trembled.
Eadric and I were about to land on the pile of bones when the oubliette disappeared, and we found ourselves rushing down a dark tunnel, propelled by a buffeting wind. A thunderous roar filled my ears, and at first I thought we'd brought the shadow beast with us. When the wind spun me around, I tried to see something, anything in the dark, but my witches' light was gone and I couldn't see a thing. / hope this is supposed to happen, I thought as the darkness swept us away.
Six
T he air was thickening around me and it was getting harder to breathe. I no longer felt like a wind was whisking me along, but more like something was forcing me through a thick and lumpy, sour-smelling pudding. I could still feel Eadric's arms around me, just as they'd been when he'd pulled me away from the shadow beast. I was frightened, but not nearly as much as I would have been if I'd been alone. Although I hadn't wanted him to come, in a way I was glad he had.
The air grew hotter, and a high-pitched whine filled my ears. I was gasping for breath when something shoved us through a warm, moist layer. Suddenly the air was normal again. We fell—how far I couldn't tell—until we slammed into cold, hard stone, landing on our sides. With the air knocked out of us, we lay sprawled on the ground, too numb to get up.
"What was that?" croaked a voice from somewhere nearby. "Either I'm dreaming or the rats have gotten a lot bigger."
Wherever we were, we weren't alone. I drew in a ragged breath and was nearly overcome by the stench of dung and an unwashed human body. I tested my limbs, afraid that I might have broken something, but I was fine—aside from scrapes and a few tender spots.
Eadric let go of me and sat up, Ferdy's scabbard scraping the floor. "Are you all right?" he whispered.
"I will be," I said as quietly as I could, "as soon as I find out where and when we are."
I was stuffing the medallion and the bottle of dragon's breath into my pouch, when something small and bony landed on me with a Whump! It moaned softly, then started to move around, poking me with knobby edges. "Stupid spell," grumbled a familiar voice.
"Li'l, is that you?" I whispered.
"Emma?" she said. "What happened? One minute I was in that oubliette, and the next thing I knew a wind grabbed me, beat me up and spit me out. Where are we? Did we go back in time?"
"I'm not sure," I whispered. "Shh! Someone's in here, and he thinks he's dreaming."
I set Li'l on my shoulder while I peered into the darkness, hoping for some glimmer of light. I couldn't see a thing until I looked up and saw a swirl of color rising above me—either the dragon's breath or some ghostly apparition that had decided to leave. When it disappeared through a checkered shape that could only be a grate, I knew that we were in the oubliette, although I still had no idea when.
I thought about creating a witches' light or using the candle stub so we could see, but if I did, I might have to use more magic to convince the man that he really was dreaming. The longer I thought about it, the more complicated it seemed. No, I'd have to manage without any light at all.
Something shifted in the dark. "Speak up!" said the voice, sounding more like a man and less like a nightmare. "You're awfully quiet for a dream. Why don't you sing me a song? Last dream I had, a minstrel sang about a great knight. Made me feel like I was there, fighting dragons and all. How about a song like that?"
Eadric spoke up, saying, "I'd like to sing, but I don't know any good songs."
"Then I'll sing one," said the voice. "I made it up myself. It's the story of why I'm down here. Want to hear it?" The voice chuckled. "Listen to me—asking a dream what it wants!" He started to sing, scratchy and so far off tune it made me cringe.
They sent Old Derwin to the pit
Because he dropped a platter. It landed on the good king's crown,
And made an awful clatter.
The king told him to clean it up
As if it didn't matter.
But Princess
Eadric and I were about to land on the pile of bones when the oubliette disappeared, and we found ourselves rushing down a dark tunnel, propelled by a buffeting wind. A thunderous roar filled my ears, and at first I thought we'd brought the shadow beast with us. When the wind spun me around, I tried to see something, anything in the dark, but my witches' light was gone and I couldn't see a thing. / hope this is supposed to happen, I thought as the darkness swept us away.
Six
T he air was thickening around me and it was getting harder to breathe. I no longer felt like a wind was whisking me along, but more like something was forcing me through a thick and lumpy, sour-smelling pudding. I could still feel Eadric's arms around me, just as they'd been when he'd pulled me away from the shadow beast. I was frightened, but not nearly as much as I would have been if I'd been alone. Although I hadn't wanted him to come, in a way I was glad he had.
The air grew hotter, and a high-pitched whine filled my ears. I was gasping for breath when something shoved us through a warm, moist layer. Suddenly the air was normal again. We fell—how far I couldn't tell—until we slammed into cold, hard stone, landing on our sides. With the air knocked out of us, we lay sprawled on the ground, too numb to get up.
"What was that?" croaked a voice from somewhere nearby. "Either I'm dreaming or the rats have gotten a lot bigger."
Wherever we were, we weren't alone. I drew in a ragged breath and was nearly overcome by the stench of dung and an unwashed human body. I tested my limbs, afraid that I might have broken something, but I was fine—aside from scrapes and a few tender spots.
Eadric let go of me and sat up, Ferdy's scabbard scraping the floor. "Are you all right?" he whispered.
"I will be," I said as quietly as I could, "as soon as I find out where and when we are."
I was stuffing the medallion and the bottle of dragon's breath into my pouch, when something small and bony landed on me with a Whump! It moaned softly, then started to move around, poking me with knobby edges. "Stupid spell," grumbled a familiar voice.
"Li'l, is that you?" I whispered.
"Emma?" she said. "What happened? One minute I was in that oubliette, and the next thing I knew a wind grabbed me, beat me up and spit me out. Where are we? Did we go back in time?"
"I'm not sure," I whispered. "Shh! Someone's in here, and he thinks he's dreaming."
I set Li'l on my shoulder while I peered into the darkness, hoping for some glimmer of light. I couldn't see a thing until I looked up and saw a swirl of color rising above me—either the dragon's breath or some ghostly apparition that had decided to leave. When it disappeared through a checkered shape that could only be a grate, I knew that we were in the oubliette, although I still had no idea when.
I thought about creating a witches' light or using the candle stub so we could see, but if I did, I might have to use more magic to convince the man that he really was dreaming. The longer I thought about it, the more complicated it seemed. No, I'd have to manage without any light at all.
Something shifted in the dark. "Speak up!" said the voice, sounding more like a man and less like a nightmare. "You're awfully quiet for a dream. Why don't you sing me a song? Last dream I had, a minstrel sang about a great knight. Made me feel like I was there, fighting dragons and all. How about a song like that?"
Eadric spoke up, saying, "I'd like to sing, but I don't know any good songs."
"Then I'll sing one," said the voice. "I made it up myself. It's the story of why I'm down here. Want to hear it?" The voice chuckled. "Listen to me—asking a dream what it wants!" He started to sing, scratchy and so far off tune it made me cringe.
They sent Old Derwin to the pit
Because he dropped a platter. It landed on the good king's crown,
And made an awful clatter.
The king told him to clean it up
As if it didn't matter.
But Princess
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