TwoSpells

by Mark Morrison

  The flow moved down steep corridors and around corners, beyond any area Sarah had been to before.

  Liam paused. “I don’t think I’ve been down here before. In fact, I don’t remember this area ever being here.”

  “What do you suppose is down there?” Sarah asked. “It’s kind of spooky.”

  The corridors were dingy and damp. The lighting was dull and shadowy and the area smelled of decay.

  “I’m not even going to guess,” Liam replied.

  They continued on until they reached a dead end. But the water continued, running under the wall somehow. Liam ran his hands along the granite, inspecting each and every seam.

  “Does this wall look crooked to you?” Liam asked.

  “What do you mean?” Sarah said. She stood back and examined it more closely.

  “The wall,” he said. “It’s slightly askew. Do you see how the water’s flowing under it?”

  “Yeah,” Sarah replied.

  A strange melodic voice echoed down the corridor.

  Sarah jumped at the sound. “What was that?”

  “I’m not sure,” Liam replied. “But somebody’s down here and I’m gonna find out who.”

  The single voice turned into many and grew louder as they rounded another corner, stumbling into several bizarre creatures.

  Sarah froze. “What are those?”

  “I—I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like them before,” Liam replied.

  The bizarrely shaped little creatures moved about on a large ball instead of legs. At the ends of their four spindly arms were ten tiny straw-like fingers. Their eyes were overly large and black but they had almost no mouth to speak of. Around each of their necks was a large metallic collar with a tiny blinking red light.

  They were working vigorously on two large cargo elevators. Before long, the creatures turned and saw Sarah and Liam standing and watching. Several of them rolled over to greet them, singing softly.

  “I think they’re trying to talk to us,” Sarah whispered.

  “It seems likely, but they really shouldn’t be here. None of this should be here,” Liam said, looking about, confused. “And those elevators—they’re going down. There aren’t any floors lower than this one, Sarah. This is the lowest level of TwoSpells.”

  “Apparently not,” Sarah said, approaching a few of the creatures. She knelt down to get a closer look and they scooted away quickly, getting back to work.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Liam said suddenly, taking Sarah by the arm. “I’ll bring a team of security down later and find out what’s going on.”

  As they turned to leave, they ran into several Orcan guardsmen rounding the corner. Their monstrous forms blocked the exit. One of them chattered angrily into a headset. Liam led Sarah in the other direction, but they were cut off by two numbered golems.

  “What are you doing down here, Sir?” one of the Golems asked in a harsh tone. “This is a restricted area. Completely off limits.”

  Liam looked at Sarah and shrugged. “What do you mean off limits? I’m a Guardian.”

  Sarah felt a terrible headache coming on—the very same as the one she’d experienced back in the farmhouse hallway. Her legs grew weak again. She massaged her temples, propping an arm against the wall.

  The tiny rolling creatures were circling them silently. The golems drew their weapons and sent them scurrying back to work.

  “I asked you a question,” the golem grunted. “Why are you in this restricted area?”

  “Are you all right?” Liam asked, ignoring the golem. “You look pale, Sarah.”

  She wasn’t. Her stomach was doing somersaults. The hallway was beginning to spin. One Twenty-seven. One Eighty-five. Numbers swirled in her vision. Weren’t the golems only numbered to ninety-nine?

  “Do you know who I am?” Liam demanded, spinning back to confront them. “And why are you speaking like that?”

  The golem turned his head to one side, baffled by the question. “In what way?”

  “So plainly,” Liam said. “Your articulation.”

  “You are neither Bohktar nor Cato,” the golem replied, ignoring Liam’s question and gripping him by the arm. “Therefore you are not a true Guardian.”

  Liam stiffened in resistance. “Neither one of them is here in TwoSpells. My brother Seth and I have been promoted to the Guardian positions.”

  The second golem reached for his weapon. Sarah tasted bile on the back of her tongue. She couldn’t make out what Liam was saying as he was suddenly pinned against the wall by a golem.

  Sarah grabbed a hold of the golem's arms and tried to pull them away from Liam's chest. He released one hand from Liam’s chest and grabbed her by the throat, lifting her up into the air. She clutched his wrist, struggling against his powerful grip, pounding against his arm and desperately kicking.

  She felt a sharp pain in her foot as she connected with the golem, striking him directly between the legs. He paused and relaxed his grip on her neck.

  “We’re not built like that,” he grunted with a gravely chuckle.

  Sarah gasped for air. The hall was growing dark. With her last bit of breath, she whispered one final word.

  “Boose.”

  I'd like to express my sincere gratitude to my family and friends who patiently tolerated my obsessive drive to write this story.

  And a special acknowledgement to my son Jason—my mentor, my tutor, my sounding board, and the reason this story came to be. Without him, this would be a horrifying one hundred and fifty thousand word run-on sentence.

  And lastly a huge thank you to the brilliantly talented and accomplished artist Reshetnikov Ihor, better known in the art world as Azot, who put together an amazing cover for this story.

  MARK MORRISON was born number seven of eight children in a small town in Ohio. His family moved to Florida where he grew up, met an incredible woman, got married and raised four fantastic children, three boys and a girl.

  Many years later, an empty nest left him to his true calling, storytelling. His first remarkable story is about a heroine whose courage and unrestrained personality—like his daughters—breathes passion and fervor into this adrenaline-packed story.