Lucas Ryan Versus - Madison Daniel Page 0,2

been watching us is the third beacon, I think. He’s the one I’ve been searching for since being trapped on this nightmarish planet. He took me to you.”

“I don’t understand…” she tried to say, but we were interrupted again. A roar ripped into us like a freight train as a new player entered the game. From around the last turn a giant snout appeared. It sniffed the air before unleashing another roar. It pushed forward just enough to reveal its hideous head. Covered in scales that seemed to be bleeding, its jaws opened up like a python readying itself to ingest a much too large meal. It was a dirty shade of purple and had three sets of silver eyes. All six pupils locked onto us. Sophia tightened her hand onto mine and waited for me to do something. Without thinking I turned around and pulled her forward, but found our once opened corridor was now sealed closed again. The maze was changing, and it didn’t seem to want us to leave.

Sophia mumbled, “Oh, no.”

The hungry carnivore pushed forward with its razored teeth stretching from its menacing mouth. Instinctively, I forced Sophia behind me and threw my arms in front of my face. As the monster’s fangs inched closer to us my forearm lit up again. Warm yellow light filled our death box and I held my breath. Suddenly, the light from my fleshy gauntlet smashed into the ceiling above us, incinerating a large hole just big enough for us to squeeze through. Before I could offer up my escape plan, Sophia was already scaling my back and reaching for the new hole.

“Hurry!” I called out. Her feet disappeared above me, before instantly being replaced by one of her small hands.

“Grab on!” she yelled. With a jump and a smack of our sweaty palms she pulled me up just enough for me to get a good grip on the sides of the hole. Quickly, I pulled myself to safety and stood up, finding her other hand with mine. She smiled up at me and helped lock in my stance before looking below our feet. The hole was now gone, replaced by a new slab of gray steel. I searched the location around us. We were now in a giant domed structure the size of a warehouse. Thirty-yards away was another familiar face.

“Felicity!” Sophia announced. Felicity twirled around facing us, her dusty spirals of blonde hair mimicking her head movement. Her freckled face filled with surprised anger as she ran up to us.

“Where the heck have you two been?” Felicity cursed. She tightened a small fist in front of her face as if to threaten me. Wrapped around her index finger was the thirteenth Jynshee Ring. She had found it before we were placed in this nightmare. I thought it was lost forever, along with her. She quickly scolded me again, “This is all your fault, Lucas!”

Obviously, she wasn’t my biggest fan. Felicity and I were actually bitter rivals back home. Oil and water. I was relieved to see that she was still alive but annoyed that she had held onto her lovely attitude. Before she could add another bad timed insult, I pushed past her in a trance. I grunted back her way, barely acknowledging her, “Hey.”

“Where are you going? Don’t you ignore me!” she moaned.

“Calm down, Felicity, he’s found something,” Sophia said, from far behind me.

In my ears was a pulsating throb. A familiar sensation. A drumbeat.

“A heartbeat,” I gasped. I pushed forward in the darkened room, following the growing thrum inside my head. Just when the sound drowned out everything else, I tripped, slamming into the floor with a dull thud. “Ouch.”

Just in front of my eyes was a small pyramid-shaped jewel made of gold. It gleamed inside my eyes, locking me in place. I didn’t even notice when Sophia and Felicity walked up behind me. My eyes studied its surface and found tiny markings along its sides. The same exact markings etched into my forearm. The pounding heartbeat stopped inside my head. My hand reached out to scoop it up but I hesitated for a moment.

From over my shoulder Sophia asked, “What is it?”

Without even thinking, I said, “Our way home…I think…”

“How could you possibly know that?” Felicity snapped.

“I just do,” I said, distant. This was how my last adventure started, with a small magical stone. That unbelievable stone led me on this journey to this forbidden universe, maybe this new rock would lead me back home.