Chapter 5: The Blackwoods

By the time Eli and Alice approached the beginning of the Blackwoods, the clouds took on a fiery-gold glow from the setting sun. Eli was apprehensive, "Tell me again, why did we come this late?" He asked. Alice snickered.

"Well, the forest isn't as spooky in the middle of the day," She said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"That's a bad thing?"

"Well, what's the point of going out into the woods if not to get spooked." Eli's face twisted in worry and confusion. "Don't worry little guy, big-sister Alice'll protect you." She reached and rubbed his head and burst out in laughter at Eli's expected, yet unusual, cat-like reaction.

They walked calmly through the woods, chatting and joking. By the time they entered the glades, the sun had set. Eli stuck as close to the apparently unafraid Alice as possible. Though something in the way she moved made Eli think she was may have regretted her choice to come out late.

Eli shone his flashlight in all directions, "There's nothing here but grass," he stated.

"Well, I doubt whatever we're looking for would be easy to find. Let's keep searching. I'm sure we'll stumble on to something, eventually." Alice said. Just then, a snapping noise echoed in the darkness. Reflexively, Eli grabbed onto Alice's arm. "You're such a scared cat," Alice said, ignoring the fact that she was holding on to him just as tightly, "It was just an animal."

Eli opened his mouth to argue, but he couldn't speak on account of his heart leaping into his throat as his next step landed on air. The fall was brief, but that didn't stop the pair from screaming in horror, or the landing from being harsh. "We fell down a hole," Alice said with a pained chuckle.

"Thanks for the update," Eli said as he patted the base of his tail, "Now what's the news on us climbing out of here?"

"There is none," She said as she shone her flashlight down the cave, "My sources say we're going to go forward."

"Your sources are whack," despite this, he put up little fight against the idea. They started off and Alice handed Eli her flashlight. "What?" Eli asked as Alice pulled out her sketchpad and a red pen.

"I don't want to get lost," She answered as she manifested a scarlet red string.

"That's the best idea you've had all night." After a while of walking in what they hoped was a straight line, the pair came to a dead end.

"Looks like a cave in," Alice pointed out.

"Which means we should probably turn back before the rest of the cave falls apart."

"Which means," Alice retorted, "there's probably something on the other side. But how're we going to get there?"

"Through here?" Eli shone his light at a hole in the wall, "Maybe we can fit." He bit on to the flashlight and crawled through.

"Eli?" Alice called out as she stood alone for longer than she felt comfortable with.

"Holy! Alice! You gotta see this!"

"Hang-on!" she said as she tried to crawl through.

Eli was on his side and stared at the hole for longer than he thought was necessary. "Alice?" He called out.

"Yeah?" her voice echoed.

"What's taking so long?"

"Um, I can't fit."

"What are you talking about? We're the same size."

"I mean...I can't fit!" She said. Eli stared at the hole in confusion. "Hang on, I have an idea." Not long after that, Eli saw her blonde head struggle through. He also noticed why she couldn't fit. She had bound a bandage around her chest, which reduced the size of her bust. Eli chuckled.

Alice rose with a fire in her eyes, no doubt because of Eli's reaction, but not a word left her mouth as those eyes went wide. "Pretty cool, right?" Eli said. The hole led to a massive underground cavern that seemed to have developed its own ecosystem. Pillars of moon-light entered from the ceiling, landing on trees, grass, ponds, and puddles. Without hesitation, Eli and Alice climbed down from the ledge they were on and explored.

When the initial shock of the sight wore off, frustration set in. They had no idea where to go from there. Fuelled by boredom and her impish nature, Alice snuck up on Eli, who was standing over a pond, and pushed him into it. Soaking wet, Eli bobbed back up with an excited look on his face. "There's more down here." That was all he said before diving again. Alice jumped in after him. In the pond was a tunnel lit by glowing blue crystals, which they followed closely.

After swimming for about half a minute, Eli worried about air, but soon enough they surfaced in another part of the cave, though this area was unlike the previous cavern. The smoothness of the walls and floor, along with the apparent dome-like architecture, gave the impression of a man-made structure.

A faint fire-like glow caught their attention. They followed the light through an arching doorway and unto a stone bridge which seemed to stretch across a bottomless abyss and to a central structure that harboured the light. "That must be it!" Eli said as he ran towards it.

"Hang on," Alice said as they approached, " That doesn't look like it, I mean, a part of it may be." The source of light came from a shard.

"Maybe," Eli said as he reached for it. Before he could grab it, however, a chill ran from the tip of his tail and up his spine. Low growls came from where they just were. "Hide," Eli said as he ran to the opposite side of the central structure, leaving the shard behind. Alice joined him and looked at their follower by peeking past the structure. Eli felt her body stiffen beside him. "What's wrong?" he asked.

He peeked past the structure and immediately understood. The creature resembled the one from the library, only taller, scarier, and with a lot of muscle. Another bat-thing, like the one from the library, was perched on its shoulder. It flew from there and swallowed the shard in the same way it swallowed the journal. "I can't let you keep that," a voice that could only belong to Penitulus Ren said as the Maestro stepped into view.

"If you spit it out," he said, "We can be friends, deal?" The muscular creature turned and cracked its neck.

"I guess not," Penitulus said as he lunged forward, throwing a punch. A wave of pressure slapped Eli in the face. He looked on in disbelief. The creature caught the punch...and returned an uppercut. The hit clapped like thunder. Penitulus flew into the air, hitting the bat-like creature who was trying to avoid the confrontation, and burst through the ceiling. Moonlight flooded in. A few seconds past and he burst back in, creating a second hole. His landing on the bridge shook the entire structure. A grin was printed on his face. "Make this fun," he said.

In response, the creature let out a blood-curdling screech as every muscle on its body swole, tearing even the flesh. "Great," Ren said before lunging forward. The creature blocked the hit, though this didn't stop it from being sent flying into the structure that once held the shard.

"We need to get out of here!" Eli shouted over the roar of the clashing titans, "Before the entire cave falls on our heads!" he pointed to the parts of the cavern that were falling apart.

"How?" Alice asked, "It's not like we can walk back across the bridge!"

"We don't have to!" Eli said as he pointed to the holes that Penitulus created. They started climbing the structure which reached the ceiling. This task was hard enough without the clashing titans generating shock waves every time they clashed.

Soon the pair reached the top, but it was too far from either hole to be useful. "What now!" Alice called out. Just then Penitulus grabbed the creature by the face and slammed it into the structure so hard it leaned allowing them the chance to escape.

After scurrying up roots and finally surfacing, they ran as fast as possible. When the sound of thunder was finally in the distance, they slowed. "You think he's having trouble?" Alice asked.

"No way," Eli said, "He's probably just holding back, I hear he has the tendency to do that." He stopped walking. "I can't believe it."

"Believe what?"

"We go inches away from death, again, and have nothing to show for it," he let out a sigh, " Man, I'm going to bed, wake me up when summer's over."

"Well, I wouldn't say nothing," Alice said as she held out the journal they lost in the library.

"Where d'you get that?" Eli asked in disbelief.

"Remember that bat-thing?"

"The one that got squashed?"

"Yup, it landed behind us and turned to ash. I tried to grab the shard, but it rolled out into the war zone, so I grabbed the next best thing. Seems like we really do have an adventure on our hands."

"Alice." Eli said

"Yeah?"

"You're amazing."