Death to Gravity!

Then, suddenly, out of instinct, her legs wrapped themselves around a large rock. Mavis was left dangling upside-down by her legs from the walls of the cave.

‘Mavis, you can come down if you don’t think you can make it,’ said Walter, first to recover.

Mavis didn’t answer, for she was still in shock. She didn’t want to stop now, in case she couldn’t make the climb the second time.

So, she pulled the rest of her body up. A lot of pressure was dangerously put on her legs, but she took the chance.

She bent her back till her hands were touching a few rocks, then grabbed. Then, she climbed again till she reached the bottom of the tunnel.

After the previous time, Mavis now knew that the ground was awfully slippery, so she was more careful. She managed to crawl into the mouth of the cave, with a bit of difficulty.

Walter gave a relieved sigh.

Mavis found that the water in the tunnel came up to her ankles. She was worried because she knew that the horses’ hooves would slip.

‘Mavis, is it safe up there?’ asked Walter.

‘There seems to be no threat,’ answered Mavis. ‘But it’s flooded with water and it’s quite slippery. But wait a bit–I’ll explore. There should be another opening into this. Hopefully, you could come through it easily.’

‘Sure,’ said Walter. ‘Just don’t wander in too deep. You could get lost.’

Mavis nodded in reply and slowly walked in, careful not to slip. She hoped to see a mouse or any other creature because that would mean that the outside, from where they had come, was near. But unfortunately, she found nothing alive. Not even a beetle.

Suddenly, her boot stubbed against something. Mavis grabbed the walls to stop herself from tripping.

Nervously, she held up Spark and tried to make out what it was.

To her surprise, it was some kind of lever.

She crouched onto the freezing ground and felt it. It had a thick coating of algae and glittered in the light of Spark. Mavis could make out the Mrindawian seal carved on it.

Without thinking twice, she pulled it.

Nothing happened.

There was a click.

Mavis heard the creaking and groaning of machinery. The still water began to slowly flow towards the opening from where she had come. It was now flowing faster.

Oh, what have I done?

The ground was starting to slope towards the opening, making the water flow.

At least it’s not flooded now.

Mavis got to her feet and began to run so that she wouldn’t tumble down the sloping ground. She flung herself onto a rock and grabbed it with her arms.

The creaking of machinery stopped.

‘Mavis?’

It was Walter.

Mavis got to her feet and stared in disbelief when she saw that the ground in front of her was now a slope. It led down into the chamber, where her friends were standing. All the water from the slope had streamed in, making it easy to climb up.

Mavis stared, unable to say a word.

A grin spread across Walter’s face. ‘Looks like you’ve found an easier way for us to come up!’

‘Next time, you are doing it the hard way.’

Walter led the animals up the slope. ‘So, we go deeper in?’ he asked.

Mavis nodded. ‘Yes, if we don’t find a way out, well, we were going to die anyhow.’

Walter agreed though he flinched at the last part.

They walked into the tunnel. It was dark and cold, and Mavis and Walter began to tremble and got close to the horses for warmth. Walter managed to set fire to a stick with his arrow and they all crowded around him for warmth. It also gave them light, so they didn’t need to worry about there being a monster lurking about in the shadows.

Then suddenly, they came to a dead-end.

‘I don’t believe it!’ cried Mavis in disgust. ‘Who builds a tunnel to a dead-end?’

‘Come on!’ snapped Walter. ‘There’s definitely a way out. Let’s just hunt around a bit.’

They hunted around, like Walter had decided, but found nothing. Not even a small hole.

Mavis looked at the horses, who were trying to chew ivy hanging from the walls of the tunnel. She looked surprised when she realised that the ivy was nothing like the ones from her time. The leaves were shaped like maple leaves. The rest of the plant was covered in sharp thorns.

‘Wait,’ she told the horses and pushed their heads away. ‘We don’t know if the ivy is safe.’

She gave them half an apple each, though, so that they wouldn’t try to eat the ivy. Then she suddenly realised something: plants needed sunlight to grow, so how did this plant grow in such a dark cave?

She looked at the ivy carefully and brushed it away, careful not to prick herself on the thorns. Behind it, was a Mrindawian inscription carved onto the stone wall.

Mavis tried to read it ‘Err . . .it says Saahi. That means beware.’ Walter looked nervous. ‘Oh, great, there’s a monster in here?’ Mavis shook her head. She was now trembling with fear. She pointed to the ivy.

It was moving.

Mavis grabbed Walter’s arm. ‘Let’s get outta here!’ she shouted.

But it was too late. The ivy had twined itself around their ankles.

It pulled them down and they stumbled over, falling to the ground. In panic, their animals fled.

Mavis struggled and pulled at the ivy.

‘Don’t do that!’ shrieked Walter. ‘This is hover ivy! People use it to guard things. If you struggle, it’ll only get worse!’

‘I don’t care what it is!’ shouted Mavis hysterically. ‘It’s trying to kill me!’

She struggled to get free. The ivy’s grip loosened for a split second. But a split second was all Mavis needed. She shook herself free and jumped away.

She looked at Walter. But to her horror, there was not one, but two Walters.

She choked.

The two Walters stared at each other in disbelief.

Mavis just noticed a green-coloured pod that was attached to the ivy. It raised itself and split into two and now looked like a pair of jaws. To her utter disbelief, it started to sing:

Then it shut up.

Mavis looked up at the Walters.

‘This is like those movies,’ said Walter #1. ‘Ya know, where the friend gets an evil twin. Then the hero has to shoot down the evil guy.

‘How do you even know about movies?’ demanded Walter #2. ‘You’re from 1500 BCE, and movies don’t exist then!’

‘I am not from 1500 BCE,’ snapped Walter #1. ‘You are!’ The two started bickering like siblings, and it took two blasts of magic from Spark to shut them up.

‘Listen you two,’ said Mavis. ‘I’m going to have to kill one of you, and to decide which one of you, I need to ask you questions.’

‘Just like those movies,’ grinned Walter #1, and Walter #2 opened his mouth to say something but shut it when he saw Mavis give him a warning look.

‘I don’t want you two listening to the other’s answers,’ said Mavis. ‘So answer at the same time or you both die.’

There was a shocked silence.

‘Okay,’ she continued. ‘First question. When is Star’s birthday?’

‘November fourth,’ both the Walters answered together.

Mavis’ mouth felt dry. It was correct. How did both of them know it? But she tried again:

‘Why do I hate Alana?’

‘Because you do.’

Mavis kicked the ground in frustration. Right again! The fake Walter clearly knew everything the real one did.

But maybe, she realised, he knows more.

‘What’s the name of the cousin on my mother’s side?’

‘Who?’ said Walter #1.

‘Antwohnette,’ said Walter #2.

Walter #1 looked terrified, but Walter #2 was confident. ‘So, who’s the real–,’ he began, but barely had time to complete his sentence, because Mavis had already blasted him down. He turned into green goo and splattered on the stone floor.

‘Ugh,’ she grumbled, ‘now I’m going to have nightmares for the rest of the week.’

Walter looked surprised. ‘How did you know it was me?’

Mavis grinned. ‘Hey, even I didn’t know the name of that cousin of mine. How would you?’

There was a little rustle behind them.

They turned around and were surprised to find the ivy parting.

Behind it was no stone wall, but a dark hole.

‘Wonderful!’ cried Walter in glee. ‘We can finally get out!’

‘Wait,’ said Mavis, ‘lemme get our animals.’

She marched off and returned with them. ‘Let’s go in,’ she said.

But Walter looked doubtful. ‘It’s pretty dark in there, it may be a drop.’

‘We’ll mount our horses. If it is a drop, they can fly us to safety.’

‘But the cramps in their wings?’

‘They will fly. It’s a do-or-die situation.’

So, they hopped onto their horses.

They walked into the hole, and to their dismay, started falling. The horses and Ruby frantically flapped their wings, and Snowdrop struggled to fly, but they kept falling.

‘It’s magic!’ shrieked Mavis noticing that even Ruby couldn’t fly.

Walter didn’t reply. He was too busy panicking. ‘WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE! WE’LL HIT THE BOTTOM!’

This was of no comfort.

Mavis suddenly noticed a switch on the wall.

It was just like the ordinary ones that turn on light bulbs and fans, but this one had something written on top of it: NEWTON’S LAW OF GRAVITY.

For a second, she wondered how Newton even existed then. But she decided there was no time, and turned it off.

They stopped falling.

‘We’ve hit the bottom! Goodbye world!’ wailed Walter and shut his eyes. Then opened one to work out how he wasn’t dead yet.

They weren’t falling.

They weren’t standing.

They were floating.

‘What just happened?’ asked Walter.

‘Never mind,’ snapped Mavis, not sure how to explain.

The two looked around. They were floating around in a dark abyss. In the distance, was a small dot from which a beam of light shot through.

‘That’s the opening,’ said Mavis. ‘C’mon.’

The horses began to flap their wings and inch forward.

‘This is getting us nowhere,’ gasped Walter.

‘I know a way,’ said Mavis. ‘Let’s blast our magic behind us. It’ll hit the wall and we’ll fly forwards.’

‘Will it work?’

‘Maybe. And anyway, this place doesn’t make sense. It will work!’

‘What makes you say that?’

‘There’s a switch on the wall to turn off the gravity and it has Newton’s name on it. That’s why. The guy who created this place must’ve had a terrible sense of humour.’

Walter looked a bit dazed. ‘All right, we’ll use our magic–if you don’t start screaming.’

Mavis glared at him. She turned around on Star’s back and held out her hands. She tried as hard as she could to get the magic out, but it was no use. ‘How do you–?’

‘It’s not difficult,’ said Walter calmly. He held out his hands, then suddenly let out a scream. ‘WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!’

Mavis was startled. ‘What are you doing?’

Walter grinned. ‘You need to panic,’ he said. ‘That gets the magic out. I learnt it in the Kingdom of The Olves.’

Then he started screaming again. Peanut Butter grunted as if asking what the matter was. Star backed away. Snowdrop was excited and began to breathe magic at random places. Alpha began to bark. Ruby gave him a will-you-shut-up look.

To Mavis’ amazement, sparks began to form around Walter’s fingertips. Suddenly, they all came together and blasted on the wall. Walter was thrown back, and the startled Peanut Butter was pulled along. ‘I’M TOO YOUNG TO DIE!’ he screamed, but this time it didn’t look like he was doing it on purpose.

Mavis watched as he flew through the air and flew outside, through the dot from which a beam of light shot through.

Mavis blinked, then looked at Snowdrop, wondering how she, along with Alpha and Ruby, would get outside.

‘Snowdrop,’ she told the dragon, ‘blast yo magic on this wall.’

The dragon tilted her head to one side questioningly.

Mavis sighed and pulled out the jade bottle from her pocket, and had a sip from its potion. Then she told the dragon what she wanted.

Snowdrop blinked when she heard this. ‘All right, but why–?’

‘Just do it,’ insisted Mavis.

Snowdrop shrugged (or would have, if dragons could) and turned around. She opened her mouth and blasted her magic out. It hit the walls of the abyss and she was sent flying backwards. She bellowed in fright, with Alpha and Ruby on her back, looking astonished.

Mavis watched as they shot out of the cave.

‘What is going on?’ asked Star.

Mavis looked at him in surprise. ‘It’s a bit strange talking to someone who, all your life, you thought of as someone who couldn’t even talk.’

‘I can talk,’ said Star, sounding a little hurt; ‘it’s humans who can’t.’

‘Anyway,’ said Mavis, ‘you’d better hang on.’

She held out her hands and tried to panic. ‘THE HORSE TREATS ARE ALL OVER! WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!’

She felt her fingertips go cold and saw sparks form around them. Unfortunately, the moment she whooped in delight; the sparks disappeared.

‘Oh, I need to hold the thought, do I?’ she muttered.

She concentrated on the thought of the Death Star destroying the earth, and the debris of the planet plummeting in all directions, and before she knew it, she herself was sent plummeting away.

Godge sipped his cup of coffee. He had developed an addiction to it. It was the divine drink of the future, obtained from a place called Starbucks.

A dude nervously stepped into his room. ‘Err . . . Sir?’

‘What is it?’

‘Sir, they’re coming. They are very close.’

‘But the ivy . . . the abyss?’

‘They’ve crossed it.’

Godge spat out his coffee, which was a good thing because too much caffeine can be bad for you.

‘Capture them!’ he thundered.

‘Yes sir.’

Mavis and Walter stood blinking in the sunlight. It took a few minutes for their eyes to get adjusted to the light.

Then they looked around. They were not in the desert anymore but in a vast expanse of marshland.

‘This is weird,’ said Mavis lifting a foot that was coated in mud.

‘Why is there a marshland in the middle of the desert?’ asked Walter.

Mavis observed their surroundings. ‘Does it look like this is in a desert?’

‘Magic, then,’ sighed Walter.

He jerked his foot to the right, then let out a yelp. ‘I-I think I just sprained my ankle.’

Mavis glared. ‘Wonderful. Just what we need.’

‘Let’s get to higher ground,’ he gasped, gently lifting his foot so that he wouldn’t put too much weight on it.

They made their way through the thick slush onto a few rocks beneath a leafless tree. Their animals scrambled up and Ruby decided to perch on the tree.

Walter nursed his sprained ankle. ‘It’s swelling up,’ he mumbled.

‘No one died from a twisted ankle, Walter.’

Then, they suddenly heard a thud.

‘What is it?’ asked Mavis nervously.

Walter didn’t answer but looked cautiously in all directions.

Alpha began to bark. This sent the rest of the animals bellowing.

They were making such a racket that the two realised they were done for.

‘RUUUUUUUUN!’ screamed Mavis. She spun around and began to flee. She was followed by the rest.

A huge hand the size of an elephant suddenly reached from the sky. It effortlessly lifted up all the animals.

‘Giants,’ gasped Walter, stopping in his tracks.

‘Walter, run!’ shrieked Mavis tugging at his sleeve.

‘Mavis, look, there is no escape,’ said Walter tearfully. ‘There is no point in running.’

‘Walter, please,’ begged Mavis.

Then, the hand reached out and grabbed him.

Mavis turned and ran. Then, she slipped and landed face-first on the mud. She felt her arm break painfully under her.

She staggered back to her feet, her arm hanging limply at her sides. She could feel her tears rolling down her cheeks.

A hand was reaching out for her. Part of her wanted to just be taken because there was no escape. The other part didn’t want to give up.

Before her brain could decide what to do, instinct made her dodge under the hand and run as if she had never run before.

But the hand grabbed her. Since her right arm was broken, all Mavis could do was bang the huge hand with her left arm. But to the giant holding her, it must have been like a leaf falling on his hand.

Then, she bit him.

She sank her sharp teeth into his flesh and began to draw blood. It was cool on her right arm and soothed the pain.

It must have been sudden and painful for the giant because he immediately started shaking his hand.

Mavis clung on for dear life. Then she lost her grip for a mere second and found herself flying through the air. She hit the ground, and everything blacked out.