Guardians of Muraycia chapter 8

Chapter 8





At last they reached a dim lit cave.

“Luminarium” Corriett called into the darkness. Bright light illuminated a long shallow cave where sparkling stalagmites hung dazzling in the light.

“Wow” simpered Periwinkle in an awed voice. Just then Genie uttered a soft scream and five other heads whipped to the mouth of the cave, for it was there that a towering serpent with three hideous heads each barred long thick yellow dipped fangs and piercing red eyes stood perched... It let out a bloodcurdling screech. Then it barred its teeth and the hydra lunged at Periwinkle who in return rolled from harms way and bit down hard on its rough scaly tail. While the tail thrashed Periwinkle around the second head took on Anna (this was a mistake.) Anna dodged with expert coordination and darted back into the fight; twirling her ruby dagger in her fingers she thrust it deep into the neck of the foul beast. While the third head lunged toward Mimi who squirted him in the face and burst out laughing uncontrollably. She laughed so hard in fact that Corriett darted in to help.

“Fulgar” she shouted and an obedient bolt of lightning exploded at the hydra. Then with a howl it raised a mighty clawed foot and pined her to the ground.

“Operor quis inquam!” she panted. Bells were ringing in her ears. Please let the hypnoses spell work. She pleaded silently.

“Get off,” she commanded slowly. The hydra reared on its hind legs and paused.

“Now back,” Corriett instructed. If things kept going well she would be able to drive it off the cliff as long as nothing disturbed the atmosphere around them, but Anna was fixing her best arrow into her bow.

“Anna no” hissed Corriett. “If you disturb it the spell will break.” But an arrow was already whizzing throw the air toward the hydra.

“Back, back, back.” shouted Corriett, but it was too late. The arrow had sunk deep into the eye of the middle head. All three heads turned toward Anna, spitting and writhing, desperate to get hold of her with those disgusting yellow fangs. Anna was quick, she darted in and out of the furious heads jabbing and slicing her dagger anywhere she could reach when the deadly long talons of the beast raked across her shoulder.

“Anna!” cried Periwinkle darting in to help. She took a running start and rammed into the hydra with all the force she could muster. This got the hydras attention fairly quickly. It rounded on Periwinkle bloodlust in its eyes. It was terrifying but Periwinkle stood her ground and barred her teeth. She slashed at her hydra with one lavender hoof.

“Watch out!” shouted Mimi suddenly, but it was too late. The massive tail had swished out and knocked the legs out from under Periwinkle. Just when it looked like all was lost Sinbad (who had not done a thing since the fight started) rushed to the aid of his friend and he thrust his antlers deep into the side of the hydra. Offended, it left its prey and turned to Sinbad who whined a little and backed away. (He did not like to fight.) As it happened he did not need to for at that moment Periwinkle charged and sent the hydra toppling of the cliff as it was almost out of sight it vaporized with a puff of nasty yellow smoke.

“Well,” huffed Mimi.

“They found us,” whispered Genie.

“We can’t stay here.”

“We will stay the night.” said Anna firmly.

“Then we will move on.” Seeing no reason to argue, (also arguing with Anna mostly led to serious injuries) Corriett retreated into the cave.



“WHERE IS RIPER!” screeched Vaulda.

“I...I... don’t know,” squeaked Persephone quietly.

“You did send the hydra, did you not?”

“Yes, I… I did,” finished Persephone meekly.

“THEN WHERE IS HE?”

“I don’t know, but it won’t be long before the sorceress uses magic again then I can send Silver and Sasha.”

“Silver is dead only Sasha remains with us.”

“Oh, well I’ll send Sasha then.” Said Persephone

“Yes, you shall.”



At the crack of dawn Corriett was shaken awake by Mimi.

“Wake up,” she hissed” Anna has been out of her mind, trying to get us ready to leave.”

“Right, coming,” replied Corriett groggily.

Corriett sat up as pangs of hunger jabbed at her stomach. She rubbed it and groaned, at seeing this Periwinkle strode over and handed her a vine of grapes she had found.

“Thanks” mumbled Corriett.

“Come on!” shouted Anna, “Do we want another hydra?” Pulling herself to her feet Corriett set of at a jog to follow Anna to the mouth of the cave.



They had been traveling for several hours when Anna stopped abruptly and said, “Corriett, do you think you can summon our stuff?” She considered it for a moment before saying, “Yes, I can.”

“Well go on then,” said Mimi. Corriett took a deep breath and then began to chant.

“Adveho suus quod adeo mihi sic ego may habitum vos iterum. Adveho suus quod adeo mihi sic ego may habitum vos iterum. Adveho suus quod adeo mihi sic ego may habitum vos iterum.”

For a moment nothing happened then all at once there were a faint pop and a dresser six little hope chests and some loose misalliance items appeared in front of them.

“I had to bring the chests to bring the other items.” Said Corriett fondly for she was very proud at the moment.

“Alright take what you need and leave the rest,” commanded Anna.

Corriett threw open the latch on her hope chest and thrust her arm deep inside. She then extracted her knapsack with which she had first come to the castle. She place eleven items in the sack two pairs of cloths (shirt and pants,) an extra pair of shoes, her favorite talisman, three bags of potion ingredients, her wand, the necklace her mother had gotten her for her fifteenth birthday (which she placed around her own neck) a sack of gold, and finally a blanket. Looking up she saw that the other guardians had finished packing and were already to go.

“Corriett,” began Anna, “if you will”

“Right,” replied Corriett. “Vado tergum.” Precisely on command the hope chests disappeared with a tiny pop a faint growl made the hair on the back of Corrietts neck stand on end she knew that noise. With ice cold blood she revolved slowly on the spot. Then the wolf let loose a howl that pierced the chilly white atmosphere. Was it her imagination or did the snow around them seem to melt just a little? Corriett reached for her wand but Anna was quicker. Before a second had come and go she had unsheathed her shining ruby dagger, the hilt of which glinted in a bright flash sunlight that poured down from the sky. She took aim and threw the bejeweled blade as though it was a dart, it hit the gigantic wolf in the leg and it started on her. She leapt aside and scrambled to get a hold of her dagger. Her fingers were inches away form the glittering hilt when a massive paw caught her in the chest and she was slammed to the ground. The wolf howled in triumph. Then out of the blue a lavender arrow sunk right into side of the wolf. It tumbled off Anna, its fur drenched in blood. Corriett was sure that at any moment Anna’s ruby dagger would plow through the heart of the great wolf when Periwinkle started to shout and through herself between the wolf and Anna.

“No! Look at it.” pleaded Periwinkle, “It is just a child.” Indeed the wolf had seemed a fair amount smaller than the one that had attacked Corriett, and as it looked up at them. A sharp pang of pity swallowed Corriett.

“Out of my way Periwinkle!” shouted Anna

“No Anna,” called Corriett from the rock on which she was standing. Anna’s head whipped around.

“Not you too!” she screamed. Periwinkles eyes were swimming with tears.

“If we take it with us it might be on our side.” piped Mimi. Anna rolled her eyes.

“This thing is trying to kill us!” She raged.

“Maybe if we trained it…” remarked Sinbad quietly.

“Trained it, HA!” screeched Anna.

“Anna we’re taking it with us you’re out voted.” yelled Genie.

“ARE YOU CRAZY!” she retorted stubbornly.

“Out voted.” The others repeated in unison.

“Fine,” fine she retorted bitterly, “but don’t blame me if you wake up dead.”

“We won’t,” promised Corriett.

“So, it’s settled then,” said Genie rubbing her hands together, “We are taking the wolf with us.” No body objected Anna merely looked sullen.

“Let’s go.” Said Corriett softly, and together they climbed the steep mountain.



When at last they came to a cave that sparkled with all the beauty of the last, Corriett laid down her blanket. They wolf sat nearby as Periwinkle and Genie did their best to patch her up.

“What are we going to name it” asked Corriett, before she could stop herself. At once she felt embarrassed. Anna scoffed.

“It had a collar.” said Genie stooping to pick up what looked like an ugly misshapen collar. It was a bland brown color and swollen in some areas as though badly forged it looked like molten lumps of plastic had been awkwardly stuck together. But as Corriett looked harder she could tell it distinctly said, ‘Sasha.’

“Sasha,” repeated Corriett thoughtfully.

“Guess that means it is a girl,” said Genie as though reading Corrietts mind.

“Yea guess so.” agreed Corriett. She glanced to her right; Anna was still eyeing the wolf suspiciously.

“Oh lighten up Anna,” said Mimi giving Anna a thump on the back and a smile which she did not return. “It hasn’t eaten any of us yet.” For a moment Anna glared at Mimi and opened her mouth to retort but then thought better of it, for even with her arrogance there was no denying that she could not beat Mimi with words.

“I'm going out for some air.” she announced.

“You do that.” said Mimi seriously, “And don't bother coming back we will find the amulet with out you, hey the wolf can do your job; sit here and be grouchy.” At this Mimi exploded into laughter.

“Mimi” scolded Periwinkle, Anna however showed no signs of having heard Mimi say anything and walked past her as though she might have been a wall.

“Mimi! Will you stop messing around like your back at home? This is serious! We are not even in Muraycia! We don't even know where the heck we are! It is no funny anymore!” yelled Corriett. At once she felt repulsed by herself and angry at what she had done. Mimi’s face fell and suddenly she looked as though she was about to cry then she said stiffly, “I'm going out for some air too,” and turned to move out of the cave.

“Mimi I'm sorry,” called Corriett desperately. Periwinkle looked as though she was going to tell her off, but then she just shook her head and kept tending to the wolf. Corriett put her head in her hands and marched toward the back of the cave. It was as she got closer and was able to see through the darkness that she realized it went on even further she looked back at the others, Sinbad was sleeping and Periwinkle and Genie were still busy with the wolf so Corriett decided to explore a little further. Taking great care she stealthily moved forward. Soon she came around a corner. Knowing better than to go announcing her self to the corner of a dark cave in a foreign world, she slowly peered around the corner and at that moment a light flickered on. Corriett ducked behind the corner of the cave hiding her self in the shadows once more.

“Yummy food,” said a thick gruff voice. Unable to resist she chanced a quick glance around the corner. What she saw horrified her. Anna and Mimi bound tightly with ropes. Both struggling to get free at least Anna was. Mimi was moaning muffled noises. She could see Anna’s hand working slowly toward her ruby dagger deep in the bottom of her boot. The ropes were suspended in the air by a pair of hideous ogres. The first thing you need to know about ogres is that they enormous much bigger than trolls. They can be any where from twenty to thirty feet high. The first looked like it was about twenty five feet tall and the others were slightly shorter, but not by much, and the third was the biggest of all look a little over thirty feet. The second thing about ogres is that they are not very bright in fact some people call them the definition of dumb. However what they lacked in brains they made up with their ears. They had outstanding hearing. They also turn to stone when the sunlight shines on them. Corriett did not dare go fetch Sinbad, Periwinkle, and Genie for fear of being heard they had not noticed the first time obviously because they had been so caught up with the catching of catching their meal. Corriett supposed that Anna had caused some trouble from the looks of the giant furthest from where she was dangling who had a gash across his eye, (how Anna got up there she would never know) and the others were sopping wet. Corriett decided to take hers chances with seven ogres and chanced a step away. The smallest ogre’s head immediately snapped up.

“What ‘dat” he asked loudly. Corriett froze fixed to the spot not even daring to breath. She gulped as the ogres drew nearer. Her mind was racing.

“FOOD!” exclaimed the largest ogre.

“Periwinkle, Genie, Sinbad, Help!” called Corriett but she was answered only by the pounding heart ramming against her chest determined to get away, running for the exit while her feet stood unmoving.

“FOOD!” the ogre called again reaching down to pick her up.

“NO!” yelled Corriett and blue sparks sprang to life around her protecting her from the ogres outstretched hand”

“OUCH!” He yelped and drew his hand back. “Bad human!” he yelled at her.

“Human?” repeated Corriett uncertainly. “I am not human and I am not food!” she cried stubbornly.

“You human--” he insisted certainly.

“--And human only good for eat and watching.” the other ogre finished.

“What do you mean watching?” asked Corriett desperate to keep them talking

“Entertain,” he replied impatiently reaching down to pick her up again.

“Wait,” she cried, “I can entertain. I… I…” she broke off fishing for something that would entertain ogres. Then just as a gigantic hand swooped down she said in desperation, “I can do magic!” The ogres hand stopped in mid air and he withdrew it.

“Magic not real,” he said as though it were obvious, “Only magic tricks.”

“Well what do you mean Magic’s not real” said Corriett becoming quickly annoyed. Then an idea came to her out of the blue.

“Well of course magic is not real” she said slyly, “but aren’t magic tricks fun to watch and I can do really good ones.” The ogres huddled together and debated it in hushed voices. Corriett thought about running for it when she remembered Anna and Mimi, tied up and helpless. Just then the ogres turned around and the tallest said,

“You entertain we watch,” and sat down with a heavy thump eyes glued to Corriett, watching her like a curious child. The others grunted their approval followed his lead. Soon she felt seven eager ogre gazes upon her.

“Okay” she said, “Watch this.” She pointed her index finger at the largest rock their and said, “Attollo!” at once the gigantic bolder began to lift it’s self off the ground hovering suspended in mid-air. Next she sowed them lightning and made them float. Of course they could only go about four or five inches of the ground before they hit the jagged stone ceiling. At last Corriett decided it was time to pull the escape. She pointed her finger to the rock at the mouth of the cave.

“Atto...” Corriett began. But the biggest ogre suddenly yelled, “NO!”

“What’s the matter?” said Corriett sweetly, though she knew perfectly well and had her response ready for action.

“If you let the sun in I will be turned to stone!”

“Silly” said Corriett, “it all just an allusion, magic is not real.”

“Oh, right” said the big troll, and with that Corriett raised her finger to the boulder and said triumphantly, “Attollo!” The sun shine poured in it acted like a stimulant for Corriett the dawn of hope, but for the ogres it was fate. They raised their ugly heads and screamed then all was silent the ogres were stone and would never harm another being ever again.