Chapter 7
The Last Rooms
We looked around the room and found it empty.
"What's supposed to be here?" I asked Brian.
"I don't know. I thought we'd run into a pack of Werewolves or another Lock Ness monster for sure."
I looked around the room again and still found nothing living. There were two fur rugs on the floor, and I walked to a rabbit rug. It was made of rabbit fur and was wonderfully soft. I leaned against the wall, hugging the rug to my chest. It was very big. I sat on it and covered myself.
"This is what I call comfy," I told him.
He groaned with pleasure and closed his eyes. I looked over at him. He had blonde hair, brown eyes, and was wearing blue jeans. He had on a plain medium blue shirt and was trying to sleep. His rug was up to his chin and he looked comfortable.
"What kind of fur is your rug?" I asked him.
He opened his eyes again, ever so slowly, and said,"Deer."
I pulled the rug up to my chin and watched him slowly drift off to sleep. He was three feet from me and was as snug as a bug in a rug. I tried to close my eyes but found myself gazing at a small pot on a shelf. It caught my eye several times, but I didn't know why. It was just a plain brown clay pot. I finally stood up and walked over to it. A lid was on the pot, but it rattled the closer I came. I stopped and watched the lid. It didn't move. I walked closer and the pot began to shake. I walked up to the pot and slowly lifted the lid. Out jumped dozens of small hissing creatures. I jumped back and the lid hit the floor, breaking into thousands of tiny pieces. I ran back to my rug and covered up with it. I kept my eyes out so I could see the little creatures. Hundreds were already out of the pot and still more came. The last one hopped out and they all seemed to chatter amongst themselves. Then their eyes rested on me, and they all sat in unison. Suddenly, a little creature stepped closer to me. He was now three feet from my feet. He stood on his hind legs, stretched his neck a tiny bit, and began to sing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider." I watched as hundreds of lamb-like creatures hissed and sang. I studied the lead singer. He looked mostly lamb. He was black, with the wool of a lamb. He had no hooves, instead he had black paws. He had the shape of a lamb, and the head was basically normal for any sheep. The only difference was that instead of having flat blunt teeth for chewing grass, it had needle sharp teeth for chewing meat. I looked at all of the little creatures, and watched them sing. They sang the song in perfect unison. The lead singer held up his tiny paw, and all of the creatures stopped singing.
"Tell me, what is your name?" he asked me.
"Sarah," I told him.
"Alright Princess, would you like to sing with us?"
"Why sure! I'd love to!"
He rose to his hind legs again and screeched. I covered my ears, and he turned back to me.
"I am sorry dear Princess. I did not mean to hurt or scare you."
I nodded and folded my hands in my lap. Brian was awake as soon as the little lamb creature had screeched. Brian blinked at me, and I explained.
"There was a pot that kept catching my eye. I finally got up to see what was so unusual. The closer I got, the more the lid on it shook. At one foot away the whole pot started to shake. I took the lid off and these tiny creatures jumped out."
"Why, they're each no more than two inches long!" exclaimed Brian.
I nodded and looked back at the lead singer. His paws were on his hips and he was scowling at us.
"Done yet?!" he asked, rather impatiently.
I nodded and smiled. Turning back to his friends, he raised his paws and started them in "Mary Had a Little Lamb." Brian and I sang along. After that song, we sang "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." After that, the lead singer lowered his hands and made a low moaning sound. The whole group of little creatures sat and watched their leader.
He turned to us and said,"We are the Clarques. Tiny lamb-like creatures with needle sharp teeth, the wool and build of a sheep, and the paws of a dog. Yes, strange are we."
The whole group of Clarques looked at us and nodded, then turned their attention back to the leader.
"As I'm sure you already know, I am leader of all the Clarques. We are scattered around the entire world, but are too smart to be seen or caught. If you have any questions, ask them now. We have little time left with you."
I took my chance and quickly asked a question I'd wanted to ask the other monsters but had forgotten to. "How does everyone know we are coming before we get there?"
The creature shook his head and glared at us. "Stupid humans. His voice can be heard anywhere and everywhere when he wants it to be. So, he just made his voice echo through the halls and everyone knew of your arrival. We did not know the exact time, but we know you have only thirty minutes left before the test. Now, any more questions?"
"Yes, how do we get out of here?" Brian asked.
"Take the pot off the shelf and push a small block behind it. A door will open for you."
"Thank you. You have been very helpful. One last question. What is your name?" asked Brian.
He smiled and said,"Tryun."
I smiled and thanked him again. Then I went to the shelf and took the pot off. Brian pushed the block in and the shelf slid to the side. I turned around one last time, remembering one last question.
"Uh, who did you say told you about us coming?"
Tryun rolled his tiny eyes and said,"Why, Clyte of course!" I thanked him again and turned to the door. We walked through and waved to the Clarques. They nodded their heads and the door closed. We walked through a narrow hallway and into a huge room full of snow.
"So, it is true? You have come!"
We looked around but saw nothing. All there was, was snow and a huge mountain of snow. Small piles, big piles, mountains of snow. I looked for a door and spotted one on the far side, but there was no one over there. Finally, I looked up and saw it. A huge snow monster.
"What are you?" Brian demanded.
The huge snow creature's knees fell to the ground as he knelt. Brian and I fell and slid across the snow. The creature stretched its legs out in front of it, and then sat Indian style.
"I am the Abominable Snowman!" He said it with such great force, that after standing up we both fell down again.
"Please talk softer. A little more quiet, sir," I requested of him.
He looked surprised and gazed down at us. "Did you just call me sir? Why, I've never been given such respect! Thank you, Princess!"
"Princess? How d-do you k-know my n-name?" I stammered.
"Because of those awful little creatures you just talked to. They woke me from my sleep with their gibberish and I heard ‘Princess' mentioned. I know, I know. Your real name is Sarah. We mostly call everyone around here by their real names, but you should be called Princess. Not Sarah."
I wiped the tears from my eyes and cheeks and said,"Thank you." I was so touched by always being called princess that I'd begun to cry.
He nodded and looked at Brian. "What's your name?"
"I'm Brian. At least, as a human that's my name."
"As a human, eh. Guess that means you're now Unicorn. What about the little Princess. Is she one too?"
"Why of course! We were both made Unicorns and cannot stay in our human form for more than five hours. Such a shame; I miss my parents. But it's great to see all of you!" exclaimed Brian.
The huge snow creature nodded his head, leaned closer to us and said,"We are all to remain a secret. Can you keep a secret my new friends?"
We nodded our heads, and he sat back.
"Good, then tell no one. Not even your little Unicorns. I hate to keep myself a secret from them, but they mustn't know till it is time. Oh, and you don't have to call me sir. I prefer Abom, short for Abominable Snowman. Hahahahahaa."
I nodded my head and rubbed my cold arms.
"I am sorry. I have forgotten the cold little humans. You must be cold and tired. But you cannot stay here. Go to that door. Where is it? Oh, I'm sitting in front of it."
I dove for the ground as he stood up. I would either be thrown to the ground or I would throw myself to the ground. I chose the latter. Waiting till he was standing, we stood and waved goodbye. He cried when we left, and the tears froze to his snowy cheeks. Brian opened this door and stepped in. I followed reluctantly. I'd always wanted to see these awesome creatures, and I was leaving them all. Through the doorway I stepped and pulled the door shut behind me.
The room was pitch black with the door closed. We stood where we were, not wanting to trip on something special or living. I heard the scuffling of feet on the stone floor. Two pairs, to be exact. They didn't belong to the same creature, because the sounds came from two sides of the room. I had no idea how wide the room was, or what the creatures were. I pressed up against the door, feeling for a door knob. It was gone!
"Brian, I think the door knobs disappear once the door is closed."
He grabbed my hand, and held it tight. "I guess so. But what are they. What will they do? What will we do?!"
He was whispering frantically now, and I was trying to stay calm.
"I don't know! Stay calm! We must remain calm." I was starting to calm down now.
The feet suddenly stopped. I didn't know where the creatures had stopped. I held my breath and knew that Brian was holding his as well. A small hiss at our feet, and we both jumped six inches off of the floor. Something furry curled around my ankle, and I closed my eyes, trying to keep from screaming. Brian whispered with panic in my ear.
"Something's around my ankle! It's furry, and I can't stand it being there!"
I swallowed hard and said,"Mine too. Mine too. Stay calm."
I was surprised I hadn't screamed when I had opened my mouth. Brian gripped my hand, and his sweat mixed with mine. I gripped his hand tighter and stiffened. The thing around my ankle hissed, and I stood perfectly still.
"What did you do?" he asked me.
"I didn't relax. I stiffened up and the creature hissed at me. They must sense fear if you're stiff," I replied.
Brian gripped my hand even harder and said,"If it starts to move again, squeeze my hand three times. If I squeeze your hand three times, then mine started to move. If I squeeze your hand twice, I'm asking if you're ok. Answer me with a yes of one or a no of two. The same goes for both of us. Can you remember that?"
"Yes." I barely got the answer out.
The room was hot, my hand was drenched in sweat, the creatures were wrapped around our ankles, and we were playing a game of squeeze and see if you did the right code. It was amazingly hard to stay relaxed. I suddenly felt breathing on my neck. I gave Brian two squeezes. He answered with four. I frowned and tried to think of what that meant. Then I guessed. He must have breathing on his neck too. The creature wasn't moving, he wasn't ok, but he wasn't not ok either. I stiffened and the creature hissed. I gulped and tears rolled down my cheeks. Brian gave my hand two squeezes. I gave him four, and he guessed as well. We were both experiencing the same thing. A small beam of light appeared in front of my feet. It slowly traveled to the end of one of my shoes. I caught a beam of light by Brian in my peripheral vision. I concentrated on the beam and watched as it came to my ankle. The creature was sleeping peacefully. It looked like a cat, except for its head. It was a cat with the head and feet of a lizard. The head and feet were the perfect size for its body, and it was cuter than I had expected it to be. I looked over at Brian's ankle and he had another creature similar to mine on his. Only, his had gray fur and mine had black fur. I looked at him, he looked at me. We could see each other just barely in the small bit of light. I swung my foot back and hit something. It wasn't solid, but it was firm. Not the door. I screamed and kicked. The little lizard/cat flew into the air, and I ran across the room. I bumped into another firm object and landed hard on the stone floor. Brian must have copied my movements, for he fell the same time I did, right beside me. The wind was knocked out of me, and I gasped for breath. A small torch came into the room. It's holder was not any different from the small sheep. Except that it was as big as us. It walked up to us and looked each of us in the eyes. It stared hard at me and turned. The torch illuminated half the room. There, standing in front of us were twelve Griffins.
"Wow!" I gasped.
Brian said,"Griffins!"
The dozen turned their eyes on Brian and smiles spread across their faces.
"You are real! Wow! Oh, my goodness!" I said, and they chuckled softly.
The Griffins were ten feet taller than us and were much wider. We looked upon them with awe. They smiled nicely down at us and spread their great wings.
"No! Don't go!" I yelped.
The Griffin nearest me spoke. "I am sorry, Princess. We must leave. We only stayed to look at the both of you." He smiled sadly and jerked his head toward the ceiling.
The cat/lizards jumped up on the backs of the Griffins and dug their claws into the Griffins' fur. The rest of the Griffins nodded at the leader and jumped into the air. They flew up and through the ceiling. I watched as the last one disappeared and the floor was bare of life. Except for me, Brian, and the sheep/dog, we were alone. It told us to follow it, and we obeyed. It led us through a door and down a long dark tunnel. We followed sadly and kept to ourselves. We arrived at a strange door. It had a door knob in the middle of it. I looked up at the ceiling and noticed carpet.
"Huh?" I said, but the sheep/dog opened the door. It gestured with its hand for us to walk into the next room. We did and found ourselves in a strange place. The floor was bare except for an upside down lamp here and there.
"What's going on?"
A voice said above us,"Nothing's wrong, Princess. Except for you. You are the wrong way. Do you not know it? Poor Brian and Princess, they are both wrong."
I looked at the ceiling, to see a dog shaking its head at me.
"A shape shifter? Like the Treons?"
"Ah, so you already met them. Yes, that is what we are. But, we live here. In Upsidaisy land. Absurd name, I know." He smiled and walked off down the stone path on the ceiling.
I looked at Brian and he shrugged. The door opened behind us, and we both turned.
"That's enough of Upsidaisy for now. Come along gently."
I looked at Brian and he looked at me. We followed the guard Dragon out. In the dark room, we made a left. While walking, we quickly changed to Unicorns. We walked a little farther and heard the guard stop. We stopped and watched as he opened a door. The next room was the Main Room.
"Not again," I groaned, and Brian rolled his eyes to show that he also agreed.
We walked with the guard up to Clyte. I glared at Clyte and looked at Brian. I searched his arms for cuts or scars with my eyes and could not find any without examining him. I sighed and sat down with a thud.
Clyte looked at us and said,"How was the trip?"
I stared at him. He asked dozens of questions, but we gave him no answers. Finally, thoroughly disgusted, he ordered us back to our cages. We followed the guards reluctantly but had to because of the silver bridles. They locked us in the horrid cages and walked out of the room, leaving two torches this time. I quickly changed to human and Brian did the same.
"You are much more handsome as a person," I told him.
"Yes, you too," he said.
I lay in a corner, and went to sleep quickly. It's a good thing I did. I needed it.
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