The Adventures of the Junior Phoenixes, Part 1: The Pendant of Life

Chapter 25: Cursed and Jinxed

Chapter 25

"Do you smell anything?" Carver asked Aimes.

"I don't know yet," Aimes replied. "First, let's close the door. If anything did get in, they're trapped."

"Everyone!" Shade whispered to the group, "Down the hall! Now! Go! Quietly!"

The scurrying of feet pitter-pattered further down the hall until the scurrying stopped at a fork in the hall. The hall ended, splitting in two directions. One direction went to a staircase that descended. The other led to a staircase that ascended.

"Oof!" someone muttered, "We stopped, whoever that was!"

"Sorry, Echo," Ignatia said.

"I'm over here!" Echo replied.

"Okay, we need to think of a plan," Shade said.

"Let's stun them or something!" Star said.

"Why are you so violent?" Dan asked.

"She's got the right idea," Echo answered.

"No one is stunning anyone for now," Shade said. Those stairs to the right go downwards. That's probably where the dungeons are, which is where Jinx probably is."

"That means the other stairs go up to where Leech is," Rain Fox added. "We could stop him, Shade! We could stop him for good! Here and now!"

"That is not why we are here, Warrior," Shade told her. "We're here to rescue Jinx."

"But think about it, Shade," she continued, "As long as Leech is still around then we will always be in danger. You, me, my sister, my parents, all of us, we will all be in danger as long as Leech is left up there! He's getting away with terrible things, man! We have to stop him!"

"Oh no!" Sam whispered loudly. "Those two troll holes are comin' this way, y'all!"

"Sherman, take Dan, Sam, Iggy, and Star down to the dungeons with you," Shade said. "Echo, Rain Fox, come with me. We're going to see a werewolf about grandma."

"Wait, what does your grandmother have to do with anything?" Sherman asked.

"No, it's a joke," Shade said. "Go down to the dungeons. Find Jinx. Get her out of here. Ignatia should be able to open the door again. If you need to stun anyone, do it quietly. We don't want to raise the alarm, okay?"

"You got it, mate. Alright, everyone, down to the dungeons. Stay close."

"Wait, Sherman!" Shade said. Shade undid his Chameleon Charm and became visible. "Here, take this! It's the Talk-Box. When you find Jinx, get out of the castle and use it to Apparate back to the apartment, okay? Don't wait for us. We'll all meet back at the apartment, okay?"

"Good thinking, mate," Sherman said as an invisible hand took the talk-box and it vanished in an invisible pocket."

"This way, if we're split up, those guys won't know where to go," Shade said. "Echo, when we get to the staircase, change into tiger form. You can use your senses better if you're a tiger."

"Got it, Shaders," Echo said.

"Will you please stop calling me that!" Shade whispered, angrily. "Let's go."

A smaller patter of feet scurried towards the door.

"Ouch, Echo, you stepped on my foot!" Rain Fox said.

"It wasn't me!" Echo replied.

"Don't worry about it, you two! Just hurry!" Shade said.

They got to the end of the hallway and went up the stairs, slowly. The strangest noise almost made Shade jump until he realized that it was Echo growling in her tiger form. He heard her sniffing ahead of him.