Chapter #24Tripping up on a trap! by: Arnsley   Suddenly, there was a click. A loud, clearly audible one from somewhere ahead.
“…whoops,” Soleil said.
“What was that?” Sophie immediately asked.
“Everyone, stop! Don’t move!” Nina commanded.
“What was that noise? Did someone step on something?” Velouria asked.
“I think so. Stay calm,” Nina said, “don’t freak out…”
“I, um… I think it was me,” Soleil said, raising a hand, “my bad.”
“What did you do?” Nina asked her, clearly getting annoyed.
“Well, there was this squishy bit. It went down,” she explained vaguely.
“It might not be a trap!” Ophelia chimed in, “it may merely be—”
A grinding noise interrupted the dark mage. Suddenly Velouria was falling, the ground giving out from beneath her feet. Her friends screamed, but only for a split second before they all landed.
“Oof!” Sophie gasped.
“Is everyone OK?” Soleil said, scrambling around after her friends.
“I am well!” Ophelia answered.
“I’m fine,” Velouria said.
“Yeah, I’m good,” Nina grunted, standing. A couple of the torches had gone out, leaving them with significantly less light. From what Velouria could see, they had landed in a place not too different from where they were before. It smelt the same, at least.
“That was definitely a trap,” Sophie said nervously.
“Relax. We’re in basically the same place, right?” Soleil said.
“Wrong. Look.”
Nina pointed behind them. Velouria turned towards the exit… to see a solid wall right behind her.
“We can’t go back now,” she told the others.
“Wh-what?!” Sophie panicked.
“Uh oh. I’m sure it’s fine,” Soleil waved off her concerns.
“It is only natural for there to be traps on our epic quest!” Ophelia proclaimed.
Staring up at the hallway they had dropped from, Velouria wondered if she could climb back up. She decided not to try, since that would mean leaving the others behind.
“H-how can you say that?” Sophie argued, “we could be stuck down here forever!”
“I’m sure there’s another way out. Don’t worry!” Soleil told her, “Just keep smiling!”
“It doesn’t matter anyway. We have to keep going,” Nina said, “nothing else we can do.”
“You’re right, but… ugh, fine. I hope there is a way up…” Sophie sighed.
They paused to light everyone’s torches again, before walking ahead.
“Hey, look,” Soleil pointed, a few minutes later.
“I think I see a light…” Nina said, leaning past her friend.
“A way out?” Sophie said hopefully.
Velouria wasn’t really listening. A smell had caught her attention, one she had caught a whiff of a short while ago. As they journeyed further down the hallway, it became stronger and stronger. To the point where it was almost overwhelming to her nose. The others didn’t seem to even notice, however.
While her friends stared at the light ahead, Velouria found it. Tracing her way along the wall, she discovered a particularly smelly patch. The light from her torch revealed a thick, wet, dark paint-like substance clinging to the wall.
“Hey, what’s this?” she asked aloud. That caught the attention of her allies, the four other women turning to look at her.
“A dark substance! It is surely—ew. It stinks,” Ophelia recoiled, covering her nose with her sleeve mid-theatrics.
“Kind of looks like mud,” Soleil commented, “think it would be good for the skin?”
“We shouldn’t touch it,” Sophie said. But Velouria was too interested. Without even thinking to, she reached into the muddy patch.
“Definitely don’t touch it,” Nina agreed, “we should—oh. Too late.”
Velouria felt the wall. Solid, the fluid-like substance only about an inch thick. When she lifted her hand away, some of it came with her, causing those closest to flinch away. She turned her hand over to inspect her palm. It was coated with the substance.
“Whoa…” she marveled, “interesting.”
“Don’t lick it!” Sophie squealed when Velouria moved her hand close to her face, but she was merely sniffing it. Something about the stuff was so intriguing to her. She wanted to collect it up.
“Did anyone bring a jar?” she asked, hoping to take it with her. No-one answered.
The atmosphere seemed to change suddenly. Like the dinner hall suddenly becoming dead silent. Velouria glanced towards her friends. The four of them were staring at her. Nina looked confused, Soleil had raised a single eyebrow. Sophie’s jaw was hanging open, and Ophelia’s eyes sparkled with amazement. But what the four of them had in common was that they were all oddly tall.
“Why are you staring at me like that?” Velouria asked, fear cracking her voice.
“V-Velouria, you…” Sophie tried to speak.
“When did you all get so tall? Wait, am I sinking?” Velouria glanced down. Her feet were on firm ground, which meant that idea was wrong. But then why were they taller?
“Have I shrunk or something?” she spoke without thinking, the idea not fully formed in her head. It sounded ridiculous, to the point where she felt a bit embarrassed. But Nina nodded her head.
“I think you have,” she said.
“Wh-what?”
“Incredible!” Ophelia suddenly exploded, “Velouria diminishes before our eyes! Surely the work of some long-lost magic! Why, to think diminishment is even—”
“Ophelia!” Nina told her off, “this isn’t the time for that! We have to do something!”
“Whoa. She keeps getting cuter and cuter…” Soleil muttered.
“What do we do? We’ve got nothing to… ah! Here, use this!”
Sophie rummaged in her bag, before thrusting out her hand. In it, she held a single handkerchief.
“Wipe that stuff off with this! Quick, before you get any smaller!” she urged.
Velouria was a little taken aback. Her hand was right in her face and rising higher by the second. She had to reach up to claim the handkerchief. But she took her advice, wiping down her hand as best as she was able. The rag was quickly stained black, though it removed most of the substance from her hand.
“Look! Her clothes are shriveling with her!” Ophelia pointed, “how curious!”
“Throw it away when you’re done!” Sophie suggested, “maybe then…”
But before Velouria had finished, it seemed to stop. Her hand was only half clean, yet she shrank no more. It took her a few moments to realize. She stopped what she was doing and turned to her friends.
What she saw would surely haunt her nightmares forever. Her four friends in the low light, staring down at her. Barely up to their hips, she had to be half their height.
“She’s so small…” Soleil gasped.
“Velouria! Are you OK?” Nina asked her.
“I’m fine, I—aaah!” Velouria screamed. Her own voice startled her, for it was weirdly high-pitched. Like she was doing an impression of a mouse.
“Oh my. Her voice is so cute…” Soleil commented.
“What do we do?” Sophie worried, “are we going to shrink too?”
“That stuff on the wall must have made her small. So we should be fine, so long as we don’t touch it. I think,” Nina theorized.
“Better make sure we don’t step in it too,” Soleil said, “watch your feet!”
“You’re one to talk…” Nina grumbled.
“A mysterious dark hallway, dark mud that shrinks people… dark mysteries abound! Ooh, this is so exciting!” Ophelia cheered.
“Do we go back?” Sophie wondered, “can we even get back?”
Staring up at her huge friends was unnerving, to say the least. But Velouria felt like she had to say something…   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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