Phantom Town

Part 8

After the sun set behind the trees, they all sat cross-legged around the small fire they'd created. "This is nice." Charlotte said softly. "Yeah." Moira and Harrison replied at almost the same time. Harrison suddenly realized that his fingers were interlocked with Charlotte's, but he decided he didn't care. "So, what do you think is going to happen tomorrow?" Moira asked. "I'm not sure, but I'm thinking we should keep going no matter what." Harrison replied. "Yeah, I'm ready to get out of these woods." Charlotte added with a giggle. "Plus, even if one of us gets hurt, if we find the pond we'll be alright."

"It heals injuries, too?" Harrison asked. "Yeah, it's a completely magical pond. Basically if you have anything wrong with your body, whether you've got a paper cut, you've been turned into something, or your arm came off, and you jump in there, it will be fixed." Charlotte replied with satisfaction. "That's pretty cool." Harrison answered.

"I'm getting tired, I'm going to go ahead inside." Moira yawned after awhile. "M'kay, sleep tight!" Charlotte replied. Carl the Dog and Sonya the Fox trotted after her, and Harrison and Charlotte were suddenly alone in the night. The fire was beginning to die, so it was quite dark outside. They sat in silence for awhile, and Harrison realized Charlotte was staring upwards. He did the same, and the single word "wow" escaped his lips. Never in his entire life had he seen so many stars. Some were extra bright, obviously the ones that can be seen even with the smog and light pollution of the city. However, those stars were surrounded by millions and millions more, all in varying brightness, like someone had shaken glitter all over a huge bluish-black carpet.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Charlotte asked. "Yeah... I'll bet it looks like that a whole lot around here." Harrison whispered back. Charlotte shook her head. "Not always. Believe it or not, it's usually pretty cloudy over Fantome. It's sort of a side-effect of Smith's curses, but they can't reach out here." She replied wistfully. Harrison smiled and looked back over at her. In the darkness, he could just make out her features, particularly her eyes. He thought of the evening before, when he'd almost kissed her. "Why the heck did I do that?" He asked himself. Maybe it was a sudden burst of hormones, maybe it was the intensity of the moment, maybe it was the romantic atmosphere of the forest... or maybe he was actually falling in love with her.

As he pondered this, she suddenly looked over at him. "Hey, remember when we met, and I knew you were nervous without you saying anything?" She asked. "Yeah," He replied. With terror, he added, "Can you read people's thoughts?" "No, just emotions." She answered. "Oh... what can you tell right now?" He asked. Charlotte shrugged. "You're conflicted... confused... in love..." Harrison was suddenly thankful for the darkness, because he was sure he turned pinkish at that point. "I... well... there's a certain..." He looked up, and Charlotte lifted a finger. He felt himself pulled forward a bit, but he found the courage to do the rest, placing a gentle hand on the side of her head and pressing his lips against hers. A crew of fireflies danced and flickered around them as they pulled away and smiled, and Harrison finally broke the silence by saying "We're going to make it out of here, all of us."

"You bet, Harrison." Charlotte replied.

The next morning, they ate breakfast and immediately pressed on. They hadn't gone ten feet when Carl started growling. "Dad, what's wrong?" Harrison asked. No sooner had he said this than a huge, fluorescent yellow snake appeared from the woods. They all pulled out their swords just as Charlotte dodged the snake's snapping bite, and in one swing Moira sliced its head off. "That had to be from Fantome. I've never seen any snake like that." Harrison observed. "Why does all this stuff attack me first?" Charlotte inquired with annoyance. "Probably because you're the most powerful." Moira suggested.

Just then, Harrison saw blood trickling down Charlotte's leg. "Charlotte, it bit you!" He exclaimed. She looked down, and her eyes widened in alarm. "Oh... that's not good." She said. "If he's venomous at all, you're probably bleeding it out." Moira observed. "Well, for now, did anyone bring a first-aid kit?" Harrison asked. "No, but we can use a Night Stone and get some bandages." Charlotte replied. Moira pulled one of the purple rocks out of the bag, whispered "bandages", and threw it on the ground. It exploded like a firecracker, and a roll of gauze materialized on the ground.

After they'd bandaged Charlotte's leg, they all kept going. After a few more minutes, they noticed a square drawn in the dirt. "Hmm... I wonder what that is?" Harrison wondered aloud. The square took up the whole width of the road, and when he stepped on it, he almost felt it shift downward. Before he said anything else, the square dropped and he fell down into darkness. Over his own shouts of terror he could hear Charlotte and Moira cry out, and from behind them came frantic yipping and barking.

He hit the ground hard, and in total darkness. "Harrison! Harrison! Are you alright?" Their voices echoed from above. "Yeah, I'm fine!" He shouted back. He could just barely see the opening above, with his friends' heads peeking over. He reached into his pocket, and found the sword where he'd left it. The blade glowed, putting out enough light so that he could see what surrounded him. Leaning up against the wall, there was a pair of costume angel wings. They weren't the cheap kind, either. They were large and covered in silver feathers that glittered in the dim light. Just as he was wondering if they were magic, he heard footsteps. Turning around, he saw a tunnel with two yellow circles of light moving towards him slowly. As they drew closer, a clawed foot stepped into the light of his sword followed by the foot's owner, an enormous lizard with glowing eyes.

The thing blew smoke out of its nostrils with an echoing "puff!" sound. "Harrison, what's going on?" Charlotte's concerned voice called. "Hang on, I'm kind of busy!" He yelled back. With a deep breath, Harrison thrust his sword forwards. It pierced the monster's shoulder, and the creature let out a bellowing cry and struck Harrison with its claw. He fell backwards, and felt a burning dampness across his chest. Still, he stood up and slashed the radiant weapon with all his might. He heard a gurgling sound as the monster's severed head fell from its body. "What was that?" One of the girls called. "Hang on! I'm coming up!" He replied. He started to clean the sword, but quickly realized that the shining weapon was spotless. So, he lifted up the angel wings and put them on.

He felt a strange sensation, as if he had two extra arms. He flapped his wings cautiously, and soon found himself flying upwards towards the light. The relieved girls threw their arms around him as the hole in the ground faded and disappeared, along with Harrison's wings. "What happened to you?" Charlotte asked, gesturing to the bloody claw marks on his chest. He explained about the monster and the angel wings while the girls bandaged his wounds, and afterwards they pressed on.