by Laurel Gale
“Look out!” Crow shoved Melody out of the way as two fireballs zoomed toward them.
The fireballs chased them. Like before, one pushed Crow to the right, while Melody’s fireball forced her to the left. This time, though, his dream room did not greet him.
This area had no torches. He still had his flashlight, as well as the flickering light of the fireball, and he used both to examine the dark area. Other than two large buttons, the writing on which Crow couldn’t quite make out from where he stood, there wasn’t much of anything. At least there weren’t any spiders.
A previously unseen door thudded shut, trapping Crow inside. The fireball grew larger and larger and larger. It threatened to fill the entire space.
Crow squeezed around the growing fireball in order to examine the two buttons. The writing on one said, “Burn left side. Extinguish right side.” The other one bore a similar but reversed message: “Burn right side. Extinguish left side.”
The right side, where he’d been chased, or the left side, where Melody had been chased.
The first time Crow went through this test, the Meera demanded that he sacrifice his dreams in order to save Melody and demonstrate his loyalty. This time, the Meera required him to sacrifice his life.
They should have known better than to try to trick the Meera.
Crow couldn’t see Melody now that the door had shut, but he knew she must be similarly trapped. He had to act quickly, before she had a chance to decide which button of hers to press.
Burn right side. Extinguish left side. He’d barely been alive anyway. And he wouldn’t be able to feel the pain.
He pushed the button and waited for the flames.
But the flames never came. The fireball extinguished itself. The door swooshed open.
Crow ran to meet Melody, who was running to meet him. She flung her arms around Crow. “You figured it out!”
“Figured what out?” Crow asked, surprised by the hug. He couldn’t remember the last time anyone had hugged him, really hugged him. Even his mother favored a quick pat on the back or a gentle squeeze to anything resembling an actual embrace. And his father—well, his father hadn’t been much of a hugger before Crow became an undead thing.
“You know. Of course you know.” Melody pulled back with only a slight twitch of her nose and a very subtle flick of her hands to brush off any stray maggots. “As long as we both chose to be loyal, to extinguish the other side and sacrifice our own, nobody would get hurt.”
Oh. That made sense. “Uh, yeah. I figured it out. Did your wish help you figure it out?”
She nodded. “Finally. I was beginning to think it would be no use at all. Let’s hurry.”
—
They entered the large, cavelike room with the honey badger engravings. Crow walked to the rickety bridge with no handrails. “I guess the Meera thought this test was bad enough that it didn’t need to be changed. I don’t suppose your wish can help us out here.”
Melody looked down at the abyss. “It’s not as deep as it looks. I mean, it doesn’t go down forever and ever. Still, if we fall, it’ll be bad. Broken limbs and stuff.”
She placed one foot gingerly onto the bridge, which swayed and creaked in response. With even more care, she placed her other foot onto the bridge. It swung even more, almost bucking her off.
“Fearlessness,” she said, and she ran full speed ahead. The bridge didn’t sway; it barely even moved. Seconds later, she was safe and sound on the other side of the chasm.
“Come on!” she yelled. “As fast as you can.”
“Are you sure?” Crow yelled back. Scooting across, like they had last time, seemed so much safer. Although the bridge had been more stable when she ran. And he did trust her. Nevertheless, his feet stayed firmly in place, refusing to move.
“A spell makes it sway more the slower you go!” Melody yelled. “Run!”
He took a big gulp of air—which was silly, really, since he didn’t need to breathe—and ran. As he ran, a horrible thought occurred to him: what if he couldn’t run fast enough? He wasn’t much of an athlete. The bridge would sway, unimpressed with his sluggish speed, and he’d be thrown off. But by the time fear clamped down on him, he was already across. He’d done it.
The feeling of dread didn’t leave, though. The second chasm—the one without any bridge at all—still awaited them.
This time, it was worse. Impossibly so, in fact, because the chasm didn’t end. The gap extended all the way to the far wall, with no ledge for them to land on even if they were able to jump that far. Crow shined the flashlight down into the opening, which was filled with thick black bubbling goo.
“It’s a tar pit,” he said. “They’re naturally occurring pools of asphalt. Paleontologists have found lots of fossils in them because any animal that enters one gets stuck and dies.” Crow did not want to become one of those fossils.
Melody shook her head. “It’s an illusion. There’s no tar.”
“Great! We can just walk across, right?”
“No. The tar’s an illusion, but the chasm is real, and there’s no bridge.” She took a deep breath. “I think we have to be brave. I think we have to jump.”
“Into what? What’s down there?” It sure looked like a bubbling pool of asphalt to Crow.
“I don’t know. I can tell that the tar is not actually there, but I don’t know what it’s covering. I guess we’ll find out when we get there.”
“But it could be anything. For all we know, the fake tar pit is hiding a real tar pit. Or there could be snakes, or lava, or something even worse.”
“That’s where the bravery comes in.”
Crow wanted to point out that leaping into the unknown struck him as more foolish than brave. No one got a second wish. Maybe this test—this death trap—was how the Meera kept it that way. But before he could get the words out, Melody had jumped.
Crow kept his flashlight shined on her until the tar swallowed her. He waited a moment before deciding he had no choice but to follow. He jumped.
The tar disappeared the second it should have touched him, replaced by dark nothing. He seemed to fall for a very long time. He had time to spin upside down, and time to right himself. He had more than enough time to conclude that, when he finally hit the ground, he would do so with a splat that even he could not survive. He also had plenty of time to think about his mother and his father and how they would never know what had happened to him.
But when the ground finally came, it did so with a soft bounce.
“I couldn’t see it from the top,” Melody explained, “but there’s a magic protection spell here.” She fell backward, letting the magically softened ground cushion her.
The tortoise, the crow, the dog, and the honey badger—four tests down, and only three to go. Nevertheless, Crow was pretty sure the hardest part still lay ahead of them.
Next came the elephant room. They pulled the black sheet off the first glass case they came to, and just as Luke had promised, there was someone inside. She had bright blue eyes, matched perfectly by her blue dress. A diamond tiara sat atop her blond hair. A diamond necklace hung around her neck.
Her head was held high in an expression of contempt, but her eyes, which blinked occasionally, were full of fear.
Her case had a donation box, just like Luke’s. A sign sat above it.
HANNAH SCHUSTER
It looks harmless, but this primate is vicious. If it is not the center of attention, it will go mad with rage and attack any creature in sight. For your own safety, stay far away.
“Did you ever figure out what the elephant room tests?” Melody asked.
“No.” Crow had been too focused on the meaning of the bees to give it much thought.
“Maybe we should leave them. I mean, just for now. We can come back for them after we’ve dealt with the Meera.”
Crow looked at Hannah. She couldn’t say anything, but she could hear everything—Luke had been able to. She knew they were talking about her. How would s
he feel if they left her? Besides, they didn’t know what would happen when they faced the Meera. What if they couldn’t come back?
They might be able to use her help, too. They sure could have used Luke’s strength when they were pushing that boulder.
“We have to get them now.”
Melody sighed. “I knew you’d say that. And you’re right, I guess. I brought some junk from my house for the donation.” She unzipped her backpack a couple of inches, wide enough for her hand to slip through, but not wide enough for anyone watching to see inside. Her hand fished around for a minute before retrieving a hair clip. It was cheap and plastic, and it appeared to be broken.
She put it inside the box. Nothing clicked.
Crow tried to open the door, but it didn’t budge.
Inside the case, Hannah moved. “What’s going on?”
“Hi, Hannah,” Melody said. “This is Crow. We’re here to rescue you. Uh, we just need to figure out how first.” She frowned. “That should have worked. Do you think the Meera changed this test, too?”
“Maybe. Can’t you use your wish to understand the magic involved?”
She looked at the box. “It’s set to open when it receives a donation of great value. Are elephants supposed to be charitable or something?”
“I’m not sure. But that clasp on that clip was broken, right? And you called it junk.”
“I guess.” Melody stuck her hand back inside the backpack and retrieved a lollipop. “Candy worked last time. And I only have a few pieces of Halloween candy left, so it definitely has value.”
She put the lollipop inside the donation box. Nothing happened. “Now what?”
“Hurry up!” Hannah yelled.
“Each of the tests has gotten harder,” Crow said. “And you said the magic required something of great value. I think you need to donate more.”
Melody frowned. “Fine. But this had better work.” She added the rest of her Halloween haul—two small chocolate bars and a piece of licorice—to the donation.
The lock clicked open.
Hannah barreled her way out and flung her arms around Melody. “Thank you! I thought I’d be stuck in there forever.”
She turned to Crow. Her arms went out, then quickly retracted. She wrinkled her nose in an all-too-familiar way. “Uh, thank you. I’d hug you, too, but…what’s wrong with you?”
“Dead,” Crow mumbled.
“Cursed,” Melody added.
Hannah put her hands on her hips. “I’m not going to kiss him.”
“Why would we want you to kiss him?” Melody asked.
“Uh, hello, princess here.” She pointed to her tiara. “You want me to kiss him to undo his curse, right? It might work—I am related to royalty on my father’s side—but I’m not going to do it. I don’t just go around kissing strangers. Especially not disgusting ones. Wait—are you a stranger? You look familiar.”
“We used to go to school together,” Crow said.
“Oh. I’m still not kissing you.”
Melody rolled her eyes. “Whatever. We don’t want you to kiss him. We need to free Grace and Travis now.”
Hannah raised her chin, making herself look a lot like she had when she’d been frozen in the case. “This is all Travis’s fault. His and Luke’s. Where is Luke?”
“He already got out,” Crow said.
The Meera’s growls echoed through the room. It timed this, Crow realized. It wanted to scare the bravery and compassion out of people.
And it was working. Hannah’s pretty blue eyes bulged at the sound, which had morphed into a hyena’s cackle. “Can I go, too? Right now, while you help the others?”
“Try to escape if you want. Crow and I are going to get the others. Good luck getting out of here and facing the Meera on your own.” Melody’s brow furrowed. “Did your nose just get bigger?”
“What? No.” Hannah felt her nose. “I don’t think so. How could it?”
Crow thought he had seen it, too—a slight lengthening of the bridge, a minor widening of the nostrils. But there was no point in saying anything before he was sure, especially not when they had two more people to rescue. Crow removed the sheet from the next case.
This one held a cute girl with long brown hair and big brown eyes, both of which shined in the glow of the flashlight. She was wearing a flattering Greek dress, which she was stuck looking down at.
GRACE AGUILAR
A vain creature, this primate is at home anywhere with a mirror. When others are around, it eats water and the occasional vegetable. When alone, its diet includes any chocolate or sausage that is available, often consumed together. Many consider it a type of parasite.
Melody held her hand out. “Hannah, give me your tiara.”
“No! This thing cost me a month’s allowance! It’s genuine cubic zirconia, you know.”
“Then it’ll make the perfect donation.” Melody ripped the tiara from Hannah’s hair and put it into Grace’s donation box. The lock clicked open.
Grace pushed her way out of the glass cage, knocked Melody over, and kicked Crow. “It’s another monster! Get him.”
“I’m here to help you,” Crow said, holding up his hands to protect himself.
“You’d better watch out, monster. A friend’s been teaching me martial arts.” She punched Crow in the stomach.
“He’s not a monster,” Melody said, pulling herself up. “He’s just a little dead.”
Grace kicked Crow again. “I’m pretty sure that makes him a monster.”
“Then he’s a good monster,” Melody said. “One who’s rescuing you.”
While Crow checked himself for injuries and found none, the princess and the goddess huddled together, whispers passing back and forth between them.
“Fine,” Hannah said. “But keep him away from us. He stinks.”
Melody’s nostrils flared at the insult. She was clearly very angry, although Crow didn’t know why. He did stink. No one could deny it, not even Melody.
“And let’s get out of here,” Grace added, her voice almost drowned out by the Meera’s howls. “Now.”
“We have to rescue Travis first,” Hannah said. Her tone suggested that this was a major inconvenience.
“That’s not fair! This is all Travis’s fault, anyway. We should leave him here!” As Grace said this, a large wart appeared on the tip of her nose.
Hannah screamed, and her own nose grew larger. A lot larger. It was now twice its normal size, and growing bigger by the second.
“What’s happening?” Grace demanded as more warts sprouted all over her face, and her formerly perfect teeth became crooked.
“You’ve been cursed,” Crow said. “We should be able to reverse the effects when we confront the Meera. Hopefully. But first we have to get Travis.”
They uncovered the last case, where Travis, still dressed in his pirate costume, stood with his arms out, elbows bent and muscles flexed.
TRAVIS KLING
This primate prefers to travel in packs as long as it can be the alpha male. It believes itself to be much stronger than it actually is and will handle most disputes through violence.
Melody yanked off one of Grace’s earrings and dropped it in the donation box. The glass door opened and Travis unfroze, though he didn’t stop flexing his muscles immediately. “What’s going on?”
“The Meera—that’s the monster you were torturing when you thought it was a helpless rabbit—kidnapped you as punishment,” Melody said. “Now that we’ve rescued you, we need to leave.”
“Rescued me?” he said, and his chest puffed out even as his legs still wobbled. “I didn’t need rescuing. In another minute, I’d have broken that glass.” He leaned against a wall for support. “Now that we’re together, I should take the lead. I am, after all, the strongest of the group. I’ll fight this mons—Hannah? Grace? Is that you? What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing,” Hannah said, her nose roughly the size of a toucan’s beak. Her ears had started growing, too. She tri
ed to hide behind Grace, whose warts were still multiplying and whose eyebrows had become large and bushy. At the same time, Grace tried to hide behind Hannah. They went back and forth in a desperate dance, both trying to use the other as a shield, until finally they settled on huddling together with their hair and hands covering as much of themselves as they could manage.
“You’re ugly,” Travis said, laughing. He shrank about an inch, although he was laughing too hard to notice.
“They’ve been cursed by the Meera,” Crow explained. “You have, too. We’ll try to break the curses when we confront the Meera on our way out of here.”
“Cursed?” He looked Crow up and down. “Is that what’s wrong with you?”
Crow nodded.
“But I’m not cursed,” Travis said, just as he shrank another two inches. This time, he noticed. “What’s happening? Is the room getting bigger?”
Melody coughed, and Crow suspected that she was trying to cover a giggle.
“No,” she said when she’d caught her breath. “You’re getting smaller.”
Travis still insisted on leading the way. Since he was headed toward the spider room, this was fine with Crow and Melody. Grace and Hannah, both of whom now had bowed legs and humped backs, stayed in the back of the group. For the most part, they kept their eyes on the ground, but every once in a while they would sneak peeks at each other. Crow knew whenever this happened, even though the girls were behind him, because they shrieked each time.
“As leader,” Travis said, having reached the end of the hall, “I think we should go through this door.”
His pants, now far too large for him, fell to his ankles. He scrambled to pull them up.
Melody smirked. “Wise decision. I don’t know how Crow and I managed without you last time.”
“Well, you did have Luke with you, and he’s usually my second-in-command.” With one hand keeping his pants up, Travis reached up to the doorknob, now level with his head. He opened the door and stepped onto the rectangular platform inside. “It looks like we’ll have to swim.”