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“Portal?” shouted Annie after she bounced off the top of Tammy’s head.
“Yeah,” squeaked Allison. “The rotten tree we opened to get in here.”
“True, the black tree is the only wayin,” shouted Annie. “But we don’t have to go to a specific place just to get out of this realm. If we don’t care what part of the light faerie realm we end up in, we can open a faerie door anywhere. I just need a tree and about ten minutes to make one.”
“Trees, we have,” squeaked Allison. “Ten minutes… not so much. My fingers are about to melt off!”
As if on cue, a peppering of tiny spears fell around them.
“Yeow!” screamed Annie, before plucking a spear out of her lower back. “Ooh! You evil little things!”
Tammy zagged side to side, trying to run faster. She didn’t have much left, but hearing the girl cry out in pain gave her a little more. A scrap of clear thought poked through her panic and adrenaline. Annie’s idea had two big problems. One, everything in this place was tainted. Two, if she did successfully open a faerie door, it would give the dark ones a second point of entry—unless someone stayed behind to destroy the drawing.
“We can’t make faerie doors on these trees.” Tammy leapt over another crossing root. It tired her out so much to jump, she nearly slipped off the top and fell. By virtue of being a cat, she barely managed to land on her feet. “They’re evil. They’ll warp the magic.”
“Oh, shoot!” declared Annie. “You’re right.”
Tammy forced herself to keep moving seconds after a swarm of violet-winged faeries raced overhead and circled back. Rather than shoot at them, Allison raised her hands, summoning a swirling wind as a shield against more tiny spears.
“Oh, no.” Annie started to cry. “You guys should’ve left me. Now we’re all gonna die—and all because of me.”
“No way,” barked Tammy. “Don’t even say it.”
“But it’s true,” wailed Annie. “I’m not worth both of you getting ki—”
Sudden inspiration hit Tammy. Maple hadn’t spent too much time working on earth magic with her because she far preferred plant and animal spells. Still, Tammy had messed around with it enough for this to possibly work...
Summoning the last bit of strength her muscles could provide, Tammy sprang into the air. She fixed her gaze on the spot where they’d land, calling out to the magic within the earth. Even in this dark, twisted place, the soil and rock remained part of nature, less corruptible than the living trees and vines. What purity it retained resonated in her mind. A burst of magic bounced back and forth between her and the ground—and a large hole opened up right where she wanted it to.
She landed in the bottom of a two-story-deep pit, which promptly filled in overhead as she commanded the earth and rocks to move. Sheltered in a somewhat-spherical hollow safely beneath the surface, Tammy finally surrendered to fatigue and collapsed. Even as a big cat, she couldn’t see anything in complete darkness. The scent of wet dirt filled the limited air. Their chamber wouldn’t turn deadly from sour air for a while, perhaps long enough to catch her breath. Maybe she wouldn’t wake up, suffocating in her sleep. But… a peaceful demise beat what the faeries would do to them.
“Whoa,” whispered Allison.
Tammy became faintly aware of a weak breeze circulating around before she passed out.
***
She opened her eyes to a small egg-shaped chamber, aglow in the weak light from a candle flame.
Dirt against her face revealed she’d gone back to human form. She lacked the strength—or desire—to move, so simply shifted her head to look toward the source of the light. Annie sat cross-legged, both hands in front of her, cradling a single fluttering flame, not a wax candle. The tiny fire didn’t give off any warmth, proof it wasn’t real fire but a magical light. The child’s head touched the ‘ceiling’ of their underground hollow.
Her backpack lay on the ground between them, serving as a bed for Maple, who appeared to be asleep. Allison, still five inches tall, paced around in the small space between Tammy and the backpack.
Annie looked up at her. “I’d say good morning, but I don’t know what time it is.”
“Ugh.” Tammy wiped a hand down her face. “How long was I out?”
“A while.” Annie shrugged. “Maybe an hour? Hard to say.”
“I really hope Maple’s magic doesn’t wear off right now,” squeaked Allison. “Going back to normal size in this hole would totally suck.”
Annie pointed at Tammy. “This is gonna sound stupid to say after almost being killed… but I love your dress.”
Tammy glanced down at herself. The leaf-flower-moss garment had reappeared on her all by itself. “Thanks. It’s even got pockets.”
Annie blew softly at the tiny flame hovering over her hands making it dance about. “Are we safe down here?”
Tammy tried to uncurl and stretch her legs, but the chamber didn’t have room for it. “Umm… not really, but it’s all I got. Hopefully, the dark ones think we teleported away and aren’t waiting outside for us.”
