| Chapter 4 |
“Uh, is that storm cloud something normal around here?” Kammie asked, backing away from the cloud thousands of miles away. Scarlet looked up and gasped. “It’s back-” she cried, and all the other flames turned toward the shadow.
“What? What does that thing do? What can it do? Do we need to do something?” Kammie knew she sounded like her mother, but this was real. “It’s called a Dark Shadow, and everything it touches loses color. Life. This was the reason you thought we didn’t exist. We lost so many family and friends five years ago, it was impossible to think we still existed.” Ig explained fear in his voice. “We need to get out of here; and warn everyone else before it gets here.” Scarlet said, scrambling to clean up the picnic.
Kammie helped pack a big sack with blankets, food, and anything else they might need. Scarlet let out a piercing whistle, and less than an hour later, everyone was ready to go. Cyra and Sunniva came home immediately, and soon crowds of people gathered around Scarlet, who was clearly in charge. “People of Element Township, we gather here today to announce that there is another Dark Shadow, and it is heading our way,” gasps rang through the crowd. Kammie was hardly listening. She had just caught a glimpse of the water people. They looked like orbs of water, with no shape, just eyes and a mouth. Not even a nose! Someone bumped into her, and she turned angrily to them, but lost her voice when she saw that it was a large clump of dirt, with a pair of giant eyes, and a nose. It’s mouth was so small you couldn’t see it.
Just then, someone tugged on her arm. “Come on, we need to go,” Cyra said, pulling Kammie with her. Kammie was surprised Cyra wasn’t burning her, because her skin was left unmarked. But soon, they all had to understand the urgency of the situation. They ran all the way across the country, the cloud moving ever closer. No one even spoke, and they ran until the sun had gone down hours ago. They rested, leaning under a large pine tree. Ig lit a fire, and they sat around until they had all fallen asleep.
…
Kammie woke up to Blaze’s face inches from her nose. “Huh? What-” she started to say, but reality kicked in quickly and she looked up at the sky in search of Dark Shadow.
“It disappeared a little bit ago, behind the mountain,” Tana explained, and Kammie looked around, noticing the plains below them were gray, all of them limping to the ground, as if bowing to the Dark Shadow, giving up. She now knew what Dark Shadow could do. This could happen to her. And Scarlet, and Tana, and Ig, and Cyra, and everyone else that lived in this area. So they ran for their lives, running through the forest, keeping watch over the mountains. Kammie gasped for breath. “How–much– l-longer?” she gasped, struggling to keep up with everyone else. “Just a couple more miles, and then we can stop to rest.” was all Scarlet said. “A couple miles!?” Kammie exclaimed, wondering how she was going to survive this. “And what was that about just resting? We’re not going to stay there?” “Of course not! We would like to, of course, but we can’t stop running until that cloud is gone,” Fiammetta explained, and Kammie thought it was best she didn’t say anything else. After all, she wasn’t the only one who wanted to go home.
They ran for hours, only stopping at the scattered bushed of odd flavored berries and fruits before running on. But fortunately for Kammie, they had only been running for a couple hours past dinner when Scarlet and Ig suddenly stopped running. They were near an ocean, and in front of them was a giant boat. It floated on the surface, and in golden script, the words The Blue Miracle were written on the side in big letters. “All aboard!” called the captain, a young boy, only about the age of ten or eleven, as he gripped the wheel. “C’mon,” Tana said, waving at Kammie to follow them. They climbed up, onto the vast wood floors of the ship, as it smoothly glided over the surface. “So, can someone please tell me where we are, and why there is an ocean in a forest that humans like to hike in?” Kammie asked, turning to Scarlet. But instead, Vesta answered, “You humans usually tend to stay on the hiking trails, so we built invisible barriers about a mile into the forest. Somehow–in ways we can’t explain–you managed to cross over these barriers and end up here,” she explained, and Nuri cut in, “And the reason we are by an ocean is because once you cross the barriers, you’re no longer in your forest. You just crossed into Element Township,” she informed Kammie, and then Hestia added, “In your world, apparently townships are small, but here, townships cross farther than your Uited Eights of Emarica,” At this, Kammie had to laugh. Once she could control herself, she said, through gasping breaths, “It’s pronounced U–nit–ed St–a-tes of Amer-ica,” she said. There were several moments of silence, before Hestia started giggling. And then Scarlet smiled. Then Blaze started laughing. And then everyone burst into laughter. “Captain, how much longer until our destination?” Kammie asked, grinning. The captain looked sheepish, as he replied, “(1) Call me Captain Andrew,”
“All right, Captain Andrew, how much longer on this boat?”
“As I was about to say,”
“Sorry,”
“You just did it again,”
“Sorry,”
“Stop interrupting! And don’t say sorry, and if you do, I will continue to talk over you,” He paused, as if testing if it was safe to continue. “All right, I was just going to say, we, er, haven’t started sailing yet. You haven’t told me where we are going,” he said, and now it was Kammie’s turn to look sheepish.
“Oh! Well, I don’t know where we are going either, I guess,” Kammie said, realizing it. “Crossridge Point,” Scarlet told him, and soon, the rush of the wind and the smooth lapping of the water splashed against the boat. “Where’s Crossridge Point?” Kammie asked Scarlet, and Scarlet answered, “Crossridge Point is the area between Element Township and Nonexistent County, where shadows and darkness rule. Crossridge Point can be very dangerous, because even though the shadows stay far away from Element Township, they travel to Crossridge Point very often.” Scarlet explained, and Kammie shivered. “And what do the shadows do?” she gulped, hoping the answer wasn’t too bad.
“They are mean, selfish, and grouchy. But they don’t do any real harm unless they get angry about something. Then, they form into Dark Shadow.”
“So then why would we go there?” Kammie wondered, because after all, who would want to go to the horrible place?
“It’s the only place that might not have very many shadows in it, because they have all turned into Dark Shadow, but there may be some shadows left, so we have to be careful.”
Kammie nodded. That sounded kind of made up, and yet it didn’t. “Alrighty, passengers, it appears we are at our destination,” Captain Andrew called, before adding, “You’re sure you want to go there?” he asked, unsure. “Yes,” Scarlet said, already halfway down the ramp-like walkway to firm ground. “C’mon,” she said, as the nine children and Ig followed her. “Okay…You’re sure this is safe?” she asked nervously, and Scarlet’s “No, but it should be okay,” didn’t sound too resuring, and it definitely didn’t help the butterflies in her stomach. “Uh, I’m not so sure about this,” Kammie called, as she stared at the dark gray cloud lining the Nonexistent County. Lightning flashed as they walked closer. “Remember, don’t talk to anyone, if you can avoid it,” Scarlet reminded everyone, and they all nodded.
…
“Uh, anyone else really worried we might not make it out alive?” Kammie asked, her voice shaking as they walked down the dark alleyway between two towering, black buildings. “I am!” Tana called from behind her. “I mean, this place isn’t that great, but to be honest, I’m kinda disappointed that it isn’t any worse.” Vesta added, and Kammie didn’t know whether to agree or go and shake her back to reality. “I don’t know about you, but this place gives me the creeps,” Kammie said, carefully stepping over a pool of black murky stuff. No one really spoke as they walked through the empty streets. “AH!” Kammie screamed, as what looked like a giant gray slug the size of a freight train slowly crossed the street, glaring at them as it passed.
“Uh, what was that?” Kammie asked, stepping back from the thick sheen of slimy clear goo it had left behind. “It’s just slug juice,” Scarlet answered, before adding, “And it is perfectly edible, try it!” “What? You want me to try slug slime from a creature twenty times bigger than I am!?” Hestia grinned before dipping her finger in the goo. “Mmm, you really should try it,” she said, and so Kammie reluctantly dipped her finger into the slime.
A burst of flavor shot up in her mouth. It tasted like… vanilla. And melted cookies. And apple pie. All in that dime sized bite. “Oh! It is good! But… I thought you said that shadow people were bad?” “They are, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t find good in them. In fact, you can use slug slime to heal major wounds of any kind!” Scarlet said with a grin. “Oh! Then I am definitely taking some to go,” Kammie decided, and Hestia handed her a glass jar out of nowhere, which Kammie took and scooped up some of the slime. “So… Where are we spending the night here, again?” Kammie asked, and Scarlet answered, “The streets. Or anywhere we can find shelter,” she explained, as they walked on. “Uh, you mean we get to be homeless for a day? Because that’s just embarrassing. What am I going to tell my mom when I get back? ‘Oh yeah, and we also slept in the streets for a week,’?” “No. Because your mom will never know that you were here.” Scarlet answered. “Wait, what?” Kammie asked, but no one said anything more.
Wait for Chapter Five if you want to see what happens next!