a bigger impact."
He looked over at Keeta with an apologetic expression. "I hate to even suggest this, but you might be the only one who could fit."
Keeta tried to smile bravely, though it seemed somewhat tremulous. "Finally a situation where being so small is a good thing. I'll try. It might be the only thing we can do."
Zadí was studying the ground on the opposite side of the deadly hex, and she reached out to grab Keeta's arm before she could crouch down.
"Nefin," Zadí said, "do you see those little lumps in the earth near the hedgerow right down by the opening in the spell?"
Nefin looked at the location she described. "I do now."
"They're exactly like the ones those other four grubs emerged from. I think they are evidence of more maggot holes. Maybe those four just migrated from a larger colony or
something. But I'm starting to wonder if the hole in the barrier is intentional."
Nefin nodded, comprehension dawning on his face. "I think you're right. The Shade might not have expected us to discover the opening, so maybe she hoped to take one of us out
before we realized the danger. But then we would have examined the threat more closely and potentially discovered the gap, which we did. And if we tried to send someone through
the hole, a bunch of burrow grubs would wriggle out and start eating them."
"What if the burrow grubs are the way to get by?" Keeta speculated. "When Zadí released those first four, it affected the enchantment. So maybe if I could get through quickly
enough and a bunch of maggots started coming out, I could throw them into the wall and fry them until it disintegrates."
"You would willingly crawl by a bunch of burrow grub holes?" Nefin summarized.
"If it's the only way everyone can get past without sizzling into oblivion," Keeta confirmed.
Nefin admiringly shook his head. "How will you throw them without having them penetrate your skin?"
Keeta shrugged. "With my axe, maybe. Let's not plan anymore. I'm starting to lose my nerve."
She quickly lay down on her belly as close to the hedge as possible. "It's about a foot wide?" she asked Nefin, pulling her axe off her back.
He worriedly verified, "That's right. I'll hold the stick right at the edge. Keep your head down."
"Thanks for the tip," Keeta wryly remarked.
Aiming for the lumpy ground indicating the burrows, Keeta shoved her axe through the opening in the imperceptible lightning field and hastily followed, pulling herself forward using
her forearms. As soon as her scooching disturbed her axe's position, dozens of burrow grubs started squirming out of the ground. They headed straight for Keeta, emitting a
disconcerting chorus of Skreeskree! Skreeskra!
"Hurry!" Nefin urged.
"Trying," Keeta shot back.
"You're clear!" Nefin exclaimed. "Get away from them!"
Keeta rolled to her left, snatching her axe just as the first burrow grub hopped into the air. She swung her weapon with the blade pointed down so it hit the maggot with the flat side
and sent it sailing into the unseen enchantment right at the level of Nefin's face. He jerked back in surprise at the unexpected projectile and accompanying burst of light.
Keeta grinned defiantly as she doomed the next two grubs to the same fate. Staying on her knees, she continued feverishly batting the wriggling maggots to their fiery deaths every
time one of them launched itself into the air. Nefin remained near the gap on the opposite side, reaching through with Zadí's jar to help scoop up some of the ravenous caterpillars
so their numbers wouldn't overwhelm Keeta.
But despite her amazing dexterity with her axe, Keeta still missed a couple of maggots before they landed and divided into green centipedes. These smaller larvae didn't hop like
their condensed form, but writhed alarmingly fast toward Keeta.
The hoard of disgusting grubs continued their eager trek toward Keeta to the grating sounds of their discordant chirping.
Skreeskree! they enthusiastically cried. Skreeskra!
Keeta scrambled backward, exclaiming, "Nefin, roll me the jar! I can't swat these ones! Or touch them! I need something to collect them in!"
Nefin immediately obliged, sending the jar straight to Keeta's waiting hand. He had continuously measured the widening gap and now shouted, "People, this isn't going to stay open
forever! It expands each time a maggot hits it then loses some of that progress right after. It's now large enough for even Will and Var to crawl through, but once Keeta runs out of
grubs it will start to shrink back down. Everyone get through now! And watch out for the remaining grubs! Zadí, go! You next, Brin! Hanna, get up here!"
Keeta continued her increasingly desperate efforts. Though the burrow grubs didn't slow their advance, she now did not want to run out of living missiles before her friends all made
it through.
As soon as Zadí was through the gap, she took over with the jar while Keeta focused on whacking with her axe.
Brin came next, and she simply skirted the two on the ground so those behind her would have room.
"Go, Hanna!" Nefin cried.
Hanna scurried through, followed by Ajh. Brom dove across the boundary, clearing the girls on the ground in one agile leap.
"Hurry!" Keeta screamed. "They're almost gone!"
Will blundered through with Var right on his heels.
"Nefin," Keeta despaired in a low voice as she sent the last grub toward the lightning fence. "Hurry."
Nefin recklessly rolled through, his hair sizzling as he completed his turn and sat upright. He lurched forward and practically landed in Keeta's lap when a leather strap on his quiver
disintegrated from contact with the now restored enchantment.
He wrapped her in a tight embrace. "You're amazing, brave Keeta," he breathed. From right beside them, Zadí noticed both of her friends trembling.
"Sorry it was so close," Keeta muttered. "You almost didn't make it."
"But I did," Nefin comforted. "Thanks to you. And I needed another haircut anyway."
Keeta lifted her face away from Nefin's chest, smiling shakily. "Let's get away from here. Please. That horrible sound they made is still echoing in my mind. And I can't stand that
smell, which is probably even stronger for you."
Nefin nodded, helping her to her feet. "Let's go everyone. Get back in order. Thank you, Zadí and Keeta, for saving our skins back there."
"And you," Zadí insisted, smiling as Var took her hand and leaned down to kiss her cheek. "You noticed the lightning field."
"We worked together," Nefin compromised. "Let's keep it up."
The group continued their slow progress through the maze, proceeding ever deeper into the foreboding passages leading toward Ilirea.
What seemed like hours after the confrontation with the burrow grubs, though it couldn't have been much longer than fifteen minutes, Nefin decreased his pace until he stopped
altogether.
"That doesn't look good," he commented on the heavy black mist hanging in the air twenty feet in front of them. "But I'll view it as a sign that we're on the right track. I was
starting to worry that the lack of obstacles meant we had taken a wrong turn."
"Way to be optimistic," Brin sarcastically congratulated. "So what new delights do you suppose this next challenge holds?"
"Haven't a clue," Nefin responded. "Let's get closer and see if we can find out."
They resumed their gradual advance, stopping a foot away from the thick haze. Nefin retrieved a rock from the ground and tossed it into the vapor. Nothing observable happened,
though the stone was lost to their sight once it entered the fog.
"It smells musty, but I don't hear that magical hum and the rock didn't get vaporized or anything. Shall we step inside and see what happens?"
"Sure," Brin said with a shrug. "Together."
>
When Keeta started to follow, Brin clarified, "You wait, Keeta. In case you need to drag us out or something. Be ready to help her, Will."
The two nodded their understanding as Nefin and Brin drew their swords, walking one foot into the haze before stopping. Nefin glanced behind himself and was somewhat disturbed
to note that he could discern nothing of their friends, though he and Brin had moved such a short distance.
Nefin was completely blind as he faced forward, but before his eyes could adjust to the darkness of the fog, they filled with a vision. His heart skipped a beat as he saw Keeta not
behind him where he had just left her, but in front of him.
Stranger still was the fact that this visionary Keeta was naked, and Nefin somehow knew they were married. His eyes widened appreciatively as she seductively smiled, inviting
him toward her with a flirtatious beckoning of her hand.
Nefin readily responded, approaching the beautiful girl he loved. He knelt down in front of her, raising his hands to her bare shoulders as he leaned forward to kiss her. But before
their lips met, Nefin's hallucination drastically shifted and Keeta was suddenly flat on her back, eyes open and unseeing, an expression of terror frozen on her lifeless face. She lay
naked in a pool of blood, her throat slit. A tiny infant—Nefin was certain it was their child—was facedown beside her, suffocating with its face caught in the thick liquid.
Nefin cried out in horror, stumbling forward toward the two before he realized that he held something cold and hard in his hand. He looked down and screamed again as he
identified a bloody blade, which slid from his numb fingers as stark understanding gripped him.
"No!" he sobbed. "No! I wouldn't! Ever! I love her! I love you, Keeta!"
Then a different force wrenched at him and Nefin landed on his back, squinting his eyes shut at the brightness of day. He dropped his sword and curled onto his side, repeatedly moaning, "No, no, no."
Someone was talking to him. "Nefin! Nefin, what happened? Nefin, snap out of it!"
The same someone started shaking him, and Nefin slowly opened his eyes, recognizing a worried Brin kneeling right above him. Behind her stood Keeta. Nefin felt a profound sense
of relief as he comprehended that the fantasy nightmare hadn't been real.
But it had seemed so real, and Nefin was sure he had actually screamed out loud. "Did you hear what I said in there?" he asked Brin.
She gravely dipped her head.
"I didn't hear anything," Keeta supplied. "What did you say? What happened?"
"Nothing," Nefin firmly stated. "It doesn't matter. Brin, did you see anything?"
Brin now shook her head.
"So the mist might only affect males," Nefin postulated. "Brin, take Kee—Hanna in for a second and see if she is also immune to the effects."
"What effects?" Keeta demanded. "And why did you change your mind to Hanna instead of me?"
"I don't want to talk about it, Keeta," Nefin insisted in a tone of finality. "The vapor somehow creates hallucinations. If it only affects the males, we'll wear blindfolds and stop our
ears so we can pass through."
Keeta suspiciously regarded him as Hanna came forward and accompanied Brin into the haze. Nefin turned his attention toward the smoky wall in front of them, trying to push the
horrifying images he had seen from his mind.
It wasn't real, he stubbornly reminded himself. Only I sort of wish it had been. At least the first part. I wonder if that's really what Keeta looks like without clothes on.
But then the scene immediately following the first again invaded his mind, and Keeta had also been naked in that one.
No! Nefin defied. It wasn't real. It wasn't prophetic. I would never do that! But what if we really did get married and have a baby?
Nefin realized the thick cloud must reveal a man's deepest desires and darkest fears. The Shade seemed to have some secret vendetta against males. Nefin almost wanted to
reenter the dense fog just to see the first half of his vision again. If he could only stay lost in that fantasy, he might never want to leave. But the terror of the second half was
absolutely paralyzing, and Nefin understood how the vapor was a perfect trap. His male companions would have likely had hallucinations similar to his, and they would have all
been utterly helpless to get themselves out.
Brin and Hanna quickly emerged from the magical mist.
Nefin asked, "Anything odd happen?"
"Nope," Brin said.
"Not that I could tell," Hanna answered. "It was just really dark."
"I think after a few moments my eyes would adjust," Brin predicted. "So what do we do?"
"I want all of the girls to go in for a second, just to be sure it won't affect any of you," Nefin said. "While you're gone, I'll tell the men what happened from my perspective."
So Keeta and Zadí then joined the other two females and they all disappeared into the haze.
Nefin approached his friends and bluntly said, "You all know how I feel about Keeta. When I walked in there, I saw an apparition of her naked. She invited me over, and I'm pretty
sure about what would have happened next because I could somehow tell we were married. But then the vision shifted and Keeta was lying dead in a puddle of her own blood. Her
throat had been slit, and there was a little baby beside her—our baby, I'm sure of it—drowning in the blood."
He shuddered before finishing in a hoarse whisper, "I was holding the knife. Anyway, I think that fog shows our deepest desires and fears. Let's not risk losing any of us by walking
in there unprotected. We can cover our eyes and ears—"
"They're coming out," Brom quietly informed. "I agree, Nefin. Most of us would probably see similar hallucinations, and I have no desire to go through something of that nature.
Sorry you had to."
Nefin shrugged. "This Shade must be one twisted monster."
When the girls stopped by the circle of boys, Nefin asked, "Hanna, can we borrow some of your bandages to wrap around our eyes? And do you have anything that would plug our
ears?"
"I suppose," Hanna said, opening her pouch. "But why, Nefin? None of us girls saw anything in there. Whatever happened to you really shook you up."
"Don't ask, sugar," Ajh softly suggested. "I promise you'd rather not know."
Hanna was clearly confused and curious, as were the other females, but she didn't press the matter. She withdrew a rolled up bandage and handed it to Nefin, who used his sword
to cut it into five lengths, one for each male. He distributed them to his friends.
Hanna rummaged another moment and came away with a small object wrapped in paper. "Would some beeswax work?"
"Probably," Nefin said. "I'll try it." He accepted the bundle from Hanna, unwrapped its contents, and pinched off a small amount of beeswax.
"It smells nice," he remarked as he worked the stiff substance into a wad that would fit in his ear. He repeated the process until both ears were stuffed then requested, "Someone
say something."
"Nefin's a noodle," Keeta offered with a silly giggle.
Hanna also giggled, expectantly looking at Nefin.
"What's funny?" he asked, removing one earplug.
"Oh, nothing," Keeta nonchalantly replied. "If you didn't hear me, then I guess the wax works."
"What did you say?" Nefin wondered.
"Like I'm telling you," Keeta retorted. "It wasn't bad, but now I feel somewhat better after your refusal to enlighten us."
Nefin grinned. "Good, I'm glad it worked. You others get ready. Brin and Hanna might be the only ones who have a hope of seeing in there after their eyes adjust. I doubt we could
light our way with any type of flame, so let's all hold hands or something."
"Should we see how far this obstacle continues before we go blundering in?" Brin queried. "I could
try it out."
"No," Brom firmly denied. "Let's stay together and just get through it. I don't like the idea of anyone possibly getting trapped in there by themselves."
"Anyone else feeling hungry?" Ajh pleasantly asked.
"Yep," Var affirmed. "How about we reward ourselves with a snack if we can make it through this challenge alive?"
"Fair enough," Ajh allowed, laughing goodnaturedly, which expression didn't quite disguise his apprehension. The other males also seemed to feel it, and Nefin didn't blame them.
He both dreaded and anticipated stepping back into the mist.
Soon the boys were ready, and they all arranged themselves in a line connected by hands. Brin stood in the lead, clasping Will's hand in hers. Keeta followed Will, holding his other
hand in front of her and Nefin's hand behind. Hanna continued the chain by linking herself with Nefin in front and Ajh behind. Brom joined hands with Ajh, and Zadí stood between
her brother and husband, grasping each by one hand.
"All ready," Keeta cheerfully joked, both of her hands up at an angle between the two tall men surrounding her. "Now let's hurry before my hands lose all sensation."
Brin smiled at her friend's easy humor and slowly advanced into the black fog, pulling Will along with her. Brin had also sensed the males' trepidation, and she speculated that Nefin
had seen something extremely disturbing in this vapor. His anguished cry echoed in her mind. No! No! I wouldn't! Ever! I love her! I love you, Keeta!
Brin forced Nefin's words away, focusing on the task at hand. With her sword raised in front of her, she paused a few steps beyond the edge of the murkiness, hoping her eyes
would quickly adjust. After counting to sixty, she still couldn't see any better than at first, so Brin doggedly proceeded, deciding they had best just keep going.
Keeping a firm grip on Will's hand, she resumed her forward march. Since Brin couldn't see anything, she used her sword to feel ahead for the flanking hedges so she wouldn't walk
into them. After about five minutes without any trouble, Brin heard Will start to pant anxiously. His hand was now slick with sweat, and Brin realized the haze must still be affecting
him, though he couldn't see nor hear.
"Keeta," she softly called. "Can you hear me?"
The Black Morass Page 18