5.21

The group of heroes took in their surroundings in disbelief. Trash was everywhere and they seemed to be on the peak of a mountain. Hunter looked down over the edge, only to be greeted with more trash.

The sky around them was a mix of black and unnatural purple. Looking out into the infinite space gave one an overwhelming sense of vertigo.

“Some kind of pocket dimension, I think. That would explain how she keeps disappearing and why she can’ be found,” said Brickla.

“Yeah, but how big is it?” Silas asked.

“Give me a sec, I think I’ve got something that could help. Everyone, look out away from me.” Gauzelle pulled out the staff that Hunter’s mother had gifted her. The group did as they were told and Gauzelle activated the button to activate the blast of light.

The light revealed what appeared to be endless trash and endless space. The light revealed a good two hundred feet before it was dissipated by the darkness.

“Pretty big,” said Jimena. “So do we now need to walk through here until we find her?”

“I guess so,” said Woolpack.

“What direction do we take?” asked Hunter.

“I reckon we just pick one and start,” said Brickla. They faced what they believed to be north and started their journey in that direction.

After close to half an hour of walking, they reached the decline of the mountain they were on. They started the slow climb down when the sky above them lit up as a hole appeared above them.

Tonnes of rubbish dropped down onto the mountain and an avalanche of trash began to rush down behind them.

“Go go go!” cried Hunter.

The group didn’t need to be told twice. They all broke out into a run down the side.

Hunter tripped and did the best he could to fight falling forward. He almost righted himself when his momentum was too much, and he crashed down into the rubbish. He skidded forward and started to roll. Hunter tried to brace and stop but his body kept moving.

Momentum picked up and Hunter watched as he overtook everyone else running down the mountain.

“Help.” Gauzelle and Woolpack flew into action. Gauzelle threw her staff to Woolpack and wrapped herself around Hunter’s body. She pulled at his body, finding whatever way she could to brace to a stop.

Woolpack stretched and overtook them. She expanded out into her cloud form, the staff floating within her body.

Hunter, wrapped up in Gauzelle, fell into Woolpack’s cloud and he felt his body come to a complete stop. Woolpack shifted back to her solid form and handed Gauzelle the staff when she unwrapped.

“Don’t stop!” Silas called as he passed them. He was inflated and kicked as hard as he could. He launched out and away into nothingness. He slowly deflated, coming back down to the mountain, where he would kick off again.

Hunter, Gauzelle, and Woolpack watched the oncoming avalanche and a feeling of dread exploded from within.

“We can’ outrun that,” said Woolpack.

“Keep going,” said Jimena as she overtook them. Brickla was hot on her heels. The three of them turned and began to run again.

“Aim for that hole,” said Brickla. She pointed to a hole and each of them dived for it. After the last one was in, Brickla blocked up the hole with bricks.

The deafening rumble cascaded over their heads and the space around them shook violently, but the space held.

“What about Silas?” Jimena asked.

“He’s probably at the bottom of the mountain by now,” said Gauzelle.

They waited for an eternity of minutes before Brickla took away the hatch she had made. Using her bricks, Brickla cleared a path for them to climb back up to the surface.

“They continued the slow climb down the mountain. Other portals opened up all around, dumping trash all over the place.

“You guys all right?” Silas called out. His voice a harsh whisper, too scared to start an avalanche.

“Yeah, we’re good,” replied Gauzelle.

“Do we have some kind of attack plan?” Woolpack asked.

“Can we really do anything here?” Hunter asked.

“Can anyone else hear that?” Jimena asked.

“Hear what?” Silas asked.

“Shh.”

They stood for a moment in frozen silence and all relaxed when they heard the innocent noise of a dog barking in the distance.

“A dog?” said Silas.

“Come here, come here puppy,” called Jimena.

“Woof!” replied the dog. It barked a song of happiness as they heard it draw closer to the group.

“Are you sure that’s best? Look where we are, it could literally be anything,” said Silas.

They all watched as the sound grew nearer and a medium sized dog on short stubby legs ran over to them. Its body was strangely skinny, and its head was oddly shaped. The shape of its head reminded the group of an axe head.

“Wow, really? I’ve read about these in books. I thought they were just made up,” said Silas.

The dog ran up to each of them and jumped up, as though to give them a hug.

“What is it?” Woolpack asked.

“Axe-head hound,” said Silas.

“What an apt name,” said Jimena.

“Apparently they eat axe handles, coz they always seem to go missing or something.”

“Do you think there’s other life out there?” asked Hunter.

“Maybe. Missing axe handles. What, what if things that go missing from our world end up here?” said Gauzelle.

The dog yapped as if in answer to her question. It then made its body go rigid and pointed away from the direction they were headed. Its body stiff, it let out a soft growl.

“What do you suppose its saying?” asked Woolpack.

“Guess we go that way and find out,” said Hunter.

“Do you really think that’s best though?” asked Woolpack.

“It can’t be worse than what we’re already doing,” replied Brickla. They walked past the dog and the dog relaxed its body and weaved around their legs and joined them.