be rather adept. Not only were the walls closing in on them, leaving them with fewer options for escape once they were attacked, but they were heading directly to the dungeon. Yet there were still no guards in sight. Not a single one of the Amazons that had seen was even carrying a weapon.

Voices called out to them the moment that they entered the dungeon. The cells were crudely built, but were still secure enough to prevent escape.

“Over here! Get us out!” Male voices shouted from the furthest cell from the entrance.

Frost peered through the bars of one of the closer cells as they moved closer to the calls for help. Apparently, the men from their world were not the only ones being held captive. The other cells held young boys dressed in raggedy brown tunics. Not a single one of them could have been more than ten years old.

“Are you okay?” Frost called out at the door to one of the cells as Elise and Wolfie worked on the cell door where the captive hotel guests were being held.

The imprisoned children cowered in the corner of their cell, huddling together to keep safe. It was clear that they were more afraid of Frost than they were of being trapped in the cell. A sense of regret crept over the speedster as she joined her friends.

Around twenty men were stuffed into a cell that was too small to hold them all. They wore t-shirts and pieces of costumes that had been torn apart through the various moves from place to place. Typical of the other convention goers, many of them were scrawny or out of shape in other ways, though they were kept in relatively clean shape, thanks to the Amazon women’s sense of decency. Elise fiddled with the lock on the heavy wooden door, and then in frustration kicked it as hard as she could.

“Don’t you think we’ve tried that?” One of the men in the cell complained. “I can’t believe they sent a bunch of girls to save us.”

“I’m a guy.” Frost said, though it was rather unconvincing. “Besides, wasn’t it a bunch of girls that captured you in the first place? Just calm down and we’ll have you out of there in no time.”

“Way to stay optimistic, Frost.” Wolfie said, giving her the taller girl a pat on the back. “I wish the door would open that easily though. It seems like—”

The door creaked open and Elise stepped back from it, her arms raised in the air. She looked at her teammates, indicating that it opened on her own and that she had nothing to do with it. It was hard to argue with results though and the men started to file out, nervously looking around. Elise and Wolfie led them back to the staircase as Andrea covered the rear, making sure each of the weakened men made it out all right. It was when the last of the men exited the cell, that Frost saw the last prisoner, one that did not match the others. A four-year old girl, wearing a blue dress smiled at her. The little girl had long red hair that was held up in pigtails and the most peculiar eyes the older woman had ever seen. While she was sure that they were blue, in the waning light, they appeared to be purple. The strangest thing about the little girl though was the fact that her clothing and skin were pristine, not dirty, not torn or cut. It was as if she had just appeared there direct from Earth.

“How did you end up in there, little girl?” Andrea asked.

“I came with my daddy.” She responded in the sweetest, most innocent voice imaginable. “The big ladies took him away from me. They said he would be very pretty. Does this mean that I have two mommies now?”

“Um, I’m not sure,” Frost was at a loss for words, “but we’re going to get you out of here. My name’s Frost. How about you tell me your name and then I’ll give you a piggy-back ride.”

“Jennie.” The little girl smiled as she climbed up onto Andrea’s back. Andrea felt her tiny hands holding on for dear life, nice and tight. “You make a very pretty lady, Missus Frost.”

“Thanks.”

Andrea chuckled at the irony of the little girl’s statement and then followed the others out of the dungeon. She felt her neck tingling from Jennie’s grip. For a little girl, she was surprisingly strong.

“Now presenting: Waiting in Line, the home version. That’s right kids, now you too can wait in line just like you were at an amusement park or the DMV. Batteries not included.”

Jennie giggled at Frost’s attempt at humor, but the sentiment was shared by all. Stuck in single file and heeding Elise’s warnings not to lose the group, it was slow going up the stairs and back into the larger chamber where they had entered. When Frost reached the top, she saw good reason why it had taken so long. They were cornered by the entirety of the Amazon tribe.

“I really hate it when you’re right, Elise.” Andrea lamented.

She set Jennie down and then took position with Wolfie and Elise in front of the freed prisoners. They were the front line of the assault and were the most capable fighters their side had to offer.

“Stay here, Jennie. I want you to stay right here by the stairs until I tell you that it’s safe.”

There was the sound of flapping overhead, like the sound a gigantic bird of prey would have made. It caught the attention of both sides but particularly the Amazons took notice. They widened their circle, but made sure that there was still no room for escape. Then as everybody watched, three forms descended from the ceiling. At first, the only thing that could be seen was the shine of their platinum armor, but then the Valkyries came into view. Led by Luce, they positioned themselves opposite the three adventurers, ready for a fight.

“Well, you’re not the three I expected, but I am not going to allow you foreign devils to come into our sanctuary and push us around. This time, you’re the ones whose blood will be shed.”

 

***

 

Bea’s head drooped forward. The Goth girl was no longer having the time of her life, not after what she saw in the mall. Where as she had been the mall’s unofficial Queen when the power was off, now she was just the crazy girl that saw dead people. It was a rather lonely existence, shunned by those that did not believe her. She could not understand why they did not, though. Of all the crazy things that had happened to them, they choose to not believe in the undead. It was hard to fathom. Her only chance for redemption lied in finding Kacie, but she did not know where to start and nobody was listening to her. Even though she managed to avoid becoming zombie chow, she still felt useless right now.

Simon’s own prospects were dwindling as well. He had scoured the lower floors looking for Haley, but not a single person admitted to seeing her. He wondered if maybe they were just missing each other by random happenstance, but going up and down in the elevator all day did not seem like the best way to find his missing employer. One more sweep of the public areas of the building and then he would return to her hotel room and just wait for her, he told himself.

As luck would have it, two souls searching for their closest allies, crossed paths. Simon’s grey eyes showed a renewed sense of hope at finding someone that had actually met Haley. He was sure that Beatrice would remember him from when they were kidnapped and changed together, and the subsequent rescue meant that she should remember Haley as well.

“Hi there, mind if I sit?” Simon asked the girl, taking the seat next to her before she could answer.

“Oh, Simon, right? I haven’t seen you since…” Beatrice trailed off, memories of how the man sitting next to her was close friends with Haley flooding into her head. “Oh, I’m so sorry.”

Beatrice took Simon’s hands into hers, gently caressing his skin. The melancholy in her expression reminded the man of somebody at a funeral. It sent a tinge of worry up his spine. He gazed into her eyes, hoping they would gleam some kind of meaning.

“What? What’s wrong?”

The legitimate restlessness in the bald man’s voice gave Beatrice a pause. She knew that the right thing to do was to tell him that his best friend was now a shuffling, brain-eating zombie, but the words just would not come to her lips.

“Nothing, it’s just… you have really soft hands.” She stammered.

“Thanks, I guess.” He was taken aback by her strange comment. “Anyway, is there a chance I could ask you a question? I’ve sort of lost track of my friend, Haley. You remember her? She was the one with the blonde hair and the cybernetic—”

“In the mall.” Beatrice blurted out, cursing herself for doing so. “I saw her in the mall a few hours ago; right after the power came back on.”

Simon hugged the Goth girl, who apprehensively returned the gesture. She was sure that telling him even this much was a mistake and that it would only lead to bad things, but when the opportunity to lie to him came, she just could not bring herself to do it. Perhaps discovering the truth for himself was better than hearing it second hand, or at least she told herself that.

“Thank you so much. I was worried there for a moment that I’d spend the rest of the day looking for her.” Simon smiled and then ran off, unaware of Haley’s condition.

 

***

 

They were more cunning than Frost, stronger than Wolfie and better armed than Elise. The battle that the rescue team had been prepared for all this time was quickly proving to be beyond their capabilities. The Valkyries left them completely on the defensive. Sure, the conflict had spilled out of the half circle afforded to them by the other Amazons a long time ago, but even with space to maneuver, the trio was having a tough go of it.

The blur from Andrea’s trail circled the large gathering hall several times. Her speed was unrivaled, but the winged women still managed to keep her on her toes. Two of them alternated between double-teaming the speedster, and attacking Wolfie, who could not get close enough to either of them to use one of her patented holds. It was because of this that Frost was left saving the shorter girl’s ass every time she found an opportunity to go on the offensive.

Elise was having problems of her own with Luce. The woman was the strongest of the three and quite skilled with a spear. Her strength and ability to always have the higher ground left Elise and her knives dodging or blocking every single thrust. Sparks flew as Luce tried to impale the Aussie girl with the tip of her spear. Only a last second parry from both of her knives kept the sharp point from penetrating her skin, but the force of the blow still sent Elise reeling across the room. Her body skidded along the smooth stone floor and left her prone.

Like a shot, Frost rushed to her friend’s rescue, already holding on to Wolfie as they ran from the other two Valkyries on their tail. Unfortunately, her rescue attempt was careless and she was hurrying right into a trap. A spear flew in front of the speedster’s path and lodged itself in the floor, right as the girl was nearing that point. Frost’s foot caught the obstruction and her and her passenger were sent spiraling across the room and crashing into Elise.

As the Valkyries closed in on their now defenseless prey, the teammates could only hope for a miracle.

 

***

 

With the hotel’s power back on, there were a host of activities open to its guests, and while most were content to bask in their air conditioned rooms, children were near impossible to keep sated. This was how Lilly ended up on the hotel’s indoor mini-golf course. Business was light to be sure, and four year olds were not the most adept of putters. Due to the carelessness of the adults around, she was soon left by herself only a hole away from the windmill. The tiny blonde girl choked up on her putter and gave the mightiest putt that she could muster, which was just enough to send the ball up the bridge and then over the side into the clear pond beneath it.

“Pretty ball fall in the water!” She complained, though those complaints went on deaf ears.

Resolute in retrieving her pretty red golf ball, the small girl approached the pond. Her knees were on the bank and she was crouched over her arm stretched precariously over the small water hazard trying to reach where her ball had splashed down. The water was just deep enough that Lilly could not reach it without wading in, but she still stretched her body to its full limit trying her hardest.

It was while the pig-tailed youth was in this position that the shuffling of footsteps approached her. For a girl so young, it was difficult for her to determine a threat from any other person, so she paid no attention even as the shadow of the being hovered over her and blocked out her light.

“I can’t reach it!” She whined.

She received a grunt and then the groan of a person too hoarse to speak. It was a sound that would send chills through the bodies of any other person. All the little girl could see was the distorted reflection of a woman with blonde hair in the water. Slowly, she turned to greet the woman, hoping that she could reach in the water and retrieve her pretty ball.

However, instead of a friendly face, she was looking directly into the milky white eyes of Haley’s mangled corpse. Her tongue stuck out one side of her mouth and she gurgled the few fluids she had left in her body, causing her to foam like a rabid dog. Lilly was struck silent as the living dead woman approached her with outstretched arms.